“What would you like?” he called to her. “Fresh fruit and yogurt?”
Frowning, she turned to look at him. “You mean I get to order for myself?”
A sheepish smile settled over his face and that was all it took to turn her insides to mushy oatmeal.
“Sorry, Vanessa. I don’t mean to be bossy but it—”
“Just comes natural to you,” she finished with an understanding smile. “I’ll bet you always tried to tell your younger siblings what to do and how to do it.”
He laughed. “Somebody had to.”
This was not the Conall she’d been working for the past two months, Vanessa thought. This man was far more approachable and endearing. He was also far more dangerous.
“Well, I do like fresh fruit and yogurt, but I need something more substantial this morning. Make it bacon and eggs and wheat toast.”
“A woman who likes to eat in the morning. I like that,” he said.
She was afraid to ask what he meant by that remark, so she simply excused herself and hurried to the bathroom to dress.
By the time she’d finished pulling on her clothes, swiping on a bit of makeup and combing her hair into casual waves around her face, she heard room service arriving.
She stepped from the bathroom just as Conall was handing the server a hefty tip. As the young man headed out the door, he turned to Vanessa.
“Everything is waiting out on the patio,” he announced.
“Great. I’m starving.”
Outside the morning was perfect with a blue, blue sky and a warm, gentle breeze. The table holding their breakfast was situated on a red brick patio edged by a row of palm trees. Thick blooming shrubs and tall agave plants acted as a privacy fence between the rooms. As Conall helped her into one of the rattan chairs, Vanessa couldn’t help thinking the villa would be a perfect place for a honeymoon.
A honeymoon, she thought wryly. That kiss Conall had given her last night had messed up her thinking and had her dreaming about things she had no business dreaming about. She’d had her chance at love and marriage. It hadn’t worked. And now she seriously doubted she’d ever find a man who would truly love her. A man she could trust with all her heart.
“I’m sure you’ve been wondering what I wanted to speak with you about,” he said as the two of them began to eat.
Vanessa fortified herself with a long sip of strong coffee as she watched him slather a piece of toast with apricot jam.
“I am curious,” she admitted.
“I’ve been thinking about your housing situation,” he said before he bit into the toast.
“What is there to think about? I have my parents’ home.”
“Yes. But there’s a house on the ranch that was vacated only a few days ago. It was just remodeled only last year with new flooring and up-to-date appliances. You’d have plenty of room for yourself and a nursery. And you’d be on the ranch—close by—in case you needed help.”
Stunned and just a little vexed, Vanessa looked at him. “You know what my salary is, Conall. I couldn’t afford to lease the house.”
“Why not? It wouldn’t cost you a penny.”
All she could do was stare at him. “It’s obvious you don’t know me, Conall. Otherwise, you’d know that I don’t go around looking for, or expecting, handouts.”
He leveled a frustrated frown at her. “If you think I’m making you a special offer because you’re my secretary, then you’re in for a surprise. Not all of our employees are housed on the ranch and that’s fine, too. But the housing we do supply for our ranch hands and house staff is considered a part of their salary, one of the benefits for working for the Diamond D. As I see it, you are an employee and the house is there—empty for now—but I can assure you, not for long.”
Vanessa felt more than a little embarrassed. She’d quickly jumped to the conclusion that he was offering her an exclusive deal. All because he’d made this trip with her and given her that one long, mind-shattering kiss. How foolish could she be? He was a man who liked to help people whenever the opportunity arose. And he’d apparently enjoyed that kiss he’d given her. He’d said he wanted to repeat it. But in spite of that pleasant physical exchange, Conall Donovan didn’t view her as anything special. She was simply his secretary.
“I’m sorry, Conall. Since the general-managing office handles that sort of thing I wasn’t aware that the Diamond D offered housing to its employees free of charge.”
A faint smile touched his lips as his gaze slid curiously over her face and Vanessa wondered how a pair of gray eyes could look so warm or how their gaze could feel even hotter to her skin.
“I see. So does that change your mind about moving to the ranch? I’d certainly feel a lot better about you and babies knowing you had close neighbors.”
Up to a point, she could understand his thinking. Her parents’ home was fairly isolated, with the nearest neighbor being a good five miles away. And even though the Valdezes’ had raised five children in the tiny stucco structure, the rooms were small and limited to what she could do with them.
Still, the home was hers now and she was proud of it. She didn’t need the best of things to be happy and that’s the way she wanted her twins to be raised—without the need for material trappings. He ought to understand that. He ought to know that for him to merely imply she needed to find some place “better” was offensive and hurtful to her. Besides, after dealing with Jeff, she wanted her independence. Needed it, in fact. But she didn’t want to go into that now with Conall.
Reaching for the insulated coffeepot, she added a splash of the hot liquid to her cooling cup. “I thank you for the offer. But, no. It doesn’t change my mind. Until I get the hang of it, taking care of two newborns is going to be…well, challenging. I need to be in a place where I feel comfortable and at home. And that’s at my own place.” Her gaze met his. “I hope you understand.”
Conall dropped his attention to his plate as he shoveled up a forkful of egg and wondered why he felt so disappointed. It wasn’t as if he was a green teenager and she’d turned him down for a date. Last night, after he’d left her at the door of her room, the idea of offering her housing had entered his mind and once he’d gone to bed, he’d lain awake for some time imagining how it would be to have her and her new little family close by. He’d liked the idea so much that he’d rushed over here early to tell her about it. Now, seeing how she didn’t want his help, he felt deflated and foolish.
“I understand that you women have your own ideas about things,” he said. “I can accept that.”
Even though her sigh was barely discernible, he heard it. The sound put a faint frown between his brows as he wondered why anything she was thinking and feeling about him should matter. Hell, she was just his secretary. Just because she’d become the sudden mother of twin infants didn’t make her any different than the woman who’d worked in his office for the past two months, he reasoned with himself.
Yet this whole thing with the babies had forced Conall to see Vanessa in a more personal way. And last night, when he’d succumbed to his urges and kissed her, something had clicked inside him. Suddenly he’d been feeling, wanting, needing. All at once he’d felt the dead parts of him waking and bursting to life again.
Conall realized it was stupid of him to hang so much importance on one kiss. But he couldn’t put it or her out of his mind.
“I’m glad,” she said, “because I don’t want to appear ungrateful.”
He smiled at her. “Good. Because I have another offer for you. Especially since you turned the last one down,” he added.
Her brows lifted with faint curiosity and Conall couldn’t help but notice how the early morning sun was kissing her pearly skin and bathing it with a golden sheen. Last night, when he’d touched her face and laid his cheek against hers, he’d been overwhelmed at the softness and even now a part of him longed to reach across the table and trail his fingers across her skin, her lips.
“Don’t you think you’ve already
offered me enough?” she asked dryly.
Reaching for his coffee, he tried to sound like he was discussing business with a client. “Not yet. This is something essential to you and to me. I don’t want to lose you as a secretary, so while you’re at work you’re going to need child care services. I insist that the ranch provide you with a nanny. Two, if need be.”
She fell back against her chair and Conall could see he’d shocked her. Clearly, she’d not been expecting him to offer her any sort of amenities simply because she was a Diamond D employee. In fact, she acted as though it would be wrong for her to accept anything from him. Which was quite a contrast to his ex-wife, who’d grabbed and snatched anything and everything she could, then expected more.
“Don’t you think you’re going a little overboard?” she asked after a long moment.
“Not really. When I think back through some of the secretaries I’ve endured in the past, hiring a nanny to keep a good one like you is nothing more than smart business sense.”
Actually, there was nothing businesslike going through Conall’s mind at the moment, yet he was playing it that way. Otherwise, he knew Vanessa would balk like a stubborn mule at his suggestion.
“Things have happened so quickly I’ve not yet had time to think of day care for the babies. There might be someone in Hondo to care for the twins while I’m at work,” she said a bit tentatively. “Or Lincoln.”
He smiled to himself. “Vanessa, we both know you’d be lucky to find a babysitter in either community. And making such a long drive every morning and evening with the babies wouldn’t be practical.”
She absently pushed at the egg on her plate. “Sometimes a person has to do things that are…well, not the most convenient.”
“Why would you need to do that when I can hire someone to watch the babies right in your home? You wouldn’t have to disturb them or drag them in and out in the weather. As far as I can see, it’s the perfect solution.”
She nodded briefly and he could see a range of emotions sweeping across her face. She clearly wanted to resist his help and Conall couldn’t understand why. If he’d ever been harsh or cold with the woman, he didn’t recall it. And though they’d never visited about things out of the office, he’d never treated her with indifference. He could understand, up to a point, her wanting to be independent. But now wasn’t the time for her to worry about showing off her self-reliance. She had more than her own welfare to consider now. Maybe the only way she could think of him was as her boss, instead of a friend offering help. The idea bothered him greatly, although he couldn’t figure why it should. He’d stopped caring what women thought of him a long time ago.
She let out a deep breath, then lifted her coffee cup from its saucer. “I’ll be honest, Conall. I’ve been trying to budget in my head and the cost of child care is going to take a big hunk out of my salary. I’d be crazy to turn down your offer of a nanny. At least until the babies get older and I can get my feet planted more firmly.”
Relief put a smile on his face. “Now you’re making sense. I’ll start making calls as soon as we finish breakfast.”
“There is one condition, though, Conall.”
He paused in the act of reaching for a second piece of toast. “Yes?”
Her brown eyes met his and for a split second his breath hung in his throat. He was slipping, damn it. None of this should feel so important to him. Yes, the babies were adorable and yes, Vanessa’s kiss had been like sipping from a honeycomb. But Vanessa and the children weren’t supposed to be his business or responsibility.
Her answer broke into his uneasy thoughts. “I also want to have a say in who you hire for the job.”
In spite of his internal scolding, Conall began to breathe again. “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he assured her.
By the time they finished the last bit of business at the lawyer’s office, picked up the babies and boarded a plane back to Ruidoso, Vanessa felt as though she’d gone around the world and back again. The excitement of becoming an instant mother had finally caught up to her, along with the fact that she had no idea of how to deal with this new and different Conall.
The cool, aloof boss that she’d worked with for the past two months appeared to be completely gone. On the flight home, he’d been attentive, reassuring and helpful. When Rick had stirred and began to cry, he’d insisted on cradling the tiny boy in his arms and feeding him one of the bottles the nuns had prepared for their flight.
Seeing the big rancher handle the baby with such gentleness had overwhelmed her somewhat. He was such a man’s man and she’d never seen him display much affection toward anyone or anything, except his grandmother Kate and the baby colts and fillies that were born every spring on the Diamond D.
She’d often wondered if his hard demeanor was the thing that had sent his ex-wife, Nancy, running to other pastures. But seeing him interact with her new son had given Vanessa a glimpse of a Conall that she’d never seen or knew existed. There was a soft side to him. So there must have been another, more complicated reason for his divorce.
For weeks now, Vanessa had told herself she didn’t want to know what had happened to end her boss’s marriage. After all, it wasn’t her business and she’d had her own heartbreaking divorce to deal with. But now that Conall had kissed her, now that she’d seen for herself that he could be a hot-blooded man with all sorts of feelings, she’d grown even more curious about his marriage and divorce.
Trying to shove aside the personal thoughts about Conall, Vanessa glanced over her shoulder to see the twins sleeping soundly in the two car seats they’d purchased back in Las Vegas for the trip.
“I doubt the twins will feel any jet lag,” Conall commented as he skillfully steered the truck over the mountainous highway toward Tinnie. “They’ve slept for nearly the entire trip.”
She straightened in her seat and as she gazed out the window, she realized she was nearly home. So much had happened since they’d left for Vegas that she felt as though she’d been gone for weeks instead of two days. “That’s what newborns mostly do, sleep. Unless they have colic and I’m praying that doesn’t happen.”
He glanced her way. “You know about babies and colic? I thought you were the youngest of the family.”
“I am. But my mother used to reminisce to me about her babies. She said two of my brothers cried with the colic until they were six months old and she hardly got any sleep during that time.”
“I don’t suppose she had anyone to help, either. I mean, your dad worked hard and probably needed his rest at night. And she didn’t have any older daughters to help out with a crying infant.”
“No. My mother didn’t have much help with anything. But she was a happy woman.” Wistful now, she glanced at him. “I wish Mama could’ve seen the twins. She would have been so thrilled for me and so proud to have been their grandmother.”
To her surprise he reached over and touched her hand with his. “I figure somewhere she does see, Vanessa.”
Many of her friends and acquaintances had expressed their sorrow to Vanessa when her mother had died unexpectedly and she’d appreciated all of them. Yet, these simple words from Conall were the most comforting anyone had given her and she was so touched that she was unable to form a reply. The best she could do was cast him a grateful little smile.
He smiled back and she suddenly realized he didn’t need or expect her to say anything. He understood how she felt. The notion not only surprised her, but it also stunned her with uneasy fear. She couldn’t allow her feelings for this man to tumble out of control. She had to keep her head intact and her heart safely tucked away in the shadows.
Minutes later Conall parked the truck near the short board fence that cordoned off the small yard from the graveled driveway. After he cut the motor, he said, “Give me the keys and I’ll open up before we carry the babies in.”
Vanessa dug the house key from her purse and handed it to him. “I’ll be unstrapping the twins,” she told him.
Whe
n he returned, he gathered up Rose from her car seat while Vanessa cradled Rick in the crook of her arm.
Nudging the truck door shut with his broad shoulder, he said, “I’ll come back for your luggage and diaper bag later. Right now let’s get the babies inside and settled.”
Vanessa started to the house with Conall following her onto the tiny porch and past the open door leading into a small living room.
Pausing in the middle of the floor, she glanced around with faint confusion. “Someone has been inside and left the air conditioner on,” she said. “I told Maura where the key was but when I last talked to her she didn’t mention driving over here.”
A sheepish expression stole over his lean face. “I confess. I sent Maura over here to…take care of a few things. I guess she had the forethought to turn on the air conditioner so it would be comfortable when you arrived.” He inclined his head toward an arched doorway. “Are the bedrooms through there?”
Vanessa wanted to ask him what sort of things Maura would be doing here. She’d already arranged for a young neighbor boy to feed the goats and the chickens. But seeing he was already changing the subject, she let it pass. She’d be talking to Maura soon enough anyway, she thought.
Nodding in response to his question, she walked past him and he followed her through the doorway and into a tiny hall. As she made a left-hand turn that would lead them to the bedrooms, she said, “My bed is queen-sized so I guess for now, until I get a crib, I’ll have to put the twins with me and surround them with pillows.”
“Vanessa, why don’t you put them in the spare bedroom?”
“Because there’s only a narrow twin bed in there. And everything in there needs to be dusted badly.”
“It couldn’t be that dusty. And a small bed might work better. Let’s look at it.”
Vexed that he wanted to argue the matter, she paused to frown at him. “Conall, I told you—”
“Just humor me, Vanessa,” he interrupted. “Let me see the room. That’s all I’m asking.”
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