Bunny and the Beast(Divine Creek Ranch 22)(7)

Capping the water bottle, she took a second to look at the house. Joseph stood at a tall window in what must’ve been in his office, since she saw a desk and a seating arrangement through the window, about one hundred feet from the tower.

His jaw was rigid, and he didn’t smile when she waved. He didn’t smile much, come to think of it, especially not when she was around.

Well, honey, do you give him much to smile about?

Nope, but I sure do enjoy trying.

He’d called her a brat and had used that other foreign name. It didn’t sound like an insult, and even though brat probably didn’t have the best connotation, she didn’t mind it all that much.

Pulling her glove back on, she began the slow process of descending the tower. A tingle ran up the backs of her thighs and along her spine, and she glanced at the window to find him still standing there, watching her.

You scared him. Shame on you.

It’s probably good for Mr-King-of-His-Universe to be troubled by mortal emotions occasionally.

You scared him.

She ignored her inner voice, feeling a little guilty. Lots of people had a hard time showing emotion, and she’d purposely been tweaking him. But common sense had to prevail in that instance. She couldn’t climb back down just to reassure him. She was in good health to climb, but it was not a task she wanted to do twice in one day if she didn’t absolutely have to.

She was within ten feet of the ground when he spoke. “Do you have any idea how tall that tower is?”

Not looking at him, she continued descending at a slightly faster pace now that she was so close to the ground and didn’t need to keep her harness hooked to the tower anymore. “Yup. One hundred feet, of which I climbed about eighty-five.”

The muscles in her legs and arms trembled a little as she relaxed with her feet planted on the ground. Removing the tool belt from her hips, she turned to find him nearly nose to nose with her.

“You delight in provoking me.” His eyes were dilated as he leaned in to her, and she breathed in his masculine, clean scent. She probably reeked from sweating while she’d been working, but there was nothing wrong with good clean sweat. Maybe it might ward Mr. Bossy off.

“You were keeping me from doing my job.”

“If I’d known your job would include climbing that structure, I wouldn’t have asked you to do the work.”

“Then why did you have me come out here? You could’ve had any of the guys from Grogan come out to fix the problem. They probably wouldn’t have done as good a job as me, but you’d have signal, more than likely. I’ve climbed your tower before, you know.”

“No, I didn’t,” he said in an exasperated manner. Shifting his stance, he gently wrapped his hands around her upper arms. “I’m not a sexist or a chauvinist. You scared me, fiammetta.”

Disconcerted by his softer tone, she looked down and held up the safety straps of the harness that had heavy-duty locking hooks at the ends. “I was safe the whole time, Joseph. I would never climb freehand, and heights don’t bother me at all. I actually enjoy them.”

He tilted her chin up as he drew closer. “I nearly had a heart attack when I looked out my office window and saw you shimmying up that thing.”

Wanting to somehow reassure him, she patted his upper arm. “I always climb responsibly, and I don’t take risks. I can climb as well as any of the guys working for Grogan. I’m sorry for shooting the bird at you.”

“Yes, about that middle finger of yours.” One eyebrow arched as he spoke, as though he’d enjoy putting her over his knee right then and there.

“But I was your wingman the other night, remember?”

“And a lovely wingman you make, fiammetta, but then you bit me.”

“Uh! I apologized for that! Crap. Put it on my tab?” she asked with a giggle as a pleasant little thrill rippled up her spine.

“Count on it. And watch your language. One of these days, Bunny…”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said as she backed away and bent over to pick up her tool bucket. “You still think you’re gonna get me over your knee. Every guy has to have a dream.”

She bit her lip when she heard another growl behind her. That was what she got for bending over in front of him, she supposed.

“Master?” a female voice called from the corner of the mansion.

Bunny spotted a tall blonde, but not the same one as the last time she’d been inside the mansion. Her name had been Mona. This was someone different. Bunny squinted to get a good look at her, but the blonde backed away with eyes averted. Probably waiting to serve him in any manner he desired. The sting of jealousy unsettled her as she glanced at him.