Page 17 of The Forbidden Texan
At 1:30 p.m. Jake received a call that the delivery trucks had left Flat Hill and soon would be at the ranch.
Emily went to the porch with Jake and Rum to wait and sooner than she expected, she saw a plume of dust stirred up on the road before three trucks came around a curve and into view.
Jake smiled. “I guess you bought me a lot of furniture.”
“Yes, I did, as a matter of fact. Even a gym.”
“Good deal. Comfy furniture and good food from the bunkhouse. We should get through this job fast.”
“You go to your office and direct the delivery guys where to put the furniture. We’ll take the other rooms.”
“Works for me,” he said.
The trucks parked and the man in charge met Emily and her assistants, and for the next two hours she was busy directing the men where to take the furniture. Her crew had new bedding washed and ready to put on the beds and by six, they had three furnished bedrooms, two offices, a partial gym, a new refrigerator and new microwave oven, as well as a table, chairs and some kitchen equipment. Some of the cowboys had come to help and when they stopped working, Jake thanked each one and Rum.
Finally, her assistants left to drive back to their hotel; since Jake and Emily were returning Monday, they’d be staying in Flat Hill for the next few weeks, as well. Emily left with Jake to fly home and he insisted on taking her to dinner, something casual where they wouldn’t have to change.
It was ten o’clock that night when he finally drove her home. When he stopped on the driveway, she turned to him. “I said it before—this isn’t a date and you don’t have to walk me to the door.”
“It isn’t exactly a chore,” he said, stepping out and coming around the car to walk with her. “I want to thank you for all you’ve done already. Today went well. I didn’t think we could get all that done so quickly.”
“We’ve moved people before so you get used to doing it,” she said, but she was thinking about Jake walking close beside her. They had been busy throughout the day, but in the plane and through dinner, she’d become increasingly aware of him. There was no way to stop the physical reaction she had to him except to keep busy every second or stay away from him. Could she stick to business when they were at the ranch?
She hoped so, but at this point, the answer didn’t matter. She had made the commitment and she was leaving to work on the ranch with Jake the day after tomorrow. Surely, she could control her actions and her responses and keep from falling in love with him.
Her answer had to be yes, but she worried about it. She had never been drawn to a man the way she was to Jake and she didn’t understand his appeal. He wasn’t her type. He didn’t want a relationship any more than she did. He didn’t flirt and there were times he was careful to avoid contact. In spite of that, she had a tingly awareness of him any time she was near him and right now was no exception.
Her pulse was racing when they got to the door. She needed to say good-night, step inside and close the door. No kissing. No touching.
“Thank you for dinner, Jake,” she said without looking at him. “I’ll meet you at the airport Monday morning—” Her speech halted when his hand closed lightly on her upper arm and he gently turned her to face him.
“Are you scared of me?” he whispered and stepped closer.
“I’m scared of me,” she answered.
“Another kiss isn’t going to change your life or mine. Lighten up a little. It’s just a kiss,” he whispered and all the time he talked, he leaned closer and drew her to him. He tightened his arm around her waist and placed his mouth on hers and her argument ended.
Her knees almost buckled and heat filled her while her heart raced. His mouth was on hers, his tongue over hers, his arm holding her tightly against his solid body. Common sense whispered to stop kissing him. Instead, she slipped her arm around his neck, pressed against him and opened her mouth to him, to kiss him as if it might be her last.
He wrapped both arms around her and pulled her even more tightly against him, making her want nothing more than to go inside her house, shut the door and kiss the night away. Never had kisses been like this. She couldn’t stop, not yet. She ran her fingers in his hair above his nape, and then let her hand slide down across his broad shoulder.
His hand ran over her bottom, stroking her lightly and pulling her against him even more, if that was possible. His touch set her on fire, threatening to singe her heart, and she shifted, trying to grasp a lifeline for reason and resolve.
When she pushed slightly, he released her.
She stepped back and they both gasped for breath as they looked at each other, and she fought the temptation to walk back into his arms—or to draw him into the house and into her bed.
She clung to common sense enough to resist. She stepped inside her doorway. “Lighten up a little, you said. That kiss could have destroyed every lick of common sense and caution I have. Jake, we’ve got to work together.”
“I promise you that our kisses won’t interfere with our working together. Not at all.”
“Maybe you can take them more casually than I can.”
“If I had even the tiniest degree more of a reaction to them, I would burst into flames.”
“Then I know just what I need to do.” She opened the door wider and turned back to him. “Good night, Jake. I’ll see you Monday morning at the airport.” She closed the door and leaned against it, gasping for air, her heart pounding. She had just made another big mistake by kissing him again. Why couldn’t she resist him? She knew the answer to that question. Because she’d never been kissed the way Jake kissed her.
But this was a business deal. A business deal with a man whose kisses dazzled her more than that million-dollar check from Thane Warner.
