Would she go to this length to get water? He ruled that out instantly, remembering her fury and harsh words when she had accused him of buying bigger pumps for his wells to take more groundwater from the aquifer they shared. He had told her what she should do—dig her wells deeper. She had charged right back, saying she wouldn’t have to go to the added expense if he wasn’t depleting her water with bigger pumps. And there it went. Once again her usual stubborn self refused to take his advice or believe him.
Then she had started calling him devious, a snake and much worse. She pushed him to the edge and he knew he had to just walk away, which he did while she hurled more names at him.
That was the Lindsay Calhoun he knew. This Lindsay tonight had to be up to something, too. Surprisingly, though, he couldn’t bring himself to care much. Thoughts of ranching and feuding fled from his mind. He was too busy enjoying looking at one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.
How could she possibly look so good? They were being given the details of their evening, beginning with a limousine waiting at the country club entrance to take them to the airport where a private jet would fly them to Houston for dinner. He barely registered a word said to him; he couldn’t focus on anything but the sight of her.
“Excuse me a moment. I’ll be right back,” their host said, leaving them alone momentarily.
“You’ve got to give me a moment to come out of my shock,” Tony said with a shake of his head.
“You take all the time you want. I’ve been waiting for this,” she drawled. “If necessary, I would have paid a lot more to get this night with you.”
“If you’d come over to the ranch dressed the way you are now and just knocked on the door, you could have had my full attention for an evening without paying a nickel, but this is for a good cause.”
“It’s for two good causes,” she said in a sultry voice, and his heartbeat quickened. He still couldn’t quite believe what was happening. Before tonight, he would have bet the ranch he could never be dazzled or even take a second look, let alone willingly go out with his stubborn neighbor.
“Lindsay, I’ve never fainted in my life, but I might in the next thirty seconds, except I don’t want to stop looking at you for anything.”
“When you saw I had won, I was afraid you’d turn down this evening.”
“I wouldn’t turn down tonight if I had to pay twice what you did,” he said without thinking, and her smile widened, a dazzling smile he had never seen in his life.
“If you two will follow me, I can show you to the front entrance,” their host said, returning to join them. “First, Miss Calhoun, you need to step to the desk to make arrangements about payment.”
“Certainly,” she answered. “See you in a few minutes, Tony,” she added in a soft, breathless voice.
Where had that sexy tone come from? He recalled times when he had heard her shout instructions to hands on her ranch. She had a voice that could be heard a long stretch away and an authoritative note that got what she wanted done. As he watched her, she turned to look at him. She smiled at him, another dazzling, knee-weakening smile, and he couldn’t breathe again.
Holy saints, where had Lindsay gotten that enticing smile? It muddled his thoughts, sent his temperature soaring and made him want to please her enough to get another big smile.
He had seen her stomping around horses, yelling instructions and swearing like one of the men, the sandy braid flopping with her steps. He had faced her when she had yelled furious accusations at him about dumping fertilizer. How could that be the breathtaking woman walking away from him? His gaze ran down her bare back to her tiny waist, down over her flared hips that shifted slightly in a provocative walk.
With the tight dress clinging to her every curve, he caught a flash of long legs when she turned and the slit in her skirt parted. That’s when he noticed the stiletto heels. He would have sworn she had never worn heels in her life, yet she moved as gracefully as a dancer. He wiped his heated brow. This was rapidly turning into the most impossible night of his life.
Befuddled, totally dazzled by her, he tried to remind himself she was Lindsay, and he should pull his wits together. That might not be so easy. He would never again view her in the same manner.
Why hadn’t he ever really looked at her before? He knew full well the answer to his question. He had been blinded by their fights over every little thing, from her tree falling on his truck to his fence on her property line. Not to mention her usual raggedy appearance when she worked.
If she had gone to such lengths tonight to wring something she wanted out of him, he had better get a grip, because it was going to be all but impossible to say no to the fantastic woman in red standing only yards away and writing a check for thousands of dollars for an evening with him. Not even a night— just a dinner date and maybe some dancing.
But Lindsay Calhoun wasn’t interested in dinner dates and ballroom dancing, boot scooting or even barn dances. He eyed her skeptically. To what lengths was she prepared to go tonight to get what she wanted?
He gave up trying to figure her out.
Still, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. The skintight red dress left little to the imagination. Why had she hidden her gorgeous figure all these years? Why had she always pulled her hair back in a braid or ponytail? He looked at the beautiful silky blond hair arranged on her head, some strands falling loosely in back. He had never seen her hair falling freely around her face—would he before this night was over?
She looked seductive, like pure temptation, and he knew he should be on his guard, but there was no way he could be defensive with the woman standing only yards away. He wanted her in his arms. He wanted to kiss her. And, if he was truthful with himself, he wanted to make love to her.
When she finished writing and handing over her check, their host led them to a garden, where they had pictures taken together. As he slipped his arm around her tiny waist while they posed for the camera, the physical contact sizzled. He was so heated he thought he would go up in flames.
He made a mental note to get a picture. His brother-in-law and sister were in the audience, so they had seen her tonight. So was his oldest brother, Wyatt. He was certain Jake Calhoun had seen his sister look this way before, but Wyatt was probably as shocked as he had been.
Talking constantly, their host escorted Lindsay and Tony through the wide front doors of the country club, where a long white limousine waited.
As soon as the door closed on the limo, they were alone, except for the driver on the other side of a partition.
“Maybe you’ve been using the wrong approach,” Tony remarked.
She smiled another full smile that revealed even, white teeth that made him inclined to agree with whatever she said.
“That’s what I decided. So we’ll see how it helps letting my hair down, getting out of my jeans and into a dress, smiling and being friendly. So far, it seems to be working rather well, don’t you think?”
“Absolutely. I don’t know why you waited this long. I keep reminding myself not to give you the deed to my ranch tonight.”
She laughed with a dazzling, irresistible smile on her lips. “The other way is a more direct approach. You know where you stand.”
“And this is a sugarcoated enticement to get what you want?”
“Oh, my, yes. I’m just getting started. When I walked up on stage, I’m sure you wanted to refuse keeping your part of the bargain.”
“You’re wrong. Not the way you look tonight,” he said in a husky voice. “With you in that red dress, there’s nothing that would cause me to turn down an evening with you.”
When had he reacted like this to a woman? He escorted beautiful women, was friends with them, had them continually around in his life and yet never had he been dazzled senseless as he was tonight. He wouldn’t ever have guessed Lindsay could generate such attraction and make him overlook all their battles.
It had to be the shock of who she was that was setting him ablaze. He’d better get a grip on reality and see her as the person he knew her to be. But that wasn’t going to happen tonight. His thought processes worked clearly enough to know that.
She smiled sweetly. “Penny for your thoughts.”
“I’m wondering why I haven’t ever heard from anyone about how gorgeous you can be.”
“I suppose because I rarely go out on dates and never with anyone in these parts.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged. “I’ve just never met anyone around here I wanted to go out with very much. And there’s nowhere close by here to go dressed up.”
“There’s Dallas.”
With a twinkle in her blue eyes, she answered, “In Dallas, our paths probably wouldn’t cross.”
“I’ve known you all my life and I know your family well. Tonight I feel as if I’m spending the evening with a complete stranger I’ve just met.”
She looked amused. “In some ways, Tony, we are strangers. There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” she said in the breathless, sultry voice that made the temperature in the limo climb again.
“I should have asked you out long ago,” he said.
“You know how likely that was to have happened, and what my response would have been.”