by Diana Palmer
"Don't overdo!" he yelled after her.
"No way!" came floating back over the sound of hoof-beats.
"So much for slow and easy," Jane murmured, watching the young girl.
Todd had a booted foot propped on the lowest fence rail. He glanced down at Jane with hooded eyes, unsmiling. She
looked frail, but her slender body had a nice curve to it, and her breasts were firm and pert under that open-neck knit shirt. Her hair was loose
around her shoulders for a change, faintly wavy and very pretty. Like Jane herself.
"Slow and easy," he said half under his bream, thinking of another exercise, one that made his heart begin to race.
Jane heard the deep note in his voice and looked up. Her eyes were trapped in the gray glitter under his hat brim. His lean hand came up to
her face, cupping her cheek in its warmth while his thumb slowly traced the line of her upper lip until he made it tremble.
She couldn't get a breath of air into her starving lungs. She swallowed, and her lips parted helplessly while she struggled to find a teasing
remark to break the tension.
Todd's own lips opened as he watched hers. His thumb slid down to the edge of her white teeth and caressed it lazily. Her mouth was as soft
as a petal, warm, full.
Then suddenly, somehow, she was closer to him. She could see the pulse in his neck throbbing, feel the heat off his body. That cologne
he wore was in her nostrils as the wind picked up and blew at his back.
He hadn't moved. His body was open and she was at an angle to that propped leg, so that they were standing in an intimacy that was
respectable and tantalizing at the same time. She could almost feel the hard pressure of his legs against hers, the threat of his body so close to
hers. Her heart was beating madly in her throat. Her eyes fell to his hard mouth, where it parted, and for an endless space of seconds, she saw
it in her mind's eye, pressed ruthlessly, demandingly, against her own.
His breath was warm and unsteady. She could taste the coffee on it. He breathed and she felt his breath against her parted lips where his
thumb was exploring. She felt it, felt him, felt the hunger that had been a stranger all her life until now.
She moved closer, as if he willed her to, moved jerkily on her crutches until she was standing right in the fork of his body and she could feel
him just barely touching her—his long legs, his chest, his flat stomach, his hips—barely, barely touching, teasing, intimidating.
She made a husky, whimpering little sound in her throat and suddenly pressed herself to him.
Tim whistled loudly, Feather snorted, the roar of a car's engine all exploded into the tension and Jane actually moaned.
She jerked away from Todd so fast that she fell against the fence. His arm shot out to spare her the impact of a fall, righting her and the
crutches, all without looking directly into her eyes. He was as shaken as she seemed to be, and angry that she'd gotten to him at all.
"Damn you." He bit off the words furiously.
She hit his broad chest with a flat hand. "You started that!" she accused hotly. "Damn you, too!"
"Todd! That building contractor's coming up the driveway!" Tim called before he went back to meet the man.
"I told you," Todd continued, ignoring the interruption, "that I'm not in the mood for an affair!"
"I'm the one on crutches," she snapped back. "It isn't as if I threw myself at you!"
"Isn't it? I didn't come to you!"
"Todd!" Tim called again.
He released Jane from his furious glare long enough to look toward Tim. "I'll be right there!"
Tim made a thumbs-up gesture and greeted the newcomer.
Todd looked back at Jane, who was pale but not backing down an inch. Her chin was thrust out and she was looking at him with eyes as
angry as his own.
"You know what you do to a man with those bedroom eyes," he accused curtly. "You've probably had more lovers than I have."
"And just think, I didn't have to pay them!"
His breath inverted and he seemed to grow taller and more threatening in the space of a few seconds. "You...!" he began in a thunderous
undertone.
She pulled herself up as tall as she could with the crutches and her hand slipped, grabbing at the crosspiece for support. She managed it,
barely.
The pathetic little movement brought Todd back to his
senses. Disabled she might be, but she had spirit. She
wouldn't back down, or give up, no matter how formidable
the opposition. He was furious, but even through his anger
he felt admiration for her spunk.
"When you get back on your feet properly," he said deeply, "we'll have this out."
"What's the matter, big man, afraid to try your boxing gloves on a woman with crutches?" she taunted.
He chuckled despite his bad temper. "Not when the woman's got a switchblade in her tongue," he retorted. "Hellcat!"
"Pig!"
His eyebrows lifted. "Who, the?"
"Oink, oink!"
He searched her flushed face, her tousled hair, her wide angry blue eyes for a long moment, aware of faint regret. He wasn't going to let
himself be seduced into another dead-end relationship. But, oh, he was tempted. This woman wasn't like anyone he'd ever known.
"And don't drool over the," she snapped.
"Optimist," he countered lazily.
She made a rough sound under her breath and turned unsteadily on her crutches. "I want to be there when you talk to the contractor. It's
my ranch he'll be working on."
"I planned for you to meet him," he assured her. "That's why he's here."
"You might have given the a little advance notice," she said angrily.
"That's why I came down to the barn in the first place," he told her. "We got sidetracked."
"You got sidetracked," she accused with a harsh glare. "You started it."
"I had help," he returned. He stared her down. "How many men did it take to perfect that simpering, hungry look of yours?"
She glared and turned away. She didn't answer him, hobbling along on her crutches as fast as she could.
"If I could balance on one leg, I'd crack one of these crutches over your head," she said icily.
"You must have given the good doctor fits," he mused. "He still drools over you."
"He's a good man," she said shortly. "And he knows the.
"I don't doubt it," he drawled meaningfully.
She flushed. The going was rough on that gravel. She blew a strand of hair out of her face as she soldiered on.
The contractor was leaning against the hood of a nice green Mercedes, waiting for them. He was lean and elegant looking, darkly tanned,
with black eyes in a swarthy face topped by straight, long black hair in a ponytail.
"This is Sloan Hayes," Todd introduced them. The Native American builder shook hands with Jane and then with Tim.
"We haven't met, but I've certainly heard of you," Jane said with a polite smile. Most people had. He was very famous and she was
surprised that Todd knew him. "This is a small job..."
"We're glad to get it," Hayes replied suavely. "It's been slow lately," he hedged. "Your, uh, manager here has gone over the plans with the,
but he wanted you to see them before we finalize the work. I brought the blueprints along so that you could inspect them."
That's very nice of you," Jane said with a smile.
He cocked an eyebrow and smiled back. ' 'I should have mentioned that I've been a rodeo fan all my life. I've seen you ride." He shook his
head. "Hell of a shame about the
accident. I'm sorry."
She was surprised, but not offended, by his openness. "I'm lorry, too, but life has these pitfalls. We have to adapt."
&n
bsp; "Any idea what you'll substitute for rodeo in your life?" he continued.
She smiled. "How about raising champion horses?"
He chuckled. "Sounds like a winner. That's one of my own hobbies." His eyes narrowed appreciatively on her slen-der body.
Todd's face went stiff. "The plans?" he prompted.
Sloan gave him a deep look. "I'll get them."
"We can look them over in the study," Jane said. "Tim, will you have Meg get some coffee and cake and bring it on a tray when she's
ready?"
"Sure thing!" Tim said, grinning.
Jane smiled at Todd as they waited for Sloan Hayes to get his blueprints. "He's very nice," she said with a deliberate sweetness. "I think
this project is going to be a lot of fun."
"Just don't get too wound up in the project director," he cautioned. "He isn't marriage material, but he likes women...."
"Is that why you hired him? Thanks!" she said under her breath and smiled broadly when Sloan joined them on the porch.
"Here, let the help you with those crutches," the builder offered as they went into the house.
"Why, how very kind of you!" Jane said enthusiastically.
Todd followed them inside, the gnashing of his teeth all but audible. Complications were breaking out all over. First the redheaded doctor,
now the builder. Well, he wasn't joining any queues and he didn't want her in the first place.
Having settled that in the privacy of his own mind, he forced himself to concentrate on the business at hand.
They went over the blueprints. Jane had several questions, but all in all, she was very satisfied with what the builder had drawn up.
"Do we need so much space in the barn?" she asked finally, when they were drinking coffee and eating slices of Meg's wonderful lemon
pound cake.
"You do if you're serious about turning this place into a stud ranch," Sloan said quietly. "You have to have immaculate facilities for the
livestock. That sort of thing doesn't go unnoticed by customers. There will be a certain amount of socializing necessary, also. And you'll have to
do some renovation to the house to make it fit in with the overall look of the ranch."
She bit her lower lip and glanced at Todd worriedly.
"You can do it," he said simply. "The money's there. It's all arranged."
"I didn't think that far ahead," she said, troubled.
"You'll have to," Sloan said. "This change is going to foster others. It's a commitment."
She stared down into her lap. She wasn't sure she wanted such a change.
"We'll talk about it later," Todd said. "Meanwhile, sleep on it before you decide. Sloan's got a few other jobs to finish first."
"That's right," the builder said with a nice smile. "You don't have to jump into anything. Weigh the consequences. Then decide what you
want to do."
"I will. Thank you for being patient," she said gently.
He smiled at her. "Oh, I'm known for my patience," he said, tongue-in-cheek. "Ask Todd."
Todd lifted an eyebrow. "I won't lie for you."
"I would for you," the other man said with hidden intent. "In fact, I have." Which was true, because Sloan had put
up a warehouse for Todd's computer company, and now he was keeping mum about Todd's real background.
Have some more coffee and shut up," Todd murmured with a grin.
"Point taken. Now about these outbuildings," he told Jane. "This is what I'd suggest..."
By the time he left, Jane had a picture of what the ranch would look like once it had been transformed. The cost was enormous, but the profit
could be enormous as well.
Now, it all rested on her ability to sell her name for that endorsement, so that she could afford the improvements. But she wasn't going to say
yes unless she felt she was doing the right thing. And she wouldn't know that until she met the manufacturer. She was going to reserve
judgment until the next day, when they conferred.
Chapter 5
Jane barely slept that night, wondering what would come of her meeting with the clothier and the company's public relations representative. It
didn't help that Todd left early the next morning with Cherry for Victoria.
"I'll be back before they get here," he assured Jane. "Stop brooding."
"I'll try. It's a big decision. I just hope that they'll ask the to endorse a line I can feel comfortable putting my name on." She hugged Cherry,
and the girl returned the embrace with genuine fondness. In a short time, they'd become close. "Have a good time with your mother, and have
fun shopping."
"Sure. You take care of yourself. No dancing," she teased, nodding toward the crutches.
Jane laughed softly. "Okay."
"I'll see you Monday."
Jane nodded, and waved them off. Todd looked glad to go. Perhaps, like her, he needed some breathing space. She
wondered if he planned to spend the weekend at the ranch or go off on his own. Probably, she thought bitterly, he had plenty of women just
waiting for the chance to go out with him. As good-looking as he was, she didn't doubt his attraction for the opposite sex. In a way, she was glad
that she was exempt from his attentions. The very brief glimpse she'd had of his ardor the day before at the corral made her knees weak in
retrospect. He wasn't the sort of man to play games with inexperienced women. He didn't know that she was inexperienced, either, and she
had no intention of giving herself away.
She went back inside, glad of the time she was getting to distance herself from Todd's disturbing presence. She went over the books,
amazed at what he'd accomplished in so short a time. He really was a wizard with figures. How, she wondered, could a man with such superb
business sense spend his life working for someone else? He could have made a fortune by putting his analytical mind to work in his own
interests. Perhaps he had no ambition, she decided finally.
She might have changed her mind if she could have seen him later that morning, sitting behind the desk in the president's office at Burke-
Hathaway Business Systems. He'd long since bought out the Hathaway who was the old head of the company, but he left the name. It was
known in south Texas, as Burke wasn't, and that made it good for business.
He made several pressing telephone calls, dictated letters and made arrangements to have leftover business sent down by fax. He'd installed a
machine in the study, and he told his secretary that he'd telephone her with instructions as to when he wanted business documents sent. It
wouldn't do for Jane to be in the study when he was working. He felt a twinge of guilt at keeping this from her, but after all, he had told her
that he would be keeping his job and working for her on the side. In effect, he was.
That might bother him one day, but there was no reason for her to know the truth about his private life. She was just a temporarily disabled
woman whom he felt sorry for. On a whim he'd decided to help her. It was a diversion, a challenge. Life had gone sour for him lately, with
his business prospering and orders coming in faster than he could fill them. He'd been stagnating with nothing to challenge his quick mind.
He had good people, subordinates, who did all the really interesting work—inventing new software, balancing books, marketing. All he did was
public relations work, making contacts, conducting high-level meetings, signing contracts and talking to bankers and stockholders. The thing
that had made the company fun in the first place was the risk. He'd left any real risk behind when the company became one of the Fortune 500.
These days, he was the chief executive officer and president of Burke-Hathaway.
He was a figurehead.
But not on the Parker ran
ch. No, sir. There, he was necessary. He was the one thing standing between Jane and bankruptcy, and it made
him feel good to know that he could make such a difference in her life. There was the challenge he needed to put the color back into his life.
And it was helping Cherry, too. She and Jane were already friends. The girl hadn't had much fun in her life, but she really loved rodeo and
Jane was the perfect person to help her learn the ropes. In fact, it had helped Jane already. She was less broody and more determined than ever to
get her broken body back into some semblance of normalcy. All around, to sign on as Jane's business manager was one of the better decisions
of Todd's life.
Then if it was such a great move, why, he asked himself as he signed letters on the mahogany desk, did he feel so morose and out of
humor? He and Jane should have been friends, but they weren't. Jane fought him at every turn, and all at once, yesterday, he'd precipitated a
physical awareness
IN her that he regretted. She was vulnerable now, and he should have known better than to start something he couldn't finish.
She was so lovely, he thought angrily. Under different cir-cumstances, he'd have made a dead set at her. But although she was old enough to
have had lovers, he wondered about that side of her life. The doctor was interested in her, but there was no hint of real intimacy between the
two of them. Old lovers would show it. They couldn't help but show it.
"Mr. Burke, you have to initial this contract as well," his secretary reminded him gently, pointing to two circles in the margin.
"Sorry." He initialed all three copies in the appropriate places and pushed them toward her. "Anything else pressing?"
"No, sir, not until next week."
He got up from the desk. "I'll be in and out," he said. "Mostly out. But I've left a number where I can be reached in case of an
emergency." His steely gray eyes met hers. "Notice that I said emergency."
"Yes, sir." Miss Emory was in her early fifties and unflappable. She smiled. "Are you in disguise, sir?"
He chuckled. "In a manner of speaking, yes, so take care."
"Yes, sir."
"I'll check with you periodically. If anything urgent crops up, fax the. You don't need to explain anything, just state that I need to phone