Barbara Dunlop - An Intimate Bargain

“I do,” Abigail admitted. “I know it’ll set a precedent that will hurt the ranchers. But I want to do it anyway.”

Lisa smiled. “He must be damn good in bed.”

“He is.” Abigail felt her cheeks grow warm. “That’s irrelevant. But he is.”

Lisa’s grin widened. “Then you’d better help him.”

“And betray my family.” That was the conundrum. She might sympathize with Zach, but the facts remained the same.

Lisa linked arms with her. “It’s not the worst betrayal in the world. Besides, if they kick you out of the house, I’ll take your room.”

Abigail tried to smile at the joke, but she couldn’t quite pull it off.

“Chill, Abby,” said Lisa. “The water battle will go on for a long, long time to come. And in the end, Zach’s variance will be a mere blip on the radar.”

“If I pull it off,” Abigail reminded her as they started for the door. Having met some of Zach’s employees, she truly wanted to save their jobs. “I honestly don’t know what I can do to change the committee’s mind.”

“Seth told me about all the research you did on this,” Lisa reminded her. “The paper you wrote, your presentation in Denver. You didn’t let those bureaucrats intimidate you. The Ranchers Association thinks the world of you. He also told me he credits you with getting him elected. You wrote every speech, developed every policy. You’ve been a straight A student since first grade. You’re brilliant, Abby. If anyone can do it, it’s you.”

It was after midnight. Having finished a phone call to Alex, Zach moved from the bedroom of his hotel suite to the living room where Abigail was curled up on the sofa, reading her way through one of the papers from the thick rejection file. She still wore the filmy, plum, strapless bridesmaid dress. It draped enticingly across her thighs, highlighting her toned, tanned, sexy legs. Her feet were bare. Her hair had come loose from the updo and now framed her face with those same auburn wisps he’d fallen for the first night he’d met her. Her makeup was slightly smudged, and a hint of cleavage peeked out from her bodice. It was all he could do not to stride across the room and pull her into his arms and kiss her until they couldn’t see straight.

He knew she didn’t want that. But he also knew she was still attracted to him. And, right now, he wanted it enough for the both of them.

She lifted her gaze to look at him, those golden eyes all but glowing in the soft light from the table lamp.

He knew she’d caught him staring. And he imagined there was no mistaking his thoughts, since he was all but salivating at the thought of her.

But she didn’t seem to notice, or else she didn’t care. She smiled serenely. “I’ve got it.”

He had to forcibly pull back from the sensual path he’d been on. “Got what?”

“The solution.” Smile broadening, she asked, “You got any champagne around here?”

“I can order anything you want.”

“You might want to order some champagne.”

“Why?” he prompted.

She chuckled softly, coming to her feet. “It’s so simple. It was there all along.”

He knew she couldn’t be talking about sex, but, man, did he wish she was. “What was there all along?”

“You move your company headquarters to Lyndon.”

Her words didn’t compute into anything logical in his brain, so he didn’t respond.

“That’s the answer, Zach.”

“Is that a joke?” If it was, she was keeping a pretty straight face.

“It’s not a joke.”

“It’s ridiculous.” DFB had only recently agreed to a new five-year lease for the office space in Houston. His two-hundred-strong at headquarters had houses there, families there. They were all Texans.

“You do that,” she singsonged, obviously ignoring his reaction. “That’s over two hundred new jobs in the Lyndon area. Your variance application then has a fundamental impact on employment creation in the region, and you’ve just earned yourself mandatory exemption.”

Against all odds, the woman truly was serious.

“Do you have any idea what it would take to make that kind of move?” he asked. “There are legal and incorporation impacts, taxation impacts, export-licensing impacts, not to mention uprooting two-hundred people and their families.”

She sauntered toward him. “I think what you mean to say is, ‘You’re brilliant, Abigail. Thank you so much for giving me a real solution to an impossible problem’.”

He knew she was brilliant, but he couldn’t quite wrap his head around the magnitude of her suggestion. His words were confrontational, but his tone was soft. “I believe I mean to say, ‘You’re insane, Abigail. This will never work in real life’.”

She came to a halt in front of him, all soft and sexy and proud. “You coerced me. You blackmailed me. You stalked me.”

“How did I stalk you?”

“To the wedding.”

He considered that. “Okay. Fair enough.”

“And now, after all that, after I practically made my brain bleed thinking this through, you’re refusing to take my advice?”

“Your advice is frightening.”

“It’s brilliant.”

“I don’t see how it can work.”

“It can work.” Her eyes took on that glow of intelligence as her brain obviously clicked through a catalog of facts. “Or maybe it can’t work. But it’s all I’ve got.”

He recognized that it was an extraordinary plan. The only flaw was that it wouldn’t work, at least not for him, not for DFB. But that didn’t change the fact that she’d been clever to come up with it.

“They tell me you’re a genius,” he found himself saying.

His words clearly took her by surprise. “Who are they?”

“People I talk to. People in Lyndon. Are you a genius, Abigail?”

“I’m smart enough that you should be listening to me.”

“And I’m stupid enough to think there’s another way.”

“You’re not stupid. Exactly.”

“Ouch.”

“I’d say you were self-confident to a fault.”

“It’s taken me a long way in life.” He felt compelled to defend himself.

“That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be mitigated.”

“You’re really quite fearless, aren’t you?”

“Where did that come from?”

“Nobody challenges me like this. Nobody pushes me, nobody makes me second-guess myself. I’ve missed you,” he confessed, easing closer to her.

“In a good way?”

Was it his imagination or was she leaning slightly toward him?

“My life seems flat when you’re not around.”

“Mine seems a whole lot simpler when you’re not around.”

“You want simpler?”

She hesitated, brain obviously cataloging again. Finally she shook her head.

“Neither do I,” he muttered. He gave in to impulse and lifted his hand, cupping her cheek, easing his spread fingers into her hair. “I want you.”

Her eyes closed, and she turned her face into his palm. “When you touch me,” she breathed, “nothing else seems to matter.”

“Everything matters,” he countered. “But you matter the most.”

“Zach…” She sighed. “What now?”

He moved in. “Now I hope I kiss you.”

“We shouldn’t.”

“Agreed. Not the way things have been between us. But you’re free from me now. From here on in. No matter what, I’ll never bother you again.”

“So I can leave? And you won’t try to stop me?”

He held his breath, afraid she’d do exactly that. “You can do anything you want.”

But she didn’t move. In fact, her lips softened and parted, and her pupils dilated ever so slightly.

“Kiss me, Zach.”

His arms went around her instantly. He tried to be gentle, but passion pushed him on. He kissed her deeply, holding her tight, reveling in the feel of her body pressed against his own. He’d missed her so much. Every minute of every day they’d been apart, he’d missed her.

She was soft to his hard, supple to his taut steel. She smelled like wildflowers, and she tasted of champagne.

She kissed him back, her delicate hands gripping his shoulders, her tongue tangling with his, opening to him, molding against him. Desire crested in his bloodstream, and he knew he was careening toward losing control. He forced himself to pull back.

“I’m sorry,” he rasped. “I didn’t mean this to get out of hand.”

“It’s out of hand?” She was equally breathless, and her hands went to the buttons on his shirt.

“Abby,” he warned.

“What?” she asked, glancing up, tone falsely innocent, eyes blinking up at him.

“You’re a very smart woman.”

“I am,” she agreed, still unbuttoning.

“You’re unbuttoning my shirt.”

“Also true.” She separated the fabric and placed a hot kiss on his chest.

“You know what this means.”

“In fact, I do.”

“Just so we’re clear.”

“We’re clear.”

“I can’t keep my hands off you.”

She smiled impishly up at him. “You’re doing a pretty good job so far.”

He scooped her into his arms and strode for the bedroom. “Let’s fix that.”

Her luscious lips went to his neck. “Please do.”

He was in the bedroom in seconds, setting her down on the bed, stretching out beside her, kissing her lips, her neck, her shoulders, inhaling deeply as he ran his fingers through her soft hair.

“This is the sexiest dress ever,” he told her.

“Katrina picked it.”

“Remind me to thank her.” He released the zipper and pushed the fabric down over her breasts.

Abby groaned. “I’m trying to picture that conversation.”

He kissed one nipple, bringing the tip to a bead.

Her fingertips dug into his shoulders.

“Picturing it now?” he teased.

“Huh?”

“Nothing.”

With a free hand he drew her dress up along her bare thighs, reveling in the soft, tender skin, his thumbs drawing circles as he moved higher.

She finished with his buttons, pushing his jacket and shirt off his shoulders. He let them fall to the floor, taking her lips in a deep kiss.

He touched the hot silk of her panties, and she gasped against his mouth. Her panties were filmy, barely there, and he easily pulled them off, down her gorgeous legs, tossing them to the side. In answer, her hands went to his pants, fumbling with the button and his zipper.

He retrieved his wallet, working with one hand for a condom as she pulled down his zipper, grazing him with her knuckles, her hand surrounding him through his boxers.

He followed the contours of her body, reveling in her soft skin, kissing her from her hairline to her toes and back again. Then he finally rose above her, watching her expression, the moue of her pink mouth, the glow of her golden eyes, the sheen of sweat on her forehead, and he gently pushed inside.

He groaned out loud. “How can anything be so good?”

A haze was taking over his brain. A roar had started in his ears. And all nonessential systems were shutting down.

Abigail was the center of his world. The blackmail was done. From this moment on, she had the power.

“Oh, Lucky.” She kissed his mouth, wrapped her arms around his neck, tightened her legs around his waist, her entire body cradling his.

He’d never felt anything like it. Explosions started at the base of his brain, growing in intensity, fanning out.

He heard her cry, felt her body ripple around him, and he let himself cascade over the edge.

Their breathing was ragged, and long minutes passed while he held her to him, passion slowly throbbing its way from his body.

Neither spoke. Her body was limp, and her head was tucked into the crook of his neck.

“I thought about what you said,” she whispered.

“What did I say?” Whatever it was, he’d say it again.

“About your employees being your family. It made me want to help you. To throw my heart and soul into it.”

“Thank you,” he said simply.

“You really do need to move your headquarters.”

“Can we talk about this later?” Though he accepted that she was right. He and Alex had to sit down and seriously talk about how that might work.

“There is no later,” she told him, tone regretful. “I’ve got a 9:00 a.m. flight.”

Stay, his mind screamed. “Back to the ranch?” he asked instead.

She nodded.

Her words made him feel helpless. She didn’t want to go back there. She shouldn’t have to go back there.

“Have you told them?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

“I’m never going to tell them, Zach. And you can’t either.”

“You can’t live your life for your family.”

“You’re living yours for your employees.”

“That’s different.” He loved his job. He loved working with Alex, and he took immense satisfaction in the success of Red, White and Brew.

She gave him an ironic smile and cocked her head.

“Hot tub or bed?” he asked, deciding to assume she was staying the night. Before she could refuse, he touched the bottom of her chin with his index finger, placing a gentle kiss on her swollen mouth.