Ultimate Texas Bachelor (13 page)

Her whole body was quaking as he paused to admire her, before slipping those off, too.

“You are so beautiful, so sexy,” he murmured.

Wanting to savor everything about this night, Brad let his glance sift slowly over Lainey, then lowered her gently to his bed. She was stunning, any time of any day or night, but she had never looked more radiant than she did at that moment—her cheeks flushed, her silky cap of hair fanning out across his pillow, framing her beautiful face. His gaze moved over her full breasts, her supple waist, the inches of fair silky skin, before dropping to the shadowy vee. He knew it was way too soon for this to be happening, but he didn't care. He couldn't wait any longer. He had to make her his. He kissed her breasts, the hollow of her stomach, softly stroked the insides of her thighs. Their lovemaking was wonderfully sensual, hot and wild. He took the lead. Lainey responded. Savoring the sweetness of her unexpected acquiescence to him, he stroked and licked and nibbled until perspiration beaded her body and she could barely breathe. She gasped, the whimper of sensation turning into a flood of ever-escalating need. Feeling her tremble uncontrollably, he slid up her body. Hard as a rock, he fit his lips over hers once again, demanding, coaxing, tempting, pleasing. Until there was no holding back, no denying the blistering need. Sensations ran riot through him as she arched her back, opened her knees and wrapped her arms around his back, her legs around his waist. He entered her with a long stroke. Her body closed around him, cloaking him in warmth. Savoring the intimacy and the wonder of it all, Brad moved inside her, slowly at first, then with more and more urgency. Lainey moaned against his mouth, her tongue twining urgently with his, taking up the same demanding rhythm as their bodies. The insides of her thighs rubbed the outsides of his. And then there was no more holding back, no more clinging to control, and Brad joined Lainey at the edge of ecstasy and beyond.

 

“Y
OU REALIZE WHAT JUST HAPPENED
is exactly what Bunny thinks has been happening all along,” Lainey murmured as they lay together in Brad's bed.

“Smart woman, that sister-in-law of yours,” he deadpanned, running a hand down her arm, eliciting delicious tingles everywhere he touched, as well as where he didn't.

“I'm serious.”

His expression shifted from playful to compassionate. “I know you are,” he said gently. He moved so he was on top of her once again. The possessive look in his eyes made her catch her breath. “But Bunny's not right about everything.”

“She isn't,” Lainey repeated, knowing if they made love again the way Brad clearly wanted to make love to her, she would not be able to blame their encounter solely on passion and a yearning for intimacy, for connection with someone that went soul-deep. Instead, she would be forced to admit their coming together this way—this soon—meant much more. Joining bodies again would be joining hearts and souls, and she would fall all the way in love with him. The vulnerability of a move like that scared her. Not sure she was ready to let him all the way into her heart, when he had yet to learn everything about her and the terrible fix she found herself in, she tensed.

“No, she isn't,” he replied firmly. Mistaking the reason behind her unease, he looked at her with all the gentleness she had ever wanted. “You can trust me, Lainey. This isn't a fling. It isn't a one-night stand or a temporary thing. What I feel for you is going to last.”

Forever sounded pretty good to Lainey, too. But she knew it was too soon to be making such promises to each other, even if she was sure her feelings for Brad weren't ever going to change, either. She let out a slow breath.

“Things happen, Brad.”

He continued to watch her in that unsettling way. “What are you talking about?” he asked in a low voice.

I'm going to have to tell you the truth eventually, about the article I'm writing and researching for
Personalities.
Heck, I should have already done so,
Lainey thought.

Aware he was still waiting for her to continue, but too selfish to ruin what had been the most wonderful night of her entire life by confessing everything to him now, she merely said, “I'm not sure either of us can know how we're going to feel one, two weeks from now, never mind six months down the line.”

“Well, I do,” he told her confidently. He framed her face with his hands, his weight on her as soothing as a warm blanket on a winter's night. “I've never felt this way about a woman before.” He looked at her lovingly as he traced her lip with the tip of his finger. “I've never trusted anyone the way I trust you.” He pushed aside the ends of her hair and kissed his way down the exposed line of her throat to the U of her collarbone. “Never wanted anyone the way I want you.”

His heartfelt words only made her feel worse. Lainey splayed her hands across his chest, her fingers sliding through the thick mat of chest hair to the warm smooth muscle beneath. “Brad—”

But it was too late, he was already claiming her body with his hands. Tendrils of white heat swept through her as his mouth moved sensually on the hollow between her breasts, then returned with devastating slowness to her mouth. She gulped in air, aware of the tantalizing warmth spreading through hard muscle and satiny skin, and lower still, the stirrings of his renewed desire. She'd never known such power as a woman. Never felt such an immediate, intense connection. When she was with him like this, the future shone hot and bright as the Texas sun.

“I know my rep as a ladies' man and a heartbreaker,” he said, pausing to kiss her full on the mouth again, “but all that's behind me now. I want you, and only you. But if you want
me to stop,” he murmured, arousing her as he kissed her once. And then again. And again. “I will.”

Lainey moaned as his hand cupped the weight of her breast, his fingers closed over the nipple, massaging it into a point. The pleasure was almost as unbearably erotic as his kiss, and everything around her went hot and fuzzy except the seductive pressure of his mouth on hers.

“No. Don't stop.” She sighed her pleasure as Brad rolled so that she was lying on top of him.

He brushed the hair from her face. “Sure now?”

She let her lips come down on his, firm and sure. “Very,” she whispered back, knowing she was betting everything on the two of them and their ability to meet the very difficult challenges that lay ahead. “I want you,” she whispered, aware her heart was beating double-time as she gazed into his eyes. Lower still, where their bodies touched, there was an altogether too-familiar warmth pooling. Need, burning deep inside.

He kissed her back, forcing her lips apart. “Show me how.”

Determined to show him she could be as bold and exciting a lover as he was, Lainey kissed him leisurely, then knelt astride his thighs, letting the sheet that had been covering her fall away. Swallowing the rest of her inhibitions, she let him look his fill, then slid lower down his body. Her hands skimmed over his skin, touching, learning, loving, exploring. Aware she had never felt sexier in her life, Lainey shifted once again, using lips and teeth and tongue, taking him to the spontaneous combustion stage. More than anything she wanted this to be a mutual giving of pleasure.

“Lainey,” he groaned, his eyes dark with wanting her, dark with need.

He'd driven her mad with desire the first time they'd made love. Now she took him to the brink, until he could stand it no more, until he was reaching for her, insisting, then she was moving astride him once again. Slowly, she lowered herself,
taking the hard, hot length of him deep inside. Then she drew herself up, so that she was once again on her knees. He brought her down to him, their mouths mating just as their bodies did, in one long, hot, delicious kiss. Then Brad shifted and she was beneath him once again. Moments later, as their bodies merged, it felt as if he was a part of her…heart and soul. And for the first time Lainey discovered what it meant to come together, as equals. She hadn't known she could want a man like this. She hadn't known she could give and take like this. But she did, she thought, as the passion overtook them once again.

“What do you mean I'm in one of the New York City newspapers?” Brad asked the person on the other end of the telephone the following morning as he and Lainey lingered over breakfast in the ranch house kitchen. They had been up most of the night making love, yet both were still filled with adrenaline and energy. Until now, they hadn't been able to stop smiling or kissing or touching.

Whatever Brad was hearing from the person on the other end of the connection was putting a damper on his spirits, fast.

He grimaced. “I'll check the Internet. Thanks.” He hung up the phone.

“What's going on?” Lainey asked, surveying the haunted look in his eyes.

“Come with me and we'll find out.” Brad headed for his office, where he fired up his computer. Seconds later, he was on the Web site he'd been told to read. Sure enough, there was a publicity picture of Brad taken during one of the Heart Ceremonies on
Bachelor Bliss
. He was handing a woman an engraved invitation to stay on for future episodes, but where the contestant had stood was a blacked-out silhouette of a woman and a large white question mark, under the caption
His cheating heart
.

Lainey scanned the accompanying article along with Brad.

“What?” Brad erupted, as he finished reading the nationally syndicated gossip column the same time as Lainey. “I don't believe that witch!”

“Why would Yvonne say you were cheating on her?” she asked, her brain already going into reporter mode.

“Because she doesn't want people to know what really—”

“What?” she demanded, frustrated he hadn't finished. Darn it all, she wanted to be able to clear his name! Get his reputation back for him.

“Never mind,” he muttered, his expression becoming closed and unreadable once again.

To her consternation, before she could ask anything else, her cell phone rang. She plucked it out of her pocket, noted the identification of the caller flashing on the tiny screen, and swore silently to herself. Knowing she couldn't possibly take this call in front of Brad, she pointed to the exit. “It's a girlfriend. I'm going to take this over at the guest house, okay?”

“Fine. Whatever.” He was still glaring at the computer monitor, as disgruntled as if they had never made love.

Lainey walked quickly through the house and went outside. “Hello?”

Sybil's voice came over the line in a near screech that Brad surely would have been able to hear if they had still been in the same room. “Tell me we are not being scooped!” Sybil said.

Lainey swallowed. She was courting disaster here on so many levels.

“Do you know who the mystery blonde is?” the editor demanded irately.

“I think I have an idea,” Lainey muttered, knowing she had done the unthinkable for a reporter—she had become part of the story she was covering.

“Was Brad cheating on Yvonne with this woman while they were on the show?”

Lainey glanced out the window and saw Brad striding toward the barn. “I'm sure he wasn't.”

“You have proof? Or you're just guessing?”

“Proof.”
Sort of.

Lainey watched as Brad led one of the virgin heifers out to a pasture located well away from the one where Tabasco Red was grazing.

Silence. “You want to share those facts with me?” Sybil asked tensely.

“When I turn my article in.” Lainey hoped by then she would have Brad's cooperation in what she was trying to do for him.

“I'm counting on you to get this story for me, Lainey. Our future career success depends on it.”

“I know.” Lainey just wished she weren't in such an impossible situation.

“In the meantime, you asked me to see what I could do to get you access to the producers. Well, I couldn't get you that, but I did manage to get you an interview with the show's creator, Gil Hewitt, on behalf of the magazine.”

Lainey reached for paper and pen, elated by the coup. Sybil was really helping her out here. “When and where?” she asked.

“Sunday afternoon. You're to talk with Gil, half an hour before you talk with Yvonne. Same hotel.”

Well, that was easy. Almost too easy. Lainey wrinkled her brow. “They're going to be there together?”

Sybil paused to say something to her editorial assistant, then returned to Lainey. Paper rustled. “Apparently, Gil and his staff are doing taped interviews of potential contestants for the next season. They have set up some publicity with local newspapers for past stars—apparently Brad was asked but declined to participate.”

No surprise there, either, Lainey thought.

“Apparently, the show is attempting to do a little damage control. High ratings of the finale have given way to skepticism about whether people can really find love on a reality TV show. Anyway, Yvonne's going to tell everyone that despite the way things turned out, she would do it all over again, because falling in love…just the hope of a real and lasting romance…is worth it. Blah, blah, blah.”

Yes, Lainey thought, true love was worth it. Even if she didn't quite believe that was the case for Miss Yvonne Rathbone.

 

“I'
M JUST GOING TO GO GET
the computer games Lewis said I could borrow for the weekend,” Petey told Lainey on Saturday afternoon.

Lainey knew once Lewis and Petey started talking software they'd lose all track of time. “I want to be on the road in ten minutes,” she warned. “Tell Lewis that.”

“Okay.” Petey rushed into the house to find the computer-game whiz.

Lainey and Brad were left alone in the guest house as Lainey continued packing up the items she wanted to take back to Dallas. “You're sure you don't want me to go with you?” Brad asked as he watched her fill a wicker basket with laundry that needed to be done.

Wishing she weren't already head over heels in love with
Brad—and she suspected that he felt the same about her— Lainey shook her head. In addition to the fact that she knew Brad had a lot to do on the ranch, she needed a little distance to be able to research the story properly. He drove her to distraction when they were in such close proximity.

She still didn't have her car back, but Annie McCabe was letting her borrow one of their ranch vehicles. “Petey and I need to be home for a night or two. I've already asked Bunny to inform the Realtor not to bring anyone through while we're in Dallas this weekend, and I'm taking Petey over to see his cousins tomorrow and spend the day with Bart and Bunny.”

“Are you sure that's wise—under the circumstances?” Brad asked.

Touched by his concern for her, Lainey nodded. She'd been thinking about what Claire McCabe Taylor had told her about the emotional and financial costs of lawsuits, and knew she had to give the situation more time to resolve on its own. She wasn't sure yet whether that made her naive or wise, but she knew they would find out by the summer's end, if not before.

Lainey was glad she had Brad on her side. She felt safe and secure and protected by him. He made her feel she had someone to turn to in the storms of life, and that made all the difference. It was helping her regain her serenity.

“I don't want Petey to feel caught in the middle of this conflict between his aunt, uncle and me,” she explained, taking Brad's hand in hers and holding it tightly. “We might not be getting along all that well at the moment, but we're still family and always will be. Petey needs to know that with time and patience—and a willingness to compromise—families can work out their problems.” She was sure it would be worth it in the end, no matter how much grief she endured in the process.

He looked down at her admiringly. “You have a lot of grace. You know that, don't you?”

“I'm trying to do the right thing—for everyone,” she said, knowing it was what her late husband would want her to do. And she was trying to do right by Brad, too. She just wished she hadn't gone about it the wrong way. But Lainey had given her word to follow through on this story. And somehow, some way, she had to carry through on those promises, and discover and make public the truth. And when the time was right, either just before or just after Brad had his reputation back, she had to muster all her courage and come clean with him. Knowing all the while that he might never forgive her if she confessed what had brought her to the ranch in the first place.

If he weren't so darn mule-headed and full of the McCabe pride, of course, her job would be a lot easier. But no one ever said life was trouble-free.

Lainey smiled, knowing that soon Brad would have his good name cleared of all wrongdoing. Despite his efforts to the contrary. “We'll be back first thing Monday morning.”

“Hurry home.” He brought her to him for a slow, sensual kiss before she could head out the door.

Home? Lainey thought with wonder as she melted into the warm shelter of his body and kissed him back, as thoroughly and tenderly as he was kissing her. Was that what the Lazy M was to her now? She only knew she wanted it to be.

 

“L
AINEY
C
ARRINGTON
, here to see Gil Hewitt,” Lainey told the clerk at the Fairmont Dallas hotel the following day.

“We're expecting you.” The clerk handed over a pass. “You'll need this to get past the security guards on the fourth floor.”

“Thanks.” Lainey walked past the groups of beautiful young women congregated in the lobby. It was obvious they were here to interview for the new episodes of
Bachelor Bliss
. They looked nervous and on edge. Knowing what the expe
rience had done to Brad McCabe, Lainey was tempted to stop and tell them all not to do it, but realizing she was already in too deep as it was, she kept right on going.

The fourth floor was also a beehive of activity. Lainey got past security, and made her way toward Gil Hewitt's suite. She was almost there when a short, thick-waisted man garbed in clothing fit for a tropical safari stepped out to greet her. He had a scarf around his neck and a ridiculous hat on his head. She recognized him instantly. “Mr. Hewitt? I'm—”

“I know who you are and you're late.”

No, she wasn't. She was fifteen minutes early.

“Do you think we have all day to get through these auditions?”

Lainey swallowed. “I…”

Gil shut the door behind them. Lainey realized for all the attention the other staffers were paying, they might as well have been alone. “You're very beautiful.” Gil's gaze roved her face, hair, moved slowly over the tailored linen pantsuit she had on. “But if you want to get anywhere with a bachelor, you should wear a sexy dress. Cleavage is always nice.”

Pig
. Aware she was learning firsthand how future contestants auditioned, Lainey merely smiled and said, “I'll remember that.”

Gil steered her toward a stool set up in front of a photographer's backdrop. “Take her picture and get her basics.”

Again, Lainey tried to set the record straight. Gil Hewitt cut her off before she could say a word. “Honey, I already told you, we're behind enough as it is. So just do what you're told and we'll get along fine.”

Was this the treatment all potential contestants received? Lainey wondered. Two minutes later, she was up off the stool and headed toward the door with Gil at her side.

“Mr. Hewitt…” Lainey began again.

“Call me Gil.”

“Gil. I'm here to—”

“Don't worry, honey-buns. It's a lock. You're in.”

Lainey blinked. “I am?”

He whispered in her ear, “I knew the moment I saw you that you were my type. Sophisticated, pretty.”

And not at all interested in you.
Lainey did her best not to recoil as she caught a whiff of his garlic breath. “Did I mention I'm also the widowed mother of an eight-year-old son?”

He blinked. Thought it over briefly. Shrugged. “Fantastic. Viewers will love it.”

He looked at her with obvious interest. Too smart to actually touch her in an inappropriate way, but telegraphing his rather creepy intentions nevertheless. A shudder went through Lainey. So this was what it was like to be sexually harassed on a casting couch. Not pretty.

“And I'm not here to audition for the show,” Lainey continued, suppressing her desire to knock Gil Hewitt flat on his keister. She smiled. “I'm here to interview you for
Personalities Magazine.
”

Gil stiffened. “Well, why didn't you say so?” He looked irked.

“I tried.”

“You have five minutes.” He guided her through another doorway, to a small sitting room with desk and chair.

Lainey set her tape recorder on the table and switched it on. She wanted audio backup for anything she wrote down. “I want to talk to you about Brad McCabe and Yvonne Rathbone.”

A second passed. Gil assumed a beleaguered expression. “Poor Yvonne. He really did her wrong.”

Lainey looked at her list of prepared questions. “Rumor has it that it's the other way around. Yvonne did Brad wrong.”

For a second Gil didn't move at all. “Who told you that?” he asked finally.

Aware she had hit a nerve, Lainey shot back playfully, “Now, Mr. Hewitt, you know I can't tell you that.”

He dismissed her theory with a frown. “It's rumor.”