okay, Rico had thawed her out a little when she’d seen him at the wedding three months ago. And she would admit he’d made her heart flutter upon seeing him today. But he was definitely under a false assumption if he thought all he had to do was snap his fingers, strut that sexy walk and she would automatically fall into any bed with him.
She scowled. The more she thought about it, the madder she got. He should know from all the conversations they’d shared over the phone that this investigation was important to her. Family was everything to her, and if there were other Westmorelands out there, she wanted to know about them. She wanted to be in the thick of things when he uncovered the truth as to where those Westmorelands were and how quickly they could be reached.
Megan moved to the window and looked out. September clouds were settling in, and the forecasters had predicted the first snowfall of the year by the end of the week. But that was fine since she had no intention of being here in Denver when the snow started. Ignoring what Rico had said about her not going to Texas with him, she had cleared her calendar for not only the rest of the week, but also for the next month. She had the vacation time, and if she didn’t use it by the end of the year she would end up losing it anyway.
First, she would go to Texas. And then, before returning to work, she would take off for Australia and spend time with her sister Gemma and her family. Megan enjoyed international travel and recalled the first time she’d left the country to visit her cousin Delaney in the Middle East. That had been quite an enjoyable experience.
But remembering the trip to visit her cousin couldn’t keep her thoughts from shifting back to Rico, and she felt an unwelcoming jolt of desire as she recalled him standing in her office, right in this very spot, and saying what he’d said, without as much as blinking an eye.
If he, for one minute, thought he had the ability to tell her what to do, he had another thought coming. If he was that attracted to her then he needed to put a cap on it. They were adults and would act accordingly. The mere thought that once alone they would tear each other’s clothes off in some sort of heated lust was total rubbish. Although she was attracted to him, she knew how to handle herself. It was going to be hard to keep her hands to herself.
But no matter what, she would.
“You sure I’m not putting you out, Riley? I can certainly get a room at the hotel in town.”
“I won’t hear of it,” Riley Westmoreland said, smiling. “Hell, you’re practically family.”
Rico threw his luggage on the bed, thinking he certainly hadn’t felt like family earlier when he’d been alone with Megan. He still couldn’t get over her wanting to go to Texas with him. Surely she had felt the sexual tension that seemed to surround them whenever they were within a few feet of each other.
“So how are things going with that investigation you’re doing for Megan?” Riley asked, breaking into Rico’s thoughts.
“Fine. In fact, I’m on my way to Texas to poke around a new lead.”
Riley’s brow lifted. “Really? Does Megan know yet?”
“Yes. I met with her at the hospital earlier today.”
Riley chuckled. “I bet she was happy about that. We’re all interested in uncovering the truth about Poppa Raphel, but I honestly think Megan is obsessed with it and has been ever since Dillon and Pam shared those journals with her. Now that Dillon has made Megan the keeper of the journals she is determined to uncover everything. She’s convinced we have more relatives out there somewhere.”
Rico had read those journals and had found them quite interesting. The journals, written by Raphel himself, had documented his early life after splitting from his family.
“And it’s dinner tonight over at the big house. Pam called earlier to make sure I brought you. I hope you’re up for it. You know how testy pregnant women can get at times.”
Rico chuckled. Yes, he knew. In fact, he had noted the number of pregnant women in the Westmoreland family. Enough to look like there was some sort of epidemic. In addition to Pam, Derringer’s wife, Lucia, was expecting and so was Micah’s wife, Kalina. There were a number of Atlanta Westmorelands expecting babies, as well.
Case in point, his own sisters. Jessica was pregnant again, and Savannah had given birth to her second child earlier that year. They were both happily married, and he was happy for them. Even his mother had decided to make another go of marriage, which had surprised him after what she’d gone through with his father. But he liked Brad Richman, and Rico knew Brad truly loved his mother.
“Well, I’ll let you unpack. We’ll leave for Dillon’s place in about an hour. I hope you’re hungry because there will be plenty of food. The women are cooking, and we just show up hungry and ready to eat,” Riley said, laughing.
A half hour later Rico had unpacked all the items he needed. Everything else would remain in his luggage since he would be leaving for Texas the day after tomorrow. Sighing, he rubbed a hand down his face, noting his stubble-roughened jaw. Before he went out anywhere, he definitely needed to shave. And yes, he was hungry since he hadn’t eaten since that morning, but dinner at Dillon’s meant most of the Denver Westmorelands who were in town would be there. That included Megan. Damn. He wasn’t all that sure he was ready to see her again. He was known as a cool and incontrol kind of guy. But those elements of his personality took a flying leap around Megan Westmoreland.
Why did he like the way she said his name? To pronounce it was simple enough, but there was something about the way she said it, in a sultry tone that soothed and aroused.
Getting aroused was the last thing he needed to think about. It had been way too long since he’d had bedroom time with a woman. So he was in far worse shape than he’d realized. Seeing Megan today hadn’t helped matters. The woman was way too beautiful for her own good.
Grabbing his shaving bag off the bed, Rico went into the guest bath that was conveniently connected to his room. Moments later, after lathering his face with shaving cream, he stared into the mirror as he slowly swiped a razor across his face. The familiar actions allowed his mind to wander, right back to Megan.
The first thing he’d noticed when he’d walked into her office was that she’d cut her hair. She still had a lot of curls, but instead of flowing to her shoulders, her hair crowned her face like a cap. He liked the style on her. It gave her a sexier look … not that she needed it.
He could just imagine being wheeled into surgery only to discover she would be the doctor to administer the drug to knock you out. Counting backward while lying flat on your back and staring up into her face would guarantee plenty of hot dreams during whatever surgery you were having.
He jolted when he nicked himself. Damn. He needed to concentrate on shaving and rid his mind of Megan. At least he didn’t have to worry about that foolishness of hers, about wanting to go with him to Texas. He felt certain, with the way her eyes had nearly popped out of the sockets and her jaw had dropped after what he’d said, that she had changed her mind.
He hadn’t wanted to be so blatantly honest with her, but it couldn’t be helped. Like he told her, he preferred working alone. The last time he had taken a woman with him on a case had almost cost him his life. He remembered it like it was yesterday. An FBI sting operation and his female partner had ended up being more hindrance than help. The woman blatantly refused to follow orders.
Granted, there was no real danger involved with Megan’s case per se. In fact, the only danger
