To Tame a Wilde (Wilde in Wyoming) (7 page)

She, along with Sonia and Key, watched him walking down a long stretch of hallway, his strides eating up the distance before he was standing in the foyer with the trio.

“Don’t mind us? What is
that
supposed to mean? You weren’t even in the room, anyway,” his brother scoffed. “How do you know there is a need for you to excuse our behavior?” Key asked, staring at Nick.

As the two men faced one another, Sinclair took the time to look at them both and was struck by their similarities.

But she was even more struck by the fact that although the two men were indeed identical twins, she knew that, without a doubt, she’d be able to tell them apart.

Both were tall, equally so. She knew that some twins, even identical twins, would sometimes have one that was either taller or heavier, or sometimes both.

Not in the case of these two rugged Hawaiian cowboys.

Both men wore scuffed-up cowboy boots with equally worn heels, so there was no height advantage for either twin.

She discreetly ran a glance over them.

Just as with their height, both had an impressive breadth of shoulders; wide shoulders that tapered down to a trim waist and thick, muscled thighs. Her gaze trailed to their faces.

Both were drop-dead gorgeous, with startling blue eyes and light golden-tanned skin. Their eyes were made even more vivid by the darkness of thick eyebrows and ridiculously long, sooty eyelashes.

Their aquiline noses were similar, right down to the small bump in the middle. She’d noted that both had that same bump and assumed it was from a sporting accident. It wasn’t uncommon, she knew, for twins to fall into the same type of injuries.

Although both men wore their jet-black, shiny hair longer than tapered, Nick’s was a few inches longer, the ends curling lightly and brushing the top of his collar.

Chiseled cheeks and a square chin completed a picture of rugged, uncommonly fine-looking men.

But for all that...she caught the difference: the small dimple near Nick’s lower lip when he smiled. The way his lids would lower when he looked at her, as though he had something so naughty on his mind that he sought to hide it. He knew better than to let her see his eyes, knowing it would show.

Or the way, when he smiled, just one side of his mouth would hitch upward and again, his hooded eyes would stare a hole into her, making her feel like some kind of prey caught in a fierce predator’s focused sight...

He chose that moment to glance over at her and she felt the heat of that predator’s stare. She was helpless to look away.

“I’m glad you could make it, Sinclair,” he said. His voice seemed deeper, richer. A low, sexy rumble.

She grew warm and sweat pooled between her breasts.

“I gave Mahi a list of your demands... I mean, the foods you might like,” he said, and she caught the twinkle in his eye and fought the urge to laugh along with him.

When he put out his hand for her to take, she hesitated before placing hers within his.

She turned and caught Sonia watching her, an odd expression on her face. When their eyes met, the other woman smiled at her and Sinclair felt oddly embarrassed.

The other woman had given her the type of look only a woman could give another that she knew was attracted...to a man.

* * *

The evening meal and accompanying conversation went quite smoothly. No great surprises, other than the fact that Sinclair was having one of the best times in the company of other adults that she’d had in longer than she wanted to think about.

Nick mentioned that he and Key ran the A’kela Ranch, while their father Alek Kealoha was recovering from a stroke.

She was glad to hear the patriarch was doing well in his recovery and would eventually start to take a more active role around his ranch.

At one point, as they began eating the homemade coconut ice cream Mahi had prepared for dessert, the topic went back to the documentary that Sonia had produced.

“I have no problem using my man for my business endeavors. In fact, he likes it, don’t you, baby?” the other woman asked, and Sinclair’s eyes widened at the obvious double entendre.

“Yes, baby. In fact, I’m going to let you know tonight just how much, dear,” he said.

Sinclair saw the other woman’s reddish brown face flush.

“I told you.... Freaks,” Nick said drolly, a bored look on his face as he nodded his head toward his brother and sister-in-law. “You get used to it, though, Sinclair.”

Although he’d made the comment, a light of humor blazed in his blue eyes and she’d seen the love he had not only for his brother, but obviously for his sister-in-law, as well.

They had all laughed at his feigned offense, including Sinclair.

A small smile played around her lips as she enjoyed the rest of the conversation, any tension she’d thought she’d encounter a distant thought.

Chapter 10

A
s the night moved on, Sinclair had been amazed at how the time had flown and how much of a good time she was having.

She had found that the brothers, both, had a wicked sense of humor. One that, had she not known any better, would make her think they were in fact blood relatives of the Wildes.

Yet the Wildes were not actually blood brothers, despite the similarity in their personalities. A lot of that had to do with them being raised together as brothers, under Clint Jedediah Wilde as their father.

Guilt assaulted her from two different camps. On the one side, she’d suddenly, eerily, gained an odd understanding of what the twins felt, knowing that Clint Wilde was their father yet never having known him. She could understand the anger and betrayal both men no doubt felt. Although Nick was open about his anger, his brother was silent. Yet Sinclair had found him looking at her throughout the meal, occasionally. In his blue eyes was not anger or mistrust...it was the exact opposite.

She’d felt confused, unsure of what was going on, why he seemed so much like family...

It was a disquieting thought, which in turn presented her with the other side....

That one thought alone made her feel exceedingly guilty about her Wilde Boys. She was there for them...not to cozy up to the Kealohas, no matter how she may empathize with them.

After dinner and dessert, they took their coffee to one of the larger sitting rooms. Immediately, Sonia and Key sat, as though one, in a large chair that was meant for one but two could share. She smiled at the love between them. It was so palpable she felt as though, again, she was back home observing the Wildes with their spouses.

She felt Nick’s eyes on her and her heart started thumping hard against her chest, a reaction she was starting to associate with him.

He reached out a hand for her to take, asking her, silently, to sit near him on the soft leather sofa. She took two steps before she halted and shook her head as though to clear it.

“Come and sit with me. I don’t bite,” he said and her face caught color as her eyes widened. She heard a choked-off laugh coming from Sonia but couldn’t stop looking at him.

“Come on...you know you want to,” he said and her blush deepened.

“Give the woman a break, Nick. She doesn’t know you, yet,” she heard his brother admonish from behind her, but still she was stuck, her gaze locked with his.

He smiled.

Her heart about stopped beating.

“Oh, yes, she does, brother,” he murmured for her ears alone.

The blush intensified and she swallowed. She forced herself out of the odd trance he’d placed her under.

She straightened her back, lengthened her spine. Purposely she put on a sardonic look as she threw on her attitude like a well-worn coat.

“You’re right.... I do,” she said to Key before turning back to Nick. “Which is why I think I’ll take this seat instead,” she said, pointing a finger at the chair beside which she’d left her briefcase. Behind her she heard both Sonia and Key laugh outright.

Point: Sinclair.

Completely ignoring
his
knowing smile, Sinclair sat in the upright chair and brought her briefcase into her lap, strangely battling a smile she felt trying to break free.

She, with reluctance, pulled out the documents she’d brought with her.

“Listen...we trust you.”

Before she could even withdraw all of the documents, Key had spoken.

Her eyes flew to meet Keanu’s glance. “Excuse me?”

She could feel Nick’s eyes on her and turned to see him sitting back on the leather sofa, a neutral look on his handsome face that didn’t match the blazing look in his eyes.

“Of course we will look at the documents,” Key continued, “but as I’ve told my brother, we are leaving this...decision for him to handle. We trust and believe in him.” Key spoke calmly, as though not discussing what could be a volatile situation regarding millions of dollars at stake. “Whatever decision you two come up with is one that we, as a family, will agree to. Whatever that is,” he finished.

His wife smiled down at him, kissed him. The moment was so private, a communication only the two of them understood, that Sinclair glanced away, her eyes colliding with Nick’s.

“Looks like you’re stuck with me, darlin’,” he drawled, his hot glaze sliding over her body.

She fought the warmth flushing her body with his look.

“Hope that’s all right with you?” he rasped, bringing the cup of coffee he held within his big, capable hands to his mouth.

“I think I can, uh, handle that,” she said, putting the papers aside and toying with her own mug, her gaze locked with his.

“Good,” he said, one side of his mouth lifting in that way he had, before he took a drink of the hot brew.

She watched in helpless fascination as he drank. The way his throat worked the liquid down, the strong column of his neck straining as it slid down his throat.

She forgot for the moment that anyone was there but Nick. She even forgot why she’d come there.

There was
no one
in the room but the two of them.

“So, are you okay with that, Sinclair?”

Sinclair turned to see Sonia staring at her, a small smile lifting the corner of her generous mouth.

“I’m definitely good with that,” she said, putting as much professionalism as possible into her voice and demeanor. “No problem for me.”

The rest of the conversation proved pleasant, though before long Sinclair, surprised at the time, started to gather up her things. Standing, she said good-night to Key and Sonia and nodded when Nick offered to walk her to her car. It seemed natural for him to do so.

After walking her to her rental, he offered to shadow her back to her hotel.

“It’s not a problem for me to do that. It’s late, and although it’s safe around here—the entire island is—I would feel better if you allowed me to see you back to your hotel safely.”

She was already shaking her head no before he could finish.

“Um, no. I’m good. I mean, it’s not that far of a drive. And, uh, like you said, the island is safe and—” She stopped as the dimple appeared near the lower corner of his mouth.

He was so sexy when he smiled like that. She nearly groaned out loud.

She knew she had to get away from him quick-fast and in a hurry. Throughout the evening they’d locked gazes and she’d known that he was too...experienced not to know she found him sexy as hell. And at this point, not only was it obvious that she felt attracted to him, but from the looks and his demeanor it was clear he was attracted to her, as well.

She was in a precarious position.

But she also knew his ego was just big enough that he would never think of forcing his attention on her. No, he was the type who enjoyed the woman chasing him.

She straightened her back, firmed her smile. Well, she wasn’t that type of woman.

His eyes rolled over her face and stopped at her mouth.

With his gaze focused on her mouth, she licked lips gone completely dry, leaning away from him, fumbling in her satchel for her keys as her rear end bumped against the car door.

She glanced up in time to catch the knowing look in his vivid blue eyes at her telling response to his nearness.

“Well, thanks for a great evening. Your family is very nice. And I’ll get back with you all on the new proposal. I mean
to
you, I guess, as it appears as though we’re flying solo with this,” she said in one long rushed sentence. She stopped and forced a smile she knew was twitchy from the nerves racking her. She turned, not wanting to make eye contact because she was too damn nervous to do so.

“Good night.”

She would have gotten away with it, too, had he not stopped her, placed his big, warm hands on her shoulders and turned her back around to face him.

Goose bumps feathered down her arms when she felt his hands run down the length of her bared skin before holding her wrists.

She dropped her briefcase on the soft grass.

In a move that surprised her, he leaned down and captured her lips with his.

And just like that, she detonated.

His lips feathered back and forth over hers, casually, no demand, while his hands loosely bound her wrists.

When his tongue pressed against the seam of her lips she eagerly opened for him, eager for the feel of his tongue in her mouth. She’d imagined how it would feel, rough yet smooth.

She groaned when he lapped inside.

It was just as she’d imagined, but hotter. More intense.

He pulled her closer, one hand taking over as it kept her bound, the other moving to the back of her neck.

He was in control. Even as he kissed her, his lips making love to her mouth, a part of her recognized that he was a man used to being in control.

She allowed him the control, because it made her feel so damn good.

She moaned, leaning into the kiss and shyly meeting his tongue with hers.

He groaned harshly and brought her even tighter against his body, grinding against her so that she inhaled sharply against the sensation, feeling his shaft, thick, hard, against her stomach.

The kiss grew hotter and wetter as their tongues dueled.

A sound broke into her consciousness like an irritating buzz. She recognized it as the sound of men speaking, laughing, not far in the distance.

She brought her hands up to his chest and pushed him away.

Sinclair was so shaky she leaned against the car to lend her strength.

He reached out to grab her shoulders, and she moved away.

“I’m fine,” she mumbled.

“I shouldn’t have—”

“Look, it’s fine. I’m a grown woman. I didn’t let you do anything I didn’t want done,” she said, forestalling him from apologizing, her hand raised as she turned to lift her briefcase from the grass near the driveway where she’d allowed it to drop.

She glanced up at him in the dark, the moon highlighting his handsome face.

Instead of the look of triumph she expected to see, his was one of arousal mixed with something more.... That same thing she’d seen when they’d first met.

It was as though he was trying to peer into her soul.

Without a backward glance, she got into the car, reversed and skidded in her rush to leave before smoothly taking back control. Yet...she raced from the circular driveway as though the hounds of hell were after her.

With all of the heated stares and with all the sweating and panting she’d been doing the entire night, she felt just as though they were.