Texas-Sized Temptation (13 page)

Jake carried her into an enormous, lavish bathroom with a sunken tub, plants, mirrors and a bearskin rug. Grecian columns graced the decor.

“This is beautiful.”

“Absolutely,” he said, looking at her and once again, he wasn't talking about the bathroom. He climbed down in the tub, turned on faucets and pulled her close with her back against his chest.

Warm scented water soon filled the tub while he sponged her off and she turned to do the same for him, watching water
glisten on his sculpted muscles. “You are one handsome hunk, Jake.”

He grinned. “I'm glad you think so, but I believe when it comes to looks, you win, hands down. Speaking of hands down,” he said, cupping her breasts with his wet, warm hands.

She gasped with pleasure, closing her eyes as his thumbs began to circle her nipples, so lightly, slowly drawing circles that ignited desire instantly.

“Jake,” she whispered, opening her eyes to look at him. He was aroused, his shaft thick and hard. She leaned forward to kiss him as desire burst into flames.

Soon Jake stood and pulled her up with him, water splashing around both of them.

He climbed out of the tub and lifted her up to set her in front of him while he grabbed a towel and began stroking her slowly, drying her.

She clung to his shoulders. “Jake,” she said, reaching him to pull him up. “Come here. I want to kiss.”

“Shhh, this time we go slowly. I want to pleasure you. I want this to be better.”

“Kiss me, Jake. It is better,” she whispered, not knowing what she was saying to him and not caring. Desire was hot, an intense need that surprised her because she thought she wouldn't have this driving need again so quickly.

Lifting her in his arms, he carried her to bed and loved her slowly, a sweet torment that built in her until she was trembling. This time when he entered her, pain was fleeting. In seconds pleasure was all she felt, sensations carrying her higher and higher, each stroke building until she plunged into ecstasy, moving rapidly with him as they climaxed together.

“Jake, love me now,” she cried. He held her tightly as they arched together, locked in making love. For this moment all was perfect between them.
If only it could last
was a fleeting
thought she had. She cried out again in pleasure, rapture enveloping her.

Holding each other, they crashed after the peak. She listened to Jake gasping for breath as much as she was.

Finally, he rolled them both over and combed her hair back from her face while he showered light kisses on her. “Ahh, Caitlin, you're perfect. Marvelous, beyond my wildest dreams. I don't want to leave this bed this weekend. Stay here with me all weekend.”

Another invitation. Another decision. Another tie to bind her to him in a manner she had never intended. Yet, how could she say no, given how she felt about him—even stronger now that they'd made love?

I want to stay with him, even if he won't sell my home to me, she realized, the thought scaring her more than the reality. Because I'm falling in love with Jake Benton.

She took a deep breath, then looked into his eyes. “Yes,” she whispered, realizing she was taking more chances than ever before in her life.

“Yes, I'll stay the weekend.”

He kissed her deeply, another kiss that made her feel special, his woman. A kiss that she hoped wasn't an illusion.

He raised up. “This has been a great night. What I've dreamed about all the past week, but I never knew it would be this stupendous.”

“You're insatiable, Jake,” she said, smiling at him and he smiled in return, filling her with warmth as they shared this special time between them. If only it held meaning, she couldn't help wishing.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

“That I wish this could last,” she admitted truthfully, watching him to see how he reacted.

“It's going to last for a long time if I have my way,” Jake
declared. “I'm not letting you go now that I've found you. Beautiful woman, you don't know what you do to me.”

She had to smile, but she wondered if he was even thinking about what he said to her. It couldn't last. Unless…he
had
to sell her the ranch, for intimacy to last between them. Otherwise, how could she stay in his life when he denied her something so important to her?

“I think you're given to exaggeration,” she managed to tease, tangling her fingers in his chest hair.

“Not at all. You destroy me. You make me want you all the time. In minutes I'll feel as if we've never made love and want you desperately. You will never know how desperately.”

She smiled again at him, running her finger over the tiny stubble beginning to appear on his jaw.

“I stand by what I said about you and exaggeration. But I'm glad you want me and you'll be desperate to love.”

“Also, I'm beginning to suffer acute hunger. Since room service takes time, why don't we turn in an order?”

Jake climbed out of bed and she watched him walk across the room and disappear in the living area. Sitting up, she pulled the sheet up beneath her arms to wait. When he returned, he had a towel wrapped around his middle and two thick menus in his hand. He climbed into bed and pulled away her sheet.

“Jake!” She grabbed the sheet, but he gripped her wrists and kissed away her protests and in seconds, as they made love again, menus slipped forgotten to the floor.

 

It was two hours later when Jake called room service. It had closed for the night, but with a substantial tip promised to the kitchen staff and bellhop, Jake had no trouble placing their orders.

“I'm a loyal customer so they try to keep me happy.”

“I'm trying to keep you happy,” she said, smiling at him.

“You want to keep me really happy now, you'll come sit in my lap.”

She crossed the room to him, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Jake's arms circled her waist and he held her close as he kissed her in return.

 

They spent the weekend in the hotel suite until Sunday afternoon when she pulled on her red dress and high-heeled sandals, feeling as if it had been months instead of only a couple of days since she had worn them before.

“Jake, we both have to get back to real life,” she said, going to the living area to find him dressed once again in his suit with his phone in hand while he sent a text.

“I know we do,” he said. He pocketed the phone and crossed the room to slip an arm around her waist. “Will you go out with me next weekend?”

She gazed into clear blue eyes that held desire even after a weekend of constant loving. She wanted to say yes more than anything. But she couldn't. If he decided not to sell her her family home, her heart would be broken. “Jake, I'm glad that you want to be with me again next weekend. But, let's hold off talking about the future for now. Our relationship is tenuous at best, something unplanned, and impossible to continue if we are poles apart on your decision. This isn't a threat because our relationship isn't that vital.”
To you,
she added silently, her heart squeezing. “Anyway,” she continued. “I'll see you Monday in Dallas.”

“You could go home with me tonight and then you wouldn't have to fly up commercially.”

“Thank you, but I already have my ticket, so I should stick to my plans that I've made. We'll know tomorrow where we stand,” she added “Unless you can tell me now.”

For an instant there was silence between them. A tense
moment when she could hear a grandfather clock tick and nothing else.

Then Jake shook his head. “I still have two men to hear from and then I'll give you an answer. Sorry to put you off so long.”

She could read nothing from his expression, so she merely nodded. “Then we better go,” she said, picking up her small purse and walking to the door.

Jake gripped her wrist and turned her to face him. He pulled her tightly against him and kissed her, a breathtaking kiss that reminded her of the intimacy they had just shared.

Her heart pounded. Desire ignited again, as hot and strong as before. Longing tore at her and made a knot of her insides. It was a possessive kiss as well as a goodbye kiss. In that moment, she felt certain he was going to refuse to sell to her. She hurt while at the same time, she wanted him more than ever.

Just as she had expected, loving had created new demons for her to fight. She just hoped it created some for him, as well.

She suspected it wouldn't be enough because he had been through all this before and had breakups under his belt. He would move along without much hurt.

She, on the other hand, could be losing her roots, the welfare of people she loved, as well as Jake himself.

She stood on tiptoe and again, poured herself into the kiss, trying to bind him to her by sensuality, the one way to reach him.

He released her, gazing at her intently. “Think about next weekend.”

“I'll think about it,” she answered, knowing she wouldn't be able to forget his invitation. “We should go now.”

He nodded and held her arm as they walked to the limo.

On the flight to Houston, they both were much more silent.
She no longer felt like talking, definitely not like flirting with him. She could feel a chasm opening between them. Maybe it had been there the whole time and hope had blinded her.

At her door he kissed her goodbye again. She watched him walk back to the limo in long strides, climb in and vanish.

With a long sigh she entered her empty condo.

The phone rang and she tossed aside her purse and went to get it. When she answered, she heard Kirby's voice on the line.

“I've been trying to get you,” he said, sounding nervous.

“I
was out of town and just walked in the door.” From the solemn sound of his voice something had happened and instantly she thought of Cecilia who was getting up in years. “Kirby, is Cecilia all right?”

“She's fine. That's not why I'm calling. Sorry if I scared you about her. Caitlin, Benton Drilling hit oil in that well they're drilling near the house.”

Caitlin's insides clenched and she turned cold. “Oh, Kirby,” she said, sitting because she felt weak-kneed. “Oh, I hate that. Jake will never sell now.”

“Hell, no, he won't. There should be oil right under the house. They'll tear the home place down. I'm sorry to bring the bad news to you, honey, but better from me than from any of the damned Bentons. You still have an appointment on Monday with Jake Benton?”

Hot tears stung her eyes. She had given herself—completely—to Jake. And now, even if he
wanted
to sell to
her, he couldn't. It wasn't about her house anymore. It was about business. Money. And the Benton family.

She should have known better.

And he should have, too, she thought. Her blood ran cold for a moment.

“Kirby, when did this happen? When did the Bentons
know?
”

“Saturday morning,” Kirby answered grimly. I've been trying to reach you ever since we heard, but your phone just rang and rang.”

Oh, no. She'd turned it off so that she and Jake would not be interrupted. And she'd been so deeply involved with him over the weekend that she'd forgotten to turn it back on at all.

“I'm sorry I missed you, Kirby. I still have an appointment tomorrow morning with Jake. I'll call you afterward.”

“Sure, honey. Caitlin, don't worry about us. We'll get along and so will you. The old house isn't the world. You don't spend a lot of time in it any longer and it served its purpose well.”

Her heart clenched. “I know, Kirby.”

“Honey, we love you and don't you worry about us.”

“I love all of you, too, Kirby. I'll call you in the morning.”

She replaced the handset and gave vent to tears, feeling alone and heartbroken and betrayed as well, although she had only herself to blame for their lovemaking, yet it was not all regrets. She loved him and she had wanted the weekend with him. Oil so close to the house. Jake would want every inch of the land now.

 

The minute Jake left Caitlin and was back in the limo, he called Gabe. He looked again at the curt text message that
simply read: Oil. He had received it Saturday and hadn't read it until Sunday before they left for home.

He tried to get his brother on the phone or by text, but was unsuccessful. He left messages and gave it up until he heard back from Gabriel, but it was obvious they had found oil.

The well was within three miles of Caitlin's house. When he had left town on Friday he had been all set to tell Caitlin no, that he would not sell the land back to her. Then the weekend had happened.

The weekend had been one the greatest. He had to admire her for fighting for those people. She was caring, understanding. They had shared laughter, friendship and easy conversation. She had placed her trust in him and made love when she had known he might not sell. She was the sexiest woman he had known. Thinking about her, he could easily get aroused. Right now if she called him back to bed, he would turn around and go right back to Houston. He wanted her in his bed. He wanted her in his life.

The minute he told her no, she would be gone. She had said as much and he was certain that's exactly what she would do. Friday, he had been prepared to let her go out of his life. Now he wasn't. Each time he thought about telling her goodbye, his insides twisted and a bad feeling swamped him.

“Dammit,” he swore aloud, feeling helpless and a loss of control and hating having to sit in the limo without even driving to distract him. He didn't want to tell Caitlin goodbye. Not now.

He mulled over the dilemma and thought of the possibility of offering her a far corner of the Santerre place and moving the house, but there actually were two more men who would report to him in the morning about the possibilities of wind turbines on the ranch and about drilling for oil. Gabe would see him tomorrow. He was certain the decision would be to turn her down.

Tell her no and get over her,
he told himself. The prospect was untenable. He didn't want her out of his life. Not yet.

Ten minutes after Jake arrived at his condo, Gabe showed up.

He was casually dressed in Levi's, Western boots and a long-sleeved Western shirt with sleeves rolled up. His dark brown hair was tousled and he had a slight beard as if he had missed a day of shaving.

“Did you get my message?” he asked, following Jake into a living area.

“Yes, I did. So the well came in.”

“Yes and a good one,” Gabe said, sounding jubilant as he withdrew folded papers out of his back pocket and dropped them on a table for Jake. “Here are figures and information and you can look it all over. I wanted to make sure you knew before you see Caitlin Santerre tomorrow, even though you intend to refuse to sell to her. That old house where she was raised may be in the middle of an oil field. I always told you I thought there was oil on their ranch.”

“Well, you were right. We have the mineral rights to the Santerre ranch whether I sell the house or not.”

Gabe looked up sharply from the text he was reading on his cell phone.

“You're not changing your mind about selling to her, are you?”

“I'm still debating,” Jake said, bracing for the storm that was coming.

“The hell you say. You weren't ‘debating' last week.” Gabe's blue eyes narrowed. “What did you do this weekend? You didn't answer the text I sent you until Sunday afternoon.”

“You didn't answer the one I sent you—period.”

“I've been out at the ranch and just got back to Dallas. Where have you been?”

“I was in New Orleans with Caitlin.”

Gabriel groaned. “Dammit, did you sleep with her?”

“I don't see that's any of your business,” Jake snapped, becoming annoyed with his younger brother's interference.

“Oh, hell. That means you did. That's why you're debating. If you tell her no tomorrow, she won't let you back in bed with her. That's what has you hot and bothered and ‘debating.'”

“Gabe, it's none of your damn business what I do with Caitlin and if I decide to sell the land back to her, we still have rights to drill and you know it.”

“It would sure as hell complicate things though in a lot of ways. They won't like the trucks, the noise, the drilling. Not to mention if we want to drill close to that shrine of a house she has. Look at the maps I brought you. You're going to let some sentiment interfere with your business sense and a lot of money?”

“There's a lot of land. You know it wouldn't have to be right in that one place.”

“Jake, if we're close, it'll be just as bad. What's the deal? You know plenty of good-looking women and you barely know Caitlin Santerre. Dump her and go out with someone else. Someone you know and like.”

“Thanks for the keen advice, Mom,” Jake remarked dryly.

Gabe leaned forward to place his elbows on his knees and stare at his brother. “She probably slept with you just to get you to sell to her. You sell and she may disappear just as quickly out of your life. Knowing your luck with women, you probably can't even imagine such an event.”

“Gabe, you're getting on thin ice,” Jake said, trying to hang on to his temper. “Drop the subject of Caitlin.”

“I can't believe this. You're letting a Santerre cloud your judgment. After you had already reached a decision about what you would do. She must have been really hot.”

Jake stood, his fists clenched, and took a deep breath.
“Look, I'll make a decision and you'll have to live with it, which you can do. Now you're pushing me, Gabe. If I want to sleep with someone, that's my business and selling land back to her is not the end of the world or even a dime out of our pocket. I'll put a steep price on it because she'll pay it, but you stay out of my private life. No more remarks about Caitlin, either.”

“I can't believe I'm having this conversation.” Gabe leaned back and put his hands behind his head, studying Jake. Jake was angry, fighting it because part of the anger was with himself, part with Gabe, and part with Caitlin for getting him tangled up in her life.

“Want me to tell her?”

“What do you think?” Jake asked.

“Tell her no, Jake. By a month from now, you will have forgotten all about this. You let her keep that land, you'll have nothing but trouble and she could will it back to her half brother.”

“She won't do that. There's no love between Will and Caitlin.”

“You
care
about her. Damnation, Jake, you
care
about a Santerre. You've hated them all your life. What the hell happened?”

“I got to know her and I like her. I feel sorry for those people who've worked for her grandmother—”

“Oh, no. No, no,” Gabe said. “You didn't feel sorry for them last week when you were planning on giving them the boot. Oh, no. That has nothing to do with it and don't tell me it does.”

“All right,” Jake snapped, his temper rising again. “It's Caitlin. It's land I acquired. The company is drilling on it, but I, personally, bought it and own it, so I can do with it as I damn well please,” he told Gabe.

They stared at each other a long, tense moment. Jake
could feel the clash of wills that sparked the air. Then Gabe stood.

“I have to get going. You're right of course. It is your land to do as you please. So we just go from there and see what we can do. In the meantime, we'll make a tidy sum on this well.”

“Good deal, Gabe. Thanks for what you've done.”

Gabe shook his head. “You're loco, Jake. A Santerre is nothing but trouble. You'll see. She's just using you.”

Jake shrugged, curbing the flash of anger he felt. “Time will tell, Gabe.”

“Yeah, twenty-four hours of time. Well, it's your choice. You're all grown up now and know what you want to do.”

“Thanks for coming by,” Jake said.

“Sure. You keep thinking about it. You've had a complete turnaround.”

“I'll think about it,” Jake said, wondering if there would be a moment when he could let go thinking about it.

Gabe left and Jake closed the door behind him. He picked up the papers Gabe had brought and sat to read them, finding his mind wandering to Caitlin often.

Finally he pushed the papers aside and reached for the phone, wanting to talk to her, missing her and longing to hold her. He released the phone and sat back, thinking about tomorrow. He should tell her no. He had been all set to do so.

She had been a virgin—he was the first man in her life. He felt a mixture of emotions about that. She had to care about him and to have wanted to sleep with him to give up her virginity to him at age twenty-eight.

Had she done it purely to get him to sell to her? He didn't think she had. If he sold to her, would she get out of his life and not want to see him? As a Santerre, would she try to run the drillers off the property?

The logical thing was to refuse to sell and go on with life.

Each time he reached that conclusion, he couldn't face carrying it out. He wasn't any happier with the choice of letting her keep the land because he had looked at the maps Gabe had given him. Her house would more than likely end up in the middle of oil rigs. She wouldn't be happy. By then she might have to move anyway. He should tell her no and he could explain why.

He paced the room restlessly, arguing with himself for another hour before he left to work out and hoped to forget for a few minutes the problems looming in his life.

More than anything, he missed Caitlin and wanted to talk to her.

 

Monday morning Caitlin dressed with care, trying to look sophisticated, appealing and all business. It hadn't been twenty-four hours since she'd seen Jake but she missed him, missed his company, his kisses, his humor, his flirting, his sexy loving. Today his answer would be no and she had already started doing what she could to find places for Kirby, Cecilia and Altheda.

She hurt because she was in love with Jake, furious with him at the same time, yet she could see from a business standpoint why he would want the old house, buildings, people and animals out of the way. She ached, wanting to be with him. She felt torn in two.

She had rearranged her calendar and booked a hotel room in Dallas since she would be dealing with Realtors over the next couple of days. She intended to spend the afternoon trying to locate a suitable place to move Cecilia and Altheda. Kirby already had job offers from other ranchers. Most likely, Altheda might. They were all comfortably set from the money left to them by her grandmother, but Kirby and Altheda both liked to keep busy.

She pulled on the jacket of her charcoal suit. She wore a matching silk blouse and matching pumps and had her hair pinned on her head. She had already had one call from Cecilia to reassure her to not worry about them. Kirby had received two job offers.

She gazed in the mirror and fought back tears. She was holding on to Cecilia, Kirby and Altheda because they were a substitute family for her—the only one she had. They had been there for her all her life, Kirby teaching her to ride, to care for her horse and later, to develop an eye for a good horse. She couldn't ever let go or lose her love for the three of them and now they were all older with physical problems beginning to be part of their lives. She didn't want them worrying about jobs or income or having to lose each other. Kirby's wife had died ten years earlier. The other two had lost husbands years earlier, before they came to work for her grandmother.

Jake could never understand her close relationship with them because he had a big, close family, even if he did fight with his father on occasion.