Sunset Seduction

One



Usually nothing much unnerved Audrey Faith Thomas, except for the time six months ago when her big brother was bucked off Old Stormy at an Amarillo rodeo and broke his back. He was tossed eight feet in the air and landed with a solid smack to the ground. Casey’s injury was severe enough to have Audrey quitting veterinary school last semester to nurse him back to health.

Audrey shuddered at the memory and thanked the Almighty that Casey was alive and well and bossy as ever. But as she sat behind the wheel of her truck driving toward her fate, the fear coursing through her veins had nothing to do with Casey’s disastrous five-second ride and resulting retirement from the rodeo. This fear was much different. It scared her silly and made her doubt herself. It made her want to turn her Chevy pickup truck around and go home to Reno and forget all about showing up at Sunset Ranch unannounced.

To face Lucas Slade.

The man she’d seduced and then abandoned in the middle of the night.

Audrey swallowed hard and tried to reconcile her behavior. It wasn’t working. She still couldn’t believe what she’d done and after repeating her motives a thousand times in her head, nothing much had changed.

Last month, after an argument and a three-week standoff with her brother, she’d left her Reno home and ventured to his Lake Tahoe cabin to make amends. He’d been right about the boyfriend she’d just dumped, and she’d needed Casey’s strong shoulder to cry on. But once she’d arrived, Casey was fast asleep on the couch and the last person she’d expected to find sleeping in the guest room, on her bed, was Luke Slade—the man of her fantasies, the one she’d measured every other man against. Luke was the guy she’d crushed on during her teen years while traveling the rodeo circuit with Casey—the guy who’d treated her with kindness and the same sort of brotherly love that Casey had.

Seeing him sent all rational thoughts flying out the window. This was her chance. She wouldn’t let her prudish upbringing interfere with what she needed. His right arm was in a soft cast. That hadn’t stopped her from edging closer.

Luke’s eyelids had parted and two partially opened slits of warm blue honed in on her. “Come closer,” he’d rasped in the darkened room. She’d taken that as an invitation to climb into bed with him, the consequences be damned. That night, her heart and soul, as well as her body, had been involved.

Well…she’d gotten a lot more than a shoulder to cry on, and it had been glorious and amazing and out and out wonderful. How could it not be? She’d been secretly in love with her brother’s good buddy for years.

Audrey sent Jewel, the orange tabby sleeping in the travel carrier next to her, an apologetic glance. “It wasn’t like he was some random guy. It was Luke,” she told the cat as if that explained it all. Her cat, who hadn’t been much company on the drive, opened her eyes and gave her a stare before returning to cat dreamland. Audrey focused her attention back on the winding two-lane road, a shortcut through the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Sunset Ranch.

Audrey lowered the brim of her bright pink ball cap, shading her eyes from the glaring sun, and reached back to straighten out her ponytail. Coming through the mountain pass, she made the turn off the interstate and drove a little farther. As her gaze roamed the road, she recognized wisps of tall grass, purple wildflowers and white fences signifying the manicured property surrounding Sunset Lodge. The upscale dudelike resort adjacent to the ranch was another of the Slades’ prosperous enterprises. Once she passed the lodge, the ranch would be half a mile down the road.

“We’re almost there,” she told her sleepy cat.

Audrey couldn’t relax like the mellow feline beside her. Her fingers curled tightly around the steering wheel and as her doubt and fear doubled, her heart pounded hard in her chest.

She should’ve stayed with Luke that night. She should’ve been brave enough to face him in the morning. But every time those thoughts popped into her head, she had images of Casey waking up and finding her in bed with his good buddy. There was no doubt in her mind that Casey would’ve gone ballistic, asking no questions and taking no prisoners. She’d come to the conclusion that leaving Luke and the cabin had been the only way.

And it was a good thing her brother slept like the dead and hadn’t had a clue she’d had a booty call with his best friend.

Two days later, once she’d gotten the nerve to call her brother, she’d learned the reason for Luke’s visit. He’d been trampled by a horse in an awful accident. His arm had been broken along with three ribs. He’d come to Casey’s Lake Tahoe cabin to recuperate.

Now, she would finally come face-to-face with Luke. She’d confront him about the night they’d shared and confess her love for him, if it came down to that. She wondered if he thought her easy, a one-night stand and a woman who didn’t know her own mind. What had he thought about her abandoning him that night?

She would soon find out. She drove deeper onto Slade land and the gates came into view. Overhead, a wrought-iron emblem depicting the sun setting on the horizon marked the east entrance to Sunset Ranch. She slowed the truck to a near crawl, losing some of her nerve.

She could make a U-turn, head home and no one would be the wiser.

Behind her, a driver in a feed truck packed with hay bales laid his hand on the horn startling her out of her reverie. She took it as an omen. Drive on. Head toward your destiny, whatever it may be.

She did just that, and a few minutes later, holding her breath and feigning bravado, Audrey parked her truck, grabbed the cat carrier and knocked on Luke’s door.

When the door opened, she faced Lucas Slade. A gasp caught in her throat and she swallowed it down with one gulp. She drank in the sight of him, and her heart stirred restlessly, like all the other times she’d been in Luke’s company. She was hopeless.

Sunlight played in his dark blond hair and touched his face on a day when he hadn’t shaved. Rugged, appealing and so handsome she could cry. He stood a full head taller than she did. As a young girl, she’d thought if she could catch up to his height it would put her on even footing with him on other levels. It had been a silly whim that had never materialized. Luke was tall; she stood at average height. Five years separated their ages, which had seemed like an aeon to a teenager with a crush.

A little dumbfounded, she stared at him, not wanting to blow it by blurting out the wrong thing. She held her tongue and waited for him to say something.

His brows drew together. “That you under that hat, Audrey Faith?”

Heavens, she’d forgotten about the darn hat. She nodded and lifted the brim a little.

A big smile lit his face and sparkled in his eyes. “Well, come here.”

He didn’t wait for her to move. He stepped forward with his arms outstretched. At that moment, all of her fears were put to rest. He was glad to see her. Lord, have mercy.

But when she expected to be swept into an embrace and kissed the way he’d kissed her in the cabin, he bypassed her lips completely. Instead, her face was smothered by his shoulder as he gave her a big welcoming bear hug. There was no doubt about the affection there, or in the two brotherly pats to her shoulders, either, before he took a step back to look at her.

“What brings you out to Sunset Ranch?” His gaze whipped over her shoulder. “Did Casey drive out with you, too?”

“Oh, uh…no. Casey isn’t with me.”

“Okay,” he said with a nod. “Well then, come inside, out of the heat. And bring whatever pet you’ve rescued with you.”

She’d forgotten about the tabby in the carrier she’d set down on the porch. “H-her name is Jewel. She was hit by a car two months ago and was in shock for a while. Now she gets separation anxiety if I leave her for too long.”

Luke gave the cat a better look through the carrrier’s mesh window. “She made the trip from Reno with you?”

Her pulse quickened as his blue-eyed gaze returned to hers. She nodded.

“Lucky cat. I bet you’re giving her the royal treatment. You always were great with animals.”

She stood there, bewildered by Luke’s reaction. He didn’t make any acknowledgment about seeing her again. Or about that night that had rocked her world. He didn’t seem angry, hurt, relieved or much of anything. She hadn’t known exactly what to expect when she got here, but his civility clearly wasn’t it.

Her feet wouldn’t move, and her hesitation didn’t faze him. He simply lifted the handle of the cat carrier and swung it along as he walked toward the parlor.

Audrey grabbed hold of her mind, and followed behind.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes, Audrey Faith,” he said over his shoulder.

So was he. Her throat constricted as she recalled the dreams she’d had of him for the past four weeks. Now she was here with him in the flesh. “I like to be called Audrey now. I dropped the Faith a few years ago.”

Luke chuckled, and it was deep and rich and full of raw sensuality, just like she’d remembered. Of course, back when she was a teen, she didn’t know much about sensuality. She only knew that she loved the sound of his laughter. “All right, Audrey,” he said, softlike.

Mercy. Her belly warmed from the delicious way he said her name.

Audrey gave herself a mental shake as she walked behind him into the house. She managed to keep her eyes trained off his perfect butt fitted into Wranglers. Instead, she concentrated on Luke’s dark blond hair that reached past his collar to curl at his shoulders. The strands were much longer now. She remembered threading her fingers through those thick, healthy locks. How she yearned to do it again.

That entire night seemed like a surreal dream.

Luke set the cat carrier down on the sofa and turned to face her. “It’s really good to see you, Audrey. It’s been a long time.”

How long was a long time? She’d seen him one month ago.

“Same here,” she said. This wasn’t how she’d expected this conversation to go. In her wildest imaginings, Luke would have been thrilled to see her. He would have whisked her off to his bedroom, claiming undying love and demanding that she never leave his side again. In the worst-case scenario, Luke would’ve scolded her for having unprotected sex with him and then running off in the middle of the night.

But this conversation was just plain strange.

“I’m glad you came for a visit,” Luke said, gesturing for her to take a seat.

She sat down next to the cat carrier. Luke took a seat across from her in a buttercup-colored wing chair trimmed with round bronzed studs. “You look great.”

She didn’t think so. When she’d dressed this morning, she’d picked the best her neglected wardrobe had to offer, plaid blouse, baggy jeans and her too-long hair tucked into a baseball cap. She’d been meaning to get a stylish cut but that obviously hadn’t happened. The ball cap and casual clothes were Audrey As Usual. “Thanks, so do you. Are you feeling better?”

“I’ve got no complaints. My arm’s good as new now.” His arm had been encumbered with a cast when they made love, but that hadn’t stopped him from making her die a thousand pleasant deaths that night.

“That’s…good.”

“What’ve you been up to?” he asked, being polite.

“I, uh… Luke?” She hated to sound desperate, but Luke was avoiding the whole I-jumped-your-bones-in-the-middle-of-the-night subject.

His eyes softened and his voice registered sympathy. “What’s up, honey? You have another fight with Casey? Is he still being a bear?”

She leaned back against the seat cushion, rattled. Was he being deliberately obtuse? Surely he had to know why she’d come this distance to visit him.

Luke was a wealthy horse breeder now. Along with his brothers, he owned the biggest ranch in three counties. He had a lot on his mind, and it humbled her to think he remembered her troubles with Casey. It had been years since Audrey had complained to Luke about her brother’s overprotective, overbearing nature. She would confide in Luke, because he was the only one who’d really listened to her and treated her as an equal rather than a silly girl with years of growing up to do.

“We still argue,” she said, “but it’s different now.”

“How so?” He seemed genuinely interested.

“He can’t ground me anymore, so I really let him have it.”

Luke laughed again. “I bet you do.”

Audrey forced a smile. She didn’t get any of this. Luke acted as if they hadn’t been intimate, hadn’t steamed up the sheets on that guest-room bed. Was making love to a woman such an everyday occurrence to him that Luke thought nothing of it? Just casual sex with a onetime friend? “Casey knows I’m a big girl now. He doesn’t lord over me like he used to.”

She wanted to make it clear to Luke that Casey didn’t play into the equation. What happened between the two of them wasn’t any of her big brother’s business.

“So he finally cut the apron strings?”

“He’s getting there. It’s better than it was.”

Luke nodded, and they stared at each other. “Can I get you something cold to drink?”

“No…I’m just fine.”

“Okay.” He nodded once again and then she caught him glancing at his watch.

“Am I keeping you from something?”

“Nope,” he said, sitting up straighter in his seat, giving her his full attention. Luke was the best fibber on the planet. On the rodeo circuit, he used to tell white lies all the time to make people feel better.

Yes, Mrs. Jenkins, your strawberry-rhubarb pie is the best in the county.

Jonathan, you just need another year practicing with that fiddle before you make it to the Grand Ole Opry.

No, Audrey Faith, you’re not keeping me from anything important.

Audrey knew it was now or never. She had to speak with Luke about that night. She couldn’t leave things the way they were without clearing the air.

“I actually do have a reason for being here, Luke,” she said softly. “I think you know why, but if you’re going to make me say it…”

Luke’s forehead wrinkled as he gave it some thought. Then it hit him. “Ah…Audrey.” He raised his hand to stop her. “Say no more. I should’ve guessed the second I saw you standing on the doorstep.”

Relieved, Audrey let her stiff shoulders relax. Finally, they would get things out in the open.

“You heard about the wrangler job at the ranch,” he said. “Casey must’ve told you I was shorthanded. Come to think about it, there’s no one better to help me settle down my pain-in-the-ass, hardheaded stallion. I should have thought of hiring you myself, but we haven’t talked in years, so it didn’t cross my mind. The truth is, I need to get Tribute in line. He’s a big challenge. Casey tells me you’re not going back to vet school until the fall?”

Blood drained from her face and a shudder of dread coursed through her body. Her devastation would be visible any second now. She couldn’t let that happen.

Get a grip, Audrey. Hang on.

She was finally getting the picture. It was murky at best. “I, uh…y-yes, that’s my plan,” she managed.

She wished she’d chickened out instead of coming here. She could have done a quick one-eighty on the highway and headed straight back to Reno. Because the murkiness was clearing and the image left underneath was nightmarishly ugly.

We haven’t talked in years.

She could take that literally. Technically, they hadn’t talked…much. They’d moaned and groaned their way through that night. But she’d be an even bigger fool than she was now if she thought that’s what Luke had meant.

The Luke she’d known in the past wouldn’t have skirted an issue this big. He would have been up front and honest. He would have probably apologized and felt guilty as hell for making love to his best friend’s little sister. There was only one conclusion that Audrey could draw. There was only one reason any of this made sense.

Luke doesn’t know he made love to me.

That incredible night of passion they’d shared was one-sided.

He wasn’t being obtuse. He was clueless.

If someone plunged a dagger in her heart, the pain couldn’t have been any greater.

“What do you say, honey?” The timbre of his deep voice broke through her anguish.

“Want to spend what’s left of the summer with me on Sunset Ranch?”

* * *

“They’re just formalities, Audrey, but we’ve got to do them,” Luke said as he handed her an application for the job on Sunset Ranch.

She sat in the Slade family office located at one end of the sprawling one-story ranch house. Luke had taken a seat at his desk across from her. She felt his eyes on her as she began filling out the personal information on the form. Robotically, she went about accepting the job as wrangler on the Slades’ very lucrative horse farm, her mind on automatic pilot as she tied herself to working with Lucas Slade for the next two months.

Audrey wasn’t into science fiction, but she could surely relate to anyone who believed in alternate universes. This sci-fi version of her life had her living under Luke’s roof and working beside him every day, filling her summer days with something more than meaningless temp jobs back home until she could restart her veterinary education. This universe wasn’t ideal, but it was a far cry better than anything reality had had to offer.

Audrey completed the application. As she leaned forward to hand Luke the form, the fresh lime scent of his cologne brought memories of kissing his throat and shoulders and chest. It was the same scent that had lingered on her long after she’d fled her brother’s cabin.

Luke glanced at the application for less than five seconds, before smiling and standing. “You’re hired. Let me show you to your room.”

And within minutes, Audrey stood alone in her new bedroom, slightly dazed by what had occurred during the past thirty minutes.

She’d discovered she’d made love to a man who didn’t remember doing the deed.

He’d offered her a dream job.

And insisted she live in a guest bedroom less than twenty feet from his own room.

Audrey glanced at Jewel, who was stretched out lengthwise on the bedspread, a tiger-striped bundle of fur against black-and-bright-yellow flowers. The beautiful space was bigger than any room she’d ever called her own. And yet, as she glanced around the opulent surroundings, she questioned her decision to take the job, muttering, “What have I done?”

Audrey didn’t have to wonder for very long. Immediate clarity punched her in the gut. She’d done what she had to do. No way could she have walked out the door, never to see Luke again. The second she’d laid eyes on him today that possibility wasn’t an option. She finally came out of her thirty-minute fog and realized she was where she needed to be. She had been given another chance with Luke.

Yes, her heart was broken that Luke had forgotten their night together because her memories of him were profound, unforgettable. Her responses to his heady kisses severed all ties she had to good-girl status. She’d moved on him, mindful of his encumbered arm, in wild, wicked ways that had astonished her afterward. But while in the moment, she’d let go and ridden his tight, hard, muscled body until he was ready to guide her home.

I’ll never forget.

A satisfied purr escaped her throat. The cat’s head came up.

She stifled a chuckle and walked over to the bed. “Go back to sleep, Jewel,” she whispered, taking a seat and stroking the cat’s soft underbelly until her eyes drifted closed again.

Oh, to trade places with the cat right now. To have no worries and no heartache and sleep away the day…what could be better?

Audrey allowed herself a few minutes of self-pity and then tried to look on the bright side of things. At least Luke had faith in her. That was a plus. He’d hired her for a job that wasn’t easily won on the highly respected ranch, not because of his friendship with Casey, but because she had a way with animals. He trusted her abilities and needed her help with the dang horse that had trampled him and sent him to the hospital.

She would look upon Trib as a challenge that she could conquer.

Getting Luke to see her as anything other than his buddy’s baby sister would involve a heck of a lot more work.

“I know we’ll be good together,” Luke had said, right before he’d walked out of the guest room.

Audrey sighed.

If he only knew how true that statement was.

* * *

As soon as Luke showed Audrey to her room, he went back into the office to give her application another glance. Audrey Faith Thomas, half sister to Casey—though nobody much mentioned the half part anymore—had had a rough upbringing. She’d lost her parents early on, and Casey had raised her. She’d been the tagalong little sis on the rodeo circuit. Luke thought that Audrey had gotten a raw deal in life. Casey had been overly strict with her. Luke figured her brother was overcompensating, being mother and father to her. Casey had tried hard, but a lot of the time, he didn’t know what the hell he was doing when it came to his little sister.

Audrey compensated, too. She took to the animals and the animals loved her in return. They were a good match. Audrey had a special fondness for the rodeo horses. There wasn’t a one that didn’t temper its wild mood when Audrey walked up.

According to her application, after college, she’d worked for a veterinarian clinic in Reno for a couple of years before deciding to apply to equine vet school. Luke also noted all the charity and volunteer work Audrey had done through the years. She had listed animal shelters and horse rescues, and was part of the Freedom for Wild Horses organization.

Luke picked up the phone and punched in Casey’s number. “Hey,” he said when his friend answered.

“Hey.”

Luke owed his friend a favor for letting him crash at his Tahoe cabin last month. Being with his buddy helped his recuperation move along more quickly. Well, at least it’d been less mentally painful. Luke thought he’d go stir-crazy, not being able to do a dang thing with his arm in a cast and three cracked ribs making it hard for him to breathe. Up at the cabin, it was okay to do nothing but while away the time. Casey made it easy and they’d had a few laughs.

But he would have hired Audrey even if he didn’t owe Casey a favor. She was qualified and a hard worker. Audrey was true blue and a nice kid.

“I’ve got your little sis here. She’s working for me now.”

There was silence on the other end. And finally “She didn’t tell me that.”

Uh-oh. Luke didn’t like getting in between the two of them. “Yeah, well, it just happened. You must’ve mentioned that I was shorthanded on the ranch. Anyway, she showed up looking for work, and I hired her as a wrangler for a few months.”

“Hell, Luke. I don’t recall mentioning any such thing to her. I must be getting old and forgetful.”

Luke laughed. Casey was only thirty-three. “Hell, yeah, you are. You see any problem with her working here?” Not that Luke was asking permission. Audrey was twenty-four and making her own decisions now. He’d called Casey for an entirely different reason.

Casey hesitated. “Not at all, buddy. It’s just that she’s been acting a little weird lately. You know, sort of wanting to be by herself and all. I thought she’d come up to the cabin to spend the summer with me. She had this loser boyfriend in Reno and she finally dumped him. The jerk was cheating on her. My little sis really took it hard. I don’t think she’s over it yet. It was all I could do to restrain myself from knocking his stupid self from here to Sunday. Jackass.”

“Jackass is right.”

“Damn straight.”

“Well, she’s here now,” Luke said. “She’s going to be staying at the main house. You don’t need to worry. I’ll look out for her.”

“Like you always do. I appreciate it, Luke. And I’ll count on you to make sure none of those ranch hands break her heart.”

“Hell, she’ll be breaking theirs.”

Casey chuckled. “That’s all right, then.”

“Yeah, I hear you. Don’t worry about Audrey. And you come up anytime you want to visit. Stay at the ranch.”

“What, and leave my cabin? I got me a keg of beer, my barbecue grill and gorgeous women to stare at by the lake all day long.”

Luke’s mind flashed an image of one gorgeous woman in particular—a blonde with long, slender legs and a dazzler of a smile—who had crashed the lakeshore party Casey had thrown on Luke’s last night at the cabin. She’d shown up at his farewell barbecue and had caught his eye the second she’d walked over to join the festivities. She’d been with a small group of people and Luke never did get the woman’s name amid the fifty or so partygoers that Casey had invited. She’d come late and left early, but not before giving Luke half a dozen suggestive looks. He’d been ready to approach her, but had gotten sidetracked by someone interested in hearing about his rodeo days.

“You ever find out who that blonde was?” Luke had good reason to ask.

“You mean the stunner?” Casey asked. “I was drunk, but not too drunk to see how fine she was.”

“So you know who I’m talking about.”

“I found out her name is Desiree.”

“And?”

“She’s an acquaintance of one of my neighbors. She lives on the East Coast somewhere. She’s gone. That’s all I know, man. You missed your chance.”

Luke wasn’t going to divulge what had happened with the blonde to Casey. Luke kept his private life private. But since he’d been accepting his friend’s hospitality and living at his cabin for a few weeks, a surge of guilt washed over him for not being completely truthful with Casey. Though having a one-night stand with a stranger, no matter how beautiful, wasn’t exactly something to brag about. Not in this day and age. He wasn’t eighteen anymore. He was old enough to know better. His only excuse was that he’d been in a haze. Drugged up on pain meds.

Vague memories of that night continually plagued him.

At least now he knew who the mysterious woman was. She’d taken the reins that night, which suited him fine since his injuries prohibited much mobility, and his mind was pretty fogged up. At times he’d thought he’d dreamed the whole thing except that he did remember small details, like her fresh-flower scent, her long flowing blond hair caressing his cheek and his completely sated body and good mood when he’d woken up that morning.

“Well, the mystery is solved,” Luke said, thinking it for the best that she lived so far away. One-night stands weren’t his thing but neither were complicated affairs. Luke had yet to meet a woman who held his interest for too long. Most of his relationships lasted less than six months before one of them realized that something was missing. Luke never felt the need to explore what that something was. If it wasn’t right there, pounding in his heart and making him silly crazy, what was the point of forcing it? He’d done that once with a girl in high school, trying hard to hang on, to convince her it was working, and in the end, he’d been the one who’d gotten his heart shattered.

Usually when he entered into a relationship with a woman, if the flow wasn’t smooth and easy from the get-go, Luke was the first one to bail.

“Too bad, though,” Casey said. “She was smokin’ hot.”

Yep, she was. There was no arguing that point. From what he could remember, she’d been a hellcat in bed. But he let the comment drop and turned the conversation to a new venture Casey was thinking about going into since he’d been forced into retirement with his back injury.

After a few minutes, Casey ended the phone call with a last parting remark. “Thanks for helping my little sis out, Luke. You’re her second brother. I know you’ll look out for her.”

“You got my promise on that, Case. I won’t let you down.”