Sara Orwig - One Texas Night...

“What?” he asked, his gaze moving to her mouth.

“You know what you’re doing right now,” Allison whispered. “We can’t get close without—”

“Without steam rising,” he finished.

“We weren’t going to get personal. I can’t. I’m on a job. Jared, cooperate. Think of my brother. That ought to cool whatever you’re feeling.”

“The last thing on my mind right now is your brother,” he said in a raspy voice. He stepped back, and Allison should have felt relieved. Instead, her heart still raced and she wanted to flirt, to kiss him, to make love to him. Desire shook her.

She’d promised herself she’d get this job wound up so she could get away from temptation. But it was standing right in front of her. In the flesh.

* * *

One Texas Night…is part of the Lone Star Legacy series:

These Texas billionaires are about to get richer…

in more ways than one

One

Texas Night…

Sara Orwig

www.millsandboon.co.uk

SARA ORWIGlives in Oklahoma. She has a patient husband who will take her on research trips anywhere, from big cities to old forts. She is an avid collector of Western history books. With a master’s degree in English, Sara has written historical romance, mainstream fiction and contemporary romance. Books are beloved treasures that take Sara to magical worlds, and she loves both reading and writing them.

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May God bless those in Oklahoma, as well as other

storm-devastated areas, who have suffered loss

and hurt. I pray and hope for blessings for you.

Also, a special thank you to Stacy Boyd.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Epilogue

One

Though he was looking at his iPad, Jared Weston didn’t see the notes he’d entered on the screen. He could only see the dark blue eyes, long blond hair and lush body that still took his breath away. After six years of endless struggles to fight the memories, he still hadn’t forgotten a second of the night he had spent with Allison Tyler....

It had been at a June wedding reception at the then-new Houston country club. In the crowded ballroom, someone had bumped him, causing a chain reaction. As he brushed shoulders with the woman beside him, champagne splashed from the crystal flute she held. A tall, willowy blonde, she wore a pale blue dress with a jacket cut high above her narrow waist. The dress ended inches from her knees, revealing long shapely legs.

He grabbed a flute of champagne from a passing waiter and held it out to her, taking the opportunity to look into her eyes. With thick lashes darkened slightly by mascara, her eyes were an unusual indigo-blue. He was momentarily riveted, feeling a sizzling attraction.

“I’m Allison Tyler,” she said, smiling at him, taking the flute with one hand and offering the other.

As her hand settled in his, tingles emanated from the contact and he silently swore. Shocked, he focused more intently on her. She may look twenty, but she would be about eighteen now. Too young for him.

“That might be good news, and it might be bad news,” he replied, shaking her hand, reluctant to release her, feeling as if he would lose her when he did and knowing that was exactly what should happen. Allison Tyler.

She cocked her head and asked, “Why?”

Her older brother, Sloan, was his lifetime best friend. Sloan was also the world’s biggest worrier. Jared understood his friend’s worrying. Since they had lost their mother and a brother, Chad, in a plane crash, Sloan had become far more cautious and protective of his younger sister.

Jared was torn between what he wanted and what he should do. “I think at this point, I should say goodbye,” he admitted. When she gave him a confused look, he explained, “I’m Jared Weston.”

Her eyes widened and her smile grew bigger as she laughed and tightened her hand on his, startling him. “The forbidden man. I should have recognized you instantly but it’s been a few years.” She stepped back slightly to give him room to view her from head to toe. “Guess what, Jared? I’ve grown up.”

He looked at her...and he was captivated. Instantly. Of all the women on the earth, this was the sole woman he should avoid. So much younger than he was. His best friend’s little sister. Why did she have to be so appealing?

“You have grown up. I didn’t recognize you. You don’t look at all like you did when you were seven or even twelve years old.”

Her dark blue eyes sparkled with amusement. “Imagine that. I don’t quite view you the same way I did then, either.”

He realized then that her hand still rested in his.

“If we’re going to hold hands, we might as well dance,” he said. “One dance. I can’t be a terrible influence in one harmless dance.”

“Maybe it won’t be so harmless,” she said, flirting with him, sending his pulse racing faster.

“Allison, you’re a temptation,” he said, wanting to prolong the moment.

“Sloan does not run my life. We can dance if we want. Forget him.”

Taking a sip of champagne, she set the flute beside his on a nearby table and joined him on the dance floor. When she stepped into his arms, her enticing scent enveloped him.

Looking at her, Jared could easily forget her older brother, his closest friend even now, although they saw little of each other any longer. “Do you still live at home in Dallas?” he asked, curious about her.

“Officially, but since I’m eighteen now and a freshman at the University of Texas, I’m in Austin.”

“I’m twenty-four. Besides having Sloan’s admonitions burned in my memory, I’m a lot older than you.”

“An older man,” she purred, those deep indigo eyes still twinkling. “That makes you all the more intriguing.”

“You’re a little on the naughty side, Allison,” he said, smiling at her, trying to ease his conscience by telling himself a few dances were harmless.

“Well, isn’t that more fun?” she asked, running her fingers lightly across the back of his hand. “I do not have to pay any attention to my overprotective brother, either. Since Mom died, he’s been more a parent than my dad. And that’s enough about Sloan. He’s far away in Dallas, wrapped up in his own world.”

“I have to pay attention to him. He’s my best friend.”

“Maybe I can make you forget that for a little while,” she said in a mischievous tone, moving closer to him.

He had to laugh. “I think you already have. We’re dancing, Allison, when I shouldn’t be anywhere near you.”

“I’m not scared of you or Sloan. Besides, you’re having fun, and this quiet, uneventful reception has suddenly become more interesting for both of us. You can’t deny it.”

“I can’t possibly refute that,” he said, tightening his arm around her tiny waist. Was it because she was forbidden to him that he wanted her? She was a kid—a college freshman—and he had finished college two years earlier. He was too old for her, but she beguiled him. He wasn’t cutting short the dance or the evening.