Fannin's Flame. Tina Leonard

brows rose. “That was nice of your housekeeper.”

      He nodded. “German chocolate cake, even, from scratch. Old family recipe. It was wonderful.”

      Kelly’s eyes widened. “Did she know you liked it?”

      He thought that was an odd question but skipped it. “Of course. She tries hard.” He hoped Helga was having fun in Dallas and that his dunderhead brothers were being kind to her. “Another wine?”

      “No, thanks. If you don’t mind, it was a long drive and—”

      “Of course,” he said hastily. Why had he kept her out so late? This wasn’t a date. Well, it sort of was, secretly, but she was a professional, a working woman who was on the clock at eight in the morning. Dang! He still needed to think of a job for her to do.

      How was he going to get her to go out with him again? This was probably the type of woman who would say she didn’t mix business with pleasure, so he’d probably screwed himself royally.

      “I don’t mean to be rude,” Kelly said to him, “but I never mix business with pleasure. And I’m having way too much fun tonight. You know?”

      He stared at her. His brothers were wrong; he hadn’t lost his touch with women! He just needed the right one. Or a right one. Problem was the business and pleasure comment. If he fired Kelly tonight, would she go out with him tomorrow night?

      Probably a very bad idea. “Come on,” he said. “Let me take you home to bed.”

      She looked at him patiently, her eyes large and dark in the dim bar, and he hoped she could overlook his major Freudian slip.

      “I meant, let me take you home so you can get to bed.”

      She nodded. “I knew what you meant.”

      “Good,” he said, chuckling nervously. “Because I wouldn’t want you to think I mean—”

      “You were very clear about what you wanted,” Kelly reminded him. “A personal companion. Petite. Sense of humor. Nothing like me. So I feel safe with you.”

      Guess again, Little Red Riding Hood, he thought. That voice of hers drove him nuts. He wanted to go to sleep with that voice whispering to him; he wanted to hear her— “Hey, you called the house earlier, didn’t you?”

      She hesitated, then nodded.

      “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming out for the job?”

      “I don’t know.” Her gaze dropped for a second. “I guess I wouldn’t have come out if you’d sounded like a horse’s ass.”

      “Why would I be a horse’s ass?”

      She shrugged.

      “You’re not a man-hater, are you? One of those crazy females who think all men are scum?” His brothers’ advice came to mind, floating eerily in his memory. He was too easy, too kind, too gentle. He usually got left with empty sheets while his brothers set beds afire.

      Kelly’s glance slid away from him. He checked her fingers. No rings. But the poodle shifted in his jacket, snuggling closer to his warmth. Would an unmarried woman come all the way out here for one day’s worth of employment? He frowned. Something wasn’t right here.

      “I don’t hate men,” she said. “I’m just careful around…men I don’t know.”

      That sounded plausible, even prudent. Still, unease washed away the former comfort he’d felt with Kelly. She could be blowing him off—killing him with professional kindness. “I suppose the agency wouldn’t have sent you out here if they felt like we mistreated our employees. We’ve had one employee for a year, and she’s happy enough.”

      Kelly blinked at him.

      “Are you afraid of me?” he asked.

      “Not exactly. Not afraid. Really, caution’s just my nature.”

      “Well, have you decided whether or not I’m a horse’s ass?” he asked. “Because you don’t have to come to the ranch if you don’t feel secure.”

      “A job’s a job,” she said.

      He squinted at her. Last would know which way the wind was blowing for this woman. His brothers would give her little attention and make her hungry by starvation.

      One minute she’d seemed very warm for him. The next, cool as the weather outside.

      She was just his type, even if he’d never known he preferred Amazonian redheads. In fact, she was steaming the creases right out of his jeans. He didn’t want her to lose interest in him.

      Princess had ignored Bloodthirsty Black—and vice versa. No Pow! At least at first sight. His brothers understood Pow!

      It was time to change his ways. “C’mon,” he said gruffly. “You’ve got a hard day’s work ahead of you tomorrow. You’re going to need all the rest you can get.”

      He was rewarded by a flash of disappointment on Kelly’s face. Then she nodded. Directing her toward his truck, he said, “You’ll be able to follow me easily, even though it’s dark. I’ll drive slow. We’ll be at the ranch in about twenty minutes. Pay close attention to the road markings, so that when you leave tomorrow night, you’ll remember your way.”

      There. Business totally unmixed from pleasure.

      He had her on the run. His brothers would be proud.

      KELLY WISHED SHE didn’t feel so guilty! Fannin was so much more man than she’d expected him to be—and he was making her nervous. False pretenses were obviously not her game. She sighed, watching the truck ahead carefully. Fannin was a careful driver, and he seemed equally careful with his heart. What had possessed her to say that he might be a horse’s ass? The moment she had, he’d gone distant on her. She hated that! She was always sticking her size-ten shoe in her mouth.

      Then she’d had to fall back on the professional excuse, so it wouldn’t seem like she’d been chasing him when all he wanted from her was a day’s worth of work. What had gotten into her to stand there drooling like a madwoman? If her mouth hadn’t run off with her chances, she would have been in danger of losing all self-respect and throwing herself at that poor unsuspecting man.

      Wouldn’t he have been surprised to find her wrapped around him like a well-worn sweater? “Maybe all he really wants is a secretary, Kelly. You assumed he wanted a date, even though he never asked for a date. You thought he was going to make a move on you, and when he didn’t, your sex signals tripped a major breaker. You need to settle down and be professional, be a good representative of Julia’s Honey-Do Agency.”

      Joy had certainly not carried any inhibitions. Her baby was still in Fannin’s jacket, nice and warm and secure. Of course, things were a lot less complicated in the animal world. Dogs didn’t bog themselves down with overthought. They looked for love and comfort, and they got it where they could. “Of course, I can’t exactly fit into his pocket,” Kelly murmured. Nor his life.

      Then she noticed he was stopping up ahead, suddenly. She thought she had the steering wheel firmly in her hands, but she must have been trembling. The car went over something hard and bumpy in the road, something large, and the steering wheel jerked from her fingers. Gasping, she overcompensated and slid into the ditch. “Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Mentally, she checked for broken anything—everything felt fine. Except her pride, of course, as Fannin’s truck door slammed on the embankment above her.

      “You all right?” he called.

      Not if you count my humiliation level. “I’m fine,” she called back.

      “Anything hurt?” Fannin slid on his feet toward the car and opened her door to gingerly help her out. “Move slowly. Make sure everything’s in one piece.”

      “I’m fine,” she said weakly, becoming more unsettled now that the adrenaline was