The Reward
Page 21
“I’m not sure what’s so damn funny, but if you don’t hush up, I’m gonna throw you back into the snow.”
Ray carried her over to the sofa in the living room and set her down. He glanced at her white nightgown and immediately his eyes changed. The pupils dilated and a hazy glow surrounded the green. His nostrils flared and his lips tightened.
Lily thought it was blood that he saw, but when she looked at her nightgown, she realized the snow had turned the white garment transparent. He could clearly see her breasts, and her nipples, which were puckered tighter than a stone, as well as a hint of the dark hair between her legs.
Lily was never so embarrassed in her life. She didn’t know whether to stop her nosebleed or cover herself, so she tried both. One arm landed over her breasts, while the other continued to pinch her nose.
“Do you think you could get me a towel, and perhaps some of that snow for my nose?”
His gaze snapped to hers and what she saw in his eyes made her breath stop. Raw, blatant desire. For her. A plump, on the shelf spinster with a shady childhood and a penchant for tripping over her own two feet. Lily felt an answering yearning in herself, a need to find out if what she saw, what she felt from him, was more than lust.
“I—”
“Let me get that towel,” he said and then he was gone before she could finish her sentence.
Lily started shivering. She didn’t know if it was from the snow bath or from the look in Ray’s eyes when he stared at her nearly naked body.
She was afraid it was from the latter. And she had no idea what to do about it.
Love can rescue a lonely heart…
Enjoy this excerpt from
Rescue Me
(c) 2006 Jaci Burton
Kyle Morgan doesn't want to be rescued, especially not by former beauty queen Sabrina Daniels. Sabrina fires up Kyle's long dormant libido, and it's like a match struck on dry tinder—an explosion of heat whenever she’s around. Sabrina Daniels, newly divorced from her controlling millionaire husband, is out to build her independence and begin a new life. Both have firm goals for their future, but love has a way of interfering in the best laid plans. Now available in paperback and digital formats at Samhain Publishing…
“I’m here to rescue you.”
Kyle Morgan was so intent on what he was doing he thought the female voice above him was his sister Jenna, bugging him about coming in for lunch.
“I don’t need rescuing right now. Get lost.” Another turn of the wrench and he might actually be able to get the blasted oil pan loosened.
“That’s not what this paper says.”
Definitely not his sister’s voice. Those weren’t Jenna’s legs either. But then he couldn’t see much while lying in the dirt under the truck. He tilted his head sideways and saw red-painted toenails and slim, tanned ankles. Jenna wouldn’t be caught dead in skimpy sandals like that. Definitely not his sister.
He slid out from underneath the truck and squinted in the midday sun to see who thought he needed rescuing. All he could make out was a vague shadow attached to very shapely legs.
“Are you going to lie there and stare at me all day?” Her voice was deep and sexy, like skinny-dipping at midnight. Risky, forbidden, yet irresistibly appealing.
He so didn’t have time for this. But he was damn curious and needed a break anyway, so he grabbed his shirt off the hood of the old blue Chevy truck, wiping his hands and sweat-soaked, dirty face. Blinking to clear the sunspots out of his eyes, Kyle got his first look at the woman attached to the voice.
Stunning, was his first thought as he gazed at her beautiful face. Golden blonde hair hung in cascading waves over her shoulders and rested just above her full, high breasts. Eyes the color of amber ale stared levelly at him as she licked her lips nervously.
“Are you Kyle Morgan?”
I don’t know. Am I? He seemed unable to think about anything except the vision standing in front of him. “I guess I am.” Great answer, dumbass. Sunstroke, obviously. Normally he had a freakin’ brain cell.
“Then as I said before, I’m here to rescue you.” A smile that could light up the entire state of Oklahoma graced her face as she held out her hand. “I’m Sabrina Daniels.”
Kyle was dimly aware of her slim, warm hand in his as she shook it with fervor. Her skin was soft, like sliding his hand over silk sheets, making him wish he’d had a chance to wash the grime off his.
Suddenly the name sparked recognition. “You’re Sabrina Daniels?” Shit. He sure hoped he heard that wrong.
She nodded enthusiastically. “Yes. I’m so glad to finally meet you, Kyle.”
So this was the woman who was going to spend the next three months at the Rocking M Ranch. Three months, and he would have to work closely with her every day. He stifled a groan as his eyes washed over her cover-model looks and centerfold body, trying not to lick his lips at the way the blue silk dress hugged her womanly curves. Surely this woman was punishment for something bad he’d done in the past.
Maybe he should have asked for a picture first. She looked totally out of place and too damned distracting. Not good.
“I didn’t expect you until tomorrow.” Frankly he didn’t expect her to show up at all. Hoped she wouldn’t show was more like it.
“I know. I arrived this morning and thought about grabbing a hotel and waiting until tomorrow but I was so excited I decided to come out a day early. I didn’t think you’d mind since we had an agreement and you were expecting me. You were expecting me right?”
The woman waved her hands around as fast as she was talking. He was already getting a headache and watching her swat invisible flies in the air was making him dizzy to boot.
“At first I planned to call, and then I thought if I called you might not let me come today and I really wanted to, so I decided to just show up and throw myself at you and here I am.” She inhaled a huge breath of air.
Trying hard to recall if he’d had any whiskey for breakfast that could possibly be screwing with his clarity, he remembered he’d had coffee. So the reason for his confusion had to be the five-foot-six fast talking tornado standing in front of him.
“Yes I can see you’re here.” She might be here, but he’d be damned if he was going to be pleasant. No matter how good-looking she was, or how her voice reminded him of sex and sin, or how her face showed the enthusiasm of a child. This wasn’t his idea in the first place. “So now what?”
She tilted her head, showing off a creamy expanse of slender neck. Kyle inhaled sharply, trying to avoid thinking of her as a beautiful, desirable woman. He wanted to think of her as a nuisance. Which she was going to be for the next three months.
“Well, now I guess we can get started.”
“Get started with what?” He must have had whiskey with his coffee this morning.
Sabrina smiled shyly. “With my training.”
His thoughts strayed to the kind of training he’d like to give Sabrina Daniels. Damned if all the blood in his brain hadn’t migrated toward baser pastures. His long dormant sex drive sure picked a fine time to spring to life again. Great—now he could add lack of sex to his already long list of frustrations.
Maybe if he thought about all the negative things her presence represented he could get his mind off the fact Sabrina Daniels was a damned attractive woman.
It wasn’t working. His mind continued on its wayward sexual course, heating his blood and tightening the crotch of his jeans. Maybe it was the weather. It was damn hot outside, way too hot for late April. He was dirty and sweaty and felt like a pig while she looked fresh and clean and smelled like peaches. He shuddered to think what he must smell like, but it was probably closer to rotted fruit.
He looked her over from head to toe. She crossed her arms across her chest, obviously uncomfortable with his scrutiny. Good. “I hardly think you’re dressed to begin anything, other than maybe hosting a cocktail party. And gee, you just missed the one we hosted last night. All the Dreamwater elite were here.”
Sarcasm obviously wasn’t lost on her as she tapped her sandaled foot in annoyance. Maybe she’d be so irritated she’d leave. He should be so lucky.
“Kyle. I’m hot, I’m thirsty, and I’ve driven a long way today. It’s my understanding we had an agreement and you were expecting me. But if there’s a problem with our contract we can discuss it. Is there some place out of the sun we could sit and talk?”
Well hell. If his mother were still alive she’d kick his ass for lack of manners. He finally noticed sheens of perspiration moistened her face, and the shadow between her breasts that kept drawing his eye was damp. She looked about ready to pass out.
“Sorry. Let’s go inside where it’s cooler.”
She nodded gratefully and Kyle directed her toward the large brick ranch house, following behind her. Watching her perfect backside swaying as she walked, it became quite clear this bargain he and his family had struck was a huge mistake.
Kyle didn’t want to do business with Sabrina Daniels, but couldn’t pinpoint exactly why. Maybe it was the instant attraction he felt for her, bringing to life feelings long held in check. More likely it was because she now held a financial interest in his family’s ranch. That meant an outsider owned a part of the Rocking M.
When his parents died and he and his younger brother and sister took over the Rocking M, they vowed the Morgan’s would retain ownership. And despite everything they’d been through, that’s the way it had remained. Until now. Now Sabrina Daniels owned a portion of their ranch. At least temporarily.
If they didn’t need the money so damn bad, if he hadn’t been forced to pay his cheating ex-wife all that cash in the divorce settlement, they wouldn’t be in this predicament now. This was his fault and an investor was the only way to dig the Rocking M out of the deep financial hole he’d put it in.
The sooner he finished his business with Sabrina Daniels and got her off the Rocking M, the happier he’d be. No one was ever going to own this ranch but a Morgan.
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