The Colton Bodyguard
The Colton Bodyguard
Carla Cassidy
THE BREATHTAKING FINALE TO THE COLTONS OF OKLAHOMA SAGA…Wrongly imprisoned for murder, horse trainer Greta Colton gets sprung by Tyler Stanton’s falsified alibi. The oil tycoon’s desire has been burning for Greta ever since they met. Now that she’s no longer his brother’s fiancée, he wants her in his bed and working in his corral.In that order.Throwing caution to the wind, Greta accepts Tyler’s brazen invitations. And with danger mounting, they reluctantly risk their hearts. But when a shocking Colton secret surfaces, can Tyler protect Greta from a treacherous family reunion?
They paused at the passenger side of his truck and he couldn’t help himself.
Tyler took her in his arms and kissed her deeply, longingly.
They ended the kiss when he heard people approaching one of the cars parked near them. He opened the passenger door and helped her inside and then he walked around the car to get into the driver’s seat.
“That was an almost perfect ending to a perfect evening,” he said and started the truck engine.
“I don’t even want to hear what would make it a perfect ending versus an almost perfect ending,” she retorted drily.
He grinned at her. “Ah, we’ve reached that point where you can now read my mind.”
She returned his grin. “Not really. You’re just that predictable on certain subjects.”
“Is being predictable a bad thing?” he asked.
“Not necessarily. I think in most cases it could be a good thing,” she replied.
At that moment the back truck windshield shattered and a thump resounded as a bullet struck the dashboard.
* * *
We hope you enjoy this dramatic series:
The Coltons of Oklahoma: Family secrets always find a way to resurface …
The Colton Bodyguard
Carla Cassidy
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
CARLA CASSIDY is a New York Times bestselling author who has written more than one hundred books for Mills & Boon. Carla believes the only thing better than curling up with a good book to read is sitting down at the computer with a good story to write. She’s looking forward to writing many more books and bringing hours of pleasure to readers.
Contents
Cover (#ua41558dd-6869-516d-9d8c-4e8857b6319e)
Introduction (#u4a014a73-2cdd-5520-84c6-2cd3f53cf4d7)
Title Page (#u0b1eff49-2d7c-5e3a-97ee-30e53e701f72)
About the Author (#u53492f67-ab2d-5c6e-b14f-590023fe49a7)
Chapter 1 (#ulink_2daf243b-7015-530e-8a1a-6b8328329291)
Chapter 2 (#ulink_61d38581-3440-5047-aaf2-16515e12876b)
Chapter 3 (#ulink_f68ad6bb-76b9-5f9f-aecb-74119d90ec11)
Chapter 4 (#ulink_c632a464-541c-5b69-af6c-0b483799f44f)
Chapter 5 (#ulink_c2e3c0d6-7197-5bcf-92b4-f115ad0f7ca5)
Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 1 (#ulink_1e235406-4cc0-5252-8024-e7ed7f4e39a1)
The jail-cell door clanked shut behind Greta Colton. She turned and grabbed the bars, staring at her brother on the other side.
“Ryan, you know this is all a mistake. I didn’t kill anyone. I’m innocent. I didn’t kill Kurt.” She watched in horror as Ryan turned his back on her and walked away. How could he believe she was capable of murder?
“Ryan, please.” She grasped the cell bars more tightly, frantic for him, for anyone, to believe her. “I’m not a murderer,” she screamed, but he didn’t stop walking away from her.
Greta sat up and looked around, disoriented as to time and place. Her pounding heart slowed. She was safe in her king-size bed in her bedroom. A glance at the clock on the nightstand told her it was just after four in the afternoon.
She was safe beneath her sky blue comforter with the afternoon sunshine drifting through the lacy white curtains at the window. She released a sigh of relief.
The nightmare she’d just suffered had become a familiar one over the past three weeks, ever since she really had been arrested for the murder of ranch hand Kurt Rodgers.
She’d decided to take a short nap after lunch but had slept longer than she had intended. Lately, sleeping had been far easier than being fully conscious and in the present.
The moments before and since she’d been released from jail had been fraught with anger, sadness, lies and questions. It wasn’t just Greta who had been through hell but her family, as well.
She got out of bed and walked to the nearby window. From this vantage point she could see much of the green pastures and impressive outbuildings of the family ranch, the Lucky C.
But ranch business was the last thing on her mind. A lie had got her out of jail, ruined her engagement and destroyed her mother’s happiness in planning a wedding. For the past two and a half weeks, Greta had been living like a hermit, trying to cope with everything that had happened to forever change her life.
She left the window and headed for the shower in the luxurious bathroom just off the sitting area in her bedroom. It was time for her to face the man who had lied for her, the man who had sworn that on the night of Kurt’s murder he was in a hotel room with her in Oklahoma City.
She had been in a hotel room in Oklahoma City, but she’d been all alone, certainly not with Tyler Stanton, her future brother-in-law. She definitely hadn’t been carrying on a torrid affair with Tyler, as he had implied to the police when he’d offered up the alibi that had ultimately released her from jail.
It didn’t take her long to shower and dress in a pair of tailored brown slacks and a russet blouse that she knew complemented her slender figure. She pulled on a pair of brown suede dress boots and slipped inside her right boot the knife her father had given her when she’d turned sixteen years old.
Her father had worried about her having the run of the ranch, dealing with ranch hands who appeared to be good guys but might be a danger to her, so he’d gifted her with the knife for self-protection. He’d also told her not to pull it on somebody unless she had the guts to use it.
When closed, it was a beautiful mother-of-pearl palm-size case, but with a click of a button it became a wicked nearly-five-inch-long weapon. Thankfully, she had never had to use it or even take it out of her boot.
She left the Lucky C by one of the back doors, grateful when she didn’t encounter anyone. She didn’t want anyone knowing where she was going. Thankfully, the only person in the family who knew she’d been alibied with the lie of an affair was her brother Ryan and a couple of the officers who worked for the Tulsa police force. As far as she knew, none of them had shared that information with anyone else.
So far she’d been spared the humiliating experience of trying to explain to her parents and siblings that she wasn’t having an affair, no matter what Tyler had told the authorities.
It was almost seven when she pulled her red Jeep just inside the black wrought iron gates at the entrance to Tyler Stanton’s estate. It was an hour-and-a-half drive from the Colton ranch in Tulsa to Tyler’s home in Oklahoma City.
Throughout the drive, several times she’d considered turning around and heading back to the ranch. But ultimately, she knew she had to confront Tyler and tonight was as good a time as any. She hadn’t spoken to or seen him since being released from jail. She needed answers that only he could give her.
She stopped the Jeep when the impressive sprawling ranch house came into view. It was definitely the living space of a successful man and Tyler was definitely successful. As owner and CEO of Stanton Oil, he was ridiculously handsome and socially sought after for various fund-raisers and events. The few times Greta had been around him, she’d always found him slightly cold and very intimidating.
Why would he risk his good reputation and his relationship with his brother, Mark, by implicating himself in an affair with her?
Thankfully, he must’ve greased some palms to keep her alibi quiet, for there had been no hint of tawdry rumors floating around. Of course, Mark had heard and had ridden into the Colton house a week ago on a self-righteous horse and declared their engagement over.
She’d spent five days in jail, and for the past week she’d been on the phone canceling wedding arrangements that had been made and praying her mother didn’t spiral down into one of the deep depressions that had occurred often through most of Greta’s life.
Stalling, she now thought. She was stalling by sitting here and staring at Tyler’s house. She put the Jeep into Drive and moved forward, swallowing against the swell of anxiety that tried to waltz up the back of her throat.
She didn’t have the answers to a lot of things that had been happening at the Colton ranch, but she could at least get an answer from Tyler as to why he had lied for her.
She parked right in front of the house. Light spilled from several windows, breaking through the falling darkness of the early-November night.
Tyler had a reputation as a workaholic. It was possible he wasn’t even home yet. If he wasn’t, then she’d wait. If his household help didn’t want her inside, then she’d wait in her vehicle. She’d already put this conversation off for far too long.
Getting out of her car, she fought against the nervous energy that sizzled through her. She had nothing to be anxious about; after all, he was the one who had told the outrageous lie. But Tyler had always made her nervous with his cold blue eyes and hint of disdain when he looked at her.
She straightened her shoulders resolutely and rang the bell, hearing the musical chimes respond from someplace inside. As she waited, she pulled up the collar of her lightweight beige coat against the chilly evening air.
The door opened and she wasn’t sure who was more surprised, she or Tyler. She’d expected a housekeeper, but instead a Tyler Stanton she’d never seen before stood in front of her.
The few times they had ever had any interaction, Tyler had always been impeccably dressed. The Tyler before her was absent his suit coat and tie. His white shirt was half-unbuttoned to reveal just enough bare chest to be distracting and his short light brown hair was slightly mussed. His dark blue eyes appeared to take in the whole sum of her with a quick sweep from head to toe.
“Greta, I was wondering when or if I’d ever hear from you. Please come in.” He opened the door wider to allow her into a large foyer. “May I take your coat?”
Before she could reply, he had removed her coat and hung it in the nearby closet. He then smoothly ushered her into the great room and offered her a seat on the plush black leather sofa.
It was as if she’d entered an alternate universe. The Tyler she knew was stiff and formal, but this Tyler appeared casual and surprisingly welcoming. “How about something to drink? Maybe a glass of wine?” he asked.
“That would be nice.” She finally found her voice.
“Red or white?” He moved to an elaborate built-in bar on one side of the large room.
“White would be fine,” she replied.
“How have you been?” he asked and strode across the expanse of the room to hand her a long-stemmed crystal glass of wine.
He sat next to her and set his own glass of wine on the glass-topped coffee table in front of them.
“I’ve been better,” she replied. He sat so close to her she could smell the scent of his spicy cologne, so different from Mark’s woodsy favorite scent. “I guess you heard that Mark broke off our engagement.”
His gaze held hers intently. “Are you heartbroken over it?”
She hesitated, wondering if she should lie and make Tyler feel bad. “No, I’m only sorry he beat me to the punch,” she replied honestly. “I was behind bars for five long days and nights and he didn’t even visit me once. Five days in jail gave me a lot of time to think. In fact, I’ve heard from a couple of my friends that while I was locked up, Mark was making the rounds of his old girlfriends, so I’d intended to break things off with him anyway. But that’s not why I’m here.”
She paused and took a sip of her wine and then set the glass down. She eyed the handsome man beside her boldly. “Why, Tyler? Why did you lie for me?”
“Because I knew you were no murderer,” he replied easily.
“Didn’t you hear that my DNA and fingerprints were all over the crime scene? My own brother arrested me.” Pain swept through her as she remembered Ryan placing handcuffs on her and putting her into the back of his patrol car.
“I also know they had a hotel receipt to support the fact that you checked into the Regent Hotel on the night that Kurt was murdered, but since you were alone and had no interaction with the hotel staff, that nobody could substantiate your alibi. Besides, I didn’t care what incriminating evidence they had. I knew you didn’t have it in you to hurt anyone. I lied because you needed an alibi and I knew nobody would question my word.”
It was not arrogance in his tone; it was just a statement of fact that reminded her that Tyler was an important, powerful businessman not just in Oklahoma City but in Tulsa, as well.
“Why on earth would you even involve yourself with my problems?” She knew that he and Mark weren’t particularly close, so she couldn’t believe he’d intervened for Mark’s sake, especially given the alibi he provided of being her lover.
Her cheeks warmed at the thought. She had a feeling when Tyler Stanton made love to a woman, it would be more like a total body-and-soul possession rather than just a pleasant sexual encounter.
Tyler leaned toward her, his nearness seeming to suck all of the oxygen out of the air. His blue eyes were piercing, as if wanting to see something deep inside her. “Do you really want to know why I got you out of jail? Why I involved myself in your life?”
She nodded. She’d never noticed before how easy it would be to fall into the depths of his dark blue eyes and how hypnotic his smooth deep voice could be. She leaned toward him, as if anticipating a secret that might change her life and right her world forever.
“Mark was never supposed to take you for himself. That day in April I sent him to meet with you because I had a troubled horse that I wanted your help with. But I also wanted to get you here and hopefully into my bed.”
She reeled back, shocked by his words. “What are you talking about? Mark never mentioned a horse to me that first day he came to the ranch to see me.” She didn’t even want to address the rest of what he’d said to her. She could scarcely wrap her brain around his bold audacity.
“No, I’m sure he didn’t,” Tyler replied drily. “He simply set out to win your heart for himself and he accomplished that.”
He picked up his wineglass and took a sip and then set the glass back down. “Despite my own desire for you, I was happy for Mark when the two of you got engaged in June. My brother and I see eye to eye on few things, but I wanted him to be happy, and if you were his happiness, then I would have never done or said anything to ruin things for the two of you.”
“Mark is happiest when he’s the center of attention,” she replied. “But he only wants positive attention. I always suspected that when I was at home on the ranch in Tulsa and he was at his town house here in Oklahoma City, he was seeing other women.”
Tyler said nothing, but in his silence Greta recognized the truth. Mark had never really loved her. He had been in love with marrying a Colton, with all the society-page tidbits about their romance and upcoming wedding. But he’d never truly loved Greta, the tomboy who was happiest wearing jeans and a sweatshirt and working with and training horses.
“I thought that the relationship with you might make a man out of him,” he said. “But I guess I was wrong.”
“Do you still have that troubled horse?” she asked, eager to turn the course of the conversation.
“I do. She’s a three-year-old filly who has had no training and very little human contact. Are you interested in working with her?”
“I might be,” she replied. She needed something to focus on besides the fact that the man she’d nearly married wasn’t in love with her and she really hadn’t loved him. She needed a challenge to take her mind off all the strange and frightening things that had been happening in her life and around the Colton ranch.
“I still have the horse and I still have an intense desire for you. Would you also be interested in sharing my bed tonight?” he asked.
* * *
Tyler wasn’t a man who believed in playing games. He believed in going after what he wanted, and he had wanted Greta Colton since the very first time he’d seen her.
It was obvious he’d shocked her with his indecent and unexpected proposal to share his bed. She grabbed her wineglass and downed the contents, her cheeks a becoming pink.
Although she looked lovely now in the tailored slacks that hugged her long legs and the rust-colored blouse that enhanced her hazel-green eyes and her dark brown hair, she had really caught his attention when he’d watched her working with a horse at a rodeo months earlier.
Then her slender figure had been clad in dusty jeans and a T-shirt and she’d commanded the horse with confidence and mastery. That had been the woman who had both captured his desire and intrigued him.
She lowered her glass and tucked a strand of her long wavy hair behind her ear. “You’re something else,” she finally said. “You make up an outrageous lie to get me out of jail, a lie that ruined my engagement, and now you have the audacity to ask me to sleep with you?”
He smiled. “Sleep wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.” Her cheeks flushed once again with color, but she made no move to leave. “Greta, we’re both consenting adults and don’t need to answer to anyone for what we do,” he added.
“I don’t just fall into bed with any man who asks me,” she replied and straightened her back defensively.
“I’m aware of that,” he said. “If you were that kind of woman, then I wouldn’t be interested in you.”
She stared at him and then looked away. “Could I please have another glass of wine?” she asked. “And let’s talk a bit more about this horse you have.”
He got up and refilled her glass, then sat down again, this time a little bit closer to her...close enough that he could smell the fresh scent of her.
It was crazy—he had never felt such a visceral pull toward a woman before or since that first time he’d seen Greta. He’d initially been disappointed when he realized Mark and Greta had become an item, but he’d also been pleased that his younger brother had found somebody and intended to settle down.
It hadn’t taken long for Tyler to realize that Mark had no intention of settling down, wedding or not. Getting engaged and planning a wedding to Greta hadn’t slowed Mark’s womanizing ways or forced him to begin to build a future of financial stability for himself and his wife.
“What else do you want to know about the horse?” he asked.
Her gaze danced down to his exposed chest and then quickly moved back up to his face. “Uh...how did you come to own her?”
That quick glance emboldened him. She apparently wasn’t completely immune to him. “I was driving to work one day and passed a field where the horse was tethered to a post. She was half-starved and appeared to have been whipped. I couldn’t just drive by and forget about her obvious distress, so I stopped at the closest ranch house, and the man living there told me the horse was his. I offered to buy her, and after some negotiation, he agreed. Since then she’s filled out and healed from her physical abuse, but neither of my ranch hands have been able to work with her. She won’t let anyone near her.”
“It sounds like you probably saved her life,” Greta replied, more than a hint of approval in her voice.
“If I did, she isn’t showing any gratitude,” he replied drily. He was rewarded by her short but melodic laugh. “And speaking of gratitude, I haven’t heard you thank me for getting you out of jail.”
“I am grateful, but I’m not sure I’ve forgiven you for the particular lie you told. Didn’t you consider what it might do to my reputation? What it would do to your relationship with your brother? Didn’t you consider any of the consequences of your lie?”
“Nothing has gone public, so your good reputation remains intact.” He paused and thought about his brother. “Mark and I have always had a difficult relationship. To be honest, I knew that you’d already told the authorities that you were in a hotel room on the night of the murder. It just seemed easiest for me to tell them that I was in that room with you. I wasn’t thinking of consequences. I just couldn’t stand the thought of you having to spend another day and another night in that jail cell.”
She sighed and took a drink from her glass. “It would have been so much easier if Mark had been the one to come forward and say he was with me that night.” Her eyes narrowed. “But he did absolutely nothing to help me. He didn’t even come to see me or make a phone call to check on me.”
“If all this hadn’t happened, then you wouldn’t have known that you were about to marry the wrong man,” Tyler countered. “Not that I’m suggesting I’m the right man.”
She tilted her head slightly and looked at him curiously. “Why haven’t you married? You’re handsome and successful and I’m sure plenty of women would be happy to become Mrs. Tyler Stanton.”
“The women who want to be my wife aren’t the kind of woman I’d want for a wife. They want it for all the wrong reasons,” he replied. “I got close to marrying once, but it didn’t work out and since then I haven’t found the right woman. Besides, I work long hours and don’t have a lot of time to do the whole dating thing.”
“So you just invite emotionally vulnerable women to share your bed for the night and then move on to the next woman.” She stared at him boldly.
A small laugh escaped him. “You don’t appear to me to be an emotionally vulnerable woman, and no, I don’t make a habit of inviting women into my bed. In fact, you’re the first who has gotten an official invitation.”
She eyed him dubiously.
He leaned closer to her, so close that if he wanted to, he could wrap her in his arms and take full possession of her lush lips with his. It was tempting. It was oh so tempting.
“It’s true, Greta,” he said and watched her eyes spark with gold and green hues. “I don’t invite women into my bed. I wait for them to invite me into theirs. But you’re different, and the desire, the passion, I have for you is stronger than anything I’ve ever felt for any other woman.”
Her mouth trembled slightly and he continued, “In all of my life I’ve never been jealous of Mark, but when he hooked up with you, I was jealous of him for the first time. He had what I wanted...what I still want.”
“I should go,” she replied in a breathy voice, but she made no move to get up.
“You should stay,” he countered. “It’s a long drive back to Tulsa. You should stay here with me tonight and then tomorrow morning you can see the horse.”
Her eyes looked slightly glazed and he didn’t know if it was from the wine she’d drunk too fast or the blatant lust he knew shone from his own.
“Greta, if you want, you can spend the night in one of my guest rooms.” It wasn’t what he wanted, but he also didn’t want to coerce her in any way. He’d laid his cards out on the table and the next play was hers.
“I’ll stay,” she said slowly. “I’ll stay in one of your guest rooms and take a look at the horse in the morning and decide if she’s a project I want to take on.”
Disappointment winged through him, but he tamped it down. He knew he’d been forward and he really wasn’t surprised by her answer. He’d definitely been too open too quickly. It had been out of character for him, but when he’d seen her standing on his front porch, all of his desire for her, which had simmered for so long, had roared to full life.
“Then whenever you’re ready, I’ll show you to your room,” he replied.
“I think I’m ready now.” She stood and finished the last drink of wine in her glass.
He got up, as well, and took the glass from her and carried it and his own to the bar. He felt her gaze on his back and cursed himself for being a fool.
He should have just told her he’d alibied her because he’d been sure of her innocence and then told her about the horse he wanted her to work with. He should have never come at her with the open and honest passion that was in his heart and beat through his veins.
“I’ll get you a T-shirt to sleep in,” he said as he led her down the long hallway. They passed several bedrooms and two baths before he finally turned into a room that was located next to his master suite.
“This is lovely,” she said. She offered him a small smile. “My bedroom at home is decorated in shades of blue, too.”
“Then you should feel right at home here. There’s an en suite bathroom, where you should find whatever you need. There’s several new toothbrushes beneath the sink, and if you need something else that you can’t find, just ask.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” she replied.
“I’ll just go grab a T-shirt for you to sleep in.”
He left her standing in the guest room and went into his master suite and to the drawer that held his T-shirts. He pulled one out and for a brief moment imagined her wearing it and nothing else.
He shook his head and shoved the vision aside and then returned to the guest room, where she hadn’t moved a foot.
He handed her the T-shirt. “Thanks. This should be more comfortable than trying to sleep in my clothes,” she said. She shifted from one booted foot to the other, obviously uncomfortable.
“Then I’ll just tell you good-night,” he said. “I’m right next door if you can’t find what you need or if you change your mind about joining me.” Damn, he’d done it again.
“You’re very persistent,” she replied.
“I am when I know what I want.”
“Good night, Tyler,” she said.
“Good night.” He left the room and she closed the door behind him. He headed back to the great room and to the bar to put the glasses they had used into the dishwasher in the kitchen.
He certainly didn’t intend to give up on satisfying his desire for Greta. He’d shocked her tonight, but he could be a patient man and he’d swear there had been more than a hint of interest in her eyes.
Tonight wasn’t the end of things with Greta. He had a feeling it was just the beginning. All he had to do was convince her of that fact.
Chapter 2 (#ulink_d56099ff-6a49-5279-8f44-e4cdf4ada374)
Greta lay in the center of the king-size bed, Tyler’s T-shirt smelling of fresh Oklahoma air and a hint of ocean-breeze fabric softener.
It was still early, just a little after nine, but she’d needed to escape from Tyler. She should’ve just driven home, but the truth was the wine had gone to her head, as had Tyler’s invitation to share his bed.
She’d heard him go into his room just a few minutes earlier. Since it was a Tuesday night, he probably had gone to bed early because he had to work the next day.
They both would have to be up early if he was going to show her his troubled horse before he left for work. The possibility of working with a new horse was exciting. She was in desperate need of a challenge, and training this horse would fit the bill.
She closed her eyes, seeking sleep, but her mind conjured up a vision of the man in the next room. Did he sleep in pajamas or was he naked beneath his sheets? His unbuttoned shirt had given her a tantalizing peek at his bare chest. What would he look like with no shirt? What would he look like naked? A rivulet of heat worked through her. Drat the man anyway.
Mark had never gazed at her with such an unabashed desire. She’d never seen utter lust, such blatant hunger for her, in any man’s eyes before tonight.
She’d seen it in Tyler’s and she’d be a fool not to admit that he’d stirred something in the very depths of her, a hunger she hadn’t known existed.
Mindless pleasure—she knew that was what she would find in his arms. Not love, not a promise for any future relationship. He’d offered her only one night of throwing caution to the wind and having uncomplicated sex with him.
After everything that had happened at the ranch over the past five months, mindless pleasure and uncomplicated sex sounded far too appealing.
She rolled over on her back and stared up at the ceiling, where pale moonlight danced tiny strands of illumination as it filtered through the slight part in the curtains at the window.
She couldn’t go to sleep, because she was hot and bothered and curious. She’d known in her head that Mark had been cheating on her long before she had acknowledged it in her heart. She hadn’t wanted to believe it, but the signs had been there.
Several times she’d thought of calling off the wedding, but for the first time in her life she’d enjoyed a real relationship with her mother, Abra. They had bonded over picking out flowers and deciding on arrangements, checking out caterers and choosing the size and flavor for the wedding cake.
She’d never seen her mother look so happy, and she’d felt incredibly responsible when Mark had broken their engagement, the wedding plans were called off, and her mother had fallen into one of her bouts of depression. At least her mother hadn’t jumped on a jet to head to Europe like she’d done in the past when the depression struck. Of course, her health wasn’t as good as it had once been.
Greta rolled over, this time curling into a fetal ball as a vision of Tyler once again filled her head.
She’d always found him incredibly handsome. While she’d seen the effect of his sexy smile on other women, he’d always been very cool and reserved around her.
Tonight she’d felt the force of that sexy smile, the intensity of his midnight blue eyes directed at her, and she’d liked it. She was surprised to discover a want inside her, a desire to throw caution to the wind, abandon her good senses and go crawl into his bed.
Mindless pleasure between two consenting adults. Would it really be wrong? She was on her feet at the side of the bed before she realized she’d consciously made up her mind.
Before she could change it, she walked out of her bedroom and into his. The moonlight in his room was brighter, drifting through a bank of floor-to-ceiling windows on the opposite side of the large room.
He sat up, a dark silhouette in the king-size bed. “Greta? Do you need something?” His voice sounded deeper, huskier than usual. She walked to stand at the very edge of his bed, his features now visible to her.
Hunger. It shone from his eyes and stole not only her power to speak but also momentarily her ability to breathe. He didn’t say anything. He lifted the sheet that covered him and she slid in beside him.
“Are you sure?” he asked softly.
“I’m here,” she replied.
She tried to tell herself it was the dizzying effect of the wine, the stress of the past five months in her life. She tried to believe that she wasn’t herself, that she was acting irrationally, but the truth was she just wanted him to make love to her.
He pulled her into his arms and took her mouth with his in a fiery openmouthed kiss that heated her from head to toe. He continued to kiss her until she couldn’t think. At the same time his hands moved languidly up and down the back of the T-shirt, stopping just shy of her bare buttocks.
She ran her hands across his shoulders and back, vaguely surprised by the play of hard muscles beneath his warm skin, muscles that were usually hidden beneath crisp white shirts and expensive suit coats.
He wore a pair of boxers, and those and her T-shirt were the only barriers between them and total naked flesh.
A small moan escaped her lips as his hands moved beneath her T-shirt at the same time his mouth slid down the length of her throat. He nibbled and teased her neck and then sucked one of her nipples through the thin cotton material. Flames of desire flared hot through her.
She reached down, slid her hand beneath the band of his boxers and grasped him. He was fully erect and after that everything happened in a haze.
T-shirt and boxers were gone, leaving them naked and gasping.
He teased and tormented her, stroking every inch of her body. He was confident and masterful in his touch and shot electric pleasure through her.
He followed his heated caresses with his mouth, kissing her in places she’d never been kissed before.
In turn, she did the same, stroking his smooth, muscled back, kissing down his neck and across his broad chest.
She was on fire and only he could put out the flames. She moved her hips against his, wanting...needing him to take her.
When his fingers danced across the place where she needed him to touch her most, she gasped in fevered delight.
His fingers pressed harder, moved faster against her sensitive center, and a rising, overwhelming tension filled her.
As it peaked she rode the wave of a climax that left her shuddering with the force of the release. He didn’t give her time to catch her breath. He moved between her thighs and took her.
He stroked deep and slow, and the rise of her pleasure began to build again. She moaned his name and he increased the speed of his thrusts. Her hips met his as they moved in a frenzy.
They ended together, with her crying with her own climax as he groaned and finished, as well.
When it was over, he held himself above her with his weight on his elbows. His eyes gleamed with the satisfaction of his possession. “I knew you’d be the perfect lover for me,” he whispered.
“And I knew this was a huge mistake.”
He frowned and rolled to the side of her. “Why was this a mistake? It was just as I imagined it would be...beyond wonderful. We fit together so well.”
She sat up and grabbed the sheet to hide her breasts. She couldn’t tell him it was a mistake that she wanted to repeat again and again, but that was the truth.
She’d never felt so wonderfully out of control as she had when he’d made love to her. She’d never known the intensity of the electric sensations he’d pulled from her. He’d tapped into a part of her that she hadn’t even known existed.
“I’m not in the habit of falling into bed with men I don’t love,” she finally replied. She certainly wasn’t in the habit of falling into bed with men who didn’t love her. “I’m not a one-night-stand kind of woman.”
“I’m hoping this isn’t a one-night kind of thing,” he replied.
His words shocked her almost as much as her uncharacteristic actions so far this night. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
He reached up and gently shoved a strand of her hair away from her face. “I was hoping that you’d meet my horse in the morning and agree to work with her. It’s too long of a drive for you to come back and forth from Tulsa every day, so I figured you’d move in here, where you’ll be available to work whenever you want to. And if you’re staying here, why not sleep in my bed each night?”
“Did you manipulate things so that this would all happen?” She gazed at him searchingly. “Did you decide to alibi me knowing that Mark would break off our engagement, that I’d come here to speak to you and that I’d wind up in your bed?”
He laughed, a deep low rumble that she found ridiculously pleasant. “You’re giving me far too much credit as a super mastermind.” He sobered and his eyes took on that glow that created a new heat to flow through her.
“I waited five days before coming forward with that alibi. I had assumed Mark would do something to help you. When he didn’t, I stepped forward. I knew there would be repercussions to my actions, but I certainly didn’t anticipate you’d wind up here in my bed. But if I’m perfectly honest with you, it’s what I wanted. It’s what I’ve wanted for a very long time.”
“You never gave a hint that you were interested in me before.”
“I told you that I would have never interfered in your relationship with Mark if I truly believed the two of you really belonged together. But it was obvious when Mark didn’t even bother to visit you in jail that you deserved better than my brother. Marrying him would have been the biggest mistake of your life.”
Greta felt as if her head were about to explode. The night had been a surprise on so many levels. She scooted toward the edge of the bed.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I’m going back to the guest room, where I probably should have stayed.”
“There’s no reason you can’t finish the night out here,” he countered.
“I don’t want to make this into anything but what it was, an impulsive sexual encounter with a man I barely know. I won’t wake up in your bed, because that makes what we just did into something different.” She frowned, knowing he probably didn’t understand, but it didn’t matter. “I’ll just tell you good-night.”
She slid out of the bed and found the T-shirt on the floor. She pulled it on over her head and then left his room and went back to the guest room next door.
She went directly to the bathroom, turned on the light and stared at her reflection in the mirror. What on earth had she just done? What had she been thinking?
As if her life weren’t complicated enough already, she’d just had mind-blowing sex with Tyler Stanton. And he’d made it clear that he didn’t intend for it to be a one-night thing.
What did he really want from her? He certainly couldn’t be in love with her. He didn’t know her well enough. And she certainly didn’t know him well enough to be in love with him. Until tonight she hadn’t even been sure if she liked him at all. He’d certainly never given her any indication that he liked her.
She turned off the light and left the bathroom and got into bed, her mind still whirling with questions. To her surprise, she fell asleep almost immediately.
The scent of freshly brewed coffee and frying bacon awoke her the next morning. She was shocked to realize it was after eight, later than she normally slept. She’d expected Tyler to show her the horse and be on the road by this time. He had an important job to get to.
Maybe it was the cook fixing breakfast and Tyler had already left for work, she thought as she dressed in the clothes she had worn the night before.
He’d probably arranged for a ranch hand to show her the horse and then he’d call her later in the day to see if she was interested in working with the wild filly.
Once dressed and with her teeth brushed and hair combed, she followed her nose down the hallway and through the great room to find a large, airy kitchen and Tyler standing with his back to her in front of the stove.
Tight jeans cupped his taut butt and clung to his long legs. He also wore a blue flannel shirt and was barefoot. She’d never seen him so casually dressed and so relaxed. It was definitely a good look on him.
“Good morning,” she said.
He whirled around and smiled at her. “Back at you. Coffee is in the carafe—help yourself—and bacon and eggs will be ready in just a few minutes.”
“What can I do to help?” She walked to the counter with the coffee machine and an awaiting cup.
“Nothing. Just have a seat at the table and relax.”
She poured her coffee and carried it to the round glass-topped kitchen table. “Don’t you have household help?” she asked, realizing for the first time that she’d seen no staff since she’d arrived the night before.
“I have the house cleaned once every two weeks by a team that comes in and I have a laundry service that picks up dirty clothes each week, but other than that I don’t keep anyone full-time except two ranch hands. I spend so many hours at work that it seemed silly to me to have cooks or maids just hanging around all day with nothing to do.”
“Speaking of work, shouldn’t you be there now?” she asked.
He forked bacon out of the skillet and onto an awaiting platter covered with a paper towel. “I took the day off. How do you like your eggs?”
“However you make them,” she replied. “You have a reputation as a workaholic. Do you often take days off?”
“I can’t remember the last time I didn’t go into work. But the company can run fine without me. I have a great general manager, and if any problems arise, somebody will call me.” He cracked several eggs into a bowl, added a dollop of milk and began to whisk the concoction.
“Mark never had any problems taking time off,” she said. “And he’s vice president of the company.”
“It’s a title, not a life calling, for Mark. Mark likes to think of himself as a trust-fund baby. Unfortunately, there was very little trust fund other than the family business. Mark shot through his cash in the first two years after my parents’ deaths.”
He paused to pour the eggs into the skillet. “Mark has always preferred play over work.” There was no censure in his voice. It was just a statement of fact that Greta knew to be true.
Greta sipped her coffee and wondered now how she’d ever thought she could find happiness with Mark. She’d suspected from the very beginning of their relationship that he was cheating on her. She knew he didn’t possess much of a work ethic. They’d had very little in common and had never really talked about what their future together would look like.
But he had been so charming and attentive when they were together, and he’d always managed to sweep away her suspicions about him and other women. Tyler was right. Marrying Mark would have been a terrible mistake.
Greta shunned the limelight and Mark craved it. She loved her work as a horse trainer and he’d been bored by it. Despite their engagement and wedding plans, Mark’s interest in her had begun to wane the minute he’d found out she wasn’t a blood Colton but rather adopted. A recent fact that had been revealed that she was still trying to come to terms with herself.
“Here we go.” Tyler set a plate in front of her and then took a seat next to her at the table with his own plate in front of him.
“Thank you, but you really didn’t have to cook me breakfast. You could have just shown me the horse and I’d have been on my way.”
He grinned, his blue eyes sparkling in amusement. “But then I wouldn’t have the pleasure of your company while I ate breakfast.”
“Do you cook breakfast for all the women you sleep with?” she asked, and a faint warmth filled her cheeks.
“All the women I sleep with?” He raised an eyebrow. “If you knew how few women I’ve slept with over the last couple of years, you’d feel sorry for me and offer to be my lover every single night.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “You’re a piece of work, Tyler Stanton.”
“Yes, I am, but what I’m saying is true. I’m not a player, Greta.”
“Then what are you doing with me?”
He sobered and gazed at her for a long moment. “To be honest, I’m not really sure, but I like what I’m doing with you so far. Now, eat up before it gets cold.”
While they ate, she was grateful that he kept up a light conversation, talking about the changes he’d made to Stanton Oil since his parents had died in a car accident ten years ago. At twenty-two he’d stepped in as president of the company and eventually had appointed his two-years-younger brother as vice president.
“I had to work twice as hard and twice as long as anyone else to earn the respect of my employees. To most of them I was a snot-nosed kid who’d just graduated from college with a business degree but didn’t have the age or wisdom to run the company.”
“But you proved them all wrong,” she replied. She knew how respected Tyler was in the business world.
“It took time but I now enjoy a good relationship with everyone who works for me,” he replied with a touch of pride in his voice.
She was vaguely surprised that there was no morning-after awkwardness. He was warm and easy to talk to, showing her a side of him she’d never seen before.
By the time they’d finished eating and she’d helped him with the cleanup, she was ready to see the horse he’d told her about.
He helped her into her coat and then he donned a casual leather jacket and they left the house by a back door in the kitchen. In the distance several outbuildings rose up, certainly nothing like the big cattle operation at the Colton ranch but enough pasture and room for a few horses.
The early-November sun was warm, and as they drew closer, she identified the outbuildings as a small barn and stables. There were two corrals, a large one in the distance and a smaller one with a shedlike structure that would provide shelter from the weather. In the small corral a black Thoroughbred filly danced nervously as they approached.
“Oh, Tyler, she’s beautiful,” Greta exclaimed.
“And so far completely unbreakable,” he replied.
When they reached the fence, the filly backed to the opposite side. She pawed the ground and shook her head in a show of spirited temperament.
The excitement of a new challenge rose up in Greta. “She has good lines. Do you intend to race her?”
“No, nothing like that. I just want to be able to ride her. I want her to trust somebody and find some peace.”
Greta looked up at Tyler, surprised and touched by his words. The man continued to keep her slightly off balance. He was proving himself to be nothing like she’d originally thought.
She looked back at the filly and her heart ached with the need to soothe, to cure. The physical wounds the horse had sported when bought by Tyler had apparently healed.
Her coat looked shiny and full, and while she was still a bit on the thin side, she looked healthy. But she was obviously tormented by the abuse she’d suffered at the hands of her human owner and those scars were deep inside her.
“I want to work with her,” she said firmly.
“Great!” Tyler smiled with pleasure. “I hear you’re one of the best in the business, so I know she’ll be in good hands. You know, the easiest way is for you to move in here so that you can work with her whenever you want. It’s silly for you to drive back and forth from here to Tulsa.”
She knew he was right. Often when she was training a horse, she stayed on the ranch where the horse was located. Besides, things had been so tense at home lately. The idea of a couple of weeks away was definitely appealing.
“I’ll drive home now and pack some bags and come back here later this evening,” she finally said. She didn’t know if her decision was a mistake or not, but as she looked at the filly, she knew with certainty she wanted to help her, to train her to trust again.
He nodded. “I have two ranch hands. Bill Naters takes care of upkeep and lawn work and whatever else needs to be done. He’s here off and on. Raymond Edwards is here full-time during the days and works mostly in the stables and with the horses. Just tell him whatever you need and he’ll see to it that you get it. You can usually find him either in the stables or in the barn.”
They began the walk back to the house. “Should I expect your return by dinnertime?” he asked once they were back in the house and she had grabbed her purse to leave.
She looked at her watch. “Yes, I should be able to make it back here by early evening.”
He opened the front door and together they left the house and headed toward her Jeep in the driveway. “We’ll go out to dinner. Do you like steak?”
She smiled at him. “I grew up on a cattle ranch. I cut my teeth on a T-bone.”
“Dumb question,” he replied with a charming grin. “There’s a great steak place not far from here. How does that sound for dinner?”
“Wonderful,” she replied. Dining out was definitely better than just the two of them eating in. She still felt more than a little bit vulnerable where he was concerned and she was determined to make sure that he understood that the arrangement between them was strictly professional from here on.
Last night had been an anomaly that she didn’t expect to be repeated, no matter how much she might entertain a weakness for a repeat.
She opened the Jeep door, but before she could get inside, he took her by the arm, twirled her around and pulled her close against his chest.
“What are you doing?” she asked, both loving and hating the instant responsive heat his nearness evoked.
“Just one more thing before you go,” he murmured softly.
“What’s that?” she asked breathlessly.
“This.” He slanted his lips down to capture hers in a kiss that seared her from head to toe.
Someplace in the back of her mind she knew she should jerk away...halt the kiss...do something to stop the insanity. Instead her arms automatically reached up to circle his neck and she leaned into him as the kiss deepened.
When he finally released her, her heart pounded too fast. She murmured a quick goodbye and slid into the safety of the Jeep.
It was only when she was on the road and headed toward Tulsa that she allowed herself to think about Tyler and that deep, unexpected kiss.
It had been a definite sign that despite their night together, he still wanted her. And as crazy as it was, she still wanted him, too.
She’d never indulged in a strictly physical relationship before, but that was what this was...desire built on nothing more than some kind of wild chemistry between them.
The sane thing to do was to drive home and not return to Tyler’s place. But she hadn’t felt quite sane in months. Besides, she desperately wanted to work with the horse that showed such distrust of people. There was also a desire for her to be away from her own home, gain some distance from everything that had been happening there.
Work had always centered her and it had been too long since she’d utilized her talents as a trainer. For the past couple of months she’d been busy planning a wedding that was no longer going to take place.
Working with the horse at Tyler’s place would be a good escape for her. She no longer had to play the socialite and appear at public events in fancy designer dresses with Mark and her parents. It was a role she’d never been comfortable in.
Surely when she returned to Tyler’s later this evening, she’d be able to make him understand that what had happened between them last night wasn’t going to happen again.
Chapter 3 (#ulink_0c668188-f728-5a15-b648-6eaad7faaa27)
Tyler watched the horse he’d named She-Devil when he’d first brought her home and realized just how temperamental, how emotionally damaged, she was. She remained backed up against the opposite side of the corral, her body tensed as if she was expecting something bad to happen to her.
Raymond Edwards, his ranch hand, joined him at the corral. “I saw you had Greta Colton out here. Is she going to work with the filly?”
“Yes. She left for Tulsa to pack some bags and will be back here sometime later this evening.”
“Good. I’m glad she’s on board. She’s one of the best trainers in the area. If anyone can help that poor tormented soul, she can,” Raymond said.
“I told her you’d be available for whatever she needs,” Tyler replied.
“Of course.”
Tyler clapped the thin, wiry cowboy on his shoulder. “You’re a good man, Raymond.”
Raymond smiled at him, revealing a missing eyetooth that had been knocked out in a bar fight when he’d been young and stupid. “You’re an easy boss. I’m heading into the stable now to clean out the stalls. I look forward to learning from Greta.”
Tyler nodded and watched Raymond disappear into the stable. Raymond didn’t live on the property. For the past five years he’d worked for Tyler, he’d arrived each morning at dawn and left around six. Tyler kept four saddle horses and Raymond saw to their needs and kept the stable and riding equipment meticulously clean and maintained.
With a final glance at She-Devil, Tyler turned and headed back toward the house. Greta. His brain instantly filled with a vision of her. He’d been surprised to see her on his front porch, but nothing had surprised him more than her appearing in his room the night before.
He’d wanted Greta Colton long before Mark had ever met her. He’d sent Mark to meet Greta with the specific intent of getting her interested in his filly and close to him.
The moment he’d first seen her she’d stirred something inside him. Even after making love to her last night, he hadn’t had enough of her. He wanted more.
Once Mark had become engaged to her, Tyler had tried to spend as little time as possible around her, although there had been occasions when they’d all been together. Still, Tyler had kept himself distant, not wanting to ruin anything for his younger brother by giving away his own feelings about her.
Since the age of nineteen, when their parents had died, Mark had struggled with life. He’d squandered what little inheritance he’d received, and when he’d been flat broke, Tyler had offered him the position of vice president of the family company, along with a generous salary and few real responsibilities.
But Mark liked the good life and he rarely made it from payday to payday. When that happened, he’d come to Tyler for extra money, and it happened frequently.
Tyler entered the house by the back door, poured himself a cup of coffee and sat at the kitchen table. There were times he thought his brother hated him. Mark hated Tyler’s success, hated having to come to him for a handout. Mark had known of Tyler’s desire to meet Greta from the beginning. When they first met, his brother hadn’t mentioned the wild horse but had wooed Greta right into a relationship and eventually an engagement. Tyler suspected a lot of Greta’s allure for his brother was because Mark knew Tyler was interested in her.
Tyler hadn’t alibied Greta to ruin her relationship with Mark, although he’d known the odds were good that would happen. He’d alibied Greta because he couldn’t stand the thought of her being behind bars and he knew she didn’t have it in her to kill anyone. Most important, when he discovered that Mark hadn’t even visited Greta in jail, let alone attempted to help her in any way, Tyler had known he had to step forward.
He hadn’t seen or spoken to his brother since Greta’s release from jail, but he had heard rumors that Mark wasn’t crying in his beer and instead had been making the rounds of old girlfriends and partying it up. He must have found a sugar mama because normally by now Mark would be asking for an “advance” on his paycheck.
Thankfully, nobody’s heart appeared to have been broken by Tyler’s false alibi and the subsequent broken engagement. He’d accomplished what he wanted to do by getting Greta released from jail and last night he’d held her in his arms and made love to her.
It had been magic. Making love to her had been everything that he’d fantasized about and more. He had no driving desire to find a wife and build a future with her. He just knew he wanted Greta again...and again.
She not only drew him physically, but she also intrigued him. He wanted not just to know her body but to get into her mind, as well. She appeared to be so different from the superficial social-climbing women who normally surrounded him.
He didn’t know exactly where this would all lead, but for the first time since his parents’ deaths, he was willing to let fate take over and just go along for the ride. For the first time in a long time, he was allowing emotions to lead him rather than carefully planning and using his head.
He finished his coffee and then headed for his bedroom. As he made the bed, he thought of how passionate she’d been, how eagerly she’d responded to his every touch the night before.
After making the bed, he checked in with his office and was glad to hear that there were no fires that needed to be put out. It would be a long day awaiting Greta’s return.
Tyler had few friends. Taking over the family business and making it successful and seeing to Mark’s welfare had taken up most of the time when young men hung out at bars or sporting events and built friendships.
Thankfully, he had one good friend, the rancher next door. Derek Underwood was three years older than Tyler, but the two had struck up an unlikely friendship that Tyler cherished.
He returned to the kitchen and punched Derek’s number into his cell phone. Derek answered on the second ring. “I was wondering if you wanted to come over and drink a cup of coffee and shoot the bull with me for a little while,” Tyler said.
“You’re at home? On a Wednesday morning?” Derek replied in surprise.
“I took the day off,” Tyler said.
“I’d better look outside to see if the sky is falling.”
Tyler laughed. “You want to come by or not?”
“Sure, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
The two men hung up and Tyler made a fresh pot of coffee. By the time it had finished brewing, Derek was at his back door. On the surface the two men were exact opposites.
Derek’s wardrobe consisted solely of worn jeans and flannel shirts. Some days he shaved; some days he didn’t. His dark brown hair was long and shaggy and appeared to have not been acquainted with a comb for years.
“I hired Greta Colton to come out here and work with She-Devil,” Tyler said as he poured them each a cup of coffee and joined Derek at the table.
Derek frowned, his bushy brown eyebrows nearly meeting across the bridge of his nose. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I have a good friend in Tulsa who is fairly friendly with the Coltons, and lately it seems there’s a lot of drama going on with that family.”
“What kind of drama?” Tyler asked. He knew about the murder of a ranch hand and Greta’s arrest, but he hadn’t really kept up with what was happening to the Colton family.
“Greta’s mother was attacked in her bedroom and was in a coma for a little while. They’ve had fires set in some of their outbuildings and fencing torn down. Then there’s the mystery of the murder of Kurt Rodgers. I’ve even heard rumors about Greta being on drugs.”
Tyler stared at his friend in surprise. He hadn’t heard anything about the problems at the Colton ranch. Mark certainly had never mentioned anything unusual going on there. Of course, Mark had been more interested in getting his photo in the paper with his lovely fiancée.
“Sounds like foolish gossip to me,” Tyler scoffed.
Derek shrugged. “Maybe. All I know is that from what I heard, where Greta goes, trouble follows. I mean, even her own brother had her arrested for murder.”
“Greta couldn’t kill anyone. I don’t know how her DNA got around the crime scene, but it wasn’t there because she killed somebody.”
Derek took a sip of his coffee and eyed Tyler over the rim of the cup. He set the cup back down and leaned back in the chair. “I heard you alibied her for the night of the murder. Is it true that she was with you that night?”
Tyler hated lying to anyone, especially a good friend, but he knew he had to stick to his story, not just to protect Greta but also to protect himself. “Yeah, it’s true. I was at the Regent Hotel for a business meeting, and when the meeting ended, I wandered into the bar. She was there and we shared a couple of drinks and one thing led to another and I wound up in her room for the entire night.”
Derek narrowed his eyes. “If that’s what you say.”
“That’s what I say,” Tyler replied firmly. “And where did you hear about the alibi?”
“I’ve got a friend in the police department in Tulsa. He told me and then warned me that if I repeated it to anyone, he’d shoot me.”
“If you repeat it again, I’ll shoot you,” Tyler replied with a grin.
“At least you’re getting the best when it comes to a trainer for She-Devil.”
Tyler nodded. “Greta is moving in here to work. She should be arriving sometime this evening and will stay as long as it takes.”
“Rumors or not, if I were you, I’d sleep with one eye open,” Derek said wryly.
Tyler laughed. “I’m sure it will be fine.”
The two visited for about a half an hour, talking about ranching and local news, and then Derek left to go back to his chores.
Tyler placed the coffee mugs into the dishwasher and thought about what he’d just learned about the events at the Colton ranch.
Burning buildings, downed fencing, an attack on Abra Colton and murder... It was a lot to take in.
Where Greta goes, trouble follows.
I’ve even heard rumors about Greta being on drugs.
Those two sentences of Derek’s played and replayed in Tyler’s head. He knew she was a talented horse trainer, but what didn’t he know about the woman he’d made love with the night before, a woman he’d invited to live with him in his home?
* * *
“Mother, you have to cheer up,” Greta said.
Abra Colton sat in a chair next to a window in the sitting area of the master suite and stared listlessly outside.
After years of barely knowing her mother, who had spent much of her children’s growing-up years traveling the globe, in recent months Greta had finally begun to develop the kind of relationship she’d always wanted with her.
Abra had thrown herself wholeheartedly into Greta’s wedding plans. Her smiles had come more often and her eyes had sparkled with life. There had been no killer migraines, no need for her to take to her bed for days on end of rest and quiet.
Now she released a weary sigh, her thin frame absent any energy as her fingers idly toyed with the fringe on the bottom of a lavender throw that covered her shoulders. She turned and gazed at Greta. “But you would have made such a beautiful bride.”
As usual, Abra was perfectly groomed, every dark brown hair perfectly combed into a chin-length bob, but her eyes held such sadness it broke Greta’s heart.
She sank down on her knees next to her mother’s chair. “But surely you wouldn’t have wanted me to marry a man who couldn’t bring me happiness,” Greta said softly.
“Of course not,” Abra replied quickly. “I just thought Mark was a much better man than he turned out to be.”
“That makes two of us,” Greta said. “Mother, just because this wedding fell through doesn’t mean I’ll never have a wedding at all, and when the next time comes, I want you by my side and planning every detail with me.”
Abra forced a sad smile. “So much has happened in the last couple of months. The wedding was the one good thing to take my mind off everything else.” She patted Greta’s hand absently. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine, dear. I just need a little bit of time.”
Greta rose to her feet. “I’m getting ready to leave for a job. I’ll be in Oklahoma City for the next couple of weeks or so.” She didn’t tell her mother specifically whom she would be working for or where she would be staying, and she was grateful when Abra didn’t ask.
She left her mother’s room and headed to her father’s study. She wondered how much of Abra’s depression was due to the cancellation of the wedding and how much was because she’d recently learned that Greta wasn’t her biological daughter and the baby girl she’d given birth to twenty-six years ago had died after only one day of life.
Greta found her father at his desk in the opulent oversize room. He didn’t hear her approach and for a long moment she stood in the doorway and simply looked at him.
At sixty-six years old, John “Big J” Colton was still like a force of nature. He was the life of any party, with a loud, booming voice and a bigger-than-life presence.
Although his hair was now silver white, his green eyes still sparked with a lust for life. He’d been the rock of the family when his children had been growing up, and Greta knew the anguish he’d suffered each time Abra had gone away for one of her convalescing trips.
He must have sensed Greta’s presence, for he looked up from whatever he’d been reading and his face lit with a smile.
“Greta, my darling girl.” His eyes filled with the affection and love that had got Greta through life despite her mother’s many absences.
Big J had been the one constant in Greta’s life. “Are you working hard?” she asked.
His grin widened and his eyes twinkled. “Hardly working is more like it.”
“I just wanted to let you know that I’m heading off to Oklahoma City for a couple of weeks.”
“Work or play?”
“Work. I’ve been hired to train a horse.”
“Good. I think some time away from here is best for you until Ryan and the rest of the police get everything under control.” He eyed her with a touch of worry. “You’ll stay in touch?”
“Of course,” she replied. “You can always reach me on my cell phone. And you’ll keep an eye on Mother?”
Big J’s gaze softened. “Absolutely. She’s a bit sad right now, but I’m sure she’ll rally.”
“I feel guilty about the wedding being called off,” Greta confessed. Of course, the wedding hadn’t been the only recent blow Abra had received, along with the rest of the family.
“Nonsense.” Big J waved his hand dismissively. “The last thing I’d want for you is to be married to a shallow womanizer like Mark Stanton. You know I never really warmed up to him. Never forget that no matter what has happened, you’re a Colton through and through and you deserve the very best.”
Sudden tears misted her eyes and she quickly blinked them away. “Then I’ll just get on the road. I’ll be in touch.” She left the room before the tears did more than blur her vision.
She loaded her Jeep and headed away from the huge mansion on the hill that was home. Abra had designed the house and Big J had given in to her every whim, which had resulted in an 11,000-square-foot home furnished to make a statement...and it screamed, “We have money.”
Greta had always been more at home in the pastures than in the house. She’d been right beside her five brothers as they’d all grown up, climbing trees and fences, scooting through cattle chutes and riding bareback on some of the biggest, fastest horses on the ranch.
The past couple of months of prewedding activities had been miserable for her as she’d donned frilly dresses she wasn’t accustomed to, picked out pink ribbon and lace and flowers for the wedding and visited various caterers, all in an effort to please her mother.
The whole pink-and-white wedding scene hadn’t been her thing, but she’d gone along with it all, being somebody she wasn’t to make Abra and Mark happy.
Although she was sorry for the way things had turned out and that Abra had fallen into one of her depressive states, there was also a sense of freedom that she could once again just be herself.
Before leaving the house, she’d showered and changed into a pair of jeans, a burnt-orange blouse and a brown suede jacket. She had no idea what the dress code was for the restaurant Tyler had mentioned, but she’d packed a couple of less casual things just in case.
As she got closer to Tyler’s, a little bit of nervous energy jumped through her veins. She wasn’t nervous about working with the horse. In fact, she was excited by the challenge. The black filly had called to her, touching something inside her that was impossible to ignore.
It was definitely the man himself who made anxiety bubble up inside her. Despite the fact that she’d showered not so long ago, she imagined she could still smell the scent of his expensive cologne clinging to her skin, still feel the heat of his hands on her naked skin.
It was early dusk when she pulled into his driveway. He opened the front door, as if he’d been standing there staring out and waiting for her all day.
“You made it back,” he said as she got out of her car. “And I have reservations at the restaurant in thirty minutes, so your timing couldn’t be more perfect.”
The force of him, the very energy he exuded, had her half-breathless before she’d even opened her back door to get to her suitcases.
“Here, let me take those.” He carried the two suitcases to the front door, with her hurrying to catch up with him. Once she did, he headed down the hallway until he reached the guest room she’d stayed in the night before. “In here? Or in there?” He gestured toward his room.
“In here,” she said firmly and walked into the guest room. He placed the two suitcases on the floor.
“You can unpack later. We should probably go ahead and head out to the restaurant,” he said.
“Should I change clothes?” she asked, although he was casually dressed in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved white shirt.
“No, you’re fine.” He smiled at her. “I’m just glad you’re here.”
With the same momentum that he’d put forward in bringing her inside, he took her back outside, and before she could even catch her breath, she was ensconced in the rich leather passenger seat of a sleek silver sports car.
“This place is a little hole-in-the-wall, but it’s become so popular you have to make reservations even on a weeknight,” he said as they pulled out onto the highway.
“You mentioned it was a steak house. I’m definitely a steak-and-potatoes kind of girl,” she replied.
“Good. Then we should get along just fine.”
“I never asked you this morning what the horse’s name is.” She wanted to keep the conversation focused on the reason she was there.
“She-Devil,” he replied.
Greta shook her head. “That will never do. Does she respond to that name?”
“She doesn’t respond to anything.”
“Then we have to find her a new name, something that doesn’t have such a negative connotation.”
He slid her an amused glance. “I suppose you want to call her Sugar.”
“That’s perfect,” she replied. “And by the time I get finished with her, she’ll be as sweet as sugar.”
“You sound pretty sure of yourself.”
“I know what I’m good at,” she replied.
Again he flashed her a grin. “I like confidence in a woman.”
They passed a strip mall and he turned into the parking lot. At the end of the line of businesses was a restaurant named Cattle Call.
“Like I said, it’s a bit of a hole-in-the-wall, but the steaks are out of this world,” he said and angled into an empty parking space at the side of the building.
“I like hole-in-the-wall kind of restaurants,” she replied. “Besides, it’s the quality of the food that counts.”
They got out of the car and entered the crowded restaurant, where the hostess greeted Tyler by name and led them to a two-top table in the back that was a little more secluded than the other tables.
The scent of grilled meat filled the air, and while the place was full of people, the level of noise was relatively low and made conversation between them easy.
The hostess handed them each a menu and then with a bright smile told them their waitress would be with them soon and left the table.
“It smells delicious in here,” Greta said as her stomach rumbled with hunger. She hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast that morning. “You must be a regular since the hostess knew who you were by name.”
“I eat here two or three times a week. It’s on my way home from work, so I usually pop in for dinner.” He didn’t bother picking up the menu.
Greta opened hers and peered at the offerings. It took her only a minute to make up her mind. The waitress, a pleasantly plump woman with a name tag that read Brenda, greeted them and took their drink and dinner orders.
“A friend of mine stopped by today and told me there have been some rough times at your place lately,” Tyler said once the waitress was gone.
“We’ve had some issues,” she replied, unsure what he’d heard and how much to tell him.
“My friend told me a lot of the issues seem to revolve around you.” He held her gaze intently.
Greta sighed. She’d been raised to keep family matters in the family and not involve outsiders unless necessary. Certainly Mark, as her fiancé, had known some of the problems that had occurred. “Mark didn’t ever mention anything about it to you?”
“Mark only speaks to me when it serves his purpose and that’s usually when he needs money,” Tyler said drily.
The waitress returned with their drink orders, a glass of wine for Greta and a scotch and soda for Tyler. When she’d left once again, Greta decided to tell Tyler everything. She wanted him to trust in her, and who knew what kind of rumors his friend had told him? Besides, she needed to talk about it with somebody other than a family member, to vent some of the fear and uncertainty that she’d been living with for what seemed like forever.
“It all started soon after Mark and I got engaged in June. My mother was attacked in her bedroom and the doctors had to put her into a medically induced coma. Everyone thought it was some kind of a botched robbery attempt. Soon after that I received in the mail a copy of Mark’s and my official engagement picture that ran in the paper. My face was x-ed out in the photo. I thought it was probably from one of Mark’s old girlfriends, but it still made me feel a bit uneasy.”
“I can imagine that would be unsettling,” Tyler replied.
She nodded. “At the same time, odd things were happening around the ranch—a fire was set in one of the outbuildings, tires were slashed on some of the farm vehicles and fencing kept getting torn down.”
She stopped talking as the waitress arrived with their meals. She continued once the waitress had left, feeling as if she’d held everything in too tight for too long and it was a relief to talk to somebody who had no horse in the race, so to speak.
“Thankfully, my mother came out of the coma and returned home, and she and I continued with the wedding planning.” Greta frowned and took a sip of her wine. “Although my mother seemed happy, something was different between us. She was different with me, but I thought it had something to do with the head injury she’d sustained. Then one day when I was here in Oklahoma City, my brother Daniel called me and asked what I was doing hanging around the ranch. I told him that I was here and it was impossible that he’d seen me there, but he insisted he’d seen me. That’s when I think most of my family started to worry about me.”
She laughed self-consciously. “I’m doing way too much talking and not enough eating. Let’s eat while it’s hot.”
“You have to talk and eat. I feel like you’re forcing me to walk out in the middle of an intriguing movie.” He picked up his fork and steak knife and she did the same.
The steak cut like butter and melted in her mouth, but her head was filled with what she hadn’t yet shared with Tyler. The rest of what she had to tell him, she hadn’t really processed completely herself.
She ate several bites of the steak and baked potato and then continued talking. “Then my DNA was found at several crime scenes around the ranch, including where Kurt was murdered. As you know, I was arrested and you got me out of jail. As soon as I returned home, my mother told everyone that it was me who had attacked her, but it wasn’t me. She said the woman looked like me but she looked crazy and wild. And that’s when my father made his big confession...” Her voice trailed off.
Tyler leaned forward. He held a piece of steak on his fork suspended between his plate and his mouth. “His big confession?”
She nodded. “He told us that after giving birth to all her boys, my mother had finally given birth to the girl she’d always wanted. But the baby only lived for a day and then died. He’d learned from a nurse that a young woman had just given birth to twins at her home because she couldn’t afford the hospital bills. Believing that losing her daughter would send my mother over the edge forever, he met with the other mother and arranged to buy one of her twins for fifty thousand dollars. That’s how I became a part of the Colton family.”
Tyler gazed at her with vague surprise. “It must have been a shock to learn about the circumstances of your birth at your age.”
“A shock not just for me but for the entire family.” She took another drink of her wine and tried to stanch a chill that threatened to invade her. “I know now that I have a twin sister and I think she’s found me. I don’t believe she’s looking for a happy reunion. I think maybe she wants to kill me.”
Chapter 4 (#ulink_4f35ba42-9ef2-5925-acde-02b6d111e67b)
Tyler stared at her, stunned by what she’d just told him. A dead baby, another one bought to replace it? And an evil twin sister to boot? It sounded like something out of a bad B-rated movie. “What makes you think she wants to kill you?”
“If she wanted a real happy reunion, she would have just knocked on the front door and introduced herself. Instead it was her DNA found at Kurt’s murder scene. It was her DNA found all around the ranch where bad things have happened.”
“What would be her motive to kill you?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never met her. I don’t know anything about her. I just think she must be crazy. I believe the only reason why she hasn’t managed to hurt me so far is because for the last couple of months I’ve been on the move between the ranch and Oklahoma City for the wedding plans.”
Tyler digested everything she had told him. Was she really in danger? “Did you tell anyone outside your immediate family that you were going to be staying at my place?”
“No, I didn’t even tell my immediate family exactly where I was going. I just told them I had a job in Oklahoma City. Thankfully, nobody asked me to be more specific. They’re used to me being gone and not knowing exactly where I am, especially when I’m working.”
“Then you will be safe at my place,” Tyler replied. Any concerns he had entertained throughout the afternoon about Greta due to the conversation with Derek had been laid to rest.
He gazed at the woman across from him as she focused on her food. She appeared more relaxed than she had when she’d first arrived. She also looked lovely with her slightly wavy dark hair falling to her shoulders and her hazel-green eyes emphasized by long, lush eyelashes.
“It must have been a bit traumatic at twenty-six years old to learn that you weren’t a biological child,” he said, trying to read where she was at emotionally with everything that had happened to her.
She looked up at him and smiled. “More than a little traumatic, but the family rallied around me and insisted that I was every bit as much a Colton as any of them.”
“Did you expect anything else from them?”
“Not really. But it’s funny—when I heard that I had a twin sister, I was surprised and yet I somehow wasn’t surprised. Since the time I was little, I always felt that something was missing, that a piece of me was absent. When I found out that I had a twin sister, that missing piece suddenly filled in.” She laughed. “I know I sound crazy.”
“On the contrary, I believe in the twin connection. I’ve seen too many news stories about separated twins who find each other and finally feel whole for the first time in their lives.”
“Knowing about her has explained the empty feeling I’ve always had, but I’m not eager to meet her if she really is responsible for Kurt’s death and my mother’s injuries.” Her eyes darkened.
An unexpected protectiveness surged up inside Tyler. He’d had no idea what Greta had been dealing with over the past couple of months, and he wished he’d been by her side to ease some of the pain she must have suffered through everything.
He definitely had a feeling she’d downplayed just how difficult the past few months had been for her. First all the incidents on the ranch, then her arrest for a murder she didn’t commit. The finding of her DNA all over the place... She’d been through hell, and apparently, it wasn’t over yet if what she’d said about her twin’s intentions were really true.
Still, he’d satisfied his curiosity and desire to make love to her. But he was vaguely surprised that even after all she’d just told him he still wanted more.
One thing was certain. His brother wouldn’t have been a source of comfort for her. Mark was too self-absorbed to understand or empathize with other people’s feelings.
“What about your real mother? What do you know about her?” he asked.
“Just her name, Tamara Stewart.”
“Do you have any interest in finding her? In getting to know her?”
She looked at him ruefully. “She sold me for fifty thousand dollars when I was two days old. She’s not somebody I have any desire to know,” Greta said. “Although I suppose I wouldn’t mind asking her some questions about my twin to try to find out why she seems to hate me.” She took a sip of her wine. “Besides, they aren’t my family and they never could be. The Coltons are my family.”
“Tell me about them,” he said, hoping to pull some light back into her eyes, which had grown so dark.
“Growing up with five brothers wasn’t easy,” she said. “They teased me unmercifully. I don’t think there’s an outbuilding on the property that I wasn’t locked into or tied up in.” A twinkle of memories sparked in her eyes. “The bottom line is they were my heroes and I wanted to spend all my time with them, proving that whatever they could do, I could do just as well.”
He smiled at the vision of her as a young girl, tagging after her big brothers to prove herself as tough as they were. “Other than Ryan, who I know is a detective, do they all work on the ranch now?”
“My oldest brother, Jack, is the manager. Brett also works on the ranch. Eric is a trauma surgeon. Daniel is actually a half brother, but he’s a whole brother in my heart. He’s enjoying a lot of success with a horse-breeding program he started. So other than Eric and Ryan, the ranch is definitely a family affair.”
“But you’re close to all of them.”
“We’ve had our ups and downs through the years, but yes, we’re all very close.”
After they had finished their meal and the waitress had removed their plates, they lingered over coffee. “I wish Mark and I were closer, but we were never really close even before our parents’ deaths.”
“I think part of what made all of us so close was that our mother wasn’t around very much when we were growing up. She spent most of our childhoods away from the ranch, and when she was at home, she was always in bed with a headache and we were allowed only minimal contact with her.”
“That must have made it hard on your father,” Tyler observed, fascinated by each tidbit of information he learned about her and her family.
She smiled, a warm, open gesture that pooled heat in the pit of his stomach. He wanted to lean across the table and capture her kissable lips with his, breathe in that warmth that her smile exuded. He tamped down the impulse.
“I don’t know how he did it, but my father managed to run a hugely successful cattle operation and at the same time was always there when any of us needed him. Of course, we had a variety of nannies to help out, and our housekeeper, Edith, was like a second mother, but the glue that held us all together was definitely my father.”
A wistfulness welled up in Tyler. There had been many days over the past ten years that he missed his father. Daniel Stanton had been not only loving but a friend and mentor, as well.
“Shall we head back to the ranch?” he asked, unwilling to dwell on the tragedy that had occurred years ago.
“I’m ready whenever you are,” she agreed and took the last sip from her coffee cup.
He paid the tab and then they got back into his car for the short drive home. The scent of her filled the air, a scent of freshness combined with a hint of vanilla and orange. It was so different from the expensive, heavy perfumes other women he’d dated had worn. He found it incredibly evocative.
“We haven’t really talked about the conditions of me working for you,” she said.
He was thinking about how to get her back into his bed that night and she was obviously thinking about work. He tried to adjust his thoughts. “I figured room and board and whatever fee you normally charge.”
She told him her usual fee. “But that’s negotiable depending on my success with Sugar.”
He grinned at her use of the new name. “Aren’t you always successful?”
“I have to admit there have been a couple of unbreakable horses in my past. They were just too damaged to ever trust human beings again. Thankfully, those are few and far between. I have a feeling given a little time, Sugar and I are going to become great friends and then we’ll make sure you’re her friend, too.”
By that time they were back at his house. “Why don’t you unpack and get settled in, and then when you’re done, we’ll finish the night off with a glass of wine in the living room,” he suggested.
“Sounds like a plan,” she agreed. She disappeared into the guest bedroom and Tyler went into the kitchen and sat at the kitchen table, his thoughts on Greta and everything he’d learned over dinner.
It sounded as if she and her family had been through the wringer over the past couple of months and yet she appeared to have weathered everything very well.
Beneath the cheerful attitude she displayed, did a well of emotion exist that she hadn’t tapped into? Time would tell. He was only grateful that she’d apparently forgiven him for the lie that had not only got her out of prison but also broken her engagement to his brother.
Although he hadn’t spoken to Mark since providing the alibi, he had seen him twice at popular restaurants, each time with a different woman on his arm. He didn’t appear to be too upset over the loss of Greta. Greta might not know it, but he’d actually done her a favor. She would have never been happy married to Mark.
It was nine thirty when he and Greta carried glasses of wine into the living room for a nightcap. “I’m assuming you’ll be returning to work tomorrow?” she asked when they were settled on the sofa.
“That’s the plan,” he replied. “And I’m assuming your work with She-Sugar won’t require me at first.”
“Nice save,” she replied at his stumble over the horse’s new name. “And no, for the first week or two, depending on Sugar, it will be just me and her working out together.”
He took a sip of his wine and gazed at her. What were the odds of having her in his bed that night? It was impossible for him to sit next to her, with her heavenly scent surrounding him, and not want her again.
He couldn’t help but remember the silkiness of her skin, the fire of her kisses as they’d made love the night before. She’d been an eager participant, giving as well as receiving. She’d been everything he’d dreamed of and more...and he definitely wanted more.
“Earth to Tyler.” Her voice interrupted his thoughts. “You looked like you drifted off there for a minute.”
“Sorry. I did,” he replied and focused on the sweet curve of her lips. “I was just wondering if you’d want a repeat of last night.”
Her cheeks immediately flushed with color and her eyes widened. She took a sip of her wine and then carefully placed the glass on the coffee table and looked at him. “What, exactly, do you want with me, Tyler?”
She’d asked him the question before, but he hadn’t given her a real clear answer, because he hadn’t had one. He still didn’t have one.
He gazed at her for a long moment before replying. “To be honest with you, I’m not sure. I know I’m tremendously drawn to you physically and I’d definitely like to get to know you better. I’ve wanted that for a long time, but beyond that, I don’t know.”
She averted her gaze from his once again. “I appreciate your honesty.”
“But you didn’t answer my question.” He waited until she looked at him again and then he smiled. “You know what you’re good at and I know what I’m good at.”
She laughed, a musical sound that only increased his desire. “Does that ego get in your way much?”
“I try not to pull it out too often,” he replied lightly. But his lightness of tone didn’t last but a moment. “Make love with me again, Greta. Let me hold you in my arms again and kiss you until you can’t think straight.”
He could tell by the expression on her face that she was conflicted and he pressed on. “Don’t overthink things. Just let it happen. There is no right or wrong to this. I want you again and I believe that you want me, too.”
Her eyes filled with an emotion that had his blood simmering. “I do want you,” she confessed softly.
He didn’t say another word. He stood and took her hand and pulled her up from the sofa, and together they walked down the hallway to his bedroom.
* * *
She’d officially lost her mind. That was Greta’s first thought when she awoke in the guest bedroom the next morning. She’d made love with Tyler and again had refused to stay in his bed through the night, as if that somehow mitigated the fact that they were acting like horny teenagers with no self-control.
He’d told her he wanted to get to know her better, and she’d like to get to know him better, too. But they’d got it all backward, making love first and getting to know each other later.
She had never allowed physical attraction to lead her in a relationship. She’d always allowed her heart and her head to be in charge of her hormones.
But when Tyler looked at her with such hunger, when his lips curved into that sexy smile, she became powerless to deny him whatever he wanted...because she wanted it, too.
It was time she fixed things, refused any more physical contact with Tyler until she at least decided if she really liked him or not. So far she found him surprisingly warm and charming, but she’d really known him for only two short days.
She hadn’t forgotten that the times she’d encountered him while she’d been with Mark, he had struck her as cold and not particularly interested in her presence.
Will the real Tyler Stanton please stand up? she thought as she scooted out of bed. She grabbed a pair of jeans, a blue flannel shirt and clean underwear for the day, intending to spend most of the daylight hours in the corral with Sugar.
Minutes later as she stood beneath a hot shower spray, she couldn’t help but think of being in Tyler’s arms, of his kisses and caresses, which had formed such an intense fire inside her, a fire she’d never felt before.
They fit together perfectly in the bed, but she had no idea how well they’d fit together out of bed. Things had happened so fast. Everything had been pleasant between them so far, but it was early in the game and she really had no idea what to expect in day-to-day life with him.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” she muttered as she stepped out of the shower and grabbed a fluffy fresh-smelling towel from a cabinet.
At least Tyler would be at work today and she would be able to focus her sole attention on the horse renamed Sugar. To Greta there was almost nothing worse than somebody who abused a helpless animal, unless it was somebody who took the life of an innocent human being.
Once she’d dried off and dressed, she stared at her reflection in the mirror and thought of the twin sister she’d never met.
It was obvious from the fact that Abra had thought it was Greta who’d attacked her, and that Daniel had believed he’d seen Greta at the ranch when in reality she’d been in Oklahoma City, that her sister was an identical twin.
Greta had seen heartwarming shows on television about the reunion of separated twins. The reunions always resulted in joy and love and new extended families. Why hadn’t that happened for her? She would have welcomed her twin sister into her life, enjoyed the friendship and love of somebody she’d shared a womb with through nine months.
She didn’t even know her twin’s name or much of anything about their biological mother. All Big J had been able to tell them was the woman’s name was Tamara Stewart and that she had sold him the baby. He’d met her only once, in a small house someplace on the west side of Tulsa near the hospital.
He hadn’t been able to remember the address or the specific neighborhood of the house. He hadn’t even remembered that much about the woman. He either hadn’t paid attention or had forgotten the details from that day so long ago. All he knew was that he’d been so desperate to replace the baby Abra had lost that that was all he’d really cared about. He hadn’t wanted Abra to suffer the grief of finding out that her baby girl had died.
Greta knew her brother Ryan was investigating and attempting to locate Tamara in an effort to get a handle on her daughter, who had become a threat to both Greta and her adopted family.
She turned away from the mirror and tried to clear her mind. There was nothing she could do about her twin sister. She needed to focus on greeting Tyler this morning and letting him know that from now on, there was going to be no more physical interaction between them.
She had to be strong and not allow his smooth talk, his gorgeous blue eyes or his sexy smile to change her mind. She was here to do a job, and if in the process they got to know and like each other, it would be a bonus. But she wasn’t going to be persuaded to sneak into his room for a bout of mind-blowing lovemaking again.
Feeling strong and looking forward to the day of work with the horse, she left the bathroom and headed for the kitchen. She found Tyler seated at the kitchen table, a newspaper folded and laid to the side of him and a cup of coffee before him.
Clad in a navy business suit, a white shirt and a navy-and-silver-striped tie, he looked like the man she’d been accustomed to seeing on the rare times they had run into each other when she’d been with Mark.
The only difference was the warm smile that lit his handsome features when she walked into the room. “Coffee is made, but you’re on your own for breakfast this morning.”
“That’s fine,” she replied. She poured herself a cup of coffee and joined him at the table. “I suddenly feel terribly underdressed for coffee.”
“You look gorgeous in denim and flannel,” he replied.
“And you look handsome in your power clothes. I know you’re probably ready to head into work, but before you go, I need to talk to you for just a minute.”
“I’ve got something to discuss with you, too. But you go first,” he said.
She raised her chin and looked into the depths of his eyes. “I am not going to sleep with you again.”
His lips rose in a rueful smile. “You haven’t slept with me yet.”
She huffed out a sigh of frustration. “You know what I mean. I’m here to train your horse and that’s it. I’m not going to be your nightly toy to play with at will. If you want me again, then we have to get to know each other first.”
He looked at her in obvious amusement. “So you want me to court you.”
She eyed him with a narrowed gaze. “Are you making fun of me?”
He laughed. “Not at all. I’m just trying to get clear on what you want or what you need from me.”
“I’m not arguing that there isn’t some sort of crazy physical attraction between us, but I won’t settle for that. We don’t really know each other. I want to get to know you out of bed, and I want you to get to know me that way, too.”
He sobered and nodded. “As much as I’d love for you to be my bedtime toy every night, I respect your wishes. I’d like to get to know you better. That’s part of what I wanted when I first saw you so many months ago.”
He took a sip of his coffee and set the cup back down. “Greta, I understand that we rushed into things fast and furious and you want it to slow down. I can be slow and patient.” His eyes twinkled. “I promise I won’t try to cajole you into my bed again. I’ll wait until you ask me to make love to you again.”
“You sound sure that I will,” she replied.
“That’s hope you hear in my voice.” The twinkle in his eyes disappeared and he picked up the folded newspaper next to him. “And on a much less pleasant note, the issue I wanted to talk to you about is this...” He opened the newspaper to a prefolded page and shoved it across the table in front of her.
Greta looked down in horror at the photo of her and Tyler kissing by the side of her Jeep. The caption read Cattle Princess Jilts One Brother for Another.
Chapter 5 (#ulink_6c044370-03c6-58ff-8b30-fdb000fde578)
It was after nine when Tyler finally left the house and Greta headed out toward the small corral. Tyler had suggested that it was probably Mark who had taken the picture and given it to the newspaper. The accompanying story had been tawdry and filled with misinformation and salacious half facts.
Tyler had tried to calm Greta down, but she’d been both furious and embarrassed. She knew her father had a subscription to the Oklahoma City paper. How was she supposed to explain all this to him...to the rest of the family?
She breathed in the fresh morning air as she walked briskly to the corral, telling herself that the article and photo didn’t really matter. But she was surprised to find herself hurt by Mark’s betrayal, if, indeed, he was responsible for the picture and the column of gossip.
When she reached the corral, she remained outside the wooden enclosure. There was no way she could go in and begin to introduce herself to Sugar until she relaxed herself. The horse would immediately pick up on any anger or anxiety Greta carried with her, and at the moment Greta had both bubbling hot inside her.
A short dark-haired man came out of the barn to greet her. He introduced himself as Raymond Edwards. “Yes, Tyler told me you’d be around,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Greta Colton.”
“I know who you are, Ms. Colton. I know of your work,” he said respectfully.
“Please, make it Greta,” she replied and turned her attention to the horse backed against the far railing. “And I don’t know if Tyler told you or not, but from here on, that horse’s name is Sugar.”
Raymond grinned. “If you can make that filly sweet as sugar, then I’ll know your reputation as a miracle worker with horses isn’t overblown.”
“Time will tell,” Greta replied. The two chatted for a few minutes, talking about rodeos they had both attended and mutual acquaintances in the horse business, and then Raymond returned to his work in the barn, leaving her to sort out her mood.
The photo had been such a shock. Why would Mark want to do something like that? Why would anyone do that? Something so ugly? Why make her out to be some kind of a slut when he was the one who had left her to languish in a jail cell while he wined and dined old girlfriends?
It was mean-spirited and so unfair, and it only made her more grateful than ever that the wedding had been called off before she’d married such a man.
Did Tyler possess that kind of mean streak, too? That was the problem. She didn’t know him well enough to discern all of the facets of his character.
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Carla Cassidy
THE BREATHTAKING FINALE TO THE COLTONS OF OKLAHOMA SAGA…Wrongly imprisoned for murder, horse trainer Greta Colton gets sprung by Tyler Stanton’s falsified alibi. The oil tycoon’s desire has been burning for Greta ever since they met. Now that she’s no longer his brother’s fiancée, he wants her in his bed and working in his corral.In that order.Throwing caution to the wind, Greta accepts Tyler’s brazen invitations. And with danger mounting, they reluctantly risk their hearts. But when a shocking Colton secret surfaces, can Tyler protect Greta from a treacherous family reunion?
They paused at the passenger side of his truck and he couldn’t help himself.
Tyler took her in his arms and kissed her deeply, longingly.
They ended the kiss when he heard people approaching one of the cars parked near them. He opened the passenger door and helped her inside and then he walked around the car to get into the driver’s seat.
“That was an almost perfect ending to a perfect evening,” he said and started the truck engine.
“I don’t even want to hear what would make it a perfect ending versus an almost perfect ending,” she retorted drily.
He grinned at her. “Ah, we’ve reached that point where you can now read my mind.”
She returned his grin. “Not really. You’re just that predictable on certain subjects.”
“Is being predictable a bad thing?” he asked.
“Not necessarily. I think in most cases it could be a good thing,” she replied.
At that moment the back truck windshield shattered and a thump resounded as a bullet struck the dashboard.
* * *
We hope you enjoy this dramatic series:
The Coltons of Oklahoma: Family secrets always find a way to resurface …
The Colton Bodyguard
Carla Cassidy
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
CARLA CASSIDY is a New York Times bestselling author who has written more than one hundred books for Mills & Boon. Carla believes the only thing better than curling up with a good book to read is sitting down at the computer with a good story to write. She’s looking forward to writing many more books and bringing hours of pleasure to readers.
Contents
Cover (#ua41558dd-6869-516d-9d8c-4e8857b6319e)
Introduction (#u4a014a73-2cdd-5520-84c6-2cd3f53cf4d7)
Title Page (#u0b1eff49-2d7c-5e3a-97ee-30e53e701f72)
About the Author (#u53492f67-ab2d-5c6e-b14f-590023fe49a7)
Chapter 1 (#ulink_2daf243b-7015-530e-8a1a-6b8328329291)
Chapter 2 (#ulink_61d38581-3440-5047-aaf2-16515e12876b)
Chapter 3 (#ulink_f68ad6bb-76b9-5f9f-aecb-74119d90ec11)
Chapter 4 (#ulink_c632a464-541c-5b69-af6c-0b483799f44f)
Chapter 5 (#ulink_c2e3c0d6-7197-5bcf-92b4-f115ad0f7ca5)
Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 1 (#ulink_1e235406-4cc0-5252-8024-e7ed7f4e39a1)
The jail-cell door clanked shut behind Greta Colton. She turned and grabbed the bars, staring at her brother on the other side.
“Ryan, you know this is all a mistake. I didn’t kill anyone. I’m innocent. I didn’t kill Kurt.” She watched in horror as Ryan turned his back on her and walked away. How could he believe she was capable of murder?
“Ryan, please.” She grasped the cell bars more tightly, frantic for him, for anyone, to believe her. “I’m not a murderer,” she screamed, but he didn’t stop walking away from her.
Greta sat up and looked around, disoriented as to time and place. Her pounding heart slowed. She was safe in her king-size bed in her bedroom. A glance at the clock on the nightstand told her it was just after four in the afternoon.
She was safe beneath her sky blue comforter with the afternoon sunshine drifting through the lacy white curtains at the window. She released a sigh of relief.
The nightmare she’d just suffered had become a familiar one over the past three weeks, ever since she really had been arrested for the murder of ranch hand Kurt Rodgers.
She’d decided to take a short nap after lunch but had slept longer than she had intended. Lately, sleeping had been far easier than being fully conscious and in the present.
The moments before and since she’d been released from jail had been fraught with anger, sadness, lies and questions. It wasn’t just Greta who had been through hell but her family, as well.
She got out of bed and walked to the nearby window. From this vantage point she could see much of the green pastures and impressive outbuildings of the family ranch, the Lucky C.
But ranch business was the last thing on her mind. A lie had got her out of jail, ruined her engagement and destroyed her mother’s happiness in planning a wedding. For the past two and a half weeks, Greta had been living like a hermit, trying to cope with everything that had happened to forever change her life.
She left the window and headed for the shower in the luxurious bathroom just off the sitting area in her bedroom. It was time for her to face the man who had lied for her, the man who had sworn that on the night of Kurt’s murder he was in a hotel room with her in Oklahoma City.
She had been in a hotel room in Oklahoma City, but she’d been all alone, certainly not with Tyler Stanton, her future brother-in-law. She definitely hadn’t been carrying on a torrid affair with Tyler, as he had implied to the police when he’d offered up the alibi that had ultimately released her from jail.
It didn’t take her long to shower and dress in a pair of tailored brown slacks and a russet blouse that she knew complemented her slender figure. She pulled on a pair of brown suede dress boots and slipped inside her right boot the knife her father had given her when she’d turned sixteen years old.
Her father had worried about her having the run of the ranch, dealing with ranch hands who appeared to be good guys but might be a danger to her, so he’d gifted her with the knife for self-protection. He’d also told her not to pull it on somebody unless she had the guts to use it.
When closed, it was a beautiful mother-of-pearl palm-size case, but with a click of a button it became a wicked nearly-five-inch-long weapon. Thankfully, she had never had to use it or even take it out of her boot.
She left the Lucky C by one of the back doors, grateful when she didn’t encounter anyone. She didn’t want anyone knowing where she was going. Thankfully, the only person in the family who knew she’d been alibied with the lie of an affair was her brother Ryan and a couple of the officers who worked for the Tulsa police force. As far as she knew, none of them had shared that information with anyone else.
So far she’d been spared the humiliating experience of trying to explain to her parents and siblings that she wasn’t having an affair, no matter what Tyler had told the authorities.
It was almost seven when she pulled her red Jeep just inside the black wrought iron gates at the entrance to Tyler Stanton’s estate. It was an hour-and-a-half drive from the Colton ranch in Tulsa to Tyler’s home in Oklahoma City.
Throughout the drive, several times she’d considered turning around and heading back to the ranch. But ultimately, she knew she had to confront Tyler and tonight was as good a time as any. She hadn’t spoken to or seen him since being released from jail. She needed answers that only he could give her.
She stopped the Jeep when the impressive sprawling ranch house came into view. It was definitely the living space of a successful man and Tyler was definitely successful. As owner and CEO of Stanton Oil, he was ridiculously handsome and socially sought after for various fund-raisers and events. The few times Greta had been around him, she’d always found him slightly cold and very intimidating.
Why would he risk his good reputation and his relationship with his brother, Mark, by implicating himself in an affair with her?
Thankfully, he must’ve greased some palms to keep her alibi quiet, for there had been no hint of tawdry rumors floating around. Of course, Mark had heard and had ridden into the Colton house a week ago on a self-righteous horse and declared their engagement over.
She’d spent five days in jail, and for the past week she’d been on the phone canceling wedding arrangements that had been made and praying her mother didn’t spiral down into one of the deep depressions that had occurred often through most of Greta’s life.
Stalling, she now thought. She was stalling by sitting here and staring at Tyler’s house. She put the Jeep into Drive and moved forward, swallowing against the swell of anxiety that tried to waltz up the back of her throat.
She didn’t have the answers to a lot of things that had been happening at the Colton ranch, but she could at least get an answer from Tyler as to why he had lied for her.
She parked right in front of the house. Light spilled from several windows, breaking through the falling darkness of the early-November night.
Tyler had a reputation as a workaholic. It was possible he wasn’t even home yet. If he wasn’t, then she’d wait. If his household help didn’t want her inside, then she’d wait in her vehicle. She’d already put this conversation off for far too long.
Getting out of her car, she fought against the nervous energy that sizzled through her. She had nothing to be anxious about; after all, he was the one who had told the outrageous lie. But Tyler had always made her nervous with his cold blue eyes and hint of disdain when he looked at her.
She straightened her shoulders resolutely and rang the bell, hearing the musical chimes respond from someplace inside. As she waited, she pulled up the collar of her lightweight beige coat against the chilly evening air.
The door opened and she wasn’t sure who was more surprised, she or Tyler. She’d expected a housekeeper, but instead a Tyler Stanton she’d never seen before stood in front of her.
The few times they had ever had any interaction, Tyler had always been impeccably dressed. The Tyler before her was absent his suit coat and tie. His white shirt was half-unbuttoned to reveal just enough bare chest to be distracting and his short light brown hair was slightly mussed. His dark blue eyes appeared to take in the whole sum of her with a quick sweep from head to toe.
“Greta, I was wondering when or if I’d ever hear from you. Please come in.” He opened the door wider to allow her into a large foyer. “May I take your coat?”
Before she could reply, he had removed her coat and hung it in the nearby closet. He then smoothly ushered her into the great room and offered her a seat on the plush black leather sofa.
It was as if she’d entered an alternate universe. The Tyler she knew was stiff and formal, but this Tyler appeared casual and surprisingly welcoming. “How about something to drink? Maybe a glass of wine?” he asked.
“That would be nice.” She finally found her voice.
“Red or white?” He moved to an elaborate built-in bar on one side of the large room.
“White would be fine,” she replied.
“How have you been?” he asked and strode across the expanse of the room to hand her a long-stemmed crystal glass of wine.
He sat next to her and set his own glass of wine on the glass-topped coffee table in front of them.
“I’ve been better,” she replied. He sat so close to her she could smell the scent of his spicy cologne, so different from Mark’s woodsy favorite scent. “I guess you heard that Mark broke off our engagement.”
His gaze held hers intently. “Are you heartbroken over it?”
She hesitated, wondering if she should lie and make Tyler feel bad. “No, I’m only sorry he beat me to the punch,” she replied honestly. “I was behind bars for five long days and nights and he didn’t even visit me once. Five days in jail gave me a lot of time to think. In fact, I’ve heard from a couple of my friends that while I was locked up, Mark was making the rounds of his old girlfriends, so I’d intended to break things off with him anyway. But that’s not why I’m here.”
She paused and took a sip of her wine and then set the glass down. She eyed the handsome man beside her boldly. “Why, Tyler? Why did you lie for me?”
“Because I knew you were no murderer,” he replied easily.
“Didn’t you hear that my DNA and fingerprints were all over the crime scene? My own brother arrested me.” Pain swept through her as she remembered Ryan placing handcuffs on her and putting her into the back of his patrol car.
“I also know they had a hotel receipt to support the fact that you checked into the Regent Hotel on the night that Kurt was murdered, but since you were alone and had no interaction with the hotel staff, that nobody could substantiate your alibi. Besides, I didn’t care what incriminating evidence they had. I knew you didn’t have it in you to hurt anyone. I lied because you needed an alibi and I knew nobody would question my word.”
It was not arrogance in his tone; it was just a statement of fact that reminded her that Tyler was an important, powerful businessman not just in Oklahoma City but in Tulsa, as well.
“Why on earth would you even involve yourself with my problems?” She knew that he and Mark weren’t particularly close, so she couldn’t believe he’d intervened for Mark’s sake, especially given the alibi he provided of being her lover.
Her cheeks warmed at the thought. She had a feeling when Tyler Stanton made love to a woman, it would be more like a total body-and-soul possession rather than just a pleasant sexual encounter.
Tyler leaned toward her, his nearness seeming to suck all of the oxygen out of the air. His blue eyes were piercing, as if wanting to see something deep inside her. “Do you really want to know why I got you out of jail? Why I involved myself in your life?”
She nodded. She’d never noticed before how easy it would be to fall into the depths of his dark blue eyes and how hypnotic his smooth deep voice could be. She leaned toward him, as if anticipating a secret that might change her life and right her world forever.
“Mark was never supposed to take you for himself. That day in April I sent him to meet with you because I had a troubled horse that I wanted your help with. But I also wanted to get you here and hopefully into my bed.”
She reeled back, shocked by his words. “What are you talking about? Mark never mentioned a horse to me that first day he came to the ranch to see me.” She didn’t even want to address the rest of what he’d said to her. She could scarcely wrap her brain around his bold audacity.
“No, I’m sure he didn’t,” Tyler replied drily. “He simply set out to win your heart for himself and he accomplished that.”
He picked up his wineglass and took a sip and then set the glass back down. “Despite my own desire for you, I was happy for Mark when the two of you got engaged in June. My brother and I see eye to eye on few things, but I wanted him to be happy, and if you were his happiness, then I would have never done or said anything to ruin things for the two of you.”
“Mark is happiest when he’s the center of attention,” she replied. “But he only wants positive attention. I always suspected that when I was at home on the ranch in Tulsa and he was at his town house here in Oklahoma City, he was seeing other women.”
Tyler said nothing, but in his silence Greta recognized the truth. Mark had never really loved her. He had been in love with marrying a Colton, with all the society-page tidbits about their romance and upcoming wedding. But he’d never truly loved Greta, the tomboy who was happiest wearing jeans and a sweatshirt and working with and training horses.
“I thought that the relationship with you might make a man out of him,” he said. “But I guess I was wrong.”
“Do you still have that troubled horse?” she asked, eager to turn the course of the conversation.
“I do. She’s a three-year-old filly who has had no training and very little human contact. Are you interested in working with her?”
“I might be,” she replied. She needed something to focus on besides the fact that the man she’d nearly married wasn’t in love with her and she really hadn’t loved him. She needed a challenge to take her mind off all the strange and frightening things that had been happening in her life and around the Colton ranch.
“I still have the horse and I still have an intense desire for you. Would you also be interested in sharing my bed tonight?” he asked.
* * *
Tyler wasn’t a man who believed in playing games. He believed in going after what he wanted, and he had wanted Greta Colton since the very first time he’d seen her.
It was obvious he’d shocked her with his indecent and unexpected proposal to share his bed. She grabbed her wineglass and downed the contents, her cheeks a becoming pink.
Although she looked lovely now in the tailored slacks that hugged her long legs and the rust-colored blouse that enhanced her hazel-green eyes and her dark brown hair, she had really caught his attention when he’d watched her working with a horse at a rodeo months earlier.
Then her slender figure had been clad in dusty jeans and a T-shirt and she’d commanded the horse with confidence and mastery. That had been the woman who had both captured his desire and intrigued him.
She lowered her glass and tucked a strand of her long wavy hair behind her ear. “You’re something else,” she finally said. “You make up an outrageous lie to get me out of jail, a lie that ruined my engagement, and now you have the audacity to ask me to sleep with you?”
He smiled. “Sleep wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.” Her cheeks flushed once again with color, but she made no move to leave. “Greta, we’re both consenting adults and don’t need to answer to anyone for what we do,” he added.
“I don’t just fall into bed with any man who asks me,” she replied and straightened her back defensively.
“I’m aware of that,” he said. “If you were that kind of woman, then I wouldn’t be interested in you.”
She stared at him and then looked away. “Could I please have another glass of wine?” she asked. “And let’s talk a bit more about this horse you have.”
He got up and refilled her glass, then sat down again, this time a little bit closer to her...close enough that he could smell the fresh scent of her.
It was crazy—he had never felt such a visceral pull toward a woman before or since that first time he’d seen Greta. He’d initially been disappointed when he realized Mark and Greta had become an item, but he’d also been pleased that his younger brother had found somebody and intended to settle down.
It hadn’t taken long for Tyler to realize that Mark had no intention of settling down, wedding or not. Getting engaged and planning a wedding to Greta hadn’t slowed Mark’s womanizing ways or forced him to begin to build a future of financial stability for himself and his wife.
“What else do you want to know about the horse?” he asked.
Her gaze danced down to his exposed chest and then quickly moved back up to his face. “Uh...how did you come to own her?”
That quick glance emboldened him. She apparently wasn’t completely immune to him. “I was driving to work one day and passed a field where the horse was tethered to a post. She was half-starved and appeared to have been whipped. I couldn’t just drive by and forget about her obvious distress, so I stopped at the closest ranch house, and the man living there told me the horse was his. I offered to buy her, and after some negotiation, he agreed. Since then she’s filled out and healed from her physical abuse, but neither of my ranch hands have been able to work with her. She won’t let anyone near her.”
“It sounds like you probably saved her life,” Greta replied, more than a hint of approval in her voice.
“If I did, she isn’t showing any gratitude,” he replied drily. He was rewarded by her short but melodic laugh. “And speaking of gratitude, I haven’t heard you thank me for getting you out of jail.”
“I am grateful, but I’m not sure I’ve forgiven you for the particular lie you told. Didn’t you consider what it might do to my reputation? What it would do to your relationship with your brother? Didn’t you consider any of the consequences of your lie?”
“Nothing has gone public, so your good reputation remains intact.” He paused and thought about his brother. “Mark and I have always had a difficult relationship. To be honest, I knew that you’d already told the authorities that you were in a hotel room on the night of the murder. It just seemed easiest for me to tell them that I was in that room with you. I wasn’t thinking of consequences. I just couldn’t stand the thought of you having to spend another day and another night in that jail cell.”
She sighed and took a drink from her glass. “It would have been so much easier if Mark had been the one to come forward and say he was with me that night.” Her eyes narrowed. “But he did absolutely nothing to help me. He didn’t even come to see me or make a phone call to check on me.”
“If all this hadn’t happened, then you wouldn’t have known that you were about to marry the wrong man,” Tyler countered. “Not that I’m suggesting I’m the right man.”
She tilted her head slightly and looked at him curiously. “Why haven’t you married? You’re handsome and successful and I’m sure plenty of women would be happy to become Mrs. Tyler Stanton.”
“The women who want to be my wife aren’t the kind of woman I’d want for a wife. They want it for all the wrong reasons,” he replied. “I got close to marrying once, but it didn’t work out and since then I haven’t found the right woman. Besides, I work long hours and don’t have a lot of time to do the whole dating thing.”
“So you just invite emotionally vulnerable women to share your bed for the night and then move on to the next woman.” She stared at him boldly.
A small laugh escaped him. “You don’t appear to me to be an emotionally vulnerable woman, and no, I don’t make a habit of inviting women into my bed. In fact, you’re the first who has gotten an official invitation.”
She eyed him dubiously.
He leaned closer to her, so close that if he wanted to, he could wrap her in his arms and take full possession of her lush lips with his. It was tempting. It was oh so tempting.
“It’s true, Greta,” he said and watched her eyes spark with gold and green hues. “I don’t invite women into my bed. I wait for them to invite me into theirs. But you’re different, and the desire, the passion, I have for you is stronger than anything I’ve ever felt for any other woman.”
Her mouth trembled slightly and he continued, “In all of my life I’ve never been jealous of Mark, but when he hooked up with you, I was jealous of him for the first time. He had what I wanted...what I still want.”
“I should go,” she replied in a breathy voice, but she made no move to get up.
“You should stay,” he countered. “It’s a long drive back to Tulsa. You should stay here with me tonight and then tomorrow morning you can see the horse.”
Her eyes looked slightly glazed and he didn’t know if it was from the wine she’d drunk too fast or the blatant lust he knew shone from his own.
“Greta, if you want, you can spend the night in one of my guest rooms.” It wasn’t what he wanted, but he also didn’t want to coerce her in any way. He’d laid his cards out on the table and the next play was hers.
“I’ll stay,” she said slowly. “I’ll stay in one of your guest rooms and take a look at the horse in the morning and decide if she’s a project I want to take on.”
Disappointment winged through him, but he tamped it down. He knew he’d been forward and he really wasn’t surprised by her answer. He’d definitely been too open too quickly. It had been out of character for him, but when he’d seen her standing on his front porch, all of his desire for her, which had simmered for so long, had roared to full life.
“Then whenever you’re ready, I’ll show you to your room,” he replied.
“I think I’m ready now.” She stood and finished the last drink of wine in her glass.
He got up, as well, and took the glass from her and carried it and his own to the bar. He felt her gaze on his back and cursed himself for being a fool.
He should have just told her he’d alibied her because he’d been sure of her innocence and then told her about the horse he wanted her to work with. He should have never come at her with the open and honest passion that was in his heart and beat through his veins.
“I’ll get you a T-shirt to sleep in,” he said as he led her down the long hallway. They passed several bedrooms and two baths before he finally turned into a room that was located next to his master suite.
“This is lovely,” she said. She offered him a small smile. “My bedroom at home is decorated in shades of blue, too.”
“Then you should feel right at home here. There’s an en suite bathroom, where you should find whatever you need. There’s several new toothbrushes beneath the sink, and if you need something else that you can’t find, just ask.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” she replied.
“I’ll just go grab a T-shirt for you to sleep in.”
He left her standing in the guest room and went into his master suite and to the drawer that held his T-shirts. He pulled one out and for a brief moment imagined her wearing it and nothing else.
He shook his head and shoved the vision aside and then returned to the guest room, where she hadn’t moved a foot.
He handed her the T-shirt. “Thanks. This should be more comfortable than trying to sleep in my clothes,” she said. She shifted from one booted foot to the other, obviously uncomfortable.
“Then I’ll just tell you good-night,” he said. “I’m right next door if you can’t find what you need or if you change your mind about joining me.” Damn, he’d done it again.
“You’re very persistent,” she replied.
“I am when I know what I want.”
“Good night, Tyler,” she said.
“Good night.” He left the room and she closed the door behind him. He headed back to the great room and to the bar to put the glasses they had used into the dishwasher in the kitchen.
He certainly didn’t intend to give up on satisfying his desire for Greta. He’d shocked her tonight, but he could be a patient man and he’d swear there had been more than a hint of interest in her eyes.
Tonight wasn’t the end of things with Greta. He had a feeling it was just the beginning. All he had to do was convince her of that fact.
Chapter 2 (#ulink_d56099ff-6a49-5279-8f44-e4cdf4ada374)
Greta lay in the center of the king-size bed, Tyler’s T-shirt smelling of fresh Oklahoma air and a hint of ocean-breeze fabric softener.
It was still early, just a little after nine, but she’d needed to escape from Tyler. She should’ve just driven home, but the truth was the wine had gone to her head, as had Tyler’s invitation to share his bed.
She’d heard him go into his room just a few minutes earlier. Since it was a Tuesday night, he probably had gone to bed early because he had to work the next day.
They both would have to be up early if he was going to show her his troubled horse before he left for work. The possibility of working with a new horse was exciting. She was in desperate need of a challenge, and training this horse would fit the bill.
She closed her eyes, seeking sleep, but her mind conjured up a vision of the man in the next room. Did he sleep in pajamas or was he naked beneath his sheets? His unbuttoned shirt had given her a tantalizing peek at his bare chest. What would he look like with no shirt? What would he look like naked? A rivulet of heat worked through her. Drat the man anyway.
Mark had never gazed at her with such an unabashed desire. She’d never seen utter lust, such blatant hunger for her, in any man’s eyes before tonight.
She’d seen it in Tyler’s and she’d be a fool not to admit that he’d stirred something in the very depths of her, a hunger she hadn’t known existed.
Mindless pleasure—she knew that was what she would find in his arms. Not love, not a promise for any future relationship. He’d offered her only one night of throwing caution to the wind and having uncomplicated sex with him.
After everything that had happened at the ranch over the past five months, mindless pleasure and uncomplicated sex sounded far too appealing.
She rolled over on her back and stared up at the ceiling, where pale moonlight danced tiny strands of illumination as it filtered through the slight part in the curtains at the window.
She couldn’t go to sleep, because she was hot and bothered and curious. She’d known in her head that Mark had been cheating on her long before she had acknowledged it in her heart. She hadn’t wanted to believe it, but the signs had been there.
Several times she’d thought of calling off the wedding, but for the first time in her life she’d enjoyed a real relationship with her mother, Abra. They had bonded over picking out flowers and deciding on arrangements, checking out caterers and choosing the size and flavor for the wedding cake.
She’d never seen her mother look so happy, and she’d felt incredibly responsible when Mark had broken their engagement, the wedding plans were called off, and her mother had fallen into one of her bouts of depression. At least her mother hadn’t jumped on a jet to head to Europe like she’d done in the past when the depression struck. Of course, her health wasn’t as good as it had once been.
Greta rolled over, this time curling into a fetal ball as a vision of Tyler once again filled her head.
She’d always found him incredibly handsome. While she’d seen the effect of his sexy smile on other women, he’d always been very cool and reserved around her.
Tonight she’d felt the force of that sexy smile, the intensity of his midnight blue eyes directed at her, and she’d liked it. She was surprised to discover a want inside her, a desire to throw caution to the wind, abandon her good senses and go crawl into his bed.
Mindless pleasure between two consenting adults. Would it really be wrong? She was on her feet at the side of the bed before she realized she’d consciously made up her mind.
Before she could change it, she walked out of her bedroom and into his. The moonlight in his room was brighter, drifting through a bank of floor-to-ceiling windows on the opposite side of the large room.
He sat up, a dark silhouette in the king-size bed. “Greta? Do you need something?” His voice sounded deeper, huskier than usual. She walked to stand at the very edge of his bed, his features now visible to her.
Hunger. It shone from his eyes and stole not only her power to speak but also momentarily her ability to breathe. He didn’t say anything. He lifted the sheet that covered him and she slid in beside him.
“Are you sure?” he asked softly.
“I’m here,” she replied.
She tried to tell herself it was the dizzying effect of the wine, the stress of the past five months in her life. She tried to believe that she wasn’t herself, that she was acting irrationally, but the truth was she just wanted him to make love to her.
He pulled her into his arms and took her mouth with his in a fiery openmouthed kiss that heated her from head to toe. He continued to kiss her until she couldn’t think. At the same time his hands moved languidly up and down the back of the T-shirt, stopping just shy of her bare buttocks.
She ran her hands across his shoulders and back, vaguely surprised by the play of hard muscles beneath his warm skin, muscles that were usually hidden beneath crisp white shirts and expensive suit coats.
He wore a pair of boxers, and those and her T-shirt were the only barriers between them and total naked flesh.
A small moan escaped her lips as his hands moved beneath her T-shirt at the same time his mouth slid down the length of her throat. He nibbled and teased her neck and then sucked one of her nipples through the thin cotton material. Flames of desire flared hot through her.
She reached down, slid her hand beneath the band of his boxers and grasped him. He was fully erect and after that everything happened in a haze.
T-shirt and boxers were gone, leaving them naked and gasping.
He teased and tormented her, stroking every inch of her body. He was confident and masterful in his touch and shot electric pleasure through her.
He followed his heated caresses with his mouth, kissing her in places she’d never been kissed before.
In turn, she did the same, stroking his smooth, muscled back, kissing down his neck and across his broad chest.
She was on fire and only he could put out the flames. She moved her hips against his, wanting...needing him to take her.
When his fingers danced across the place where she needed him to touch her most, she gasped in fevered delight.
His fingers pressed harder, moved faster against her sensitive center, and a rising, overwhelming tension filled her.
As it peaked she rode the wave of a climax that left her shuddering with the force of the release. He didn’t give her time to catch her breath. He moved between her thighs and took her.
He stroked deep and slow, and the rise of her pleasure began to build again. She moaned his name and he increased the speed of his thrusts. Her hips met his as they moved in a frenzy.
They ended together, with her crying with her own climax as he groaned and finished, as well.
When it was over, he held himself above her with his weight on his elbows. His eyes gleamed with the satisfaction of his possession. “I knew you’d be the perfect lover for me,” he whispered.
“And I knew this was a huge mistake.”
He frowned and rolled to the side of her. “Why was this a mistake? It was just as I imagined it would be...beyond wonderful. We fit together so well.”
She sat up and grabbed the sheet to hide her breasts. She couldn’t tell him it was a mistake that she wanted to repeat again and again, but that was the truth.
She’d never felt so wonderfully out of control as she had when he’d made love to her. She’d never known the intensity of the electric sensations he’d pulled from her. He’d tapped into a part of her that she hadn’t even known existed.
“I’m not in the habit of falling into bed with men I don’t love,” she finally replied. She certainly wasn’t in the habit of falling into bed with men who didn’t love her. “I’m not a one-night-stand kind of woman.”
“I’m hoping this isn’t a one-night kind of thing,” he replied.
His words shocked her almost as much as her uncharacteristic actions so far this night. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
He reached up and gently shoved a strand of her hair away from her face. “I was hoping that you’d meet my horse in the morning and agree to work with her. It’s too long of a drive for you to come back and forth from Tulsa every day, so I figured you’d move in here, where you’ll be available to work whenever you want to. And if you’re staying here, why not sleep in my bed each night?”
“Did you manipulate things so that this would all happen?” She gazed at him searchingly. “Did you decide to alibi me knowing that Mark would break off our engagement, that I’d come here to speak to you and that I’d wind up in your bed?”
He laughed, a deep low rumble that she found ridiculously pleasant. “You’re giving me far too much credit as a super mastermind.” He sobered and his eyes took on that glow that created a new heat to flow through her.
“I waited five days before coming forward with that alibi. I had assumed Mark would do something to help you. When he didn’t, I stepped forward. I knew there would be repercussions to my actions, but I certainly didn’t anticipate you’d wind up here in my bed. But if I’m perfectly honest with you, it’s what I wanted. It’s what I’ve wanted for a very long time.”
“You never gave a hint that you were interested in me before.”
“I told you that I would have never interfered in your relationship with Mark if I truly believed the two of you really belonged together. But it was obvious when Mark didn’t even bother to visit you in jail that you deserved better than my brother. Marrying him would have been the biggest mistake of your life.”
Greta felt as if her head were about to explode. The night had been a surprise on so many levels. She scooted toward the edge of the bed.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I’m going back to the guest room, where I probably should have stayed.”
“There’s no reason you can’t finish the night out here,” he countered.
“I don’t want to make this into anything but what it was, an impulsive sexual encounter with a man I barely know. I won’t wake up in your bed, because that makes what we just did into something different.” She frowned, knowing he probably didn’t understand, but it didn’t matter. “I’ll just tell you good-night.”
She slid out of the bed and found the T-shirt on the floor. She pulled it on over her head and then left his room and went back to the guest room next door.
She went directly to the bathroom, turned on the light and stared at her reflection in the mirror. What on earth had she just done? What had she been thinking?
As if her life weren’t complicated enough already, she’d just had mind-blowing sex with Tyler Stanton. And he’d made it clear that he didn’t intend for it to be a one-night thing.
What did he really want from her? He certainly couldn’t be in love with her. He didn’t know her well enough. And she certainly didn’t know him well enough to be in love with him. Until tonight she hadn’t even been sure if she liked him at all. He’d certainly never given her any indication that he liked her.
She turned off the light and left the bathroom and got into bed, her mind still whirling with questions. To her surprise, she fell asleep almost immediately.
The scent of freshly brewed coffee and frying bacon awoke her the next morning. She was shocked to realize it was after eight, later than she normally slept. She’d expected Tyler to show her the horse and be on the road by this time. He had an important job to get to.
Maybe it was the cook fixing breakfast and Tyler had already left for work, she thought as she dressed in the clothes she had worn the night before.
He’d probably arranged for a ranch hand to show her the horse and then he’d call her later in the day to see if she was interested in working with the wild filly.
Once dressed and with her teeth brushed and hair combed, she followed her nose down the hallway and through the great room to find a large, airy kitchen and Tyler standing with his back to her in front of the stove.
Tight jeans cupped his taut butt and clung to his long legs. He also wore a blue flannel shirt and was barefoot. She’d never seen him so casually dressed and so relaxed. It was definitely a good look on him.
“Good morning,” she said.
He whirled around and smiled at her. “Back at you. Coffee is in the carafe—help yourself—and bacon and eggs will be ready in just a few minutes.”
“What can I do to help?” She walked to the counter with the coffee machine and an awaiting cup.
“Nothing. Just have a seat at the table and relax.”
She poured her coffee and carried it to the round glass-topped kitchen table. “Don’t you have household help?” she asked, realizing for the first time that she’d seen no staff since she’d arrived the night before.
“I have the house cleaned once every two weeks by a team that comes in and I have a laundry service that picks up dirty clothes each week, but other than that I don’t keep anyone full-time except two ranch hands. I spend so many hours at work that it seemed silly to me to have cooks or maids just hanging around all day with nothing to do.”
“Speaking of work, shouldn’t you be there now?” she asked.
He forked bacon out of the skillet and onto an awaiting platter covered with a paper towel. “I took the day off. How do you like your eggs?”
“However you make them,” she replied. “You have a reputation as a workaholic. Do you often take days off?”
“I can’t remember the last time I didn’t go into work. But the company can run fine without me. I have a great general manager, and if any problems arise, somebody will call me.” He cracked several eggs into a bowl, added a dollop of milk and began to whisk the concoction.
“Mark never had any problems taking time off,” she said. “And he’s vice president of the company.”
“It’s a title, not a life calling, for Mark. Mark likes to think of himself as a trust-fund baby. Unfortunately, there was very little trust fund other than the family business. Mark shot through his cash in the first two years after my parents’ deaths.”
He paused to pour the eggs into the skillet. “Mark has always preferred play over work.” There was no censure in his voice. It was just a statement of fact that Greta knew to be true.
Greta sipped her coffee and wondered now how she’d ever thought she could find happiness with Mark. She’d suspected from the very beginning of their relationship that he was cheating on her. She knew he didn’t possess much of a work ethic. They’d had very little in common and had never really talked about what their future together would look like.
But he had been so charming and attentive when they were together, and he’d always managed to sweep away her suspicions about him and other women. Tyler was right. Marrying Mark would have been a terrible mistake.
Greta shunned the limelight and Mark craved it. She loved her work as a horse trainer and he’d been bored by it. Despite their engagement and wedding plans, Mark’s interest in her had begun to wane the minute he’d found out she wasn’t a blood Colton but rather adopted. A recent fact that had been revealed that she was still trying to come to terms with herself.
“Here we go.” Tyler set a plate in front of her and then took a seat next to her at the table with his own plate in front of him.
“Thank you, but you really didn’t have to cook me breakfast. You could have just shown me the horse and I’d have been on my way.”
He grinned, his blue eyes sparkling in amusement. “But then I wouldn’t have the pleasure of your company while I ate breakfast.”
“Do you cook breakfast for all the women you sleep with?” she asked, and a faint warmth filled her cheeks.
“All the women I sleep with?” He raised an eyebrow. “If you knew how few women I’ve slept with over the last couple of years, you’d feel sorry for me and offer to be my lover every single night.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “You’re a piece of work, Tyler Stanton.”
“Yes, I am, but what I’m saying is true. I’m not a player, Greta.”
“Then what are you doing with me?”
He sobered and gazed at her for a long moment. “To be honest, I’m not really sure, but I like what I’m doing with you so far. Now, eat up before it gets cold.”
While they ate, she was grateful that he kept up a light conversation, talking about the changes he’d made to Stanton Oil since his parents had died in a car accident ten years ago. At twenty-two he’d stepped in as president of the company and eventually had appointed his two-years-younger brother as vice president.
“I had to work twice as hard and twice as long as anyone else to earn the respect of my employees. To most of them I was a snot-nosed kid who’d just graduated from college with a business degree but didn’t have the age or wisdom to run the company.”
“But you proved them all wrong,” she replied. She knew how respected Tyler was in the business world.
“It took time but I now enjoy a good relationship with everyone who works for me,” he replied with a touch of pride in his voice.
She was vaguely surprised that there was no morning-after awkwardness. He was warm and easy to talk to, showing her a side of him she’d never seen before.
By the time they’d finished eating and she’d helped him with the cleanup, she was ready to see the horse he’d told her about.
He helped her into her coat and then he donned a casual leather jacket and they left the house by a back door in the kitchen. In the distance several outbuildings rose up, certainly nothing like the big cattle operation at the Colton ranch but enough pasture and room for a few horses.
The early-November sun was warm, and as they drew closer, she identified the outbuildings as a small barn and stables. There were two corrals, a large one in the distance and a smaller one with a shedlike structure that would provide shelter from the weather. In the small corral a black Thoroughbred filly danced nervously as they approached.
“Oh, Tyler, she’s beautiful,” Greta exclaimed.
“And so far completely unbreakable,” he replied.
When they reached the fence, the filly backed to the opposite side. She pawed the ground and shook her head in a show of spirited temperament.
The excitement of a new challenge rose up in Greta. “She has good lines. Do you intend to race her?”
“No, nothing like that. I just want to be able to ride her. I want her to trust somebody and find some peace.”
Greta looked up at Tyler, surprised and touched by his words. The man continued to keep her slightly off balance. He was proving himself to be nothing like she’d originally thought.
She looked back at the filly and her heart ached with the need to soothe, to cure. The physical wounds the horse had sported when bought by Tyler had apparently healed.
Her coat looked shiny and full, and while she was still a bit on the thin side, she looked healthy. But she was obviously tormented by the abuse she’d suffered at the hands of her human owner and those scars were deep inside her.
“I want to work with her,” she said firmly.
“Great!” Tyler smiled with pleasure. “I hear you’re one of the best in the business, so I know she’ll be in good hands. You know, the easiest way is for you to move in here so that you can work with her whenever you want. It’s silly for you to drive back and forth from here to Tulsa.”
She knew he was right. Often when she was training a horse, she stayed on the ranch where the horse was located. Besides, things had been so tense at home lately. The idea of a couple of weeks away was definitely appealing.
“I’ll drive home now and pack some bags and come back here later this evening,” she finally said. She didn’t know if her decision was a mistake or not, but as she looked at the filly, she knew with certainty she wanted to help her, to train her to trust again.
He nodded. “I have two ranch hands. Bill Naters takes care of upkeep and lawn work and whatever else needs to be done. He’s here off and on. Raymond Edwards is here full-time during the days and works mostly in the stables and with the horses. Just tell him whatever you need and he’ll see to it that you get it. You can usually find him either in the stables or in the barn.”
They began the walk back to the house. “Should I expect your return by dinnertime?” he asked once they were back in the house and she had grabbed her purse to leave.
She looked at her watch. “Yes, I should be able to make it back here by early evening.”
He opened the front door and together they left the house and headed toward her Jeep in the driveway. “We’ll go out to dinner. Do you like steak?”
She smiled at him. “I grew up on a cattle ranch. I cut my teeth on a T-bone.”
“Dumb question,” he replied with a charming grin. “There’s a great steak place not far from here. How does that sound for dinner?”
“Wonderful,” she replied. Dining out was definitely better than just the two of them eating in. She still felt more than a little bit vulnerable where he was concerned and she was determined to make sure that he understood that the arrangement between them was strictly professional from here on.
Last night had been an anomaly that she didn’t expect to be repeated, no matter how much she might entertain a weakness for a repeat.
She opened the Jeep door, but before she could get inside, he took her by the arm, twirled her around and pulled her close against his chest.
“What are you doing?” she asked, both loving and hating the instant responsive heat his nearness evoked.
“Just one more thing before you go,” he murmured softly.
“What’s that?” she asked breathlessly.
“This.” He slanted his lips down to capture hers in a kiss that seared her from head to toe.
Someplace in the back of her mind she knew she should jerk away...halt the kiss...do something to stop the insanity. Instead her arms automatically reached up to circle his neck and she leaned into him as the kiss deepened.
When he finally released her, her heart pounded too fast. She murmured a quick goodbye and slid into the safety of the Jeep.
It was only when she was on the road and headed toward Tulsa that she allowed herself to think about Tyler and that deep, unexpected kiss.
It had been a definite sign that despite their night together, he still wanted her. And as crazy as it was, she still wanted him, too.
She’d never indulged in a strictly physical relationship before, but that was what this was...desire built on nothing more than some kind of wild chemistry between them.
The sane thing to do was to drive home and not return to Tyler’s place. But she hadn’t felt quite sane in months. Besides, she desperately wanted to work with the horse that showed such distrust of people. There was also a desire for her to be away from her own home, gain some distance from everything that had been happening there.
Work had always centered her and it had been too long since she’d utilized her talents as a trainer. For the past couple of months she’d been busy planning a wedding that was no longer going to take place.
Working with the horse at Tyler’s place would be a good escape for her. She no longer had to play the socialite and appear at public events in fancy designer dresses with Mark and her parents. It was a role she’d never been comfortable in.
Surely when she returned to Tyler’s later this evening, she’d be able to make him understand that what had happened between them last night wasn’t going to happen again.
Chapter 3 (#ulink_0c668188-f728-5a15-b648-6eaad7faaa27)
Tyler watched the horse he’d named She-Devil when he’d first brought her home and realized just how temperamental, how emotionally damaged, she was. She remained backed up against the opposite side of the corral, her body tensed as if she was expecting something bad to happen to her.
Raymond Edwards, his ranch hand, joined him at the corral. “I saw you had Greta Colton out here. Is she going to work with the filly?”
“Yes. She left for Tulsa to pack some bags and will be back here sometime later this evening.”
“Good. I’m glad she’s on board. She’s one of the best trainers in the area. If anyone can help that poor tormented soul, she can,” Raymond said.
“I told her you’d be available for whatever she needs,” Tyler replied.
“Of course.”
Tyler clapped the thin, wiry cowboy on his shoulder. “You’re a good man, Raymond.”
Raymond smiled at him, revealing a missing eyetooth that had been knocked out in a bar fight when he’d been young and stupid. “You’re an easy boss. I’m heading into the stable now to clean out the stalls. I look forward to learning from Greta.”
Tyler nodded and watched Raymond disappear into the stable. Raymond didn’t live on the property. For the past five years he’d worked for Tyler, he’d arrived each morning at dawn and left around six. Tyler kept four saddle horses and Raymond saw to their needs and kept the stable and riding equipment meticulously clean and maintained.
With a final glance at She-Devil, Tyler turned and headed back toward the house. Greta. His brain instantly filled with a vision of her. He’d been surprised to see her on his front porch, but nothing had surprised him more than her appearing in his room the night before.
He’d wanted Greta Colton long before Mark had ever met her. He’d sent Mark to meet Greta with the specific intent of getting her interested in his filly and close to him.
The moment he’d first seen her she’d stirred something inside him. Even after making love to her last night, he hadn’t had enough of her. He wanted more.
Once Mark had become engaged to her, Tyler had tried to spend as little time as possible around her, although there had been occasions when they’d all been together. Still, Tyler had kept himself distant, not wanting to ruin anything for his younger brother by giving away his own feelings about her.
Since the age of nineteen, when their parents had died, Mark had struggled with life. He’d squandered what little inheritance he’d received, and when he’d been flat broke, Tyler had offered him the position of vice president of the family company, along with a generous salary and few real responsibilities.
But Mark liked the good life and he rarely made it from payday to payday. When that happened, he’d come to Tyler for extra money, and it happened frequently.
Tyler entered the house by the back door, poured himself a cup of coffee and sat at the kitchen table. There were times he thought his brother hated him. Mark hated Tyler’s success, hated having to come to him for a handout. Mark had known of Tyler’s desire to meet Greta from the beginning. When they first met, his brother hadn’t mentioned the wild horse but had wooed Greta right into a relationship and eventually an engagement. Tyler suspected a lot of Greta’s allure for his brother was because Mark knew Tyler was interested in her.
Tyler hadn’t alibied Greta to ruin her relationship with Mark, although he’d known the odds were good that would happen. He’d alibied Greta because he couldn’t stand the thought of her being behind bars and he knew she didn’t have it in her to kill anyone. Most important, when he discovered that Mark hadn’t even visited Greta in jail, let alone attempted to help her in any way, Tyler had known he had to step forward.
He hadn’t seen or spoken to his brother since Greta’s release from jail, but he had heard rumors that Mark wasn’t crying in his beer and instead had been making the rounds of old girlfriends and partying it up. He must have found a sugar mama because normally by now Mark would be asking for an “advance” on his paycheck.
Thankfully, nobody’s heart appeared to have been broken by Tyler’s false alibi and the subsequent broken engagement. He’d accomplished what he wanted to do by getting Greta released from jail and last night he’d held her in his arms and made love to her.
It had been magic. Making love to her had been everything that he’d fantasized about and more. He had no driving desire to find a wife and build a future with her. He just knew he wanted Greta again...and again.
She not only drew him physically, but she also intrigued him. He wanted not just to know her body but to get into her mind, as well. She appeared to be so different from the superficial social-climbing women who normally surrounded him.
He didn’t know exactly where this would all lead, but for the first time since his parents’ deaths, he was willing to let fate take over and just go along for the ride. For the first time in a long time, he was allowing emotions to lead him rather than carefully planning and using his head.
He finished his coffee and then headed for his bedroom. As he made the bed, he thought of how passionate she’d been, how eagerly she’d responded to his every touch the night before.
After making the bed, he checked in with his office and was glad to hear that there were no fires that needed to be put out. It would be a long day awaiting Greta’s return.
Tyler had few friends. Taking over the family business and making it successful and seeing to Mark’s welfare had taken up most of the time when young men hung out at bars or sporting events and built friendships.
Thankfully, he had one good friend, the rancher next door. Derek Underwood was three years older than Tyler, but the two had struck up an unlikely friendship that Tyler cherished.
He returned to the kitchen and punched Derek’s number into his cell phone. Derek answered on the second ring. “I was wondering if you wanted to come over and drink a cup of coffee and shoot the bull with me for a little while,” Tyler said.
“You’re at home? On a Wednesday morning?” Derek replied in surprise.
“I took the day off,” Tyler said.
“I’d better look outside to see if the sky is falling.”
Tyler laughed. “You want to come by or not?”
“Sure, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
The two men hung up and Tyler made a fresh pot of coffee. By the time it had finished brewing, Derek was at his back door. On the surface the two men were exact opposites.
Derek’s wardrobe consisted solely of worn jeans and flannel shirts. Some days he shaved; some days he didn’t. His dark brown hair was long and shaggy and appeared to have not been acquainted with a comb for years.
“I hired Greta Colton to come out here and work with She-Devil,” Tyler said as he poured them each a cup of coffee and joined Derek at the table.
Derek frowned, his bushy brown eyebrows nearly meeting across the bridge of his nose. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I have a good friend in Tulsa who is fairly friendly with the Coltons, and lately it seems there’s a lot of drama going on with that family.”
“What kind of drama?” Tyler asked. He knew about the murder of a ranch hand and Greta’s arrest, but he hadn’t really kept up with what was happening to the Colton family.
“Greta’s mother was attacked in her bedroom and was in a coma for a little while. They’ve had fires set in some of their outbuildings and fencing torn down. Then there’s the mystery of the murder of Kurt Rodgers. I’ve even heard rumors about Greta being on drugs.”
Tyler stared at his friend in surprise. He hadn’t heard anything about the problems at the Colton ranch. Mark certainly had never mentioned anything unusual going on there. Of course, Mark had been more interested in getting his photo in the paper with his lovely fiancée.
“Sounds like foolish gossip to me,” Tyler scoffed.
Derek shrugged. “Maybe. All I know is that from what I heard, where Greta goes, trouble follows. I mean, even her own brother had her arrested for murder.”
“Greta couldn’t kill anyone. I don’t know how her DNA got around the crime scene, but it wasn’t there because she killed somebody.”
Derek took a sip of his coffee and eyed Tyler over the rim of the cup. He set the cup back down and leaned back in the chair. “I heard you alibied her for the night of the murder. Is it true that she was with you that night?”
Tyler hated lying to anyone, especially a good friend, but he knew he had to stick to his story, not just to protect Greta but also to protect himself. “Yeah, it’s true. I was at the Regent Hotel for a business meeting, and when the meeting ended, I wandered into the bar. She was there and we shared a couple of drinks and one thing led to another and I wound up in her room for the entire night.”
Derek narrowed his eyes. “If that’s what you say.”
“That’s what I say,” Tyler replied firmly. “And where did you hear about the alibi?”
“I’ve got a friend in the police department in Tulsa. He told me and then warned me that if I repeated it to anyone, he’d shoot me.”
“If you repeat it again, I’ll shoot you,” Tyler replied with a grin.
“At least you’re getting the best when it comes to a trainer for She-Devil.”
Tyler nodded. “Greta is moving in here to work. She should be arriving sometime this evening and will stay as long as it takes.”
“Rumors or not, if I were you, I’d sleep with one eye open,” Derek said wryly.
Tyler laughed. “I’m sure it will be fine.”
The two visited for about a half an hour, talking about ranching and local news, and then Derek left to go back to his chores.
Tyler placed the coffee mugs into the dishwasher and thought about what he’d just learned about the events at the Colton ranch.
Burning buildings, downed fencing, an attack on Abra Colton and murder... It was a lot to take in.
Where Greta goes, trouble follows.
I’ve even heard rumors about Greta being on drugs.
Those two sentences of Derek’s played and replayed in Tyler’s head. He knew she was a talented horse trainer, but what didn’t he know about the woman he’d made love with the night before, a woman he’d invited to live with him in his home?
* * *
“Mother, you have to cheer up,” Greta said.
Abra Colton sat in a chair next to a window in the sitting area of the master suite and stared listlessly outside.
After years of barely knowing her mother, who had spent much of her children’s growing-up years traveling the globe, in recent months Greta had finally begun to develop the kind of relationship she’d always wanted with her.
Abra had thrown herself wholeheartedly into Greta’s wedding plans. Her smiles had come more often and her eyes had sparkled with life. There had been no killer migraines, no need for her to take to her bed for days on end of rest and quiet.
Now she released a weary sigh, her thin frame absent any energy as her fingers idly toyed with the fringe on the bottom of a lavender throw that covered her shoulders. She turned and gazed at Greta. “But you would have made such a beautiful bride.”
As usual, Abra was perfectly groomed, every dark brown hair perfectly combed into a chin-length bob, but her eyes held such sadness it broke Greta’s heart.
She sank down on her knees next to her mother’s chair. “But surely you wouldn’t have wanted me to marry a man who couldn’t bring me happiness,” Greta said softly.
“Of course not,” Abra replied quickly. “I just thought Mark was a much better man than he turned out to be.”
“That makes two of us,” Greta said. “Mother, just because this wedding fell through doesn’t mean I’ll never have a wedding at all, and when the next time comes, I want you by my side and planning every detail with me.”
Abra forced a sad smile. “So much has happened in the last couple of months. The wedding was the one good thing to take my mind off everything else.” She patted Greta’s hand absently. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine, dear. I just need a little bit of time.”
Greta rose to her feet. “I’m getting ready to leave for a job. I’ll be in Oklahoma City for the next couple of weeks or so.” She didn’t tell her mother specifically whom she would be working for or where she would be staying, and she was grateful when Abra didn’t ask.
She left her mother’s room and headed to her father’s study. She wondered how much of Abra’s depression was due to the cancellation of the wedding and how much was because she’d recently learned that Greta wasn’t her biological daughter and the baby girl she’d given birth to twenty-six years ago had died after only one day of life.
Greta found her father at his desk in the opulent oversize room. He didn’t hear her approach and for a long moment she stood in the doorway and simply looked at him.
At sixty-six years old, John “Big J” Colton was still like a force of nature. He was the life of any party, with a loud, booming voice and a bigger-than-life presence.
Although his hair was now silver white, his green eyes still sparked with a lust for life. He’d been the rock of the family when his children had been growing up, and Greta knew the anguish he’d suffered each time Abra had gone away for one of her convalescing trips.
He must have sensed Greta’s presence, for he looked up from whatever he’d been reading and his face lit with a smile.
“Greta, my darling girl.” His eyes filled with the affection and love that had got Greta through life despite her mother’s many absences.
Big J had been the one constant in Greta’s life. “Are you working hard?” she asked.
His grin widened and his eyes twinkled. “Hardly working is more like it.”
“I just wanted to let you know that I’m heading off to Oklahoma City for a couple of weeks.”
“Work or play?”
“Work. I’ve been hired to train a horse.”
“Good. I think some time away from here is best for you until Ryan and the rest of the police get everything under control.” He eyed her with a touch of worry. “You’ll stay in touch?”
“Of course,” she replied. “You can always reach me on my cell phone. And you’ll keep an eye on Mother?”
Big J’s gaze softened. “Absolutely. She’s a bit sad right now, but I’m sure she’ll rally.”
“I feel guilty about the wedding being called off,” Greta confessed. Of course, the wedding hadn’t been the only recent blow Abra had received, along with the rest of the family.
“Nonsense.” Big J waved his hand dismissively. “The last thing I’d want for you is to be married to a shallow womanizer like Mark Stanton. You know I never really warmed up to him. Never forget that no matter what has happened, you’re a Colton through and through and you deserve the very best.”
Sudden tears misted her eyes and she quickly blinked them away. “Then I’ll just get on the road. I’ll be in touch.” She left the room before the tears did more than blur her vision.
She loaded her Jeep and headed away from the huge mansion on the hill that was home. Abra had designed the house and Big J had given in to her every whim, which had resulted in an 11,000-square-foot home furnished to make a statement...and it screamed, “We have money.”
Greta had always been more at home in the pastures than in the house. She’d been right beside her five brothers as they’d all grown up, climbing trees and fences, scooting through cattle chutes and riding bareback on some of the biggest, fastest horses on the ranch.
The past couple of months of prewedding activities had been miserable for her as she’d donned frilly dresses she wasn’t accustomed to, picked out pink ribbon and lace and flowers for the wedding and visited various caterers, all in an effort to please her mother.
The whole pink-and-white wedding scene hadn’t been her thing, but she’d gone along with it all, being somebody she wasn’t to make Abra and Mark happy.
Although she was sorry for the way things had turned out and that Abra had fallen into one of her depressive states, there was also a sense of freedom that she could once again just be herself.
Before leaving the house, she’d showered and changed into a pair of jeans, a burnt-orange blouse and a brown suede jacket. She had no idea what the dress code was for the restaurant Tyler had mentioned, but she’d packed a couple of less casual things just in case.
As she got closer to Tyler’s, a little bit of nervous energy jumped through her veins. She wasn’t nervous about working with the horse. In fact, she was excited by the challenge. The black filly had called to her, touching something inside her that was impossible to ignore.
It was definitely the man himself who made anxiety bubble up inside her. Despite the fact that she’d showered not so long ago, she imagined she could still smell the scent of his expensive cologne clinging to her skin, still feel the heat of his hands on her naked skin.
It was early dusk when she pulled into his driveway. He opened the front door, as if he’d been standing there staring out and waiting for her all day.
“You made it back,” he said as she got out of her car. “And I have reservations at the restaurant in thirty minutes, so your timing couldn’t be more perfect.”
The force of him, the very energy he exuded, had her half-breathless before she’d even opened her back door to get to her suitcases.
“Here, let me take those.” He carried the two suitcases to the front door, with her hurrying to catch up with him. Once she did, he headed down the hallway until he reached the guest room she’d stayed in the night before. “In here? Or in there?” He gestured toward his room.
“In here,” she said firmly and walked into the guest room. He placed the two suitcases on the floor.
“You can unpack later. We should probably go ahead and head out to the restaurant,” he said.
“Should I change clothes?” she asked, although he was casually dressed in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved white shirt.
“No, you’re fine.” He smiled at her. “I’m just glad you’re here.”
With the same momentum that he’d put forward in bringing her inside, he took her back outside, and before she could even catch her breath, she was ensconced in the rich leather passenger seat of a sleek silver sports car.
“This place is a little hole-in-the-wall, but it’s become so popular you have to make reservations even on a weeknight,” he said as they pulled out onto the highway.
“You mentioned it was a steak house. I’m definitely a steak-and-potatoes kind of girl,” she replied.
“Good. Then we should get along just fine.”
“I never asked you this morning what the horse’s name is.” She wanted to keep the conversation focused on the reason she was there.
“She-Devil,” he replied.
Greta shook her head. “That will never do. Does she respond to that name?”
“She doesn’t respond to anything.”
“Then we have to find her a new name, something that doesn’t have such a negative connotation.”
He slid her an amused glance. “I suppose you want to call her Sugar.”
“That’s perfect,” she replied. “And by the time I get finished with her, she’ll be as sweet as sugar.”
“You sound pretty sure of yourself.”
“I know what I’m good at,” she replied.
Again he flashed her a grin. “I like confidence in a woman.”
They passed a strip mall and he turned into the parking lot. At the end of the line of businesses was a restaurant named Cattle Call.
“Like I said, it’s a bit of a hole-in-the-wall, but the steaks are out of this world,” he said and angled into an empty parking space at the side of the building.
“I like hole-in-the-wall kind of restaurants,” she replied. “Besides, it’s the quality of the food that counts.”
They got out of the car and entered the crowded restaurant, where the hostess greeted Tyler by name and led them to a two-top table in the back that was a little more secluded than the other tables.
The scent of grilled meat filled the air, and while the place was full of people, the level of noise was relatively low and made conversation between them easy.
The hostess handed them each a menu and then with a bright smile told them their waitress would be with them soon and left the table.
“It smells delicious in here,” Greta said as her stomach rumbled with hunger. She hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast that morning. “You must be a regular since the hostess knew who you were by name.”
“I eat here two or three times a week. It’s on my way home from work, so I usually pop in for dinner.” He didn’t bother picking up the menu.
Greta opened hers and peered at the offerings. It took her only a minute to make up her mind. The waitress, a pleasantly plump woman with a name tag that read Brenda, greeted them and took their drink and dinner orders.
“A friend of mine stopped by today and told me there have been some rough times at your place lately,” Tyler said once the waitress was gone.
“We’ve had some issues,” she replied, unsure what he’d heard and how much to tell him.
“My friend told me a lot of the issues seem to revolve around you.” He held her gaze intently.
Greta sighed. She’d been raised to keep family matters in the family and not involve outsiders unless necessary. Certainly Mark, as her fiancé, had known some of the problems that had occurred. “Mark didn’t ever mention anything about it to you?”
“Mark only speaks to me when it serves his purpose and that’s usually when he needs money,” Tyler said drily.
The waitress returned with their drink orders, a glass of wine for Greta and a scotch and soda for Tyler. When she’d left once again, Greta decided to tell Tyler everything. She wanted him to trust in her, and who knew what kind of rumors his friend had told him? Besides, she needed to talk about it with somebody other than a family member, to vent some of the fear and uncertainty that she’d been living with for what seemed like forever.
“It all started soon after Mark and I got engaged in June. My mother was attacked in her bedroom and the doctors had to put her into a medically induced coma. Everyone thought it was some kind of a botched robbery attempt. Soon after that I received in the mail a copy of Mark’s and my official engagement picture that ran in the paper. My face was x-ed out in the photo. I thought it was probably from one of Mark’s old girlfriends, but it still made me feel a bit uneasy.”
“I can imagine that would be unsettling,” Tyler replied.
She nodded. “At the same time, odd things were happening around the ranch—a fire was set in one of the outbuildings, tires were slashed on some of the farm vehicles and fencing kept getting torn down.”
She stopped talking as the waitress arrived with their meals. She continued once the waitress had left, feeling as if she’d held everything in too tight for too long and it was a relief to talk to somebody who had no horse in the race, so to speak.
“Thankfully, my mother came out of the coma and returned home, and she and I continued with the wedding planning.” Greta frowned and took a sip of her wine. “Although my mother seemed happy, something was different between us. She was different with me, but I thought it had something to do with the head injury she’d sustained. Then one day when I was here in Oklahoma City, my brother Daniel called me and asked what I was doing hanging around the ranch. I told him that I was here and it was impossible that he’d seen me there, but he insisted he’d seen me. That’s when I think most of my family started to worry about me.”
She laughed self-consciously. “I’m doing way too much talking and not enough eating. Let’s eat while it’s hot.”
“You have to talk and eat. I feel like you’re forcing me to walk out in the middle of an intriguing movie.” He picked up his fork and steak knife and she did the same.
The steak cut like butter and melted in her mouth, but her head was filled with what she hadn’t yet shared with Tyler. The rest of what she had to tell him, she hadn’t really processed completely herself.
She ate several bites of the steak and baked potato and then continued talking. “Then my DNA was found at several crime scenes around the ranch, including where Kurt was murdered. As you know, I was arrested and you got me out of jail. As soon as I returned home, my mother told everyone that it was me who had attacked her, but it wasn’t me. She said the woman looked like me but she looked crazy and wild. And that’s when my father made his big confession...” Her voice trailed off.
Tyler leaned forward. He held a piece of steak on his fork suspended between his plate and his mouth. “His big confession?”
She nodded. “He told us that after giving birth to all her boys, my mother had finally given birth to the girl she’d always wanted. But the baby only lived for a day and then died. He’d learned from a nurse that a young woman had just given birth to twins at her home because she couldn’t afford the hospital bills. Believing that losing her daughter would send my mother over the edge forever, he met with the other mother and arranged to buy one of her twins for fifty thousand dollars. That’s how I became a part of the Colton family.”
Tyler gazed at her with vague surprise. “It must have been a shock to learn about the circumstances of your birth at your age.”
“A shock not just for me but for the entire family.” She took another drink of her wine and tried to stanch a chill that threatened to invade her. “I know now that I have a twin sister and I think she’s found me. I don’t believe she’s looking for a happy reunion. I think maybe she wants to kill me.”
Chapter 4 (#ulink_4f35ba42-9ef2-5925-acde-02b6d111e67b)
Tyler stared at her, stunned by what she’d just told him. A dead baby, another one bought to replace it? And an evil twin sister to boot? It sounded like something out of a bad B-rated movie. “What makes you think she wants to kill you?”
“If she wanted a real happy reunion, she would have just knocked on the front door and introduced herself. Instead it was her DNA found at Kurt’s murder scene. It was her DNA found all around the ranch where bad things have happened.”
“What would be her motive to kill you?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never met her. I don’t know anything about her. I just think she must be crazy. I believe the only reason why she hasn’t managed to hurt me so far is because for the last couple of months I’ve been on the move between the ranch and Oklahoma City for the wedding plans.”
Tyler digested everything she had told him. Was she really in danger? “Did you tell anyone outside your immediate family that you were going to be staying at my place?”
“No, I didn’t even tell my immediate family exactly where I was going. I just told them I had a job in Oklahoma City. Thankfully, nobody asked me to be more specific. They’re used to me being gone and not knowing exactly where I am, especially when I’m working.”
“Then you will be safe at my place,” Tyler replied. Any concerns he had entertained throughout the afternoon about Greta due to the conversation with Derek had been laid to rest.
He gazed at the woman across from him as she focused on her food. She appeared more relaxed than she had when she’d first arrived. She also looked lovely with her slightly wavy dark hair falling to her shoulders and her hazel-green eyes emphasized by long, lush eyelashes.
“It must have been a bit traumatic at twenty-six years old to learn that you weren’t a biological child,” he said, trying to read where she was at emotionally with everything that had happened to her.
She looked up at him and smiled. “More than a little traumatic, but the family rallied around me and insisted that I was every bit as much a Colton as any of them.”
“Did you expect anything else from them?”
“Not really. But it’s funny—when I heard that I had a twin sister, I was surprised and yet I somehow wasn’t surprised. Since the time I was little, I always felt that something was missing, that a piece of me was absent. When I found out that I had a twin sister, that missing piece suddenly filled in.” She laughed. “I know I sound crazy.”
“On the contrary, I believe in the twin connection. I’ve seen too many news stories about separated twins who find each other and finally feel whole for the first time in their lives.”
“Knowing about her has explained the empty feeling I’ve always had, but I’m not eager to meet her if she really is responsible for Kurt’s death and my mother’s injuries.” Her eyes darkened.
An unexpected protectiveness surged up inside Tyler. He’d had no idea what Greta had been dealing with over the past couple of months, and he wished he’d been by her side to ease some of the pain she must have suffered through everything.
He definitely had a feeling she’d downplayed just how difficult the past few months had been for her. First all the incidents on the ranch, then her arrest for a murder she didn’t commit. The finding of her DNA all over the place... She’d been through hell, and apparently, it wasn’t over yet if what she’d said about her twin’s intentions were really true.
Still, he’d satisfied his curiosity and desire to make love to her. But he was vaguely surprised that even after all she’d just told him he still wanted more.
One thing was certain. His brother wouldn’t have been a source of comfort for her. Mark was too self-absorbed to understand or empathize with other people’s feelings.
“What about your real mother? What do you know about her?” he asked.
“Just her name, Tamara Stewart.”
“Do you have any interest in finding her? In getting to know her?”
She looked at him ruefully. “She sold me for fifty thousand dollars when I was two days old. She’s not somebody I have any desire to know,” Greta said. “Although I suppose I wouldn’t mind asking her some questions about my twin to try to find out why she seems to hate me.” She took a sip of her wine. “Besides, they aren’t my family and they never could be. The Coltons are my family.”
“Tell me about them,” he said, hoping to pull some light back into her eyes, which had grown so dark.
“Growing up with five brothers wasn’t easy,” she said. “They teased me unmercifully. I don’t think there’s an outbuilding on the property that I wasn’t locked into or tied up in.” A twinkle of memories sparked in her eyes. “The bottom line is they were my heroes and I wanted to spend all my time with them, proving that whatever they could do, I could do just as well.”
He smiled at the vision of her as a young girl, tagging after her big brothers to prove herself as tough as they were. “Other than Ryan, who I know is a detective, do they all work on the ranch now?”
“My oldest brother, Jack, is the manager. Brett also works on the ranch. Eric is a trauma surgeon. Daniel is actually a half brother, but he’s a whole brother in my heart. He’s enjoying a lot of success with a horse-breeding program he started. So other than Eric and Ryan, the ranch is definitely a family affair.”
“But you’re close to all of them.”
“We’ve had our ups and downs through the years, but yes, we’re all very close.”
After they had finished their meal and the waitress had removed their plates, they lingered over coffee. “I wish Mark and I were closer, but we were never really close even before our parents’ deaths.”
“I think part of what made all of us so close was that our mother wasn’t around very much when we were growing up. She spent most of our childhoods away from the ranch, and when she was at home, she was always in bed with a headache and we were allowed only minimal contact with her.”
“That must have made it hard on your father,” Tyler observed, fascinated by each tidbit of information he learned about her and her family.
She smiled, a warm, open gesture that pooled heat in the pit of his stomach. He wanted to lean across the table and capture her kissable lips with his, breathe in that warmth that her smile exuded. He tamped down the impulse.
“I don’t know how he did it, but my father managed to run a hugely successful cattle operation and at the same time was always there when any of us needed him. Of course, we had a variety of nannies to help out, and our housekeeper, Edith, was like a second mother, but the glue that held us all together was definitely my father.”
A wistfulness welled up in Tyler. There had been many days over the past ten years that he missed his father. Daniel Stanton had been not only loving but a friend and mentor, as well.
“Shall we head back to the ranch?” he asked, unwilling to dwell on the tragedy that had occurred years ago.
“I’m ready whenever you are,” she agreed and took the last sip from her coffee cup.
He paid the tab and then they got back into his car for the short drive home. The scent of her filled the air, a scent of freshness combined with a hint of vanilla and orange. It was so different from the expensive, heavy perfumes other women he’d dated had worn. He found it incredibly evocative.
“We haven’t really talked about the conditions of me working for you,” she said.
He was thinking about how to get her back into his bed that night and she was obviously thinking about work. He tried to adjust his thoughts. “I figured room and board and whatever fee you normally charge.”
She told him her usual fee. “But that’s negotiable depending on my success with Sugar.”
He grinned at her use of the new name. “Aren’t you always successful?”
“I have to admit there have been a couple of unbreakable horses in my past. They were just too damaged to ever trust human beings again. Thankfully, those are few and far between. I have a feeling given a little time, Sugar and I are going to become great friends and then we’ll make sure you’re her friend, too.”
By that time they were back at his house. “Why don’t you unpack and get settled in, and then when you’re done, we’ll finish the night off with a glass of wine in the living room,” he suggested.
“Sounds like a plan,” she agreed. She disappeared into the guest bedroom and Tyler went into the kitchen and sat at the kitchen table, his thoughts on Greta and everything he’d learned over dinner.
It sounded as if she and her family had been through the wringer over the past couple of months and yet she appeared to have weathered everything very well.
Beneath the cheerful attitude she displayed, did a well of emotion exist that she hadn’t tapped into? Time would tell. He was only grateful that she’d apparently forgiven him for the lie that had not only got her out of prison but also broken her engagement to his brother.
Although he hadn’t spoken to Mark since providing the alibi, he had seen him twice at popular restaurants, each time with a different woman on his arm. He didn’t appear to be too upset over the loss of Greta. Greta might not know it, but he’d actually done her a favor. She would have never been happy married to Mark.
It was nine thirty when he and Greta carried glasses of wine into the living room for a nightcap. “I’m assuming you’ll be returning to work tomorrow?” she asked when they were settled on the sofa.
“That’s the plan,” he replied. “And I’m assuming your work with She-Sugar won’t require me at first.”
“Nice save,” she replied at his stumble over the horse’s new name. “And no, for the first week or two, depending on Sugar, it will be just me and her working out together.”
He took a sip of his wine and gazed at her. What were the odds of having her in his bed that night? It was impossible for him to sit next to her, with her heavenly scent surrounding him, and not want her again.
He couldn’t help but remember the silkiness of her skin, the fire of her kisses as they’d made love the night before. She’d been an eager participant, giving as well as receiving. She’d been everything he’d dreamed of and more...and he definitely wanted more.
“Earth to Tyler.” Her voice interrupted his thoughts. “You looked like you drifted off there for a minute.”
“Sorry. I did,” he replied and focused on the sweet curve of her lips. “I was just wondering if you’d want a repeat of last night.”
Her cheeks immediately flushed with color and her eyes widened. She took a sip of her wine and then carefully placed the glass on the coffee table and looked at him. “What, exactly, do you want with me, Tyler?”
She’d asked him the question before, but he hadn’t given her a real clear answer, because he hadn’t had one. He still didn’t have one.
He gazed at her for a long moment before replying. “To be honest with you, I’m not sure. I know I’m tremendously drawn to you physically and I’d definitely like to get to know you better. I’ve wanted that for a long time, but beyond that, I don’t know.”
She averted her gaze from his once again. “I appreciate your honesty.”
“But you didn’t answer my question.” He waited until she looked at him again and then he smiled. “You know what you’re good at and I know what I’m good at.”
She laughed, a musical sound that only increased his desire. “Does that ego get in your way much?”
“I try not to pull it out too often,” he replied lightly. But his lightness of tone didn’t last but a moment. “Make love with me again, Greta. Let me hold you in my arms again and kiss you until you can’t think straight.”
He could tell by the expression on her face that she was conflicted and he pressed on. “Don’t overthink things. Just let it happen. There is no right or wrong to this. I want you again and I believe that you want me, too.”
Her eyes filled with an emotion that had his blood simmering. “I do want you,” she confessed softly.
He didn’t say another word. He stood and took her hand and pulled her up from the sofa, and together they walked down the hallway to his bedroom.
* * *
She’d officially lost her mind. That was Greta’s first thought when she awoke in the guest bedroom the next morning. She’d made love with Tyler and again had refused to stay in his bed through the night, as if that somehow mitigated the fact that they were acting like horny teenagers with no self-control.
He’d told her he wanted to get to know her better, and she’d like to get to know him better, too. But they’d got it all backward, making love first and getting to know each other later.
She had never allowed physical attraction to lead her in a relationship. She’d always allowed her heart and her head to be in charge of her hormones.
But when Tyler looked at her with such hunger, when his lips curved into that sexy smile, she became powerless to deny him whatever he wanted...because she wanted it, too.
It was time she fixed things, refused any more physical contact with Tyler until she at least decided if she really liked him or not. So far she found him surprisingly warm and charming, but she’d really known him for only two short days.
She hadn’t forgotten that the times she’d encountered him while she’d been with Mark, he had struck her as cold and not particularly interested in her presence.
Will the real Tyler Stanton please stand up? she thought as she scooted out of bed. She grabbed a pair of jeans, a blue flannel shirt and clean underwear for the day, intending to spend most of the daylight hours in the corral with Sugar.
Minutes later as she stood beneath a hot shower spray, she couldn’t help but think of being in Tyler’s arms, of his kisses and caresses, which had formed such an intense fire inside her, a fire she’d never felt before.
They fit together perfectly in the bed, but she had no idea how well they’d fit together out of bed. Things had happened so fast. Everything had been pleasant between them so far, but it was early in the game and she really had no idea what to expect in day-to-day life with him.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” she muttered as she stepped out of the shower and grabbed a fluffy fresh-smelling towel from a cabinet.
At least Tyler would be at work today and she would be able to focus her sole attention on the horse renamed Sugar. To Greta there was almost nothing worse than somebody who abused a helpless animal, unless it was somebody who took the life of an innocent human being.
Once she’d dried off and dressed, she stared at her reflection in the mirror and thought of the twin sister she’d never met.
It was obvious from the fact that Abra had thought it was Greta who’d attacked her, and that Daniel had believed he’d seen Greta at the ranch when in reality she’d been in Oklahoma City, that her sister was an identical twin.
Greta had seen heartwarming shows on television about the reunion of separated twins. The reunions always resulted in joy and love and new extended families. Why hadn’t that happened for her? She would have welcomed her twin sister into her life, enjoyed the friendship and love of somebody she’d shared a womb with through nine months.
She didn’t even know her twin’s name or much of anything about their biological mother. All Big J had been able to tell them was the woman’s name was Tamara Stewart and that she had sold him the baby. He’d met her only once, in a small house someplace on the west side of Tulsa near the hospital.
He hadn’t been able to remember the address or the specific neighborhood of the house. He hadn’t even remembered that much about the woman. He either hadn’t paid attention or had forgotten the details from that day so long ago. All he knew was that he’d been so desperate to replace the baby Abra had lost that that was all he’d really cared about. He hadn’t wanted Abra to suffer the grief of finding out that her baby girl had died.
Greta knew her brother Ryan was investigating and attempting to locate Tamara in an effort to get a handle on her daughter, who had become a threat to both Greta and her adopted family.
She turned away from the mirror and tried to clear her mind. There was nothing she could do about her twin sister. She needed to focus on greeting Tyler this morning and letting him know that from now on, there was going to be no more physical interaction between them.
She had to be strong and not allow his smooth talk, his gorgeous blue eyes or his sexy smile to change her mind. She was here to do a job, and if in the process they got to know and like each other, it would be a bonus. But she wasn’t going to be persuaded to sneak into his room for a bout of mind-blowing lovemaking again.
Feeling strong and looking forward to the day of work with the horse, she left the bathroom and headed for the kitchen. She found Tyler seated at the kitchen table, a newspaper folded and laid to the side of him and a cup of coffee before him.
Clad in a navy business suit, a white shirt and a navy-and-silver-striped tie, he looked like the man she’d been accustomed to seeing on the rare times they had run into each other when she’d been with Mark.
The only difference was the warm smile that lit his handsome features when she walked into the room. “Coffee is made, but you’re on your own for breakfast this morning.”
“That’s fine,” she replied. She poured herself a cup of coffee and joined him at the table. “I suddenly feel terribly underdressed for coffee.”
“You look gorgeous in denim and flannel,” he replied.
“And you look handsome in your power clothes. I know you’re probably ready to head into work, but before you go, I need to talk to you for just a minute.”
“I’ve got something to discuss with you, too. But you go first,” he said.
She raised her chin and looked into the depths of his eyes. “I am not going to sleep with you again.”
His lips rose in a rueful smile. “You haven’t slept with me yet.”
She huffed out a sigh of frustration. “You know what I mean. I’m here to train your horse and that’s it. I’m not going to be your nightly toy to play with at will. If you want me again, then we have to get to know each other first.”
He looked at her in obvious amusement. “So you want me to court you.”
She eyed him with a narrowed gaze. “Are you making fun of me?”
He laughed. “Not at all. I’m just trying to get clear on what you want or what you need from me.”
“I’m not arguing that there isn’t some sort of crazy physical attraction between us, but I won’t settle for that. We don’t really know each other. I want to get to know you out of bed, and I want you to get to know me that way, too.”
He sobered and nodded. “As much as I’d love for you to be my bedtime toy every night, I respect your wishes. I’d like to get to know you better. That’s part of what I wanted when I first saw you so many months ago.”
He took a sip of his coffee and set the cup back down. “Greta, I understand that we rushed into things fast and furious and you want it to slow down. I can be slow and patient.” His eyes twinkled. “I promise I won’t try to cajole you into my bed again. I’ll wait until you ask me to make love to you again.”
“You sound sure that I will,” she replied.
“That’s hope you hear in my voice.” The twinkle in his eyes disappeared and he picked up the folded newspaper next to him. “And on a much less pleasant note, the issue I wanted to talk to you about is this...” He opened the newspaper to a prefolded page and shoved it across the table in front of her.
Greta looked down in horror at the photo of her and Tyler kissing by the side of her Jeep. The caption read Cattle Princess Jilts One Brother for Another.
Chapter 5 (#ulink_6c044370-03c6-58ff-8b30-fdb000fde578)
It was after nine when Tyler finally left the house and Greta headed out toward the small corral. Tyler had suggested that it was probably Mark who had taken the picture and given it to the newspaper. The accompanying story had been tawdry and filled with misinformation and salacious half facts.
Tyler had tried to calm Greta down, but she’d been both furious and embarrassed. She knew her father had a subscription to the Oklahoma City paper. How was she supposed to explain all this to him...to the rest of the family?
She breathed in the fresh morning air as she walked briskly to the corral, telling herself that the article and photo didn’t really matter. But she was surprised to find herself hurt by Mark’s betrayal, if, indeed, he was responsible for the picture and the column of gossip.
When she reached the corral, she remained outside the wooden enclosure. There was no way she could go in and begin to introduce herself to Sugar until she relaxed herself. The horse would immediately pick up on any anger or anxiety Greta carried with her, and at the moment Greta had both bubbling hot inside her.
A short dark-haired man came out of the barn to greet her. He introduced himself as Raymond Edwards. “Yes, Tyler told me you’d be around,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Greta Colton.”
“I know who you are, Ms. Colton. I know of your work,” he said respectfully.
“Please, make it Greta,” she replied and turned her attention to the horse backed against the far railing. “And I don’t know if Tyler told you or not, but from here on, that horse’s name is Sugar.”
Raymond grinned. “If you can make that filly sweet as sugar, then I’ll know your reputation as a miracle worker with horses isn’t overblown.”
“Time will tell,” Greta replied. The two chatted for a few minutes, talking about rodeos they had both attended and mutual acquaintances in the horse business, and then Raymond returned to his work in the barn, leaving her to sort out her mood.
The photo had been such a shock. Why would Mark want to do something like that? Why would anyone do that? Something so ugly? Why make her out to be some kind of a slut when he was the one who had left her to languish in a jail cell while he wined and dined old girlfriends?
It was mean-spirited and so unfair, and it only made her more grateful than ever that the wedding had been called off before she’d married such a man.
Did Tyler possess that kind of mean streak, too? That was the problem. She didn’t know him well enough to discern all of the facets of his character.
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Carla Cassidy
Тип: электронная книга
Жанр: Современная зарубежная литература
Язык: на английском языке
Издательство: HarperCollins
Дата публикации: 16.04.2024
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О книге: THE BREATHTAKING FINALE TO THE COLTONS OF OKLAHOMA SAGA…Wrongly imprisoned for murder, horse trainer Greta Colton gets sprung by Tyler Stanton’s falsified alibi. The oil tycoon’s desire has been burning for Greta ever since they met. Now that she’s no longer his brother’s fiancée, he wants her in his bed and working in his corral.In that order.Throwing caution to the wind, Greta accepts Tyler’s brazen invitations. And with danger mounting, they reluctantly risk their hearts. But when a shocking Colton secret surfaces, can Tyler protect Greta from a treacherous family reunion?