Searching for Sea Glass: BEST-SELLING AUTHOR (Sea Glass Secrets Book 1) (14 page)

“You being nice to us won’t change anything,” she informed him.

“I’m never nice. I thought you knew that already.”

“We’re still going back to Sea Glass Point today.”

“Have you ever had caviar?” he asked.

Sunny shook her head. She’d heard of it. She’d even seen a can of it in that fancy new food store downtown. The price on the tiny container could have fed both she and Billy for a week.

“How about Chateaubriand?”

“You aren’t going to sway me with a fancy steak.”

“Chateaubriand is much more than a nice cut of beef.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“We can order both for lunch.”

Sunny hated to admit it, but she was tempted. Far more than she should be. She’d never been to a really fine restaurant. And since she owned a café, her interest was not merely personal. It was professional. At least that’s what she told herself. To her astonishment, she found herself nodding.

“Lunch would be fine,” she muttered with little grace. “But Billy and I are leaving right after we eat.”

“Of course.” JD nodded. He ushered them to her car. “Can I drive?” he asked.

“Uhh… sure.” Sunny fished around for the keys in her purse. “The air conditioning doesn’t work too well.”

“It’s only around the block,” he answered.

“And it’s kind of messy. Billy’s been using the back seat to stow all his toys.”

“Sunny, your car is fine. The Maserati’s too small for three. I didn’t think you’d want to drive up to the country club in a police cruiser. Was I wrong?”

The country club??? He was taking them to a country club? Sunny was not sure this was a good idea after all.

“You know now that I’ve given it some thought, I think Billy and I will just get on the road. Thanks for the invitation, but I’d like to make it home as soon as we can,” she murmured. She felt her embarrassed face turning red.

His hard finger turned her chin up. His eyes were steady and honest. “I’ve got a private dining room, with a private entrance. Nobody will see us. Please, Sunny. I just want a little more time with Billy and you.”

She couldn’t refuse him. Which was no surprise. The man must have some kind of super power that drew her to him. Either that or she had way too little self-control around him. Her voice failed her. But she managed to nod her assent.

“Thank you,” was all he said.

In a few minutes they were pulling up to the gates of a huge colonial-inspired set of buildings. A long winding road led up to the place. It was guarded by ancient live oaks standing sentinel on either side of the drive. Sunny thought it looked just like Tara in the movie Gone With the Wind. The main edifice was three stories high. It was a stunning white in the afternoon sun. There was no sign to indicate the place was a country club. She imagined that made it all the more exclusive.

Large supporting columns marched at intervals along wide shaded verandas. Expensively dressed matrons sat in groups at small tables in alcoves hidden by massive ferns. Each alcove had its own ornate ceiling fan, above which was a discreet air conditioning vent in the porch’s ceiling. Sunny watched intimidated, as white-coated waiters scurried about delivering food on embossed porcelain plates. Iced drinks were served in sweating Waterford Crystal. All this was just outside. She didn’t want to think about how ostentatious the true dining rooms were inside.

“This is not a good idea,” she said as JD drove her beat-up wreck around to the side of the building.

“Why?” he asked, turning his head to look at her.

She wasn’t the most classically beautiful woman he’d ever brought here. No, that would be Leanne. But Sunny was the most arresting, the most unforgettable. She had an inner glow that lit up her whole face. She possessed a luscious gold-shot braid he ached to unravel and see fall down her bare back. And she had those incredible sultry eyes that, even now, were making it hard for him to keep his hands off her. Who was he trying to fool? She made him hard, period. He inwardly cursed, thinking how he would need to manipulate her to get any access to his nephew.

“I’m not… we’re not dressed to eat in a place like this.”

Her magnificent eyes became clouded with worry. She bit her plush lower lip. A nervous hand smoothed the rebellious curl at her brow. It resisted her efforts and trailed over one eye.

“Sunny, what are you worried about? You look gorgeous. You always do. Come on.”

With a great deal of trepidation, she let him coax her out of the car. Together they got Billy free from his seat. They all walked up the sidewalk to a solitary door. A brass nameplate proclaimed it
McIntyre
. JD punched in a code on the keypad. Miraculously, it was pulled open by a man dressed in old-fashioned livery. He bowed his head. He led them to the only table in the small room.

It was covered with a heavy damask tablecloth. And it was set as if for an elaborate dinner. Sunny was overwhelmed by the array of ornate silverware and delicate crystal. The centerpiece was low and tasteful. But she recognized orchids and expensive Gloriosa in the arrangement.

JD didn’t wait for the server. He pulled a chair out for Sunny. She awkwardly sat down. The waiter pulled the opposite chair out for Billy. The boy followed his mother’s lead. JD seated himself.

“Good day, Mr. McIntyre. We’re glad to have you and your guests joining us for lunch today. Can I bring you something refreshing to start?” asked the waiter.

“Yes, the lady and I will have caviar and a bottle of the Krug 1928. And strawberries, we’ll need strawberries as well.”

“Of course, sir,” the man said. He bowed his head again. “And for your young guest?”

JD looked to Sunny for the answer. She wet her lips before responding. “Could he have a glass of chocolate milk?”

“Of course, Miss. I will bring it straight away. Can I bring you today’s menu?”

JD shook his head. “We’ll want two of the Chateaubriand. And what would Billy like, Sunny?”

He looked across the table at her. Something inside him was gratified by the awe he saw written so plainly on her delicate face. He knew impressing her with his wealth was petty. But he hoped it would make her understand how very different their two worlds were. How his extensive resources and connections could benefit Billy. Then there was his physical desire for the woman herself. JD hoped flashing his money around might make Sunny consider a temporary arrangement between the two of them. He’d make sure she was very well compensated. Some man had to be her first. He’d already decided he would be that man. His teeth gritted even thinking of Sunny with another.

“Probably just a hamburger and French fries,” she said with a grimace.

“Is that what you want for lunch, Billy?” JD asked the boy.

Billy nodded his dark head vigorously. His smile was wide and engaging. “Yes, sir,” he answered politely.

“Will that be all, sir?” The man cleared his throat.

It was clear to the girl that he was uncomfortable giving such a plebian order to the chef. She was uncomfortable just being here. She knew her simple tee-shirt sun dress and black sandals were very inappropriate for the setting. And her neat, tight braid began unraveling in the Texas humidity as soon as she’d walked out the door of their shabby motel room.

She looked down at the hands she held clenched together in her lap. She was afraid to even set them on the lavish surface of the table. She’d been under a lot of stress lately. And her ragged nails, bitten almost down to the quick, showed her emotional upheaval. She and Billy didn’t belong in these surroundings.

Well… maybe Billy did. Her guilt at keeping him from such a luxurious life was intense. He was Willie’s son. This was his world. Or it should be.

“Stop over analyzing,’ JD instructed.

She pulled her eyes off her hands. She looked at him with a fair amount of apprehension. He was slouched back in his chair, staring at her. It made her feel like a prey animal. One of his strong, lean hands lay resting on the white of the tablecloth. She couldn’t help watching him. It was almost as if she was hypnotized.

The waiter had taken JD’s Stetson. His thick black hair looked rakish and rumpled. His sexy eyes were half closed as he watched her. His long denim clad legs sprawled out arrogantly under the table. Sunny couldn’t help watching the way his muscled chest bunched and played with his every movement under the simple long-sleeved white cotton shirt he wore. It might be simple, but she’d bet it was bespoke and tailored to fit only him.

“I wonder what you’re thinking?” he spoke again. The deep, pleasant rumble sizzled over her heightened senses.

“What?” she replied, confused.

“You look like you’re carrying the weight of  the world on your shoulders, Sunny.”

“My life is sort of… complicated right now. I’m sure you’d agree.”

“It doesn’t have to be. I could smooth out all the rough edges, if you’d let me.”

The girl frowned. She wasn’t exactly sure what he was offering. Surely the sexual innuendo she detected was a figment of her overactive imagination? This was no time to let her hormones do her thinking. She had Billy to protect. She had a business to run. And she had friends to cling to.

“I can handle my own problems, thank you,” she said primly. She took a fortifying sip from the ice water the waiter had brought.

“Oh, there’s no question of that. You’re a woman who knows her mind. You’re also independent and capable. You don’t need me to fight your battles. But I could make sure the legal warfare was minimal, in regards to Billy’s future.”

Sunny looked over at her son. She was glad he was preoccupied by the grandeur of their surroundings. He paid no attention to the adults at the table. And she would make sure their conversation would cause him no alarm.

“I don’t want to talk about this right now,” she warned. Her intent gaze towards the child communicated her reason.

JD’s grin kicked up one side of his mouth. “I understand. And since we need to speak privately, why don’t you and Billy spend a few days at the ranch? We could iron out all the details concerning him without letting the legalities get convoluted and messy.”

“No, I agreed to lunch only,” she said through pursed lips.

“Well, in that case, I’ll let Matt take care of my civil suit against you for concealing my nephew from me,” he said it with remarkable sangfroid. His pleasant expression never wavered. “Get ready to lose everything you own. I’m taking it all.”

Sunny mentally made a note to never play poker with JD McIntyre. Nothing he felt showed upon his granite-carved face. She hoped and prayed the terror his words inspired in her was hidden. A crawling nausea caught her throat. Her fisted hands became clammy. She swallowed, hard.

“Maybe we could stay for just a day or two.” She hated how thready and submissive her voice sounded.

“I’d like that.” A spark of triumph lit the depths of his silver eyes. “I want to get to know you both.”

There it was again. That smoky hint of sensuality in his words. The one that set her stomach churning. The one that lit an unintentional fire deep in her core. The one that made her hands tremble and her breath hitch in her chest. And he knew it, curse him. The next two days were going to seem like walking through the very fires of Hell. She needed to keep their interactions on a purely professional level. If she could.

It was hard to feign indifference to a man you’d secretly been infatuated with for five years. It had to be infatuation. That’s what she told herself. Love took longer to develop. Love was sacred, binding. Once she spent some time with this man, she’d be able to think more clearly where he was concerned. Yes, it was a good plan. Spend a few days with JD McIntyre. That would cure her of any tender feelings she harbored for him.

Sunny smiled. She was relieved to find a solution to all her problems. She’d work him out of her system and strike a deal with him about Billy. She had no issue with her son spending the odd weekend with the McIntyres. She knew Willie had intended for the child to know his biological family.

JD didn’t like the satisfied smile that wreathed the girl’s perfect lips. She was up to something. He never let an adversary get the better of him. And he wasn’t about to start with little Sunny Murphy. She had her uses. He was convinced she’d be delicious to initiate into passion. Her responses to him were completely abandoned. She held nothing back. The simple kisses they’d shared had set him ablaze. Their recent sensual encounter at her home just served to fan an all ready out-of-control inferno. And the night he’d given her that first sweet climax on the beach still made him hard whenever he thought about it. Which was far too often for his peace of mind. He admitted to himself, he desired her in his bed. He was almost feral in his hunger for her. That had never happened with another woman. JD was not a man who lied to himself about anything. Even his sins.

So he was sure, once he’d had Sunny, she’d be like all the others. Pleasant but forgettable. And he needed to forget her. She’d been simmering in the back of his mind since he’d met her five years ago. This little sojourn at his ranch would accomplish many things. Not the least of which was his seduction of the woman who’d plagued his soul for five long years. He would get the access he wanted to his sister’s child. And he’d enjoy initiating Miss Murphy into the carnal joys of womanhood. It was a win-win
.