by Cait London
“Then you made deliveries, chased a goat and got into tentative negotiations for buying the Seagull’s Perch and establishing me as manager. I pay my own way, Jessica.”
“So do I. And I’m not Heather. You’ve got a big chip on your shoulder, Stepanov. I meant well. I only moved into a business opportunity and checked it out. Barney had heard that we—that we might be involved, and he said he liked you. And that the tavern is his lifelong baby and he really wanted to pass it on to someone who would take good care of it. That was when I said that you would probably make a good manager. I was going to talk it over with you—and will, when you’re not acting as if I’d committed grand larceny. I refuse to be intimidated, by you or anyone else, not at this stage of my life—I was once and I didn’t like it.”
“Then perhaps you are the one wearing the chip.” Alexi flicked his finger against her shoulder.
“Maybe I am. And maybe I know what it is to really want something. That you and I are lovers didn’t make a difference.”
“People will think—”
Jessica leveled a dark look at him. “You’re bigger than that.”
“You have a high opinion of me then. If so, you should know that a man does not like his woman buying expensive presents for him.”
Her head went back. “You’re yelling. Please desist. We are lovers. I admit that. I take responsibility for what I do. But I own myself. To think that my best friend stepped in to arrange my life, to worry me—I still haven’t gotten over that, and you knew, didn’t you?”
“She used onions to make herself cry. She printed the threatening notes herself. She’s been studying crime and stalkers. Yes, I had a good idea she was faking.”
His woman. The echo of his previous words stunned him. In his heart he thought of Jessica as his—and himself as hers—not as a possession, but as a softer bond coursing between them. Frustrated, more with himself for not handling the situation better, Alexi reached to fist that soft hair and demand, “You never yell, I suppose.”
Her hands shot up to hold his face. “Never. I can control my temper, but you’re pushing it, Stepanov.”
He leaned his forehead against hers, looking straight into those emerald eyes. “You are a complicated woman.”
“No more than you.”
He had to shrug and smile at that. “But, observe—I am a man. With a man’s pride—”
With his free arm, he jerked her closer, to let her know that she was his, in the soft place in his heart, one he guarded very well. “And a man’s desire.”
Jessica tensed, her face lifted to his. Those green eyes glittered up at him. “You like this, don’t you? This sparring? Challenging me?”
“Yes, because then I see inside you, past what you do not want others to know. Tell me more about you. Tell me what you’re struggling so hard to prove.”
He tapped her forehead. “I already know that you probably didn’t make love with Robert, that yours was a marriage of convenience. You probably loved each other, and with the son he had, he needed you to be the protégée who took care of a business he loved. With the age difference, Robert could have been a father to you, which meant you either lost your own father or you didn’t like him…. Something is going on in there and it isn’t letting you rest. It’s holding you. And you can’t let it go.”
“Okay, here’s one basic. I like to give gifts. I couldn’t once, but now I can afford it. I work hard for my money. Nothing was handed to me, despite what Howard says. I knew you would be upset, but I was only querying about the tavern. I know you are—temperamental…emotional…deeply proud, and wounded. I was going to see what you thought, and that a payment schedule could be—”
“But now? Now that I know?”
“You just have to push, don’t you? I’ve only been here one night and one day, and already I know that I’ll never meet anyone as aggravating as you. This is only money, Alexi, not life’s blood.”
Alexi had never felt that need before—to strip away everything but the truth and leave it clean and good. And Jessica didn’t want herself exposed to him. Too bad. Yesterday his insecurities about Jessica had prowled around him and now, stretched raw with pride, they had to be served. “And you thought to bargain with me? Is that how you handle relationships? Tell me about your first marriage.”
“Bargains are made all the time, Stepanov. Good ones that work for both sides. But I see that you’re not one to take the easiest road possible to what you want.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
Jessica inhaled sharply and pushed back from him. She wrapped her arms around herself and went to look out at the night, the ocean waves catching the moonlight. “You wanted to know about my first marriage. I was young. We were both too young. I wanted to get away from my family. Not all families are like yours, Alexi. My mother wouldn’t leave my father, an alcoholic, and life wasn’t sweet. But it wasn’t reason enough to marry or to have children with Travis—I saw that instantly, if a little late. After the divorce, I started working at whatever I could find, moving up a job at a time. I cut off relations with my family and I moved away. Then I met Robert, when I was managing a Sterling Stops. You know the rest. End of story.”
Not all families are like yours, Alexi…. The wound was there, still bleeding, and Alexi ached for her. “So this is what you protect so fiercely—you still think of your family. You still hurt. And you’re covering that with a smile-it-doesn’t-hurt attitude.”
“They didn’t miss me. They wanted my paycheck, though. Sometime ago, Howard dug them up and started trouble. Robert was dying and, to keep him in peace, I made arrangements for monthly payments to them. That’s the deal—they stay away from me, they get money.”
Alexi wanted to go to her, to hold her. But that would be too easy and Jessica clearly didn’t want sympathy. She wanted closed doors between them, and Alexi wasn’t a man who liked to deal with unexpected shadows. How long had she gone disliking that part of herself that had to survive?
“If Robert was kind to you and someone hurt you, a man, then it would have been Travis?”
Jessica’s fingers tightened on her upper arms. “Let’s just say that he was young and didn’t understand anything past his own needs. He really just didn’t understand that women—that sex—wasn’t wham-bam. He was raised that way. I don’t blame him.”
“But you should. Scream,” Alexi ordered quietly as he stood and crossed his arms.
She pivoted instantly to him, her expression puzzled. “What did you say?”
“If you have never yelled, then scream. It is good for you…cleans out the throat and the mind. Scream. Yell at me. I am listening.”
“I refuse. You should have told me that Willow was setting me up.”
“It was for her to say.” He shrugged and admired the way Jessica’s hair flowed back and away from her face as she stalked toward him. Her gown was slit to the thigh, flowing around her body, pronouncing her breasts, the sway of her hips, defining that V between her legs. His body was hard now, needing to feel hers taut and hungry, and yet soft and hot against his. He steeled himself against reaching for her, from sealing her lips with his own.
“I don’t like being manipulated and if Willow weren’t such a good friend, I would really be angry. She thinks I’m overworked and need a rest, and she thinks that here is a good place to do that.”
“It is.” But despite his bruised pride, Alexi remembered Howard and how he had looked at Jessica, the harm he could do to her. Alexi had to keep her close and know that she was safe. Because of that, he told himself, he served her a challenge. “I’m surprised you’re still here. I didn’t think that you would lower yourself by staying here—in this house with me… It’s not exactly the luxury suite at the Amoteh. You might have to work once in a while. I mean physical work, not just calling your secretary—”
She scowled up at him. “You think I don’t work? That I don’t work every day? That I can’t do physical labor? Listen, Mr. Stepanov—I fought
my way through every inch of my life. I do so know how to work.”
“You’re raising your voice, Mrs. Sterling. I’m only saying that I need help here, and if you think I could work for a business you owned, then maybe you might want to work for me. But then, I can’t see you doing that—settling into small-town life, helping me, letting the world know that uptown Jessica Sterling—”
“I run a corporation. There are obligations, major ones. You’re asking a lot, Alexi.” She was almost sizzling now; Alexi could feel the waves of heat and temper flowing from her.
“So do you.” He was gambling now, desperate to keep her with him, to protect her, but to nourish what could be between them. “I want to see you every day, not just when you have time to drop by for a quickie—”
“That sounds awful.”
“It sounds like a busy lady with a hunger. I’d appreciate the need—it’s a compliment any man would like—but I’m not going to be your delivery boy. And you are not setting me up in business.”
Jessica breathed deeply and Alexi couldn’t resist looking down at the cleavage revealed by her gown. He forced his eyes to slowly rise to Jessica’s shadowed green ones. “Yes, I want you. But more of you than just your body, or emotional pieces of you. Stay. Trust me.”
“Or? Or could it be that you don’t trust me?” she asked, moving closer to stand in front of him, looking up at him. She leaned slightly forward, her breasts soft and distinct against him. “You don’t, do you, Alexi? You’re uncertain and it shows. You’re pushing for a commitment. It’s early for that, isn’t it?”
“No,” he stated flatly. “It isn’t. I think you’ll run from this—what we have. Maybe it’s too real for you, Mrs. Sterling.” He wanted her, of course. But more than that, he wanted Jessica where he could protect her—because he was certain that Howard wasn’t finished, that he couldn’t let Jessica go, especially to a “down-and-out cowboy.”
And maybe Howard would be right in one aspect of his thinking. Jessica was definitely a woman worth fighting for, even if it was fighting what ran uneasy within her.
Alexi wound a silky strand around his finger and tugged slightly. “You can’t take it. With an unfinished house, the temper you have will be crawling out. We’re not sweethearts, either one of us, and things could get tense. Because I am an experienced builder and I suspect you are not, I would be directing you—your boss, so to speak—telling you what to do, and you wouldn’t like that, would you? Why, you might actually yell, Mrs. Sterling.”
She lifted her fingertip and drew a nail down his shoulder. The gesture was feminine and taunting. “What are you after, Stepanov?”
“You,” he said simply, and swept her up in his arms. He carried her to his bed and dumped her upon it, enjoying the wild spread of her hair, the gown molding her body, a contrast to her pale skin. Lying on his side facing her, Alexi ran his hand along the smooth curve of her leg and trailed his fingertip upward, across her lower belly and down her other thigh. He enjoyed the quickening heat beneath his touch, the slow hiss of her indrawn breath, a sign that she reacted instantly to him—as he did to her. “You’ll leave. You won’t be able to—”
Her hand reached out to grip his jeans’ waistband and she tugged slightly. “You’re in for a surprise, buddy. Come here.”
“Is it a surprise I’m going to like?” he teased against her lips.
“Just try to keep up, will you?”
Eight
“You just couldn’t wait for a report, could you, Willow?” Jessica asked as she turned off her laptop. Because she felt so incredibly light and happy, she couldn’t stop smiling. She rose from the makeshift desk, a door placed across two sawhorses, and walked to Willow.
Seated on the floor in Alexi’s house and warmed by the stove, Willow had been examining the seashells she’d collected from the beach. She grinned up at Jessica. “Less than one week—yes, I stayed away this long because I thought you’d get all worked up again about my little playacting…. You’re blooming, you know. All lit up. All that tension is gone from your expression, that tight, overworked look. You look like you could fly, if you wanted. I’m so glad you’re here.”
“I am, too.” Jessica bent to hug Willow and to kiss her cheek. She’d learned that from Robert and her friend—that showing emotion, especially love, wasn’t something to hide for fear of it being used against her. She kissed Willow’s cheek again and playfully wiggled her fingers on top of her head, diving through that mass of curls to the scalp below. “I’m happy. Really happy. It’s only temporary. I don’t think it can last, but Alexi is—I like him. I really do. He’ll move on to someone permanent, and they’ll be married and have the family all these Stepanovs love. I’ll be glad for him.”
“Dream on. And I don’t think that’s going to happen. Not if you give him a chance.”
Jessica smiled and studied the shell Willow had just handed her. “Pretty. What you’re saying is also very pretty, not reality. I know you have great hopes for Alexi and I. I just discovered the great deception a week ago—how you got me here, involved with Alexi. Yes, I’m staying here for a bit. But it’s an extended holiday—my first real vacation in years—maybe a month or two of living high on fresh air and less stress. One of Robert’s dear friends is taking over the bulk of my duties. I can do the rest from here.”
Jessica was terrified. She didn’t fit into this community, the warmth of the Stepanov family, and Alexi was definitely a family man. What was she doing?
“His family is coming over this morning to have coffee. We’ve been at their houses, and I thought… I don’t know why I did, but I just invited them over to see what he’s done—the men have been here, but I thought—Oh, Willow. I’ve arranged conferences and board meetings for years, and now I’m scared that I won’t know how to make this wonderful family comfortable.” Jessica looked around the neat living quarters. “I couldn’t do much, but I did straighten up. Jarek and Alexi brought in that lovely big walnut hutch for some of his mother’s things. I put the sweet rolls from the bakery and bottles of juice on it, and I’ve made coffee on the stove, but—I want this to be nice. Is it? I mean, it’s just basic, but is it okay?”
“It’s perfect and so are you. Told you. You really do need this, Jessica, to get away for a bit. You’ve been on thin ice for the last year or so. You know, if I get into the candle-making business heavily, I could probably hire area kids to collect these. But then, that would leave me with all the work and not the fun.”
“So don’t get any big ideas about being a maid of honor at my wedding. This is only temporary. Alexi doesn’t think I can manage life in a small town, or working for my keep—as if that’s not what I’ve been doing. I’m going to show Alexi that I can handle whatever he throws at me. And I—I rather like the thought of rebuilding this house into something for his father. If he’s anything like Fadey, he’s adorable.” Jessica took a long look at the makeshift desk, the heavy door spread over sawhorses, and mourned the work ahead of her. Had she really been working fourteen-hour days? Was it possible she’d handled this much work and hadn’t taken time to relax, even on weekends?
James Thomas, one of Robert’s friends and a stockholder in the company, welcomed the chance to give her a much-needed vacation. Aided by e-mail and overnight mail and the fax facility of her laptop, she could continue to work part-time on the empire Robert had loved so much.
“Delegate duty,” Robert had warned her. “Keep yourself intact and strong by taking time off and relaxing. I don’t want you to kill yourself over this, Jessica. You’re a young woman and I’m only enjoying the time we have together. I love you, Jess. Thank you for giving me so much. I would never have lived this long without you. Howard will want control. Do what is easiest for you, dear. Turn to James when you need help and support. He’s been my lifelong friend. I am leaving my shares to you, not my son who already has a fair amount.”
Jessica listened to Alexi’s and Jarek’s heavy work boots tromping across the roof. Their voi
ces carried downstairs in a deep rumble that somehow comforted her. She should have already returned to her Seattle offices, but the tilt of Alexi’s head and the narrowing glint of his eyes had challenged her. Adept to doing business while traveling, Jessica had said, “I’ll need a couple days before I can start helping you full-time.”
He’d crossed his arms and his head went back, those ice-blue eyes glittering down at her. “Okay. You’re leaving for the office in Seattle.”
“No, I’m staying here. I’ve got most of what I need to start in my briefcase. My secretary can ship the rest. It’s a big business, Alexi. One of Robert’s friends is temporarily stepping in, but I’ll have to continue working at times. Can you rig me a desk?”
She’d enjoyed his quick frown, that stunned look. Then Alexi had walked to a heavily varnished and restored old door. “Good enough?”
When she’d nodded, Alexi had added, “Tell Audrey to send pie and that I love her. She and her family are welcome here at any time. My family will make them comfortable until this place is better.”
He’d walked to her and gathered her close. “Good,” he whispered simply against her temple. “This is good.”
Jessica followed the heavy clomping of footsteps across the roof. Had she really missed so much of life? In one week with Alexi, she knew and understood more texture about life than she’d learned in a lifetime. “He wants me to yell, Willow. I’ve never done that in my life, but he’s pushing his luck.”
“Huh?” Willow asked, her eyes raised to the old ceiling tile stained with moisture. She traced the progression of men across the roof. “I’ve always thought you should yell. Just to relieve pressure. It’s good therapy.”
“Does it resolve the problem? Does it get this mountain of work done? Can you see tangible results?” Jessica asked, though her mind was on the stack of papers that had been faxed to her and a new one scrolling out on her tiny portable printer.