diana palmer

by unlikely lover

  Mari bit her tongue. Forgive me for lying, Lord, she thought. She crossed her fingers behind her. "Of course not," she as ured her aunt with a blank smile. "He was just tel ing me about the ranch."

  "Thank God." Lil ian sank back. "My leg's broken, you know," she bit off. She glanced up as Ward rejoined them, scowling down at her. She forced a pitiful smile. "Wel , boss, I gues you'l have to send for your grandmother," she said slyly.

  He glared at her. "Like hel ! I just got her off the place! Anyway, why should I?" he continued, bending to hold her other hand. "Your niece won't mind a lit le cooking, wil she?" he added with a pointed glance at Mari.

  Mari shifted restles ly. "Wel , actual y—" "Of course she won't.' Lil ian grinned and then grimaced. "Wil you, darling? You need to. .recuperate." She chose her words carefully. "From your bad experience," she added, jerking her head toward Ward, her eyes pleading with her niece. "You know, at the shopping center?"

  "Oh. That bad experience." Mari nodded, glancing at Ward and touching her lower lip where it was slightly swollen.

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  A corner of his mouth curved up and his eyes twinkled. "It wasn't that bad, was it?" he murmured.

  "It was terrible!" Lil ian broke in.

  "You said it," Mari agreed blithely, her blue eyes accusing. "Besides, I thought you couldn't wait to push me out the door."

  ' 'You want her to leave?' Lil ian wailed.

  "No, I don't want her to leave," Ward said with suffering patience. He lifted his chin and stared down his straight nose at Mari, then smiled. "I've got plans for her," he added in a tone that was a threat in itself.

  That was what bothered Mari. Now she was trapped by Lil ian's lies and Ward's al egiance to his housekeeper. She wondered what on earth she was going to do, caught between the two of them, and she wondered why Ward Jes up wanted her to stay. He hated women most of the time, from what Lil ian had divulged about him. He wasn't a marrying man, and he was a notorious womanizer. Surely he wouldn't try to seduce her. Would he?

  She stared at him over Lil ian's supine form with troubled eyes. He had an unscrupulous reputation. She wasn't so innocent that she hadn't recognized that evident hunger in his hard mouth just before she'd started fighting him.

  But his green eyes mocked her, dared her, chal enged her. She'd stay, he told himself. He'd coax, her into it. Then he could find some way to make her show her true colors. He was bet ing there was a lit le of Caroline's makeup in her, too. She was just another female despite her innocence. She was a woman, and al women were unscrupulous and calculating. If he could make her drop the disguise, if he could prove she was just like al the other she-cats, he could rid himself of his unexpected lust. Lust, of course, was al it was. He forgave Lil ian for her fal . It was going to work right in with his plans. Yes, it was.

  Chapter Four

  Lil ian was comfortably set led in a room in the smal Ravine hospital. The doctor had ordered a series of tests—not because of her broken leg but because of her blood pres ure reading taken in the emergency room.

  "Wil she be al right, do you think?" Mari asked Ward as they waited for the doctor to speak to them. For most of the evening they'd been sit ing in this waiting room. Ward paced and drank black coffee while Mari just stared into space worriedly. Lil ian was her last living relative. Without the older woman she'd be al alone.

  "She's tough," Ward said noncommit al y. He glared at his watch. "My God, I hate waiting! I almost wish I smoked so that I'd have something to help kil the time."

  "You don't smoke?" Mari said with surprise.

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  "Never could stand the things," he muttered. "Clogging up my lungs with smoke never seemed sensible." Her eyebrows lifted. "But you drink."

  "Not to exces ," he returned, glancing down at her. "I like whiskey and water once in a blue moon, and I'l take a drink of white wine. But I won't do it and drive." He grinned.

  "Al those commercials got to me. Those crashing beer glas es stick in my mind."

  She smiled back a lit le shyly. "I don't drink at al ."

  "I gues not, tenderfoot," he murmured. "You aren't old enough to need to."

  "My dad used to say that it isn't the age, it's the mileage."

  His eyebrows arched. "How much mileage do you have, lady?" he taunted. "You look and feel pret y green to me." Her face colored furiously, and she hated that knowing look on his dark face. "Listen here, Mr. Jes up—"

  "Mr. Jes up." His name was echoed by a young resident physician, who came walking up in a white coat holding a clipboard. He shook hands with Ward and nodded as he was introduced tersely to Mari.

  "She'l be al right," he told the two brusquely. "But I'd like to keep her one more day and run some more tests. She's furious, but I think it's for the best. Her blood pres ure was abnormal y high when we admit ed her and it stil is. I think that she might have had a slight stroke and that it caused her fal ." Mari had sudden horrible visions and went pale. "Oh, no," she whispered.

  "I said, I think," the young doctor emphasized and then smiled. "She might have lost her balance for a number of reasons. That's why I want to run the tests.

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  Even a minor ear infection or sinusitis could have caused it. I want to know for sure. But one thing's certain, and that's her at itude toward the high blood pres ure medication she hasn't been taking."

  Ward and Mari exchanged puzzled glances. "I wasn't aware that she had high blood pres ure medication," Ward said.

  "I gues ed that," the young doctor said ruefully. "She was diagnosed a few weeks ago by Dr. Bradley. She didn't even get the prescription fil ed." He sighed. "She seems to look upon it as a death sentence, which is absurd. It's not, if she just takes care of herself."

  "She wil from now on," Mari promised. "If I have to roll the pil s up in steak and trick them into her." The young resident grinned from ear to ear. "You have pets?"

  "I used to have a cat," Mari confided. "And the only way I could get medicine into him was by tricking him. Short of rolling him up in a towel." Ward glared at her. "That's no way to treat a sick animal."

  She lifted her thin eyebrows. "And how would you do it?"

  "Force his mouth open and shove the pil s down his throat, of course," he said mat er-of-factly. "Before you say it," he added when her mouth opened, "try rolling a half-ton bull in a towel!"

  The young doctor covered his mouth while Mari glared up at the taciturn oilman.

  "I'l get the pil s into her, regardles ," Mari as ured the doctor. She glanced at Ward Jes up. "And it won't be by having them forced down her throat like a half-ton bull!"

  "When wil you know something?" Ward asked.

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  "I'l have the tests by early afternoon, and I'l confer with Dr. Bradley. If you can be here about four o'clock, I'l have something to tel you," the young man said.

  "Thank you, Doctor.. ?"

  "Jackson," he replied, smiling. "And don't worry too much," he told Mari. "She's a strong-wil ed woman. I'd bet on her." They stopped by Lil ian's room and found her half sedated, fuming and glaring as she sat propped up in bed.

  "Outrageous!" Lil ian burst out the minute they entered the room. "They won't give back my clothes. They're making me spend the night in this icebox, and they won't feed me or give me a blanket!"

  "Now, now." Mari laughed gently and bent to kis the thin face. "You're going to be fine. They said so. They just want to run a few more tests. You'l be out of here in no time." That reas ured the older woman a lit le, but her beady black eyes went to Ward for reas urance. He wouldn't lie to her. Not him. "Am I al right?" she asked.

  "You might have had a stroke," he said honestly, ignoring Mari's shocked glare. "They want to find out." Lil ian sighed. "I figured that. I sure did. Wel ," she said, brightening, "you two wil have to get along without me for a day or so." That seemed to cheer her up, too. Her eyes twinkled at the thought of the
m alone together in the house.

  Ward could read her mind. He wanted to wring her neck, too, but he couldn't hurt a sick lady. First he had to get her wel .

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  "I'l take good care of baby sister, here," he said, nodding toward Mari, and grinned.

  Lil ian's face fel comical y. "She's not that young," she faltered.

  "Aunt Lil ian!" Mari said, outraged. "Remember my horrible experience!"

  "Oh, that." Lil ian nibbled her Up. "Oh. That!" She cleared her throat, her eyes widened. "Wel . ."

  "I'l help her get over it," Ward promised. He glanced down at Mari. "She's offered to help me get some of my adventures in the oil busines down on paper. Wasn't that nice?

  And on her vacation, too," he added.

  Lil ian brightened. Good. They weren't talking about his "fatal il nes " or her "brutal at ack." With any luck they wouldn't stumble onto the truth until they were hooked on each other! She actual y smiled. "Yes, how sweet of you, Mari!"

  Although Mari felt like screaming, she smiled at her aunt. "Yes. Wel , I thought it would give me something interesting to do. In between cooking and cleaning and such." Lil ian frowned. "I'm real y sorry about this," she said, indicating her leg.

  "Get wel ," Ward said shortly. "Don't be sorry. And one more thing. Whether or not this fal was caused by your blood pres ure, you're taking those damned pil s from now on. I'm going to ride herd on you like a fanatical ramrod on a trail drive. Got that?"

  "Yes, sir, boss," Lil ian said, pleased by his concern. She hadn't realized she mat ered so much to anyone. Even Mari seemed worried. "I'l be fine. And I'l do what they tel me." 50

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  "Good for you," Ward replied. He cocked his head. "They said it could have been an ear infection or sinusitis, too. So don't go crazy worrying about a stroke. Did you black out before you went down?" he persisted.

  Lil ian sighed. "Not completely. I just got real dizzy."

  He smiled "That's reas uring."

  "I hope so. Now, you two go home," Lil ian muttered. "Let me sleep. Whatever they gave me is beginning to work with a vengeance." She closed her eyes as they said their goodbyes, only to open them as they started to leave. "Mari, he likes his eggs scrambled with a lit le milk in them," she said. "And don't make the coffee too weak."

  "I'l manage," Mari promised. "Just get wel . You're al I have."

  "I know." Lil ian sighed as they closed the door behind them. "That's what worries me so." But they didn't hear that troubled comment. Mari was fuming al the way to the car.

  "You shouldn't have told her what the doctor said." She glowered at him as they drove out of the parking lot.

  "You don't know her very wel ," he returned. He pulled into the traffic without blinking. Ravine had grown in the past few years, and the traffic was growing with it, but speeding cars didn't seem to bother him.

  "She's my aunt. Of course I know her!"

  "She isn't the kind of woman you nurse along," he shot back. "Any more than I'm that kind. I like the truth, even if it hurts, and so does she. You don't do people any favors by hiding it. You only make the impact worse when it comes out. God, I hate lies. There's nothing on earth I hate more."

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  He probably had a good reason for that at itude, but Mari wasn't going to pry into his privacy by asking.

  At least now she understood Aunt Lil ian's matchmaking frenzy. If the older woman had expected to die, she might also have worried about Mari's future. But to try to give Mari to a man like the one beside her was almost criminal! The very thought of being tied to that ex-dril rigger made her blanche. He frightened her in a way no other man ever had. It wasn't fear of brutality or even of rough behavior. It was fear of involvement, of being led on and dumped, the way Johnny Greenwood had teased her and taken her places, and then when she was drunk on loving him, he'd announced his engagement to someone else.

  Ward Jes up wasn't the man for marriage, but he wouldn't mind amusing himself with a woman and then dropping her. He seemed to hate women, to be spoiling for revenge on the entire sex. She remembered him saying that he could only tolerate his grandmother and Lil ian under his roof, and that said it al . She'd have to be very careful not to fal under his spel . Because he was just playing, and she didn't even know the first thing about his game.

  She went to her room as soon as they were back at Three Forks, and although she hated her vulnerability, she actual y locked her bedroom door. Not that he'd try anything, she as ured herself. But, just in case, a lit le precaution wouldn't hurt.

  The next morning she was awake at dawn. Rather than lie in bed and worry about Aunt Lil ian, she got up, dres ed in jeans and a yel ow pullover and went to cook the beast's breakfast.

  She did love this house, indoor waterway and al . It seemed to catch and scat er light so that the darkest

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  corner was bright and cheery. The kitchen reflected the rest of the house. It was spacious and cheerful and contained every modern appliance known to man. She started the coffee maker and fried bacon. By the time the aroma of coffee was fil ing the kitchen, she had biscuits in the oven and was set ing the big, elegant dining room table.

  "What the hel are you doing that for?" Ward Jessup asked from the doorway. "I don't mind eating in the kitchen." She jumped, turning in time to see him shrug into a chambray shirt. His chest was. .incredible. She couldn't help but stare. Despite her age and her exposure to men at the garage where she worked, she'd never in her life seen anything like Ward Jes up without his shirt. Talk about masculine perfection! His chest was as tanned as his face. Broad, rippling with muscle, tapering to his belt, it had a perfect wedge of dark, thick hair that made Mari's jaw drop.

  "Close your mouth, honey, you'l catch flies that way," he said, then chuckled, torn between exasperation and honest flat ery at her rapt and explicit stare. She turned back to her table set ing with trembling fingers, hating her youth and inexperience, hating the big man who was making fun ot it. "Excuse me. I'm not used to men.. half dres ed like that."

  "Then you should have seen me ten minutes ago, sprout, before I got up. I sleep in the raw."

  Now Mari was sure she was blushing. She pursed her lips as she put silverware at their places.

  He came up behind her so that she could feel the heat of his big body and took her gently by the shoulders. "That wasn't fair, was it?" he murmured.

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  "No," she agreed, "considering what a beautiful breakfast I just fixed you."

  His lips tugged into a smile. "Do I smel bacon?"

  "And biscuits and an omelet e and hash brown potatoes and hot coffee," she continued, glancing up at him.

  "Then what are you standing here for?" he asked. "Feed me!"

  She was rapidly becoming convinced that his appetite was the great love of his life. Food could stop his temper dead, keep him from teasing and prevent homicide, as that apple pie had done after she'd knocked him into the water. It was useful to have such a weapon, when dealing with such a formidable enemy, she thought as she went to put the plat ers on the table.

  He ate without talking, and he didn't sit and read a newspaper, as her father always had done in her youth. She watched him curiously. His eyebrows shot up. "Something bothering you?"

  "Not real y." She laughed self-consciously. "It's just that the only man I've ever had breakfast with was my father, and he read his paper al through it."

  "I don't read at the table," he said. He finished his last mouthful of biscuit, washed it down with coffee and poured himself a second cup from the carafe. Then he sat back in his chair and stared straight into Mari's eyes. "Why does my chest disturb you?"

  She tingled from her head to her, toes at the unexpected question and felt a wave of heat wash over her. Some old lines about fighting fire with fire shot into her mind. "Because it's beautiful, in a purely masculine way," she bl
urted out.

  He pondered that for a minute before he smiled into his coffee. "You don't lie wel , do you?"

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  "I think it's a waste of time," she replied. She got to her feet. "If you're through, I'l clear the table." She started to pick up his plate. His big hand, and it was enormously big, caught her wrist and swal owed it, staying her beside him.

  "Have you ever touched a man, except to shake hands?" he asked quietly.

  "I'm not a shrinking violet," she said, flustered. "I'm almost twenty-two years old, and I have been kis ed a few times!"

  "Not enough, and not by anyone who knew how." He pulled her closer, feeling her resistance, but he stopped short of dragging her down onto his lap. "Why are you afraid of me?"

  "I am not!" she retorted.

  His fingers on her wrist were softly cares ing. She reacted to him in a way that shocked him. In al the years, with al the women, he'd never felt such response. She was innocent, despite her denials. He'd have bet an oil wel on it.

  "Calm down," he said softly, feeling so masculine that he could have swal owed a live rat ler. He even smiled. "I won't hurt you." She flushed even more and jerked away from him, but he was much too strong. "Please," she bit off. "Let me go. I don't know how to play this kind of game." His thumb found her moist palm and rubbed it in a new and exciting way, tracing it softly, causing sensations that went far beyond her hand. "I stopped playing games a long time ago, and I never played them with virgins," he said quietly. "What are you afraid of, Mari?" He spoke her name softly, and she tingled like a schoolgirl.

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  "You hate women," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. She met his green eyes level y. "I don't think there's any real feeling in you, any deep emotion. Sometimes you look at me as if you hate me."