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He wanted her exclusively. He wanted the right to have her in his bed night after night and do whatever the hell he wanted with her body. He needed her body. And for that, he needed her to lose the asshole in Dallas. That was the first step. And he was ever the planner. Something that wasn’t worth fighting for wasn’t worth having. So he’d have to fight for her. He could do that. Beginning now. But he couldn’t stop himself from touching her.
He held her immobile while he reached up and ran his fingers through the softness of her hair. He attempted to gentle his movements, and cupped her cheek with his hand. Her heard her quick intake of breath, and prepared to lie his ass off in order to calm her nerves. He wasn’t crazy about the deceit he was going to use, but sometimes you had to do what you had to do. And with her, he was finding he would do just about anything. “You want my money, and I need another write-off. I’d like it to be a worthy write-off.” He allowed his gaze to run over her trembling mouth before coming back to her eyes. “We’ll call tonight business, okay?”
He felt her move her weight from one foot to the other, noting the slight tremor that went through her body. Anticipation lanced through his guts. Patience, man. He saw the determination in the tilt of her chin and heard her voice shake slightly when she answered. “It is business.”
Fuck no, it wasn’t business. This didn’t have a damn thing to do with business. “Absolutely. Just business, okay?” He kept his voice even; he needed her agreement on this. He needed the opportunity to seduce her into his way of thinking. One step at a time.
“Okay.”
The softly spoken consent sent anticipation and victory rushing through his veins but he was careful to keep his expression neutral. “Good. I’ll pick you up at five.”
****
Ten minutes later, John lingered in the yard close to the barn. He watched her pull out and head slowly down the road. He pulled out his phone and called Beth. “She leave the directions to her house?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I won’t need supper tonight.” He ended the call and lit a cigarette. He might as well enjoy the tobacco while he could. He had a feeling he wouldn’t be getting the pleasure of smoking for a while. She obviously hated it, and he’d been trying to quit anyway.
He stood under a shade tree and looked out over his manicured acres while he inhaled a few more times. After a few moments, he turned and put the cigarette out. He made his way back to the house, deep in thought. He needed to prepare for tonight. He needed some time on the Internet to learn a few basic things about what she was proposing and what it would take to actually have a retirement home built. Not that he was planning on doing it, but he at least needed to be able to convince her he was interested.
****
Sarah sat on the old swing on the front porch and waited for him to arrive. The tension she was feeling was forming knots in her stomach. Why was she so scared and why did she feel so damn guilty? The fear, she realized, was coming directly from the guilt she was feeling. Did that even make sense? She wasn’t scared of him—well, not entirely. The trepidation he made her feel was another matter. What she was afraid of now was that she would do something morally wrong. She was afraid she would do something that a woman who was engaged to another man shouldn’t do.
Every time she saw John Garrett, the man got sexier. Every time she heard that deep voice, his sensual aura wrapped around her and became stronger. And every time she thought about him, the temptation to give in to him crept stealthily up on her.
She shouldn’t be having these feelings for him while she was engaged to Randall. If she really and truly loved Randall, she wouldn’t feel these things for John.
And that’s when she knew. The engagement was a mistake.
It had seemed like a good idea at the time. Randall was a successful lawyer; he cared for her and was completely laid-back. He wasn’t like Greg had been, he wasn’t selfish and he didn’t try to control her. And she seriously doubted he’d be a cheater like her ex-husband had been.
That was all she’d thought of when she had agreed to his marriage proposal. That her heart would be safe from being broken again and that Randall would care for her and be trustworthy. They hadn’t dated all that long before she’d left for the summer, and he’d seemed determined to get her agreement before she left.
But now she knew it was a mistake. She twirled the diamond around her finger and lifted it to catch the rays of the late afternoon sun.
John would be the kind of guy who would hurt her. He was so much larger than life than even Greg had been.
And he only wanted to sleep with her. He’d made no bones about it. And from their one kiss at the dance hall, she had a small inkling of what kind of lover he’d be. Fantastic, but ruthless. He’d sleep with her until he tired of her, then he’d move on. That’s what men like him always did. They moved on. She certainly didn’t have what it would take to hold him. To put it in a nutshell, he was way better looking than she was. She couldn’t compete on his level, and that put her at a disadvantage.
John would want to have a quick, casual affair and there wouldn’t be anything casual about it to her.
Why was it that men always believed that woman should be hard-wired the same as they were? Why did they believe that the act of sleeping together, sexual intercourse, could be casual? Maybe she was judging all men alike, grouping them together, not giving any of them the benefit of the doubt. That’s the reason she’d said yes to Randall. He seemed different. Softer, kinder, somehow. But she didn’t love him and didn’t think she ever really would. She liked him and respected him, of course. But Jaime was right. A marriage needed to be firmly entrenched in sexual chemistry. And she didn’t have that with Randall.
She had to call him and break it off with him, before this dragged on any longer. She needed to be as fair to him as possible. No matter what did or didn’t happen with John, she wouldn’t be unfair to Randall.
She took a deep breath and felt somewhat better. At least she’d made the decision in her head. That was a start.
****
John pulled his Cadillac Escalade SUV into her drive at precisely five o’clock and didn’t bother to look around the yard. His eyes went to the house, and he spied her immediately, sitting on a porch swing. She’d been slowly swinging, but when she glanced around and saw his vehicle, her legs landed on the cement and stopped the motion of the swing. He remained in his vehicle and watched her as she slowly stood up.
She picked up a small bag from a wicker side table, and hung it across her shoulder and over her chest as if it would offer her some protection. She began moving toward him, and he sat behind the wheel and let the vehicle idle as she approached. He pushed the passenger door opened from the inside and she pulled it open the rest of the way and stood in the entrance. Her hand fiddled with the strap of her bag, and the diamond on her finger caught the sun and glistened brightly.
His ire grew to the boiling point and his patience all but disappeared. He’d have that fucking ring off her hand tonight. “Get in.”
He knew his voice was rough, and the hesitation he could see in her only confirmed it. She paused in the act of climbing up. Her foot on the running board was as far as she got before her eyes lifted to his with a look of extreme caution.
He tried to control his voice, but he knew it was a futile attempt. “Get in the damn car, Sarah.”
He watched as she licked her lips and took a deep breath. Then she lifted herself onto the plush leather seat and pulled the door closed.
He activated the locks immediately.
Her eyes flew to his and he leaned over and pulled the seat belt strap over her shoulder. He could feel the subtle trembling of her body and knew she was out of her element and probably even scared. He couldn’t find it within himself to care; she had him on a knife-edge and had since the first day he’d seen her. He was purely pissed off by the ring on her finger and felt the need to punish her for it. He snapped the seatbelt in place with a discernable cl
ick and then lifted her chin and gripped it between his fingers. “You don’t think I intend to let you go now, do you?”
The sleek hiss of the locking mechanism, the click of the seatbelt and the connotations of his actions sent an arrow of alarm through her. She felt the heat that came off his body as he hung over her. Her breath hitched when his callused fingers spread through her hair and her eyes were caught in his snare. His words were a verbal threat meant to intimidate her.
She stiffened her spine. What the hell was he playing at? She expected some kind of crap move from him tonight, that was practically a given, but she absolutely hadn’t expected it this soon. They hadn’t even left her house yet. She took a deep breath and hissed, “What the hell do you mean by that?”
His thumb touched her bottom lip firmly and lightning speared through her. “Exactly what I just said.”
His words told her nothing. She had no choice but to argue. “You promised. You said that we’d talk about keeping the school open.”
“We will.” His words became business-like, but he continued the slow swipe of his thumb over her bottom lip. “You’ve come up with a good plan. Did you think of it yourself?”
His compliment sent a sharp feeling of pleasure through her, but she couldn’t take credit for the idea. “Not at all. There have been several counties across the state that have done the same. And it seems to work.”
“We’ll talk about it over dinner.” His words were dismissive and before she could agree, he slid his hand through her hair and lowered his mouth to hers in a kiss so devastating she almost forgot who she was.
His mouth opened over hers completely and forced her lips apart. His tongue invaded her mouth as if he owned it and she was completely swamped by his sensual energy. He moved against her as if he couldn’t get enough; his hand angled her head so the kiss could be deeper.
Her thought process failed completely and she hung in a balance where sexual awareness gave way to deep-seated sexual need. She tried to kiss him back, but all she could really do was sit in the leather seat and experience the kind of kiss that she knew was rare. Extremely rare. Her heart began to beat wildly; her knees started shaking and just when she had the sharp realization that every kiss she experienced in the future would be compared to this one, he lifted his head.
His eyes tangled with hers and she realized his breath was coming just as roughly as hers was. His hand still cradled her head, and his forehead dropped to hers as he took huge drags of air. His voice was gravelly when he spoke. “I needed that.” The words sounded exposed, almost naked to her and they sent her already decimated thought process into even more confusion.
Before she could even attempt to get her act together, he placed a single kiss on her forehead and leaned back in his seat and put the vehicle in reverse.
