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She finally collected her wits and managed to stammer a few words. “Yes . . . Lexi for short...Lexi Parker.”
The unexpected excitement caused by the brief moment of physical contact when they shook hands and the flash of his dazzling smile sent a shiver of sweet anticipation through her body, followed by a sobering dash of trepidation. There was no question that he was the most handsome man she had ever met, a man who oozed sex appeal by the bucketful and could probably charm a snake out of its skin—or a woman out of her good intentions, not to mention her clothes. It was easy to see how her sister could have fallen under the spell of this far too sexy cowboy even though he was not at all what Lexi had expected to find.
She felt a twinge of anger, which she immediately attributed to the fact that reality had refused to coincide with her preconceived notions. She had spent a lot of time, energy and effort planning this. She knew what she wanted to feel and what she had expected to find, but that was not what had happened when she came face-to-face with Nick Clayton. She again extended a hard glance toward him as she tried to figure out what her next step should be.
He flashed his best smile at her, covering whatever thoughts may have been running through his mind in the process. He made a notation on the list of names. “Then Lexi it is.”
When he had first spotted her at the corral fence, all he could see was long blond hair and a great pair of tanned legs extending from cutoff jeans. As he got closer, he saw a woman with delectable curves in all the right places. When he finally came face-to-face with her and had removed her sunglasses, he discovered a beautiful woman with large hazel eyes surrounded by long, dark lashes. Her flawless skin had the appearance of smooth silk—what his mother would have referred to as a peaches-and-cream complexion.
A tightness pulled across his chest, a physical indication of just how swiftly she had reached out to him and grabbed hold of his senses. In fact, he had never had a woman make his pulse jump and his blood race that hard at first glance. He took in a deep, slow breath in an attempt to quell the feeling. This was one woman he wanted to get to know better... a whole lot better.
Then suddenly, her entire demeanor changed. She stared at him through narrowing eyes. A frown wrinkled her forehead. It was almost as if she were issuing a challenge of some sort, perhaps daring him to remember where they might have encountered each other in the past. Could she have been a guest at the ranch at some previous time? He didn’t think so. He was sure he wouldn’t have forgotten such a beautiful woman, but there was one way to find out.
Nick looked over the group. “Do we have any repeat guests with us today?” He again scanned the people surrounding him, his gaze settling on Lexi as she spoke up.
“My sister was a guest here a little over six years ago. Her name is Mamie Adams. Do you remember her?” She cocked her head and leveled a steady gaze at him as if she had issued a challenge and was waiting for his response.
Nick paused for a moment of concentration as he tried to recall the name, then slowly shook his head. “No . . . I’m sorry. The name doesn’t ring a bell. You said about six years ago?” He continued to shake his head as he tried again to force some sort of recognition of the name.
“Well, it was quite a while ago. I suppose it’s understandable that you wouldn’t remember her.”
He caught the hint of a hard edge to her voice that conveyed something quite different from her words. In direct contrast to his earlier conversation with her at the corral, she now didn’t seem to fit in with the other guests. They were all happy, laughing and looking forward to their vacations. She behaved more like someone with an entirely separate agenda rather than someone anticipating a fun-filled time. And the way she looked at him—almost as if he were supposed to know who she was. A perplexing situation, but it didn’t stop him from finding her to be a very intriguing and incredibly desirable woman—a thought reinforced by the tightness that continued to pull across his chest and the heat that settled low in his body.
He hadn’t noticed any antagonism when they were talking at the corral, so why now? He decided to dismiss the puzzling situation as just one of those things. Perhaps she was tired from her trip or maybe he had read something into it that wasn’t there. Either way, there was nothing to be gained by giving it any additional thought when there were so many more appetizing things about this woman to occupy his attention. He turned back to the business at hand.
“Herb has your luggage at the front desk. Please step inside and register. You’ll find daily schedules in your rooms to help guide you in your selection of activities.” He flashed his patented smile. “Once again, if there’s anything you need, please don’t hesitate to ask any of the staff.”
His smile faded as he returned to thoughts of Lexi Parker and what was really going on in her mind. Had he unintentionally done something to offend her? He replayed their conversation at the corral in his mind, but he couldn’t find anything that was okay then but would have caused her to have such a sudden change of attitude ten minutes later. She had said that she had been a little uncomfortable with the nature of a flirty conversation, but she hadn’t seemed angered by it. Could he have inadvertently embarrassed her? He scanned the group as they headed toward the building, his gaze lingering on Lexi for a moment longer.
She paused on her way to the registration lobby and gave a quick glance in his direction, noting the look of puzzlement on his face, then moved along with the rest of the guests. A twinge of anger jabbed at her as she recalled his blatant denial that he even knew Mamie. She almost turned back to confront him about it, then thought better of it. She was anxious to get to her cabin so she could reevaluate the situation—and get far away from the all-too-alluring presence of Nick Clayton. This strange turn of events had totally unnerved her. So far, things hadn’t gone quite as she had planned.
When Lexi made her reservation, she had requested a cabin rather than a room in the main lodge, preferring to be away from the central hub of activity. This was not a vacation as far as she was concerned. It was business—very serious business.
She registered, then went to her assigned cabin consisting of a large bedroom, a bathroom and a patio. The furnishings looked comfortable, accentuated by an attractive and tasteful decor. As advertised, there were no televisions, radios or telephones in the guests’ rooms although there was a comfortable lounge in the main building with a big-screen television.
As soon as she had unpacked and put her things away, she picked up the activities schedule. She glanced at it but put it back on the table without giving it too much thought. She would make her selections later, ensuring that she participated in all the activities led by Nick Clayton. Right now, however, she had more important things on her mind.
She had formulated a plan, actually several plans, on how she would handle the situation once she arrived at the ranch. She knew it was going to take every bit of intestinal fortitude she could muster to keep her longsuppressed feelings of resentment and her hidden agenda from showing. She tried to dismiss the fact that she now needed to add the necessity of ignoring a very primal attraction to an incredibly sexy and appealing man—a man whose touch and smile made her pulse race, a man about whom she could easily fantasize making passionate love all night long . . . and a man she knew was a no-good philanderer.
At least she thought she knew it. Even though she disliked the notion, she couldn’t stop thinking she’d need to confirm Mamie’s story before taking any action. Before she made her move, she’d have to scope out the situation, learn as much as she could about Nick Clayton and figure out what made him tick. A touch of sadness worked its way into her mind. Even though she loved her older sister, she could not turn a blind eye to Mamie’s history of twisting and exaggerating facts to suit her needs.
She could not imagine why Mamie would lie about something this important, but Lexi wanted to make sure everything had happened just as her sister said it had before she confronted Nick Clayton about his son. She didn’t want to make any mistakes that would allow him an avenue of escape, nor did she want to tip her hand too soon.
She took a steadying breath and shoved away the unsettled anxiety in her stomach. But try as she might, she could not dislodge the image that continued to tempt her stimulated senses and heated desires. There was something very special about Nick Clayton that had grabbed hold of her and refused to let go.
There was no doubt that he had made a definite impact on her, but it was one she feared could end up causing an emotional upheaval in her life. From the moment she’d laid eyes on this delicious cowboy, sensual desires had dominated her thoughts—desires tempered by a softer underscoring of emotion. A link of some sort had been forged, one as much emotional as physical. She didn’t understand it, but she instinctively knew it was true.
How could she possibly give her full attention to achieving her goal when the object of her quest kept heating her senses and turning her life upside down? She had never met anyone who had gotten under her skin the way he had. Her earlier errant thought about love at first sight came back to haunt her. She had only meant it as a joke—at least she had thought it was only a joke. Could there have been more truth to it than she realized?
Lexi’s brow furrowed in confusion as she tried to force her thoughts and feelings into some sort of sensible and rational mold—something that would remove them from the influence of her emotions. A little shiver of trepidation pricked at her consciousness. He would not be that easy to dismiss from her life on either a physical or an emotional level.
Nick Clayton had turned out to be a very disconcerting man. Finding out his secrets and digging into his psyche was going to be much more difficult than she’d originally thought.
Two
Nick entered the ranch’s business office and perched on the edge of his mother’s desk. “Well, what’s on the agenda for the rest of today?” He picked up the clipboard, giving the schedule a quick glance. “Any problems that I need to know about?”
Gloria Clayton looked up at her older son, emitted a little sigh of resignation and took the clipboard away from him. “Nothing out of the ordinary that can’t be handled as part of the daily routine by the people whose job it is.” She released the brake on her wheelchair and started across the room.
Nick jumped to his feet. “What do you need? I’ll get it for you.”
Gloria wheeled around to face him. “Nicky . . . I’ve been confined to this chair for a little over eight years now. I’ve adjusted to your father being gone and I’ve adjusted to not being able to walk more than a few steps unaided. I’m more than capable of getting whatever I need by myself.”
A moment of sorrow swept across her features and her words came out barely above a whisper. “One moment, a blink of an eye, and the entire world is turned upside down. Your father is dead, my legs are almost useless, and the drunk driver who ran the red light and crashed into our car walks away without a scratch.”
She looked up at her son, a gentle smile coming to her still-beautiful features. “And out of that terrible happening came a new beginning. A modest cattle ranch becomes a successful dude ranch. You and Danny stepped into your father’s shoes and did a terrific job of making the difficult transition and running the business.” The gentle smile turned to an amused chuckle. “Now, if I could just get you to stop trying to be all things to everyone and start thinking about yourself for a change.” A pensive look crossed her face. “There must be some kind of a middle ground between your serious approach to responsibility and Danny’s frivolous, good-time attitude.”
“Ah—Danny’s frivolous, good-time attitude.” He nervously shifted his weight and cleared his throat. “Well, maybe he’ll grow up one of these days.”
“He’s twenty-eight years old, Nicky. And you’re thirty. Neither of you are children anymore.”
Nick carefully sidestepped Gloria’s comments about what she had often referred to as his overinflated sense of responsibility, preferring to allow Danny to be the topic of conversation. “There is one thing Danny does that I’m happy to let him handle without any interference. He works real well with the kids. I . . . uh . . .” One of Nick’s very few chinks in his armor of confidence was now visible. “I haven’t a clue what to do with children. I sort of freeze up when I’m around them and am at a loss for something to say. I guess I just don’t know how to talk to kids.”
“Well, one of these days you’ll come face-to-face with the perfect woman and that will be the end of your objections. You’ll look up and there she’ll be. You’ll get married and have a family of your own. I remember when your father and I met. One look and we both knew that was it.” Gloria shot him a half teasing, half serious glance. “One of these days I’ll finally be a grandmother. I’m the only one of all my friends who doesn’t have any grandchildren.”
Nick chuckled nervously. “Now, Mom. There’s plenty of time for that.” He placed a loving kiss on her forehead and grinned at her. “You’re far too young to be a grandmother.”
He felt the tension building inside him. It was a conversation that always made him uneasy. He really had no interest in getting mamed. He had a business to run and too many people depended on him for their jobs, a responsibility that took most of his time and weighed heavily on his shoulders. There was no way he would be able to take on the additional commitment that marriage required. Besides, why tie himself down to only one woman when there were so many out there to choose from?
He and Danny had both found that the unmarried female guests at their dude ranch provided a perfect short-term, no-strings-attached type of relationship. They arrived in groups of two or three and quickly made their availability known. As ranch guests they were there to have a good time and forget about the problems of everyday life. No one was looking for anything serious. It lasted for two or three weeks, everyone enjoyed themselves, then the guests returned to their homes and new guests arrived.
Danny flirted outrageously while Nick was more selective and usually more discreet, but each had no problem attracting feminine companionship. Danny called it the best of all possible worlds.
It always made Nick uncomfortable when his mother started talking about grandchildren, which meant she was really talking about his getting married. That was one responsibility he was definitely not ready to accept. And then, as if on cue, an image of Lexi Parker’s face popped into his mind...again. It was a situation that had repeated itself at least ten times in the past couple of hours.
There was no denying the fact that she had assaulted his senses in a way no other woman ever had. Everything about her . . . the shapely tanned legs, the way the soft fabric of her blouse caressed the curve of her breasts, the tilt of her head, the intelligence in her beautiful hazel eyes, her flawless skin, a throaty voice that sent tremors of longing through his body, a perfect mouth that absolutely begged to be kissed—
His mother’s voice intruded into his errant thoughts. “Isn’t it at about this point in the conversation when you decide you have some very urgent business that slipped your mind and then you hurry out of here?” There may have been teasing in her voice, but there was seriousness in her eyes.
The interruption was a welcome one, especially considering where those tempting images were taking him. He began to edge toward the door as he flashed his best “trust me” smile. “I don’t know where you get these crazy ideas.” He glanced at his watch. “Uh-oh. I didn’t realize it was so late. I have some paperwork to take care of.”
Nick headed down the hall, Lexi Parker continuing to invade his thoughts and linger in his mind. He had even gone so far as to check her reservation information. He knew she had arrived alone, but she had also requested a single cabin, which told him she was not expecting anyone to join her. He thought back to her mention of her sister, someone who had been a previous guest at the ranch. Why would she come alone rather than with a friend or even her sister? It piqued his curiosity, but then everything about Lexi Parker piqued his curiosity as well as heated his desires.
It had been quite a while since a woman made his blood race that hard and fast at first glance. He closed his eyes for a moment as he recalled the surge of electricity from her touch when they shook hands. This was definitely a woman he wanted to know—intimately know—as quickly as possible. Thoughts of Lexi Parker did more than just pique Nick’s curiosity. He could picture her long blond hair spread out across his pillow and that incredibly tempting mouth beckoning him to partake.
As he passed the door leading into the lobby he spotted Lexi entenng from the front of the building. She crossed the lobby toward the registration desk. He quickly stepped through the door to intercept her.
“Hello, Lexi.” He felt his breath quicken and his pulse begin to race. He flashed a sexy grin as he leaned against the counter, trying to appear casual even though it was far removed from the unsettled feeling that had a grip on him. “Are you getting situated okay? Is there anything I can help you with?”
“I was just turning in my activities sign-up sheet.”
“I’ll be happy to take care of that for you.” He took the sheet of paper from her and glanced over her selections. He managed to maintain an outer calm despite the way her nearness pulled on his senses and desires. She exerted a very disconcerting effect on him. He wanted to pull her into his arms, claim her delicious-looking mouth as his and whisk her away to his cabin for an afternoon of totally uninhibited passion.
He looked up, locking eye contact with her for a second before allowing his gaze to momentarily drop to the temptation of her slightly parted lips. “This is quite an energetic schedule you’ve set for yourself. Most of our guests like to kick back and relax for the first couple of days before throwing themselves into the more rigorous activities.”
He glanced at her list again. “I see you’re starting out first thing in the morning with our sunrise breakfast ride. In fact, you’ve signed up for it twice this week.” He arched one eyebrow in surprise. “And you’re going to try our calf-roping lessons in preparation for the guest rodeo?” He looked up at her, catching a fleeting glimpse of uncertainty in her eyes that quickly changed to something more standoffish. “We don’t have too many women who try their hand at calf roping. You must be quite the outdoors enthusiast.”
“Uh . . . well, yes. I do enjoy being outdoors.” Every activity led by Nick Clayton had gone on her sign-up sheet. She had to know more about him to determine the best way to confront him about his son—well, at least determine if Jimmy was his son. If Jimmy was his son? How had she allowed that doubt to become part of her thinking? She stiffened her resolve and tried to shove the uncertainties aside. She had to see this through to the conclusion.
But calf roping? A hint of trepidation shivered up her back. Did she really need to go that far? The last time she was on a horse had been during her freshman year of college. Things seemed to be turning into an endurance test and she wasn’t sure she had the stamina to last the entire three weeks. A groan tried to claw its way out of her throat. She hoped she would be able to physically survive the implementation of her plan.
The worst part was the nagging feeling that she had not signed up for all of Nick’s activities strictly to fulfill the task she had set for herself—that perhaps there was a more personal motive behind it. She was incredibly attracted to Nick Clayton and didn’t seem to have any control over it. It was more than just his sexy smile and handsome features. There was a strength about him, a confidence that reached out and touched her on a deeply emotional level.
A bit of a smile turned the corners of Lexi’s mouth as she slowly regained her composure and rallied a new determination. “I thought I’d go swimming this afternoon, soak up some sunshine and enjoy this beautiful scenery while breathing your nice, clean air.” She would show him that he could not work his charm on her that easily. It would take more than a handsome cowboy in a pair of tight jeans to turn her head and make her abandon her plans.
Was it false confidence on her part? Again, she was not sure exactly which part of her was in charge—the woman who was ready to fight tooth and nail to get little Jimmy what he rightly deserved or the woman who had never met anyone like Nick Clayton and hadn’t a clue how to break the spell he seemed to be casting over her.
She clenched her jaw in resolve. It had better be the first woman who was in charge because that other one didn’t stand a chance against this charming scoundrel.
Nick leaned slightly forward and lowered his voice to a sensual tone conveying the feeling that his words were meant for her ears only even though no one else was within earshot. “It appears that we’ll be spending a lot of time together since I’m in charge of the activities you’ve listed on your sheet.”
He extended a warm smile, very pleased at this interesting turn of events. It was as if fate had literally dropped her into his lap. It couldn’t have worked out better if she had purposely intended to spend as much time with him as possible—a prospect that sent a ripple of hope through his body and heightened his already heated desires. He reached out and brushed a wayward tendril of hair away from her cheek, allowing his fingertips to linger against her skin for a couple of seconds.
Then, as if his hand had a will of its own, he cupped her chin in his palm. He hesitated a moment, then leaned forward, bringing his face very close to hers until their lips were only a heartbeat apart. He could feel her breathing and almost taste her sweetness. Then he felt her body stiffen and the magic of the moment disintegrated.
She took a step backward from his electrifying touch as she cleared her throat of the sensation that her heart had lodged there. Perhaps he didn’t see their accidental meeting as a sparring match, but she did. And so far, the intense attraction she felt toward him had kept her almost tongue-tied and incapable of thinking clearly. The very last thing she wanted was to acknowledge the fact that she had almost allowed him to kiss her.
She noted the way he raised a questioning eyebrow, but he didn’t say anything. She needed to regain the upper hand. She held her breath for a brief moment in order to recapture her composure, then plunged ahead. “I was wondering if you’d had an opportunity to give any more thought to my sister . . . maybe recall her staying here. She spoke so highly of those two weeks that I decided to spend my vacation here.”
To her surprise, he straightened up and appeared to be trying to collect himself. Had she hit a nerve? A touch of satisfaction tickled her consciousness. Maybe this would be easier than she had thought. If she could take care of her objective very quickly, then she could return to her own home. She felt decidedly unsafe—emotionally at risk—around this disconcerting man. Nick Clayton frightened her. The very real attraction she felt toward him frightened her. She feared she might be incapable of denying him whatever he asked of her.
“Well, no . . . actually, I haven’t had the time. You said her name was Mamie Adams? The name does have a familiar ring to it now that I’m thinking about it, but I’m afraid I still can’t place her. Perhaps it will come to me after I’ve had the chance to give it some thought.”
“Yes, perhaps it will.” She heard the edge to her voice and silently berated herself for allowing it to seep through.