The Ford Explorer is the one Lurch is the most comfortable in.”
“Lurch? The groomer?” She wrinkled her brow as she stared at the list without focusing on any of the words. A shrill whistle penetrated her confusion. She looked up just in time to see Jared whistle again, then a large dog with a huge head entered through the open French door and came loping across the office directly toward her. Her first thought was to get out of the huge animal’s way, but she couldn’t move fast enough. She stared, helpless, as the massive animal bore down on her.
Everything happened so quickly Kim wasn’t sure of the exact sequence. The animal stood on its hind legs with its paws on her shoulders. Whether the dog knocked her down or she stumbled and fell, she wasn’t sure. A second later she found herself sprawled on the floor with an energetic Saint Bernard licking her face. She frantically tried to shove the animal away from her, but the more she squirmed the more the dog seemed to think it was a game.
Jared grabbed the dog’s collar and gave it a gentle tug. The unmistakable sound of amusement surrounded his words. “Come on, Lurch. Let Kim up.” He let go of the dog, who gave Kim one more slurp against her cheek, then retreated to the other side of the room.
Jared reached his hand out to help Kim. She hesitated, then accepted his assistance. The moment their hands touched an unmistakable surge of sensuality traveled up her arm and infused itself through her body. He easily pulled her from the floor as if she weighed no more than a feather. She tried to remove her hand from his all-too-tempting touch, but he refused to let go. Instead, he pulled her closer to him until their bodies were almost touching. She looked into his face, and once again the intensity of his green eyes delved into the very core of her existence.
Jared continued to hold on to Kim’s hand. As much as he wanted to kiss that delicious-looking mouth was as much as he knew he didn’t dare make the attempt. His words came out much softer than he had anticipated. Even though he wanted to maintain an impersonal atmosphere, he was finding it difficult.
“Are you all right? Lurch didn’t hurt you, did he?”
She eased her hand out of his grasp, leaving him with a sudden and unexpected sense of loss. He didn’t know what disturbed him more, the loss of physical contact or the desire to have it back.
Kim tried to dismiss the unwelcome surge of desire that swept through her when he pulled her body close to his. For a moment she thought he might try to kiss her, a situation that, to her surprise, wasn’t an unpleasant notion. She tried to brush aside the unacceptable thoughts and cover her errant desires by adjusting her rumpled clothing. She attempted to wipe her face with her hands.
“What in the world was—”
“That was Lurch. Sometimes he gets a little rambunctious. He doesn’t usually take to strangers, but he seems to like you.”
She looked at Jared as a combination of disbelief and outrage welled inside her. “That’s Lurch? You expect me to take that huge beast to the groomer?”
“Watch what you say.” He feigned a worried expression. “Lurch is very sensitive.”
She shot him an angry glare, then stooped and picked up the list the dog had knocked from her hand and began to read. “Take Lurch to groomer. Pick up dry cleaning. Have Porsche detailed.”
The moment of desire that had assailed her senses quickly disappeared to be replaced by suspicion and irritation. She narrowed her eyes as she stared at him. “This is your idea of the type of work you expect from me? I thought you wanted a secretary for the summer, someone to do office work, not someone to run mundane errands for you and do menial little tasks.”
He adopted an attitude that was all business. “I don’t believe there’s anything in our agreement that specifically limits your duties to secretarial work.”
“But I assumed—”
Jared shoved a set of keys into her hand. “Lurch will never be comfortable in that little thing you drive. Take the Explorer. It’s parked just outside the door.”
“Wait a minute!” She bristled at what she saw as his take-charge attitude and controlling nature. “We need to talk—”
“You’d better hurry. They’re expecting Lurch at nine o’clock.” With that, Jared turned and went into his office, leaving Kim standing in the reception room staring at his retreating form. It had never occurred to her to have the letter of agreement specify that her work assignments would be confined to office chores. She clenched her jaw in anger. He had planned this entire scenario just to embarrass her. This is what he had in mind all along. The situation would definitely require a conversation with her attorney about this unexpected turn of events.
She looked at the keys he had given her and glanced at the list again. On the back he had written the name and address of the dog groomer, the dry cleaner and the car detailer. She turned toward the dog, who was sitting next to the desk. Lurch looked at her with big brown eyes, his tail wagging and his muscles tensed as if it was all he could do to sit there quietly.
Some of the stress that had wrapped itself around her stomach started to loosen a bit. Now that she had gotten over the shock of the large Saint Bernard charging toward her, she had to admit to herself that he was a magnificent dog. “Well, Lurch, it looks like we’re going to the groomer. Do you have a leash or something?”
The dog cocked his head and stared at her for a moment, then trotted toward Jared’s office, his powerful wagging tail knocking over a wastepaper basket as he went. She looked at what were now her wrinkled and dirty clothes. If this was the way it was going to be, then jeans and a T-shirt would certainly be appropriate dress for the rest of the summer. It was apparent she wouldn’t need to be concerned about maintaining an image in front of Jared’s clients or business associates or to be presentable for a business office.
A strange sensation washed over her. Half of it was resentment that he had purposely deceived her about her duties and relegated her to such an insignificant position, but the other half was relief. Even though she had been curious about the business holdings of Stevens Enterprises, she really didn’t want to be involved in any of Jared’s business dealings.
She tried to look at it in a logical manner. The thing for her to do was to make the best of a bad situation. Perhaps it was nothing more than a game of one-upmanship, his way of making sure she knew he was in charge. Maybe it was better this way. She would let him think he had the upper hand. If her summer job at Jared’s involved nothing more than running errands, then that’s the way it would be. It would certainly be an easy way to satisfy her father’s debt and resolve the entire problem without involving an attorney or any more legal ramifications. It was a situation she knew she could live with for the three-month duration of the letter of agreement.
Lurch came running into the room with one end of a leash in his mouth and the other end dragging on the floor behind him. The dog sat in front on her, dropped the leash, barked and wagged his tail. He acted more like a playful puppy than a huge animal sitting in front of her anxiously waiting to go somewhere. She picked up the leash and attached it to the dog’s collar. The dog immediately took off toward the door, pulling Kim behind him.
“Whoa! Slow down, Lurch.” She couldn’t stop the laugh that spontaneously erupted in reaction to the dog’s excitement at going somewhere. It took all her strength to control the animal and keep him from dragging her across the floor.
The sound of her laughter carried to Jared’s office. He stood in the doorway watching Kim trying to contain the dog as it hurdled through the door into the parking
