Page 94 of The Honorable Texan
Leo looked shocked.“She’s not in love with me!Maybe she’s got a crush.That’s all!”
“You don’t see the way she looks at you, do you?”Rey replied solemnly.
Leo cleared his throat.“We’re talking about Meredith,” he said firmly.
Rey’s eyes narrowed.“Meredith is an adult.”
“And she works for us,” Leo went on relentlessly.“I’m not going to stand by and let you make an amusement of her.”
“Jealous?”his brother taunted.
Leo was very still.“Is that the draw?”he asked softly.“Are we competing for a woman again?”
Rey’s eyes flashed.“I would never have known about Carlie if you hadn’t started propositioning her in front of me.Do you think I can forget that?”
“I keep hoping you will someday.She would have taken you for the ride of your life,” Leo said quietly.“You’re my brother.I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.”
Rey turned away with a muttered curse.Leo was right; he had saved him from even worse heartache, but the memory was still raw enough to hurt.
“Don’t try to take it out on Meredith,” Leo told him firmly.“She’s had enough tragedy.Let her do her job.”
Rey glanced at him over his shoulder.“I would, if she’d remember why she’s here,” he said venomously.“It’s not my fault that every time I turn around, she’s drooling over me!A saint could be tempted by a woman whose eyes worship him like that.I’m only human!”
“Don’t raise your voice,” Leo cautioned.
“Why?Do you think she’s standing outside the door eavesdropping?”Rey drawled sarcastically.“What if she did hear me?It’s the truth.She wants me.A blind man could see it.”
“That’s no reason to take advantage of her.She’s not like your usual women.”
“No, she’s not.She has no ambition, no intellect.Besides that, she’s so inexperienced, it’s unreal.I never thought kissing a woman could be boring, until she came along,” Rey added coldly, trying not to let Leosee how attracted he was to their housekeeper.“She’s so naive, it’s nauseating.”
Outside the door, Meredith stood poised like a statue with a cup of coffee in a saucer shaking in her hands.She’d come to offer it to Rey, and overheard words that had never been meant for her ears.She fought tears as she turned around and went quickly and silently back down the hall to the kitchen.
Hearts couldn’t really break, she told herself firmly, as she dabbed at the tears with a paper towel.She was just feeling the aftereffects of her devastating experience at home.It wasn’t as if she was really drooling over Rey Hart.
She felt like sinking through the floor when she realized that she did spend an inordinate amount of time staring at him.He was handsome, sensuous, attractive.She liked looking at him.And maybe she was infatuated, a little.That didn’t give him the right to say such horrible things about her.
If she hadn’t been listening, she’d never have known about them in the first place.She’d have gone right ahead, mooning over him and having him know it and be amused by it.Her pride felt tattered.She’d never been one to wear her heart on her sleeve, but Rey had kissed her as if he enjoyed it, and she’d built dreams on those kisses.She realized now how truly naive it had been.The first man who paid her any attention in years, and she fell head over heels for him.Seen in that context, perhaps it wasn’t surprising after all.She’d heard Leo accuse him of being a rounder, and she had to admit that his experience ran rings around hers.Apparently he was accustomed to playing sensual games with women.That was all those devastating kisses that had broughther to her knees had meant to him—just a game.And she’d taken it seriously!
Well, she told herself firmly, he needn’t worry that she’d throw herself at his feet again.From now on, she was going to be the perfect employee, polite and courteous and eager to please—but she’d never stare at him longingly again.Thank God she’d overheard what he said to Leo.It had spared her a terrible humiliation.A little hurt now was far better than being wrung out emotionally down the road because she’d been ignorant of the facts.Wasn’t she herself always telling people that the truth, however brutal, was always best in the long run?It was time to take her own advice.
* * *
When Rey andLeo came in to breakfast the next morning, she put bacon and eggs and biscuits on the table with a cool, professional smile.
Rey was oddly subdued.He didn’t give her the arrogant scrutiny that had become force of habit in recent days.In fact, he didn’t look at her at all.Leo kept up a pleasant conversation about the day’s chores.They were moving some sick cattle into a pasture near the house so the vet could examine them, and stock was being shifted into closer quarters as well, within easier reach of the hay barn.
“I thought you had those big round bales of hay?”Meredith asked curiously.
“We do,” Leo agreed.“But we still bale it the old-fashioned way and stack it in the barn.You lose some of the round bales through weathering by sun and rain.The hay that’s kept dry in the barn has less deterioration and better nutrition.”
“But you feed more than hay?”
Leo chuckled.He buttered a second biscuit.“You are sharp.Yes, we have a man who mixes feeds for better nutrition.No animal proteins, either,” he added.“We’re reactionaries when it comes to ranching.No artificial hormones, no pesticides, nothing except natural methods of pest control and growth.We’re marketing our beef under the Hart Ranch label, as well, certifying it organic.We’ve already got several chain supermarkets carrying our product, and we’ve just moved onto the internet to extend our distribution.”
“That’s amazing,” Meredith said with genuine interest.“It’s like having custom beef,” she added, nodding.
“It is custom beef,” Leo told her.“We’re capitalizing on the move toward healthier beef.Quick profit methods are going to fail producers in the long run, especially with the current attitude toward hormones and antibiotics and animal-product proteins for feed.We think that once organic beef catches on, the market will justify the added expense.”
