He Wasn’t Sure Exactly When He Decided Gemma Westmoreland Was Destined To Be His Woman.
Probably the day she had arrived from college. The moment she got out of her car and raced over to her older brother’s arms for a huge hug, Callum had felt as if he’d been hit over the head with a two-by-four—not once but twice. And when she’d turned that wonder-girl smile on him, he hadn’t been the same since.
Gemma, the one with the fiery temper. The one a man would least be able to handle.
Yes, Callum was more than certain that Gemma was the woman for him.
Now he had the job of convincing her of that…in an unsuspecting way, since she was also a woman who thought a serious relationship was not for her. Gemma Westmoreland was determined never to let a man break her heart.
But Callum knew that was the one thing she didn’t have to worry about.
Dear Reader,
When I first introduced Callum Austell in Hot Westmoreland Nights, I knew he would be a man to die for; a man who would know what he wanted and would do whatever it took to get it. I left no doubt in anyone’s mind that Callum wanted Gemma Westmoreland, and in this very special story he plans to get what he wants.
But first he has to be gracious enough to give Gemma what she wants, or what she thinks she wants. Gemma and Callum’s story is a special love affair that shows the love and devotion of a man determined to win the heart of the woman he loves, although that woman is determined to keep her heart to herself.
I hope all of you enjoy reading Callum and Gemma’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
And I want to thank all of you who helped to make Hot Westmoreland Nights a New York Times bestseller!
Happy reading!
Brenda Jackson
BRENDA JACKSON
WHAT A WESTMORELAND WANTS
To my husband, the love of my life and my best friend, Gerald Jackson, Sr.
To everyone who enjoys reading about the Westmoreland family, this one is for you!
Esteem her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you.
—Proverbs 4:8
Books by Brenda Jackson
Silhouette Desire
*Delaney’s Desert Sheikh #1473
*A Little Dare #1533
*Thorn’s Challenge #1552
Scandal Between the Sheets #1573
*Stone Cold Surrender #1601
*Riding the Storm #1625
*Jared’s Counterfeit Fiancée #1654
Strictly Confidential Attraction #1677
*The Chase Is On #1690
Taking Care of Business #1705
*The Durango Affair #1727
*Ian’s Ultimate Gamble #1756
*Seduction, Westmoreland Style #1778
Stranded with the Tempting Stranger #1825
*Spencer’s Forbidden Passion #1838
*Taming Clint Westmoreland #1850
*Cole’s Red-Hot Pursuit #1874
*Quade’s Babies #1911
*Tall, Dark…Westmoreland! #1928
One Night with the Wealthy Rancher #1958
*Westmoreland’s Way #1975
*Hot Westmoreland Nights #2000
In Too Deep #2025
“Husband Material”
*What a Westmoreland Wants #2035
BRENDA JACKSON
is a die “heart” romantic who married her childhood sweetheart and still proudly wears the “going steady” ring he gave her when she was fifteen. Because Brenda believes in the power of love, her stories always have happy endings. In her real-life love story, Brenda and her husband of thirty-eight years live in Jacksonville, Florida, and have two sons.
A New York Times bestselling author of more than seventy-five romance titles, Brenda is a recent retiree who now divides her time between family, writing and traveling with Gerald. You may write Brenda at P.O. Box 28267, Jacksonville, Florida 32226, by e-mail at [email protected] or visit her Web site at www.brendajackson.net.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Epilogue
Prologue
Callum Austell sat in the chair with his legs stretched out in front of him as he stared at the man sitting behind the huge oak desk. He and Ramsey Westmoreland had become friends from the first, and now he had convinced Ramsey that he was the man who would give his sister Gemma the happiness she deserved.
But Callum knew there was one minor flaw in his plans. One that would come back to haunt him if Gemma Westmoreland ever discovered that the trip to Australia he would offer her would be orchestrated for the sole purpose of getting her off familiar turf so that she would finally come to realize just how much he cared for her.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Ramsey said, interrupting Callum’s thoughts. “Gemma will give you hell when she finds out the truth.”
“I’ll tell her before then, but not before she falls in love with me,” Callum replied.
Ramsey lifted a brow. “And if she doesn’t?”
To any other woman Callum’s intense pursuit might seem like a romantic move, but Ramsey was convinced his sister, who didn’t have a romantic bone in her body, wouldn’t see things that way.
Callum’s expression was determined. “She will fall in love with me.” And then the look in his eyes almost became one of desperation. “Damn, Ram, she has to. I knew the first moment I saw her that she was the one and only woman for me.”
Ramsey took a deep breath. He wished he’d had the same thoughts the first time he set eyes on his wife, Chloe. Then he would not have encountered the problems he had. However, his first thoughts when he’d seen Chloe weren’t the least bit honorable.
“You’re my friend, Callum, but if you hurt my sister in any way, then you’ll have one hell of an angry Westmoreland to deal with. Your intentions toward Gemma better be nothing but honorable.”
Callum leaned forward in his chair. “I’m going to marry her.”
“She has to agree to that first.”
Callum stood. “She will. You just concentrate on be coming a father to the baby you and Chloe are expecting in a couple of months, and let me worry about Gemma.”
One
Gem, I am sorry and I hope you can forgive me one day.
—Niecee
Gemma Westmoreland lifted a brow after reading the note that appeared on her computer after she’d booted it up. Immediately, two questions sailed through her mind. Where was Niecee when she should have been at work over an hour ago and what was Niecee apologizing for?
The hairs on the back of Gemma’s neck began standing up and she didn’t like the feeling. She had hired Niecee Carter six months ago when Designs by Gem began picking up business, thanks to the huge contract she’d gotten with the city of Denver to redecorate several of its libraries. Then Gayla Mason had wanted her mansion redone. And, last but not least, her sister-in-law, Chloe, hired Gemma for a makeover of the Denver branch of her successful magazine, Simply Irresistible.
Gemma had been badly in need of help and Niecee had possessed more clerical skills than the other candidates she’d interviewed. She had given the woman the job without fully checking out her references—something her oldest brother, Ramsey, had warned her against doing. But she hadn’t listened. She’d figured that she and the bubbly Niecee would gel well. They had, but now, as Gemma quickl
y logged into her bank account, she couldn’t help wondering if perhaps she should have taken Ramsey’s advice.
Gemma had been eleven when Ramsey and her cousin Dillon had taken over the responsibility of raising their thirteen siblings after both sets of parents had been killed in a plane crash. During that time Ramsey had been her rock, the brother who’d been her protector. And now, it seemed, the brother she should have listened to when he’d handed out advice on how to run her business.
She pulled in a sharp breath when she glanced at the balance in her checking account. It was down by $20,000. Nervously, she clicked on the transaction but ton and saw that a $20,000 check had cleared her bank—a check that she hadn’t written. Now she knew what Niecee’s apology was all about.
Gemma dropped her face in her hands and felt the need to weep. But she refused to go there. She had to come up with a plan to replace that money. She was expecting invoices to come rolling in any day now from the fabric shops, arts and craft stores and her light fixtures suppliers, just to name a few. Clearly, she wouldn’t have enough funds to pay all her debts. She needed to replace those funds.
She stood and began pacing the floor as anger consumed her. How could Niecee have done this to her? If she needed the money, all she had to do was ask. Although Gemma might not have been able to part with that much from her personal account, she could have borrowed the money from one of her brothers or cousins.
Gemma pulled in a deep frustrated breath. She had to file a police report. Her friendship and loyalty to Niecee ended the minute her former worker had stolen from her. She should have suspected something. Niecee hadn’t been her usual bubbly self the last few days. Gemma figured it had to do with her trifling live-in boyfriend who barely worked. Had he put Niecee up to this? It didn’t matter because Niecee should know right from wrong, and embezzling from your employer was wrong.
Sitting back down at her desk, Gemma reached for the phone and then pulled her hand back. Dang! If she called Sheriff Bart Harper—who had gone to school with both Ramsey and Dillon—and filed a report, there was no doubt in her mind that both Ram and Dillon would hear about it. Those were the last two people she wanted in her business. Especially since they’d tried talking her out of opening her interior design shop in the first place.
For the past year, things had worked out fairly well with her being just a one-woman show with her sisters, Megan and Bailey, helping out if needed. She had even pulled in her brothers, Zane and Derringer, on occasion, when heavy lifting had been involved. But when the big jobs began coming in, she had advertised in the newspapers and online for an administrative assistant.
She stood and began pacing again. Bailey was still taking classes at the university and wouldn’t have that much money readily available, and Megan had mentioned just the other week that she was saving for a much-needed vacation. Megan was contemplating visiting their cousin, Delaney, who lived in the Middle East with her husband and two children, so there was no way she could hit her up for a loan.
Zane and Derringer were generous and because they were bachelors they might have that kind of ready dough. But they had recently pooled all their funds to buy into a horse-breeding and -training franchise, together with their cousin, Jason. She couldn’t look in their direction now, due to that business venture. And all her other siblings and cousins were either in school or into their own businesses and investments.
So where was she going to get $20,000?
Gemma stood staring at the phone for a moment before it hit her that the thing was ringing. She quickly picked it up, hoping it was Niecee letting her know she was returning the money to her or, better yet, that the whole thing was a joke.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Gemma, this is Callum.”
She wondered why the man who managed Ramsey’s sheep farm would be calling her. “Yes, Callum?”
“I was wondering if I could meet with you sometime today to discuss a business proposition.”
She lifted a brow. “A business proposition?”
“Yes.”
The first thought that crossed her mind was that engaging in a business meeting was the last thing she was in the mood for today. But then she quickly realized that she couldn’t let what Niecee did keep her from handling things with her company. She still had a business to run.
“When would you like to meet, Callum?”
“How about today for lunch.”
“Lunch?”
“Yes, at McKay’s.”
She wondered if he knew that McKay’s was her favorite lunch spot. “Okay, that’ll work. I’ll see you there at noon,” she said.
“Great. See you then.”
Gemma held the phone in her hand, thinking how much she enjoyed listening to Callum’s deep Australian accent. He always sounded so ultrasexy. But then he was definitely a sexy man. That was something she tried not to notice too much, mainly because he was a close friend of Ramsey’s. Also, according to Jackie Barnes, a nurse who worked at the hospital with Megan and who’d had a bad case of the hots for Callum when he first arrived in Denver, Callum had a girl waiting for him back in Australia and it was a very serious relationship.
But what if he no longer had that girl waiting for him back in Australia? What if he was as available as he was hot? What if she could forget that he was her oldest brother’s close friend? What if…
Dismissing all such thoughts with a wave of her hand, she sat back down at her computer to figure out a way to rob Peter to pay Paul.
Callum Austell leaned back in his chair as he glanced around the restaurant. The first time he’d eaten here had been with Ramsey when he first came to Denver. He liked it then and now this would be the place where he would put into motion a plan some would think was way past due being executed. He would have to admit they were probably right.
He wasn’t sure exactly when he decided that Gemma Westmoreland was destined to be his woman. Probably the day he had helped Ramsey build that barn and Gemma had arrived from college right after graduation. The moment she got out of her car and raced over to her older brother’s arms for a huge hug. Callum had felt like he’d gotten hit over the head with a two-by-four, not once but twice. And when Ramsey had introduced them and she’d turned that wondergirl smile on him, he hadn’t been the same since. His father and his two older brothers had warned him that it would be that way when he found the woman destined to be his, but he hadn’t believed them.
That had been almost three years ago and she’d been just twenty-two years old. So he’d waited patiently for her to get older and had watched over her from afar. And each passing day she’d staked a deeper claim to his heart. Knowing how protective Ramsey was of his siblings, especially his three sisters, Callum had finally gotten up the nerve to confront Ramsey and tell him how he felt about Gemma.
At first Ramsey hadn’t liked the idea of his best friend lusting after one of his sisters. But then Callum had convinced Ramsey it was more than lust and that he knew in his heart that Gemma was “the one” for him.
For six months, Ramsey had lived with Callum’s family back in Australia on the Austell sheep ranch to learn everything he could so he could start his own operations in Denver. He had hung around Callum’s parents and brothers enough to know how dedicated the Austell men were once they fell in love.
His father had given up on falling in love and was on his way back to Australia from a business meeting in the United States to marry an Australian woman when he’d met Callum’s mother. She was one of the flight attendants on the plane.
Somehow the already engaged Todd Austell had convinced the Detroit-born Le’Claire Richards that breaking off with his fiancée and marrying her instead was the right thing to do. Evidently it was. Thirty-seven years later the two were still married, remained very much in love and had three sons and a daughter to show for it. Callum was the youngest of the four and the only one who was still single.
His thoughts shifted back to Gemma. Ramsey claimed that of his three sist
ers, Gemma was the one with the fiery temper. The one a man would least be able to handle. He’d suggested that Callum pray long and hard about making the right decision.
In the end, Callum had convinced Ramsey that he had made the right decision and that a hard-to-handle woman with a fiery temper was the kind he liked. He was more than certain that Gemma was the woman for him.
Now he had to convince Gemma… He’d have to be stealthy about his pursuit. He knew Gemma had no intention of engaging in a serious relationship after she had witnessed how two of her brothers, and several of her womanizing cousins, had operated with women over the years, breaking hearts in their wake. According to Ramsey, Gemma Westmoreland was determined never to let a man break her heart.
Callum straightened up in his seat when he saw Gemma enter the restaurant. Immediately, the same feeling suffused his heart that always settled there whenever he saw her. He loved the woman. He no longer tried to rationalize why. It really didn’t matter at this point.
As she walked toward him, he stood. She was probably 5'8", but just the right height for his 6'3" frame. And he’d always thought she had a rather nice figure. Her dark brown, shoulder-length hair was pulled back in a ponytail. He thought she had dazzling tawny-brown eyes, which were almost covered by her bangs.
Callum had worked hard not to give his feelings away. Because he’d always been on his best behavior around her, he knew she didn’t have a clue. It hadn’t been easy keeping her in the dark. She saw him as nothing more than her brother’s best friend from Australia. The Aussie who didn’t have a lot to say and was basically a loner.
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