Chapter 1
Sara Anne Carson didn't want to come home to Luville, Texas, but she did. Her father's heart attack forced her. She parked her rented Mazda in the Carson's Cars lot. Throughout her ten-year escape from Carl Carson's stifling influence, she'd longed for the sight and smell of the dealership--the only thing in Luville worth coming home for.
She got out of the car and started for the warehouse on the back lot. As a child, she'd done most of her thinking and dreaming in the big dusty building. During all the hours of travel from Alaska to Texas, she hadn't been able to think beyond this moment.
Sara had to get a handle on all the dealership data that she'd pored through on the flight. More important, she needed to sort her muddled feelings before she walked into her father's house. God knew what kind of welcome waited her there? She needed some time alone.
As Sara walked, she stared at the pavement baking in the May sun. She nearly collided with the car before she noticed the sleek, black Cadillac Orleans that barred entrance to the warehouse.
She choked back an astonished cry, skirting around the vehicle, as if it were cursed. That vehicle haunted her nightmares.
Only two of the huge prototypes existed. One sat in a museum somewhere. The other belonged to Josh McKinley, champion bull rider and all around jerk. She thought she'd loved him, a long time ago. He should be riding the rodeo circuit right now. So how had that Caddy appeared on Carson's property?
"He must have sold the car to someone else. That's the only explanation that makes sense." She muttered to herself, as she pushed open the warehouse door.
The new owner obviously didn't know the car's history, or that only a fool would park that car on Carson's property. The Caddy prompted painful memories of her mother's desertion, her father's neglect, and Josh. I'll find out who owns the Caddy now and ask them to remove it.
The warehouse was dim and only a shade cooler than the steamy air outside. The huge building would make a great showroom for the RV's that Donny'd written about. She missed her brother, almost as much as she missed the dealership.
Sara wandered down the hall. She turned the corner at the end of the corridor and ran smack into a bare, sweaty, male chest. The impact was brief. Hard hands closed over her shoulders and steadied her before setting her away. Sara looked up. Her mouth opened and closed, then opened again.
"You!" echoed through the emptiness.
Sara jumped back further. Memories squeezed her heart. Of all the voices that she might hear, she never expected to hear Josh McKinley's deep baritone.
"So you're back." His mouth twisted on the statement. His graveled voice and daredevil blue eyes challenged her.
She wasn't ready for this. "What are you doing here? Gloating because my father's in the hospital?"
"Not gloating, working."
What a surprising idea, she thought. "That's ridiculous. It's Sunday and Carson's Cars is closed."
"Always was, as I recall. Guess even an old devil like your daddy needs a day of rest."
Her eyes widened. How dare he try to provoke her on her own territory. "My father would never hire a McKinley, and no McKinley would want to do an honest day's work when he could shyster widows and orphans instead."
He hooked his thumbs in the front pockets of his jeans and leaned against the wall, his narrow hips cocked at an aggressive angle. "I'm not working for your father."
He had no right to prop his broad shoulders against that wall. "Then you're not working here, so get off Carson's property."
The tall man with the dark hair and bright eyes didn't move. He gave a slow smile and looked her over, head to toe and back. "You've changed Sara."
Deja vu skittered bumps over her skin. Time was when she would have danced naked in a cactus patch for that smile. No more. With everything in her, she'd fight her inexplicable attraction to this man. "Maybe it's time you found out just how much I have changed."
"Go ahead, show me."
"I'm not a lonely, defenseless, little girl anymore."
"You weren't little in high school, Pipsqueak."
She winced at the childhood nickname. He was right. She'd been a gawky five feet nine inches tall, when she'd first fallen for Josh McKinley. She wouldn't fall again. "Don't call me that."
"Why not?"
"Because you have no right. No McKinley has the right to treat a Carson with anything but healthy respect and wide distance."
"You think so?"
"Absolutely. You would too, if you had any sense."
"What harm did the McKinleys ever do to you?"
Sara gasped. "Surely your Uncle Sampson told you how he betrayed my father and destroyed our family. He probably made it sound like a big joke."
"All my uncle ever did was make it possible for your mother to get away from an obsessive, domineering husband, who was turning her and her children into automatons."
"Sam McKinley only spread that story around Luville to make himself look good."
"And how do you think the story went."
"Your uncle was my father's best friend and lawyer. My mother went to him for advice, and he manipulated her. He betrayed my father's trust. He broke up my parents' marriage just to get his hands on that cursed Cadillac you men love so much."
Josh laughed. He crossed work hardened arms, thick with ropy muscles, over his chest. "My uncle never betrayed a friend or a client in his entire life."
"Go ahead, keep your delusions. Because of your damned uncle, I lost my mother. If I hadn't, I never would have cuddled up to a McKinley snake, like you." She widened her stance and placed a fist on each hip. His smile broadened. "Yeah, you did cuddle up to me, didn't you, Pipsqueak." He straightened and walked toward her.
"What can I say, I was young and ignorant. I know better now." Sara stood her ground until she could smell the scent of sawdust mixed with male musk.
"Really? Maybe we should find out for sure."
She danced backward out of reach. "Oh no you don't. You aren't laying a hand on me."
"Chicken, Pipsqueak?" He stalked toward her, his face shadowed in the meager light.
"No, just wiser, and I told you not to call me that." Keeping her eyes on him, she fished in her purse for her cell phone. "I also told you to leave."
"That you did." He continued his advance.
"So why aren't you leaving." Sara backed into a wall. Why, she wondered, hadn't she run down the hallway to her left?
"'Cause I still have work to do." He ambled past her, and sauntered down the corridor she should have used for escape.
"That tears it." She followed him with her eyes.
He rummaged in a toolbox.
"You've got thirty seconds to clear out, McKinley, or I call the sheriff." She punched the numbers in from memory, certain that they hadn't changed. Nothing important in Luville ever changed.
"Go ahead, Pipsqueak. If anyone gets hauled in, it'll be you."
She jerked her head up. She hoped he couldn't see her hand shake. "That's even funnier than you working for my dad. I suppose you want me to think that Dad sold the warehouse."
"No, he didn't sell it."
"That's right. He wouldn't sell it. Carson's plans to put in a new RV showroom that'll go right here. The warehouse is the only building we own that's big enough."
"When he recovers, he'll have to set up his RV showroom somewhere else. I hold an ironclad, five year lease on this warehouse, with an option for another five."
Her hand closed convulsively. The phone clicked shut. "I don't believe it. What could a champion bull rider like you want with a warehouse in downtown Luville?"
Josh shrugged.
Her attention strayed to his broad shoulders and the smooth skin she'd briefly touched.
"Not that it's any of your business, but I need the warehouse to keep a promise to my Uncle Sampson."
Had Josh's shoulders been that broad ten years ago? Sara gave herself a mental shake. Don't get distracted.
"Some plot you hatched with your uncle to take advantage of hard-working citizens, I suppose." His eyes gleamed, diamond hard. "I'll ignore that bit of prejudice. You can't be blamed for what your father's bitterness did to you. And, I assure you that I intend to use the warehouse to benefit the citizens and the economy of Luville."
"So you say." Sara rolled her eyes and tossed her head. "Regardless of the project's merits, Daddy would never do business with a McKinley, especially if it gave Sampson McKinley something he wanted."
"Your daddy didn't do business with a McKinley. Your brother did. He signed the lease, the day after your father's heart attack."
She narrowed her glance. The timing alone was suspicious. "You tricked him. Donny wouldn't do business with you any more than Daddy would."
He shrugged again. "Keep your delusions. If you check with your attorney--and I'm certain you will--he'll tell you the same thing."
Calm now, she put the phone back into her purse, then looked him in the eye. "I'll check with our attorney tomorrow morning. We'll resolve this business here at 12:30 P.M. sharp. In the meantime, I suggest we both leave."
"You go ahead. I still have a few things to finish."
"I'm afraid you'll have to leave now. I need to lock the door."
"Thanks for the offer." He pulled a key out of one of his front pockets. "But I think I can lock up after myself."
She refused to butt heads with him any longer. "Don't linger. I'll call the sheriff's office on my way out of town and have them check the doors." She turned and headed down the hallway to the exit.
He called after her. "That's mighty considerate of you, but don't do it on my account."
She opened the door and threw back a retort. "My only concern is for Carson's property. I wouldn't dream of doing anything out of concern for a McKinley."
Josh watched Sara's shapely behind disappear as the door shut. He'd done nothing but argue with the alluring blonde, yet he was hard from wanting her. He'd expected to run into her eventually. He knew her father's heart attack would bring her home. Nothing else in the past ten years had been able to.
Why hadn't he prepared himself better? Did he think years and miles would make a difference in how he felt about the first woman he ever loved? Heck, he rubbed at the sweat congealing on his neck, Sara Anne Carson was the only woman.
Maybe Sara Carson had the prettiest green eyes and the softest skin in North America. He couldn't let that matter. Whatever they'd had was over. He wouldn't let any Carson stop him from making reality out of the dream he'd shared with his uncle for so many years. Not even Sara Anne.
�
Outside the warehouse, Sara glared at the deep black Cadillac Orleans. Red highlights gleamed on the roof and fenders, reflecting the brilliant sunset. Damn that man. He has entirely too much gall. Parking that car on Carson's property. Claiming to have an ironclad lease. I'll see about that lease. He'll be gone, booted out, before he can blink.
She tossed her head in disgust and kicked the nearest whitewall tire. Her foot throbbed, but she felt better. She hobbled down the lot toward her rental car.
What if McKinley's claim was true? That would mean Carson's had a major problem. Months ago, Donny had written her about a deal Dad had made to market Mega Motors' RV's in Luville. According to her brother, the first delivery was already scheduled. Without the warehouse, where would the RV's go? She jerked open the door of the ancient Mazda and sat down. If Josh really did hold a lease on the warehouse, he also held the upper hand. As long as he didn't break the terms of the contract. What could Donny have been thinking?
She jammed the key into the ignition. The engine sputtered and caught. It needed a tune-up badly. She pulled out of the lot and broke away from the thought of Josh. That was it. Make Josh break the lease. She had to find a way to do it. But how?
)
A rich cowboy with a classic Cadillac--sounds like the stuff of dreams for a small-town Texas girl, right? Wrong! Josh McKinley and his Cadillac, a rare 1953 Orleans, have been Sara Carson's nightmare ever since the day their families started fueding over the car. The decade long feud, a troubled teen, a bitter old man and a kindergarten full of demands are only some of the roadblocks on the bumpy road these two strong-willed people will travel. Despite their troubled past, Sara now needs Josh's cooperation. She only hopes she can get that help without losing her heart to the one man she should never love.
