“Thought I’d save you the trip down to get me.”
“How thoughtful!”
He grinned unrepentantly as he followed her to Dani’s room. “By the way, I like the decor.”
Kelly glanced around at the Winnie the Pooh wallpaper and stuffed animal collection that filled half a dozen shelves. “Somehow this doesn’t strike me as you.”
“I was referring to your room.”
Her gaze shot up. Her pulse skittered crazily. “You were in my room?”
“The door was open. I peeked.” He rocked back on his heels. “Expecting company?”
Hands on her hips, Kelly glared at him. “What is that supposed to mean? Any company I have stays in the guest room. And,” she added pointedly, “that includes you.”
“But that king-size bed is really something. Doesn’t it get lonely?”
She continued to scowl and said pointedly, “It hasn’t yet.”
“Liar,” he whispered in her ear just as Dani came bounding in and plucked her book from the shelves. She thrust it into Jordan’s hands.
“Read,” she ordered imperiously.
“My pleasure,” he told her, but his gaze was still fixed firmly on Kelly’s blushing face. Apparently satisfied that he’d completely disconcerted her, he settled down onto a chair beside the bed and dutifully began to read.
Kelly stared at him and at her daughter. Dani was obviously enraptured by the dramatic telling of her favorite story. She sighed. She wished a bedtime story were all she wanted from Jordan. She wanted more than that, though, much more. And very little of what she hungered for was nearly so innocent as a bedtime story.
And every time he snuck beneath or over or around her defenses, she wanted it all with a desperation that stunned her. Not sure she could bear it another minute, she slipped from Dani’s bedroom and retreated downstairs.
Away from him, away from the two of them, she struggled to get her bearings. Unfortunately, she suspected that there weren’t enough hours in the day or weeks in the year for her to ever build up adequate resistance to the man upstairs.
* * *
Jordan found Kelly in the kitchen an hour later, stirring her cup of tea distractedly, even though he knew perfectly well she had put neither sugar nor cream nor lemon in it. Nervous habit, he guessed, and hid a smile.
He noticed she’d swept her hair up off her neck into a loose ponytail. Escaping tendrils curled softly against her skin. Suddenly he wanted very badly to press a kiss to that tender spot on the back of her neck. He weighed his desire against the temperature of that steaming cup of tea she was likely to heave at him and decided against it. He still had to go slowly here or lose what little ground he had gained with her.
He poured himself a cup of tea from the pot on the table and took a seat next to her. Beneath the table, their thighs brushed. Alarm sparked in her eyes, but he knew she had too much pride to let him know he was getting to her. Aside from the sudden rigidity of her posture, she gave no other hint of how desperately she wanted to flee. Those delectable, stiff little shoulders told him he was on the right track, though. From now on he intended to crowd her a bit, literally and figuratively.
“Is Dani asleep?” she asked.
He noticed the thready huskiness in her voice. It confirmed that the tactic was working. She was not nearly as immune to him as she wanted to pretend. Of course, being this close to her without sweeping her into his arms was also killing him, but it was a torture he was willing to endure if it accomplished his goal.
“She’s out like a light,” he confirmed. “I was so caught up in the story, I read all the way to the end of the chapter before I noticed.”
“I could loan you the book,” Kelly offered, amusement dancing in her eyes.
“I think I’ll just stick around for a while and finish it here.”
“Jordan…” She sighed and fell silent, the protest left incomplete.
“Go on, say it,” he urged. “We can’t settle this, if we aren’t open and honest.”
He saw the familiar quick temper flare in her eyes again.
“This is not a damned business negotiation,” she reminded him for the umpteenth time. She held up her hands. “Never mind. I don’t want to talk about this again anyway.”
Jordan caught one of her hands in midair and lifted it to his lips. The kiss clearly caught her off guard. Her gaze shot to his and she struggled to yank her hand away. He held on for one more soft brush of his lips over her knuckles. Despite the gloves she wore for work, there were tiny nicks scattered across that pale skin. He touched his mouth to every one. He could feel her pulse scamper wildly. Her hand in his trembled. He finally took pity on her and released the hand.
“What are you doing?” she demanded indignantly. She shoved both hands under the table out of view, but, as they both knew, hardly out of reach.
He chuckled. “You’re not that naive.”
“No, I’m not,” she snapped. “Which is why I want to know what you’re up to.”
“No secret there. I’m trying to get you to marry me. I’ll use most any means I have to, fair or foul, to persuade you. I am willing to compromise, though, on certain points,” he said, deliberately using the business terminology he knew she hated. Predictable fire danced in her eyes.
“Compromise?” she repeated, her tone ominous.
“Of course. I’m a reasonable man.” He was pleased with himself for having thought of this, to say nothing of feeling downright noble.
“And what exactly are you willing to compromise about?”
“For starters, you hate Houston. I hate ranch life.” The last was an understatement, which made his willingness to reach a middle ground all the more indicative of how serious he was about this. Kelly had listened to him ranting and raving about getting away from west Texas for
