We’ll likely head out right after lunch to the first one, just this side of Brady. It’ll take us more than a couple of hours to get there. We likely won’t get back until late, though. I’m thinking around six-thirty or seven.”
Andrew looked at his watch. “Mrs. Wyse mentioned the supplies you ordered arrived this morning. They’re being stored down in the general supply room. Do you want me to grab the water and soil test kits?”
“I’d actually like all the test kits and instruments brought up here, so they’re on hand. While you do that, I’ll print us up a map and some charts I’ve designed to use at each site. I thought we’d each take notes, then compare when we come in from the field.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
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Penelope blinked when he called her ma’am. She wasn’t even two years older than he was! Having never been anyone’s boss before, she realized she’d have to work on getting used to it.
“I’ll go get them now.” Andrew paused at the open door and looked out into the reception area.
Penelope smiled because she realized he was checking to see if Grandma Kate was still visible. Then he sighed and left.
She turned back to her computer and downloaded the charts and graphs she’d designed herself. Selecting the ones she needed, she began printing them off. This would be her first real day in Texas doing the work she believed in, the work she loved to do.
She couldn’t wait to get out in the field and get started.
* * * *
“I know there’s a lot of oil there,” Douglas Evercroft said. “The geology supports it, and my surveyors assure me that it’s a site that will prove very lucrative.” He sat back and puffed out a breath.
“Wanting my money all up front may seem extreme, but compared to the money you’ll make with all those barrels of good Texas oil, you’ll feel like you stole it.”
Josh grinned. He had to give Evercroft credit. The man certainly did his best to come out on top, no matter what.
They’d been negotiating off and on for several weeks and through that time had been haggling over the price of the land and the terms of payment.
“Since you’re convinced we’ll all be swimming in crude, you shouldn’t mind that we pay half the agreed upon price up front, and turn the rest into a percentage of the barrels pumped
as
the oil is extracted.”
Doug returned Josh’s smile. “Now, son. I’ve been around the block a time or two. Back when your Uncle Carson was just getting a feel for that chair you’re sitting in now, I knew how things worked in
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this town. Hell, I started out as a roughneck, worked my way up from nothing. I’ve scrubbed my share of crude out from under my fingernails, that’s a fact. There’s nothing to stop you from making that deal with me and then letting the site go to reserve. The oil don’t get pumped, I don’t get paid. Especially now that you’ve got that fancy environmentalist from back east sniffing all around. Likely you’ll be putting a lot of stuff on hold till she goes back to Washington.”
Josh sat back and studied the man for a moment. One thing he’d been able to count on all his life, aside from his brother, were his instincts. Right now they were screaming at him. It rattled him to have thoughts of Penelope brought to the table, as it were.
“I don’t know where you got your information, Mr. Evercroft.”
Josh sure as hell didn’t like that he had it, either. He looked over at Alex and saw his brother looked as surprised as he felt. Then he noticed that both Colt Evans and Ryder Magee had sat up straighter in their seats, focusing on Evercroft.
There’d been no progress tracing those letters, and the fact that Penelope could be a target worried him more each day. For Evercroft to even know about her, it meant someone here had leaked information to the man. Was it connected to their threat? Josh didn’t know—and he didn’t like that he didn’t know.
“The family has hired a consultant, that’s true. In light of recent events, we want to be absolutely certain that all remediated sites have been properly rehabilitated.”
He sat back and looked at his brother.
Alex leaned forward. “We have no problem whatsoever adding a clause to the contract that will allow for stiff penalties on our part if we don’t develop the site according to a timeline we can all agree upon.”
Evercroft winced, as if he really didn’t like the sound of those terms. “I don’t know. A man’s got to protect himself in this day and age. Paying me the money once we sign just seems like the straight-up way to do things.”
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Josh looked at him for a long moment, until the man blinked. “Are you doubting the veracity of a contract signed with Benedict Oil and Minerals—or the report of your own geologists? Perhaps you’re worried there isn’t as much oil there as you’d like us to believe.”
“Your company’s always been rock solid.” Evercroft looked like a man who’d just lost a pissing match. “And hell, you know these scientists are right most of the time.”
“Then we’ll have our lawyers include a provision for penalties if we fail to drill,” Alex said. “We’ll pay you half of our previously agreed upon price up front, and the rest as a percentage of the production, as the oil is pumped from the ground.”
For a long moment, Evercroft said nothing. He just sat there, staring at his fingers as they tapped out a beat on the table. Finally, slowly, he nodded.
“Well, then. You have your legal eagles write everything up, and send it over to my boys.” Then he smiled. “You can understand my concerns. Once I heard you had an environmentalist sniffing around, I began to worry. These are difficult times for the oil industry.”
“I’d be interested in knowing how you heard about Ms.
Primrose.” Colt spoke up for the first time, his tone full of good-old-boy humor. “Since Ryder and I only just found out, ourselves, and we’re practically family.”
“Oh, you know how this town is, boys. They say women gossip, but swear to God, men have that habit down to a fine art form.”
Josh wanted to press the issue but knew they were better off letting it seem an incidental matter that he’d known about Penelope.
He thought he did a passable job of winding up the meeting as if the matter was already forgotten and showing Evercroft to the elevators.
When he returned to the boardroom, Alex said, “Mitch is on his way up.”
“You want to kick something, there, Josh?” Ryder asked. “You look a mite pissed.”
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“Son of a bitch.” Josh paced to his window. “It’s likely not connected to those letters. Still—”
“There’s a threat to your woman. Trust me, Ryder and I both know how you feel about that,” Colt said.
Josh spun on his heel as Colt’s words registered. He opened his mouth to protest, then shut it again. He hadn’t thought of Penelope as being
their
woman. Looking over at Alex, he could see his brother had reacted the same way. That’s the second shock in just a few minutes. Josh really did not like being taken by surprise this way. He and Alex would have to talk about this. But later. Since it seemed as if Colt was waiting for some kind of response, he said, “Grandma Kate’s fond of her. So of course we wouldn’t want anything to happen to her.”
He couldn’t interpret the look the wildcatters exchanged between them. Until Ryder said, “You keep on telling yourself that for as long as you need to, Josh. We understand completely.”
Well, hell. Josh shook his head. He’d let that one go, mainly because Ryder had a point. He and Alex had been studiously
not
thinking about their relationship with pretty Penelope since the first time they both slid into her hot, delectable body. He needed to get Penelope out of his thoughts. Thank God he was standing behind a chair. No one would know he had a hard-on.
“Perhaps we can ask Mitch about having someone from security accompany Penelope this afternoon,” Alex said.
“Accompany her? Where the hell is she going?” And why hadn’t Josh known she was going somewhere? He was the oldest, damn it.
That
thought, and what it meant, echoed in his brain until he pushed it away.
“She’s heading out to the number four site, just outside of Brady,”
Alex said. “I only just found out before our meeting, and only then by accident. I overheard her admin talking to Stella.”
“Damn right Mitch will have someone go with her.” Josh glared over at the wildcatters, both of whom seemed to have come down
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with a coughing fit. He supposed he should get used to the fact that he had two new brothers who felt perfectly comfortable razzing him the way brothers did.
So the best thing Josh could do was ignore them. He had a feeling he was going to need all his energy keeping his worry for Penelope under wraps until she got safely home again.
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Chapter 13
Home at last.
Penelope sighed when she got out of her car at Benedict Towers.
The security guard on duty looked to be about as easygoing and fun-loving as Mitch Grafton had been.
She was going to give those two Benedicts a piece of her mind.
She didn’t need or want an armed, frowning behemoth following her around everywhere she went. Bad enough there was one here, watching her every move as she got out of her car and headed to the elevator.
The door of the penthouse across the hall opened just as she exited the elevator.
“Hey, pretty Penelope, want to come over and play?” Josh stood with his arms folded over his chest, one eyebrow raised, and a smile that was too cute by half.
“After you saddled me with a babysitter this afternoon?” She gave him a good frown to let him know she hadn’t appreciated his actions.
Josh’s smile vanished. He stepped forward, put his hands on her waist, and lifted her right up so that her face was level with his.
“I’m not going to apologize for doing everything I can to keep you safe. You matter. So deal with it.”
Penelope forgot about protesting when his mouth claimed hers.
His flavor intoxicated her, completely eroding every thought from her mind. Helpless to resist him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Their tongues swirled and danced. How could she be so instantly and totally aroused?
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He carried her, but it wasn’t until he weaned his lips from hers and began kissing her neck that she realized he’d brought her into his apartment.
“Oh.” Apparently Josh’s kisses managed to short-circuit her brain, if that was the only thing she could say.
“I missed you today.” Josh set her down then tilted her face up to his. “I really missed you.”
“I missed you, too.” That was the truth, and compartmentalization be damned. Before she could say another word, Alex laid his hands on her shoulders and then turned her into his arms.
His expression looked so hopeful, she said, “And I missed you, too.” She didn’t wait, just went up on her toes so she could taste him, so she could drown in his flavor and revel in the heat of his embrace.
Josh moved in behind her, his heat as potent as his brother’s. He stroked her, random caresses that gave pleasure and created a hunger for more.
Penelope ended her kiss with Alex, then tilted her head so she could mate her mouth with Josh’s again. When she came up for air, he took her hand.
“Come to bed with us, sweetheart,” Josh said.
Why couldn’t she resist them?
Because I don’t want to
.
No, she didn’t want to resist any opportunity to be with these men, to touch and taste, to tease and ease and celebrate. Whenever they loved, whenever they stripped down and simply immersed themselves in pleasure, such joy filled her, she knew it had to overflow to fill them, too.
They reached the bedroom, and Penelope began to undress, letting her clothing drop where it would. She needed no seduction. She wanted this, would take this for herself. They made her greedy for all the pleasure she could grab. Passion like this couldn’t last, could it?
No, of course not. So she would take it all while she could and deal with the consequences later.
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She would deal with the fact she’d fallen in love with these two honchos in the after time. After the fire faded. After they’d moved on.
“You make me so hard.”
Josh reached out and helped her step out of her slacks. Then he cupped her, the heat of his hand flooding her cunt with desire. He slipped his fingers behind the crotch of her panties and penetrated her.
“And you get so wet for us.” He bent down and kissed her, his tongue tangling with hers in a way that left no doubt as to his intentions. His fingers worked in the same rhythm as his tongue.
Alex ran his hand down her back, played it across her ass, then began to run his fingers up and down the crack of her ass.
“Will you let us take you here?” Alex’s request made her heart race. Imagining having them deep inside her that way had been firing her blood since they’d inserted the butt plug in her. She craved to have them every way she could have them, one at a time and together.
“Yes. Yes. I want it all.”
“Jesus, you’re a wonder.” Alex kissed her shoulder.
Josh captured her mouth with his. She kissed him, sinking into him, and she reached for Alex, feeling his flesh under her hand, the heat of him.
Josh’s lips left hers and trailed down the column of her throat.
Tilting her head back, she opened herself to him, silently urging him to take all that she had to give him. She inhaled deeply and could smell them, the aroma of the two of them intertwined, combined, into the most sensual of fragrances.
Their scent and their taste had become necessary to her, a tonic that steadied her and thrilled her, that made her whole.
Alex kissed her as Josh tongued her nipple. Her hands gladly stroked and petted, the sensation of hot flesh over hard, honed muscle one that fed her inner female. Here, under her hands, lay the proof that those bigger and stronger than her had a power over her. This sensation harkened back to the past, to a time when the hunters, the
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