Read Online World's Most Eligible Texan by Sara Orwig - Free Book Online Page A

care of the Cattleman’s Club members was missing and a man had been murdered. Two men were following Pamela. Plagued by concern for her safety, Aaron wished he had been more persuasive about her staying at his place. He wanted to let his friends know that Pamela was being followed. Others must be searching for the missing red diamond. Why were the jewels on the Asterland jet? Was it solely a jewel theft? The jewels were worth a fortune. Or were the jewels to be sold and the money to be used for some nefarious project? Who had killed Riley? Too many questions with too few answers, yet Aaron and his friends were dedicating their efforts to finding out.
    He shifted restlessly. If he were staying out at the family ranch, he’d saddle up and ride because sleep wasn’t coming anyway, but he couldn’t do that here in town. And he wanted to be in town to be closer to Pamela and to his friends at the Cattleman’s Club.
    When they were needed, the members of the Texas Cattleman’s Club worked together secretly to save innocents’ lives—and now they seemed needed here in their own home town. Five of them were working on the jewel theft and the murder of Riley Monroe. Aaron stared into the darkness and ran through the list: Justin Webb, one of the Southwest’s finest surgeons. Aaron’s friend Matt Walker, local rancher. There was Sheikh Ben Rassad, rancher and horseman, and there was another longtime friend, retired Air Force, ex-Special Forces man, Dakota Lewis. Dakota gave him pause.
    Aaron was a friend to both Dakota and his estranged wife,Kathy Lewis. He had known Dakota most of his life and then had got to know Kathy when they were both in Washington, D.C., just starting in their careers. He had introduced Kathy to Dakota and the two had fallen wildly in love. Aaron had been shocked to hear of their breakup.
    Once again, Aaron thought about all the men working on the theft. They had diverse occupations and backgrounds, but they all had had military experience, and now they were all able to take the time to solve the disappearance of the jewels and try to learn who murdered Riley Monroe—and why.
    Aaron moved restlessly, his thoughts shifting to Pamela, memories taunting him. She was fighting her feelings, but the feelings were there and they showed sometimes. Like when she had stood on tiptoe and pulled his head down to kiss him. Just remembering made him respond physically as he became aroused.
    Her true feelings were revealed in her responses to his kisses. All that cool reserve had gone up in flames, and she had all but come apart in his arms. But then she would become tense, pull back, and the barriers would come up again. Why?
    The first gulf between them had opened that morning when she had slipped out of his house without his knowing it. The only reason he could figure had to be her feelings about her mother’s reputation and shock over how swiftly she had yielded to him.
    Yet he didn’t have regrets. Far from it. That night had changed his life, and he felt to his bones that it had been important to her, too. And he intended to show her and try to get her back to that openness with him, that complete giving and honesty they’d had with each other the night of the gala. One step at a time.
    Every time he searched his own feelings about her, he knew she was special. He was as tied up in knots as when he’d arrived in Royal. She had done nothing to alleviate that, far from it. He ached with wanting her. He wanted to make love to her all night long. The desolation he had lived with the past few years was gone now that he was home and seeing heragain. Whatever it was that had come between them, he didn’t think it would last or that it ran deep.
    At least, come morning, he would have breakfast with her. Maybe he could talk her into staying at his place until they knew who was following her and why. Yeah, right, buddy, a cynical voice said. You want the lady as close