Kitabı oku: «World's Most Eligible Texan», sayfa 2

“French, German, Arabic, Italian, Polish and Chinese. My undergraduate degree is in languages and political science and I had to learn Arabic in the military. I had to learn Polish with the State Department.”

She thought again of the vast differences in their lives. “Which colleges did you attend?”

“Harvard for an undergraduate degree,” he replied in an offhand manner. “Now tell me what you like to do? What’s fun?”

“Playing with little children, reading. I enjoy doing pencil drawings. Just simple things. I’ve taught aerobics before, but not for the past year.” Her gaze dropped to his mouth, and she wondered what it would be like to kiss him. She wanted to kiss him. Why did he have this effect on her? She felt as if sparks constantly danced between them, and her awareness level was at a maximum. With an effort she tried to concentrate on what he was saying.

They sat and talked until a grandfather clock in the hall chimed three in the morning. It seemed she had been with him five minutes, yet it seemed as if she had known him all her life.

By three he had unfastened and removed his cuff links, turned back his white sleeves, kicked off his shoes. Her nerves were tingling and raw, and she was intensely aware of him, looking at his full lower lip and continuing to wonder what it would be like to kiss him.

When the clock softly chimed the third time, she stood. “Well, it’s getting late,” she said.

In a fluid movement, he came to his feet instantly and placed his hand on her waist, turning her to face him. One look in his eyes and her breath caught. He drew her closer.

“I feel like I’ve waited all my life for this moment,” he said softly.

Her heart thudded, and she told herself not to believe what he said, but the words thrilled her as his hand slid behind her head and his arm went around her waist, pulling her against his hard length. He leaned down, his mouth brushing hers and her pulse skipped with the first contact of his lips on hers. Fire and magic. Even more, before her lashes came down, was the look in his eyes of wanting her—as if his words had been the truth and he had been waiting forever.

What was it about this man that melted her physically and emotionally? That made all barriers go down and her body and heart both yield completely? He took her breath and made her pulse race and it seemed so incredibly right, as if she were destined for this night from the day she was born. He rubbed his lips softly against hers again.

“Aaron,” she whispered his name, that from the first moment they’d met had been special, irresistible.

His mouth settled on hers, opening it fully while his tongue thrust over hers, stroking it and conveying such need that she quivered in response. She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kisses and his passion. She felt his arousal and felt his hands slide over her and then move to her zipper. Cool air played across her shoulders as her dress fell away, and Aaron raised his head to push away the top of her lacy blue teddy. Inhaling deeply, he cupped her small breasts in his large, tanned hands. His breathing was ragged when he bent, and his tongue stroked her nipple.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered. “I need you.”

His words were as seductive as his kisses. Moaning with pleasure, she shook and gripped his shoulders and knew she should stop, but his every touch was magic. Sensations and desire bombarded her. Never in her life had she known passion. Never before had she found a man who ignited desire into blazing flames. She would stop him, but oh, not yet. Not yet…

His thumbs circled and stroked her taut nipples and her insides turned a somersault. Her fingers went to the studs on his shirt, and in minutes she had worked them free and pushed away his shirt and then her hands were on his chest that was lean, hard-corded muscles. Her fingers tangled in the mat of short brown hair across his chest.

Swinging her into his arms while he kissed her, he carried her to a bedroom and then they were in bed together, her length stretched against his. As he peeled away the teddy and her hose, his hands and kisses were everywhere.

Was it the wine? The man? The magic of the night? His beguiling words that made her feel an incredible need in him for her alone?

A dim voice within her urged her usual caution, but it went up in smoke in minutes as he moved lower, trailing kisses to her thighs. His hand slipped between her legs, stroking her, driving her over a brink and making her want what she had never known, want it all with this man who was so special to her from the first moment she had looked into his eyes.

She helped him peel away his trousers and briefs. He moved over her, hard, ready, breathtakingly handsome as she wrapped her long legs around him and pulled him to her. She heard him whisper, asking if she was protected, and she answered yes, yes, wanting him with a desperate urgency in a manner she hadn’t ever dreamed possible while desire demolished all her wisdom and caution.

His mouth covered hers, taking her cries of passion as he slowly entered her. When he raised his head and frowned, she arched her hips, tightened her legs, and pulled him to her.

“Please, Aaron,” she whispered, knowing this night was more than magic for her and she wanted him as she had never wanted anything. She gave her virginity to him eagerly, wanting him and lost in the roaring of her pulse, only dimly hearing him cry out her name as she gasped, carried out of the world into pure ecstasy, finally tumbling over a brink of release.

In the quiet of the fading night he showered her with kisses, and then he held her tightly against him while they talked. His other hand caressed her, and his voice was a deep rumble that she loved to listen to.

“What do you like best in the world, Aaron?” she asked, wanting to discover everything about him she could.

“This night. You in my arms. Long, slow hot kisses, people who care, Switzerland, the ranch. What do you like?” he asked in a lazy voice while he languidly drew his fingers over her hip.

“Tonight, too. Being with you. Little children. Books.” She ran her finger along his jaw that had a faint trace of stubble now. “What do you want out of life?”

“Ahh, that’s an easier question. I want a family, a woman who is my best friend and lover. I want to do some good for people, to settle on the ranch—”

“You want to live here on your ranch?” she asked, interrupting him and surprised by his answer.

“Sure. I grew up on the ranch and love it. I want some more years in the diplomatic service, but then I want to come home to ranching. What do you want out of life?” he asked, gazing into her eyes while she caught his hand to kiss his knuckles lightly.

“I don’t think about it much. I want to be a good teacher. I don’t want any child to ever pass through my classroom and not be able to read when moving on. They should all learn in first and second grade and never go on until they master reading.”

“No yearning for marriage?”

She was glad it was dark and he couldn’t see her blush, because she could feel the heat rise in her cheeks. “You know now, Aaron, that you’re the first man in my life. I’ve never dated much and never thought I would marry.”

“I’ll bet the ranch you do.”

When she laughed, he touched her dimple. “Are you a gambling man?”

“Actually no. But I don’t think that would be much of a bet. You’ll marry, lady.”

“Right now, I’m thinking about going to Asterland. Tell me some more about Europe.”

“Asterland is a beautiful little country. You’re going to like it.” She listened to him talk for another twenty minutes and then while she was talking, she heard his deep, regular breathing and realized he was asleep. Hugging him, knowing she would carry memories of this night with her the rest of her life because she had fallen in love, she settled against him and closed her eyes.

She lay in his arms and listened to his heartbeat and his deep steady breathing. He held her tightly as if afraid of losing her. The wonder of the night left her dazed. Aaron was a marvel. Their lovemaking was ecstasy she had never expected to experience. She’d slept, then stirred as dawn spilled into the room, and along with it, reality.

Memories assailed her, and in the light of day, they held clarity and a shocked realization of how he must see the night.

How could she have fallen into his arms and given all to him the first night she’d met him? She closed her eyes in pain, thinking of her mother and the taunting cries she had been teased with when she was young—“…your mom’s the town tramp,” “trash mama,” “she’s cheap,” “easy lay”—even worse names.

Shame, shock, fear of what Aaron would think of her, all ran through her mind. Was she that much like her mother after all? After all these years of being so circumspect, so careful, the moment a dashing, worldly man had turned his charm on her, she had thrown prudence over instantly.

Wiping at tears that stung her eyes, she slid out of bed. She could only imagine how Aaron must see her. Then her gaze fell on him and, momentarily, her feelings shifted and longing shook her. He was sprawled in bed, the sheet down below his narrow waist. His body was lean, muscled and looked like the body of a runner. The mat of dark brown hair across his chest tapered down in a line to his navel. Her gaze traveled lower to the sheet covering him, but her memories conjured up visions of Aaron last night when he was hard, ready and so incredibly male and appealing.

Giving a little shake of her shoulders, she knew she didn’t want to see those probing green eyes open and look at her in a demeaning manner. Nor did she want to hear him make excuses or make light of an evening that had taken her heart. Again, she wondered how she could have succumbed so swiftly. Was it in her genes? She had fought that notion all her life, treating boys coldly, keeping barriers around her when she was older, barriers that turned guys off quickly.

As quietly as possible, with shaking hands and tears stinging her eyes, she gathered her things and dressed. Then she slipped downstairs and called Royal’s only cab.

In minutes she was standing on the drive, praying that Aaron wouldn’t waken. Today she was supposed to go to Midland to see her closest friend, Jessica Atkins, a fellow teacher. Aaron probably couldn’t find her if he wanted to. She suspected he wouldn’t even care. Yet he hadn’t seemed that way last night.

“Of course, he didn’t, ninny!” she whispered to herself. “Get real. He seduced you—it was a one-night stand and you fell into his arms eagerly. Practically jumped into his arms.”

The cab whisked her away, and when the tall iron gates began to swing shut behind her she was certain she was closing a part of her life away. From this time forward, last night would only be a memory, yet she knew she had given Aaron much more than just her body.

Embarrassed and saddened, she had ridden home, packed for the weekend swiftly and rushed to her car to drive to Midland and the haven of Jessica’s small frame house. No matter how many miles she put between them, she couldn’t get Aaron out of her thoughts. The realization that they hadn’t used any protection came to her. Aaron had asked if she was protected, and, totally lost to the moment, wanting him as she had never wanted anything in her life, she had whispered yes.

“You know better than that!” she said aloud to herself.

Realizing she was sitting in the Royal Diner, talking to herself, Pamela took a deep breath. Aaron had asked if she was protected. She couldn’t blame him. And if he learned about her pregnancy—that must never happen. She wouldn’t even consider the possibilities.

She thought about the Blacks. Everyone in town knew that his parents had been into missionary work; his brother was a minister, channeling funds to worldwide missions, his older sister was a doctor in a third-world country. She didn’t know what his other brother did, but they were good people and used their enormous wealth to help others. Aaron had told her how he had gone into the diplomatic service because he thought he could try to do something to help world situations.

She ran her fingers across her brow. Aaron Black must never know he was the father of her baby. He would be a man to marry out of a sense of duty and doing the right thing. Aaron…

Such a pang hit her she clutched her middle. Longing rolled up through her like a tidal wave. Along with her body, she had given her heart to him. She knew that. But she was realistic. She was a veteran of watching pillars of the community sleep with her mother, give Dolly tokens of appreciation—or much more than tokens—cars, jewelry, but always they eventually turned their backs on Dolly and went their own way. And out in public she had seen them meet her mother and seen the furtive glances, the coolness, the lack of respect they had treated Dolly with.

She couldn’t bear that with Aaron. Aaron Black’s baby. Again, she pressed her hand to her flat stomach and felt a surge of maternal joy. She already loved this baby with her whole heart and she would devote her life to her precious child.

She would have to move from Royal because there would be too much gossip here, but that was something she didn’t have to worry about today. She just had to keep her condition a secret until her plans were made. It was a secret to be kept most of all from Aaron Black. He had already gone back to Europe, so there was little chance of his finding out unless Justin Webb or Matt Walker or another one of those buddies of Aaron’s learned about it and told him. And if he did find out, Matt was a good enough friend to respect her wishes. She could trust Matt to be the friend he always had been.

Once again the enormity of what she had done struck her. How could she have been so like her mother? How could she have thrown over all her caution when she had spent a lifetime being cautious? The man could charm the proverbial birds out of the trees, but that was no excuse. She had met charmers in college and had managed easily to say no. What was it about Aaron Black that twisted her into knots, melted her reserve, dissolved all barriers she kept up?

She clutched her middle again, aghast when she thought about how easy she had been, how careless, and what Aaron must think about her.

“Are you feeling better, Pamela?”

“I’m fine, thanks,” she said, aware of the waitress approaching the table. Sheila’s pink uniform was bright and her gaze was sharp.

“What happened was scary. I guess you’ll get over it as time goes by. Sorry you won’t get to go to Asterland to teach this semester. I heard the program was suspended.”

“That’s right, but with my ankle hurt, I wasn’t able to teach right after the crash,” Pamela said, wishing they could stop talking about it.

Sheila turned away, and Pamela stared at the giant burger and golden fries on her plate and knew she couldn’t eat a bite. Nor could she leave the entire burger and fries without stirring up a storm of comments. She sipped some of the chocolate malt, ate two bites of the burger, and then she couldn’t get down another morsel. She wrapped the burger and a few fries in her napkin and jammed them into her purse. Her purse would reek of hamburger, but she didn’t want any gossip starting now. No one ordered one of Manny’s juicy burgers and then left it with only a couple of bites taken out of it.

Thank heavens, so far, both she and Thad Delner led such straight and square lives that no one could conjure up gossip about them going together to the ball. And everyone in town knew he went to represent the school. Also, everyone in town was sorry about the loss of his wife, whom he had deeply loved. But once word got out that she had left the ball with Aaron Black, that would be another matter.

She slid out of the booth, paid and rushed from the diner before she had another conversation with anyone else. A few people were beginning to appear for lunch and she greeted them perfunctorily without even seeing who they were.

She drove home, her thoughts still churning, but an absolute determination growing within her that Aaron Black should never know about the baby. Their baby. She would call Jessica to tell her to watch for teaching jobs in Midland. The teaching position in Asterland was suspended this semester and by the next term, she would be very pregnant and she wouldn’t want to go to Asterland even if it were possible. She wanted her baby born here in Texas where she had friends.

Midland was larger than Royal, far enough away that her life would be her own, yet close enough she could get back to see her friends in Royal when she wanted to.

At least she didn’t have to worry about running into Aaron. He was halfway around the world and most likely had forgotten about her by now. She could imagine the kind of women in his life and wondered whether, while home in Texas, he had simply been amusing himself with the country girl that she was. In many ways Royal wasn’t a typical small Texas town because of oil money and all the wealth it produced. Basically, though, Royal was a small West Texas town and she was pure country.

She turned onto her street and saw her two-story brick apartment complex. She drove through the open wooden barriers that never closed and turned down the row to the back of her tiny apartment and her carport. As she approached her carport, her heart thudded. Seated on the tailgate of a shiny black pickup was Aaron Black.

Two

Her throat went dry and it was difficult to breathe. She felt hot, embarrassed, as if she were nine months pregnant instead of only weeks. There he was, and more than that, he looked marvelous. Her pulse raced like a shooting star. He looked as good in jeans and a plaid woolen shirt as he had in a tux. He wore scuffed boots and slid casually to his feet with his hands hooked into his wide, hand-tooled leather belt. A lock of brown hair fell across his forehead.

His green eyes were just as she remembered—going right through her. How could she keep her secret? Why was he here and not halfway around the world? What was she going to say to him? What did he want?

A cynical voice answered that question in a flash—another easy night with her. Her chin raised and her lips compressed while she tried to breathe deeply and wondered if she was going to faint right in front of him. Except she wasn’t given to fainting. It might be a lot easier if she could.

“Go away, Aaron Black,” she mumbled as she parked, and knew he was watching her every move. And then he was at the door, opening it and holding it for her.

When she stepped outside and looked up at him, her heart skipped beats. Gazing at him solemnly, she wrestled with her feelings because she wanted to walk right into his arms.

“Hi, Pamela.”

She couldn’t say a word.

“Well, hi, there, Aaron, it’s good to see you,” he said in a teasing voice while he ran his finger lightly along her cheek. “Cat got your tongue? Some reason I developed the plague and you want to avoid me?”

At his touch, tingles flashed through her, and she knew she was hopelessly lost unless she got her wits together and her defenses up. She drew herself up. “Hi, Aaron. I thought you were in Spain.”

“Well, I was,” he drawled in that mellow voice that was like a stroke of his fingers. Darn, if he would just quit looking at her like she was a bit of steak and he was a starving man. “But I came home because I wanted to see you.”

“You came home to see me?” she whispered, shocked and unable to believe she had heard correctly. Did he know? She rejected that notion instantly.

He looked around while a gust of cold wind buffeted them and spun leaves into the air. “Could we maybe talk inside?”

“Oh! Of course. Come in,” she said, feeling ridiculous and knowing the women in his life knew how to handle moments like this smoothly and casually, while she was acting like a twelve-year-old with her first crush. She moved ahead of him, reached out to unlock the door and dropped her keys. He scooped them up, reached his long arm around her and unlocked the door, pushing it open and waiting for her to enter. Too aware of how close he was behind her, she stepped inside. He made her fluttery and overly conscious of him and of herself and her condition.

She glanced around her tiny kitchen and thought of his palatial family home in Pine Valley. Her whole apartment would fit into his kitchen.

She opened her purse to drop her keys inside and the smell of the hamburger wafted into the air. His brows arched and he reached down to pull the wrapped burger from her purse. She could hear the laughter in his voice. “You carry hamburgers and fries in your purse?”

“Not usually,” she said, snatching her lunch from him and carrying it to the counter to set it down. “I wasn’t hungry. Do you want anything to drink?”

“No thanks, but help yourself.”

She shook her head. “Let’s sit in the living room.”

He looked all around as they entered her tiny living room with its white wicker furniture, red, blue and yellow throw pillows, colorful prints on the walls—an attractive room to her, but a far cry from his lifestyle.

“Nice place.”

“Thank you.”

He prowled around with both the grace and curiosity of a cat and stepped into the bedroom that opened off the living room. “This is your bedroom,” he said, and she wondered how she had left her room that morning when she had dressed for the doctor’s appointment. She ran her hand across her forehead, watching him as he returned to the living room and moved across the room to the sofa. He tilted his head again.

“Are you going to sit down?”

“Yes,” she replied, knowing she was acting ridiculously, but he had jolted her with his sudden appearance when she’d thought he was in Spain.

When she perched on the edge of the sofa, he sank down near her, looking relaxed and as if he owned the place. He leaned closer, and she realized she should have sat across the room from him. He ran his finger along her cheek. “Big blue eyes just like I remembered,” he said softly, and she wondered if he could hear her heart thudding.

“Why are you here?”

Again, he looked as if amusement danced in his eyes. “Glad to see me?”

“Yes,” she said cautiously. This time there was no mistaking the laughter in his eyes.

“Uh-huh,” he drawled. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” she said, bracing up and wondering what was coming.

“Why did you disappear the next morning?” His voice was quiet, his words innocuous, but his eyes nailed her and a flush heated her cheeks.

With an effort she looked away from those damnable green eyes that made her feel as if he could see every thought in her head. “I was supposed to leave town and I needed to get home.”

“Oh, yeah,” he drawled in a voice that indicated he didn’t believe that answer for a second.

She knotted her fingers in her lap. “I don’t usually sleep with a guy the first night I meet him,” she whispered stiffly, feeling her cheeks burn, but there it was, the flat-out bald truth.

“I know you don’t,” he said in such a tender voice that she wanted to fling herself into his arms. His fingers lifted her chin and turned her to face him, and when she looked into his eyes, she felt she was melting and all her resistance was slipping away.

“Go to dinner with me tonight.”

“I can’t be—”

“That’s why I came home,” he interrupted.

Shocked by his statement, she stared at him. “It isn’t either! You didn’t come home to take me to dinner.”

“Did so,” he argued quietly. “To my way of thinking, we have some unfinished business between us,” he said, and beneath his soft voice, she could hear a steely determination.

She thought about her condition and shook her head. “I think it is finished,” she said. “You move in one world and I live in another. I’m just a country girl, Aaron, so let’s be realistic. You couldn’t have come home to take me to dinner!”

“Yes, ma’am, I surely did,” slipping into a West Texas drawl that she knew he didn’t usually have. “And what’s all this about a country girl? Where do you think I grew up?”

“Right here, but don’t give me that ol’ country-boy routine. You were educated in the east and you live abroad and you move in circles that I know nothing about and the women in your life—”

“Bore me witless,” he said, scooting a little closer. “I wouldn’t pursue this if I didn’t feel like there was something between us.”

His words devastated her, and she clutched her fingers even more tightly together. Resist the sweet talk, resist…

She scooted away from him a few inches, keeping the space they’d had, but now she was pressed against the end of the sofa.

“We had sex between us, but—”

“That was lovemaking, Pamela,” he interrupted with such solemnity that her heart did another lurch. “It was good and fine and important.” He studied her. “Maybe we need to take some time now to get to know each other.”

“No, we don’t!”

“Why the hell not?”

Her mind raced on how to answer him. Why did he have to sit so close? It was difficult to think. “I told you, I’m country and you’re not and don’t say you are. Our worlds are really different, and there is no way you can convince me that you’re here because I’m so fascinating.”

“You don’t think so?”

“No. How’d did you get off work in the middle of the week?”

“I asked for time off to come home to see you.”

Her jaw did drop. While she stared at him, he gazed back steadily with no amusement in his features now.

“This is important,” he announced solemnly.

Her heart stopped. Missed beats and then picked up. No. Not now, was all she could think. Not now. Don’t do this. He mustn’t know. Her head swam. This can’t happen now. It’s too late. Much too late for us.

She shook her head. “You need to pack and go back to Spain. This is ridiculous. We’re in different worlds, Aaron. That night was special, but it was just a night. Now I need to—”

He moved closer. “Pamela, I want a chance to show you that our worlds aren’t that different. There are some basic things about people that match up, and I think we ought to get to know each other a little and see how much we match up. Maybe you’re right and it won’t be the magic it seemed, but let’s get to know each other a little better and give a relationship a chance.”

“I just don’t think we should.” She could barely get out the words.

“What will it hurt?” he persisted softly, lacing his fingers in hers and running his thumb across her knuckles and scrambling her thoughts.

If you only knew, you would run like crazy. She stared at him, her heart pounding, knowing that she had to send him on his way.

“You’re sitting close.”

“I’m glad you noticed. What will it hurt?”

I will be in love with you more than I am now, she thought, and you’ll find out I’m carrying your baby, and then you’ll want to marry me for all the wrong reasons. She knew she could never, ever let him know about the pregnancy. Send him on his way back to Spain.

“One little dinner date,” he said softly, leaning forward to brush his lips against her throat. “Just go out with me tonight, okay? Come on. I’ll bet we’ll have a good time getting to know each other a little better,” he coaxed. He was close enough that she could feel his warmth, smell his woodsy aftershave.

“We shouldn’t—”

“You’d rather eat alone than with me?” he whispered.

“No, but—”

“Good. It’s settled.” His lips trailed kisses lightly along her throat, and she ached to turn her head and kiss him fully. With that first brush of his lips, she was lost. He leaned back. “I’ll pick you up about seven. I made reservations at Claire’s.”

Her eyes opened. What had she done? How did he get his way so easily with her?

“Aaron, you couldn’t have come back from Spain to take me to dinner.”

“Yes, I did.”

If he was lying, he was doing a magnificent job of sounding convincing, but then she knew in his job he must be accustomed to some slick talking to get what he wanted.

“But what about your job? You can’t just leave on a whim.”

“I have so many vacation days piled up, I can take off for a long time. When I started this job, I was in love with it. I guess I thought I was doing my part to help save the world. I gave it my everything. I didn’t take vacations very often, so I have a lot of days coming. Besides, I asked for a leave of absence and they granted it.”

Appalled, she stared at him. “Leave of absence! You’re in Royal for more than tonight?”

“Don’t sound so thrilled,” he drawled, and his eyes were full of questions. “You keep looking at me as if I’m some kind of monster.”

“No! Oh, no! I just am shocked about your leave of absence. It takes some adjusting to think of you in Royal instead of Spain.”

He placed both hands on either side of her face while his gaze probed hers. “Why does it take some adjusting to have me here? That’s not too flattering.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, heat burning her cheeks. Why couldn’t she control her darn blushes! “I’m just surprised.”

“Well, get used to it, lady, because I came home for us to get to know each other a little better,” he said in a husky voice.

She pulled away from him and stood, her knees bumping his knees. He was on his feet instantly and his hand rested on her waist, stopping her from moving away from him.

“Pamela, I don’t know what’s going on in that pretty head of yours, but yes, I want us to get to know each other better. I’ve been thinking about you constantly since that night.”

“Oh, my heavens! I don’t believe it.”

He frowned. “Well, you better believe it, and I’ll do my damnedest to convince you because memories of you have played hell with my work. You’ve got some notion in your head about the kind of woman I want in my life, but you’re wrong.”