In this thrilling conclusion to The Adair Affairs by New York Times bestselling author Elle James, the long-lost Adair heir is finally revealed!

Thanks to a DNA test, ranch hand Noah Scott discovers he’s heir to a billion-dollar fortune. Now an Adair, Noah must come to grips with his true identity and the shocking murder of his real father. Then he discovers that the one woman he thought he could trust was spying on him for his siblings, and he cuts Rachel Blackstone out of his life.

But his father’s killer has never been caught… With all those close to Noah targets—including Rachel—Noah needs to set a dangerous trap…using himself as ultimate bait.

“Less than a week ago, I knew who I was,” Noah said.

“I knew what I wanted to be and do with my life,” he continued. “I trusted the people I thought were family and the people I was working for. Now I don’t know who to trust or who I am.”

His words alone froze what Rachel had been going to say on her tongue.

“Apparently, some of them knew before the DNA test that I might be the long-lost heir or they wouldn’t have asked me to take that darned DNA test. Why didn’t they speak up then? Why all the secrecy?” Noah turned his head to the side to face her and held out his hand. “You’re not part of the Adair family. Tell me.” He paused before continuing. “Who can I trust besides you? Right at this moment, I think you are the only person I know who hasn’t lied to me.”

Wave after wave of guilt washed over her as she took Noah’s hand and squeezed it. “Noah, I…” She swallowed hard to clear her throat of the knot forming there so that she could say the words she knew she should.

* * *

We hope you enjoyed The Adair Affairs—The notorious and powerful political family is back with even more secrets.

* * *

Dear Reader,

When I was asked to participate in The Adair Affairs continuity, I was thrilled to revisit some of the characters I met in The Adair Legacy books. As a reader and a writer, I love to see the characters I’ve grown to know and love show up in other books. It means I don’t have to say goodbye to them quite yet.

What better place to set a book than near San Diego, California? I visited San Diego once and fell in love with the beautiful city nestled against the coast. Looking out over the water dotted with sailboats made me feel peaceful and happy. The weather in Southern California is perfect, never too hot or too cold, and you can grow just about anything.

I hope to return to San Diego someday. Maybe I’ll charter one of those sailboats to take me out on the ocean. If I do, I’ll be sure to write the experience into one of my books so that you can come along with me.

In the meantime, happy reading!

Elle James

Heir to

Murder

Elle James

www.millsandboon.co.uk

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author ELLE JAMES is a former IT professional and retired army and air force reservist. She writes romantic suspense, mysteries and paranormal romances that keep her readers on the edge of their seats to the very end of every book. When she’s not at her computer, she’s traveling to exotic and wonderful places, snow-skiing, boating or riding her four-wheeler, dreaming up new stories. Learn more about Elle James at ellejames.com.

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Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Extract

Copyright

Chapter 1

“Jackson?” A soft feminine voice called out through the doorway of the sixteen-stall stable at Adair Acres. The structure sat in the middle of one hundred and eighty acres of the most beautiful land Southern California had to offer. With sprawling citrus orchards, vineyards and pastures of alfalfa and the best horseflesh money could buy, it was an oasis of grace and beauty tucked in the gently rolling hills.

“Jackson?”

Noah Scott didn’t respond to the voice, refusing to acknowledge the name he’d been born with. He threw a blanket over the black stallion’s back and returned to the tack room for a saddle.

“There you are.” His half sister, Landry Adair, met him as he exited the tack room with a saddle in hand.

Standing five feet ten inches tall, she was almost as tall as he was. With her hair pulled back in a low ponytail, she looked more like a girl than the twenty-six-year-old daughter of the deceased billionaire, Reginald Adair. She smiled at him with her bright blue eyes so much like his own. “Rachel called. She’ll be here in a few minutes for her riding lesson.”

“Tell her I’m taking the day off.” He tossed the saddle over the stallion’s back with a little more force than usual.

Diablo danced sideways, his ears slanting backward.

“She’s driving all the way out here, expecting you to give her a riding lesson.”

Noah ran a hand along the horse’s neck, murmuring soothing sounds until the animal settled and let him reach beneath him to snag the girth. “Hell, you can give her the riding lesson.”

“She prefers having you as her instructor, Jackson.”

“Noah. My name is Noah.”

Landry nodded. “Noah. I have to admit I have a hard time thinking of you as Jackson.”

“Because that’s not who I am.” A couple days ago, Noah had known who he was and what he wanted to do: continue his import-and-export business on the side while working with his cousins at Adair Acres, where he could be around the horses and cattle he loved.

Now, he was reeling with the knowledge he wasn’t who he thought he was. His real name was Jackson Adair. The long-lost son of the man who’d owned the ranch he’d been working. The man he thought of as his uncle.

Jackson Adair. How would he ever get used to it? He’d spent the past thirty-seven years as Noah Scott. A man didn’t change his name overnight. Hell, his entire life. He didn’t bother facing Landry Adair, his half sister; instead, he focused his attention on the girth he cinched around the horse’s belly. Once the girth was tight enough, he let the stirrup drop in place on the stallion he’d adopted as his favorite since coming to work at Adair Acres three months ago.

Landry touched his arm. “Are you going to be okay?”

“I’m fine.”

He led Diablo out of the barn.

Before he could mount, Landry spoke again. “I’m here for you, if you need someone to talk to.” She smiled, hesitantly. “After all, we’re related. I’m your sister.”

“Half sister,” he corrected automatically, regretting it as soon as he noted the slight frown between her arched brows. Landry had always been nice to him and, though he had thought they were cousins, she’d been more like the little sister he’d never had growing up. Now that he knew it was true, it changed everything about their relationship.

But should it?

God, how could this happen to him? How could he have spent the past thirty-seven years of his life oblivious to the truth?

“If it makes you feel any better, none of us knew, either. We had some suspicions but that was pretty recent,” Landry said as if reading his thoughts. “Now that we do know, we’re glad you’re the missing Jackson we’d always heard about. We love you. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have as my oldest brother.” She emphasized brother, negating his attempt to make the distinction.

A knot formed in Noah’s throat. Landry accepted him as part of her family. He’d yet to get a real reaction from her brothers, Carson and Whit. They might not be as thrilled to have to share their inheritance with him. Maybe he was being paranoid.

Now that the truth had been revealed and the terms of Reginald’s will spelled out to him, he found it incredibly hard to believe he had a share in the ranch he’d come to work for.

Gathering the reins, he started to raise his foot to the stirrup, but a hand on his arm stopped him.

“I wish my father could have been here to know it was you all along,” Landry said softly. “He only had good things to say about you. He’d have been proud to call you his son.”

“Well, we’ll never know that now, and guessing what he might have said or felt is as empty as guessing what the weather was the day I was born.” He glanced down at her hand on his arm. “If you’ll excuse me, I want to check on a fence in the north pasture.”

Landry stepped back. “Of course. You need time to sort this all out. If you need to talk, you know where to find me.”

Noah swung up into the saddle, nudged his horse’s flanks and rode away from the Adair barn, all his motions from rote memory.

Thoughts and memories ricocheted through his mind as he gave the stallion his head. Soon they were racing across the fields, nothing but the sound of the horse’s hooves and the creak of saddle leather to interrupt the chaotic feelings rattling around inside his head.

He leaned forward, the wind in his hair, the breeze taking the heat out of the warm morning sun already bearing down on his back.

For the hundredth time since he’d learned of the results of the DNA test, he shook his head. It couldn’t be true. He wasn’t one of Reginald Adair’s children. The woman he knew as his mother wouldn’t have hidden him as a baby from his biological father and mother. Hell, Reginald was her brother. And Ruby, Reginald’s first wife, had been her sister-in-law.

All his life, Emmaline Adair Scott, the woman he’d called Mother, had sheltered him, kept him secluded from other children and other families. He’d assumed she’d done it to protect him because she loved him so much. Now...holy hell, she’d been hiding him from his real family. They’d never lived in any one place for very long. His mother had him in small private schools in France, or homeschooled him to keep anyone from suspecting he wasn’t her child.

If not for the summer his mother had taken ill and required major surgery, she’d have kept him from the rest of the Adair family. But she couldn’t care for him while she was laid up for several months. His grandparents had sent him to stay at his uncle’s ranch in California.

That summer, surrounded by the Adair siblings, was the first time he’d felt part of a family. Reginald Adair had been kind to him. For a few short weeks, he understood what it might have been like to have a father to look up to. A man who cared about him and wanted to teach him the things a father taught his sons.

Working with and hanging around Reginald’s children, whom he’d thought were his cousins, he’d finally gotten a feel for what it would be like to have siblings and be a member of a large family. Growing up as an only child, he’d always wished he had a brother to go fishing with or a sister to tease and protect.

He’d envied Reginald’s children, wanting what they had. Not the money or the lifestyle of the rich, but a big family, people he could count on to always be there for him.

If he really was Reginald Adair’s long-lost son, he had two half brothers and a half sister. The two boys and the girl, now grown, he’d come to respect and care for when he’d been there that summer so long ago.

If? His thoughts churned. The DNA test had been conclusive. There was no if about it. He was Reginald’s son.

In this day and age, how could someone get away with stealing a child and hiding him for all those years? Everything he knew about his life had been a lie. All the times he’d asked his mother about his father, she’d lied to him. She’d told him that his father died before she’d given birth. All the while his father and his mother had been alive and well, grieving the disappearance of their son.

That his fake mother was related to his father—and knew how devastated he’d been by the loss of his son—was impossible to fathom.

All those years, growing up isolated in France, he could have known the joy of having brothers and sisters, sitting at a table filled with family, laughing, joking and sharing each other’s lives.

All the years he could have spent with his family, getting to know and love them, were lost. Now that he knew who his real father was, the man was gone. Murdered before Noah had the chance to get to know him as a father.

As his horse galloped over acres and acres of grassland and rolling hills, all Noah could think was that he’d learned who his father was too late to get to spend time with the man. To get to know him.

Reginald Adair was dead. Shot to death in his office almost four months ago, and the authorities still hadn’t identified a suspect in the murder case.

Noah would never have the opportunity to know his father.

The stallion had the bit between his teeth and ran like the wind, pounding the hard-packed earth, never seeming to tire.

Noah let him run until they neared one of the streams running through Adair Acres, the one with the waterfall and the large pool, surrounded by evergreen trees and rocky ledges to stretch out on.

When Noah pulled back on the reins, Diablo pulled harder against him, increasing his speed instead of decreasing.

It became a battle of the wills between the man and the stallion.

Noah dug his feet into the stirrups and pulled back as hard as he could on the reins until the horse’s bottom jaw nearly touched his chest. Not until then did he finally slow, dancing sideways, whinnying, air huffing from his nostrils in angry puffs.

The big horse came to a jolting halt, reared up on his hind legs and pawed at the air.

“Whoa, Diablo,” Noah said soothingly. He feared some of his anger and disturbed feelings had rubbed off on the horse.

As the horse rose on his hind legs, Noah leaned forward, his feet in the stirrups.

Diablo dropped to the ground, landing hard, jolting Noah in the saddle. Then he kicked up his hind legs, arched his back and bucked, trying to unseat the man as he dragged hard on the reins.

“Whoa, fella.” Noah held his balance for the first eight seconds. When Diablo pulled a quick twist, however, Noah wasn’t ready and was sent flying through the air to land hard on his back, knocking the wind from his lungs.

Diablo reared again and took off like a crazed animal, running hell-bent for leather back to the barn.

When Noah could breathe again, he pushed to his feet and dusted off his jeans. “Damned horse.”

Since it was a good thirty-minute hike from the barn, Noah debated starting back. One glance around at where he was and he changed his mind. The one place in the world that calmed his soul was this spot on the Adair ranch.

The creek, filled with crystal-clear water, ran between the rolling hills, cutting through rocky crevices and long, flat pastures. And if he followed its path upstream, he’d find the waterfall and the naturally formed pool where he and his cousins—siblings—used to swim. With the air warming nicely, swimming was a distinct possibility, and it would delay his return to the ranch house, where he’d have to face up to his new role in the Adair family.

And what that role was, he had no idea.

Pushing all thoughts of his new status among Reginald Adair’s offspring, he hiked upstream to the pool, kicked off his boots, pulled his shirt over his head and shucked his jeans. Without giving much thought to how cold the water might be, he dove in.

As soon as he hit the surface, the cool water shocked him out of his musings and reminded him he was alive and the pool was all his to enjoy without interruption. The media wouldn’t swarm him and his family wouldn’t be following him around to see what he would do next like some trick pony in a sideshow.

It was just him, the chill water and sound of the cicadas chirping. He swam the length of the pool and back several times until his body warmed despite the coolness of the water. The sun found its way through the trees overhanging the rocky shoreline, speckling the water and making it shine like diamonds.

Noah wished he could stay out there, away from everything. Away from having to make decisions about what he was now going to do with his life. Before the DNA test, he’d been content to work on the ranch as a ranch hand and operate his import-and-export business out of the guesthouse on Adair Acres.

Knowing he had a controlling interest in the property, he wondered if he would be expected to do something other than work the ranch. He had never fit in with the corporate world and he didn’t want to live in a city.

Hell, he had everything he’d ever wanted in life. Why did it have to cause him so much heartache and introspection? He wished he had someone to talk to, someone who wasn’t a member of the Adair family. An unbiased individual he could bounce his thoughts off of without worrying whether he was encroaching on their territory or stealing their inheritance.

An image of Rachel Blackstone appeared in his thoughts. The pretty socialite with wavy dark brown hair that kissed her shoulders and a slim body with all the right curves sprang to mind. He’d spent weeks teaching her how to ride, always maintaining his distance, regarding himself as her social inferior. She was a member of San Diego’s social elite. A child of the privileged class. He had been the ranch hand, the poor cousin to the megarich Adairs.

Rachel had never made him feel inferior. She’d always talked to him as an equal, asking questions about his life as if she really cared.

For a few brief moments, he’d considered asking her out on a date. When he gave himself enough time to think it through, he realized it was ridiculous to think he could mingle in the same social sphere. He didn’t attend charity balls. He’d eaten out at nice restaurants, but not as nice as the ones she’d be used to. What did he have to offer as a ranch hand, making a living teaching rich girls how to ride horses and running his small business as a sideline?

Now that he was one of the Adairs, would she see him differently? He was still the same person inside even if his name had changed.

Noah struck out again across the pool, swimming hard, hoping if he wore himself out, he would be too tired to think so much.

Head down, concentrating only on the next stroke, he was startled by a voice calling out his name.

“Noah!”

He stopped in the middle of the pool and glanced up at a rocky ledge.

As if conjured by his thoughts, Rachel Blackstone sat on the smooth boulder, her slim, jean-clad legs dangling over the edge.

Suddenly conscious of his state of undress, Noah sank low in the water. “How long have you been there?”

“Long enough to admire a very handsome naked bottom gliding through clear water.” She winked.

Heat rose up his neck and into his cheeks as he treaded water, sure to keep the lower part of his body well beneath the surface. “Sorry. I didn’t expect company.”

She laughed, the sound joyful and as pure as the air. “I’m not sorry. I was enjoying the view.”

“If you’d just turn your back, I’ll get dressed and we can be less awkward.”

She raised her brows. “I don’t feel the least awkward.” When he remained where he was in the water without responding, she pouted. “Modesty is way overrated.” Then she turned her back. “I promise not to look.”

Noah swam over to the shore and emerged on the bank next to the pile of his clothing. Still dripping, he tugged his jeans over his wet thighs. When he had them on, he collected his boots, shirt and belt and climbed onto the boulder where Rachel sat with her back to him. Her dark hair swung across the top of her shoulders and down her back as she flexed her shoulders and tipped her face toward the sun. “About done?” she called out.

This wasn’t the first time they’d been to the pool together, but this was the first time she’d seen him without his clothes on and it had every blood cell in his body humming swiftly through his veins. He wanted to touch her but held back. She was far too beautiful and tempting. Rather than touch her with his hands, he leaned over her shoulder and whispered against her ear, “Close enough.”

* * *

Noah’s breath stirred tendrils of Rachel’s hair along the side of her neck. She spun around on her bottom, discovering that she was within easy reach of his broad and very naked chest. Droplets of water gleamed in the sunlight, daring her to capture them with her tongue.

Rachel licked her lips and dragged her gaze from his chest to his eyes. “Do you swim naked in the pool very often?”

“When it’s warm and I’m alone.”

“Ever considered swimming here with a woman?”

He shook his head. “No, but now that you mention it...” As he tipped his head toward the water, his lips tilted upward on the corners. “Care to?”

When he looked at her like that, with that sexy gleam in his eyes and a teasing half smile, she was tempted to throw off her clothes and drag him back into the water.

“Uh, not now.” As soon as she’d said the words, regret settled in. For the past few weeks, she’d had him teaching her how to ride horses, though she was an accomplished rider and had been riding since she was a small child. But he didn’t know that. And it had been at Landry’s request.

Landry had been her best friend since they’d attended private school in San Diego. When Landry had asked Rachel to keep an eye on Noah, Rachel hadn’t seen it as much of a hardship. The man was so darned sexy she was surprised a dozen women weren’t standing in line for riding lessons with him.

Noah shook out his T-shirt and raised it above his head.

Rachel captured his arm with her fingers. “Don’t put that on because of me. You aren’t offending my sensibilities...and...and you need to let your skin dry more.” Mostly, she wanted to stare at his muscular body while she had an excuse.

“In that case, I won’t.” He tossed the shirt to the side and stretched out on his back beside her, lacing his hands behind his head. “What brings you out this far?”

“I had a date for riding lessons.”

He shook his head. “You don’t need riding lessons.”

“I don’t?”

Again he shook his head. “Let me guess, you’ve been riding since you were a small child, right?” His gaze rolled her way, his brows rising in challenge.

Rachel chewed on her bottom lip before finally nodding. “Yeah. I got my first pony when I was four.”

Noah snorted. “Figures. I find it harder and harder to know when someone is telling me the truth or a lie.” His lips thinned and he stared up at the sky.

“Hey. You’re far too cynical for one so young.”

“I’m not young. I’m thirty-seven years old and the person I trusted most has been lying to me for all thirty-seven years. What’s one more person lying to me?”

Her heart squeezing tight in her chest, Rachel didn’t refute his statement. The guilt weighed heavily. Instead, she lay on her back beside him and stared up at the leaves hanging over her, the sun sneaking through the gaps.

“If you didn’t come for the riding lesson, did you come out to stare at the long-lost son of Reginald Adair?”

“No, I came to see how you were doing.” That was true. But only half of the truth. She’d come to tell him that she’d been spying on him for the past several weeks as a favor to Landry. Surely he’d understand how careful the Adairs had to be. The family was rich. Noah could have been a scamming relative looking for a way to make off with some of the Adair fortune.

Since the DNA test, conjecture had been settled. Noah Scott was in fact Jackson Adair and justified in any claim on Reginald Adair’s legacy.

For the past month, Rachel had spent more time at Adair Acres than in San Diego where she was heavily involved in philanthropy, raising money for those in need. She’d put much of her work on hold in order to help Landry and her brothers spy on Noah.

She had to admit, it was much more interesting staying at Adair Acres than at her home, which had become just a big empty space since the deaths of her parents when she was a little girl.

Her chest knotted. Now that she didn’t need to spy on Noah, she didn’t have an excuse to stay. She’d miss having the Adair family around her, and her afternoons of riding lessons with Noah.

Her purpose for coming to Adair Acres that day was to confess her part in Landry’s plan to find out as much as she could about the man they suspected might be the missing Jackson Adair. She steeled her nerves and opened her mouth.

“Less than a week ago, I knew who I was,” Noah said. “I knew who I wanted to be and what to do with my life. I trusted the people I thought were family and the people I was working for. Now, I don’t know who to trust and who I am.”

His words froze what Rachel was going to say on her tongue.

“Apparently, some of them knew before the DNA test that I might be Jackson or they wouldn’t have asked me to take that darned test. Why didn’t they speak up then? Why all the secrecy?” Noah turned his head to the side to face her and held out his hand. “You’re not part of the Adair family. Tell me...” He paused before continuing. “Who can I trust besides you? Right at this moment, I think you are the only person I know who hasn’t lied to me.”

Wave after wave of guilt washed over her as she took Noah’s hand and squeezed it. “Noah, I...” She swallowed hard to clear her throat of the knot forming there so that she could say the words she knew she should. Words that would reveal her for the liar she was and dash his hopes of having someone unbiased to confide in.

Before she could say anything, he rolled over and planted his hands on the boulder on either side of her arms. “When I was growing up, I wished I had a big family, siblings to play with, to love and to share my life and theirs. One simple DNA test and poof! I have it all. But in my head, I’m still the poor cousin working for the rich Adairs. This life, the fancy cars, the social scene, flying around the world at a moment’s notice... It’s not who I am. I don’t belong here. I feel like I need to leave and start over somewhere else.”

Rachel sat up, bringing him with her. “Noah, no. You are a member of the Adair family. You have just as much of a right to be here as they do. It’s not your fault someone stole you from your parents.” It broke her heart to see the man torn by his desire to stay where he finally had a home and family, and leaving because he didn’t fit in. “Things will work out.”

“Whit and Carson can’t be happy about me.”

“Landry is thrilled. She knew how much it meant to her father to find you.” Rachel lifted both his hands in hers and held them between hers. “You just have to give Whit and Carson time to get used to having you around permanently. They already know you—it’s just a matter of accepting you as their brother.”

“I don’t know. I didn’t come here to cause the Adairs trouble and heartache.”

“You can’t leave now. They lost their father and Patsy, their mother, is going to jail. Landry and her brothers may not know it, but they need you as much as you need them.”

Noah shook his head. “Why would they need me?”

“Because you were the missing link to their father’s past. The reason he had such a hard time accepting them. You have to stay and let them get to know you and you them.”

Noah’s fingers closed around hers and he stared into her eyes. “Okay. I’ll stay. But not for them, but because you asked me.” He smiled and leaned forward, pressing his lips to her forehead. “Thanks.”

His mouth was soft, his gesture gentle. It could have been the kiss of a brother to a sister, but Rachel didn’t have sisterly feelings toward this man.

Over the past few weeks of riding lessons, she’d fallen deeper and deeper under his spell. He wasn’t like any of the men she’d dated. He was patient, caring and considerate of her feelings. The man didn’t have a shallow bone in his body and he didn’t give a damn about who could best influence his career or portfolio.

Though Noah thought he didn’t know who he was, Rachel knew exactly who he was: a real man who could be taken at face value and who would love his family dearly.

When he bent to kiss the tip of her nose, she tipped her head back. His lips missed their target, capturing her mouth in a soft brush of a kiss. Before he could pull away, she wrapped her hands around the back of his neck and pulled him closer, opening her mouth to him. It was up to him to make the next move.

Chapter 2

Noah swept past Rachel’s lips to caress her tongue in a long, sensuous stroke. She tasted of mint and tea and her body was soft against his harder lines. For the past few weeks, he’d dreamed of wrapping his arms around her and holding her close just like this.

He leaned her back against the boulder and explored her mouth, touching, tasting and teasing.

Her slender hands, behind his head, separated and skimmed across his naked shoulders, down his back to his waist and lower to slip into the back pockets of his jeans.

His groin tightened and his kiss became more urgent. He wanted more of her. Leaving her lips, he blazed a path with his mouth across her chin, down the long, slender line of her neck and lower to the V in her button-up blouse.

He reached between them and flipped the buttons loose, one after the other, until her blouse fell open, exposing a lacy black bra. Her breasts swelled over the low cups. As he settled a kiss over each, her back arched off the boulder, rising to meet him.

He cupped one breast and pinched the nipple through the lacy fabric, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger. Rachel moaned, the sound making every nerve in Noah’s body come alive.

Pushing the cup of her bra aside, he exposed a rose-tipped nipple and captured it between his lips, tonguing it into a tight little bud.

Her fingers curled into his hair, drawing him closer.

After tasting one, he pushed aside the other cup and tasted the fruit of her other breast, laving his tongue across the tip until it too beaded in a tight knot.

When Rachel’s leg slid up the side of Noah’s, he fought for control. Just because he was now her social equal didn’t make it right to take advantage of her. With a huge amount of effort and constraint, he stopped himself before he went further.

Once he pushed himself up to a sitting position, he drew Rachel’s blouse together and grabbed his T-shirt. “We should get back before someone comes looking for us.”

Rachel sat up, straightening her clothes, twin flags of color high in her cheeks. “The way Diablo raced past me, I’d say it won’t be long before someone comes searching for your body.”

Noah pulled his boots on and stood, extending a hand to Rachel. “I’m sorry I took advantage of your kindness.”

She raised a hand. “Please. I’m not sorry you did.”

He grinned and cupped her cheek in his hand. He couldn’t resist one last taste and he bent to kiss her again. When he stepped away, he willed his pulse to slow. The woman had his insides humming, begging for more. “I hope you tied your horse up, or we’ll both be walking.”

“As a matter of fact, I did tie her up.” She led the way to a copse of trees where her white Arabian mare stood patiently.

Noah cupped his hands and stooped low. “You first.”

“No, I can ride on the back. You take the saddle.”

“No. I feel pretty stupid getting tossed off my horse, when I’m the one who is supposed to be teaching riding lessons. I deserve to suffer a little for that.”

“Is that what happened?” Rachel chuckled. “In that case, you should ride on the back.” She stepped into his hand and he lifted her up into the saddle.

Then he put his foot in the stirrup and mounted the horse to sit behind her and the saddle, wrapping his arms around her middle. Her waist was narrow and he liked the way it felt, small but firm.

Thankfully, Rachel set the horse off in an easy gallop, minimizing the jarring gait of a trot.

Noah held on, enjoying the feel of her in his arms. She smelled of honeysuckle and the outdoors and she was soft in all the right places. She calmed him and made him feel natural and at home.

Fifteen minutes later, as they neared the barn, she slowed the horse to a walk. When they rode into the barnyard, Landry emerged, leading another horse. An older woman followed, her brow furrowed, light brown hair pulled back in a neat twist at the back of her head. There was something oddly familiar about her facial structure, but Noah couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Landry called out. “I was just about to go looking for you two. When Diablo came back without his rider, I worried you’d been hurt.”

The woman behind her pressed a hand to her mouth and stared up at Noah.

Noah slipped off the horse and held up his hands to Rachel. Capturing her around the waist, he swung her out of the saddle and set her on her feet. When he turned to face Landry and the woman, he noted that the woman’s eyes had filled and she caught her lip between her teeth. “Is this...?” she said, and stopped, choking on a sob.

“Yes, ma’am.” Landry tied the horse she’d been leading to a post, hooked the woman’s arm and urged her forward. “This is my good friend Rachel Blackstone and my brother, Jackson Adair, better known as Noah Scott. Noah...” She paused, her gaze intense. “This is your mother, Ruby Adair Mason.”

Noah’s heart stopped and then bounded ahead in a pulse-pounding race to catch up. He’d known his real mother was still alive, but he hadn’t gotten past the initial shock of his new identity to think about actually meeting her.

As she stood in front of him, he could finally see himself in her. Emmaline, the woman who’d raised him, looked like an Adair with her dark hair and blue eyes. Although he had blue eyes, Noah had never looked like an Adair. His hair was light, where Emmaline, Reginald and his children had dark brown hair and his facial structure was totally different. More like the woman standing in front of him.

Ruby reached out to touch his chin and then hers. “You have the cleft in your chin like mine.” She smiled through watery eyes. “And blue eyes like your father.”

At a loss for what to say, he took her hand and held it in his. She was thin, almost frail and he was afraid to squeeze hard on her fingers for fear of breaking them. He knew he should say something, but what? “Nice to meet you.” It was lame, but he really was glad to meet the woman who had given birth to him. She had never lied to him and, like him, she was a victim in the whole situation.

“Well, you two will have a lot to talk about.” Landry backed away. “Rachel and I will take care of the horses and we have some baby shower planning to do for Elizabeth and Whit’s upcoming bundle of joy. I could have a lunch and tea prepared for you two up at the big house, if you like.”

Elizabeth and Whit Adair were expecting a baby. Landry, Georgia and Rachel had volunteered to give her a baby shower.

Noah shook his head. He didn’t feel comfortable at the main house and had chosen to live in the guesthouse. But even there seemed too intimate for a first meeting with his mother.

Ruby laid a hand on his arm. “If it’s okay with you, I know of a nice little sandwich shop just this side of San Diego. We could get a bite to eat there and I wouldn’t be far from my hotel.”

“I’ll drive,” he offered.

Ruby shook her head. “If it’s all the same to you, I prefer to take my own car. That way I can go straight from the restaurant to my hotel.”

“Fair enough. I could meet you there in forty-five minutes. I’ll need to shower after my ride and dress in something that doesn’t smell like horse.”

Ruby smiled. “You could come as you are. I wouldn’t mind.”

Her smile was genuine and Noah liked it. “I’d rather shower.”

“Then I’ll see you in forty-five minutes.” Ruby gave him the name of the sandwich shop and turned to leave, hesitated and faced him again. “I’m really happy to finally see you.” Tears flooding her eyes, she hurried away.

Noah’s heart felt like a huge knot in his chest as he walked toward the guesthouse. Too many revelations were hitting him all at once and he didn’t know quite how to process them all. Part of him wanted to put off the lunch with Ruby, but his curiosity about her won out. He wanted to learn more about the woman who should have raised him and loved him.

He couldn’t help thinking how his life might have been had he never been stolen away and raised by his aunt. Knowing what happened and where his mother’s life had taken her after she and Reginald Adair had divorced would help him understand who Ruby Mason was.

After shedding his clothing in the bathroom, he stepped under the cool spray of the shower and washed the creek water out of his hair with a squirt of shampoo. Once he had scrubbed his entire body, he shut off the water and dried himself, dressed in his best jeans and a pullover polo shirt the color of his eyes.

He felt as though he was going to an interview with an important person and he didn’t want to disappoint her. This was his mother. The woman he hadn’t seen since he was too small to remember.

Noah keyed the location into his cell phone and brought up the map. Driving through the gates of Adair Acres, he followed the directions to just outside of San Diego. He parked his truck in front of a bistro with little tables and checkered tablecloths. The sun was shining, but the trees overhanging the front patio provided enough shade to make it comfortable outside.

Ruby sat at a table on the terrace, behind a short wrought iron fence. When she spotted him dropping down out of his truck, she rose, twisting her hands together, her teeth gnawing on her lower lip.

Noah’s own pulse picked up as he closed the distance, passing through the garden gate into the bistro’s patio area.

Ruby smiled tremulously. “I wasn’t sure you’d come. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d changed your mind.”

“I told you I’d be here. I keep my promises.” He held her chair as she took her seat, then settled in the one across the tiny table from her. “I hope you weren’t waiting long.”

She grimaced. “I came straight here and ordered a cup of tea. It helps to calm me.”

“I’d ask you why you were so nervous, but I find that I’m possibly as unnerved by what’s happened as you are.”

She sighed shakily. “It’s just that I’ve searched for so long. I’d hoped...but I didn’t think I’d ever find you. And now...” She glanced across the table at him, her eyes filling again with tears. “I promised myself I wouldn’t cry again, but I can’t help it. I’ve dreamed of this day most of my life, and almost thought it would never happen. And here we are.” She leaned forward, a smile curling her lips through the tears. “I can’t believe how big you’ve grown.”

“I should hope I’d grown big. I’m thirty-seven.”

“Thirty-seven.” She swallowed hard. “Thirty-seven years I didn’t get to spend with you, watching you grow into a man.” Ruby sucked in a deep breath and let it go, her shoulders straightening, her lips firm. “That’s thirty-seven years I need to catch up on. I have so many questions I’d like to ask, but I don’t know where to begin.”

“I have a few of my own. Maybe we can just cover the basics in this meeting. I’m still adjusting to all of this.”

“Of course, of course.” She touched her hand to her face, her cheeks flushed. “Where to begin?” She pulled her wallet out of her purse and extracted a small photograph from it and held it out to him. “This is a picture of you taken a couple weeks before—well, before it happened.” She handed him a photograph of a baby boy with blue eyes and a tuft of bright blond hair.

Noah stared down at the photo. “It looks a lot like the ones my mother, er, aunt had in an album. I can’t understand how she could steal a child and live with herself.”

“From what I was told, Emmaline didn’t steal you. Your grandparents did the stealing and gave you to her.”

“I know. But she knew I didn’t belong to her. She should have returned me as soon as my grandparents handed me over.”

Ruby took the photo from him and stared at it, her gaze far away. “She’d just lost her own baby. I know how awful that feels. I can understand her wanting to keep you. You were probably like a gift that she couldn’t bear to give back. Not after her baby died. Postpartum depression can be bad, but giving birth only to lose your baby afterward had to have intensified her grief.”

Noah shook his head. “You of all people shouldn’t be so forgiving. There’s no excuse for taking and keeping another family’s child.”

“I’d have done anything to have my baby back,” Ruby said, her voice breaking on the last word. “There’s nothing worse than losing your child. God, I left you outside to go answer the stupid telephone.”

Noah reached across the table and took Ruby’s hands. “You can’t blame yourself. You couldn’t have known someone would take your baby.” Though he was talking about himself, it felt as if the child that had been stolen was someone else. And though the woman whose hands he held was his mother, he hadn’t had the benefit of growing up with her. She was a stranger. And that saddened him.

He couldn’t change the past. All he could do was accept the present and build a future with the knowledge and the people he now knew were his family.

Gently squeezing her hands, he urged, “Tell me about you.”

She sniffed and glanced up at him. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything.” He smiled. “From the time I disappeared until now.”

She laughed and pushed the fine hair out of her face. “There’s not a whole lot to say. After you disappeared, your father couldn’t forgive me for leaving you unattended. For that matter, I blamed myself. I don’t know if you are aware, but Reginald and I married because I was pregnant with you.”

Noah nodded. “I’d heard as much.”

She shrugged. “Since you were gone, there wasn’t any reason for us to stay married. We divorced, I moved away from North Carolina to Florida and he moved to California. In Florida, I met a wonderful man I fell in love with and married.” Her smile was wistful and happy.

“What about other children?” he asked. “Do I have any half brothers or sisters?”

Ruby shook her head. “My husband had a daughter he brought into our marriage.” Her smile widened. “She accepted me as her mother from the moment I came to live with them. Georgia isn’t like a stepdaughter—she’s more than that. I think you’ll like her.”

Noah was still awed by his newfound family. Going from a man with only a mother who kept him secluded from the rest of his relatives to having an entire family and extended family, he was blessed. “Georgia is your daughter? Is she Carson’s fiancée?”

“She is.” Ruby grinned. “Such an unlikely pair. But so in love.”

Noah chuckled. “She’ll give Carson a run for his money. They seem happy together.”

Ruby’s face brightened. “I think so. Carson needed her and she needed him. And now that I’ve found you, I have my entire family in one place. I couldn’t be happier, myself.”

“Will you be going back to Florida anytime soon?”

Ruby nodded. “Yes.”

Disappointment knifed through Noah. “I’m really sorry to hear that. I’d hoped to get to spend more time with you.”

She laughed. “I’m only going back to sell my house. I have nothing to keep me in Florida. Since my husband passed away, it’s just me. Georgia isn’t leaving California and now that I’ve found you...”

Noah found himself leaning forward. He didn’t want distance to keep him from knowing this woman. “Does that mean you’ll be moving?”

“It does. I want to be close to my children.” Her voice caught. “You don’t know how happy that makes me to say that—children.” She patted his hand. “Don’t worry, I won’t move in with you or Georgia. You have your own lives. I’ll get a little place of my own. But with any luck I’ll see you sometime?” She glanced across at him, her eyes wide, hopeful.

He was touched by the warmth in her gaze. “Count on it.”

“What about you? I’ve told you about my life—what about yours? I want to know all about you. Where did you grow up? What was it like for you going to school? Did you play sports, have you ever been married?” She stopped asking long enough to take a breath. “Oh, who am I kidding? I can’t catch up on all thirty-seven years in one lunch. And we haven’t even ordered.”

“We have time.”

“I hope so. Because I really want to know you.”

“And I want to know you.” He lifted the menu. “What do you think you’d like to eat? We can talk while we wait for our food.”

They ordered and talked, catching up on the big events of each other’s lives and some of the little ones that made them who they were. By the time they’d consumed their sandwiches and a couple cups of tea, Noah was more comfortable and relaxed around this woman who was his biological mother.

When the plates were cleared and the check paid, Ruby pushed back from the table. “I should get going. I’ve taken up enough of your time.” She stood and slipped her purse over her arm.

“I’ve enjoyed it and hope we can do this again soon,” Noah said, and meant it.

“Me, too. I know I can’t have back the years I missed, but there are so many more ahead of us. I don’t want to waste a single one of them.”

Noah tossed a couple of bills onto the table and escorted Ruby out to the parking area. “Where did you park?”

“On the side. The front was full when I arrived.”

At the side of the building, a small sedan sat at a slant on the sloped parking spot.

Ruby stood beside the car. “I’m really glad we had this time together.” She looked up at him. “Do you mind if I hug you?”

He smiled. “Not at all.” He bent as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he gathered her slim body in a hug.

Although awkward at first, Noah felt the love and tenderness in her gesture and his heart swelled.

“I’ve always loved you,” she whispered. “And I never gave up hope.” Her arms tightened briefly, and then they fell to her sides. Ruby climbed into her rental car and started the engine, lowering the window.

“When will you head back to Florida?” Noah leaned against the door frame, not really wanting her to leave.

“Not for a couple more days. Do you mind if I come to visit you?”

“Not at all. I’d be honored.”

She backed out of the parking space and then stopped. She shifted into Park, opened the door, jumped out and ran back to wrap her arms around him one more time. “Please tell me you won’t disappear again. Please.”

He hugged her, holding her tight. “I promise.”

Ruby leaned back, rubbing tears from her eyes. “I just couldn’t bear to lose you again.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

She stepped back, straightening her hair. “I know that. It’s just...” With a sigh, she said, “It’s happened before.”

“I’m all grown up.”

“Yeah, and someone killed Reginald. Now that the world knows you’re related to him, you could be in danger.”

He pushed his shoulders back. “I can take care of myself.”

“I’m sure Reginald thought he could take care of himself, as well. Be careful.”

“I will.”

This time when Ruby climbed into her car, she drove away, leaving Noah staring after her.

His life felt surreal. He’d been talking to his mother all afternoon, and she was a stranger.

He wished he could talk to Emmaline, the woman who’d raised him as her son. When the DNA results had been confirmed, she’d disappeared. How could she hide at a time like this? Noah had so many questions only she could answer.

But then she’d kept a stolen baby that belonged to her brother, hiding the secret for thirty-seven years. It would explain why she’d isolated him from the rest of her family for so long. There had to be a law against doing that. When she’d been found out, she probably ran, afraid of going to prison.

His mind was churning and he didn’t want to go home. He surveyed the scene below him. The bistro was perched on a hill overlooking the beautiful harbor town of San Diego, and Noah thought of Rachel.

She lived in the city, only a few short minutes away. After he’d kissed her that afternoon, Noah wondered if she’d want to see him again. She calmed his soul at the same time she stoked the flames of desire.

The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to see her. Perhaps she could help him make sense of his life. Even if she couldn’t, he wanted to explore where their relationship was going. One kiss wasn’t enough with Rachel.

Digging his cell phone out of his pocket, he entered her number and waited.

She picked up on the second ring. “Hi, Noah? Did you have a nice visit with Ruby?”

“I did.” He ran his fingers through his hair, his pulse pounding in his veins. He’d never asked Rachel out on a date, having felt he wasn’t in her social stratosphere. She might still consider him nothing more than the hired help and turn him down. But if he didn’t ask, he’d never know. “Look, I’m still in town. Would you like to have dinner with me?”

“As in a date?”

Noah drew in a deep breath and let it out. “Yes.”

She laughed. “I thought you’d never ask. I’d love to have dinner with you, but let me do the cooking. You can come to my place. I grill a mean steak.”

“I didn’t mean for you to have to cook.”

“I love to cook. So is it settled? You’re coming to my place.”

“When?”

“Two hours.”

“Good, I have a few errands to run while I’m in town.” His heart lighter than it had been in days, he smiled into the phone. “I’ll see you then.”

His world might have turned upside down, but the one person he knew he could count on and trust was Rachel.

Chapter 3

“Why didn’t you tell him over the phone?” Landry Adair asked.

Rachel glanced around her beautiful apartment, decorated with homey touches and cheerful artwork, unlike the estate she’d grown up in only a few miles away. The home her parents left her was large, sprawling, lavishly decorated and made her feel achingly lonely. She only lived there when she entertained others of the socially elite.

Any other time she stayed in her apartment in a quaint, older section of San Diego. The apartment was just the right size for a single woman.

Realizing that she was stalling, Rachel sighed.

“Like I said, I started to tell him while we were out riding, but...well I got sidetracked.” He’d kissed her and every thought of telling him that she’d been spying on him had flown out of her head. By the time she could think again, they were back at the barn and his mother was there. “And I refuse to tell him over the telephone. I’ll tell him tonight.”

“At least we made good progress on the plans for Elizabeth’s baby shower. Don’t forget, we need to get together soon with Georgia to finalize them. Why don’t you come out to the ranch later this evening?”

Rachel knew they needed to finish planning, but she had a different commitment for the evening. “Noah’s coming to my apartment tonight.”

“That’s interesting.” Landry’s bright blue eyes sparkled as she swept the long brown hair with the soft gold highlights back from her forehead. “How’d that come about?”

“He asked me out to dinner. I thought it would be better if we had dinner at my place.”

“I didn’t know you two were dating.”

“We weren’t. This is a first. I could have gone out to a restaurant with him, but just couldn’t. If he gets angry, and we’re here alone, it’s just me, not a roomful of strangers staring.”

Landry chuckled. “And if he walks out, you don’t have to worry about finding a ride home.”

“Something like that.” Rachel paced across the floor of her living room, her cell phone pressed to her ear. The sun shone bright through the ground-level windows of her town house apartment. The sky was crystal clear and the harbor, with the mix of motorboats and sailboats, couldn’t have been more beautiful. Still, those things didn’t hold her attention. All she could think about was the fact she had to tell Noah that she had been spying on him for Landry and her brothers.

Georgia Mason, Carson’s fiancée, had been the one to notice the similarity between her stepmother’s and Noah’s facial structures and cleft chins. Until she’d pointed it out, none of them had seen it. They knew Noah as their cousin. Landry, Whit and Carson had decided it would be best to keep an eye on him. If he was the long-lost son Reginald Adair had been searching for almost four decades, had he known and was he aware of the inheritance his father had left him? They wanted to be sure he wasn’t some gold digger looking for a way to claim money that didn’t belong to him.

When she’d hired Noah to give her riding lessons, Rachel didn’t know much about him. Spying on him seemed harmless and a way to help her friend and the family she cared so much about.

What she hadn’t counted on was falling in love with the kind and gentle man who knew his way around horses more than he did around humans. He was patient with the animals, and with her and all her questions. She hadn’t told him she already knew how to ride, pretending she’d only done so on the rare occasion and that she was nervous around the large animals.

They’d ride out for hours, several times a week, stopping to rest by the creek she’d found him skinny-dipping in earlier that day. God, she’d wanted to join him, to feel his naked body against hers.

With the whopping lie between them, she didn’t feel she had the right to slip into the water and seduce him. Hadn’t she already tricked him into revealing so much of his heart and soul to her?

His comment about not knowing who to trust had struck far too close to home.

Rachel couldn’t go another day without confessing. If he refused to see her again, it was the price she paid for not being up-front with him to begin with.

“Why do you have to tell him?” Landry asked.

“I’d rather he heard it from me than finding out from someone else.”

“Whit, Carson and I wouldn’t tell him.”

“Not intentionally.” Rachel couldn’t risk it. And she wouldn’t feel right being with him when a lie stood between them.

“Look, Rachel, since I was the one who roped you into spying on him, I should break it to him.”

“No. That would make it worse. I own up to my mistakes. The sooner the better.”

“If that’s the way you want it,” Landry conceded. “Just promise you’ll let me know how it goes.”

“I will.” Rachel ended the call and glanced at the clock, her heart ratcheting up a notch. One hour and thirty minutes before Noah arrived.

She hurried around the apartment, straightening bright yellow and red throw pillows, dusting surfaces of the rich mahogany antique curio cabinets and occasional tables. Some of them had come over from Europe with her great-grandmother. She’d found them hidden in the attic of her estate, collecting dust. They would never have matched the elegant, modern furnishings of the larger estate. But they were perfect for her little apartment. She’d pulled them out of the attic, lovingly repaired what was broken and moved them into her apartment, giving them the home they deserved. And she’d collected over the years. She liked that her furniture had seen many generations of use. With a final swipe of the dust cloth over her already immaculate living space, she admitted it was as good as it would get.

* * *

Later, with less than an hour to spare, she began preparation of their meal.

She knew enough about Noah to realize he wouldn’t be impressed with Cornish hens or a pilaf—he’d want a hearty supper fit for a man who worked outside all day long. Steak, baked potatoes and a fresh green salad would do the trick. Thankfully, she’d been to the grocer that morning with Noah in mind.

Pulling the ingredients from her refrigerator, she prepared a marinade in a rectangular dish and laid the steaks inside to soak. She covered the dish and left it on the counter to give the steaks time to warm up to room temperature for when Noah arrived. She’d fire up the grill on her balcony and have it hot and ready to go when Noah walked through the door.

Rachel loved to cook but had very few occasions to do it. She stayed busy with her social obligations, organizing charitable events and philanthropies. The money she’d inherited from her parents gave her a hefty cushion to live off of the rest of her life, if she chose not to work another day.

She’d gone to college and graduated with a degree in International Business with a minor in Marketing. It helped her run the charitable foundations her mother and father had started and set up to run in perpetuity.

As much as she enjoyed helping others, she’d love nothing better than to cook and care for one man. As soon as she’d started going to Noah for riding lessons, she’d begun to see that he was just the kind of man she wanted. The kind of man she could see spending the rest of her life with.

But was she the type of woman he could see himself spending the rest of his life with? For weeks, she’d basically lied to him.

Tonight, she’d tell him the truth. If he couldn’t forgive her or trust her after that, well then, that was the end of the time she’d spent with him. Sure, as Landry’s best friend, she’d see him occasionally, but the long days riding out over Adair Acres with Noah would stop.

She swallowed hard on the lump forming in her throat. She hoped and prayed it wouldn’t come to that. In the meantime, she would look her best to deliver her confession.

In her bathroom, she touched up the curls in her hair with a curling iron, applied a light dusting of blush to her cheeks to mask their paleness and added a little gloss to her lips.

Dressing for her confession was more difficult. What did one wear to a declaration of wrongdoing? She pulled a pretty yellow sundress out of the closet, held it up to her body and tossed it aside. Too cheerful.

A red dress was too flamboyant and jeans were too casual. She finally settled on a short black dress with thin straps. Though it could be construed as what she’d wear to her own funeral, it hugged her figure to perfection and made her feel a little more confident. She knew she looked smooth, sleek and pretty.

As she held the dress up to her body, a knock sounded on the door. She squealed and the hanger slipped from her fingers. “Just a minute!” she called out.

Grabbing the dress off the floor, she unzipped the back and stepped into the garment. Quickly, she slipped it up over her hips and the straps over her shoulders.

“I’m coming,” she said, hurrying toward the door as she zipped the dress as far up the back as she could, while running across the living room.

She had her hand on the doorknob, twisting it before she realized she hadn’t put on a pair of shoes or sandals. Too late to go back for shoes, she opened the door and her breath caught.

Noah’s broad shoulders filled the doorway. Wearing crisp blue jeans and a soft blue polo shirt that matched his eyes and complemented his sandy blond hair, he made her heart slam hard against her chest and then beat so fast she thought she might pass out. “I’m sorry, I was just getting dressed and I forgot shoes, and I haven’t started the grill...”

He stepped through the door and closed it behind him. “My fault. I finished my errands earlier than I expected. I could have waited at a park or stopped for coffee, but...I wanted to see you.” Already standing close to her, he reached out, cupped her cheek and gazed down into her eyes. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself.” She laid her hand against his and leaned into his palm. “I’m glad you came early.” And she was. The right clothes, food and shoes didn’t mean anything when he was standing in front of her, looking so handsome.

For a moment she thought he was going to kiss her. He leaned forward, his head dropping low, his lips hovering over hers.

She held her breath, her chin tipping up. She could practically feel his lips on hers. Then the reason she’d invited him to her place popped into her head and she knew she couldn’t have that kiss without first revealing what she’d done. But before she could tell him her news, she decided to feed him first. Her tongue snaked out and wet her suddenly dry lips. “If you can wait thirty minutes, I’ll cook the steaks and potatoes.”

“Where’s your grill? I can get that started.”

Grills and steaks were the last things on her mind. She could barely think past his broad chest and the way he filled the room in which he stood. “On the balcony,” she managed to say, but she couldn’t budge. Her feet seemed stuck to the floor.

Noah chuckled. “I don’t know about you, but I have the uncontrollable urge to kiss you.”

“Same here,” she confessed. If only telling him she’d spied on him was easy. “Maybe we should get started cooking, or we won’t have anything to eat tonight.”

As soon as she stepped away from the hand on her face, she regretted moving at all. She liked how warm and work roughened his palm felt against her skin and wondered what it would feel like if he ran those hands all over her body. She’d gotten a small teaser that afternoon. It wasn’t enough. She wanted more.

Ready to retreat to the safe zone of her kitchen, she spun on her bare heels and would have walked away.

Noah’s hand closed on her shoulders. “Um, sweetheart, did you have a little trouble getting dressed?”

“What?” Hearing him call her sweetheart made her knees weak.

His fingers brushed the bare skin of her back. “Let me get that zipper for you.”

Once again, his rough fingers skimmed across her skin and a shiver of anticipation rippled through her.

“I find myself wanting to skip dinner altogether.” Rather than zip the dress up her back, his fingers hesitated.

Rachel closed her eyes, willing herself to control the raging desire rising up like a tsunami inside. “Me, too,” she said, all her self-coaching flying out the window with Noah’s fingers touching the middle of her naked back.

She leaned against his hand, filling her lungs with much-needed air and letting it out a little at a time, hoping to slow her racing heart.

“Is it wrong to go straight to dessert?” He whispered the words against the back of her neck, his warm breath stirring tendrils of her hair, causing her nerve endings to ignite.

“Who needs steak?” she said, turning in his arms, her determination to hold off until she spoke to him crumbling.

“I can wait to eat.”

Resting her hands on his chest, she gazed up into his eyes. “Why now?” she asked.

“Because I ate a late lunch, and I can’t think of anything else but kissing you.” He bent to brush his mouth across hers.

“No, I mean we’ve been seeing each other at the ranch for weeks. Why the sudden interest in me now?”

He shook his head, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. “Not sudden. I’ve always been interested. I just didn’t know if you returned the interest until today. I was taking it slow.”

She snorted. “Slow? You made turtles look speedy.” Her eyes narrowed. “And now?”

“And now my life has been turned upside down. The truth as I knew it is a lie, and I don’t know anyone anymore. You are the only constant in my life and I guess I was afraid if I didn’t do something soon, I’d lose you.”

“Oh, Noah, I’m not going anywhere. I was waiting for you to show interest in me.” She bit her bottom lip, knowing now was the time to tell him her part in the events that led up to his DNA test and the revelation that he was Reginald Adair’s son. “Noah, I need to tell you something—”

He didn’t give her the opportunity. He swept his mouth across hers and deepened the kiss, pushing his tongue past her teeth.

Rachel melted into him, her arms circling the back of his neck. This was where she’d wanted to be. Forgotten were the marinating steaks and the potatoes waiting to be popped into the microwave.

Noah’s fingers slid down her back to where she’d half zipped her dress. Instead of sliding the zipper up, he dragged it downward and slipped the straps off her shoulders.

The dress dropped to the floor around her feet and she stood in only a pair of sexy black lace panties. Nothing else.

She dragged his shirt up out of the waistband of his jeans and over his head, tossing it to the floor. Next she unbuckled his belt and slid it through the loops. It joined the shirt. Then she loosened the top button on his fly.

Noah lifted her by the backs of her thighs and backed her against the wall. “If this is going too fast, say the word and I’ll stop.”

Too fast? He wasn’t moving fast enough. “Please, don’t stop.” She wrapped her legs around his waist and wove her fingers into his hair, bending to press her lips to his temple.

He captured one beaded nipple between his lips and sucked it into his mouth, tonguing it until it tightened into a bud.

Her heart racing, she arched her back and urged him to take more.

Holding her against him, he spun around and carried her to the middle of the living room and settled her on the Persian carpet in the middle. She’d never lain naked on the carpet and felt the deliciously soft texture against her skin.

The sun sinking low on the horizon spread a golden glow over Noah’s naked torso, casting him in bronze as he dropped over her, settling between her legs. A shadow moved over him and then disappeared as if something had briefly blocked the sun through the window. Perhaps a bird, a plane or a passing truck on the street outside.

Rachel had been so intent on drinking in his tapered muscles and gleaming chest she wouldn’t have noticed the shadow if it hadn’t blocked the golden glow.

Then he was kissing her again and she forgot who she was, that this was supposed to be a dinner date to confess her sins.

Noah caught her mouth in a long, lingering kiss. He scraped his mouth over her chin and down the length of her throat and over her collarbone, angling toward the swells of her breasts.

She rose up to meet him, her breasts beaded and already sensitive to his touch. He tongued one, rolling the nipple between his teeth, then performed the same ritual on the other. Moving downward, he blazed a path of kisses and nips over her belly and down to the apex of her thighs.

Her breathing grew more ragged the lower he swept.

Hooking his fingers into the elastic waistband of her panties, Noah dragged them down her legs and off before tossing them to a corner.

Rachel’s knees fell to the side and she raised her hips.

Noah parted her folds and touched her there with his tongue, tapping gently.

Like fireworks exploding in rapid succession, her nerves ignited and sent sparks shooting to the very outer edges of her skin. Her breath caught and she held it as his tongue swirled, flicked and dipped lower, until she catapulted over the edge of reason.

Noah was climbing up her body, his member nudging against her entrance, where he paused.

“Why are you stopping?” she cried, ready to take him inside.

His jaw tight, he gritted between clenched teeth, “Protection.” He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and removed his wallet, fumbling through. “Damn.”

“You don’t have any?”

“No.” He stared down at her, a muscle twitching in his jaw. “I don’t suppose you do?”

Rachel shook her head, her racing heart barely slowing at the possibility of calling a halt to what she craved so much.

Noah tossed his wallet to the side and bent to kiss her, then rolled to his side and lay on the floor beside her, draping an arm over his forehead. “I’ll come more prepared next time.”

Rachel turned onto her side and rested her cheek against his chest. “I could run to the drugstore,” she offered.

“We can wait.” He brushed his fingers over her nipple. “I can wait.”

“But what if I can’t?” She caught his hand and pressed his open palm to the full swell of that breast he’d teased.

He dragged in a deep breath and let it out. “There’s nothing I want more than to make love to you. But you invited me to dinner, not to take advantage of being alone with you in your apartment. And besides, we probably shouldn’t be half-naked in front of your open windows.” He winked. “What will the neighbors think?”

“To hell with the neighbors.” She pulled him closer to kiss his lips. “But I did invite you to dinner. The least I can do is feed you.”

Noah reached over her to the sofa, where a light throw blanket lay. He snagged it and handed it to her. “It’s getting dark outside and the lights on in here will make us even more easily visible to prying eyes.”

“Thanks.” Her cheeks burning, she wrapped the blanket around her while Noah zipped his jeans, tucking the evidence of his passion inside.

“I’ll be just a minute.” Rachel rose, grabbed her dress and panties and made a beeline for her bedroom, glancing at the windows as she did. It had gotten darker and there was a woman walking her dog beneath the streetlight. All she’d have to do was turn and she’d have gotten an eyeful.

Her cheeks burning even hotter, Rachel entered her bedroom and closed the door behind her before she dropped the blanket. Holy hell, she had just had the best foreplay of her life and would have gone all the way with Noah had either one of them had protection. And she still hadn’t accomplished what she’d intended to. She ducked into the bathroom to splash water over her heated face, wondering how she’d tell him now that they’d made love on her living room floor.

* * *

Noah gathered his shirt and slipped it over his shoulders. He moved around the town house as he threaded his belt through the loops on his jeans.

A soft brown leather sofa could have been considered masculine, but the bright pillows in orange, yellow, red and teal tones gave it a cheerful, more feminine appearance. The two overstuffed chairs on either side of the sofa used the same color palette as the pillows, tying the furniture together. The Persian carpet was a modern design made of high quality wool.

Oil paintings strategically placed along the walls could have been selected by an interior designer to complement the furnishings and accent tables. Everything was tasteful and the overall impression was one of light, broken up by rich colors and textures. It was a warm and inviting home and reflected its owner.

Noah wandered over to the floor-to-ceiling window and searched for the mechanism to close the curtains. When he couldn’t find a string or rod, he started to grab the edge of the curtains and drag it over. In the process, he noticed a button on the wall. He pressed it and the curtains started sliding slowly. As he waited for them to close all the way, he glanced out the window. A figure moved in the shadows, just out of reach of the solitary streetlight on the corner. He wouldn’t have been concerned if the figure had moved on as if walking home. But it remained just out of the light, standing still, not moving.

A ripple of awareness slid across Noah’s skin. Though it seemed ridiculous and paranoid, he felt as though the person outside was staring at him as he stared back. The curtain closed, shutting out the shadow and cocooning Noah and Rachel inside the town house.

Noah shook off the strange feeling and counted it as an overactive imagination. Not everyone in the world had huge secrets, hidden agendas and nefarious motives.

A buzzing sound caught his attention and he found a cell phone on the table beside the sofa. It looked exactly like his so he lifted it and read the writing on the display screen.

It was a text from his half sister, Landry.

Are you going to tell him before or after dinner?

Noah stared at the phone. Tell him what? was the first thought in his head. The second being, Tell who what? Perhaps she had the wrong number. He was about to respond to her text telling her that when another text flashed onto the screen.

Remember to tell Noah it was my idea and not to blame you.

Confused, he stared down at the phone. It looked like his with the same black protective case and the same make and model. Then he remembered he’d left his phone in his truck. This phone probably belonged to Rachel.

As he came to that conclusion, the meaning of the words made more sense. Landry was asking Rachel if she’d told him something. Obviously it was something that he might not like, if she was looking to take the blame for it.

Now the phone had his full attention. Like a sleepwalker, he couldn’t stop himself. He held the phone in both hands and slowly keyed, What should I tell him?

He knew it was wrong and that he was violating Rachel’s privacy by reading her text messages, but after all the lies he’d been told and all the secrets he hadn’t been a party to until now, he had a sinking feeling in his gut that this was going to be another one to add to the mounting list.

What could Rachel and Landry have done that was so bad he’d get mad? He’d always thought of Rachel as someone he could trust, someone who wasn’t a member of the family, who didn’t have a stake in Reginald’s will.

He almost set the phone aside, not wanting to have his faith in Rachel shattered. As he moved his hand to do that, another text popped up on the screen.

Be straightforward. Tell him about spying on him and why we did it.

A lead weight settled in the pit of Noah’s belly.

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