Reckless Heart Read online

  His hands pushed her down into the chair. They were warm and hard, and when he removed them, she felt a chill. He sat at the head of the table and nodded toward her plate, which had been piled high with a fluffy cheese, ham and vegetable omelet. One of the men tossed a hot biscuit on the plate and another poured her a cup of coffee.

  “Eat,” Josh ordered.

  “Mrs. Montgomery said you were bossy,” she muttered as she reached for some butter.

  “She’s got you pegged, boss,” Lance said, giving a slow smile across the table to Molly. “What else did the employment agency say? We know Josh is hell on wheels with housekeepers. He hasn’t kept one for longer than a couple of weeks.”

  Molly looked up, tempted to relate all Sarah Montgomery had said, but she held her tongue. Josh was her boss and deserved her loyalty.

  She smiled and shook her head. “Just that he was bossy. Which makes sense since he is the boss, right?”

  “You could add slave driver,” Carl mumbled, his eyes on his plate.

  “Or stubborn,” Dennis threw in.

  “How about opinionated?” Jack said slyly, throwing Josh a knowing look.

  “I like relentless, myself,” Pete said.

  “And I like it quiet at dinner,” Josh said, frowning.

  When everyone laughed, Molly knew the men really liked and respected her new boss. It said a lot for him that the cowboys were comfortable enough around him to tease him. Something inside her reacted. She knew she still had to answer for the poor dinner, but maybe Josh would be generous and give her one more chance. She would not repeat the mistake of too little food again.

  As the men ate, conversation centered on the ranch and the different tasks and chores still to be done.

  Molly tried to match names to faces. Lance was the foreman. A man about the same age as Josh, he maintained just enough distance from the men to keep the chain of command, yet from the easy way the others related, he obviously was also well liked.

  Jack was older, his hair liberally sprinkled with gray. Billy was the youngest and looked to Molly like he should still be in school. The others ranged in age and size, yet all had the same undefinable characteristic of a cowboy, a bit wild, a bit untamed, men in their own right who signed on to work the open land as their forebears had done a hundred years before.

  Molly found them fascinating. She soaked up the conversation like a sponge. Afraid to ask questions, she tried to glean the meaning from everything without appearing stupid. Once or twice someone explained things to her, but for the most part, she had to guess at the meanings of some words.

  When everyone had their fill of food and conversation, they began to drift out. Josh left first and Molly wasn’t sure whether to be glad or not.

  At least her reprimand would be delayed, or had he gone to write a check for her services and fire her? She hadn’t done much her first day. She hoped she'd have more time.

  She cleaned up the kitchen, checked where the cowboys had stored the food and tried to plan the next day’s menu. Obviously she hadn't bought enough food to last a week. Still she had plenty for the next couple of days.

  The first thing she planned to do when she hooked up her computer was make a list of groceries, of meals, of snacks. Then she would have a better idea of quantity amounts to order.

  Finished with the dishes, she headed toward the stairs to find her room. She still hadn't seen Josh since dinner. Dare she unpack?

  If he planned to fire her, wouldn't he have done so immediately after dinner? Or even as they were preparing the second part of the meal.

  She paused in the doorway, her eyes taking in the pretty room. It was large, with high ceilings and tall windows, which gave a spectacular view of the rolling fields. Starched Priscilla curtains framed the view. Slowly she stepped inside. The bed was to one side, a dark burgundy coverlet adding a splash of color against the white walls. The rug in the center of the room gave beneath her feet when she walked on it. A dresser and a desk were on one wall. The closet door was ajar. And the adjoining bathroom guaranteed privacy. She'd be very comfortable here. It was much more than she expected.

  As she opened drawers in the high chest, she wondered which room was Josh’s. Hers was at the top of the stairs. There was a door opposite, and three more farther down the hall. Time enough to discover his when cleaning, changing beds, and the other tasks ahead of her.

  If she stayed.

  Molly put away the last shirt, snapped closed her two bags and shoved them under her bed. Turning, she heard Josh’s tread on the stairs. Her door stood open so she could catch him when he came upstairs. She crossed her room reaching the opening to the hall just as he reached the top of the stairs.

  He looked tired. Yet when he saw her waiting, he straightened and raised one eyebrow.

  “I thought you might be asleep by now. Breakfast is at six,” he said.

  “I thought I might be fired by now.”

  He stared at her for a long moment. “No need. You’re here temporarily. As soon as the agency finds someone else, you’ll be gone. As you pointed out, I might as well take advantage of what you can do in the next few days.”

  “I plan on pancakes for breakfast, about fifteen for each man. Will that hold everyone?” she asked, disappointed by his continued conviction she would be so soon gone. Though in all fairness she'd hardly impressed anyone today.

  He smiled and nodded. “Probably.”

  “I’m sorry I made such a mess with dinner. I thought two or three slices of pizza would be enough. I won’t make that mistake again.”

  “Something else, no doubt,” he murmured. His gaze roamed over her face, her hair.

  “No doubt.” She grinned. He was being nicer than she expected.

  “Where did you get the pizzas?”

  “At a take-and-bake place near the supermarket. I was running late and thought they’d do.”

  “They let you charge it?”

  She shook her head. “I bought them.”

  Josh studied her for a long moment. “How much experience do you have being a housekeeper?” he asked, moving to lean against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. Molly knew he'd stay for a while, so there was no hope a quick answer would turn him away.

  Leaning against the doorjamb, she put her hands in her pockets and tried to find an answer that would be truthful, yet give him the comfort he needed to know she could do the job.

  “I kept house for a number of years,” she began slowly.

  “For a dozen men?”

  She shook her head. “Just one, actually. Though we often had guests.”

  “Your dad?”

  She nodded.

  “Where is he now?” Josh’s eyes narrowed as she fidgeted in the doorway.

  Molly felt the subtle change from polite questioning to inquisition. She wanted to say goodnight and shut the door, but couldn’t without raising suspicions she wanted to avoid.

  “He lives in Houston.”

  “Why did you take this job?”

  Dare she hint at the reason? He probably sympathized with her father. He reminded her of her father, yet he was different. She didn’t think her father would have come up with a plan for the evening meal when she failed to deliver. He would have sat back, waited for her to come up with something, then lectured her for hours on how inept she was.

  Josh had not said a word. She almost wished he would. His kindness sat uneasily upon her. Boiling anger she was used to, kindness she was not.

  Josh counted the minutes as she stalled, obviously searching for some answer to appease him. For a moment suspicions flared. He didn’t want to be fobbed off with some politically correct response, he wanted to know why she was working as a housekeeper on a ranch miles from anything when she should be in some town, building a career, dating.

  Frowning, he found he didn’t like the idea of her dating, which was totally illogical. He didn’t want to become involved with her or any woman. He’d tried that route with Jeannie and look at the h
eartache that had caused.

  Nothing good came of women practicing their guile on unsuspecting men. He had a ranch full of single men and he didn’t need some pretty young woman causing havoc. The sooner she left, the better.

  “If it takes you as long to think up a plot for your book, you’re going to be an old lady before you get the first manuscript done,” he drawled sarcastically. Pushing away from the wall, he started down the hall.

  “Get some sleep, 6:00 am comes early,” he called over his shoulder.

  When he entered the farthest door on the left, Molly sagged in relief. At least she’d made it through the first day.

  Slowly she entered her room and shut her door. She was an idiot. Now that the moment had passed she realized she should have had all her answers ready. Why would someone want to keep house at the back of beyond? She didn’t ride particularly well, nor care for horses that much. She knew nothing about cattle. And she knew even less about cowboys and their appetites.

  But she still planned to remain for the duration. Tomorrow she’d get the house organized, set up her computer and begin working again on her book.

  In the meantime she'd go to bed like Josh suggested and forget about the less than enthusiastic welcome she’d received.

  And ignore the shimmers of attraction that played between them. He was her boss for the foreseeable future, nothing more. She was happy to keep things that way.

  Not that it would hurt to just imagine how he would talk to her if he cared something for her. Not that it would hurt to imagine how his skin would feel beneath her fingertips, how his mouth would feel against hers, how his arms would feel holding her.

  Shivering, she shook her head. It might not hurt, but it wouldn’t change anything. She needed to be practical now. Her future depended on it.

  By the time eighteen men had eaten breakfast and left for the day's work, Molly was almost ready for a nap. She'd risen early to prepare the meal. Pleased to note she had everything ready when the ranch hands filed in.

  And she’d done it right.

  There was plenty of pancakes, sausages, even a couple of eggs fried for Jack when he asked. She made two pots of coffee and had to quickly brew a third before they were filled.

  Now the kitchen would take an hour or more to set right. And she still had to explore the rest of the house to make sure it was tidy before she could set up her computer.

  Conscientious, she had to give her first efforts to her job. Her own time and projects had to wait.

  Then she had lunch to see to and dinner to plan.

  Sipping from a cup of lukewarm coffee, she wondered where all the free time was she'd expected. At the rate she was going, it would be the weekend before she even unloaded the computer from her car.

  Determined to give her best to the job, however, Molly didn’t hesitate to plunge right in. Once the kitchen was clean, she wandered through the downstairs rooms. On the wall in the big living room, family pictures clustered. She studied them. They showed a happy family frolicking in the snow, on a picnic somewhere, on horseback, mother, father, three children. Then only pictures of the children. She noted the progression as they all grew up. The most recent pictures showed new family groups. Obviously Josh’s brother and sister were now starting families of their own. Why hadn’t Josh married?

  As if her thoughts of him conjured him up, he appeared in the archway to the hall.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, tapping his hat against his thigh as he studied Molly’s guilty expression when she whirled from the pictures.

  “Just looking around. This room needs a thorough cleaning,” she answered hurriedly. She didn’t want him to know she’d been paying so much attention to a family that meant nothing to her. They'd looked so happy. Had she been that happy as a child? It was hard to think back when recent events still claimed her thoughts.

  She was an only child of a difficult man. Her mother had left when she was a toddler, and her father had never spent time on picnics or playing with her in the snow. Josh had been lucky in his childhood and for a moment envy rose.

  Chapter Four

  “The whole place needs a thorough cleaning,” he said, glancing around the room.

  Molly nodded and stepped forward. He was tall. If she used him as the hero in her book, she should probably know exactly how tall he stood. Stepping closer, she noticed her head just reached his chin. His shoulders seemed even broader when she came close like this. Her hands itched to measure the width, to feel the hardness of his muscles, to sculpt their strength.

  Tilting her head slightly, she wondered how hot his skin would feel. Would it be sleek and taut over his muscles? Or was his skin covered in hair? Golden hair covered his forearms, shining against the tan of his skin. Was he covered all over, or was his chest smooth and bare?

  Swallowing hard, Molly tried to move her gaze away from the man. While her perusal was for research, she found herself warming at the thoughts running through her mind.

  Slowly she drew in a shaky breath and tried to remember what she was supposed to be doing.

  “Are you all right?” Josh’s sharp voice penetrated the haze and she swung around to face him.

  “Of course.”

  “You look as if you’ve gone into a trance.”

  “I was thinking of something for my story.”

  He leaned forward a little until he was close enough that his breath brushed against her cheek when he exhaled. Entranced, Molly longed to reach up and touch his cheek, to trace the indentation beside his mouth, rub her fingertip across his lips and see if they were soft and warm, or hard and cool.

  “I want a full day’s work for a full day’s pay,” he said.

  She blinked. “Why ever would you think you wouldn’t get it? I’m a hard worker.”

  “You’ve been here twenty-four hours and so far you have practically starved us and done nothing else,” he replied.

  She grew indignant. “I cleaned your kitchen and went shopping for food, don’t forget. Both were, I might add, a monumental task.”

  “Right, and by the amount of food you bought, you’ll be heading out again tomorrow.”

  “Wait a minute. I wasn’t aware of how much you would all eat. If you will recall, Mr. Hart, I offered to show you the list when I was leaving. If you had even glanced at it, you might have seen I was a little light on some of the supplies and let me know. So if I do have to go back tomorrow, I count you as much to blame as me.”

  Josh stared at her in disbelief. “You’re blaming me for your own ineptitude?”

  She tilted her chin, planted her fists on her hips and nodded. “Not that I consider myself inept, just a bit inexperienced. Which you should have known.”

  “My dear Miss Forrester, I expect the agency to send me someone competent and capable, not someone who has to be led around like a two-year-old.”

  Glaring at him, she wanted to retaliate in words that would set him back on his heels. But nothing came to mind.

  “I'm hardly a two-year-old. As soon as I get my computer hooked up, I’ll make a master list and be sure to buy more than enough of everything I need the next time I go shopping.”

  A thought struck her. “But how I’ll fit it all in my car, I’m not sure...”

  She trailed off. Her car had been packed with groceries yesterday. If she bought even more, she’d need to make two trips.

  “Take one of the ranch trucks. You can fill the pickup bed with the groceries. That’s what the other housekeepers did.”

  She frowned. “I don’t know if I can drive a truck.”

  “I’ll get one of the men to show you how if you don’t think you can manage.”

  “I’m sure I can manage.” Her tone was haughty, her eyes still flashed anger.

  “I’m sure you can.”

  His gentle tone grated. Dropping her gaze, she watched his lips move as he talked, and again wondered how they would feel against her own.

  She had been kissed by different men and boys numerous
times since high school. All the romance books she read made kisses sound like a most wonderful experience. She'd enjoyed kissing, but hadn't thought it was the most wonderful thing. Would Josh’s kisses rock her world?

  He'd shaved that morning and his cheeks looked smooth and warm. If he kissed her, would she feel more of his face against her own than just his lips? Would his arms encircle her to pull—

  “Molly!”

  She jumped. “What?”

  He put a gentle fist beneath her jaw and raised her face until she met his gaze. His eyes narrowed as he stared down at her in displeasure, his expression serious.

  “Do you need to go back to bed?”

  To bed? With Josh?

  She blinked again and tried to dispel the image his words evoked.

  “Why would I need to go to bed?” Was he propositioning her? She had to refuse. Didn’t she?

  He groaned softly and his fist opened. His hand cupped her chin and the pad of his thumb traced the soft skin covering her jaw.

  Molly shivered. She liked his touch. Her skin transmitted the sensuous sensations throughout her entire body and shimmering tingles of awareness rushed through. She had never felt like this before. Could she capture this feeling in her book, too?

  “Molly, you look at me like I’m a long-awaited Christmas present. If you’re making a play for me, forget it. I’m not interested. If this is research for your damn book, find someone else to practice on.”

  She jerked her head away and stepped back, embarrassment flooding her. “You told me to leave your employees alone.”

  “More importantly, leave me alone.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” she protested, knowing her imagination had been in full force but he couldn’t know that.

  “I guess not.”

  He straightened, slapped his hat against his thigh again and looked around the room, as if surprised to find himself there. “I came in to do paperwork. You need to tell me how much the pizzas cost. I’ll reimburse you.”

  “No need. It is the least I can do after making such a mess of things yesterday.”