Loving Necessity: The Complete Necessity, Texas Collection

by Margo Bond Collins

  Oh, no. I recognize that voice.

  When Cash finally gazed at her, his jaw dropped. He regained his composure after a few seconds and offered Sierra a smile.

  “Hello,” he said. He didn’t know what else to say.

  “Jesus Christ, what are you doing here?”

  Cash shrugged. He couldn’t remember.

  “Mr. Crawford is here to buy a ranch,” said Gracie loudly. Then she hissed, “Why are you being so rude, Sierra? This isn’t like you.”

  Sierra ran her fingers through her hair and exhaled. “Oh. This isn’t fair. This is not fair!”

  Cash offered his best smile. Apparently she’d expected him to—what? Leave town entirely after their one-night stand?

  Guess she knows I’m one of those loathed billionaires by now. It wasn’t like he’d hidden the fact when he’d talked to the secretary. Seemed like an asset then. The kind of thing that might help a guy trying to buy a ranch.

  Gracie’s grin faltered as she glanced back and forth between them. “I’m sorry. Do you two know each other?”

  “Yes—I mean, no.” Sierra quickly retracted. She crossed her arms over her chest and wrapped them around herself, uncomfortable. “I thought I knew him but I don’t. He just looks familiar.”

  Cash nodded, keeping up with the facade. “Yeah. I get that a lot.”

  Sierra raised her eyebrows and gave a slight nod in a silent thank you.

  Still confused, Gracie backed toward the door. “Right. Okay, then. I don’t know what’s going on here so I’m just going to ignore it and let you two get to business.” With that, she backed toward the door.

  But when she left, she didn’t close the office door behind her. She’d be able to hear every word from her desk in the lobby area.

  All the while Gracie had been talking, Sierra remained standing, staring at Cash. Every so often, Cash would glance up at her apologetically but then glance away, expecting her to attack him at any moment.

  When Gracie left, she took a seat at her desk, putting the expanse of wood between the two of them.

  A position of power, he noted. She wouldn’t do that unless she felt like she needed to try to get the upper hand.

  Here we go.

  “So, why here?” she started.

  Cash cleared his throat. He straightened, suddenly uncomfortable. “Seems like a nice enough place to settle.”

  “We’re settled here, though. That’s the point. Why would you want to ruin that?”

  “Well. First of all, I don’t think my presence would ruin all of Necessity.” Cash felt attacked, and wondered where he went wrong—other than simply being rich, that was.

  Had he said something that upset her? Or was she just bitter about last night?

  No. She had some weird problem with billionaires, in particular.

  I wonder if it would matter to her that I’m a brand-new billionaire.

  “Of all the towns in all the country, why here?”

  He didn’t know how to respond. “It’s a ... nice town. Quiet.”

  Sierra glared at him with contempt. “This isn’t a place for people like you, you know. This is a town for people who earned their money in a respected, honest way. Not for those who took advantage of situations.”

  “Hey, my uncle was an honest man—”

  “Don’t even begin to defend your uncle,” interrupted Sierra. “You may think you knew him but you really didn’t. He was a cold, vicious man. He wanted to renovate this town and build factories on its land. The only thing that stopped him was our willingness to fight back. If you think you can come here and continue his legacy, you’re wrong.”

  Cash’s heart sunk. Sierra was right. He didn’t know the first thing about his uncle. He had no idea Jerry had wanted to change this town—only that he’d once mentioned that he was considering buying some land here.

  “I’m nothing like him,” he assured her. “I promise you.”

  But Sierra didn’t look convinced.

  I should just move on down the road, find another small town to settle down in. Or at least another real estate agent to work with.

  But as he looked at Sierra, her face set in fierce lines as she prepared to do battle to save Necessity, he found he couldn’t bring himself to leave.

  She’s perfect.

  Well, almost perfect, anyway. Even if she was entirely wrong about needing to keep him out of her town.

  Before this is over, he vowed, I’m going to show her that being a billionaire doesn’t make me a bad guy.

  SIERRA COULDN’T BELIEVE this was happening right now. Of all the guys she could have had her first (and last) one-night stand with, of course it had to be a billionaire who wanted to buy up the town.

  I can’t believe the universe would do this to me.

  The bigger problem though, was sitting right in front of her, staring at her across the desk.

  Cash Crawford still looked every bit as beautiful to her now as he did when she was drunk last night. And again when she’d seen him this morning, though she hated to admit it.

  Which meant that her attraction to him was not conditional. She admired the life in his eyes, the stubble on his chin, the power in his smile. Honest to god, she was captivated by him. Lost and tangled in his spell.

  And that would be fine if she never had to see him again. But now he was both a client and somebody she might have to campaign against, eventually. In any case, she’d have to see him every day, at least for a while.

  I’m going to have to convince him that none of the ranches I take him to see are suitable.

  She would have to work harder than ever to get him out of Necessity, both in order to please the town and so she could feel like herself again.

  She could no longer allow herself to be tempted by him.

  Once was enough and there will not be a second time, she swore to herself.

  Fine, Sierra. Get a hold of yourself.

  This was one of those situations that she just had to deal with. She placed the clipboards on the desk in front of her.

  “Let’s start over, shall we?” Her voice was slightly shaky and she prayed he didn’t hear the tremor.

  “I’d like that.” Cash’s voice with its slight growl sent a shiver down her back.

  She took a deep breath and put on her most professional voice and smile. “So, you’re interested in buying some property?”

  “I inherited a lot of money from my family,” explained Cash, folding his arms. “But the life of luxury isn’t for me. I want to get some land somewhere I can settle down, escape the rest of the world for a little while.”

  She was fascinated by the sound of his voice—and to be honest, his vision of a calm life. It took her a few seconds to realize he had finished speaking.

  “Ah, right, yes,” she stammered over her words. “A ranch, you said. Why specifically a ranch, may I ask?”

  Cash shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. “I like nature. I like tending to animals. It gives me a reason to get up in the morning. A purpose.”

  Sierra couldn’t conceal the smile that crept up on her face. Most of the billionaires she’d spoken to as a realtor were reckless with their money, just wanting to buy as much property as they could to prove their wealth. But Cash seemed to have an honest investment—one of himself as well as his money. He wanted to buy a private, happy life. That was almost admirable.

  She pulled out a variety of pictures of different ranches. She spread them out on the table and turned them around so Cash could see.

  “We take pride in our ranches in this town,” she said. “The land’s a little rocky for most crops, so most ranchers out here go in for cattle—though a few of the properties can support small farms or hayfields.”

  Cash smiled as he viewed the images, as if he were viewing the quiet life he wanted, rather than simply land for sale. “A true escape from the rest of my life. This is just what I’m looking for.”

  Sierra nodded. “Usually, I’d ask for your price range, bu
t I’m guessing money isn’t a problem for you.” She regretted the words the instant they left her mouth. She hadn’t meant for it to sound snarky but that is exactly how it had come out. She bit her lip and prayed he didn’t retaliate.

  But he didn’t—he simply continued to smile gently. Either the remark hadn’t bothered him or he was too engrossed in the perfect pictures to pay attention what she’d said.

  Suddenly—and very much against her will—she found herself imagining a life with him. They would wake up bright and early on a Sunday morning to tend to the animals. Go horseback riding together in their spare time. Care for chickens, some cows. Maybe even get a dog to complete their perfect, quiet, calm life.

  And have amazing, incredible, hot, steamy sex at night.

  She shook her head to banish the memory of the night before. You cannot picture a life with a guy who is tarnishing everything this town stands for, she scolded herself.

  Even now, she was betraying the townspeople by speaking to him with kindness and interest.

  No, she had to step up her game.

  Remember—your job is to dissuade him from buying at all. Sell the land to someone else. Someone who’d truly become a part of Necessity.

  Her lips sank into a thin line as she considered her next words carefully.

  “It’s my job to sell you this land,” she told him, her tone lowered yet sharp. “But I think I owe it to you to let you know you won’t be welcome here. The townspeople blocked your uncle from building out here. And Necessity voted to change the zoning to keep another billionaire from turning his new purchase into a dude ranch. We don’t want to be a tourist attraction. And we don’t want to be a company town.” She tapped one of the pictures. “That’s the failed dude ranch. It’s for sale again.”

  Sierra eyed him carefully and leaned in closer, “Do you know what I’d do if I was as rich as you? I’d give it to charities and to those who need it more than me. Invest money into eliminating global warming. Help the needy. You know, the right thing.”

  For a moment, she felt like she’d won when she saw the look of consideration on Cash’s face. He looked as if he were going to stand up and leave, maybe after apologizing for having wasted her time.

  But he didn’t. Instead, he leaned into the table, closer to her. “Really?” he chuckled. “And here I was, thinking you’d buy a necklace.”

  Her face flushed hot and red at the reference to the night before.

  Tilting her chin up high, she pulled her shoulders back and stood up straight. “Mr. Crawford,” she said in her coldest voice, “I think perhaps it would be better if you found another realtor to help you in your search for a ranch to purchase. I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you.”

  With that, she walked out of the room, carefully closing the door behind her with a controlled click.

  Sierra was nearly out the front door when Gracie caught up to her, her high heels clacking rapidly against the hard floor.

  “What the hell has gotten in to you?” asked Gracie.

  “I can’t work with someone like that,” said Sierra, frustrated tears threatening to fall from her eyes. “He’s so damn...rude.”

  “What are you talking about? Did I miss something? He didn’t say anything bad at all.” Gracie’s nose wrinkled up. “In fact, he seems like a nice guy, actually.”

  Sierra took a few deep breaths to calm herself. To the casual observer, she would definitely seem like a total psycho. All he had suggested that she would buy a necklace.

  But to her, it was much more than that. It was a reminder of her drunken foolishness—and he was teasing her about it.

  It shows that to him, I’m not a professional realtor. I’m his one-night stand, and I have no influence over his choices.

  Worst of all, it showed that because of her mistakes, she wouldn’t be able to convince him to leave Necessity. She had let herself down and let the town down.

  “He’s just so full of himself,” Sierra finally sighed. “All billionaires are. Yes, even Tor Edwards. They think they’re better than us because they can afford to buy...anything. Everything.”

  “Come on, now.” Gracie smiled at her and reached out for her hand. “Don’t you think you’re overreacting just a little? You can handle the best of these rich douchebags. You’ve never walked out on a client like that before. Just calm down a little and we can apologize and go back in.”

  Sierra knew her friend was right—but what Gracie didn’t know, what Sierra was just discovering, was that it was physically impossible for her to calm down around Cash. He had this incredible power over her that made her want to either have him once more or wrap her hands around his throat.

  Neither approach is suitable for a client. She was desperate for him to change his mind and leave this town forever—though it didn’t look like that was going to happen any time soon.

  “Whatever’s going on with you right now, Sierra, you can’t let it bleed into your work life. You taught me that, remember?”

  Sierra nodded. This was different, though. Her personal life was bleeding into her work life, whether she liked it or not.

  “Want me to lead this one?” asked Gracie.

  With hesitance, Sierra agreed. She had always taken the lead with clients—not only was Gracie only a trainee, but Sierra was naturally the better at making sales and finding the best deals.

  This time, though, she knew she had to take a step back. Otherwise, her emotions would get the better of her.

  And it will all end up in tears.

  Chapter 6

  Cash had watched Sierra as she walked out of the room. That careful closing of the door had been as emphatic as if she had slammed it behind her.

  Cash felt a brief urge to laugh, but then it dawned on him that he actually may have upset her. He felt almost guilty, though he’d intended to tease her only a little.

  Reminding her of last night probably wasn’t your best move, dumbass. She’d acted weird when they’d woken up—clearly she wasn’t the type who usually hooked up with guys at bars.

  He hated to admit it, but he liked that.

  Add his status as a billionaire—and his deception-by-omission—and it was probably the perfect recipe for her to end up loathing him.

  But I’m not going to let that happen.

  By the time he got outside, Gracie was on her way back in, apologizing profusely. “I’ll be right back,” he said as he brushed past her, his eyes already on Sierra’s retreating form.

  She marched down the street, her back stiff and unyielding. Cash wasn’t far behind, and jogged to catch up to her.

  “What’s the matter?” Not even slightly out of breath, he slowed to match her pace. “Why are you running away from me?”

  She didn’t look at him. “You know why.”

  He genuinely didn’t—surely she wasn’t really upset that he’d brought up the necklace. “Is this about last night?”

  “I want to forget that even happened.”

  “Okay...” Cash sighed. “Though I never really had a chance to say... you were great.”

  Her cheeks reddened as she stopped in her tracks.

  “Are you kidding me?” she said.

  He shook his head.

  The corners of her lips twitched, as if she was fighting the urge to smile, and she narrowed her eyes at him. In heels, she was almost as tall as he was—and Cash was more than six feet.

  When they’d kissed, she’d barely had to stand on her tiptoes.

  His eyes heated as his gaze fell to her mouth and he imagined licking those not-quite-smiling corners. Her lips parted as she drew in a breath and swayed toward him, but then she blinked and stepped back.

  “You’re nothing but a rascal,” she said, spluttering as she looked away. “A dirty, rotten...rascal.”

  “That’s my middle name.”

  “What, Cash ‘dirty, rotten rascal’ Crawford?”

  “Yep. I can show you my birth certificate if you’d like. My parents are Janice “inconside
rate bitchface” and Michael “asshat tool” Crawford.”

  Sierra couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re ridiculous.” She shook her head, but any venom was gone from her tone.

  “I really do like your laugh,” commented Cash.

  Her glance was suspicious, but she took the compliment at face value. “Thanks.”

  “No problem. Lights up a room.”

  “Now you must really be joking.” But she smiled as she said it.

  That’s better.

  He realized that all he wanted to do in this moment was make sure she kept smiling.

  I don’t know if this will work, but... He extended his hand and nudged hers with it.

  “What are you doing?” Sierra asked, still suspicious.

  “Asking permission to hold your hand. It’s a normal thing.”

  “Well, stop it.”

  “It’s a hand, Sierra. Not a wedding ring.”

  Not a wedding ring? Where had that come from? Cash bit down on his own shock and kept his hand extended, a gentle smile on his face.

  Wedding rings. Interesting choice, Crawford.

  Guess I’ve got them on the mind.

  WHY HAD HE BROUGHT up wedding rings? Sierra stared at his hand as if it were a rattlesnake preparing to strike.

  She knew she was overreacting. Holding his hand, in theory, wasn’t such a big deal.

  But she also knew that the second she set her hand in his, she was accepting the possibility that this went beyond a client-realtor relationship. More than that, she was allowing her feelings for him to take control. And the last time she’d done that, she’d destroyed her relationship with Jimmy.

  The mess of their meeting this morning was one thing—how would she be when they actually had to seal the deal?

  The real estate deal, she reminded herself. Quit thinking about other deals.

  Before she could go ahead and reach for his hand, a couple of people turned the corner and walked down the sidewalk toward them—Henry and Thomas Davis. She gave them a generous smile, hoping they hadn’t noticed the almost-holding-hands business.

  “Good morning,” she greeted them.