It Takes Two: Deep in the Heart, Book 1 (2 page)

Zach narrowed his eyes against the sun as he drove up the long, dirt-packed lane to the Aguillar landholding, not ten minutes after he’d called them from a pay phone at a nearby bait store. Stopping the car, he held his breath, thinking the endless drive in the Texas heat had induced an unsettling mirage.

A very tall, jeans-and-boots-clad woman with a fall of black hair streaming down her back appeared to be holding up a long pole with a furious snake attached to it. The woman was so engrossed in the snake-handling, she hadn’t heard the smooth purr of the rented Cadillac he was driving. Quietly, he got out of the car and walked a few feet closer, noticing how calm she was as she angled the pole so the man and child who were watching from a nearby window could have a better view. Obviously, he’d stumbled onto a ritual of some kind, and Zach hesitated.

What in the hell had Carter gotten him into? Were these devil worshippers? Was that snake intended for a sacrifice or the dinner table? Was fear of these people the reason Ritter was having trouble buying the Aguillars out?

Zach cursed in two languages before walking forward. The front door of the house opened.

“Annie, we’ve got company,” an old man shouted, coming out on to the porch, armed with a rifle that hinted Zach’s business better be brief.

Rattler and all, the woman whipped around, and for the first time in his life, Zach knew what the phrase “devastatingly beautiful” meant.
Annie
. The woman’s name resonated through his suddenly feverish brain. Rattlesnake Annie was a grown man’s erotic fantasy come true, in please-dear-God-can-I-touch-her flesh. Shorter than he by four inches, maybe, but he was six foot three, so her height alone was impressive. He guessed she was of some Native American heritage, with that long, black hair. Deep indigo eyes spoke of a dose of Anglo genes, trimming her features into a patrician loveliness. She was graceful and willowy like a runway model, and if she hadn’t been holding that damned snake, he would have been as hard as the pole she was holding.

“Can I help you?” she asked coolly, apparently not struck by the same feelings of wonder that were ripping through him.

Zach marveled that she didn’t even offer him a smile. Usually ladies at least managed a smile and, more often than not, a come-hither expression. Her tone implied he was a nuisance. “I’m looking for Mr. Aguillar,” he said, cursing the thinness in his voice.

The woman frowned and walked away for a moment, opening a wood-and-mesh box, where she deposited the irate snake. Securing the lid, she set the pole against the house before approaching Zach. “I’m sorry. You must have gotten the wrong address,” she informed him.

Zach shook his head. No. There could be only one structure like the Aguillar house in Desperado, Texas, so named for the dozens of outlaws who had bunked in barns and around the countryside, hiding out from the law in the early days of Texas history. The bait-store employee had been admiring in his description of the homestead. Built before the turn of the century, it was a building of wonderful angles, set whimsically on a small hill surrounded by fields of black-eyed Susans. A smooth sheet of tin roof added a modern touch above dormered windows. The gray, worn wood gave the house a weathered look, but it still retained its gabled charm. No, he didn’t have the wrong address. This was the very dwelling.

“This is the right house,” he said. “Maybe I’ve got the wrong name. I thought this was the Aguillar house.” Zach stopped, thinking for a moment about how the woman’s voice lilted with a soft accent. “Didn’t I speak to you on the phone earlier?”

Her eyes narrowed, and Zach knew that she’d recognized his voice too. Having figured out who he was, Annie wasn’t anxious to welcome him onto the property. He glanced toward the porch. The old man stood there still, his shotgun ready. Zach figured that was Mr. Aguillar. Annie was obviously protecting the old buzzard, but it looked like he could take care of himself.

“You’re Mr. Rayez, then,” she said, drawing his attention back to her. “But no Mr. Aguillar lives here.”

“Who owns this property?” he asked brusquely, tired of playing guessing games.

“I do.”

The words were said with a quiet pride, and Zach admired Annie’s grace and determination. She was fully aware of the meaning behind his presence, and she wasn’t going to go down without a fight. The pool of regret that had been building inside him for the past several months suddenly felt deeper, smothering. Almost as if he were drowning in his own recriminations.

Damn
. Usually it was some sun-toughened, rangy old man he had to deal with, like the one waiting on the porch. Zach sighed, wishing he could discuss matters with him instead, in the man-to-man style he was used to. If this woman owned the land, his job would be that much dirtier. Rattlesnake Annie, with her exotic beauty and appealing pride, was someone he might find difficult to railroad. In another time and place, he’d probably be trying to bring a smile to her lips. Instead, they were at opposite ends of a heated emotional spectrum. For the second time that day, he inwardly cursed Carter Haskins. It seemed trust was in short supply where his vice president was concerned.

But now he’d boxed himself into doing this job. “So, what’s your name, besides Annie?” he asked, hating himself for injecting friendliness into his tone. As if they could ever be friends.

“My name is Annie Aguillar,” she replied. “Not Mr. Aguillar.”

“No, definitely not mister,” Zach agreed, trying to sound light. The least Carter could have done, he thought bitterly, was give him correct information. “I was misinformed as to who owned this property.”

“I’m not the least surprised,” Annie said, resentment steeped in her tone. “We don’t have
names
, or faces, to you people who want our land. We are merely pawns to be moved around at your whim, numbers in transactions. I said your time would be wasted by coming out here, Mr. Rayez, and I meant it. Nothing you can say will induce me to sell this land. It has been handed down for three generations through the women in my family, and I intend to see that my daughter’s children grow up here.”

According to Carter, her land would be central to the project Ritter wanted a piece of. The highway would wind through the entire state, and was planned to run right through the heart of Desperado, with Annie’s property smack in the middle. If they had their way, tall buildings housing commercial ventures would be popping up all over her property. Regret tore through him, that his position in Austin brought him here and put him in such a difficult situation with Annie Aguillar. Zach turned his gaze away from her to look instead over the gently rolling land alive with yellow-petaled sunflowers.

Her words were brave, but inside, Annie’s heart was racing. This handsome man with windswept hair and glinting sable eyes wasn’t like the last land grabber who had come to call. That man’s chubby fingers and oily complexion had repulsed her so badly she’d had bad dreams for two nights—dreams that she had died and little Mary was left to beg in the streets of Desperado. She’d awakened, fighting her way out of twisted sheets, her mouth dry. Heart-pounding fear had sucked the moisture from her. Only going into Mary’s room and placing a warm kiss on her head had been able to slow the pounding of her heart.

The slamming of the front door startled them both. Apparently, Papa had decided to get out of the heat and watch from the window at Mary’s side. Annie was glad. There was no reason for her father to suffer heatstroke because of this stranger. The rattlesnake had been more difficult to handle than this Zachary Rayez would be, she told herself.

“According to the law—”

“The law,” she sneered. “I recognize the laws I choose to. Do you really think I care what you, or those wealthy toads in Austin, call laws? All citified white men, who’ve never had to do a hard day’s work in their life. You know nothing of
my
life. Don’t come on my property and start spouting ‘laws’ to me. You’re only here to make a sale. Threatening me with right of eminent domain won’t work, because no one from the state has been out to see me.” Her smile was mocking. “I’m not so ignorant that I can be taken in by a mere salesman, a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

Whirling around, she pointed to telephone lines in the distance. “See those lines?” At his nod, she said, “When the citizens of Desperado came to me and wanted to run those lines over my land, I said ‘yes’. I was happy to do that. When they came and asked to cut an acre of trees to build the new elementary school desks locally, I said ‘yes’. I have never denied use of my property for the people of this town. But you,” she said, her tone dripping with venom, “you want me to sell out so you can pour concrete over this land. You and your money-hungry friends in Austin who don’t know me, or my family, or one person in Desperado. This time, I say no.”

“What if folks here disagree with you? What if they think the new highway will be beneficial in bringing commerce to this area? It could have an impact on the tax base, since big business will probably follow close behind the building of the highway.”

“They are welcome to sell their land and let the state highway be built where their homes used to stand, have their children play in the shade of skyscrapers. But not me, Mr. Rayez. And frankly, I don’t understand why my one hundred acres is of such necessity to those plans. Surely you can find someone else who is willing to sell out in Desperado.”

She’d called his bluff and they both knew it. Most people in the town resented outsiders coming to bid unsolicited on their property. Zachary Rayez would look long and hard for enough people in this town to see his side of things.

The man looked defeated. Surely not because of her, Annie thought. He had to have known the impossibility of his expectations. After all, she’d warned him. Weariness appeared in threadlike lines around his eyes and in the rough curl of his mouth. The suit he was wearing was ridiculously out of place on her dusty farm, and she knew he had to be hot. Why she cared she didn’t know, but it couldn’t hurt to offer him a drink before sending him on his way. Letting him see how they lived might even make Zach Rayez realize he was dealing with people—not unfeeling numbers. It was a message he could relay to the big bulls in Austin, Annie reassured herself.

Now that she’d explained her stand, she relaxed a little, allowing herself to admire the height of the man and the chiseled lines of his face underneath dark, wavy hair. His dark eyes studied her, and she wondered if she saw admiration in his gaze. Surprised, Annie recognized a tiny part of herself coming to life that she thought she’d buried with her dead husband, straining like a new plant to break through hard soil and seek the sun. Something about this man was making her feel…alive again. It was a good feeling, a spreading warmth of response she regretted she couldn’t allow herself to enjoy.

But surely ten minutes more, savoring the unexpected feeling of womanliness Zach Rayez brought to her, couldn’t possibly be wrong. Offering him a little hospitality would only show this man that she wasn’t an ill-bred country yokel. “Mr. Rayez,” Annie said softly.

He’d turned his head away for a moment, breaking their eye contact. Now he looked at her again, his gaze sending a tingle of excitement jumping through her. Annie drew a deep breath, knowing she was treading on dangerous ground but needing to just the same.

“Why don’t you come inside and cool off for a while?”

Chapter Two

Zach struggled to decline Annie’s too-tempting invitation. If life was a chess game, he was a black piece and the landowners were white. There was no gray area on the board. Zach knew himself well enough to admit that accepting hospitality from Annie would be tantamount to venturing onto their side of the board—which meant risking an emotional checkmate.

Late afternoon sun shimmered on the sloping tin roof of their home, and Zach squinted at it thoughtfully. Stepping inside that house would bring him into the intimacy of the Aguillars’ lives. He suspected Annie was fully aware of the implications of her offer. It was to her advantage to draw him into her world. The Aguillars would become more than mere names on paper if he accepted the refreshment she offered.

He would learn how their house was furnished, whether the carpet was thick and soft, or if there were hardwood floors instead, gleaming with care and lemon polish. He’d be able to observe Annie as she moved about her kitchen, if she offered him a drink. The thought was strangely erotic in a male chauvinistic sort of way. He liked the idea of Annie waiting on him, bringing him something cold to drink in those capable hands of hers.

Zach stared at Annie, impressed with her beauty and courage. It was a situation that required delicate handling, because getting to know the Aguillars on a personal level meant he might start to care about them. It was better to remain distant.

And Zach acknowledged that he wouldn’t be going inside this house to wrangle over details of a sale. He’d be going inside solely to spend a few more moments with Annie.

Even now, she waited for his answer. Eyes the color of bluebonnets watched him, perhaps trying to fathom the reason for his hesitation.

What the hell—he was supposed to be a coldhearted guy, wasn’t he? If she was throwing out some sort of a challenge by inviting him in, he could take it. Emotions weren’t a problem for Zach Rayez.

“That sounds great,” he finally said. “The drive out here was longer than I thought it would be.”

Annie nodded and turned toward the house. Zach followed, enjoying the sway of her curved hips encased in the worn-out jeans. Some raw, untamed part of him burned to know more about this woman. He found that surprising, because he’d been completely faithful to LouAnn since the night he’d proposed to her. There hadn’t been a doubt in his mind that she was the right woman to share his life during their serene, nine-month engagement.