He stepped over to the mound curled up in the middle of the large pine bedstead.
Leaning over, he listened. Her breathing was even and clear. A golden twist of hair peeked out from beneath the comforter. Lovingly he stroked it, amazed at its silky texture.
She moaned and turned beneath the covers. A hand slipped out, perfect and feminine.
He fought the urge to squeeze it, to make her aware he was there. Right now she needed to recover. She could even have died out there if no one had found her.
The thought made him physically ill.
Straightening, he realized how much he’d changed in the few weeks since he’d arrived in Mystery. The old superficialities had no lure for him any longer. Now all he wanted was a warm fire and a good woman. Kirsten. Forever. And ever.
He looked down at the sleeping, vulnerable woman.
He was thinking too much. That was certainly not him where women were concerned.
Maybe Mystery really was changing him. Or maybe it was his friendship with Hazel.
Or maybe it was the beautiful girl asleep in the bed.
All he did know was that the financier in him couldn’t accept failure. And yet Kirsten Meadows was dangerously close to having the power to make him fail. His sure thing, his money, seemed to hold no sway with her. And so he was left bare, unable to understand what might win her.
With that dark thought he silently let himself out of her bedroom and went right for an ice-cold shower
Ten
“Everyone’s made too much out of yesterday. I’m fine. Really. Just embarrassed.” Kirsten blushed answering Seth’s inquiry into her health.
“That was foolish of you to go alone,” he said, looking ominous even while he relaxed on the couch. Their couch.
She handed him the current faxes and opened her laptop. “I just wanted a ride. I won’t do it again. I realize it was a terrible inconvenience to you. I’ll ride at Hazel’s from now on.”
“If you want to ride the horses here, I just insist that someone go with you. You know the trails better than Jim does, but the ranch manager here’s an experienced mountaineer and you’re not. I don’t want to ever hear of you going out alone again.”
He gave the faxes a cursory study.
She watched him, thinking he looked less rested than she’d ever seen him.
Against her better judgment, she wondered what had kept him up last night and wished desperately it had been a longing for her.
But that couldn’t be. She’d made a total fool of herself yesterday. And even if she hadn’t, his words at the paddock the other day had made it clear that their relationship was based on sex and money, and nothing more. She could never go along with that. She wanted love, and not even a skyscraper would be an adequate substitute for it.
Viola came out from the kitchen. “Your mom’s here, Kirsten—oh, am I interrupting?” She looked at Seth.
Seth scowled. “We’re finished.”
As was his manner, he went back to his faxes.
Kirsten left the room with Viola.
“Mom!” she exclaimed once she got into the kitchen.
She made the formal introductions between her mother and Viola, then made her mother comfortable at the huge pine table in the middle of the kitchen.
Viola poured some soda while Kirsten chatted with her mother.
“You look great, Mom. Love the earrings,” she added, thinking the whimsical flamingos at her mom’s ears not only flattered the pink in the woman’s cheeks, but also made her short hair look chic.
“So, does Carrie like the art camp?” Kirsten chattered on. “I always thought she had the talent in the family.”
“She wants to make jewelry, so she’s definitely got the expensive talent in the family.” Jenn Meadows rotated her head slowly, modeling the earrings. “These are your sister’s creations. Not bad, eh?” She laughed, then accepted the soda from Viola.
“Well, I’ve got Jim waiting for my opinion on the pool flower beds, so I’ll leave you girls alone to visit.” Viola left through the kitchen door, but not before asking to buy a pair of Carrie’s earrings.
At last Jenn turned to her daughter. “You, on the other hand, young lady, don’t look too well. Are you eating right? Are those dark circles I see under your eyes?”
Kirsten wasn’t sure how much to tell her mom about yesterday. Dismissing her appearance, she said, “I had a long day yesterday, that’s all. But I’m fine. Really.”
“Is the boss working you to death?”
Laughing, Kirsten said, “Hardly. In fact, I have so little to do, half the time I think he should let me go and save his money.”
Her mother winced. “I hope that doesn’t happen. But if we need to sell the house to take care of that mortgage, I’m ready. I’m really starting to feel great. The relaxation is doing me a lot of good.” A furrow developed between her brows. “But you know, Kirsten, you should never have bought the house. It’s one thing to give me a rest—it’s another to take on too much responsibility.”
Right there was another thing over which Kirsten knew she hadn’t bothered to go into detail with her mother.
“Look, the house is good for you, and especially Carrie. I can afford it, so let’s not talk about it again.” She looked down at her soda.
“Fine. But promise me one thing. You’ll come to dinner tonight for a housewarming. Carrie’s had me shopping and cooking all day so we can show you our ‘new’ home.”
“I’ll have to check with Seth—” Kirsten closed her mouth. “I don’t know why I said that—I meant Mr. Morgan.”
At that terrible moment Mr. Morgan walked into the kitchen.
Her mother stood up to greet him, a smile beaming on her still-beautiful face.
Kirsten made the introductions. “Oh, there you are, Mr. Morgan,” she announced nervously. “Mr. Morgan, I’d like you to meet my mother, Jenn Meadows.”
Jenn extended her hand and smiled more.
Seth shook it warmly.
“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Mr. Morgan. We were so excited when Kirsten got the job,” she said.
The old hardened cynicism was written all over his face as he glanced at Kirsten. He clearly remembered the conversation that first night when Kirsten had declared that her ship had come in.
“She’s been invaluable to me here. I’d have to go back to New York constantly without her taking care of things on this end,” he added with unusual graciousness.
“How kind of you to say so.” Her mother’s smile broadened.
“I hope you don’t mind my visiting with her?” Kirsten asked. “She lives in town and just came out to see me for a minute.”
“Take all the time you want,” he answered.
Her mom piped in. “I just came to invite Kirsten to the house for dinner. We’re having a housewarming for her, Carrie and I. We just purchased the house we live in.”
“Really? Congratulations.” He looked coolly at Kirsten.
Kirsten’s heart stopped. The last thing she wanted her mother to find out was that Seth had bought the house outright for them. That would open so many floodgates, she wouldn’t live long enough to close them all.
Desperate, she tried to change the subject. “If you haven’t got much for me to do this evening, I’d like to go to dinner with my mom and sister, but of course if there’s work to be done, we can always make it another time. Right, Mom?”
“Certainly,” her mother enthused.
“There’s nothing for you to do tonight. Go right ahead.”
He stood there, not moving. Eventually he leaned against the granite counter, proving to Kirsten he was enjoying her discomfort way too much.
“Well, th-thank you,” Kirsten stammered. “D-do you need anything right now?” she asked him. “Otherwise—”
“Of course, we understand that you might have other plans, Mr. Morgan,” Jenn interrupted, “but we’d love to have you come to our little celebration, too, wouldn’t we, Kirsten? After all, it
seems only proper to have the boss to dinner every now and then.”
Kirsten froze.
There was no way she could get through a family dinner with Seth at the table.
Convinced he’d decline, she tried to hide her nervousness behind a pleasant smile. “Mom, I’m sure Mr. Morgan has better things to do than accept our last-minute hospitality.”
“I’d love to. What time and where?” Seth announced.
Kirsten just stared at him.
“Oh, about seven. And the address is—”
Kirsten had had all she could take. “Mr. Morgan can get the address, Mom. We’ll be there.”
Jenn grabbed her handbag and keys from the kitchen table. “I’d better be going, then. Lots to do before company arrives!” she said before breezing out the kitchen door.
When her mother’s car was safely out of sight, Kirsten turned to Seth and said, “It was very gracious of you to be so kind to my mom, but really, you don’t have to come tonight. I mean, it won’t be fancy or anything. Our idea of a feast is pizza.”
“Don’t you want me to come, Miss Meadows?” Those aqua eyes of his laughed.
“Of course you’re welcome to come, but I don’t see how you’d ever have a good time—”
“Don’t worry about my good time.”
She stared at him, speechless.
“Will you be ready for six-thirty?” he asked.
“Yes,” she answered, sure somehow she was being set up, but not quite seeing the scheme.
“How do you dress for dinner at your house, Miss Meadows, if I may ask?”
“Pizza casual.”
“Do I detect sarcasm?” He lifted one dark eyebrow.
She studied him. None of it made sense. Unless he just wanted to check out the property he’d bought.
“You know,” she mentioned, “you can see the house any time without having to sit through a family dinner. And I am paying you back, so really you won’t have anything to do with the property as soon as I get the loan I’ve applied for.”
“You’ve made all of that perfectly clear, Miss Meadows. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go down to the wine cellar and pick out a nice bottle to bring to your mother.”
She watched him open the door past the kitchen table. There, with its own staircase, was the wine cellar.
“Red or white, Miss Meadows?”
She rolled her eyes. His motives always caused suspicion in her. Perhaps it was just wisdom. He was not the kind of man one could control. But he had to know that ultimately he would not control her, either.
“Whatever you like,” she offered, her voice sugar sweet.
“Then we’ll bring both. Good choice.” He smiled, then disappeared down the stairs.
A dinner had never taken so long in Kirsten’s entire life.
Fearing any subject might lead to something she did not want to talk about, she stayed animated through the entire meal, so that she could turn the topic to her own liking should the need arise.
However, she needn’t have bothered.
Her mom and Seth seemed to have taken an instant liking to each other. Jenn talked of all the places they’d lived overseas while Kirsten was growing up. Seth, the world traveler, naturally found it all fascinating.
Naturally.
But the worst one was Carrie. The preteen girl seemed to have taken one look at Seth Morgan and developed an incurable crush on the man. When Carrie showed him the jewelry she’d been making and he complimented her on her originality, Kirsten thought Carrie would swoon.
It was all too much. And too dangerous.
Kirsten didn’t want her family attached to Seth, too. It was hard enough battling her own feelings after all they’d done together. She sure didn’t want to answer to her mother’s and Carrie’s feelings, as well. It was too much like…
Well, it was too much like being entangled.
“Seth, have you ever been to the Devil’s Elbow?” Jenn asked, serving dessert warm from the oven. “That’s the old part of Mystery where Carrie and I picked these blackberries in the pie. It’s not the most magnificent view, but if you walk far enough, you’ll come to the old grist mill. You can swim there, and if you bring a bucket, you can get all the blackberries you can carry home.”
“I haven’t seen that part of the valley yet. I’ll have to saddle up Noir tomorrow and take a ride out there.”
“If you need someone to show you, I know how to get there,” Carrie offered, her blond ponytail bobbing up and down in her eagerness to please their guest.
Kirsten tried damage control. “Surely, Carrie, Mr. Morgan doesn’t need our—”
“Can you ride?” he interrupted.
The ponytail bobbed again. “Hazel taught me.”
“I’ve got a good cob in the stable you can take. His name’s Plat—short for Platinum. Looks just like your sister’s horse, Sterling, only a hand or two smaller.”
“My sister has a horse?” Carrie exclaimed, amazed.
“It’s not my horse. Mr. Morgan just meant that I can ride her, but it’s his horse.” Kirsten suddenly realized she was exhausted. Monitoring conversation was worse than mountain climbing.
“Your sister’s free to ride Sterling any time she wants,” Seth said, accepting Jenn’s second helping of pie. “And you feel free to come and ride Plat. I’ll tell Jim, our ranch manager, that you have special permission.”
Carrie looked at her mom, her blue eyes dancing with awe.
Being virtually fatherless, Carrie had had very little male attention in her life. It made Kirsten’s heart ache to see her so eager for Seth’s attention. To be made to feel this special was something the girl was not used to. And Kirsten dreaded the moment when it might end.
“Well, that was a wonderful dinner, guys, but if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m feeling a little under the weather so I guess I need to get going.” Kirsten stood.
“So soon?” Jenn asked. “I thought you haven’t been sleeping well.”
“But what about our ride tomorrow?” Carrie added.
Kirsten didn’t want to burst her sister’s balloon, but these things, as she herself knew from personal experience, were less painful popped earlier than later.
“We’ll have to see about the riding, Carrie. Mr. Morgan’s a busy man. We don’t want to inconvenience him.”
“Oh,” the girl said, suddenly deflated, as if realizing how foolish her enthusiasm had been.
“Miss Meadows, I want you to take me to Devil’s Elbow tomorrow and I want you to have your sister come along, also. The boss, if you pardon me, has spoken.” Seth’s words were a command.
Kirsten was silent. No one was cooperating. And there was only so much she could do to intervene if they didn’t help her.
“Certainly, Mr. Morgan,” she said, hugging her enthralled sister goodbye.
“Come back again soon, won’t you, Mr. Morgan?” Jenn held out her hand. “We don’t have anything too fancy here, but when you’ve lived everywhere in the world, you certainly know about hospitality.”
Seth squeezed it. “I’d be honored to be invited again. Thank you.”
They got into the Jeep, Kirsten silently fuming the entire way out of town.
“Your family’s wonderful, Kirsten,” Seth said in the dark car.
“Thank you.” She didn’t know what else to say. Her family was wonderful. Which was why she was so insanely protective of them.
“Did you know my parents died when I was in college? Car pileup on the autobahn in Germany.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, watching him.
He gave a wry smile. “Maybe we could have been a version of a family, but it would have required getting to know one another, and that wasn’t something either of them wanted. In the end, I suppose it made it easier for me to adjust to not having parents anymore, since we weren’t close.”
Silence permeated the car for a long moment.
Finally he added, “You know, I always thought you couldn’t miss what you never
had. But lately I don’t think that’s true. I don’t think it at all.”
She agreed, her voice soft with empathy. “That kind of emptiness is far and wide. But when you’ve had something and it gets taken away, well, I’ve got to tell you, that emptiness goes pretty deep.”
Her thoughts spun to her father, and then to Carrie. The girl would get so worked up every time her father called that Kirsten and her mother had begun to wish he’d just stop calling.
Just the thought of it now made Kirsten realize she couldn’t allow Carrie to get attached to Seth.
“So I guess if I sell the ranch back to Hazel, that’d be worse than never having had a ranch at all.” His words seemed to come out of nowhere.
“Why would you sell the ranch back to Hazel? You just built it,” she blurted out, confused.
“Hazel didn’t sell me the land without attachments, Kirsten. There’s always the provision that I’ll have to sell back to her if I don’t meet the contract.”
“What do you have to do to meet it?”
He slid his gaze to her, then back again to the night road. “It’s complicated. Something the lawyers drew up. I just don’t know if I want to meet the provisions.”
“I see.” She turned her focus to the road. The ranch gates lay ahead, an artful crossing and weaving of twisted pine.
The impermanence rattled her. Having moved so much as a child, having had her parents break up, she’d always longed for something she could count on. Now, when she worried about whether or not she and Seth Morgan should be lovers, she should have been more worried about what she didn’t know, like his contract with Hazel.
Releasing a dark little laugh, she commented, “Life is so ironic. Just when you think you have everything by the horns, something comes up behind you.”
“What do you think you have by the horns? Me?” he growled, suddenly becoming the confrontational Wall Street financier.
She shook her head, still smiling. “I’ll never have you by the horns, Mr. Morgan, thank you very much.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded.
“Nothing. Nothing at all,” she said, still laughing at herself and her pathetic little hopes that kept springing up despite how severely they were crushed.
Billionaire Boss Page 8
