Page 82 of The Honorable Texan
“Did I glue my nose on upside down?”she asked, raising her eyebrows.
He let out a short laugh.“No.I had a wild thought.Do you need an advance on your salary?I mean, isthere anything you have to get for the trip that you can’t afford?”
“I don’t have a car,” she began, and hated remembering why.
He glared.“I didn’t say you were going to have to get to Jacobsville on your own.You’ll go with Leo and me.Simon drove my car up from Jacobsville.”
“Do I get to ride in the car, or have you got me earmarked for the trunk?”she returned.
He pursed his lips.Odd feelings were kindling inside him.“Keep that up and you’ll be riding on the back bumper.”
She wrinkled her nose.“Nice.Real nice.I can see you’re going to be a great boss.”
“If you don’t burn the biscuits, I will be,” he said.
“I’ll stick close to your brother,” she promised.“He’ll protect me.”
He didn’t like that, but he wasn’t going to let it show.“Leo’s a tease,” he said flatly.“Don’t get your hopes up.He’s not a marrying man.Neither am I,” he added deliberately.
Her eyes widened.“Well, gee whiz, that’s a major disappointment!And to think, I was only willing to take the job because of the marriage prospects!”
His face shuttered.“Sarcasm doesn’t get you any points with me.I’m just making the position clear.We need a cook, not a prospective soul mate.”
“Speak for yourself,” she told him, turning back to her door.“I think Leo likes me already.”
“I just told you…!”
She opened the door and looked back at him with pure irreverence.“Your brother can speak for himself.You don’t own him, and you don’t own me.I’ll do what I please.”
“Damn it…!”
“With charm like that, it’s no surprise to me that you’re still single,” she said as she walked into the house.
“I can be charming when I’ve got a reason to be,” he said icily.“But that’s something you’ll never know!”
“Lucky me!”
He started to speak, closed his lips tight, and walked back to his car.
She closed the door quickly and leaned back against it, almost shivering with anger.Of all the conceited, infuriating men she’d ever met, that one took the cake!
* * *
The next day,Rey phoned her midmorning to tell her that he and Leo would pick her up at one for the drive down to Jacobsville.
She had her suitcase packed and the house closed up when the big luxury car pulled into the driveway.It was a late-model car, and it looked odd, sitting in front of the shabby little house.
As she walked to the car, Meredith saw curtains fluttering and knew that the neighbors were getting an eyeful.They probably thought she was being carried off by the mob.That amused her and she smiled, glad that something diverted her mind from her father and her pain, and the misery of the past few months.
“We hadn’t planned to ask you to help us move cattle,” Rey drawled when he saw how she was dressed, in jeans and a striped shirt and boots.
“I haven’t volunteered, either,” she assured him.“But I didn’t think you’d want me to do housework ina dress.”She gave him a wry glance.“Those old black-and-white sitcoms weren’t historically accurate, you know.I never saw a woman vacuum the carpet wearing a dress and high heels and pearls!”
“You can do housework in a suit for all I care, as long as you can bake me a pan of biscuits every morning,” Rey said, taking the suitcase and putting it in the trunk.
“Good morning,” Leo called from the open window of the front seat, grinning as Rey opened the back door and helped her inside.
“Good morning,” she said brightly.“You look much better.”
