by Regan Black
“You’ll call if you have any trouble?” he asked.
She started to nod, but the motion was cut short by another yawn.
“Want me to stay and, ah, babysit while you take a shower?” he offered, trying not to think of what she’d look like under a hot spray of water. Unfortunately, memories of her poses in swimsuits flashed across his mind. He moved toward the baby, away from her before he did something stupid.
“I should be offended, but that sounds like heaven,” she said, her mouth tilted into a grin.
“All right. Take your time.” He had no idea what babysitting an infant required. Silas was currently dozing in his seat, and with a little luck Jarvis wouldn’t have to do much of anything. If the baby did need something, he’d look it up online and figure it out.
Practical problem-solving was one of his favorite parts of his job. He’d never expected to enjoy working outdoors or all of the unpredictable moments among the daily routines of ranch life.
“You should go on to work after my shower,” Mia said. “Silas and I can manage.”
“You’re sure?”
“We’ve been managing just fine for a couple of months now.” Her smile was softer, filled with affection as she watched her son.
“What happened to his dad?” It was a nosy question, but he was more curious if there might be a better, more secure place for her and the baby to hide.
“Silas’s father isn’t part of our lives.” Her head snapped up, her eyes flat, expression stern. “Go to work, Jarvis. You’ve helped enough today.”
Okay, he’d crossed a line he hadn’t even seen. He was about to apologize when his cell phone buzzed on his hip.
She shot him an I-told-you-so look as he stepped outside to take the call.
“Where are you?” Asher didn’t usually bark out demands, but he’d been under some serious stress since his father had been shot by a still-unknown assailant. That came on the heels of upheaval at the Colton Oil offices, as the board dealt with accusations that Ace Colton, then-CEO, was not a biological Colton and thus an imposter. Seemed the grass wasn’t as green on the Colton Oil side of the family tree as Jarvis had always imagined.
“I’m out driving the access roads after all that rain.” At least, he would be as soon as he drove in.
“Oh. Yeah, that was smart,” Asher allowed. “Look, Selina’s in my face, needing something installed at her place. Has to be today. Can you handle it?”
Just hearing Selina’s name explained everything about the call and Asher’s agitation. Selina Barnes Colton remained a thorny presence in everyone’s life as the vice president and public relations director at Colton Oil. Payne’s current wife, Genevieve, and all six of his children despised Selina, yet somehow she’d negotiated a chunk of the Triple R just a quarter mile from the mansion she’d considered her own for the duration of her marriage.
Jarvis credited Selina’s attorney with her posh, post-divorce settlement, but Asher and his siblings were convinced Selina had some unsavory leverage over their dad. Whatever the actual cause, the effect was Asher having to juggle schedules when Selina made noise about needing something on her part of the property repaired or demanded help with one project or another.
The whole situation was an odd echo of Mia’s trouble. It seemed like both Selina and Regina might be unfaithful second wives whom their husbands’ offspring hated. Women who manipulated people to maintain control.
Since Jarvis had been on the ranch, he’d been to Selina’s home to unclog a sink, rip up carpeting for a flooring change, and install new blinds in her home office and a guest room. In general, she annoyed most of the crew Asher sent to help her. She couldn’t seem to be polite and came at the men with either overdone flirty innuendo or flat-out dismissal.
Unlike his peers, Jarvis didn’t mind taking on her calls. He used those opportunities to chat with her about the history of the ranch. So far, her information hadn’t changed his search parameters, but he was gaining insight into the side of the family he’d never met. Although his boss didn’t know his real reasons for not complaining about Selina, Asher definitely appreciated having a cowboy who didn’t gripe about being her on-call handyman.
“Sure thing,” Jarvis said. “I’ll go straight over.” Well, straight there after a stop at the warming hut and his own room for a shower and change of clothes. He could flirt with Selina to get the cup of coffee his system was craving.
“Thanks. Nothing out your way needs attention?”
Only his personal quest. “Everything is clear out here.”
“Great. Let me know when you’re done with my former stepmother,” Asher said.
Silas let out a cry that filtered outside.
“What’s that?” Asher asked.
As a dad, Asher was naturally dialed in to that sound. He and Willow were blending into a family of four with their baby girls, Harper and Luna.
“Radio,” Jarvis improvised. “One of those vasectomy commercials.”
Asher chuckled. “Those always get on my nerves.”
“Kids or commercials?” Jarvis joked, as if he had any clue about the perils or rewards of fatherhood.
“Can’t speak for all kids, but my girls are worth it every single day,” Asher said, proudly. “If you hear Selina say anything useful, you’ll let me know?”
That was one of the first cousin-to-cousin rules of handling jobs at Selina’s place. If she mentioned anything Asher could use to get her off the Triple R and out of his life, he wanted to hear it. “Always, boss.”
“Thanks.”
Mia had quieted Silas once again and she waved at him from the doorway. He promised he’d be back to check on her this evening, reminded her to call if she had any trouble and then went to deal with Selina.
It would be a day working from the truck rather than on horseback as he’d come to prefer, but every day on the ranch beat a day in the office. Convinced Mia’s car was still hidden after the rain, he did what he could to cover the tire tracks to the bunkhouse before heading toward his place. He felt a bit more human after his lightning-quick shower, but he wasn’t looking forward to Selina knowing he’d kept her waiting.
The woman was hot when he arrived, her toe tapping and her face sharp with a frown when she opened the door.
“Oh, Jarvis.” Her entire demeanor seemed to soften without even moving a muscle. “You are always worth the wait.” Her eyes cruised over his body, lingering on his chest and south of his belt before she lifted her gaze to his face once more. “The fresh-scrubbed look is good on you.”
He wouldn’t be surprised if she asked him to work shirtless one of these days.
“Thanks.” He resisted the urge to curl his lip in distaste, or pluck his shirt from his chest. He only now regretted pulling his clothing on over still-damp skin. “I figured you’d prefer fresh scrubbed to muddy.”
“Hmm.” This time the long perusal of his body ended with a fast lick of her lips. “I suppose muddy could be appealing. In the right circumstances.”
She was too obvious in her bids for attention, but Jarvis considered her mostly harmless. She flirted and talked a good game, but he doubted she’d back up that bold, sexy bluster by actually getting muddy in any way, shape or form with a simple cowboy.
Jarvis was well aware that she considered him eye candy, which might be flattering from another woman. From Selina, it felt sticky. From the start, he’d chosen to play along—with extreme caution—so she’d keep talking to him.
He smiled, employing the easygoing charm that had won over many a person in boardrooms and out here on the ranch. “What is it I can help with today?”
“You are such a treat.” A catlike grin spread over her face, and her blue eyes sparkled. Her hair was down, the red-gold waves flowing over her shoulders. She stepped away from the door so he could walk inside. “The problem is back this way.”
“I ordered new fixtures for the sinks and a better wine cooler. Take the old one if you want it.”
What was he going to do with a wine cooler? He could hear the crap he’d take from the other ranch hands if he put it in his room. “We’ll see,” he said, eyeing the various boxes. The thing might be of some use to Mia out at the bunkhouse or even his sister, Bella.
“It impresses women when men are prepared,” Selina said suggestively.
He arched an eyebrow. “Prepared to serve wine properly?”
“Boy Scouts have a stellar reputation for a reason,” she demurred.
He laughed, unable to temper the reaction. She sucked in a breath. “What’s so funny about that?”
“You’d be bored with the Boy Scout–type in about thirty seconds flat.”
She folded her arms under her breasts, boosting them a little. He kept his eyes locked with hers, refusing to take the bait. She pouted. “Fine. You might be right.” Sauntering closer, she dragged a finger across his shoulders. “Rugged and rough is much more to my liking.”
Today, maybe. Selina wasn’t the type that stayed content. Hell, she’d had it all with Payne and seemingly tossed it aside to chase younger men. Of course, she’d landed on her feet. Ignoring her attempts to distract him or bait him into something physical, he focused on the fixtures.
“I need to let Asher know I’ll be here awhile.” Looked like his search for confirmation of Isaiah’s story would be pushed back another day.
“You do that,” she said. “We can make a day of it.”
“Sure.” It would be a day of crawling around, squeezing under counters and twisting himself into tight spaces while Selina eyed him like a prize.
She drifted away on a cloud of expensive perfume and he shut off the water at the valve that served her outdoor entertaining space. At the breaker box, he cut the power to the outdoor appliances, just to be safe.
Normally, he had no opinion about how Selina lived. Her choices weren’t his concern. But today it bothered him. She had so much luxurious space, all of it protected by a security system, big fences and a crowd of people who helped her even when they didn’t enjoy the task. Mia, on the other hand, was barely making do with her son in a basic cabin. From his perspective, he was sure both women were lonely with their circumstances, but Selina struck him as sad underneath all of that. Mia was afraid of the threats, overwhelmed and uncertain, but somehow she gave off a ray of hope.
He shook off the weird thoughts. The talk-show shrink routine only proved he needed real sleep in his bed rather than the truck. And it wouldn’t hurt to have something else to think about besides the mother and baby he’d left stranded on the opposite side of the ranch.
If only he could convince Mia to move to the main house until she sorted out the problem with her stepmom. Mia would rightfully throttle him if he exposed her that way. She’d been adamant that Regina was too close to both Genevieve Colton and Selina to take that chance. He couldn’t argue it, having no real clue about the people the Colton Oil side of the family called friends.
Pushing all of that to the back of his mind, Jarvis set to work on the new plumbing fixtures. The sooner he knocked this out, the more daylight he’d have for his own agenda. To his surprise, Selina didn’t hover over him. She took a couple of business calls from a lounger on the other side of the outdoor kitchen. Around noon she even offered to pick up lunch for both of them. He took her up on that since he’d missed breakfast.
But when she wanted him to linger over the food with her at the shaded table, he politely declined. Even though Asher would want him to chat her up, he was too tired and achy to guide the conversation without being obvious.
“Are you thinking you’re too good for me, Jarvis?”
“Hardly,” he said with a sincere smile this time. “We shouldn’t leave your wine suffering at the wrong temperature.”
He didn’t have to like Selina to respect her talent for negotiation. Though the Coltons openly wished she’d leave the ranch and Colton Oil, she stuck hard and kept her head high despite her mistakes. Whether that was some unsavory blackmail or just her nature didn’t make much difference to him. It took tenacity to pull off the life she’d carved out for herself.
“No, we wouldn’t want the wine to suffer.” This time when she chuckled, the sound seemed more genuine than calculating. Walking over to the brand-new faucet, she stroked the spigot with great affection. And just like that, Selina the seductress was back. “The oil-rubbed bronze is perfect,” she mused, peering at him from under her lashes. “I should’ve gone with it from the beginning.”
He wasn’t about to fall into her games. “It fits the vibe you’ve got out here,” he said, keeping his tone neutral.
She pursed her lips, as if deciding how best to come at him next, when her cell phone rang. Checking the screen, she gave him a flirty wave of her fingers and walked toward the house.
“Regina!” she gushed. “I was just thinking of you. Tell me everything new.”
It was logical that Selina might know more than one Regina, but Jarvis didn’t believe in coincidence. Did Selina suspect Mia was hiding on the ranch somewhere? Did Regina?
Mia’s warning came back to him, complete with an icy trickle of dread down his spine. Selina and Regina were too alike not to be friends, or at least well-connected enemies. A moment ago, Jarvis had wanted to get out of Selina’s reach as fast as possible; now he needed to drag things out just in case this conversation could be of help to Mia.
He turned the water on again and tested the seals and flow on each fixture. Taking far more time than the task required, he racked his brain for an excuse to get into the house and closer to Selina’s office.
Gathering up trash and old fixtures, he caught a break to hear that she’d stopped in the kitchen. “What’s the occasion?” Selina paused, listening. “Aren’t you thoughtful? Norton will love that.”
The comment dashed any hope that Selina wasn’t speaking with Mia’s stepmother. “Why isn’t Mia helping? I know the baby is still so new—”
Selina went quiet. Regina must have interrupted.
“Well, I suppose the silver lining is you won’t have to see her flaunting all that baby weight as if it’s a badge of honor. That’s just the worst.” She added, “As if I’m in the wrong because I chose to take care of my body. After all those years modeling, I expected her to have more pride than that.” Regina’s reply brought out Selina’s catty laughter.
Jarvis had a sister and, though his aunt and mother had died, he was aware of how some women could act toward one another. Mia’s fuller figure was beautiful and real, whether or not she was still carrying baby weight. He bristled with an inexplicable urge to defend Mia. And if he did, she’d be in more trouble.
“Do you think her ex wrote that in to the prenup?” Selina queried under her breath. “What? He never wanted kids? So all those rumors about his brilliance are true,” she muttered. “There’s a man with my kind of priorities.”
Grinding his teeth, he continued with his work. Two by two, he carried wine from the outside cooler into the kitchen, avoiding eye contact with Selina. She didn’t seem the least bit perturbed that he could hear her end of the call. At least this uncomfortable scene would help him reassure Mia that her stepmother wasn’t onto her current location.
When the wine was out of the way, he disconnected the old cool
er and pulled it out of the space. While he was unboxing the new appliance, he heard Selina return, her call apparently over.
“Jarvis?”
He didn’t turn around, his hands full as he carefully lifted the wine cooler out of the protective packaging. “Selina?” he mimicked her tone.
“Turns out I need a bit more help. From you.”
“How’s that?”
“My friend has an important gathering coming up. Important to her, anyway. I could use a date with a handsome cowboy. How about you?”
He pretended to read the installation manual. “Cowgirls are more my type,” he replied.
With an amused giggle, she came around to help with the clingy packaging on the wine cooler. “What about this cowgirl? I need a date hot enough to make Regina Graves weep with envy.”
He didn’t think a woman who could threaten a baby could cry real tears. “That’s quite a compliment,” he said. “Who is Regina Graves?”
“Just another second wife, though she’s still married to her musty old wallet,” Selina said.
“You mean old man?”
“Semantics. I mean she’s still earning her keep. It’s a lot of work making a man believe you’re in love with him. She’s stuck and I’m free to date without any worries.”
Jarvis barely kept his opinion locked down. “As long as your date makes her jealous.”
“Especially on this occasion. Come on, Jarvis. You’re a man.” She licked her lips. “You don’t need to understand the female mind in this instance. This can’t be the first time someone asked you out because of that jawline or those shoulders. Not to mention...” Her gaze ventured south. She didn’t need to finish the sentence.
“You don’t think your friend is happy in the marriage?”
“How would I know? I don’t even care.” But the expression on her face said she knew all too well that love and devotion weren’t Regina’s motives for staying married. “What is wrong with you today? Have you met someone?”