Texas Temptation by Bárbara McCauley Read Free Book Online

chest and looked up. “I mean, working here, right where poor Jonathan fell. How will you ever deal with that?”
    Jared felt Annie go rigid beside him. Nothing that Myrna said or did should shock him anymore, but for a second he felt as if he’d been punched in the chest. He also suddenly realized how tightly he was holding on to Annie’s arm. He let go and felt her draw in a slow breath, then cursed himself when he saw the imprint of his hand on her smooth skin.
    â€œThis is my job, Mrs. Stone,” Annie said with a patience that amazed Jared. “My personal feelings have no place here.”
    Myrna sighed. “Yes, well, I know what it’s like to lose someone you love. It’s only been eight months since J.T.’s been gone, and I just can’t imagine—” her lower lip quivered and she blinked several times “—well, I just loved him so much. I hope someday I’ll be able to get over his death as bravely as you have Jonathan’s.”
    That was it. Jared had had enough. He’d just use his bare hands. That would give him more pleasure, anyway. He took a step toward his stepmother. “Myrna—”
    Annie laid her hand on Jared’s arm. “Bravery has nothing to do with death, Mrs. Stone,” she said quietly. “We have no choice but to accept it, no matter how deep or how black the pain. It’s also the one thing in life that no one escapes, the one thing that makes us all equal, no matter how different or how special we might think we are.”
    Annie turned to Jared then, and he saw a tension in her eyes that belied the calm expression on her face. “I still have some questions on cost estimates, Jared. When you’re finished here, I’ll be in the office.” She faced Myrna again and nodded. “Mrs. Stone, it’s been a real...pleasure.”
    * * *
    Eight hours later Annie sat in a booth at the Cactus Motel Café, staring intently at the menu a perky waitress with short platinum hair had thrust into her hands after reciting the nightly specials. The smell of grilled steak and onions wafted deliciously on the air, reminding Annie that she’d forgotten lunch in her hurry to not only finish her report, but to call in a report to the manager at Arloco and ask for verbal authorization for approval.
    It was a go.
    She’d only heard an hour ago, and the excitement that had been building inside her was bubbling over. Jared would be here any minute, and she couldn’t wait to tell him the good news. She’d already ordered wine to celebrate.
    Even recalling her run-in with Myrna earlier in the day hadn’t dimmed Annie’s pleasure. There’d been a cool distant look in Jared’s eyes after the woman had finally left that made Annie uneasy. He’d apologized for his stepmother, but Annie had shrugged it off and insisted that whatever the woman said or did had no bearing on the project.
    But there had been that one moment, she realized, that one second when she’d looked up at the rig, and doubt had shivered through her....
    No. She closed her eyes. No doubts. She could handle this project. She’d put the past behind her, dealt with those ghosts long ago.
    But Jared was no ghost. And he wasn’t the past. He was the present. And that was where her doubt truly lay.
    Her body still hummed from his touch that morning. When she’d laid her hands on his, she’d only meant to reassure, to comfort. Then suddenly he’d been comforting her, and he’d been so close, his body so hot against hers, and she hadn’t been able to think about anything else.
    She closed her eyes, remembering the heavy beating of his heart, the strength of his broad chest, his hand slowly moving up her arm, and she couldn’t help but wonder...
    â€œAnnie, you okay?”
    Her eyes flew open and she looked into Jared’s worried gaze as he slid into the booth across from her. She felt her face