Too stunned to respond, Mallory simply gaped at him.
Not so Jack, who stepped forward and said, “What do you want, Garrison?”
Charles blinked and tilted his head to look at Jack. He wasn’t a tall man. He and Mallory were the same height and Jack outweighed him by many pounds. Mallory glanced at the two men. Jack also outintimidated him by any measure.
“Do I know you?” Charles asked.
“Probably not,” Jack answered, his tone barely a notch above contempt.
Charles’s gaze darted to Mallory. “Where can we go to talk?”
“Nowhere,” Jack said and crossed his arms over his chest.
“I wasn’t speaking to you—”
“Why are you here?” Mallory interrupted.
“Obviously because I need to speak to you,” Charles said in the falsely hearty manner she remembered all too well. But when he looked at her companion’s glowering face, his expression grew uncomfortable.
“We were just leaving,” she replied coldly.
Charles’s face fell. “You’re going away with this man?”
Jack took a half step forward, but Mallory laid a hand on his arm. “Not that it’s any of your business, Charles, but yes, I am. For the weekend.”
Her former husband drew himself up. “In that case, I’ll speak to you about this matter right now, that is if your ‘friend’ will give us some privacy.”
“Not a chance, Garrison.” Jack stood directly behind Mallory’s shoulder. In spite of her shock at seeing Charles, it occurred to her that she had never felt so supported in her life.
She lifted her chin. “Whatever you have to say, you can say right here and now.”
Charles’s lips pinched together, but he finally said, “All right. I need your help.”
“With what?”
“My next book. I need a research assistant. You can work for me. Same terms as before.”
Mallory’s mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding?”
Charles took her question as a show of interest. He started to step closer, but Jack’s icy glare warned him off.
“Yes, I knew you’d like the idea. I’ll let you keep your little shop. Maybe you can hire someone to run it for you.”
“You’ll let me keep my shop,” she choked out in amazement.
He smiled benignly. “That’s right. How about if we start right away?”
Jack surged forward. “How about if I rearrange your—”
“Wait,” Mallory said, holding his arm.
Jack glanced down. The shock in her eyes was making way for a healthy dose of anger. With an imperceptible nod, he stepped back.
Charles, oblivious to this byplay, must have thought he had gained her support. He allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction until Mallory said, “Charles, I have no intention of leaving my business and my new home to go back to being your underpaid ghostwriter. Research assistants are a dime a dozen. Why do you need me?”
“We work well together. You were willing to take direction, and—”
“She’s not anymore,” Jack broke in. “She asked you a straightforward question. Why do you need her?”
Jack’s aggressive speech shocked Charles into an honest answer. “My editor says unless I can come up with a better first draft, he won’t give me a contract for the book.”
Jack made a sound of disgust and Mallory shook her head. “And I was fool enough to write the first drafts of the last two. No, Charles, I won’t do it. For this book, you’ll have to sink or swim on your own.”
She left him squawking in protest and turned to the truck. Jack was right here to help her in. “Good girl,” he murmured and she shot him a grateful look.
He slammed the door shut and started around to his own side. Charles rushed up and grasped the open window.
“All right, all right,” he called out in panic. “We’ll go fifty-fifty on the money. I’ll even put your name on the cover as co-author.”
She gave him a disgusted look. “No, thanks. I’ve had a better offer.” Reaching out, she grabbed the handle and cranked up the window.
“What better offer?” Charles yelled.
Jack stepped close to him and spoke in a voice too low for Mallory to hear. Whatever he said made Charles blanch and stumble back, but when Jack started around to the driver’s side of the truck, Charles lunged for her window.
“Is what he says true, Mallory? That you’re his now? Is that the better offer you’ve had?”
Mallory’s gaze flew from Charles’s furious face to Jack’s satisfied one. He gave her a look that dared her to deny it.
Deciding she would deal with him later, she rolled the window down a crack and called out, “My better offer is that I’m going to find Lying Jude Bluestone’s bank loot. Remember the one you said doesn’t exist? I’ve got proof!”
Jack started the engine and put the truck in gear. They rolled forward, leaving Charles sputtering in rage as they pulled out of the alley and onto the street.
The drive into the mountains took a slow two hours. It took Mallory the full time to calm down. She was appalled at Charles’s nerve. He was so arrogant and self-absorbed that he’d honestly thought she would leap at the chance to give up her new life and return to him.
She considered it the height of irony that he had belittled and denigrated her ideas and her work, and now he couldn’t do without her.
At one point in the ride, she turned to Jack and said, “You were right. He did want something.”
Jack answered with a swift glance that took in the outraged color in her face and the fire in her eyes. “Told you,” was all he said, but he turned back to the road with a thoughtful expression.
Mallory took a deep breath. She was going to have to talk to Jack about what he’d told Charles— that she was his—but it would have to wait. She’d had enough shocks for one afternoon. She sat back and looked out at the mountain. Pine trees edged right up to the pavement, but behind them were rocks, huge granite boulders stacked and tumbled together as if a giant hand had taken a swipe and knocked them around.
Although she’d read a great deal of literature about these mountains, she’d never been here before. Viewing the enormous boulders, though, she could see how easy it would have been for the Apaches to elude the horse soldiers for so long— or for Lying Jude and his stolen money to disappear. The road wouldn’t have been a well-paved highway such as this one, but a narrow track in the places where there had been any road at all.
The drive began to calm her. Mallory leaned her elbow on the windowsill, rested her chin against her knuckles, and thought about the past few weeks. Even though she had expected that the challenge of running her own business would be tough, and watching out for Sammi would require patience and understanding, she’d thought her life would move along smoothly and calmly for a while. Living in a small town was supposed to be easier, or so she’d thought. No one had warned her that men like Jack even existed, much less would be a threat to the peaceful life she’d planned.
It was disconcerting to realize that she felt more alive than she ever had before. In her whole life, she had never laughed so much, been so angry, or argued as often as she had since meeting Jack— and never had she felt as supported as she had today when facing Charles, in spite of Jack’s final outrageous statement to her ex-husband.
It was exhilarating, but frightening because it would be so easy to let herself depend on Jack. She cast a sideways glance at him, noting the casual way he held the steering wheel, with one elbow propped on the open window. He had qualities of dependability and endurance that she admired.
With a sigh, she turned her attention to the road. She felt as if she didn’t know herself anymore, as if she no longer fitted into her own skin. It was impossible for her to know how much of that was her own fault and how much was because of Jack and his effect on her.
Her self-searching thoughts were disturbed when Jack stepped on the brake and, with a careful turn of the steering wheel, eased into
a lane, which he followed for a quarter of a mile. At the end of it, he pulled into a wide parking area before a small, neat cabin.
“This is it,” he said, switching off the engine.
Mallory stepped out into the quiet rush of the wind through the pine trees and stretched her legs. “It’s peaceful here,” she said, breathing in the crisp air.
Jack gave her a quick glance. “Not for long,” he murmured in an ironic tone.
She turned and gave him a puzzled frown. “What do you mean?”
“You’ll see.”
“There you go with that Gary Cooper impression again.”
He ignored her. “Here, help me with the horses.” He led Turq out and handed Mallory the reins. She took the mare around to a small corral out back and Jack followed with Garnet.
Once the horses were settled with feed and water, Jack and Mallory returned to the truck for their gear. With their arms full, they made their way to the door, which Jack unlocked with Dan’s key.
Mallory started to step inside, but he held his arm out to block the doorway. She looked up and he said, “Don’t forget, I did this for your comfort.”
“Did what?”
“You’ll see,” he repeated and pushed the door open, gesturing for her to step inside.
With a puzzled look at him, Mallory did so.
The cabin was just one big open room of about nine hundred square feet. It had a ceiling of exposed beams that were stained in a rich shade of dark mahogany. On one side of the cabin was a small kitchen area with a pine trestle table and benches. The other side of the room held two deep club chairs with hassocks and several small tables with lamps. Beneath a skylight in one corner stood a high double bed with a green plaid comforter for a bedspread.
Along the back wall was a door leading to a bathroom and one that appeared to open into a closet.
After a quick glance around, she looked at Jack, who was hovering in the doorway. “Why are you acting as if you’re waiting for an explosion?”
“Because of that,” he said, nodding across the room.
She looked where he indicated, then her eyes darted around the room. “There’s only one bed,” she said in a flat voice.
CHAPTER NINE
“THAT’S right. One bed.” He pushed past her and deposited bags of groceries on the kitchen counter.
Mallory followed him and placed her own armload beside his, then turned on him. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot on the polished plank floor. “I wouldn’t have come if I’d known there was only one bed.”
He took a loaf of bread from one of the bags and laid it on the counter, then said, “I knew that. That’s why I didn’t tell you.”
“And you probably made Dan promise not to tell me, didn’t you?”
“That’s right.”
Facing him, she jerked up the sleeves of her shirt, spoiling for a fight. “I’m not sleeping with you, Jack.”
He removed a package of cheese from the paper sack and laid it beside the bread, then picked it up and casually passed it from hand to hand. He kept his eyes on it as he spoke. She found herself watching the movement of that dark yellow brick as it moved smoothly back and forth.
“Mallory, you were married for six years. I don’t think I have to tell you that there’s a big difference between sleeping in the same bed with me and sleeping with me.” His eyes came up to meet hers and his voice went low when he said the word.
His tone made her insides quiver with some kind of nameless anticipation. “I…I know that.”
“I didn’t bring you up here to seduce you.”
Mallory ran her hands down her thighs and wondered when they’d begun to sweat. “Well, that’s good, because that’s not what—”
“We both know I could have seduced you right at home.”
“In your dreams,” she gasped.
With a bark of laughter, he tossed the cheese onto the counter and moved closer to her as he said, “And in yours, too, Ms. Earp. In yours, too.” While she sputtered, trying to find a reply, he went on, “You can sleep with me or with the horses. It’s up to you.” Turning, he strolled outside and began gathering up another load of their gear.
Mallory glared at him. He had his nerve! All right, she would freely admit that she was attracted to him. When he’d kissed her, she’d nearly experienced a nuclear meltdown—not that she would ever admit such a thing to him. However, that didn’t mean she would have gone back to his apartment with him as he’d wanted. She’d already proven that she was strong enough to resist him. She was simply choosing not to put herself in a tempting position.
“I can push those two chairs together and sleep on them,” she informed him archly when he returned.
“That’s up to you, but it doesn’t look like a very comfortable arrangement to me.”
“It’ll be fine.”
He gave her a look that said he didn’t believe her, but he didn’t reply as he began building a fire in the fireplace.
“A real gentleman would let me have the bed and sleep on the floor.”
He was crouching before the fireplace and he turned with his forearm resting across his knee. “Honey, I was willing to sleep on the ground for you, but if there’s a bed available, I’m using it. It’s up to you to join me or not.” He lifted both hands. “But if you think you can’t share a bed with me and keep your hands off me, then go ahead and sleep on the chairs.”
Her face heated up like a toaster, but she managed to give him a haughty look as she said, “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Mallory, I’m not the one who’s being ridiculous.”
Fuming, she finished putting away their groceries and began dinner preparations for a simple meal of soup and sandwiches.
He didn’t have to make it sound as if she was being petty and silly. She knew she was right. It was best if she ignored him.
By the time she had their simple meal ready and waiting on the pine table, she had calmed down.
Sitting down opposite Jack, she looked at the food and sighed. “You might find it hard to believe, but I’m actually quite a good cook.”
Jack regarded her with more sympathy than she would have expected. “You probably had to be, as a faculty wife.”
“Things are much different than they used to be. Most wives work now and many don’t have time for the types of social activities that used to go on in academia.”
“But Charlie expected it of you.”
Because it was a statement without Jack’s usual rancor behind it, she nodded. “Yes, and I was too young and naive to refuse.”
Jack regarded her thoughtfully for a few minutes as if he wanted to say something, but finally, he nodded and began eating.
Mallory hesitated before picking up her own spoon. “Jack, thanks for what you did today.”
He crumbled a couple of crackers into his soup. “I wondered if you would want to talk about it.”
“Only to say thank-you.” She shook her head. “I’m still amazed that he thought I’d jump at the chance to work with him on another book.”
“I’m amazed you worked with him on the first two.”
“So am I, now.” Her deep brown eyes came up to meet his, then shifted away. “You shouldn’t have said what you did today.”
“That you’re mine? Why not? It’s true if you’ll let it be.”
“Oh, Jack, I—”
“But I’m a patient man,” he said as if she hadn’t spoken. “I can wait.” He returned to eating, leaving her with her troubled thoughts.
Mallory breathed a silent sigh of relief. She should have felt reassured, she told herself as they finished their dinner and cleaned the kitchen together. He was really being quite a gentleman. The only problem was that he didn’t seem to fit into that role very well. He was a gentleman only when it suited his own purposes.
It was full dark by the time they’d finished cleaning up. They sat in the big easy chairs pulled up before the fire, but it wasn’t long before Mallory was tr
ying to cover her yawns.
Jack stood and stretched. “Why don’t we go to bed?” Her eyes darted to him and she caught his quick grin. “Or maybe I’ll go to bed, and you can go to, uh, chair.”
“Thank you,” she said sweetly. “You’re so considerate.”
“I’ve got to check on the horses.” He grabbed a jacket from the rack by the door and went outside.
While he was gone, Mallory hurried into the bathroom, where she put on her pajamas and brushed her teeth. Returning to the main room, she whipped a pillow and extra blanket off the bed, then pushed the two big chairs together and climbed in to snuggle down for the night.
Instantly, she realized she’d made a mistake. Two pushed-together easy chairs were not long enough to provide a bed for a woman who was five feet nine inches tall.
However, she couldn’t do anything about it right then because Jack was coming in the door. He gave her and her sleeping arrangements a disparaging look. “If you’re not comfortable, you’re welcome to join me.”
She answered him with a bright smile. “No, thank you. This will be fine.”
“Liar.”
She stuck her tongue out at his back when he headed for the bathroom. As soon as the door closed behind him, she leaped out of her makeshift bed, added a hassock between the two chairs, and tried it again. Now she had an uncomfortable bump beneath her ribs and another under her knees.
She was just getting ready to try another arrangement when Jack came out of the bathroom with his shirt off and his jeans unsnapped at the waist. He walked to the bed and hung his shirt on one of the four posts, then sat down and began tugging off his boots.
Mallory glanced up and her mouth went dry from the desert heat that seared through her.
This was too much, she thought in despair. It was hard enough trying to keep her mind off him when he was fully clothed. This was too much.
His shoulders, which looked wide when covered by his shirt, seemed to block out all visible light when they were bare. Or maybe the blackness that was affecting her vision had to do with the fact that she was holding her breath. She exhaled quickly.
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