A Hard-Hearted Man

by Melanie Craft

  Lilah frowned. “That’s an awfully cynical way to look at the world.”

  “Cynical? I’d say practical. I’m not naive or romantic when it comes to human relationships.”

  “Practical for business, maybe,” Lilah said. “If you’re in the kind of high-powered corporate environment where you always have to watch your back. But you can’t apply ruthless business principles to every part of your life.”

  “No?” Ross said. “I wonder.”

  Lilah stared at him, trying to read his face, but it was completely neutral, and she had the sudden sensation that he was gazing at her from behind a wall of one-way glass.

  “You don’t need to apply them right now,” she said firmly, meeting his eyes. “With me.”

  “Really? How do I know that? It’s interesting that you’re suddenly asking me personal questions, considering what you have to gain.”

  “Gain?” Lilah felt a chill in her stomach. “I don’t like the sound of that. Do you think I have a hidden agenda?”

  “I don’t rule it out. I do own something that you desperately want, after all.”

  And there it was. Ross was watching her, waiting to see her reaction to his words, and Lilah was almost too stunned to speak.

  “I see,” she said finally. “Now, let me get this straight. You think I’m looking for a way to manipulate you into not selling the ranch so I can have my excavation back? You think that’s why I’m asking about your family? To...gain your trust, or find your vulnerable spots, or something?”

  Ross shrugged. “I don’t know, but I believe in being careful.”

  “Did it even occur to you that I might be asking because I want to know you?” Lilah said indignantly, then cut herself off.

  It was such a small thing to say, but it felt like the first step into unmarked and dangerous territory. Ross’s gaze fixed on her with an attentiveness that demanded she proceed.

  “It’s true,” she said. “I want to know you, all right? I find you interesting.”

  “Interesting,” he repeated thoughtfully.

  “Right, interesting.” She took a deep breath. “And if you really want to know, I... like you. Satisfied?”

  “Not really,” Ross said. “The last time I checked, you resented me for selling the ranch and forcing you into this plan with Wyatt. What changed so suddenly?”

  “I got over it.”

  “Just like that.”

  “No, not just like that. You helped me understand why you want to sell the ranch, and I respect that. I also happen to enjoy your company.”

  “When you’re forced to.”

  “God, you’re cynical,” she said, frustrated. This was far beyond the point where she would have given up on anyone else. But she wanted Ross to believe her. Her archaeologist’s instinct told her that there was something precious buried inside this man.

  “No,” he said. “I’m honest. Every time you’ve been in my company, up until this moment, has been because you had no choice in the matter. You wouldn’t be here now if there were no storm tonight.”

  He watched her with a strange gleam in his gray eyes.

  “Isn’t that right?” he asked. “I want to know. If there were no storm, and I had asked you to come back with me, would you have done it? To ask me questions? Because you like me?”

  There was mockery in his voice, but she could hear a challenge there, too. He was daring her to answer honestly, to speak the words that hovered in her throat.

  He stepped forward, looking down at her with a gaze that made her knees weak.

  “Tell me this,” Ross said, reaching out to touch her face with fingers that trailed fire behind them. “If you could go back to your camp right now, what would you do? Do you know?”

  “I know,” Lilah said, her heart beating fast. “I’d stay.”

  Ross didn’t speak for a moment, but he was so close that Lilah could feel the heat of him warming her like sunlight. He tensed as she reached out to touch him, and she felt his breath catch as she slid her palm up the warm length of his chest and looked up to meet his eyes.

  “God...Lilah...” he said, almost in a groan, and pulled her to him.

  His kiss was as cracklingly alive and demanding as the rest of him, and Lilah, crushed up against the lean hardness of his body, couldn’t press herself close enough as she returned the embrace with equal urgency. She reached up to twine one of her hands into his hair, clinging to Ross as he kissed her until her mouth felt hot and bruised.

  Her other hand found its way up under the loose edge of his shirt, to stroke up the smooth naked skin of his back, her fingers spreading to feel the firm curves of the muscles there. They were hard and tight as he held her, and Lilah could suddenly feel the hard, steady pounding of his heart against her chest.

  His mouth left hers to sear a path down her throat to the hollow at its base, and she gasped softly as his hand at her waist touched bare skin. Lilah felt as if waves of heat were sweeping through her, and she held Ross as if she wanted to sink into him.

  His hand slid up from her waist, rumpling her shirt as it rose, his strong fingers stroking over the naked skin of her midriff. She could feel cool air against her skin as the shirt was pushed up, and the slight roughness of his fingertips as he touched her.

  Lilah murmured his name and arched herself toward him, slipping her own hands between them, under his shirt and up over his wide chest. Ross groaned, and she could feel the muscles in his thighs tense as his arm tightened at her waist.

  She opened her eyes to see him watching her, his gaze locking onto hers as his hands traced the curves of her body. Lilah’s breath caught in her throat. It was almost too intense, too personal, to have his eyes on hers as his hands moved over her skin, as if he were touching not just her body but her soul.

  A shudder, dark and aching, passed through her, and Ross bent his head to capture her lips again. Lilah wrapped her arms around him, and caught his lower lip in her teeth in a gentle play-bite.

  Suddenly, he froze. Lilah thought at first that she had hurt him, and then realized that he was listening intently to something.

  Now she could hear it, too, as she struggled to quiet her breathing. It was faint, but definitely audible over the growl of the thunder.

  “Someone’s shouting,” she said, feeling disoriented.

  Her words seemed to confirm what Ross was thinking.

  “Damn it,” he said, pulling away from her. “That’s Mtuko.”

  The urgency on his face was enough to alarm her, though she had no idea who Mtuko was, or why he would be shouting in the middle of the night.

  “Lilah,” Ross said, looking down at her, “stay here. Don’t leave the house. I’ll be back.”

  There wasn’t even time to answer before he was gone.

  Chapter 8

  It was the prowler again. Ross had known it the moment he heard the askari’s voice, shouting over the sound of the receding storm.

  The intruder had been right next to the house when Mtuko spotted him, but he had bolted away into the darkness before anyone could get more than a quick look at him. The askaris had chased him, and Mtuko had gone out in the truck to search the roads, but Ross doubted that it would do any good. On a night like tonight, with mist and shadows everywhere, it was easy to hide on the open plains.

  He came back to the house, chilled and frustrated. It was no surprise that in the noise of the storm, the prowler had been able to get to the house unnoticed, but it angered him that the man had escaped again. What the hell was he doing here in the first place?

  And his timing... Ross reached up to rub his forehead. Damn, it was hard to know whether he should resent or welcome the interruption.

  The scene in the kitchen had been totally unexpected, and it had surged forward with the momentum of a freight train. His own desire for Lilah had spiraled out of control, moving him like a puppet in the grip of something larger than himself. The thought appalled him. It was too soon, too intense. If there was going to be an a
ffair, it needed to be clearly defined for what it was...and wasn’t.

  Lilah was sitting on a kitchen chair, nervously twisting a cloth napkin. She jumped up when she saw him. “What happened?”

  “Our night visitor came back,” he said, frustration leaking into his voice. “And we missed him again.”

  “What night visitor?”

  “There was a prowler outside the house the first night you were here. You didn’t happen to see anything strange, did you?”

  Her face went white with a suddenness that startled Ross. He stepped forward instinctively, but stopped when she raised her hands.

  “I’m okay,” she said.

  “You saw someone.”

  “No, that’s the stupid part. I was outside, on the terrace, and I heard someone slinking around in the bushes.” She laughed shakily. “Can you believe, I thought it was the askari? I couldn’t figure out why I had the creeps. Guess I should start listening to my instincts.”

  “Did you get a look at him?”

  “Not really. Just a shadowy figure, slim and medium-height. Then I got spooked and ran inside.” She took a deep breath. “A prowler. Why do you have a prowler? This isn’t related to the land conflict, is it?”

  “It could be.”

  “Boy, you people sure take your business deals seriously. Or is there something else going on that I don’t know about?”

  “You know everything I know,” Ross said.

  It seemed strange to be talking to her like this, as if nothing had happened between them, when he could still vividly feel the warmth and softness of her body against his.

  “Maybe Jake could tell me something. I’ll try to—”

  “No,” Ross said, surprising himself. “You won’t. You’re out of this.”

  “What?”

  “Our deal is off, Lilah. This is starting to feel dangerous to me. I don’t want you involved after all.”

  It was the right decision. There were too many unknowns, and the alarming feelings he was developing for Lilah only complicated the issue. It would be much better to disentangle her from his business and his life before anything else happened.

  He had expected her to take the news happily, but now she was shaking her head.

  “No way, Ross,” she said. “I’m still doing it.”

  He stared at her for a moment, confused until he realized what was at the root of her apparent change of heart.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “The six weeks at the site that I promised are still yours. I gave you my word, and I’m not reneging on it.”

  “That’s not what I’m worried about,” she said impatiently. “You know you need my help, or you wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble of getting it in the first place. I’m not reneging on the deal, either.”

  “That’s not an issue on your end. I’m simply telling you that you aren’t involved anymore. Period.”

  “Well, save your breath. I want to see you get your reserve, and I’m not quitting now. You need me, I’m helping you, and you can’t just dump me when the going gets tough.”

  He frowned. “We’ll discuss this later.”

  “No, we won’t. There’s nothing to discuss, because I’m still in. Deal with it.”

  Ross folded his arms against his chest, drumming his fingers impatiently against his biceps. He had been sure that she’d take the first chance to get out of her obligation to him, but now she was fighting to keep it. And she knew that the six weeks weren’t at risk, so what was going on?

  “Ross, do you need me?” Lilah said.

  Need? Damn. Ross winced. He had never been a fan of that word. Needing someone—for whatever reason—was the same as admitting that you couldn’t make it on your own. And that, he knew, was putting yourself into a very bad position. It was simply common sense. Other people had their own interests at heart; they might appear to be on your side, but that only lasted as long as your plans didn’t conflict with theirs. Only a fool would trust anyone else with his professional or emotional survival. As far as Ross was concerned, feeling as though you needed someone was the clearest warning you should run like hell in the other direction.

  “Do you?” Her voice was gentle, but firm.

  He shook his head. “It makes no difference.”

  “Well, that’s a sudden change,” she remarked. “Not very long ago, you told me that the delay was too risky without my help. You said that you needed someone to get close to Jake Wyatt. You said—”

  “I know what I said!” She was right, damn it. How had this happened? Stupid, stupid, he berated himself, aware that he was in an impossible position. He couldn’t back out of the promise he’d given the archaeologists. It was a matter of personal pride. How was he supposed to deal with this?

  “You said that you couldn’t do this without me,” Lilah persisted. “Remember?”

  Ross clenched his teeth. Of course he remembered. But when he’d said that, he’d been supremely confident that he held all the cards. Now, aces were suddenly popping up all over the place, and he was scrambling to pull his hand back together.

  “Admit it, Ross. You’d be much better off with my help. It’s true, and you know it.”

  “Maybe,” he said gruffly.

  “That sounds like a reluctant ‘yes’ to me.”

  “I can do this without you if I have to.”

  “Well,” she said. “Fortunately, you don’t have to.”

  Ross regarded her warily. Her determination to stay involved was the only clear fact in an otherwise very muddy situation. But why was she suddenly so committed? It didn’t make sense.

  All of this—the delay, bringing in Lilah—had been a major misjudgment on his part, but now he had to deal with the consequences. He wasn’t so weak that he couldn’t handle temporarily needing Lilah’s help. He’d stay with their original plan because he had no choice, but he would keep a cautious eye on her until he saw her real motivation.

  “Fine,” he said at last. “You’re right. I will be better off with your help. But you need to understand that this could be dangerous. The developers are playing for high stakes, and I don’t want you taking any risks.”

  She smiled like the Mona Lisa. “Whatever you say.”

  Ross exhaled. This was already going badly. “Promise me that you’ll be careful.”

  “Of course.”

  “And from now on, I want you to tell me immediately if anything unusual happens.”

  Lilah’s face was unreadable, with only that small, thoughtful smile curving her lips. He had the sudden, frustrating feeling that for all his effort to take control of this situation, somehow it was still trickling through his fingers like a fistful of dry sand.

  “And you will absolutely check with me before you do anything involving Jake Wyatt.”

  “Quit treating me like a Girl Scout,” Lilah said.

  Her clear hazel eyes met his, and he felt something catch inside him. She was beautiful; there was no denying it. Her features had somehow imprinted themselves in his mind so that she seemed almost familiar as he gazed at her, his eyes gliding over her dark, straight brows, down the gentle arcs of her cheeks to linger on her mouth.

  “Believe it or not,” she added, “I’m as tough as you are, Ross.”

  “I hope not,” he said quietly. She was standing right in front of him, so close that her scent drifted delicately around him. He could still feel the sensation of her soft curves under his hands, and without thinking, he reached out to stroke her cheek. Her skin was velvety under his fingers, and she trembled at his touch.

  A rush of desire shuddered through him, and he had the sudden feeling that even if he took her in his arms right now, crushing her up against him, he still wouldn’t be able to hold her close enough to satisfy the ache inside him. His hand slipped around to caress the nape of her neck, lifting her silky hair, and she made a soft sound, her eyes meeting his with sudden entreaty.

  It was more than Ross could stand. He stepped forward, pulling her to him, and kisse
d her again with a fierce hunger that overwhelmed him. She clung to him, melting against him, until they were both breathing in short, ragged gasps.

  He bent his head to trace the line of her collarbone with his lips and tongue, tasting the sweetness of her skin. He felt her quiver, then tense against him.

  “Ross...” Lilah’s voice caught in her throat. “Wait.”

  Her hands slipped up his arms, her body stiffening.

  There was an edge of anxiety to her plea, and one look at her face was enough to alarm him. She was flushed, her eyes wide and worried.

  “What’s wrong, Lilah?”

  “I’m sorry,” she said unsteadily, avoiding his gaze. She stepped back, wrapping her arms around herself like a child.

  Ross could feel cool air move in against him where Lilah had just been. Having her pull away was almost a physical pain, but he was careful not to betray that in his expression as he stood quietly, watching her.

  She took a deep breath, still refusing to look at him.

  “I didn’t mean for this to happen again,” she said to the ground. “While you were gone, I was thinking...”

  A chill formed in Ross’s stomach, and began to curl slowly upward. He was supposed to be the one bringing up the second thoughts. Hadn’t he just decided to slow this down until it could be brought under control? Yet here he was, caught in the grip of his desire for her, losing his damned head again only moments after he thought he’d settled everything. What was happening to him?

  “This...just can’t work,” Lilah said.

  Ross felt as if he were falling, somehow struggling for footing as he stood there, listening to her halting explanation. Without even seeming to realize it, Lilah had taken control of the situation, and left him fumbling. It was completely unacceptable.

  “Actually,” he said slowly, making his voice intentionally seductive, “it seems to me that it was working.”

  She bit her lip. “It’s not that simple.”

  “No? I think it is.”

  He stepped forward again, reaching out to curve his fingers possessively around her cheek and jaw, brushing briefly against her lips, fighting the tremor of desire that weakened his hand.