by Sara Orwig
“Jeff, we shouldn’t,” she protested, but her words were faint. All she could do was look at his mouth and want his kiss.
“Yes, we should,” he whispered, pulling her close again and leaning down to kiss her. His kiss became passionate, urgent and demanding. She couldn’t resist sliding one arm around his neck. She was reacting without thinking. Taking what she wanted, giving him what he demanded as she returned his kiss fully. There was no holding back, no hesitation.
She kissed him, desire consuming her while she ran her hand up the strong column of his neck and then combed her fingers through his thick hair. He leaned over her, his kiss going deep, a joining that would change their relationship forever.
Some dim voice stirred a faint protest deep within her. She ignored it, still clinging to him and kissing him back, need escalating with each second. Her pulse roared in her ears, shutting out all other sounds. She could feel his heart pounding against her own.
Finally, after forever, she realized how she was pouring herself into their kiss. Taking and giving fully. She came up out of fuzzy depths to reality, breaking the kiss and stepping back while her heart raced.
Jeff’s breathing was as ragged as hers and he looked stunned. She felt ambushed, caught up in something she never expected to happen.
“No,” she whispered. “We’re not going there. Not ever again,” she said more clearly. She turned and hurried away, going up the stairs to the room he had given her, closing the door and touching her mouth as fury and horror mounted swiftly.
She didn’t want his kiss. She was still trying to get over a breakup. Didn’t want to be emotionally involved with any man right now, especially Jeff. She shouldn’t have kissed him, danced with him or eaten with him. She raked the back of her hand across her mouth. Her lips still tingled. How could she have fallen into that trap?
She realized he had looked surprised and less than happy himself, but she didn’t know him well enough to know what his feelings were. She didn’t care. She was going to go home tomorrow after work. There were other jobs.
She stormed to the bathroom, scrubbed her face and yanked off her clothes to get into the shower as if she could wash away the evening and all her memories. Memories that already tormented her.
How would she ever sleep? How would she forget his kiss? Why had it been so spectacular?
She let warm water pour over her while her entire body sizzled. Physically she wanted him. That’s what drove her fury. She had enjoyed his kiss, returned it passionately, more than enjoyed it. His kiss had been sensational.
She groaned and clenched her fists. She would go back to Dallas, go in Monday morning, resign and tell Noah he could have every penny back.
After getting dumped and kicked out of their place by her ex-fiancé, she didn’t want to get involved in any kind of relationship at this point in her life. She wasn’t working with Jeff Brand. Noah could just forget it.
The prospect didn’t make her feel one degree better. And it didn’t help in forgetting Jeff’s kiss. Why had she gotten herself into this job and this evening?
Three
W alking through the house, Jeff stopped in the kitchen to get a glass of milk. He thought about Holly, contemplating the kiss that had set him on fire. That ice was only a veneer. Her scalding blaze had broiled him to cinders.
He wanted her. Yet lust was a two-edged sword. He wanted her and he didn’t want to desire her. She was the last female on earth he wanted to get involved with. He knew there was no danger. She felt the same way. From day one she’d made it clear he wasn’t the type of man she associated with. What had her former fiancé been like?
The kiss had been an impulse and one he should have avoided. It had done no good for either one of them. He suspected she would be in a huff over it and chillier than ever.
Leave Miss Icicle alone. He wouldn’t invite her out for dinner or dancing. Her anger had been practically a tangible substance. But he didn’t see how one harmless kiss could do that much damage.
Only, that kiss hadn’t been harmless. He suspected he was going to have trouble sleeping tonight. Physically, he wanted more. Logically, he knew he needed to keep a distance between them. And not yield to impulse again.
“Dammit,” he whispered, drinking his milk and rinsing his glass. He switched off the lights, went out to his cabana, changed quickly and jumped into his pool to swim laps, wearing himself down until he cooled.
He finally went to his room, seeing no light beneath her door. If she was asleep now, she would be up and gone in the morning when he got up. Yet he didn’t think she’d walk back to the office in the dark. She was skittish about being in the country and the first critter she heard ought to ruin her nerves.
Stretching out in bed, he placed his hands behind his head. There had been a moment this evening when he’d spun her around and that thick auburn hair of hers had swung out and swirled across her cheek. The passionate woman beneath the ice had unfurled in a similar way, but he didn’t care to explore the possibility.
It was nearly dawn before he fell into a restless sleep filled with erotic dreams about Holly.
Friday morning her door remained closed and he wondered several times if she was even in her room or if she had actually braved the wild animals in the dark.
In the kitchen he greeted his cook, and learned that Holly hadn’t been seen yet. Leaving Holly to meet the other staff on her own, he went to the office.
About half-past eight she appeared with no apologies for being late. Despite that minor professional lapse, she was all business and that suited him fine. He didn’t need a city-girl romance complicating his one-year office term.
All day she was coolly polite, ice once more. At five o’clock she told him goodbye. He stood at the front window and watched her drive away, regretting more than ever that he had kissed her.
It didn’t take long on Monday for Noah to tear into him. “What the hell went on with you two last week?”
“Don’t get in an uproar. We just went out to eat. What’s the deal?”
“She was ready to quit. I can’t get anything out of her about it, but she was happy when she left here last Monday.”
“She didn’t quit?”
“No. I talked her into staying,” Noah said, frowning.
“Well, nothing went on, but you’ve known from the start that she doesn’t like the ranch, me or the drive out to either.”
Noah stared at him and Jeff stared back until Noah shook his head and picked up a folder. “Well, maybe it’s the drive and being away from here. Maybe she feels out of touch.”
“Probably so,” Jeff said, not caring if she did quit except he knew she was bringing him on in the job much quicker than he could possibly do on his own. She was bright and knew the business just as Noah had said. “Dad called and asked me to dinner tonight. I can’t imagine what brought on the invitation. Maybe it’s a peace offering. I don’t suppose you and the family are included by any chance?”
“Nope, just you and Dad,” Noah said, picking up papers and motioning to a nearby table. “Let’s move over there. I want you to see these.” Noah shed his charcoal suit jacket and hung it on the back of a chair. Jeff had shed his jacket the minute he walked into his office and wished he could ditch his tie.
“How’s the Cabrera line coming?” Noah asked. “Do you like our promotional campaign to introduce the boots?”
“Yes and I had the secretaries make an appointment for lunch with Emilio Cabrera and I’m taking Holly with me.”
“Good move. He seems to like her. Now on to the Markley stores. That’s a chain I’ve given to you to handle.”
They continued talking and Jeff forgot Holly. He saw little of her throughout the day. Once he left his office and saw her farther down the hall talking to someone. Today she wore a conservative green suit with a calf-length skirt that hid her legs. As buttoned-up as ever, he thought, but he remembered her kiss that had been anything but cold.
He wondered how the coming
week would go. If she had almost quit her job, their kiss must have gotten to her. The thought amused him.
By eight o’clock he sat in his father’s study. Dinner had gone relatively pleasantly, but he suspected something was coming that he didn’t want to hear. This chummy evening was so uncharacteristic of his father that he knew better than to think his dad had changed.
He tried to focus on what his dad was saying, knowing they were coming to the point of this evening. Watching his father, Jeff could see how he had aged this past year with deeper lines in his face and circles beneath his eyes.
Knox stood turning an unlit pipe in his hand. He’d had to give up smoking and Jeff knew Knox was having difficulty cutting the habit. All sympathy for him was squashed by his certainty that his dad was still going strong with his meddling habit.
“Jeff, I’m going to make you the offer that I did before. I want to see both of my sons married and settled. The million-dollar bonus I offered each of you if you married this year still stands. You have to remain married at least a year, although I hope longer.”
Jeff clamped his jaw shut and drew a deep breath, trying to hold on to his patience. Before his father’s heart surgery, Jeff would have walked out at this point in the conversation. Since the surgery, Jeff was watching the man who had once been strong and invincible to his sons become frail and all too mortal. Reminding himself that since adulthood, he and his father had rarely agreed about the direction his life should take, Jeff listened in silence.
“I’ll keep that in mind, Dad. At the moment there’s no prime candidate.”
“That may be,” Knox said, strength coming into his tone and bringing with it a flicker of the man his dad used to be. “I didn’t figure you’d be overly interested because you weren’t before, so I have another incentive that I think will interest you.”
Fully attentive now, Jeff leaned in. This couldn’t be good.
“If you’ll marry within the next six months, in addition to the money, I’ll give you the family ranch at that time. I’ll make it up to Noah with money or a bigger share of Brand Enterprises—Noah won’t want the ranch, anyway.”
Shocked, Jeff stared at his father, no longer hearing what Knox was saying. The family ranch. “And if I don’t marry in the next six months?” Jeff asked, realizing his dad was determined to get his way.
“I’ll sell that ranch to Paul Watterman, who wants it and will pay me high dollar for it. Your mother doesn’t care, nor does Noah.”
“Dammit, Dad,” Jeff let slip, clenching his fists. “The ranch has been in our family for generations. Why let this ruin that?”
“I regret using such leverage, but I’d like to see you settled soon. I’ve told you my reasons.”
“I’ll think about it,” Jeff said, knowing he needed to get away from his dad before he said something he’d regret or something that would give his dad a rise in blood pressure or worse. He stood. “I better get going. It’s a long drive to the ranch. I enjoyed dinner with you and I’ll consider your offer. You take it easy.”
“I enjoyed dinner, too, Jeff. Now that you’re in town regularly, I hope we see more of you. Next time, I’ll see to it that Mother can be with us. She was disappointed to miss you, but this trip to shop in Houston with her friends has been planned for months.”
“Next time I’ll take you and Mom out.”
Knox was still a bit too weak to see him out, so Jeff hurried to his car. A need to do something physical to let off steam built with every step. The family ranch was the prize his dad was dangling, one that his dad knew he wanted.
Jeff struck the steering wheel as he drove, mulling over the proposition, tempted to grab some woman who was fun to be with, propose and get the ranch with a temporary marriage.
He swore aloud in the car as he drove, giving vent to all the things he wished he could say to his dad.
He was on his own property when his cell phone rang and he answered to hear his uncle’s voice.
“Jeff, are you home?” Shelby said.
“Almost.”
“How was your week?”
“Bearable,” Jeff said. “Monday I go in and then the rest of the week, I’m at the ranch.”
“I still think you’re crazy for accepting.”
“I hope I can make it through the year,” Jeff said lightly, relaxing because he enjoyed his uncle whether they agreed on the topic of conversation or not.
“I know what Knox offered you tonight. He ran it past me, probably to annoy me. My meddling brother is always interfering. I wondered if this time you’re giving some thought to what he wants.”
“Nope. As badly as I want that ranch, I haven’t changed any more than Dad. He isn’t going to run my life.”
Shelby chuckled. “Not surprised. Jeff, you can buy yourself a second ranch bigger than the family one. Just let it go and don’t look back. No wonder my brother had a heart attack. He’s so wound up about every detail of his life and Noah’s and yours. Now he’ll have Noah’s baby to meddle with.”
“I won’t argue any of that,” Jeff said. His dad and his uncle had fought all their lives. “Thank goodness Noah and I get along a degree better than you and Dad.”
“I’m glad you do. My overbearing older brother gets my goat and always has.”
“I know.”
“Don’t let him get yours. Work a month and then take a week’s vacation and meet me in Monte Carlo. We’ll party every night and you’ll lose the business pressures.”
“Thanks, Uncle Shel,” Jeff said, smiling. “I’ll keep that offer in mind. In the meantime, if you come to Texas, we can get together when I’m in Dallas.”
“Better go now. We’ll talk again soon—I should be in Texas sometime soon. In the meantime, keep your cool and outfox my brother.”
Jeff laughed again. “Thanks for the call.” Jeff broke the connection, feeling a closeness and warmth toward his uncle that he had rarely ever felt for his dad. While he knew part of it was Shelby’s personality, part of it was Shelby’s own friction with his older brother. Another part was that Shelby had always been on Jeff’s side in family disputes while Knox had been on Noah’s. Jeff reflected how thankful he had been for his uncle when he was a child.
As soon as Jeff climbed out of his car at home, he hurried to the barn where he kept some old clothes. He changed swiftly, switched floodlights on the closest corral, found one of the wildest horses they had and in minutes was atop riding a bucking bronco thoughts of Brand Enterprises and his father’s offer gone.
A week later on a July Sunday night Holly had dinner with her neighbor from the adjoining condo. Tall and slender with a mop of brown curls, Alexa was successful in real estate. Holly felt a bond with her because they were both wrapped up in their work. As they ate in a quiet restaurant while a string quartet played softly in the background, she listened to Alexa talk about her company’s latest listing.
Smiling at her friend, Holly sipped a cup of hot green tea. “Your career is rising and I feel as if mine is mired in quicksand.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Just keep doing what you’re doing—look at what you’re getting out of this deal,” Alexa said briskly.
Holly glanced at her watch. “I have that dreadful drive in the morning, so we better call it a night.”
“If it’s so terrible, move into his ranch house during the week. I’ve been saying that forever. You said it’s a palatial mansion. You wouldn’t have to see him.”
Holly gathered her purse and thought about the Thursday night she stayed at Jeff’s. “I don’t know. It’s tempting when I see those secretaries breeze in after their short drive. If he’d move out, I might do it.”
They both smiled and the subject was dropped as they drove home.
“Keep thinking about the money,” Alexa said as they parted at the walkway between their condos.
The drive bothered Holly more each day, yet the thought of living in the same house with Jeff was equally undesirable. And the quiet at the ranch…she felt
as if they were the only people on the earth. She had never thought much about the noise in the city. Her condo seemed quiet enough, but she knew now there was nowhere in Dallas she had ever been as still as that ranch. Only the sound of wind or a bird broke the silence much of the time and it added to the isolated, solitary feeling that enveloped her when she was there. She shivered and stepped out on her patio just to listen to sounds of the city—in the distance a faint rumble of traffic, a dog barking, small noises she took for granted. She couldn’t imagine why Jeff loved the place so much, but then she didn’t understand much about him anyway.
On Tuesday morning, Holly thought again about her conversation with Alexa. Even though summer had the best possible weather and the longest days, she still had to drive in the dark. She often did in Dallas, but short drives were different.
When she passed through the entrance gates she heard a bang and in seconds realized she had a flat tire. Frustration made her want to scream, but she kept calm and called Jeff to tell him she would be late. He said he would be right there.
She hated to get out of the car, wondering what varmints were in the high grass. Taking a deep breath with her flashlight in hand, she stepped out and swung the light all around her, praying she didn’t see anything looking back at her.
Wind was a soft whisper and the horizon was graying to the east. Shortly the sun would appear. She looked at the darkness surrounding her and the sky overhead that held what looked like millions of stars, realizing she had never seen a sky like this before.
Positive she could hear little critters in the grass around her, she hurried to open the trunk and set out the tools. She suspected she could never get the lug nuts off since they were put on with a machine. She kicked the flat tire lightly in disgust.
In a short time she heard a motor as headlights cut the darkness. Jeff parked and climbed out of a black pickup, leaving on his lights. In jeans, a short-sleeve sport shirt and boots, he still made her pulse jump at the sight of him and now, out here on this empty ranch road, he was an even more welcome sight.
