Tempted by Trouble

chapter FOUR


Carolina jammed her finger into the wall of muscle on his chest. “You’re on, Matt. Do you want to tell me about what the vet program uncovered or do you plan on staying out here all evening?”

“Truce, Carolina. I’m just willing to do whatever it takes to find an answer. This isn’t only about money, this is my family’s reputation. I need answers to why my herd is dwindling as we speak.” His crooked smile tore into her indignation.

“Fine. Yes, of course. Come on, we can at least eat and talk.” Turning away from the lobby bar, she headed back toward the ballroom. “I read the reports you sent. That’s why I suspected it wasn’t actually a viral infection that was the root of your problem,” she whispered, then gazed around the room filled with unfamiliar faces aside from her family. “Is there anyone here interested in your business?”

“Not a soul, from what I can tell. I know Rob from college.”

“You went to Columbia? A rancher with a New York city education?”

“Don’t act so surprised. I earned an MBA there for the business side of what I do. I learned ranching from my father and uncles. Two entirely different schools. Both are the best of their collective worlds.”

“Who oversees the breeding of the herd?” she asked.

“Ranch manager, Brock Jenson. His father worked as the manager before him. Why?”

“Wanted to know if it was an off-site company. Only a question.”

“Yes. Nothing to do with our ranch. A breeder service provider from Clarkesville. But I keep up-to-date computer spreadsheets of each breed. This isn’t exactly a backward operation. I’ve got mobile applications and can get you into our data base right now, if you’d like.”

“I’m trying to get a feel for how your ranch is set up. What happened to the carcasses of the dead cattle off-site?”

“Disposed of off-site, as I said. They’re incinerated.”

“I don’t suppose you kept tissue samples.”

“You mean hair, hoof, muscle, and blood. No. Not for each. The university may have some samples. But I do have the sperm samples for each cow that died. That information is part of the spreadsheet. I’ve got a couple of tissue samples and then there’s the dead cow from today. I can collect those samples when I return home.”

She stalled, not wanting to think he was going away. “That must have been some education Columbia provided. I’m impressed.”

“Truthfully, I’ve got teenage nieces who watch CSI when they come to visit. Nothing to do with Columbia or my family’s ranching practices. I’ve got a large family and we’re not all shit-kickers.” His irritation was apparent in the crisp words.

She stopped and reached out to him. “I haven’t thought for one moment that you’re less than a businessman who’s concerned about his family.” Something inside her stilled. His arm flexed under her fingers. His face relaxed and he smiled, this time minus the abrasiveness.

“I’m glad you’re willing to cut me some slack.” He held her chair for her.

Throughout dinner, they discussed the history of his family’s ranch and he made her laugh with stories of his brothers, all of them who still worked at the ranch. A large family. Six boys and one daughter. His sister, Corrine McLemore, was something of a princess. Matt talked about her as if she were made of spun sugar.

Matt used his smartphone throughout dinner. He sent her files via the Internet each time she asked a question, and he had the data to back up his answer. By the time Sam was ready to throw the bouquet, there’d been dancing and entertainment. Yet they both remained sequestered in the corner of the ballroom at a table draped in linen, swathed in candlelight, and their own bottle of champagne.

Matt had removed the other chairs. Each time someone approached their table, they looked up in surprise but refused to be distracted. They chatted for hours, totally engrossed in conversation.

“How about a dance? I’d like to take you for a spin around the floor.” He wiped his full lips and stood. His shirt was unbuttoned, his jacket off, and his sleeves were rolled up.

She had removed her gloves, but the rest of her ensemble was intact. She started to refuse. “I don’t know.”

“It’s a dance, Carolina. Nothing nefarious.”

That brought a tiny quirk to her lips. “Is my cynical nature showing?”

“Don’t ruin the mood. We’re getting to know one another.” He stepped forward, a jolt or something from behind him made flinch. A handful of brightly painted nails crept around his bicep, and the woman in the blue dress from the parking lot followed.

“Hey, sweetheart,” she whispered. “I’m thinking later on tonight. In your room here in the hotel.”

“I’m all tapped out, honey,” he said, backing away. The woman followed, not letting go of him.

“I don’t believe that for a second. Is it because you’re busy right now? Here,” she kissed the back of a business card and pushed it into his shirt pocket. “You don’t even have to whistle. Text me, lover.” She laughed and sauntered away.

“Whew. Now I’m truly ready for that dance.”

“Well, Romeo, I’m not. As a matter of fact, this evening has been extremely enlightening but you see, I don’t want to stand in the way of your hot date.”

Carolina picked up her gloves and her purse. “Good evening. Enjoy your evening with your honey.” She mimicked his Texas drawl.

Matt laughed and said, “Let’s not start this again.” She tried to edge past him and he snatched her elbow. “I’m not going to entertain another round of apologies. I said I was sorry and I meant it. I don’t melt every time a woman throws herself at me.”

“Well, this woman isn’t about to throw herself at you. I’ve complied with your request to have a talk, shared my insights, and have enjoyed being privy to your activities. Please just leave me alone.”

“We’re not through talking.”

She smiled and spoke through a clenched jaw. “For tonight we are.”

It was ridiculous that stinging tears would assault her eyes. This was nothing to get worked up about and if she started to cry, Matt would never see her as a professional. She’d just be some woman who wanted to throw herself at him.

Hell, she didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life. She could stay in Miami and start a practice; that would be safe and reasonably happy if she wasn’t afraid she would be bored out of her mind. But first, she had to get away from Matt. She tugged her arm from his grasp, attempting to bolt.

“Christ. Don’t you just turn tail and run.”

“I think I’ve been put on the hot seat enough for one evening because of you. I’m not going to be some easy lay because you can afford to throw away your toys.” She fled the room.

Strange gazes from her cousins weren’t enough to stop her exit. Instead of talking or explaining, she held up her hand warning them away as she rushed from the vicinity. She thought she’d been immune from the oddball stares once she became a licensed vet. Yet tonight, she was still a confused woman running from a man. Her family knew her history. Their piercing glances reminded her of each fool she’d fallen hard over. Jesus, if she was always going to be attracted to the wrong man, then her life and her future would never be different.

Carolina headed out of the reception area into the lobby and then Matt’s fingers clamped around her arm. The pressure made her whirl around. “Let. Me. Go.”

“Think again.” The look in Matt’s eyes was hot enough to liquefy steel.

“Is this how you get your dates? By force?” she hissed, her fingers balling up.

He softly laughed. “Hush, Carolina.”

“I don’t think I can stand to be in the same room with you. Ever.”

“Give me one more minute of your time. That’s it. I promise.” She allowed him to pull her toward a hall and into a business room set up with a computer and printer. He shut the door and didn’t let her go. “You’re right. I don’t think either one of us could stand to be in the same room together and not do this.”

She opened her lips to protest. He took hold of her other arm and held her firmly, moving her backward as if they were dancing a tango until no more space existed between them. His body blanketed hers and his cheek was snug against her temple. She moved her face and scraped against the rough surface of his jaw. His mouth seared against her cheekbone, downward toward her neck, his breath a heat wave moving over her skin, hotter with every exhalation.

“What do you want from me?” she whispered.

“Hell, I want to touch every inch of your skin and then kiss your lips until they’re swollen and red. I want to strip that dress off your shoulder and trace a line from the seam of your lips over the curve of your breast until I reach the tip. I want to run my tongue in a pattern until your nipples harden and then tease each of your breasts until you say my name in a plea for release. I want to lift that dress of yours and see what type of lingerie you’re wearing. I’m sure whatever you have on must be pretty damn sexy.”

Matt’s words crept past her anger and smoothed her ragged feelings into warm caramel. His hands and the heat of his body had her dripping wet.

“I’ll slip my finger under the edge of your panties and touch you. I want to spread your sweet folds and rub you. Sweet Jesus, I want you. Are you going to deny you feel the same fire?”

She stared and swallowed and nodded. How had he known fire raced through her veins? Never had she been so near to what she didn’t know. Her only thought was this man held the key. She relaxed against him. “Tell me more,” she whispered.

“Your * will throb, wanting me to do more. I’m going to touch you until you’re melting all over my finger. Do you doubt any of what I’ve said?”

Tonight the all-too-familiar cold iron wall didn’t encase her desire. With Matt, her core liquefied and screamed for release. She had already drenched her panties.

Carolina didn’t hold back and pushed her hips into him. He was hard; she could feel his erection against her abdomen. He released her wrists and pulled up on her bottom, grinding himself into her body.

“Not a doubt,” she moaned. “My God, what shall we do?”

His lips brushed her neck, sending shivers every which way. She clung to him, aching and longing, driving her to think the unthinkable. She wanted him pounding into her with every force imaginable.

“I can feel your heat against my cock. Let me taste you. Lick you, tease your sweet pink skin with my tongue until you hold my head and position yourself at my mouth. I’m going to slip my tongue into you, moving in and out of you, bringing you to the brink but not all the way.”

“You’d leave me hanging?” She clung to his shoulders.

“Never,” he muttered. His breath scaled her face, blistering her skin, and making her forget the reasons why they couldn’t go up to his room. Her desire sweltered and grew. Never had a man turned her on so much.

“My God, you make me lose all reason.”

“Do you want me to suck you long and hard until you let down your sweetness or should I spread your legs, climb between your thighs and plunge into you, deeply giving you what we both crave? Tell me what you want.”

“You are tempting me. Making it impossible to think. I don’t know anymore.” She was half out of her mind and panting with pent-up longing. Her knees weakened from the tremors and heart-stopping pulsations building between her legs. If he didn’t stop, she’d be past the point of no return and diving headfirst into an unknown region.

His mouth was on her skin, the tender place where her neck met her shoulder. A pressure point driving her into submission. She wanted to scream, let go, and stop thinking. He smelled incredible and she’d been good for too long. His body was hard and demanding. One goddamn night. Was it so wrong?

She moved her hands down his chest to his waist. Her fingers traveled downward, grazing his erection beneath his trousers. He began to do just as he’d promised and sucked and bit the skin at her neck with a trail of kisses up her throat. His tongue teased at a point under her ear. That was it; she had no more strength. In his arms she was falling. Fast.

His mouth came away from her and she moaned. He was the devil speaking to her dark desire. “Our deal doesn’t have to start until you come to Texas.”

“Deal?” Her thoughts were addled. She couldn’t remember much. She glimpsed burning in his eyes and she nodded. “I didn’t think you’d throw the bet my way.”

“Ah, baby, then you don’t know me. What do you want? You must tell me to stop or continue.”

“I don’t want you to stop.” How could his lips and mouth feel so powerful?

His mouth crushed her lips, his tongue parted her lips as he kissed her, taking what he wanted. For the first time she was so close to exploding, she’d released a moan into his mouth and wanted to give in and let him take her over the edge. Was this how an orgasm began? The Earth wasn’t just moving, it was on full-tilt earthquake. His hand moved along with hers, pressing her fingers over his zipper. He hissed out his breath.

Oh, no. A searing thought lurched and took hold, burning through her mind like a red-hot poker. This was headed down the same path as his parking lot escapade. She reeled in her passion. Her whole body wanted to rear up in protest. She kept seeing herself splayed on top of the computer desk and someone walking in, witnessing them as she’d done earlier.

“We can’t continue in here. Matt, we’ve got to stop.” She pushed him back, gaining an inch or two between their bodies.

“Why do we have to stop? Do you mean in here or this?”

“Both,” she breathed. “I can’t be teased into desiring something I can’t have and shouldn’t want. You need my help. Well, I need yours, too. I need to find out what to do with my life besides settle. All this isn’t helping me decide. It’s only getting in the way. Keeping me from thinking.”

“This isn’t a lifetime commitment. Just one night.”

Of all the words possible to utter, he said those three words. Karma or fate, damn destiny. She shook her head. “I’m not looking for forever, but I’ve already had too many just one nights.” She failed to mention all those just-one-nights happened with the same man.

“So it’s turn me on and then turn me off? Carolina, I’m not a robot.”

He tunneled fingers through his hair, glaring at her. “You’re stronger than me. Good for you.” Matt squeezed her waist and left without another word.