At the Tycoon's Command (6 page)

Jared continued through the kitchen into the large utility room. He opened a door that led downstairs. “I'll be right back with a bottle of wine.” A hint of a mischievous grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Lurch's food is in the cupboard, and his food and water dishes are on the floor over there in the corner.” He disappeared down the stairs before she could say anything.

Kim stood motionless as she thought about her options. Just when she was prepared to do battle with him over her dog-feeding assignment he had done an about-face in his attitude and stepped in front of her, blocking Terry's verbal attack…both figuratively and literally. She was still a little flustered about Jared's confrontation with Terry and confused by the way he seemed to have protected her. There was also the sharp edge to his voice when he made it clear
to her that Terry was his half brother. It was the last thing she ever would have anticipated, especially from a member of the Stevens family.

A warm feeling settled inside her as she replayed his words in her mind. He hadn't embarrassed her by saying she was working off her father's debt, he had simply told Terry that her presence was none of his business.

Uncertainty darted through her. Jared Stevens had a very disconcerting affect on her, one that left her apprehensive about his motives and at the same time excited every time he came near her. Just the sound of his voice sent excitement coursing through her. She stared at the door where he had disappeared as she tried to figure out what to do.

She could ignore what he had said about feeding the dog, but to do that seemed rather petty. A three-generations-old family feud was certainly not the dog's fault. She emitted a little sigh of resignation. She would try to sort it out after she got home. But for now… She opened the cupboard he had indicated, took out the bag of dry food and set it on the counter. When she stooped to pick up the dog bowls she caught sight of something so ludicrous it took her completely by surprise.

There, in the middle of the back door, was the largest doggy door she had ever seen. It was big enough for a good-size man to crawl through, allowing any stranger access to the house. The absurdity of it tickled her to the point where she couldn't restrain her laughter.

Jared reached the top of the stairs, bottle of wine in hand, as her laughter reached his ears. The sound surprised him and at the same time captivated his senses. It was the same laugh he had heard earlier that day but had not witnessed—a disarming laugh that sent little ripples of excitement through him. A moment later he saw that her smile was equally enchanting. A tightness pulled across his chest, and
his pulse raced a little quicker, the same physical reaction that assailed his senses every time he was close to her.

He wasn't sure why he had insisted she stay and have dinner with him. It was the same type of impetuous decision that had led him to make her the offer of working off her father's debt. Something about her made him want to keep her close. Was it a mistake? Would he eventually regret it? Probably, but that was an intellectual concern, and he seemed to be acting on pure emotion, first his libido and then something he couldn't identify, something that told him he liked having her around and wanted to get to know her better.

He entered the utility room. “What's so funny?”

She spun around, her eyes momentarily wide with surprise and her cheeks showing the crimson blush of embarrassment. “You startled me. I didn't hear you come back.”

He offered her a sincere smile, one that held neither deceit nor subterfuge. “With all that laughter going on I think a truck could have rattled through here without you hearing it.”

“It's, uh…” She suppressed another giggle as she gestured toward the dog door. “It doesn't matter what kind of a security system you have for your house, that dog door is large enough for any burglar to fit through.”

He chuckled as he shook his head in amusement. “Well…I sort of assumed that anyone thinking about breaking in would decide an animal requiring that big an entrance was one they wouldn't want to encounter.”

She offered a shy smile. “I suppose that makes sense.”

“Besides—” in an involuntary action he reached out with his free hand and lightly touched her cheek and hair “—the security system covers the other doors from the utility room to the kitchen and the one leading downstairs….”

His voice trailed off as he set the bottle of wine on the counter next to the bag of dog food. He knew he was treading on dangerous ground, but at that moment he didn't care. He also knew he had no business instigating anything of a personal nature with her, especially under the circumstances, but his desires overpowered the thin thread of common sense that still clung to him.

He ran his fingers across her cheek and down her arm, then grasped her hand in his. The words slipped out on their own without him consciously wanting to say them. “You have a very nice smile. You should smile more often.”

Still clutching her hand in his, he pulled her body closer in much the same way as when he had helped her up from the floor that morning. Only this time he didn't stop. He leaned forward, brushed his lips against hers, then captured her mouth with a soft kiss. He tasted the earthiness of a sensuality that nearly knocked his socks off. He felt her hesitate for a moment as if she was uncertain what to do, then she turned her face away and broke off the kiss.

Her voice contained a combination of shock, embarrassment and anger. “What do you think you're doing?”

He didn't move away, his face still within inches of hers. “I was indulging an impulse.”

Kim glanced nervously around the utility room. Her body was sandwiched between Jared and the counter so she couldn't back away from him. In spite of the excitement coursing through her body, she tried to sound authoritative, in control and businesslike.

“You may feel free to indulge your impulses with the many women you date, but I'm not one of them. This is strictly a business arrangement, and I'd appreciate it if in the future you would refrain—”

Lurch charged through the dog door, slid across the
smooth tile floor and bumped into Jared, knocking him off balance. Jared fell against Kim. In an awkward moment, each instinctively grabbed for the other in an attempt to remain upright and regain their balance, but they ended up in a tangle of arms and legs on the utility room floor with his body partially covering hers. Jared's face was again very close to Kim's. He made no effort to release her or stand up.

“Are you all right?” He didn't like the huskiness that surrounded his words, a verbal indication of what was going on inside him and much more than he wanted to reveal. He wanted to kiss her again, to experience her taste. His desires told him he would be happy to spend the evening right there on the floor with her, their bodies pressed together. His logic, however, told him it was a bad idea, a situation he should put a stop to immediately regardless of how much she stimulated his passions.

He skimmed his fingertips across her cheek and tucked an errant lock of hair behind her ear. “Lurch didn't hurt you, did he?”

“I'm…no, he didn't hurt me.” A sensual wave swept through her. She felt the rise and fall of his chest as his body pressed against hers, matching her increasingly labored breathing. Her skin tingled where his fingers touched it. Everything about this was as wrong as it could be. It was bad enough when he had tried to kiss her and she had almost allowed it. Now they were on the floor with his body on top of hers, and neither of them was making any effort to put a stop to it.

She should have refused his dinner invitation. She should have slapped his face when he tried to kiss her. She should be pushing him away from her so she could get up. So why hadn't she done any of those things? It was a question she
didn't want to think about. The conclusion could say more than she wanted to know.

Kim forced herself to take action. She pushed against Jared, marveling at his hard muscled shoulders and at the same time wanting to break the physical contact. “Let me up.”

Jared reluctantly got to his feet. As soon as he stood, Lurch started licking Kim's face. He grabbed the dog's collar. “Lurch…shame on you.” He sent the dog across the room, then reached out his hand to Kim. It was probably just as well the moment was brought to a halt, but he couldn't stop the thoughts about where things might have gone if Lurch hadn't come charging into the room.

“This is the second time today I've had to help you up from the floor.” He fought the wry smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. “You're going to have to learn to keep your feet under you.”

Kim ignored his offer of assistance and scrambled to her feet. The kiss had her far more rattled than being knocked to the floor in another encounter with Lurch. And what had her even more unnerved was the knowledge that she wanted to be a willing participant in that kiss. She quickly ran her fingers through her mussed hair as she tried to regain her composure.

She put forth a businesslike attitude, desperate to move away from the very personal and intimate moment they had just shared. “Yes, and both times it was because your dog knocked me down.”

Jared glanced toward Lurch, then returned his attention to Kim. His voice teased and his eyes sparkled with humor. “As I said this morning…I think he likes you.”

She tried to ignore Jared and pretend the previous few minutes had not existed. In the hope of covering her embarrassment and stilling the excitement that continued to
ripple through her, she grabbed the bag of dog food from the counter and poured some into Lurch's dish. Next, she took the nearly empty water dish to the utility sink and filled it. And all the while she felt his gaze on her, which only compounded the desire surging through her body—unwanted desire.
What in the world will the next three months be like if I'm having this much difficulty getting through the first day?
It was a question that left her very uneasy.

After placing the water bowl next to the dog's food dish, Kim took a deep breath, held it a moment, then slowly expelled it in an attempt to steady her shaken nerves. She turned toward Jared. A quick jolt of anger, combined with a hint of embarrassment, shot through her consciousness. He looked so calm and composed, as if kissing her had been nothing more than business as usual and hadn't meant anything to him beyond saying hello.

Her anger and embarrassment merged into a feeling of resentment at the way he had tried to use her and guilt over the way she had allowed the kiss to happen. She wasn't sure what to say to him, or what to do.

The one thing Kim was sure about was her need to get out of his house and away from the mesmerizing sex appeal of Jared Stevens. She adopted a formal, businesslike attitude as she straightened her clothes. “I've fed the dog. I assume that concludes my chores for the day.”

He seemed genuinely surprised by her statement. “But what about dinner?”

“I have a previous commitment.” With that, Kim turned and walked away from Jared.

Jared started after her. “Wait a minute—” He caught up with her in the entryway by the front door. “What commitment?”

She clenched her jaw in anger. “My personal life is none
of your business. The only thing that's your business is our agreement for me to work off my father's debt, and I'm beginning to regret having said yes to it.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “There must be some other way to handle the financial obligation.”

He flashed a knowing smile, one that said he had the upper hand. “Yes…I'm sure there is.”

He brought his mouth down on hers again. It was a kiss that started soft but quickly escalated. Once again he sensed her hesitation, but a moment later, much to his surprise and pleasure, she returned his kiss.

This wasn't what he had anticipated, wasn't what he had in mind when he suggested they have dinner. At least he didn't think it was what he had in mind. But as soon as she responded positively all his thoughts stopped…all except the one that told him he was in real trouble. Whatever was going on inside him, whatever it was that had pushed him to do something he knew he shouldn't was more than physical desire and lust. He chose to ignore the disturbing thoughts about what it could be.

Kim knew she should not be kissing him, should not be standing there giving him her cooperation rather than her indignation. There was no doubt in her mind she would live to regret her actions, but it was something she was going to have to worry about at some other time. Right now his kiss was all she wanted to know about. She thought she had experienced toe-tingling kisses before, but they were nothing compared to the sensuality of Jared Stevens. She would deal with self-recriminations and guilt later.

She started to slip her arms around his neck but caught herself in time. His embrace tightened, sending a tremor of anxiety through her body. This was wrong, very wrong. She had to break it off immediately and make sure he understood that under no circumstances would it happen again.

She summoned all the self-control she could muster and finally managed to step away from him while fighting to bring her breathing under control. The heated flush of excitement spread across her cheeks. Her embarrassment prevented her from looking at him. She reached for the door, then quickly ran out of the house.

“Wait!” Jared's voice reached her but she refused to respond to his shout. All she wanted was to get away from the intoxication of his mesmerizing presence.

J
ared stood at the door and watched as Kim's car moved down the long driveway. Confusion and mixed feelings swirled around inside him. He wanted to go after her but knew it would be a mistake, just as his actions had been a mistake. It was the first day of their work agreement. He had expected a lot more objection from her about the tasks he had given her, but to his surprise she hadn't made too many protests.

Things had gone smoothly…right up until he had insisted she stay and have dinner with him. Even Terry's interruption had not put a damper on what he had hoped would be a pleasant evening. He wanted to know his adversary a little better, not as man and woman, not as opposite sides of a feud, but rather as one person to another. He wanted to know about her understanding of the generations-old family feud. What was her side of the numerous incidents over the years that had fueled the conflict? Why
did she think their families had continued to do business together in spite of the hard feelings raging around them?

The only things he really knew about the Donaldsons were his father's ongoing battles with Paul Donaldson and Terry's comments about Kim. The opinions of his half brother and his father were not important to him.

He closed and locked the front door of the house, retreated to the kitchen, opened the bottle of wine he had brought from the cellar, then popped a frozen dinner into the microwave. He stared at the large Saint Bernard who sat next to him as if waiting for something to happen.

“Well, Lurch, what do you think of Kim? I think she likes you. She must—” he chuckled softly at the memory of Lurch knocking her to the floor on their first meeting “—otherwise she probably would have told me to
get that damn dog
off her.” He bent on one knee and lovingly stroked the dog's head and scratched behind its ears. “So, what do you say? Do you think the two of you can be friends? That means you have to stop knocking her to the floor.”

Lurch cocked his head as if considering Jared's words, then let out a loud bark and wagged his tail.

Jared stood. “I'll take that as a yes.” He poured himself a glass of wine, stared at the microwave and watched the timer count down the seconds until his dinner was done. As soon as it was ready, he took his meal from the oven and carried it and his glass of wine to the den. It would be another evening spent at home in front of the television.

A quiet laugh, half amusement and half irony, escaped his throat. It was not exactly the high-living lifestyle of a womanizing playboy. He allowed a little scowl to wrinkle across his forehead. Tomorrow was a very busy day, and he had to add Terry's latest fiasco to his workload. He clenched his jaw in anger. This time his irresponsible half
brother was not going to get away with using the corporate offices to secure his personal toys. If Terry wanted a new sailboat, he could find the money to pay for it himself.

Jared's thoughts turned to Kim, to the heated moment when she had briefly responded to his kiss. It certainly hadn't been his common sense that had been in charge when he'd kissed her. Not only had it been a totally inappropriate action, considering the circumstances, it had been just plain stupid on his part. He couldn't deny the attraction but was unable to understand it.

Perhaps it had been a bad idea to coerce her into working off her father's debt. A twinge of guilt poked at him—especially in light of his subsequent suspicions about the validity of that debt. Paul Donaldson had signed a promissory note and a contract. It was legitimate, but there was still something about the transaction that didn't sit right with him. Knowing his father's penchant for underhanded dealings, and with the feud raging between the two men, the more he thought about it the more he believed there was something wrong with the deal. He didn't have any evidence, but the possibility disturbed him.

What would happen if Kim discovered irregularities among her father's papers? Would she think he had a hand in it? It was too late to terminate the letter of agreement and consider the matter closed. She would understandably want to know why he had suddenly changed his mind after being so insistent about payment. Leave the deal intact or terminate it? It seemed that either way could produce unwanted results.

Troublesome and conflicting thoughts continued to circulate through his mind for the rest of the evening, occupying his attention until he finally went to bed.

 

Kim spent a very unsettled evening and a restless night. Sleep had been intermittent, and she finally got out of bed
at five-thirty. Work began at eight-thirty. She stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. She hoped she could cover the dark circles under her eyes with some makeup.

Confusion ran rampant as she thought back to the previous evening at Jared's house. How could she have allowed him to kiss her like that? And worse yet, she had gone so far as to respond to that kiss and had come within a fraction of a second of putting her arms around his neck. It was so unlike her. She was not into casual relationships, indulging an impulse, as Jared had said. She was not impulsive, either.

An unexpected chuckle caught her by surprise when she recalled the way she had torn up the letter and thrown it at Jared's lawyer. Perhaps she was occasionally impulsive, but not in her personal relationships with men. She had learned that lesson when she had impulsively become engaged to what turned out to be the wrong man.

So what if Jared's kiss curled her toes and took her breath away? There was no denying it was a good kiss.
A good kiss. Who do you think you're kidding? It was a
great
kiss.
A quick surge of irritation set a frown across her forehead.
He's had a lot of practice. He should have it down to perfection by now.
But that didn't excuse her actions or ease her guilt.
Honestly, Kim, how did you get yourself in this mess? And how are you going to get yourself out of it?

As much as Jared excited her, the idea of continued contact with him over the summer frightened her. Where it could lead scared her even more. Several times during the night she had allowed a fleeting thought of what it would be like to have Jared make love to her, a thought that embarrassed her and disturbed her.

She had turned the problem over in her mind for most
of the night and had not come up with anything that resembled an acceptable plan of action. Everything came back to that letter of agreement she had foolishly insisted on, the one that said she would work for Jared to satisfy her father's debt. If she refused to show up for work he could file that lawsuit against her father's estate, and she couldn't afford to have that happen. She felt truly trapped between what she had to do and her fears about where her attraction to Jared Stevens could lead.

She checked the time, grabbed a quick shower, forced down some breakfast and dressed for work. Promptly at eight-thirty she drove onto the grounds of the estate and entered the office complex.

To her surprise, Jared was at his desk with papers and file folders spread across the surface. She watched him for a few minutes. He seemed totally absorbed in work and not aware of her arrival. She thought of the previous day. Each time she had been in the office he seemed to be hard at work. Maybe she had been a little hasty in her assumption that he was nothing more than a figurehead who left all the work to others. The memos he had her type showed decisions coming from him rather than him asking for other people's advice about what to do. Of course, they didn't involve any serious business decisions, but still…

The ringing phone interrupted her thoughts. She turned toward the desk in the reception area, intending to answer it, but Jared grabbed it before she could get there.

“Stevens.” After a brief pause, Jared's voice turned angry. “I'm not going to discuss this with you on the phone. We have an appointment for ten o'clock. We'll discuss it then.” He slammed down the receiver, then sat staring at the phone for several long moments before shoving back from the desk. He grabbed the carafe from his credenza and poured coffee into his empty cup, but only a couple of
swallows came out. Obvious irritation covered his face as he turned toward the open French doors in his office.

“Fred, are you out there?”

Fred Kemper stepped into the office from the patio, a watering can in his hand. “You need somethin'?”

“Are you busy? I seem to be out of coffee. Could you…”

Fred emitted a soft chuckle. “Sure. I'll fix up a new pot.” He cocked his head, glanced at his watch and stared at Jared for a moment. “It ain't even nine o'clock yet and you've already gone through that much coffee? You must have a passel of problems on your mind this mornin'.”

“I do. In addition to the labor situation at the Oakland plant, contract negotiations on the purchase of a small fabricating shop, a collection problem with a client who looks like he's on the verge of bankruptcy and some shoddy merchandise from a new vendor we were trying out, I have one of our biggest clients pushing me to host some kind of a fund-raiser for his wife's favorite charity.”

“Don't you have other folks who are supposed to be takin' care of some of that for you?”

A sheepish grin caught the corners of Jared's mouth. “Yeah, I do…but sometimes I have trouble divorcing myself from the day-to-day and delegating to the proper department heads. It's something I really need to work on. Maybe I should just take off one of these days and go sailing…clear out my head and totally relax.”

Jared heaved an audible sigh. “And as if all that isn't enough, I have to confront Terry in a little over an hour about his latest caper.”

Kim saw a hint of fatigue on Jared's face as he recited the list of problems he'd been wrestling with. As much as she hated to admit it, she felt a rising admiration for his
management abilities and his willingness to accept responsibility.

Jared handed the empty carafe to Fred, then turned toward his desk. Kim saw a look of surprise dart across his face when he spotted her standing in the doorway.

He offered a tentative smile. “I didn't hear you come in. Have you been standing there long?”

“No, I just arrived.”

Jared motioned toward the open French door. “Fred will have some coffee here soon.” He glanced at the nearly empty cup in his hand, then looked at her with a guilty grin. “Apparently I drank the entire pot I made a couple of hours ago.”

Kim glanced at her watch. “It's only eight forty-five. How long have you been at your desk?”

“Since about six-thirty. I have a lot of things to do today and needed to get an early start.”

Jared had not made any mention of what happened between them the previous night. Had that type of behavior been so routine for him that he didn't give it a second thought? Kim wasn't sure what to say or how to act. An involuntary reaction to the memory of his kiss caused her fingers to go to her lips. She could still feel the heat of his passion, which only went to inflame the memory. Tension churned in the pit of her stomach.

She nervously ran her fingers through her hair and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Well, if you'll give me my list of chores for the day—” she inwardly cringed when she heard the negative edge she had put on the word
chores,
something she hadn't intended to do even though she still felt a certain level of resentment about the menial tasks. “Uh, I mean if you'll tell me what you want me to do, then I can get out of your way so you can go back to work.”

Jared immediately caught her uneasiness and the edge in her voice. He had been so busy all morning he hadn't had time to think about the previous evening…or perhaps it was that he didn't want to think about it. He had managed to do away with the awkward feeling until he turned and saw her framed in the doorway.

Myriad emotions, thoughts and feelings circulated through his consciousness. He regretted making the advances toward her, but at the same time he was not sorry he had kissed her. Her taste, the sensation of having her in his embrace…they had left an indelible impression on him. And he didn't know what to do about it.

“Uh, sure.” He turned toward his desk and picked up a list he had made first thing that morning. The tension shoved down on him. Perhaps not mentioning the incident would be the best way to proceed. He held out the list to her.

She took it from him and glanced over the items. “Well, another day of mostly menial tasks and errands.” The words had escaped without her meaning them to. She regretted having said them but could not deny her displeasure. She caught the quick look of amusement that darted across his face—as if he was taunting her with lowly errands. Was that his game? His purpose in having her work? She glared at him, which he seemed not to notice.

Jared gestured toward the list. “First thing is a trip to the vet for Lurch. It's time for his annual rabies shot and new tags—”

As if on cue, when his name was mentioned, Lurch came charging in through the French door and headed straight for Kim.

This time she was prepared. She braced herself against the desk and waited for the inevitable, but it didn't happen. Instead of jumping up and putting his paws on her shoul
ders, Lurch settled his body next to her and leaned his one hundred eighty pounds against her leg while he enthusiastically wagged his tail.

Kim reached down and stroked the dog's head. It was a relief to have the tension broken. “Come on, Lurch. I guess we're off to the vet's office.”

She took the dog for his shots and an hour later returned to the office complex with Lurch. She turned the Saint Bernard loose in the backyard using the gate at the side of the garage, then went around the building and entered the reception area rather than cutting through Jared's office. She poured herself a cup of coffee, settled in behind the desk, then looked at the next item on her list. She was halfway through typing a memo when a familiar voice cut into her concentration and interrupted her work.