Almost Home Part 25

She loved the way the hair on his legs grazed her thighs, the hard planes of his body meshing so perfectly with hers. As she smiled down at him, her long blond hair drifted against his face. He pulled a piece of hay out of it with a grin.

"Ever had a roll in the hay before, Miss Whitfield?"

"As a matter of fact, this was a first. How about you? How many other girls have gone home with straw in their hair?"

"Oh, a couple dozen."

She laughingly slapped him on the cheek. "You're not that good."

"Hey, I think I did pretty well. So did you." He dropped his voice down to a s.e.xy whisper that made her want to do it again, even better this time.

"Not bad for a city girl, huh?"

"Not bad for any girl." He drew the strand of her hair across his lips. "You smell like flowers."

"My shampoo."

"No, it's you. Every time you come around, I smell lavender."

She caught her breath. "Me, too. I smell lavender all the time. It's in my chest, in my quilt. And when I went to the garden, it was incredibly strong. I almost feel like the scent is telling me where to go."

"Well, I don't care what got you here."

"You know, I've never gone to bed with a man I've known less than a week."

"We're not exactly in bed."

"You know what I mean. Be serious."

"With you wriggling your b.u.t.t like that? Impossible."

She traced a finger along his jawline, then followed it with her mouth, delighted to feel him growing hard beneath her. Lifting her head, she smiled down at him. "So soon, Mr. Tyler? You're quite a stallion, aren't you?"

He laughed. "I've never been compared to a stallion before. So what are you going to do now? Take me out for a ride?"

"Mm-mm, not a bad idea," she said, pressing her lips against his chest, trailing her mouth over to one nipple and flicking the tiny point with her tongue.

"Uh, Kat, I think this horse is ready to go."

"Hey, I'm the rider, I'll decide when we're ready to leave the barn."

"I'm in big trouble, aren't I?" he asked with a groan.

She laughed. "You better believe it. I want to go fast this time. Show me what you can do."

"You better hang on."

"Believe me, I don't intend to let go."

Chapter 15.

Katherine was still hanging on to Zach, one arm thrown across his waist, her head resting on his shoulder. Despite their cozy position, she sensed that he was pulling away. He hadn't said anything for a while, and although the silence had initially been filled with satisfaction, it was now beginning to feel tense.

Katherine let her fingers caress his stomach, willing him to relax, to stop thinking about what was next. Because she was afraid of those thoughts, afraid that he'd pull away from her now that they'd made love, now that the chemistry between them had been explored.

"It's getting late," Zach said.

She stiffened, hearing the coolness in his voice. d.a.m.n him. He couldn't even give her another few minutes to pretend that he'd been as moved by the pa.s.sion between them as she had been?

"Kat? Are you asleep?"

For a moment she let her eyes drift closed. She'd like to be asleep and she probably could be, if the pounding of his heart beneath her cheek had not suddenly begun to race, if he'd stayed relaxed and loving in her arms. But she had a feeling that man was long gone.

"Come on," he said, sitting up, gently forcing her to sit up, too.

She looked at him with a fond, wistful smile, seeing the straws of hay caught in his hair, and the smudges of her lipstick on his mouth. She ran one finger against his lips, wiping away the last trace of herself.

Zach caught her hand and pulled it away. "Don't go starting that again."

"Lipstick," she said. "I was getting it off for you." Actually, she'd been hoping to distract him from his current goal of getting rid of her as fast as possible.

"Thanks," he said shortly. He reached for his jeans and his shirt, slipping into them with quiet efficiency. Then he picked up her panties and her jeans, handing them to her to put on. "Get dressed."

Katherine would have hurried to cover her nakedness if he'd shown any interest in looking at her, but his gaze seemed to be everywhere but on her body. "I know we can't stay here all night, Zach, but the hotel is a long way away."

"You'll be more comfortable there." Zach finished b.u.t.toning his shirt, completing his suit of armor against her.

"You're certainly in a hurry to get rid of me," she complained, still holding her clothes in her hands.

He sighed. "I have to get up early. There's a lot to do."

"That's not why you're rushing me out of here."

"Look, can we skip the morning-after talk until morning?"

"No, we can't. What's the matter with you? Why are you acting like I suddenly asked if I could move in with you? I just suggested we spend the night together, because it's late and we're both tired."

"It's not that late, and I'm not that tired."

"You're afraid of me. Afraid of what you felt just now."

"It was s.e.x, Katherine. Great s.e.x maybe, but just s.e.x."

"It was more than that. I saw a side of you I'd never seen before."

"You saw my backside. So what?"

She looked into his eyes and shook her head. "I saw into you, Zach. Don't try to tell me otherwise."

"Obviously there's no point. You'll think what you want to think."

She swallowed back another protest. It wouldn't do any good to argue with him. He had his mind made up.

"Fine, I'll go back to the hotel then." She ran a ruthless hand through her hair, shaking out the hay and the memories. When she finished getting dressed, Zach was staring at her, a hard look in his eyes.

"I'm a fool," he said. "I knew what kind of woman you were, and I made love to you anyway."

"What kind of woman am I?" she asked, feeling hurt by his curt tone.

"The kind of woman who believes in the fairy tale."

"And you don't want to be my Prince Charming."

"I'm n.o.body's Prince Charming."

"What if I told you I was just looking for an ordinary man who wanted to love me?"

He looked straight into her eyes. "I'd tell you he was probably in California."

His words stung, but they also made her angry. "Okay, that did it. You've made me mad enough to leave now. Wasn't that your intention?" She moved past him and climbed down the ladder, blinking back a few unacceptable tears.

She would not cry in front of him. She would not let him see that he'd hurt her. She would not let him think that she was an emotional, softhearted, romantic fool.

He stopped her at the door of the barn. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not. Making love to me and shoving me out the door just gives you one more reason to call yourself a b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Well, congratulations. You've finally convinced me, too. Are you happy now?"

Are you happy now? Katherine's words rang through Zach's head for the rest of the night and half of Wednesday. As he sat at the computer, mulling over the farm budget, his mind kept returning to her words.

He hadn't meant to hurt her, but the s.e.x between them had been more than he'd expected, more than he'd wanted. It had made him think of love, and love was messy and emotional and complicated and hopeless.

It was best to end things now. He never should have taken Katherine up to the loft, never should have made love to her, never should have let her get inside his head, under his skin, into his soul.

It wouldn't happen again. It couldn't. Katherine would be an easy habit to acquire and a difficult one to break.

The phone rang, and he reached for it eagerly, grateful for the interruption. "Tyler," he barked into the phone.

"h.e.l.lo, Zach."

His stomach twisted into an immediate, familiar, sickening knot. "What do you want?"

"I hear you had a little chat with Veronica," Jackson said.

"I told you I wouldn't let you con Katherine into thinking you were her father."

"We could have made a nice run, Zach. Katherine Whitfield has all kinds of money backing her up, and we could have gotten some before she figured out the truth. But no, you had to get in my way. After all I did for you."

"All you did for me?" Zach asked in disbelief. "You almost ruined me."

"I saved you from an orphanage."

"So you could use me, like you're trying to use me now."

"Everyone uses everybody. That's the way of the world."

"Your world," Zach said tightly. "Not mine."

"You'll be sorry, son. Sorry you ever crossed me."

"You had a vasectomy. You refused to take a blood test. The game is over."

"There's always another game."

"Not with Katherine," Zach said, feeling fiercely protective, an emotion he was not entirely comfortable with. In fact, he couldn't remember having felt it before. Maybe a few twinges of guilt for one of the nice ladies his father had conned into bed or out of a savings account. But never this overwhelming determination to save someone from his father's clutches. "Leave her alone," he added forcefully.

"You're hardly in a position to call the shots, Zach. Your appalling amount of integrity has left you vulnerable."

"I don't care what you tell the Stantons. It doesn't matter anymore."

"So you say now. I wonder if you'll change your tune."

"Why don't you go back to wherever you were and leave us all alone?"

"Us?" Jackson said, sounding amused by the idea of Zach having friends.

"Go to-" Zach's words were cut off by the dial tone, and Zach slowly hung up the receiver, feeling both angry and worried. Jackson didn't like a double cross. Never had, never would. But what else could he possibly do to Katherine?

Jackson could still go to the Stantons with the wedding ring story and discredit him, but there was nothing his father could do to hurt Katherine. That was all that mattered. Unless...

Jackson wasn't Katherine's father, but maybe he knew who was. Jackson knew far more than he should about a woman who'd only come to town a few days earlier. But what did he know? And more important, what was he going to do with the information?

Claire Stanton was shocked to see Jackson Tyler sitting on a bench in front of the Hastings Grill, where she was meeting Leeanne and Mary Jo for a late lunch. Dressed in a navy blue pinstripe suit, his face cleanly shaven, his brown hair cut short and styled around his face, Jackson almost looked like a decent human being, but Claire knew otherwise. She'd seen him con hardworking people out of their life savings. Charming, he might be, but decent and honest, he was not.

She wondered what he was doing in town. His appearance seemed to have an uncanny correlation with Harry's private investigation. She hoped Jackson hadn't come to Paradise to cause Zach more trouble. The boy deserved a life of his own.

Jackson stood up as soon as he saw her and tipped his head. "Mrs. Stanton, it's a pleasure."

"Mr. Tyler." She kept her voice deliberately cool. "I thought we'd seen the back of you a long time ago."