He stared at her and she wondered if he was going to insist she let him stay. It was obvious that he disapproved of her. He probably thought she was easy. If he got to know her, he would find out he was wrong in that judgment. The last thing she wanted was to be a live-in girlfriend, going from one brother to the other.
As they gazed at each other, that searing awareness flashed between them. In spite of all her intentions to keep a wall between them, it was impossible to resist reacting to Matt. Right now her heart raced. Perspiration had broken out on his forehead, and he seemed as riveted as she was.
Inhaling deeply, he spun away to cross the room to the door. She trailed after him, pausing a few feet from him. “I gave you my cell number. Call me if you need anything,” he said.
“Thanks,” she replied.
“Don’t worry. You’ll be glad if you say yes,” he said. He opened the door and strode outside. She followed, watching Matt Ransome climb into his car and drive away.
When she stepped back inside, she looked around the shabby room. By accepting Matt’s offer, she could take care of her baby, get her education, live in a safer place. She was scared to celebrate because she hadn’t been to the ranch yet, nor had she spent a night under the same roof with Matt Ransome. Was he leveling with her and telling her the truth? Was his sole interest in the baby?
“I hope so,” she said quietly, looking around at her few possessions. She would be glad to leave this house. It would take less than a couple of hours for her to get all her possessions packed.
She switched on a bedroom light, looking at the nondescript bed and the dresser, a chest of drawers that didn’t match and a torn braided rug on the floor. As she got ready for bed, she thought about Jeff Ransome. She had enrolled in a two-year college, working in a café until she had gotten the job at the Two-Steppin’ Ribs. It paid more so she put up with the smoke and the leering men, but from the start, Jeff had been different from the others.
Tall, brown-haired and handsome, Jeff had gone to the Ribs to gamble. There was a high-stakes poker game in a back room that was invitation only and the night she’d met him, Jeff had been part of it. After closing he had hung around and asked her to go out with him.
Since she was twelve years old, she had known that she attracted males. Early on, she had learned to try to keep a wall around herself, but when she met Jeff Ransome, he had charmed his way past her defenses. She had been unable to resist his charismatic personality.
As Olivia pulled on cotton pajamas, gathered up the school catalog and brochure and climbed into bed, her thoughts went back to Jeff. He’d been the second man in her life, which she knew he hadn’t believed. She’d had a wonderful time with him until she discovered she was pregnant. They had used birth control, but she had gotten pregnant anyway.
From that moment on, Jeff was through. And then a month ago he had left for a trek in the rugged Himalaya mountains where, in a daredevil climb, he’d had a fatal fall.
Olivia gazed into space, mulling over Matt Ransome’s offer. She had to accept, but as much as possible, she wanted it on her terms, not his.
She opened the catalog and turned to the section on pre-law, her major, and for the first time allowed herself to think of the windfall Matt Ransome was providing. If only it was exactly as he said and there were no hidden agendas, no strings attached and no unpleasant surprises ahead for her. She could move to the Ransome ranch and quit her job! In the early hours of morning, the whole offer seemed surreal, and she suspected that as soon as she settled on the ranch, Matt would want to sleep with her. He was appealing, sexy and generated sparks in her the way no other man had.
Forget it, she told herself, knowing she would not go from one brother to another. “If I accept his offer, I vow I won’t have sex with Matt Ransome,” she said aloud, trying to stop remembering the tingles she had when she gazed into Matt’s blue eyes.
Forcing her thoughts off Matt, she wondered about her future and his offer. Was there anything she could do to get Matt’s proposition more on her own terms?
The next morning her palms were damp from nervousness as she drove through an open gate and passed a sign announcing the Ransome ranch. In minutes she turned a bend in the ranch road. Ahead spread houses, a barn, a corral, pens and outbuildings. A pumping windmill stood near a stock tank filled with water.
When she drew closer, she looked at an intimidating, sprawling stone ranch house with a shake shingle roof. It was surrounded by immaculate, lush green lawns and a profusion of flowers in well-tended beds that all proclaimed the wealth of the owner. She had never lived in a house that looked as grand as this one. Swallowing hard, Olivia couldn’t imagine herself suddenly part of the Ransome family.
A rail fence enclosed the yard and two live oaks gave inviting shade that failed to calm Olivia’s nerves. On the porch the hanging pots of yellow bougainvillea, scarlet gaillardia and purple impatiens added a dreamlike feeling. This could be her new home. She couldn’t fathom it.
Adding to her jittery nerves and disbelief, Matt Ransome came striding outside. In a white T-shirt, jeans and western boots, he looked muscled, tough and electrifying. Without saying a word he created a high voltage magnetism. The sight of him did nothing to calm her nerves.
He motioned her where to park in front of a six-car garage. When she climbed out, she was conscious of her cutoffs and her white T-shirt.
“Hi there,” Matt said in a deep voice as he took a box from her car. In his T-shirt that revealed sculpted muscles and his tight jeans, his sensuality jumped a notch. One look in his eyes confirmed that the sexual appeal between them burned as hot as ever. When she stepped out, she looked up to see him gazing at her waist.
“You don’t look pregnant,” he said.
An inner voice told her to keep everything impersonal with Matt, but she couldn’t do what she knew she should. “I guess it’s because I’m tall,” she replied breathlessly, mindful of how close he stood. She barely knew what she said to him. He should move away. She should step aside. Instead, she gazed up at him while her heartbeat continued to accelerate.
Silence between them carried sparks. When his attention lowered to her mouth, her pulse drummed. As he gazed at her, the blatant, scalding desire in his eyes heated her.
“No physical relationship comes with this package,” she repeated.
“It damn well doesn’t,” he replied, sounding half angry. “I don’t ever want to get involved again except in the most superficial manner. You and I absolutely don’t need entanglement between us.”
“That’s something we can agree on. It would help if you’d move away.”
Something flickered in the depths of his eyes before he leaned around her to pick up another one of her boxes.
“I’ll get your things and then I’ll show you around. Have you quit your job?”
“No, I haven’t. I figured whatever we decide to do, I’ll work tonight.”
Matt straightened up and she saw the hard look back in his features. He shook his head. “You quit today. You don’t owe them anything and you shouldn’t be there one more hour.”
“I thought you weren’t going to meddle in my life,” she said, trying to curb her temper.
“Where the baby is concerned, I’ll interfere. That nightclub isn’t healthy. They’ll manage without you.”
“Look—”
“No, you look,” he said quietly. “The bar’s atmosphere isn’t healthy. They’re going to get along without you. If we have a deal, part of it includes you taking care of yourself and your unborn baby.”
Where sexual tension had spun tightly between them only moments ago, now friction set sparks flying. She glared at him, yet she suspected she would get nowhere if she argued