To Claim a Wilde (Wilde In Wyoming Book 6) (10 page)

“The event is not until Saturday.”

“I thought—”

“I assume you have proper attire. After-five cocktail is fine. And...do you want me to pick you up at your parents’ house? I also assume you are staying with them?” He broke into her objections, not wanting to give her the opportunity to steer this particular ship. He had it all under control.

Canton could feel her irritation rise with his purposefully insulting words.

He sat back in masculine satisfaction. Good.

She would follow his lead. Not the other way around. Whether she knew it or not, or liked it when she figured it out or not.

Chapter 12

“P
roper attire...”

It had taken her the better part of the day to get up the nerve she needed to call Canton.

Naomi had clamped her mouth shut as his words, all of his words...sank in. She’d opened and shut her mouth so many times she felt like a guppy fresh out of water, desperately trying to figure out the whole breathing thing; she was, momentarily, drowning and out of her depth.

Then she closed her eyes tight, her jaw even tighter, if humanly possible, after the infuriating man drawled the rude question.

As though she wouldn’t or
didn’t
have the right attire... She shook off the irritation, reminding herself it wasn’t for her, but it was for her folks... She’d reminded herself of that one fact so much over the past few weeks, she could write a hit song about it.

“I think I can rouse something up in the back of the closet, Mr. Wilde, but if you think I might embarrass you, feel free to get someone else to be your date,” she bit out, unable to hold back a tiny bit of sarcasm.

His low chuckle should have infuriated her even more.

But damn if it wasn’t as sexy as the man who uttered it.

She could see him in her mind’s eye, big booted feet no doubt kicked up on his desk, leaning back in his chair as he spoke on the phone with her.

Lord, just give me strength. Not even asking for mega strength, here, God,
she continued her prayer.
Just enough that I don’t jump through the phone on this man...

“Are you done talking to yourself?”

“I wasn’t—” She stopped, her face flushing with heat. “As I said, I’ll do my
best
not to embarrass you,” she bit out.

“Good, then we shouldn’t have any problems,” he drawled, his voice subtly laced with humor.

Naomi again gritted her teeth to prevent herself from saying something she knew she would regret. Ready to end the call, she was set to do just that when one final question he threw out caught her off guard.

“I think it’s a good idea, before Saturday, that the two of us get together.”

“And what is the purpose of that?” she asked, wearily. “Besides, I didn’t agree to that. I agreed to escort you—”

“I know what you agreed to, Dr. McBride,” he began in that irritatingly sexy voice of his, breaking into her objections. “And I also know that you agreed to be at the ready for me when I needed you to.”

“I did no such thi—”

“And in order for us to pull off the deception of being a couple—”

“What?! A couple? Look, I never agreed to that! You—”

“—then it’s important that you know more about me.” He finished as though she hadn’t spoken and interrupted him. “So this is, as you see, all a part of the deal. That is, if you want to help your family...” He allowed the sentence to dangle.

Her pause was minimal; thoroughly agitated with the way he was manipulating her, she needed a minute to gather her wits before she went back into battle with him.

She was under no delusions regarding two things with Canton Wilde. One, that he was manipulating the situation and her to his favor. Two, the battle to keep herself in control and not allow him to ever get the best of her was what was in store for her. But there wasn’t anything she could do about it, and he knew it. He had her for the next two weeks.

“Fine,” she finally agreed. “When and where?”

“Dinner tomorrow night. Six o’clock. I’ll pick you up. It’s been a while; I look forward to seeing your parents.”

“No! I can meet you at—” Naomi’s protests fell on deaf ears. Canton had already ended the call.

“Canton!” she yelled out his name as though the sheer volume of her voice would magically force him to stay on the phone.

As soon as she had disconnected, his mocking voice still ringing in her ears, it was all Naomi could do not to hurl her phone across the floor.

But really, who would she be hurting if she did that? She grumbled and not-too-gently put the phone on the coffee table, resisting the urge not to throw it like a major league pitcher would across the room.

Money was tight enough as it was not to do something stupid and destroy her smartphone.

* * *

Now relaxing, glass of wine in hand, Naomi sighed and thanked God she was, for the time being at least, home alone. With all that yelling and sheer...agitation Canton brought out in her, she didn’t want either one of her parents to know what exactly was going on, not wanting them to worry.

She laughed without humor. Yeah. Worry...if her parents had a clue what she was doing, or trying to do, to help save the small ranch, their worrying would be the least of
her
worries.

Naomi stood from the couch and made her way through her parents’ modest but lovely home.

They’d gone out for the evening at her suggestion. In fact, she’d insisted they do so, both for them, and her, truth be told. She loved her folks, but after being back home she realized that if she were to stay, which she had decided pretty much was a done deal, she would definitely need her own place.

That, and she didn’t want them to see Canton Wilde pick her up for their “date.”

With a groan, she glanced at the clock and sighed. It was only four o’clock. She had a couple of hours before he would be at her parents’ home.

And yes, despite the time, she was drinking a glass of wine. She rationalized that it was five o’clock in Texas and she was still operating mentally in that time zone.

Truth was, she needed everything at her disposal to combat the nerves churning her gut.

These precious moments alone where she could just think had become the highlight of Naomi’s evenings for the last few nights. The fact was that she’d been so busy trying to get all of her ducks in a row that by evening, she was completely exhausted. Yet she still had work to do. It seemed the days were too short to complete all the tasks she’d set out for herself.

She and her parents had sat down and had an open and honest talk about the state of their finances. Naomi had confided in them both that the Wildes were going to try to help.

She did not, however, go into detail at all on how she was going to repay them. The Wildes were known to help families in their community out. It was no secret of the wealthy family’s philanthropic nature, something their father, Colt Wilde, had been known to do until the day he died.

He’d passed the responsibility of being “thy brother’s keeper” on to his children.

She’d fooled around with the truth; although she’d told her mother she would play “escort” to Canton, she hadn’t given her any details of what that would entail. Simply saying that she was working with them to get the back taxes paid off, seemed to appease her mother. At least she told herself it had. By “them” she included the entire Wilde clan.

Her parents accepted the half-truth. At least her father had. Her mother had given her the side eye after she had related the story to them, a big fake, over-the-top smile on her face.

She should have known better with the dramatic smile. She went too far with it.

She’d avoided direct eye contact with her mother. She knew her mother was a lot more astute at certain things than her father. And if Roslyn McBride suspected Naomi had a more intimate arrangement going on with Canton Wilde... Naomi suppressed a shudder.

Besides going through her parents’ affairs, conferring with them and assuring them that they’d get through their problems, she’d met with Dr. Mason, the elder pediatrician who had run his private clinic for nearly forty years. And showed no signs of leaving.

Instead, she was to be an addition to his small practice, taking the place of another doctor who’d decided to move on.

The quaintness of the clinic was one that appealed to Naomi. The thought of staying in Cheyenne once everything was settled with her parents, and the fear of them not keeping their home was gone, was one that was pleasing to her as well.

Despite
the fact that she’d be living in the same community as Canton Wilde, the idea of staying in the small community she grew up in was tempting to Naomi.

Or because of it...again, her inner voice wouldn’t let her get away with lying, even to herself.

Naomi debated if she should finish her glass before she had to get ready to face Canton, if for no other reason than to help silence her irritating inner voice.

With a defeated sigh, realizing there wasn’t enough wine in the word to give her the fortitude she needed to face Canton Wilde, Naomi emptied her half-full wineglass into the sink, rinsed out the glass and walked back to her bedroom to get ready.

Chapter 13

T
he downtown bazaar in Wellsburg was alive and teeming with the hustle and bustle of the early evening.

The early-evening air was crisp; cold enough to require a jacket, but still comfortable enough that Naomi was content walking around without looking for the nearest shop to duck into to warm up.

When Canton had decided they would have their “first date” in the small, touristy town, not far from Cheyenne, she had given him a curious look. It had been years since she’d been there.

“Give it a shot,” he’d told her as she settled back into the relaxing leather seat of his truck and turned to stare sightlessly out the window at the darkening sky. “It’ll be fun.”

Even though he hadn’t told her beforehand where he’d planned to take them, rebelliously, Naomi had decided that no matter
what
he had planned she was taking their “date” as casually as she would take him.

With that in mind, she’d dressed in a black denim skirt, tights and knee-high boots, topped with a sweater, and she’d thrown on one of her more casual coats.

Cute, but simple.

A pair of her favorite boho earrings she’d bought from an Etsy store online that reached the top of her shoulder, multiple necklaces and her favorite oversize purse finished the outfit.

She hoped she conveyed the message that being with him, on a date, was not something that called for her to dress up or take any special care with her appearance.

Even though it
had
taken her the full two hours to get ready...and six outfits to go through before she assembled her perfect “I don’t care” outfit, she was not trying to impress him.

Not to mention the amount of time it took to pull off her “no makeup” made-up face...or the fact that she’d actually blow-dried her natural curls and flat-ironed her hair earlier in the day...

Nope. She was definitely not even trying to impress him.

She just liked fashion. No more, no less.

His hot gaze had traveled over her head to toe when he’d picked her up, making her flush as he in no way tried to disguise the look of lust in his eyes from her.

Not that she cared, she reminded herself.

In turn, she’d given him the once-over. Like her, Canton was dressed casually in a navy blue sweater, jeans that molded his long legs, and as usual, cowboy boots.

There was nothing special about the outfit, she thought. So why did she have the overwhelming desire to strip him completely naked right there, in her parents’ foyer, and damn the date?

Embarrassed at her thoughts, she’d hustled him out of her parents’ home, ignoring the knowing look in his bright eyes, as though he knew her lusty contemplations.

“If you’re chilly, we can go into one of the shops. A new one opened up I think you’ll like, an apothecary of sorts,” Canton said, and she turned to face him as they strolled along the cobblestoned streets.

“No, I’m fine. It’s been a while since I’ve been in cooler weather. I loved living in Texas, but I really did miss home,” she replied simply.

Naomi had thoroughly enjoyed her time away, but there had been moments, oddly enough, that she had missed the chilly days and four seasons that came with life in Wyoming.

It was good being home.

She found herself feeling jubilant, taking in the atmosphere around them, reflecting on the variety of clientele, from old to young, some wearing business suits, others casually dressed in jeans and sweaters beneath their jackets.

When he’d first suggested they come to bazaar days in one of the smaller neighboring towns, she’d had her reservations.

She hadn’t been to the German town in years, and in all honesty wondered exactly why he’d chosen the quaint touristy place.

Those who had grown up in the area were familiar with its history, and although the shops were unique, it wasn’t a place she would have chosen for their “get to know each other” date.

But he was captain of this particular voyage, not her.

However, once they’d arrived, memories had assailed her, good ones, of the times she’d come to the town as a teenager, the fun times she’d had there hanging out with friends.

They walked on in companionable silence, enjoying the less-than-frigid evening.

Canton continued to point out shops and entertained her with facts she already knew, and Naomi continued to tease him and remind him that she, too, had grown up in the same area.

“Yeah, yeah... But how long has it been since you’ve been here, hmm?”

She sighed and shook her head. “Hmm. Okay. It’s been a while,” she conceded as again, memories of long ago came to mind.

She drew in a breath, remembering... Mingles. That was the name of the bar she’d come to with Alyssa, the same bar where she’d met Canton that night, seven years ago. It was on the outskirts of the small German town.

“Did you ever think of...what happened that night?” The question surprised her so much that she missed a step. Just as she’d been thinking of the night they’d met, truly met, for the first time.

As she stumbled, he caught her under the elbow and helped right her.

Naomi murmured her thanks but stopped walking.

He maneuvered her out of the way of an older couple walking past them, bringing her closer to his body as they stood near the entry to a small bar.

“Was that why you chose Wellsburg for us to come to tonight, Canton?” she asked quietly, her gaze locked with his.

Suddenly chilly, where moments ago she hadn’t been, she stuck her hands deep into the pockets of her royal-blue-and-white-plaid coat.

There was a moment where she saw surprise on his face, chagrin maybe...and something more, before he shut his expression down, his face carefully neutral.

“Honestly, not by intention. But I guess a part of me did,” he finally answered.

His response was honest, she knew. She glanced away from the intensity of his stare.

“Naomi, did you... Do you miss home?” he asked, his deep voice low. Surprised at his question, she turned to glance up at him, not missing the quiet, contemplative look on his face as he stared down at her.

For a moment, she wondered if that had been the question he’d wanted to ask.

A small gust of wind blew her hair, which she’d left down, across her face.

Naomi turned her head to the side, moving the hair away from her eyes and tucking strands behind one ear, biting her lower lip. She drew in a breath.

The question was innocent-sounding enough and should have been fairly easy to answer. Yet the undercurrents running between them made what should be an easy thing to answer, impossibly hard.

“I don’t remember a time I ever saw you after...that night,” he said. “It was as though you fell off the planet.”

“Sometimes it felt just like that,” she replied, the admission torn from her.

She thought of the seven years she’d been away from home. The guilt she felt when her visits to her parents had been shorter and less frequent than they should have been, her fear that she would somehow run into Canton, making the visits home awkward. She’d often opted to stay around the ranch and not go out into town.

That same fear of running into Canton had prevented her from coming home more; had she done that, maybe she would have known of her family’s predicament.

The guilt she’d felt because of that fact returned and made her stomach churn.

Ridiculously, she felt the sting of tears burn her eyes.

Oh, God. Please...not that.
Not now,
she begged silently.

“Hey, why don’t we go inside? It’s getting a little chilly. Don’t know if you remember this place, but they have an egg burger that is worth its weight in gold.”

Her gaze flew to his.

She didn’t know if he discerned her agitated emotional state, or if he were just uncomfortable himself with the turn of the conversation. Whatever his reason for lightening the mood, she was thankful.

With a genuine smile, slight, but real, she nodded her head in agreement, not trusting her voice to speak. When he motioned for her to precede him inside, he placed a big, warm hand at the small of her back, and she allowed him to keep it there as she walked ahead of him.

As she did, she missed the faux smile drop off his sensual mouth, replaced with a look of longing...desire and a lot more.