Sara Orwig - Wild Western Nights

“What I want in life has changed since I left Texas,” Maddie said again.

“What I want in life has changed, too, Maddie. We want different things, have different needs now than we did back then.” He tilted her chin up and leaned close again. “All I know is that you should watch out, because I intend to cater to the part of you that still responds to me when we kiss.”

“It’s sheer foolishness that there are moments I can’t resist you,” she replied. His words made her heart pound, and now she was ensnared in his crystal blue gaze. Panic gripped her. She was tumbling rapidly into a situation she’d hoped to avoid. There was the matter of their daughter— who he knew nothing about. “We’re not going to rekindle what we had. We’ve both moved on and our lives have changed.”

He ran his index finger down her cheek. “Some things haven’t changed at all.”

Dear Reader,

Once again, I have set another book in Texas with its glittering, down-to-earth, friendly people and larger-than-life ways. This last story in my series about the handsome millionaires who have been friends since earliest childhood focuses on Gabriel Benton, Jake’s younger brother. It is a story of reunion involving Gabe, the handsome blue-eyed rancher, and Madeline Halliday, a woman he has grown up knowing and once viewed as his best friend.

Their romance encompasses the triumph of love and forgiveness, qualities that belong in the deepest and longest-lasting relationships. I’ve said before that families are close to my heart and enter into the themes of my books, including this one. Family has a big influence on our lives, and that is true of Maddie and Gabe.

Friends and former lovers, the two encounter each other along a Texas highway. Gabe, a man accustomed to getting his way, cannot resist wanting to be with Maddie and talks her into dinner. He re-enters her life, stirring passion, guilt and—finally—the revelation of the secret that changes both their lives.

This book is a farewell to the four CEOs who all wear Stetsons, call Texas home and fall in love with exciting women.

Thank you for selecting my book.

Best wishes,

Sara Orwig

About the Author

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.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To my family with all my love.

Gabe Benton spotted the car pulled off the straight West Texas highway—a speck on the flat, mesquite-covered horizon—and he pulled to a stop expecting to find a stranger.

When he stepped out of his car, the woman, who’d been changing a flat tire, glanced over her shoulder. A thick blond braid hung beneath her baseball cap. She wore jeans and a short sleeved, cotton shirt.

“Got trouble?” he inquired.

She stood. “Gabe?” she asked in disbelief.

“Maddie?”

His heart missed a few beats. Startled to hear a voice he knew as well as his own, he looked at the woman more closely. Yes, it was Madeline Halliday, and she was even better looking now than she had been at twenty-one.

The curves shaping her white blouse were lush, her waist tiny, her legs as long as he remembered. Her skin was creamy, stirring a vivid memory of how she had looked naked in his arms. His pulse sped up. His breathing altered. She was a knockout, now more than ever.

He was shocked at how glad he was to see her. It took an effort to resist closing the distance between them. And then he couldn’t hold back. In two strides, he reached her, wrapping his arms around her, fighting the temptation to kiss her long and hard.

Their last tense week together had been six long years ago. But now Maddie was back in his life.

She was soft, warm and sweet smelling. He held her tighter, his pulse racing. When she embraced him in return and stepped back, he wanted to pull her into his arms again.

“It’s great to see you,” Gabe said. “You look terrific.”

“Thanks, Gabe,” she said.

“I’m sorry about the loss of your grandfather,” he added, looking into dark brown eyes surrounded by thick lashes. After their breakup, Maddie had moved to Florida.

“Thank you. And thank you for the flowers you sent.”

“The flowers were in lieu of my offering condolences in person. I’m sorry I missed the memorial, but I was in Wyoming buying cattle. By the time I got word, I couldn’t have made it home in time.”

“Some things don’t change. You’re still traveling for business,” she said, and for a moment her smile faded.

“Not as much these days. Sorry I wasn’t here. Sorry, too, about the loss of your father. I didn’t know about his death three years ago until a year later.”

“Thanks. Dad’s loss was difficult. My mom has adjusted pretty well. When I came for Granddad’s memorial, there was a big crowd. Since my family has lived here almost as long as yours, there were lots of people from the area.”

“What brings you back again after only three months?”

“Mom and I inherited the ranch. Neither of us wants it, so I’m here to make the arrangements to place it on the market.”

“That’s a surprise. I hope you’ve given it some thought,” he said, easily falling into the closeness he had once felt with her, “because that’s a fine ranch.”

“We’re sure about what we want to do. I hope to be back in Florida by next week and have this place sold by July.”

When he grasped her hand and looked at her bare fingers, relief flooded him. “No wedding ring.”

She smiled again. “No. I’ve been too busy with work. Let me guess—you’re not wearing one either.”

He grinned. “You know me too well. Will you be here long?”

“Just long enough to get everything arranged to sell. I’ll stay at the ranch while I’m getting the house ready and while I find an agency to deal with the property.”

“I’ll finish changing your tire and then let’s go where we can talk. I’ll take you to dinner tonight.”

She glanced at her watch. “I shouldn’t—”

“Come on. You can give one evening to an old friend,” he said, gazing into eyes that could, apparently, still make him weak in the knees.

“I never could resist you,” she replied, smiling. “Yes,” she added, and turned away, walking back to the car before he could reply.

You resisted me once was what he wanted to say, but he kept quiet. His pulse jumped another notch now that he was reassured she was not carrying a grudge about the way they’d ended things six years ago. Already, he was anticipating the evening with her and thinking about dinner. He hurried to get to the tire before she did.

“We’ve lost touch,” he said as he hunkered down to remove the flat. “I heard you got that business degree.”

“Yes. I transferred to the University of Florida in Gainesville where I majored in business. Now I work for Clirksonie Realty in Miami.”

“Like it?” he asked while he dropped a lug bolt onto the hubcap lying on the ground.