Chapter Five #2
Both eyebrows went up over a cynical smile. “That’s a pitiful excuse in this day and age.”
“Why?” she asked, her clear grey eyes staring up into his with no thought of subterfuge. “The whole reason for the women’s movement is so that women can have the freedom to do as they please. I’m not promiscuous. Why should I need an excuse?”
He blinked. She made his question sound unreasonable. “I thought sexual liberation was the soul of the movement,” he drawled.
“Being chaste is sexual liberation, in my book,” she replied. “You’d be amazed how many women in my graduating class practiced abstinence.”
“In high school, I gather,” he said absently, tracing the length of her hair with his hands.
She almost corrected him, but then, she really mustn’t destroy the illusions he had about her as a domestic. “Yes. In high school.”
He moved closer to her, his lean body a sensual provocation that made her breath catch. He laughed softly. “Care to test the hypothesis?” he murmured softly.
“I work for you,” she repeated, playing for time.
“So?”
“So it’s not wise to mix business…”
“…with pleasure?” He caught her waist and drew her close. “It’s been a while since I found a woman so desirable,” he whispered, bending to her mouth. “Experience bores me. You,” he bit off against her soft lips, “are a challenge.”
“Thank you, but I don’t want to be,” she whispered, trying to pull away.
He lifted his head and searched her eyes. “No curiosity about the great unknown?” he taunted.
“No desire to treat it as a sophisticated game,” she corrected abruptly.
He hesitated, but only for an instant. His lean hands contracted and then released her. He went back to his chair and sat down. “Touché,” he said with a curious glance. “All right, Meredith, I’ll sit here and eat my sandwiches and we’ll pretend that we’re still strangers physically.”
“Good idea,” she approved. She reached down for her half-empty coffee cup and put it in the sink.
He was halfway through a sandwich when she excused herself and went to fluff up the pillows in the living room and put magazines and books back in their places.
Leo had left things strewn about before he’d gone to the Brewsters’.
She was glad, because it gave her a valid reason not to sit next to Rey with her emotions in turmoil.
By the time she’d gone back to the kitchen, Rey had finished his sandwiches and coffee and was coming out the door.
“You’re safe,” he drawled. “I’m going to change and get to work in the study. Where’s Leo?”
“Having supper at the Brewsters’ house,” she told him. “He said he’d be early.”
“That means he’ll be late,” he mused. “Janie Brewster will have found twenty excuses to keep him talking to her father. She’s one determined young lady, but Leo’s equally determined. He doesn’t want ties.”
“Doesn’t that sound familiar?” she murmured wickedly.
His eyes slid up and down her body in a silence that teemed with tension. “I never said I didn’t want ties,” he corrected. “I said I didn’t want marriage. There’s a difference.”
“Don’t look at me,” she said carelessly. “I don’t have time for relationships.”
“Of course. All that cleaning must demand a lot of you,” he said deliberately.
She flushed. He had no idea what her life was like on a daily basis, and she wanted very badly to tell him. But he was so almighty arrogant and condescending that he put her back up. She wasn’t going to tell him a thing. He’d find out soon enough.
She put her hands on her hips and stared at him.
“And what’s wrong with being a housekeeper?
” she demanded, going on the offensive. “Where would you and your brother be right now if there weren’t women you could hire to bake and clean for you?
I guess you’d have to get married then, or learn to cook, wouldn’t you? ”
He glared at her. “I could cook if I wanted to.”
“You’re the sort of man who makes a woman wish she didn’t have a culinary skill to her name,” she said icily. “You are so ‘lord of the manor-ish,’ Mr. Hart!”
“It isn’t a manor,” he pointed out. “They have those in England. We call this a ranch.”
She glared at him.
He grinned. “You really do rise to the bait beautifully,” he murmured, and something flashed in his dark eyes. “The sandwiches were good,” he added.
She looked surprised. “Nothing but ham and a homemade sauce,” she faltered.
“You do that a lot with food,” he remarked gently. “I like the way you experiment with dishes. I even like the way you garnish the plates. You make things look appetizing.”
She didn’t realize that he’d even noticed. “I learned that from a dietician,” she said without thinking. “If food is decorative, sometimes it makes up for bulk.”
He smiled quizzically. “You can’t decorate biscuits,” he teased. “But you make really good ones.”
“Thanks.” She smiled back. “I’ll tidy up the kitchen if you’re through.”
“I am. Don’t stay up too late,” he added and his eyes were suddenly bright with mischief. “You need plenty of rest so that you can make biscuits for breakfast!”
“Okay. I’ll get an early night.” She laughed and went on past him to the kitchen.
He stared after her for several long seconds with an expression that he was glad she didn’t see. He liked the taste of her. That hadn’t been wise, kissing her that way. He was going to have to make sure it didn’t happen again. He didn’t need complications.
* * *
Nothing was the same between Meredith and Rey after that day.
They were aware of each other. It wasn’t blatant, but she could feel tingling in her spine when Rey was in a room.
It was instinctive. Her eyes followed him like puppies, and she flushed wildly when he caught her at it and gave her that amused, worldly glance.
Leo noticed, too, and it worried him that Rey was encouraging Meredith. He knew Rey too well to think he’d had a change of heart toward his bachelor status.
“You’re leading her on,” Leo accused his brother one evening when they were alone in the study with the door closed. “Why?”
Rey gave him a surprised glance. “You make it sound like a crime to flirt with her.”
“In your case, it is,” his brother said flatly. “You’re a rounder. She isn’t.”
Rey shrugged. “She’s not exactly off-limits,” he told his brother. “Not at her age.”
“And what do you have in mind? Seduction?” Leo persisted irritably. “She’s already been damaged enough by what happened with her father. The bruises are barely healed, and the mental scars are still there. Don’t play games with her.”
“Aren’t you self-righteous all of a sudden?
” Rey shot back angrily. “You’ve been stringing Janie Brewster along for weeks, and we both know you don’t have any intention in hell of getting serious about her.
All you want is first chance at that damned seed bull they’re thinking of selling! Does she know?” he added maliciously.
Leo’s eyes began to glitter. “Janie is a child,” he said furiously. “I pick at her, and not because of any damned bull. I’m certainly not hell-bent on seduction!”
“She’s not a child,” Rey countered. “You’re leading her down a blind alley, when you know full well she’s in love with you.”
Leo looked shocked. “She’s not in love with me! Maybe she’s got a crush. That’s all!”
“You don’t see the way she looks at you, do you?” Rey replied solemnly.
Leo cleared his throat. “We’re talking about Meredith,” he said firmly.
Rey’s eyes narrowed. “Meredith is an adult.”
“And she works for us,” Leo went on relentlessly. “I’m not going to stand by and let you make an amusement of her.”
“Jealous?” his brother taunted.
Leo was very still. “Is that the draw?” he asked softly. “Are we competing for a woman again?”
Rey’s eyes flashed. “I would never have known about Carlie if you hadn’t started propositioning her in front of me. Do you think I can forget that?”
“I keep hoping you will someday. She would have taken you for the ride of your life,” Leo said quietly. “You’re my brother. I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.”
Rey turned away with a muttered curse. Leo was right; he had saved him from even worse heartache, but the memory was still raw enough to hurt.
“Don’t try to take it out on Meredith,” Leo told him firmly. “She’s had enough tragedy. Let her do her job.”
Rey glanced at him over his shoulder. “I would, if she’d remember why she’s here,” he said venomously. “It’s not my fault that every time I turn around, she’s drooling over me! A saint could be tempted by a woman whose eyes worship him like that. I’m only human!”
“Don’t raise your voice,” Leo cautioned.
“Why? Do you think she’s standing outside the door eavesdropping?” Rey drawled sarcastically. “What if she did hear me? It’s the truth. She wants me. A blind man could see it.”
“That’s no reason to take advantage of her. She’s not like your usual women.”
“No, she’s not. She has no ambition, no intellect. Besides that, she’s so inexperienced, it’s unreal. I never thought kissing a woman could be boring, until she came along,” Rey added coldly, trying not to let Leo see how attracted he was to their housekeeper. “She’s so naive, it’s nauseating.”
Outside the door, Meredith stood poised like a statue with a cup of coffee in a saucer shaking in her hands.
She’d come to offer it to Rey, and overheard words that had never been meant for her ears.
She fought tears as she turned around and went quickly and silently back down the hall to the kitchen.
Hearts couldn’t really break, she told herself firmly, as she dabbed at the tears with a paper towel. She was just feeling the aftereffects of her devastating experience at home. It wasn’t as if she was really drooling over Rey Hart.
She felt like sinking through the floor when she realized that she did spend an inordinate amount of time staring at him. He was handsome, sensuous, attractive. She liked looking at him. And maybe she was infatuated, a little. That didn’t give him the right to say such horrible things about her.