Texas Temptation Read Free Page A

should ask her to leave, but for some strange reason, he didn’t want her to go. Not just yet, anyway. Maybe because after nearly four years it was easier to face her here in the darkness, or maybe it was because he still didn’t want to face reality. He wasn’t sure what the reason was, but he did know that, even if it was only a few more minutes, he wanted her to stay right where she was.
    â€œJust grab a pair of jeans out of that top drawer for me.” He gestured toward his dresser.
    â€œSure.” She stood and opened the drawer, then handed him the jeans. She folded her arms and looked away as he tugged the pants on.
    When Annie felt brave enough to chance a look at him again, she was relieved to see that he was at least partially dressed. It was difficult enough standing here talking to him, pretending nonchalance, after what had just transpired between them. Her knees were the consistency of dry sand and her cheeks burned with embarrassment. Thank God the room was dark, she thought. She wasn’t quite sure how she could look Jared directly in the eyes at the moment, let alone have a calm conversation with him in the light of day.
    He reached across her and pulled a T-shirt out of the dresser. She watched as he dragged it over his head, and it was impossible not to notice the ripple of lean hard muscle as he tugged it on. Goodness, but the Stone men were well built, she noted, quickly looking away.
    Extremely well built.
    â€œI—” she drew in a deep breath “—I just heard about your father. I’m sorry. I would have come for the funeral if I’d known.”
    Jared tucked his T-shirt into his jeans, and Annie’s throat tightened as he pulled up the zipper. “Myrna made all the arrangements so fast even I couldn’t make it in time. I barely made it to the reading of the will.”
    Annie remembered Jared’s stepmother. An attractive woman with red hair, she’d been somewhere in her late forties when Annie had last seen her. J.T. had married the woman close to twelve years ago, one year after Jonathan and Jared’s mother had died. Annie knew that Myrna was more tolerated by the Stone children than accepted.
    Jared’s head snapped up suddenly and he looked at the lighted clock on the nightstand. His eyes widened. “Dammit. Dammit, dammit! ”
    â€œWhat?” Eyes wide, Annie stared at Jared. “What is it?”
    He snatched a pair of socks from his dresser, then grabbed his boots. “I’ve got an appointment. Jeez, I had an appointment. At ten with a geologist from Arloco Oil. I was supposed to meet him at the rig. Annie, I’m sorry, but I have to go. If I blow this appointment, it will undoubtably put an end to my already shaky oil career.”
    He hesitated at the bedroom door and ran a hand quickly through his hair. “Look, just make yourself comfortable. I’ll be back in—”
    â€œJared—”
    â€œâ€”a little while and—”
    â€œJared—”
    â€œâ€”we can talk then about—”
    â€œJared!”
    He stopped. “What?”
    â€œJared, I hate to tell you this.” She swallowed hard and faced him. “But I’m your geologist.”

Two
    J ared stared at Annie, certain he had misunderstood her. She couldn’t mean what he thought she meant.
    â€œWhat did you say?”
    â€œI said,” she repeated quietly, “I’m your geologist. The one you were supposed to meet this morning.”
    An uneasiness tightened Jared’s chest. “From Arloco Oil?”
    â€œYes.”
    No. She couldn’t be. Not Annie. He reached for the light switch and flipped it on. She blinked at the unexpected brightness.
    Annie had been a geology major, Jared remembered. That was how she and Jonathan had met. He had just finished his last year when they’d become engaged, but she’d had one more year before she graduated.
    He watched her, letting