frowned. He’d been outside on the steps, and it had started raining. He’d obviously stayed out longer than good sense dictated.
But then, good sense was hardly one of his strong points, he reminded himself, in light of what had just happened.
He stood, intending to grab a dry pair of jeans from his dresser, then remembered his state of undress. When he quickly sat back down, she looked away and started to rise.
“I...uh, I’ll just wait for you in the other room.”
“No.” He took hold of her wrist and gently tugged her back down. Her pulse beat hard and fast under his fingertips.
He knew he should ask her to leave, but for some strange reason, he didn’t want her to go. Not just yet, anyway. Maybe because after nearly four years it was easier to face her here in the darkness, or maybe it was because he still didn’t want to face reality. He wasn’t sure what the reason was, but he did know that, even if it was only a few more minutes, he wanted her to stay right where she was.
“Just grab a pair of jeans out of that top drawer for me.” He gestured toward his dresser.
“Sure.” She stood and opened the drawer, then handed him the jeans. She folded her arms and looked away as he tugged the pants on.
When Annie felt brave enough to chance a look at him again, she was relieved to see that he was at least partially dressed. It was difficult enough standing here talking to him, pretending nonchalance, after what had just transpired between them. Her knees were the consistency of dry sand and her cheeks burned with embarrassment. Thank God the room was dark, she thought. She wasn’t quite sure how she could look Jared directly in the eyes at the moment, let alone have a calm conversation with him in the light of day.
He reached across her and pulled a T-shirt out of the dresser. She watched as he dragged it over his head, and it was impossible not to notice the ripple of lean hard muscle as he tugged it on. Goodness, but the Stone men were well built, she noted, quickly looking away.
Extremely well built.
“I—” she drew in a deep breath “—I just heard about your father. I’m sorry. I would have come for the funeral if I’d known.”
Jared tucked his T-shirt into his jeans, and Annie’s throat tightened as he pulled up the zipper. “Myrna made all the arrangements so fast even I couldn’t make it in time. I barely made it to the reading of the will.”
Annie remembered Jared’s stepmother. An attractive woman with red hair, she’d been somewhere in her late forties when Annie had last seen her. J.T. had married the woman close to twelve years ago, one year after Jonathan and Jared’s mother had died. Annie knew that Myrna was more tolerated by the Stone children than accepted.
Jared’s head snapped up suddenly and he looked at the lighted clock on the nightstand. His eyes widened. “Dammit. Dammit, dammit!”
“What?” Eyes wide, Annie stared at Jared. “What is it?”
He snatched a pair of socks from his dresser, then grabbed his boots. “I’ve got an appointment. Jeez, I had an appointment. At ten with a geologist from Arloco Oil. I was supposed to meet him at the rig. Annie, I’m sorry, but I have to go. If I blow this appointment, it will undoubtably put an end to my already shaky oil career.”
He hesitated at the bedroom door and ran a hand quickly through his hair. “Look, just make yourself comfortable. I’ll be back in—”
“Jared—”
“—a little while and—”
“Jared—”
“—we can talk then about—”
“Jared!”
He stopped. “What?”
“Jared, I hate to tell you this.” She swallowed hard and faced him. “But I’m your geologist.”
Two
Jared stared at Annie, certain he had misunderstood her. She couldn’t mean what he thought she meant.
“What did you say?”
“I said,” she repeated quietly, “I’m your geologist. The one you were supposed to meet this morning.”
An uneasiness tightened Jared’s chest. “From Arloco Oil?”
“Yes.”
No. She couldn’t be. Not Annie. He reached for the light switch and flipped it on. She blinked at the unexpected brightness.
Annie had been a geology major, Jared remembered. That was how she and Jonathan had met. He had just finished his last year when they’d become engaged, but she’d had one more year before she graduated.
He watched her, letting the impact of her words sink in. “So this is no social call,” he said carefully. “You’re here as a representative of Arloco Oil.”
She nodded. “That’s right.”
He took in the full sight of her: work boots, long denim-clad legs, white sleeveless blouse, short tousled blond hair, large hazel eyes and wide soft lips.
Lips that were still swollen from the kiss he’d unknowingly forced on her.
The uneasiness in his chest closed around him like a fist. He’d more than blown his chances with Arloco Oil. He’d pulverized them.
He stared down at his bare feet, then back to her. “Look, just give me a minute. You’ve caught me a little off guard here.”
She smiled weakly. “You might say the same thing for me.”
He rolled his eyes shut and groaned. “Annie, I’m sorry, I—”
She cut him off. “Never mind, Jared. Let’s just forget about it. There was no harm done. We’ll laugh about it later.”
He seriously doubted that. Nor did he think he’d forget about it, either.
“I’ll go put some coffee on,” she offered as casually as if she’d been gone four days, instead of almost four years. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen, and we’ll start all over. It should help,” she added with a smile, “that we’ll both be dressed this time.”
He could hear the teasing in her voice, but he was hardly in the mood for levity. Frowning, he stepped aside, wondering how a day that had started off feeling so damn good could end up so damn miserable.
Annie held her breath as she moved past Jared. The look on his face told her that he hadn’t appreciated her weak attempt to ease the tension between them. She sighed inwardly. She’d known it was going to be difficult seeing Jared after all these years, but she certainly hadn’t expected it to be quite this difficult.
Everything in the kitchen was pretty much in the same place as when Jonathan had lived here, and she had a pot of coffee brewing within
