Revenge of the Second Son. Sara Orwig

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      “All right,” he agreed. “We’ll keep it informal. You and your granddad like boats and the water. I have a twenty-footer, give or take a few feet, that sleeps six. It’s docked in Galveston Bay. We can fly down there and spend the weekend on the water.”

      Startled, she stared at him while she mulled his offer. “A weekend together? I had dinner in mind.”

      He shrugged. “You wanted a casual, friendly meeting. A weekend on the water—we can stay out of each other’s way or talk, whatever we want to do. The weekend would be casual—and we’ll get to know each other and what each one of us wants,” he said pleasantly.

      Her mind raced. She had never expected several days with Nick Ransome. Yet this might give her the chance to win him over and talk him into leaving Holcomb Drilling untouched. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. “What if I come without Granddad?” she asked, “I’d like to be able to speak freely without worrying him.”

      “Fine,” Nick said, something again flickering in the depths of his eyes. “I think the weather is supposed to be good, so we should have a calm time.”

      “The two of us together—a ‘calm’ time? I don’t think it’s possible.”

      He gave her a taunting, crooked smile. “Then if not calm, interesting.”

      “If we’re not at each other’s throats, it’ll be a smashing success,” she said. He touched the corner of her mouth, she tingled from the contact.

      “There would be only one reason for me to be ‘at your throat,’” he drawled in a husky voice.

      “Now you’re flirting,” she accused.

      “Don’t sound so surprised. You’re a beautiful woman.”

      “I rather distrust your motives for turning on your charm.”

      “I meant what I said,” he insisted.

      “Very well. A weekend on the water,” she said, not feeling the relief and satisfaction she had expected to feel if he agreed to getting together. “Since we’re going to talk more about the company, can we postpone tomorrow’s meeting and let our lawyers get together next week?”

      “It’s fine with me to move the meeting. Make it a week from Friday,” Nick replied, flashing her a smile that curled her toes. His white teeth were a contrast with his dark skin; creases bracketed his mouth and heightened his appeal. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow about four and we can fly to Galveston,” he said, getting up to go around his desk for pen and paper. “Give me your address.”

      “Write out where to meet you at the dock. I don’t mind the drive to Galveston and I have an errand to run on the way,” she said, not wanting to fly with him. She watched his well-shaped hands as he wrote an address. She stood and he moved beside her to show her what he had written.

      He stood close enough that his shoulder and arm brushed against her. She could detect his enticing aftershave, feel the warmth from his body. Her drumming pulse was impossible to control.

      There was no denying the reaction she had to Nick. Was she making a wise move to spend the weekend on Nick’s boat—just the two of them, plus his crew in the background? Yet it was the only way she could see to try to win Nick’s friendship so that he would at least listen to reason when they were ready to negotiate.

      As it stood now, she and Nick were at loggerheads, and that would do nothing to win Nick Ransome over to doing what she wanted.

      On the other hand, to be shut away with Nick for the weekend on a boat sent her heart racing into overdrive. She reassured herself that she and Nick wouldn’t really be alone, and they would be together only for the weekend.

      As Nick gave her directions, she struggled to listen. He turned to face her, and they stood only inches apart.

      “If you prefer, I’ll send a car to pick you up tomorrow—about four and you can still do your errands.”

      “Thanks, but I’ll drive myself,” she replied, and one corner of his mouth lifted in a wicked grin.

      “Scared to leave transportation behind?” he asked.

      “Of course not, or I wouldn’t have suggested coming by myself,” she replied, trying to ignore the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Taking the directions from his hand, she picked up her purse and headed for the door. Suddenly he was there in front of her, reaching around her. Instead of opening the door, he stepped closer and blocked her with his hand on the knob, his arm a barrier. She turned to look up at him.

      “So is it going to be all business this weekend?” he asked in a husky, seductive voice that created a honeyed warmth in her.

      “Probably not,” she replied breathlessly, wishing she could wrap him around her little finger and get what she wanted from him. Nick leaned closer and his gaze lowered to her mouth.

      Her lips parted, tingling, but she moved around him and placed her hand over his on the knob. The instant she touched him, another fiery current simmered from her fingers to her toes.

      She looked up at him. “I need to open the door.”

      With a smile, he swung the door wide and then he followed her into the reception area. “Tomorrow afternoon about five or six.”

      “Fine,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at him. At the outer door, she looked back to find him still watching her. The minute she was in the hallway, her smile vanished. “What have I done?” she asked herself as she stepped into the empty elevator. “The only thing you could do,” she answered herself, butterflies still fluttering in her stomach, her palms sweaty from spending the past few minutes with Nick.

      No man had ever disturbed her the way Nick had and that worried her most of all because she was usually in control of her responses.

      All the rest of the day and far into the night, she weighed the pros and cons of spending a weekend with him. Yet she had to do something to try to get a satisfactory settlement, or even better, get Nick to back off and leave Holcomb Drilling unscathed.

      The next afternoon, as she drove over the arching causeway to Galveston and looked below at sparkling blue water, she asked herself the same question worrying her constantly since leaving his office. Would this weekend help save Holcomb Drilling?

      Could she resist Nick’s sex appeal? She reminded herself that all she had to do was remember what he intended to do to her heritage and future.

      She shook her shoulders as if she banished a problem. How easy it was to think his appeal diminished when she was miles away from him!

      “Be polite, professional,” she reminded herself, glancing at the rearview mirror. She wanted something from him and there was no hope of getting it if she exposed her fury.

      In minutes she parked at the Galveston Yacht Club. She slipped her backpack and her purse over her shoulder and picked up her briefcase. Taking a deep breath as if going into a battle, she circled the yacht club and strolled down to the wharf to look for the slip with his boat. She spotted him in cutoffs, a T-shirt and wraparound sunglasses. He and another man were in a motorboat. When Nick saw her, he sprang to the dock and came striding forward СКАЧАТЬ