Wild and Wonderful (9 page)

As she drew closer, she saw that he was dressed in his evening clothes—or had been. The tie was unknotted and hanging loosely around his neck, the top buttons of his white shirt unfastened. His suit jacket was slung over one shoulder, held by the hook of his finger, and his sharply creased slacks looked wrinkled. There was even a dusty film dulling the polished sheen of his black shoes.

"If you are just coming in, it must have been some party," Glenna remarked when Jett was within hearing. "What happened? Did you decide to go horseback riding at midnight and get thrown?"

"No, I haven't been riding. Only walking," he corrected dryly, both stopping when only two feet separated them. "You're an early bird this morning."

"I couldn't go back to sleep so I got up." Her gray green eyes inspected the weary lines in his face and the rumpled blackness of his thick hair. "Haven't you been to bed?"

"No. After dinner I went over some business with Don. It was around two A.M. before he left the suite. I went for a walk out in the hills to do some thinking, and stayed around to watch the sun come up." His features took on a faraway look when he partially glanced over his shoulder in the general direction he'd just come from.

Glenna leaned toward him, reading something in his expression that gripped her throat. "Have you decided about the merger?" she asked tightly.

His gaze glided to her face, moving over it for an instant, the line of his mouth slanting. "I'll give your father my answer this afternoon." He deftly avoided the question.

"Are you still considering it?" A breeze came whirling out of the trees to blow across her face, briefly lifting the chestnut hair away from her neck before it danced away.

Jett rested a heavy hand atop her shoulder. "There is a lot to consider, Glenna."

"I'm sure there is," she agreed on a subdued note, lowering her gaze to the front of his shirt. "It's just the waiting to find out that's so hard."

"All decisions are hard. Life is hard." His voice was gentle, but the grip of his hand applied pressure to her shoulder bone, drawing her half a step closer. He swung his jacket behind her in order to lock both his hands behind her neck. "It would have been easy if you had been the one to suggest a merger with me." The seductive pitch of his voice made it plain that he had something much more intimate in mind than a business liaison. "You present a very attractive package."

Glenna was conscious that he had bent his head toward her, but she didn't lift her gaze. If he was trying to divert her thoughts from her father, he was succeeding with his closeness. The flattery wasn't necessary.

"You didn't have to say that. I don't need to be sweet-talked out of asking questions about your decision. I can accept the fact that you haven't made up your mind," she told him.

"Glenna, I never say anything I don't mean." The firmness of his tone enforced his statement, compelling her to tip her head up to examine his face.

There were still signs of tiredness and lack of sleep etched in his features, but the smoldering intensity of his eyes shallowed out her breathing. Jett eliminated the last few inches to claim her curving mouth while his hands slid down her back to enfold her in his arms.

Her senses erupted with a wonderful rawness that needed his embrace to soothe it. Everywhere her body came in contact with his muscled frame a wild current seemed to flow between them—a current that spread its tingling pleasure through the rest of her flesh. The ache of passion knotted her abdomen. Its sudden presence tempered the ardency of her response until she regained control of her senses to end the kiss.

She had always been cognizant of the sexual attraction Jett had aroused, but their previous kisses had not led her to expect this flaming leap into desire. It shook her. Glenna felt the weakness in her knees and didn't try to immediately move away from him. Her hands were spread across his shirt front. Beneath them she could feel the thudding of his heartbeat, its tempo disturbed like hers was.

"Your volatility isn't limited to your temper, is it?" Jett mused.

"I don't know what happened. I—" Glenna half turned, self-conscious and unnerved.

"Hey, I'm not complaining," he chuckled and caught at her hand, clasping it warmly within his fingers. "That looks like a comfortable tree. Why don't we sit down, rest a little before making the long walk back to the hotel?" He led her toward a large tree on the lawn.

"The grass is wet," she pointed out, the green blades of grass glistening with the sheen of dew. Jett solved that problem by spreading his suit jacket on the grass. "It'll get grass stains on it."

"So? I'll send it to the cleaners." He lowered himself to the ground and pulled Glenna down beside him on the other half of his jacket. The trunk of the tree served as a backrest for him, but it wasn't wide enough for Glenna to lean against it, too. Instead Jett shifted her so she was resting diagonally across his chest, his arms overlapping around her waist. "Mmm." He nuzzled the curve of her neck. "Maybe I couldn't sleep last night because I was missing this," he suggested.

The stubble of his beard growth was pleasantly rough against her sensitive skin. It conveyed the rasping caress of a cat's tongue as he rubbed his chin and jaw along her neck. The hard support of his chest and arms, and the pressure of his hipbone began to embed themselves on her flesh. Glenna felt herself slipping again into that mindless oblivion of sensation. She changed her position to elude the mouth exploring the sensitive hollow behind her ear, turning sideways in his arms to rest a shoulder against his chest.

"Is something wrong?" Jett cupped a hand to her cheek, tipping her head so he could inspect her face.

"Not really." It seemed impossible that she had only known him for two days. The angled planes of his features seemed so very familiar to her. It was just that the pace of their relationship had just accelerated, and Glenna wanted to slow it down before it carried her away.

His hand idly left her face to reach down to lift her left hand. His gaze studied the bareness of her fingers, his thumb running over the tops of them. When he lifted his gaze there was interest, curiosity, and the banked flame of desire gleaming in his look.

"No rings," Jett observed. "Have there ever been any?"

"If you mean, have I ever been married? No," she replied with a slight shake of her head.

"Engaged?"

"No." The latent sexiness of his look was having a chaotic effect on her pulse.

"How old are you?" Jett continued with his questions.

"Twenty-four."

"No steady boyfriends?"

"None." At the skeptical lift of his eyebrow, Glenna qualified her answer. "Not unless you count Bruce."

"Bruce Hawkins. The man who manages the mine for your father?" His recognition of the name was instant. He asked only for her confirmation.

"Yes. Bruce and I have become close friends since my father had his first attack. Since dad has to restrict his activities, Bruce comes to the house a lot to discuss things with him," she explained.

"He's been like a brother to you then, another member of the family," he deduced.

"Something like that," Glenna agreed.

His hand continued to massage her fingers, rubbing them in a sensuous manner that aroused all sorts of tremors. "Do you think he regards you as a sister?"

She started to say yes, but when she met his knowing look she knew that wasn't true. After a pause she admitted, "I don't think so."

"Neither do I."

Jett released her hand to let his fingers seek the mass of hair at the back of her head. By the time Glenna realized his intention she had lost the will to resist. The searing possession of his mouth parted her lips to deepen the kiss with the intimacy of his exploring tongue. Hot flames shot through her veins, melting her bones and burning her flesh with a feverish heat.

Her hand slid under his arm to circle the back of his waist, her fingers spreading over the taut muscles of his spine. When he uncombed his fingers from her hair, he cradled her head on the flexed muscle of his upper arm. She let her fingers glide up the front of his shirt to slide inside his collar, discovering the exhilarating feel of his tanned throat beneath her hand and the wild tattoo of the vein in his neck.

Glenna shuddered with intense longing. The quiver continued when she felt the touch of his fingers pushing their way under her sweater to the bare skin over her rib cage. The breath she took became lodged somewhere, time standing still as he cupped a ripe breast in the circling cradle of his hand.

Through the spinning recesses of her mind a voice came to ask if what she felt was real. Or whether it was simply natural desire that had been suppressed, too long and was now being uncovered by an expert. Her conscience rejected sexual involvement with the accompaniment of emotion.

Trembling, but with growing strength, Glenna began to strain away from his drugging kiss. At the first sign of resistance Jett began to seek control of his own passion, not attempting to overpower her.

When he lifted his head, both were breathing raggedly. Glenna sat up, shakily tucking a strand of auburn hair behind her ear. Silence stretched between them for several seconds. Then Jett rolled to his feet and held out a hand to pull her upright.

"Have you had breakfast?" he asked when she was standing.

"No. I wasn't very hungry." She watched him bend to scoop up his suit jacket. "I thought the fresh air might wake up my appetite."

"Are you hungry now?" His fingertips touched her elbow to start her in the direction of the inn.

"A little."

"For food?" His downward glance noted the very faint blush in her cheeks. "I guess I didn't have to say the obvious, did I?"

"No."

"Glenna."

Something in his voice raised her head. He was looking at her with an intensity that she found a little frightening.

"What?" she prompted when he didn't immediately speak.

A tiny frown appeared between his eyebrows as his gaze swung to the front. "Never mind. It wasn't important." He seemed suddenly very remote. Lifting a hand, he rubbed the side of his jaw. "I need a shave…and some sleep."

There didn't seem to be any comment for Glenna to make, so she fell into an uneasy silence. Jett made no attempt to break it during the walk back to the inn. Shortly after they had entered the lobby Glenna spied her father.

"There you are, Glenna." He hurried toward them. "I wondered where you were. Have you had breakfast?" A frown clouded his expression when he recognized Jett and took in his slightly disheveled appearance. "Good morning, Jett."

"Good morning, Orin," he replied and immediately excused himself. "I'll talk with both of you later today."

It was left to Glenna to explain, as Jett walked to the elevators, how she had come to meet him.

Chapter Six

GLENNA GLANCED AT HER WATCH for the fifth time in the last five minutes. Irritated that so little time had passed she turned and retraced her path to the window overlooking the front grounds of the inn. It was the same view of trees and grass and driveway. She pivoted away to wander back toward the door of the suite.

"You are going to wear a hole in the carpet if you keep walking back and forth in the same place," her father complained, chiding her in a · paternal fashion while he drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair.

"You aren't exactly a picture of serenity," Glenna retorted dryly.

"No, I suppose I'm not," he admitted, releasing a long breath.

"Maybe I should call him," she suggested. "He might not realize we're waiting for him. There wasn't any specific time mentioned."

"Coulson knows we're waiting to hear from him," he assured her. "He'll be here…sooner or later."

But could her nerves stand the "later"? Glenna threaded her fingers together, squeezing them tightly while she tried to ignore the tension churning her stomach. Restlessly her gaze searched the room for some object to distract her attention from the endless waiting.

A sharp knock at the door snapped the fragile thread of her control. She whirled toward the sound, then paused to meet her father's glance. He drew in a deep breath and forced a grim smile on his mouth. Taking his lead, Glenna gathered together her composure before forcing herself to walk sedately to the door.

Turning the knob, she stepped to one side as she opened it to admit Jett. She struggled to behave normally when she met the blandness of his gaze. She even managed a smile of welcome.

"Sorry I kept you waiting. I was delayed or I would have been here sooner," Jett explained smoothly, pausing while Glenna closed the door behind him. "I received a long-distance phone call just as I was about to leave."

"It couldn't be helped." She accepted his apology while her gaze searched the impenetrable mask of his features. "You look rested. Did you get some sleep?" she asked conversationally as they walked the rest of the way into the room where her father was seated.

"A couple of hours."

Her alert gaze had already noted his smoothly shaven face and the starched crispness of his striped shirt and charcoal slacks. With him, Jett had the reports her father had given him the previous afternoon. Yet, more than the freshness of his appearance, Glenna noticed the coolness of his attitude. The pleasantness was all on the surface. A chill ran up her spine as she darted a look at her father.