A Woman's Touch (9 page)

She got to her feet, so consumed with fury that she was surprised she wasn’t going up in flames. „Don’t stand there and lie to me, Kyle. It has everything to do with that valley. In fact, that valley appears to be the sole basis of our relationship. It’s the reason we met in the first place, the reason you made love to me, the reason you asked me to move in with you. I’ll give your ancestors credit for one thing – they at least offered marriage to the woman who owned the valley. I didn’t even get that much!“

Kyle’s green eyes glinted. „Rebecca, sit down. You’re overreacting. This isn’t like you. Calm down and give us both a chance to talk this out.“

„What’s to talk about? Do you want to buy that land from me?“

„Forget the land,“ Kyle snarled, his temper obviously beginning to fray. „We’re not talking about the land, we’re talking about us. You and me.“

„Is that right? Then you’d have absolutely no objection if I gave the land away to Glen Ballard this afternoon?“

she taunted.

Kyle brushed the threat aside with an impatient movement of his hand. „Don’t make rash, stupid statements like that. You’re just a little upset.“

„A little upset?“
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

„Becky, we can deal with Harmony Valley later. It’s not important right now. Our relationship is the important thing.“

„What relationship?“ She glanced wildly around. „As far as I can see, the only relationship we have exists because of that land.“

„That’s not true, damn it. Becky, listen to me.“ Kyle took two long strides forward and put his glass down. „You’re being irrational. It’s not like you. Just calm down and give yourself a chance to think.“

Her chin came up. „What should I think about, Kyle? The fact that you’ve never once said you love me? The fact that I’ve been a fool thinking that you were falling in love with me and just needed time to understand your own feelings? Or maybe I should sit around and think about how I’ve been set up and used. Something tells me that would be a lot more productive.“

„You were not being set up.“
His hands closed around her shoulders. He gave her a small shake. His gaze was brilliant as he controlled his anger with obvious effort. „You’re not going to get away with accusing me of that, no matter how furious you are. I’ve told you once and I’ll tell you again, our relationship has nothing to do with that land.“

„I’m supposed to believe that?“ She was incredulous. „After the story you’ve just told me?“

„Believe it, Rebecca,“ Kyle said through his teeth.

„Give me one good reason.“

„You want reasons?“ he shot back, „I’ll give you a few – you owe me a little trust, Rebecca Wade. I’m the man you’

re sleeping with. The man you say you love.“

„Why should I throw good love and trust after bad? At least I know now why you’ve never told me that you loved me. I’ll give you some credit for honesty in that department.“

His hands tightened roughly on her shoulders.

„I’ve given you everything I have to give a woman,“ he rasped. „Everything.“

„Well, I’ve got news for you, Kyle Stockbridge. It’s not enough.“ Rebecca stepped away from him quickly, taking several steps back as his hands fell to his sides.

„Don’t run from me, Becky,“ he ordered softly.

„I do not run from anything or anyone. But I am going to get as far away from you as possible.“

„I’ll come after you.“

She read the implacable intent in his eyes and smiled grimly. „You won’t follow me for long. As soon as I get rid of Harmony Valley, you’ll forget all about me. Don’t worry about it, Kyle. Whatever you think you feel for me will vanish into thin air as soon as the land is no longer between us.“ She whirled and started down the hall to the bedroom.

Kyle was after her in a flash, hard on her heels as she hurried down the hall. „Where do you think you’re going?“

„To a hotel tonight. Tomorrow I think I’ll take a little trip up into the mountains. I’m curious to see the land that Alice Cork and her mother fought so hard to hang on to.“

„They didn’t want to hold on to Harmony Valley so much as they wanted to keep it out of Stockbridge or Ballard hands,“ Kyle said.

„Well, I can certainly understand them not wanting a Stockbridge to get hold of it. But, I, for one, have nothing against Ballards yet. Perhaps this Glen Ballard doesn’t take after his ancestors the way you take after yours.“

„Stop issuing vague threats, Becky. It’s not your style.“

„Who’s threatening?“ She rounded the corner into the bedroom and went to the walk-in closet to drag out her suitcase. When she swung around, she collided with Kyle who was almost on top of her. The edge of the suitcase caught him squarely in the midsection.

Kyle sucked in his breath, wincing. „Believe me, Rebecca, Glen Ballard is just as big a bastard as his father and his grandfather. I know it for a fact.“

„Is that right?“ Rebecca dumped the suitcase onto the bed, opened it and began tossing clothes into it willy-nilly.

„How do you know that? What’s he ever done to you except fight for the same business deals you wanted?“

„He seduced the woman I was engaged to marry, for one thing,“ Kyle said in a voice so cold it could have frozen hellfire.

Rebecca was so shocked she didn’t move for an instant. She stared at Kyle, her arms full of lingerie. „Ballard stole your fiancée?“ she finally repeated blankly.

„He and Darla have been married for nearly four years.“

Rebecca moved slowly back to the open suitcase and dropped the lingerie inside. „I’d heard rumors that you’d been engaged once. No one said much about it.“

„No one at work knows much about it,“ Kyle retorted. „It’s not something I talk about on the job.“

„Or anywhere else. I wondered when you’d get around to mentioning it.“ She closed the suitcase, locking it with unnecessary precision. „I heard rumors of a marriage, also. I dismissed the stories as idle gossip at the time. Now I’m not so sure. Is the tale true, by any chance, Kyle? Have you been divorced?“

He raked his fingers through his hair. „Yeah.“

„Yeah? That’s all the explanation I get for one divorce and a broken engagement?“

His eyes burned into hers. „What do you want me to say? That I’m a two-time loser when it comes to women? All right. I’ll admit it. Stockbridge men don’t make good husbands. Just ask anyone who knows us. The Stockbridge luck doesn’t seem to apply when it comes to women,“ he concluded bitterly.

„Maybe the Stockbridge men shouldn’t have relied on their luck when it comes to women. Maybe they should have tried being honest, instead.“ Rebecca picked up the suitcase. It was so heavy she had to use two hands to carry it.

„Put that down, Becky. You’re not going anywhere.“

„How are you going to stop me? Brute force? Don’t try it, Kyle. It didn’t work with the other women who owned Harmony Valley and it’s not going to work with me. Get out of my way.“

He closed his eyes briefly, obviously struggling for self-control. „I don’t want to let you leave, Becky. I’m afraid you’ll do something crazy.“

„Like what? Sell the land to Glen Ballard? I promise to let you know the minute I do.
Now get out of my way.“

„You said you loved me, Becky,“ he reminded her very softly.

„Talk about doing something crazy,“ she muttered. „Stand aside, Kyle.“

„This morning you lectured me on giving Harrison a chance to explain himself. I followed your advice. I listened to him.“

„Don’t draw any parallels. You’ve already had your chance to explain yourself and I didn’t like the explanation.“

„Damn it, Becky, you owe me a little trust.“

„Why? Because I’ve been sleeping with you for ten days?“ she shot back, enraged. „I don’t owe you a thing for that privilege. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the one who owes me. You owe me for all the love I’ve wasted on you.

For all the love I was going to squander on you in the future. But it doesn’t look like I’m ever going to get paid back, so I’ll just have to write the whole mess off as a bad debt.“

„Becky, I’m warning you. If you leave now, you’ll regret it.“

Her brows rose. „Is that right? What will you do? Fire me? Go right ahead. If Carstairs recommended me so enthusiastically to you, I’m sure I can get him to recommend me to someone else. Maybe Glen Ballard could use a good executive assistant who’s been inside the enemy camp for over two months.“

She’d gone too far with that last, empty threat. Rebecca understood that at once. Kyle’s hand closed around her arm, his fingers locked in a punishing grip. But that grip wasn’t nearly as unnerving as the bleak anger in his eyes.

„Don’t even think about going to Glen Ballard,“ Kyle said far too softly.

Rebecca drew a steadying breath and decided that, as angry as she was, she couldn’t bring herself to let this particular threat stand. She simply couldn’t hurt the man she loved that much. „Relax, Kyle. I won’t offer my services to your competitor. I have no interest in staying in the middle of this feud. I just want out. From the sounds of it, the quicker I get rid of that land, the better.“

Kyle searched her face before reluctantly releasing her arm. „Sell the land to me and it will no longer be an issue between us, Becky,“ he urged with rough gentleness. „When the deal is concluded, you’ll see that our relationship is independent of it. I’ll still want you as badly as I do now. Nothing will change between us.“

She couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer scope of his nerve. „You don’t ask much, do you?“

„Just your trust.“

„And what do I get out of it?“

He frowned. „Everything you’ve had until now. Our relationship will return to the way it was until this morning.“

„I hate to tell you this, Kyle, but I’m afraid things can never go back to the way they were between us. Too much has happened. I want more than you can give. I know that now.“

„Damn it, lady. What do you want from me?“ His voice was raw.

„Love, commitment, open communication, the works.“

„I’ve told you, Becky, I’ve already given you more than I’ve ever given any other woman.“

„More than you gave your ex-wife or this Darla person you were engaged to once?“

„Leave my ex-wife and my ex-fiancée out of this.“

„Why should I? You claim you’ve given me more that you’ve given any other woman, but you gave them rings.

That’s more than I’ve got. Goodbye, Kyle.“

She glanced only once at his stricken expression as she pushed past him. It was too painful to dwell for long on his ravaged face. She was already hurting so much that she wanted to cry.

With a fierce effort of will Rebecca managed to lug the heavy suitcase down the hall, into the elevator and into the garage where her car was parked.

She was aware of Kyle following her silently every step of the way. He didn’t offer to help with the heavy suitcase, but he made no effort to stop her as she got behind the wheel of the compact, either. He just stood in the entrance of the elevator lobby, his hands jammed into his pockets and watched as she turned the key in the ignition.

Rebecca’s last glimpse of him in her rearview mirror revealed the implacable, unreadable face of a man who was accustomed to being alone – a man who hadn’t really, deep down, expected to escape a lonely future.

There had been moments during their short time as a couple when Kyle had not looked so aloof and alone.

There had been times when Kyle had looked like a man who was falling in love. Rebecca told herself she must have been mistaken.

Three blocks from the condominium, Rebecca pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store and let the tears fall.

It was the kind of summer day that had made the Colorado Mountains famous. The air was crystal clear, the sun dazzling on distant snow-capped peaks. The trees grew right down to the edge of the serpentine highway.

Rebecca took little pleasure in the magnificent scenery. She was intent on reaching her destination, a small town buried in the mountains. From there, the lawyer had told her, it was only a short drive to Harmony Valley. The keys to the house Alice Cork had lived in alone for so many years were in the bottom of Rebecca’s purse.

Rebecca had not bothered phoning Theresa to inform her she would not be in to work today. She figured Kyle could handle that problem. It would be interesting to see how he explained his lack of knowledge of her whereabouts.

The whole staff, after all, was well aware of the recent change in the boss’s living arrangements.

Knowing Kyle, though, he probably wouldn’t

bother to make an excuse

for his missing

executive-assistant-live-in-lover. And no one would dare question him directly. Speculation would run rampant. And the staff was loyal enough to Rebecca now for the gossip to easily turn against Kyle.

That thought brought Rebecca little satisfaction. She was still dealing with the open wound Kyle had inflicted on her. She had no sympathy to spare for the man who had caused it. Kyle probably wouldn’t give a damn if his whole crew began fulminating against him, anyway. Little things like that didn’t bother Stockbridge.

But she had been unable to get Kyle’s bleak, closed expression out of her mind. No matter how hard she tried, she’

d been haunted by the shuttered, isolated look she had last seen on his face.

It had seemed for a while that Kyle was emerging from the shadows that surrounded him. But the events yesterday had proved he was as shrouded in them as ever.

A two-time loser, he had called himself. Rebecca shook her head in dismay. No wonder the man hadn’t bothered to mention marriage. He was probably willing to marry to get the land, just as his father and grandfather had been, but with his record Kyle must have figured he had a better chance at a simple seduction than at a proposal.

Besides, Rebecca reminded herself bitterly, a live-in relationship was a lot easier to end than a more formal arrangement. Kyle was probably tired of terminating marriages and engagements.