Texas Heat Page 6

  She felt the muscles in his chest ripple as he continued to laugh. “I imagine it was something like the look on your face when you fell in,” she said, blowing a strand of hair from her eyes. “Sort of like you sat on a porcupine. I declare, I think that cow even felt sorry for you.”

  They both laughed then, standing on the edge of the mud hole, his arms around her. The horses watched them, and the steer wandered over to a nearby tuft of grass and dug in.

  Jake couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed with a woman. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d held a woman in his arms. He stared into Savannah’s meadow green eyes and felt something—something he was unfamiliar with, something he chose not to examine. And then it was gone as quickly as it came and in its place came a need. A need he understood only too well.

  He wanted this woman. An ache spread through him as strong as it was urgent. He had to taste her, to feel her lips under his. His laughter died away as he held her gaze, and when he turned his attention to her lips he felt her go still. Her breathing turned shallow.

  “Jake,” she said quietly, “you can put me down now.”

  “Sure.” He let her body slide down his with agonizing slowness. Her eyes turned smoky green as her breasts moved over his chest. Instinctively his hands cupped her bottom as he lowered her to the ground. Damn, but she felt good. So incredibly good. The ache in his body intensified and his heart raced.

  This couldn’t be happening, Savannah thought dimly. It had to be a dream. It felt like a dream. She was floating in a cloud of sensation, aware only of the feel of Jake’s solid chest and the tightness of her breasts as her body pressed against his. Her hands slid over his arms and she felt the ripple of hard muscle beneath her fingers. She lifted her gaze to his, and the dark intensity of his eyes nearly took her breath away. He lowered his head, and with a will of their own, her lips parted and her eyes drifted closed.

  His mouth was gentle on hers, his lips hot. Pleasure streaked through her, a sharp spiral of emotion that had her mind racing and her body humming. She whimpered softly, pressing herself closer, meeting the velvet thrust of Jake’s tongue with her own. Her fingers curled around the fabric where his shirt opened, and she felt his flesh burn against her hands. Control slipped away and in its place came an urgency that consumed her.

  Jake slanted his mouth against Savannah’s and the kiss grew harder, deeper. She felt the moan that rose up from his throat, and the sensation excited her all the more. She should have been shocked, not only by her reaction to Jake’s kiss, but by his arousal pressed so blatantly against the juncture of her thighs. But she wasn’t. She was thrilled. Anticipation coiled tightly inside her and she shuddered from the force of it.

  Jake felt the shudder move from Savannah’s body into his own. Blood pounded in his temples. He wanted her. Now. Here. Desire throbbed through his body, screaming at him to take this woman and ease his pain. His lips moved over hers, hard and demanding, desperately, needing her closer. She welcomed him, meeting the hot thrust of his tongue with her own.

  But even as he deepened the kiss he cursed himself. Not only for his timing, but because he knew what she tasted like now. Sweeter than anything he could have imagined. One taste would never satisfy him. It would never be enough.

  The sun beat down on the back of his neck. It would be one hell of a sunburn, he thought darkly, but it would be worth it. If she was any other woman, he wouldn’t even think twice.

  But she wasn’t any other woman. She was Emma’s aunt. And after the physical satisfaction there was nowhere for this to go. There was no place for a woman like Savannah in his life. There was no place for any woman in his life beyond a night’s pleasure. Or in this case, he thought in extreme frustration, an afternoon’s pleasure.

  Reluctantly he tore his mouth from hers and let her slide to the ground. The movement was sheer torture for him, and he held back the groan deep in his throat. He looked down at Savannah. Her passion-glazed eyes opened slowly, and her lips, still wet and parted, nearly had him reaching for her again. Sweat beaded on his brow as he stepped away.

  Confusion filled Savannah’s eyes. She stared at him, then blinked several times. He stood rigid, watching as awareness slowly returned to her face. Her cheeks flamed red.

  A hawk shrieked overhead. Waves of heat shimmered off the hard flat ground. The rich earthy smell of the land permeated the air.

  “You lost your hat,” she said quietly.

  He nodded slowly. “So did you.”

  They locked gazes for a long moment without speaking, then turned away from each other, both of them realizing they’d lost a great deal more than their hats.

  * * *

  “Jake, you’re not being reasonable.”

  With his back to his stepmother, Jake stared out his living room window. Clouds framed the distant mountains, and he hoped like hell it wasn’t going to rain again. He’d had enough mud today to last him a lifetime. He turned his head at the sound of the shower shutting off. Savannah had insisted on using the bathroom after him. He thought of her in there now, her skin glistening as she rubbed the towel over her—

  “Jake, are you listening to me?”

  Sighing inwardly, Jake turned and faced Myrna. Now that she’d hired someone to drive her around, God only knew how often she’d drop in unannounced. Legs crossed, she sat stiffly in the worn leather armchair that had been J.T.’s favorite. Dust spotted the front of her navy blue pants and she brushed it delicately away.

  “There’s nothing to listen to,” he said dryly. “I have no intention of selling this ranch. Not to you or anyone else.”

  Myrna tapped her red-polished nails impatiently on the arm of the chair. “Why do you insist holding on to a nonprofitable venture? You risk losing it all if you don’t get out while you can.”

  Myrna was every bit Carlton Hewitt III’s daughter, Jake thought bitterly. All either of them saw was the bottom line of a financial statement. The land itself, the sweat and blood that had been poured into it, meant nothing.

  There was a graveyard under an oak tree that embraced every deceased Stone for the past 130 years, and the turned soil had barely settled on three of those graves. Jake would give it all away before he let Myrna have one square foot more than she already had her claws into.

  “Ten years ago Stone Creek was the most profitable ranch in the county,” he said flatly. “Strange how that all changed after J.T. married you.”

  Myrna lifted her chin indignantly. “Even J.T. would have known when to throw in the towel, Jake.”

  “There’d be no towel to throw in if he hadn’t had to mortgage this place to build that monstrosity of a house you live in.”

  Cool disdain laced the look she threw him. “We could hardly live here with you. Daddy pulled a lot of strings at the bank so we could build our dream house. Your father loved Stone Manor every bit as much as I.”

  Jake nearly laughed out loud at the absurdity of her statement. J.T. had hated Stone Manor and had spent most of his time with Jake at the ranch.

  Jake sighed. He was growing extremely weary of this conversation. “What would you do with this ranch, Myrna? Turn it into a shopping mall? No one besides you would drive this far to shop.”

  “All I have is the house.” Myrna’s voice was a near whine. “I have no land. Daddy’s willing to offer you a great deal of money for this ranch—more than it’s worth. We thought we might build some stables and hire a couple of trainers for some thoroughbreds. It would be fun.”

  Fun? She wanted to buy the ranch so she could have fun? He counted slowly to ten. “No, Myrna,” he said tightly. “I’m not selling.”

  Exasperated, she let out a long breath. “Well, what about the child’s land, then? You don’t need it, and I’m sure the money will come in handy for both her and her aunt.”

  Anger shifted, then settled in Jake’s gut. He’d known it was only a matter of time before his stepmother tried to get her fingers in that piece of pie. “It’s not for sale.
”

  “That’s really not your choice, Jake. You might be the executor, but I’m sure the child’s aunt has some say in the matter.”

  “Her name is Emma,” he ground out. “Emma Victoria Roberts Stone. And the land is not for sale.”

  “What land?”

  Jake turned sharply at the sound of Savannah’s voice behind him. Wearing a blue cotton sleeveless dress, she stood in the doorway, her still-damp hair pulled into a French braid. Her cheeks were flushed from her shower and he felt a swift stab of desire as he remembered that same flush on her cheeks after he’d kissed her. Damn it, but his timing was consistently off with this woman.

  Savannah paused before she entered the room. Jake and Myrna obviously hadn’t heard her come in and the look of annoyance on Jake’s face suggested he’d rather she left. But Emma’s name had been mentioned, and what concerned her niece concerned her, as well.

  Myrna smiled brightly. “Savannah. We were just talking about you.”

  Savannah glanced at Jake. The tight expression on his face told her it wasn’t a conversation he’d intended her to overhear. “Hello, Mrs. Stone.”

  Gold bracelets jangled on Myrna’s wrist as she reached over and patted the couch beside her chair. “Come sit down, dear. And please, do call me Myrna.”

  Savannah noticed the muscle that jumped in Jake’s jaw as she moved hesitantly into the room. She also noticed the snug fit of the clean jeans he’d changed into and the contrast of tanned skin with the white shirt he’d rolled up at the sleeves. He folded his arms tightly, watching her as she sat on the couch, and for one brief instant she saw the hunger in his eyes. Her pulse skipped, then broke into a full run.

  It was a good thing Myrna was here, Savannah decided. After what had happened between them this afternoon, she hadn’t known how she was ever going to face him again. Neither one of them had spoken on the ride back in. Even as they’d unsaddled and taken care of the horses, not more than a dozen words had passed between them. How could she have lost control like that? What could she have possibly been thinking? But that was exactly the problem, she realized. She hadn’t been thinking. At least, not with her head.

  “I want to apologize for my behavior the other day, dear,” Myrna said, interrupting Savannah’s renegade thoughts. “I was just caught unawares, you understand.”

  The Stone men had a way of doing that to women, Savannah thought. “I realize that our stay here will be awkward for you.”

  “Not at all.” Myrna gave a flick of her wrist. “In fact, it gives me an opportunity to get to know you both better. J.T. would have liked that.”

  Savannah glanced at Jake when she heard him mumble something under his breath. His narrowed eyes were a dark menacing blue, but he kept his mouth tightly closed. Why did he resent the woman so much? she wondered. Couldn’t he see she was trying to be civil? Not that Jake would recognize “civil” if it bit him on the nose. Ignoring him, she turned back to his stepmother.

  Myrna went on. “Why don’t you and your niece come out to my place for lunch next week? I can have my cook put something special together for us.”

  Jake took a step forward. “I hardly think that’s a good—”

  “We’d love to.” Savannah cut Jake off. She probably would have turned the woman down if he hadn’t interfered.

  “Wonderful.” Smiling, Myrna rose and picked up her navy blue designer clutch purse. “William can pick you up early so we’ll have time for a nice long chat.”

  Savannah offered a weak smile, already regretting her impulsive acceptance. “I’m sure that would be lovely.”

  Myrna walked by Jake. “Daddy always taught me not to let my sentiments get in the way of good business, Jake. Think about what we discussed.”

  He nodded stiffly, but did not answer her. After the woman let herself out, Jake turned to Savannah. Frustration etched lines around his eyes. “Why in the hell did you agree to have lunch with her?”

  Savannah lifted her chin and leveled her gaze to his. “Let’s just say it’s my day to make mistakes.”

  Her verbal jab hit him square on the chin. His scowl deepened. “Myrna uses people to get what she wants, Savannah. That includes you and even Emma.”

  Was he any different? she wondered. “What could the woman possibly want from me or Emma? She knows nothing about us.”

  His expression hardened, but he said nothing, just turned his back to her and stared out the window.

  “There is something, isn’t there?” she asked, almost afraid to know. She took a step toward him, but knowing that she’d miscalculated the magnitude of her reaction to him before, she kept her distance. Still, she was close enough to smell the musky scent of his after-shave, and an involuntary shiver prickled her skin. “Jake, I think it’s time you told me.”

  He turned to face her. “She wants land.”

  Savannah furrowed her brow. “What land? I don’t have—” She stopped suddenly, remembering something that had made no sense to her before. “That first day we met you accused me of wanting land. I thought maybe you meant your ranch, but that isn’t what you meant at all, is it?”

  He shook his head. “When J.T. died, he divided Stone Creek in his will. Myrna got Stone Manor, but no land. The ranch went to me, an oil well to Jared, and a ghost town to Jessica.”

  Oil well? Ghost town? Savannah’s eyes widened.

  “There’s another parcel,” he went on. “It adjoins the ranch and backs up to Myrna’s house. J.T. left that to Emma.”

  To Emma? J.T. left property to Emma? “But, how—” her voice faltered “—I mean, why would he do that?”

  “Emma is J.T.’s daughter, but he was never able to be a father to her. The land was all he could give her.”

  She shook her head in bewilderment. “But he’d never even seen her. How could he know for sure that Emma was his?”

  “He knew,” Jake said with certainty. “He never would have left her the land if he didn’t.”

  Savannah still couldn’t believe it. Emma owned part of Stone Creek. “Exactly how much land are we talking about?”

  “Ten thousand acres.”

  “Ten thousand acres!” She couldn’t even comprehend that much land. Then the realization hit her. He’d known all along. But he’d said nothing, not one word. “When were you going to tell me this?”

  Jake saw the distrust in Savannah’s eyes as she stared at him. Damn Myrna. His stepmother had known exactly what she was doing when she came out here. “I’d planned on taking you and Emma out there on Sunday.”

  He watched her pace the length of the room. “What else do you have ‘planned’?” she asked tightly.

  He definitely didn’t like the tone of her voice or the direction this conversation was taking. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Arms folded, she closed the distance between them. “Who’s the executor of the estate?”

  Jaw set tight, Jake ground out, “I am.”

  She lifted one eyebrow and gave an irritating, cocksure nod. “So you have control over the property?”

  Jake set his back teeth, wondering how it was that this woman was able to incite such a range of emotions from him. Five minutes ago he’d wanted nothing more than to drag her to his bed. Now he was seriously entertaining the idea of throttling her. “Do you think you could get to your point sometime this year?”

  “Ten thousand acres is a lot of land and a big chunk of Stone Creek. A nine-year-old child living in the big city wouldn’t be interested in owning desolate ranch land. It must have worried you, not knowing if you’d find a For Sale sign on the property one day.”

  He held his growing anger in check. Barely. “I’d be notified in the event of a potential sale.”

  “But in the meantime you wouldn’t know what the owner’s intentions were. I’m sure you’d sleep better if you had the land’s rightful owner close by, where you could keep an eye on her.”

  He almost laughed at that. He hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since th
e day he’d brought them here. He narrowed his eyes in warning and took a step toward her. “Savannah, so help me—”

  “Was that your plan for Emma, Jake?” she continued, his warning unheeded. “And me? Was I part of your plan, too? Did you think I’d fall for that Stone charm as easily as my sister?”

  Something inside him snapped. He took hold of her shoulders. He watched her eyes widen, but defiance shone there, not fear. “You seem to forget your little performance that first day we met, Savannah, when you led me to believe you were Angela. It seems you had a plan of your own then.”

  “I would have said or done anything to protect Emma.” She tried to twist out of his hold. “I still would.”

  “And so would I,” he countered through gritted teeth. “My great-great-grandfather bought Stone Creek with a gold watch and two prize bulls. I wouldn’t sell one foot of this land, let alone ten thousand acres. Maybe it’s something you could never understand, but this land is our legacy, what we stand for, and that includes Emma, too.

  “And as far as you and me, Savannah,” he said, his voice rough as he pulled her against him and lowered his face within a whisper of hers. “I’ll tell you right now I sure as hell wasn’t thinking about Stone Creek or Emma this afternoon when I kissed you. I had one thought, and one thought alone—to have you in my bed, naked, with those damn sexy legs of yours wrapped around me.”

  Savannah knew she should be shocked by Jake’s admission, but the only thing that shocked her was her reaction. His verbal image of their making love aroused her, as did his closeness. She went still, lifting her eyes to his. His blue eyes blazed with a dangerous mixture of desire and anger. His hands tightened around her arms.

  There was no stopping this thing between them, and there certainly was no denying it. Her lips parted, waiting impatiently as he closed the breath of distance between them—

  A horn honked repeatedly from outside, the sound growing louder as the car came closer. Swearing, Jake dropped his hands from Savannah and turned away. He dragged a hand through his hair and stalked to the window.