Page 19 of One Texas Night...
“Fine,” she said, picking up her things. He took them from her.
“I’ll carry these until you get to your room.”
“You know, I shouldn’t have been surprised to hear from Sloan. Or that he called you, either. Actually, Sloan’s actions don’t worry me. He’s too overprotective. Always has been. He didn’t want me to have a driver’s license until I was eighteen. Thank heavens Dad prevailed. But I didn’t drive without one of them in the car until I was seventeen.”
Jared smiled. “You’re good to put up so patiently with your brother. I have to say, the last fight we had, we were probably about nine years old. He gave me a bloody nose. Later he said he was sorry.”
She smiled. “I don’t think you’ll have to fight Sloan. At least not about us getting involved.”
No, she thought as she entered her room. The only fighting would be her fighting her attraction to Jared.
* * *
With eager anticipation, Jared waited in the library. He’d thought about Allison all day and he couldn’t wait for her to appear. When had he ever been this anxious for a date? He dismissed his worries about Sloan. Allison didn’t seem too concerned about what her brother thought, and Jared didn’t see any chance of losing his long-time friend, unless he broke Allison’s heart, which just plain wouldn’t happen. She wasn’t going to run any risk of falling in love. He thought he had allayed her fears about trying to buy their family business, something he definitely was not aggressively pursuing. Now if he could figure a way to calm her fears about his love of exciting, challenging endeavors, she would stop resisting him so strongly. The last was the stumbling block, because her family loss would never cease hurting, and she was so afraid of losing someone she loved again.
She came through the door and his heart thudded. His mouth went dry and he had to control an urge to cross the room, take her into his arms and kiss her.
“You look gorgeous,” he said, unable to keep the huskiness out of his voice. He didn’t say it, but she looked hot and sexy, too. His gaze drifted over the pale blue Western shirt that was unbuttoned far enough to give him a glimpse of tempting curves. The shirt was tucked into her tiny waist with a hand-tooled leather belt on jeans that were tight enough to send his temperature soaring.
He wasn’t aware of crossing the room until only inches separated them.
“Lady, you look hot enough to melt a glacier.”
“Thank you, I think,” she answered. “You look pretty good yourself, cowboy.”
Her hair fell loosely, framing her face, that yellow-blond hair that was a constant temptation to run his fingers through. He wanted to peel her out of her skintight clothes and make love to her. Instead he took a deep breath before winding her arm through his.
“Let’s go,” he said, looking down at her. Her scent was so enticing, eagerness bubbled up in him. He had waited all day to be with her, and finally she was with him for the evening. He picked up a broad-brimmed black Stetson and placed it on his head. In the hall she stepped away to get her own black Western hat. “Let’s see what the evening brings,” Jared said.
“Bushels of dancing,” she replied. “I haven’t done this in such a long time that I almost didn’t pack these clothes.”
“I’m glad you did. I’ll try in every way to make the evening memorable,” he said, slipping his arm around her waist and catching another whiff of the perfume she wore. His pulse was already doing its own crazy two-step.
He wanted to dance with her, flirt with her and come home and make love the rest of the night. She, on the other hand, wanted to stick to mere kisses, if that. What an impossible challenge, he thought.
At the car he held the door, and when she slid onto the seat, his gaze raked over her jeans that pulled tightly on her thighs. He inhaled, trying to steady his breath.
In minutes they were headed toward the highway and an evening that promised to be one of the best of his life.
* * *
At eleven o’clock they still circled the floor in a two-step. Allison could dance all night with him, and that was a better option than anything else she wanted to do with Jared. The sight of him melted her and made her heart race. Tall, lean, looking all cowboy and incredibly handsome, he was too sexy in his tight jeans and wide hand-tooled belt that rode low on his hips.
Could she stick by what she had told him? She reminded herself again to resist his charm. Get through the next few nights and this job would be over, she told herself, and she might not ever see him again.
He seemed willing to dance the night away, continuing without a word about going home. She hadn’t danced like this in a long time—fast, constant, energetic. The more they danced, the more vitality and energy seemed to radiate from him. It was after midnight when she pointed out the time.
“Let’s go home, Allison,” he said, leaning close to her ear. “The band will be quitting soon anyway.”
As soon as she nodded, Jared took her hand and they headed toward their table. Minutes later, they stepped into the cool night. Music and light spilled out with them, and Jared caught her, spinning her around on the wooden front porch of the sprawling honky-tonk.
She danced with him, their boot heels scraping the floorboards of the porch until he pulled her to him, and she laughed, bracing her hands against his chest.
“C’mon,” he said, taking her hand.
She rushed down the steps to keep up with his long legs.
“Lady, that’s the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”
