by Joan Hohl
Had he done that for her benefit?
Giving herself a mental get-with-it shake, she glanced at the clock.
It was eight minutes after three. Jen figured she had time enough to clean the kitchen. But first, dinner. She rummaged around in the freezer and grabbed a package of ground turkey and a bag of mixed veggies with an herb sauce. Within minutes she had a turkey stew cooking in the slow cooker on the counter.
Turkey stew would have to do. Smiling at her silly rhyme, she pulled out some cleaning supplies, slipped on a pair of plastic gloves and got down to the business at hand.
A couple hours later, her skin moist with perspiration from her efforts, Jen stood in the kitchen doorway admiring the results. The room was spotless. A sense of satisfaction brought a small smile to her lips—Ida would be proud.
After touching the floor tiles to see if they were dry, Jen walked to the phone and hit the 1 button.
“What is it, Ms. Dunning?”
Jen didn’t miss the exasperated note in Marshall’s voice. Keeping her own voice carefree and chipper, she said, “Dinner is ready whenever you are.” She paused, then deliberately added, “sir.”
“Thank you. But don’t call me that.”
His tone had lightened a bit. Jen smirked. “You’re welcome.”
“I’ll be there in a little while.”
“Take your time, it will keep. I’m going up to my place now.”
“What about you?”
She couldn’t quite read his meaning. Was he worried she wanted to dine with him? Or did he want her to? “I’ve eaten, thank you. What time would you like breakfast?”
“Is six-thirty okay with you?”
Good grief, was he actually asking her instead of telling her? “Yes,” she briskly answered, “six-thirty will be fine.” She waited a heartbeat before saying, “Good night, sir.”
Without giving him a chance to respond, Jen hit the off button, leaving the room with a jaunty step.
Two
Jen sat in a comfortable chair, sipping hot coffee while gazing around the living room in her new quarters. Though not very large, the room was cozy and would be even better with a bit of decorating.
She’d get at the cleaning tomorrow. Since she had the next three days off, she could take her time, she thought. But as she tried to make a mental list of everything she wanted to do, her mind kept drifting…to her new employer.
What was his deal, anyway? She mused, hearing an echo of his hard voice, seeing again the sharpness of his steel-gray eyes.
Tough man, Marshall Grainger. Though she had never seen him in person before, Jen had seen him in the paper and had heard about him. And there was plenty to hear—good and bad, but never indifferent.
He had married young, and divorced soon after—a sticky affair from what Jen had heard. She gathered that the young woman, a genuine beauty, had expected Marsh to introduce her into the highest social circles in Texas. But apparently Mr. Marshall Grainger wasn’t into the social scene, and never had been. So, goodbye wife—and goodbye to a large slice from his money pie.
But, rumor had it, his mother had done the same deal to his father, and Marsh was one bitter man. He disdained women, while not above using them for his own convenience.
Luckily for her she was only here to work. She had no interest in Marsh Grainger, and she intended to keep it that way. So what if he was as handsome as the day was long? Jen had never had a problem keeping her cool around good-looking men—she wasn’t about to start now.
She rose from the comfy chair and walked to the kitchen to rinse her cup. It was time to put clean sheets on the bed, have a shower and hit the sack. Breakfast for my steely-eyed boss at six-thirty, she reminded herself.
* * *
Jen had a full breakfast of bacon, eggs, hash browns, toast and fresh coffee ready when Marsh strode into the kitchen at precisely six-thirty the next morning. Unlike most CEOs going to work, he was dressed in faded jeans, a chambray shirt and well-worn running shoes.
He looked terrific.
“Good morning,” she greeted him cheerily, dishing up the meal onto two plates.
“Urmph,” he responded as he seated himself at the solid-oak table.
Jen stifled a smile and placed his breakfast in front of him, then put her plate on a tray and started to head upstairs.
“Where are you going?” he asked, his forkful of eggs in midair between his plate and his mouth.
Gritting her teeth at his imperious tone, while reminding herself that this grouchy man was her employer, Jen managed to dredge up a pleasant reply. “I’m going upstairs.”
He motioned at the chair opposite. “Have a seat. There are a few things I want to go over with you.”
Offloading her food from the tray to the table, Jen sat and patiently watched him enjoying her culinary efforts.
“Eat,” he said, snapping off a bite of crisp bacon with his strong white teeth. “We can talk over coffee.”
They ate the meal in dead silence. Jen was tempted to speak, but she squashed the urge, determined to make him start the conversation.
As soon as he sat back and laid his napkin beside his plate, Jen was on her feet, clearing. Deliberately making him wait, she stashed the dishes in the dishwasher before pouring the coffee and then sitting down again. Wrapping her hands around the mug, she looked directly into his eyes, and was startled to find herself fascinated by the odd silvery color. She again felt that funny tingling sensation inside, deep inside, and again she didn’t like it. The feeling was too…too out of her control. She quickly looked away.
“I’ll be leaving later this morning,” he said. “I have a few business appointments. You’ll have the place to yourself for the entire weekend as I won’t be back until Monday.”
A strange relief washed through her at the thought that she wouldn’t have to see Marsh for a few days. It was mixed with a sense of disappointment that she chose to ignore. “Great,” she said. “It’ll give me plenty of time to get settled in.”
“You have no reason to be concerned about being alone here. I have—”
Jen frowned, interrupting. “Actually, I like being alone.”
Marsh leveled a cool look at her; apparently he didn’t appreciate being interrupted. “Any woman should be afraid of being alone on a property this size,” he growled. “I’m a wealthy man. That, plus the size of the place, makes it a target. In addition to a man who takes care of the horses, I have security all over the grounds.”
“I didn’t notice any security when I drove up,” she said, taking a sip of the coffee.
He gave her a wry look. “That’s the idea—you’re not supposed to notice them. But trust me, they were there, and I was notified of your arrival.”
“You have horses?” she asked, ignoring his tone.
“Yes, I have horses.”
When he didn’t add anything further, she asked, “What about the office work?”
“That can wait until Monday. I brought everything up to date before you arrived.” He lifted a hand to a breast pocket and withdrew a white bank envelope and a small black leather case. “That should be enough cash to purchase whatever you need,” he said. “The case is an alarm. If you hear or see anything that doesn’t seem right to you, press the button. There will be security here in minutes. It will also open the garage. I’m going to pull the truck out so you can park your car.”
Sighing, she reluctantly took the case.
He frowned at her. “Keep it with you at all times. And that’s an order.”
“Yes, sir.”
His eyes narrowed. “Oh, and I also listed a few of my favorite meals…as you asked,” he added in a dry-as-dust tone.
“Thank you.” Jen pushed back her chair and stood. “If you’ll excuse me now, I’m going up to clean the apartment…unless you have other instructions for me?” She raised her brows.
He nodded his head, also standing. “There is one more thing.” He sent a slow glance around the room. “You did a go
od job on the kitchen. It’s spotless.”
A tiny smile played at the corners of her mouth. “Not quite,” she said. “The curtains need laundering.”
For a moment Marsh simply stared at her, then, with a shake of his head, he started for the hallway. “I’ll see you sometime Monday.” With that he strode from the room.
Jen watched him go, wondering just what kind of power struggle she had gotten herself into with Marsh Grainger.
She spent the rest of the day giving the apartment a thorough cleaning. By the time she looked up, it was time for supper. Yet as busy as she was, there were moments—too many, to Jen’s way of thinking—when thoughts of Marsh pushed past her guard to tease her imagination.
Jen didn’t appreciate his intrusion. He was her employer. Period. Nothing more. Who was he, really, other than a tough and bitter man? In all truth, he had a right to his bitterness, but it was none of her concern.
Still, the thoughts persisted. Why? In a word, Marshall Grainger was all male. A ruggedly handsome, sexy-as-hell male at that.
Startled by her last thought, Jen gave herself a mental shake. Get it together, woman, she told herself. Marsh may be all those things, but he uses women, and you don’t want any part of that.
Forget him and get back to work.
* * *
When she had finished cleaning, Jen took a long, soothing shower, slipped into a nightshirt, then sat down with her laptop to contact her friends. Naturally there were emails from every one of them, demanding more information. She sent them a group email back, saying she had gotten a new job and would get back to them later, after she had settled into the position and had more complete information to offer.
The fact of the matter was, Jen was not quite ready to tell her friends what had happened to send her running from her home. Nor was she ready to tell them that she was living under Marsh Grainger’s roof. Tired, muscles aching from the unusual flurry of physical activity, Jen was then content to drop into bed early. With any luck, she’d fall asleep quickly before she had time for more thoughts of Marshall Grainger.
* * *
Saturday morning Jen woke refreshed if still a bit achy, proof of the fact that she had been idle too long. She had stayed in shape playing tennis and horseback riding whenever she could, but while musing on her future options during the past several weeks she had barely left her apartment. The cleaning exercise had done her good.
She dressed in designer jeans, a pin-tucked white shirt and flat-heeled boots. Deciding to grab breakfast in town, she left the house for her shopping spree.
She looked inside the envelope Marsh had given her. Along with the short list of his favorite meals and directions to the nearest mall, Marsh had left her a ridiculous amount of money. Jen rolled her eyes but couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face.
Either Marsh Grainger had no idea what things actually cost, or he was an extremely generous man underneath that gruff exterior.
It was a lovely, warm autumn day, perfect for shopping. As she headed down the driveway, Jen kept an eye out for signs of the security he had told her about. She didn’t see hide nor hair until she neared the stone pillars flanking the entranceway. A short distance off the road, barely visible, an all-terrain vehicle was parked next to a low hanging tree. As she drove through the entranceway, she thrust her arm out the window and waved as she hit the horn. She laughed as she received a wave and toot in return.
Well, at least the security is friendly, Jen thought, applying a little pressure to the gas pedal. She drove first to the mall Marsh had mentioned, and went into the first shop she came to displaying home decorations.
Not into knick-knacks, Jen chose three pictures in three different sizes. The smaller pictures she chose were pastoral scenes, one of a field covered with Texas bluebonnets, the other of a basket of wildflowers set on one end of a long library table. But the largest one, for the living room, was a rendering in black-and-white of a ship, alone on a wide sea. For some reason, it reminded her of Marsh, alone in that big, remote house.
The thought sent a little shiver through her. Now, that’s simply ridiculous, she chided herself, trying and failing to ignore the feeling. There’s no reason to be thinking of Marsh as a lonely man—in fact, that’s just plain dangerous. Pushing away her thoughts, Jen left the mall and headed for the supermarket.
The sun was beginning to set as Jen drove back onto the property. Her glance automatically shifted to the tree. There was a vehicle there, but a different one. Again she hit the horn and waved, and again she was greeted in kind.
In high spirits, satisfied with her selection of decorations for the apartment, Jen unloaded the car and set to work stashing the food in cabinets, fridge and freezer. As she worked, a curiosity set in about the rest of the house—and, if she was honest with herself, Marsh. It wouldn’t exactly be snooping, she decided. Just…investigating. After all, she’d be working here—she might as well familiarize herself with the place. She quietly slipped into the main part of the house and found herself peeking into six bedrooms and five bathrooms, all of which were long past due for a good dusting and vacuuming. Stepping into the last room at the end of the hallway, Jen felt her breath catch when she opened the door to the huge room that obviously belonged to Marsh.
The room was the complete opposite of opulent—it was Spartan, and it was spotless, not a speck of dust anywhere. A tiny smile feathered her lips. It seemed Mr. Marshall Grainger liked a clean room just as much as she did.
The furniture was plain, straight lines, solid oak. The bed—his bed—was enormous. His color scheme consisted primarily of black, white and red, stark but effective, somehow perfect for him.
Feeling more like a snoop by the minute but unable to resist, Jen moved into the room, going to the row of sliding mirrored closet doors along one wall. One entire section was full of tailored suits, one of them a tuxedo. Another section held nothing but dress shirts in every color imaginable, including white with black stripes. She liked that one, imagining how sexy he’d look in it.
Sexy? she thought. What am I doing in here?
But Jen kept going—she couldn’t seem to make herself stop. There was something too enticing about being this close to Marsh. The next section held jeans, some faded, some brand-new. They were the longest jeans she’d ever seen in her life, perfect for a tall drink of water like Marsh. The last section held casual shirts of every style and hue. On the floor beneath each area were shoes—dress shoes, work boots, riding boots, running shoes. Jen laughed. And she thought she was a shoe maniac!
Closing the sliding doors, she opened another door in the bedroom to find a good-size dressing room and a spacious bathroom. The bathtub was huge, with water jets set into the sides. A compact shower stall sat next to the tub. The black-and-white marble vanity top looked much like the surface of his dresser—sparse and neat. A toothbrush was set in a marble brush holder, and a woven metal basket contained a hairbrush, and several unopened bars of soap. Spartan indeed, she thought, slowly stepping back into the hallway.
She ignored the little twinge of guilt she felt about her “investigation,” thinking that in the short time she was in his room, she had learned much about him.
Marshall Grainger was wealthy beyond belief—that was a given. He was also a man who lived life stripped to the bone, despite all the clothing. His bathroom vanity held nothing but the bare essentials, including what Jen knew was a very expensive bottle of cologne. She hadn’t smelled it on him so far. She wondered if he’d been wearing it when he’d left for Houston. Perhaps he didn’t have any meetings or appointments to attend—maybe there was a woman there, waiting for him.
The very idea caused a strange twist in Jen’s chest, a twist that felt like jealousy. What would the woman be like? Beautiful? Of course. Sophisticated? Naturally. The strange jealousy she felt grew stronger. Was this woman his lover?
Bringing herself up abruptly, Jen quickly turned and went roaming through the rest of the house. It was abso
lutely gorgeous. Open rooms, one flowing into another. She stepped into one and somehow knew she had entered her office. It was roomy yet utilitarian, containing everything she would need. It even had two club chairs, one in front of the large desk, the other to one side. She liked it at once.
Exiting that room, Jen went to the next one: Marsh’s office. It was locked.
Walking back toward her apartment, Jen contemplated the situation. The beautiful house needed some care. She hadn’t been hired to clean, but damn, such a house should shine.
She sighed. She had all day tomorrow to herself with nothing pressing to do. A smile touched her lips as she made a decision. Tomorrow, she would clean the big house, just to see if the boss noticed anything different.
Of course, Jen assured herself as she mounted the stairs to her apartment, her decision had nothing to do with pleasing him. Why should it? She had nothing to prove except her ability as his assistant. It didn’t matter what Marshall Grainger thought of her.
Did it?
She suddenly imagined herself back in Marsh’s bedroom, tidying it up, making it perfect for his return. When she remembered that his room was already spotless and that there was no need for her to go back in there, she blushed, hot and fierce, and promised to push all thoughts of Marsh from her mind for the rest of the night.
* * *
Marsh sat across the table from the beautiful woman his business acquaintance had introduced him to mere hours ago. Admittedly, Marsh was on the prowl, itchier than usual for a woman. Without a twinge of conscience, he had invited the woman—Chandra was her name—to have dinner with him that evening. But now, after several hours, her appeal had faded, through no real fault of her own. She couldn’t help it if she wasn’t Miss Jennifer Dunning.
When Chandra looked at him expectantly, he realized she was waiting for some kind of response. He hadn’t a clue what she was talking about; he hadn’t exactly been paying attention. He took a chance and nodded, and that appeared to satisfy her.
