Page 30 of One Texas Night...
She slipped away from him. “You got it totally. Now get back to fixing dinner.”
Shaking his head, he reached for glasses for ice water.
They worked companionably for a few moments, him setting the table and her tossing the salad. When he spoke, she was surprised to find his mind on business.
“Your brother has some property that will come on the market. He said he would call me when it’s available and I can take a look at it.”
“Are you expanding your office?”
“No. I’d fix up the building so that I can lease it to another business. Sloan’s good to call me when he gets those opportunities. If he doesn’t want them himself.”
“Sloan’s done well in investments. He has a mind for math and figures. He did Dad’s income tax for him until I graduated and could take up doing it.” She tilted her head to study him with curiosity in her expression. “Buying a building to lease doesn’t have much to do with your energy company.”
“I’m diversifying,” he said with a smile. “So you have that family math ability, too? I know Sloan has it. So does your dad. That’s good.”
“It comes in handy on the bookkeeping side of this business. Otherwise I’m far more interested in history and furniture and other things we deal with.”
Soon she had the salad ready, and they sat at the kitchen table to start on that while they waited for the casserole to heat.
They continued to talk, all through dinner and beyond. Before she knew it, the hall clock chimed ten o’clock. She had promised herself she’d leave him then, but minutes turned into hours and it was two in the morning before she noticed the time again.
“Jared, I have to get to bed,” she said. “I was going to go hours ago.”
“But you were having far too good a time to leave,” he drawled with amusement in his expression.
She smiled in return. “I suppose I’ll have to admit I was.”
“We’ll do it again tomorrow night, because we’ll be out on my Wyoming ranch and it’s thirty miles to the nearest restaurant or bar. If you wanted dinner or dancing, you should have said so here. Although we’ll be back.”
“This was perfect tonight,” she said, amazed at how much she’d enjoyed the evening.
He walked upstairs with her and at the door to her suite, he pulled her swiftly into his arms, leaning down to kiss her. His mouth covered hers firmly, possessively. She wanted to protest, to stop him, but the moment his mouth settled on hers, her objection died. She held him and kissed him, wanting more in spite of telling herself to walk away.
“Jared,” she finally gasped, stepping back slightly, her hand on his chest.
“You started this earlier,” he said, giving her a smoldering look. “For one second tonight, do you think I forgot or really cooled down? I’ve been wound up all evening, wanting you and trying to keep my hands to myself.” He placed his hand against the wall behind her and bent close to her. “Now you owe me for getting me all stirred up. I intend to collect on that, Allison.”
“I think you just did. Go for a midnight swim. See you in the morning,” she said, slipping into her suite and closing the door. She let out her breath. Desire was an all-enveloping cloak that she could not shed. She should not have let go and kissed him passionately, because it had steamed both of them. He was not the only one still hot and bothered, aching for more.
In just hours they would go to his Wyoming house, and then return to Houston to finish this job. As soon as she did, she would get back to her ordinary life in Dallas. And maybe she should think about Phillip’s proposal—something solid and safe with someone compatible. Would marriage be so unhappy without this wild, burning lust?
She stared into the dark, glad she couldn’t see her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes would give away the answer to the question she asked.
Though she prepared for bed, sleep was elusive. Jared filled her thoughts. He slept beneath the same roof. She could easily make love with him. Would it cool her burning need or just bind her to him irrevocably? She already knew the answer. It was hours before she fell into a fitful sleep with nonsensical, disturbing dreams.
* * *
Jared woke early and hurried to the heated pool. The morning air was chilly, and he walked fast, shedding a beach towel and dropping the others he carried to leap into the water. He came up and began to swim laps in long strokes while his thoughts were on Allison.
He couldn’t get out of his thoughts that moment when she had moved over him, tossed away her shirt and gave him those wild kisses, or her declaration that he was missing out on the best part of life—the intimacy and joy of marriage and family, of making love when he wanted.
She hadn’t convinced him about marriage and lifestyles, but he had been captivated by her more than ever. Sexy, beautiful, intelligent, she was becoming a close friend. They were compatible in so many ways, yet different enough to keep things interesting. But it was the fact that she could always surprise him that added to her charm. From that first night six years ago when she was in college, she had surprised him. He didn’t know what to expect from her, and that hadn’t changed at all.
Allison was special. She had warned him that he might fall in love. Could she be right? She was unique, with so many good qualities, but that ability to surprise him dazzled him because he didn’t think he could ever tire of being with her.
He stopped swimming, breathing hard, treading water and lost in thoughts about her. Maybe he should fly back to Dallas and get out of her life before he was the one to be hopelessly ensnared and his visions of mountain climbing and all the other things he wanted to do went out of his life forever. He glanced at the house and thought about her in bed, asleep.
“Oh, hell,” he whispered. He wanted her in his arms. He wanted to make love to her more than he wanted anything else. She had him tied in knots. If he didn’t want to fall irrevocably in love, he’d better run fast, yet he didn’t want to say goodbye to her yet. Far from it. He swam to the edge of the pool, climbed out and grabbed the beach towel to wrap himself in, then grabbed a bath towel to dry his hair. Slipping on flip-flops, he headed for the house.
