The Men of Medicine Ridge - Diana Palmer [121]
It was two o’clock in the morning before she heard a pickup truck pull up at the bottom of the steps out front. She threw off the covers and ran to the window, peering out through the lacy curtain just in time to see Gil and John climb wearily out of the truck. John had a rifle with the breech open under one arm. He led the way into the house, with Gil following behind.
At least, thank God, they were both still alive, she thought. She went back to bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. Relieved, she slept.
She’d forgotten John’s invitation to the movies, but he hadn’t. And he looked odd, as if he was pondering something wicked, when he waited for her to come down the stairs with the girls.
Kasie was wearing a pretty dark green silk pantsuit with strappy sandals and her hair around her shoulders. She smiled at the little girls in their skirt sets. They looked like a family, and John was touched. He went forward to greet them, pausing to kiss Kasie’s cheek warmly.
Gil, who was working in the office, came into the hall just in time to see his brother kissing Kasie. His eyes splintered with unexpected helpless rage. His fists clenched at his side. She wouldn’t leave the house with him, but here she was dressed to the nines and all eager to jump into a car with his brother.
John glanced at him warily and hid a smile. “We’re off to the movies! Want to come?”
“No,” Gil said abruptly. He avoided looking at Kasie. “I’ve got two more hours of work to finish in the den.”
“Let Miss Parsons do it and come with us,” John persisted.
“I gave Miss Parsons the day off. She’s visiting a friend.”
“Let it wait until tomorrow, then.”
“No chance. Go ahead and enjoy yourselves, but don’t get too comfortable. Watch your back,” he said tersely, and returned into the study. He closed the door firmly behind him.
John, for some ungodly reason, was rubbing his hands together with absolute glee. Kasie gave him a speaking glance, which he ignored as he herded them out into the night.
The movie was one for general audiences, about a famous singer. John didn’t really enjoy it, but Kasie and the girls did. They ate popcorn and giggled at the funny scenes, and moaned when the heroine was misjudged by the hero and thrown out on her ear.
“That looks familiar, doesn’t it?” John murmured outrageously.
“She should hit him with a brickbat,” Kasie muttered.
“With a head that hard, I don’t know if it would do any good,” he said, and Kasie thought for a minute that it didn’t sound as if he were referring to the movie. “But I have a much better idea, anyway. Wait and see.”
She pondered that enigmatic remark all through the movie. They went home, had dinner and watched TV, but it wasn’t until the girls went up to bed and the study door opened that Kasie began to realize what John was up to. Because he waited until his brother had an unobstructed view of the two of them at the foot of the staircase. And then he bent and kissed Kasie. Passionately.
Kasie was shocked. Gil was infuriated. John winked at Kasie before he turned to face his brother. “Oh, there you are,” he told Gil with a grin. “The movie was great. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. Sleep well, Kasie,” he added, ruffling the hair at her temple.
“You, too,” she choked. She could barely manage words. John had never touched her before, and she knew that it hadn’t been out of misplaced passion or raging desire that he’d kissed her. He’d obviously done it to irritate his big brother. And it was working! Gil looked as if he wanted to bite somebody.
He moved close to Kasie when John was out of sight up the steps, whipping out a snow-white handkerchief. He caught her by the nape and wiped off her smeared lipstick.
“You aren’t marrying my brother,” he said through his teeth.
“Excuse me?”
“I said, you aren’t marrying John,” he repeated harshly. “You’re an employee here, and that’s all. I am not going to let my brother become your meal ticket!”
She actually gasped. “Of all the unfounded, unreasonable, outrageous things in the world to say to a woman, that really takes the cake!” she raged.