“So what do you think?” he asked when she remained silent. “Would our playing a game of cards for the ranch be a viable solution to our problem?”
“I’m going to have to give it a lot more thought before I decide,” she said, wondering if there was a poker gene that she might have inherited from her grandfather. She knew there probably wasn’t, but all things considered, it would have been nice if there had been.
He smiled. “Neither one of us is willing to go anywhere else, so there’s plenty of time for you to make your decision.”
“I think I can safely say I’ll have an answer for you within the next day or so.” Taylor rose from the swing and started toward the front door. Turning back, she started to add that she’d like the issue settled as soon as possible, but she forgot what she was about to say when she ran headlong into his broad chest.
He immediately wrapped his arms around her to keep her from falling. “Sorry. I didn’t...expect you to switch directions.”
As she stared up into his dark brown eyes, her breath lodged in her throat. She felt completely surrounded by him and the feeling wasn’t at all unpleasant.
Her heart skipped several beats.
“I...um...I think I’ll...turn in for the night,” she stammered, unable to think clearly. What on earth was wrong with her?
He brought one of his hands up to brush a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail from her cheek. The tips of his fingers lingered on her skin just a bit longer than was necessary and sent a tingling sensation pulsing through her.
When he lowered his head, she held her breath a moment as she awaited his kiss. But instead of covering her mouth, Lane’s lips lightly brushed her ear as he whispered, “Sleep well, Taylor.”
When he slowly released her and took a step back, it took a moment for her to realize he was looking at her expectantly. “Was there something else?” he asked.
“Um...good night...Lane,” she finally managed.
Forcing herself to move, she opened the screen door and didn’t stop until she was upstairs with her bedroom door shut firmly behind her. As she leaned back against it, she had to remind herself to breathe. Lane had more raw sensuality in his little finger than most men had in their entire bodies.
Her heart suddenly began to pound against her ribs. When had she started thinking of him by his first name? And why?
It had been much easier and a lot less personal to keep him compartmentalized as Donaldson, her adversary—the man she had suspected of cheating her grandfather. The very man who stood between her and her goal of owning all of the Lucky Ace.
Taylor scrunched her eyes shut as she tried to wipe out the image of him holding her gaze as he leaned toward her. She had thought he was going to kiss her. And heaven help her, she hadn’t made a single move to stop him.
“Get a grip on yourself,” she muttered as she pushed away from the door. She wasn’t interested in a one-night stand, a relationship or any other kind of entanglement with a man. She had watched her parents and the miserable existence that their marriage had become for the past twenty-eight years. And if there was one thing she had learned it was what she didn’t want in life.
Grabbing her nightshirt, she headed into the adjoining bathroom. As she changed clothes and brushed her teeth, she tried to tell herself that she had been distracted by his proposal and hadn’t been thinking clearly. But staring into the mirror, she shook her head at the woman staring back at her. She could try to justify her reaction all she wanted, but the fact of the matter was, she was attracted to him. And she wasn’t the least bit happy about it.
* * *
Stepping out of the shower, Lane shivered and reached for a towel to wipe away the rivulets of cold water running down his body. Two cold showers in less than twelve hours was more than any man should have to endure, and he for damned sure had no intention of suffering through a third.
After Taylor ran into him on the porch and he had put his arms around her, he’d seen the anticipation in her emerald eyes. As a result, he had spent the entire night wide-awake and feeling as if he was going to climb the walls. Walking into the bedroom now, he quickly got dressed and pulled on his work boots. He was going downstairs and over breakfast, he was going to tell Taylor that he definitely wouldn’t be home for dinner. If he didn’t scratch this itch, there was a very good chance he would be a complete lunatic and a straitjacket away from being committed by the end of the week.
His only hope of any kind of reprieve from the situation would be for one of them to leave the Lucky Ace. That’s why he had proposed a game of poker for control of the ranch. It had been the only thing he could think of that she might agree to.