Читать книгу The Millionaire's Club: Connor, Tom & Gavin: Round-the-Clock Temptation / Highly Compromised Position / A Most Shocking Revelation - Michelle Celmer - Страница 13

“The hell you say?”

“We think that with your father out of commission, you could be the next target. I’ve been sent here to make sure you remain safe,” Connor explained.

“Well, I’m touched by your concern,” she said, even though she wasn’t, even though she wanted to tell him to take a hike. “But I can take care of myself. What I need is someone to watch the farm.”

“I’ve been given orders and have every intention of following them.”

“Oh, now you admit that you’ve been given orders? Well, here’s an order for you pal, get out there and fix that fence or pack your bags.” She turned and stomped toward the house, anger burning a hole in her gut. Who the hell did these Cattleman’s Club guys think they were? She was perfectly capable of defending herself. She didn’t need a keeper.

“You don’t want to do that,” Connor said, following her.

She flung the back door open and hurled herself through it. “And why is that?”

“Because when I go, the Cattleman’s Club will pull out completely and you may never know who’s behind the disturbances. This situation will continue to get worse until you lose everything. Do you want to be responsible for driving your family business into the ground?”

She spun around, found him standing in the doorway looking smug as hell. “Then I’ll go to the police.”

“Are you forgetting who the sheriff is?”

Another Cattleman’s Club member. Swell. She was beginning to wonder if seeking their help had been such a hot idea after all. “What is this, a conspiracy?”

He walked toward her, his voice low and patient. “If you calm down for a minute, and think of this logically, you’ll see that we’re only trying to help. And it would be in your best interest to let us do that.”

She took a long deep breath, felt the initial spark of anger begin to subside. Logically she understood their reasoning, and she did need their help. She may be hotheaded but she wasn’t stupid. She just didn’t like losing control, having her freedom determined by someone else. Her every move monitored.

She didn’t seem to have a whole lot of choice, though.

“Let me keep you safe, Nita.”

Something in the way he looked at her, the sincerity in his eyes, made her feel warm all over. It was almost as if he cared about her, and didn’t just want to get into her pants. In fact, he didn’t act that way at all.

“I’ll go along with this,” she finally said, then added for good measure, “But I’m not going to like it.”

“Doesn’t matter if you like it, as long as you’re safe.”

She supposed, if she had to be stuck with a man twenty-four/seven, she’d be hard-pressed to find a better-looking one. Not only that, but he was nice. A little on the reserved side maybe, but he definitely had potential. Being in such close quarters would give her a chance to pick that brain of his, to see what made him tick.

It also gave them time for some good old-fashioned horizontal fun.

Nita had just finished paying the monthly bills when she heard a car pull up the driveway. Jane was back with Will.

Nita stuffed the checkbook in the drawer and closed her laptop computer. When she opened the office door she found Connor right where she’d left him, sitting on the bench in the foyer, reading, of all things, one of Jane’s romance novels.

“Good book?” she asked.

He gazed up at her with an aren’t-you-funny look. “I was bored and it was all I could find.”

“You should have asked. Daddy has a slew of books in his room. Espionage novels mostly.”

“I’ll remember that next time.” He set the book down next to him. “Someone is here.”

“I know. It’s probably Daddy and Jane.”

He unfolded himself from the bench and rose to his feet. “I should give them a hand.”

Nita opened the front door and Connor followed her out. Jane was standing at the open truck, grabbing the bags, and Will was trying to boost himself from the front seat while negotiating a pair of crutches, his cast stuck out awkwardly in front of him.

“I’ll help you, Daddy,” Nita called to him and told Jane, “I’m so glad you’re back. We missed you around here.”

“Well,” Jane said, shooting Will a lethal look, her voice tight. “It’s good to know someone around here appreciates me.”

“I’ll get those bags,” Connor told her.

Jane thrust them at him then stalked into the house.

Whoa.

She definitely had a temper, but she also had a long fuse. It took an awful lot to get her that riled up.

“What’s the matter with her?” Nita asked Will as she helped him to his feet.

“She’s got herself in a dither over something,” he said, leaning on his crutches. “As long as I live I’ll never understand women.”

“Let’s get you settled in then I’ll go talk to her.”

She helped him inside, got him seated comfortably on the couch in front of the big-screen television, then brought him painkillers and a glass of water.

“Can I get you anything else?”

“I don’t think so,” he said, patting her arm. “It’s just good to be home. I hate hospitals.”

“I’m leaving.”

Everyone turned to see Jane standing in the doorway, a suitcase in her hand. Her face was devoid of emotion, but Nita could see barely contained anger not so far under the surface and her voice was as high and tight as an overstretched guitar string.

“Leaving?” Nita asked. “Where are you going?”

“To stay with a friend in Odessa.”

Boy, Jane really was mad if she had to leave for a few days to cool off. And the timing couldn’t have been worse. Nita didn’t have time to take care of the farm and her daddy. She hoped whatever was eating Jane, she would get it out of her system soon. “When will you be back?”

“I won’t.”

Nita was sure she’d heard her wrong. “Say again?”

“I said, I’m not coming back.”

For a second, she too stunned to form words. “B-but…you have to come back.”

“I left my forwarding address in the office. You can send my last check there.”

She started to turn, and Nita shouted, “Wait a minute! You can’t just leave. You’re part of the family. You belong here with us.” She turned to her daddy who sat stonefaced, his eyes on the television. “Daddy say something.”

“Yes, Will,” Jane said. “Say something.”

His mouth clamped tighter into a hard, stubborn line.

Nita turned to Jane, a sick feeling rolling around in her belly when she saw the determined, stubborn look on Jane’s face. Nita had seen that look enough times to know Jane meant business.

No. There had to be a way to fix this. Jane couldn’t go. Being the only other female on the farm, she was Nita’s only ally, her confidant. Jane understood Nita in a way no one else ever had, and never once judged her for her unconventional thinking. She wasn’t just a housekeeper, she was family.

“Tell me what happened,” Nita said to Jane, feeling desperate. “What can we do to fix this?”

“Why don’t you ask that hardheaded old fool? I have to go.” Jane spun on her heel and a minute later Nita heard the front door slam. She turned to her daddy.

“What happened? What did you do to her?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Nita, I’m going to go see if Jimmy needs me for anything,” Connor said. He must have figured Will might be more willing to talk without an audience. Either that, or he didn’t want to get involved. Not that she blamed him. It was her own family and she didn’t want to have to deal with it. She just wanted everything to go back to normal.

“That’s fine,” she told Connor. “I’ll be out there in a bit.”

When he was gone, she turned back to her daddy. “Jane, a member of our family, just walked out that door and you damned well better want to talk about it.”

“I’ll hire a new housekeeper.”

Jane was right about one thing, he was hardheaded. Nita sat on the edge of the couch. “Daddy, please talk to me. What happened?”

He mumbled something Nita didn’t catch. “What was that?”

“I said, she told me she loves me.”

Nita let out a surprised laugh. And here she’d thought something horrible had happened. “Is that all?”

He looked at like she was nuts. “What do you mean, is that all?”

“Are you telling me you didn’t know? Jane has been in love with you as long as I can remember. Since you never dated I thought…well, I thought maybe you two had something going on the side.”

He looked downright scandalized. “Of course not!”

“Do you have feelings for her?”

“She’s been my friend for a long time.”

“I’m talking about romantic feelings.”

His dark eyebrows pulled into a frown. “That part of me died along with your mother.”

How sad that would be if it were true, but Nita didn’t believe it for a minute. He was an affectionate, caring person. She was sure he could love again if he’d only let himself.

“When Jane told you she loved you, what did you say to her?”

“I told her that in my heart I’m still married to your momma, and I made a vow to be faithful to her.”

Nita winced. That one had to sting. To be rejected for the ghost of a marriage long since dissolved. “Daddy, Momma’s been gone almost twenty years. She would want you to be happy.”

“I am happy. I have you and Rose and I have the farm. I don’t need a woman to complete me.”

Nita sighed. There was no reasoning with him now. Poor Jane had to be devastated. To wait so long to speak her mind only to have her feelings shot down. No wonder she’d left. And Nita would miss her something fierce if she couldn’t convince her to come back.

Jane had been around for so long Nita couldn’t even imagine life without her. She’d cooked and cleaned and made sure the house ran like a greased wheel, had taken care of them all when they were sick. She’d been the female confidant Nita and her sister Rose had needed growing up. Jane had taken them shopping to buy their first bras, explained about periods and womanhood when the time came. But she’d never once overstepped her bounds and tried to take their mother’s place.

She’d been like a wife to Will in every way besides the bedroom. They played hours of Gin Rummy, watched movies together and bought each other special gifts for Christmas and birthdays. And Nita suspected that deep down, though he wouldn’t admit, he loved Jane, too.

After all these years, Nita didn’t understand how he could let her go without a fight.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Will said. “What’s done is done. Tomorrow you can go into town and pick up a paper. We’ll look in the classifieds and find a new housekeeper.”

“Whatever you say.” Nita patted his arm. Let him think it was resolved. Little did he know, the discussion was far from over.

“I think I should come home for a while.”

“Rose, there’s nothing you can do here.” Nita cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder while she removed a pan of charred potatoes from the stove and dumped it in the sink.

“With Daddy down and Jane gone things are bound to get crazy around there,” her sister said. “I can help.”

Nita ran cold water in the pan to stop it from smoking. Instead it sizzled and snapped and sprayed grease all over the sink and counter. Whoops.

She waved away the cloud of steam that billowed up in her face. “We’re doing fine,” she lied. “I can handle things.”

Jane had only been gone three days and the entire house had fallen apart. Dirty clothes overflowed from the laundry room, dishes from yesterday’s breakfast were still stacked on the kitchen counter, and once again she’d annihilated dinner. One more night without a decent meal and the hands were going to up and quit on her.

“I’m worried about you. I’ll feel better if I’m in Royal.”

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see Rose, and God knows she could use the help, but Nita knew her sister preferred the city. She would go stir-crazy being on the farm. Nita would never ask her to compromise her happiness by coming home.

“Rose, you don’t have to do that.”

Connor walked up behind her and looked over her shoulder into the sink, one eyebrow lifted. He’d just showered and put on fresh clothes and, boy, did he smell good. Like fabric softener and some kind of masculine soap.

“It’s been ages since I’ve visited,” her sister said. “I miss you guys.”

“And you’ll be here next month for Thanksgiving.” Nita might have been imaging it, but she swore she heard sadness in her sister’s voice and wondered if there was something wrong, something Rose wasn’t telling her. Rose always had been the type to hold things inside, while Nita let the entire world know what was eating her. “Unless you need to come home now.”

“Of course I don’t need to. I just thought you could use the help.”

“Nope, I’ve got things under control.”

“Well, if you want me to come, don’t hesitate to call.”

They said their goodbyes and Nita hung up the phone.

“You’ve got things under control, huh?” Connor said.

She shot him a scathing look, even though she knew from the grin on his face, he was only teasing her. “Oh, be quiet.”

“What was that?” he asked, nodding toward sink. “I smelled it all the way upstairs.”

“Potatoes. I guess I had the heat in the pan too high. I was trying to cook them fast to catch up with the chicken.”

“I don’t think it works that way.”

“I guess not. At least we’ll have the chicken.” He looked around the kitchen. “Where is it?”

“I left it in the oven so it’ll stay warm.”

“I hope you turned the temperature down.”

“Of course I did,” she snapped. At least, she’d meant to. They simultaneously turned to look at the display on the stove.

“See,” she said smugly. “It’s on low. As in, not too hot.” Connor didn’t look impressed by her stroke of genius. “I’m no gourmet, but on my stove the broiler settings are high and low and the regular oven is by temperature.”

Her heart slid south into her belly. There was no way she could have ruined another entire meal.

She yanked open the oven door and smoke rolled out to join the cloud already hanging in the air from the potatoes. “Oh no!”

Connor grabbed an oven mitt, pulled the pan out and set it on the stove. The chicken was completely charred on one side and still smoking. “One side is okay…sort of. Maybe if you cut off the burned part?”

He had every right to be smug about it, but he wasn’t, and, although she appreciated his encouragement, they both knew she couldn’t serve chicken this burned to the men. They would accuse her of trying to poison them.

It wouldn’t be the first time that week.

“Dump it,” she said. She grabbed a newspaper from the kitchen counter and waved the smoke toward the open kitchen window. “I just wasn’t meant to be in a kitchen. I think I was born without the cooking gene.”

Connor dumped the chicken in the sink with the potatoes and set the pan back on the stove. “I have an idea.”

“What idea?”

He pulled his cell phone out and dialed.

“Who are you calling?” Please let it be someone who knew how to cook.

“It’s chili night at the Royal Diner.”

Nita felt herself begin to salivate. Manny’s chili was the best in Royal—hell, probably the entire state of Texas. But what about the men? They had to eat, too.

When Manny answered, Connor ordered chili with all the fixings. Enough to feed everyone, saving her from an inevitable mutiny. It wasn’t the first time he’d saved her butt the past couple of days. She owed him big time, and could think of a couple of fun, mutually gratifying ways to pay him back.

They drove into town together to pick up the food, then after dinner he helped her clean the kitchen until it was spotless. He even did a couple of loads of laundry for her since he knew how and she was in no mood to mop up a flood.

Later, after Nita got her daddy settled in his suite and was on her way upstairs to get ready for bed, she realized she’d ruined dinner three nights in a row, fed him sandwiches for lunch and cold cereal for breakfast, yet Connor hadn’t uttered a word of complaint. He’d even insisted on paying for dinner tonight.

He hadn’t made fun of her for not having a domestic bone in her body the way some men had. And he hadn’t acted all high and mighty when he’d fixed things for her. He was so reserved, so guarded sometimes it was frustrating. But there was a fire burning in him, a passion he kept buried deep inside, she just knew it. She’d been so busy holding things together the past couple of days, and fell into bed so dead tired every night, she hadn’t had time to even think about a seduction. Maybe, after a relaxing hot shower, it was time she paid Connor back for all his good deeds.

She might not have known how to operate an oven, but she sure knew what to do to set a man on fire.