his mouth.
He ran a hand through his hair, then stretched to try and release the tension in his shoulders.
Anna’s tearful departure left him unsettled, edgy. They’d both feel better if he soothed her and calmed her so she could get some sleep. He’d smooth her ruffled feathers, then they could get back on course and get this deal resolved.
His impulse to visit her in the dead of night had absolutely nothing to do with him wanting to kiss that exasperating mouth into breathless silence and plumb its warm depths with his tongue. He had no thoughts whatsoever of peeling the clothes off that lithe, athletic body and investigating its warm, musk-scented mysteries.
Quite the opposite.
The night air would cool his blood.
It was 3:00 a.m. and Anna had torn the cottage apart looking for the jewels. She’d even slit open the undersides of the mattresses. The cottage was so small there just weren’t that many hiding places to check.
The shocking knowledge of her mother’s affair with Robert De Leon made her see every object and slip of paper in the cottage in a new light. Would she stumble across love notes? Secret tokens? After six hours of rifling through drawers and even through boxes she’d already packed, she found nothing. Her mother had been absolutely discreet.
Somehow that made her sadder than ever. So loyal to her beloved boss-and lover-that she’d never dared mention her relationship with him to her own daughter. The jewels were probably locked in a safe in the big house. Her mom would hardly have worn them out in public, and Naldo was right, she’d never have sold them.
She rubbed her tired eyes with her hands. Her mother’s mysteries were destined to remain just that. A life of quietly kept secrets. Like the identity of Anna’s father, a man who’d gotten her mom pregnant, then casually revealed that he was already married.
Anna reflected that she had good reason to hate all men and their cruel games. She’d married Barry Lennox five years ago, filled with hope for a long and happy life together, and he’d betrayed her in every possible way.
Marriage had meant everything to her. A pledge to care for each other, the promise of a lifetime commitment, the assurance that they were equal partners in a relationship. She’d always promised herself she’d never settle for less, that she’d never make the same mistakes her mother did and let a man use her, but he’d done it anyway.
She sank into the old sofa, hearing the springs creak like they did when she was ten and she and her mom had arrived here from Cincinnati to start a new life.
Fresh tears pricked the backs of her eyelids. Could she find enough hope to start all over…again?
A sharp rap on the door made her catch her breath.
“Anna.”
What the heck is Naldo doing here at three in the morning?
“I know you’re up. I saw you moving.”
“Go away.” She couldn’t hide the tears in her voice.
“Let me in, please.”
“You’ve got the key,” she muttered.
She gritted her teeth as she heard him use it. Wiping her eyes, she rose to her feet as Naldo appeared in the doorway.
His hair was uncombed and dipping into his eyes, which fixed on hers in the dim light. With his fine linen shirt wrinkled and untucked, he didn’t look nearly as elegant and imposing as he had earlier.
Unfortunately he didn’t look any less breathtakingly handsome.
She attempted to summon a fresh nugget of hatred for him, but found she didn’t have the strength.
“I saw your light on. I can’t sleep, either.” His voice was low.
“I was looking for the jewels. They’re not here.” She tried to sound cold, but just sounded tired.
“Never mind about the jewels.” He took a step toward her. The overhead light glazed his features as he moved under it. “Your mother made my father happy. He did love her. He loved her very much.”
His words, and the strange look in his eyes, made her catch her breath. “Why are you telling me this?”
But Naldo didn’t speak. He stepped forward and took her in his arms. Somewhere in the back of her mind she tried to conjure a protest, but it withered as his strong, warm arms closed around her.
His sturdy embrace undermined the last of her carefully guarded strength. She’d had no arms to rest in for so long.
“I hadn’t been back to visit in nearly three years.” The horrible confession underscored how much she’d lost. Her heart ached.
“She knew you cared. That you were working hard.” His powerful fingers moved over her back, stroking her skin through her T-shirt. The caring gesture made her heart beat faster.
“I’m so sorry about your father, Naldo. I know you were very close.”
“There’ll never be anyone like him.” The sadness in his voice made her stomach clench.
“You’re like him.”
“Yeah. Stubborn as a mule and twice as tough. I probably should have been in the library reading condolences this afternoon, but I was out in the groves checking the irrigation just like my dad would have been.” His chest shook with a deep, silent laugh.
She opened her eyes. “Don’t you have employees to do that for you?”
“Of course.” A twinkle of humor shone in his serious dark eyes. “But we do it because the trees are family to us. The land is in our blood. Sand and grit.”
A warm chuckle rose inside her. “Especially the grit. You always did have plenty of that.”
“You, too.” He rubbed her back again and her fingertips sank into the soft linen of his shirt. Hard muscle matched his hard-nosed attitude. “We’re both tough and stubborn and that’s why we’ll get on with our lives and make them both proud.”
You will, but will I? She couldn’t be sure of anything anymore. Her brash youthful confidence had been beaten to its knees by betrayal, divorce, bankruptcy and now the loss of the one person in the world she could always count on to be there for her. It would take every last ounce of grit to start over.
She realized Naldo was staring at her. The heat of his gaze threatened to sear right through her skin. For a second she was conscious of her tearstained appearance, then her thoughts seemed to slip sideways and the hot, musky male scent of him crept over her.
His lips were on hers before she could summon a protest. His warm tongue slid into her mouth, gathering hers as he hugged her into his embrace. Reassuring, strengthening, the power of his arms filled her with sensations she hadn’t dared to crave.
Desire rippled through her like gasoline on water, threatening to ignite. His hands roamed over her back, and lower, reaching boldly into her shorts to cup her buttocks.
She groaned as he sucked her lower lip and trailed kisses over her cheek. Her fingertips dug into the thick muscle of his back before rising to tangle themselves in his silky hair, then sliding down to rove over the rough denim of his jeans.
A deep, masculine groan emerged as she slid her fingers inside his waistband. She felt him harden against her, straining against the zipper of his jeans. A high note of pure, quivering arousal shot through her.
How much she’d once craved this moment. She and Naldo, wrapped together.
His tongue pushed between her lips, stealing her breath. She rubbed her breasts against his chest, her nipples craving contact with the hard muscle as her hips pushed into his.
I love you, Naldo. I always have.
The stray thought startled her and she pushed it aside. But she didn’t push aside the hands that reached under her T-shirt, unfastened her bra and lifted the flimsy shirt over her head.
Naldo’s lips parted as he lifted her bra straps off her shoulders, releasing her breasts. He cupped one in his broad hand and the roughness of his callused palm surprised her as he grazed her nipple, sparking a shiver of arousal.
With a swift movement that made her gasp, he gathered her in his arms and sat her unceremoniously on top of the Formica kitchen table she’d once done her homework at. The cool, smooth surface, with its metal edge, made her aware of the aroused wetness of her sex inside her thin cotton shorts.
His eyes slid shut as he lowered his mouth over her nipple with a low groan. Eyes open in wonder, brain
