Beguiling the Boss(5)

"Good morning," she greeted him cheerily, dishing up the meal onto two plates.

"Urmph," he responded as he seated himself at the solid-oak table.

Jen stifled a smile and placed his breakfast in front of him, then put her plate on a tray and started to head upstairs.

"Where are you going?" he asked, his forkful of eggs in midair between his plate and his mouth.

Gritting her teeth at his imperious tone, while reminding herself that  this grouchy man was her employer, Jen managed to dredge up a pleasant  reply. "I'm going upstairs."

He motioned at the chair opposite. "Have a seat. There are a few things I want to go over with you."

Offloading her food from the tray to the table, Jen sat and patiently watched him enjoying her culinary efforts.

"Eat," he said, snapping off a bite of crisp bacon with his strong white teeth. "We can talk over coffee."

They ate the meal in dead silence. Jen was tempted to speak, but she  squashed the urge, determined to make him start the conversation.

As soon as he sat back and laid his napkin beside his plate, Jen was on  her feet, clearing. Deliberately making him wait, she stashed the  dishes in the dishwasher before pouring the coffee and then sitting down  again. Wrapping her hands around the mug, she looked directly into his  eyes, and was startled to find herself fascinated by the odd silvery  color. She again felt that funny tingling sensation inside, deep inside,  and again she didn't like it. The feeling was too...too out of her  control. She quickly looked away.

"I'll be leaving later this morning," he said. "I have a few business  appointments. You'll have the place to yourself for the entire weekend  as I won't be back until Monday."

A strange relief washed through her at the thought that she wouldn't  have to see Marsh for a few days. It was mixed with a sense of  disappointment that she chose to ignore. "Great," she said. "It'll give  me plenty of time to get settled in."

"You have no reason to be concerned about being alone here. I have-"

Jen frowned, interrupting. "Actually, I like being alone."

Marsh leveled a cool look at her; apparently he didn't appreciate being  interrupted. "Any woman should be afraid of being alone on a property  this size," he growled. "I'm a wealthy man. That, plus the size of the  place, makes it a target. In addition to a man who takes care of the  horses, I have security all over the grounds."                       
       
           



       

"I didn't notice any security when I drove up," she said, taking a sip of the coffee.

He gave her a wry look. "That's the idea-you're not supposed to notice  them. But trust me, they were there, and I was notified of your  arrival."

"You have horses?" she asked, ignoring his tone.

"Yes, I have horses."

When he didn't add anything further, she asked, "What about the office work?"

"That can wait until Monday. I brought everything up to date before you  arrived." He lifted a hand to a breast pocket and withdrew a white bank  envelope and a small black leather case. "That should be enough cash to  purchase whatever you need," he said. "The case is an alarm. If you  hear or see anything that doesn't seem right to you, press the button.  There will be security here in minutes. It will also open the garage.  I'm going to pull the truck out so you can park your car."

Sighing, she reluctantly took the case.

He frowned at her. "Keep it with you at all times. And that's an order."

"Yes, sir."

His eyes narrowed. "Oh, and I also listed a few of my favorite meals...as you asked," he added in a dry-as-dust tone.

"Thank you." Jen pushed back her chair and stood. "If you'll excuse me  now, I'm going up to clean the apartment...unless you have other  instructions for me?" She raised her brows.

He nodded his head, also standing. "There is one more thing." He sent a  slow glance around the room. "You did a good job on the kitchen. It's  spotless."

A tiny smile played at the corners of her mouth. "Not quite," she said. "The curtains need laundering."

For a moment Marsh simply stared at her, then, with a shake of his  head, he started for the hallway. "I'll see you sometime Monday." With  that he strode from the room.

Jen watched him go, wondering just what kind of power struggle she had gotten herself into with Marsh Grainger.

She spent the rest of the day giving the apartment a thorough cleaning.  By the time she looked up, it was time for supper. Yet as busy as she  was, there were moments-too many, to Jen's way of thinking-when thoughts  of Marsh pushed past her guard to tease her imagination.

Jen didn't appreciate his intrusion. He was her employer. Period.  Nothing more. Who was he, really, other than a tough and bitter man? In  all truth, he had a right to his bitterness, but it was none of her  concern.

Still, the thoughts persisted. Why? In a word, Marshall Grainger was all male. A ruggedly handsome, sexy-as-hell male at that.

Startled by her last thought, Jen gave herself a mental shake. Get it  together, woman, she told herself. Marsh may be all those things, but he  uses women, and you don't want any part of that.

Forget him and get back to work.

* * *

When she had finished cleaning, Jen took a long, soothing shower,  slipped into a nightshirt, then sat down with her laptop to contact her  friends. Naturally there were emails from every one of them, demanding  more information. She sent them a group email back, saying she had  gotten a new job and would get back to them later, after she had settled  into the position and had more complete information to offer.

The fact of the matter was, Jen was not quite ready to tell her friends  what had happened to send her running from her home. Nor was she ready  to tell them that she was living under Marsh Grainger's roof. Tired,  muscles aching from the unusual flurry of physical activity, Jen was  then content to drop into bed early. With any luck, she'd fall asleep  quickly before she had time for more thoughts of Marshall Grainger.

* * *

Saturday morning Jen woke refreshed if still a bit achy, proof of the  fact that she had been idle too long. She had stayed in shape playing  tennis and horseback riding whenever she could, but while musing on her  future options during the past several weeks she had barely left her  apartment. The cleaning exercise had done her good.

She dressed in designer jeans, a pin-tucked white shirt and flat-heeled  boots. Deciding to grab breakfast in town, she left the house for her  shopping spree.

She looked inside the envelope Marsh had given her. Along with the  short list of his favorite meals and directions to the nearest mall,  Marsh had left her a ridiculous amount of money. Jen rolled her eyes but  couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face.

Either Marsh Grainger had no idea what things actually cost, or he was  an extremely generous man underneath that gruff exterior.

It was a lovely, warm autumn day, perfect for shopping. As she headed  down the driveway, Jen kept an eye out for signs of the security he had  told her about. She didn't see hide nor hair until she neared the stone  pillars flanking the entranceway. A short distance off the road, barely  visible, an all-terrain vehicle was parked next to a low hanging tree.  As she drove through the entranceway, she thrust her arm out the window  and waved as she hit the horn. She laughed as she received a wave and  toot in return.                       
       
           



       

Well, at least the security is friendly, Jen thought, applying a little  pressure to the gas pedal. She drove first to the mall Marsh had  mentioned, and went into the first shop she came to displaying home  decorations.

Not into knick-knacks, Jen chose three pictures in three different  sizes. The smaller pictures she chose were pastoral scenes, one of a  field covered with Texas bluebonnets, the other of a basket of  wildflowers set on one end of a long library table. But the largest one,  for the living room, was a rendering in black-and-white of a ship,  alone on a wide sea. For some reason, it reminded her of Marsh, alone in  that big, remote house.

The thought sent a little shiver through her. Now, that's simply  ridiculous, she chided herself, trying and failing to ignore the  feeling. There's no reason to be thinking of Marsh as a lonely man-in  fact, that's just plain dangerous. Pushing away her thoughts, Jen left  the mall and headed for the supermarket.

The sun was beginning to set as Jen drove back onto the property. Her  glance automatically shifted to the tree. There was a vehicle there, but  a different one. Again she hit the horn and waved, and again she was  greeted in kind.