Sara Orwig - One Texas Night...

“Will asked her, as well as Zach. That’s not her type of art, and, no, she doesn’t want any of it. None of us do.”

“Even if I sell it?” Jared asked, intending to make certain no Delaney had regrets.

“If you didn’t sell it, we would. Hear me,” Ryan said, leaning in, “we do not want the mansion or its contents.”

Jared put up his palms. “I’ll take you at your word and drop the subject.”

“Good. I’m riding in the Fort Worth rodeo later this month—bull riding. Are we competing again?” he asked, his eyes sparkling with devilment.

Jared had to grin. “We’re competing, and I’m going to beat you.”

“We’ll see on that one,” Ryan said, his lips twitching in a crooked smile. “Want to bet an extra hundred, plus a burger and a beer for the winner?”

“You’re on,” Jared said, enjoying the friendly competition he had with Ryan.

“I can’t wait.” Ryan tilted his head to study Jared. “You know, we’re kindred souls.”

“We both like life on the wild side.”

“You’re like I am—neither one of us wants to look back with regrets.”

“Amen to that,” Jared replied. “That’s what my dad did.”

When lunch was over, as Jared drove back to his office, he thought twice about his decision to involve Tyler Antiques and Appraisals in the Houston property. The call he had made to Mr. Tyler had not been what he had expected.

Jared hadn’t mentioned Allison, so it had been a shock to hear from Herman that his daughter had taken over the part of the business that was conducted away from the office.

Allison Tyler still was the one woman on the whole planet that he did not want to get involved with. His longtime friendship with her brother was important to him. Too important to jeopardize. Sloan took a dim view of all the women in Jared’s life and certainly would not want his sister to become one of them. Jared didn’t want to be hounded by a threatening, hand-wringing big brother, which Sloan would be. Sloan also still thought Jared had a daredevil streak and risked his life constantly in wild pursuits.

His cell phone rang, and when he glanced at the caller ID, he saw it was Sloan. Feeling guilty as well as amused, he answered. “You didn’t waste time,” Jared remarked.

“Yeah, right. I talked to Dad just now. I heard you hired him to do some work for you.”

“That’s right. I’ve hired him before, and he does a great job.”

“Thanks. I guess he told you that Allison will be the one to go to the site to inventory and catalog items, that sort of thing.”

“Yes, he did.”

“So you know why I’m calling. Women are drawn to you like ants to crumbs. And vice versa.”

“I will not ask your sister out. Does that make you happy?” Jared said, having mixed feelings about Allison and knowing he was following the best course for everyone, himself included. “I’ve been seeing someone.”

“That does not reassure me one degree. Whomever you’re seeing will be gone six months from now.”

Sooner than that, Jared thought but did not say. He had already broken it off with Dawn Rainsford, but Sloan did not need to know about the women in his life or lack thereof. “Nonetheless, you can save your breath. Your sister is there for a job. We will not socialize. I have my own life, and I’m not tangling with you over her. I do not want to lose my friend over his little sister. Actually, though, isn’t she a grown woman now?”

“Very, but I’m still her brother and looking out for her best interests. I figure you’re thinking about her and envisioning a ten-year-old kid who was a pest. I think the last time you saw her was at my wedding. She was fifteen. I don’t want you hitting on her.”

“This is a moot conversation, Sloan. I’m not interested.”

“She’s very pretty, and I know you far too well. Leave her alone. I don’t want her heart broken by you.”

“That will never happen.”

“Is the movie star still in your life?”

“Definitely not. According to your dad, I’ll only work with your sister a few days and then I’ll be out of there and let her take over the liquidation. Just don’t worry.”

There was a stretch of silence that made Jared shake his head, but he hung on to his patience.

“Okay, Jared. She’s busy, and she helps Dad, and she’s dating a guy she’ll marry. As a matter of fact, by now she’s probably engaged to Phillip Blakely.”

“I’m happy for her,” Jared remarked drily. “How are you, Leah and the little Tylers doing?”

“We’re great. You marry the right woman, Jared, and you can’t imagine how happy you’ll be. The kids are great. I hope the current woman in your life is the special one.”

“Stop worrying, Sloan. See you at the next breakfast club.”

When he ended the call, he wondered if they would repeat this conversation when they met with other businessmen for their monthly breakfast.

Jared shook his head again. Sloan was a fire-breathing dragon about his sister, which was absurd. Allison should be twenty-four now. Even at eighteen, she had been mature and her own person, capable of taking care of herself. Now Sloan had a growing business of his own, as well as his kids to raise. He should let Allison go, but Sloan couldn’t let anyone connected to him go. He hovered over Allison, and he probably hovered over his dad as well, ever since his heart attack, even though the man was now healthy and back to work.

For a brief moment when he had heard he would be working with Allison, Jared had thought about canceling, but he had worked with Tyler Antiques and Appraisals before, and Herman Tyler had been efficient with excellent expertise in the antiques business and the history of artifacts. Herman had been friendly and glad to have Jared’s business, so Jared dismissed the thought of canceling as fast as it had come. He had gotten through a night with Allison. He could get through a couple of days of working with her at the Houston mansion.

He looked at his calendar. He’d get his secretary to cancel and rearrange meetings so he would be free for the next couple of weeks to go to Houston and stay if he wanted.

Had Allison changed in the intervening years? Had she ever thought about him? Had their night together been special to her? Questions were torment. If she truly was in love and engaged, as her brother indicated, Jared definitely had to forget her. But he could not avoid the curiosity. What was Allison like now?

Two

Allison Tyler studied the small figurine in her hand, turning it to look at the initials and number on the underside. With her phone she took a picture that went first to her dad and then to her iPad. She made brief notes on her tablet. She was interested in getting a picture inventory, whatever descriptions she felt she needed and sending them on to her dad to do the research about each piece.

She’d battled mixed feelings since the first call to her father from Jared. The Delaney mansion Jared had inherited and wanted to sell was supposed to be filled with antiques and valuable art. It was a great job for them, just as it had been for her dad to work directly with him before. Jared had a hobby of deep-sea salvaging and twice had hired her father to go over items he had brought up from a find in the Gulf off the Alabama coast.

Jared. She couldn’t stop thinking about him.

He’d been a constant companion of her brother’s throughout their school years, but he’d been of little interest to Allison. Until six years ago when he had bumped into her at the wedding reception, and she’d felt as if a lightning bolt had struck her. He was incredibly handsome, sexy, appealing. She couldn’t resist flirting with him. He’d set her heart pounding, and within the next hours, she’d decided he was the most exciting man she had ever met.