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Prologue
Easton
We forgotto close the curtains.
Sunlight speared my closed eyelids, which refused to open.
I rolled to my side, the sheet tangled around my waist, my feet and chest uncovered.
Visions of last night flashed behind my eyes.
A curtain of chestnut hair around my face.
Long legs pinning me to the bed.
Delicate, yet strong, hands searing my chest.
Dark eyes full of the fire I loved, all directed at me.
That bow-shaped mouth finally whispering things I’d wanted to hear for longer than I could remember.
Her slender body, a perfect fit against mine.
I touched the back of my neck. The flesh was tender from where she’d clawed me with her fingernails. I hoped it never healed.
I pressed my shoulders into the mattress and yawned before I stretched out my arm. Wherever she was, it was too far away. And even though we’d been up most of the night, I hadn’t had enough. Would never have enough.
My hand found a cool sheet instead of a warm body. Blindly, I patted around. The feather pillow was still dented, but empty. Her intoxicating scent lingered.
I opened my eyes. Wrinkled bedding in disarray was the only thing beside me. I sat up and stilled, the sheet slipping to my hips. The air conditioner clicked on, the room otherwise quiet.
I cast the covers away and stood, the carpet plush beneath my feet. My steps were measured as I approached the partially closed bathroom door. I hesitated, listening for a moment before I pushed it open.
Empty.
I looked at the foyer floor. Pants in a heap by the chair. Dress shirt around the leg of the console table. Blue tie a stark contrast against the edge of the cream rug. My clothes were scattered everywhere.
Hers were gone.
Chapter One
Mulaney
“I sold Carter Energy.”
What the hell?
Harris Carter leaned forward, looking at his folded hands on the boardroom table. He’d owned Carter Energy since it had been passed down from his father. The company was his pride and joy, his legacy. A shocked silence followed his announcement, while he sat with his head bowed.
Last time we’d discussed our position, a merger was a possibility, not a sale. We’d agreed not to rush into anything. Mr. Carter had appointed me interim CEO when his wife had become ill, but apparently that was in name only.
Easton Carter shoved back from his seat and stood with such force the chair rolled into the wall behind him. “Sold? What happened to a merger? You said we wouldn’t make a decision until after the first of the year.” He stared at his father, who made no reply.
The Carters were a close-knit family. When it came to the business, we’d never made rash moves, certainly not one of this scale. Finding out Mr. Carter had taken this upon himself stunned us all. That wasn’t how Carter Energy operated.
“Yeah, Dad? Why the rush?” Drew moved back from the table as well, folding his arms across his chest and propping an ankle on his knee.
The Carter men exuded power. They were fifth and sixth generation Texans, running the independent energy business their forefathers had built from nothing. In a room with all three of them, it was hard not to feel intimidated. Long and lean, each sporting a tan from time spent outdoors, they had the rugged handsome features of seasoned cowboys, but the sophistication of cosmopolitan men. They were impossible to ignore. A man in a suit could be lethal to a woman. These men definitely were. One of them in particular.
