Her Texas Renegade
But she’d turned her back on him the moment she met Buckley Blackwood and his millions. And he wasn’t about to take a trip down memory lane with her, even if memories of that rogue kiss in New York had put her in his thoughts all too often lately.
“Deer Springs is a small town, Miranda.” He rounded the desk to stand closer to her, noting the way her eyes followed him. “I wasn’t about to feed the local rumor mill with stories about me refusing to see the town’s most illustrious native.”
She laughed but it was a brittle sound. “Please. Deer Springs is practically Silicon Valley compared to Sauder Falls.”
He’d forgotten she was technically from the next town over, a fact never referenced in her bio since Sauder Falls was a dingier town that had never recovered from a mill closing many years prior. When they’d met, Miranda had been working part-time at a diner in Deer Springs while she ran a local yoga studio and gave classes at another fitness center in Royal. Her big dreams and hard work to achieve them had captivated him since he understood that thirst to do something more.
“Nevertheless, your name is well-known around here.” He was close enough to her to catch a hint of her fragrance, the same scent that made him think of night-blooming flowers. The sooner he sent her on her way, the better. There wouldn’t be any surprise kisses this time. “And now that you’ve got your audience, what is it you want from me? I thought I made it clear I wasn’t interested in doing business with you the last time we met.”
Her lips compressed into a thin line at the reminder of their last meeting. After the kiss that had been so damned unexpected, he’d recovered by assuring her he wouldn’t so much as cross the street for her anymore. Harsh? Not considering the way she’d dumped him.
No sense pretending they had much to say to one another anymore.
“I’m temporarily managing Blackwood Bank,” she began, coming straight to the point as she tilted her chin. “And I need to update the security before I pass over the reins to the Blackwood heirs. You wouldn’t be doing business with me so much as with the Blackwoods.”
Surprise registered. He’d thought maybe she wanted help with Goddess, her line of fitness studios. Blackwood Bank was a client of a whole different caliber. Encryption for a financial institution was extremely complex. It might have been tempting, if not for the woman who made the offer.
She was tempting, too. But in all the wrong ways when he needed to focus on his business.
“But as you pointed out, you’re managing the bank right now. You honestly expect me to work for you?” Folding his arms, he leaned against his desk. Waiting. Willing his thoughts to stay on business and his boots to stay firmly planted.
No touching. No thinking about touching.
Even though the pulse at the base of her throat leaped frantically, drawing his eye and making him wonder what would happen if he ran his tongue over that very place. He’d be willing to bet she’d burst into flames. But then, he would too, and he’d be damned if that happened.
“Not for me. For the bank.” Opening her purse, she removed a manila folder and placed it on his desk. The movement put her body in dangerously enticing proximity to his. “I have a contract ready, but if the terms aren’t to your liking—”
“No.” He didn’t need to look at the terms.
“No?” She left the folder on the desk and her blue eyes met his. “Kai, this is a very good offer. The bank deserves the kind of data protection your company specializes in, and since you’re local—”
“Madtec is busy.” He was being abrupt. Borderline unprofessional. But he didn’t like the way she affected him and didn’t intend to tempt fate by spending any more time together than was absolutely necessary.
She gripped the leather of her designer purse tighter, her short nails and simple French manicure oddly reminding him she wasn’t quite as high maintenance as the other women on her reality television show. There was still something more down-to-earth about Miranda.
Not that he’d ever watched more than a two-minute clip.
“I understand,” she told him finally, inclining her head with the grace of a medieval queen. “But I’ll leave the contract here and hope you’ll reconsider. Perhaps Dane would feel differently.”
Dane would kick his ass for turning down a client like Blackwood Bank. But Kai said nothing.
Realizing he was probably staring her down like a street thug, Kai shook off the frustration and straightened.
“Thank you for thinking of us,” he said with too much formality, ready to get back to his work. “My assistant can show you out.”
Not that Miranda Dupree had ever needed help walking away.
“I could assign someone else to be the point person for the bank.” She tossed out the compromise, clearly sensing he wasn’t going to budge. “You’d never have to see me once you agreed to the job.”
He wasn’t about to let her see that the offer had appeal. He managed a cool smile. “Afraid you’d end up in my bed again if we worked together, Miranda?”
“Not at all.” She folded her arms and peered up at him like she knew exactly what he was thinking. “Are you, Kai?”
She let the question hang between them for a long moment before she turned on her heel and walked out of his office with the same quiet confidence that had accompanied her through the doors in the first place. Kai didn’t breathe again until she was out of sight. And hell, he couldn’t help but wonder if she had a point. Because she still tempted him like no woman he’d ever known.
Even if he couldn’t trust her.
Shoving aside the contract she’d left behind, he pulled out his laptop from a hidden drawer in one gray stone wall, and got to work.
Humble pie tasted even worse when choked down with no results.
Miranda fumed on her way out of the Madtec offices, thoroughly irritated with herself for wasting time driving to Deer Springs only to have Kai Maddox reject her offer without even stirring himself to look at it. He’d been more concerned with making sure she knew how easily he could ignite the old attraction between them.
And she couldn’t very well dispute it. The heat rolled off him in waves, melting her defenses like they’d never been there in the first place.
She took the stairs—she preferred stairs whenever possible to up her steps, especially when there was anger to be stomped out—and was surprised to discover the Madtec stairwell seemed to be designed for employee wellness. Motivational phrases were painted on the walls, and the stairs were wide enough to accommodate several people at once. There was even a “runners’ lane” painted in red to one side. With vinyl walls and ventilation fans, the staircase implemented some of the same techniques she used in her fitness centers to keep the space clean and well aired.
And how frustrating was it to find something to admire about Kai when she wanted to stay furious with him?
“Ms. Dupree?” A young woman with a swinging ponytail yanked her earbuds free as she locked eyes with Miranda and halted on her way up the steps. “I love your show so much. Is it true the Secret Lives of NYC Ex-Wives is leaving Royal soon? It’s been so fun seeing sites close to home on TV.”
“Thank you.” Miranda smiled warmly, knowing the importance of connecting positively with viewers who invested their time in the program. “We will be filming in Royal for at least a few more weeks,” assuming Lulu and the show’s production team could pull together a big wedding in time, “but next season we’ll be returning to New York.”
“We’ll really miss you,” the woman said sincerely, digging in her messenger bag and pulling out a pen and paper. “Especially since you grew up around here and have ties to the area. May I have an autograph?”
“Of course.” Miranda signed the back of the woman’s grocery receipt before they went their separate ways, her thoughts snagging on the fan’s words about being native to the region.
Miranda hadn’t visited her mother since she’d been back in Texas. Nor had her mother come to Royal to see her, which was even more surprising in light of how thoroughly Virginia “Ginny” Dupree loved Blackwood Hollow. And how hard she’d once lobbied to have a role on Secret Lives of NYC Ex-Wives. She’d been angry at Miranda for not giving her that chance. Although not as angry as she’d been at Miranda for leaving her marriage in the first place. It had made her furious that Miranda signed a prenup—and walked away with nothing from Buck.
How stupid can you be? she’d shouted at Miranda over the phone, her diction sloppy from a prescription painkiller addiction that ebbed and flowed according to what was going on in her life at the time.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Yoga, and all the mindful breathing that went with it, had been helping keep Miranda grounded her entire adult life. The teachings of Goddess centers everywhere weren’t just about being physically fit. All that breathing definitely helped her emotional and mental health, too.
By the time she reached the main floor of Madtec, Miranda didn’t feel quite as annoyed with Kai. Looking around at the design touches in the building, from the vintage video game posters that decorated the café walls to the courtyards and green spaces that seemed to give employees plenty of options for working outdoors in mild weather, Miranda had to admire the employee-centered corporate environment he’d given his workforce.
Kai Maddox might be a former hacker who’d skirted the law in the years he’d worked to learn the computer security business from the inside out, but there was no denying he’d turned his knowledge into an incredibly successful undertaking. Moreover, he’d given back to his hometown by building his corporate headquarters here. She’d read an article about a community center he’d built close to the diner where she used to work.
Where they’d met.
She wouldn’t be driving by that on her way out of town, however. Shoving out the front doors of Madtec into the late afternoon sunlight, Miranda had enough thoughts of Kai crowding her head for one day. He’d packed on more muscle since they’d dated a decade ago, but there was no mistaking the always-assessing, smoldering green eyes and the scar on his jaw where he’d collided with the road on one of his motorcycle tours. The tattoos she remembered had been covered up by his custom Italian suit, but she found herself remembering every swirl and shadow of the intricate ink.
Stop.
She told herself not to give the reformed bad boy another thought. Clearly, he’d put her in his past and had no intention of spending more time with her than was absolutely necessary, no matter that she’d been prepared to pay him well.
She’d simply have to find someone else to review the Blackwood Bank digital security since Kai was determined not to help her. She’d been a fool to expect anything else. Maybe while she worked on bringing the cybersecurity of the bank up to snuff, she would have firewalls installed on her heart, too.
Two
“What the hell is the matter with you?” Dane Maddox stormed into Kai’s office the next afternoon, a stainless-steel mug of coffee in one hand, and a sheaf of papers in the other.
Or, it was in the other hand until he slid the packet across Kai’s desk.
The contract with the logo from Blackwood Bank emblazoned on the top pinwheeled across the glass surface before a corner lodged under his laptop.
Recognizing there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of getting any work done until he addressed whatever had his brother fired up, Kai closed his computer and shoved back from the desk to meet Dane’s glare. Dane might be two years younger than Kai, but he had all of Kai’s tech smarts and a level of business savvy worthy of someone who’d been in the corporate world for twice as long. Kai was proud of him, even when he was being a pain in the ass.
“Let’s see,” Kai mused aloud, humoring him. “Depending who you talk to, it could be the chip on my shoulder. Or that I’m too much of a workaholic. And the whole thrill-seeking thing rubs some people the wrong way—”
“I’ll tell you what your problem is,” Dane continued, jabbing a finger on Kai’s desk. “You’re too damned bullheaded to recognize this—” he jabbed the contract twice more “—is everything we’ve been waiting for.”
Tension bunched up the muscles in his shoulders, twisting its way along his neck.
“Madtec is thriving,” Kai reminded him. “There’s no need to affiliate ourselves with—” How to phrase his reservations about Miranda? About himself when he was around Miranda? “—people we don’t care to work with just to make a buck.”
Dane paced around Kai’s office, his dark brown hair overdue for a cut and giving silent testament to how many hours he’d been putting into the new software testing.
“This contract is not with people.” Dane loosened his tie a fraction although it wasn’t even noon yet. “This is a contract to partner with one of the top ten privately held banks in the country, Kai.”
He hardly needed to be reminded. But the knowledge didn’t ease the knot in his throat at the thought of seeing more of Miranda. She might be easy on the eyes, but she’d been hell on his heart. Worse, Kai had been so thoroughly distracted by their affair and the thought of losing her that he’d taken his focus away from a project he’d been working on with his brother. The job had required a large-scale “almost” hack, since the first step toward preventing hackers from gaining access to any system is to learn how hacking is done. Quietly breaching a system—with zero malicious intent—had been a delicate task with devastating consequences if it was mishandled, but Kai had let Dane step up his role, confident his brother had the skills to monitor the program while Kai wooed Miranda.
The fact that Dane had done prison time for Kai’s mistake would weigh on him forever. But bringing that up now would only tick off his agitated brother even more.
“When we started this company,” Kai reminded him instead, “we agreed we would take the work we wanted—”
“I’m going to stop you right there.” Dane charged toward the desk again to retrieve the paperwork. “When we came up with our mission statement, we agreed to work with companies that shared our values wherever possible, and I stand by that. But that doesn’t mean we’re suddenly going to turn down the chance to work with a reputable financial institution because an old flame happened to deliver the offer.”
His brother laid the sheaf on top of his laptop and placed a heavy silver pen nearby.
“Does this mean you want us to take the project, even when we’re already running at full capacity to get the new software to market?”
“We’re only running at capacity because we haven’t filled all the positions the new place can accommodate. We built this space to grow, and the Blackwood Bank account will allow us to do just that,” Dane pointed out reasonably.
Kai blew out a frustrated breath, hating that his brother was right. Hating that he’d thought about Miranda almost nonstop since she’d walked out of his office the day before.
“Kai, you know that a partnership with Blackwood Bank would give Madtec that final stamp of legitimacy we’ve been looking for.” Dane finally dropped into the seat across from Kai’s desk. Dane sat forward in his chair. “CEOs from major corporations across the country would be willing to take a cue from an institution as prestigious as Blackwood to take a chance on a business founded by a couple of ex-hackers.”
“The affiliation would take us mainstream,” Kai admitted, knowing he couldn’t deny Dane this opportunity to cast off the last taint of his jail time.
How ironic that Miranda had been the one to give them that chance.
“You’ll sign?” Dane pressed.
Kai picked up the pen for an answer, seeing no other choice. He’d bring the signed contracts to Miranda personally. Maybe then, he’d figure out a way to broker a peace between them long enough to fulfill Madtec’s obligations to Blackwood Bank.
Dane was right about the need to accept the offer. But the sooner the job was done, the sooner Kai would put Miranda Dupree back in his past, where she belonged.
Miranda clutched a letter from Buckley Blackwood in her hands, eyes moving over the text. This was the third and final missive Buck had written to be delivered to her after his death. The first had explained the true intentions behind his will and the role he’d needed her to play. The second had included instructions on how to find his illegitimate son, Darius, and bring him into contact with the rest of the family. Now this letter included the last of his requests. She reread her ex-husband’s final missive for her.
Dear Miranda,
Thank you for hanging in there with me to take care of these last tasks—the jobs I couldn’t seem to pull off myself when I still had time. I hope this one last request will be a little easier than the others. I’d like you to organize a send-off for me, but not some schmaltzy memorial service—you know I hate things like that. I’m picturing an epic charity event, something like “Royal Gives Back,” and I want you to organize it as only you can. I was thinking the proceeds ought to go to the Stroke Foundation or maybe the Heart Association since they study the underlying causes of strokes. It still weighs on me that my children lost their mother too soon because of a stroke. I wasn’t the husband I should have been to Donna-Leigh before our divorce, but I’d like to do this in her honor. Now that I’ve been exposed for a philanthropist do-gooder, I might as well go all out one last time, right? I know you won’t disappoint me. After this last favor, you can go back to your life in New York, and I’ll rest easier. Yours, Buck.
Miranda returned Buckley’s last letter to the small secretary desk in the guesthouse’s second bedroom that served as her temporary office. She mulled over what it meant as she sat in front her laptop to review her work email for Goddess. Kace LeBlanc had hand delivered the note this morning, assuring her it would be the final note from Buckley.
That had been both good and bad news for her. While she was relieved there would be no more surprises from her ex, she would also miss Royal. She’d grown close to her stepchildren, people who felt more like her family these days than her mother ever had. Her gaze shifted away from her laptop screen to a new framed photo of the Blackwood heirs from Sophie’s wedding—Sophie, Kellan and Vaughn with their half brother, Darius. Buckley would be so proud to have them all together at last.
Miranda felt glad she’d played a part in making that happen. Buckley hadn’t been a great father, but he’d cared. Miranda’s father had died when she was three, too young to be sure she remembered him, although sometimes she imagined she recalled his laugh or a feeling of being hugged by him. At first, her mother had worked two jobs after his death to provide for them, but she’d given up by the time Miranda was ten. The house fell into disrepair. The electricity was shut off more often than not. Miranda had only ever worn other girls’ cast-off clothes. None of which was as troubling as her mother’s decision to spend the little bit of money she brought in on a prescription pill addiction.
Ginny Dupree was a mean addict. She didn’t hit, but she threw things, and she was verbally cruel. Some of her more cutting words had continued to hurt Miranda long afterward, which was why she drew firm boundaries with her now. But as she saw the Blackwood family healing, Miranda couldn’t help a twinge of envy for the kind of companionship and support that came with family relationships.
The love.
She suspected that lack of love in her childhood home had been one of the driving forces behind her strong feelings for Kai Maddox. Being with Kai had opened a whole new world of possibilities for her heart.
Until he’d started to withdraw from her. She’d never understood it, but she’d felt his retreat in the weeks before their split. He might blame her for their breakup, but he’d pulled away long before she’d ended things.
Buckley Blackwood might have been richer and worldlier than Kai. But in many ways, she’d settled for him when she’d married him, telling herself maybe her quieter, steadier feelings for him were what more mature love felt like.
Lesson learned.
Except Kai Maddox was back in her thoughts now, stirring up feelings she’d thought she’d put to rest long ago. And stirring up a hunger for him that she couldn’t possibly deny. She’d dreamed about his hands all over her the night before, bringing her intense pleasure while he whispered wicked, suggestive things in her ear. She’d awoken edgy and breathless, her heart beating fast.
Maybe organizing this charity event for Buckley was just what she needed. Instead of spending her final month in Royal working side by side with an old lover she couldn’t stop thinking about, she would spend it planning something worthwhile.
With a frustrated sigh, she shut her laptop and changed into her workout clothes, knowing she’d never get anything accomplished with her thoughts spinning this way.
Lying on her belly in cobra pose, Miranda arched her spine and pulled her shoulders back while she moved through her afternoon yoga workout in the studio of the Blackwood Hollow guesthouse. She inhaled deeply and slowly, matching her breath to her pose. The cycle of postures in the sun salutation was grounding for her during times of stress, and it took all her effort to focus on her breathing when memories of Kai clung to her thoughts.
With her mat positioned near the studio’s big front window overlooking the grounds, she held the pose for five deep breaths, turning her head to one side and then the other as she tried not to think about how it had felt to stand near him. She would force his smoldering image from her mind by sheer will.
Except, was that him pulling into the driveway of the guesthouse? Parking a sleek silver sports car in front of the double bay detached garage?
She forgot all about her breath in the scramble to her feet as Kai emerged from a Jaguar F-Type coupe. Dressed in a deep blue jacket with a light blue shirt underneath, he looked more casual than the day before and every bit as compelling. Awareness and anticipation tingled over her skin. She had to remind herself that her sexy dream about him hadn’t been real. That she couldn’t afford to indulge those kinds of thoughts around him. She hurried toward the door, dismayed that instead of being dressed to impress, she wore capri-length leggings and a drapey tank shirt for her workout.
Not that there was any help for it now.
Slipping on a pair of beaded sandals by the front mat, Miranda opened the door of the studio attached to the rest of the guesthouse by a covered breezeway. The smooth stone path connected the buildings, outlined by native plants and shrubs. When she stepped outside, Kai’s green gaze swung toward her.
He changed the trajectory of his stride, turning away from the main house toward the studio building. She hadn’t realized until then he carried a small box with an all-too-recognizable logo on it.
One that stirred nostalgia.
“Hello, Miranda. I hope I didn’t interrupt you.” He stopped a few feet from her under the shade of the breezeway, the spring air still fragrant with almond verbena.
Her breath caught to be close to him again, her heart rate picking up speed.
“I’m surprised to see you.” She remembered how curt he’d been the day before, but if he was here to tell her he’d reconsidered, she couldn’t afford to refuse. Still, there was no reason to make it too easy for him. She’d had to scarf down humble pie the day before—it wouldn’t kill him to have a bite or two of his own. “I got the distinct impression you didn’t want to cross paths again when I left your office yesterday.”