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her gaze unfaltering.
“Must have been his very good friend,” he said coolly.
“Listen, man—”
“She doesn’t look much like a rancher to me.”
Travis laughed. “The understatement of the year.”
“It doesn’t help that the Chambers place is a disaster,” Caleb said.
“It almost always was.”
“Remember when we were kids and you worked there a couple of summers? You had lots of ideas about how to improve things.”
“Yeah, well, old man Chambers didn’t want to hear any ideas but his own.”
“Addison would.”
Jake looked at Caleb. “Addison?”
“She’s a friend.”
Jake brought his beer to his lips and took a long swallow. Why was the taste of it more bitter than before?
“Woman looks like that probably has a lot of ‘friends.’”
“She is,” Caleb repeated, his tone as cool as Jake’s, “exactly what I said. A friend.”
“Whatever you say.”
“Dammit, Jacob—”
“The point is,” Travis said quickly, “we thought you might help her.”
Jake almost laughed. He wasn’t having much luck helping himself, much less somebody else.
“You know, take a look at the land, the buildings—”
“Here’s the deal, Trav. I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“We figured it would be something like that. Well, no sweat. Check the property for her, leave next week instead. A business deal.”
“Is that what you call your arrangement with her? A business deal?”
Why in hell had he said that? What did his brother’s relationship with a woman he’d never met—and never would meet—matter?
He saw Travis’s eyes narrow and he put out his hand and squeezed his shoulder.
“Sorry.” He managed a quick smile. “I guess I’m not used to talking to people who aren’t wearing cotton nightgowns that leave their butts hanging out.”
“As a matter of fact, the answer is yes. She’s my client. Caleb’s, too. I’m her financial consultant. He’s her lawyer. She’s a smart, tough broad. An attorney, like Caleb, but from New York. If I were you, I wouldn’t underestimate her.”
No. A man would be foolish to underestimate a woman who could pin him with a look.
“No danger of that,” Jake said. “I told you, I’m not staying, so you’d best not recommend me to—”
“We already did. Well, hell, why wouldn’t we? We told her you were the man she wanted. She’s, ah, she’s damn near convinced.”
Jake wasn’t listening. He was watching the woman again. And as he did, she raised her glass of wine to her lips, sipped at the ruby liquid, then ran the tip of her tongue over her lips.
A soft, low sound formed in the back of his throat.
“Jake? You okay?”
“I’m fine,” he said, his gaze never leaving her.
“Did you hear what I said? She’s pretty much convinced.”
“Convinced of what?”
“That you’re the guy for her.”
“That I’m—”
Caleb rolled his eyes. “That you’re the man she should hire. See how she’s looking at you? She probably figures we’re telling you about her.” He gave a quick, all-too-cheerful laugh. “We told her she’d have to turn on the charm, come up with somethin’ special to convince you to—”
Travis, watching Jake’s face, said, “Caleb,” in a sharp, low voice.
“Something special,” Jake repeated carefully.
“And she will. She’s one hell of a resourceful female, Jake. If she decides she wants to grab your attention—”
“Dammit, Caleb,” Travis growled. “Will you shut up?”
“Wait a minute, okay? I’m explaining things here. Jake needs to know this is all about business, that Addison’s all about business …” His voice trailed off. “Jake?”
“Jake!” Travis called, but Jake was already shouldering his way through the crowd, anger churning in his belly where, moments before, there’d been heat.
AT NINE, Addison had run away from home.
She’d done it before.
No special reason, just the childish hope that somewhere out there was a place where people read books instead of watching soap operas, where your mother didn’t spend hours putting curls in her hair and paint on her nails and then, though you hated it, doing those same things to you.
That time, instead of heading for the highway, she’d cut through the woods that led into the mountains.
Branches had slapped at her face, brambles had torn her shirt and jeans.
At last, she’d emerged into a clearing. And found herself face-to-face with a mountain lion.
The big cat had put back its ears and snarled.
Addison’s heart leaped. She knew a lot about mountain lions. They were fast. They were unpredictable. They were beautiful and intelligent….
They were also incredibly dangerous.
Adrenaline pumped through her muscles. Run, every instinct said.
Fortunately, her head knew better. Showing weakness would be the kiss of death.
So, though she was terrified, she’d held her ground. And—such a silly cliché—time stood still.
How else to describe what happened when predator and prey confronted each other?
Now, almost two decades later, she flashed back to that memory. She hadn’t run and after what had seemed like hours, but had surely been only seconds, the cat had turned and bounded away.
Jacob Wilde was coming toward her, and he looked every bit as dangerous as the mountain lion.
Until a few minutes ago, he’d watched her with an intensity that had been … What was the word? Disconcerting. His brothers had been talking to him. About her, she’d assumed, from the way he, then they, had looked at her.
She’d waited for something to happen.
For Travis and Caleb to bring him over to introduce him. Or for him to acknowledge her with a smile, a nod.
She’d waited. And waited. His stillness baffled her. Annoyed her.
Irritated her.
Was he expecting her to make the first move?
Okay, she’d finally decided, why not? She’d smiled. Raised her glass. She’d done all she could to convey the message, Hello, I’m Addison and you’re Jake, and though I don’t think we’ll really do business together, we probably should at least meet to make your brothers happy….
And then everything changed.
His jaw tightened. His mouth thinned. A hot, hungry look swept across his face.
She