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He was built like an Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter and from what she had heard of his past, he’d grown up hard with a father who liked to fight.
“Kate!”
She turned around to face the net just as the ball came toward her. She lifted her hands not to hit the ball but to protect her head. She really hated playing these kind of games.
The ball bounced off her, heading toward the ground, when Marcus dove to the sand to hit it up. Joan took the ball and spiked it over the net.
Kate was shaken by her near miss and decided it was time for her to stop playing. “I’m going to sit out.”
No one objected and she felt good about that. She sat on the sidelines where she watched the rest of the game and she talked to some of the families of workers who’d been with Brody Oil and Gas since Mitch and Lance had taken over after their father’s death.
A lot of people commented on her new look, telling her how nice it was. She thanked them. She was starting to get used to how she looked and no longer saw a stranger in the mirror.
She grabbed a bottle of water as the game ended with Lance’s team victorious. She handed the water to him and he hugged her close. “We won.”
“As usual,” she said, with a smile. This was one thing she’d really miss about Lance. When they were at his house, she never felt like his secretary.
“Winning is what I do best,” Lance said.
“Very true,” she said, thinking that was probably one of the things that drew her to him. He just had a positive attitude and kept on going until he achieved what he set out for.
“Walk with me up toward the house.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to talk to you. Do you have all the fireworks set up for us?”
“Yes. Exactly as they were last year. I have the music cued and the deejay is ready to announce everything for you.”
Everyone wanted to talk to Lance and though he had asked her to stay with him, she soon found herself drifting to the outside of his circle. It was then that she spotted Mitch at the welcome table with Lexi Cavanaugh.
The woman was beautiful and sophisticated and everything that Kate wasn’t. She’d be the perfect match for Lance—being a senator’s daughter, she knew how to socialize and work in the community. Brody Oil and Gas was always looking for ways to give back to the communities where their refineries were. And Lexi would be a conduit to that.
“Join me for a beer?”
Kate glanced over at Marcus. He had two Bud Lights and held one of them out to her. She smiled and took it. “Thanks for saving me from that ball earlier.”
“No problem. You definitely looked like you were out of your league.”
She shrugged. “I figured I should play at least one time before leaving.”
“So the rumors are true,” Marcus said. He tipped his bottle back and took a long swallow of his beer.
He was an attractive man, she realized. He was tall, at least six foot five, and had a neatly trimmed red beard. His hair was longish on the top but cut neat in the back.
“Yes, they are true,” she said, sipping her beer.
“I think it’s safe to say we are all going to miss you,” Marcus said.
“I doubt it. There will be someone else in Lance’s office keeping you guys all organized.”
“But that person won’t be you,” Marcus said.
“I’d take that to heart but you didn’t even notice me until I had my makeover,” she said, looking at him closely. As attractive as Marcus might be, he didn’t hold a candle to Lance.
“True enough. But that doesn’t mean I’m not telling the truth now.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” Marcus said.
“Why was I invisible before?” she asked. “It was more than clothes and glasses, right?”
Marcus took another swallow of his beer. “It was more than that. I think it was your attitude. You weren’t invisible exactly, I’d say you were more of the girl next door, you know? Just a comfortable woman who we didn’t see as a sexual being.”
“But now you do?’”
“Yes, now I do. I can’t speak for anyone else.”
Kate nodded looked away
“I’m not the man you wanted to notice you, right?”
She shook her head. “You’re a good-looking guy but not the one for me.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Well, there is justice in the universe. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used almost that exact line.”
That made Kate laugh. She gave Marcus a quick kiss on the cheek before turning to walk away. And she stepped right into Lance who had been standing behind her.
Lance took Kate’s arm and led her away from Marcus. He’d never felt so enraged before. He wanted to be the man who made her laugh and smile—not Marcus.
“Are you okay?” Kate asked.
“I… no, I’m not okay. I don’t like you flirting with Marcus.”
“Why do you care who I flirt with?” Kate said, a flash of anger in her eyes.
Because she was his. But he knew that wasn’t true, couldn’t be true because he’d given another woman his ring.
A woman that he was quickly realizing he could never marry. Lexi was not what he needed in a woman. She didn’t arouse his passion. But passion could lead to jealousy and Lance couldn’t afford to be out of control, to be like his father. Maybe that was the right answer, then. Maybe Kate would be better off with a guy like Marcus, and he should marry someone who didn’t get him all riled.
“Damn. I know I don’t have any right to say something like that, but I want you, Kate. And I think you feel the same,” he said.
She flushed but didn’t try to pull away. “I do. I think you should know I’ve been attracted to you for the longest time.”
“Good.”
“Good?” she asked. “That makes you sound very arrogant.”
“Yes, it is good,” Lance said. He’d had a lot of time to think about Kate over the last two days. “Because anything this strong that is onesided would be wrong.”
“I guess I can see your point.”
“I’m glad,” he said. He leaned down and kissed her. “Come up to the house with me while I shower and change.”
“Into the shower with you?” she asked.
He raised both eyebrows at her. “Would you be interested in that?”
She blushed and gave him a very shy smile. “Maybe.”
He was leading her by the hand toward the house when he saw paramedics running across the lawn. He dropped Kate’s hand and they both turned toward the food tent.
“I have to see who that is,” he said.
“I know.”
He was very aware of Kate moving behind him and he knew that she was concerned about the emergency, the same as he was.
Lexi was sitting on a bench between two paramedics. Her face was flushed.
“What happened?”
“Heat exhaustion as near as we can tell,” the paramedic said.
“Are you okay?” Lance asked Lexi.
She nodded, seeming embarrassed by the entire thing. “I should have had more water.”
“It’s okay. Does she need to go to the emergency room?” Lance asked.
“No. She’d be fine sitting in a cool room and just letting her body recuperate from the sun exposure.”
“Let’s get you up to the house,” Lance said.
Kate hovered nearby. The look on her face told Lance that it was past time to end things with Lexi. But not now. Not like this.
He helped Lexi to her feet. She leaned on him and he looked over her head at Kate who shook her head and walked away.
He had no choice but to let her leave and he didn’t like that at all. But right now his hands were tied. He couldn’t go after Kate until he took care of Lexi.
He got Lexi settled on the couch in the living room.
“Thank you, Lance.”
“For what?” he asked. He hardly knew Lexi. She was a stunningly beautiful woman but other than a couple of dinners, he hadn’t really even talked to her.
“For taking care of me just now. I’m sorry if that was embarrassing.”
Lance shrugged. “It was nothing. I’m going to go change. Will you be okay?”
She nodded.
“I have a butler of sorts around here—Paul. He’s not much company but I will ask him to check in on you.”
She shook her head. “Please don’t. I’ll just sit here in the quiet.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Lance left her and walked up the stairs to his own suite. He called Mitch on his way because he hadn’t been able to find his brother in the crowded yard.
“Brody here.”
“It’s Lance. Can you come up to the house? Lexi had a problem with heat exhaustion. I need a shower but I don’t want to leave her alone for too long.”
“Is she okay?” Mitch asked.
“Pale and weak but otherwise okay,” Lance said.
“Does she need to see a doctor?”
“No. The paramedics checked her out. Where were you?”
Mitch didn’t answer. “I’m on my way to the house.”
“Good. I’m upstairs. She didn’t seem to want company but I don’t like leaving her alone when she’s not at her best.”
“I agree. I’ll take care of it.”
Lance hung up and quickly showered and changed. He thought about the two women that were a part of his life right now. It didn’t matter that Lexi wasn’t the woman he wanted, he still owed her respect—and the truth.
He realized this mess was of his own making. He finished getting dressed and headed downstairs, determined to talk to Lexi. He couldn’t marry her—not while he felt what he did for Kate.
Kate was the woman he couldn’t live without. He knew without a doubt that Kate was the one woman that he wanted. He couldn’t get her out of his system.
He hurried downstairs, anxious to talk to his brother and fiancée. He had a text message from Mitch saying that he was going to take Lexi to the hotel.
Having made up his mind about Lexi and Kate, Lance felt much better. He liked the changes in his plain-Jane secretary and today he’d realized that he wasn’t going to let her slip away from him—no matter what.
Six
Lexi Cavanauagh was a stunningly gorgeous woman by anyone’s standards. The fact that she was his fiancée should have made him feel lucky. But she was essentially a stranger and he felt awkward around her. Not at all like he felt with Kate.
Kate. He’d already decided to end things with Lexi. But he had to be careful. He needed Lexi and her connections but he couldn’t just break things off with her.
Lance came back down the stairs to the sound of raised voices. “Everything okay?”
Mitch and Lexi were standing across the room from each other. Lexi’s fists were clenched at her sides and a sheen of tears glittered in her eyes.
“Lexi, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing,” she said.
“Mitch?”
“We were discussing an event we attended in D.C.,” Mitch said.
Lance nodded. “I’m glad to see you feeling better, Lexi. I wanted to take a moment to welcome you to the family. You already know Mitch and I think you will see that we are a close group despite there being only two of us.”
“I have noticed that your brother will do anything for you,” Lexi said.
Mitch gave her a tense look.
“And I for him.”
Lance walked across the room to the foyer where he’d left the neatly wrapped gift box. It bore the emblem of his favorite jeweler and a discreet white bow. He carried it back over and smiled at Lexi.
She didn’t seem to be paying any attention to him. “Do you need to sit down?”
“No. I need to go home,” she said.
“Then I will take you,” Lance said.
She shook her head and noticed the box in his hands. “Is that for me?”
“Yes,” he said, handing it to her.
She took it. He noticed that her nails were long and manicured. And for the first time he tried to imagine what it would be like to take Lexi to his bed. He couldn’t. The only woman he pictured there was Kate.
Kate’s long brown hair on his pillow. Kate’s pretty brown eyes staring up at him… Kate was the woman he wanted.
Lexi sat down and opened the gift box carefully. Lance stood across the room with the first niggling of doubt since he’d asked her to marry him. Had he made a colossal mistake?
She held the box in her hands, not opening it. “Why did you get me a gift?”
“To thank you for agreeing to be my wife.”
She put her head down and opened the box. He heard her breath catch and took that as a good sign.
He glanced over at his brother and Mitch stared at Lexi… the way Lance realized he stared at Kate sometimes. Damn, was his brother into Lexi?
“Will you help me put it on?” Lexi asked.
Lance started toward her and saw Mitch do the same.
His brother shrugged. “I’m just used to filling in for you.”
“Thank you for that, Mitch. Without your help, I don’t know what I would have done.”
Lexi stood up and lifted her hair. Lance fastened the diamond necklace around her neck.
“Yes, thanks, Mitch, for filling in for your brother so well,” Lexi said.
“It was no big deal. I’m used to dealing with problematic heiresses.”
“Are you?” Lexi asked.
“Indeed. Our mother was one.”
“She sure was. But Lexi isn’t anything like Mom,” Lance said, not sure what was going on between his brother and Lexi.
“No, she’s not,” Mitch said. Mitch’s cell phone rang and he excused himself to take the call.
Lance found himself alone with his fianceé for the first time since she’d agreed to marry him. And he needed to know if there was any chance this relationship was going to work between them. He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her in his arms.
She looked up at him. Her eyes wide but not with passion, more with… he couldn’t identify the emotion.
He brushed a kiss against her lips and found that her mouth was dry and the kiss was rather blah.
Lance worried that he’d be trapped in a passionless marriage. It was clear that Lexi wasn’t attracted to him and he knew he wasn’t to her.
“Thank you for the gift. It’s very pretty.”
“You’re welcome,” he said.
A horn honked outside and Lexi glanced at her watch. “That should be my cab.”
“I would’ve taken you,” Lance said.
“I didn’t want to be a bother. Thank you for inviting me to the party today. I really enjoyed the chance to see what kind of a company Brody Oil & Gas is.”
“You’re welcome. Kate said she was going to invite you to attend a meeting with the party-planning staff.”
“Sounds great. I’ll look forward to her call,” Lexi said as she left the house and walked to her cab. She kept talking brightly the entire time and Lance held the door for her as she got into the cab.
She smiled up at him as she said goodbye and he closed the door, standing there watching her be driven away.
He rubbbed the back of his neck, having a bad feeling that his marriage to Lexi was going to be a mistake. And he prided himself on not making any mistakes. He wondered if he should have ended things with her today, but he couldn’t have. There was something vulnerable about Lexi. He needed to talk to Mitch about his feelings for her, as well.
There was more between the two of them than he could guess at. But that was a worry for another day. Right now he had a party to host and several staff members to take care of and that was exactly what he was going to do.
After he found Kate.
He needed to talk to her and see her. She had always been his touchstone at Brody Oil & Gas and he realized he needed her by his side now.
Kate was glad when the sun set. Soon it would be time for the Fourth of July fireworks to go off. They had always been her favourite. She’d spent most of the afternoon and evening trying to avoid Lance.
She felt… well, stupid. She was supposed to be getting over him, not falling deeper in love with him each day.
It was silly, really, but seeing the way he’d reacted to Lexi’s being sick had affected her. For all his rough ways, she knew that Lance was the kind of guy who’d stand by his friends, no matter what.
And there had been a part of her that had realized that he treated Lexi like a friend and nothing more. Much the same way he’d been treating her for all these years until she’d quit.
What Kate needed was another job in another town, but she really couldn’t imagine living anywhere other than south Texas. Unlike some of her friends from high school, she’d never wanted to live anywhere except here.
She liked the warmth and humidity that came with Houston. She liked the cosmopolitan city aspects of the area and the wide-open spaces that were only a few hours’ drive away.
A few kids were running around with sparklers and Kate felt a lump at the back of her throat as she thought about the families.
She’d always wanted one of her own but it had never really seemed like she’d have one and now… well, now she seemed no closer to having kids and a husband than she’d been for a while.
“Hey, girl!” Becca called.
“Becca! I’m so glad you could swing by here. Thanks for coming.” Kate gave her friend a hug and they walked up the tiki-light path toward the viewing area for the fireworks.
“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Sorry it took so long to get here.”
“Not a problem,” Kate said. “I think Lance is going to the Texas Cattleman’s Club later for an after-party and I just wanted…”
“A friend,” Becca said. “I get it. So how was everything today?”
“Well, good, I think. I kissed Lance and it was…”
“What?”
“Everything I imagined it would be. But then Lexi had heat exhaustion and he had to go to her.”
Becca slipped her arm through Kate’s. “Was she okay?”
“Yes. But it made me realize I don’t want to have an affair with Lance. I want to be able to have a relationship with him where we can be seen as a couple. Not one where I have to hide.”
“Good for you. Being a mistress isn’t something that would suit you,” Becca said.
“Would it suit you?”
“Hell, no.”
Both women laughed.
“Is there any other man you are interested in?” Becca asked.
“Not really. I think that Marcus likes me.”
Becca laughed again, and Kate relaxed for the first time all day, feeling safe in the presence of her friend. Becca was the one person who she knew loved her no matter what. She didn’t care if Kate was fat or wore ugly clothes—Becca liked her anyway.
“That’s not surprising, you’re a very attractive woman.”
“Yeah, right. You’re my friend, you have to say that,” Kate said. “One thing that was shocking was Lance. He didn’t like me flirting with Marcus.”
“Too bad,” Becca said. “Lance Brody had his chance with you and he let it slip by.”
“Maybe I regret that, Becca.”
“Good,” Becca said. “It’s about time you realized that, Lance.”
Kate flushed with embarrassment as Lance stepped up behind them.
“Yes, it is,” Lance said.
Lance joined the women and they went to the main BBQ area. They chatted while the band played, and Becca got up to dance. Kate glanced at Lance. She felt like she wanted to dance, too, but knew they couldn’t—not while he was engaged to Lexi.
“I have something I want to show you,” Lance said, and led her away from the crowd.
“The perfect spot to watch the fireworks.”
“Where would that be?”
“In my arms.”
She stopped. “Don’t say anything you don’t mean, Lance.”
“I’m not.”
“What about Lexi? How is she, by the way?” Kate asked. What she’d seen of the Senator’s daughter had been brief, but she bore the woman no ill will.
“Fine. She went back to her hotel to get some rest.”
“That’s good,” Kate said. “I can’t do this—have an affair with a man who belongs to another woman.”
Lance cupped her face in his hands. “Today cemented for me the fact that I need you, Kate. I’m sorry I didn’t wake up earlier to the fact that you are an incredible woman.”
Kate steeled her heart against just believing his words. “What changed your mind?”
“Seeing your hot body,” he said.
“That’s not flattering,” she said.
“Yes, it is. And it’s the truth. I’m not going to lie to you and try to make you believe that I had some kind of emotional realization when you said you were going to quit. It was really when I got a look at you… I realized that you had everything I wanted.”
“Lance—”
“What? Would you prefer I made up lies and told you stories? You know I’m not that kind of guy. I’m also not the kind of man who lets something he wants slip through his fingers. And I want you, Kate.”
His raw language got to her as little else could. She’d long wanted Lance and hearing him tell her that he felt the same… it was a powerful aphrodisiac.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. There was a lot of passion in his kiss and she stopped trying to think this through, stopped trying to make her attraction to Lance go away. The thought that maybe this was the only way to free herself entered her mind.
But she knew she was only placating herself. She wanted Lance Brody and now that he had his arms around her, she wasn’t going to walk away. Not until she had the chance to experience what it was really like to be his woman.
That was the one thing she’d wanted since her very first day at Brody Oil and Gas. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and went up on tiptoe to bring her body more fully into contact with his.
He slid his tongue over hers and she tangled her fingers in the silky hair at the back of his neck. As she ran her fingers through it, she felt everything inside of her clench.
She was in Lance’s arms!
Lance had no real plan of seduction. He just wanted to kiss Kate because it seemed a sacrilege not to. This was the Fourth of July and he was a red-blooded male, a Texan who’d learned the hard way that you had to fight for what you wanted.
And he wanted Kate Thornton. He lifted her into his arms and stepped off the lighted path. He walked up to his house with patriotic music blaring in the background and fireworks going off all around them.
Kate rested her head on his shoulder and held on to him with a strong grip. He knew that the attraction between them was mutual but until this moment hadn’t realized just how much that would mean to him.
He just wanted to know what she’d be like in his bed. To know if the woman he couldn’t live without in his work life would also be as important to his personal life. His gut said yes.
“You look fierce,” she said.
“Do I?”
She nodded. “Are you sure about this?”
“Hell yes,” he said, reaching down to open the door to the living room. He walked up the stairs to his bedroom without pausing to turn on a light.
“I’m not,” she said.
The shyness in her voice stopped him. He couldn’t force himself on her. He never wanted passion between them to be all about him. He knew Kate well enough, had observed the changes in her and knew she had doubts about herself.
And he wanted to show her that he loved her as she was… well, loved her body, he corrected.
“I’m not rushing you, Kate,” Lance said. He set her on her feet and led her out onto his private balcony, gesturing to one of the lounge chairs that faced the east and the fireworks.
“How about a red-hot and boom?”
She shook her head. “I had one last year and think I still might be a little drunk from it.”
He laughed. It was then that he realized he was nervous. He knew his way around an oil field and a boardroom but a woman—one who mattered to him—that was an entirely different subject. And Kate had somehow become this woman who mattered to him.
“Champagne?” he asked.
“I’m good,” she said.
“Still nervous?”
“A little. You know, I’ve been wanting to be here with you… like this… for longer than I can remember,” she said.
“Is it what you imagined?”
She shook her head, those long silky curls of hers brushing against her collar.
“What can I do to make it better?” he asked. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. She was practically a little bird now with tiny arms and shoulders. He hugged her close. “Why’d you lose weight?”