Table of Contents

Cover Page

Excerpt

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Epilogue

Copyright

She Loved Nick.

The idea astounded her. She didn’t even know how to love, perhaps because she’d never been truly loved. Yet there was no doubt. She was definitely in love with Nick.

Right from the first, the signs had been there—all of them in big, bright, red neon letters. How could she have missed them?

There was the way he’d mesmerized her on the night of her birthday and the way her body had melted against his when they’d danced. There was the way she’d so easily acquiesced to the idea of flying to some unknown destination for dinner and the stunning fact that she’d turned down Des’s offer for her.

Drops of rain began to fall. She didn’t care.

The rain was cool. Her skin was hot. She wanted Nick.

Dear Reader,

Welcome to Silhouette Desire—where you’re guaranteed powerful, passionate and provocative love stories that feature rugged heroes and spirited heroines who experience the full emotional intensity of falling in love!

Wonderful and ever-popular Annette Broadrick brings us September’s MAN OF THE MONTH with Lean, Mean & Lonesome. Watch as a tough loner returns home to face the woman he walked away from but never forgot.

Our exciting continuity series TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB continues with Cinderella’s Tycoon by Caroline Cross. Charismatic CEO Sterling Churchill marries a shy librarian pregnant with his sperm-bank baby—and finds love.

Proposition: Marriage is what rising star Eileen Wilks offers when the girl-next-door comes alive in the arms of an alpha hero. Beloved romance author Fayrene Preston makes her Desire debut with The Barons of Texas: Tess, featuring a beautiful heiress who falls in love with a sexy stranger. The popular theme BACHELORS & BABIES returns to Desire with Metsy Hingle’s Dad in Demand. And Barbara McCauley’s miniseries SECRETS! continues with the dramatic story of a mysterious millionaire in Killian’s Passion.

So make a commitment to sensual love—treat yourself to all six September love stories from Silhouette Desire!

Enjoy!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

Please address questions and book requests to:

Silhouette Reader Service

U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

The Barons of
Texas: Tess
Fayrene Preston

www.millsandboon.co.uk

FAYRENE PRESTON

published her first book in 1981 and has been publishing steadily ever since. The Barons of Texas: Tess is her first novel for Silhouette Books, and she is delighted to be on board. Fayrene lives in north Texas and is the mother of two grown sons. She claims her greatest achievement in life is turning out two wonderful human beings. She is also proud to announce the arrival of her first grandchild: a beautiful baby girl. Now she has even more to be thankful for.

This book is dedicated

with many, many thanks to:

R. G. Font, Ph.D., CPG, PG,

EurGeol President, Geoscience Data Management

One

Tall, lean and bronzed, the man stood at the edge of the terrace watching her, just as he had for the last fifteen minutes. Tess Baron tried to ignore him and focus instead on her party guests, but she found it virtually impossible.

Something about his stillness compelled her attention. It was like lightning caught in a bottle, an electric tension that would be safe only as long as it was contained. And he didn’t strike her as the type of man to contain his energies for long.

This was her birthday party. She knew everyone here. Everyone, that was, except him.

She skimmed the crowd, wondering who had brought him, but everyone was either dancing or mixing. No one looked as if they’d brought a guest, then forgotten him. Besides, she reflected ruefully, it would be impossible to forget him.

Behind him, the sun was slowly setting into the Gulf of Mexico, its great orange ball searing the water with its heat as it dipped lower and lower. Silhouetted against the elemental tableau, with the sun surrounding him, the man looked larger than life—a sun god.

At that moment she wouldn’t have bet money against the possibility that he had lassoed the sun down from the sky.

She exhaled a long breath, reminded herself that she didn’t have a quixotic bone in her body, and forced her focus elsewhere. At least everything else about her party was going well.

A warm breeze from off the Gulf waters somehow matched the band’s sensual bossa nova beat. Icy margaritas and long neck beers were being served, along with mounds of jumbo Gulf shrimp and oysters harvested fresh that day. Out on the lawn, barbecued cabrito turned on a spit.

He ate or drank nothing, though she’d seen waiters offering him his preference of drinks.

“Happy birthday, Tess.”

The voice of a longtime friend snapped her mind back to her party. “Thanks, Becca.” She kissed the cheek of the pretty young woman, then reached up to hug Becca’s college sweetheart and husband, Mel Grant. “I’m so glad you two could come.”

Becca laughed. “Are you kidding? Your birthday parties are way too much fun to miss. Besides, Corpus Christi is a pretty cool city.”

Mel smiled at her. “It’s become a party game to try to guess where you’re going to hold your parties each year. The year you threw your party in Kuala Lumpur is now legendary. But last year I felt a little let down.”

She grinned. “Oh, yeah?”

“Southfork?” He shook his head. “Not very original, Tess, and way too close to home.”

She laughed. “Sorry, but the location of my parties depends on where I’m working, and last year I was working at home.”

“I know, but personally, I was hoping for an oil rig in the South China Sea.”

“An oil rig is no place to throw a party—which you very well know. Too much chance for harm on either side.”

Mel worked for Coastal Petroleum, one of the world’s major oil companies. Nevertheless, he sighed dramatically. “Okay, okay, I’ll give you that, plus a big thumbs-up for this year.”

“What a relief,” she said dryly.

“Yep. This is a great house, right on the beach and with a fabulous view. I’d say you made up the points you lost last year.”

“Ignore him, Tess,” Becca advised.

“He’s much too entertaining to ignore. Besides, he’s right. This is a great house. I leased it because my new offshore drilling site is straight out there.” She pointed toward the Gulf. “And because there’s a great helipad at the side of the house.”

Mel nodded. “By the way, congratulations. Word is you think the reservoir you’ve found out there will be your richest oil discovery yet.”

She grimaced, and her hand automatically went to cover her stomach, where a heavy dread appeared every time she thought of what she was gambling on this one site. “Do me a favor and don’t congratulate me yet. I’m superstitious. The initial tests were very encouraging, but in the end, we both know that could mean nothing. I won’t celebrate until we strike that first oil and the well actually starts to produce.”

Becca waved a dismissive hand. “You’re like a bloodhound when it comes to oil. I’d back your instincts before I would all those sophisticated tests they do. If you like what you’ve seen out there, then the oil is as good as in the pipeline.”

Tess gave Becca a quick, grateful hug. “Thank you.”

Her instincts had always been solid; Becca was right about that. Yet the stakes were so high on this particular venture that she couldn’t be sure her instincts hadn’t been tainted by her need for this well to come in big, not to mention quick.

“Word is also out that you’ve been having some problems,” Mel continued. “In case you decide you need some help, just remember, my company is always interested.”

Unfortunately, it was very hard to keep secrets in the oil business. “You know how I feel about my oil ventures, Mel.”

“I know, I know. They’re your babies, and you keep them until they’re raised and well into old age.”

She nodded. “It’s a family tradition.” She’d hoped this party would help her relax and have a good time, something she hadn’t been able to do in a long time. Unfortunately, though, her nerves were tighter than ever. Between Mel and his well-meaning talk of her problems and the man… He hadn’t moved, and he was still looking at her with that laser gaze of his. Beneath his stare, her skin felt just like it was being sunburned.

“Listen, do either of you know that man standing over there, leaning against the balustrade?”

Both Becca and Mel glanced over their shoulders. “No, but if I weren’t with Mel tonight, I would love to.”

Mel frowned at his wife. “Excuse me, but I don’t think that’s funny.”

“No?” With her eyes twinkling with laughter, she reached for her husband’s hand. “Then how about dancing with me? Maybe it will come back to me why I love you so much.”

“That sounds like a challenge and I’m definitely up for it.” With a wink at Tess, he pulled his wife onto the dance floor. “See you later.”

“You bet.” Surely there was a simple explanation for the man’s presence. Tess pondered. One of her guests must have brought him, but if so, why weren’t they with him? Why hadn’t they introduced him to her? And most of all, why did he keep looking at her?

And, damn it, where was Ron? He might be able to tell her the identity of the man. Ron Hughes was a bright, competent young man in his late twenties. As her assistant, it was his job to know everything and everyone, and he usually did. But he was probably still in the house, working in the two-room suite they’d appropriated as their offices for the time they would be there.

Someone lightly clasped her elbow. “Dance?”

She started, then inwardly laughed at herself. No, she reflected wryly, there was nothing at all wrong with her nerves. She looked around. “Colin! Oh, great, you made it.”

“Did you doubt it for a minute?”

She smiled. “No.”

Colin Wynne, tanned, suave and incredibly goodlooking, was one of Dallas’s most eligible bachelors. He was also one of her favorite people, though they’d never dated. She’d never had the desire to go out with him other than in a group, and she knew the feeling was mutual. Over the years, she’d found friendships to be much more satisfying than a love life. He held out his hand to her.

“Thanks,” she said, “but not right now. I still have some details to see to. The party’s really just beginning.”

“Nonsense. I’m here. You’re here. The party has officially started.”

She grinned. Few people possessed the self-confidence Colin did. He made everything he did look easy, yet he was one of the hardest-working people she knew. “Who did you bring tonight?”

“I didn’t bring a date, if that’s what you mean—just a planeload of the usual suspects.”

“Oh, that’s right. I heard you were going to fly down some of the group in your new jet. Thanks.”

“No problem at all.”

She leaned closer to him. “Do you know that man standing over there by the edge of the terrace?”

He threw a casual glance over his shoulder. “Nope. Who is he? A party crasher?”

She shook her head. “He must have come with someone. I just can’t figure out who yet.”

“You want me to go over and check him out?”

“No. I’ll do it in a minute.”

“Happy birthday, Tess.” A cool voice slipped between them and they both turned.

“Jill.” She gave her sister a quick, automatic hug. If the hug lacked the spontaneity and ease of the hug she’d given Becca, she prided herself on her belief that no one could tell. No one except maybe Jill. And Colin, who knew them both well.

Just as quickly, she released her middle sister and stepped back. Jill was wearing a short black Armani sheath that emphasized her inherent elegance and sophistication. Until Tess had seen Jill, she’d thought she looked pretty good in her short, ivory silk dress with straps that skimmed over her shoulders and crisscrossed several times in the back until reaching her waist.

But then, it was Jill who had inherited the classical beauty and elegance of their mother, not her nor Kit. Even Jill’s dark hair was styled into an elaborate French twist from which no hair would dare escape.

Annoyingly, Tess could feel the wind blowing at the untidy blond tendrils of her hair, which had already managed to elude the containment of the ivory silk scarf she’d tied at the nape of her neck. “You’re late. What happened? I expected you earlier.”

“My ride took off without me, and I had to make other arrangements to get here.” Jill’s bourbon-colored gaze flashed at Colin.

The very picture of innocence, he spread out his hands. “I had a schedule to meet.”

“You weren’t running a bus, Colin.” Jill’s words dripped with ice. “You were flying your own plane.”

“Ever heard of a little thing called a flight plan?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I have. And I know they can give you a certain leeway.”

He shrugged. “Everyone else was aboard. I didn’t see why they should be punished just because you couldn’t arrange your day so you could get to the airport on time.”

Tess rolled her eyes, though neither Jill nor Colin saw her, so intent were they on squaring off against each other. But she’d grown used to their behavior. For whatever reason, whenever the two of them got together, some type of sparks usually flew, and more often than not, it was sparks of anger.

“I have an idea,” she said. “Why don’t you two go dance and I’ll see you both later?”

Colin looked at her, then at Jill. After a moment, he slowly held out his hand to her. Jill hesitated for several seconds, then glanced at Tess. “Have Uncle William and Des arrived yet?”

“Uncle William isn’t feeling well, so he won’t be coming.”

Jill’s perfect forehead creased in a frown. “Is it serious?”

Colin dropped his hand.

“He didn’t give me any reason to believe that it was. Besides, you know Des would let us know if something was seriously wrong.”

Jill nodded. “What about Des?”

Good question, Tess thought wryly. It was the eternal question that kept her and her sisters occupied. “I have no idea if he’s even coming.”

“You haven’t heard from him?”

“You know he rarely lets us know what he’s up to.”

“Right.” Jill chewed her bottom lip for perhaps three seconds, then stopped. It was a habit left over from her childhood. “Well, let me know if Des arrives, okay?”

Sure she would, Tess thought. When pigs flew.

Jill switched her attention to Colin. “Well?”

“Well, what, Jill?”

“Do you or don’t you want to dance?”

This time it was Colin who hesitated. “Maybe later,” he finally said and walked off.

Tess hid a smile. If looks could kill, Colin would now be dead. Jill stared after him for a moment longer, then turned and went in the opposite direction.

The Des in whom Jill had been so interested was their uncle William’s elusive stepson, a high-powered lawyer. Women flocked to Des like bees to honey, but he was much more than a highly eligible bachelor to her and her two sisters. She, Jill and Kit had each inherited one-sixth of their family’s business upon the death of their father, conditional upon each of them meeting a certain criterion. But Des was due to inherit fifty percent of their family company upon Uncle William’s death.

That fact put Des smack in the center of the collective crosshairs of her and her sisters. In theory, if one of them married him, they would gain control of the family company. And there wasn’t one of them who wasn’t hungry for that control and more than willing, able and raring to go after him. Too bad for her sisters that she planned to be the one who got him.

However, pursuing Des was frustrating as hell. Though she was no expert on love, it seemed to her that the only way to get Des to fall in love with her was to arrange it so that they could spend time with each other. But time was something Des rarely gave any of them on an individual basis.

Still, she wasn’t deterred, nor, she knew, were her sisters. Winning control of the company was too important for each of them. If Des showed up tonight, Jill would go after him like a heat-seeking missile, but she would have to stand in line behind Tess. And then, of course, there was Kit.

The three of them had been competitive with each other since birth, encouraged and egged on by their father, who pounded into each of them the importance of being the best at whatever they did. One of their competitions involved fighting to be the one who, at the end of the company’s fiscal year, had made the most money for the company, and there wasn’t much they wouldn’t do to earn that yearly honor. Or to win Des’s agreement to marriage.

But this year, she, even more than Kit and Jill, had a tremendous amount to prove.

“Dance with me.”

She looked up and took a reflexive step backward. She’d been so lost in the dysfunctional dynamics of her family that she’d momentarily forgotten her unknown guest. Now he was standing in front of her, tall, broad-shouldered and a bit overpowering.

And his eyes, she finally saw, were a startling amber. “Who are you?”

“Someone who would like very much to dance with you.”

His voice reverberated deep inside her, warm and compelling, like a playful silken ribbon that dipped and curved throughout her, making her heart pound like a bass drum.

His amber eyes held her gaze. His name. She didn’t know his name.

It didn’t matter.

He took her hand, and suddenly she found herself on the dance floor, and she wasn’t entirely certain how she’d gotten there. Surely she’d told him no.

Apparently not.

His arms were strong as they held her to his hard body. His dance steps were smooth, so that following him was easy, which allowed her to register other things. Such as the heat his body generated—it had the power to melt an iceberg.

This was a man who was definitely confident with his own sexuality and did nothing to hold it back. In addition, those amber eyes of his held dark, intriguing depths she hadn’t expected. And his skin was bronzed to a beautiful golden brown that made her think he must spend a great deal of time outdoors. His dark brown hair was almost outshone by streaks that could only have been put there by the brightness of the sun.

Truly he could be a sun god.

If she believed in such things.

Still, all her instincts were shouting at her that she would be safer if she simply walked away from him. There was just one problem. She wasn’t certain she could. His body had suddenly become her own private universe’s center of gravity.

Thankfully, she could still think, and truthfully, she was way too curious to attempt to leave him at this point. “Were you invited to my party?”

“No.”

Just the single word. No explanation, as if none was needed. “Did you come with one of my guests?”

“No.”

A shiver raced down her spine. He was studying her as if she were a book he was trying to learn, yet he wasn’t asking any questions. He was leaving that to her.

“Then why are you here?”

“Because of you.” His voice was soft, yet intense and with a faint trace of some dark emotion. “You’re really quite beautiful, you know. I didn’t expect it.”

“You didn’t…?”

He slowly shook his head, his gaze never once leaving her.

She found herself speechless. She felt as if he’d isolated her from the rest of the world, yet she was surrounded by friends, none of whom seemed the least bit alarmed that she was dancing with a perfect stranger who radiated a barely contained electric energy and thus danger.

But then, they couldn’t see what she was seeing, nor could they feel what he was making her feel.

A dark fire simmered in the depths of his remarkable eyes—eyes, she was convinced, that, if he chose, he could use like a lethal weapon. With a single glance he would be able to mow down anyone who got in his way or, conversely, reach across the terrace and touch her, making her aware of him in every part of her body. And that had been when they were yards from each other.

Now, as she danced with him, he was having an even greater impact on her. She couldn’t have said what the band was playing. She only knew that the two of them were moving slowly, sensually and in perfect unison. And, oddly, it seemed very right.

Her reaction didn’t make sense.

He didn’t make sense.

The sun had almost set, leaving behind fading streaks of red, orange and gold just above the horizon. The lights around the dance floor and in the trees had come on, yet he remained every bit as powerful, as elemental and as comfortable as he had been with the sun behind him.

“Happy birthday, Tess,” someone called.

“Thank you,” she said, blindly glancing in the direction of the voice, then immediately looked back at him, the man whose heat had melted her and whose strength had molded her against him with ease. Her breasts were pressed against his chest, her legs rubbed against the steel of his thighs. She didn’t even know his name, yet the aggressive, masculine force of his body impacted her every cell, bringing out feminine urges and needs so new, she wasn’t sure what to do with them.

“You throw a great party,” he murmured.

“Thank you. It was so good of you to come.”

For the first time he smiled at her—a partial smile, a knowing smile, a completely self-assured smile. And the effect was a shock of electricity that bolted straight through her and made her catch her breath. A full smile from him might stop her heart.

Her hand moved restlessly over his shoulder, the fine cut and expensive cloth of his dark suit adding one more piece to the puzzle of him. Simply by dancing with him, she was coming to know his body well, and she could tell his strength didn’t come from bulky muscles but rather the lean, elongated muscles of a natural athlete. Yet another piece. “Do you make it a practice to crash parties?”

“Actually, this is my first.”

“And are you having a good time?”

“So far I can’t complain.”

“If you’ll tell me your name, I might put you on the guest list for next year. Or would you just prefer to crash again?”

“Neither. I’m afraid I can’t wait a year to see you again.”

“Why—” Someone bumped against her back. Protectively, he tightened his hold on her and circled her in another direction.

“Hey, Sis. Happy birthday.”

She looked around, then inwardly sighed. She should have known. No one but her youngest sister, Kit, would deliberately bump into her. And no one but Kit would have dressed for what she knew to be a dressy affair in a tight T-shirt, even tighter jeans and a pair of Western boots that Tess knew for a fact were eight years old and looked twelve. “Thank you.”

The man didn’t relinquish his hold on her, but he did allow room for her to turn toward her sister.

“Is Des coming?” Kit asked, all the while doing some sort of dance that amazingly fit the music.

Kit’s red hair was flying; her green eyes were sparkling. Her arms were in the air, and her hips and feet were moving in a way that not only looked incredibly sexy but made Tess feel a tinge of envy that Kit could move so uninhibitedly. Kit’s partner was someone she didn’t know, but from the looks of his jeans, Western-cut shirt and boots, she guessed he might be a new hire at the family ranch.

“I don’t know. Des didn’t RSVP.”

Kit came to an abrupt stop, though her partner didn’t seem to notice and kept on dancing. “Des couldn’t be more exasperating if he tried, and I sometimes suspect he does.”

“You got it.”

Tess knew that Kit’s aim in bringing one of the ranch hands to her party and dressing like she had almost every day of her life since she’d gotten out of diapers was to flout tradition and embarrass her sisters. But what Kit didn’t realize was that she looked better in her jeans and T-shirt than half the women at the party whose dresses had come from Neiman Marcus. And a cursory glance at the crowd showed her that at least three of her single friends and two of the married ones were openly salivating over Kit’s date.

Kit hooked her thumbs in her pockets and flashed Tess’s dance partner a smile that revealed a perfect set of dimples. “Who’s your date, Sis?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea.”

Kit’s eyebrows rose. “Cool,” she said, her tone for once sincere. Then she danced away.

The man laughed, a deep chuckle.

Drawing away from him, she looked at him. “Is there some reason you won’t tell me your name? Like maybe you’re at the top of the FBI’s Most Wanted list?”

“No.”

“Then tell me.”

He shrugged. “The thing is, I doubt my name will mean anything to you.”

She exhaled a long breath, reaching for patience. “Why don’t you let me decide that? I’m tired of this little game you’re playing. Tell me or I’m going to walk away.”

A slow smile spread across his face, this smile even more powerful than his last. “Ah…a threat from the birthday girl.”

She refused to be affected by his smile, though she could feel the futility of her resistance as it slipped by the moment. “Are you or are you not going to tell me?”

“Nick Trejo. My name is Nick Trejo.”

The name sounded vaguely familiar, but for the life of her, she couldn’t place it. “Okay, you’re right. It doesn’t mean anything to me.”

“I didn’t think it would.”

“Uh-huh. Okay. Let me try another tack. How did you know about this party tonight?”

“I’ve made it my business to find out as much as possible about you.”

Suddenly cautious, she stared at him, wondering if she could figure him out if she stared at him long enough. But no. He wasn’t giving anything away—not by expression, and certainly not by words.

“Don’t worry. I’m not a stalker.”

“No? Then, Nick Trejo, I think it’s past time you told me what you want.”

“That’s easy,” he said, pulling her against him while his amber gaze held steady on her. “I want peace on earth, food and shelter enough for every living being, but right now I’m satisfied just to be dancing with you.” His voice turned raspy. “You feel good against me. You fit me.”

One minute he had her regarding him with caution, the next he had her melting with heat. And she couldn’t very well protest or say she didn’t understand what he was saying, since from the beginning of their dance, her body had involuntarily molded itself to his and there had been nothing she could do about it.

One song had stopped. Another had begun. An intimate cloud of music settled around the party and mingled with the night’s scents to mesmerize, tantalize. But it all paled in comparison to him.

“Did I tell you that you look beautiful?”

She couldn’t remember if he had or not. In fact, she was having trouble remembering anything. It was as if he had taken her over, body, mind and soul. She wasn’t used to being called beautiful, and she certainly had never thought of herself that way. Not with Jill as a sister.

Abruptly, she tore herself from his arms. “I need something to drink.”

“It’s your party,” he said mildly. “I imagine you can have anything you want.”

“You’re right.” Fully aware that he was following her, she threaded her way through the dancers, a smile pasted on her face for her friends, but barely acknowledging their comments.

“A shot of whiskey with a beer chaser, please,” she told the bartender as soon as she reached the bar. It was a unique request for her, but tonight she felt the need for something stronger than her usual beer. She glanced at Nick. “What would you like?”

“Since I’m not an official guest at the party, I wouldn’t presume.”

She gave a short laugh. “More than you have already, you mean? Give me a break. You’ve already crashed the party. What’s one drink?” She glanced at the bartender. “Give him the same thing, please.” She couldn’t see a man like Nick Trejo drinking anything else, certainly not the margaritas that were flowing more freely than water tonight.

Nick shook his head at the bartender, then returned his gaze to her. “I hate to tell you this, Tess, but I truly haven’t yet started to presume. Believe me when I say you’ll know when I do.”

Jill walked to the bar. “A margarita, please. Tess, have you heard anything from Des since we last talked?”

“No.” She’d been dealing with Nick, trying to retain her mental balance while she played his guessing game. At the same time, she’d been fighting to keep her body from completely betraying how much she had enjoyed being held against him. And it had all taken more out of her than she had realized, leaving her with zero patience for Jill and her preoccupation with landing Des.

“Okay.” Jill threw an assessing gaze at Nick, then at her. “I think I’ll try to locate him by phone.”

“Fine. Do that. And be sure to mention how much I’ve missed him tonight.” Even though she knew Jill would ignore her request, she’d thrown it in to nettle her sister.

For the first time in what seemed hours, she forced herself to draw a deep breath and look away from Nick. A quick assessment of her party showed her that it was going strong, but she caught several surreptitious glances from some of her closer friends, and she knew why. They’d never before seen her allow one man to monopolize her time as she had with Nick. Except there had been no allowing on her part. He was like a force that she had no defenses against. It was past time she rectified that.

The bartender placed her requested shot of whiskey and mug of beer in front of her. She picked up the whiskey, but sipped.

“Okay, Nick, I’m ready to admit it. You’ve got me completely baffled. Why on earth do you want to see me and why here? If it’s about business—and it must be, since we haven’t met before tonight, and you’ve assured me you aren’t a stalker—why didn’t you simply call my office and make an appointment?”

“Let’s step away from the bar,” Nick murmured, taking the shot glass from her and setting it on the bar. Then, with his hand at her elbow, he led her to a less populated area of the terrace. And she went with him, telling herself it was because she was curious and not because she couldn’t refuse him.

When they reached a corner of the terrace where a profusion of sweet-scented Maid of Orleans star-flowered jasmine grew, Nick turned to her. “I tried for weeks to get an appointment with you, Tess, and couldn’t get one.”

“Who did you talk to?”

“Your assistant, Ron Hughes. Actually, I spoke with him on almost a daily basis, but he would never put me through to you or even give me an appointment. He kept insisting you had no time to see me.”

She shrugged. “Well, that’s true. My schedule is always packed, especially lately, with the details for my new offshore venture.” Normally she wouldn’t tell someone who was practically a stranger the reason she was busy, but something told her Nick already knew the reason. Her curiosity grew stronger. “Still, I notice Ron couldn’t stop you from getting to me.”

“That would have been hard for anyone to do.”

She could only stare. If he’d looked amazing with the sun surrounding him, he looked astounding by moonlight. The moon’s silver light threaded its way through his sun-streaked hair and touched his bronzed skin, cooling down his coloring—in a way, gentling it. Perhaps someone less suspecting than she would, at first glance, think him tame.

She knew better.

The moon might be offering him camouflage, and at the moment he might be masterfully controlling his innate power, but his amber eyes still held the intensity that earlier that evening had been able to reach across the terrace to her. She had no doubt that, if he chose, he could sear layers from her skin with just a glance.

“What’s so important to you? What did you tell Ron you wanted to see me about?”

His gaze was level, his tone assured. “I wanted to ask you to stop your drilling as soon as possible.”

She couldn’t help it—she laughed. “No wonder he turned you down. Such a request is preposterous.”

A muscle jumped in his cheek. “From most people, maybe. But then you and I aren’t most people, and you haven’t heard my reasons yet.”

She didn’t think she’d ever heard anything as ludicrous as his request. Obviously he knew nothing about the oil business and even less about her business dealings. “It doesn’t matter what your reasons are. There’s no way I’ll stop.”

He surprised her then. With another one of his slight smiles, he circled her throat with his fingers and stroked her skin with his thumb in an almost casual manner that completely derailed her thoughts. “You’re a very ambitious woman, Tess Baron, but somehow, I think I have a chance to change your mind.”

“You’re crazy,” she whispered, as the heat from his touch backed up in her lungs.

“Maybe, but will you at least give me a chance to explain what my reasons are?”

“I—I can’t. The party-”

“Not tonight. Tomorrow. I’ll meet you for breakfast, wherever and whenever you say.”

She’d known him for only a short time, but she already knew that saying no to him would do no good. If nothing else, his actions tonight had showed her that he was determined to give her an explanation of some sort. Plus, there was an annoying feeling of excitement inside her building at the prospect of getting to see him again. “Okay. Tomorrow morning for breakfast. Here at nine.”

“Good,” he said softly, his hand still at her neck, his long fingers moving up and down her throat. “Very good.” Then he bent his head and kissed her, slowly, as if he had all the time in the world, and thoroughly, devouring her taste as if he wanted to make it a part of him so that he could take it with him. By the time he lifted his head, she had to reach out for the terrace balustrade in order not to fall.

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

She could only nod and watch as he slipped through an opening in the terrace railing and disappeared into the night.

Gradually and with great effort she pulled herself together. Once her breathing had evened and her pulse had steadied, she returned to the bar and downed the rest of her whiskey. Ignoring the beer, she ordered a large margarita. With it firmly in her hand, she rejoined her party.

Around four in the morning, when the last of her guests had either left or gone to their rooms, and she’d had way more margaritas than she should have, she slipped into her bed. And she couldn’t help but wonder what would happen in five hours when she saw Nick Trejo again.

Why was he so sure he could convince her to stop drilling? Then again, his reason didn’t really matter. He was wrong. There was nothing more important to her than striking oil as soon as possible, then pumping it into the pipeline at a record rate. And she couldn’t allow anyone or anything to stop her.

Not even a sun god whose kiss contained fire.

Two

Tess stumbled out to the terrace clutching a bottle of aspirin in one hand and sunglasses in the other. As soon as the daylight hit her eyes, she groaned and carefully eased on her sunglasses.

“Coffee, ma’am?” Guadalupe asked. Guadalupe was one of four people who worked in and around the house and whose salary was included in the price of the lease.

She started to nod, then immediately realized her mistake as pain jolted through her head. “Yes, please,” she whispered.

Gratefully she sank into a chair in front of the table, where breakfast had already been laid out. She took a searing gulp of coffee, downed four aspirin, then slumped back against the chair. Damn gulls. They sounded fiendishly cheerful. And…loud. Lord help her, were they that loud every morning?

She’d never had a hangover before, and if she lived through this one, she swore she’d never have one again.

“Is there anything else you’d like, ma’am?”

She almost jumped. She’d forgotten Guadalupe’s presence. Warily she eyed the table. Orange juice, fruit, sausage, eggs and an assortment of rolls, jellies and breads-enough to feed your basic small army.

“This will do for now, thank you.”

The thing was, her intake of alcohol had always been limited to the occasional beer or a glass of wine with dinner. Even in college, when most kids were celebrating their freedom from their parents with copious amounts of drinking, she’d spent her time sating her appetite for learning about business and oil. Succeeding had always been the most important thing for her, and it still was. She was convinced she could overcome this hangover just as she overcame all obstacles—by sheer determination. If she stayed really still…

Tess. Nick paused at the bottom of the terrace steps. She was already at the table, though it didn’t look as if she’d eaten anything yet. Her head was resting on the back of the chair, with her loose blond hair hanging down behind it and blowing lightly in the breeze. The hemline of her short, simple blue dress cut across her upper thighs. The morning sun gilded the skin of her bare arms and legs.

How in the hell was he supposed to keep his mind on business when she looked like that?

It was the same problem he’d had last night. Due to his research, he’d thought he was fully prepared for her. But all it had taken was one look and he’d known he wasn’t prepared for her.

He hadn’t known that one look at her would transfix him. He hadn’t anticipated that each time she talked to a friend, her face would light up so entrancingly that it would take his breath away, nor how a fleeting, anxious expression would make him want to be by her side to ward off whatever or whoever was responsible for the look. He hadn’t known that when he took her into his arms he would feel a powerful punch in the gut and, lower, a hardening that made him want her to the point of pain.

He’d definitely been thrown off his stride.

Still, he never should have strung her along as he had. He should have told her right up front who he was and what he wanted.

But…her blue eyes had sparkled with such a delightful curiosity as she’d sparred with him that he hadn’t been able to resist. And as they’d danced, she’d moved against him with a beguiling, unconscious fluidity that had made him crave her with a strength that had been nearly impossible to ignore.

And her soft, full lips… They’d beckoned him to taste. Honey. They’d tasted like honey and whiskey—potent and unforgettable. Still, he never should have kissed her, because with one kiss, he’d known it wouldn’t be enough.

Except it had to be.

What he wanted from her was far too important for him to let his sexual urges get the best of him. No matter what happened this morning, he had to remember that.

He climbed the steps to the terrace.

“Good morning.”

She started at the quiet, deeply masculine voice. Slowly she pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head and squinted up at Nick Trejo. Sunlight radiated around him like a brilliant nimbus. She pulled her sunglasses down to cover her eyes. “Good morning.” She straightened.

After last night, she should have known better than to arrange a meeting with him this early and outside. She should have known the sun would be more intense wherever he was. But, unwilling to dredge up the memories of why she hadn’t been thinking straight last night, she decided there was nothing to be done about her decision now. He was here, and she was just going to have to deal with it. With him. “Have a seat.”

He smiled at her, and she shut her eyes. She’d planned to look not only presentable for their meeting this morning but businesslike. Unfortunately, she’d barely managed to slip on a short cotton shift and sandals. And her hair… Normally she wore it up or secured in some way, but with some heavy metal rock band’s percussion section currently booming its merry way through her head, she’d barely been able to run a comb through it.

Opening her eyes and watching as Nick settled himself into the chair across from her, she considered whether or not she could blame him for her hangover. No, she decided. To be fair, she couldn’t.

After all, it wasn’t his fault that her reaction to him had unnerved her to the point that she’d ordered the bartender to keep her glass filled all night. Besides, she seemed to remember having a really great time.

“Help yourself to anything you like.”

“I’ll just have coffee.” He reached for the carafe, poured himself a cup, then glanced over the terrace and lawn. “You must have had a terrific cleanup crew. If I hadn’t been here last night, I wouldn’t have known there’d been a party.”

“Really?” She didn’t bother to conduct her own survey. The movement would have hurt. As he had the night before, Nick was holding all her attention. He was casually dressed in jeans, boots and a rosy beige open-necked shirt beneath a medium brown sport jacket. And his amber eyes were even more vivid in his tanned face than they had been last night.

It didn’t matter if it was night or day, she reflected ruefully. It didn’t matter if he was dressed up or down. His virile masculinity was enough to stop the heart of a healthy woman. Fortunately for her, she wasn’t at all well this morning. She reached for her cup and downed more coffee.

He studied her for several moments. “I gather your party lasted well into the night?”

“I must look even worse than I think I do,” she murmured, then watched as his lips curved ever so slightly upward into a half smile.

The sight of his lips brought back the weak, heated way she’d felt when he’d kissed her. Funny. She would have thought the impact of his smile and the sight of his lips would affect her less this morning. After all, everything in her body was hurting, right down to her toenails. Plus she was wearing sunglasses with the added precaution of ultraviolet protection. But…

“Actually, you look quite beautiful. And I like your hair loose.”

…he affected her more.

A flush rushed to her face, and self-consciously she raised a hand to her hair. Then she realized what she was doing and dropped her hand. “Thank you.” The sooner she got this meeting over with, the better. “Are you sure you don’t want anything other than coffee?”

Food. That reminded her. If the way her stomach felt was a color, it would be green. For all she knew, she was green. Maybe she would feel better if she tried to eat something. One thing was for sure, it couldn’t make her feel any worse. At least, she hoped it couldn’t.

“I’ve already had breakfast. The coffee is all I want.”

“Okay.” She glanced at her watch. A mistake. She couldn’t get the numbers to focus. Then again, he didn’t need to know that. “You have fifteen minutes before the world figures out that I’m awake and starts calling and or party stragglers come down in search of breakfast.” Cautiously she eyed a wheat roll, then tore a small part of the roll off and carefully ate it. If it stayed down, she would consider herself ahead of the game.

“I realize what an important woman you are, and believe me, I’m very grateful to you for working me into your packed schedule.”

He’d said it with a straight face, but a light in his eyes told her that he was mocking her. At any other time she would have called him on it, but not this morning. It would take more effort than she was willing to exert right now. Besides, in the next moment, his expression turned serious.

He leaned back in his chair and fixed his intense amber gaze on her. “There are two things you need to know about me. One, I’m a professor of archaeology at the University of Texas, though currently I’m on sabbatical.”

“Archaeology?” Clever cover for a sun god, she thought, and might have laughed at herself if she hadn’t been so convinced it would jar loose something in her throbbing head.

She had to get past that sun god analogy, that amazing kiss they’d shared last night and those amber eyes of his that even now were heating her skin. She had to consider him as she would any other business person who was coming to her with a request.

Simple.

She just wished she knew how to do it.

“The other thing you need to know is that in the 1880’s my great-grandfather discovered a rich vein of gold in the Sierra Madre mountains in Northern Mexico. It was an enormous find. He literally mined a fortune out of those mountains, and he had great dreams for that gold.” Nick’s voice was strong, and his gaze never once left her face. “He turned it into bullion and loaded it aboard a ship, the Águila, at the port of Tampico. The ship’s destination was here.” His index finger pointed to the table, indicating Corpus Christi. “That fortune was to be the start of a new life for him here in Texas. His plan was to buy a vast amount of land, found a great ranch and build an empire.”

The aspirin seemed to be working a little. It had muffled the acute pounding in her head to a dull pounding. She risked another bite of the roll and washed it down with more coffee. “That’s very interesting, but what does your family’s history have to do with me and my current drilling site?”

“Just listen. Please.”

In many different and unusual ways, the man defined the word power, but he’d said please to her with a sincerity and a supplication she wouldn’t have thought him capable of. In that moment she knew she would sit there and listen until he finished his story. “All right.”

“The Águila had almost reached its destination when it met a hurricane. It was a killer. At a certain point, it turned away from the land and headed back out to sea. It caught the ship up and blew it farther out into the Gulf. The waves were too high, the ship took on too much water, and it sank.”

She rubbed her aching forehead and wondered how long hangovers lasted. “What a shame, and after he’d worked so hard.”

“The loss of the gold all but killed him. He had what I suppose today we would call a nervous breakdown, but somehow he managed to go back to the Sierra Madre one last time. However, in his absence, other prospectors had descended on the mine, and his heart wasn’t in it anymore. He managed to extract only a meager amount before he left the mountain for good. Back in Texas, he bought a relatively small amount of land outside Uvalde and ran cattle on it until he died.”

“It must have been very hard for him,” she said, for want of anything better to say. Nick was a compelling man who could affect her with a mere look or touch, and his story was a sad one that moved her. Yet she had a mountain of her own problems waiting for her as soon as she stepped into the house and sat down at her desk, plus she had this damn hangover to deal with.

As if he could sense her mind wandering, Nick eyed her consideringly. “I don’t think you can imagine the full extent of how hard it was for him, because even I can’t. I only know that he was a man of great pride and felt humiliated by his failure. To build his self-esteem, he talked incessantly to the people he came to know in and around Uvalde, telling them about the great fortune that he’d wrested from the mountains, then lost. Unfortunately, none of them believed his story of how close he’d come to founding an empire, and they scorned him. He died brokenhearted.”

Through the windows of the house, she could see Ron already handling calls, but she’d committed to hearing Nick out and that was just what she planned to do. “Your family certainly has an interesting history.”

She’d managed half of the wheat roll, and despite the color and uncertainty of her stomach, she was pleased the roll was staying down. She still didn’t have a clue what Nick’s story had to do with her, but because of his please, she waited.

“History, yes. History that has worked its way down through the generations. I grew up on that history. My grandfather inherited the bill of lading for the gold that had been boarded on that ship.”

“Your great-grandfather had the bill of lading? Then why didn’t he simply show it to his neighbors?”

“He did. They thought it was a forgery, but his son, my grandfather, never thought it was, and neither did I.”

Over his shoulder, she saw Ron answering another phone call, and she prayed it wasn’t Jimmy Vega with yet another problem. Jimmy was the best tool pusher in the business, and she’d chosen him to supervise the entire operation. In turn, he had put together the best crew of roughnecks there was. Still, everything about this particular operation had been hard so far. They hadn’t even been drilling a week, yet time and again, the axiom that what can go wrong will go wrong had been proven true. “Again, Nick, it’s all very interesting, but—”

“I’ve found the shipwreck and the gold.”

Ron came striding onto the terrace, carrying the portable phone, mouthing Jimmy Vega’s name. Damn. She really did need to talk with Jimmy. But there was Nick, sitting across from her, and there was no way she would be able to focus on Jimmy as long as Nick’s amber eyes were trained so intently on her. She motioned Ron away. A look of surprise crossed his face, but he turned back to the house. “I’m sorry, Nick. What were you saying?”

“I said I’ve found the gold and I’m ready to start excavating it.”

“Well, congratulations.” She tried to infuse as much enthusiasm as possible into her congratulations, but she couldn’t say it with any strength or volume. Even though the percussion section in her head had quieted, the rest of the band was still playing.

“Congratulations aren’t in order yet. I’ve got a serious problem.”

She exhaled a long breath. “Look, Nick, I could match you problem for problem and more than likely have a stack of problems left over. I’ve listened to your story, as I said I would, but now I need to get back to work.”

“I’m not through.”

“I’m sorry, but you are. At least with me.” At any other time, she would gladly have lingered over her coffee and listened to Nick. He had the ability to touch and affect her in a way no other man ever had. But there was nothing normal or right about her current circumstances, and there wouldn’t be for months to come. She started to push her chair away from the table.

“The Águila and the gold are not far from your drilling site, which is why I’m here.”

She stilled.

“It’s perched atop a scarp. You’re drilling in a highly overpressurized zone. It will take only one catastrophe to send the Águila sliding off that salt ridge and into the abyss, where it will be buried so deep, it will more than likely be lost forever. Hell, even a series of minor catastrophes would do it.”

There was only one thing she could say. “You’re right.”

He nodded, apparently satisfied that she understood. “I need time to shore up the ship, to brace it in such a way that it will be protected from whatever happens on your rig.”

She rubbed her aching forehead, trying to focus. “I don’t see how you can really do that.”

“It’ll be hard, but I can try to make sure it will be safeguarded as much as possible, and then I can pray like hell. Besides, with the crew you’ve got, plus modern technology, the possibility of a full catastrophe such as a blowout is considerably lessened. But there are other things. There are fault lines down there that would easily channel vibrations of any sort from your rig over to the Águila.” Pausing, he looked at her in an assessing way. “That’s why I’m here to ask you to stop drilling for at least three months.”

“At least?” If she hadn’t been sitting, she might have fallen. As it was, the percussion section of the band in her head returned. He had no idea what he was asking of her. “Nick, there’s no way I could stop for even a week’s time.”

His body tensed. She didn’t see it; she felt it in the air between them.

“What’s the matter, Ms. Baron? Aren’t you rich enough yet?”

The question hit her like a slap. “No, as a matter of fact I’m not, Mr. Trejo.”

Nick didn’t move, not a muscle, not an eyelash. “Funny, you didn’t strike me as the greedy type.”

“Do you honestly think you have the right to call me greedy? You’re asking me to give up three valuable months of an operation that will bring in millions so that you can have three months to ensure you can safely harvest a crop of gold worth millions.”

Cold amber eyes stared at her.

Ron walked out again, the phone in his hand, an anxious expression on his face. “Vega insists on talking to you.”

She reached for the phone just as Nick rose. “Hang on a minute, Jimmy.” She covered the mouthpiece and looked at Nick.

“I won’t take up any more of your time this morning.” He glanced at his watch. “I’ll pick you up this evening at seven.”

“Excuse me?”

He was already walking away from her. “Seven,” he called as he disappeared from the terrace.

Seven? Had he just asked her for a date? A date? It was hard for her to imagine Nick doing something as mundane as asking a woman for a date. He must want more time to try to change her mind, and there was no rule that said she had to go. Still…

“Tess? Tess?”

She glanced at the phone, then lifted it to her ear. “Sorry, Jimmy. What’s happened now?”

Nick pulled his car onto the road that would take him to the little house he was renting. Tess Baron was every bit as smart and tough as he’d thought she would be. He’d known she wouldn’t be an easy sale. Hell, why should she be? What he was asking of her required an enormous sacrifice on her part.

But he’d really thought that on some deep level she would understand and comply. He still had hope that she would.

His hand tightened on the steering wheel. Damn it. Why couldn’t he just have kept his hands off her last night? Why couldn’t he have kept his mind on business? It would have made things between them so much easier.

But now his personal feelings were in the mix, infusing every word, every gesture, with the possibility of volatility. How else could he explain his need to stand up from that table, circle it and pull her into his arms for a long, deep kiss, despite the fact that she’d told him no?

He exhaled a long breath. Obviously he was going to have to get his fast-growing appetite for her under control. He was also going to have to present what he was asking of her in an entirely different way. In effect, he was going to have to set a trap.

He had a little over nine hours to set things in motion, and there would be no margin for error. After this evening, he wouldn’t get another chance to change Tess’s mind.

Abruptly he took a turn and headed in a different direction.

Six forty-five. It had taken a while, but Tess could now see the face of her watch quite clearly. Nick was supposed to arrive in fifteen minutes, and she had no idea where they were going, or even if this was to be another business meeting or a genuine date.

If Nick planned to spend their time together attempting to convince her to cease her drilling, it would make for a very long and difficult evening for her. But today, as she’d thought about the coming evening, she’d been alarmed to discover that, even if that were his plan, she still wanted to go with him. Which was exactly why she needed to find out up front what he had in mind.

She had all the risk she could handle in her professional life, which was the reason she’d never allowed any risk to enter her personal life. Then last night Nick had appeared, and she hadn’t had to look twice to know that, in one way or another, he would be a risk for a woman, a danger for a woman’s heart.

Tonight was a prime example. She had no idea where he planned to take her, or why. She only knew she wanted to go. However, she had no intention of allowing that to happen unless he told her it would be a social evening.

She’d chosen an outfit that was suitable for a date. It was a red, sleeveless, A-line knit dress, with a matching cashmere sweater casually tied around the neckline. Her opentoed shoes with a midsize heel were also red. Last but not least, she’d wound her hair into a loose French twist.

If it turned out that Nick planned on talking business, she would politely turn him down, then treat herself to dinner and maybe even a movie. She just wished she knew what he had in mind.

As the day progressed, the pain in her head had lessened and her stomach had calmed. The party guests who stayed over had all left, and the house had quieted. Still, the day hadn’t exactly gone great.

There had been all kinds of problems on the rig, from broken drill bits to machinery failure to tangled lines. Sometimes she thought the operation was jinxed—but she couldn’t afford to think like that.

If anyone could handle the problems and bring in the oil, it was Jimmy. If there was oil to find.

She shook her head, then bent her head to rub her brow. That was something else she couldn’t afford to think about. Every one of the tests had looked great, but they were just that—tests. Despite the sophistication of today’s testing, in the end, drilling for oil was still very much a wildcatting venture. There were so many variables. To compete in the market, you had to have money, nerves of steel, a large portion of luck, perfect timing and, last but not least, a great instinct for oil.

So far, her wells were bringing in money in amounts that would make anyone deliriously happy. Anyone, that is, except her father.

She glanced at her watch again and noticed that her heart was beating just a little harder as the time drew closer to Nick’s arrival. She drew a deep breath of the sea air to compose herself. Tomorrow she was scheduled to fly out to the rig for an inspection, plus an up-to-date cost-andtime report from Jimmy. But for tonight, well, she’d see.

“You look lovely.”

She turned, and there he was, all darkness and brilliance, outlined against the sun. Her heart jumped into high gear.

“Thank you. Since I didn’t know where we were going, I wasn’t certain what to wear.” Lord, she sounded like a flustered schoolgirl about to go out on her first date.

His gaze slowly raked her, his lips curved upward. “You chose perfectly.”

Which told her exactly nothing. “Then where are we going?”

He held his hand out to her, and before she could stop herself, she took it.

“We’re going a place that I love, and by the time we leave, I’m hoping you’re going to feel the same way.” He began to draw her toward his car, parked at the side of the house.

Abruptly she stopped and pulled her hand from his. “I don’t like guessing games, Nick. You and I have been there and done that—last night, as a matter of fact. So what’s this all about? Is this going to be a social evening? Or are you going to spend it trying to get me to change my mind about your request? Because if that’s the case, you should know right now that it won’t work. There’s no way I can put off production for three months, and quite frankly, I don’t want to spend an evening arguing with you about it.”

He stared at her for several moments. Surprisingly his gaze didn’t sear as it had the evening before, but rather caressed.

She felt his gaze as a gentle touch all over her body, and as she did, she discovered that gentleness from Nick was a powerful thing. It liquefied her bones. It made her want things for which she had neither the time nor the inclination. Even more remarkable, he wasn’t even touching her.

“You’ve made your position abundantly clear,” he said softly. “And as to the question of whether or not this will be a social evening, it’s my hope that it will be.”

He was saying all the right words, yet she wasn’t sure she believed him. Then again, why shouldn’t she? To her knowledge, he hadn’t lied to her. Last night and this morning, he’d been completely up-front about what he wanted. She’d told him no, and now he was telling her that he hoped their evening would be a social one. Her hopes matched his exactly.

She couldn’t remember the last real date she’d been on, probably because it had been years. And Nick Trejo was the most intriguing man she’d ever met. Chances were their paths wouldn’t cross again, yet tonight would be an opportunity for her to spend an interesting evening with an extremely interesting man.

And if his gaze burned or liquefied, and if his touch raised emotions that made her remember for the first time in a long time that she was a woman with normal wants and desires, so be it. Being with him made her forget, if only for a little while, the pressure that was her life.

With a smile, she reached for his hand.

“The airport? Nick, what are we doing at the airport?”

As he steered his car toward one of the outlying hangars, he glanced at her. “I’ve borrowed a friend’s plane to take us to dinner.”

Panic rose in her throat, yet there was no real reason. “Look, it’s very nice of you to go to all this trouble for our dinner, but it’s not necessary.”

“I wanted to.”

She shook her head, still fighting the mysterious panic. “I’ve had a rough day, and I’d just as soon stay in town.”

He pulled the car into a parking space and switched it off. Turning toward her, he angled his arm along the top of her seat. “This isn’t going to require any effort for you, Tess. I promise. All you have to do is sit beside me and relax.”

Sit beside him and relax. That was the problem. Relaxing while she was sitting beside him in the close confines of a car had turned out to be harder than she had thought it would be. She’d been much too aware of him. She’d found herself mesmerized as she’d watched the confident way his hands had held the wheel and the quick, instinctive way he’d responded to every bump and curve in the road. Around his wrist he wore a slim, stainless steel watch that subtly spoke of masculinity as well as competency.

“If it’s your safety you’re concerned about, don’t be. I’m an excellent pilot. As for the plane, it’s the newest in Cessna’s fleet and is serviced regularly after every flight. If those two things weren’t true, I wouldn’t have considered this trip.”

“It’s not that.”

His tone lightened. “Well, it can’t be that I’m the first man to ask you to fly to a special place for dinner.”

She let out a pent-up breath. “No, you’re not the first.”

“When you were asked, did you go?”

“Yes.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“No problem.” She rubbed her forehead. There was no pain, but she felt a growing tension in her scalp, and Nick was the cause. In the short time she’d known him, he’d surprised her, but he hadn’t made one move or said one thing to hurt her. Why, then, was her scalp tightening? And why did her instincts tell her to remain on guard? “Mostly I’ve gone with groups of friends.”

“And not one particular man?”

“Once or twice. Look—”

“Please, Tess. This is important to me, and I’ve already made special arrangements.”

Damn it, he’d said please again. Plus, she really did want to spend this evening with him. Most likely it would be the only one she’d ever get. Their objectives were so diametrically opposed that she could see no future for them. But for tonight, she really wanted to forget their differences and see if she could find any similarities. If she could find even one, she would consider the evening a success.

“Tess?”

She nodded. “Let’s go.”

Minutes later, she was buckling herself into the passenger seat beside him. And she couldn’t help but notice as they took off that they were flying directly into the sun.

Three

“Uvalde? This restaurant that you love so much is in Uvalde, Texas?”

The plane glided to a stop. Then and only then did Nick look at her. “Trust me. You’re going to love dinner.”

She mentally shrugged. He’d engaged her in pleasant small talk for most of the trip, and she’d actually enjoyed the flight. He had a quick mind that she appreciated, and not once had he mentioned anything about the Águila or her drilling.

But as soon as they’d touched down, her original uneasiness had returned. Stupid, really. He certainly hadn’t dragged her here, kicking and screaming. She’d wanted to come. Still…

As she came down the stairs of the plane, he offered her a steadying hand. An unnecessary gesture, but definitely a nice one, and after she reached the ground, he continued to hold her hand. “I’m really hoping you’ll like what I’ve planned.”

His suddenly serious expression took her aback. “I’m sure I will.”

“Good.” He stared at her as if he were searching for something in her, or maybe even in himself, but in the end he shook his head.

“Nick? Is there something wrong?”

“Not a thing.” He lightly tugged her hand. “Come on. The car is just around the corner.”

The car he guided her to was a spotlessly clean, beautifully preserved 1975 Cadillac.

“Is this car a rental?” she asked.

“No. It belongs to my family.”

“Your family?”

“My grandparents.”

“Oh. So they live in Uvalde?”

“That’s right.”

Everything was beginning to make sense. “I wondered how a restaurant in Uvalde could have become such a special place to you. You were raised here, right?”

For some reason her remark drew a smile from him, and her heart gave a hard thud. She returned his smile. “Let me guess. This place serves great Tex-Mex, right?”

“On occasion, but not tonight. Hope you’re not too disappointed.”

She shook her head. “I can get my fill of Tex-Mex in Corpus.”

“Good.” His smile warmed her inside and out, and she realized that whatever wariness she’d been feeling had disappeared. For the first time since she’d looked across the terrace and seen him, she was totally at ease with him.

He turned onto a highway, then gunned the car so that it zoomed ahead. Given Nick’s special affinity with the sun, she wasn’t surprised to see that they were still heading west. But given the time of evening, the sun had disappeared, leaving behind only trails of muted reds and oranges on the horizon as a reminder of its existence.

“You said you’re a professor at the university?”

“That’s right.”

“So then you have a home in Austin?”

“Yes. Do you know Austin?”

“I went to school there. It was a requirement for me and my two sisters.”

“Requirement?”

She smiled dryly. “Oh, yeah. It had to be the University of Texas or it would be nothing.”

“Sounds as if your father had very definite ideas.”

“That’s one way of putting it.” Dictatorial was another.

“One thing about it—no one can make a mistake by going there. What was your degree in?”

“Petroleum engineering.” Such a shame, she thought. She’d never had a professor who looked even remotely like Nick. She could only imagine the clamor of the young, attractive women lining up, trying to get into his classes. In fact, if he’d been a professor there when she’d attended, she would have been clamoring right along with the others. She smiled to herself at the thought. “Austin’s a really great city.”

“It’s also a wonderful place to live and relatively easygoing.”

“Not like Dallas, huh?”

His head swung around. “You don’t like living in Dallas?”

Even she had heard the wistfulness in her voice, so she wasn’t surprised that he had. “Oh, I love it. There’s always something happening there, and it’s a great base for international dealings.” It was the truth. Only the word easyging had caused her wistfulness, though she wasn’t sure why. Her life was made up of discipline, drive and ambition. She’d never known any other way.

“In this day and time of faxes and modems, I imagine you could work anywhere and still maintain international ties without any problems.”

“I’m not sure that’s entirely true. For the type of business I do, it’s almost imperative to have an international airport close by, and Dallas does.”

He turned off the highway onto a two-lane country road. “DFW is a short flight away from Austin.”

“Uh-huh.” His Chamber of Commerce-like promotion of Austin was interesting, but it didn’t affect her one way or another. Her home was in Dallas because her uncle and her father had decided the offices of Baron International should be there. And as soon as she’d graduated from college at the age of twenty, she’d dived headfirst into the deep end of the high-tech, high-stress world of the oil business. She loved it. She thrived on it. She was good at it. She’d never minded the long hours or the pressure of risking huge amounts of money on what, in the end, came down to her instincts.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.