Texas Heat - Barbara McCauley

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a mother than a sister. I was only eighteen when she came back from a job in Texas. She kept that part of her life completely private, and all I knew was that she’d fallen in love with an older, married man. I’d always assumed he’d turned his back on her when he found out she was pregnant.”

      “My father wouldn’t have done that,” Jake said coldly.

      “Did you know your father was having an affair?”

      “Of course not.”

      “Then how do you know what else he did or didn’t do?”

      Jake’s face was etched in granite, and his eyes narrowed as he stepped closer. “I know that no member of the Stone family would ever walk away from one of their own.”

      “Emma is not ‘your own,’” she said fiercely. “She is Emma Victoria Roberts, and she’s mine. I laughed in the delivery room when she was born, applauded her on the soccer field when she got her first goal and cried with her when her mother died. For nine years she’s done fine without you and will continue to do so for ninety more.”

      She faced him like a lioness defending her young, her green eyes flashing a challenge and her chin lifted defiantly. The breeze tugged at the ends of her shoulder-length blond hair, and he couldn’t help but notice the graceful sweep of her slender fingers as she absently brushed the strands back.

      He moved closer to her, and the scent of magnolias drifted in from the open door. He’d heard the term “steel magnolia” before, but he’d never been face-to-face with it. He felt a tug of desire as he stared at the woman, then reminded himself she’d lied to him. There were few things he tolerated less than lying. Very few things. “Why did you pretend to be Angela?” he asked tightly.

      Sighing, she closed her eyes, then opened them again. “Emma is all I have. Surely you can understand that I would do anything to protect her.”

      Jake frowned. “You thought you had to protect her from her own brother?”

      “Half brother,” she corrected him.

      His jaw tightened. “Family is family. All I want, and Jessica and Jared, as well, is an opportunity to get to know Emma, and for her to know us.”

      The fear was back again, Jake noticed. Her green eyes darkened with it momentarily before she quickly wrestled it down. He couldn’t help but give her credit for her control.

      “I suppose,” she said, and that enticing accent of hers turned icy. “If you call first, we might be able to make arrangements for visits.”

      The idea of making arrangements grated on Jake’s already shredded patience almost as much as Savannah’s cool formality. Tipping his hat back, he let out a heavy sigh. “Well, now, ma’am—” he forced a heavy Texas drawl “—that’s right nice of you, but that’s not exactly what I had in mind.”

      “Oh?” She lifted one delicate eyebrow. “And what exactly did you have in mind?”

      “What I have in mind—” his gaze locked with hers and his voice dropped dangerously low as he stepped closer “—is for my little sister to come home with me.”

      Two

      It was her worst nightmare come true. The very thing she’d dreaded since the day she’d received the phone call from the private investigator. Savannah felt her skin go cold and her heart stop for one terrifying split second.

      Nobody was taking Emma away from her. Nobody.

      She stared at Jake, letting the shock wave travel through her, and felt relief at the anger that followed in its wake. She knew better than to show weakness to a man like Jake Stone. Lifting her chin, she faced him and locked his intense gaze with her own. “I don’t know you from Adam, Mr. Stone. I wouldn’t let you take my niece around the block, let alone to Texas. Emma is in my charge and she stays with me.”

      Jake shrugged. “I don’t have a problem with that. There’s plenty of room for both of you.”

      Go to Texas? He couldn’t be serious. He couldn’t. But he was, Savannah realized. Dead serious. “That’s ridiculous.”

      He walked to her, stopping so close she felt the heat of his body and smelled the pure masculine scent that radiated from him. She desperately wanted to step away, but refused to give in to his obvious attempt at intimidation.

      “Why?” he asked.

      Why? There were at least a dozen logical reasons she could easily throw at him—two dozen—but she was having a difficult time thinking with him so close. “Because...because we can’t, that’s why.”

      He raised one eyebrow. “Is school out for you and Emma?”

      “We finished three days ago, but—”

      “Fine. Then you can get someone to watch this place for you for a couple of months.”

      “A couple of months!” Savannah’s mouth dropped open. “That’s out of the question.”

      “All right, then,” Jake conceded. “A month.”

      How had this gotten so out of hand? A month with this man to— Where was it he lived? Stone Creek? She’d be crazy to even consider it. Shaking her head, Savannah turned away and stared out the glass door. “I’m sorry, but it’s just not possible.”

      “I’ll petition the courts if necessary,” he said dryly. “As Emma’s brother, I have a right, legally and morally, to visitation. You can come with her or not. Either way, it’s your choice.”

      Cold fear gripped Savannah. He was making it perfectly clear that if she forced him to petition the court and he won, she would be excluded from the visit. If she agreed to the visit, then she could come. She turned stiffly. “I believe that’s blackmail, Mr. Stone. You’ll win the game at any cost, won’t you?”

      His mouth tightened at her accusation. “I’m not looking to win the game, Miss Roberts. I’m only asking that you deal me—and my sister and brother—a fair hand.”

      “Fair?” She whirled away, then turned back around, her hands on her hips. “I never heard of Stone Creek or your family until two weeks ago. And now, suddenly, here you are, demanding that I let Emma visit you, and you have the nerve to talk to me about fair? For all I know, you just got out of prison.”

      “You’ll have to trust me on that one.”

      She nearly laughed at the absurdity of his comment. “Mister, right now I wouldn’t trust you with an old pair of socks, let alone my niece. Emma is all I have, and I’m all she has. If the situation were reversed, what would you do?”

      He stared at her for a long moment, his gaze hard and cold. Then unexpectedly he looked away, removing his hat and running a work-roughened hand through his hair. “Look, Miss Roberts...Savannah,” he said more softly, “I realize how difficult this must be for you. And you’re right, if the situation were reversed, I’d do exactly the same.” He sighed heavily. “But answer me this—what plans have you made for Emma if anything happens to you?”

      An image of her hand locked with Emma’s as they stood beside Angela’s coffin intruded into Savannah’s mind. Who would hold her niece’s hand if tragedy struck again? She nearly shivered at the thought. “Nothing is going to happen to me.”

      “But if something does, where will Emma go? You already said you have no family. But Emma does. She has me and Jessica and Jared. Give us a chance. At least come and meet us, and you’ll know we’ll always be there for her if she needs us.”

      The reality of Jake’s words swept through Savannah with the chill of an arctic wind. He was right. No one knew what tomorrow might bring, and if anything did happen to her, at least Emma wouldn’t be with strangers, with people who didn’t care about her.

      She’d be with family.

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