by Kylie Brant
But Kaly couldn’t help the involuntary leap of her pulse each time she saw Jackson. Her newfound sensual awareness of him was as unexpected as it was unwelcome. That made her doubly grateful for the rarity of their meetings.
She was certain that one reason for his infrequent appearances was his renewed dating. Even Carrie had commented on it, laughingly surmising that maybe he was getting serious about someone again. That remark had brought an inexplicable tightness to Kaly’s chest. It had been bad enough dealing with the guilt she felt at how easily he’d brought her to passion. To now find herself one of a crowd made her feel stupid, as well.
One afternoon she was working in the office, transcribing notes while Jeff took Carrie to her doctor’s appointment in Albuquerque. When the door pushed open and Jackson strode in, Kaly stared at him in shock. He seemed just as nonplussed. After a moment, she cleared her throat nervously. “Jeff and Carrie are in Albuquerque.”
He nodded bemusedly. “Yeah.” Then, collecting himself, he explained, “I mean, I know. I just have some work to do in here.” He gestured in the direction of his desk, but made no move toward it. His gaze stayed on her. What with running the ranch and evenings out, he hadn’t seen much of her since the incident in the pasture. His frenzied social life was an attempt to remove him from temptation, but instead, it was threatening to rob him of his sanity. He finally moved in the direction of his desk, keeping Kaly in his view. She had turned back to her computer screen and her fingers fairly danced over the keyboard, mute testament to the fact that his presence disturbed her not at all.
His mouth twisted. Here he was knocking himself out to stay away from her, burning the candle at both ends, and she sat over there as poised as could be. When his cell rang then, he answered distractedly. “Yeah.”
Kaly’s fingers faltered as he began speaking. She wished fervently he’d left the room to take the call. She doubted her ability to sit by with equanimity and listen to him make yet another date.
But it quickly became apparent that the caller was Jeff. Jackson’s tone got terser, his comments shorter and more infrequent. She finally gave up pretending she wasn’t listening and turned to face him, worry stamped on her face. His was impassive, impossible to read, and she wanted to shake him. “Is something the matter?” she hissed, finally unable to stand the suspense any longer.
He shook his head at her, but she wasn’t satisfied and waited impatiently for him to hang up the phone.
“Carrie’s fine,” he said, forestalling her anxious question. “But on the way to the doctor she started having contractions. They stopped after an hour or so, but with her history, the doctor wants to play it safe. He’s ordered stress tests to be taken every morning for the rest of the week.”
“Oh, poor Carrie and Jeff,” Kaly answered softly. She could only imagine the heartache they must have suffered over the previous miscarriages. “They must be so frightened.”
“Yeah,” Jackson replied tersely, staring fiercely at the toes of his pointed boots. “But Jeff said they’re hopeful. It could be false labor. If nothing shows up on these tests, it’s a good sign. They’re going to stay in a motel, rather than drive back and forth every day. Jeff said not to worry about it.”
Kaly said sympathetically. “But you can’t help worrying, can you?”
He was silent a moment before replying, “Carrie’s been through hell the last couple of pregnancies. Jeff, too. I sure don’t want either of them to have to live through that again.” He sighed. “But there’s nothing we can do except wait for news. He said he’d call with the results every day.” Jackson scowled at the phone as if blaming it for the situation. “I hate waiting.”
“I’m surprised,” Kaly responded tongue in cheek. “You’re usually such a patient man.”
“One of my many good qualities,” he agreed solemnly, and she made a face. Then her eyes widened in amazement when he approached his desk and sat down, swiveling his chair to turn on the computer on the table next to his desk.
“What are you doing?” she asked unthinkingly.
“I told you, I have to work. I hope I won’t bother you,” he said with mock politeness.
“But you never work in here during the day,” she objected, not caring that he was gazing at her interestedly, obviously noting that she kept track of his habits.
“I need to be outside running my ranch during the day,” he agreed, “but there’s a load of paperwork that goes along with this job, and I’ve been neglecting it lately. Now I have to get caught up before I get buried in it.”
Kaly turned back to her own computer. Not for the world would she have reminded him that his busy social life in the past few weeks might have caused this overload. Her fingers hit the keys with more force than necessary. She didn’t know how much work he had to do, but she hoped it wouldn’t take long. Because she was dismally aware that her powers of concentration were nil in his presence.
As the hours passed, Kaly learned that she was able to work side by side with Jackson. At first the silence in the room seemed heavy with tension, and she was as inefficient as she’d feared, retyping the same paragraph three times before she caught her error. But gradually, as Jackson made no attempts at conversation and seemed engrossed in what he was doing, she relaxed. She made her way through most of the work Jeff had left and began to wonder how she was going to keep busy the rest of the week.
Her gaze snuck to the man across the room, who was cursing under his breath. He had been muttering for the past several minutes, and now he was glowering fiercely at the screen and uttering dire threats at it.
Kaly’s mouth twitched. If it was one thing she understood, it was the sheer frustration of feeling that a machine was outsmarting you. “Is something wrong?” she asked.
“There’s something wrong with this damn computer,” he snarled. He caught the amusement on her face and warned her, “And don’t give me that stuff about a computer being only as smart as the person running it, or I won’t be responsible for my actions.
Kaly laughed. “I wouldn’t dare. I’ve been there too many times myself.” She watched him for a moment longer as he continued to push keys in vain. “Maybe I can help,” she offered hesitantly. He looked up and she added quickly, “It’s the same kind as the one I’m using, isn’t it? I may have had a similar problem before.”
He shrugged. “It’s all yours.”
She rounded his desk and Jackson pulled up another chair for her in front of the computer. “What are you having difficulty with?”
“It won’t bring up the file I want.” He sent another threatening glare at the screen. “I’ve used every command I can think of.”
“It could be in the retrieval or just a problem with the way it was saved,” murmured Kaly as she typed in a command. “What did you name the file?” She turned to look at him at the same time he brought his face closer to see what she was doing.
Tendrils of hair had escaped from her braid, and one brushed his cheek as she turned her head. It felt silky against his skin, and he wondered, for what seemed like the hundredth time, how it would feel to free the satiny blond skeins and bury his face in them.
He shifted uncomfortably to relieve the ache that the image brought. Already he could feel his skin heat from that single tantalizing touch. Staying away from Kaly was proving more difficult than he had imagined. It was hard to remember that she represented everything he normally steered clear of, especially since his memory was exquisitely accurate when it came to recalling how she had felt in his arms.
Kaly looked at him in concern when he didn’t answer her question. “Jackson?”
His eyes met hers, startled, and belatedly he became aware that he had neglected to reply. “ The name?”
“The name.”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat, wishing he could clear his head as easily. She was looking at him as though she suspected he’d come down with some dreadful malady, which was not far from the truth. She’d be stunned to know she was the cause o
f it. “I’ve got it under ‘Markets.’”
Kaly typed in the word and chewed her lip when the computer failed to find the file. “Are you sure that’s what you named it?” she asked. “I don’t see it listed.”
“Of course, I’m sure.” Jackson spoke with certainty. He paused for a few seconds before correcting himself. “I’m pretty sure.”
Kaly raised her eyebrows, waiting.
“Okay, I thought I did, but I’m not positive, all right?” he amended grouchily.
Kaly buried her face in her hands.
“I can’t help it if I’m computer-hostile,” Jackson continued, aggrieved. “If God meant us to use computers, he’d have put microchips in our brains.”
“I won’t even touch that one,” Kaly said wryly, raising her head.
“Jeff’s always hounding me about the way I save files. He’s the computer expert here—grew up messing with them. I always preferred to spend my time outdoors.”
“They can be real time-savers, especially with as much paperwork as the ranch must generate.”
“That’s how he convinced me,” Jackson agreed, “but he forgot to add that they only save time when the person running them knows what the hell he’s doing.”
He sounded so irritated Kaly had to laugh. “Well, it’s not that bad. The market information is probably buried somewhere with a different name. All we have to do is bring up each file and look inside it.”
He eyed her speculatively. “I’ll bet you know a lot more about it than I do. Maybe you could—”
Kaly guessed what his suggestion was before he finished making it. “Oh, no,” she said firmly. “I’m sure that’s what Jeff does every time this happens. He straightens it out and you never learn a thing.”
He attempted to look innocent at this accusation, but Kaly could have told him he was wasting his time. Innocent was one expression that face could never achieve. There was a hint of wicked light dancing in his eyes and entirely too much experience stamped on his tanned, masculine features for him to pull it off.
She sniffed silently. No doubt that beseeching tone and guileless look had been practiced to a fine art and were wildly successful with the women who paraded through his social life. But it wouldn’t work on her. She hadn’t survived three brothers without learning something about the way men could manipulate others to do their bidding.
But she had never felt this clutch in her stomach when faced with their requests, either.
“I’ll help you,” she said, stressing the second word, “but you have to pay attention. And it wouldn’t hurt to take notes this time, either, so you can clean up your own messes from now on.”
Jackson looked smug at her acquiescence, but quickly found that she had been completely serious about demanding his attention. Not only did she insist he take notes, but after showing him what to do, she sat back and made him bring up each of the files. She coached him on the techniques for opening and renaming the files so he’d be able to find them later. When he finally found the file containing the missing information he had been looking for, he couldn’t prevent a delighted grin.
“Well, I’ll be damned!” he crowed. “We did it.”
Kaly returned his triumphant smile. But when he reached out an arm and gave her a hug, her smile froze on her face. Electrodes of pleasure ran a current up her side and radiated throughout as if on a circuit. Her breathing grew short, and panic welled up inside her. If a casual gesture like that had the power to evoke such electric pleasure, what chance did she have to withstand his considerable sensuality?
She stood up suddenly, almost upsetting her chair in her haste. “Congratulations.” Her voice was strained. “I’ll let you get on with what you were doing while I finish the work Jeff left me.” She walked quickly back to her desk and ignored the puzzled look he sent her.
Kaly stared resolutely at her screen. It was painful to keep her distance from Jackson while he cavorted with a different woman every night. But it would be impossible to stay remote if he touched her again. She had to keep her self-preservation instincts firmly in place around him—it would be all too easy to fall prey to his charm.
She began typing a list of his most unattractive traits to keep in mind when she felt herself weakening. A was for… arrogant. He was certainly that. He had too much power and women came too easily for him to be otherwise. B was for bossy. Kaly typed automatically. That had been obvious from the start. C was for controlling, and that was the most frightening of all. She’d spent most of her life fighting for the right to make her own decisions, and her independence had been too hard won for her to relinquish it to any man. D was for domineering. This was getting too easy.
‘‘What?”
Kaly started at the sound of Jackson’s voice. She looked up to see him gazing quizzically at her. “What?” she repeated faintly.
“It sounded like you said E.”
“No.” Kaly denied swiftly. “I mean, I was just talking to myself.” She squared her shoulders resolutely and began to finish up the notes she was transcribing for Jeff. She would do well to remember the words she had hurriedly erased from the screen. Every womanly instinct she owned warned her that this man could be devastating.
The next few days passed with surprising ease. Jeff called with good news each day, as the tests showed that Carrie was having no more contractions. Jackson came in after lunch each afternoon to work, and after a while Kaly offered to help him.
“Really?” His response was too quick to hide his eagerness.
“Sure. I’m at loose ends until Jeff gets back. Is there anything I can do?”
Jackson showed her a ledger filled with figures. “If you can just read each line off for me to enter on the computer, I think it will go a lot faster.”
And it did go well. They switched places after lunch, with Jackson reading the figures, and worked companionably for the rest of the week. Simply by their proximity, Kaly learned more about Jackson in those days than she had in all the time she had spent at the ranch.
Despite his insistence that Jeff was the brains in the family, Kaly knew differently. Behind his desk hung his degree from the University of New Mexico. “What did you major in?” she asked him curiously.
He didn’t look up from the computer. “Double majored in agricultural economics and animal sciences, minored in marketing.”
Kaly’s eyebrows rose. “What did you do in your free time?” she quipped, more than a little awed at his impressive studies.
This time he did look at her. “Mostly hung around the computer labs, designing software.” They both laughed.
When the last figure was entered, Jackson made an exaggerated display of saving the work as she had taught him. Kaly clapped appreciatively. He leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms over his head. “We are done, partner. Dinner tonight should be a real celebration.”
“Don’t tell Peg that,” Kaly warned. “I’d hate to see how much more food she could come up with if she thought it was a special occasion.”
He smiled faintly, not responding while he studied her face. She was a constant surprise. The past few days he’d seen her quick intelligence, as well as her ready wit. She seemed to have a perfectly even temper, though he knew from experience that when riled she could give as good as she got. Teasing memories of what else he knew about her from experience tantalized him, and he dropped his gaze to her lips, intent on their pink fullness.
“What’s the matter?” Kaly asked, surprised at the almost breathless quality of her voice.
“Hmm?” His eyes didn’t move from her mouth.
“You’re staring,” she felt obliged to point out, and then finally his eyes met her own.
“Am I?” At her bemused nod, he said, “Well, maybe that’s because I—”
“Jackson?”
They were both startled by the simultaneous rap at the door and the greeting. Nick walked into the room, but stopped short at the sight of the two of them staring at him. He looked from one to the othe
r carefully, then focused on Jackson. “Got time?”
Kaly rose from her seat with haste and walked swiftly back to her own desk. There she busied herself tidying up stacks of papers already arranged in neat piles. The prolonged silence in the room finally penetrated her embarrassment, and she glanced at the two men. They were both watching her patiently, saying nothing.
It occurred to her, finally, that they didn’t want to speak in front of her. She decided she could die of mortification just as easily out on the porch.
“I think I’ll get some air,” she said with feigned indifference, and made a quick exit.
When the door closed behind her, Jackson indicated for Nick to pull up a chair. He knew why his foreman was here. He had taken Nick into his confidence regarding Roy’s suspicions about the rustlers working for the Circle R. Even if the sheriff’s hunch was right, Jackson knew without a doubt Nick wasn’t involved. He’d given the man a job when no one else in the world would, and he trusted him in a way he trusted few others.
“What do you have?”
“Not much.” Nick admitted. “Some of the men owe money, that’s nothing new. Rod’s always strapped raising those kids of his. Trevitt’s been gambling again. Larry bought himself a fancy new motorcycle—to impress the fillies, I suspect.”
Jackson snorted. “Didn’t he just buy a pickup last year?”
“Yep. He’s still got that, too.”
That drew his boss’s attention. “Either he’s come into some money we don’t know about, or he’s in hock up to his eyebrows. Which is it?”
Nick shrugged. “Probably in hock. You know how Larry is.”
Jackson’s mouth hardened. “God, I hate this,” he muttered. He didn’t like the feeling he got from snooping around in his men’s lives. He sure wouldn’t take kindly to someone doing the same to him. Not for the first time, he damned Roy for planting in his mind the ugly suspicion that one of his own hands was involved in this mess. “Anything else?”