Reckless Heart (15 page)

“I can dress the way I want.”

She shook off his hold on her arm and turned to the house, her head held high. The man had a screw loose, there was no other explanation. She wasn't flirting, wasn't doing anything she shouldn't.

She could be packed and gone within the hour. She refused to consider where she would go so late on a Sunday night. He still owed her a week's pay, that would be enough to get a motel room somewhere. First thing tomorrow, she’d have to find another job.

She pulled her empty suitcases from beneath her bed and began to load her clothes in them.

“What are you doing?” Josh stood in the open door. She hadn’t heard him follow her.

She glanced over, resumed unloading the dresser drawer. “It should be obvious, I’m packing.”

She threw another stack of shirts in.

“You know, Josh, you never did finish telling me why the other housekeepers left. Did you drive them away too? Were they talking with cowboys and you accused them of flirting? Do you even know what flirting is?”

“I do know and you look as provocative as hell standing around a group of horny men,” he roared.

Her eyes widened and she stared at him in astonishment. He found her provocative? In a denim skirt and cotton shirt?

“Are you crazy?” she whispered, stunned at the thought.

“Maybe.” He took a step into her room, his eyes never moving from hers. “It’s bad enough during the week when you wear those snug jeans that display every inch of your rounded bottom and long legs. Do you know how many times I’ve wanted to reach out and touch you, jeans and all? Now you have a short skirt that shows almost every inch of those long legs of yours. Your skin looks as soft as rose petals. Do you have any idea how much I want to touch you?”

She noticed his hands were clenched into fists. To keep from reaching out to her? She caught her breath, her heart slamming against her ribs. Her skin tingled all over. She opened her mouth, but he spoke before she could say a word.

“What would the bare skin of your arms feel like wrapped around my neck? You’ve hugged me before, but always wearing shirts with sleeves. And that neckline is too low. I can see the beginning swells of your breasts, the hint of a shadow between them.”

His eyes locked with hers and Molly saw the burning heat.

She swallowed hard, trying to escape his gaze, unable to move a muscle.

“And the top is too loose. Remember how I held you yesterday beneath the cottonwoods? I remember every inch of your delectable body, and I could so easily slip my hands up beneath that top and trace every inch of you. You don't find that provocative?”

As if in a daze, Molly slowly took a step closer. Her gaze held his. Her heart raced, the blood pounding through her veins. No one had ever waxed so poetic about her before. Never.

Molly halted mere inches from him, her head tipped back to maintain eye contact. Josh groaned softly and reached for her. He pulled her against him and just held her, his head dropping to find her mouth, claim her lips with his own. Sealing them both in a world of touch and feel and exploding sensations.

Her bare arms wrapped around his neck as Molly opened her mouth and welcomed him.

His hand roamed over her back, down to cup the curve of her bottom, lifting her slightly against him, snuggling her close. Then one hand slipped beneath the loose top, tracing the long line of her spine, dipping beneath the waistband of her skirt, back up to find and unfasten her bra. Slowly, Josh eased her away enough to bring his hand around her ribs, slowly, ever so slowly, up to cup the weight of her breast.

She sighed into his mouth and pressed against him. The fiery conflagration he built threatened to overwhelm her, to sweep her away. She wanted to smile at the delight that pierced her, but she dare not release his mouth for a second. It was heaven on earth and she wanted to savor every bit of it.

When his thumb brushed across her nipple she whimpered and arched into him, seeking more attention, seeking more of him.

Josh broke the kiss to trail a string across her cheek, along her jaw, down to the pounding pulse point at the base of her throat. He brushed his thumb against her again as Molly became almost frantic. She arched her body against his as if trying to bury herself in him, whimpering in frantic demanding need.

“Shh,” Josh whispered, moving to nip her earlobe, soothe it with his tongue. “Easy, baby, easy. Slow down.” He slid his hand around to her back, rubbing her as he would gentle a fractious horse.

Molly clung to him, to keep from falling, her cheek against his, her arms tight around his neck. She clenched her eyes tightly and tried to get her breathing under control, tried to stop the roiling sensations that racked her. She knew he wanted her. He had told her more than once. Why had he stopped?

His hands were like hot brands on the bare skin of her back. She burned from the heat they generated. She hated to part from him, but nothing had changed. Perplexed, she wondered why he’d kissed her.

“Are you all right?” he asked softly.

She nodded. “But I don’t think I know what’s going on,” she said against his ear. She kissed his cheek then drew back so she could see into his eyes.

“Nothing’s going on. We're moving too fast, is all.”

He ran one hand through his hair, and moved across to the window.

Molly watched him, hoping he would say something to change things. Afraid he never would. She eyed her suitcases. Should she pack or not?

She stared at him a long time. “It’s because of Jeannie, isn’t it? You’re objecting to the way I am because of her. Something about me reminds you of her.”

He remained quiet for so long, she didn’t think he'd respond. Then he sighed and nodded. “She’s the reason I want you to stay away from the men. Especially dressed like that.”

“Jeannie dressed provocatively,” Molly guessed shrewdly.

He nodded. “That and more.”

“More?”

He nodded and lean against the sill. “I told you Jeannie wanted the money from the ranch, not the owner.”

“Yes.” She watched him warily. A hint of trepidation crept in.

“But I didn’t tell you how I found out.”

She shook her head. He gazed out over the range. Or was he looking back several years?

“I came home early one day from a cattle sale, thinking to celebrate the sale with Jeannie. She'd been staying for the week. I came upstairs and found her in bed with one of my ranch hands.”

“Oh, God.” Shocked, Molly didn’t know what to say.

“I heard them as I climbed the stairs. So I made sure I didn’t make any noise once I suspected what was going on. They'd left the door open.”

Josh fell silent for a moment. “She didn't expect me home that day.”

Molly stepped closer. She wanted to reach out and touch him, offer some kind of comfort but she didn’t know if he’d want it or not. He looked completely self-sufficient standing at the window. Matter of fact in his telling of the scenario.

“They were laughing and talking about how she would have lots of money once she married me and if they were discreet they could continue to see each other. I think she was completely floored when I appeared in the doorway and spoke.”

Molly reached out and covered one clenched fist with her own hand. She wished she could do something to ease his pain.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Yeah, I was, too.” He took a deep breath and turned to look at her. “Not only did I lose my fiancée, but one of the best hands that worked here. And made two others so upset they left, as well. I won’t put up with the same kind of disruption that caused. I have asked you and told you to stay away from the men. Do you understand why?”

She nodded. “Not only do I understand, I understand with your reasoning. Why not explain at the beginning?”

“It really wasn’t any of your business,” he said.

Molly felt as if she’d been slapped. She released her hold on his hand and stepped back.

“Of course, you're right. It wasn’t then and it isn’t now. Thank you, however, for explaining. Once I have an explanation, I can comply with rules and regulations. It’s the arbitrary and capricious ones I can’t handle.”

“Molly, I—”

“No, you're well within your rights as boss to request I stay away from the other employees on the ranch except as my job dictates. I'll make sure I don't overstep again.” She wanted him gone. Her heart ached for his unhappy experience, but she was not Jeannie and if he couldn't tell the difference, she felt sorry for him.”

“You’ll stay?”

She nodded. She had nowhere else to go. She had no other job lined up. No place to stay unless she wanted to crash at Bethany's again.

Maybe this was a warning to make contingent plans. She was at the total mercy of this man. If he fired her she had nowhere else to go. Not a good position to be in.

“Okay, then.”

He crossed her room. Molly waited until she heard his boots on the stairs before following him to close her door. It was her day off and she had no responsibilities around the ranch. She’d sneak down later and get something to eat, but for as long as she could, she would avoid Josh Hart.

She unpacked, his cold words echoing in her mind.
It was none of your business.
True. Why did it hurt so much?

Had she expected more because of his kisses? He had offered to give her some sexual experience to aid in the writing of her book. He was attracted to her, as she was to him. Sexual attraction. It meant nothing more to him, obviously. And it would mean nothing more to her!

Brushing off her dusty feet, she lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling and thought about all Josh had told her.

Molly made him so mad sometimes he wanted to shake her! He was jealous, pure and simple. And he hated it!

He stormed into the office and yanked out his chair. Plopping down in it, he glared at her computer, the terminal still blinking. She'd drive a saint crazy. And as his sister could attest, he was no saint.

He tilted back in the chair and glanced up toward the ceiling. She tied him in knots and he didn’t like it one bit. She was just a temporary housekeeper, and not a very good one at that. Maybe she should leave.

She had enough experience with kisses now to write a book on that alone. And if he didn’t cool things down, he could push her farther than she wanted to go, as in all the way, with naked bodies tumbling in bed, and hot kisses everywhere.

As the minutes ticked by and it remained silent upstairs, Josh grew impatient. Maybe he'd come on a bit strong, but the image of Jeannie and Walt Hamilton wouldn’t go away. Josh had seen Lance’s attitude around Molly. He didn’t want Lance and Molly involved. If it came to that, he’d have to let them both go. And Lance was too good a foreman to lose.

Would she stay away from Lance now that she knew the reason he’d requested it?

Would she stay away from him?

Where was she? He rose and walked into the hall. Glancing up the stairs, he saw the closed door. For a moment he considered going up and demanding she open it so he could see her again. But he didn't. Something told him he’d done enough damage for one day.

Turning back to the office he crossed to her computer. If she’d finished for the day, he should shut it off. But he hesitated, drawn to the words displayed on the screen. Slowly he sat before the monitor and read the sentences. Pressing the arrow key, he moved back to the beginning and began to read.

He shook his head. He'd never read a romance novel, but he had read plenty of fiction. He didn’t think the quality demands for writing for romance would be any less.

But her writing wasn’t very good. The characters were stick figures. There was no emotion. The movements were artificial.

And it broke his heart.

She wanted to write so much, had such glowing plans for when she became published. She was revolving her entire life on the hope of making it big as a writer. If this was a sample, he knew she had a long way to go.

When he got to the passage where the hero kisses the heroine for the first time, he slowed down, reread it. It showed promise. At least she didn’t call it
nice
. Maybe her lack of experience did hold her back. He wondered if the couple in the book would have a fight, like they’d had a few minutes ago. How would they react, would they make up or stay mad?

He was curious as to how she planned to handle the story, and if she could make it come alive. When he reached the end, he saved everything in case she had not yet done so and turned off the computer.

Sitting at the chair she used, gazing out the open window, he wondered if the fact the hero resembled him was coincidence or not. She'd started the book before she arrived at the Rafter C, but the man sure sounded like him.

Or a nicer Josh, more how a woman might want a man. Was she using him for more than just a means to garner experience? Was she patterning everything for the hero on his life? How long would it take her to finish the book, mail it off and learn its fate? How long was she staying?

It was dark by the time Molly crept down the stairs. She didn’t see Josh as she went into the kitchen to fix herself a sandwich. Pouring a large glass of ice tea, she took her makeshift meal and headed back to her room. At the bottom of the steps his voice stopped her.