Expecting the Rancher's Child (Callahan's Clan) by Sara Orwig

the consuming attraction that resonated between them.
    Business and pleasure didn’t mix well. He was her boss, albeit a temporary one, and she needed to remember that. She had to stay professional, get the work done and go home where she could forget him.
    And forget their kiss. Hopefully Blake already had.
    * * *
    Blake left for his gym and indoor pool. He swam laps, hoping the activity, the cold water and the lateness of the hour would combine to drive Sierra out of his thoughts and cool his body.
    The hot chemistry they’d felt since the first moment seemed guaranteed to fulfill its promise of passionate, raw sex—at least as far as their kiss was concerned. He still burned with longing to make love to her. Kissing her had not eased his desire for her at all. Instead it set him on fire with need for more. If she was responsive with a kiss, what would she be like in bed?
    The thought tied him in knots and promised a night of little sleep.
    Of all the women he had known, she was the most unlikely to generate lusty longings. She was the daughter of a minister, a lifelong do-gooder whose goals were foreign to him. How could she give up a brilliant, successful career for one with so little return? Her income would be only a fraction of what it could have been. Why would she want to live that way and make such unnecessary and thankless sacrifices? He knew too well the bad blood that could arise between people, the lasting hurt that could be caused. The only thing he trusted was his bank account—something that gave solid returns, including power and a fortress against hurt from trusting the wrong people.
    He didn’t need or want a future with Sierra. All he wanted was to seduce her, to get her into his bed and make love for hours, to find out if that sizzling chemistry would take them all the way.
    Thinking about her, about their kiss, aroused him. Never in his life had he experienced the same intensity of attraction, and it made no sense to him.
    With a groan he swam faster, trying to get her out of his thoughts, to wear himself out and cool the hot longing that tormented him.
    As much as he wanted to make love to Sierra, he knew the sensible thing would be to stay away from her. Let her do her job and go back to her charity work. That was the intelligent thing to do because she would want commitment. This was not the woman for him, not even for one wild night of making love. His body wasn’t listening to his brain, though. In spite of knowing what he should do, he still wanted seduction.
    He continued swimming until he was exhausted. After he showered and dressed in the gym, he ran five miles on the treadmill. Hoping he had done enough so he would drop into bed and be asleep in two minutes, he returned to his suite.
    He passed her door and remembered both kissing her and her response with vivid clarity. He had a sinking feeling sleep was a long way off.
    * * *
    Blake slept a couple of hours and woke long before sunrise. He dressed, grabbed a bite of breakfast and left the house as if chased by goblins. He needed hard, physical labor, or at least to be outdoors and moving around, to work with others who would take his mind off Sierra.
    As he walked his land by the light of the moon, he wondered whether she had slept. Would she be able to concentrate on work? He had to laugh at himself. His kiss might not have unnerved and aroused her to the same extent as it had him. She might have slept peacefully and right now be working away without a thought about him.
    “Pompous jackass,” he called himself quietly. “Forget her.”
    She was an employee, and he needed to keep a professional relationship with her. Actually, he needed to stay the hell away from her. He had already paid her a ridiculously exorbitant sum and committed himself to donating to her agency for the next three years—he should have left her office and pulled his wits together before he wrote those checks. He could imagine his accountant’s questions. The