At tonight’s bachelor auction, money’s no object...

That red-hot cowboy will be hers!

Pippa Hamilton-Hoff has come into a fortune, and her first purchase is the bachelor on the charity auction block, Diego Velasquez. No one in Texas knows she’s secretly an heiress—or that she craves Diego. She wants this time with him, even knowing it’s temporary. Because Pippa can’t stay forever...but is she willing to leave her untamed rancher behind?

USA TODAY bestselling author KATHERINE GARBERA writes emotional, sexy contemporary romances. An Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iBooks bestselling author, she is also a two-time Maggie Award winner and has sold more than seven million copies of her books worldwide. She loves to hear from readers via her website, www.katherinegarbera.com.

Also by Katherine Garbera

The Greek Tycoon’s Secret Heir

The Wealthy Frenchman’s Proposition

The Spanish Aristocrat’s Woman His

Baby Agenda

His Seduction Game Plan

Tycoon Cowboy’s Baby Surprise The

Tycoon’s Fiancée Deal

Craving His Best Friend’s Ex

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

Rancher Untamed

Katherine Garbera

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07684-5

RANCHER UNTAMED

© 2018 Katherine Garbera

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

This book is dedicated to all believers in

happy endings and the power of true love.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Extract

About the Publisher

One

Diego Velasquez felt foolish as he stood in the wings waiting to be announced in the Five Families Country Club bachelor auction. He’d give anything to be with his horses on his ranch, Arbol Verde. He had tried to get out of participating in the annual charity event by making a huge donation, but his mom, a formidable morning newscaster on a Houston station, was on the committee and wanted to see her sons—all four of them—married. So there was no getting out of it, even though every year he and his brothers tried.

“What do you think, Diego? Got it in you to land a huge bid?” his youngest brother, Inigo, asked.

Diego was pretty sure Inigo had toyed with the idea of making one of the women who followed him on the F1 racing circuit his temporary bride to avoid the auction. But since their beloved mama was a devout Catholic, a temporary marriage was a no-no, so he’d flown in on his G6 this morning from Japan. Luckily for Inigo the F1 was racing in Austin in two weeks’ time. Or maybe unluckily, because it meant there was no excuse not to be here, he thought as he watched Inigo messing with his bow tie.

Diego turned to his other two brothers, the twins. Alejandro did some sort of social media management that had made him a millionaire and he wasn’t even thirty. And Mauricio had the golden eye when it came to spotting property in neighborhoods on the cusp of becoming “it” places to live and work.

Diego was proud of them. They were all the kind of bachelors that the charity auction should be promoting. Sure, it was annoying that Mama was competitive and wanted to see the Velasquez name at the top of the fund-raising leaderboard. But at the end of the day, it was a good cause, wasn’t it?

“You look like you’re thinking of bolting,” Mo said.

“I am,” Diego admitted. But before he could make good his escape, there was a commotion on stage.

“Ethan Caruthers is making a fool of himself over some woman. He just proposed to her,” Inigo said, from his spot near the curtain leading to the stage.

“Crissanne Moss,” Diego said, coming over to join his youngest brother. “While you were touring the world, this has been the big news in town. Ethan and Crissanne were living together and the Carutherses thought it was leading toward marriage. But then Crissanne’s ex came back from the dead. Literally. People thought he’d died in a plane crash until he showed up in town, very much alive, wanting to know what was going on between his best friend and his ex-girlfriend.”

“Dios mio, Diego, you sound like the town gossip,” Alejandro said, coming up behind him and slinging his arm over Diego’s shoulders.

“Don’t remind me. I had dinner with Bi and Derek last night and Ma Caruthers was there spilling the dirt,” Diego said.

“Ah, well, it looks like they might be getting back together,” Inigo said.

“Yeah, it does,” Diego said. He’d never met a woman he’d make a fool of himself over. Not like Ethan was doing right now. But as he watched Ethan go to Crissanne and embrace her...well, it made him wonder what it would be like to find one special person to settle down with.

“You’re next, Diego,” the stage manager said.

“Damn,” he said. His chance to run was gone.

He heard Mo chuckling evilly behind him and turned to punch him in the shoulder, only softening it at the last moment because if he started a brawl with his brothers his mom would never forgive them.

“What are you afraid of?” Mo asked. “It’s just harmless fun.”

Yeah, it was. But as he got older, it felt like he should be retiring from this auction, not settling in as a permanent fixture. “Nothing. You’re right. It’s fun.”

All four brothers watched the crowd as Diego’s name was announced. Alejandro elbowed him, pointing to Kinley Caruthers’s nanny, Pippa. She was close to the front of the crowd, a look of anticipation lighting up her heart-shaped face.

She’d caught his eye before. The cute blonde had come to Cole’s Hill two years ago when Kinley moved here. Her hair was a honey blond and she usually wore it in a ponytail, but tonight it fell to her shoulders in soft waves. Her eyes were gray, but not icy at all. It was sort of a soft gray color that made him want to tell her things that he didn’t even want to admit he thought about. Which made her dangerous. Her lips were full, and normally she wore only lip gloss—yeah, he’d spent a lot of time thinking about that mouth of hers. Tonight she’d used a red lipstick that made it impossible for him to look at anything but her mouth. Which was the last thing he needed because he already thought too much about what it would be like to kiss her.

She wore a figure-hugging dress in a deep blue jewel tone that made her creamy skin look even smoother than normal. He’d known her legs were long and slim because she tended to wear leggings around town, but tonight with a pair of fancy heels on they seemed longer, endless.

He groaned.

“Stop being a baby. I swear, Diego, you are the worst at this. I know they are women and not your beloved horses, but it’s not that bad,” Mo said.

He glanced at his brother. “I know that. I’m not exactly afraid of women.”

“Your reputation proves that,” Mo said. “So what’s the deal?”

Mo leaned toward the curtain with him and followed Diego’s gaze.

“Oh, it’s like that.”

“Yeah. But she’s not interested and I’m—”

“Out of time,” Mo said.

“Mr. Diego Velasquez,” the emcee repeated.

And Diego, with a shove from Mo, walked out onto the stage.

* * *

Pippa Hamilton-Hoff rarely went out and certainly didn’t get dressed up all that often. But here she was, seated at the Caruthers table for the Five Families bachelor auction. Among the descendants of the original five families who’d founded Cole’s Hill, there was a friendly competition to see which one could raise the most money.

Given that all of the Caruthers brothers were married except for Ethan—and he now seemed engaged—that family’s chances were slim this year. But Pippa had already had other ideas. It certainly helped that she was twenty-five today and would soon have access to her fortune. She knew exactly who she wanted to spend this birthday with.

Diego Velasquez—a long, tall Texan who looked as comfortable in his tuxedo as he did on the back of a horse. Though if she were being totally honest, she preferred to see him riding his stallion Iago. She’d been out to visit him twice with Penny, the little girl she nannied. Penny was a horse-crazy four-year-old, the daughter of Nathan Caruthers, and Diego was her de facto uncle now that his sister, Bianca, had married Dr. Derek Caruthers.

The long road that she’d been on for the last four years was almost up. She no longer had to hide who she was—an English heiress who’d run away from her controlling father and had become a nanny while on the run, trying to figure out what to do next. Now that she was twenty-five her inheritance was hers to claim and do what she wanted with. For this one night she still wanted to be young and free. To be with a man who didn’t know about her fortune, who would be happy enough with Pippa the nanny.

She’d run into him enough times in town to know that it wasn’t coincidence. The owner of a large ranch on the outskirts of town with an internationally acclaimed breeding program didn’t have to drive into Cole’s Hill at 10:00 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to get coffee, but he did. They always chatted, and she’d been careful to not let it be more than talk, but in her heart...she wanted more. He had the kind of chocolatey-brown eyes that reminded her of drinking hot chocolate, so rich and comforting. Yet at the same time he made her feel alive...feel things that she hadn’t allowed herself to even think about since she’d walked out of that party in New York City four years ago and gotten on a bus.

Since then, her life had been a lie. One big deceit where she had to keep moving, keep thinking and never let her guard down.

Until now.

Tonight.

Ethan Caruthers had done the romantic thing and now he and Crissanne were in the corner snogging. Meanwhile, Pippa was sitting here with access to her fortune and looking up at Diego Velasquez. He wore his tuxedo with an easy grace that spoke of manners and class, but when their eyes met, she felt that zing. That sexual awareness that reminded her she was more than an heiress on the run. She was a woman with a plan tonight.

Not the one who’d hidden away for four years or the one who was afraid to claim things for herself.

No, she wanted Diego and was determined to have him.

The bidding started, and she raised her hand, increasing the bid. She just kept on until she and one of the women who worked with Diego at his ranch were the only ones left. Chantelle, Pippa thought her name was. Did Chantelle wish for a relationship that was more than boss/employee?

Pippa knew she was leaving. That as soon as the board of her family’s company, House of Hamilton, read her email and accepted she was who she said she was, Cole’s Hill, Texas, would be a distant memory. But she’d put aside so many things for the past four years. She’d denied herself for too long and she wasn’t going to anymore. She raised her paddle and doubled the current bid, which made the emcee squeal with excitement and Diego raise his eyebrows as he looked right at her.

“I think someone definitely wants you, Diego, and unless there is another bidder who wants to top that bid...” The emcee glanced around the room, but she’d pushed the bid so high no one else raised a paddle.

For the first time since Diego walked onto the stage she was truly aware of the room and that everyone’s eyes were on her. She started to sit back down, but Kinley put her hand on Pippa’s butt. “Get your man, girl.”

She had to smile at the way Kinley said it. Despite the fact that they had grown up in two very different worlds, Kin was a soul sister. Pippa had always believed that something stronger than coincidence had led them to meet on that Vegas bus the day Kinley went into labor. Pippa had been riding the bus trying to figure out her next move, since she was out of cash, and Kinley had been on her way to work when her water broke.

“I guess I will,” Pippa said, carefully placing her paddle on the table and going up to claim him.

It was only for tonight, but then again, she felt tonight was all she’d had. She’d had four birthdays on her own in Texas, each of them fraught with tension and confusion. Only her determination had brought her to this moment, and as she climbed up the stairs at the side of the stage and went to him, she didn’t worry about any of that. As she got closer, she noticed his smile, how tonight it wasn’t as bold as it usually was. But it was still sexy and charming, and she admitted to herself she was smitten.

What an old-fashioned word, but it suited her and her emotions.

She hadn’t really been paying attention to the other winners, so she had no idea what to do, but Diego caught her hand and pulled her close to him. “With a bid like that, I think you deserve my everything.”

Up close she realized that his brown eyes had flecks of gold in them. His lips were full, and he winked at her as he dipped her low in his arms and then brought his mouth down on hers. She stopped thinking and just let go.

* * *

Diego stood in the line at the bar watching Pippa talking to Kinley and Bianca. His sister was a former supermodel, but Pippa outshone her in his eyes. He wasn’t sure what they were saying, but he noticed that Pippa smiled and laughed easily. He ordered two margaritas and then made his way back over to her.

“So I guess we shouldn’t wait up for you,” Kinley said as he approached.

Pippa’s gaze met his and she blushed, the pink tint moving up from her décolletage to her neck.

“You’ll see me when you see me,” Pippa said in her very proper British accent.

She reached around Kinley and took one of the margaritas from him. He lifted his glass toward hers and took a sip before he moved to stand next to her. Kinley hugged her and went to join her husband across the room.

“Mama is very proud of the Velasquez family tonight,” Bianca said.

“She should be. She did a good job raising us,” Diego said. “And we are all home tonight, which you know always makes her happy.”

“She’s not the only one who’s over the moon,” Bianca said. “Benito can’t wait until tomorrow morning for our family brunch. He loves his tios.”

His nephew was four years old and had seen a lot in his short life. His father had died while racing, something that had made Diego’s own mother more determined to try to find another career for Inigo. But his youngest brother had the legendary Velasquez hardheadedness.

“We adore him,” Diego said.

“Of course you do. Now, I am going to try to claim a dance with my husband. He’s got early surgery tomorrow, so we can’t stay late,” Bianca said, leaning over to kiss his cheek. Then she gave Pippa a hug before she walked away.

He glanced over at the woman who’d been shutting him down in town but tonight had made the highest bid to spend the evening with him. “You could have saved yourself some money if you’d said yes when I asked you out a few weeks ago.”

“Oh, well, then the charity wouldn’t have made as much tonight. Somehow, I think that makes it all worth it,” she said.

There was something different about her tonight. She was more confident. She’d always seemed to be a little bit on edge, her eyes frequently going to the door of the café where they’d met. It used to bother him when he’d first started running into her in town, but now he’d gotten used to it.

“Was that what brought out your wallet? The charity?”

She flushed again. “It is a very good cause. Children are so vulnerable and really at the mercy of the adults in their lives.”

“Were you?” he asked. He couldn’t help but be curious about her past. And how could a nanny afford the generous bid she’d placed? Maybe it was because she didn’t really have any expenses living in her own house on the Rockin’ C ranch. And she’d told him at the coffee shop that her daily lattes were her only indulgence. But still. No one knew much about her. She never mentioned her last name, and he knew from Nathan—Kinley’s husband—that Pippa had met Kinley on a bus in Las Vegas, of all places.

But she was a British woman with no apparent connection to her homeland. And Diego, who was proud of being American, didn’t understand that.

“I had everything a child could wish for,” Pippa said. “The best toys, a first-class education and a stable with horses that even the legendary Diego Velasquez would envy.”

“Legendary?” he asked, ignoring the sadness that underpinned her words. So she had been born with money, but when she’d come to the United States, she’d left that behind. He’d seen the way she lived. Frugal was one word for it. But it was deliberate.

“Don’t let it go to your head, but you are sort of a superstar with horses. I mean, when I’ve brought Pippa out to your stables to ride, I’ve seen the way the rowdiest stallion settles down for you.”

“I get horses,” Diego said.

“But not people?”

“Some people,” he admitted. Mo had warned him to not talk about his horses or breeding program around women and bore them when he was in his early twenties. Diego had seen his success with the ladies increase after his brother’s advice and still followed it now.

The DJ had gotten set up, and as the drinks from the open bar flowed, more people were moving toward the dance floor. Pippa finished her margarita.

“Do you want another drink?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I’m not a huge fan of tequila.”

“What would you prefer?” he asked.

“Something sparkling. I want to celebrate.”

He raised one eyebrow and took the margarita glass from her. “I’ll be right back.”

He went to get them both some prosecco and then returned. “How’s that?”

“Much better,” she said, lifting her glass toward his.

“What are we celebrating?” he asked.

“My birthday,” she said. “I’m twenty-five today.”

“Happy birthday, Pippa.”

Twenty-five. She was five years younger than him, but the way she said it made him realize there was a lot more to the story. She took a sip of her drink and he did the same, making small talk until they had finished. The band was playing “Despacito” and Pippa was swaying to the music.

“So, Pippa, what are we going to do?”

She tipped her head to the side. “I’m not sure what you mean. What are we going to do about what?”

“This night,” he said. He put his hand on her waist and drew her closer to him.

“I’m not sure,” she said softly.

Her breath smelled sweet like the prosecco, and her face was so close that his lips tingled. He remembered how soft and succulent they had been beneath his earlier.

“Well, I’m yours...for tonight,” he said out loud to remind himself that it was only for this night. “Tell me what it is you want me to do.”

She tipped her head back and their eyes met. Her lips parted and he felt her hand come to rest on his shoulder. “Show me a good time, cowboy.”

Two

Once the auction was over and the winners collected their bachelors, it was as if all the tension left the room. Pippa felt freer than she’d felt since...well, ever. Her whole life she’d felt the burden of her inheritance and knew that she’d have to make the right choices when she became an adult. Her mother had coached her and told her to take her time. Not to marry young, as she had, because even though she loved her family she felt she’d missed out on so much of life.

Her father was a different story. Having married into the House of Hamilton fortune, he had wanted to do everything to make his own mark on the legacy jewelry company. But instead he’d always come up short. She knew this from a frank discussion two of her cousins had had with her when she’d turned twenty-one. She had been at that odd age where she was both an adult and also not yet allowed to take over her inheritance, which she couldn’t do until she was twenty-five. Her father had full power over many things including voting her shares and her position on the board.

“Another prosecco?” Diego asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“Uh, that, or champagne will do. I’m a sucker for anything sparkling,” she said. Now that she’d won the man she’d been eyeing around town for the past two years she had to admit that she didn’t know what to do with him.

Her life with Kinley and Penny had been quiet and sheltered. She knew all of Dora the Explorer’s little friends but really felt awkward with a man. That was sad. She aimed to fix that tonight.

He snagged two champagne glasses from a passing waiter and handed one to her. “To a glittering night.”

She clinked her glass to his and then took a sip. She loved the bubbles in champagne and how they felt on her tongue. She closed her eyes and let the sip stay in her mouth awhile before she swallowed. When she opened her eyes, Diego was watching her and the look in his eyes made her feel...well, not awkward anymore.

The DJ was playing a good mix of dance tunes and slower ballads, along with some standards that got the older generations up on the dance floor, but all Pippa could think about was that she was free. After staying hidden so long, and that being the focus of her every day. Hoping she wouldn’t be found before she could claim her inheritance...and now that fear was gone. She’d known her father had private detectives searching for her. And she’d been careful to keep the Hamilton-Hoff name hidden. Not that she couldn’t trust Kinley, but if she had to lie, that was her responsibility. Lying was her choice and not one she wanted to force her friends into. All she had to do was wait for her claim to be validated and then...her new life would begin.

“So do you dance?” he asked. Diego’s voice was low and smooth. She’d spent way too much time thinking about the way he said her name. He lingered on the last vowel as if he liked the way her name sounded on his lips.

“I do, but mostly with Penny, and that little imp pretty much just jumps around and strikes crazy poses. I’m sure you’re not going to want to see me do that,” she said.

“I wouldn’t rule it out, but maybe not in this venue,” he said with a wink. “My nephew is a big fan of lying on the floor and spinning around when the music is on.”

“Penny does that, too. I’m pretty sure that’s a classic toddler move,” she said.

“Can’t recall it from my own past, but I hope I had a little more style,” he said as the music changed and Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” came on. “Want to give it a try? See if you can control the urge to jump around and pose?”

She smiled and nodded. “This song is from the Trolls movie.”

She groaned internally. She didn’t even have a kid and yet kid stuff was all she could talk about. She’d turned into an old lady without even realizing it was happening.

“Please pretend you didn’t hear that,” she said. “Starting right now I’m going to be young and wild Pippa.”

“No arguments here,” he said, taking her hand and leading her onto the dance floor.

She’d expected him to let go of her hand, but he didn’t. Just held her as they swayed to the music. She didn’t have a hard time getting into it and remembered the last time she’d danced like this had been years ago when she’d gone to the winter formal at her boarding school before her mom had died and everything had changed.

After a period of grief, the board of the House of Hamilton had informed her father that he was no longer an official partner and would only be voting Pippa’s shares until she came of age at twenty-five. Her relationship with her father changed after that. And when she turned eighteen, he had become obsessed with who she would marry and determined that she should choose a distant cousin of his who was his protégé.

Unexpectedly she felt the sting of tears and she shook her head until she could shove the emotion back down. She twirled away from Diego, who looked as if he were going to ask a question, and continued dancing with her back to him until her emotions were under control.

So much of her journey had been fed by her mom’s death, but she was cool now. She was in control and she knew exactly what she was going to do.

The song ended.

“We’ve had a lot of requests for this song and I think it’s about time I played it. ‘Save a Horse’ by Big & Rich, so, ladies, grab your cowboy and enjoy,” he said.

She knew the song well as it was one of her favorites, but until tonight she hadn’t had a cowboy of her own. She did now. She took his hand. All around them on the dance floor, there was laughter that soon turned into close embraces and kisses. But Diego just smiled and kept his eyes on hers as she sang and danced with him.

The crazy surge of emotion she’d had earlier changed into something else as she realized just how long it had been since she’d let her hair down and just danced.

At the end of the song, Diego pulled her close and their eyes met moments before he lowered his head and kissed her. Unlike the embrace on stage earlier, this one didn’t feel like it was for show.

* * *

Diego and Pippa stayed on the dance floor for the next three hours. Some couples disappeared, then came back looking...well, like they’d enjoyed themselves. But Diego remained where he was. He drank champagne, which hadn’t escaped Mo’s notice. His brother gave him a look and Diego knew he was going to hear about it later. Alejandro was dancing with someone Diego didn’t know, but he was pretty damned sure she wasn’t his longtime girlfriend. According to the gossips at the coffeehouse, they’d had a fight about Alejandro’s inability to commit and she’d dumped him about six weeks ago.

Pippa stuck close to his side and hadn’t mentioned the kiss he’d been unable to stop himself from giving her. He knew that it was a bachelor auction, and all in good fun, yet as he’d held her hand and danced her around the floor, he’d wanted to be hers. He’d wanted her to have really claimed him.

“I don’t want this night to end,” she said as the DJ announced that there was time for only one more song.

“It doesn’t have to,” he said. “Wait here.”

He went to the bar for a bottle of champagne and two plastic flutes before leading Pippa away from the party to one of the patios that overlooked part of the golf course. It was quiet as they moved away from the party.

“One of the things I really love about Texas is how big the sky is,” she said, putting her hands on the railing and looking up. There wasn’t that much light pollution out here, so the stars were visible.

“Me, too,” he admitted. “Where are you from? I mean, you’re obviously British.”

“Caught that, did ya?” she asked as she turned and leaned back on the railing.

“Yeah, I’m smart that way,” he retorted, pouring her a glass of champagne and handing it to her.

He poured another one for himself as she took a sip.

“I was born in Hampshire, but we mainly lived in London except when I was at boarding school,” she said.

“I have to admit I have no idea where Hampshire is,” he said.

“That’s okay. I had no idea where Cole’s Hill was until Kinley moved here,” Pippa admitted.

“Why did you come with her? Las Vegas is way more exciting than this,” he said.

“I had nothing holding me there. My job as Penny’s nanny is important to me,” she said, taking a sip of her drink. “I made Kinley a promise when Penny was born that I would stay as long as she needed me.”

“You were there when Penny was born?” he asked. This was the most she’d told him about herself since they met, and he was curious.

“Yeah. We were on a city bus when Kinley went into labor. I just stayed with her when she was taken to the hospital because she was scared and alone and we’d been chatting before her water broke... I think we both needed a friend in that moment,” Pippa said. There was a note in her voice that hinted there might be more to the story, but she shook her head and looked over at him. “We’ve been friends ever since. What about you? Who’s your oldest friend?”

He took a sip of his champagne. It was never going to replace Jack Daniels as his favorite drink, but the taste was growing on him. “If I’m honest, my brothers. Maybe Mauricio, since he’s younger than his twin, Alejandro, by several minutes. Inigo is five years younger than me and closer to my sister, Bianca. He’s a Formula One driver like Bianca’s first husband was.”

Why was he telling her all of this? But he knew. He didn’t want to make any moves that would send her running away from him again. Even though she’d bid on him tonight, every other time he’d tried to connect with her she’d shut him down. And he didn’t want to let this end.

Not now.

Not until... Well, not until he figured out the secrets behind those gray eyes. She always seemed so calm and controlled, but tonight there was a fire and passion in her gaze that he wasn’t going to walk away from until he uncovered its source.

“You have such a big family...like the Carutherses. Is that a Texas thing?” she asked.

He had to laugh. “Well, they do say everything is bigger here. The families in Cole’s Hill certainly are.”

“I guess that’s true,” she said. “I do like this area of Texas. So lush and pretty with the green rolling hills. I mean, it’s a bit of a stretch, but it does remind me of our country houses in England.”

“Country houses?” he asked.

She shrugged. “You know, big old Georgian mansions that have been in one family forever.”

“Then why are you here in Texas and not with your family?” he asked. “Sounds like legacy is important to you.”

“It is and it isn’t,” she said. “This champagne is really good.”

He knew she was changing the subject and he was tempted to let her do it. But the moon was full, and she’d claimed him for her own, at least for this night, and that meant he had nothing to lose.

“It is good, but what did you mean about your family legacy?” he asked. “You don’t have to tell me, but I want to know everything there is about you, Pippa... I don’t even know your last name.”

“Do you need to?” she asked.

“If I’m going to kiss you again, I think I might want to know it,” he said. “It’s only fair. You know mine.”

* * *

She was nervous to let him know her last name. It was silly. She’d reached out to her cousins and the board of directors to let them know she was very much alive and ready to claim her seat on the board. Yet here in the moonlight standing so close to Diego, she knew that she didn’t want to tell him, because if he knew she was the House of Hamilton jewelry heiress it would change the dynamic.

He thought she was a nanny—

“Is it really that hard to trust me?” he asked.

“Yes. I’ve been keeping my identity secret for so long that I... Sorry, it’s not you. It really is me,” she said.

“Why are you hiding it?” he asked.

His voice was silky smooth, wrapping around her senses and making it hard to concentrate. “My father has a plan for my future and I want to choose my own path.”

“Fair enough,” he said. “So you are on the run?”

“Yes.”

He came to stand next to her, leaning against the railing so they were facing the river rock exterior of the Five Families Country Club. “Then just be Pippa for tonight. I promise you have nothing to fear from me.”

She reached out without really thinking about it, put her hand on his thigh and squeezed. “I know.”

But the electric tingle that ran up her arm made her wonder if she was close to getting in over her head. She wanted Diego. That wasn’t a surprise. She’d been dodging him in town and trying to limit their contact for that very reason. It was one thing to hook up for a night but something else entirely to start anything with him knowing she was leaving.

And she was going to have to work really hard to prove herself once she was back in England. She wouldn’t have time for anything else.

She groaned.

He turned his head to face her and in those deep brown eyes she saw desire. He quirked one eyebrow at her and she felt the brush of his exhalation against her cheek. He smelled faintly of expensive cologne and the outdoors. She closed her eyes and took a deeper breath. He smelled like everything she wanted. And tonight he was hers.

She had made a few missteps. Talking about herself and her past. She needed to keep those things quiet.

She opened her eyes and he was still staring at her.

Without saying a word she lifted her hand and ran it over the light stubble on his jaw. It abraded the skin of her fingers, but in a pleasant way. She ran her finger back and forth, and he caught his breath as his pupils dilated.

He reached out and touched her face in return, sending chills spreading down her neck and arms. Her breasts felt fuller and she felt the hot pulse of desire between her legs.

She wanted him.

Her lips parted, and he slowly cupped the side of her face with his fingers, rubbing his thumb over her bottom lip. The sensations intensified, spreading through her body in sync with her heartbeat.

She mirrored his gesture. He had a strong-looking mouth, but it was soft to the touch. And his breath when he exhaled was soft and warm. He’d kissed her twice, but both times had been restrained because there’d been so many people around. This time they were wrapped in a cocoon of intimacy with only the moon and stars to witness their closeness.

And that made this feel more real.

It wasn’t just that he’d asked her for honesty and she’d changed the subject. It was that he wasn’t deterred by her half-truths and evasions. He wanted her, she thought again. Just her.

Pippa.

She didn’t need the Hamilton fortune or her family connections for him to see the woman she was and be attracted to her, and that felt...well, like something she’d never expected to find.

He leaned forward and she removed her fingers from his lips, putting her hands on either side of his face. She needed to do this. He’d kissed her before, but she wanted to be the one kissing him.

She needed this for herself and the self-doubt that had driven her from the only world she’d ever known. In a way, kissing Diego was her way of reclaiming the parts of herself she hadn’t meant to discard along the way.

Reclaiming her womanhood.

She wasn’t the nanny or a runaway or even the key to the Hamilton-Hoff future. She was just Pippa.

“Diego.” She whispered just his name as their lips brushed.

He caressed her, his fingers lightly wrapping around the back of her neck, one of them brushing the sensitive spot behind her ear. Her eyes were half-closed as her lips met his, and she felt his power. But it was tempered. He was letting her take what she wanted from him.

She parted her own lips and felt the heat of his mouth against hers as her tongue darted out and she tasted him. Just one little taste of this cowboy on this big Texas night would be enough to satisfy her.

Not.

Oh, my God, definitely not.

She thrust her tongue deeper into his mouth for a better taste of him. He tipped his head to give her greater access and she leaned in closer, felt her breasts brush against his chest. His hand on her neck was still light, but the pattern with his finger was driving her forward. Increasing that need to have more of him. To taste more of him.

His tongue tangled with hers and she heard him groan. The vibration filled her mouth and she shivered again as another pulse of liquid desire went through her.

She shifted closer, losing her balance against the railing, breaking the kiss. The air felt cold against her lips and she straightened. Her fingers went to her own mouth as she shifted away from him.

Their eyes met.

“I want to take you home with me.”

Three

Diego took her hand in his. His voice was rough and husky, but he couldn’t control that. He’d been turned on by her kiss. Just her kiss had gotten him hotter and harder than he’d anticipated. But she’d said she was on the run...something that he’d suspected, along with most of Cole’s Hill. And he didn’t want her to feel pressured to go home with him.

“I’d like that, too,” she said. There was a look in her eyes that made him even harder and he stood, putting the champagne glasses on one of the tables that lined the patio.

He turned back to her and held out his hand.

She licked her lips and closed her eyes for a second. “You taste really good, you know?”

“I think it was you.”

She walked toward him, her hips swaying with each step she took, and he groaned deep in his throat. Damn. She was hot, and she knew it. She kept eye contact with him, but he broke it, letting his gaze skim down her body. He didn’t care if she saw how much she affected him.

He wasn’t going to pretend she didn’t have him hotter than a tin roof in July.

“We’ll have to do it again and again until we figure it out,” she said. Her voice was husky with a note of teasing in it.

“Sounds like my kind of plan,” he said. “I have a town house I keep here in the Five Families neighborhood. Will that be okay?”

“Sounds good. I live out at the Caruthers Ranch and I’m pretty sure we don’t want to drive all the way out there. I don’t really want to wait that long to touch you again, Diego,” she said. Her words adding kindling to the fire that was already burning out of control in his body.

“Good,” he said, lacing their fingers together and leading her down the patio walkway toward the path around the golf course. “I hope you don’t mind walking, but I’ve had too much to drink to feel safe driving even just through this neighborhood. It’s only a ten-minute walk.”

“I don’t mind walking at all,” she said.

He held her hand in his and tried to concentrate on getting back to his place. But her perfume smelled slightly of spring and she kept humming “Save a Horse,” distracting him. Filling his mind with images of her naked, on top of him, riding him. He groaned again.

“Are you okay?”

“Sí,” he said, falling back on Spanish. His family had been in the United States for generations—their original homestead had been a land grant from the Spanish King back in the 1700s—but their family had always been multilingual.

“I know a little bit of Spanish, but it’s not the Mexican dialect that a lot of people speak here,” she said. “I had a very funny conversation with Isabella about that the other day. She’s one of the new hires that Kinley brought in to work in her wedding and event planning office in town.”

Diego didn’t really care about all that. But he liked the sound of her voice, so he just made a hmming sound and she kept on talking. Finally, he saw the cluster of townhomes and his own front door.

“This way,” he said, leading her off the path and across the street to his place. These townhomes were only about five years old and had been built from the same river rock that had been used in the country club. The path leading up to the front door was made of smaller stones but smoothed out so that it was comfortable to walk on.

He reached into his pocket for his keys, which drew his trousers tighter against his groin, and he realized that even walking and talking about nothing for ten minutes had done nothing to cool him down. But that wasn’t surprising. Pippa had had him tied in knots for the last few weeks.

“This is it,” he said. “Still want to come in? If not, I can arrange for someone to take you home.”

“Diego, I want you. I want this. I’m not going to change my mind,” she said.

“You’ve kept me at arm’s length for a while now and I know that there has to be a reason. I don’t want you to regret this,” he said. He never wanted that. This night felt like...well, a dream, and he didn’t want anything to ruin it.

She threw her arms around him and hugged him close. “Oh, Diego, I don’t deserve you, but I certainly want you.”

“Of course you deserve me,” he said, lifting her off her feet and lowering his mouth to hers. Her lips tempted him; the entire time she’d been talking, all he’d thought about was kissing her again.

He set her on her feet and led the way to his front door. He unlocked it, pushed it open and beckoned for her to enter first. They stepped into the foyer. He was a pretty traditional guy, so it was decorated with solid dark wood furniture, and the floor tile was a terra-cotta color that reminded him of the mane of his favorite stallion. He tossed his keys in the bowl on the large chest to the left of the entrance and then undid his tie, tossing it on the table, as well. In the round tile-framed mirror he caught Pippa’s gaze.

She watched him with the stark, raw need that he recognized in himself. She moved closer, putting her hand on his shoulder and walking her fingers up toward his neck to slowly pull his tuxedo jacket down his arms and off.

* * *

Pippa was glad she’d left her heels on because Diego was taller than she’d realized—at least six-one. She reached around him from behind and slowly removed the studs that held his dress shirt together. It had been a long time since she’d been with a man and she wanted to make every moment of this evening last.

“Hold out your hand,” she said, her voice huskier than she meant for it to be.

He did as she asked, and she dropped each of the studs into his upturned palm. She watched him in the mirror as her fingers moved down his chest. It was sexier than she thought to see her manicured nails so close to Diego’s tanned chest as each tiny strip of his skin was revealed. Finally, she had the shirt undone to his waistband. She deliberately rubbed her fingers over his erection. His hips jerked back for a moment and then canted forward into her touch. She undid the button that fastened his pants before tugging the tails of his shirt out. It hung open, giving her a few tantalizing glimpses of his rock-hard stomach and the muscles of his chest in the mirror.

“How are you so muscly?” she asked.

He gave a half laugh, half groan sound. “I spend all my day working with horses that I charge a lot of money for other breeders to use as studs.”

“So?” she asked.

“I want the entire operation to project strength and prosperity and success. That means I can’t look like a schlub when they show up,” he said.

“I like it.”

She bit her lip to keep from just shoving her hands underneath his clothes and touching him.

Patience.

She could do this. She’d spent years waiting to claim her inheritance. By now she should be very good at waiting.

She reached for his free hand and undid the cuff link, dropping it in his palm with the shirt studs. Then he poured them into his other hand, the small studs and cuff link making an almost musical sound as he did so. She smiled.

Then she undid the other cuff link and dropped it with the other shirt studs. He closed his hand around them and shoved them into his pants pocket. She focused all her attention on Diego’s body.

She pulled the sides of his shirt open and he rotated his shoulders, making it easier for her to take it off. His shoulder blade rubbed against her right breast, sending a hot pulse of desire through her.

He tossed his shirt on top of his jacket and she put her hands on his chest. Diego worked outdoors but didn’t have a farmer’s tan. It was clear to her that he had spent a good amount of time in the Texas sun without his shirt on. She ran her hands down his chest. There was a tattoo in roman-type lettering that curved around a scar right below his ribs. She suspected that the scar was old as she ran her fingers over the ridge of it. She put one hand on his waist and the other on the small of his back as she leaned around to read the tattoo he had on his chest.

Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.

“What does this mean to you?” she asked.

“Just a reminder that getting knocked down doesn’t mean I need to stay down forever,” he said, putting his hand over hers and rubbing it up and down his torso.

There was a thin line of hair that disappeared into the open waistband of his pants. She traced the line with her finger as she straightened back up, but he stopped her. He took her wrist in his hand and drew her fingers back to his chest.

“I like the way you touch me, Pippa,” he said, his voice that low growly sound that sent shivers through her body. Shivers that seemed to pool between her legs.

She wanted him.

It had been a long dry spell for her and she’d done her share of masturbating and fantasizing about men. Diego had figured prominently in those fantasies since she’d moved to Cole’s Hill. She figured there was no way he could live up to them. She’d never had a sexual encounter that had. But there was a heat in Diego’s eyes that turned her on. Way more than in her daydreams.

“I like touching you,” she admitted, pushing her hand into the open fly of his pants and stroking the hard ridge of his erection through the cotton fabric of his boxer briefs.

He groaned and reached for the zipper in the left side of her dress.

He’d done this before. She knew from the talk she’d overheard in the coffee shop after he’d left that he was a player. There were a lot of women who had either dated him or wanted him in their bed.

“I’m lucky I got you tonight,” he said.

“I got you,” she pointed out.

“Yes, you did,” he said, raising both eyebrows at her as he ran his finger down her side, touching her skin as the zipper opened and the fabric parted.

He slipped his hand in and around to her back and drew her toward him, swaying along as he sang a popular Blake Shelton song under his breath. She closed her eyes, wrapping her free arm around his shoulders while keeping her hand on his erection.

He leaned down, his lips brushing the shell of her ear as he whispered, “This is what I was thinking about each time I held you close to me tonight.”

“Really?” she asked, opening her eyes and tipping her head back. Their eyes met and that dark chocolate gaze of his held secrets and passion. She wanted it all.

“Yes, ma’am.”

She fumbled around the elastic at the top of his boxers and reached inside to touch his naked flesh. “I was thinking about this.”

He didn’t say anything. His pupils dilated, and he brought his mouth down hard on hers. His tongue thrust deep into her mouth as he lightly drew his fingernail down her back, stopping at the small of her back. He dipped his finger lower, pushing aside the fabric of her thong panties.

An electric pulse of heat went through her as he cupped her butt and lifted her off her feet. She knew he was moving, but hardly paid any attention to it until he put her back down on the floor and lifted his head. They were in the master bedroom. She could tell by the deep, masculine colors and the large king-size bed behind her.

He disappeared for a minute and then was back with a box of condoms that he put on the nightstand. She was glad she hadn’t had to bring up protection, that he’d just taken care of it.

“Now, where were we?” he asked, putting his hands gently on either side of her head and tipping it back. Their eyes met again and he brought his mouth down on hers.

And she forgot about everything.

She let her hand fall from his face to his chest. He was warm. She rubbed her fingers over the scar under his tattoo and then down his abdomen. He shifted his hips and his trousers slid down his legs.

“Impressive,” she said.

He wriggled his eyebrows at her. “Thanks. I save that move for special occasions.”

She couldn’t help smiling at the way he said it. Of course, Diego wasn’t like any other man she’d had sex with. He was at ease with his body and with her. There was no pressure to get to it and get it over with. She had the feeling that he wanted her to enjoy this night and that he intended to take his time. There was something sexy in his confidence.

His trousers were pooled around his ankles, but his dress boots kept them in place. His erection was a hard ridge straining against his boxer briefs and his lips were slightly swollen from their kisses. She felt that pulsing between her legs again and knew that she’d never seen anything more erotic in her life. He wasn’t posing or pretending. He wanted her and he didn’t have to put on moves to impress her.

He lifted the hem of her dress up over her thighs and then all the way over her head, tossing it aside. She stood there in just her tiny panties and no bra.

He groaned, and when he reached out to touch her, she noticed his hand shook slightly. Then he was cupping her breasts with both hands, his palms rubbing over her nipples.

He caressed her from her neck down past her waist, lingering over each curve and making her aware of places on her body that she’d never thought about before, like the bottom of her ribs. His fingers dipped between her legs, pushing her panties down her legs until she stepped out of them, placing her hand on his shoulder to keep her balance. He dipped his hand between her legs, rubbing his finger over her clit until she felt her legs go week.

He put his arm around her waist and lowered her back on the bed, coming down over her. She drew her hand down the side of his body, wrapping her hand around him, stroking him from the root to the tip. On each stroke she ran her finger over the head and around to the back of his shaft. He shivered each time she touched him there.

He ran his hands all over her torso, cupping both of her breasts this time. She shifted, keeping her grip on him but moving so that he could touch her the way she liked it.

She pushed her shoulders back and watched as he leaned forward. She felt the warmth of his breath against her skin and then the brush of his tongue. He circled her nipple with it, then closed his mouth over her and suckled her deeply.

She stroked him until she felt his hips lift toward her, moving in counterpoint to her hand. She reached lower and cupped him, rolling the delicate weight of him in her fingers before squeezing slightly. He groaned and pulled his mouth from her breast. He gripped the back of her neck and brought her mouth to his.

As he drew her against him, she didn’t move her hand except to guide the tip of his erection to enter her.

He slid a little more into her and she reveled in the feel of his thick cock at the entrance of her body. But then he lifted his head and took her nipple in his mouth again, biting down lightly on her nipple, and she shuddered.

She tried to impale herself on him, but he wasn’t about to let her have him now. He held her where she was with just enough connection to drive both of them mad.

“Are you ready for me?”

“Yessss,” she said with a sigh.

A second later he thrust into her, filling her completely.

She rocked her hips, forcing him deeper into her body. He hit her in the right place and she saw stars dancing behind her closed eyelids as he pulled out and thrust back inside her.

He held her with his big hands on her ass, lifting her into each thrust, and soon she was senseless. She could do nothing but feel the power of his body as he moved over her and in her.

She held on to his sides while he continued to drive her higher and harder, and then she felt everything inside clench as her orgasm surged through her. She cried out his name as he tangled one hand in her hair and drove into her even harder and faster, and then she felt him tense and groan as he climaxed. He thrust into her two or three more times before shifting to rest his forehead against hers.

She looked into those dark eyes of his and knew that everything had changed. She had thought this night would be just sex. Just some fun. But Diego wasn’t just a fantasy—he was a real, flesh-and-blood man.

He rolled to his side and disposed of the condom before settling back into bed and pulling her into his arms. “Thank you for tonight.”

She nodded against his chest, unable to find the words she needed to say. He drifted off to sleep, but she lay there thinking about her future, which was so much more complicated now.

Four

Pippa stretched and rolled over, slowly opening her eyes. It was Monday morning. Usually Penny had her up before this, but then she remembered she’d stayed over at Diego’s. She sat up and looked around the empty room. The house was very quiet and, if she had to guess, empty.

“Crap.”

She hadn’t meant to stay out all night. She put her hand on her head, thinking of walking back to the country club in her dress from last night while parents were making the school run.

She wasn’t embarrassed by what had happened. She had woken up exactly where she wanted to be, but at the same time she had to face those moms and dads when she picked Penny up from preschool this afternoon.

She glanced at the nightstand. It was only seven. So not that late, but still. She saw there was a piece of monogrammed stationery with bold masculine handwriting on it. She reached for the note and rubbed her eyes before she read it.

Good morning,

I had to leave early to do the morning chores on the ranch. We have a mare coming in to be covered later today and I need to get things ready. I’d love to see you for lunch or dinner. Text me when you wake up. I had your car brought to the house and I’ve laid out some sweats and a T-shirt in the bathroom. Sorry I wasn’t here when you woke.

Diego

“What am I going to do?” she asked the empty room as she fell back on the pillows. Diego was her one-night hookup. Her bit of fun before she left Texas and went back to her real life. She could just say no and never see him again. There was nothing stopping her from doing just that.

But she didn’t want to.

She grabbed her phone to text Kinley and saw she had two messages. The first was clearly from Penny. The four-year-old used the text-to-talk feature on Kinley’s phone all the time. The message just said Pippy, where are you?

Kinley’s message said:

Ignore the scamp’s message. I told her you had the morning off. I assume you are with the hot rancher you outbid everyone for last night. I want deets.

Ugh.

Double ugh.

She tossed her phone on the nightstand without responding, made her way to the bathroom and took a quick shower, avoiding looking at herself in the mirror until she was clean and wearing Diego’s sweats. They were huge on her but super comfy. She took a deep breath. If she had a cup of coffee, she’d start to feel human again.

She went downstairs to find her clutch and found a coffee mug next to the Keurig machine. She made herself a cup and then went back up to the master bedroom to gather her stuff. Diego had even laid out a duffel bag and a pair of flip-flops near the foot of the bed. She had to smile. He’d thought of everything.

Which shouldn’t really influence her decision to see him again, but it did.

Heck, everything about Diego made her want to see him again. It would be easy to say that waiting four years to have sex would have made any partner seem...well, better than they might really be... What the hell was she thinking? She could have had sex a week earlier with someone else and Diego would have wiped that from her memory. Her body ached to have him again. She remembered the way he’d felt between her thighs and craved more of him.

But he wanted... Well, it seemed like he wanted to get to know her. And until she reclaimed her inheritance, she really needed to lie low and stay off her father’s radar.

In Texas...

It had been the perfect spot for her to hide out until she came of age. But now that the time had come, starting something with Diego, all the while knowing she was leaving in a few weeks... Was that a dick move?

She felt like it might be.

She saw a message flash on her phone and went to pick it up. Kinley again.

At the office, stop by if you are still in town.

Pippa knew Kinley would be brutally honest with her about the situation with Diego. Her friend was just always that way with everyone.

She grabbed the duffel bag, her phone and Diego’s note and went downstairs to collect the rest of her things.

She found the alarm code on a Post-it on the inside of the front door and entered it to let herself out. She walked to her car without glancing at the street and got in, sitting there for a moment before starting the engine.

She drove through town to the bridal shop that Kinley ran as a satellite to her boss Jacs Veerling’s Vegas bridal operation. It was through her work that Kinley had first come to Cole’s Hill. She’d been sent here to plan former NFL wide receiver Hunter Caruthers’s wedding. Of course, she hadn’t wanted to come, given that Hunter was her baby-daddy’s brother and said baby-daddy had no clue he had a kid. There had been a bit of a rough patch where Nate hadn’t realized that Penny was his child, and when he found out, he blew up at Kinley. But after the family drama had died down they realized how much they loved each other and got married.

Pippa groaned as she noticed that all of the pull-in parking spaces were taken and she’d have to parallel park. When she was done about five minutes later, she walked into the bridal showroom. It was an elegant space that had been designed to suggest understated opulence. Classical music played in the background. Pippa knew that she’d take some of the design elements from this small bridal shop with her when she returned to London and claimed her place on the board of House of Hamilton. The royal jewelers needed to attract a younger crowd and Pippa was determined to do that.

She sighed, realizing she already knew the decision she would make regarding seeing Diego again.

It had to be a no.

She wanted the chance to prove herself to her family and the world more than she wanted a new lover.

* * *

Diego hadn’t expected his younger brother to be waiting when he got home to Arbol Verde, but Mauricio was sitting in the breakfast room enjoying huevos rancheros that had been prepared by Diego’s housekeeper, Mona. And he was drinking a Bloody Mary, unless Diego was mistaken.

“No need to ask how your night was,” Mo said as Diego entered the room.

“Same. Struck out?”

Mauricio shook his head. “You don’t even want to know. Breakfast or shower first?”

“Shower. I assume you’re going to still be waiting when I get out,” Diego said.

“Yes. It’s business. I have a line on a piece of property on the outskirts of town that is exactly what you’re looking for,” Mauricio said. “Go shower. I’ll wait here.”

Diego started to turn away, but Mo had that look like he’d been rode hard and put away wet, which wasn’t how Diego wanted to see any of his brothers.

He walked over and pulled out one of the ladder-back wooden chairs, spinning it around and straddling it. He reached out and snagged a piece of the maple and brown sugar bacon that Mona always had on the breakfast table.

“What happened last night?”

“Hadley was there,” Mauricio said.

Of course she was. “I thought she moved to Houston.”

“She did. But she came back for the auction,” Mauricio said before he took a long swallow of his Bloody Mary.

“You broke up with her,” Diego reminded his brother as gently as he could. Hadley and Mo had been a couple since high school. He’d followed her to the University of Texas, and when they’d come back to Cole’s Hill, everyone expected them to marry, including Hadley. After waiting five years—longer than most women would, according to Bianca—Hadley had given Mo an ultimatum and he’d balked.

Hadley had packed up and moved out of the town house they’d shared and started dating again. Since then, if gossip was to be believed, Mauricio had had some wild hookups out at the Bull Pen.

The Bull Pen was a large bar and Texas dance hall on the edge of Cole’s Hill. It had a mechanical bull in the back and live bands performed there nightly. It was respectable enough early in the evening, but after midnight things started to get rowdy.

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