My Heart's Passion Read online

  “The rest of the day?” he repeated. Nodding, he conceded to her wishes. “We have a deal. Until later, Chloe.”

  With that, he stepped back and Chloe shut the door, resisting the impulse to slam it in his face.

  She’d show him! He obviously thought he could seduce her with barely a word or gesture. Well she had much bigger fish to fry this weekend. Handling one horny Rutledge man should be easy when faced with all the things she wanted to organize in her life.

  Taking a lovely hot, though damnably brief shower, Chloe breathed deeply in her meditation and calming exercises. The shower more than anything else helped her relax, made it far easier for herself to slip into that sleepy, hazy state. Curling up in the soft guest bed, she left the curtains open, wanting to have the last of the moonlight glow protectively over her as she slept. She wasn’t sure what was so soothing about the moonlight tonight of all nights, but it made her feel protected and loved.

  She slept deeply and dreamlessly.

  Chapter Four

  Friday Midmorning

  Samuel leaned over the kitchen counter and tried not to leer at Chloe. In snug-fitting jeans and a brightly patterned sweater, she made a cheerful picture first thing in the morning. She was running a brush through her light brown locks, the early morning sunlight highlighting blonde tresses among the brown.

  Samuel found himself captivated by the simple action of her running the brush through her hair. He squashed a slightly disappointed feeling when she pulled back the mass into a ponytail, ending the little show.

  “Ready to go walk, little girl?”

  Chloe rolled her eyes, causing him to grin. He could tell from her drawn out groans and overreaction that she didn’t really object to him calling her “little girl”. She would have decked him, or tried to deck him he consoled himself, if she really had a serious problem with it.

  The overreaction, the rolling of her gorgeous eyes, the loud, long sighs were all indications that while she might not enjoy the nickname, she didn’t really want to admit to liking it. Even with the potential to upset her, the reaction he elicited from her every time he called her the endearment tempted him to continue.

  It had been a long time since he’d sexually craved a woman whom he felt comfortable enough with to tease and taunt. It made the hunt that much more enjoyable.

  This particular hunt seemed to be so unique, so tempting and exciting, he felt himself enjoying all sorts of things and thoughts he had never previously entertained.

  His brain shied away from its knowledge of just how very different this particular hunt was becoming. Time enough to ponder those sort of thoughts later.

  Samuel blinked. Chloe had walked over to the back door of the cabin and was standing there, waiting for him.

  “Having second thoughts? Surely such a little girl as me can’t be a threat to your masculine ego?”

  Samuel grinned and dropped a hasty, chaste kiss on her cheek as he walked past her out the door.

  “Not at all. I fully intend to have to carry you part of the way back here. I plan to take you on a circular trail Dom and I often run through when we feel particularly energetic.”

  Chloe laughed and slammed the back door behind her, throwing the lock without thinking about it.

  “I can’t wait to make you eat those words! You have no idea what sort of feminine monster you’re creating here.”

  Samuel laughed and led them both down a narrow, barely there trail.

  “It will certainly be interesting to see whose knees give out first—won’t it?”

  Enjoying his double entendre, and the blush that appeared on Chloe’s cheeks, the pair set off into the woods.

  * * * * *

  “That was absolutely fantastic, thank you, Samuel.”

  Still unbelieving of the amount of energy she held inside that slight frame, Samuel took the keys to the cabin from her hand. Gallantly opening the door for her, he stepped aside to let her enter first.

  “You’re a lot more fit than I realized, little girl. How the hell can you do a six mile hike on an empty stomach, talk the entire time and still not be out of breath by the end?”

  As Chloe brushed past him he felt his cock harden even more. Samuel had grown increasingly sexually frustrated as the walk had worn on. He had assumed his physical strength would be much greater than Chloe’s. Through the long night, he had entertained any number of fantasies, all strangely revolving around Chloe getting tired and needing them both to stop for frequent rests.

  He could have massaged her aching legs, or back, run his hands all over her smooth, lovely skin. Admittedly, most of his fantasies had led him to stripping her of her clothes and making passionate love to her on the grass of the forest floor, but a man needed goals!

  Instead, Chloe had kept pace with him. While he had shortened his stride to make it easier for her, he still had been quite surprised at how easily she had kept up with him. He hadn’t the heart to set too punishing a pace, yet neither had they dawdled.

  Even harder for him had been following Chloe’s conversation. She neatly sidestepped all his sexual innuendos, making him feel like a gauche thirteen-year-old again. She also diverted each and every personal topic of conversation he initiated.

  Instead, she rambled on about her schoolchildren, the home economics class she had taught the previous semester, and the numerous other jobs she had held down over the last few years.

  He had found himself disturbingly entranced with her humor and witty outlook on life. She freely laughed at herself and some of her clumsier antics, joked about her inability to sustain interest in a single job, and basically chattered on, blithely unaware of the reaction his body had to her nearness and scent.

  Subtlety being his middle name, Samuel had tried to delve deeper into Chloe and her views, hoping to find a reason for his fierce attraction to her. He understood why he was physically aware of her, but he couldn’t put his finger on the deeper attraction she held for him.

  Irritatingly, the closest to personal conversation she had shared had been after his comment of how varied her jobs had been. She insisted Mary’s opinion of her never having found where her passion lay was partially correct, but also the fact she had never taken a job diverse and interesting enough to hold her attention.

  This rang true to his mind, as Chloe was a bubbly, full-of-life girl. It stood to reason that she would need a job that was dynamic, so she would be constantly challenged and surprised.

  Yet, still he hungered for more knowledge of her—and not just in a sexual sense.

  The more sexually aware of this amazing woman he became, the more frustrated he felt at her refusal to speak to him on more than a casual basis. It was as if she were holding him at arm’s length.

  As she possibly should.

  Samuel had no idea of what he wanted from her. He didn’t want to mate and settle down, yet the more time he spent in her presence, the more appeal that heretofore disgusting thought had.

  Samuel gently shut the door behind him as he followed Chloe into Dom and Mary’s small cabin. He honestly admitted to himself he was one confused puppy. He didn’t want to settle down, yet he craved Chloe with a fierceness he wouldn’t be able to suppress for long.

  However, instead of chasing him and throwing herself at him like every other woman he had known, she was holding him at arm’s length and insisting on the most casual and platonic of relationships.

  None of his brothers had ever warned him women were such contrary creatures! He had quietly, and at the most annoyingly interesting times not-so-quietly, laughed at each of his brothers, in turn, when they had fallen hard and fast for their respective women.

  He had fully supported them, while relishing the role of being able to jeer and tease each of them. The thought of turning to them now for help in sorting himself out was enough to make him turn an interesting shade of green.

  “I suppose since I demolished all your weak-little-woman fantasies and made a positive step forward for your understanding
of feminism at its best, the least I could do is cook you up some brunch, huh? It’s a tad late to call it breakfast.”

  Samuel tried not to drool at the picture Chloe made in front of him. In a midriff T-shirt, jeans and hiking boots, she looked fresh and clean, despite the taxing hike they had just taken. A few stray wisps of hair escaped her ponytail, but otherwise she looked fresh from the shower.

  “I never held weak-little-woman fantasies about you. On the contrary, I have little use for weak women. They tend to have insufficient stamina for a man of my tastes.”

  Chloe opened the fridge and began removing items, stacking them in partial disarray on the counter. She merely harrumphed her assent, refusing to rise to his sexual bait again.

  Samuel felt surprised at the amount of food piling up on the counter. Bacon, eggs, hash browns, sausages, tomatoes…just like the sorcerer’s apprentice the food kept on coming.

  With her head stuck in the fridge, Samuel admired her ass. While Dominic was generally held to be the ass-man of the family, Samuel had to admit in this case he could see his brother’s affinity for a luscious ass.

  “You really didn’t expect me to keep pace with you, did you?”

  Samuel pulled his mind from the gutter and tried to concentrate on Chloe’s conversation.

  “You have to admit, it’s not everyday one comes across a woman not only willing, but able to go on long hikes in the forest not long after the crack of dawn. It’s not generally held to be a female accomplishment.”

  Slamming the fridge shut, Chloe rolled her eyes.

  “Oh please. It mightn’t be important to your little groupies, but some modern women enjoy being fit. Going to the gym is a great pastime many women enjoy nowadays. Trust me, if you go to the gym long enough, no matter how lazy you are, you soon become fit, whether you want to or not.”

  Samuel laughed. “Speaking from personal experience?”

  “Absolutely. I am the Queen of sitting on the bicycle machines and either reading or watching the latest soap. Who needs all those silly weight-lifting machines anyway? Too much like hard work for me.”

  Samuel sat at the bench and watched as Chloe started cracking eggs and laying strips of bacon into the pan. She had unknowingly given him more information in that one scornful sentence than in the long hike they had just taken.

  Yet watching her crack eggs into the pan and begin to lay out bacon strips seemed like such a homey scene, Samuel didn’t know if the flutter in his stomach was arousal or panic.

  What the hell was he doing? He certainly couldn’t just seduce this woman and cast her aside. Not only would Mary cut off his balls, but Dominic would undoubtedly go a few rounds outside with him as well.

  Even with this knowledge hammering the inside of his skull, the thought of not becoming intimate with Chloe had him breaking out in a sweat of panic. For the first time since losing his virginity at the tender age of thirteen, Samuel had no idea what he was going to do or how he was going to go about seducing a woman.

  “Helloooo, anyone home? Samuel, are you feeling okay? You’re looking a little pale.”

  “I’m fine, just…uh…thinking about a…um…case I’m working on.”

  “Case? What are you working on now?”

  Samuel perked up, back on well-known territory. Managing to look both offended and outraged at the same time, he clasped a hand over his heart.

  “No! Please don’t tell me you have been a part of this family for nearly six months now and no one has told you my life story.”

  Chloe returned her attention to the eggs and laughed.

  “Matthew only talks about Dominic and how marvelous his computer skills are and how dull college is compared to working with you both. I know you’re a private eye of some sort, so go on and boast away, tell me about this so-interesting case of yours.”

  Samuel shrugged and sat back into his seat. Watching Chloe set up the eggs, bacon, sausages and hash browns onto two large plates, he leaned over the counter to take out napkins and cutlery for them both.

  “Much of the work we do is fairly regular. Taking photos, following people to gather evidence for custody battles, or to help one party of a divorce get alimony from the other party. Exposing fraudulent worker’s compensation claims, etcetera, etcetera. Dominic, and to a smaller extent Matthew, take care of the more computer side of the business. Searching out hackers, updating and protecting the security company and clients.”

  Chloe sat down and indicated for him to dig in. Spearing a mouthful of eggs, Samuel closed his eyes and moaned as they melted on his tongue. He tried to think the last time someone other than his sisters-in-law had cooked for him.

  He might be having trouble working out exactly what he wanted with Chloe, but in that instant he knew he would be doing his damnedest to keep her around for a while. Women who cooked, and cooked well in particular, were thin on the ground nowadays.

  A man needed priorities, and Chloe’s cooking had instantly leapt right up to the top of his list, directly competing with making her come until she screamed, and having them both fuck madly until they expired from exhaustion.

  Chapter Five

  Chloe watched Samuel put away a staggering amount of groceries. The man might be lean, but he ate enough food to keep an entire football team satisfied! A niggling voice at the back of her head insisted it was a dumb idea to feed him, that like a stray or wild animal, he’d keep on coming back for more now that she had relented and fed him once.

  Surprisingly, even though she had no intention of letting him seduce her, the thought of Samuel coming back to keep her company didn’t panic her. It’s not as if he would force her, or rape her, and as long as she held some semblance of control, she was willing to play the game.

  When the object of her thoughts finally sat back, let his cutlery drop onto his plate, and rested his hands smugly over his nonexistent belly, she smiled, satisfied.

  “Sure you’ve had enough?”

  Looking around the kitchen warily, Samuel raised an eyebrow.

  “I thought that was all you cooked?”

  “I think there are a few blueberry muffins in the pantry, if you’re still hungry.”

  Startlingly, Samuel seemed to consider the notion for a moment. She raised her eyebrows, disbelieving.

  “You can’t possibly still be hungry?”

  “Hey,” he started, feigning offense, “I’m a man of healthy appetites.”

  Standing up, she picked up both their plates and cutlery. Rinsing them in the sink and placing them in the dishwasher, Chloe took her time turning around. Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned back against the sink.

  “Well?”

  “I might give the muffins a pass. You might want them for a snack later on.”

  Despite herself, Chloe grinned.

  “You’re too kind.” She checked her watch. Nearly noon. Time to start some serious relaxing and reading.

  Thankfully, Samuel seemed to take the hint. Standing, he stretched his tall, lean frame, scratching his belly in the self-satisfied way males around the world do after a decent home-cooked meal.

  “Well, I’d best get off to work. It has been a true pleasure, and vastly interesting. I’ll be back after sunset for a light supper. Want me to bring the wine?”

  Caught off guard, Chloe took a moment for the words to sink in. “Excuse me?”

  “Our deal, you said breakfasts and not during the days. That leaves the nights.”

  Shocked by his audacity, Chloe didn’t know whether to laugh or throw a pan at the man.

  “When I said you’d leave me alone the rest of the day, I meant you wouldn’t be back at all. Breakfast was only supposed to be today, after the hike.”

  Samuel grinned down at her.

  “Come on, love. You’re going to go on a hike tomorrow morning too, surely?”

  Chloe frowned. “Maybe, but I certainly wasn’t planning on going with you. I don’t think I could get too lost around here.”

  “Think of how mu
ch fun it will be. And as a reward for letting me tour you around the woods and small trails around here, you can help me try out this new game Dominic has found.”

  “What new game?”

  “I’ll bring it tonight. It’s a kind of card game.”

  “I thought you had graduated from the high school mentality years ago. Surely don’t expect me to fall for the old strip poker thing?”

  Samuel laughed. “I don’t think so, but there’s no telling with Dominic. Come on, give it a shot. If you get offended or it really upsets you, I promise I’ll leave when you order me away.”

  Chloe tilted her head, considering. She wasn’t used to being totally alone. She enjoyed her freedom and having time to herself, but after a whole day of lazing around reading and thinking and going on much shorter hikes, she might enjoy the company.

  It wasn’t as if Samuel was going to seduce her, she wouldn’t let him.

  Anyway, it might be interesting to tease the beast and then send him away with a raging hard-on. “You swear you’ll leave when I tell you to? No cajoling like this, no sad puppy dog eyes and pleas.”

  Samuel laughed. “I don’t beg. Ever.”

  Chloe nodded. “Me either. You have a deal then. Come on over and we’ll try out this game of Dominic’s. I take it it’s an ‘adult game’?”

  Samuel took Chloe’s outstretched hand and shook on it.

  “They’re the only kind Dominic knows to my knowledge.”

  “Well, at least this shouldn’t prove boring.”

  Walking Samuel over to the door, she let him kiss her cheek again in farewell. She stood and watched him walk back into the brush. The sunlight shone down brightly, but not too hot. When he was out of view, Chloe stalled a minute longer. Shaking her head and muttering to herself, she reentered the cabin, keeping the door open for the warm breeze.

  Curling up on the couch she opened her first book. Determined, she skimmed the previous page and caught up on the hero and heroine’s current predicament.