Hot Westmoreland Nights - Brenda Jackson [38]
And then he’d had to deal with the ribbing from his brothers, Jason and Callum. Trying to convince them that Chloe was nothing more than his cook was beginning to sound lame even to his ears. He had walked away from them when he saw they were intent on drawing their own conclusions about his and Chloe’s relationship, and he’d made a point not to accept their invitation for a game of poker over at Jason’s place.
Luckily for him Dillon and Pamela had returned to town for a few days for Dillon to attend a business meeting, so he’d had the chance to visit with them. The newly married couple divided their time between here and Pamela’s home in Gamble, Wyoming, because one of Pamela’s sisters was in her last year of high school.
Dillon seemed extremely happy as a married man and Ramsey was happy for him. From the time he could remember, he and Dillon had been closer than just cousins. In essence, they were best friends and when their parents had perished in that plane crash, he had more than supported Dillon’s desire to keep the family together.
Because Dillon was the oldest by some months, he had become head of the family and guardian for everyone. But the two of them had worked hard. It hadn’t been easy raising their siblings and cousins, nine of whom had been under the age of sixteen.
Now all of them were over twenty-one, either in college or working alongside Dillon at Blue Ridge Land Development, the company that the two Westmoreland brothers—his father and Dillon’s—had formed many years ago. Under Dillon’s guidance, Blue Ridge was now a multimillion dollar company well known in the Mountain States. It employed over a thousand people. Every family member had worked there at some point in their lives before pursuing their dreams and other ambitions.
An hour later Ramsey had finished eating and was still licking his lips. The meal had been delicious. Chloe hadn’t come downstairs and in a way he hadn’t expected her to. She was well aware, just like he was, that something was taking place between them and it was something neither of them wanted. So it would be best to avoid the situation by avoiding each other. The attraction between them was too strong, the passion was too thick. And she was becoming his weakness. If he didn’t get things in check, the desire he felt for her would consume him and that was something he simply refused to let happen.
He shook his head as he moved toward the stairs and the moment he lifted his leg to take a step he inhaled her scent. It was the scent of a woman he wanted. Her fragrance was emitting from behind closed doors, drenching the air, teasing his nostrils and making him even more aroused. He hadn’t gotten much sleep last night and he doubted things would be any better tonight.
When he reached the landing, he worked his shoulders to relieve the tension that had built there. Drawing in a heated breath he made it down the hall, forcing one foot in front of the other, intent on passing Chloe’s door without stopping.
Easier said than done. When he reached her door he couldn’t help but pause. He even raised his hand to knock before snatching it back to his side.
What the hell was happening to him?
He forced himself away from her door and quickly moved down the hall toward his own. He had to formulate a plan, at least until the weekend. Hopefully, she would leave those two days to go back to her own place, get her mail, water her plants, check in with her neighbors or whatever else she needed to do. By then they would need the distance. They would need the space. The weekend was three days away and he hoped like hell that he could hold out until then.
Seven
“So what do you think of Derringer?”
Chloe couldn’t stop the smile from touching her lips. This was the third time this weekend that Lucia had asked that same question. “I told you twice already,