Texas-Sized Temptation (10 page)

“Sure,” he said, standing. When she reached for her empty cup, he shook his head.

“Leave it. Someone will get it tomorrow.”

“A housekeeper comes in?”

“Yes. You'll meet him in the morning. I won't leave until long after you're up. I work out early in the morning and swim a lap in the pool. You can join me swimming or go in later.”

“I don't have a suit.”

“There are new suits in the drawer. I'll show you. You can find something you can wear, I'm sure.”

“You're well equipped for a woman to sleep over,” she remarked, wondering how many times he had had to furnish things for his overnight female guests.

“It's easy to keep extras on hand. I have a lot of company and my staff takes care of the needed items. I don't deal with
it at all. Also, there are straw bags in the closet. Whatever clothes you wear, just toss in a bag and take them with you because the next person won't want something worn by someone else. I don't keep anything someone has worn.”

“That's nice, but you sound as if you have a habit of guests sleeping over.”

“Not really. I'm just prepared for company. Sometimes guys stop by and then stay to hunt. Female friends have stayed, married couples. A lot of my friends drop by the ranch because they know they're welcome.”

At the door of her room she turned to tell him good-night. Jake's arm banded her waist and he drew her close as he bent down to kiss her. His mouth came down on hers possessively. He wrapped her in his embrace and kissed her, sending her heartbeat racing.

Circling her arms around his neck, she clung to him, wanting him with scalding desire, fighting the pull, unable to break off the kiss that deepened. She was lost, spinning away in a fiery blaze of passion. She combed her fingers through the short hair at the back of his head, holding him tightly, wanting the barriers of clothing away. That was no solution to her problem. Instead, it would only create bigger complications in her life.

She kissed him, returning passion, wanting to melt him and make him hunger for her and try to please her. She refused to fall into his arms completely, to be easy and vulnerable and worse yet, have her heart hostage to him.

“Jake,” she whispered, breaking off the kiss. “I can't complicate my life. Good night,” she said, slipping out of his arms and entering her room to close the door. She leaned against it, her heart pounding while she gasped for breath. She had seen his heavy-lidded expression, lust clearly consuming him. He wanted her physically no matter how he felt toward her otherwise.

She had no illusions that he had lost his animosity toward her family. Probably not altogether toward her. His deep dislike of Santerres lay smoldering beneath the surface of his friendly facade. She hadn't lost her own feelings regarding the Bentons. They had altered slightly because she liked Jake, but he was a Benton and the Bentons had done some bad things to Santerres through the years. The feud hadn't died completely. It never would between Jake and Will, even if he sold to her, but selling her home to her would go a long way toward mending fences.

She didn't want to think about the possibility that he wouldn't sell the house back to her.

She moved around the room and then began looking for the clothing he had said was available. She found new clothing wrapped in tissue, including a silk nightgown. As she changed, she was once again amazed that she was spending another night beneath the same roof as Jake.

When ready for bed, she found a book on the shelf that looked interesting and she curled up to read because sleep wasn't going to come for a while longer. Her body still tingled and she couldn't get Jake and their date out of mind. In minutes she climbed in bed, switched off the light and thought about Jake.

 

The next morning when she entered the kitchen, she was dressed in blue cotton slacks and a matching shirt that had been in the assortment of new clothing on hand. She wore her high-heeled sandals and had put her hair in one long braid.

As she entered the dining area, Jake stood. He pulled out a chair and his gaze assessed her quickly. “You look fresh and beautiful.”

“Thank you. You look quite handsome yourself,” she said, taking in Jake's charcoal business suit, dress shirt and tie. “I met your housekeeper as I came through the kitchen.”

“Ah, Fred. He's an excellent cook as you'll see. I have an appointment in downtown Dallas. If you want, you can ride in with me. I moved it a little later so we can ride in together. Then you can have my driver take you wherever you'd like to go.”

“Fine,” she said, thinking of tasks she could do with time and the resources in Dallas.

“Remember, I need to get back to the ranch today. I have a rental car to return and I have to go to Houston tomorrow.”

“And I have to leave town, too.”

She ate breakfast with him, hearing more stories about the ranch and answering his questions about her business and life in Houston.

Finally they rode to town in a long black limousine driven by a man named Scotty. She told Jake goodbye and then asked Scotty to drive her to a photography shop. Scotty waited patiently while she spent an hour discussing equipment with one of the salesmen. She bought some necessary items and finally went to a shopping center where Scotty waited while she purchased some clothing. When she climbed back into the limousine, she had shed the clothing she had gotten from Jake and was wearing new green silk slacks and a matching shirt.

At two they picked up Jake and within the hour, they were airborne, heading back to the ranch in West Texas.

Jake drove her back to her house, and as always, her heart squeezed at the sight of the old Victorian she'd grown up in. He walked her to the door, and she turned to face him. “Please think about selling the house to me and remember, it means the world to me. I never dreamed Will would sell without letting me know. If I had known, I would have kept up with what he was doing.”

“I know how much you want the place. But you don't live here, Caitlin. If I don't sell it back to you—for
business
reasons—I'll see to it that the residents have comfortable places to go. I won't put anyone out in the cold.”

She ran her hand along the beveled glass in the door. “I explained that we all have the means to live elsewhere quite comfortably, Jake. We love this place. I know one shouldn't be so attached to a place, but I guess my roots are here.” She had a knot in her throat and couldn't bear to think that he wouldn't sell. “I don't see why you have to hang on to this little patch of land, Jake. I really don't. It's important to several of us, but it means nothing to you. I can't even talk about tearing down this old home.”

“Stop worrying. I haven't said I wouldn't sell.” He frowned slightly. “Just give me the time I asked for, Caitlin, to make a decision.”

“I have no choice in the matter,” she said, hating the flat tone of her voice, but unable to hide her emotions where the house was concerned.

“You have some choices,” he said quietly, his arm banding her waist as he bent to kiss her. His tongue thrust into her mouth and her worries and fears were pushed away. Anger, desire, determination replaced them. She wanted to melt his resistance, storm the barriers of his heart that he kept so closed away. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him in return, responding fully, thrusting her hips against him.

He groaned as his fingers wound in her hair. She could feel tugs on her scalp until her braid was half undone. Raking his fingers through her hair, he pulled locks free. He leaned over her kissing her while his hand lightly caressed her breast. He raised his head. “Where's your door key?”

As she handed it to him, he continued kissing her. In a moment he walked her backward into her house and kicked the door closed behind them. She heard the key fall to the floor while they still kissed.

“Cecilia and Altheda?” he paused to ask.

“They're sound asleep in another wing of the house. They're never in here at night,” she answered and he pulled her close again. As he kissed her, he walked her into the nearest room and closed the door.

In seconds Jake pushed her blouse off her shoulders. While he continued kissing her, he unfastened the clasp of her bra and shoved it away to cup her breasts. His hands were warm, his thumbs circling her nipples making her moan with pleasure. “Jake,” she whispered as she ran her hands over his shoulders. She wanted him and each kiss only inflamed desire. He was forbidden, dangerous to her future, desirable beyond all dreams.

She twisted free the buttons of his shirt to run her fingers through the thick mat of hair on his chest.

When his hands went to her slacks and they fell around her ankles, she raised her head. He watched her, his eyes half-lidded, burning with desire that mirrored her own feelings.

“I'm not going to complicate my life. We can't make love.”

“Yes, we can,” he whispered, caressing her breasts, cupping them in his hands again as he bent down to take one in his mouth, his tongue stroking her. She gasped with pleasure and ran her fingers through his hair, momentarily yielding to the sensual delight before she stopped him and shook her head.

“No,” she whispered.

“You're gorgeous,” he told her as he caressed her. His touch was feathery, setting her ablaze. She trembled with wanting him. In spite of that, she was determined there would be no seduction.

“Jake, that's enough. I cannot complicate my life. I won't do it.”

She pulled her clothing in place, aware he watched her. He
stood in silence with smoldering fires in his gaze. When she was dressed, she faced him.

He gazed at her for a moment. “I'll pick you up in Houston Friday night about six. Send me your address. I have your phone number. I'll talk to you this week.”

“Thanks for a wonderful time.”

He framed her face with his hands. “Sometime, Caitlin, you won't send me away, you'll be mine,” he said solemnly.

“You want me, Jake, but when I go out of your life, it won't take long for you to forget me.”

“You're not going out of my life anytime soon,” he said gruffly. All his words were as searing as his caresses. She responded to everything, wanting to be back in his embrace, to kiss him. “Sometime, you'll want me to make love to you, to hold you and kiss you as much as I want.”

“I already do,” she whispered and saw his eyes flicker. “But we're not going there, Jake. You know why I won't. It's been a wonderful time with you. Good night.”

He gazed her for another tense moment before he brushed a light kiss on her lips and left, closing the door behind him. She didn't follow him out. She locked the door and headed for her bedroom, knowing she would have one more night where sleep wouldn't come and when it did it would be filled with dreams of Jake.

 

Jake drove to his ranch and took the plane back to Dallas. He had a busy week ahead in Kansas City. It was almost dawn when he stretched out in bed. He wanted to call Caitlin, just to talk to her, but each time he reached for his phone, he paused and then put it back on the table.

He should leave her alone. They were getting too close. He had wanted to seduce her while he still barely knew her, but now, he was getting to know her, enjoying being with her. She impressed him with her photography, her poise, her
determination. She was becoming more than just a gorgeous, desirable woman he might get into his bed. He didn't want to become fast friends or get too close. It would hurt her more when he turned her down for the sale.

He reached again for the phone and his hand stilled. He wanted to talk to her. He already missed her and her sunny laughter, her humor, her perception. Reluctantly, he had to admit that she would be furious and she would be hurt by his refusal to sell to her. He was beginning to really hate the prospect of hurting her. Should he rethink selling?

He surprised himself that he would even give the idea consideration. Here was his chance to get all Santerres out of West Texas for once and for all. He had intended to hold the land and refuse to sell to Caitlin. Yet why was it such a worrisome victory?

“Dammit,” he said aloud in his dark bedroom. He tossed restlessly. Caitlin was twenty-eight, talented, gorgeous. She would probably fall in love and marry soon and that would be the end of the Santerre name in Texas anyway, because Will had told him he never was coming back since after selling the ranch, he could afford to live wherever he wanted.

The thought of Caitlin marrying wasn't a satisfying prospect, either. Jake refused to dwell on that speculation because he was the only man in her life at present so no marriage loomed on her horizon.

He missed her. Disgusted, he stared into the dark and thought about telling her that he wasn't going to sell her home back to her. Why was that becoming such an odious, distasteful chore? He didn't want to look closely at the answer to his own question. The old Victorian was one of the few ties she had to someone in her life. She had rejection on all sides except from her grandmother and those people who worked for Madeline Santerre. Why wouldn't Caitlin fight to keep that
memory and keep close the people who had meant so much to her growing up?

Jake swore softly under his breath. He was beginning to feel like a villain in the whole picture. It was his land to do with as he pleased. There was no valid reason to sell to a Santerre whose house and animals would be in the way if Gabe brought in oil.
Tell her no the next time he was with her and be done with it
.

He silently vowed he would do it. Could he put her off long enough to get another weekend with her? He couldn't keep seeing her or he would
have
to sell to her. He shouldn't wait because the thought of refusing her was giving him growing qualms and guilt.

Despite promising to get back to her about her request this week, he decided he would make a business appointment to see her a week from Monday at her office so he could leave as soon as he told her. He owed it to her to tell her in person. If he didn't seduce her next weekend—and it looked as if she was going to continue to hold him at arm's length—he would tell her anyway.