CHAPTER THREE
Texas financier Jed Farrell always gets what he wants—and he wants one more night with his first love. Now that she’s in his hotel room, will she stay?
He stood, empty glass in his hand, and pretended he wasn’t watching her. Her expressive face told him she was as conflicted as he was. At least Jed had known what tonight might bring. Kimberly had been blindsided by his appearance at the reunion.
When she crossed the room toward him, his lungs emptied in a long, slow exhale. She stopped a short distance away, her hands plucking at her skirt. “Is there a woman in Dallas who has a claim on you? Or anywhere for that matter?”
He set down the glass and gave her his full attention. “No. Absolutely not.”
Kimberly gazed at him in silence as if trying to dissect his brain with the power of thought. Her warm brown eyes reminded him of dark, rich chocolate. He was allergic to chocolate. But sometimes a man had to live dangerously. “Does that make a difference?”
She shrugged. “Yes.”
Her body language spoke clearly to him. Nerves. Indecision. Fear. But underneath it all he saw a glimmer of a very familiar emotion...desire. He held out a hand. “I’ve missed you, Kimberly. More than you know. You’ve been like a splinter under my skin.”
His candor coaxed a grin from her. Her nose wrinkled. “That doesn’t sound like a compliment. Besides...I never had a chance back then. All you had to do was look at me, and I melted.”
“And now?” He held his breath, his fingers tightening on hers.
“It’s a night to relive the past,” she said softly. “Surely that can’t be a bad thing.”
Dizziness rocked him for a moment. He had been holding his breath, his hope and expectation no more than 50/50 that she would stay. “There’s nothing I would like more.”
He drew her close. If dancing with her had seemed familiar, this embrace was a thousand times more so. Memories bombarded him. Was it the faint, sweet recollection of puppy love?
The slender arms that slid around his neck said otherwise. He put his hands on her waist, feeling almost as clueless as that long-ago teenage boy who had trembled with the need to possess her.
“You smell good,” he said, nuzzling her neck.
A soft laugh was his answer. “I thought you might have learned some new lines over the years.”
He bit her earlobe gently. “Don’t mock me, woman. I’m feeling distinctly off-kilter.”
Without warning, she pulled back and looked at him, her expression halfway between puzzlement and suspicion. “Why?”
“Why do you think?” He shook his head, amazed that he didn’t already have her between the sheets. “Frankly, I was hoping I’d come to the reunion tonight, see you and chat for a while, and feel nothing.”
Her throat worked as she swallowed. She kicked off her heels with a grimace and wiggled her toes. “I’m getting mixed signals, Jed. If you’re still mad, just say so.”
He was mad. That was the problem. Mad at her for tossing aside what they had. Mad at himself for not trying harder to make her see reason. Mad at the realization there was a good chance Kimberly Fanning had ruined him for other women.
“I hated you for a long time,” he admitted abruptly, the words tumbling uncensored from his tight throat.
Kimberly paled and sat down hard on the edge of the bed. “That makes me sad. I imagined you having all sorts of fun in college.”
“I did,” he said flatly. “And when it was over, I still couldn’t handle being in the same town with you.”
The wounded expression in her eyes should have stopped him, but the explosive mix of emotions duking it out in his chest tumbled toward the truth. “I was in love with you, Kimberly. The hell of it was, you cut me loose with such careless ease, I knew you didn’t feel the same way.”
“But I—”
He silenced her with a wave of his hand. “Forget it. You did what you had to do, I guess.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her cheeks wet.
He shoved the heels of his hands into his eyes, experiencing a familiar burn in his gut. Regret. Frustration. Hurt.
“I’m sorry, too,” he muttered. “This wasn’t what I wanted when I asked you to come upstairs with me.”
She wiped her face with the back of her hand. “I can’t undo the past, Jed. You’re going to have to forgive me and let it go. If it’s any consolation, I was hurting, too.”
“But not enough to change your mind.”
“No.” She bit her lip. “The end may have been painful for both of us, but if I’m being honest with you, I would probably have done the same thing again. I was old for my years, Jed. I knew I had to put someone first. And that someone was Grammy Tilda. You had every opportunity in the world at your feet. My grandmother had no one but me. If I had let you, I think you would have stayed in Royal to help me.”
The quiet words held dignity and sadness and the ring of truth. Perhaps Kimberly had been right all along. That was a tough pill to swallow.
He shoved those thoughts aside and tried to resurrect the mood. “You said it’s all water under the bridge, and that’s true. But you’re still a beautiful woman, and I want you, Kimmie.”
She managed a smile. “I want you, too.”
When she stood, he pulled her close and cupped her bottom with his hands. Touching her like this melted his pique into nothingness. How could he hold on to such a negative emotion when she was finally in his arms? Gently, he lowered the zipper of her dress. All night he had wondered if she was wearing anything under that fitted bodice. The answer was no. His hands caressed smooth, warm skin.
After a few awkward moments, they found their rhythm. Undressing each other in silence, they discovered an intimate accord. Quick smiles...the occasional hitched breath when he removed her lacy undies or when she saw the strength of his erection.
As he reached for a condom, she stopped him, her cheeks flushed. “I’m on the pill. And I’m okay...I haven’t...”
She stuttered to a stop when he put his fingers on her lips. “I understand. You don’t have to worry about me, either, I swear.”
After that, they clambered into bed like an old married couple, settling between the soft, smooth sheets with simultaneous sighs.
“I’m nervous,” she said.
Tenderness overwhelmed him. Tenderness he would have sworn was long dead. “At the risk of sounding wimpy, me, too.”
She chuckled. “You’re a lot of things, Jed, but wimpy isn’t one of them.” She ran her hands up his arms, her thumbs delineating muscles and sinew. “I truly didn’t know how special it was...what we had back then. Men like you are unusual.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.” He settled between her thighs but didn’t move. The effort cost him, but he hovered on the brink of some important revelation.
“You don’t have anything to prove. Even as a teenager you were confident. That self-assurance enabled you to be kind to those who needed it. Tender with me. Gentle in your strength. I loved you for that. And admired you.”
He hadn’t been kind in his thoughts. When she cut him loose, he had wanted to strike back...to make her suffer as much as he was. But as an eighteen-year-old kid, it had been more important to hide his pain. To act as if her defection meant nothing to him.
He had allowed his pride to get in the way back then. Would things have been different if he had come back to Royal immediately and faced her? Could he have changed the course of fate?
Neither of them would ever know. But now was another story.
Dragging his attention from the past, he looked down at her. The wide-eyed feminine gaze bespoke want and need and a healthy dose of wariness. He understood all three.
Gently, he stroked her breasts, first one and then the other, gauging her reaction in the way her eyelids fluttered shut and her back arched. Her skin was softer than a kiss.
Losing patience in the face of raging hunger, he moved between her legs and entered her slowly. The feeling was indescribable.
“Hell, Kimmie.”
Slim legs wrapped around his waist, ankles locking at the small of his back. “What? What’s wrong?”
He shuddered, closer to the edge than a virgin youth with his first female. “I thought I had embellished the memories.” He sucked in a breath. “I don’t understand what you do to me.”
He felt her heart pounding against his. Sweat dampened his forehead. Slowly, he moved in her, desperate to stave off the imminent explosion.
Kimberly urged him on, tilting her hips to force him deeper. “I don’t need your gentleness tonight, Jed. Give me everything...please.” Her demanding cry told him she was part of the insanity.
He took her...again and again. The bed rocked with the strength of their passion. She fought him, clung to him and at last, flamed with him in a blast of incinerating heat.
But when he awoke half a dozen hours later, she was gone.
Six weeks later
Jed swiped his arm across his forehead, wondering who had gotten the calendar wrong. The oppressive heat and humidity in Royal sure as hell didn’t feel like October. But that was Texas for you. Always something new. Blink twice and the weather could change.
He’d spent the last three hours in the barn with Drew, consulting with a veterinary wizard they’d flown in from Kentucky. His brother had big plans to make Willowbrook Farms even larger and more impressive than it already was. One of Jed’s jobs was to make sure that the financial bottom line remained healthy.
Drew was especially interested in buying out the small farm owner whose land butted up against Willowbrook. Jed had seen the curvaceous blonde a time or two, and he figured Drew had his work cut out for him.
Drew planned to drive into town in an hour or so. He’d suggested Jed go with him so they could meet together with their banker. Jed jumped at the idea, especially since he had plans of his own. Immediately after the reunion, he’d had to rush back to Dallas for an emergency. Though he’d wanted to search for Kimberly and confront her, he had to be patient. What he wanted to say wouldn’t work over the phone.
He should have learned his lesson the first time they were together in high school. Kimberly might enjoy having sex with him, but she neither wanted him nor needed him in her life.
What he had wanted was closure, and he achieved that—right? The truth had come out, and he now knew why Kimberly had broken up with him a decade ago. He even reluctantly agreed with her conclusions, if not with her methods.
So why did he keep seeing an image of her hair spread across his pillow and her eyes smiling up at him?
* * *
Three hours later, after a very successful bank meeting, Jed waved at Drew as Drew headed back to Willowbrook, leaving Jed behind. Jed had brought his own vehicle on the pretext of stopping by the club. The Texas Cattleman’s Club, founded in the early part of the last century, was an icon in Royal, a haven for the men—and more recently women—who made up the heart of the beef industry. Also on the rolls were oil barons, real-estate moguls and other movers and shakers. Many a financial deal had been sealed at the TCC, usually accompanied by a shot of aged whiskey. Even without the human lineage, the building was historically significant.
Dark wood and leather furniture and the scent of fine cigars accented what had once been an all-male bastion. Jed was a member of the Dallas branch, but he always enjoyed coming home to the place where his dad had spent so many happy years with his fellow Texans.
Today, however, jed had another objective in mind. Traffic was heavy in Royal during the afternoon. He was forced to circle several blocks before snagging a parking space. Unlike many places, Royal’s downtown district still thrived.
Jed pulled up to the curb and got out, prepared to walk the quarter mile to his destination. Even with the heat, the day was beautiful.
He was headed to Kimberly’s home. He’d already called the business where she worked and ascertained that she had the afternoon off. His plan took a detour, however, when he saw Kimberly walking his way. She didn’t notice him at first. She was texting, her head down, her concentration on her phone.
He stood in her path and waited for her to notice him. It didn’t take long. Their eyes met across a distance of five yards. Kimberly stared. Her face flushed bright red before the color drained away completely, leaving her pale and drawn. “Jed...”
He rushed to close the gap between them, his hands going out instinctively to steady her. But whatever she had intended to say was lost when her legs crumpled, and she fainted at his feet.
Why has Kimberly stayed away from Jed for six weeks?
Find out in chapter four of The Untameable Texan.
The stories of the passionate and wealthy men of the Texas Cattleman’s Club continue in the full-length novel, STRANDED WITH THE RANCHER, by USA TODAY bestselling author Janice Maynard. Available October 1st!