Rancher Untamed. Katherine Garbera

* *

      Diego and Pippa stayed on the dance floor for the next three hours. Some couples disappeared, then came back looking...well, like they’d enjoyed themselves. But Diego remained where he was. He drank champagne, which hadn’t escaped Mo’s notice. His brother gave him a look and Diego knew he was going to hear about it later. Alejandro was dancing with someone Diego didn’t know, but he was pretty damned sure she wasn’t his longtime girlfriend. According to the gossips at the coffeehouse, they’d had a fight about Alejandro’s inability to commit and she’d dumped him about six weeks ago.

      Pippa stuck close to his side and hadn’t mentioned the kiss he’d been unable to stop himself from giving her. He knew that it was a bachelor auction, and all in good fun, yet as he’d held her hand and danced her around the floor, he’d wanted to be hers. He’d wanted her to have really claimed him.

      “I don’t want this night to end,” she said as the DJ announced that there was time for only one more song.

      “It doesn’t have to,” he said. “Wait here.”

      He went to the bar for a bottle of champagne and two plastic flutes before leading Pippa away from the party to one of the patios that overlooked part of the golf course. It was quiet as they moved away from the party.

      “One of the things I really love about Texas is how big the sky is,” she said, putting her hands on the railing and looking up. There wasn’t that much light pollution out here, so the stars were visible.

      “Me, too,” he admitted. “Where are you from? I mean, you’re obviously British.”

      “Caught that, did ya?” she asked as she turned and leaned back on the railing.

      “Yeah, I’m smart that way,” he retorted, pouring her a glass of champagne and handing it to her.

      He poured another one for himself as she took a sip.

      “I was born in Hampshire, but we mainly lived in London except when I was at boarding school,” she said.

      “I have to admit I have no idea where Hampshire is,” he said.

      “That’s okay. I had no idea where Cole’s Hill was until Kinley moved here,” Pippa admitted.

      “Why did you come with her? Las Vegas is way more exciting than this,” he said.

      “I had nothing holding me there. My job as Penny’s nanny is important to me,” she said, taking a sip of her drink. “I made Kinley a promise when Penny was born that I would stay as long as she needed me.”

      “You were there when Penny was born?” he asked. This was the most she’d told him about herself since they met, and he was curious.

      “Yeah. We were on a city bus when Kinley went into labor. I just stayed with her when she was taken to the hospital because she was scared and alone and we’d been chatting before her water broke... I think we both needed a friend in that moment,” Pippa said. There was a note in her voice that hinted there might be more to the story, but she shook her head and looked over at him. “We’ve been friends ever since. What about you? Who’s your oldest friend?”

      He took a sip of his champagne. It was never going to replace Jack Daniels as his favorite drink, but the taste was growing on him. “If I’m honest, my brothers. Maybe Mauricio, since he’s younger than his twin, Alejandro, by several minutes. Inigo is five years younger than me and closer to my sister, Bianca. He’s a Formula One driver like Bianca’s first husband was.”

      Why was he telling her all of this? But he knew. He didn’t want to make any moves that would send her running away from him again. Even though she’d bid on him tonight, every other time he’d tried to connect with her she’d shut him down. And he didn’t want to let this end.

      Not now.

      Not until... Well, not until he figured out the secrets behind those gray eyes. She always seemed so calm and controlled, but tonight there was a fire and passion in her gaze that he wasn’t going to walk away from until he uncovered its source.

      “You have such a big family...like the Carutherses. Is that a Texas thing?” she asked.

      He had to laugh. “Well, they do say everything is bigger here. The families in Cole’s Hill certainly are.”

      “I guess that’s true,” she said. “I do like this area of Texas. So lush and pretty with the green rolling hills. I mean, it’s a bit of a stretch, but it does remind me of our country houses in England.”

      “Country houses?” he asked.

      She shrugged. “You know, big old Georgian mansions that have been in one family forever.”

      “Then why are you here in Texas and not with your family?” he asked. “Sounds like legacy is important to you.”

      “It is and it isn’t,” she said. “This champagne is really good.”

      He knew she was changing the subject and he was tempted to let her do it. But the moon was full, and she’d claimed him for her own, at least for this night, and that meant he had nothing to lose.

      “It is good, but what did you mean about your family legacy?” he asked. “You don’t have to tell me, but I want to know everything there is about you, Pippa... I don’t even know your last name.”

      “Do you need to?” she asked.

      “If I’m going to kiss you again, I think I might want to know it,” he said. “It’s only fair. You know mine.”

      * * *

      She was nervous to let him know her last name. It was silly. She’d reached out to her cousins and the board of directors to let them know she was very much alive and ready to claim her seat on the board. Yet here in the moonlight standing so close to Diego, she knew that she didn’t want to tell him, because if he knew she was the House of Hamilton jewelry heiress it would change the dynamic.

      He thought she was a nanny—

      “Is it really that hard to trust me?” he asked.

      “Yes. I’ve been keeping my identity secret for so long that I... Sorry, it’s not you. It really is me,” she said.

      “Why are you hiding it?” he asked.

      His voice was silky smooth, wrapping around her senses and making it hard to concentrate. “My father has a plan for my future and I want to choose my own path.”

      “Fair enough,” he said. “So you are on the run?”

      “Yes.”

      He came to stand next to her, leaning against the railing so they were facing the river rock exterior of the Five Families Country Club. “Then just be Pippa for tonight. I promise you have nothing to fear from me.”

      She reached out without really thinking about it, put her hand on his thigh and squeezed. “I know.”

      But the electric tingle that ran up her arm made her wonder if she was close to getting in over her head. She wanted Diego. That wasn’t a surprise. She’d been dodging him in town and trying to limit their contact for that very reason. It was one thing to hook up for a night but something else entirely to start anything with him knowing she was leaving.

      And she was going to have to work really hard to prove herself once she was back in England. She wouldn’t have time for anything else.

      She groaned.

      He turned his head to face her and in those deep brown eyes she saw desire. He quirked one eyebrow at her and she felt the brush of his exhalation against her cheek. He smelled faintly of expensive cologne and the outdoors. She closed her eyes and took a deeper breath. He smelled like everything she wanted. And tonight he was hers.

      She had made a few missteps. Talking about herself and her past. She needed to keep those things quiet.

      She opened her eyes