The Daddy Search. Shawna Delacorte
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wheeled out from behind the desk and headed across the room. Lexi had not realized until that moment that Gloria was in a wheelchair.
Gloria showed her to a round table set with ten places. Not more than five minutes passed before nine of the ten places at her table were filled. She glanced around the dining room, noting that it was quickly filling with ranch guests. A festive mood prevailed with everyone enjoying themselves. She spotted Gloria seated at another table and a man she assumed to be Danny Clayton at yet another. A minute later, someone sat down in the chair next to hers. She turned toward the new arrival and found herself staring into Nick Clayton’s blue eyes.
“Good evening, Lexi. I hope you’re hungry. I just took a quick tour through the kitchen and everything looks good.”
She forced a smile. “Yes, it certainly smells good.” Nick Clayton . . . was there no way to avoid constant contact with him? It seemed that every time she left her cabin she ran into him. Her purpose in being at the ranch had been to confront him. Except now she wished she could stay away from his very disconcerting presence. He made her feel uncomfortable, arousing totally inappropriate longings and desires. She wasn’t sure which disturbed her more—how he made her feel or the implication of those feelings.
To her surprise, dinner turned out to be a much more pleasant interlude than she had anticipated. She was very conscious about her choice of words and tone of voice. She would occasionally slip and her conversation with Nick would border on adversarial, but only for a moment. She quickly brought it back to neutral. She reluctantly had to admit that he was a gracious host for the table. He managed to engage everyone in conversation and made sure all the guests were put at ease and felt a part of the group. She was surprised to find that he was very intelligent and conversant on a wide variety of topics. There was a lot more to this cowboy than a set of broad shoulders, a killer smile and brilliant blue eyes.
Lexi found it very unsettling. She had almost convinced herself that she would be able to ignore her unexpected yet very real attraction to him—almost. She still had not been able to set aside the threat of emotional upheaval every time he came near her. And now that she had seen that he was something other than just another libidodriven and self-absorbed handsome hunk, she did not know what to think.
A moment later, he jolted her once again.
Three
“I went back through the old files this afternoon and found a photograph of your sister taken at one of the barbecues. As soon as I saw her picture, it jogged my memory.” Nick saw a hint of something that looked like vindication dart through Lexi’s eyes, but he didn’t understand where it had come from.
“Oh? So you remember her now?”
He caught her tone of voice. There it was again, that feeling of being hit with a challenge of some sort. He certainly had no intention of telling her about her sister’s unseemly behavior. He wasn’t sure what to say. “I can see a definite family resemblance between you and your sister.”
Nick had not offered any further comment about Marnie and Lexi decided not to ask. For the time being, it was enough of a victory that he admitted knowing her. The rest would come later. She would take it one step at a time.
Most of the other people at Lexi’s table had left following dessert. Some had mentioned dropping by next door to the Hoedown Saloon for some dancing, while others had said they were going to take a walk to exercise off dinner.
Nick leaned over to her as he draped his arm across the back of her chair. He dropped his voice to a soft near whisper that sent little ripples of titillation across her skin. “Could I entice you to join me at the saloon for a dance, or maybe an after-dinner drink?”
“I . . . I think I’ll just take a walk to settle some of this delicious dinner. I overindulged and feel the need of a little exercise and fresh air. I’m also rather tired. It’s been a long day. I think I’ll just turn in after my walk.”
“That sounds like an excellent idea. I’ll show you around the grounds. It’s a beautiful night and the sky is filled with millions of brilliant stars—a perfect time for a stroll.” He rose from his chair and held out his hand to assist her, proceeding as if she had agreed to his offer without giving her a chance to say no.
Lexi hesitated, torn between what she knew she should do and what she wanted to do. Then, as if he had usurped her will, she placed her hand in his. The moment they came into physical contact, a potent charge of heated desire, closely followed by an emotional tug, invaded her consciousness. She knew at once it had been a terrible mistake, but it was too late. Once again, the magnetic draw of his masculinity reeled in her senses like a fish caught on a line and she seemed helpless to prevent it.
He escorted her outside, gently guiding her with a hand at the small of her back. They strolled along a path through a stand of fir trees, then around the edge of a large reflecting pond. The brilliance of the star-filled sky, the crisp smell of the night air and the intoxicating nearness of Nick Clayton all combined to work their magic on her. The conversation was equally soft and intimate.
“Tell me about yourself, about your family. I know you have a sister. Do you have any brothers?”
She tried to give him as little information as possible without arousing his suspicions. “No brothers, just my sister and me. My father died ten years ago and my mother lives in Chicago, as I do.”
“Are you originally from Chicago?”
“Yep . . . born and raised. I went away to college but returned after graduation and have worked there ever since.”
“What do you do for a living?”
A feeling of discomfort stabbed at her. This was all wrong. She was supposed to be finding out about him, not the other way around. He had moved her along so smoothly that she had barely been aware of what was happening. She tried to force a laugh, as if making a joke. “You’re making me feel as if I were some sort of specimen to be studied under a microscope.”
A hint of an embarrassed chuckle escaped his throat. “I didn’t mean to sound like I was cross-examining you on the witness stand.” He grasped her hand, then stopped walking, bringing her to an abrupt halt. “I’m genuinely interested.” He searched the depths of her hazel eyes. “We can talk about something else if you’d rather. What topics interest you?”
“Well—” her mind worked quickly as Lexi tried to figure a way to turn this to her advantage “—it seems to me that turnabout is fair play. So, tell me about yourself. Have you always lived here?”
“Yep . . . this ranch belonged to my grandfather, then my father. When my father died, it passed on to my mother, my brother and me. It’s always been a cattle ranch, but we made some changes a few years ago and turned it into a dude ranch. We still run a small cattle operation, but being a dude ranch is our main business now.”
“There’s just the three of you—Gloria, Danny and yourself?”
“That’s right.” A little grin tugged at the corners of his mouth and his eyes sparkled. “Now, what else would you like to know? I’m thirty years old, Danny is twenty-eight. I stand six-one without my boots. I have a degree in business administration from the University of Washington and Danny has one in liberal arts from Colorado State. I don’t think I have a favorite color. As far as food goes, I’ll eat just about anything. I enjoy fine wine, but on a hot, dusty day, a cold beer tastes real good. I read a lot and like movies—mysteries are my favorite. My musical tastes are fairly broad with a particular fondness for jazz.”
“Oh, my . . . I’m . . . uh . . .” He had left her speechless with his sudden burst of personal information.
It had all come out so suddenly . . . and so honestly. Everything about him seemed so straightforward, something she found confusing. Nothing about him seemed to coincide with the type of men Marnie usually chose. Lexi’s casual conversation with Nick Clayton had done nothing to help clarify what had happened between him and her sister . . . if anything had actually happened.