Men to Trust: Boss Man / The Last Good Man in Texas / Lonetree Ranchers: Brant

“Yes, but I am,” she replied. She stepped back, feeling a sudden coldness in his manner. It wasn’t what she’d expected when she came in here with him. She’d hoped that he might come to love her. They’d been so close at his house. Now they were like strangers.

He was furious. He was confused. This woman had caused him more inner turmoil than he’d known since the death of his fiancée, years before. He loved his freedom. But he hated the thought of losing Violet.

“Violet,” he began slowly, “I was engaged once. I loved her more than life. After I lost her, I didn’t want to go on living.” He frowned. “I…can’t go through that again.”

She looked up into his turbulent eyes. “Why would you have to? You don’t love me,” she said miserably. “You only want me.”

She turned and went to the door.

Before she could open it, his hand covered hers on the doorknob. “Wait.”

“I should never have returned here to work,” she said. “I’ll go back to Mr. Wright. You can get another temporary secretary to fill in until you replace me.”

“No!”

Tears blurred her blue eyes. She’d never been so miserable in her life. “Just let me go, please!”

He moved his hand. Seconds later, she was out the front door and gone. He stood alone in his office, feeling empty and cold. She wanted something he couldn’t give her. Why couldn’t women be like men, he wondered angrily, and just enjoy the present without asking for solemn vows of forever?

He went home in a snit and made supper for himself and the cats. They gave him odd looks, as if they sensed his inner turmoil.

He glared at them. “Don’t you start,” he muttered. Mee rubbed against his legs. Yow sat watching him with blue accusing eyes. “Great,” he muttered. “Now I’m talking to cats!”

He finished his meager supper and tried to get interested in a television program, but his body ached with thoughts of Violet in his arms. He wasn’t giving in, though. If she thought she’d get him in front of a minister by holding out physically, she was dead wrong.

He couldn’t forget their one time of intimacy, the beauty and joy of possessing her. It had been a perfect physical interlude.

Then he remembered something else he’d tried to forget. They’d had unprotected sex. What if Violet got pregnant?

He sat up straight, his eyes wide and stunned at just the thought. What would they do? He knew for a fact that Violet would never be able to go to a clinic. She’d insist on having the child. He had a horror of children. He’d never gotten over the fact that Shannon had been carrying his child when she died. It had warped his attitude toward pregnancy. He thought of children and he remembered how he felt when he knew his child had died with the woman he loved. It brought back nightmares of pain. Violet wouldn’t understand that. She wanted happily ever after. All he wanted was relief from the nagging physical hunger that was taking him over.

But if she was pregnant, he couldn’t desert her. Not only would it be unworthy of him as a man, it would reflect badly on his character in a town the size of Jacobsville. The gossip would ruin Violet’s reputation and the shame might well kill her mother, considering Mrs. Hardy’s fragile health.

He cursed under his breath. If he’d never invited Violet home with him, none of this would ever have happened. Why couldn’t he have just let her go and left it at that? He’d landed them in hell with his uncontrollable passion. He couldn’t blame that on Violet. All the same, he didn’t know what he was going to do.

But he couldn’t let her quit. Not until he knew about her condition. He picked up the phone and punched in her number.

Violet had managed to hide her misery from her mother. She knew that Blake wouldn’t mind if she quit again. It would probably be a relief to him. He wanted her and he couldn’t have her on his terms. Perhaps it would make things easier if she went back to work for Duke. She should pick up the phone and call him, right now…

The phone rang, making her jump. She picked it up without thinking.

“Hello?” she said.

“Don’t quit,” Blake said quietly.

Her heart jumped up into her throat. “Excuse me?” she stammered.

“Let’s take it one day at a time, Violet. All right?” he asked, and he actually sounded as if he was rethinking the future.

She felt reborn. Her spirit soared. She could hardly contain the happiness she felt. “All right,” she said on a soft laugh. “One day at a time!”

Chapter Eight

For days, Violet and Blake were hesitant around each other. He was the soul of courtesy. He didn’t curse or yell. He didn’t throw anyone out of the office. He seemed to be a changed man.

Violet loved the tenderness he showed her. He never raised his voice or made sarcastic comments about her work. But he wasn’t forward in any way, either, and he didn’t touch her. He seemed to be waiting for something, watching. Violet wondered why.

Julie Merrill was arrested for the attempted arson of Libby and Curt Collins’s house the following Saturday, and Cash Grier had a big surprise for the city council at the Monday disciplinary hearing. The patrol officers were exonerated and the mayor was embarrassed for trying to force them to retract drunk driving charges against his uncle, State Senator Merrill.

The next day was the primary elections. Calhoun Ballenger won the Democratic nomination away from Senator Merrill in a huge upset, and the mayor lost his job in a special election won by former mayor Eddie Cane. It was a great day for Jacobsville.

But on Wednesday morning, Violet lost her breakfast at the office. Blake, walking past the bathroom, heard her retching. He felt sick himself. Violet was healthy as a horse. If she was throwing up, there could only be one explanation. She had to be pregnant.

It was the end of the world. Blake went around for the rest of the day in a daze. So did Violet. He overheard Mabel and Libby murmuring about Violet’s bout of sickness and her upcoming doctor’s appointment. They clammed up immediately when Blake walked into the room. It didn’t take much to figure out that if Violet was pregnant, her boss was responsible. After all, who else had Violet been crazy about for a year? More importantly, who had she been alone with lately? It didn’t take a lot of guesswork.

Violet was panic-stricken after she lost her breakfast. She phoned Dr. Lou Coltrain’s office and made an appointment, all too aware that Mabel and Libby could hear her doing it. She told them she thought she had a virus and she was afraid of giving it to her mother. But they were suspicious and it showed.

She drove to Lou’s office after work, leaving Libby and Mabel to close up. She swore Dr. Coltrain to secrecy before she even mentioned her symptoms. Lou gave her a worried look as she had her nurse draw blood for a simple pregnancy test.

“One time,” Violet choked when Lou gave her the results of the test a few minutes later.

“One time is all it takes,” Lou said ruefully. “Oh, Violet.”

“What am I going to do?” the younger woman groaned, with her face in her hands. “I can’t even step on ants, Lou!”

The other woman patted her shoulder sympathetically. “I’m sure once Blake knows…”

Violet gave her a horrified look.

“Who else could it be?” Lou asked reasonably. “He’s the only man you care about, and you spent half a day at his house,” she added, smiling ruefully when Violet flushed. “Well, on the positive side, it won’t be difficult to find your due date.”

“He doesn’t want children,” Violet said. “He doesn’t even want anything permanent. He said so…!”

Lou eased her back down into the chair she’d bolted from. “Don’t panic.”

“My mother has already had a stroke! She raised me to be good…!”

“People are human,” Lou interrupted. “Your mother isn’t going to disown you or throw you out into the street.”

“Everyone will know,” Violet groaned. She drew in a shaky breath. “I could move up to San Antonio,” she began.

“That would make it even worse,” Lou assured her. “And leave Blake to face the music all alone.” She pursed her lips and her dark eyes flashed. “Maybe that’s not such a bad thing. I thought better of him. He’s intelligent enough to know about using protection. He couldn’t have thought you were experienced!”

The flush got worse. “Am I wearing a sign?”

“It’s a small town,” Lou pointed out. “You aren’t promiscuous.”

Violet drew in another breath. “I don’t know what to do.”