Southern Nights: Florida (The Americana Series Book 9) Read online

  But Barbara was mulling over his first statement. "Todd, do you regard marriage as a trap?"

  The smile was wiped from his well-defined mouth. "No. I was being facetious, repeating attitudes that are usually attributed to my brother. They aren't really fair to him. I think he would like to have a wife and children, if he could ever find the right girl. He needs someone like you, Barbara, that he can protect and cherish." His arm curved around her shoulders again to draw her to his side. "J.R. has just had too many eager applicants for the position. He tends to view them all with a jaundiced eye."

  "You really care a lot about your brother, don't you?" Barbara realized with a vague sense of shock. From Todd's description, the two seemed to be such opposites.

  "I have hero-worshipped him for too many years. He may have feet of clay, but J.R. is still someone to look up to," Todd insisted. "You'll know what I mean when you meet him."

  She relaxed in his arms. There was no reason to disbelieve what he said. If his brother was half as nice as Todd was, Barbara knew she would like him.

  "What have you told your family about me?" she asked curiously.

  "Nothing."

  "Nothing?" She sat up straighter and turned to look at him.

  A lazy smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Knowing my mother, if I told her I was bringing my future bride home with me, she'd have everyone at the place come to the house for a champagne party. I don't think you are prepared for that kind of a welcome. It's too soon for us yet. So I just told her I was bringing a friend with me. That way you can have a few quiet days to get acquainted before she throws the inevitable engagement party." He slowed the car and turned off the highway onto a narrow lane where he stopped in front of a gate. "We are now on Sandoval land."

  Barbara glanced at the plain wooden gate painted white. A small sign on the top rail stated: Sandoval Ranch-Private Property-No Trespassing.

  "That isn't very welcoming," she remarked of the sign.

  "The main entrance is a few miles up the road yet," Todd explained. "This is a shortcut to the house, as well as a scenic drive through the orchards. Wait here while I open the gate." He switched off the air conditioner and rolled down the car windows before climbing out of the car to open the gate.

  The tangy fragrance of oranges drifted on the warm air that filled the artificially cooled interior of the car. Precise, orderly rows of dwarf trees flanked the narrow dirt road beyond the gate Todd opened. As he drove the car through and stopped to close the gate, Barbara had a closer look at the deep orange balls of fruit hanging from the tree limbs.

  "Valencia," Todd identified the variety. "There are probably more Valencia orange groves on the property than any other. Their flavor makes them excellent juice oranges. My mother uses them in fruit salads and dessert cups. They start to ripen in March so they will be picking these soon."

  "For a city boy, you seem very knowledgeable about oranges," Barbara teased.

  "Isn't every Floridian supposed to be an expert on oranges?" he countered.

  "Not this one," she admitted. "I've driven past a lot of orange groves and stopped at fruit stands to buy the native product, but what I know about citrus fruit wouldn't fill a page."

  Todd drove slowly along the narrow lane. "We'll try to correct that while you are here."

  "Look." Barbara pointed at the tree on the driver's side. "Isn't that an orange blossom on the same limb where there is an orange?"

  "Yes. You are about to receive your first lecture on citrus fruit. Oranges and grapefruit take a full twelve months to mature, unlike apples and other fruit that mature in three or four months. Therefore, you have ripened fruit and blossoms on the tree at the same time—this year's crop and next year's."

  After seeing the first blossom, Barbara spotted more white petals sprinkled through the green leaves of the trees and contrasting with the orange globes of fruit. The car rolled slowly past the arrow-straight rows of trees that seemed to stretch endlessly.

  "Oranges and grapefruit won't ripen once they are picked like other fruit. So they can't be picked when they are green and shipped to the cities. They have to be tree ripened," Todd explained.

  "I didn't know that, either." Barbara laughed at her own ignorance.

  "Tomorrow I'll arrange to take you on a complete tour of the citrus groves and make up for your neglected education. How would you like that?"

  "I'd love it."

  As they rounded a turn, the groves of fruit trees were replaced by hayfields. Ahead Barbara could see white rail fences and green grass beyond the purple blossoms of clover. In the lush pastures, sunlight glistened on the sleekly coated hides of grazing horses. A spindly-legged foal stood next to its mother close to the fence.

  "You raise horses?" Barbara asked in surprise.

  "Mm, thoroughbreds for racing. Didn't I mention that?"

  "No, you didn't mention it," she returned with amusement, and looked again to the pastures. "Aren't they beautiful?"

  "Do you ride?"

  "Every chance I get—which isn't many." A wistful note crept into her voice.

  "There are more than enough horses here. You can ride a different one every day if you want," Todd offered.

  "This place is beginning to sound like paradise."

  "We are going to be marooned here for two weeks," Todd said.

  "I'm not going to mind." The roofs of the stables were coming into sight, white gleaming buildings to match the white rail fences.

  "I'm not going to mind, either, not when I'm spending these two weeks with you. I'll probably be so busy looking at you that I won't even miss the bright lights," he concluded, warming her with a look that made her feel loved.

  Irrespective of the fact that he was driving, Barbara leaned to kiss him. It was a spontaneous gesture, the first kiss she had initiated between them. Once she had been much bolder, but then it had been another man's mouth she sought.

  Todd let the car slow to a crawl as his mouth moved in instant response to her kiss. She liked the feel of his lips tasting hers, their gentle persuasion that sent such a contented glow flowing through her veins. He promised a different kind of satisfaction, one less dangerous and soul-destroying.

  "I love you," she whispered, her lips feathering the outline of his mouth.

  He seemed to hesitate. Then the arm that had held her close pushed her shoulders against the seat back, setting her away from him. The ardent light in his brown eyes said her declaration had disturbed him, but common sense had taken control.

  "Then you'd better let me see where I'm going before we run into something," he suggested.

  "You are right," she conceded and settled comfortably against his shoulder, contented with the pleasant feeling the embrace had produced inside. Todd chuckled and drew her glance. "Why are you laughing?"

  "You look like a kitten with a faceful of cream."

  "I am happy," Barbara admitted to being that smugly satisfied. "I never thought I would be again."

  He seemed to know that no reply was expected from him, although his hand tightened on her arm in silent understanding. From the tree-shaded pastures of green grass, past the white boards of the stables, the narrow lane led toward an oak-studded lawn. Rising in the midst of the treetops was a red-tiled roof. The narrow lane connected with the black asphalt of the main road to the house.

  As Todd turned onto the main road, the Spanish moss draped from the branches kept the house from view. Her eyes widened when the gray green curtain was lifted. A massive two-story home rose in front of her, the dull red tile of the roof complimented by the natural color of the stucco walls. The dramatic arches and balconies spoke of the traditional Spanish design. Arched exterior walls led into a courtyard with a dancing silver fountain, and more arches led to the main entrance. Black wrought iron, scrolled like lace, lined the balconies on the upper floor, covered by arched frames.

  "Are you going to sit in the car and admire, or should we go inside?" Todd chided.

  Overwhelmed by the magn
ificence of the house, Barbara hadn't realized Todd had stopped the car and turned off the engine. She gave a guilty start of surprise at his question.

  "You should have warned me it was so impressive,'' she said in quick recovery.

  "I think I had probably forgotten until I saw it through your eyes," he admitted and climbed out of the car to walk around and open her door. "But it's just a house, Barbara. Four walls and a roof."

  It was more than four walls and a roof, but Barbara didn't argue the point. For all its old-world grandeur, the house didn't intimidate. A riot of bougainvillea crowded the walls of the courtyard where the water playing in the fountain made a happy sound. The noise of their footsteps on the tiled walkway didn't seem an intrusion as they entered the courtyard. More greenery hung from macramé-suspended pots while a profusion of blossoms colored stone urns. Beyond another archway, Barbara saw the blue waters of a swimming pool. But it was to the huge carved doors that Todd guided her.

  The door opened into a tiled foyer. A second, glass-doored entrance into the foyer came from the porch on the pool side of the house. The carved balustrade of an open staircase curved gracefully from the foyer to the second floor. A glazed archway opened into the living room. Todd paused inside this spacious room.

  "Would you mind waiting here?" he asked. "Mother is probably in the kitchen and I don't think she would thank me if I took you back there when she might be having a row with the cook."

  "I don't mind waiting here." Since Todd hadn't told his mother he was bringing his fiancée, the announcement might come as a shock. Barbara thought it was better is she wasn't around when Mrs. Gaynor was informed of their engagement.

  "Are you thirsty? I'll bring us back something to drink if you are," he offered.

  "I'd like that," she nodded.

  He started toward the archway into the dining room with its heavy Spanish-designed furniture, then stopped and came back to kiss her lightly on the mouth. "Don't go running off. Mother will love you."

  Strangely, Barbara discovered she didn't feel nervous about meeting his mother. Maybe the warm, comfortable atmosphere of the house had reassured her somehow. She glanced around the spacious living room with its white walls, arched windows and fireplace. It could have been so stiffly formal. Instead the cheery rugs on the tiled floor and the abundant pillows on the sofa took away from the rigidity of the Spanish furniture. The impression was one of solidity and relaxed comfort.

  Chapter Two

  A DOOR SLAMMED in the foyer, glass rattling in the pane to indicate the pool-side entrance. Barbara turned toward the archway at the sound of long striding boots on the tiled floor. A tall, broad-shouldered man entered the living room, faded denims hugging narrow hips and muscled thighs. The dusty and perspiration-stained shirt had once been white, just as the wide-brimmed Stetson on the man's head had once been brown. The shadowing brim of that hat hid his features until some unconscious movement from Barbara betrayed her presence and the head came up.

  A shock wave trembled through her bones at the sight of the hard, male features toughened by the sun. A pair of tawny eyes flicked over her like twin tongues of lightning. Her imagination was playing some cruel trick on her. It had to be, she insisted frantically. The hat came off, sailed by a hand to land on a chair. Brown hair was streaked with gold, the handiwork of the sun. The action was followed by the white flash of a smile, virile features etched with stunning sexuality.

  "Jock." The name was wrenched from the stranglehold of disbelief that gripped her throat.

  "You changed your mind and decided to accept my invitation after all." That low, drawling voice ran over her like a caress. "It took you long enough."

  It was a dream. Barbara was convinced it had to be. It was a mirage coming toward her. Jock's only invitation had been to come with him. Later he had let her know it was all over between them. So he wouldn't be saying something like that.

  But it was no mirage that swept her into his arms and crushed her slender frame to the hard contours of his body. The weight of his mouth on hers forced her head back while he kissed her with a hungry, pillaging force that was destructive and passionate. Her fingers were splayed across his shoulders, feeling the ripple of flexing muscles through the damp, thin cotton of his shirt.

  The hard dominance of his embrace pierced her numbed senses to send them reeling with a dangerous excitement. The wildly violent emotion quaking through her was undermining defenses Barbara had vowed would never be breached again. Yet the deliberate mastery of his kiss was crumbling her resistance as if its walls were wafer thin. That abandoned hunger within was aiding in the destruction. The searing, molding prowess of his hands was awakening her flesh to his desires and making them her own. Confusion reigned in what little coherent thought that remained. When his mouth trailed down her throat to explore the pulsing hollow of her shoulder, Barbara fought through the haze of wild sensation.

  "What are you doing here, Jock?" Her voice wavered in traitorous betrayal of the havoc he was wreaking on her control.

  "What the hell kind of question is that?" The warmth of his laughing breath caressed her sensitive skin. He lifted his head long enough to let the gold shock of his eyes hold her victim. Then his mouth came down near her lips, his breath mingling with hers as he answered amusedly, "I live here, of course."

  And the hot languor of his kiss was consuming her again, carrying her to a high precipice where the view was heady and the height was terrifying. The dizzying heights hadn't frightened her before, but that was before Barbara had fallen into the deep abyss below. Todd had forced her out of that black pit of depression. It was his voice that penetrated the drugging rapture that held her captive now.

  "Mother sent me out with the drinks. She'll—" His voice stopped in midsentence.

  The muscled chest beneath Barbara's hands expanded in a deep breath of control as Jock lifted his mouth from its possession of hers and sent an impatient glance beyond her. The gold-flecked eyes returned quickly to her face, roaming her passion-dazed features with lazy pleasure.

  "Your timing is off, little brother," Jock criticized on an indolent note, never letting his gaze stray from her upturned face. "Go away and arrange to arrive about an hour from now. Better make it two hours," he corrected adding softly to Barbara, "It's been a long time and I may not be so quickly satisfied."

  His arrogant presumption that she would gladly return to him despite the fact that he had thrown her aside in the past was the spark her pride needed. Todd's presence in the room and the engagement ring on her finger gave Barbara the strength to retaliate. In one motion, she pushed out of his arms and struck. The palm of her hand connected with stinging force against a leanly hollowed cheek. His stunned look was immediately replaced with yellow fury, hard and glittering when it focused on her. Sensing she had roused a wild beast, Barbara cautiously began to back toward Todd.

  His low laughter split the air fraught with a dangerous tension. "I told you that you would know how to handle J.R. when the time came." The firm clasp of his hand was on her shoulder. Barbara turned into it, seeking the protection and safety of Todd's nearness. "Although I have to admit I didn't expect the time to come so soon, and judging by the look on your face, J.R., I don't think you expected so violent a rebuff."

  Barbara risked a glance at Jock. A hand was rubbing his cheek where she had slapped him. There was a wary glitter in his eyes, as if he was trying to assess this puzzling situation, too. She didn't understand why Todd kept calling him J.R. How could Jock be his brother?

  "Should I bother with formal introductions?" Todd was still finding amusement in the situation. "Or are you just going to congratulate me for finding such a beautiful fiancée?"

  "The two of you are engaged?" If Todd didn't hear the deadly quiet note in Jock's voice, Barbara did.

  "Didn't you show him your ring, Barbara?" Todd's voice prompted her to correct the omission.

  "I didn't have the chance." Which was the truth. Her left hand was stiffly resistant to t
he orders sent along her motor nerves. At last it was lifted to display the diamond solitaire on her ring finger to the piercing gold gaze that examined it.

  "This all happened a little suddenly, didn't it, Todd?" There was a measure of challenge in Jock's seemingly idle comment.

  "We only met a month ago," Todd admitted and smiled at Barbara, not apparently noticing her brittle expression. "But I copied a page from your book, J.R., and didn't waste any time once I found her."

  "I don't understand," Barbara finally voiced her troubled confusion. "You two are brothers, yet with different—"

  "Half brothers," Jock interrupted. "Same mother, different fathers. Didn't Todd mention that?" The edges of his mouth curved up, a lazy smile that mocked her ignorance. It also relayed his discovery that he now realized she had no previous knowledge that she would find him here.

  "No, he didn't mention that," she admitted flatly, sickened by the situation she was trapped in.

  "Todd is the only one who calls me J.R. To everyone else I'm Jock."

  "Jock Malloy." Barbara didn't know why she said his whole name unless it was to beat it into her brain. A wasted effort since it was already branded in her memory.

  What was more, it was perfectly obvious that she hadn't identified him to Todd as the man with whom she'd had that disastrous affair. She knew it. And Jock knew it. Poor Todd was the only one who didn't. How long could she keep it a secret from Todd? How long before Jock told him? Would he try to blackmail her with the knowledge? And to what end?

  "You look pale, Barbara," Jock observed, a faint gleam of satisfaction in his wolf-gold eyes. "May I call you Barbara?" He taunted her with their secret knowledge that he had called her many other things when they had made love six months before. "Aren't you feeling well?"