Page 13 of One Scorching Summer

“A good Sunday to you, too.” He handed her a wet white towel.

She glared at him and wiped her shins, socks and shoes. The damp rough texture soothed her temper. “Morning.” She groused, then folded the towel with the unused side out and swabbed the table. “You just happened to have a wet towel?”

He shrugged his broad shoulders, which underscored strength. “The cart was close to the entrance. Saturated a dry one with water from a pitcher. You’re welcome.”

Great. Now he made a point of noticing her bad manners. “Thanks.”

“Well, that’s better. We’re behavin' like civilized adults now.”

His barbs … “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”

“That fire of yours intrigues me. Then there’s how your emotions play out in that exquisite face and in the movements of that divine body. Do you think we’ll ever discuss a lease when there’s all this animosity between us? And that scorchin' kiss?”

She felt like … What? The image of a small silver ball spinning and bouncing throughout a pinball machine came to her. Exactly. He was exasperating. “Do you think you’re plying me with compliments?”

“I’m callin' it as I see it. I’m a simple man.”

“Bullshit.”

His grin morphed into a smile, indicating that he was actually enjoying this exchange between them. “I noticed what happened in your excitement of seein' me. You are fascinating; I’ll give you that.”

“And you’re insufferable.”

“You’re prickly as hell and accident prone.” He handed her a dry towel without touching her. “You don’t know me.”

“I know that you left your date to run over here and bother me.”

“Seriously?” He chuckled softly. “That’s” —laughter set him off again — “rich. You sound jealous.”

“I amnotjealous. As you so correctly pointed out, I don’t know you, nor do I wish to. Not in the vein you allude to.”

“What might that be?”

“Intimately.”

“Biblically. Mm.” He stepped closer and slid off his sunglasses, his smiling eyes searched hers. “Oh, honey—” His tone softened into a sensual caress that had goosebumps rising over every inch of her skin and yearning flourishing low in her belly. “You lie like a rug. You drank me in at the ranch like you were parched. Your pulse skipped in that lovely neck when I mentioned a dip in the pool. You kissed me like a starved woman. And right now? You’re vibratin' like a live wire. You’re as attracted to me as I am to you. Even with our families’ intertwined history.”

“Youtold me to 'get the fuck off your property'. Your words.”

“Tsk, tsk. My Sunday mornin' ears.” He chuckled again. “You’re right, I did. You weren’t who I thought you were. I felt cornered, tricked. That pissed me off. My hunger for you made me even more so.”

Damn. He was earnest. However … “Not my problem.”

“Agreed. I apologize for my inhospitable welcome and language.”

“You—”

“I wasn’t done. I received your message and want to extend an olive branch, a second chance to present your offer.”

She planned to be on the road back to Landry before noon tomorrow. Then Jorja would do her best figure out how tosalvage negotiations if the meeting did not happen and if it did, she expected there would be additional provisions to address. The Carpenter lease was a priority, and he was giving her another chance in the morning. It could—it would—be a win for her and Ogden-Keller Oil. “I?—”

“Seven o’clock, tomorrow mornin'.” He held his hand up. “Sorry about the late notice but that works for me, and I expect you to be flexible, after all you’ve an agenda and are courtin' me. Right?”

Hewasbeing generous. “Yes.” She would work on the lease after the barbecue that she was going to with Nettie this afternoon.

“I realize that I have no choice, and that burns in my craw. By law, I have to sign with” —his Adam’s apple moved, and he shook his head, appraising her with those darkly lashed blue eyes— “Ogden-Keller or someone else. We’ll negotiate an agreement, then move on to you and me, explore this wild chemistry between us. We got a taste of it last night.”

“I have no intention of exploring anything between us.”

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