Taming Clint Westmoreland - Brenda Jackson [46]
“Clint, you’re not answering my question.”
Clint’s gaze remained glued to the door that separated the kitchen from the dining room. “And I don’t intend to, Chester. Don’t you have work around here to do?”
“Don’t you?”
Clint frowned. He did have plenty of work to do and he was getting behind in it if the truth was known. But he needed to see Alyssa. All through the night he thought about what she had shared with him about her unfaithful fiancé and her horrible wedding day. Her revelations had nagged at him to the point where he’d been unable to sleep.
He then recalled how he had found out about Chantelle’s infidelity. When she believed his future aspirations did not include anything else other than being a Texas Ranger, Chantelle had sought out greener pastures and had married a banker.
Clint knew all about betrayals. He knew how it felt to believe you were in love with someone and believe that person loved you back only to have that love tarnished with treachery.
Somewhere in the house he heard a door close and the sound snapped him out of his thoughts. He glanced over at Chester. “Don’t you have the men to feed?”
Chester chuckled. “I’ve fed them already, but if that’s a way of asking me to get lost, then I’ll take the hint,” he said, wiping off his hands with a kitchen towel. “Lucky for you I can come back and clean this stove later.” The older man smiled over at Clint before grabbing his hat off the rack and turning toward the back door.
Before reaching it Chester turned around. “Have you given any thought to attending the annual benefit for the children’s hospital I was telling you about? This year it will be held at the governor’s mansion. Important people from all over Texas will be there. I reminded Casey about it. The function will happen during her visit, and she and McKinnon have agreed to go.
“And I even took the liberty to contact some of your cousins. Most of them said they would fly in to attend. Wasn’t that real nice of them?”
Chester paused only long enough to add, “I haven’t gotten a firm commitment from Cole or you, though.” He chuckled. “At least this year you won’t have a problem getting a date since you have a wife.”
Clint shot Chester a glare before the man turned around to open the back door. Chester was barely out of the door when Clint stood up, immediately dismissing what Chester had said from his mind. The man was becoming a smart-ass in his old age.
Clint heard steps and felt his stomach clench in anticipation. He was eager to see Alyssa. Ready. Eager. Waiting. The kitchen door swung open and then she was there. Smiling at him. And she looked so damn good in a pair of jeans, shirt and cowboy boots. Her thick, copper-brown hair flowed around her shoulders, framing her gorgeous face. She looked prettier than anything or anyone he had seen in a long time.
“Good morning, Clint,” she said.
Without responding, he walked around the table and pulled her into his arms and whispered, “Good morning, Alyssa.” He leaned down and captured her lips, needing to taste her again, to have her in his arms, to be consumed by her very essence. He didn’t understand what was happening to him and at the moment, he didn’t want to analyze his feelings or scrutinize his actions. The only thing he wanted to do was what he was now doing, exploring Alyssa’s mouth with a hunger that astounded him.
He finally raised his head and gazed down at her moist lips, and when she whispered his name he leaned down again for another taste as pleasure tore through him. It was the kind of pleasure that licked at his heels, filled him with a warm rush and had certain parts of his body aching for relief.
This time when he pulled back again he placed a finger against