Книга - Nine Months

Nine Months
BEVERLY BARTON








As a devastating summer storm hits Grand Springs, Colorado, the next thirty-six hours will change the town and its residents forever…


Sex with a stranger isn’t what Paige Summers expects when she is trapped in an elevator with hot cowboy Jared Montgomery, but he unleashes her wild side. It all seems like a great adventure. Until two days later when she reports to her new boss, J. L. Montgomery—her elevator cowboy in a suit and tie!

Jared is on the fast track to success. It’s time for him to settle down, but his adorable redheaded assistant is more bedroom than boardroom. Still, he can’t get her and the stormy night they shared together out of his mind.

When Jared overhears Paige telling a friend she’s pregnant, he wants to do the right thing. But Paige isn’t willing to settle. Marriage means love—and until that’s on the table, there’s no deal.

Book 10 of the 36 Hours series. Don’t miss Book 11: A dangerous mudslide leads to disaster—and a chance for Karen and Cassidy to heal their broken marriage in The Parent Plan by Paula Detmer Riggs.




Nine Months

Beverly Barton







www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)




Contents


Prologue (#u964a95e5-d278-54f6-9d3b-406ba4f36dcb)

Chapter One (#uf61682f7-aca4-5dd6-b1f3-a3f4598fc589)

Chapter Two (#u24a1ec3d-0032-55c1-bb48-c7587ab63255)

Chapter Three (#u1dc516db-f14f-5926-93e2-b5a0ded1cf10)

Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)




Prologue


The elevator doors swung open. Since it was after office hours on a Friday, Paige Summers had expected the elevator to be empty. But a lone man occupied the small space. Tall and lean, with an aura of masculine strength surrounding him, the stranger stared at Paige, inspecting her from head to toe. Forcing herself to ignore his interest, she quickly ran her gaze over the handsome cowboy.

His faded jeans fit like a glove, and with one more washing his plaid work shirt would need to go into a ragbag. A sweatband circled the base of his black Stetson.

Although he dressed like dozens of other men in Grand Springs, Colorado, one glimpse told Paige that this man was unlike any she’d ever met.

When she glanced back at his face, he smiled at her and her stomach did an evil flip-flop. He did possess a killer smile. A wide, sensuous mouth. Full, tempting lips. And beautiful, perfect teeth, sparkling white against the dark, suntanned skin of his face.

“If you’re worried about getting on an elevator with a stranger, I can assure you, you’ll be safe with me.”

The man spoke with a drawl. Oklahoma or Texas, maybe, she thought.

Paige forced a smile to her lips. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I didn’t expect anyone to be here still.” She stepped inside the elevator, but deliberately avoided eye contact. She was a quiet, private person, who didn’t normally find herself lusting after a stranger.

Lusting after? Good grief, Paige, how could you think such a thing? He’s attractive. That’s all. You’ve never lusted after a man in your life.

She glanced at the cowboy again, unable to stop herself. His dark brown hair brushed his collar. Strands of gray streaked his thick sideburns. He grinned and tipped his hat at her. Paige looked down at her feet. A guy with his looks and charm could be dangerous.

The elevator doors closed.

Jared Montgomery couldn’t remember the last time he’d been instantly attracted to a woman, and never this strongly attracted.

She was lovely, in a fresh, unspoiled sort of way. He liked that she was a good deal shorter than he, and that every inch of her five-and-a-half-foot body was filled out in lush, curvaceous proportions.

The elevator jolted to a sudden halt, shaking Jared instantly from his thoughts and tossing him sideways. Acting purely on instinct, he grabbed the young woman the moment he realized they were both falling. She clutched the front of his shirt, accidently ripping off two buttons. Quickly maneuvering her around, Jared took the brunt of the fall as they hit the floor. The black Stetson flew off his head and landed a few inches from his right shoulder. The impact of his big body sandwiched between the hard surface beneath and the woman on top momentarily knocked the breath out of him.

The red emergency lights came on, coating the interior of the elevator in a rosy pink glow. Paige realized she was lying on top of the stranger, her body intimately aligned with his. Her breasts crushed against his muscular chest. Their bellies pressed together. Their legs entwined.

A fluttering, quivering sensation began in the depths of her femininity. It quickly spread through her entire body, and she became embarrassingly aware that the man lying beneath her was aroused. His hardened sex pulsated against her.

She rolled off his chest and onto the floor beside him. “Are you all right?” she asked, her voice deceptively calm. She shook like a leaf in the wind.

Jared stared up into the woman’s big brown eyes, concern evident in her gaze as well as her voice. She hovered over him, her large, round breasts almost touching his chest. God, she was gorgeous.

“Fine.” He sat up too quickly and groaned.

“You’re hurt.”

“I said I’m fine. How about you?”

“Okay, I guess.” She wriggled against him. “What happened?”

“Well, I’d say the power went out.” He rubbed his forehead, then ran his hand across his stinging cheek. “Ouch.”

“What is it?” In an effort to see what was wrong with him, she leaned too close and her breasts brushed his arm.

His body tightened even harder. “I think I bruised my cheek when we fell. No big deal. Are you sure you’re all right?”

She scooted away from him. “I’m perfectly all right, thank you. Just…well, just a little unnerved.”

“Yeah, sure. Having an elevator go dead in mid-descent is enough to unnerve anybody.” Jared placed his Stetson on his head, then stood up slowly. Glancing down at the woman on the floor, he held out his hand.

Paige stared at his hand—an obvious offer of assistance—and hesitated.

“You are the most cautious woman I’ve ever met,” the man said. “Come on.” He wiggled his fingers back and forth. “I promise I won’t bite you.”

“I didn’t think you would.” Her cheeks flushed. Retrieving her purse off the floor with one hand, Paige reached up with the other. She allowed him to help her stand, then immediately took a careful step backward.

The stranger grinned. The bottom fell out of her stomach. Turning his back to her, he checked the telephone.

“No answer,” he told her.

They both checked their cell phones. No service.

“Isn’t there any other way to get help?” she asked. “How will anyone know we’re in here?”

Noting the slight panic in her voice, Jared tried to reassure her. “Hey, there’s nothing to worry about. The minute the power went out, the emergency generators kicked in to keep the lights and the ventilation working. The maintenance crew should have things going again pretty quickly.”

“But it’s Friday evening. Don’t you think everyone who works in this building has gone home?”

“No. There should be at least one maintenance man on duty twenty-four hours a day.”

“What if the outage isn’t just in the Wellman Building?”

“There’s no way to know,” he said. “But one way or another, we’ll get out of here, so stop worrying, honey.”

Jared stood quietly for a while, silently fidgeting and trying not to look at the woman. But when he glanced at her, he noticed her actions mimicked his.

“Are you sure the air is circulating in here?” She tugged on the collar of her suit jacket. “It feels awfully warm to me.”

“The air-conditioning probably isn’t on, if that’s what you mean,” Jared said. “But the air ventilation is working just fine. Relax, honey.”

“Would you please not call me honey.” The woman glared at him, her chin tilted defiantly, as if she were a schoolmarm scolding a naughty little boy.

“Sorry, but since I don’t know your name—”

“Paige. My name is Paige.”

“Hello, Paige.” He smiled and held out his hand. “I’m Jared.”

Paige stared at his hand, but this time she didn’t accept it. Instead she crossed her arms over her waist and tapped her fingers up and down on her elbows. Glancing around the elevator, she sought a means of escape. She couldn’t stay here any longer, trapped inside this tomb.

She unbuttoned the top two buttons of her suit jacket, clutched her throat and took a deep breath. She couldn’t fall apart. Not in front of this stranger. After all, they weren’t in any real danger. They had air and light, and sooner or later someone would rescue them. Sooner, she hoped. “Jared, please find a way to get us out of here!”

“I’ll do what I can, hon—Paige. Maybe I can open the doors.” Pressing his hands flat against the metal surface, he positioned his fingertips along the sealed edges and pushed. “We could be stopped right at floor level.”

“What if we aren’t?”

“Then we’ll either climb up or step down.”

“All right.” Forcing a smile, she nodded affirmatively. She’d suffered mild attacks of claustrophobia all her life, but she usually managed to avoid situations that might trigger her problem. Unfortunately, using elevators was a necessity. And if she hadn’t stopped to call and tell her mother about her new job, she wouldn’t be stuck in this elevator—with a rough and rugged cowboy!

“They’re opening!” Jared pried the doors apart, then cursed under his breath. “It appears we’re trapped between the mezzanine and the first floor. And if I remember correctly, the first floor is about forty feet high.”

Paige stared at the solid wall behind the open door. “Then we are trapped, aren’t we.” She rung her hands together.

“We aren’t trapped.”

“But you said—”

“Sorry. Poor choice of words. But there’s no reason to panic.” He took a couple of tentative steps toward her.

Paige backed away from him. “I think I should tell you something.”

Lifting his eyebrows, he looked quizzically at her. “Let me guess. You’re claustrophobic. Right?”

“Sort of. But I’m only slightly claustrophobic.”

“Oh, I see.” Hell, it was just his luck to get stuck in an elevator with a young, nervous and shy woman who was only slightly claustrophobic.

Paige couldn’t help but notice that Jared’s devastating smile had vanished and been replaced by an intimidating scowl. “I haven’t cried or screamed or anything foolish, but you’re angry with me, aren’t you?”

“I’m not angry.” He was not angry. He was frustrated. And he had to admit that the thought of dealing with a potentially hysterical woman unnerved him.

He tossed his Stetson to the floor and looked up. With his arms held straight above his head, he jumped toward the ceiling.

Paige let out an astonished cry. “What are you doing?”

He jumped again, then again. “I’m trying to reach the emergency hatch up there.” He pointed toward the sealed square in the roof. On his fourth attempt, he shoved open the vent.

“Damn!” He cursed loudly.

Paige’s gaze followed Jared’s line of vision. “Oh, no. I can’t climb up there. We must be at least twenty-five feet from the mezzanine level.”

Jared saw the panicked look in her eyes and realized he really was going to have a hysterical woman on his hands if he didn’t do something to distract her. And in his experience, there were only two ways to gain a woman’s complete attention. Either make love to her or make her fighting mad. He decided on the latter.

“I know it looks like a long way, honey, but I can boost you up to the opening, you can grab onto the—”

“Have you lost your mind?” She glared at him in disbelief.

“I know you’re claustrophobic—”

“Slightly claustrophobic!”

“But you don’t suffer from acrophobia, too, do you?”

“No, I am not afraid of heights!”

“Then what’s the problem?” Watching her face turn crimson and her brown eyes sparkle with dark fire, he grinned. “You must be afraid you’ll get your beige suit dirty. Is that it?”

“Despite the fact I’m a little upset right now, I am not some silly female who would worry about getting her suit dirty.”

“Oh, then you must have another reason for wanting to stay here with me. Could it be that you think if you play the helpless female, I’ll play your hero? Honey, if you want me, you don’t have to be coy. All you have to do is come and get me.”

“Oh!” Paige huffed loudly. “Of all the nerve. You must have a monumental ego to think—”

“My ego isn’t the only thing about me that’s monumental,” he announced. Paige gritted her teeth and Jared could tell that she was too mad to give a thought to being slightly claustrophobic. He’d rather have an angry woman on his hands than a hysterical one.

“Why, you egotistical, macho jerk!” Without giving a thought to what she was doing, Paige balled her hand into a tight fist and punched Jared in the stomach.

The blow was totally unexpected, and Jared doubled over from the instant pain.

“Why the hell did you do that?” He straightened up to his full six-foot height, poked his hand through the opening where two of his shirt buttons were missing and rubbed his stomach. His movements loosened his shirt from his jeans, revealing several inches of his washboard-lean belly covered with swirls of dark brown hair.

“You were being hateful and insulting,” Paige said, forcing her gaze away from his body and up to his face.

“I was trying to keep your mind off being trapped in this elevator,” he admitted. “But I had no idea you had such violent tendencies.”

“I do not have violent tendencies.” Her voice quivered ever so slightly. Then as the anger, frustration and sense of helplessness overwhelmed her, her eyes filled with tears that overflowed down her cheeks and ran into the corners of her mouth.

“Oh, hell, honey. Don’t do that!” Dammit, this was what Jared had been trying so desperately to avoid. Under normal circumstances, he would walk off and leave her. He didn’t tolerate any woman’s silly, emotional spells. But he was as trapped as she was. “There’s no cause for your acting this way.”

Paige glared at him through misty eyes. She hated him! Jared Whoever-he-was. She hated him! Why couldn’t he be more like her father and act like a gentleman?

Hugging herself as she continued breathing deeply, Paige closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. She would stop crying. She would regain control. And she wouldn’t say another word to Jared Whoever-he-was. No matter how long they were stuck in this hellhole together.

Jared didn’t know whether two minutes, twenty minutes or two hours had passed, but it seemed like two days to him. Paige stood on one side of the elevator, he on the other. Neither of them had spoken a word. But he could hear her ragged, sobbing little gulps for air. He glanced over at her and cursed himself for a fool.

What the hell! he told himself. What would it hurt to comfort her a little? Maybe if he put his arm around her and soothed her, she’d stop that noise. If necessary, he might even apologize. Anything to quiet her.

“Paige?” He took a few steps forward, stopping just short of touching her. When she looked at him with her dark chocolate eyes and bit down on her bottom lip, all soft and pink, he felt as if he’d been poleaxed again. He wanted this woman!

Paige sucked in a deep breath. Jared was looking at her as if… No, surely not, she thought. He couldn’t possibly want her. She was letting her imagination run wild. She tried to break visual contact, but it was as if she were hypnotized by his seductive stare.

Reaching out with both hands, he used his index fingers to wipe away the tears from her cheeks. Paige’s breath caught in her throat as Jared traced the planes of her face with his fingertips.

“Don’t cry anymore, honey.” He took her face in his hands, cupping her cheeks tenderly.

“Please…don’t.” She couldn’t bear the way he made her feel. Hot and cold at the same time, her stomach tightening into knots and her breathing quickening.

“Don’t what?” Jared whispered the question, his voice compellingly sensual. Touching her had been a big mistake. If she didn’t push him away, if she didn’t tell him no, he was going to make love to this woman. Here. Now. In the elevator.

“Don’t confuse me this way. I don’t know how to deal with a man like you,” she reluctantly admitted.

“What sort of man do you think I am?” He lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers.

She gasped. “You—you’re a master game player and I don’t know how to play games.”

“Then I’ll teach you.”

Before she could respond, he engulfed her in a passionately gentle kiss. Paige discovered herself succumbing totally to his tenderness. She dropped her purse to the floor and swayed toward him, her breasts pressing against his hard chest.

Oh, dear God, she felt as if she were drowning in the dark, swirling depths of her own desire. She opened her mouth, allowing his tongue entrance, then moaned when he threaded his fingers through her hair. The neat French twist fell apart under his marauding hand and her mahogany red hair tumbled down her back.

He eased his other hand down her waist and across her hips, pulling her close to him. She wrapped herself around him. Clinging to him. Wanting him. Lost to everything except the all-consuming longing coursing through her.

What was happening to her? Why couldn’t she stop…or ask him to stop? In the swirling confusion of her mind, one coherent thought made its way through—she didn’t want the incredible experience to end and she’d never felt like this. But how could she feel like this with a stranger—a stranger she didn’t even like?

Jared was fast losing control, and if he didn’t stop now, he was going to take Paige with all the wild desire raging inside him. He ran his fingers down her throat and deepened the kiss. Then he slipped his hand inside her suit jacket and covered her breast, his fingers seeking and finding her nipple. Opening her jacket fully to reveal her beige satin bra, he lowered his head and took her nipple into his mouth, suckling her through the soft material. Paige grabbed at his shirt, quickly undoing the remaining buttons, then spread his shirt apart.

Lifting her up against the wall, he pressed her moist, warm body between him and the mirror behind her. While she clutched his shoulders and succumbed to the desire to place her mouth on his chest, he shoved her skirt upward, bunching it around her hips. She lifted her leg, fitting her calf around his thigh.

“I want you, honey,” Jared said, his voice deep and soft and dripping with desire. “Right here. Right now.”

“I—I—” She couldn’t seem to form her thoughts into words.

“If you don’t want this, too, Paige, stop me now.”

“No,” she whimpered. “No, don’t stop.”

Her words seemed to end any doubts on his part, sending him into a sexual frenzy. Within minutes, he’d divested her of her shoes and bikini panties, then unzipped his jeans and lifted her to straddle his hips. She clung to him as he braced her against the mirrored wall. While she returned his wild, wet kisses, he thrust into her.

Paige threw back her head and cried out from the sheer joy of having him inside her. The tension spiraled upward and outward, a hotter, wilder passion than any she’d ever known.

Jared whispered dark, erotic, almost incoherent words to her as he claimed her. He was lost in the moment, not thinking, only feeling. Paige cried out as fulfillment spread through her and her release triggered his. They clung to each other, straining to hold on to the ecstasy, shuddering as the last quivers shot through their bodies.

When Jared lifted her face to kiss her, he saw tears in her eyes. “Did I hurt you, honey?”

“No. It’s…it’s just that I’ve never…I mean it was never like that before.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” He kissed her, softly, sweetly. “I haven’t been that wild for a woman since I was eighteen.”

Her cheeks flushed. Bending her head, she looked down at where their bodies were still pressed together. She eased her legs down his and tried to stand. When she wobbled, he grabbed her by the waist, then he drew in a deep breath and stepped away from her. She looked like a woman who had been thoroughly loved, and the very sight of her aroused him anew.

Seeing her reflection in the mirror, Paige sucked in a deep breath. Suddenly embarrassed, she tugged down her skirt and buttoned her jacket.

“Are you on the Pill?” Jared asked as he reached down and picked up her panties.

“What?” She grabbed the lace bikinis out of his hand and stuffed them into her beige leather purse, which she picked up off the floor.

“I didn’t use anything,” he said. “I got so carried away, I didn’t even think about protection. I’m sorry, Paige, I don’t usually do something that stupid.”

“Oh. I…”

“If you’re protected against pregnancy, then everything else should be all right, shouldn’t it?” Hell, how could he have forgotten to use a condom? He never forgot. “What I mean is that I’m always careful.” Until tonight. “You are, too, aren’t you?”

“Yes. There’s nothing to worry about at all.” Oh, dear God, Paige thought, she had just had sex with a man—a stranger—and hadn’t given a thought to protecting herself. She was twenty-five years old and she should have known better.

She tried to smile, but the effort failed. “You certainly found a very effective way to get my mind off my claustrophobia.”

He reached out to touch her and she moved out of his reach. “Unfortunately, I’ve never made love with a stranger before and I find the situation rather awkward.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, this is a first for me, too.” He grinned, then explained. “I’ve never made love to a stranger in an elevator, either.”

Nodding her understanding, Paige smiled weakly. “I—I don’t suppose many people have.”

Jared tucked in his shirt and zipped up his jeans. Now what? he wondered. Despite how awkward things were between them, they were stuck with each other for the time being.

He picked up his Stetson and set it on his head. “I suppose you live here in Grand Springs, don’t you? I’m from Texas. Just got into town today and—”

“Stop it, will you?” Crossing her arms over her chest, Paige leaned against the back of the elevator. “I don’t want to talk to you. Do you understand? I want to pretend that what happened didn’t happen. We’re strangers who will never see each other again once we leave this elevator, so let’s keep it that way.”

“You’re right,” he said. “We’re both better off not knowing anything about each other. Just a couple of ships that passed in the night.”

Jared slumped down on the floor, leaned back his head and drew his Stetson down over his eyes. Paige rummaged in her purse, pulled out a paperback book and began to read.

They ignored each other for quite a while. After checking her watch for the dozenth time, Paige wondered if they were going to be trapped in the elevator all night. The power had gone off around seven o’clock, more than four hours ago.

A rather loud banging caught their attention. The elevator vibrated ever so slightly.

“Hey down there!” a masculine voice called out. “How many of you are there?”

Jared glanced up and saw a man at the mezzanine level of the shaft. “Only two of us. Are you maintenance?”

“No, sir. I’m Troy Dodd with the fire department. We’d have been here sooner, but we didn’t know anyone was still in the building when the power went out.”

“Can you tell us what happened?” Jared asked as he stood.

“Well, the whole town’s in the dark. Seems the heavy rainstorms caused a mud slide that buried Grand Springs’s only source of electricity.”

“Will you stop talking and get us out of here!” Paige said impatiently.

“Is your name Paige?” Troy Dodd asked.

“Yes. Why?”

“Your parents called and told us that you were probably trapped in the Wellman Building.”

She glanced at Jared, who smiled at her. That devastating killer smile.

“I was supposed to have dinner with them tonight,” she explained.

“Hey, folks,” Troy Dodd said, “we’re going to send down a lift chair and bring you two up, one at a time.”

“Jared, about what happened,” Paige whispered as they waited for the chair, “I want you to know—”

“You don’t have to say it, honey. What happened was a mistake. We lost our heads and went a little crazy.”

“Yes, we did.”

“The best thing we can do is forget about it. Right? Pretend it never happened.”

“Yes, of course. You’re right. It never happened.”

Fifteen minutes later, Paige and Jared stood on the mezzanine level of the Wellman Building and shook hands with the firemen. After thanking them for coming to the rescue, Paige said goodbye to Jared. They stared at each other for one, long, sweet moment, then Paige walked downstairs and into her mother’s open arms.

* * *

After thirty-six hours without electricity, thanks to the massive rainstorm and mudslides that destroyed everything in its path, Grand Springs was a flurry of activity on Monday morning. Jared arrived at his new office in the Wellman Building before any of the office staff. He had planned to be in town for a week before he turned the entire Grand Springs operation over to his manager, Greg Addison. As this Colorado branch of Montgomery Real Estate and Land Development expanded, it would be necessary for Jared to make trips more frequently and stay longer, so he’d told Greg to hire a secretary for him, someone capable of doubling as his assistant.

But the thirty-six-hour blackout upon his arrival had set the tone for the entire weekend, and Jared had decided to cut his visit short. It had been one wild, unexpected event after another. He’d said his goodbyes to Paige, telling himself he’d forget all about her, and left the Wellman Building with the firemen who had rescued them. Discovering how desperately volunteers were needed during the local emergency, he had offered his services. He hadn’t gotten a bath or a hot meal until Sunday morning when electricity had been restored and he’d checked into a local motel.

And he had dreamed about Paige. About touching her. Making love to her. For the past two days, he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind.

Since Grand Springs wasn’t a big town, the longer he stayed, the greater the odds were that he and Paige would run into each other. He didn’t want that, and he suspected neither did she. What had happened between them had been a chance happening, a one-night stand to end all one-night stands.

“Trying to make the rest of us look bad?” Tall, lanky Greg Addison sauntered into Jared’s private office and sat down on the side of his desk. “I didn’t expect you until later in the day.”

“Since I’m going to be here only a couple of days, I want to make the most of my stay,” Jared said. “I need to meet your assistant and break in my new administrative assistant. You did hire someone for me, didn’t you?”

“Never fear. I hired a highly recommended woman on Friday afternoon.” Scooting off the desk, Greg stood and pointed toward the outer office. “As a matter of fact, Ms. Summers has just arrived. She’s outside talking to Kay.”

“Kay?”

“My assistant, Kay Thompson.”

“Well, I might as well meet them now. I want to brief my assistant on her duties and—”

“What’s the hurry? I thought you planned to spend the week.”

“My plans have changed,” Jared said.

“Blonde, brunette or redhead?” Greg asked.

Jared caught himself before he blurted out “redhead.” “I left some loose ends back in Texas I need to tie up, and I have to run down to Florida. Besides, we all can’t be playboys like you.”

Greg laughed heartily. “Yeah, sure. Tell that to someone who doesn’t know you the way I do.”

“Introduce me to the people you’ve hired.” Jared quickly changed the subject. “I’m especially eager to meet my administrative assistant. We have a lot to do before I leave town.”

“Right this way.”

Greg swung open the door and the two men exited Jared’s private office.

“Well, here they are,” Greg said. “Ms. Thompson, my assistant, and Ms. Summers, your assistant.”

“Ms. Thompson.” Smiling at the tall, slender brunette, Jared shook her hand, then turned to the other woman. “And this must be—” He stared at the curvaceous redhead who looked at him as if he had suddenly sprung a second head. Dear God, it couldn’t be. His assistant was Paige. His Paige…from the elevator!




Chapter One


After hurriedly leaving Grand Springs four months ago, L. J. Montgomery was finally returning for an indefinite stay. Paige had overheard Greg Addison telling Kay that he thought it was past time for Jared to return, that he couldn’t understand why the boss man had stayed away so long. It wasn’t like Jared not to keep his finger directly on the pulse of a new branch office.

Paige couldn’t help but wonder if Jared had stayed away because of her. Surely not. He’d made it perfectly clear that their sexual encounter had been a mistake, something he preferred to forget. Easy enough for him. But not for her. Not now.

She supposed if she’d been more experienced and less romantic in nature, she could have gotten over the silly notion that she’d fallen in love with Jared. And as long as she lived, she’d never forget her first morning at Montgomery Real Estate and Land Development.

* * *

On the previous Friday afternoon, Greg Addison had hired Paige as L.J.’s private administrative assistant and told her she’d meet her boss on the following Monday morning.

She’d arrived at work that Monday prepared to prove herself indispensable to her new boss.

“There’s no need to be nervous,” Kay told her. “Greg tells me that Mr. Montgomery is a demanding boss, but a fair one. Besides, he’s only going to be here a week this first time, then he’ll fly back and forth once we get things set up and running.”

Paige smoothed her hands down the sides of her lavender coatdress and wished she could check her appearance in a mirror just one more time. She wanted to make a good impression on her first day. Since the moment she’d entered the Wellman Building that morning, she’d heard nothing but talk about L. J. Montgomery. How rich he was. How powerful he was. What an eligible bachelor he was. How handsome he was rumored to be.

Obviously the women in the Wellman Building saw L. J. Montgomery as the answer to their prayers. But why would a rich, powerful, successful, handsome man be interested in a working girl when he could have his pick of wealthy, cultured ladies?

Besides, Paige wasn’t interested in L. J. Montgomery, other than as her employer. The only man who interested her was a tall, green-eyed cowboy with the most devastating smile she’d ever seen. She had tried all weekend to put him out of her mind, to pretend that what had happened hadn’t happened. But she kept remembering. His smile. His touch. The feel of him making hot, wild love to her. Just remembering brought a blush to her cheeks.

He’d told her that what had happened had been a mistake, and he’d let her walk out of his life. Obviously their lovemaking hadn’t meant anything to him, nothing more than a diversion to pass the time while they were trapped in the elevator. Perhaps if she was a little older, a little more experienced, that was all it would have meant to her. But their lovemaking had been unique, unlike anything she’d ever known. She’d been in love with Kevin, her college sweetheart, but he’d never made her feel the way Jared had.

“Hey, earth to Paige,” Kay said. “Where are you, girl? I’ve been talking a blue streak to you for five minutes now and you’re just staring off into space. Thinking about a guy, huh?”

“What?”

“I said, you must be thinking about a guy.”

“Well, to be honest, I was.”

“Not weaving fantasies about your new boss, are you? I understand from Greg that L.J. has a cardinal rule about not dating his employees.”

“Oh, no, I can assure you that I haven’t set my sights on Mr. Montgomery,” Paige said. “I was thinking about a cowboy I met Friday night. When the power went out.”

“Oh. We’ll have to go to lunch together.” Kay grabbed Paige’s arm. “You can tell me all the delicious details.”

The inner office door swung open and two men emerged from L. J. Montgomery’s office. Paige looked up to see Greg Addison.

“Well, here they are,” Greg said. “Ms. Thompson, my assistant, and Ms. Summers, your administrative assistant.”

“Ms. Thompson.” The man smiled at Kay.

Paige’s stomach tightened into painful knots. She recognized that voice. She looked at the man standing beside Greg Addison, and for one heart-stopping moment, she thought she was going to faint.

“And this must be—” Jared glared at her, his mouth agape.

“Mr. Montgomery?” Paige spoke his name in a strained squeak.

Grabbing Paige’s arm, Jared jerked her toward him. “Come with me, please, Ms. Summers.”

She allowed him to drag her into his office, leaving behind Greg and Kay. Glancing back over her shoulder, she saw the startled looks on their faces. Jared slammed the door.

“You’re my assistant?” Jared settled his hands on his hips and glared at her. “You?”

Paige looked at the harsh, stern man and wondered if she had lost her mind. This couldn’t be happening. He was the same man she’d made love with in the elevator—and yet he wasn’t. Jared, her Friday night lover, had been a cowboy in a Stetson, boots and jeans. L. J. Montgomery wore an expensive suit, silk tie and linen shirt.

“Why were you dressed like a cowboy Friday evening?” she asked.

“I’d just flown in from my ranch in Texas,” he said. “Besides, I don’t wear suits all the time. What about you? Why didn’t you tell me you’d just been hired as my administrative assistant?”

“I didn’t know who you were! I had no idea you were L. J. Montgomery.”

“Sit down.” He pulled up a chair and placed it in front of his desk. “We’re caught in a rather awkward situation here, aren’t we?”

That was the understatement of the year, she thought as she continued standing there staring at him. He was going to fire her, here and now. She was just about to lose the best job she’d ever had before she even started work. “I’ll save you the trouble of asking me to leave. I’ll get my purse off my desk and—”

“I’m not going to fire you,” he said, then pointed to the chair. “Please, Ms. Summers…Paige, sit down.”

Reluctantly, she sat, her back ramrod straight.

“I know that we both assumed we’d never meet again,” he said. “But…we have.”

“Yes, we have.” Paige was torn between her delight at seeing Jared again and her misery over the fact that he had turned out to be L. J. Montgomery. Her boss! One of the wealthiest and most powerful businessmen in the Southwest.

“Look, as far as I’m concerned, there’s no reason you can’t keep this job.” Jared eased his rear down on the edge of his desk and crossed his arms over his chest. “What happened between us Friday night was a one-time-only thing. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t have happened. And it’ll never happen again.”

“I’m not sure I could work for you after what happened,” she said. Not now that I think I might already be halfway in love with you.

“Look, Paige, you obviously need this job or you wouldn’t have applied for it.” Jared uncrossed his arms and stuck his hands in his pockets. “A job like this one, with all the benefits, doesn’t come along every day. It wouldn’t be fair to ask you to give it up just because of what happened. And I don’t date my employees. It’s one of my cardinal rules. One I never break.”

“But don’t you think it might be a little embarrassing, our working together every day?”

“There’s no reason why it has to be. We’ll just put the Friday night incident in the past, where it belongs. And it’s not as if you’ll even see me that often. I probably won’t be back to Colorado for several months.”

“I know. Mr. Addison explained about your work schedule when he hired me.”

“Then there shouldn’t be a problem.” Jared eased off his desk. “Honey, we’re a couple of adults. It wasn’t the first time for either of us. These things happen.”

They don’t happen to me, she wanted to say, but didn’t. Instead she said, “You’re right, Mr. Montgomery. It would be stupid of me to let what happened between us make me give up a wonderful job.”

“Then you’ll stay on here at Montgomery Real Estate and Land Development?”

“Yes, I’ll stay.” As long as he wasn’t around every day, she’d be fine. And when he was in town, she’d just have to find a way to manage.

“Then we have a deal, Ms. Summers. We’re going to pretend Friday night never happened.” Jared held out his hand. “And you’re going to stay on as my administrative assistant.”

She didn’t want to touch him. But she had no choice. If she didn’t accept his handshake, he’d know she was afraid. Willing herself not to tremble, she put her hand in his. Her insides melted. All she wanted to do was wrap herself around him and ask him to hold her close forever.

* * *

That had been the last time Paige had seen him. Four months ago. And in those four months her life had changed forever. She had longed for Jared to return and tell her that his rejection had been a mistake, that he still wanted her as much as he had the night they’d shared such unparalleled passion in the elevator.

Now Paige realized that once she had discovered L. J. Montgomery and her lover, Jared, were one in the same, she should have given up her job as his administrative assistant. She could have found something with another firm. After all, she had a business degree and nearly four years’ experience. If only she’d done the smart thing, she wouldn’t have had to endure talking to him on the phone, which always prompted her to dream about him. And she wouldn’t now be facing the prospect of his imminent return. But jobs that paid the salary she received at Montgomery’s and companies that provided such excellent employee benefits were few and far between.

And now that she was in this situation, she desperately needed her good insurance to pay the doctor and hospital bills.

This situation? Paige laughed aloud. Tears sprung to her eyes. She swatted them away as if they were pesky insects. She was not going to feel sorry for herself. She’d gotten herself into this situation and it was up to her to take care of herself.

If she had a viable alternative to facing L. J. Montgomery, she wouldn’t still be working for his firm. But she needed her job, now more than ever. Her parents weren’t poor, but neither were they wealthy. Her father’s carpentry work supplemented his army retirement and the family got along just fine. But her parents had one son in his second year at the University of Colorado and a younger one was a senior in high school. They could hardly afford to take care of her.

So far she’d been able to keep her condition a secret from everyone at work, including Kay Thompson, with whom she’d formed a genuine friendship. She wasn’t showing—not yet—not so that anyone could tell she was four months pregnant. But sooner or later, her pregnancy would become noticeable, and then what would she tell everyone? What would she tell Jared?

Paige checked her watch. Twelve-thirty. Jared was due at the office at two. An hour and thirty minutes. Maybe she would feel differently about him once she saw him. It was possible that he wasn’t quite as wonderful as she remembered. Maybe he wasn’t as tall and lean and powerful and sexy as she’d thought he was. Maybe she had imagined his killer smile—those white teeth, that darkly tanned face. Maybe he was just an ordinary, attractive man with a nice smile.

Yeah, sure. And I imagined our wild, hot, passionate lovemaking in the elevator. I imagined that what we shared was earth-shattering, unlike anything I’d ever experienced. And maybe I’m just imagining that I’m four months pregnant.

Paige took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and glanced straight at L. J. Montgomery’s big, wide oak desk. Pretending he was sitting in the chair behind the desk, Paige went over her stories—the ones from which she’d have to choose when it became necessary to reveal her pregnancy.

One was a lie. He wasn’t the father. The other was the truth. He was the father.

What sort of woman would lie to a man about something so important? But then again, what sort of woman would make love to a perfect stranger in an elevator? She wasn’t the type to do either. But she’d already done one and might be forced to do the other.

Once she saw Jared again, she’d know the right thing to do. Maybe, if she was lucky, he’d walk into the office, swoop her up in his arms and declare his undying love for her. But something told Paige she wasn’t going to be that lucky.

* * *

Jared had convinced himself that for the past four months he’d been far too busy to become involved with someone new. Although he’d made time for a few dates, not one of them had involved more than a pleasant dinner and a chaste good-night kiss. And when thoughts of Paige Summers drifted through his head, as they so often did, he forced them away, determined to put his Grand Springs administrative assistant out of his mind.

In the cold, hard light of day, Jared was completely in charge of his life. He had learned at his wealthy father’s knee that power was everything, and despite his inherited millions, he’d been determined to prove himself in the business world—without his father’s help. And at thirty-seven, he’d done just that.

But despite his iron will, he could not control his dreams. At night, Paige curled herself around him like a purring kitten and he became powerless against his desire for her. No matter what his good sense told him—that no one, least of all some sexy redheaded working girl, was going to veer him off course and ruin his plans—his body told him the exact opposite—that he should give up everything to possess her.

Years ago, another beautiful administrative assistant had wanted him to play Prince Charming to her Cinderella. If it hadn’t been for Grandpa Monty’s intervention, Jared would have found himself married to a sexy little gold digger. But he’d learned his lesson well, and in the years following, his romantic liaisons had been confined to brief, mutually satisfying affairs with sophisticated women, who like him, wanted nothing more.

Of course, he would marry—eventually. He was damn near close to accomplishing everything he’d set out to achieve when he’d started his real estate and land development company straight out of college. In another five years—when he had achieved all his goals—he’d find a suitable wife, marry and have children.

But he certainly wouldn’t find his life’s mate in an elevator. The woman he made his wife wouldn’t just have a gorgeous face and great body. And she certainly wouldn’t be some unsophisticated, hot-blooded, earthy, emotional redhead. No, when Lawrence Jared Montgomery married, he’d marry a dignified, sophisticated princess who would make him the perfect wife.

And until recently, Jared noted, he’d enjoyed a rich, full social life, with his pick of women wherever he went. Oh, he still had his pick of women, but he’d been too busy to begin a new affair. Besides, he hadn’t met anyone really interesting in quite some time. Not since he’d spent an evening trapped in an elevator with a redheaded temptress.

But Paige Summers was not the reason he hadn’t had sex with another woman in four months. She didn’t mean that much to him. Hell, she didn’t mean a thing to him! They’d had a one-night stand and that was all there was to it. They had both agreed that what had happened had been a mistake, that they’d forget it, pretend it never happened. All she was to him was an employee. His Grand Springs administrative assistant. A voice on the phone.

They had corresponded on business matters via fax, E-mail and occasionally telephone. He avoided calling her except when it was absolutely necessary. Just the sound of her voice made him hard. It wasn’t her fault, of course. She couldn’t help that her voice was sweet and soft and so sexy that she could make reading from the phone book sound like an invitation to bed.

Jared had put off returning to Colorado as long as he possibly could, relying on Greg to get the business off to a good start. But he needed to be in Grand Springs himself. He’d never before let a new branch of his company go without his personal attention for such a long time. And Greg was beginning to ask questions. Questions Jared couldn’t answer. Hell, what was he supposed to say? I’m scared to come back to Grand Springs because I had sex with my assistant when we were trapped in the elevator and I can’t get her out of my system? He’d never forget that Monday morning after they’d made love in the elevator.

* * *

Seeing Paige again was a surprise. Finding out she was his new administrative assistant was a shock. He supposed he should have fired her on the spot. But that would have been unfair to Paige. He felt relieved when she agreed to remain in his employ.

“Then you’ll stay on here at Montgomery Real Estate and Land Development?” he asked.

“Yes, I’ll stay.”

“Then we have a deal, Ms. Summers. We’re going to pretend Friday night never happened.” He held out his hand. “And you’re going to stay on as my assistant.”

Jared clasped her small soft hand. He wanted this woman. Wanted her badly. And wanted her now. Thank God he wouldn’t be in Colorado long. If he knew what was good for him, he’d leave that day. The last thing he wanted was to get involved with some administrative assistant who had stars in her eyes and the wedding march playing in her head. Paige Summers might be the most gorgeous, tempting female he’d ever run across, but she was not the type of woman he planned to marry. He certainly wasn’t going to allow his attraction to her ruin all his plans.

He wished she wasn’t so damned gorgeous. All round, voluptuous curves, big brown eyes and glorious red hair. Just looking at her aroused him. If he had any sense at all, he’d send her away.

Pulling her hand out of Jared’s grasp, Paige smiled weakly. “I’d better go back outside to my desk.”

“Good idea. I’m sure Greg and Ms. Thompson are wondering why I whisked you off in here so quickly.”

“If Kay…that is, if Ms. Thompson asks, what can I tell her?”

“Tell her that my plans have changed and I’m going back to Texas today, so I needed to brief you on your duties immediately.”

“But you haven’t,” Paige said.

“Haven’t what?” He stared at her quizzically.

“You haven’t briefed me on my duties.”

“No, I haven’t.” Damn! If he didn’t straighten up his act, Paige would figure out what sort of effect she was having on him. Hell, if she took a good look at his crotch, she’d know. Just brief her as quickly as possible, he told himself, and get her out of your sight.

Within an hour, Jared had rearranged his entire weekly schedule and was en route to the airport. He knew that the sooner he got away from Paige Summers, the better. And he’d have to stay away long enough to forget her. Forget about her beautiful face and perfect body. Forget about her sweet lips and warm brown eyes. Forget about her whimpering little cries of pleasure when he thrust into her. Forget about the way he felt when she fell apart in his arms.

How long would it take? A month? Two? Longer? Heaven help him, he’d just have to stay away, no matter how long it took to work her out of his system.

* * *

Well, that had been four months ago, and Jared still wasn’t a hundred percent sure he had worked Paige Summers out of his system. But whether he had or not, he was returning to Colorado. He had already stayed away too long.

He checked his Gucci watch. Another hour and his pilot would land the Montgomery jet in Grand Springs. He lifted his glass to his lips and took a sip of the half-Drambuie, half-Scotch drink. A rusty nail, as the mixture was called, had been Grandpa Monty’s favorite, and the old man had served Jared his first on-the-rocks rusty nail when he’d been fourteen. That night had been a rite of passage in many ways for Jared. His grandfather had been quite a man, not as smooth or sophisticated as his father, the old man’s only son, but smarter, tougher and filled with a passion for life few men possessed. The old man had made his millions in oil right after the First World War, but in his heart, he’d never been anything but a cowboy. Jared had cared for Grandpa Monty more than he’d ever cared about another living soul, and even now, fifteen years after Monty’s death, Jared still missed him.

He wondered what the old man would think of Paige Summers. He already knew what his widowed mother would think of her. Joyce Montgomery shunned anyone she considered even remotely beneath her.

Of course, it didn’t matter what anyone thought. He wasn’t returning to Colorado to begin an affair with Paige. Quite the opposite. He was going to stay in Grand Springs as long as it took to get over his obsession with the girl. And that’s all it was. An obsession. Once he saw her again, he’d probably realize that his memories of her were overblown fantasies. She couldn’t possibly be as lovely as he remembered or her body as alluring. And the sex they’d shared had been just that—sex. He’d had good sex before. Often. His mind and body had played tricks on him, making him remember their lovemaking as something more than it was. It couldn’t have been that earth-shattering.

When he arrived at his office, he intended to treat Ms. Summers as nothing more than an employee. If she had been fantasizing about their having a relationship, then she’d have to face reality. He was her boss. She was his administrative assistant. If she harbored any illusions about the two of them, then he’d make it perfectly clear to her that they had no future together.




Chapter Two


Paige heard Jared’s voice in the hallway. He was here. Her heart skipped a beat. Greg Addison laughed heartily. The door to Paige’s office swung open and the two men entered, Kay Thompson following closely behind.

Paige’s heart stopped for a split second as she rose from her chair, her gaze riveted to Jared. He was the very essence of a successful businessman, an aura of wealth and power surrounding him. He filled out the double-breasted jacket he wore to perfection, and the brown stripes in his broadcloth shirt matched the dark silk of his hair.

She stepped out from behind her desk and smiled. More than anything, she wanted to run into his arms. She’d been kidding herself if she thought she could see him again and not feel the same magic that had caused her to act so out of character four months ago. She was as drawn to him as metal to a magnet.

When Jared paused briefly at her side, Paige’s smile widened. “Welcome back to Grand Springs,” she said, amazed that she’d been able to keep the nervous quiver out of her voice, when it was wreaking havoc in her stomach.

“Thank you, Ms. Summers. It’s good to see you again.”

His gaze never quite settled on her face. Paige realized that he was looking somewhere over her left shoulder, at the wall behind her. Without another word or gesture of any kind, L. J. Montgomery proceeded to his office. When Kay followed the two men into Jared’s office and closed the door behind them, Paige slumped down in her chair. Clenching her teeth tightly in an effort not to cry, not to overreact to Jared’s cool, businesslike greeting, she closed her eyes and counted to ten. Counting had always been her mother’s solution to problems. When they’d been children, Mama had given Bryant, Austen and her to the count of three to obey her command or else face the consequences. And whenever any of them lost their temper, Mama would caution them to always count to ten before throwing a tantrum.

Paige most certainly wasn’t going to throw a tantrum. She wasn’t the type. Never had been. But she was upset and hurt. Jared had treated her as if she were nothing more than an employee.

Well, silly, what did you expect? That he’d treat you like a lover—a lover he’d been unable to forget, as you’ve been unable to forget him? He told you that he thought it best if you both pretended your night of passion hadn’t happened. Obviously he’s been able to do just that. Forget it.

But how could he have forgotten, when, for her, the experience had been so unforgettable?

How on earth was she going to continue working for him, day after day, growing bigger and bigger with his child, and act as if he meant nothing more to her than an employer? Dear God, Paige prayed, how would she ever explain her pregnancy? She didn’t want to lie to him. But he might give her no other choice.

* * *

“Ms. Thompson, please ask Ms. Summers to gather up all the facts and figures on the Rocky Springs Ranch development and bring them in to me in about ten minutes,” Jared said.

“Yes, sir.” Her brilliant smile dazzled the two men watching her. “And may I say, we’re very pleased that you’ll be in Grand Springs for a while.”

“Thank you, Ms. Thompson, or may I call you Kay?” Jared thought the lovely divorcée was not only a shrewd businesswoman but a charming addition to the Montgomery Real Estate and Land Development staff. He didn’t doubt for a minute that, with Kay’s years of experience and real estate savvy, he’d be putting her in charge of one of his many branch offices someday soon.

“Yes, please call me Kay.”

“Good, but only if you’ll call me L.J., as all my associates do.”

“All right, L.J.”

The moment Kay exited the office, Greg slapped Jared on the back and chuckled. “Are you considering breaking your cardinal rule about not dating your employees?”

Jared snapped his head around. “What?”

“Kay Thompson is a striking woman, isn’t she?”

“Yes, she is.” Rounding his desk, Jared twisted the lever on the miniblinds covering the huge window and exposed the view from the top of the Wellman Building. “I’m surprised you haven’t made a move on her.”

“I have, but she declined the offer,” Greg said. “She told me that she went through an unpleasant divorce not long ago and she’s not quite ready for the dating scene again. But she might change her mind if the big boss asked.”

“I don’t intend to ask. I’m not going to break my rule for anyone, not even the charming Ms. Thompson.” Jared could have added that if he broke the rule for anyone, it would be for Paige Summers, not Kay Thompson. But no one knew about the evening he’d spent with Paige, trapped in the elevator. No one except Paige and him. And that’s the way he wanted it. That little incident had created enough problems in his life without other people knowing and spreading gossip around the office.

“I don’t know how you do it.” Greg shook his head. “You’re surrounded by attractive women in every branch office and yet you’re able to resist temptation. I’m afraid I don’t have your willpower.”

“Yes, I know.” Jared grinned. “That’s why you have a reputation for being the company Lothario. Besides, there are more than enough beautiful ladies who don’t work for me from which to choose.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Greg agreed. “But how any man could resist your assistant is beyond me. Our Ms. Summers is one hot little number, don’t you think?”

Jared pivoted sharply, his green eyes boring into Greg. “What do you mean by that!”

“Whoa! Have I hit a nerve?”

“Explain what you meant by your remark about Ms. Summers.” Had Greg come on to Paige? Had she succumbed to his charm? Had the two of them made love? Jared hated the unaccustomed feeling of jealousy that suddenly raged inside him.

“Isn’t it obvious? I mean, just look at her. She’s young, beautiful and build like a brick—”

“Shut up!” Jared slammed one big fist down on top of his desk. The force of his blow shifted the telephone and several items neatly arranged on the smooth oak surface.

“Well, well.” Greg rubbed his chin, mocking a meditative gesture.

“I’m surprised your shenanigans haven’t gained us a sexual harassment suit before now.” Glowering at Greg, Jared knotted his hands into tight fists. If Greg had touched Paige, he’d kill him!

“What’s got you so riled up, old buddy? You know damn well that I never cross the line. Besides, if you’d just told me that you’d already staked a claim on Paige Summers, I wouldn’t have asked her out.”

“You’re dating Paige…that is, Ms. Summers?”

“No, but not for lack of trying,” Greg admitted. “After the fifth try, I gave up. I had to accept the fact that the lady isn’t interested.”

“Then she has a boyfriend,” Jared said, uncertain whether or not he wanted to believe his statement.

“Well, when I asked if there was someone else, she said that there was.”

“I see.”

“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?” Greg asked.

“There’s nothing going on. I just don’t want you pestering my assistant. From now on, stay away from her and don’t make any more remarks about her…er…physical attributes.”

Jared realized, too late, that his reaction to Greg’s comment about Paige had been a mistake. Greg was no fool. He knew how uncharacteristic it was for Jared to lash out at him over a woman—any woman. In the past, their common code had been live and let live.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so…possessive.” Greg stared at his boss, as if seeing him for the first time. “What I can’t figure out is why. You’ve only seen the woman twice. The first day she came to work here and again a few minutes ago. Come on, old pal of mine, fess up. What’s going on with you and Paige?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” Greg wasn’t buying it, but Jared could hardly tell him the truth. “After I finish with Ms. Summers, we’ll need to discuss the particulars of the Rocky Springs Ranch deal. Until then, go get some work done and leave me the hell alone.”

Holding up both hands in an “I surrender” pose, Greg whooshed out a breath and backed toward the door. “I’ll tell Ms. Summers you’re ready for her.” Greg grinned, but before Jared could respond, he jerked open the door and exited quickly.

Willing himself into an uncertain calm, Jared stood and waited for Paige to enter his office. A moment later, carrying a stuffed file folder, she appeared in the doorway.

“Are you ready for these now, Mr. Montgomery?” she asked.

He’d been a fool to think that seeing Paige again would break the spell she’d cast over him. In person, she was even lovelier than he remembered. Her dark red hair shimmered with a healthy burgundy glow. Her creamy skin beckoned for his touch. She lifted her eyes and looked directly at him. He’d never forget those huge brown eyes gazing at him with such passionate longing four months ago. But not now. Not today. Her look was cool, distant and wary.

“Yes, please, come in, Ms. Summers.” If he acted purely on instinct, he’d reach out and grab her, pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless. Then he’d take her, here, on his desk.

She laid the folder on his desk instead of handing it to him, obviously not wanting to risk their touching. “I think you’ll find everything you need in there.”

What I need is you, Paige. Naked, lying beneath me and sighing my name as I give you pleasure. You’re what I’ve needed for the past four months. Every day. Every night.

“I’m sure the file is complete,” he said. “Mr. Addison tells me that your work here is exemplary. I hope you’ve found working for Montgomery’s challenging and satisfying.”

“Yes, I have.”

“We reward good work. Performance like yours deserves an increase in salary.” The moment the words were out, Jared wished them back. God, how would she interpret what he’d said? Would she think he was referring to their one-night stand instead of her excellent work record?

“I—I… Thank you.”

“I understand that Greg…Mr. Addison, has asked you out several times.” Jared took a deep breath and swallowed hard. “I want to assure you that he won’t bother you again. One thing we pride ourselves on at Montgomery’s is a sexual-harassment-free workplace for our employees.”

“I understand, and I’m sure all your employees are grateful. But Mr. Addison didn’t offend me in any way. He was a perfect gentleman every time he asked me for a date.”

Unlike you. Jared heard the words she left unsaid. Greg had always acted like a perfect gentleman, whereas he, on the other hand, had acted like a barbarian. He—a stranger—had taken her, passionately, standing up, in a stalled elevator. And afterward, told her to forget it had ever happened. No doubt Ms. Summers didn’t think much of him. And he couldn’t blame her. He didn’t think much of himself and his actions that Friday evening four months ago.

“I’m glad to know that Greg didn’t offend you.” Jared picked up the folder, sat down behind his desk and opened the file. “I want you to be happy here, Ms. Summers. If you ever have a problem of any kind, I want you to come to me. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.”

For the next twenty minutes, Jared went through the motions, putting on his best Big Boss facade. He’d been fooling himself to think getting Paige out of his system would take nothing more than seeing her again. If anything, being around her again made him want her all the more. Hell, if she wasn’t his employee and if she wasn’t so damned young and sweet, he’d rush her into a torrid affair and let the fire between them burn itself out. But as things stood, he would have to take an alternative route.

Jared decided he’d have to suffer through more withdrawal symptoms and try to find solace in the arms of another woman. Maybe tonight. He sure as hell hoped so. He couldn’t go around the office every day blatantly aroused. That was something he couldn’t pretend didn’t exist.

* * *

“Have you got things wrapped up?” Kay asked as she stopped by Paige’s desk.

“Just about. Give me another five minutes. Mr. Montgomery is trying to make up for lost time today.” Paige didn’t admit to Kay that her inability to finish up on time had more to do with her frame of mind than with Jared’s workload.

“I know why I don’t have a dinner date tonight and am going out with a female friend,” Kay said. “But why aren’t you dating someone?”

“I—I…uh…there’s someone. I mean, there was someone and I’m not quite over him.”

“Oh, brother, do I know how that is. As bad as my marriage was, I sometimes find myself thinking about that bastard I stayed with for five years. I loved him so much when we first got married.”

“I always thought love—real love—was meant to last a lifetime, even forever.”

“Yeah, well, so did I. But when love is one-sided, it can’t last. My ex-husband loved me, I suppose. In his own way. The only problem was that he loved half a dozen other women just as much.”

“Oh, Kay, I’m so sorry. You’ve never said before what happened.”

“And you were too nice to ask.”

“My college boyfriend left me for someone else, too,” Paige said. “I guess I should have known it would happen. The whole time we were dating, he kept trying to change me. He hated that I was so emotional and naive. He wanted me to be someone I wasn’t. If he had truly loved me, he would have accepted me for who I was.”

The outer office door opened and a tall blonde sailed in, swaying her slender hips and smiling warmly at Kay and Paige. The woman was beautiful. She was dressed in the height of fashion, and diamonds and gold accented her ears, fingers and wrists.

“May I help you?” Paige asked.

“Are you Jared’s administrative assistant?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then you can help me. Please tell him I’m here.” She held out her hand to Paige. “Marcy Dailey. Jared asked me to meet him here.”

“Paige Summers.” Still seated behind her desk, she lifted her hand and exchanged a cordial greeting with Ms. Dailey. Returning the woman’s smile, Paige wondered just who Marcy Dailey was.

“Oh, you’re Mr. Montgomery’s interior decorator, aren’t you? I’m Kay Thompson. You picked up the keys to Mr. Montgomery’s house from me a couple of months ago.”

“Oh, yes, Ms. Thompson. I remember you.”

“I thought you’d finished the decorating job,” Kay said.

“I did. I’m not here on business. Jared called earlier today and asked if I was free for dinner tonight.”

Paige felt as if someone had hit her in the stomach. His first night back in Grand Springs and he already had a date. With another woman! And not only was the other woman beautiful, she was nice, dammit!

“I’ll tell Mr. Montgomery that you’re here,” Paige said.

You are not going to let this upset you, she told herself. What difference does it make? She already knew that she didn’t mean a thing to Jared, that he’d put their night together behind him. As far as he was concerned, it hadn’t happened. But it did happen, she wanted to scream. And I have the living proof growing inside me.

Before Paige had a chance to inform Jared that his dinner date had arrived, he opened his office door and stuck his head out. “Ms. Summers, could you— Oh, Marcy, hello.” He glanced down at his watch. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was so late. Give me a minute and I’ll be right with you.”

“Is there something you need?” Paige asked.

Yes, Jared thought. I need for you to stop looking at me with those sexy brown eyes of yours. I need to get you out of my mind. I need to regain my equilibrium and put my life back on track. “No, Ms. Summers. It can wait until tomorrow.”

He rushed back into his office and reemerged after putting on his jacket and straightening his tie. Without giving either employee another glance, Jared said, “Good night. See you both in the morning.” He took Ms. Dailey by the arm and escorted her out of the office.

Paige jumped up from her desk and ran toward the bathroom. She thought her bouts with morning sickness had ended weeks ago, but she made it to the rest room just in time. She lifted the commode seat, bent over and vomited.

Kay rushed in behind her, wet a paper towel and handed it to Paige. “You haven’t had one of these episodes in weeks. Are you all right?”

Paige had thought she’d hidden her morning sickness quite well and had been unaware that Kay suspected anything. Her friend had never mentioned it.

“Thanks, Kay.” Paige flushed the commode, then accepted the damp towel and wiped her face with it. “I’m all right now. It’s been a trying day. I think the stress of having Mr. Montgomery here in the office just got to me.”

“Stress over L.J.’s presence might have triggered this little bout of nausea, but it doesn’t explain the weeks of morning sickness you’ve been experiencing.”

“Morning sickness? I don’t know—”

“I was pregnant once,” Kay said. “I was sick for four and a half months. I miscarried the baby. Lucky for all of us, I guess, since my marriage didn’t last.”

“Kay, I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, my problems are in the past. What about yours? You’re obviously pregnant and unmarried.”

“Do you think anyone else here at Montgomery’s suspects?”

“No one suspects a thing. Believe me. I hear all the gossip that goes on not only at Montgomery’s but in the entire Wellman building.”

“Kay, I’d rather you didn’t mention this to anyone. I know that, sooner or later, my condition will become apparent, but until then—”

“I won’t tell a soul.” Kay wrapped her arm around Paige’s shoulders. “Are you and the father going to get married?”

“No.”

“Is he already married?”

Paige gasped. “No, of course he’s not married.”

“Then what’s the problem? Is it that he doesn’t want to marry you or don’t you want to marry him?”

“He doesn’t know about the baby.”

“What? Why haven’t you told him?”

Paige closed the commode seat and slumped down, sitting before her trembling legs gave way. “You and I have become friends these last four months and I trust you, but—”

“Don’t tell me anything you don’t want me to know.”

“I’ve told my parents. My mother is the Rock of Gibraltar. My father has murder in his heart.” Paige laughed shakily. “They’ve promised to stand by me and help me get through the pregnancy. My mother’s agreed to take care of the baby until he or she is old enough for preschool. And with my salary and good insurance, I should be able to get by just fine.”

“Why haven’t you told the father?”

“Because…” Paige hesitated, wondering just how much she dared tell Kay. “I’ve had only one other lover. The college boyfriend I told you about, and we’d planned to get married. Things didn’t work out after he got a job in L.A. and met the girl of his dreams—the boss’s daughter. There hadn’t been anyone else since Kevin. Not until four months ago.”

“So, four months ago you started a new relationship and accidently got pregnant.”

“I didn’t start a new relationship,” Paige said. “I did something unthinkable. At least, it was unthinkable for someone like me.”

“What did you do?”

“I had a one-night stand with a stranger.”

“Oh, my God, Paige, you didn’t!”

“I’m afraid I did. We got trapped in the elevator that Friday night in June that Grand Springs lost its power.”

“You had sex with a perfect stranger in a stalled elevator?”

“Uh-huh.” Paige nodded her head.

“Then you have no idea who he is, the man who fathered your child? You never saw him again?”

“I saw him again. The following Monday morning.”

“The day you started work at Montgomery’s?”

“Yes.”

“He works here in the Wellman Building?” Kay asked.

“Yes.”

“For heaven’s sake, Paige, who is he?”

Paige hesitated a moment. “L. J. Montgomery.”

For once in her life, Kay Thompson was utterly speechless.




Chapter Three


Paige was thankful that Jared had left the office for an early lunch and had told her not to expect him back until after two, if then. Despite his totally professional attitude toward her the entire morning of his second day back in Grand Springs, he had seemed nervous and edgy. And once or twice, when he’d thought she wasn’t looking, she’d caught him staring at her. Smiling, she had returned his stare, giving him an opportunity to say something—anything—personal. But all he’d done was clear his throat and look away. If he’d wanted to say something to her, why hadn’t he? Maybe her wishful thinking had made her imagine the longing in his eyes, or perhaps it had just been a reflection of the longing in her own heart.

How was she going to work alongside Jared day after day, see him walk out of his office with his dinner dates time and again, and then have to order morning-after roses for those women, as she’d had to do today for Marcy Dailey?

“Eating in today?” Kay asked as she entered the employees’ lounge.

“Yes, I brought a microwave meal.” Paige pointed to the low-fat, low-calorie pasta dish she’d just warmed.

Kay tossed a brown paper bag on the table, pulled out a chair and sat down. “I brought tuna with fat-free mayo on whole wheat and bottled water. I’m watching my figure. What’s your excuse for eating that stuff?”

“I’m watching my weight, too,” Paige said. “I’m only five-five and I’ve gained three pounds more than I should have. Dr. Petrocelli says that since I’m already well-rounded—” Paige rolled her eyes and sighed “—I need to watch my weight or I could easily balloon into an elephant by the time the baby arrives.”

“Speaking of Baby Montgomery, have you given any more thought to what we talked about last night?” Kay unscrewed the lid from her bottled water.

“Shh!” Paige glared at Kay. “Anyone could overhear you. No one knows I’m pregnant, and I certainly don’t want anyone suspecting that Jared is the father.”

“You do realize that sooner or later, you’re going to have to tell him.”

“He may not believe the baby’s his.” Paige lowered her voice to a whisper. “He has no reason to believe me. He’ll probably think that I’m just trying to trap him because he’s rich.”

“Anyone who knows you, knows you aren’t the type.” Kay unwrapped her sandwich.

“That’s just the problem. Jared doesn’t know me. Except as his employee. He doesn’t have a clue as to who I am as a person.”

“Then we’ll have to figure out a way for him to get to know you. And we don’t have any time to lose. You’re going to have to tell him the truth before you start showing.”

“I think it might be better all the way around if, when it becomes necessary, I tell him he isn’t the father. That it’s my boyfriend’s baby.”

“What boyfriend?” Kay took a hefty bite out of her sandwich.

“The imaginary one who fathered my child.”

Kay chewed and swallowed, then washed the food down with water. “What if Jared wants to meet your boyfriend? What will you do then?”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. My main concern is keeping this job. I need my insurance, and once I have a child to support, I’ll need my weekly paycheck more than ever.”

“You’ll never be able to look the man straight in the eye and lie to him,” Kay said. “You’re far too honest. Besides, even if by some miracle you pull this off, what will you do when one day L.J. gets a real good look at your kid and notices that it’s a carbon copy of him?”

“I can’t worry about the future. At least not the distant future. I have to concentrate on the present and on the immediate future, and how I’m going to explain to everyone that I’m four months pregnant and not married. I wish I wasn’t so old-fashioned., but I come from a very conservative, traditional family that believes that you marry and then have children.

* * *

Jared had left the office an hour ago with no intention of returning today. Spending an entire morning around Paige had been more difficult than he’d ever imagined. He realized now that getting her out of his system was going to be more difficult than giving up cigarettes. He’d quit smoking seven years ago, but he’d be damned if he didn’t still miss the old habit.

During his burger-and-fries lunch at The Saloon, a local bar and grill, he had decided that avoiding Paige was the act of a coward. He’d stayed away from her for four months, running from his feelings. Now, dammit, he’d returned to Grand Springs to face those feelings head-on…and conquer them.

Entering Paige’s office, Jared found it empty. She had probably gone out for lunch. Fine. He’d grab a cup of coffee in the employees’ lounge and get busy on some phone calls he needed to make.

As he neared the lounge, he heard two female voices and immediately recognized them. Paige and Kay.

“…How I’m going to explain to everyone that I’m four months pregnant and not married,” Paige said.

Jared stopped dead in his tracks directly outside the half-closed lounge door. It couldn’t be! Surely he’d misunderstood what Paige had said. She couldn’t be pregnant. She couldn’t be!

“Look, I think all your worries would be over if you’d just tell him he’s going to be a father,” Kay said. “I’ll bet money that he’ll want to marry you. Something tells me that he’s the old-fashioned, possessive kind.”

“I don’t want him to marry me because of the baby! What kind of marriage would that be for either of us? When a man asks me to marry him, I want it to be because he loves me and for no other reason.”

“I understand how you feel, but maybe you should have given that some thought before you had unprotected sex and got yourself pregnant.”

Unprotected sex! Good God Almighty! Jared eased backward several steps, then turned and bolted down the hallway, toward the elevators. He wasn’t thinking, only reacting, like a hunted animal trying to escape. Escape from what he’d overheard. Escape from Paige. Escape from the possibility that he could be the father of her baby.

Jared wound up back at The Saloon, where he ordered a rusty nail on the rocks, drank it too quickly and cursed a sudden headache. Then he ordered another and wisely sat there nursing the drink.

Paige Summers was pregnant. Four months pregnant. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the child was probably his. Although he didn’t really know Paige, somehow she didn’t seem the promiscuous type. As a matter of fact, even though she’d been as hot and wild for him as he’d been for her that evening in the elevator, there had been something almost innocent about the way she had reacted to his lovemaking. As if she had never experienced desire that powerful or pleasure that intense.

But on the other hand, it was possible that there was another man. Someone before him or after him. He couldn’t be one hundred percent sure the child was his.

“Dammit,” he muttered under his breath. “You know that baby’s yours.” He ran a shaky hand through his neatly styled hair. “How the hell did you get yourself into this kind of situation?”

You know how, his inner voice responded. Because you got so hot and bothered over a tempting piece of— No, Paige was not just another easy conquest. He had desired women before but never lost his head so completely that he forgot to use a condom.

Jared had never wanted a woman the way he’d wanted Paige, and heaven help him, he still wanted her. But she was the wrong woman for him. She didn’t fit into his plans. She was attractive and sweet and intelligent, but she was hardly the kind of wife who could step into his life and be an asset as his life’s partner.

But she was carrying his child. His child! He had no choice. He’d have to do the honorable thing. The marriage would be doomed from the start, of course, since it would be based on neither the love she wanted from a husband nor the suitability he desired in a wife. But even a marriage of short duration would give Paige and their child his name and protection. And it would give him the opportunity to get to know Paige, see her up close, flaws and all. Marriage to her was probably a surefire way to get her out of his system once and for all.

Before he made any definite plans, he’d have to talk to Paige and ask her point-blank if the child was his. His gut instincts told him that she wouldn’t lie to him. After all, a simple DNA test after the baby was born would verify the child’s paternity.

A nagging little thought persisted in repeating itself over and over in Jared’s head. What if Paige, sweet and innocent as she seemed, had known all along who he was? What if she had set out to trap L. J. Montgomery’s millions?

He couldn’t confront her at the office with all his questions. They needed privacy. He’d wait and go to her apartment this evening, and if she told him he was the father of her child, he’d tell her all her worries were over. He would do the honorable thing and marry her. She would become Mrs. L. J. Montgomery and be the envy of every woman in the Southwest. But before they said ‘I do,’ he’d make sure Paige signed a rock-solid prenuptial agreement that would protect all his financial assets.

* * *

Paige changed out of her work clothes and into a pair of much-washed, comfortable purple sweats. She ate a green salad with low-cal ranch dressing and devoured a small bunch of grapes. Her appetite had increased, not diminished, even with the bouts of morning sickness she’d suffered for weeks on end. Her doctor was right, she was going to have to watch her weight. All she had to do was look at her plump, middle-aged mother to know exactly what she’d look like in thirty years.

She put on four of her favorite CDs—Michael Buble, Yo-Yo Ma, Kenny G, and the Tchaikovsky selections of the Vienna Master series. She had eclectic tastes, was a connoisseur of music as a whole and not a slave to any specific type.

Then she sat down at the small worktable in the corner of her living room and picked up the Lucy Peck doll she had been working on the past few weeks. All that was needed to put the finishing touches on the blue-eyed towhead was to dress her in her 1902 frock.

Paige ran a loving hand over the doll’s wax head and mohair-stuffed body. This little lady wasn’t quite museum-piece quality, but there were collectors who’d more than compensate Paige for her time and restoration efforts. Just as she ran her finger across the 131 Regent St. address stamped across the doll’s tummy, the doorbell rang.

Who on earth? Her mother, probably, Paige decided. Always a mother hen, brooding over her chicks, Paige’s mama had become entirely too overprotective since Paige had told her she was pregnant. And Paige hadn’t called her mother today. She’d been so busy, she’d forgotten.

Not bothering to slip into her shoes, she padded across the wooden floor in her sock feet. Taking the proper precaution, she glanced through the peephole. Gasping, she stepped backward, away from the door. Jared! What was he doing here? At her apartment?

Leaving the safety latch in place, she cracked the door and peered out at him. “Hello, Mr. Montgomery. What can I do for you?”

“You can open the door and let me in,” he said. “Or would you prefer we discuss our personal life while I’m standing out here in the hall?”

Our personal life? What was he talking about? She unlatched the safety and opened the door, but blocked his entrance with her body.

“We don’t have a personal life, Mr. Montgomery. Not together, anyway. You’re my boss. I’m your administrative assistant. Anything we need to discuss, we can discuss at the office. Tomorrow.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Paige.” He put special emphasis on pronouncing her name. “We need to discuss an event that occurred four months ago in an elevator.”

Grabbing his arm, Paige dragged him into her apartment, then slammed the door. “I thought we agreed to pretend that didn’t happen.”

“That was before I realized there might have been some consequences to the incident that would make it impossible for either of us to pretend it didn’t happen.”

Jared glanced around her small living room, quickly noting how homey it was. Typical middle-class style, with stuffed pillows lining the floral sofa, a half-dozen plants dotting the tables and bookshelves, and an inexpensive CD player, DVD player and nineteen-inch TV crammed into an imitation wood entertainment center.

“I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Dear Lord, surely Kay hadn’t gone to Jared and told him about her pregnancy, Paige wondered. No, of course not. Kay wouldn’t do such a thing. Besides, Jared hadn’t come back to the office all afternoon, so Kay would hardly have had the opportunity to tell him anything.

Jared surveyed her from head to toe, then smiled. Even in a pair of baggy sweatpants and loose-fitting top, Paige was a knockout. Soft, feminine and so very tempting. He liked her hair the way she was wearing it pulled back in a loose ponytail, the thick mane falling down her back like a cinnamon waterfall. His hand itched to grab a handful of that silky mass and drag her toward him, just enough to devour her pouty pink lips.

“Could we sit down?” he asked.

She glared at him, her lips indeed pouting. “Yes, of course. Please, come in, Mr. Montgomery, and have a seat.”

“Thanks.” He walked over, sat down on the sofa and crossed his legs, acting for all intents and purposes as if he were settling in for quite a stay. “And stop calling me Mr. Montgomery. My name is Jared.”

“I know perfectly well what your name is, Mr. Montgomery.” She sat in an armchair, separated from the sofa by a Duncan Phyfe coffee table that had belonged to her grandmother. “You and I agreed that it was best for both of us if we kept our relationship strictly business. I’m sure you haven’t come here to tell me you’ve changed your mind.”

“That depends.” Jared slipped his hands into the side pockets of his gray wool slacks. His unbuttoned navy jacket fell open, revealing an expanse of white shirt and red silk tie.

“It depends on what?” she asked, scooting to the edge of the chair.

“On whether or not the child you’re carrying is mine.” He made the statement as calmly as if he’d said the sky is blue.

Paige’s face paled. Her eyes widened into huge brown globes. She opened her mouth on a silent gasp. He knew! He knew she was pregnant. But how? No one knew except her parents and Kay.

“How do you know I’m pregnant?” she asked.

“I came back to the office while you and Kay were having lunch in the employees’ lounge.” He watched Paige closely, keeping his gaze riveted to her face, duly noting her worried expression. “I overheard a couple of sentences of your conversation. Enough to learn that you’re four months pregnant and that Kay thinks you should tell the father.”

“You were eavesdropping. You had no business listening to our private conversation.”

“If the child is mine, then your conversation was very much my business.”

“What makes you think the child is yours?” Slipping the fingers of both hands together, Paige repeatedly rubbed her right thumb across her left palm.

“Don’t play games with me, honey.” Removing his hands from his pockets, he balled them into tight fists and leaned forward. “You’re four months pregnant, and we had sex four months ago. Unprotected sex.” He rested his fists on top of his knees.

Ever since the moment the doctor had confirmed her pregnancy, Paige had wondered just what she’d say to Jared at this precise moment. She had played through several different scenarios in her mind, but knew it all boiled down to one very important fact. Jared deserved to know the truth. She counted slowly to ten.

“I am four months pregnant,” she said. “And you’re the only man I’ve had sex with in the past three years.”

“Then there’s no question that the child is mine.”

“No question at all. You’re my baby’s father.”

“I see.”

“Not what you wanted to hear, was it? I’m sorry.” She sucked in her cheeks, then breathed deeply. “I did consider inventing an imaginary other man and telling you he was the father, but I thought you deserved to know the truth. And so does my child.”

“You’re right,” he said. “I’m glad you didn’t try to lie to me.”

“Look, I don’t blame you for the situation. I blame myself. I’m a big girl who should have known better. All I ask of you is to allow me to continue working at Montgomery’s. The insurance will take care of most of my doctor and hospital bills, and I can get by just fine on my salary.”

“You don’t expect me to take care of all your maternity bills? You don’t want some sort of settlement or some form of child support?”

“No. No, I don’t want or expect anything from you,” she assured him. “But I would like to keep my job, at least until after the baby is born. So the insurance will cover everything. Then you can give me a good reference and I can find another job.”

Was Paige for real? Jared wondered. Or was this some sort of game she was playing? Had his fears that she’d deliberately trapped him been groundless? Or was she just a very good actress?

“Are you saying that you don’t plan to tell anyone I’m the father?”

“No, of course not. But someday, I do plan to tell my child about you.”

Jared shot up off the sofa like a cannon blast. “Dammit!” Tightening and loosening his fists repeatedly, he glared at Paige, who sat ramrod straight on the edge of the big easy chair. He didn’t know what to think, didn’t know if he dared to take Paige at her word. Past experience had taught him not to trust anyone. Would he be a fool to trust Paige Summers? “I could use a drink.”

“Oh. Yes. I suppose you could.” Paige nodded, then quickly stood up and rushed into the kitchen. “I’m afraid all I have is some white wine. Will that do?”

“Nothing stronger?” He needed a good stiff belt of something at least a hundred proof.

“No, I’m afraid— Oh, wait a minute,” she called out from the kitchen. “I may have some whisky left over from last winter, when Mama brought a bottle over and fixed me a honey-and-whisky toddy. I had a horrible cold.”

She opened doors and slammed them shut, searching for the whisky. Finally she saw it on a top shelf, far out of her reach. “I found it,” she told him. “It’ll take me a minute. I’ll have to get a chair to reach it.”

She pulled a chair from the table, pushed it over to the counter and climbed up on the seat. Just as she reached out for the whisky bottle, Jared stormed into the kitchen and grabbed her around the waist. She plucked the nearly full bottle of Johnny Walker off the shelf seconds before Jared lifted her into his arms.

“What are you doing?” She stared at him, breathless and flushed, her heart beating ninety to nothing.

“You shouldn’t be climbing up on chairs. You could fall and hurt yourself. Hurt the baby.”

“Oh.”

She clung to the whisky bottle as if it were a golden prize, all the while staring at him with hungry eyes that reflected his own deep, devouring need.

“Paige?” He wanted to carry her to bed and make slow, sweet love to her all night long, if only she’d let him.

“Please, put me down, Jared, and I’ll pour you a drink.”

He didn’t want to put her down, but he did. Easing his hand across the back of her legs, he slid her over the front of his body, slowly, intimately, allowing her to feel his arousal.

“Every time I get near you, honey, I get hard.” He took the whisky bottle from her with one hand while he gripped the back of her neck with the other. “But you know that, don’t you?”

She stared him straight in the eye, unflinching. Her chest rose and fell rapidly with the force of her accelerated breathing. “Please, don’t do this to me. Don’t take advantage of the way you make me feel.”

“How do I make you feel?” He brushed her lips with his and smiled when she gasped. “All hot and damp and needy?”

She squirmed, trying to free herself from his hold. He set the whisky bottle down on the table behind him and clutched her hip, drawing her even closer against his body.

“What do you want me to say?” She looked at him, a fine mist of unshed tears in her eyes. “You make me want you. Want you enough to ignore my common sense. I did that once, the first time we met, and look what happened.”

“Yeah, honey, I guess you’re right.” He loosened his hold around her neck but didn’t release her. Lowering his head, he nuzzled her throat and breathed in her sweet, flowery, feminine scent. The purely male instinct part of him wanted to tell her that the damage had already been done, so what would be the harm of giving in to their desire now? But the sane, sensible part of his brain warned him that Paige wouldn’t see it quite that way.

Raising his head, he stared into her moist eyes and smiled sadly, then tenderly caressed her cheek. He released his hold on her and took a step backward, away from temptation. Paige sighed deeply but didn’t move.

“I could use that drink now, honey,” he said.

“Certainly.” Turning around, she opened a cupboard door, retrieved two small juice glasses and handed them to him. “I could use a drink myself.”

Jared placed the glasses on the round wooden table, then opened the whisky bottle, poured his glass half full and gulped down a large swallow. He blew out a breath as the liquor burned a trail down his throat and landed like a ton of hot bricks in his belly. “Want me to fix one for you?” Glancing around, he noticed her opening the refrigerator door. “Good idea. Get some ice. We’ll have our drinks on the rocks.”

Turning to face him, Paige held a milk carton in her hand. “I’m pregnant. Remember? I’m not supposed to have any liquor. This—” she hoisted the carton of skim milk in the air “—is my drink of choice for the next few months.”

Paige set the carton on the table, then opened the freezer compartment in her refrigerator and lifted out a small plastic container filled with ice cubes. “Here’s your ice.”

Reaching across the table, Jared grabbed the bowl, transferred a couple of ice cubes into his glass and placed the bowl on the table. He filled the glass to the rim with the Johnny Walker, then pulled out a chair and sat down.

“Sit down, Paige. We need to talk.”

She hesitated for a split second, then nodded agreement and sat. Jared sipped on his drink, all the while watching Paige, waiting for her to say something. She didn’t say a word, just poured herself a glass of milk and drank it very slowly.





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