by Cora Seton
There was no going back, though, was there?
All she could do was muddle forward the best she could.
Chapter Eight
‡
Alice was finally heading to bed.
Jack, who was working on several nights short of sleep, had gone to bed early, trying for a few hours of rest before Alice returned to the main house. He hadn’t slept at all, though. Instead, images had run through his mind. His family’s ranch. The desert in Afghanistan. USSOCOM. Two Willows.
A chain of events had led him here, and the culmination should be a wedding. How could he get from here to there, though?
He’d heard Alice’s light footsteps pad past his room a few moments ago, and the bathroom door down the hall close. When the pipes in the wall knocked several times, he got to his feet but waited until he heard Alice return to her room.
When he knocked softly on her door, a frustrated “What?” greeted him. Undeterred, Jack slipped into her room and closed the door behind him. This time she didn’t sit up in bed, or pat the mattress, or hand him the afghan. Wary of her mood, he sat on the floor with his back to the bed. He could stand the cold.
He’d stood much worse.
“I’m tired,” Alice complained.
“Me, too, but you knocked, and I came.”
Alice turned on her stomach and buried her head under her covers until her voice was muffled. “I didn’t knock.”
“I choose to believe otherwise. I won’t stay long. Just wanted to know how you were progressing with those gowns. You’re working hard.”
“Not hard enough. How do you do three weeks’ work in six days?” She peeked out again, her eyes shining in the dark. “Landon told me he hoped I hadn’t left it all to the last minute, but I did. He’s right; that’s totally unprofessional.”
“You’ll get them done, and you’ll blow him away. Everyone says you’re a master craftswoman.”
She was quiet a moment. “I try my best.”
“I know you do.” He turned, reached up and rubbed her back.
Alice groaned appreciatively. “I’m so stiff from sitting there all night.”
That was his cue. He moved onto the edge of the bed and began to massage her shoulders, his fingers working out the kinks in her muscles. Her skin was silky smooth, and every touch woke the hunger within him, but Jack knew he had to be patient. After several minutes, Alice relaxed. After several more, her even breathing told him she’d fallen asleep.
He’d gotten something right.
He dropped a light kiss on her head, adjusted her covers and snuck out of her room, shutting the door softly. Now if only he could sleep.
He dropped off faster than he’d thought, but he woke up thinking this was the calm before the storm. For the moment Myers was acting as a buffer between the General and his daughters, but that couldn’t last. The General might take a few days to get over his surgery and the long trip home, but soon he’d be rested enough to set the full force of his attention on them.
Landon was coming soon, too, which meant Alice might get caught up in a contract that would leave her little time for thoughts of the future—or marriage.
Jack knew he had to work faster to get Alice to fall in love with him, because the writing was on the wall. The General had sent him and the others here to protect his daughters and increase his influence over them while he was far away at USSOCOM. Now he was here at Two Willows.
What use did he have anymore for someone like Jack?
“Want to come help me install the surveillance equipment?” he asked Alice before breakfast.
“I don’t have time. I’ll be working all day to get those dresses done.”
He couldn’t very well offer to help her, having no skill whatsoever with a needle or sewing machine. Jack was stumped, but he vowed to himself he’d try again later.
They were hardly done with breakfast when the General bellowed from the office, “Muster up!”
Just like the day before, they trooped into his room and arranged themselves around his bed. The General was dressed and although still sitting with a leg up on pillows, somehow managed to be ramrod straight.
“Lake, report.”
“Not much new since yesterday, sir. Winter chores,” Brian said.
“O’Riley?”
“The same, sir.”
“Powell?”
“Working on those plans for Jo’s new house, sir.”
“Good, good. Too many people under one roof never works out. Sanders?”
“Still working on that surveillance system, sir.”
“A little too hard,” Alice added.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” the General asked.
“No one likes to be watched all the time any more than they like to be told what to do.”
“Just doing my best to keep everyone safe, sir,” Jack put in hurriedly. He didn’t like the way she’d lumped him in with the General. She viewed her father as the enemy, after all.
“Keep up the good work.”
Alice sighed.
“Cass?” the General asked.
“Still pre-holiday cleaning with Wyoming. Today we’re working on the living room.”
“How’s that baby?”
Cass touched her stomach. “It’s fine.”
“Sadie?”
“Everything’s fucking fine with me. Jo, you’re up!”
Jo, prepared this time, said, “Dogs are great. Horses are great. Everything’s great.”
“Alice?”
“I’m… good.”
“You got a phone call last night. Who was it from?”
Alice hesitated. At first Jack thought she would refuse to answer. “Landon Clark. He’s a movie producer. I might be getting a really big contract.”
The General thought this over. “Good for you,” he said.
Alice’s brows lifted, but she didn’t answer.
“And you.” The General turned to Wyoming. “Ready for your husband?”
“Uh…”
“Dismissed.”
“Landon?” Alice gripped her phone anxiously, pacing her studio. “Glad to hear from you. I was—” She didn’t want to tell him she was worried he’d decided to forgo his trip to Chance Creek altogether. “Hoping we could solidify our plans for Saturday. I’m so excited to show you my work.”
“There’s been a change of plans.”
“Again?” Alice hurried to cover her dismay. “I was really looking forward to meeting you.”
“You will meet me. I’ll be in Chance Creek tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” There was no way her costumes would be done tomorrow. “Landon—you’re already showing up weeks early. I need more time.” She held her breath. Would he hang up on her again? “What if… what if you came by and see my workspace tomorrow, and then I’ll show you my three costumes the day after, like we planned. I can even come by to your motel room early if you need to make a plane.”
“I’ll be staying for several days,” Landon said to Alice’s surprise. She’d assumed this would be a quick visit.
“Then that will work fine. You can tour my studio tomorrow. I have lots of costumes I’ve made for other productions I can show you. Then I’ll get back to work and finish everything for Saturday.”
“What about your father?” Landon asked gruffly. “I don’t have time for family gatherings. This is business, Alice. I’m a busy man.”
Alice wasn’t sure what to say. “The General is confined to his room at the present. He’s still healing from his injuries.”
“What about your sisters and their husbands?”
Alice hesitated. She’d only mentioned Lena. Had Landon been checking up on her? Her discomfort grew. “I’ll make sure no one bothers us,” she assured him.
“Fine. I’ll arrive tomorrow at four. See your studio and take you to dinner.” He hung up.
Alice let out a breath. She’d nearly blown her chance. Thank goodness she’d found a way to turn it around.
She turned to find Jack standing near the door again. He hung around a lot.
“Who was that?” he asked, coming in.
“Landon. He’s arriving tomorrow.”
“Thought he was coming on Saturday.”
“Plans change.” She shrugged, but she was still discomfited by Landon’s phone call and his gruff tone.
“I look forward to meeting him. Never shook hands with a Hollywood producer before.”
“He’s not a Hollywood producer yet,” Alice said. “And you can’t meet him. No one can.”
“All I’m saying is I don’t trust him,” Jack said to Hunter later that afternoon. “What kind of a man visits someone’s home and refuses to meet her family?”
“You’re not her family,” Hunter pointed out. They were in Hunter and Jo’s small house, which sat next to the much larger main house. It was cute and tidy. Architectural plans were spread over the kitchen table. Hunter had been showing them to Jack with evident pride.
“The rest of you are. He doesn’t want to meet you either.”
“It’s a business meeting.”
“Something’s off about him.”
“Have you checked him out?” Hunter waved off Jack’s answer. “Of course you have; you check everyone out.”
“His record is too clean. Everything about him is perfect. Every post. Every website mention. He’s hardly on social media at all. He doesn’t pick fights on forums. What’s this guy been doing with himself for the last twenty years?”
“Buying cryptocurrency.”
“Maybe. Don’t you think it’s fishy that a man who can make millions trading money that barely exists is going to blow it all on a Hollywood bet? I mean, when’s the last time a historical drama paid off big? Why isn’t he making a superhero flick?”
“Maybe it isn’t about the money. Maybe this is his ego trip. His effort to put a long-lasting mark on the world.”
“After all the attacks on this ranch, we need to be careful.”
“We will be,” Hunter assured him. “You’re getting your surveillance system in place. We’ll all be here tomorrow. Meanwhile, we can look into him some more.”
“Be my guest. I’ve exhausted all my resources. All I can do now is keep tabs on the man himself. Starting tomorrow. He’s supposed to take Alice to dinner. I’m going, too.” He thought again about his need to woo her—especially before Landon got a hold of her. When he’d looked into the man, the first thing he’d realized was that someone like Landon could hold a kind of charm for a woman like Alice.
Not that he was jealous.
Well, maybe just a little.
“See you later,” Jack said to Hunter.
“Tell Alice I said hi.”
Alice’s fingers were shaking as she stitched a ribbon to the bodice of the blue gown. She was never going to finish on time. There was no way. Landon was going to hate her costumes. She was going to blow a chance she’d probably never get again.
When she heard footsteps on the stairs, she bit back a groan of frustration. All she needed was another interruption.
“Hey, Alice.” Jack almost bounded into the room. As usual, her heart sped up at the sight of him, but that didn’t change the fact that she didn’t have time for even a short conversation. “How about you and me have dinner tonight? Just the two of us—I’ll take you to town.”
Alice blinked at him. Dinner? Tonight? “Are you out of your mind?” She didn’t have time for dinner. She barely had time to breathe.
“Not the last time I checked.”
“I told you Landon’s coming tomorrow.”
“But I’m here today. We’ve barely spent any time together, and you know your dad sent me here to—”
“I have three dresses to finish!” Alice burst out. “Three. And none of them are done. And none of them are anywhere near good enough. And Landon keeps changing when he’s coming. And I’m going to have to hide them tomorrow, show him a bunch of costumes that aren’t what he wants to see, then sit through dinner with him and then come home and stay up ALL NIGHT to finish them—”
“Okay, okay, I get it. How about this?” Jack held up his hands. “I’ll go to town and get takeout. I’ll light a candle, bring out some dishes. We’ll have a picnic right here—”
“What part of THREE DRESSES don’t you understand?”
“Fine,” Jack growled. “I’ll get takeout and just toss it to you from the doorway!”
She’d toss him something, Alice thought. A bomb, maybe. She pointed toward the stairs.
“You’ve got time to eat out with Landon—”
“Get. Out.”
Jack looked like he had more to say, but to her relief he clamped his mouth shut, turned on his heel and left.
Alice didn’t let herself think about the look on his face as she got back to work. She didn’t let herself think about anything other than her stitches until her fingers cramped so badly and her eyes grew so weary, she couldn’t see straight anymore. It was nearly four in the morning when she dragged herself back to the house, got ready for bed and climbed under her covers.
When the light knock sounded and her door opened, she groaned. She couldn’t deal with Jack again tonight.
He didn’t say a word, though, just sat on the side of her bed, the mattress sinking under his weight, and eased her over onto her stomach under the covers. When she realized what he was doing, she went along with it, too tired to fight.
Just like the night before, his powerful fingers began to knead the tension out of her shoulders. Alice wasn’t sure when she began to weep, but her tears slid down her cheeks and dampened the sheets.
Jack didn’t comment on them, although she was sure he knew she was crying, and for some reason that opened the floodgates wider and she started to sob.
Jack gathered her up in his arms, wrapping her in her covers to preserve her modesty and letting her rest her face against his chest.
The tears wouldn’t stop. All her fears about failing pressed into her throat as if they would choke her, and she couldn’t hold her sobs back. The bleak weight of the sense of doom that had weighed on her for weeks now left her unable to process her anxiety any other way. It was all too much—
Jack rocked her gently, simply holding her and letting her cry. She felt no judgment. No intention to use this against her in the future, either. Just… safe. Jack was strong. Steady. Dependable.
Alice got the barest glimmer of the future. Jack’s arms holding her, the whisper of his breath against her ear as he encouraged her, the weight of a different kind of pressure way low in her body. “Push, Alice! You can do it.”
She tore away from the vision, not nearly ready for what it betrayed.
Did she have a future with Jack?
A future that included—
Without realizing it, she’d tilted her face up to look at Jack, and now he was leaning down toward her. He was going to kiss her.
Alice didn’t pull away.
When his mouth brushed hers, she sighed and met him eagerly, her body acting for her before her mind could even sort out what she meant to do. Her arms went around Jack’s neck, and she rose to get closer to him. The blankets slipped down, but Alice didn’t care.
The brush of her nipples over Jack’s chest sent desire racing through her veins, and when Jack skimmed a hand over her skin to cup one breast, Alice moaned and leaned into his touch.
“Alice—” Jack whispered.
She knew what he meant to say. This felt so good. So—right.
Their kiss went on and on. Alice wanted far more, and she knew Jack did as well, but he was holding himself back. When she turned to straddle him, no longer content to be half-sitting in his lap, Jack groaned and broke off the kiss.
“I want you,” he said, wrapping the blanket around her gently. “But not like this, when you’re overtired, overstressed—not able to make a decision you’ll be happy with in the morning.”
“But—”
“I don’t just want you once, Alice.
I want you forever.” He kissed her again before she found her words. “We have to do this right, one step at a time.” He smiled suddenly. Was he laughing at her horrified expression? Alice didn’t think she could wait. She wanted him now.
“I don’t want to do this right.”
“Neither do I,” he admitted, “but we have to. You have to know what you really want. As soon as you’re sure about me, use your salacious purposes knock.”
Alice laughed despite herself, and realized her tears—and her tension—were gone. “Okay,” she said, her voice wobbling a little but not too badly.
“Sleep, now.”
She made a disbelieving noise as he helped her into her bed again, his hands taking all kinds of liberties as he did. He pulled up the covers.
“I know,” he said, a smile in his voice. “It isn’t going to be easy for me, either. I can’t believe I’m being this much of a gentleman.”
“What if I don’t ever knock?” she asked.
“For the love of god and all that’s holy, Alice—knock. Soon.”
Chapter Nine
‡
Jack stifled a yawn as he gathered with the others in the General’s office after breakfast. Sooner or later he was going to have to sleep, but last night had been worth it. His body was still thrumming with the desire to make love to Alice. The feel of her naked body against his skin had been almost more than he could bear. He’d had to take care of matters himself—several times—before he’d finally managed to fall asleep.
The General couldn’t have found him a better match if he’d tried, Jack thought as he took his position in the General’s office. The man had a surprising knack for matchmaking. When Alice came in, he caught her eye and lifted his eyebrows slightly. She half smiled and turned away, blushing a little.
They were better together in the dark than in the daylight, he mused. Either that would have to change, or they’d have to become nocturnal.