Page 12 of The Forbidden Texan
Jake held her chair and was aware of her hair brushing his fingers when she sat down. He walked around the table to sit facing her as their waiter appeared.
“I’ll give you a moment to look over the menu. In the meantime, what would you like to drink?”
Jake ordered a bottle of champagne and glasses of water for them. As soon as they were alone, she raised her eyebrows as she looked at him. “Champagne?”
“Do you like champagne? I should have asked first.”
“Yes, I like it, but what are you celebrating? Or are you just a champagne drinker?”
Smiling, he shook his head. “No, beer is my drink of choice. But tonight I’m celebrating that we’re getting started on a job that needs to be done. I’m celebrating that you took the job and we’ll clear out the house, so that I can keep my promise to Thane. And I’m celebrating that we’ll make some sort of dent in the feud. In fact, we might have started making a change in the feud tonight.”
“I really don’t think that’s possible.” She smiled and his breath caught. Her smile was so contagious, so infectious that he felt it stir longings as it drew his attention to her rosy lips. He realized then that his champagne celebration might have been premature. He still didn’t want to get involved with her, still knew she was not the woman for him, but he couldn’t stop wanting to kiss her. How long would they be able to work together? Once they started living together at the ranch, would he be able to keep his distance from her?
Asking that question to himself, he had a sudden thought. Had Thane been trying to be a matchmaker with him the way he had with Mike and Vivian and with Noah and Camilla? Jake didn’t think so. He thought Thane’s big wish had been to end the feud between the Ralstons and the Kincaids; it would make running his ranch much easier for Mike Moretti since the Tumbling T was situated directly between properties belonging to the two feuding families.
Regardless of Thane’s intentions, Jake realized that everything he had been determined to do to keep his relationship with Emily strictly business was crumbling by the hour. He reminded himself that she didn’t want a personal relationship, either, and that they were a definite mismatch. He tried to focus on the menu instead of the woman across from him and settled on steak as he had originally planned. He had eaten here enough to know what he liked.
After the waiter brought their waters, Emily took a sip and leveled those beautiful brown eyes on him. “It occurred to me that I know so little about you. I mean, with us working together—” she took another sip “—well, it might help to get acquainted.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Well, how long are you home?”
“I’m the last one to come home of the three of us who made promises to Thane. I left Afghanistan in August and was discharged the last day of August. I haven’t seen Noah Grant and Mike Moretti yet, but I intend to soon. For Mike and Noah, keeping those promises changed their lives. If the Ralston-Kincaid feud ends, that will be a life changer for a lot of us.”
“A change for the better. It seems ridiculous when you stop to think about it. We might cause the younger Kincaids and Ralstons to view the feud differently and see that we can have peace, but I don’t think you can change the older ones.”
“Honestly, I’ll be surprised if anyone changes very much—except maybe the two of us,” he said, smiling at her and getting another enticing smile in return.
“You’re a rancher, but you have other interests, don’t you? I’ve heard my dad say you’re an investment broker.”
“I was until I went into the army. I liked living in Dallas. I liked the city, the social life, the parties, the fun, the friends. But after being in the military, I’m ready for the ranch and now because of Thane, I have two ranches. I have a ranch in the Hill Country and I love it there. That’s where I want to live.”
“I see pictures of you taken at parties and benefits. They’re in the society pages and in the Texas magazines.”
He shrugged. “I don’t pay attention to those. They’re meaningless. Ahh, here’s our champagne.”
Their waiter popped the cork, got Jake’s approval of the champagne and then poured two flutes. As soon as they were alone, Jake raised his glass in a toast.
“Here’s to a successful endeavor—with your help—of keeping my promises to Thane Warner.” Looking into her brown eyes, Jake leaned forward to touch his flute lightly against hers. They each sipped and she swirled her drink slightly.
“After our brief look at the house today, I have a feeling this job may take several weeks. You and I have to go through all the stuff in the house, but once we do, I can get a crew to handle disposing of items, moving what you don’t want to my store to sell. We can always have an auction for the rest, at a hotel or somewhere in Dallas. The ranch would not be a good place. It’s going to be a big job, but I really don’t want to charge you. I can so easily take my fee out of what Thane gave me.”
He shook his head. “That was his gift to you for doing this, just as the Long L Ranch was his gift to me. Don’t take the charges to me out of his gift. I feel honor bound to follow his wishes as much as I can and do what he intended.”
She nodded. “Very well, I’ll give you estimates on what it will cost you.” She raised her flute to him. “Here’s to the beginning of the end of the Ralston-Kincaid feud. May we work together in harmony and cooperation,” she said, smiling at him.
He touched her flute with his. “As of now, that feud is over between us.” They locked gazes and he couldn’t look away as he sipped the bubbly champagne and ached to draw her into his arms.
“I ought to drink to working with you and keeping our relationship focused on business,” she said, raising her flute again.
“I’ll drink to that, too, because it keeps complications at bay and we may have enough of them just clearing out that house,” he said, glad to hear that she wanted to keep everything between them strictly business. But it didn’t stop or diminish one tiny fraction the reactions he was having to her. In spite of common sense, he was attracted to her.
“How did you get into this business?” he asked, trying to keep his focus where it belonged.
She shrugged. “I grew up around antiques so I know their value and their history. My art is my first love and I’ve been saving so I can let someone run the store for me and do the appraisals, then I’d be free to paint and draw full-time. I want my own gallery. Now, with Thane’s check, I can do that and spend all my time painting and drawing. I’m thrilled by that prospect and can’t wait to look for a place. There will be enough money for me to open a gallery where I can show and sell my paintings.”
“Good. You said you’re friends and work with Vivian Warner.”
