To Claim a Wilde (Wilde In Wyoming Book 6) Read online

  She smoothed nervous hands down her leather jacket, retying the ends, again, wondering for the one hundredth time if her outfit conveyed what she wanted: a strong independent woman, a woman no one, not even a notorious Wilde, would consider lightly.

  A woman to be taken seriously.

  She straightened her burgundy leather skirt over her hips for the third time while absently toying with the buttons of the white leather jacket she wore to combat the chilly Wyoming air.

  A shiver coursed through her body while a sigh broke from her lips.

  “I already miss Texas.” She fiddled with the buttons of the supple leather jacket. “Whoever heard of it being cold in September?” Naomi shuddered and then stilled, forcing her fingers away and stopping the nervous gesture.

  She turned back to face the mansion.

  So cold, impersonal. Just like the heartless family who lived inside, she thought, refusing to acknowledge how the wraparound deck of the cold, heartless mansion really appealed to her.

  Nor did she address the issue of her being unfair to a family that was never heartless to anyone. At least they never had been before. Now, well...she just didn’t know. She’d been away so long, she had no idea.

  Naomi inhaled deeply, a fortifying breath. She could do this. She had no choice. Her family had no choice.

  Naomi wondered even now how long her family would have kept their situation from her? How long before one of her parents would have told her the family ranch was in jeopardy?

  She sighed, thankful she’d kept in contact with her sorority sister and friend Althea, or who knows how long it would have been before she’d be made aware of their dire situation. Had it not been for Althea, it might have been too late to do anything about it. She smiled thinking of her friend Althea Hudson.

  She mentally shook her head, correcting herself, as she’d just learned of her friend’s marriage to a man from another set of Wildes, men ranchers living on their land just outside Landers, Wyoming.

  She and Althea still needed to talk about that, Naomi thought. She’d been so out of the loop working at the pediatric center she hadn’t known of her friend’s marriage. Yet as soon as she’d said the last name Wilde, Naomi wondered about the connections between Althea’s Wilde and her Wildes, not realizing the possessive and personal way she’d characterized the Wildes of her acquaintance.

  But there was no time for investigating that now. Naomi had other pressing things to take care of.

  Again, she shouldered her bag higher and closed the door of her Jeep with the curve of her hip.

  “Robbing Peter to pay Paul, and Mary wants her money, too.”

  A sad smile lifted the corners of her mouth, thinking of what her mother said last night as Naomi was going over the family accounts and correspondences with Rolling Hills once again.

  Naomi had sighed and pushed her small oval wire-framed glasses farther up her nose as she went over her parents’ financial statement.

  “I brought you some tea, baby,” her mother had murmured, and Naomi had glanced up to see her mother in the doorway.

  With a tired smile, she’d pushed the papers away and shoved away from the desk. Walking over to her mother, she had wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

  “We’ll figure it all out, Mom. Don’t worry. I won’t let them take the ranch,” she’d promised, and as her mother hugged her, the seed of dread grew even more in Naomi’s gut.

  She had to figure out a way to help her parents and save their livelihood. There was no time for nerves or fear to get in her way.

  Brought back to the here and now, she glanced at the mansion in front of her, preparing herself for her conversation with Tiber Wilde.

  Again, she thanked God that Althea had reached out, contacted her, worried about Naomi’s parents and their family ranch. Althea had learned of Naomi’s parents’ inability to pay the back taxes on their small ranch.

  Unfortunately the taxes weren’t the only issue the McBrides were facing, Althea had told her, knowing more about what was going on with Naomi’s family than she did.

  Rolling Hills Corporation, the same mega conglomeration that had attempted to threaten Althea’s Wildes with a takeover, among other dubious business attacks, had been buying up small ranches in and around the area. The fact that it had its eyes on the McBrides’ property was a fact that most in the area knew.

  A little more digging between Althea and her had unearthed more troubling information. Naomi had learned that unless her family came up with the money to pay the taxes, the ranch would go up for auction and Rolling Hills would have its greedy hands out, ready to snatch up her family’s livelihood.

  The final piece of information had uncovered a link between Wilde Oil Enterprises and Rolling Hills Corporation, and that’s when Naomi’s heart had sunk.

  Not only were her parents behind on the taxes, but also recently, someone had purchased the tax lien certificate for their small ranch. Which meant, in essence, on top of the back taxes, her family would be obligated to pay an interest fee on top of the money they already owed.

  Naomi had put the mountain of paperwork away late last night, before she’d unearthed who’d bought the tax lien, so she could sleep. She needed to be fresh today for her meeting with Tiber Wilde. However, she had her suspicions about who had bought the tax lien: Rolling Hills.

  At the end of the day, her family’s situation was dire. Nerves already stretched taut as the strings on an out-of-tune guitar nearly snapped when she realized her best bet would be to contact the Wildes.

  For her parents, Naomi would do everything in her power to help them.

  What was wrong with her, anyway? She hadn’t been this nervous since...she frowned, her brow furrowed, and she immediately rejected the memory to surface about the last time she’d been this anxious.

  In recent times she didn’t know the last time she’d been this panicky. Then again, she couldn’t remember when she’d felt so...helpless, such a lack of control.

  A whisper of memory diverted her attention briefly, again, refusing to be silenced, bringing to mind that other time. A time when she’d been tense and plain old silly as hell.

  She’d felt all the sophistication of a child. She shook off the memories.

  She hated that feeling. The feeling that she had no control of her own destiny. There was no way she’d have come to the Wildes had she any choice, but it wasn’t just her life she had to consider, it was her family. And besides, she most definitely wasn’t that silly little girl from seven years ago.

  She sighed. If only her parents had told her what was going on, she might have been able to help them in some way. But they hadn’t, and Naomi had no clue her parents had been struggling with the mortgage and trying to keep it all together. She had no idea they were behind in the payments. Had she known...

  “But they didn’t tell me, and now I’m here,” she whispered.

  But now...she shook her head. The fate of her family was up in the air. As soon as she’d found out she’d come home. To do anything else was not an option. Before she’d even come home, she’d begun assessing what was going on, and whom she needed to speak to, in order to help her family.

  She’d found out the Wildes were involved and the ball of nerves in her gut grew. But she had no choice. Biting the bullet, she’d reached out and contacted Tiber Wilde before she’d left Texas and the soon-to-be-closing pediatric clinic where she worked. At least it was Tiber Wilde she’d reached, as he was the oldest Wilde and CEO of their company. Via email she’d made her initial approach, thankful when he’d agreed to meet with her when she arrived in town. They’d scheduled a meeting for today.

  She’d been home less than a week and had hit the ground running. She had to save her family or go out trying. Because that’s how the McBrides did it, she thought, straightening her back. Even if it meant confronting one of the notorious Wildes.

  Again.

  “Oh, Lord,” she mumbled, that crazy nervous lump returning tenfold, forming dir
ectly in her gut.

  At least it wouldn’t be... She shut down the thought. Even thinking of him sent conflicting feelings and thoughts to run the gamut in her mind.

  She felt heat engulf her face at the mere thought of that other Wilde brother, the one she hadn’t seen since she’d fled Wyoming directly after she’d graduated early from college.

  Far, far away, she thought with an embarrassed shudder.

  She tore her mind away from all thoughts of the second eldest Wilde and reminded herself just why she was here: to try to save her family’s small ranch.

  But she still sent a glance upward, thanking God that she’d been dealing with Tiber.

  She slowly made her way toward the mansion, frowned, recalling the last email from Tiber Wilde, a note that although succinct, still was encouraging. He’d invited her to come to their family home to discuss her family’s situation. Yep. Definitely encouraging.

  At least Naomi had chosen to see it that way.

  Hopefully what she’d learned about the Wildes since her time away from home had been exaggerated.

  Most things she’d learned from the internet, but also from the few friends she’d remained in contact with from home. Fascinating tales of the Wilde men and their exploits with women.

  From the time she’d been old enough to know who the men were, she, along with everyone else in their small town, had known that their last name was truly a depiction of the men. Rough, rugged, and just plain wild...

  But maybe the stories had been exaggerated, and the men had matured since last she’d seen them.

  She could only hope.

  Again she wondered at the connection between her Wildes and her sorority sister’s Wildes.

  Her Wildes were into oil, not cattle ranching as were Althea’s, but that didn’t really mean much. Somehow the men could be related.

  But none of that mattered to her. The only thing that mattered to Naomi was saving her family. Leaving the south and coming back home to practice medicine had been the only choice she could make after her friend told her of her family’s troubles.

  She glanced around the front of the lavish, graceful mansion. Although the early frost had hit, the lawn was still beautifully, carefully manicured, luxurious and tasteful.

  The Wildes were without doubt the richest family in Cheyenne. In fact, they were one of the richest families in all of Wyoming, including the other family of Wildes Althea was now related to.

  Not that any of that mattered to her. She was here for one reason only, and even the thought of eventually running into him could not deter Naomi from her task.

  Even after all these years, she had a hard time thinking about him, much less even saying his name.

  “Just say the man’s name,” Naomi chastised herself, lips curled. “He’s just a man,” she continued.

  “Canton.” There, she’d said it.

  She nodded and smiled as though she’d seriously accomplished something to be proud of. But for whatever reason, her ability to say his name made her feel good. Damn good.

  One might even say victorious, she thought with a smug smile.

  “Canton Wilde.”

  She said his name again. Just because she could.

  As one of her favorite authors once wrote, she said it because she had the testicular fortitude to do so.

  She giggled outright at her nutty mental quip.

  Naomi placed a foot on the bottom step of the stairs leading to the Wilde mansion.

  “That’s what my momma named me. And what can I do for you, pretty lady?”

  The rough, deep sound of a male voice brought Naomi’s head up, her eyes flying to the man who stood less than five feet away.

  Oh, God, no, no...she fought the urge to run.

  She struggled with the reaction to shut it down right then and there, the fat lady had sung, curtains down...and run.

  She knew there had been a possibility she’d see him. She just didn’t think it would be this soon. Thought she’d have more time to prepare.

  Nothing she’d learned on the internet, nor through the gossip line...nor her own long-ago memories had prepared her for this, for him.

  Starting at big booted feet crossed over each other, her eyes thirstily drank in every devastatingly fine inch of him. Long, thick thighs encased in coarse-looking jeans, where the rough material couldn’t disguise the musculature.

  Her eyes darted over the thick bulge that pressed against his zipper. With bold insistency.

  Hmm. Lord...a quake, a shudder of pure need, defiant of her refusal to remember, rushed over her. Naomi unsuccessfully tried to control the gaze that swept over his wide, hard chest.

  Despite the distinct chill in the air, he wore no coat, just a thick plaid shirt, the type of work shirt she’d grown up seeing most men wear in Wyoming. A workingman’s shirt.

  He’d rolled the sleeves up to bare his arms from the elbows down, and she had to stop herself right then and there again from the need to flee.

  His arms were thick, muscled like the rest of him, sprinkled with a dusting of fine dark hair.

  Her helpless gaze traveled the rest of the way up, past his wide shoulders and broad, muscled chest, a chest where she could see, just above the white undershirt he wore, a sprinkling of dark hair, the same color as the hair on his forearm.

  He wore his hat low, covering his head, but memory reminded her that his hair was a rich dark blond, the color at odds with the darkness of his arm and chest hair.

  As well as the hair that grew in a part of him she refused to think about. Another tremble rushed over her as she suppressed the memory.

  Her eyes met his.

  It felt as though his cornflower-blue eyes were staring a hole directly into her soul as he racked her with his casual gaze.

  She refused to give in to the need to fidget and avoid his penetrating stare. Naomi vowed not to let him know he was intimidating with his scrutiny.

  Unsettling her so badly it was a wonder she hadn’t melted into a puddle of nerves at his feet there on the spot.

  I am a professional woman, she mentally chanted and reminded herself. No longer that silly girl with a crush on a boy who didn’t even know my name, much less remembered something so insignificant as a one-night affair...

  No matter how hot it got, or how far they went...

  Maybe he wouldn’t remember her, she thought, hoped and prayed. It was a long time ago, and she knew she was just one of many women he’d known. A lifetime ago.

  Besides, he wouldn’t remember her name. One time, seven years ago, surely—

  “Naomi McBride. It’s been a while.” His deeply masculine, panty-wetting voice put a screeching halt to her aimless mental wanderings.

  Chapter 5

  Shocked, she widened her eyes, and stumbled back and nearly dropped her bag. Her fingers unconsciously clenched and unclenched repeatedly, tightening and loosening over the sinewy roped leather straps of the knockoff designer bag.

  She could hear every beat of her own heart like a roar inside her ears, and felt as though it were going to leap out of her chest as it pounded away a mile a minute.

  Thump, kick, thump...thump, kick, thump...

  If she could be anywhere, God, anywhere but right here right now...she would give her last dollar to make it so.

  But life wasn’t that easy.

  She swallowed, took a deep fortifying breath and briefly closed her eyes for a moment and glanced upward, for what seemed like an eternity until she met the veiled eyes, and shadowy face of—

  “Ca-Canton?” she asked, her voice coming out as nothing more substantial than a squeak. Naomi cleared her voice and tried again, “Canton Wilde?” Nope. Still squeaking.

  The higher her voice went, the higher the level of hysteria she felt, building, building, building...up.

  But dear God, there was nothing, not one thing, she could do about that.

  Coming to the Wildes, even contacting them, had taken more courage than Naomi thought she had in her. The
only reason she felt she could handle it from the get-go was because the conversation was to be with Tiber Wilde. Not Canton.

  And even with that, initially Naomi only wanted to deal over the phone with Tiber, but had agreed to come out to see him, personally, after her subtle investigation led her to believe Canton would be out on a rig somewhere, anywhere but here, she thought.

  Damn it!

  Her mind scrambled, trying to fill in the facts.

  According to both Althea Wilde and Tiber, Canton was out of town, so she had little to worry about, at least for the time being.

  When she had her correspondences with Tiber, she had carefully verified, without raising any questions, that Althea was right about Canton’s being away, and his brother had assured her of that detail.

  Althea had in fact told her that Canton wouldn’t be back in the area for a few weeks, according to gossip.

  “You still do that?” he asked, startling her out of her own musings in his deep sexy voice. She felt a flush rush over her despite everything, an automatic response to him, one that time obviously hadn’t taken away.

  Naomi clenched her jaw and made eye contact with him, ruthlessly stamping down the response her body made to him. Nipples pulsing in direct harmony with the wild beat of her heart, and a lot more. She felt the heat burn her face.

  She thanked God that because of her complexion, he wouldn’t be able to tell how badly she was blushing, at least.

  That was all it was. Just some crazy chemical reaction, she assured herself.

  “Do what?” she asked, clearing her throat.

  “Reason things out in a conversation with yourself?” he asked, amusement tingeing his deep voice. “And blush as though you’ve embarrassed yourself?”

  Her eyes flew to his, her hands reaching to cover both of her flaming cheeks. How could he tell she was blushing? she wondered.

  “If I recall correctly, we met once before. Your folks own the McBride ranch, correct? Dean and Roslyn McBride?” he asked, his expression inscrutable.

  All Naomi could do was bob her head up and down in affirmation. Mute as a mule.