Her heart beat a little faster, and her breathing quickened.
Kim’s eyes snapped open, and she sat up straight. She didn’t like the very disconcerting effect he had on her senses or the idea that there was something about him she found very appealing. Their families had been at odds for three generations. He was the last person on earth she should be having sensual thoughts about and definitely the last person she wanted or needed in her life.
Jared had spent an uneasy two days wrestling with his impression of Kim Donaldson. Thoughts of her had managed to intrude on the date he’d had following their meeting to the point where he had become distracted and couldn’t concentrate on his stunning and willing companion of the evening.
Kim was not at all what he had anticipated and certainly not his type. After what his attorney told him about the meeting with her, he had fully expected to run into a disagreeable female hellcat. But much to his surprise, what he found was a beautiful and desirable woman who had instantly grabbed him in a way no other woman ever had. She set his pulse racing and definitely stirred his libidinous desires. But there was something else about her, something he couldn’t identify. And it was that unknown quality that he felt sure was going to cause trouble of a kind having nothing to do with business.
He had given careful consideration to the fact that the debt might be beyond her means. If Paul Donaldson’s house was any indication of his financial status at the time of his death, then Jared doubted that there was enough money in the estate to satisfy the debt plus several years of accrued interest. The small house was neat and clean, but the structure and its contents did not have much value on the open market. And being a schoolteacher meant Kim Donaldson was not in an income bracket that would allow her to easily assume a debt of that magnitude without having planned for the expense.
With a sigh of resignation and more than a little confusion about how to proceed, he gathered the appropriate paperwork and walked to his car. He had phoned and told her he would be there at 5:00 p.m. He knew he should have had her come to his summer office suite at the Stevens compound. That would have been more businesslike, more appropriate for the situation. But he hadn’t suggested it. He chose to drive to her father’s house even though it put the meeting on her home ground and on a more personal level. And he wasn’t sure exactly why he had made that decision.
A low level of anxiety pushed at him as he drove to the Donaldson home. For the first time in his life he experienced a brief moment when he wanted to turn around and retreat from a problem. But that was not a practical solution to the issue. He toyed with the notion that it was Kim Donaldson who had caused his apprehension rather than the circumstances of the business matter. The possibility made him nervous, something very unusual for the always-confident Jared Stevens.
As he climbed the steps to the porch, Kim opened the door. On more than one occasion over the past couple of days he had visualized the beautiful barefooted woman in the shorts and T-shirt—her slightly mussed hair giving her an earthy look, her full lips revealing a sensuous mouth, a flash of emotion sparkling in her blue eyes even though that emotion had been anger.
A little pang of disappointment jabbed at him when he saw the conservative way she had chosen to dress for their appointment. Unlike the first time he had arrived at her father’s house, she wore a simple white blouse, charcoal gray slacks and low-heeled shoes. His realization of that disappointment said more than he wanted to know. In their one brief meeting she had managed to capture his undivided attention and hold on to it. She was as much of a puzzle as she was a fascinating woman, far more complex than the women he usually associated with.
Kim stepped aside as he entered the house. At that moment he regretted his decision to set the appointment away from his office. This was one business meeting that he wanted to have over as quickly as possible. A little shiver darted up his spine. He had a strange sensation of upheaval, almost like a premonition that his life was about to take a strange detour from his intended course.
He sat on the couch, making a concerted effort to appear casual. He wasn’t as sure about how to proceed as he had been two days ago when he’d confronted Kim Donaldson. He gathered his determination. The debt wasn’t a personal matter, it was a company financial transaction and as such needed to be resolved.
“Has your attorney looked over the documents?”
Kim nervously shifted her weight from one foot to the other, then finally sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the coffee table. For the previous hour she had been rehearsing what she wanted to say when he arrived, but now that he sat across from her, that confidence started to erode. He looked so calm and in control, as if he didn’t have a worry in the world, while in contrast her stomach churned in knots.
“I met with him yesterday.”
“And?”
She forced out the words, her voice barely above a whisper. “He tells me it’s a legal, binding agreement.” She glanced at the floor, unable to meet his steady gaze. It had been the most difficult thing she had ever said, far more so than when she’d told her fiancé the engagement was off and they were through.
“Then I assume you’re prepared to pay the debt.”
Kim squared her shoulders, steeled her determination and forced herself to make eye contact with him. A quick ripple of anxiety darted across her skin. “No…I won’t be paying the debt. This apparent obligation was my father’s business transaction, not mine. You have no legal claim against me or anything I own.”
“You think not?”
A nervous tickle poked at her consciousness as she watched him place the document in his case. He closed the lid and snapped the locks shut. He stood, picked up the attaché case, then turned toward her—every movement, every gesture, slow and deliberate, sending a wave of trepidation through her body.
He cocked his head and shot a curious look in her direction. “Not paying the debt…is that the advice of your attorney?”
“I didn’t consult him beyond his inspection of the documents. It’s simply the way it is.”
“You realize that you’re leaving me with no choice other than to file a claim against your father’s estate, which will tie it up for quite a while and prevent you from selling or otherwise disposing of any of his property, such as this house and its contents.”
Kim’s breath caught in her throat, and a hard knot twisted in the pit of her stomach. Had she heard him correctly? Everything about Jared looked very determined. Her legs trembled to the point where she feared they would no longer support her as the seriousness of what he said sank in. How would she ever be able to fight a multimillion-dollar corporation on a matter that her attorney said was a legal obligation? The anxiety churned through her body as a throbbing headache attacked her temples.
She needed the money the sale of her father’s house would bring to pay off his debts. She couldn’t afford to have his estate tied up in court. A wave of anger threatened to erupt. Jared was nothing more than a predator circling his prey. He had chosen a time when she was most vulnerable and had pounced on the opportunity. He had taken unfair advantage of a situation just like the Stevens family had been doing to the Donaldsons for the past three generations.
She tried to rally her courage while forcing a calm to her anger. “Then I’ll consult my attorney about that.”
“I have legal counsel on staff. You’ll have to hire an attorney, and it will probably end up costing you more than simply paying the debt your father owes.”
At that moment his tone reminded her exactly of her
