up Lucy and escort her to the ranch.
Judd’s older brother Mason was the owner of the Fantasy Ranch, and in the past three months he’d been experiencing what he believed were elements of a plot to ruin his business. With the busy last weekend of summer coming up, when much of the ranch’s return business was decided, Mason was anxious to ensure no disasters occurred like the ones the ranch had already experienced—tainted food at the restaurant, theft, unpleasant deliveries made to guests’ rooms—and that was where Judd came in.
Mason had reason to believe that Sunny Horizons Travel Agency might be involved in the sabotage, through its connection with his vengeful ex-girlfriend. Right now he was at the height of paranoia and trusted no one, including his star employee Buck, so he’d hired Judd as his private investigator and sent him on his way to find out what he could about Lucy Connors.
So here he was in the most ridiculous undercover operation he’d ever conducted, dressed like an idiot in this sleazy cowboy getup.
“I’m Buck’s replacement,” he explained. “He couldn’t make it to be your escort, so the owner sent me instead. Is that okay?”
She still looked confused. “It’s just that Claire said your name would be Buck.”
“I forgot to tell her I was replacing him. The subject of my name never came up when she let me into the apartment.”
“Oh.” She took a step back, obviously not thrilled to find a total stranger whose name was not Buck in her apartment.
He could understand her reluctance. “Why don’t you call the ranch and speak to the owner, Mason Walker. He can confirm for you that I am indeed your escort and that I don’t bite—” he forced himself to add in typical Fantasy Ranch style “—unless you want me to.” He realized too late that his little act didn’t help the situation, so he set down the suitcase and reached for his wallet to retrieve his brother’s business card.
Lucy stared at it for a moment and then looked up at him. “Walker? Isn’t that your last name, too?”
“Mason’s my brother.”
“Oh. Well, if you don’t mind holding on a minute, I think I will call, just to be safe.” She eyed him warily, and he began to feel as if he had fangs.
“Why don’t I wait outside?” he offered, hoping that might help her relax.
“No, that’s not necessary. It’s not like I haven’t already been alone with you all this time.”
She sat on the sofa and dialed the number to the ranch.
Judd occupied himself looking at her photos again. Why couldn’t this in-person Lucy be more like the conservative Lucy in the picture? That was the kind of woman he needed to spend a week with, not an obvious seductress. It was almost impossible to tell if the real-life woman and the woman in the photo were one and the same.
If he had to spend an entire week keeping an eye on Lucy, he was in big trouble. The promise he’d made to himself only a month ago would be out the window in no time flat if she kept looking at him the way she did, with those satin brown eyes of hers. He had a thing for brown eyes. A bad, bad thing. But why couldn’t he run into nice, respectable women with irresistible brown eyes and made-for-sin bodies?
Instead he attracted sex kittens. He’d already promised himself—no more wild women. They’d brought him nothing but trouble in the first thirty years of his life, and now that he was ready to settle down, he needed someone steady, respectable, and maybe even a little bit boring.
Lucy Connors, with her natural beauty, lush pink lips, wild bedroom hair and slim little waist that begged to be gripped, was definitely not boring. And in her presence he was already forgetting that he was supposed to be conducting an investigation.
He’d had enough of red-hot lust and crash-and-burn passion. He’d been scalded one too many times. He’d nearly lost himself to women like Lucy.
Judd winced at the memory of his most notable disaster—the woman who’d cost him his career in the police force. It had been his own fault for hopping into bed with a near stranger, for letting passion rule his decision-making. He should have guessed she might have been involved with one of his co-workers by her very presence at the party full of cops where they had met, but he’d never imagined she was his own boss’s girlfriend.
He had put that mistake behind him and was now well on his way to respectability. The last thing he needed was to be led back into temptation by a woman who could addle his brain with her beauty and turn him back into a man ruled by his sexual urges.
But he’d promised Mason.
He made a mental note to himself to kick Mason’s ass at the soonest possible opportunity. Just like when they were kids, his brother could still get him in trouble. Only this time Judd had walked into it with his eyes wide open. He never would have agreed to the investigation if his older brother hadn’t sounded as though he needed the favor so desperately. Judd hadn’t seen any way to say no.
“You’ll have the perfect opportunity to keep an eye on her,” Mason had said. “Just pretend that maybe you’re attracted to her on your off hours and she’ll be putty in your hands.” Mason had given him the same pleading look he’d used when they were kids to get Judd to tell their mother it had been him who’d broken two plates from the china collection.
Lucy’s voice interrupted his thoughts and snapped him back to the present. “Okay, thank you very much, Mr. Walker. Goodbye.” She hung up the phone and offered Judd a crooked smile. “Your story checks out, so I guess we can go.”
Judd took a deep breath and smiled at the woman that was sure to be his undoing.
NOW THAT SHE HAD A GOOD view of Judd’s face, Lucy couldn’t stop staring. He was handsome the way banana splits were delicious—decadently so, with a little too much of the good stuff. Too much beauty for one man to contain, yet he managed it somehow. Remarkably, those silvery gray eyes, that nose a plastic surgeon would be proud of, those soap-opera-hunk cheekbones, and that outrageously lush mouth all combined to make a face that was gorgeous in an unmistakably masculine way.
Lucy melted a little every time she looked at him. And that was only in the beginning. After those early moments in his presence, the full weight of the situation began to sink in…And sink in some more, bringing with it a schoolgirl giddiness that threatened to undermine her sex-kitten wannabe disguise. How could she be a cool seductress as she constantly resisted the urge to blush and giggle?
She couldn’t, at least not without a little help. Her plan became clear when Judd showed her to the rear passenger seat of the sport utility vehicle and offered her the complimentary bottle of champagne and box of overpriced chocolates. She’d succeed with the assistance of alcohol.
Although the rear seat had the advantage of proximity to the vehicle’s built-in bar, Lucy smiled with as much confidence as she could muster and said, “How ’bout I sit up front…and keep you company.”
Judd nodded one time. “Whatever you like.”
She plucked the already-opened bottle and a plastic glass from his hand, eyeballing the box of chocolates he also offered with apprehension. Boring Lucy would never succumb to the wanton calorie binge that gold foil box of sin represented, but she had the feeling Wild-and-Crazy Lucy would relish every bite without thinking twice about the health consequences. It had been so long since she’d eaten real chocolates, she could barely remember their flavor.
“I’d better take those, too. Champagne makes me hungry.” She took the box with her free hand and tucked it under her arm before climbing into the front seat.
A little alcohol-induced courage was just what she needed to get the vacation started right, Lucy told herself as she promptly filled and emptied the champagne flute twice. Since they hadn’t even started moving yet, she was thankful when Judd climbed into the driver’s seat and studiously ignored the suddenly emptier champagne bottle that sat in the little cooler between their seats.
“Ready