Strictly Business (10 page)

“As his architect, his opinion of me matters. I don’t see
how telling him the truth would hurt either way.”

“Right now, he doesn’t trust you. He wants you.” Even as she
shook her head, Cody continued, “Yes, Jess, he does. He wants you, but he
doesn’t want to. Unless you actually have some feelings for him, too, leave it
the way it stands. It’s less likely that you can hurt him if he doesn’t like
you. So, are you interested in him?”

The instantaneous no, was on the tip of her tongue. Then she
thought of her body’s response to him. If she was being honest with Cody, and
herself… “I don’t… I don’t know.”

“Well, just think about it before you say anything. And,
don’t tell him I told you about Karen. Okay? It’s just nice to see him
interested in someone again.”

He stood up, heading to her door. “Now, if I come back and
you’ve decided that you’re
not
interested in Jake, well, then I will
definitely flirt with you.” He smirked at her as he winked, causing her to go
from confusion to laughter. He glanced down the hall, spotted something that
made him smirk, then he turned back to Jess with one last wink and a snarky
comment. “For now, I think there’s one too many men in your life already.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Jess peeked around him,
but the hall was empty.

“Nothin’. Let’s go watch a movie. I’m up for some blood and
guts.”

* * * * *

Jake walked in from the bar, spotted Jess curled in a ball,
leaning against Mike. Cody was sitting on the other side of her, on the
opposite piece of the sectional. Apparently Ms. Wythe was openly fickle with
her affections. A glance at Cody told him he didn’t seem all that upset about
it. Not surprising. He’d never had any staying power when it came to women.

Cody looked over at him, the movement catching Jake's eye.
He turned to look at his friend before he had a chance to wipe the glare off
his face. Seeing Cody's smirk, Jake turned and headed to the kitchen. He'd
prefer not to have this conversation in front of the foreman. Hell, he'd prefer
not to have this conversation at all. Unfortunately, he heard Cody get up and
follow him.

“So, I’m leavin’ tomorrow morning.”

“I know. I figured that’s why you stayed here tonight.
Wanted one more night with Jess. Too bad you let the contractor butt in. Looks
like she’s curled up with the wrong guy.” Jake smirked a little, perfectly
happy to redirect the topic back to Cody.

“Yeah, it’s not like that. Not with me
or
the
contractor. Although, I think he kind of wishes it were.”

“And you don’t?” Jake needed to know the answer. It was
suddenly imperative that his friend was not interested in Jess. Not really
interested.

“No, I don’t. Look, I shouldn’t even tell you this, you’re
such an ass to her, but I never slept with her.”

Jake raised his eyebrows. “Uh huh.”

“No really. I hadn't planned to tell you, figured I'd let
you stew in your own stupid assumptions. Jake, we sat on the porch and talked.
That’s it. I only knew her for a couple hours. Did you seriously think we’d had
sex?”

Jake knew his expression gave him away with Cody's next
comment. “Wow, you either don’t think much of her, or think way too much of me.
Either way, you’re wrong. I’ve never touched her. Well, except for her hair.
She has damn gorgeous hair.”

Jake looked over at Cody. “It’s always in some sort of knot
thing.”

Cody looked surprised. “Wait, she’s been here almost two
weeks and you’ve never seen her hair down?”

Jake shook his head.

“No wonder her head always hurts. Ask her to take it down
sometime. It’ll be worth it. So, look, I have a thought.”

Jake rolled his eyes, he could sense that some unwanted
advice was about to be dispensed. “Yeah? A thought? Did it hurt?”

“Ha ha, smart ass. I know you have a thing for her. Don’t
bother with the denial, buddy, just listen. She’s actually pretty open and easy
to talk to if you would just give her a chance. So, why don’t you try the
opposite approach of what you’ve been doin’. Try being nice to her. I think
you’d be surprised how she reacts.”

Jake thought about arguing with Cody, telling him he wasn’t
interested in her, but it just seemed easier to let it go. “I’ll keep it in
mind.”

By the following week, they’d gotten their permits approved
and had broken ground on the new house on Thursday morning. Jake had even come
with a camera to take pictures to send to his parents. He seemed to get along
well enough with Mike, which helped Jess with her avoidance policy. Jess let
Mike deal with Jake and got any info she needed second hand. It’d made for a
slower process, but much more peaceful. As long as she ate in her room, she
could successfully avoid Jake about ninety percent of the time.

The following Saturday afternoon, they let everyone off a
little early, and Jess and Mike headed in to take showers and get ready for
Evanston. They had booked a suite at a five star hotel, Hotel Terra, with an
amazing restaurant and day spa right on the premises. They also had a lounge
for dancing. Jess was really excited about it. It wasn’t often that she used
her name or connections, but she had to admit it was handy when she needed it.
As soon as she’d mentioned the name Wythe, the concierge had offered her
anything she wanted. And right now, she could use a little pampering. And a
break from Jake.

She hadn’t even seen him in a couple days, or at least not
in close enough proximity to speak to him. But just knowing he was nearby made
her edgy. She didn’t really want to tell him she was leaving, although she
wasn’t sure why not. It’s not like she needed his permission. She was only
trying to be courteous. She didn’t want anyone to think she’d gone missing or
anything. She headed toward his office, hoping she might find him there. The
door was open, but he was nowhere to be seen.

She turned and headed out to the stable area. Maybe she
could find someone else to speak with, like maybe Marsha, and avoid seeing him
altogether. No one was in the arena area, so she headed to the barn. When she
walked in she saw everyone huddled around one of the stalls. She rushed over,
wondering what was going on. Jake and Ben were in with one of the horses, a
pregnant mare, rubbing her sides as she danced and huffed, obviously in pain.

“Is she going to deliver soon?” Jess asked Marsha.
Why
did everyone look so worried?

“Jess, dear! Yes, she’s ready, but the foal is breech. If
she delivers like this, it could kill both of them. Jake and Ben are pushing,
trying to change the position.”

“I thought horses could deliver breech? One of ours did when
I was a kid. I know it’s harder on the mare, but it can be done right?” She
hadn’t been allowed to watch the birth, of course, but she’d heard about it.

“Well, yeah, but the rump tried to come out first. Jake stood
her up and pushed it back in. Now they’re tryin’ to shift it a little, get the
feet out first.”

“Aaahh.” That explained the bloody substance all over Jake
and Ben. She stood there watching, mildly entranced. She didn’t even realize
how much time had passed until Mike finally wandered into the barn looking for
her.

“Hey babe, whatcha doin’ out here?” Mike wandered over,
looking into the stall. “Aaahh, we’re about to have a new baby horse around
here. So, are you about ready to go?” He stepped back, and looked at her. “Uh,
guess not. You haven’t showered yet?”

“No, why? What time is it?” She grabbed his wrist, checked
his watch, “No way! I’ve been out here that long?” She looked around and found
that almost everyone else had gone in. It was just Jake and Ben in the stall
and she was the only one still watching. When had they all left? She hadn’t
even heard them walk away. It was already seven p.m.

“Even if we left now, we wouldn’t get to Evanston until
after eight. Oh, I’m so sorry. Mike, can we just go in the morning, for the
massage? Or, maybe we can go next weekend.”

“Not a problem, we’ll go next weekend. Do you want to get
dressed and we can go into town here, go dancing at that little bar you
mentioned?”

She looked back into the stall, watching the horse for a
moment before she glanced back at Mike.

“Never mind.” He smiled. “You want to stay here and watch
this. I get it.”

“I’m sorry. I know we had plans. I just, I don’t know, I
want to see this. You should go see if you can catch the rest of the guys. I’m
sure they’re heading into town.”

“Sure. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He kissed her forehead and
headed out of the barn.

Jess turned back, seeing the horse heaving, her sides
obviously contracting. At this point Jake and Ben were both just staying back,
seeing what happened. Ben actually snuck by the mare, heading to the gate where
Jess stood.

“I think I’ll go tell Mike that I can take him into town.
She’s got this from here on out.”

“Oh, you’re leaving? Will she be okay? What about the baby?”

Ben nodded his head. “We got the legs moved. Still breech,
so she may need a little tug, but Jake told me he’d stay. She’ll be okay.
Mostly, they do it themselves, unless there’s a problem. You have a good night
now. If you’ve never seen this, it’s worth watchin’.” He headed outside,
picking up the pace and yelling out for Mike as he rounded the corner.

All of a sudden she realized that she was alone with Jake.
Maybe she should just go back in the house. Then she heard the mare groan again
and she turned back to watch. She really wanted to see this and she wasn’t
going to let
him
chase her away. She would just stand here quietly.
Maybe he would just ignore her.

After a few minutes of silence, Jake finally spoke. “You can
come in, if you want to.”

She wanted to, she really did. “Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Yeah, just walk around her to her back, you can come sit
over here by me. You’ll have a better view. A messy view, but better.”

She snuck in as quietly as she could, so as not to disturb
the mare. When she got over to Jake she asked, “What’s her name?”

* * * * *

He glanced over at her. She was filthy, had obviously been
on the construction site today. Her hair was still up but starting to fall
loose. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, as far as he could see.

She was stunning. He found his body reacting simply to
having her near. “Belladonna. Princess Belladonna, actually.”

“She’s beautiful. An Appaloosa?”

He’d forgotten that she knew something about horses. “Yeah,
we mated her with Satan. He’s a Colorado Ranger Horse. But he has Appaloosa in
his background. We thought we might get some strong, pretty babies.” She seemed
nervous. He wondered if it was because of the mare or him.

“Aahh, yeah. They should be pretty. And fast too. Satan is
wicked fast.”

They were both talking just above a whisper, trying not to
upset the mare, but still be close enough to help when it was time.

“I’m sorry your plans got cancelled.” She looked over at
him, seeming surprised that he knew. He shrugged. “I heard you talking to
Mike.”

“Oh, no big deal. I’ll call the hotel and cancel.”

“Hotel?” She’d been going to a hotel with that guy?

“Yeah, we were doing dinner and dancing in Evanston. Then a
spa day and massage tomorrow. I was actually coming out here to tell someone we
were leaving. So you guys didn’t think we ran off or something.”

He felt his hands clenching into fists at his side. They
were going to spend the night together.
She’s going to spend the night with
that idiot?
He wanted nothing more than to scream at her. Or grab her and
kiss her. Some piece of him was silently screaming,
“Mine! He can’t have
her, she’s mine!”
Through the haze of anger, it did register that she
didn’t seem all that upset about it. Was she interested in Mike? She had to be,
right? She was going away with him for the weekend. All of a sudden he heard
Cody’s voice in his head.
“I never touched her.”
Was he wrong about her
again?

“So, you’re…dating…Mike?” His voice was deeper than he would
have liked, but it was mostly calm. He also remembered Cody telling him to try
being nice to her. He was trying.

“No, we’re not dating.” She looked at Jake. “We’ve been
friends since college. Mike, Cindy and me. I just wanted to, um, get away this
weekend. Take a break from the ranch. Mike was going with me.”

“But last weekend I saw you sleeping on him on the couch.
You guys seem pretty… comfortable together.” He looked at her, watching her
response.

“Well, yeah.” She shrugged a shoulder. “He gets me. I’ve
known him for over ten years. I can just be myself with him.” She looked up at
Jake, the unspoken comment,
unlike you
hung in the air.

“I see.” Jake was silent for a few minutes, glancing over at
Belladonna.

After a few more minutes, Jake finally found his voice
again. “I think I owe you another apology. Several of them actually.”

She looked shocked, mouth open, eyes wide. He smiled wryly.
“It was brought to my attention that I haven’t been particularly nice to you.”

“It’s okay, I haven’t been 'particularly nice' to you
either, just forget…”

“No, it’s not okay. You’ve fought back, but I think I probably
started us off wrong on day one. Then proceeded to make things worse from
there. Could we maybe try again?”

She didn’t know what to say. She was baffled. But, she would
really like more nights like this. Nice conversation, no yelling, no fighting,
no snide remarks. “Yeah, sure. Let’s start over. I think I’d really like that.”
She wondered if that meant the kiss was erased too.

All at once Jake jumped up. The rear legs were out. She
watched him grab the legs and pull. He waited a beat while the mare pushed and
then she saw him pull again. After hours of waiting, it seemed like just
minutes and there was a new foal laying there.