“Besides which, you’d have felt guilty as sin if I offered high praise for a dish you knew you hadn’t prepared,” he asserted. “I was just saving you that.”
“How considerate,” Janet retorted a trifle sourly.
Gina apparently decided to let them resolve the issue of etiquette they were debating, because she stuffed her order book back into her pocket.
“You two can sit here and battle wits from now till the cows come home,” she said. “Let me choose dinner tonight, so you won’t have something more to quibble about. I’ll have Tony fix you something special.”
“Perfect,” Janet said.
Harlan decided she was apparently no more eager to choose from the menu than she was to cook in her own kitchen. It was a wonder she wasn’t skin and bones.
When Gina had gone, he did an appreciative survey of Janet. Whatever her disinterest in food, she managed to have a perfectly rounded figure that could fill a man with lust. He dragged his attention away and stared at the ceiling in what was only a partially successful attempt to bring his hormones under control. The reaction only confirmed what he’d guessed earlier, that he couldn’t walk away from her.
“Everything okay?” she inquired with a half smile that was all too knowing.
He caught the undisguised mirth in her eyes. “Fine,” he lied. “How about you? You looked put-out when I turned up at your office a little while ago. Something on your mind?”
“Just your habit of appearing without notice and expecting me to drop everything to accompany you. Haven’t you ever heard of the telephone?”
“Sure, but it’s harder for you to turn me down face-to-face.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Watching you stammer around for excuses a few times.”
“I never stammer,” she retorted irritably. “Still, I can’t keep taking off at the drop of a hat, just because you get some whim to feed me.”
“You have a lot of work piled up?” he inquired doubtfully.
“That’s not the point.”
“Sure it is. No sense in you sitting around in your office pretending to be busy, when you could be having a nice meal with me.”
“What about a nice meal with my daughter?”
“Who’d cook?”
She frowned at him. “You really do have a rotten streak, Harlan Adams.”
“Just speaking the gospel truth. It’s not even hearsay. Don’t forget I saw the state of your kitchen that night and you never even dared to put that meal on the table. Makes me wonder how the two of you have survived this long. Must have been the takeout available from all those fancy New York restaurants.”
She looked a little like a chicken who’d had her feathers ruffled by that comment, but she kept her mouth clamped firmly shut. Harlan watched the temper flare in her eyes, then slowly diminish before she finally seized on another topic.
“Where did you go so early this morning?” she asked in a perfectly neutral tone.
He grinned. “So, you did miss me. I’m gratified to hear it.”
“I did not say I missed you. It was a simple question, Harlan. Just a little polite conversation, okay? If it’s some big secret, just say so.”
He got the impression he might be pushing her a little too hard with his teasing. He opted for giving her the truth, or at least a select portion of it. “I had some unexpected business to take care of.”
“I thought Cody took care of all the ranch’s business these days.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t stick my nose into it, when I’m of a mind to,” he said. “By the way, did I mention you’re looking particularly beautiful today. That red blouse suits you.”
“Thank you,” she said, but her gaze narrowed suspiciously. “You’re up to something, aren’t you?”
“I could ask you the same thing with more cause,” he retorted, enjoying the unmistakable guilt that darkened her eyes.
He decided there was something to be said for tormenting her. Maybe he wouldn’t tell her about that trip to Oklahoma, not until she came clean with him. Surely a man was entitled to some secrets from a woman who had the ability to tie him in knots without even trying.
Gina played straight into his hands by turning up just then with a platter of antipasto and two glasses of Chianti. It got them both off the hook, which was probably to the good, he decided as he watched Janet nervously shoving a couple of olives around on her plate. Let her stew for a bit.
“You get any clients today?” he asked after a while.
She looked up, her expression revealing unmistakable gratitude for the change to a more innocuous topic. “As a matter of fact, yes. Mule came by.”
Harlan’s mouth gaped. “What the devil did he want?”
“That’s a matter of client confidentiality,” she said, obviously pleased that she’d not only stunned him, but stirred his curiosity.
“Well, I’ll be damned. You sure he didn’t want to get in a few quick hands of poker? He might have been running short of cash, since he’s had that garage of his closed for so blasted long.”
“Sorry,” she said blithely. “I can’t talk about it.”
“Mule tells me most of his business anyway,” he said, trying to coax her into telling, when he knew perfectly well that she was too ethical to ever say a word. He was enjoying aggravating her too much to stop just yet.
“Then you’ll have to ask him about this,” she retorted. “Now, stop prying.”
“Just making polite small talk,” he shot right back, echoing her earlier jab.
She rolled her eyes. He couldn’t help chuckling at her exasperated expression. “You are a treasure, you know that, don’t you?”
The compliment seemed to throw her off-balance. “Where did that come from?” she asked in a tone that said she didn’t think she deserved it.
“Just an observation. A man’s entitled to make one every now and again, isn’t he?”
“Of course.”
“Shall I make a few more?” he inquired, leaning forward and lowering his voice to a seductive whisper.
She swallowed hard and shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
He grinned. “How come?”
“Because I don’t think this is the time or the place to be discussing whatever it is you have on your mind.”
“Now that’s an interesting bit of speculation on your part,” he observed, trying to keep the amusement out of his tone. “Just what is it you think I have on my mind that would be unsuitable for discussion in a public place?”
She blushed furiously. “Never mind. Perhaps I was wrong.”
Harlan shook his head. “Now, you don’t strike me as a woman who admits lightly to being wrong. Maybe you ought to say what’s on your mind. Could just be you’re right on track.”
“Why are you doing this?” she demanded. “A gentleman—”
“We’ve already established that I’m no gentleman, not when it comes to affairs of the heart, so to speak.”
He allowed his gaze to sweep over her, lingering long enough to keep her color high and her nerves jittery. The game turned on him, though. The next thing he knew his own heartbeat was racing and the blood was rushing straight to a portion of his anatomy where its unmistakable effect could prove downright embarrassing. He wanted her with an urgency that drove out all other thoughts. Visions of taking her here and now took up residence in his brain and clamored for action.
Apparently he’d been wrong about one thing, though. He was just enough of a gentleman not to act on such a desperate, wicked longing. But Janet Runningbear could thank her lucky stars that he’d chosen DiPasquali’s for dinner tonight instead of White Pines. He doubted he’d have been anywhere near so restrained in the privacy of his own home.
He met her gaze and thought he read a mix of passion and uncertainty in those dark brown depths. Soon, he silently promised her and himself. He would claim her soon.
As if she could read his mind, an audible sigh eased through her. A sigh of
satisfaction perhaps? Or maybe anticipation? Whichever it was, Harlan could only share in the sentiment.
To him the future was as clear-cut as a pane of glass or a ten-carat diamond. Whatever Janet Runningbear’s original agenda had been in coming to Los Piños, he had a feeling it was only a matter of time and subtle persuasion before he’d have her seeing the years ahead as vividly as he did.
Chapter Twelve
The bouquet of flowers that arrived in Janet’s office the next morning was so huge that the only surface big enough to accommodate it was her desk. She was still staring in astonishment at the arrangement of splashy yellow mums, vivid orange tiger lilies, Texas bluebonnets and fragrant white roses when the man responsible for sending it walked in.
She didn’t get it. Why was he lavishing all this attention on her, now that he knew the truth? Why had he kept so silent about what Jenny had told him? Was he planning to set her up to take a tremendous fall? If that was it, it was a pretty diabolical plan; one she couldn’t imagine Harlan resorting to.
She was still trying to puzzle it out when he came up behind her, spanned her waist with his hands, brushed aside her hair and planted a kiss on her nape.
“I see it got here,” he said, sounding extremely pleased with himself.
“Just a few minutes ago,” she said, unable to take her eyes off the lavish display. She couldn’t quite decide whether to be awed or appalled. She settled for adding, “The flowers are beautiful.”
He released her, stepped in front of her, then examined her face intently. Apparently her expression gave her away. He frowned.
“Too much?” he inquired.
“It’s not that…exactly,” she said, not wanting to trample on the sentiment behind the overdone gesture. She’d discovered long ago that men required all the positive reinforcement possible, if a woman expected flowers and candy not just for special occasions, but as impulsive gifts for no reason at all. This wasn’t a habit she wanted to break, just to modify. And this was an improvement over that first floral excess he’d brought to the house.
She gestured helplessly at the arrangement’s takeover of her desk top. “Where am I supposed to work?”
He nodded. “Definitely a problem.” He settled an innocent look on her. “So, take the day off.”
She couldn’t help laughing at his mischievous expression and at the outrageous suggestion. “Was that why you sent such a huge bouquet, so I wouldn’t be able to work?”
“Actually, no, but I’m a man who can think on his feet. I could see your dilemma right off and came up with what I consider to be the perfect solution—play hooky.”
She studied him suspiciously. “Seems a little convenient to me that you turned up here just in time to make a suggestion like that.”
“You’ve obviously been hanging around with too many criminals. You lack trust.”
Janet perched on the only available corner of her desk and studied him intently. “Okay. If—and that’s a very big if—I were to take you up on your suggestion, what exactly do you have in mind?”
“Lunch,” he said at once.
“It’s barely nine-fifteen in the morning.”
“In Dallas.”
She stared at him and tried to keep her mouth from gaping. “You want to go all the way to Dallas for lunch? Isn’t that a little extravagant?”
He had a ready answer for that, too, apparently. “We could shop,” he said without so much as a hesitation.
“For?”
He shrugged, his expression vaguely uncertain. “Beats me. I just figured all women loved to shop. And much as I love Los Piños, I can see that it’s not exactly loaded with those fancy little designer boutiques, where a hankie costs an arm and a leg.”
“I can’t afford a boutique where hankies cost a hundred times what I’d pay for a pack of tissues.”
“But I can.”
She grinned at his persistence. “You want to fly to Dallas to buy me lunch and a hankie?”
“Or maybe a fancy outfit to wear to a party,” he said, watching her with another of those exceptionally innocent expressions that wouldn’t have deceived anyone with even half a brain.
Janet’s gaze narrowed. “What party?”
“The one I’m throwing on Saturday night to introduce you to a few of my friends.”
“Harlan, I told you I do not want you trying to drum up business for me.”
He scowled, his exasperation apparent. “This isn’t about business, darlin’. This is strictly personal.”
For some reason she didn’t find that nearly as reassuring as she should have. It struck her as being too…personal, she decided, using his own word to describe it. Too intimate. Especially given that unspoken subject hanging in the air between them. Why, why, why? she wondered again. What was he up to?
“I don’t know—” she began, only to have him cut her off.
“It’s no big deal,” he reassured her. “There are a lot of people I owe for inviting me to dinner and stuff. I figured one big bash would take care of all those obligations. I can’t have a big to-do without a proper hostess, can I?”
“And that’s me?” she said skeptically. “The woman who can’t cook a lick.”
“I have Maritza and all of her relatives for that.”
“You also have three very lovely daughters-in-law who would be happy to play hostess, I’m sure.”
He waved off the suggestion. “I want a woman of my own.”
She cringed at the possessive description, but let it pass. “Half the people in town barely say more than hello to me,” she noted pointedly.
“That’ll change when you’re with me.”
Knowing that he was right about that grated. “Harlan, I have to win people over myself.”
“You will. I’m just opening the door, so they’ll give you a chance to show `em what a brilliant, witty, warm woman you are.” He reached behind her desk and grabbed her purse. “Come on. You can think it over while we fly to Dallas.”
“What about Jenny? What have you done with her since I dropped her off?”
“She’s helping Melissa out with the kids today. I’m paying her ten bucks an hour to baby-sit. She says minimum wage is too cheap for the trouble those kids get into. Had to admit she was right about that.”
Janet shook her head. “This is the oddest brand of punishment I’ve ever seen.”
He shrugged. “So I’m lenient, sue me. Any more excuses?”
She was about to muster the last of her resolve and say no when she took a good, long look into his eyes. They were bright with excitement. He genuinely wanted to do this for her. How could she possibly disappoint him, when he’d already been so good to her and to Jenny? Besides, an unplanned trip to Dallas was exactly the sort of impulsive act she’d indulged in far too rarely.
“Okay, let’s go for it,” she said at last.
At the same time, she swore that she would do everything in her power not to take advantage of him. Lunch was one thing. A party outfit was something else entirely. She would buy that for herself, if she could convince herself that one of the dozens of cocktail dresses already in her closet from what seemed like another lifetime wouldn’t do.
* * *
For a man who claimed not to know much about shopping, Harlan guided her around the best shops in Dallas with the ease and familiarity of an extravagant tour guide. He seemed to have his heart set on a particular kind of dress and, after trying on dozens, all she knew for certain was that it wasn’t baubles, bangles or beads he was looking for.
“I think I know just the place,” he said at last, and led her to a boutique carrying designer Western wear. He gazed around at the fancy Western-cut shirts and rhinestone-studded jeans and nodded in satisfaction. “Yep, this is it.”
Janet shook her head. “You knew all along this was what you wanted me to wear, didn’t you?” she accused.
“I wasn’t sure,” he claimed.
“Harlan, there is no comparison between those cocktail dresses
and this,” she said, gesturing to the displays. “Why’d you waste three hours taking me to those stores, so I could try on silk and lace?”
“I thought all women liked to dress up in pretty clothes. Besides, I thought you might find something you couldn’t resist.” He shook his head. “You’re a tough nut to crack, though. I never once saw a glimmer of longing in your eyes.”
“Because I wore those kinds of dresses to more social functions than I care to recall back in New York. My closet is crammed with them. If I never wear another one, it will be okay with me.”
He chuckled at that. “That’s another thing I love about you. You’ve long since figured out who you are.”
Janet denied his assessment with a quick shake of her head. “You’re wrong. I know who I don’t want to be anymore. I don’t want to be a big city lawyer, living in a pressure cooker. I don’t want to go to parties because I might meet someone important,” she said pointedly, then added with a touch of wistfulness, “But I’m still discovering who I am.”
Harlan listened to all that intently, then asked softly, “Any room in the picture for a rancher?”
The direct question took her by surprise. Her heart thumped unsteadily as she considered all the implications of what he was asking. “Maybe,” she said eventually, her gaze locked with his.
“That’s good enough,” he said quietly. “For now.”
She finally forced herself to break eye contact by feigning a sudden interest in a fancy denim outfit.
“Janet,” Harlan said, drawing her attention back to him. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned the past few years it’s that life is unpredictable and often far too short. Don’t get the idea I’m going to leave you much room to maneuver for long.”
Her breath caught in her throat at the silky tone. “Is that a threat?”
He touched his fingers to her cheek in a light caress that set off fireworks in her midsection.
“It’s a promise,” he declared, then winked. “Now, try on that outfit you’ve been eyeing since we walked in the door. And while you’re at it, take a look at that skirt and blouse with the sparkly doodads on it.”
“Rhinestones?” she teased.
The Rancher and His Unexpected Daughter Page 14
