Hot Westmoreland Nights - Brenda Jackson [17]
Of his four brothers he was the one who could generally take a woman or leave her just where she stood. His love ’em and leave ’em attitude unnerved his siblings who thought he spent more time sleeping with his sheep than with women. Considering the time he’d done duty as a sheepherder over the past year, that accusation was not a lie. But it really wasn’t any of their business. And he had been quick to point out—especially to his brothers and male cousins—that they were spending enough time chasing women without him, boosting profits for the condom industries and making it quite obvious they were men on the prowl the majority of the time. He cringed at the reputations some of them had.
And he had been quick to assure them that his decision to not bed women as often as they did had nothing to do with Danielle McKay, the woman who had walked off, leaving him standing at the altar ten years ago at a church filled with over two hundred guests. The really sad thing was that his family had liked her, until they’d discovered the truth as to why she had walked out on him in front of everyone with an “I’m sorry,” instead of an “I do.”
She had later confessed to having an affair that had resulted in a pregnancy. To her credit, at least she’d had the decency to not go through with the wedding instead of passing the kid off as his. But what his family hadn’t known and what he’d kept hidden was that it had been a sense of obligation and not love that had driven him to ask Danielle to marry him in the first place. So in reality, her calling off the wedding had been a blessing in disguise.
He pulled in a deep breath. If anything, thoughts of Danielle should have reduced the size of his erection but they hadn’t. That meant thoughts of Chloe outweighed thoughts of Danielle by a large margin. He doubted Danielle ever got him this aroused without even touching her. As far as he was concerned, this sort of physical reaction to a woman had to be cruel and unusual punishment.
Ramsey moved toward the bed, swearing with every step. He had to get up just as early as Chloe did. There were early morning chores that had to be done. Already a few of his nosy family members had called asking questions after a number of his men had bragged about his new cook and how pretty she was. News carried in Westmoreland Country and no doubt some were anticipating his next move and taking bets as to how quick he would be getting her from under his roof.
As far as he was concerned that was a no-brainer. She was definitely on her way out of there. He was determined that no matter what, he would be contacting the employment agency about finding him a replacement.
Four
When Chloe heard a sound behind her she didn’t stop beating the huge bowl full of eggs because she knew who it was. She was determined that nothing about Ramsey Westmoreland was going to unnerve her today. After all, he wasn’t the only man alive with a lot of sexual appeal, although he happened to be the only one who seemed to hold her interest.
She considered turning around to greet him and then decided because he was the one who’d entered the kitchen, he should be the one to make the gesture. If he didn’t, it wouldn’t be any sweat off her back, namely because she didn’t have any sweat left after those naughty dreams last night where he’d had a starring role.
“Morning.”
Okay, he’d done the proper thing and spoke first, but did he have to do so with such a deep huskiness in his voice? Such raw sexuality in his tone? It had only been one word for crying out loud. Yet the sound that had emitted from his lips was sending shudders through her body and had the potential to do other things she just didn’t want to think about this early in the morning. It wasn’t even four yet. And it was going to be a busy morning and an even busier noon.
Reluctantly, she turned around, deciding she would at least return his greeting. “Good—”
She swallowed