Convincing the Rancher. Claire McEwen

to relief. “Oh, yes! It was when Samantha married Jack, right?” The mayor looked puzzled, so she tried again. “Samantha Rylant? She married Jack Baron about six months ago. She’s a good friend and they live in Benson. We must have met at their wedding.”

      The mayor gave a short laugh, studying her face with an expression of disbelief on his own. “I know them pretty well. But I was out of town for that happy occasion. I...” He paused as if catching himself. “I’m sorry, why don’t you have a seat.” He indicated the chair opposite his desk and she sat down reluctantly. He sat down as well, moving with surprising grace for such a big man. He leaned back and regarded her bemusedly over the vast mahogany expanse. “I guess I would have hoped our previous meeting was a little more memorable for you.”

      Now she really was at a loss. “I’m really not...”

      “Phoenix, Arizona? The Fairway Resort?”

      She’d been there, as a guest speaker at a convention a couple years ago. “Oh, were you attending the PR conference?”

      “No, I wasn’t.” He watched her carefully.

      “Then where did we...” The realization hit her in the stomach and chest, and her heart started pounding. This couldn’t really be happening. Tess kept her work life and personal life separate—completely separate—until now. A one-night stand. She’d had a one-night stand with the mayor of Benson.

      Recollections of that one night trickled in and she felt her face warm. Memories of his huge hands roaming her body, the way he’d felt surrounding her, inside of her. How had she not recognized him? She felt hot for the first time since she’d arrived in Benson. She was blushing—and she never blushed.

      She tilted her chin up. No way was she letting him know she was this rattled. The smile she gave him was one she’d practiced for a long time—slow, confident and just a bit seductive. “You know, it is coming back to me now.”

      “You left.” He steepled his fingers and looked at her over them. “You walked out before dawn. I never got your name.”

      “It’s simpler that way.”

      His expression darkened. “Simpler for you.”

      Tess looked up at the old stamped-tin ceiling. If there was some kind of patron saint for sinners like her, she could really use some intervention right now. This was way too uncomfortable, and certainly not the first impression she’d hoped to make.

      She stood. “Mayor Jacobs...”

      “Slaid.” His eyes were deep and dark and troubled. “Or did you forget my name, too?”

      She had. Though in her defense, they’d been drinking whiskey neat—a lot of it. She might not remember his name, but she remembered the headache she’d had when she’d crept out of his room after he’d fallen asleep. After the most amazing sex she’d ever had. The mayor of Benson might have been a one-night stand, but the raging chemistry between them had meant there’d been no boundaries, no embarrassment, just an insane heat. That night had haunted her, had become the standard by which she judged the men she slept with since. None of them had ever measured up. How had she not recognized him?

      Her hands went to her burning cheeks. “Slaid, I apologize if my memory is faulty. It was a while ago.”

      “Two years,” he said.

      “Okay. Two years.” He obviously had a great memory, and Tess didn’t want to think about what else he might be remembering. “It’s very strange to meet you again in this way.”

      “Yes,” he agreed. He was standing now as well, one hand fiddling with a pen he’d picked up, betraying that he, too, was uncomfortable.

      This situation was a disaster. But there was a silver lining. This could be her ticket out of Benson. “I’ll tell you what. I’m going to call my boss and we’ll put a different consultant on this job, so it doesn’t have to be awkward for you. Okay?” She started backing away, wondering how she would explain this situation to Ed. By laying out the mortifying truth, probably. He wouldn’t replace her for any other reason. Her past relationship with Benson’s mayor would jeopardize their success here—that much was clear.

      “No.” Slaid’s voice was firm.

      “No?” Tess echoed. How could he not see how messy this would be?

      “It’s not okay with me. Of course you can go, but be sure to mention to your boss that if he puts anyone else on this project, I won’t be cooperative.”

      “But that makes no sense.” Tess was practically pleading. The last thing she wanted was to try to work with a man she’d slept with. A man who was making her feel so unsettled right now that she could barely think.

      “It makes sense to me and I’m the mayor. Any PR consultant working for an energy firm will need a decent relationship with me to get their job done, and I don’t want a replacement. You’re the consultant I want to work with.”

      Tess stared at him in horror and growing concern. “Why?”

      His voice softened. “Don’t you ever think about that night?”

      He wanted sex. How disappointingly predictable. Although somewhat tempting... She forced her voice to be steady and cool. “Just so you know, I don’t mix up my personal and professional lives. Ever.”

      “Seems as though in this situation you already have.” His voice was soft but his jaw was set. He wasn’t backing down, that was clear.

      “I’m not responsible for this bizarre coincidence, Mayor Jacobs.”

      He didn’t answer, just raised an accusatory eyebrow. The jerk. It wasn’t as though she’d taken advantage of him. He’d been an extremely enthusiastic participant that night. “If you insist that I stay, it’s a hundred percent professional between us. Is that very clear?”

      Mayor Slaid Jacobs laughed, but it was a bleak sound. “Clear as day. We’re adults. And if you’re here to discuss energy development, we’ll likely have a rocky road ahead. It won’t be a problem to keep things professional.”

      “What do you mean, ‘a rocky road ahead’?” Tess was angry now. “This is exactly why we need to get someone else on this job, Mayor Jacobs. You don’t know anything about the project, yet you’re already making assumptions that we’ll be on opposite sides.”

      “People constantly show up here trying to get their hands on our resources. In the eighteen hundreds the prospectors came for the gold. In the twentieth century Los Angeles took most of our water. Nowadays everyone’s after the minerals in our hills and the gas underneath. So what are you after?”

      “You mean, what is Renewable Reliance interested in? They’re investigating wind-energy production in this area. And, as I’ve experienced since arriving in Benson, you definitely have enough wind.”

      “Yes we do. And it’s not for sale.”

      “You have no information. How can you say that?” This was ridiculous. Was he out for some kind of revenge?

      “I don’t need information to imagine what a bunch of windmills will do to the economy of my town.”

      She’d said she’d keep this professional and she would, no matter what. The key was to be patient. “I think if you keep an open mind, you’ll find that the wind project can benefit Benson in many ways.”

      “Maybe.” But there was no maybe in his tone.

      “I’m sorry, but it feels like you are making this personal,” she ventured.

      “I’m the mayor and I’ve lived here all my life. Of course I take anyone trying to put a large energy project in our area a bit personally.” He paused, his voice more neutral when he spoke again. “Where is this company hoping to site these windmills?”

      “East of town,” Tess replied. “But I don’t