AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Tuxedo man shook his head. “Don’t you Burnett’s own enough of that market?”
“No, we cater to families. This would be for wealthy people. An adult getaway. Not families. A specialty western wedding venue. Weddings are big money.”
The men were silent for a moment and Adrian was just about ready to tell them all goodnight when the tuxedo man started to laugh.
“Look out, Adrian, Norma Jean is headed this way with a determined glint in her eyes,” he said, smiling. “Damn, I’d like a taste of her.”
Adrian was really starting to dislike this guy and even wondered why he was here. But Adrian was networking and had made several lucrative deals with men he’d met at these events. This was business. Not personal. Yet the man’s comment was uncalled for.
“Excuse me, gentlemen,” Norma Jean said with a purr, dark lashes flickering over her brown eyes focused on Adrian. A pouty smile filled her full lips. “Adrian, would you dance with me?”
His mother, God rest her soul, had taught him to be a gentleman to all women. And as much as he didn’t want to, he couldn’t turn down Norma Jean’s request in front of everyone.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, setting his drink on a tray. After this, he was leaving. He’d had enough for one evening. Time to go home to the quiet, soothing sounds of cattle.
Taking her into his arms, he swept her onto the floor to a waltz.
“How long have you been divorced,” she asked him as they glided around the floor to the sounds of the band.
“Two years,” he said.
She nodded and he realized she knew how long he’d been divorced. She was just laying the trap that he was certain she was about to spring on him.
“How long since you’ve been with a woman,” she asked her voice a velvety purr.
A bear trap. And if he wasn’t careful, he’d get caught.
How did he respond to that brazen question? It had been way too long, but he wasn’t about to give in now. Not to the man snare she was setting out.
“Darling,” he said with a low throaty growl, “where are you going with this question?”
She gave a little pout. “You’re lonely, I’m lonely. We’re two adults with needs. We can satisfy each other’s desires.”
There was no doubt she could satisfy him and probably half the men in the room, but he wasn’t going to let his baser needs overtake his better judgment. She’d been around the block a time or two, and he was not going to be her next victim.
He twirled her on the dance floor, maneuvering them around other couples to the sound of the music. “I’m sure that any man in this room would love for you to make that offer to him. But I’m not available.”
It wasn’t a complete lie. He wasn’t available emotionally or physically to any woman. That tap had been turned off.
“Oh, you’re seeing someone? I hadn’t heard.”
Now he would have to lie.
“Yes,” he said, thinking maybe he should hire an escort service for a woman to go with him to the balls coming up. It was the beginning of the rodeo season. Tonight was the first gala, and he wasn’t looking forward to turning down a woman each time.
A frown crossed her face. “Adrian, I have admired you from afar for years, and after waiting for your divorce to be over and for you to become available, I learn that you’ve already been snatched up.”
Not really, but it was all right. Besides, he remembered her turning up her nose at him when he was a struggling rancher with little to no money. It was only now, post-wealth, that she had taken an interest in him.
It was a big temptation to remind her of how she’d ignored him until she learned he’d won the lottery. But again, he could hear his mother’s voice reminding him to be polite regardless of how other people acted.
“Darling, I’m no catch. Just ask Laurie. I couldn’t make her happy,” he said.
She ran her hand up his chest, her fingers trailing along his muscles. “Some women are stupid. You would make me very happy.”
A marriage took two people, and as much as he didn’t want to admit it, he’d caused a fair number of problems that sent Laurie running into another man’s arms. At the time, he’d been going to college, learning from the man he hired to run the ranch, and determined to make the Kissing Oaks Ranch the best.
In the end, his hard work had been rewarded.
