Secret Love - Brenda Jackson [28]
But she had.
She felt comfortable being on friendly terms with everyone on the ranch. No one had been excluded from her friendliness or acts of kindness, not even him. Being kind and friendly seemed to make her happy and relaxed, and he wasn’t about to take that away from her.
Jake shook his head. “You won’t cause any problems. The only problem you’ll cause is by not showing up. The men know you’re coming, and they’re looking forward to your spending a day out there on the range with them. They really like you, Diamond.”
He saw her face light up in a smile. He knew his words had meant a lot to her. “I like them, too. You have a special group of men working for you, Jacob. They are good men. I can feel it.”
Jake looked at her consideringly. After a long moment he asked, “What else can you feel, Diamond?”
Fierce, hungry desire was obvious in the dark eyes staring at her. Instinctively Diamond felt the core of her body quivering with renewed need. She flushed and looked away. Moments later she looked at him again. “I thought we had decided to try and stop this thing from developing between us, Jacob.”
He moved his horse close up beside hers. He wondered how he was going to make it through the day with her around. They stared at each other for a long, silent moment. Neither of them blinked. Then finally, after he had gained a semblance of control, Jake said, “Yeah, we did, didn’t we? Sorry.” He then urged his horse on and without saying a word, Diamond and her horse followed.
Jake had two choices. He could ignore Diamond or he could not ignore her. And he was finding that he could not ignore her. It seemed the men were handling her presence better than he was. Once they had gotten used to her being there, they had gone about doing their normal chores, and she had stayed out of everyone’s way by volunteering her services in the meal wagon. Willie Beads, the range cook, had been more than grateful for another pair of hands, even those belonging to Diamond Swain. And she had been a big help. She had assisted Willie in unpacking the cooking utensils and had been most eager to help serve the men lunch and dinner. Then later she had helped Willie get everything cleaned up and put away.
Nearing the afternoon, Jake sat on his horse frowning as he watched her, thinking of just how well she was able to fit in out here on the range. She was such a natural outdoors. And that’s what bothered him. Diamond Swain was not acting in any of the ways he had expected a sophisticate to act. She wasn’t afraid of breaking a fingernail by doing a little hard work, and she didn’t seem to be getting bored yet.
It takes longer for some, his inner mind told him. She’ll come around and find that this place is cramping the style she’s used to. She’ll begin missing the excitement and glamour of the life she left in California. It will be just a matter of time before Whispering Pines loses the allure and charm it now holds for her.
He knew this. It was expected. But the thought still bothered him. To be more precise, it bugged the hell out of him. And that, he thought, was dumb. He could not figure out why he was letting her get next to him. He set his lips in a firm line as he stared at her. He was way too smart to get tangled up with a sophisticated lady again. She was here for another two weeks, even less when the boredom finally settles in. So why was he feeling so agitated, so annoyed; and why had he gone back to feeling like a lusty bull again?
To tell the truth, the feeling had never left him.
He raised his chin, took off his hat and looked over at her. For once she was standing alone, looking out over his herd. She had taken off the wide-brim