was attracted to her big-time and had been from the moment he’d seen her at Micah’s wedding. He had arrived late because of a case he’d been handling and had shown up at the reception just moments before the bride and groom were to leave for their honeymoon. Megan had hired him a month earlier, even though they’d never met in person. Because of that, the first thing Rico did when he arrived at the reception was to ask Zane to point her out.
The moment his and Megan’s gazes locked he had felt desire rush through him to a degree that had never happened before. It had shocked the hell out of him. His gaze had moved over her, taking in every single thing he saw, every inch of what he’d liked. And he’d liked it all. Way too much. From the abundance of dark curls on her head to the creamy smoothness of her mahogany skin, from the shapely body in a bridesmaid gown to the pair of silver stilettos on her feet. She had looked totally beautiful.
At the age of thirty-six, he’d figured he was way too old to be that attracted to any woman. After all, he’d dated quite a few women in his day. And by just looking at Megan, he could tell she was young, that she hadn’t turned thirty yet. But her age hadn’t stopped him from staring and staring and staring … until one of her cousins had reclaimed his attention. But still, he had thought about her more than he should have since then.
“Well, with that settled, I’ll notify my superiors so they can find a replacement for me while I’m gone,” she said, breaking into his thoughts. “There are only a few surgeries scheduled for tomorrow, and I figure we’ll be back in a week or so.”
Evidently she thought that since he hadn’t said anything, he was okay with the idea of her accompanying him to Texas. Boy, was she wrong. “Sorry, Megan, there’s no way I’ll let you come with me. I have a rule about working alone.”
He could tell by the mutinous expression on her face that he was in for a fight. That didn’t bother him. He had two younger sisters to deal with so he knew well how to handle a stubborn female.
“Surely you can break that rule this one time.”
He shook his head. “Sorry, I can’t.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Other than the fact that you prefer working alone, give me another reason I can’t go with you.”
He crossed his arms over his own chest. “I don’t need another reason. Like I said, I work alone.” He did have a reason, but he wouldn’t be sharing it with her. All he had to do was recall what had almost happened the last time he’d worked a case with a woman.
“Why are you being difficult?”
“Why are you?” he countered.
“I’m not,” she said, throwing her head back and gritting out her words. “This is my great-grandfather we’re talking about.”
“I’m fully aware of who he was. You and I talked extensively before I agreed to take on this case, and I recall telling you that I would get you the information you wanted … doing things my way.”
He watched as she began nibbling on her bottom lip. Okay, so now she was remembering. Good. For some reason, he couldn’t stop looking into her eyes, meeting her fiery gaze head on, thinking her eyes resembled two beautiful dark orbs.
“As the client, I demand that you take me,” she said, sharply interrupting his thoughts.
He narrowed his gaze. “You can demand all you want, but you’re not going to Texas with me.”
“And why not?”
“I’ve told you my reasons, now can we move on to something else, please?”
She stood up. “No, we can’t move on to something else.”
He stood, as well. “Now you’re acting like a spoiled child.”
Megan’s jaw dropped. “A spoiled child? I’ve never acted like a spoiled child in my entire life. And as for going to Texas, I will be going since there’s no reason that I shouldn’t.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment. “Okay, there is another reason I won’t take you with me. One that you’d do well to consider,” he said in a calm, barely controlled tone. She had pushed him, and he didn’t like being pushed.
“Fine, let’s hear it,” she snapped furiously.
He placed his hands in the pockets of his jeans, stood with his legs braced apart and leveled his gaze on her when he spoke in a deep, husky voice. “I want you, Megan. Bad. And if you go anywhere with me, I’m going to have you.”
He then turned and walked out of her office.
Shocked, Megan dropped back down in her chair. “Gracious!”
Three surgeries later, back in her office, Megan paced the floor. Although Rico’s parting statement had taken her by surprise, she was still furious. Typical man. Why did they think everything began and ended in the bedroom? So, he was attracted to her. Big deal. Little did he know, but she was attracted to him as well, and she had no qualms about going to Texas with him. For crying out loud, hadn’t he ever heard of self-control?
She was sister to Zane and Derringer and cousin to Riley and Canyon—three were womanizers to the core. And before marrying Lucia, Derringer had all but worn his penis on his sleeve and Zane, Lord help him, wore his anywhere there was a free spot on his body. She couldn’t count the number of times she’d unexpectedly shown up at Zane’s place at the wrong time or how many pairs of panties she’d discovered left behind at Riley’s. And wasn’t it just yesterday she’d seen a woman leave Canyon’s place before dawn?
Besides that, Rico Claiborne honestly thought all he had to do was decide he wanted her and he would have her? Wouldn’t she have some kind of say-so in the matter? Evidently he didn’t think so, which meant he really didn’t know whom he was dealing with. The doctors at the hospital, who thought she was cold and incapable of being seduced, called her “Iceberg Megan.”
So, okay, Rico had thawed her out a little when she’d seen him at the wedding three months ago. And she would admit he’d made her heart flutter upon seeing him today. But he was definitely under a false assumption if he thought all he had to do was snap his fingers, strut that sexy walk and she would automatically fall into any bed with him.
She scowled. The more she thought about it, the madder she got. He should know from all the conversations they’d shared over the phone that this investigation was important to her. Family was everything to her, and if there were other Westmorelands out there, she wanted to know about them. She wanted to be in the thick of things when he uncovered the truth as to where those Westmorelands were and how quickly they could be reached.
Megan moved to the window and looked out. September clouds were settling in, and the forecasters had predicted the first snowfall of the year by the end of the week. But that was fine since she had no intention of being here in Denver when the snow started. Ignoring what Rico had said about her not going to Texas with him, she had cleared her calendar for not only the rest of the week, but also for the next month. She had the vacation time, and if she didn’t use it by the end of the year she would end up losing it anyway.
First, she would go to Texas. And then, before returning to work, she would take off for Australia and spend time with her sister Gemma and her family. Megan enjoyed international travel and recalled the first time she’d left the country to visit her cousin Delaney in the Middle East. That had been quite an enjoyable experience.
But remembering the trip to visit her cousin couldn’t keep her thoughts from shifting back to Rico, and she felt an unwelcoming jolt of desire as she recalled him standing in her office, right in this very spot, and saying what he’d said, without as much as blinking an eye.
If he, for one minute, thought he had the ability to tell her what to do, he had another thought coming. If he was that attracted to her then he needed to put a cap on it. They were adults and would act accordingly. The mere thought that once alone they would tear each other’s clothes off in some sort