Chapter One

      It was the most glorious kind of morning, and Teddi Whitehall leaned dreamily on the windowsill of the dormitory room overlooking the courtyard below, watching the pigeons waddle like old men over the cobblestones.

      The buildings on college campus were romantically Gothic, like something out of another century. But its green and flowering grounds were what Teddi liked most. They were a welcome change from the sophisticated New York apartment where she had to spend her holidays.

      She leaned her face on her crossed arms with a sigh and drank in the smells and sounds of the early morning. She dreaded the time when she’d have to board the plane back to New York, away from the exclusive Connecticut college and her friend and roommate Jenna. There was a chill in the June air, and the beige gown that complemented Teddi’s short dark hair and huge brown eyes was hardly proof against it. It was a good thing that Jenna had already gone downstairs, she thought, and couldn’t chide her about her impulsiveness in throwing open the window.

      Jenna wasn’t impulsive. In that, she was like her older brother. Teddi shivered delicately. Just the thought of Kingston Devereaux was enough to cause that reaction. They’d clashed from the very beginning. The big rancher with his Australian drawl and cutting smile might have sent the other girls in the dormitory into swoons, but he only made Teddi want to turn away. He’d made his contempt for her more than evident during the years she’d been friends with his sister. And it was all because of a false impression he had, which nothing she said could change. His snap judgments were as unfair as his treatment of Teddi, and she dreaded visits to the Canadian ranch with Jenna. Teddi had an uncomfortable feeling that Jenna was getting ready to spring another invitation on her, since they were both free until fall quarter began. Kingston Devereaux would fly his plane over from Calgary to get Jenna, and Teddi would find excuses to avoid him...as usual.

      She shook her head miserably. At least Jenna had a mother and brother to go home to. Teddi had no one. Her aunt, who was her only living relative, was somewhere on the Riviera with her latest lover. The New York apartment Teddi shared with her on holidays was going to be particularly empty now. At least there would be plenty of modeling offers forthcoming, she was assured of that. She’d been modeling since her fifteenth birthday. She was blessed with good bone structure and eyes so large and poignant that one of her boyfriends had likened them to a doe’s. The modeling agency that handled her was proud of its star client—if they had a complaint, it was that she was being wasted in the halls of academia.

      She felt suddenly chilled to the bone and drew back into the room, closing the window with nervous hands. Modeling was the sore spot with Kingston, who had the immutable opinion that models and virtue didn’t mix. It hadn’t helped that Teddi’s aunt was notorious for her affairs. Kingston was an old-fashioned man with narrow-minded views on modern permissiveness. He might have an affair himself, but he had nothing but contempt for women who indulged. And he was certain Teddi did.

      She’d never forgotten her introduction to him. She’d met Jenna at boarding school when she was just fifteen, and the two girls had become fast friends. She’d expected Jenna’s family to be equally friendly and caring, and had received the shock of her young life when Kingston Devereaux had shown up at Christmas to fly Jenna home to the ranch outside Calgary for the holidays.

      His first reaction to Teddi had been strangely hostile, a long, lingering appraisal that had touched Teddi like a cold finger against her bare skin. Jenna’s gay announcement that she’d invited Teddi for the holidays had been met with a cold, gray glare and a reluctant acceptance that had spoiled the trip for her. She’d done everything but move outside to keep out of the big man’s way. Then, and since.

      She shook off the memories along with her gown, and slipped into a silky beige pantsuit that her aunt had mailed to her for Easter—one of a number of presents that were supposed to take the place of love and affection. Teddi ran a comb through her short, thick hair and decided against makeup. Her complexion was naturally olive, her lips had a color all their own, and her long-lashed eyes never needed enhancing. She slipped into a pair of low-heeled shoes and went downstairs to find Jenna, idly wondering why her roommate had rushed out in the first place.

      She started into the dormitory lounge and stopped, frozen, in the doorway. Jenna was sitting stiffly on the couch, facing a big, elegantly dressed man with gold-streaked blond hair.

      “...And I said no,” Kingston Devereaux stated flatly, his back to the doorway, his Australian accent thick. “She’s not going to turn my damned cattle station upside down again the way she did at Easter. Can you see the men getting any work done? Hell, they do nothing but stare at her.”

      “She won’t cause any trouble,” Jenna retorted in defense of her friend, venom in her normally sweet tone. Her gray eyes, so much like Kingston’s, were flashing with anger. “King, she’s nothing like her aunt, she’s not what you think...!”

      “Too right, baby, she isn’t rich, and she’s never going to be, unless she can get her claws into some poor, trusting male.” He rammed his big hands into the pockets of his slacks, stretching the expensive gray fabric across his flat stomach, his powerful, broad thighs. “Well, she isn’t going to spend the summer making cow’s eyes at my men—or at me,” he added with a bitter laugh.

      Teddi, listening, blushed. That Easter vacation had haunted her.

      “King!” Jenna gasped. “You must know that Teddi’s frightened of you, you’ve made sure of it. She’d never...”

      “Wouldn’t she?” he growled. “Surely you noticed the way she stared at me during Easter? An Easter I’d have preferred spending alone with my family,” he added with a cruel smile. “Mother should have had another daughter to keep you company, then maybe you wouldn’t spend your life picking up strays!”

      Teddi’s face went white. She stood there like a wounded little animal, her huge eyes misty with the hurt, and Kingston turned at that moment and saw her. The expression on his broad, hard face was almost comical.

      “Oh,