Daddy Lessons

by Stella Bagwell

  “Jenny!” Savanna gasped. “There’s nothing between me and my boss.” Nothing but a kiss that had been burned into her mind forever, she thought desperately.

  Jenny dropped the sandals back onto the rack and picked up a pair of red high heels. “That’s too bad,” she said as she looked at the price tag.

  “Too high?” Savanna asked.

  Jenny laughed. “No, silly. About you and Joe, the oilman. I’d like to see you find a man. And he sounds like a good one.”

  “Jenny, I’ve told you how disastrous my engagements turned out to be. Do you think I’d be idiotic enough to try again? Besides,” she went on in a calmer tone, “I want to be a CPA. Not a wife. And Joe, well, even if he were interested in me, he’s just too complicated for my taste.”

  “Honey,” Jenny said with a laugh, “all men are complicated. They’re born that way.”

  Savanna frowned at her friend. “I can’t believe you, of all people, want me to get involved with a man. You hate men!”

  Jenny kicked off her loafer and jammed her foot into the red high heel. “I don’t hate men. I just don’t trust them. Especially where I’m concerned. But you’re different. You’re young and beautiful and all heart. You should have a husband and babies.”

  Savanna thought Jenny should have the same thing for herself. But she didn’t say so. She knew her friend had been hurt badly by her ex-husband, not just emotionally but physically, too. She didn’t want to say anything that might bring all that pain back to her.

  “Maybe I will have all that someday,” Savanna said, her voice unknowingly wistful. “But right now I plan to be a career woman. Books and numbers. That’s going to be my life.”

  Jenny tilted her foot first one way and then the other. “What do you think?”

  “About what?” Savanna asked as she stared absently out at the passing shoppers.

  “The high heels. Think I should buy them?”

  Savanna looked down at Jenny’s feet. “They’re definitely dressy. Where would you wear them?”

  “I don’t know. But they look good. What more reason do I need to buy them?” she asked with a laugh.

  “I can’t think of any,” Savanna said, doing her best to laugh along with her friend.

  But once Jenny went inside the store to pay for the shoes, the smile fell from Savanna’s face. For the first time in a long time she wasn’t in the mood for laughing. She was troubled and confused.

  All she could think about was Joe. The things he’d told her about his childhood, the way he’d looked at her on the beach, the way he’d kissed her on the balcony. He was beginning to consume her every waking thought and she didn’t know what to do about it.

  But she had to do something, she fiercely told herself. Joe was her boss. She couldn’t let herself get hung up on him.

  “Okay, there went a day’s wages,” Jenny said when she rejoined Savanna. “What do you say we go get some ice cream, then head back home. I’ve got to go on patrol at nine tonight and it’s nearly eight now.”

  “I’m always ready for ice cream,” Savanna assured her. But she definitely wasn’t ready to lose her heart to Joe McCann.

  The next day at work, Joe was away from the office until midafternoon. When he eventually returned he immediately got on the telephone and stayed there for nearly a half hour. As soon as he hung up, he poured himself a cup of coffee and carried it over to Savanna’s desk.

  She looked up at him, her heart pounding foolishly, her eyes happy to be seeing him again. “Did you want something?”

  Joe came close to laughing. Hell, he thought, he wanted lots of things. Her most of all. He could admit that now. But wanting was all he intended to let himself do.

  “I, uh, have something I wanted to talk to you about,” he said.

  The grim expression on his face had her eyes widening with concern. “Oh, have I done something wrong?”

  Yeah, he thought, his eyes sliding over her. She’d come to work looking entirely too beautiful. She was wearing a dress printed with big pink roses. It buttoned all the way down the front and exposed her thigh when she walked or crossed her legs. Joe felt a little short of breath every time he looked at her.

  “No. It’s nothing like that.” He took a deep breath as his eyes left her crossed legs and settled to her lips. They were dark pink, moist and parted with anticipation. The sight of them had him groaning inside.

  For the past two days since they’d returned from Houston all Joe had been able to think about was Savanna and how incredible it had felt to kiss her. Looking at her now, he wanted nothing more than to lock the door, unbutton those roses and explore every inch of her.

  Drawing in another long breath, he sat on the edge of the desk. “I’ve got to go out of town again.”

  “Back to Houston?” she asked, while thinking her resistance would never be able to survive another trip with him.

  Joe shook his head. “No. The excavation for one of the rig sites is nearly completed. I want to be there while the rat holes are being started.”

  “Rat holes?”

  He nodded. “Before large drilling pipe can be used, a starting hole has to be bored and filled with casing. We oilman call that rat holing.”

  “I see,” Savanna said. “How long will you be gone?”

  His eyes on the toes of his boots, he said, “It depends on the weather and how much the crew can get done. Three days, more than likely.”

  Savanna felt totally deflated. “And the office?”

  “I’ll give you the keys. Just open at the same time in the mornings and keep doing the things you’ve been doing. Of course, I’ll have a cellular phone with me in case a problem arises here that you can’t handle.”

  She nodded, then realizing he still wasn’t looking at her, she said, “I’ll do my best.”

  Long moments passed. When he didn’t make a move to leave her desk, she asked, “Was there anything else you needed to tell me?”

  Joe set his coffee cup on the desk by his hip, then rubbed his hand against the back of his neck. “Actually, there is. I haven’t yet decided what to do about Megan.”

  A few days ago he’d more or less blasted her for trying to give him advice about Megan. Now he was asking? She couldn’t believe it. “You’re not planning on taking her with you?” she asked.

  He turned his head to look at her. “No. It’s too remote. I’ll be bunking with some of the crew and there wouldn’t be any place for her to stay. Besides, I doubt I’ll have a minute to spare while I’m down there.”

  “I see. Do you have someone to stay with her?”

  “That’s what I’ve been thinking about. I have a neighbor who’s a widow and probably wouldn’t mind watching over Megan for a couple of days. You think that would be suitable?”

  A thoughtful frown creased Savanna’s face. “Has Megan met her?”

  “No. But Mrs. Grady is a nice woman. Megan should be able to get along with her. If you don’t think that’s a good idea, I have a friend over in Mustang that would be glad to keep her. He and his wife have three small children. They know all about kids.”

  They probably did, Savanna thought. But the girl was just now getting adjusted to a new home and a father she’d never lived with before. She didn’t need to be thrown among total strangers for the next couple of days. It would be asking too much of Megan.

  Savanna rose to her feet, bringing her face level to his. “I think I should stay with Megan,” she stated.

  He stared at her as though her suggestion was the very last thing he’d consider. “You stay with her?”

  Savanna shrugged and tried her best to appear casual. But that was hard to do when her heart was pounding, waiting for his response.

  “Why not?” she countered.

  A frown creasing his face, he looked away from her. “Because you’re my secretary. Not Megan’s baby-sitter.”

  Though they shouldn’t have, his words cut her. She’d thought in the past days she’d become more to him than just a sec
retary. The kiss they’d shared had certainly left her feeling like more than just his employee. But maybe that kiss and the time they’d spent on the beach hadn’t really meant anything to him.

  “I could be both,” she suggested quietly.

  “No. I don’t think that would be wise, Savanna,” he said bluntly.

  Her brown eyes flashed with annoyance. So now he was back to being Mr. Cool, she thought. Well, if that’s what he really wanted, then so be it. But she wasn’t about to make it easy for him.

  “Why?” she asked, in a voice as curt as his.

  Joe groaned inwardly. Damn it, didn’t she know why? He was already getting too close, too attached to Savanna. Asking her to stay in his home with his daughter would be as foolish as striking a match near a puddle of gasoline. An explosion of some sort was bound to happen.

  But when she was standing close to him like this, her flowery fragrance filling his head, it was hard to hold on to his common sense, much less keep his hands off her.

  “I think you know the answer to that, Savanna.”

  “Because you don’t think it would be proper?” she retorted, then groaned with frustration. “Joe, do you always have to be so ramrod straight? Can’t you ever let your hair down and quit worrying about every little decision you make? Does everything in your life have to be precise and planned?”

  Savanna stood watching him, waiting for a reply. But her answer didn’t come in words. She read it on his face. He wanted her physically. And that was making him afraid to let her into his home and near his daughter.

  Her heart pounding wildly, she said, “Joe, just because we kissed doesn’t mean—”

  Before she could finish, he caught her by the shoulders and tugged her around the corner of the desk to where he sat.

  “We did more than kiss, Savanna!” he hissed, just inches away from her face. “And you know it! What are you trying to do to me, anyway? Tempt me any way you can, just so you can see how much it will take to make me crumble?”

  “You’re crazy! Just because I want to watch out for Megan doesn’t mean I’m trying to seduce you!” she said, her voice rising, her breast heaving with anger. “I told you I don’t want any man. And that includes you!”

  “Liar,” he growled, jerking her between his thighs and up against his chest. “I’m going to prove you wrong right here and now!”

  “Joe—”

  Once again, his name was all she managed to get out before his lips came down over hers. Moaning, Savanna squirmed and tried to twist free of his grasp. But his hands came up to catch both sides of her face in a viselike grip, making it impossible for her to avoid his kiss.

  Then suddenly the warm, male taste of him began to weave its magic over her and Savanna didn’t care if she ever got away. She had been lying when she’d said she didn’t want him. She wanted him with a vengeance that had kept her awake the past two nights. Now that he was giving her just what she’d been aching for, she couldn’t resist him.

  Feeling the response of her lips against his, Joe eased his hold on her face to find the buttons on the front of her dress. He released the first two, then lifted his head to look at her.

  “Are you going to deny you want me?” he asked huskily.

  How could she? Savanna wondered miserably. At this moment she wanted him more than anything she’d ever wanted in her life.

  “No,” she whispered. “Are you going to say you don’t really want me? That this is just some sort of test to get the truth out of me?”

  Sliding his fingers beneath the loosened neckline of her dress, he said, “I’ve wanted you from the moment you walked in that door, Savanna Starr. Does that make you happy?”

  No, she thought. Nothing would make her happy now. Except him. Him touching her, kissing her, loving her until they were both so out of their minds they couldn’t think about tomorrow.

  Rather than tell him with words, she raised on tiptoes and brought her lips up to his.

  Joe didn’t need any further encouragement. With a heated groan his mouth took hers in a deep, hungry kiss. Beneath the fabric of her dress his hand slid downward until he reached her lace-covered breast.

  Pressing the lower half of her body closer to his, Savanna parted her lips. The silent invitation had Joe thrusting his tongue into the dark, sweet recesses of her mouth. At the same time his fingers worked frantically to loosen the remaining buttons on her dress.

  When the fabric finally fell away, his hands plunged inside the cups of her bra then lifted her breasts free of the confining lace. The moment their softness spilled into his hands, Joe dropped his head and tasted one pink nipple and then the other.

  Groaning with reckless abandon, Savanna tangled her fingers in his tawny hair and anchored his head to her breast. Never in her life had she needed anything the way she needed Joe at this moment. Couldn’t he feel it? Didn’t he know that no man had ever touched her like this? Made her ache like this?

  “Dear God, Savanna, it’s crazy what you do to me!”

  His voice was oddly tight as though he was forcing the words through a fog of desire. The sound was strangely inciting to Savanna and she drew his hands up to her breasts and held them there.

  “Kiss me, Joe,” she whispered against his lips.

  She didn’t have to ask him again. Joe was tired of thinking, worrying, weighing the consequences of his actions. He wanted Savanna with every fiber of his being, and she wanted him. He wasn’t going to let himself think beyond that. For once in his life, he was simply going to feel.

  “I don’t know what it is about you, Savanna,” he whispered, “but you make me forget every rule in the book.”

  Bringing her hands up to his face, she urged him closer. “Then I must be doing something right.”

  Joe closed the fraction of space between their lips. Oh, yes, she was doing everything right, he thought. So right that he never wanted this moment in her arms to end.

  Groaning with a need that went beyond the physical, Joe tasted her mouth, her cheeks, her chin, then slowly trailed his lips down her arched throat. By the time he reached the mound of her breast, Savanna was panting short little breaths of anticipation and so lost to him that when the telephone shrilled loudly she dazedly looked over her shoulder at the ringing instrument, then back to Joe.

  “Do you want me to answer that?”

  He wanted to jerk the line out of the wall. But it was too late for that now. Cursing under his breath, he snatched the receiver off the hook. “McCann Drilling,” he said hoarsely.

  Long minutes passed as he listened to the person at the other end of the line. After a while it became obvious to Savanna that the call was something he couldn’t put off and their moment of passion had ended.

  Walking some distance from him, she turned her back and refastened her clothing. Dear Lord, she silently groaned as she fingered the button between her breasts. She’d nearly made love to Joe! In the middle of the afternoon. In his office, for Pete’s sake! What was wrong with her?

  With her palms pressed against her hot cheeks, Savanna closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. But the extra oxygen didn’t seem to help. The aching in her body had seeped into her heart and she was shaking all over with the enormity of what that meant.

  She loved Joe McCann. She wanted to give him more than her body. She wanted to give him her heart, her love, every part of herself.

  Galvanized by the sudden realization, Savanna turned and hurried past Joe and out the door. Down the corridor in the bathroom, she braced both hands on the edge of the lavatory and let her head drop until her chin hit her chest.

  What was she going to do? What could she do? Joe might want her sexually, but he didn’t want a wife. And she didn’t want to tangle her heart up with a man. Especially one who didn’t even like himself, much less her.

  Lifting her head, she gazed at her reflection in the mirror. Stunned by what she saw, Savanna lifted her fingers and touched them to her bare, puffed lips. Who was this woman with mussed hair, wide d
ark eyes and a very kissed mouth? she asked herself. Was this the same woman who had vowed never to risk her heart by loving another man?

  No. It wasn’t the same woman, she realized. Because the Savanna that had suffered through the humiliation of desertion and grieved over Terry’s death hadn’t really known what loving a man was all about.

  A few minutes ago Joe had taken her on a magical trip, a place where only true lovers could go, a place she’d never been before. Now she was desperately afraid she was going to find out what it was really like to love and lose.

  A few minutes later, when Savanna returned to the office, Joe was hanging up the telephone. She shut the door behind her, then stood motionless.

  Rebuttoning the blue denim shirt she’d torn open, he walked toward her, his gaze scanning her face. “Are you all right?”

  She wanted to run to him, press her cheek against his chest and simply hold on to him. Instead, she swallowed at the tightness in her throat and nodded.

  Once he reached her, his fist came up beneath her chin and he rubbed his knuckles ever so gently against her jawline.

  “I don’t know what to say to you, Savanna,” he said in a low voice. “I don’t know whether I’m sorry things between us got out of hand, or if I’m sorry because we didn’t get to finish what we started.”

  Even now, the simple touch of his hand was enough to make her heart pound with longing. “Maybe we’d better forget it ever happened,” she murmured.

  A few moments ago, before she’d returned to the office, he’d thought the same thing, but seeing her now made him realize how foolish that idea was.

  His eyes dropped to the thrust of her breasts, then his hand quickly followed to trace a forefinger along the open neckline of her dress. “I don’t think that will be possible, Savanna.”

  In fact, Joe was certain he’d never be able to forget the fire she’d built inside him, the exquisite pleasure she’d given him for those few minutes.

  “I don’t want to make love to you, Joe,” she said, her voice as shaky as her hands.

  A wry grin cocked his mouth. “Then you’re a damn good actress, Savanna.”

  She closed her eyes and wondered if her heart would ever get back to a normal pace. “That’s not what I meant.”