She felt sick to her stomach. Her body was on fire, but there would be no satisfaction for her throbbing body. Worse, she had no idea what to say, and she was embarrassed beyond words.
“Nick… ”
“Don’t say anything. Not now.” He held up his hand. “I’m sorry, Tess. I let it go too far.”
“Only because I wanted you to. At the very least, fifty percent of the blame goes to me.”
Shakily she started for the door, then thought of something. “Will I be able to hear the phone if it rings?” After what had just happened between them, she felt ludicrous asking the question. Or, for that matter, even thinking of it. Maybe it was her mind’s way of trying to protect her, taking her thoughts away from her hurting body and putting them on business. If so, it wasn’t working.
Without turning to face her, he nodded. “There’s a phone in the hall. Unless you’re a very heavy sleeper, you’ll be able to hear it.”
She stared at his back, searching her mind for something to say that would make the past fifteen minutes go away. But there were no words adequate enough to accomplish that feat.
From the start, the deck had been stacked against them. They’d both been half-dressed, in a half-lit room, with too much bare skin, too many raw emotions and too much sexual attraction.
She wrapped her arms around her waist, trying to stop herself from shaking. She didn’t know why it was so important to her for him to turn around and look at her, but it was. So she asked him another question, a question that should have been left unasked. “And you haven’t switched off the phone?”
“Check it yourself,” he snapped, a man on the edge. “It’s on.”
“Okay. “ She hesitated, then reached for the doorknob. “Good night.”
“Tess?”
Her heart jumped. She looked to find that he’d finally turned to face her. “Yes?”
“I wish things could be different.”
She knew exactly what he meant. His treasure. Her oil well. It was a stalemate.
Without answering, she opened the door to the hall, then quietly closed it behind her. Back in her room, back in the bed, she stared at the ceiling. Nick would never know how much she’d wanted to stay with him or how hard it had been for her to walk out. But staying would have been too dangerous.
Whether they were angry at each other or talking about something as innocuous as family pictures, they struck sparks off each other. And sparks, if not controlled, led to fire. She only had to look at him to want him. And when he kissed her, she came apart in his arms.
Somewhere in the house she heard water come on. She didn’t have to think twice to know Nick was taking a cold shower. She wished for one for herself.
God, if she could just get home tomorrow, whole and without a broken heart, she would consider herself incredibly lucky.
Five
Tess slowly awoke to the warmth of sunshine on her face and the delicious aroma of coffee. A glance out the window told her it was going to be a beautiful day.
Amazingly, considering the events of the previous night, she’d slept remarkably well. Then again, maybe it wasn’t so amazing. In that dimly lit room with Nick, her emotions had run the gamut from anger to passion, emotions so powerful they’d rocked her world and left her spent. By the time she’d crawled into bed, she’d felt as if she’d been put through a meat grinder.
And she had only herself to blame. She’d been incredibly stupid for accepting a date with Nick, even though deep down she’d known the real reason he’d asked her out. And she’d been stupid for getting on a plane with him even though she’d felt uneasy about it. But most of all, she’d been stupid for wanting him as much as she had last night.
Soon, though, it would be over. She just had to get past meeting Nick’s grandparents, and then she would be on her way home to her usual life. Then maybe, just maybe, this strange mixture of dread and uneasiness in her stomach would go away.
The phone rang. Ron. She leaped out of bed and ran toward the hail phone, but before she could reach it, it stopped ringing. She hurried into the kitchen to find Nick with the receiver to his ear, listening.
“Is it for me?” she asked.
Shaking his head, he continued to listen to whoever had called.
She watched him, wondering what or who had him looking so serious. He wasn’t wearing a shirt; his hair was wet and tousled, and she could see droplets of water clinging to the fine black hair that covered his chest. He must have just showered.
She would love to lick him dry.
The thought came from nowhere and nearly knocked her to her knees. She swallowed hard. She couldn’t allow those kinds of thoughts. Last night, that room, what had happened there between them…it had all been a piece of time away from the real world, away from reality. It wouldn’t happen again. It couldn’t.
Her gaze continued down his body to his hip-hugging jeans. They weren’t the same jeans he’d worn last night, but…they were zipped, but not yet buttoned.
Oh, God… She felt her blood begin to warm. Before Nick had arrived in her life, she would never have thought she could be capable of such thoughts and feelings. She walked over to the counter and poured herself a cup of coffee.
To the uninformed, she speculated, they could easily be mistaken for lovers who had awakened together after a night of passion. She was in the same T-shirt she’d slept in.
And if it were true, if they had indeed slept together after a night of lovemaking, she knew without thinking twice that she would be feeling completely satisfied this morning. In fact, she probably wouldn’t have a nerve left in her body.
Her hand flew to her forehead. She had to stop thinking about things like that, things that would never happen, could never happen.
“How bad is it?” she heard him ask and forced her attention to his end of the call. “And the doctor is sure?” He paused, then smiled. “That sounds like him. So okay, then—” he glanced at her “—that’s what we’ll do if at all possible. Be sure and call if anything changes.” He nodded. “Right, I’ll let you know. Give the girls a kiss and a hug for me and save a couple for yourself. Bye, honey.”
He hung up the phone, then leveled his amber gaze on her. “That was Kathie. Our grandfather had a bad spell this morning.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” It was the truth, she realized, sipping her coffee. Because of the pictures she’d seen last night, she felt as if she already knew him. “But now that our visit is obviously off, I’ll get ready and we can head back to Corpus as soon as possible.”
“My grandfather wants to meet you very badly, Tess. He’s requested that we come later on this afternoon, when he thinks he’ll be feeling better.”
“I hope he is, but I can’t afford to waste any more time.”
Muscle by muscle, he tensed. It was something she sensed, but if she’d had her hands on his body, she couldn’t have felt it any better. And the amber of his eyes darkened to an intensity and a sharpness that could have cut a diamond. “Is that what this has been to you? Truly? Just a big waste of time?”
She couldn’t truthfully say that. She’d wanted to learn more about him, and she had. But perhaps more importantly, she’d also learned something about herself that she’d never known. Last night, looking at the pictures in the living room, she’d realized that she badly wanted a close, loving family, something she’d never had and probably never would have.
“This morning starts a new day,” she said carefully, averting her eyes to her coffee cup, “and it’s a day I badly need to spend back in Corpus.” She paused and looked at him. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t wait around all day to see your grandfather.”
He ran an agitated hand through his hair. “Look, I know that all you have to do is pick up the phone and call your assistant. He’ll be in the office by now, and he could have a plane chartered, arrange for a car on this end and have you home by noon, but—”
“Calling him is exactly what I intend to do. Last night he must ha
ve slept over at his girlfriend’s, so he didn’t get my message. But by now, he’ll be at work.”
And as soon as she got back to Corpus, she planned to tell him that from now on, no matter where he spent the night, he was to call the office and check his messages.
“Please, Tess, just listen to me for a minute.”
“Don’t say please to me ever again.” She slammed her cup on the counter with enough force that coffee sloshed everywhere. It was a wonder the cup hadn’t broken.
“I’ll get down on my knees and beg you if it would help. Tess, my grandfather is dying, and meeting you is important to him.”
She could feel herself beginning to weaken. Damn it. Giving in to his requests was how she’d gotten herself into this mess in the first place. “Why, Nick? Does he, or do you, actually think hearing the story from a dying man will change my mind? It can’t. Don’t you understand? It can’t.”
“No, Tess. I don’t understand. I’m only asking for a postponement of a few months. At the end of that time, the oil will still be there. It’s not going anywhere.”
She sighed. So after all that had transpired last night, they were right back to the basics. He wanted something from her, and she couldn’t give it to him. “There are reasons I can’t stop the drilling.”
“Tell me.”
He’d said tell me last night when, in the heat of passion, she had moaned his name. But then he hadn’t really needed her to tell him what she’d wanted. He’d known. “My reasons are private.”
Tense silence charged the air. Praying for composure, she went about cleaning up the spill, then poured herself more coffee.
“Okay, Tess,” he said, his tone gruff. “Forget about what I want. Think about my grandfather, instead. He’s going to be very disappointed if he doesn’t get to meet you.” She opened her mouth to speak, but he rushed on. “And not only because you have the power to stop the drilling. He’s heard me talk about you and—”
“What do you mean, he’s heard you talk about me? We only met two nights ago.”
“I did a little research on you before we met.”
“So you said before.”
“The library and years of microfiche clued me in to a few things, but basically, family-owned businesses such as yours are very secretive. But you…your name and picture came up quite a few times, both in the business section of the paper and the society section.”
“And what does that have to do with your grandfather?”
He slowly exhaled. “Even before you and I met, he told me that my tone of voice changed when I was talking about you. And after we met, he said that even though I’ve mentioned quite a few women to him over the years, he’s never heard this particular tone in my voice before. He says it’s clear that I’m attracted to you. He’s lived to see Kathie happily married and settled, and he has just about decided that…that you will be the one I’ll marry.”
Her heart jumped into her throat. “He must have a spectacularly vivid imagination.”
His eyes thoughtfully narrowed on her. “I suppose so. But you have to remember that he’s dying. From his viewpoint, he’s afraid he won’t live to see me married. So now he’s decided that the next best thing is to meet the woman he thinks has won my heart. As I said, he’s very excited about your visit this afternoon.”
She stared at him, her mind busy absorbing the newest surprise he’d pulled out of his hat for her. “But that’s ridiculous.”
“Not to him,” he said, his tone very firm. “So you see, this visit involves much more than the Águila and its safety. You would be doing me a great favor if you would wait until after you’ve visited with him to leave.”
“You don’t fight fair.”
“I never said I did.”
She put a hand to her forehead, where she could feel pressure beginning to build. “I have to think about this.” With her coffee cup, she turned to go to her bedroom.
“Would you like some breakfast? I can make just about anything.”
She didn’t even glance back at him. “No, thank you.”
Tess showered, soaping her body and shampooing her hair. Then she simply stood beneath the water and let it rain down over her. It was wonderful.
She forced herself to concentrate only on the water and to think about nothing else. Too many things had happened too fast. Her mind needed a rest. And her body… Unfortunately, it needed much more.
But it didn’t matter. Telling Nick to stop last night had been the best thing she could have done. It really had been, she assured herself. She was already more involved with him than she should be.
Physically, she’d gone way too far with him. Emotionally, she was all tangled up in him and his family, whom she had yet to meet. Figure that one out, she told herself ruefully, as she leaned against the tiles and allowed the water to sluice over her. She couldn’t.
She climbed out, dried off and dressed in her red sleeveless dress. Her hair was wet, but she hadn’t been able to find a hair dryer, so she decided to let it dry naturally.
In order to avoid Nick, she went out the front door.
The day was warm, with only a slight breeze. She could see the wonderful scenery she’d missed last night. The hills were white with caliche. Thickets of mesquite and wild grasses tangled in the eroded ravines. Yellow and red blooms on the prickly pears clumped in the bar ditch, indicating a recent rain. And the vine that everyone called Grandpa’s beard wrapped itself around the fences and telephone poles, each petal a silvery white.
Nick’s grandparents might not own that many acres, but what they did own was beautiful. She made her way around the house and saw cattle grazing in a distant meadow. Closer to the house, she spied a swing hung in a gazebo. On three sides, the junipers grew thick around it and would filter the air.
Nice. She imagined that Nick’s grandparents had probably spent many evenings right there, discussing the events of the day and their grandchildren. And the fact that she had even thought of that worried her.
She settled into the swing and lifted her face for the cooling breeze. What was she going to do? Nick didn’t have a clue what she was up against, and even if he did, he would never agree that what she had to accomplish was more important than the dreams of his dying grandfather.
She couldn’t blame him for that. But… She closed her eyes and shook her head in bemusement at the decision she was about to make.
But she supposed that since she was already here, the least she could do was to stay and meet Nick’s grandfather. He believed Nick was in love with her, and even though nothing could be further from the truth, she couldn’t find it in herself to disillusion him. She sighed. She hadn’t even met the man, but here she was, trying to make him happy.
Making a dying man happy was a big responsibility. It was also an unfair responsibility, imposed on her by Nick. But because of the pictures, she would stay and do her best.
“May I join you?”
Her eyes flew open. Outlined against the blue sky, surrounded by brilliant sunshine, dressed in a gold knit polo shirt, Nick appeared every bit the sun god she’d first thought him to be.
In the incredibly short time she’d known him, he’d turned her life completely upside down. She’d gazed into his amber eyes and, like a lamb, had followed him wherever he had led her. She’d made not only bad decisions, she was now making bewildering decisions.
And at that moment, looking at him, all the hunger and need she’d felt for him last night came flooding back. Damn it. Somehow, in some way, she had to make those feelings go away for good. The sooner she was in her office, dealing with problems that she knew how to handle, the better off she would be.
“Actually, yes. I have a question for you.” He started to sit beside her, but she quickly held up her hand. “I’d prefer it if you didn’t sit here.”
He stared at her for several moments. “Okay.” His slid one hand into his jeans pocket and, with the other, gripped the swing’s chain.
Briefly she considere
d the very real possibility that she’d made a mistake in telling him not to sit beside her. As it was, her eyes were even with the waistband of his jeans. Thankfully he’d buttoned them, but with very little effort, she knew her gaze could wander downward and her imagination could take flight with thoughts of what was behind that fly. Truthfully, it wouldn’t take a lot of imagination. She’d felt it last night as he’d moved against her…
Her mouth went suddenly dry. “The night we met, you said that somehow you thought you had a chance at convincing me to give you the needed time. Why?”
“I thought you’d understand about a man who’d had one dream his whole life.”
“I assume you’re talking about your grandfather, but why would you think I would understand his dream?”
“I’ve already told you that I’d done a bit of homework on you. In the course of my reading, I found several articles on the Dream Foundation that you’ve established for underprivileged children.”
She nodded. “I’ve always thought that just because a child comes from a poor background doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t have a way to follow their dreams. And in my foundation, the words underprivileged and poor can mean many things. Maybe a child comes from a family who has money, but they belittle the child’s dream, or give that child no emotional support. My foundation tries to reach those children, too.”
“Exactly. My thought was that if you had the ability to understand that children need help in making their dreams come true, you would also understand that some adults have the same need.”
He’d cornered her by using her own beliefs against her. Very neat. Very sharp. “I can understand that, but in this case…” She cleared her throat. “In this case, it isn’t possible to grant any part of what you’re asking.”
“Why?”
“You’ve already asked that question, and I’ve already told you the reason is private.” By unspoken agreement, no one in their family ever talked to any outsider about its dynamics, and she wasn’t going to be the first. “Just because I have autonomy over my section of Baron International doesn’t mean I don’t have pressures and responsibilities that involve the family. You have to understand from our initial surveys and core samplings, it looks as if this particular well has the potential to bring in millions per year.”
The Barons of Texas: Tess Page 8