Charlene Sands - Stranded And Seduced

A few minutes later, April polished off the rest of her drink as she chatted with her friends who were still seated and not cutting loose on the dance floor. Her head was a little fuzzy, she had a definite buzz going on, and the more she thought about Risk Boone not giving her the courtesy of a return call this week, the more it bugged her.

“I left him two voice mails about the lodge, and he never got back to me,” she told Clovie and Jenna. And now he was sitting at the bar smugly, watching her every move. How was she supposed to take that? “I’m gonna talk to him now, whether he likes it or not,” she said. As she began to rise, two hands came down on her shoulders, pushing her back down, Clovie from the right and Jenna from the left.

“Wait,” Clovie said. “I know that look in your eyes, April. You need to calm down. There’s still hope for the deal. You can simply, tactfully ask him what the delay is.”

“Clovie’s right,” Jenna said. “You’re a professional. Don’t blow it because you’re ticked off.”

April sighed and nodded, thinking it through. Risk was a rich, handsome hunk, but he’d also been a jerk to her. Still she couldn’t let her personal feelings about Risk deter her from her job. “Okay, you guys are right. I’ll do that.”

“And another thing you’re going to do is put this on.” Jenna slid a diamond cluster ring off her right hand. “From now on, you’re engaged.”

“I’m what?”

“You heard me, you’re engaged to be married. It’s just a form of insurance when dealing with Risk.”

“I can’t do that. That’s your grandmother’s ring.”

“It’s for a good cause. I know you’ll take care with it.”

“For heaven’s sake, Jenna. I can certainly speak with the man—”

“Whoops, looks like he’s heading this way.” Jenna pushed the ring onto April’s left ring finger. “Remember, you’re a professional. And you’re engaged, ” she mouthed softly.

April’s head swam, and the next thing she knew, she was standing up facing Risk wearing a ring on her left hand and all the other girls had vanished onto the dance floor.

“Evenin’,” he said, the one word pronounced with enough charm to swallow her up. Suddenly, the ring on her finger didn’t seem too over-the-top. There was something about Risk that was too darn attractive. Wearing this ring just might be a blessing in disguise. “Do you have a minute to talk?” he asked.

“I, uh, sure. Here?”

Music blasted from the live band, the drummer’s rolling solo doing a number on her ears.

He shook his head. “It’s too loud in here. Take a walk with me outside?”

She needed to hear what he had to say, and actually having some privacy would be better to discuss business. “I, uh, sure.”

Risk led the way through the packed crowd and she followed behind him, bumping shoulders and ping-ponging through the patrons. A strong hand came out to take hers, and suddenly the bumping stopped, Risk forming a human barrier for her as he led her toward the door. As soon as she stepped foot outside, she shivered.

“Damn, it’s cold out here,” he said.

She couldn’t disagree. She’d left her coat inside the Farmhouse, and not even the dizzying buzz from her second margarita warded off the winter chill.

“Let’s go sit in my car—it’ll be a lot warmer for you.”

“Is it too cold to talk out here?” Her teeth clattered as she said the words.

“In the parking lot?” He smiled. “You tell me.”

A blast of wind ruffled her curls, lifting them high in the air and chilling her to the bone. Goodness, she was being silly not wanting to be alone with Risk. She needed to make this deal, and not even having an unorthodox meeting in a client’s car should deter her.

“C’mon, my car’s over here.” Risk took her arm, drawing her close to his body, and the heat radiating off him kept her a bit warmer as they walked to his SUV. He opened the door for her, and she climbed into the passenger seat. “Put this over you,” he said, giving her the sheepskin jacket lying on his seat.

It did the trick immediately. The jacket was snug and warm around her shoulders and arms and was so long it partly covered her legs, too. “Thanks.”

He closed the door and wound around to climb into the driver’s seat.

And April found herself bundled up, sitting very close to Risk Boone, his male scent drifting her way, his presence filling the space inside the SUV.

* * *

“You look real pretty tonight, April.” Risk blurted out the first thing he’d noticed about her tonight as he turned to face her.

Her chin went up. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t expect to see you tonight.”

“No, I didn’t expect to see you, either. But you promised me a call that I never received. What happened? I guess I wasn’t on your radar?”

Quite the contrary. After seeing April last week, he’d thought about her plenty.

He hadn’t known her all that well in high school, but when he’d seen her that day in the rodeo stands in Houston, after his life had hit an all-time low, she’d been one friendly face, one person from home he could relate to, and finding her at the hotel bar later that night had been pure luck on his part. They’d sat and talked for hours, and then things had heated up really fast in his hotel room.

“Believe me, you’ve been on my radar.”

Her head snapped up at that. Questions filled her eyes, and he wasn’t going to answer any of them. “I’m sorry about not returning your voice mails, but I haven’t had time to look at the articles about the lodge. The truth is, I was called out of town. A friend’s mother was gravely ill, and she wanted to see me. I felt compelled to go. She was a wonderful, gentle woman that I really cared about.”

“Cared? Did she pass on?”

He nodded. “Yes, I stayed in Atlanta for the funeral.”

Sympathy touched April’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”

He kept it to himself that it had been Shannon Wilkes’s mother who’d passed on. Shannon had been texting him for months, about her personal life being a hot mess, her career taking a bit of a hit and then her mother’s illness. Risk had resolved things with Shannon a while back. Though the scars were still there, he’d realized she wasn’t the right woman for him, yet he’d sympathized with Shannon over losing her mother. For the two years he’d dated Shannon, Mary had been like a mother to him, and they’d always gotten along. “Yeah, it was rough.”

April gave him a sympathetic nod.

After he ran scared that night in Houston, he wouldn’t have blamed April if she refused to work with him. The sale of the lodge was important to her, and he owed her a fair shake, at the very least. “Do you have plans day after tomorrow?” he asked her.

She looked at him skeptically. “Why?”

“Maybe we can drive out to the lodge and take a look at it. I’ll read the articles about the place tomorrow. Then I can see for myself if it’s doable.”

April’s eyes brightened. “Yes, I’d love for you to see the lodge. I’ll plan on it.”

“Okay, good. I’ve kept you from your friends long enough. Let me walk you back inside.”

“No, that’s not necessary.” She handed him back his coat. “Thanks anyway, but it’s a short walk. See you Saturday.”

She got out of his car, and he got out, too, and watched, his instincts telling him not to let her walk through the darkened parking lot by herself. And sure enough, when April was less than twenty feet away, a drunken cowboy approached her, blocking her passage, giving her grief and making crude suggestions. Her voice rose as she told the guy to back off, and then the cowboy began grabbing at her. Risk moved fast and was there in seconds, shoving the man’s shoulders, pushing him out of the way before he could lay a hand on April. “Buddy, get the hell outta here or you’re gonna be real sorry. Go sober up somewhere. Now.”