Part 15 (1/2)
”h.e.l.lo?” His face changed. ”Yes, how are you, Jennie?”
Kati felt her body go rigid. That woman! So they did have something going, even after he'd left New York.
”Yes, I know.” He toyed with a pen-set on the desk. ”Umm-hmm. Yes, we did, didn't we?” He smiled. ”Here? No, I don't think that's a good idea, honey. We're snowed in. That's right, about five feet of it. No, we've closed the landing strip. You'd have to fly in to Jackson. Maybe. Tell you what, let's put it off until spring. Yes, I know you don't, but that's how it is, Jennie. No strings, remember? I told you at the very beginning how it was going to be. That's right. Sure. Next time I'm in town. So long.” He hung up and turned, watching the expressions cross Kati's face.
”She wanted to stop over for a week or two on her way to California for a screen test,” he volunteered. ”I said no. Anything else you'd like to know?”
”She...was very pretty,” Kati muttered.
”Surely she was. And experienced,” he added deliberately. ”But she wanted ties and I didn't.”
”Freedom is your big problem, isn't it?” she asked on a laugh. ”Well, don't look at me as if I had a rope in one hand-I don't want strings any more than you do,” she lied, and looked away just in time to miss the expression that froze his face.
”I thought all you women wanted marriage,” he said in an odd voice.
”Not now I don't,” she returned as casually as she could. ”I'm too involved in work.”
”Going to remain a virgin for life, I gather?” he asked cuttingly. ”Give up a home and children so you can keep writing those d.a.m.ned books?”
She looked up with a deliberate smile, in spite of the glittering anger in his eyes. ”I like writing those d.a.m.ned books.”
He turned away. ”So I noticed. Don't let me hold you up, you probably have a lot of work to get through if you're leaving by the end of the week.”
And he walked out of the room, leaving her speechless. Well, what had he expected her to say, she wondered achingly-that she loved him? That she'd lie on the floor and let him walk on her if she could stay with him?
Fat chance! If he could brush Jennie off so easily, when he'd obviously had an affair with her, what chance did she have? Probably he was just biding his time until he could get her into his bed. He knew she'd surrender, she thought miserably, he knew very well that she couldn't resist him. And once she'd given in, he'd be letting her down easily, just the way he'd done Jennie. And he'd be in pursuit of some new woman. With a tiny moan, she went upstairs and opened the case that held her computer. What a miserable end for a wonderful day!
Chapter Eleven.
It wasn't hard to avoid Egan after that. He wasn't home. He worked from dawn until late at night and appeared only briefly to eat. He treated Kati with grudging courtesy, but he didn't come near her.
She packed Friday morning to go back to New York. The snow was melting again, and the skies were sunny and clear. Perhaps, she told herself, it was an omen.
”I sure am going to miss you,” Dessie said gruffly as she had breakfast with Kati and Egan. ”Been nice, having another woman around the place.”
”I'll miss you, too,” Kati said genuinely as she finished her eggs and drank her coffee. ”I've learned a lot while I was here.”
”I reckon Gig's talked more in the past week than he has since I've known him,” Egan said mockingly. He leaned back precariously in his cane-bottom chair to study her as he smoked a cigarette. He seemed to smoke all the time these days. ”Have you satisfied your curiosity about ranch life, Miss Author?” he added.
”Yes,” she said, refusing to let him irritate her. ”And about the cattle business. Thank you for letting me come.”
”My pleasure. Any time.” He swallowed the rest of his coffee and got to his feet. ”Ramey's going to drive you to the airport.”
”Ramey?” Dessie burst out. ”But Egan, you never let Ramey-”
”Just never mind, if you please,” he told the old woman, a bite in his voice. He glanced at Kati hard, and his eyes accused.
”I'll clear this stuff away,” Dessie murmured quickly and retreated into the kitchen with two empty platters.
”Have a safe trip home,” he told Kati quietly. ”And give Ada my love.”
”I'll do that,” she said stiffly.
He started to pa.s.s by her, paused, and suddenly jerked her out of the chair by her arms, hurting her as he dragged her against his chest.
”d.a.m.n you,” he breathed furiously, with silver eyes that glittered dangerously. ”Do you think your career is going to keep you warm at night? Will it give you what I did on that bearskin rug by the fireplace?” he demanded.
Her body melted against his and she wished she had the strength to hit him, but she was drowning in his eyes and the feel of his taut, powerful body.
”What are you offering me?” she asked. ”A night in your bed?”
His hands tightened on her arms and he looked hunted. ”I don't want you to leave,” he said gruffly. ”We'll work it out somehow.”
”How?” she persisted. ”Egan, I'm not like Jennie. I can't take an open affair.”
”What do you want, then?” he asked under his breath, watching her. ”Marriage?”
She searched his angry eyes defeatedly. ”You'd hate me for that,” she said with quiet perception.
”I don't know,” he replied. ”We might get used to each other, make a go of it.”
She reached up, touching his face softly with her fingertips. ”You'd better stick to girls like Jennie,” she said softly. ”I couldn't settle for what you'd be able to give me. I couldn't live on crumbs.”
”I'm a rich man,” he said curtly. ”You could have anything you wanted, within reason. And in bed, I'd be everything you'd ever need.”
”I know that,” she agreed. Her fingers traced his hard mouth, feeling its automatic response with wonder. ”But it's still not enough.”
”Why not, for G.o.d's sake?” he growled, catching her wandering fingers roughly in his own.
”Because I'm in love with you, Egan,” she said proudly, watching the reaction flare in his eyes, harden his face. ”You can't match that with money or s.e.x. I'd wither away and die of neglect and pity. No, I'd rather be totally alone than on my knees at your heart.”
His lips parted and he couldn't seem to find the right words. He touched her hair hesitantly. ”You love me?” he whispered huskily, frowning as if he found the words incomprehensible.
”Occupational hazard,” she whispered, trying not to cry. ”I'll get over it. Good-bye, Egan.”
His fingers tightened in her hair. ”No, not yet,” he said uncertainly. ”Not just yet. You don't have to go right now-”
”Yes, I do,” she said, on the verge of tears. ”I'm running out of pride-” Her voice broke, and she tried to get away, but his arms tightened like a vice and he held her despite her struggles.
”Don't,” he whispered, shaken. ”Don't fight me. My G.o.d, Kati, don't run.”
”Egan,” she moaned.
”Egan!” Dessie called sharply from the kitchen. ”It's the hospital on the phone! Something about Al-Can you come?”
He cursed under his breath, looking down at the tears on Kati's cheeks with eyes that frightened her. ”Don't move,” he said shortly. ”Not one step. You hear me?”