Jackson felt an overwhelming urge to slide his hands around her belly and bury his face in her hair. It wasn’t rational. In fact, if he went through with it, it would be as stupid as hell. He burned with curiosity about how she would respond. Depending on her mood, she could slap him or give in to whatever it was that shimmered between them.
She turned around and looked into his eyes. “Thanks,” she said and lifted on tiptoe to skim her lips over his cheek.
The breezy kiss made his gut knot. The little caress was her way of saying, Thanks, but don’t count on getting too close. It got under his skin enough that he gave in to an impulse. He reached for her hand and pulled her back.
Her eyes widened in surprise. “What-”
“I promised I would make you feel different,” he said, pulling her closer.
“You did,” she conceded.
“That was step one,” he said and lowered his head. “This is step two.” He pressed his mouth against her soft, puffy lips and immediately felt himself grow hard.
She opened her mouth as if she couldn’t decide to quit or continue, and he made the choice for her when he slid his tongue past her lips. He felt her body stiffen in an instant of surprise, but then she slid her hands around his shoulders, pressed her breasts into his chest, and lured his tongue deeper into her mouth.
She rubbed her curvy female body against his, and it was all he could do not to rip off her clothes and nail her against the wall of the barn. The force of the primitive urge took his breath.
Sliding his hands low on her back, he pulled her against his aching crotch and slid his tongue over hers. He felt her tug his shirt loose and rub her hands over his bare abdomen, and the temperature in the barn rose exponentially.
Jackson sucked in a quick draft of air and pulled his mouth from hers, swearing under his breath. He stared into her eyes, dark with arousal, and swore again.
She licked her lips as she gasped for her own breath, and she might as well have stroked him intimately with her pink tongue. “If that was step two, what is step three?”
“There is no step three,” he said, more for himself than for her. “You are a client. There shouldn’t have been step two.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not just a client to you.”
“That’s right. You’re the key to a promotion and a bonus, and you’re a pain in the ass.”
She glanced away, but not before he glimpsed a flash of hurt in her eyes. Then she lifted her chin, and her gaze trailed down the front of him, lingering on his crotch before she met his gaze. “Your ass isn’t what’s going to be hurting tonight. Enjoy your cold shower,” she said and walked out of the barn.
Jackson was left with the tempting, taunting image of her round ass and a hard-on that showed no signs of quitting.
Geoffrey dutifully helped Lori clean the cabins the next morning. When she went to clean the stalls, he wandered to the corral and watched Maria finishing up the morning session with horse therapy. She was firm with the horses, yet gentle and encouraging with the children.
One young girl kept reaching to touch Maria’s long wavy hair. Maria picked her up and set her on her hip, allowing the girl to play with her hair. She was so beautiful she took Geoffrey’s breath away.
There was something wild and wounded about her that stirred him. He wondered what her story was, why she seemed to carry a chip on her shoulder, what kind of men she’d had in her past. There had to be dozens who’d tried to get her affection.
That body, that fire, could drive a man to do something reckless. As if she knew he was watching her, she glanced up at him. She met his gaze for a searing few seconds, then glanced away as if dismissing him.
She may as well have thrown down a gauntlet. Her dismissal was a challenge. He would love to take her up on it. Closing his eyes, he thought of his family obligation. No matter how tempting Maria was, he had to stick to the plan. Lori Granger was the woman who could save his family. Not Maria.
That afternoon, however, Geoffrey wasn’t sure how it happened, but Virginia assigned him the task of helping Maria in the kitchen. Lori had left to go grocery shopping with Virginia.
Maria sighed and shook her head. She muttered in Spanish for several moments as she chopped a whole chicken into pieces. Although he didn’t understand the words, her tone was unmistakable.
“Pardon me, but if you’re going to insult me, would you please do so in a language I can understand so I can at least defend myself?”
She chopped off a chicken leg and met his gaze. “I was talking to myself, but if you must know, I was saying it was stupid to pretend that you would actually help me in the kitchen.”
“Why is that stupid?”
“You know how to cook?”
He knew how to use a microwave, a toaster, and a teapot. “I’ve spent some time in the kitchen. Why don’t you give me a try?”
She gave him a considering glance. “Okay.” She went to the cupboard, pulled out two large onions, and gave him a knife. “I need these diced.”
Geoffrey shrugged. “Right-o. Where’s the food processor?”
Maria smiled. “You are the food processor.”
Geoffrey faced the task like a man-more importantly, an Englishman. Englishmen didn’t cry, and he was bloody well determined not to cry.
After he finished the first onion, his nose started to run, so he began to breathe through his mouth. As he completed the last of his slicing and dicing, he triumphantly offered Maria the spoils of his victory. A pile of diced onion.
She lifted a dark eyebrow. “Bueno,” she said. “I’m surprised.”
“No need to be,” he said. “I told you I’m quite handy in the kitchen.”
Maria pulled two more huge onions from the cupboard. “Then you won’t mind dicing a couple more.”
With the stiff upper lip bred into him, Geoffrey sliced and diced the second two onions. This time, however, he decided to take advantage of the opportunity to indulge his curiosity about Maria.
“You’re not married, are you?” he asked.
“No,” she said.
“Do you have a lover or a boyfriend?” he asked. “Or several?”
She frowned at him. “That’s none of your business.”
“That must mean you have a dozen lovers but you don’t like to show off.”
She glanced up at him, her eyes widened in surprise. “I do not-”
“Aha,” he said, continuing to chop and dice. “But you could have.”
“Not around here,” she said. “There aren’t a lot of men around.” She shrugged as she placed chicken parts into a casserole dish. “It’s probably for the best. Men aren’t dependable.”
He blinked. “That’s a bit of a global generalization, wouldn’t you say? Surely some men are dependable.”
“Very few,” she said.
“That you’ve met,” he corrected. “Have you always lived in Texas?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Do you like it here?”
She shrugged again. “I know nothing else. I know I like Virginia ’s ranch much better than my father’s house.”
Geoffrey studied her expression and felt an uneasiness about the way her voice lowered when she mentioned her father’s house.
He paused for a long moment. “He was abusive to you,” he said.
She didn’t look up at him. “Yes. He gave me the scar.”
He looked at the jagged scar that ran from her cheek nearly to her jaw. “This may sound crazy, but I don’t notice the scar unless you mention it.”
That must have gotten her attention, because she glanced up to meet his gaze. “How can you not notice it?”
His lips twitched. “You have so many other things to look at.”
She gave him a hard look, then glanced away. “You lie.”
“I do not,” he said, unable to keep indignation from his voice.