Barbara McCauley - Texas Temptation

An uneasiness tightened Jared’s chest. “From Arloco Oil?”

“Yes.”

No. She couldn’t be. Not Annie. He reached for the light switch and flipped it on. She blinked at the unexpected brightness.

Annie had been a geology major, Jared remembered. That was how she and Jonathan had met. He had just finished his last year when they’d become engaged, but she’d had one more year before she graduated.

He watched her, letting the impact of her words sink in. “So this is no social call,” he said carefully. “You’re here as a representative of Arloco Oil.”

She nodded. “That’s right.”

He took in the full sight of her: work boots, long denim-clad legs, white sleeveless blouse, short tousled blond hair, large hazel eyes and wide soft lips.

Lips that were still swollen from the kiss he’d unknowingly forced on her.

The uneasiness in his chest closed around him like a fist. He’d more than blown his chances with Arloco Oil. He’d pulverized them.

He stared down at his bare feet, then back to her. “Look, just give me a minute. You’ve caught me a little off guard here.”

She smiled weakly. “You might say the same thing for me.”

He rolled his eyes shut and groaned. “Annie, I’m sorry, I—”

She cut him off. “Never mind, Jared. Let’s just forget about it. There was no harm done. We’ll laugh about it later.”

He seriously doubted that. Nor did he think he’d forget about it, either.

“I’ll go put some coffee on,” she offered as casually as if she’d been gone four days, instead of almost four years. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen, and we’ll start all over. It should help,” she added with a smile, “that we’ll both be dressed this time.”

He could hear the teasing in her voice, but he was hardly in the mood for levity. Frowning, he stepped aside, wondering how a day that had started off feeling so damn good could end up so damn miserable.

Annie held her breath as she moved past Jared. The look on his face told her that he hadn’t appreciated her weak attempt to ease the tension between them. She sighed inwardly. She’d known it was going to be difficult seeing Jared after all these years, but she certainly hadn’t expected it to be quite this difficult.

Everything in the kitchen was pretty much in the same place as when Jonathan had lived here, and she had a pot of coffee brewing within a couple of minutes. When she opened the cabinet where she remembered the cups had been, an image of Jonathan reaching into this same cupboard suddenly came to her. He’d made dinner for her the night he’d proposed, a romantic candlelight meal with wine and flowers. When he’d slipped the ring on her finger, she knew she was the luckiest woman alive.

Strange, she thought, staring at the plastic coffee mugs in her hand, how quickly and how cruelly happiness can be snatched away.

“Annie?”

Startled, she turned abruptly and dropped one of the mugs. It bounced on the tile of the kitchen floor, then landed on the living-room floor.

“I—I’m sorry,” she gasped, scrambling after the cup. Jared reached for it at the same time, and their fingers touched. She quickly pulled hers away, and they both straightened.

This time, when his gaze met hers, he smiled. “No harm done,” he said, mimicking the words she’d used earlier.

He took the other mug from her and moved to the coffeepot. It was still sputtering and bubbling, but he filled the cups anyway. The hot liquid dripped and sizzled on the burner.

She took a calming breath, watching as Jared poured the steaming coffee. He’d combed his hair, and the thick dark ends brushed the back of his neck. He looked the same physically as he had four years ago, except his arms and shoulders appeared more muscular than she remembered. He was almost a foot taller than her own five-foot-four frame, and she had to look up to meet his eyes when he turned and offered her a cup. They were the same deep blue as Jonathan’s had been. Stone blue, she’d called it, since all the Stone children had the same incredible eye color. It reminded her of the ocean at sunrise.

He handed her a mug. “Black all right?”

“Fine.” She accepted the cup, thankful to have something to hold on to.

“Annie—”

She raised a hand to stop him. “Jared, please, before we get to business, can we just talk a little? Maybe catch up on a few things?”

He stared at her over his coffee cup for a long moment, then leaned back against the counter. “All right.”

They both stood there.

She cleared her throat. “So how are you?”

What an inane thing to say. Blast it! Why was this so difficult?

He just nodded. “Okay. You?”

She nodded, too. “Fine.”

He sipped his coffee, watching her, and Annie felt a heat scurry through her at the intensity of his gaze.

“You look different,” he said at last.

He didn’t, she thought. He was as handsome as she remembered. Jonathan’s good looks had been more refined somehow, while Jared had been more rugged. “It has been almost four years.”

His gaze skimmed over her face. “Your hair.”

Embarrassed, she ran a hand through her newly cropped hair, suddenly wishing she hadn’t let the stylist talk her into the shorter cut. She’d nearly cried when she’d seen six inches of blond hair lying on the floor. “It’s supposed to be easier,” she said self-consciously.

The corners of his mouth tilted up slightly. “I like it.”

She thought she was in control again, but her cheeks suddenly felt warm. She blew away the steam rising from the cup in her hand, then took a sip of the hot liquid. “I heard you were in Venezuela.”

His lips thinned. “I was.”

Wrong subject, Annie, she thought with a silent groan. From the hard expression on Jared’s face, she guessed that South America hadn’t exactly been a picnic. It was also perfectly clear that he didn’t want to talk about it.

Jared’s reticence seemed to be another area where he and Jonathan had differed. Annie had never met anyone more open and verbal than Jonathan had been. Something told her that it would take a crowbar to extract anything more than superficial conversation out of Jared.

“Jake and Jessica?” she inquired about his sister and brother, intentionally changing the subject.

Jared’s smile returned, and she couldn’t help but notice the attractive lift of his dark eyebrows. “Jessica’s living in town. She’s applying for a grant so she can turn the ghost town she inherited into a camp for troubled kids.”

“Ghost town?”

Jared laughed. “I’ll let her tell you about it when she gets back from San Antonio. Jake and his wife, Savannah, took Emma to the Fall Festival there and she went with them.”

“Jake married! So there are snowballs in hell, huh?” she joked, remembering a remark Jared’s older brother had repeated more than once in the short time she’d known him. He’d been recently divorced back then and the subject of marriage was not his favorite. “And who’s Emma?”

“My half sister.” He chuckled at her confused stare. “It’s a long story. I’ll explain everything later.”

Obviously a lot had transpired since she’d last seen the Stones, Annie thought in amazement. A great number of changes had taken place with the family. Except for one thing.

The oil well.

Which brought her back to why she was here.

The lightness she’d felt a moment ago was gone now. In its place was an ache that settled over her like a lead weight.

The silence stretched around them as taut and thin as a spider’s web. If she touched one delicate strand, the entire web would either fall apart or ensnare her. Either way, someone lost.