four months later, on her eighteenth birthday in late December she’d delighted her parents by saying yes to golden-boy Ted Wentworth’s marriage proposal. She and Ted had practically grown up together. Their parents were best friends and had made no secret of their desire for their only children to join together in holy matrimony.
The only son of one of Texas’s wealthiest families, Ted was two years older than Kate and an inveterate risk taker, participating in extreme sports like heli-snowboarding in the winter and race-car driving in the summer. But despite the fact that Ted was an adrenaline junkie, being with him had never made her heart beat wildly the way watching Striker had.
During her six-month engagement to Ted, Kate had tried to forget about Striker, who’d left Texas to join the Marines. But the fantasies she’d had that steamy summer had stubbornly remained fixed in her mind throughout the ensuing months, coming out at night to possess her dreams.
One recurring theme had her leaving Ted at the altar and running off with the sexy, rebellious Striker. Striker, who’d followed his dream of joining the Marines. Striker, who’d pleased himself instead of others.
Logically she’d told herself that Striker merely represented freedom.
Freedom was something she couldn’t afford right now. Because whenever she tried to follow her dreams, disaster struck. People died.
So Kate had wrapped up all her dreams and put them away, focusing instead on stability. That was the thing she valued most these days.
She couldn’t allow being with Striker to distract her from that fact.
“We’d better get going,” she said with chilly briskness, falling back into her Ice Queen persona. “We’ve got a plane to catch.”
Striker had flown to war-torn countries faster than his trip to San Antonio. Everything that could have gone wrong did. Their flight was delayed umpteen times before being cancelled altogether. Bad weather was snarling up the entire system.
They were finally put on another flight and the plane actually left the gate, only to sit for another ninety minutes on the runway. By the time they’d arrived in San Antonio it was almost midnight. Luckily their luggage hadn’t gotten messed up, but then he only had his carry-on seabag and Kate only had her briefcase and purse.
A company car was waiting for them. After scrunching his six-two body into a cramped airplane seat, Striker was infinitely glad for the limo with ample room.
He glanced over to where Kate had fallen asleep, her head resting on his shoulder. She’d taken some kind of travel sickness pills that had completely zonked her out. He’d barely gotten her into the limo before she was out again.
In fact, he’d been so concerned with keeping Kate upright and not sliding into a boneless heap on the sidewalk at the terminal, that he wasn’t even sure where they were headed now.
But when the limo eventually turned off the main road onto a long one-lane drive, Striker knew. They were heading for Westwind, his grandfather’s ranch.
Not his first choice, but at this point he was too tired to care. Besides, he had a bigger problem at the moment. Kate.
“How many of those pills did you take?” Striker muttered as Kate slid half-across his lap. His hand landed on her nylon-clad thigh.
His body reacted accordingly to the feel of a sexy woman strewn across it. He was still wearing his uniform, but that didn’t stop his arousal from hardening beneath the placket of his khaki pants.
As the car rolled to a smooth stop, Striker had a decision to make. Leave an out-of-it Kate in the limo with directions for the driver to take her home—not that he knew where that was—or take her inside with him.
He carried her inside.
The white pillars standing guard on either side of the door made the place look more like the White House than a Western ranch. But then his grandfather always had been into power and the White House image evoked a lot of power.
The front door opened, and there stood ranch foreman Tony Martinez, his now-white, thick hair standing on end instead of smoothly slicked back as it had been the last time he’d seen him twelve years ago. His face reflected the outdoor life he led.
“Did we wake you, Tony? The fuzzy bunny slippers are a nice touch,” Striker added, looking down.
Tony grinned sheepishly. “I forgot I was wearing them. It is good to see you again.” Then he noticed the woman in Striker’s arms and his expression became concerned. “What happened?”
“Nothing a good night’s rest won’t cure,” Striker replied, moving past Tony to head for the grand staircase. “Kate took one of those motion sickness pills and it’s zonked her. Are the bedrooms still upstairs?”
Tony nodded and led the way. The expensive Oriental carpet runners softened the sound of Striker’s footsteps as he mounted the steps and efficiently made his way to the closest guest bedroom. There were five in the house.
After placing Kate on the bed, still without a word from her other than a ladylike sigh, Striker turned to Tony. “Is Maria still the housekeeper here?”
“No, her daughter Consuela is housekeeper now. But she’s not here today. She had to visit her mother in the hospital in Corpus Christi. That’s why I’m here in the house instead of over at the foreman’s place.”
“Are you the only one here?”
Tony nodded.
“We have to get her ready for bed,” Striker said with a nod down at Kate.
“Ready for bed? No, this is not something I do.” Tony hurriedly backed out of the room. “I will see you downstairs.” He paused on the threshold before turning back to narrow his dark eyes at Striker. “I can trust you to behave as a gentleman, si? Not to take advantage of Señorita Kate?”
“You can trust me, Tony.”
The foreman nodded briskly. “Bueno.”
A second later, Striker was alone in the softly lit bedroom with Kate.
Plan, prepare, execute. These were the steps a Marine took to accomplish his mission.
Tonight Striker’s mission was to prepare Kate for bed. Which meant removing her shoes.
Check.
What about nylons?
He needed more information. If they were pantyhose…
They weren’t.
Okay, then. Speedy decision making was one of the signs of a good Marine, and Striker was a very good Marine.
Removing nylons.
Check.
It was getting hotter than a tropical jungle in here. That’s why his fingers trembled slightly after he peeled the sheer nylons off her long legs.
Kate mumbled and nearly poked his eye out with her knee as she rolled onto her side.
Now the curve of her hip drew
