Page 24 of The Forbidden Texan
“It says Dwight was my dad, but my guess is that a big sum of money exchanged hands to get that birth certificate and the doctor signed off on it.”
Jake tilted his head to look intently at her. “I don’t want to hurt Mom and I don’t want to hurt the Warners. I think I should destroy the letter and keep it a secret.”
While she sat thinking about it, he did, too.
“I think you should keep the secret,” she said finally. “It should be up to your mom if she ever wants to tell. Besides, you may do more good about ending the feud if you don’t tell.”
“True... I’m not going to tell anyone, except you, for a while. Once it’s said, it can’t be taken back.”
“That’s true and it could hurt Thane’s mother.”
“I never want to do that. I might just shred the letter.”
“Well, you might want to think about that one. The letter is the only proof you have.”
“We can always have a DNA test. I’ll put the letter in the safe and keep it for now.” He shook his head as a thought came to him. “I’m glad I never wanted to date Camilla Warner.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t, except she’s—as you would say—not your type.”
He shrugged. “She was always around and she seemed young. There just were no sparks at all and I never thought about taking her out,” he said. The moment he mentioned sparks, he thought about the sparks flying each time he was near Emily.
He looked into her big brown eyes and knew that’s what she was thinking also. A blush made her cheeks pink.
He forgot his heritage and its surprising revelation so many years later and thought about kissing Emily. As he looked into her eyes again, he guessed she was thinking the same as he was. With deliberation, he set aside the papers and his beer and stood, crossing the small space to her chair.
“Jake,” she whispered.
He put his hands on the arms of her chair again and looked at her as he leaned close in front of her. “The look in your eyes gives you away. One kiss can’t hurt,” he said softly, his pulse drumming while he had an inner fight between what he wanted and what he knew he should do.
“One kiss can change history,” she whispered.
“Oh, no, we won’t let that happen,” he said, placing his hands on her waist and pulling her to her feet and into his arms.
“Jake, this is so wrong.”
“I don’t think one tiny thing is wrong with it. We’re single. We’re adults,” he whispered, brushing her ear with his lips. She was soft, sweet-smelling and her luscious curves were pressed against him as he placed his mouth on hers. Her softness set him on fire while his tongue claimed possession and his arm tightened around her. Holding her, he kissed her and felt her heart pounding against his chest. He wanted to get rid of the barrier of clothes between them. He wanted to kiss, to touch and to discover every inch of her and to make love to her for an entire night.
Kissing him in return, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed against him. His temperature climbed and he shook with wanting her. She could tie him in knots with need the way no other woman ever could.
He shifted slightly, his hand caressing her throat, slipping down over her soft breast, which made his heart pound. He slipped his hands beneath her tan sweatshirt and cupped her breast over a flimsy lace bra. He pushed her shirt higher, released her bra and filled his hands with her breasts. His thumbs played lightly over her nipples.
Moaning softly, she clung to his upper arms. “Jake,” she whispered. “Jake, slow down.” She wiggled away from him while she gasped for breath and pulled her bra and sweatshirt back in place.
She was gorgeous and the meager taste of her that he’d had made his heart pound loud in his ears. He had never wanted a woman as badly as he did Emily at that moment. Employer and employee didn’t matter and he didn’t think it mattered at the moment to her, either. Desire was mutual. Even though she had ended the kiss, she wasn’t walking away. Instead, she was breathing fast and staring at him as if he were the last man on earth and they had only an hour to live.
“We’re in a business arrangement and we shouldn’t kiss,” she whispered.
“It’s too late for that and this business arrangement is temporary, trivial in the overall picture. I think we can forget that excuse because we’ve already crossed that line and turned around and erased it.”
“You’re not helping.”
“Well, there’s a reason. You know what I want? I just want to—”
“Stop,” she said, shaking her head at him. “I don’t want to hear what you want. We need to use some sense and caution here so we can get this job done.”
“We’ll get it done in good order, okay? If you want, we’ll back off anything personal now,” he said even though that was the last thing he wanted to do.
“I think that’s a good idea.”
