One night changes everything...
Itâs bad enough that straitlaced Sophie Prescott fell for her boss Clay Everettâs charms the night of Royalâs masked ballânow sheâs pregnant with his baby! Too bad the former rodeo star turned billionaire entrepreneurâs emotional defenses are impenetrable and Sophie doesnât stand a chance of breaking through. So where does that leave her? And with a blackmailer hounding the townâs A-list, is their secret the next to be revealed? Or is an even bigger surprise in storeâthat maybe, just maybe, Sophie has discovered the chink in Clayâs armor...?
âKiss me.â
It was only a whispered request but Sophie was so attuned to him she couldnât have missed his words if he was a mile away.
âI donât think thatâs a very good idea.â
âI think itâs a terrific idea.â One hand moved from around her lower back up to her head as he gently encouraged her lips to come closer to his.
âClay, Iââ She opened her mouth but before words could form, he lifted his head and his lips found hers. They were hungry and he didnât hesitate filling her mouth with his tongue. It was everything she remembered and more.
Part of her wanted nothing more than to give him whatever he wanted; the other part, the smart side of her, wanted to run away as fast as she could.
Only one thing was certain: this attraction to her boss was going to eventually cause a rift between them.
* * *
Lone Star Baby Scandal is part of the series Texas Cattlemanâs Club: BlackmailâNo secretâor heartâis safe in Royal, Texas...
LAUREN CANAN has always been in love with love. When she began writing, stories of romance and unbridled passion flowed through her fingers onto the page. Today she is a multi-award-winning author, including the prestigious Romance Writers of America Golden Heart® Award. She lives in Texas with her own real-life hero, four dogs and a mouthy parrot named Bird.
She loves to hear from readers. Find her on Facebook or visit her website, www.laurencanan.com.
One
When Clay Everett approached, extending his arm in a silent invitation to dance, Sophie Prescott immediately shook her head in embarrassed refusal. Clay was her boss. Her employer. It was a job she valued highly. There should be no mixing business with pleasure even if Clay was the best-looking man at the charity ball. His deep emerald eyes gleamed, framed by dark lashes that matched his ebony hair. His dark tan, five-oâclock shadow and the scar on one side of his face from the rodeo accident that had almost taken his life made his very presence dark and menacing. He didnât need the air of mystery the masquerade ball offered. Since the accident, he presented the persona of a man who was hard and unforgiving, who ate any competition for lunch.
Actually, he had a beautiful smile, perfect white teeth. But he rarely smiled. In his five-thousand-dollar hand-tailored suits and white silk shirts, he gave the impression of the consummate businessman. A man of great wealth who was used to the world of glamour in which he lived.
But when he wore the glove-soft faded jeans, scuffed boots and thin T-shirt that highlighted his six-pack abs and the muscles in his shoulders and arms, it was equally unsettling. That was the Clay she knew. Heâd come into their office a couple of times in his Western getup and it was a look she much preferred. Like the raging stallions he trained, like the wild bulls heâd ridden to superstardom in his youth, he was a man unlike anyone else.
Refusing to take no for an answer, he grabbed her hand, pulled her up from her seat and led her toward the center of the Grand Ballroom of the new Bellamy Hotel. Her heart rate tripled. Content to watch the antics of the idle rich from the back of the ballroom, Sophie never expected her boss to find her and propel her into the center of the action. She was a secretary, for crying out loud, a woman who had grown up on a farm in the rust belt of America. She had no business being here, rubbing elbows with the elite of Royal, Texas.
âBreathe,â Clay said in his deep, rusty voice, while a glint of amusement sparkled in his green eyes behind the dark mask. âYou look as though youâre about to pass out. I thought I remembered hearing you say you loved to dance.â
âI do. Just not here.â And not with him, the president and founder of a billion-dollar corporation and Royalâs most eligible bachelor. With those broad shoulders and incredibly handsome tanned features, his presence alone was enough to make everyone sit up and take notice. And not in the midst of people dressed in tuxedos and the latest designer originals, adorned to the hilt with jewels no doubt worth a kingâs ransom. A few of the other guests smiled at her sincerely, while others smirked in that condescending manner that only someone in her position could recognize and understand. Wasnât Clay being kind to his poor little secretary? How thoughtful of him. Sophie could read their minds without much effort at all.