The Real Thing. Brenda Jackson

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      She also told him how she preferred a small town to a big one, how she found Denver much too large and how she looked forward to finishing up her residency and moving back to Bunnell.

      He leaned back in his chair after cleaning his plate, admitting the cake and ice cream had been delicious. “Aw, come on,” he joked to Trinity. “Why don’t you just come clean and admit that the real reason you want to hightail it back is because you have a guy waiting there for you.”

      She made a face. The way she scrunched her nose and pouted her lips was utterly cute. “That is totally not true...especially after what Derrick did to Tara. The last thing I’d have is a boyfriend that I believed would wait for me.”

      He had heard all about the Tara fiasco from one of his cousins, although he couldn’t remember which one. He couldn’t believe any man in his right mind would run off and leave someone as gorgeous as Tara Matthews Westmoreland standing in the middle of some church. What a fool.

      “What happened to Tara has made you resentful and distrustful of giving your heart to a hometown guy?”

      She shrugged her shoulders and unconsciously licked whipped cream off her fork. In an instant his stomach tightened. Sexual hunger stirred to life in his groin. He picked up his glass of water and almost drained it in one gulp.

      “Worse than that. It taught me not to truly give my heart to any man, hometown or otherwise.”

      He studied her, seeing the seriousness behind the beautiful pair of eyes staring back at him. “But things worked out fine for Tara in the end, didn’t they? She met Thorn.”

      He saw the slow smile replace her frown. “Yes, she did, and I’m glad. He’s made her happy.”

      Adrian nodded. “So there are happy endings sometimes.”

      She finished off the last of her cake before saying, “Yes, sometimes, but not often enough for me to take a chance.”

      “So you don’t ever intend to fall in love?”

      “Not if I can help it. I told you what I want.”

      He nodded again. “To return to Bunnell and work alongside your father and brothers in their medical business.”

      “Yes.”

      He took another sip of his water when she moistened the top of her lip with the tip of her tongue. “What about your happiness?” he asked her, shifting slightly in his chair.

      She lifted a brow. “My happiness?”

      “Yes. Don’t you want to have someone to grow old with?”

      She turned the tables when she asked, “Don’t you?”

      He thought about the question. “I intend to date and enjoy life for as long as I can. I’m aware at some point I’ll need to settle down, marry and have children, but at the moment there’re enough Westmorelands handling that without me. It seemed every time I came home for spring break, I would have a wedding to attend or a new niece, nephew or second cousin being born.”

      “Speaking of cousins...mainly yours,” she said as if to clarify. “I’ve heard the story of how the Denver Westmorelands connected with the Atlanta-based Westmorelands, but what about these other cousins that might be out there?”

      He knew she was referring to the ongoing investigation by Megan’s husband, Rico, who was a private investigator. “It seems my great-grandfather Raphel Westmoreland was involved with four women before marrying my great-grandmother Gemma. Three of the women have now been accounted for. It seemed none were his wives, although there’s still one more to investigate for clarification.”

      He paused and then said, “Rico and Megan found out that one of the women, by the name of Clarice, had a baby by Raphel that he didn’t know about. She died in a train derailment but not before she gave the child to another woman—a woman who’d lost her child and husband. A woman with the last name of Outlaw.”

      He could tell by the light in Trinity’s eyes that she found what he’d told her fascinating. He understood. He was convinced that if there were any more Westmoreland kin out there, Rico would find them.

      Adrian glanced at his watch. “It’s still early yet. Is there anything else you want to do before I take you home?”

      She glanced at her own watch. “Early? It’s almost midnight.”

      He smiled. “Is it past your bedtime?”

      “No.”

      “Then plan to enjoy the night. And I’ve got just the place.”

      “Where?”

      “Come on and I’ll show you.”

      * * *

      A half hour later Trinity was convinced she needed her head examined. She looked down at herself and wondered how she had let Adrian talk her into this. Indoor mountain climbing. Seriously?

      But here she was, decked out with climbing shoes, a harness, a rope and all the other things she needed to scale a man-made wall that looked too much like the real thing.

      “Ready?”

      She glanced over at Adrian who was standing beside her, decked out in his own climbing gear.

      Ready? He has to be kidding.

      She saw the excitement in his eyes and figured this was something he liked doing on a routine basis. But personally, she was not an outdoorsy kind of girl.

      So why did you allow him to talk you into it?

      It might have had everything to do with the way he had grabbed hold of her hand as he’d led her out of Andrew’s and toward his car. The tingling sensation that erupted the moment his hand touched hers had seemed to pulverize her common sense. Or it could have been the smile that would creep onto his lips whenever he was on an adrenaline high. Darn, it was contagious.

      He snapped his fingers in front of her face, making her realize she hadn’t answered his question. “Hey, don’t start daydreaming on me now, Trinity. You need your full concentration for this.”

      She looked over at the fake mountain she was supposed to climb. He claimed this particular one was for beginners, but she had serious doubts about that. She glanced up at him. “I don’t know about this, Adrian.”

      His smile widened and she felt the immediate pull in her stomach. “You can do this. You look physically fit enough.”

      She rolled her eyes. “Looks are deceiving.”

      “Then this will definitely get you in shape. But to be honest, I don’t see where there needs to be improvement.”

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