Midnight Under the Mistletoe

Will laughed. “I can imagine that one. There are times you get those looks from me. Ryan is the baby brother and he accepts whatever we do.”

“Yeah. I do get those looks from you, but I don’t know why because you’re like me about sentiment. Or at least you were until Ava and Caroline. Especially Caroline. They’ve mellowed you until I hardly know you.”

“You ought to try it sometime,” Will answered lightly. “I’ll talk to you before we leave for Colorado.”

“Sure, Will. Thanks for the invitation. Tell Ava I said thanks.” Zach ended the call and swung his chair around to look out the window without really seeing anything outside. Envisioning Emma, he wanted to be with her again. He had just blown the sensible course. He should have let Will send out another secretary, yet how could he get rid of Emma when her secretarial skills were excellent and she wanted the job? He couldn’t send her back because of the steamy chemistry between them.

“Keep it strictly business,” he whispered, lecturing himself. Stay away from her except when working. Don’t share lunches or dinners or anything else outside of the office and work. Willpower. Resoluteness.

Thinking of the problems on the project in Maine, the buildings the company had bought and intended to replace with one large building, a parking garage and a landscaped area, he tossed down a pen and returned to thinking about Emma. He wanted to have dinner with her, but hadn’t he just resolved to avoid her? He didn’t want to get involved with an employee, especially a sentimental homebody who could barely leave her family and especially an employee living under the same roof with him. It could complicate his life beyond measure to have her expect some kind of commitment from him and to have rumors flying at the office. He didn’t want tears and a scene when he told her goodbye. Thoughts of any of those things gave him chills.

She didn’t look like a sentimental homebody, at least his idea of one. Her full red lips, the mass of red hair that was caught up on her head hinted at a wild, party-loving woman. The reactions she had to just a look from him implied a sensuous, responsive lover.

“Damn,” he said aloud. Taking a deep breath, he yanked papers in front of him.

Wiping his brow, he leaned over his desk and tried to concentrate on tasks at hand. After two minutes he shoved aside papers and stood. He should send her away, get her out of his life, but the chemistry he wanted to avoid made it impossible to think about giving her up. No matter what he’d just told himself, he wanted to be with Emma—what could a dinner hurt?

With a glance at his watch, he saw he had probably already missed her and a hot dinner from Rosie. Annoyed he would have to eat alone, he headed to the kitchen, hoping Emma was still there.

His disappointment when she wasn’t bothered him even more than her absence. Since when had he started to look forward to being with her so much?

Three

The evening was quiet and after dinner Emma stayed in her room. She had eaten alone, experiencing a mix of relief and disappointment that Zach hadn’t appeared. It was wiser that he had not eaten with her. The less they socialized, the better, even though there was a part of her that wanted to see him.

On Friday, he appeared wrapped in business and he kept his distance. That afternoon, he told her to leave at one so she could get to Dallas ahead of the traffic.

“Thanks,” she replied, smiling broadly. “I’ll accept that offer.” Shutting down her computer, she was on the road away from the ranch twenty minutes later. They had gotten through the first week, so she must have the job. They also had kept a distance between them. He had been professional, quiet, but there was no way she could feel she had imagined the chemistry simmering just below the surface. Any time they locked gazes, it flared to life, scalding, filled with temptation, an unmistakable attraction.

Now she could believe rumors she had always heard that he never dated employees, never getting emotionally entangled with anyone on his staff, never even in the most casual way. She intended to keep that professional, remote relationship with him and this job would be a plus on her resume.

If she could just keep from dreaming about him at night—with a sigh, she concentrated on her driving and tried to stop thinking about Zach Delaney. Instead, she reflected on the fun she always had at home with the family and with her nieces and nephews.

Monday when she returned to work, she dressed in jeans, a T-shirt sprinkled with bling, and sneakers. Zach had said jeans were fine and that’s what he had worn every workday. Even so, she felt slightly self-conscious when she entered the office.

He was already there and looked up, giving her a thorough glance.

“You said jeans are acceptable,” she stated.

“Jeans are great,” he said in a tone that conveyed a more personal response. “Yours look terrific,” he added, confirming what she thought.

“Thank you,” she answered, sitting behind her desk and starting to work.

“This afternoon I’m going to Dallas to see my doctor. Hopefully, I can toss this crutch when I come home.”

“You can return to your traveling?”

“How I wish. No. He’s already told me that I’ll have to wear this and continue to stay off my foot except to get around the house. Still, it’ll be an improvement.”

“Sure,” she replied.

He returned to whatever he had been doing and they worked quietly the rest of the morning. When she left for lunch, he stayed in the office. In the afternoon, she read more Delaney letters, occasionally glancing at the great-great-grandson, continuing to wonder how he could care so little about his history.