Claimed for Destiny

by Brenda Jackson

  Jared jerked his head around when his mother burst through the kitchen door. Her face was all aglow.

  “I happened to be passing by the door and heard the words engagement ring. Oh, Jared, you have made me so proud and happy,” his mother exclaimed between bouts of laughter and tears of joy. She then hugged Dana. “Welcome to the family.”

  Jared’s head began spinning when it became crystal clear what his mother had assumed. He was just about to open his mouth to set her straight when the kitchen door flew open again and his entire family poured in.

  “What’s going on?” Jared’s father asked when he saw his wife in tears.

  Again Jared opened his mouth to speak but his mother’s voice drowned out any words he was about to say. “Jared and Dana. They just got engaged! He gave her a ring! Oh, I am so happy. I can’t believe that one of my sons is finally settling down and getting married.”

  Jared and Dana suddenly became swamped with words of congratulation and well wishing. He glanced over at Dana and saw she was as shocked with the way things were escalating as he was. He reached over and gently squeezed her hand, hoping that he was assuring her that he would straight en things out. He knew that he should do so now but couldn’t re call the last time he’d seen his mother this happy.

  Sarah Westmoreland began crying again. “You have really made me happy today, Jared. Who would have thought that of all my sons you would have a change of heart about marriage? But I could feel the love flowing between the two of you when I opened the door and saw you standing there together.”

  Dana glanced over at Jared. She read the message in his eyes that clearly said: Trust me, I’ll get us out of this mess, but for now, please let my mother have her moment of happiness. She gave him a silent nod to let him know she under stood what he was asking. She in haled deeply. Of all the misunderstandings she’d heard of, this one was definitely a doozy.

  “Dana and I are leaving,” Jared said, taking Dana’s hand and leading her out of the kitchen.

  “But—but we haven’t celebrated your good news,” his mother called out when he headed for the door.

  He turned to look at his relatives, wanting to tell them that they wouldn’t be celebrating it, either. They had followed the couple to the door and were crowded around them. He frowned at the “glad it’s you and not me” look on the faces of the other single Westmoreland men. “I’ll see everyone tomorrow,” he told his family.

  Then with out saying another word and holding Dana’s hand firmly in his, he walked out of his parents’ house, closing the door behind him.

  “I’m sorry about what happened back there,” Jared said. Talk about the wrong information getting blown out of proportion. “I just couldn’t tell my mother the truth. She was so happy.”

  Dana nodded. “I understand.”

  Jared lifted his head and gazed over at Dana, met her gaze and something about the way she was looking back at him told him that she really did understand. “Thank you.”

  She smiled. “You don’t have to thank me. This was a special day for your family. I saw how happy your mother was when she’d thought we’d gotten engaged.”

  Jared nodded, grateful for her understanding. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow and straight en things out,” he said quietly.

  “All right.”

  Satisfied, Jared put his car in gear and backed out of his parents’ drive way. At the first traffic light they came to, he glanced over and noticed the engagement ring was on Dana’s finger. He frowned, remembering his mother’s insistence that she put it on. For some reason he didn’t like seeing her wearing Luther Cord’s ring. “Now that you have the ring back what are you going to do with it?” he asked, trying to keep his voice neutral.

  Dana glanced over at him before looking down at the ring. “What I had planned to do all along. Hock it and use the money to pay off the remaining wedding expenses. I’m surprised Luther returned it to me.”

  Jared wasn’t surprised. During the last conversation he’d had with Cord, he had suggested that he do the decent thing and relieve some of the financial bur den breaking the engagement had placed on Dana. He had strongly recommended that al though he wasn’t legally obligated to do so, he should consider letting her keep the ring. Evidently the man had taken his advice.

  When the traffic light changed, Jared glanced over at Dana. Her eyes were closed and her head was back against the headrest. He couldn’t stop the smile that touched his lips. No doubt this had been a tiring day for her. He was used to his huge family, but a stranger might be over whelmed.

  “Considering everything, do you regret going to my parents’ home for dinner?” he couldn’t help but ask.

  Although she didn’t open her eyes, a smile touched her lips. “No, I had a wonderful time, Jared. Being around your family and seeing your closeness, brought back so many memories of how close I was to my parents and how they used to make every holiday so special for me.” She opened her eyes, tilted her head to him and smiled. “I really appreciate you sharing your friendly, loving pack with me today.”

  The warm look Dana gave him sent heated sensations down Jared’s spine. She might have enjoyed spending time with his family, but he could admit that he had actually enjoyed spending the day with her, as well. She was a charming person to be around and, unlike a lot of his other dates, Dana had not demanded his complete attention, by clinging to him or refusing to let him out of her sight.

  He had watched how easily she had blended in with his family and how quickly she had won them over. He could see why his mother thought he had fall en for her.

  Jared’s hand tightened on the steering wheel. Thinking he was falling for her was one thing, but actually believing that he was engaged to her was another. How could his mother assume such a thing? She knew how he felt about marriage. Did she actually believe one woman could make him change his whole thought process on something he felt so strongly about?

  Moments later he pulled into Dana’s drive way and brought the car to a stop. He glanced over at her and saw that she had fall en asleep. He hated waking her but knew that he had to. So as not to startle her, he leaned over and softly whispered, “Dana, you’re home.”

  He watched as her eyes slowly opened, then of its own ac cord his gaze latched on to her lips, full, luscious, tempting. He would give anything to know how they tasted.

  “I think I’d better walk you to the door,” he said, fighting the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her.

  He watched as she took a deep breath and nodded. “All right.”

  Opening the door he got out of the car and walked around to open the door for her; then together they walked to her door. She turned to face him. “Thanks again, Jared, for such a beautiful day. It was special.”

  He nodded. He wanted to say that she was special, too, but knew that he couldn’t. This was their only time together and he had to accept that. “Thanks for being my date. I’ll talk to my mother tomorrow.”

  “Okay.”

  He watched as she put her key in the door and moments later she turned to him. She hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Would you like to come in for a drink?”

  He suddenly decided that he wanted to go in, but not for the drink she was offering. He wanted to do something he’d been thinking of all day. “Yes, I’d like that.”

  He followed her in side, but when she headed to ward the kitchen he placed his hand on her arm. “I can’t think of a better way for this day to end than this,” he said softly, before leaning down and gently capturing her mouth with his, needing to taste her as much as he needed to breathe.

  Shivers of profound pleasure shot through every part of Dana’s body the moment their lips touched and her eyelids automatically fluttered shut. When Jared’s tongue slipped into her mouth, tasting of the sweet tea he had sipped earlier, she shuddered as a delicious shiver ran up her spine.

  Sensations she had never felt before consumed her and when she felt his hands wrap around her middle, pulling her clo
se to the fit of his hard body, she could have melted right where she stood. His assault of her mouth was deliberate, sensuous, unhurried. It was meant to tantalize and awaken every part of her and it did.

  Then he deepened the kiss, taking it to another level as he continued to take her mouth slowly, thoroughly, passionately. A part of her wanted to pull back, but he was right. This was the perfect way to end the day. They had been attracted to each other from the first and to pretend otherwise would be a complete waste of time. And since this was the last time they’d spend together, they could at least have this moment.

  So she hung in and continued to let him kiss her, finding exquisite pleasure in every moment that he did so. Then he changed the rhythm of their kiss as his tongue played seek and re treat with hers, making a whimper rumble from deep with in her throat.

  Heat throbbed with in Jared as he continued to kiss Dana. Initially, he had meant for the kiss to be nothing more than a way of saying goodbye, to satisfy his curiosity and hunger, but the moment he tasted her sweetness he was help less to do anything but sink in and savor.

  He made sure his kiss was gentle but thorough as he relentlessly explored her mouth. His tongue dueled with hers in a slow sensuous motion and when she wound her arms around his neck and arched her body to the hard length of his, he was consumed with hot waves of desire. There was something about her that had his senses pulsating. Never before had he been this driven to devour anyone.

  Moments later with a fevered moan, he lifted his mouth away from hers al though he continued to track her lips with his tongue. “You’re beautiful in every way that a woman can be, Dana,” he whispered roughly against her ear, burying his face in her neck and placing a kiss there.

  His compliment touched Dana’s very core. No one had ever said such a thing to her. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me. It’s the truth,” he said, releasing her slowly and taking a step back. “And I want to thank you again for helping me out today.”

  “I want to thank you, as well. Like I said, your family is wonderful.”

  He nodded. There would be no reason to see her after today. He tried racking his brain for some excuse to drop by, but couldn’t find one. He ran a frustrated hand across the back of his neck. No woman had ever had him this reluctant to say goodbye. He glanced around the room, stalling for time. “Where’s Tom?” he asked, trying to pro long the time by even an additional second if he could.

  “He’s probably in my bed.”

  Damn luck y cat. Jared met her gaze and knew he should leave before he did something really crazy such as grabbing her and starting to kiss her again. “Goodbye, Dana.”

  “Goodbye, Jared.”

  “Take care of your self.” And with those final words he turned, opened the door and walked out of the house.

  Three

  Around ten the next morning, Jared walked into his parents’ home. His nine o’clock court appointment had gotten canceled, which afforded him the opportunity to visit his mother and straighten out yesterday’s misunderstanding.

  “Mom! Dad!” he called out while walking through the living room to the kitchen.

  “I’m out back,” was his father’s re ply.

  Jared opened the kitchen door and stepped on to the sun deck his father had built last year. He saw him busy at work putting a coat of polish on his classic Ford Mustang. “Good morning, Dad.”

  “Morning, son. What a nice surprise to see you on a Monday morning.”

  “I had a canceled court hearing this morning. Where is everyone?”

  “Durango stayed over at Stone’s place last night and Ian and Spencer are having breakfast with their cousins at Chase’s Place. Quade had to fly out first thing this morning to return to D.C. and Reggie, I imagine went to work.”

  Jared nodded and glanced around. “I need to talk to Mom. Is she up stairs?”

  His father sighed deeply. “No, she had a doctor’s appointment this morning.”

  Jared frowned. “A doctor’s appointment? Is anything wrong?”

  His father shrugged. “I hope not, but you know your mother. If something is wrong then I’ll be the last to know. She thinks if she tells me anything I’d worry myself to death. I wouldn’t know about her appointment today if I hadn’t heard the message the doctor’s office left on the answering ma chine reminding her of it. Appears they found another lump during her check up last week.”

  Jared’s frown deepened. Three years ago his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had undergone a series of chemo and radiation treatments before being given a clean bill of health.

  “Mom’s car is in the drive way so how did she get to the doctor’s?”

  “I offered to drive her but she had al read y made arrangements for your aunt Evelyn to take her. You know those two. They have been best friends for years.”

  Jared nodded. Everyone in the Westmoreland family knew how the two women who had been best friends since high school had ended up marrying the Westmoreland twins, becoming sisters-in-law. “Do you think it’s anything serious?” he asked.

  He couldn’t help but remember how things were the last time. The cancer treatments had made his mother sicker than he’d ever remembered her being. He, his brothers and his dad had made the mistake of hovering over her as if she was an in valid. That hadn’t helped matters, which was probably the reason she hadn’t mentioned this doctor’s appointment to any of them. They would have all shown up at the doctor’s office with her today.

  “To be honest, Jared, I was beginning to get concerned. I could tell she was worried, al though she tried pretending that she wasn’t. But then all that changed yesterday.”

  Jared raised a brow. “Yesterday? What happened yesterday?”

  “You made her one extremely happy woman when you and Dana announced your engagement.”

  Jared opened his mouth to say that he and Dana hadn’t exactly announced anything. His mother had assumed the wrong thing and jumped to conclusions.

  “I think your engagement actually gave her a new lease on life, a determination to handle whatever it is the doctor is going to tell her today and for that I’m grateful. You know how de pressed she got the last time she had to under go all those treatments. If that’s the verdict again, and God knows I hope it’s not, she’ll be more of a fighter because she knows she has an important day to look for ward to.”

  “What day?”

  “The day you and Dana will marry,” James Westmoreland said, smiling. “That’s all she talked about last night and this morning. She likes Dana and thinks she’ll make you a fine wife. So do I. You selected well, Jared, and your timing could not have been better. If there’s a chance your mother’s cancer has returned and she has to under go more treatments, she’ll do whatever she has to do to retain her health to help plan your wedding.”

  “My wedding?”

  “Yes, your wedding. Thanks, Son, for giving your mother a reason to fight whatever we might be up against. She’ll be able to handle anything now since she knows one of her sons is finally getting married and will eventually give her a grandchild.”

  Jared stood in stunned silence. One thing was clear—he couldn’t tell his mother the truth about Dana now.

  Dana glanced through her peephole and raised an arched brow. She and Jared had said their goodbyes yesterday, so why was he standing on her front porch at six o’clock in the afternoon?

  She swallowed the knot in her throat and tried to stop the rapid beating of her heart. It didn’t take much for her to remember the kiss they’d shared, a kiss she had thought about most of the day. Instead of concentrating on her work, her mind had been filled with memories of Jared Westmoreland and how well he could kiss, not wanting to think about what else he was probably an expert at doing.

  She continued to stud y him through the peephole. He was dressed in his business suit, which meant he had probably come straight from the office. He looked coolly reserved, in control and professional. Yet at the same time he also lo
oked devastatingly male, incredibly sexy and he was affecting her in that man-woman kind of way. Swallowing hard, she blew out a slow breath and told herself to get a grip as she opened the door.

  “Jared?” She sounded breath less, even to her own ears and could only imagine how she might have sounded to his. And the way he was looking at her with those dark, in tense eyes wasn’t helping.

  “Dana, I hate to bother you but I need to talk with you about something important.”

  Her eyes widened. Whatever he had to say sounded serious. “All right.”

  She stepped aside to let him in and closed the door behind him. “Can I get you something to drink?” she asked, leading him to her living room.

  “No, I’m fine,” Jared said, but feeling anything but fine. His conversation with his father had thrown a monkey wrench into what he’d planned to tell his mother. Out of the corner of his eye Jared saw Tom race from where he had been near the sofa to the vicinity of the kitchen.

  Jared took the seat Dana offered him on the sofa and watched as she sat in the chair across from him. With everything on his mind, the last thing he needed was to notice the skirt and blouse she was wearing. But he hadn’t been able to look away when she sat down and he caught a glimpse of thigh that her short skirt revealed. Nor could he dismiss the way her blouse hugged her breasts.

  “Jared? You said you had something important you needed to discuss with me.”

  Her words reminded him of the reason he was there and he met her curious gaze. “I went to see my mother this morning to clear up the misunderstanding, but things didn’t go the way I had intended. She wasn’t home so I talked to my dad instead.”

  Dana nodded. “And you told him the truth.”

  “No.”

  “Oh?” Dana said, con fused.

  “There seems to be a problem,” Jared said, knowing that he needed to tell her everything. He decided to start at the beginning.

  “Three years ago my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. The lump was re moved and she went through eight weeks of both chemo and radiation. She had good days and bad days and my father, brothers and I saw just what a remarkable woman she was.”