To Claim a Wilde (Wilde In Wyoming Book 6) by Kimberly Kaye Terry Read Free Book Online

handle it from the get-go was because the conversation was to be with Tiber Wilde. Not Canton.
    And even with that, initially Naomi only wanted to deal over the phone with Tiber, but had agreed to come out to see him, personally, after her subtle investigation led her to believe Canton would be out on a rig somewhere, anywhere but here, she thought.
    Damn it!
    Her mind scrambled, trying to fill in the facts.
    According to both Althea Wilde and Tiber, Canton was out of town, so she had little to worry about, at least for the time being.
    When she had her correspondences with Tiber, she had carefully verified, without raising any questions, that Althea was right about Canton’s being away, and his brother had assured her of that detail.
    Althea had in fact told her that Canton wouldn’t be back in the area for a few weeks, according to gossip.
    “You still do that?” he asked, startling her out of her own musings in his deep sexy voice. She felt a flush rush over her despite everything, an automatic response to him, one that time obviously hadn’t taken away.
    Naomi clenched her jaw and made eye contact with him, ruthlessly stamping down the response her body made to him. Nipples pulsing in direct harmony with the wild beat of her heart, and a lot more. She felt the heat burn her face.
    She thanked God that because of her complexion, he wouldn’t be able to tell how badly she was blushing, at least.
    That was all it was. Just some crazy chemical reaction, she assured herself.
    “Do what?” she asked, clearing her throat.
    “Reason things out in a conversation with yourself?” he asked, amusement tingeing his deep voice. “And blush as though you’ve embarrassed yourself?”
    Her eyes flew to his, her hands reaching to cover both of her flaming cheeks. How could he tell she was blushing? she wondered.
    “If I recall correctly, we met once before. Your folks own the McBride ranch, correct? Dean and Roslyn McBride?” he asked, his expression inscrutable.
    All Naomi could do was bob her head up and down in affirmation. Mute as a mule.
    For a moment she could not say one dang word had her life depended on it.
    It then dawned on her after all of his sentence sank in that maybe he didn’t remember their one night all those years ago. Maybe he remembered her from her folks!
    Dear God, please let that be it, she silently prayed.
    “What are you doing here? I thought I had time, I, uh, I mean—” She stopped speaking, realizing that she was both blabbering and talking herself into a hole.
    The same hole she wanted to bury herself in and throw away the shovel.
    She clamped her mouth shut. Although she knew the chance of seeing Canton was there, she’d thought time would be on her side and it wouldn’t be anytime soon.
    Apparently time and fate were most definitely not on her side.
    “What I meant was, I thought I would be speaking with your brother Tiber. He assured me that I would be dealing with him. We had an appointment today, to discuss my family’s, um, situation,” she continued, trying to get it together. “I’m here to discuss a possible resolution on behalf of my parents.”
    “Yes, I’m aware of the situation. However, Tiber isn’t available. Had me pinch-hit for him,” he replied, the tone of his voice inscrutable, making it hard for Naomi to discern his thoughts. “But as I said he filled me in on the situation. I just didn’t make the connection on which family it was. Not until now.” His odd wording made her wonder, again, if he remembered their intimate encounter, or if he simply remembered her from years ago, when she’d lived in the area.
    Did
he remember that night? The question ran through her mind like a never-ending merry-go-round. One part of her was secretly embarrassed if he
didn’t
.
    Because she had never, in seven years, forgotten one thing about their encounter. Not one thing.
    Not the way he had looked, tall and commanding as he stood staring down at her as she lay before