The Daddy Search - Shawna Delacorte

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internal battle. She made every effort to shove the unwelcome sensations away, but as the familiar poem said, “The best laid schemes o’ mice and men...”

      The sound of his voice interrupted her thoughts and jolted her back to the fact that he was talking to her.

      “Is that correct? You’re Alexandra Parker?”

      She finally collected her wits and managed to stammer a few words. “Yes . . . Lexi for short...Lexi Parker.”

      The unexpected excitement caused by the brief moment of physical contact when they shook hands and the flash of his dazzling smile sent a shiver of sweet anticipation through her body, followed by a sobering dash of trepidation. There was no question that he was the most handsome man she had ever met, a man who oozed sex appeal by the bucketful and could probably charm a snake out of its skin—or a woman out of her good intentions, not to mention her clothes. It was easy to see how her sister could have fallen under the spell of this far too sexy cowboy even though he was not at all what Lexi had expected to find.

      She felt a twinge of anger, which she immediately attributed to the fact that reality had refused to coincide with her preconceived notions. She had spent a lot of time, energy and effort planning this. She knew what she wanted to feel and what she had expected to find, but that was not what had happened when she came face-to-face with Nick Clayton. She again extended a hard glance toward him as she tried to figure out what her next step should be.

      He flashed his best smile at her, covering whatever thoughts may have been running through his mind in the process. He made a notation on the list of names. “Then Lexi it is.”

      When he had first spotted her at the corral fence, all he could see was long blond hair and a great pair of tanned legs extending from cutoff jeans. As he got closer, he saw a woman with delectable curves in all the right places. When he finally came face-to-face with her and had removed her sunglasses, he discovered a beautiful woman with large hazel eyes surrounded by long, dark lashes. Her flawless skin had the appearance of smooth silk—what his mother would have referred to as a peaches-and-cream complexion.

      A tightness pulled across his chest, a physical indication of just how swiftly she had reached out to him and grabbed hold of his senses. In fact, he had never had a woman make his pulse jump and his blood race that hard at first glance. He took in a deep, slow breath in an attempt to quell the feeling. This was one woman he wanted to get to know better... a whole lot better.

      Then suddenly, her entire demeanor changed. She stared at him through narrowing eyes. A frown wrinkled her forehead. It was almost as if she were issuing a challenge of some sort, perhaps daring him to remember where they might have encountered each other in the past. Could she have been a guest at the ranch at some previous time? He didn’t think so. He was sure he wouldn’t have forgotten such a beautiful woman, but there was one way to find out.

      Nick looked over the group. “Do we have any repeat guests with us today?” He again scanned the people surrounding him, his gaze settling on Lexi as she spoke up.

      “My sister was a guest here a little over six years ago. Her name is Mamie Adams. Do you remember her?” She cocked her head and leveled a steady gaze at him as if she had issued a challenge and was waiting for his response.

      Nick paused for a moment of concentration as he tried to recall the name, then slowly shook his head. “No . . . I’m sorry. The name doesn’t ring a bell. You said about six years ago?” He continued to shake his head as he tried again to force some sort of recognition of the name.

      “Well, it was quite a while ago. I suppose it’s understandable that you wouldn’t remember her.”

      He caught the hint of a hard edge to her voice that conveyed something quite different from her words. In direct contrast to his earlier conversation with her at the corral, she now didn’t seem to fit in with the other guests. They were all happy, laughing and looking forward to their vacations. She behaved more like someone with an entirely separate agenda rather than someone anticipating a fun-filled time. And the way she looked at him—almost as if he were supposed to know who she was. A perplexing situation, but it didn’t stop him from finding her to be a very intriguing and incredibly desirable woman—a thought reinforced by the tightness that continued to pull across his chest and the heat that settled low in his body.

      He hadn’t noticed any antagonism when they were talking at the corral, so why now? He decided to dismiss the puzzling situation as just one of those things. Perhaps she was tired from her trip or maybe he had read something into it that wasn’t there. Either way, there was nothing to be gained by giving it any additional thought when there were so many more appetizing things about this woman to occupy his attention. He turned back to the business at hand.

      “Herb has your luggage at the front desk. Please step inside and register. You’ll find daily schedules in your rooms to help guide you in your selection of activities.” He flashed his patented smile. “Once again, if there’s anything you need, please don’t hesitate to ask any of the staff.”

      His smile faded as he returned to thoughts of Lexi Parker and what was really going on in her mind. Had he unintentionally done something to offend her? He replayed their conversation at the corral in his mind, but he couldn’t find anything that was okay then but would have caused her to have such a sudden change of attitude ten minutes later. She had said that she had been a little uncomfortable with the nature of a flirty conversation, but she hadn’t seemed angered by it. Could he have inadvertently embarrassed her? He scanned the group as they headed toward the building, his gaze lingering on Lexi for a moment longer.

      She paused on her way to the registration lobby and gave a quick glance in his direction, noting the look of puzzlement on his face, then moved along with the rest of the guests. A twinge of anger jabbed at her as she recalled his blatant denial that he even knew Mamie. She almost turned back to confront him about it, then thought better of it. She was anxious to get to her cabin so she could reevaluate the situation—and get far away from the all-too-alluring presence of Nick Clayton. This strange turn of events had totally unnerved her. So far, things hadn’t gone quite as she had planned.

      When Lexi made her reservation, she had requested a cabin rather than a room in the main lodge, preferring to be away from the central hub of activity. This was not a vacation as far as she was concerned. It was business—very serious business.

      She registered, then went to her assigned cabin consisting of a large bedroom, a bathroom and a patio. The furnishings looked comfortable, accentuated by an attractive and tasteful decor. As advertised, there were no televisions, radios or telephones in the guests’ rooms although there was a comfortable lounge in the main building with a big-screen television.

      As soon as she had unpacked and put her things away, she picked up the activities schedule. She glanced at it but put it back on the table without giving it too much thought. She would make her selections later, ensuring that she participated in all the activities led by Nick Clayton. Right now, however, she had more important things on her mind.

      She had formulated a plan, actually several plans, on how she would handle the situation once she arrived at the ranch. She knew it was going to take every bit of intestinal fortitude she could muster to keep her longsuppressed feelings of resentment and her hidden agenda from showing. She tried to dismiss the fact that she now needed to add the necessity of ignoring a very primal attraction to an incredibly sexy and appealing man—a man whose touch and smile made her pulse race, a man about whom she could easily fantasize making passionate love all night long . . . and a man she knew was a no-good philanderer.

      At least she thought she knew it. Even though she disliked the notion, she couldn’t stop thinking she’d need to confirm Mamie’s story before taking any action. Before she made her move, she’d have to scope out the situation, learn as much as she could about Nick Clayton and figure out what made him tick. A touch of sadness worked its way into her mind. Even though she loved her older sister, she could not turn a blind eye to Mamie’s history of twisting and exaggerating facts to suit her needs.

      She could not imagine why Mamie would lie about something this important, but Lexi wanted to make sure everything

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