Wyoming Rugged

by Diana Palmer

  “I’m going to apply for that job at your mining company,” she said with a pert grin. “There. How’s that for getting out of the house?”

  The frown came back. “Niki, that’s a field geology position. The pollen...”

  “No, not that one,” she corrected. “The clerk’s position. You know, filing and stuff in an office.”

  “You’re overqualified for it.”

  She shrugged. “Hey, it’s a job, right?” she teased.

  He drew in a breath. “It isn’t a clerk’s position. It’s a personal assistant position, in the vice president’s office. He hasn’t started interviewing for it. If you want the job, it’s yours.”

  “That wouldn’t be fair...”

  He put his thumb squarely over her soft mouth. “I own the damned company. I can hire who I please.”

  His thumb was disturbing. Her heart kicked into overdrive. She laughed. “All right. But if the knives come out from other women who wanted the job...”

  “Send them to me. I’ll deal with it.”

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  His eyes narrowed. “You haven’t worked before, have you?”

  “I’ve worked for Dad,” she countered. “Keeping the books at home, filing, doing computerized searches, things like that. I type very fast.”

  “That isn’t what I mean,” he said. “You haven’t had to hold down a nine-to-five job, five days a week.” He looked concerned. “It’s a grind, even for someone in good health.”

  Her chin came up. “Teddy Roosevelt had terrible asthma. He exercised and pushed himself and did amazing things. I can follow his example.”

  He lifted an eyebrow and grinned. “Okay. But try not to overdo it.”

  “You make me the same promise, then,” she chided.

  His black eyes softened. “You’re the only confidante I have,” he said after a minute. “I don’t want to lose you.”

  Her heart jumped, but she tried not to read too much into the impulsive comment. She grinned back at him. “I’m not robust, but I’m stubborn. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Okay, then.”

  “Have a safe trip home.”

  He nodded and searched her eyes. “We’ll go back to Yellowstone another time and see the mud flats and the other geysers. Maybe up to Hardin, Montana, and walk over the Little Bighorn battlefield.”

  “I’d like that.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” he conceded. “Maybe I do hide behind my business.”

  She smiled. “If I can stop hiding, so can you.”

  He laughed mirthlessly. “Easier said than done.”

  “Drive safely.”

  “I’m flying,” he pointed out.

  “Well, fly safely.”

  “I will.”

  He hesitated and started to say something else, when he heard footsteps. He let Niki go and opened the door. “I hear breakfast making its way to the table,” he mused.

  She laughed. “So do I. Let’s go grab it!”

  * * *

  IT WAS SEVERAL weeks before she saw Blair again. He was in the middle of a conference in Colorado and stopped by to talk to her father about a new drill site.

  “You should stay overnight,” Niki said, worried by the gaunt look of him.

  He shrugged. “Don’t have time, honey. I’m between meetings.”

  She frowned. “When’s the next one?”

  “Monday. In Los Angeles.”

  “It’s Saturday,” she reminded him. “You can get up early tomorrow and fly out, can’t you? That gives you a whole day before the meeting.”

  He drew in a breath and glowered at her. “Worrywart.”

  She grinned.

  “How’s the new job?” he asked.

  She smiled. “It’s nice,” she said. “Mr. Jacobs is a wonderful boss. His old assistant still works for the company, just in another office, as an executive. She’s been teaching me the job in her spare time. I like the people there, too.”

  “I handpicked Jacobs for the job, mainly because he knows how to keep his mouth shut,” he said pointedly.

  “I see,” she teased. “That would include secrets like how I got my job.”

  He chuckled softly. “Something like that. Not that I think there would be gossip. Most of the executives know I’m best friends with your father. They’d figure I owed him a favor, if anything was said about it.”

  She just nodded.

  He cocked his head. “Any nice, single men over there?” he asked with a twinkle in his black eyes.

  “There’s a guy from San Francisco,” she said. “He sits with me at lunch in the cafeteria sometimes.”

  He didn’t like that, but didn’t dare let it show. “Young guy?” he asked pointedly.

  She smiled. “Well, a few years older than me,” she said.

  “Yes, but in the same generation, I gather,” he added. He stretched and groaned. “God, I hate flying!”

  “No wonder, if you have to be all scrunched up in a seat for hours on end, even in an executive jet,” she added.

  “If I didn’t own the jet already, I’d buy one,” he said flatly. “I hate commercial flights. The last time I had to take one, the only seat available was in Economy.” He made a face. “I sat next to a woman with a baby in one seat and a five-year-old in the seat beside her. He talked nonstop, and I mean nonstop, from Seattle to Fort Worth!”

  She laughed out loud. “Oh, you poor man,” she said.

  “It almost put me off kids for good.”

  “Almost?” she probed.

  He shrugged and smiled at her. “I love kids, usually. I hadn’t slept in twenty-four hours, and I had a sinus infection at the time, as well.”

  “Flying didn’t do that any good,” she guessed.

  “No good at all.”

  “So you’re staying?” she prodded. “Edna made a chocolate pound cake,” she said, enticing him.

  “Damn!”

  Her eyebrows arched over twinkling gray eyes.

  “I can’t leave when there’s chocolate pound cake,” he muttered. “Hit me right in my weak spot, why don’t you?”

  She just grinned.

  * * *

  BLAIR SAT AND watched television with Todd and Niki until late. There was a movie on pay-per-view that they all liked, a funny adventure one. She loved to hear Blair laugh. He did it with his whole heart. His eyes shimmered, that sexy broad mouth tugged up at both ends, his chest heaved. Niki wondered if he did everything that wholeheartedly. She loved to see him smile. Because he did it so rarely.

  Her father got a phone call just then and went into his office, because it was from the other side of the world, he’d said.

  Niki walked up with Blair to the guest room.

  “You look well, despite the pollen,” he mused.

  She laughed. “I use my meds these days. I don’t want to cost you or the company money by taking too many sick days.”

  He moved a step closer and tilted her chin up to his black eyes. “If you’re sick, you stay home. I’ll know if you don’t. And I won’t be happy about it.”

  “Now who’s the worrywart?” she chided.

  “You’re fragile, young lady,” he said, tracing a path down her cheek with one long finger. “I don’t want you taking chances on my time.”

  That finger was erotic. It made her pulse dance. It made her breathing come quick and jerky, as if she’d been running. She flushed and hid it in laughter.

  “I won’t take chances. I promise.”

  He drew in a long breath. His face was harder than she’d seen it in a long time.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked softly. “Can I help?”

  His face contorted. “It’s Elise,” he said gruffly.


  “Your ex-wife,” she recalled.

  He nodded. “She wants her alimony allowance raised again. She can’t afford the right couture garments to suit her lifestyle, she says.” He said it with utter disgust. He was recalling Niki’s delight over an inexpensive bracelet, when Elise had never thanked him for a single thing he’d bought her.

  Niki didn’t know what to say. He looked...defeated.

  He glanced down and her expression melted the hurt away. He drew in a breath and managed a smile for her. “I don’t cope with it well,” he said. “My attorneys handle the requests and forward the checks. I have no contact with her at all. That suits us both just fine.”

  She just stared up at him, her expression one almost of grief. “Why is money so important to some people?” she asked. “You really can’t take it with you when you go. Why buy fancy clothes to impress other people who are wearing fancy clothes, trying to impress you?”

  He chuckled softly. “What a way to phrase it,” he mused.

  “Fakers faking fakers,” she said, pursing her lips. Her gray eyes twinkled. “It’s like a con game with clothes.”

  He threw back his head and laughed.

  “There. That’s much better,” she said, and she smiled.

  He shook his head. “You chase the black clouds away, every time I see you. What a rare gift, Niki.”

  “Incurable optimism,” she said with a grin. “It’s contagious.”

  “It must be. I felt like ten miles of rough road when I walked in the door.”

  “Get a good night’s sleep. Then you can have a day to get to California and a night to rest there before you jump back into negotiations again.”

  “Good idea.”

  “I hope you sleep well,” she said.

  “I always do here,” he said. “Even the night sounds are soothing. No ambulances. No police sirens.”

  “You live in Billings,” she recalled.

  “Yes. It’s close to the office.”

  She didn’t say what she was thinking. It was too close. He spent far too much time on the job, too little time enjoying life.

  “I have to fly to Cancun next week for trade talks.” He hesitated. “Go with me.”

  Her lips parted on a sudden breath. “Me? Go with you?”

  Her expression confused him. “Yes, with me.”

  She bit her lower lip. She wanted to go, desperately. But how would it look?

  “Oh. I see.” He pursed his lips. “Should I have added that your father is also involved with the trade talks, at the hotel we’ll be staying in?”

  It was like the sun coming out. “Really?”

  “Really. I look out for you, Miss Ashton, old-fashioned ideals and all. I’m sure your father will approve,” he added with a glimmer of amusement, “of the care I take of his daughter’s reputation.”

  “Don’t tease,” she said softly, flushing.

  “Honey, I like you just the way you are,” he said softly. He bent and brushed his mouth over her soft cheek. “Sleep tight.”

  “You, too... Oh, gosh, Blair, I can’t go. I have my job!” she exclaimed, suddenly remembering her commitments.

  “Jacobs won’t be in the office Friday and Monday, so we’ll leave Thursday and come home Monday. You won’t need to be at work when he isn’t. Just to make sure, I’ll have a talk with him.”

  She grimaced. “He’ll think I asked you!”

  “No, he won’t.” He drew her close for a few seconds, savoring the touch of her soft, young body. “Stop worrying.” He bent again. His mouth hovered over her lips for a few aching seconds before it lifted to press a tender kiss on her forehead. He let her go abruptly and went into his room, closing the door between them.

  Niki went down the hall to hers, almost floating. He wanted to take her to Cancun. But more exciting than that was the way he’d held her. He’d wanted to kiss her, and not chastely. She saw it in his face.

  She was so excited that she didn’t sleep a wink all night. When she got up, far too early, her eyes were bloodshot, and she was moving like a zombie.

  Edna met her at the kitchen door. “Good Lord, what happened to you?” she exclaimed.

  “Didn’t sleep a wink,” she confessed, laughing.

  “Oh, dear. Are you all right?”

  “Yes, yes, my lungs are fine,” Niki corrected.

  “Then why didn’t you sleep?”

  “I’ll tell you all about it later,” she said, because until her father agreed that she could go, she wasn’t leaving the country with Blair, regardless of her feelings for him. A chaperone would be just the thing, to keep her from throwing herself at him.

  * * *

  THEY WERE HALFWAY through breakfast the next day before her father glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. “I hear we’re going to Cancun next week,” he mused.

  She laughed and glanced at Blair, whose eyes were glimmering with amused pleasure.

  “That’s what I hear, too,” she said.

  “We both think you need a holiday,” Blair told her. “The trade talks will only take a day or so. We’ll have time left to explore. I could use a vacation myself, and I know Todd could. The Yucatán Peninsula is fascinating. There are Mayan ruins, and our hotel is right on the Gulf of Mexico. There’s a long, beautiful beach.”

  “It sounds lovely!” she replied. Although his reason for asking her to go away with him dulled her spirits just a little. He made it sound as if he was giving a child a treat. She was sure he probably meant it that way, too. He was determined to keep space between them. Because of his marriage, she supposed, because he’d been in love and that vicious woman had savaged his heart. Now he didn’t trust his emotions, and he wasn’t going to let another woman close. Not even Niki.

  But then, she reminded herself, Rome wasn’t built in a day. So she smiled and listened to travel plans, as if she hadn’t a care in the world.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  NIKI DIDN’T TELL anybody at work about the planned holiday in Cancun. Mr. Jacobs was going to be out of town on Friday and Monday, so Niki wasn’t expected to work. She and her father and Blair would fly to Cancun Thursday and leave Monday. It would be a long trip, but Niki was excited and looking forward to it. Cancun, from what she’d read, was a mix of old and new. She’d looked it up on the internet and she was growing more excited by the day.

  Her coworker, Dan Brady, mentioned an outing he was taking with a hiking club.

  “We’re going up to Jackson Hole and hiking some of the forest trails,” he said. “You should come with us,” he added. “Your father protects you too much, Nicolette. You’ll never toughen up if you don’t get out of that cocoon he’s weaving around you.”

  She tried not to be offended. He didn’t know anything about her family, really. “He’s the only family I have,” she said noncommittally.

  “Of course, and he loves you. But parents can do damage when they don’t let kids stand on their own feet. And your lungs would toughen up if you’d just use them more. Don’t let allergies stop you from enjoying the outdoors! There are all sorts of new herbal mixtures to combat that. The right diet, the right herbs, and you’ll be a new woman!”

  She didn’t want to hurt his feelings. He was a nice man. So she smiled and nodded, agreeing with everything he said. But inside she was grimacing. Asthma couldn’t be cured by just a mixture of herbs and a rigid diet. She knew that even if he didn’t. But sometimes you just couldn’t argue with people in that sort of mind-set. So she didn’t try.

  “Want to come with us this weekend?” he prodded.

  She smiled. He was nice-looking. Tall and tanned and blond, with pale blue eyes. He had a nice smile, too. “Not this weekend,” she said. “Dad has plans, and I’m going with him. We’re going to be out of town.”

  “There�
�s another one next month. Come on. Say you’ll go.”

  She laughed. “Okay. I’ll go.”

  “That’s the spirit! I’ll print out an allergy-fighting diet plan for you and a list of herbal remedies to start taking to boost your immune system and protect you against allergens!”

  She wanted to ask where he got his medical degree, but that wouldn’t have helped. So she nodded and agreed.

  He walked her back to Mr. Jacobs’s office and paused at the door. “You really are pretty, you know,” he said suddenly, his eyes twinkling. “Why don’t you date anybody?”

  “I’ve been... I just haven’t been interested. I had a bad experience with a guy in college,” she said.

  “Oh, I see,” he mused. “Broken heart, lost love, all that jazz?” he asked, getting the wrong idea. “Don’t let it bug you. I’ve had bad relationships myself. You get over them and move on. So how about lunch tomorrow? I’ll take you out for seafood.”

  “Seafood?”

  He nodded. “They have a lovely crab salad at Buster’s,” he said, naming a local café. “Blue plate special. No dairy.” He grinned. “What do you say?”

  “That would be nice, Dan,” she said.

  “I’m glad you think so, Nicolette,” he replied. “It’s a beautiful name. Who were you named for?”

  “It was my mother’s middle name.”

  “Do you look like her?”

  “Dad says I do. I don’t remember her well. She died when I was very young,” she added.

  “Tough luck.”

  “Yes. I have Edna, though. She’s our housekeeper.”

  “Can’t you do your own housework?” he chided.

  “Dad likes a certain routine in the house. We’ve had Edna since my mother died. She’s like family,” she said.

  “Well, if you say so. I do all my own housework, wash clothes, even cook.”

  She just nodded.

  “I’d better get back to work. See you later.” He grinned and jogged off toward his own office.

  She glared after him. He was a nice man until he opened his mouth. She wondered if any other woman had wanted to see him at the end of a pitchfork.

  The thought amused her, and she had to hide a smile when she walked into Mr. Jacobs’s office and sat down at her desk.