a portion of this land is a good thing?”
He narrowed his eyes and nodded. “Progress is progress, babe.”
Babe.
She spun back toward the view before he could spot the hot color firing in her cheeks. All it would take would be one swift kick to send the man flying off the cliff and into the valley he was apparently so anxious to see developed.
TCM, Sara reminded herself. Stay focused on TCM.
But she couldn’t quite ignore Kyle Prescott’s know-it-all arrogance. She waited until her face cooled, then shifted her gaze back in his direction. He stood staring past her, at the Turner ranch, if she weren’t mistaken.
“What about land preservation?” she asked.
His focus snapped from the view to her face. “What about it?”
The intensity of his focus rattled her ever so slightly. She didn’t like the sensation—didn’t like it at all. She forced her thoughts back to their conversation.
If she could keep him talking about land and oil, he might let some useful information slip into their conversation.
“I’d think you’d be more concerned about international deals than about land acquisitions.” She gave an innocent shrug, working to maintain an air of innocence. “Isn’t that your area of expertise?”
He studied her for a long moment then leaned close. “Is there a reason you’re so concerned about the land, Ms. Montgomery? I assure you I have far more interesting areas of expertise.”
Sara arched one brow. “Can’t a girl care about her environment?”
A sly grin slid across Kyle’s lips. “Sweetheart, you can care about whatever you want.”
The man’s arrogant tone sent anger flicking to life in Sara’s gut. Heat rose from her neck to her face. This time, she made no move to hide her reaction.
“I’m always amazed when a man of your obvious wealth and social status won’t use that power for good.”
“When good playboys go bad.” He leaned even closer. Too close.
Sara held her ground, squinting at him. Their conversation was getting her nowhere. He had yet to give her a straight answer. The man was hiding something, and she had every intention of finding out what.
“Mr. Prescott—”
“I could have sworn I told you to call me Kyle.”
He made his move quickly, as if he’d made it countless times before, leaning into Sara and cupping her face in the palm of one hand.
When he closed his mouth over hers, she opened her lips to protest, only to find his lips matching her moves, his tongue tangling with hers, exploring, tasting.
Traitorous heat ignited deep inside her and Sara wound her hands around his neck and into his slightly too long hair, noting the silky texture and wondering how much money he spent on salon treatments.
When he splayed his palms fully on the small of her back and pulled her body tight against his, her only thought was of how good he felt.
The hard expanse of his chest.
The warmth of his body against hers.
His obvious arousal pressed against her stomach.
Sara blinked herself back into reality before she lost control of the situation, breaking away from his kiss and pushing him out to arm’s length.
Kyle didn’t release his grip, however. Instead he gave her waist a squeeze and turned on his megawatt smile.
Sara had to admit he was good. Very good.
She could see why woman after woman fell for him, only to be discarded when he’d grown bored or received a more enticing offer.
Well, if she’d learned one thing over the years it was that the more you pushed a guy like Kyle away, the more he’d come begging. She decided then and there on her plan of attack. As much as she hated playing games, a round of hard-to-get seemed to be in order.
She drew in a dramatic breath and splayed her hand across her neck. “I think it best we get back to the ranch.”
Without saying a word, Kyle let his gaze drift from her mouth, to her hand, over the swell of her breasts, along the lines of her skirt, down the length of her legs, then slowly back up until he met her eyes.
The seconds passed in slow motion, each moment pure torture as her body heated beneath his gaze.
She swallowed just before his eyes met hers.
“You’d better wear this.” He shrugged out of his tux jacket then draped it around her shoulders. “You wouldn’t want to catch a chill.”
Oh, he was good.
But she could be even better.
KYLE MENTALLY BERATED himself as he maneuvered the bike along the mountain road down from the lookout. When he got a bit too close to the shoulder, he tried to snap himself back into focus by shoving Sara Montgomery out of his head, but it didn’t work.
The heat of her arms pressed around his body and the memory of their kiss lingered on his lips. He’d kissed a lot of women in his day, no doubt about it, but no kiss had ever been quite like this one. It wasn’t that her pulling away had made it different. She had made it different. Plain and simple.
Sara Montgomery ignited a sensation inside him that had never been ignited. She intrigued him. Genuinely intrigued him.
She shifted against him as he pulled into a straight patch of road. Her soft curves pressed into his back, and if he didn’t know better, he’d swear the woman was trying to torture him.
His body remained in a heightened state of awareness even now, at least fifteen minutes since their kiss.
He ran their discussion through his head for the umpteenth time. The truth of the matter was he agreed with everything she said.
He hated to see the sprawl that crept into the land at the base of the mountains. If he had his way, no one would ever be able to develop here again.
Kyle couldn’t quite put his finger on why he’d lied in order to get Sara’s response. Maybe he’d done it to get a rise out of her, or to measure her response.
He’d been pleasantly surprised when she hadn’t agreed with him, as most of the upper crust in the region would have.
Land equaled power in these parts and oil was the Holy Grail. The more land you owned, the better chance you had of striking it rich. He should know. He’d watched several local power brokers find success after success in recent months with lucky land buyouts.
The voice mail he’d received planted itself front and center on his radar screen again. Was that what the man had been referring to? Had he been accusing Kyle of taking part in some sort of investment scheme? If so, the man couldn’t be further
