Читать книгу Texas Temptation - Barbara McCauley - Страница 6

Jared stared at Annie, certain he had misunderstood her. She couldn’t mean what he thought she meant.

“What did you say?”

“I said,” she repeated quietly, “I’m your geologist. The one you were supposed to meet this morning.”

An uneasiness tightened Jared’s chest. “From Arloco Oil?”

“Yes.”

No. She couldn’t be. Not Annie. He reached for the light switch and flipped it on. She blinked at the unexpected brightness.

Annie had been a geology major, Jared remembered. That was how she and Jonathan had met. He had just finished his last year when they’d become engaged, but she’d had one more year before she graduated.

He watched her, letting the impact of her words sink in. “So this is no social call,” he said carefully. “You’re here as a representative of Arloco Oil.”

She nodded. “That’s right.”

He took in the full sight of her: work boots, long denim-clad legs, white sleeveless blouse, short tousled blond hair, large hazel eyes and wide soft lips.

Lips that were still swollen from the kiss he’d unknowingly forced on her.

The uneasiness in his chest closed around him like a fist. He’d more than blown his chances with Arloco Oil. He’d pulverized them.

He stared down at his bare feet, then back to her. “Look, just give me a minute. You’ve caught me a little off guard here.”

She smiled weakly. “You might say the same thing for me.”

He rolled his eyes shut and groaned. “Annie, I’m sorry, I—”

She cut him off. “Never mind, Jared. Let’s just forget about it. There was no harm done. We’ll laugh about it later.”

He seriously doubted that. Nor did he think he’d forget about it, either.

“I’ll go put some coffee on,” she offered as casually as if she’d been gone four days, instead of almost four years. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen, and we’ll start all over. It should help,” she added with a smile, “that we’ll both be dressed this time.”

He could hear the teasing in her voice, but he was hardly in the mood for levity. Frowning, he stepped aside, wondering how a day that had started off feeling so damn good could end up so damn miserable.

Annie held her breath as she moved past Jared. The look on his face told her that he hadn’t appreciated her weak attempt to ease the tension between them. She sighed inwardly. She’d known it was going to be difficult seeing Jared after all these years, but she certainly hadn’t expected it to be quite this difficult.

Everything in the kitchen was pretty much in the same place as when Jonathan had lived here, and she had a pot of coffee brewing within a couple of minutes. When she opened the cabinet where she remembered the cups had been, an image of Jonathan reaching into this same cupboard suddenly came to her. He’d made dinner for her the night he’d proposed, a romantic candlelight meal with wine and flowers. When he’d slipped the ring on her finger, she knew she was the luckiest woman alive.

Strange, she thought, staring at the plastic coffee mugs in her hand, how quickly and how cruelly happiness can be snatched away.

“Annie?”

Startled, she turned abruptly and dropped one of the mugs. It bounced on the tile of the kitchen floor, then landed on the living-room floor.

“I—I’m sorry,” she gasped, scrambling after the cup. Jared reached for it at the same time, and their fingers touched. She quickly pulled hers away, and they both straightened.

This time, when his gaze met hers, he smiled. “No harm done,” he said, mimicking the words she’d used earlier.

He took the other mug from her and moved to the coffeepot. It was still sputtering and bubbling, but he filled the cups anyway. The hot liquid dripped and sizzled on the burner.

She took a calming breath, watching as Jared poured the steaming coffee. He’d combed his hair, and the thick dark ends brushed the back of his neck. He looked the same physically as he had four years ago, except his arms and shoulders appeared more muscular than she remembered. He was almost a foot taller than her own five-foot-four frame, and she had to look up to meet his eyes when he turned and offered her a cup. They were the same deep blue as Jonathan’s had been. Stone blue, she’d called it, since all the Stone children had the same incredible eye color. It reminded her of the ocean at sunrise.

He handed her a mug. “Black all right?”

“Fine.” She accepted the cup, thankful to have something to hold on to.

“Annie—”

She raised a hand to stop him. “Jared, please, before we get to business, can we just talk a little? Maybe catch up on a few things?”

He stared at her over his coffee cup for a long moment, then leaned back against the counter. “All right.”

They both stood there.

She cleared her throat. “So how are you?”

What an inane thing to say. Blast it! Why was this so difficult?

He just nodded. “Okay. You?”

She nodded, too. “Fine.”

He sipped his coffee, watching her, and Annie felt a heat scurry through her at the intensity of his gaze.

“You look different,” he said at last.

He didn’t, she thought. He was as handsome as she remembered. Jonathan’s good looks had been more refined somehow, while Jared had been more rugged. “It has been almost four years.”

His gaze skimmed over her face. “Your hair.”

Embarrassed, she ran a hand through her newly cropped hair, suddenly wishing she hadn’t let the stylist talk her into the shorter cut. She’d nearly cried when she’d seen six inches of blond hair lying on the floor. “It’s supposed to be easier,” she said self-consciously.

The corners of his mouth tilted up slightly. “I like it.”

She thought she was in control again, but her cheeks suddenly felt warm. She blew away the steam rising from the cup in her hand, then took a sip of the hot liquid. “I heard you were in Venezuela.”

His lips thinned. “I was.”

Wrong subject, Annie, she thought with a silent groan. From the hard expression on Jared’s face, she guessed that South America hadn’t exactly been a picnic. It was also perfectly clear that he didn’t want to talk about it.

Jared’s reticence seemed to be another area where he and Jonathan had differed. Annie had never met anyone more open and verbal than Jonathan had been. Something told her that it would take a crowbar to extract anything more than superficial conversation out of Jared.

“Jake and Jessica?” she inquired about his sister and brother, intentionally changing the subject.

Jared’s smile returned, and she couldn’t help but notice the attractive lift of his dark eyebrows. “Jessica’s living in town. She’s applying for a grant so she can turn the ghost town she inherited into a camp for troubled kids.”

“Ghost town?”

Jared laughed. “I’ll let her tell you about it when she gets back from San Antonio. Jake and his wife, Savannah, took Emma to the Fall Festival there and she went with them.”

“Jake married! So there are snowballs in hell, huh?” she joked, remembering a remark Jared’s older brother had repeated more than once in the short time she’d known him. He’d been recently divorced back then and the subject of marriage was not his favorite. “And who’s Emma?”

“My half sister.” He chuckled at her confused stare. “It’s a long story. I’ll explain everything later.”

Obviously a lot had transpired since she’d last seen the Stones, Annie thought in amazement. A great number of changes had taken place with the family. Except for one thing.

The oil well.

Which brought her back to why she was here.

The lightness she’d felt a moment ago was gone now. In its place was an ache that settled over her like a lead weight.

The silence stretched around them as taut and thin as a spider’s web. If she touched one delicate strand, the entire web would either fall apart or ensnare her. Either way, someone lost.

As if sensing her plight, Jared made the first move. “How long have you worked for Arloco?”

“Almost two years. My first few months out of school I worked for a major oil company, mostly desk work. It’s not easy being a woman in a male-dominated industry, but I suppose being the youngest and only daughter of six children was a good training ground. When Arloco offered me a job, I jumped at the opportunity to work in the field for an independent company.” She made a small gesture with her hand. “So here I am.”

So here she was.

The awkwardness was back between them.

“Look, Annie,” Jared said, pushing away from the counter, “this is difficult for both of us. There’s a lot of...history here. It might be easier if we put that book on the shelf and just deal with the present. You don’t know me, I don’t know you. You’re here to do a job. Just do it.” She lifted her gaze to his. His eyes were narrowed, his lips drawn tightly together. He was right, of course. This was business, no matter what the past.

“Jared,” she said carefully, “you know that after I review everything here I have to draw up a report.”

“And based on your report, Arloco either gives or doesn’t give its support.”

It was bad enough, knowing that she was the one person who could destroy his dream, but hearing him speak the words made her stomach twist into a knot.

Her hands tightened around the cup. “I wish it wasn’t me standing here, Jared. But it is. This is my job. I can’t compromise that.”

“I didn’t ask you to,” he said tightly. “Nor do I expect it. Just give the project a chance.”

She hadn’t meant to offend him. This whole situation was just so difficult. She was walking on eggshells here, and none too lightly. “You have the maps?”

“They’re in my office.” He gestured toward the living room. “Why don’t we step in there?”

The teasing lilt was back again and she relaxed a bit. She appreciated that he was at least trying to make it easier for her. With a sigh, she moved past him, determined to put her mind to her work.

* * *

Annie sat cross-legged on the floor, a log sheet in one hand and a pencil in the other. She stared at the map spread out on the floor in front of her, her concentration intense as she cross-referenced the map to the logs.

On the floor beside her, Jared took a sip of his fifth cup of coffee as he watched her lean forward, her eyes narrowed, and study the sketched-out cross section of a trap fault. When her hair fell across her cheek, she unconsciously tucked it behind her ear with a smooth flick of her fingers.

She’d changed a lot since he’d first met her, he noted. Her blond hair had been halfway down her back before, and straight. Now it sort of curved around her oval face, accentuating her large hazel-green eyes and thick dark lashes. The style also revealed the long slender line of her neck. In a dim recess of his mind, he had an image of his lips pressed against that soft sensitive spot just below her ear. He cursed himself and tore his gaze away, determined to put the morning’s incident between them out of his thoughts.

The sound of her scribbling in the notepad at her knee brought his attention back to the present. It was almost as if she’d forgotten he was there. For the past three hours, she’d pored over the map that Jonathan had worked up—a “play,” it was called—and occasionally she’d ask a question, but there’d been virtually no conversation between them. It was starting to grate on his nerves, not knowing what was going on in her head.

He almost laughed at that. As if he’d ever known what went on in any female’s head.

He remembered the day Jonathan had brought her home. She’d looked like a typical college student. A long-legged long-haired blonde who would have turned any man’s head.

But now there was something more, something provocative, even seductive, in the way she spoke and moved. It made no difference she was wearing work boots and jeans and a loose-fitting white blouse. The femininity that radiated from her packed a punch with definite knockout power.

And when she began to nibble on the eraser of her pencil, Jared’s mouth went as dry as chalk. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t forget the feel of those soft lips under his own. Or the feel of her body pressed tightly against his.

“Jared,” she said suddenly, and he nearly jumped at the sound of his name, “did you have a seismic crew out here three years ago?”

He nodded. “I’ve got the file at the site.”

As she stared at the log sheet in her hand, then the map, she frowned slightly. Jared wasn’t at all sure he cared for the expression. He’d seen it too many times on bank officers and backers not to recognize it. It meant doubt. With a capital D.

He heard her stomach rumble then and realized that he hadn’t offered her anything to eat. Her cheeks flushed as she pressed a hand to her stomach.

He really knew how to rack up points, Jared thought sourly. First he attacked the woman, then he starved her.

“I’ll throw some lunch together,” he said, standing.

“I am a little hungry,” she admitted, tucking the pencil behind her ear and stretching. “I left Midland this morning about seven and didn’t take the time to pull off at a diner for breakfast.”

“Sandwiches—” He stopped abruptly at the sight of Annie’s full breasts pressing tightly against her blouse as she arched her back and groaned. He quickly recovered, though he had to swallow first in order to finish speaking. “—are about the extent of my culinary abilities.”

“Really?” She gave him a curious look. “I would have thought that—”

She caught herself, but he knew what she’d been about to say. Jonathan had practically been a gourmet cook. Jared felt a strange surge of anger and nearly blurted out that he wasn’t Jonathan, but he held his words in check.

“I manage to get by on canned soup and frozen dinners,” he said, moving into the kitchen. “Jessica takes pity on me once in a while and cooks something for me. Even Savannah insists I come over for dinner at least once a week.”

He opened the refrigerator and loaded his arms with sandwich makings, then shut the door and plopped everything down on the counter. “I must look like I’m wasting away, the way they fuss over me.”

Hardly, Annie thought, uncrossing her legs and standing. In fact, she doubted she’d ever seen a healthier more virile man than Jared.

And she certainly had seen Jared.

For the most part, she’d managed not to think about what had happened between them this morning. There’d been momentary lapses, such as when he’d spoken and the rough grain of his voice had skimmed over her skin like a current of low-voltage electricity. Or the time he’d brushed her knee with his, and her heart had shifted into double time. The idea of women fussing over Jared was not a difficult concept to grasp.

She sat on a bar stool opposite him at the counter, watching him slice a tomato with a sharp knife. His hands fascinated her. They were large, with long work-worn fingers and callused palms. She’d experienced their rough texture on her skin that morning and knew firsthand the sensuality they contained.

She knew the pleasure they contained, as well.

“Lettuce?” he asked.

“Please.” Disturbed by her thoughts, she looked quickly away, pretending interest in a small clay paperweight shaped like an oil well.

What was happening here? she asked herself, lifting the paperweight so she’d have something to occupy her hands. She couldn’t be attracted to Jared. He was Jonathan’s brother.

Since Jonathan, she hadn’t found anyone who had interested her enough to date more than casually. Most of the men she met in the field were arrogant die-hard chauvinists whose main hobby was seeing how quickly they could get a woman into the sack.

She couldn’t help the smile that crept over her lips. Jared had probably beat the world record this morning in that masculine sport.

“Emma made it for me.”

“What?” She glanced up sharply.

“The paperweight.” He gestured to the crude sculpture in her hands. “Emma made it.”

“Emma?” Annie turned it over and noticed the inscription on the bottom: To Jared. E.R.S. “Oh, yes. Your half sister. You want to tell me about her?”

He handed Annie a sandwich. “We found out about her at the reading of J.T.’s will. Turns out that my father had an affair ten years ago with the architect who designed his house.”

“You mean Stone Manor?” Annie asked, remembering the huge house that J.T.’s wife, Myrna Stone, had been so proud of and lived in still. Annie had never liked the place. It was cold and pretentious, like the woman herself.

Jared nodded. “The architect’s name was Angela Roberts. She left when she found out she was pregnant. She never told my father, and it was several years before he finally hired a private investigator to look for her. The man managed to uncover the fact that Angela had had a baby, but unfortunately J.T. died before the mother or child could be found.”

Annie started to take a bite of her sandwich, then stopped. “But...then, how did you, I mean...”

Jared reached behind him and opened the refrigerator. He pulled out two sodas and set one in front of Annie.

“Jake continued the search. The P.I. found the child five months later. Only problem—” he popped the lid of his soda and it fizzed loudly “—was that Angela Roberts had also died.”

Annie closed her eyes and released a long slow breath. “Oh, Jared, I’m so sorry.”

He stared at the soda can for a long moment, then nodded grimly.

“Anyway,” Jared continued, “when we found Emma a few months ago she was living with an aunt. It wasn’t easy, but Jake talked the aunt into coming here with Emma for a visit.” A smile lifted one corner of Jared’s mouth. “Then he married her.”

Annie still couldn’t believe it. Jake, of all people, remarried. She remembered that when Jonathan had told Jake he was getting married, the first thing Jake had said was, “Better you than me, bro. Have a dozen kids to make up for the ones I won’t.” Though he’d laughed as he said it, the smile never made it to his eyes.

The sandwich she was eating suddenly tasted like sawdust in her mouth. Annie had never had the chance to even marry Jonathan, let alone have his children. She’d almost thought—even hoped—that she’d been pregnant when she’d left that summer. She’d desperately wanted something of Jonathan she could have with her always, a part of him that she could love. A child.

But she hadn’t been pregnant. She realized later, of course, that it was for the best, but at the time she’d been disappointed.

She set the sandwich down and looked at Jared. “And now you’re here, too.”

“And now I’m here.”

And so am I, she thought.

For a few minutes there’d been an easiness between them, a connection that surprised her. But it was gone now, as if it were no more than a wisp of smoke.

And they were both abruptly aware that her visit was not of a social nature.

A weariness overcame her, and she felt a sudden desperate need to be alone. Away from here. She stood and rolled her shoulder to loosen the stiffness there.

“Thanks for the sandwich, Jared, but I think I’ve done all I’m capable of doing for now. I’m beat. It’s been a long drive here from Dallas. Why don’t we start fresh tomorrow and take a look at the rig first thing in the morning? Say about nine?”

“All right.” He set his sandwich down as if he, too, had lost his appetite. “Where are you staying?”

Annie couldn’t help but notice the fatigue that lined the edges of his deep blue eyes, and she realized that he was just as tired as she was. Based on the condition she’d found him in this morning, she assumed he hadn’t slept much the night before. She’d also noticed that he hadn’t stepped too close to a razor for a couple of days, and unbidden, the memory of how those rough bristles had felt against her neck flooded her mind.

She looked away, letting her insides settle before trusting herself to speak.

“I have a room in town,” she said, turning around and gathering up her notes. “At the Cactus Flat Motel. You can call me there if you need to. I’ll be going over this paperwork tonight.”

She turned to leave, then turned back again and lifted her gaze to his. “I know it’s hard for you, my being here,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry.”

He nodded slowly, and she saw the pain in his eyes as he stared at her. The most natural thing in the world would have been to go to him and put her arms around him. To comfort him and to be comforted.

But she didn’t. And though she didn’t know why, she did know that in all the time she’d been here neither she nor Jared had said Jonathan’s name once.