Kat Attalla Special Edition (53 page)

Stubbornness spread through her like a fire. He knew she wouldn't admit to being upset. Especially after he'd made her cry. He reached over and pulled the key from the ignition before she could jam the car into gear again.

"Give me the keys, Jake," she demanded.

He dangled the gold chain out of her reach and grinned. "Make me."

Kate sprung out of the seat and halfway across the console before he saw it coming. She pushed her arm up to his throat, cutting off his air supply. He lowered his outstretched arm to move her, and she snatched the key.

Her proud grin mocked him until she tried to move back.

He had snaked his arms around her waist, anchoring her firmly against his chest. "You have the keys, but I've got you."

She rolled her eyes and blew a wisp of hair from her forehead. He couldn't say she looked happy about the intimate position she’d landed in, but for all her pretense at boredom, she wasn't indifferent either. Her golden eyes studied him with the same curiosity as he studied her.

Kate looked away first. "You've had your laugh for the day, Jake. Let me go."

"Who's laughing?"

"Either that, or you're making a pass at me. And we both know that isn't the case. You don't like me."

"One has nothing to do with the other."

She stiffened. "Oh, I see."

He didn't like the peculiar expression on her face. "What do you see?"

"I'm good enough to sleep with, but you don't want me around your daughter. Is that about right?"

He shook his head in swift denial. "No. That's not what I meant."

"It sounded like that to me."

"All I meant is the heart has nothing to do with hormones." He momentarily stilled her squirming by cupping his hand under her chin and forcing her to look directly at him. "Stop being so damned sensitive, City. We've already established that I'm a jerk. And a few other adjectives I'm sure you've added to the list since yesterday."

As she wriggled out of his embrace, he heard her soft laughter. He would have preferred if she’d argued about him being a jerk. A token denial to soothe his ego. He wanted to cheer her up, but he‘d hoped it would be his charm and wit that won her attention. Now he would settle for making it through the rest of the day without putting his foot in his mouth again.

"Give me the keys, Kate. Please?"

She regarded the keys in her hand and lifted her shoulders. "Why not? I never liked driving this car anyway."

"Then why did you give me such a hard time?"

"Because you didn't ask, you ordered. No one tells me what to do."

As they walked around the car to change places, Jake thought about her comment. Not the words, but the way she spoke them. She neither boasted nor challenged him. She sounded more like she had not been in control of her own life before, but she had resolved to change that.

* * * *

By the time Kate had managed to wade her way through the lines at the Motor Vehicle department, then take care of the paperwork and bank transfers for her new Jeep, her body ached with fatigue. The day ranked as one of the most frustrating in her life. If one more salesman had called her "little lady" or "darlin'," she would have gotten sick. Salesmen obviously took lessons in patronizing women. But it really burned when the price of a vehicle dropped two thousand dollars after Jake spoke to the salesman.  But the time she finished, she begged Jake to drive or she might not be responsible for her actions. When they got back to Tannersville, she would have time to appreciate the four-wheel drive, the compact disc player, the power steering and power brakes. Right then she’d only wanted to test the highly rated, quiet and smooth ride.

The Jeep lived up to its hype. She didn't wake during the entire trip back. When Jake cut the engine, she opened her eyes. She felt so warm and comfortable that she didn't want to move. It took her a few sleepy seconds to gather her wits and notice that Jake had placed his jacket across her body.

"I guess it doesn't get good heat," she mumbled shyly, offering the heavy denim jacket to him.

"No. It gets great heat. I couldn't stand it, so I turned it off."

She struggled to sit up and adjusted the seat back to an upright position. "I'm sorry. You should have awakened me."

"Wake you?" he repeated as if he thought her crazy. "You slept through three stops I made in the city. I even asked you if you wanted lunch, but I wouldn't repeat in mixed company what you said to me. That kind of street language blew my image of a society princess right out the window."

Kate covered her burning cheeks with her hands. Nikki had told her almost the same thing on several occasions. She loved her sleep, and God help anyone who interfered. "What can I say?"

"You've said enough, trust me." He grinned, and she blushed again. He removed the keys from the ignition and handed them to her. "Enjoy it."

"Thanks, Jake. I know you really didn't want to take me."

"I don't do anything I don't want to." He opened the door and jumped out. "You coming?"

"No. I want to try driving it."

Jake glanced at his watch. "I have to..." He pointed in the direction of the barn.

She hadn't been hinting for him to join her. "I know. I'm just going to run to the grocery store and back."

"Do you want me to send Chloe with you?"

She climbed over into the driver's seat and inserted the key. "I wouldn't mind taking her for the company, but I'm driving. Chloe is only fifteen."

"That's old enough to drive in
New Mexico
. And she's been driving the farm vehicles since she was twelve. She can drive your little Jeep. Probably better than you can. I'll send her out." He slung his jacket over his shoulder and walked away.

She rested her elbow half out the window and sighed. With her head propped on one hand, she watched him cross the road toward the barn.

If she had to think of something nice to say about Jake, it would be that he had the greatest rear end she'd ever had the pleasure to view. He moved with a confidence that bordered on arrogance. She could swear he knew just where she was looking, but unless he had eyes in the back of his head, he couldn't.

Just before he disappeared into the barn, he raised his hand in a backward wave.

"Lucky guess, Callahan," she muttered to herself.

Chapter Four

"Enjoyin' the scenery, Kate?"

In the side mirror she caught the reflection of Trevor’s mocking expression. "Don't you have work to do?"

He took a moment to circle her new Jeep. "Not bad. If you put on a pair of overalls and bake a pecan pie for the church social Saturday night, you'll fit right in. Of course, you wouldn't want to tell any of those busybodies at the quilting bee that you take a particular pleasure in watching' Jake Callahan's south end, or you might find yourself run right out of town."

"Jake's south end or anyone's?"

"Aye, Katie, me darlin'," he began in a perfect Irish brogue. "Would you have me believe you've taken an interest in any others in the area?"

"Give me a break. I've been here two days and I've done nothing but annoy him. Stop trying to read something that isn't there."

"It's there, Kate, or he wouldn't be trying' so hard to ignore it. He got a lousy deal the first time and he's gun-shy. Give him a chance."

She shook her head and smiled sadly. "Stop trying to play matchmaker, Trevor. It wouldn't be wise for either one of us."

"The heart doesn't always allow us to follow the wisest course or no one would ever get married."

"That's the difference between the two of you. You believe in the heart, Jake believes in hormones. And that is a direct quote."

She had no idea what Trevor found so amusing about that, but it had him in sidesplitting laughter for a full minute. Before she could question him, Chloe came running towards them, wide-eyed and full of enthusiasm.

"I liked the red car better," Chloe announced, pulling herself up into the passenger's side. "There ain't nothing special about a jeep."

"There isn't anything special," Kate corrected.

"Then why did you get it?"

Kate smiled. "Because there isn't anything special about it." She even chose the most common color. "Need anything, Trevor?"

"Not from where you're going. It's Friday night. I'll do my own shopping' in town tonight." He winked his eye and tipped his head suggestively.

Kate smacked her palm against his shoulder to push him away from the window. He sprang right back like one of those old punching bag clowns she had as a child. "Take a good look at your uncle, Chloe. This is everything you want to avoid when you start dating."

Chloe giggled and scrunched up her button nose at her indignant uncle. "I know. I want a man like my dad."

"So does Kate," Trevor called out over the loud gunning of her engine as she turned it over.

Annoyed by his refusal to let the subject drop, she sniped, "Back up, or I'll run over your toes."

* * * *

Jake spent the better part of the next hour avoiding his brother. He needed to finish the milking, Chloe had skipped out on half her chores, and he knew Trevor kept returning to the subject of Kate. She seemed to be the only topic of conversation anyone wanted to pursue since she rented the house.

When he finished the milking and cleaned the machines, he couldn't avoid Trevor any longer. He still needed to apologize for his comments that morning. His twin had always been the wilder of the two of them, but he never doubted Trevor's innocence, and he would do it all over again, no matter what the cost.

"Going out tonight, Trev?"

Trevor picked up a pitchfork and began to muck out the stalls. "Yep."

"Need a ride?"

"I thought I'd ask Kate to chauffeur me around. Just to keep out of trouble."

Jake knew he deserved that one. "I thought I might go with you for a while. Chloe would rather be next door anyway."

"Jealous, Jake? Do you feel threatened?"

"Of course not," he lied. Trevor raised his eyebrow, and Jake shrugged. "Well, you have to admit, there's something odd about her."

Trevor leaned back against the support beam and smiled. "I find her utterly charming and very easy on the eyes."

"Oh, come on. Don't you think it's weird for someone like her to rent a house in the middle of nowhere with no job and no family? I mean, what's she up to?"

Trevor pulled a serious face. "I don't know, Sherlock. What do you think she's up to? Maybe she's an international spy sent here to steal our highly sophisticated fanning techniques."

Jake vented his annoyance by smacking his palms into his brother's chest. "Be serious."

"How can I be serious? Listen to yourself. And then take a really good look at her. That is a woman whose nerves are stretched tighter than a drum. She probably needed the solitude."

"So you agree. She's hiding out here. She's running away from something."

"Aren't we all, Jake?"

Trevor's pointed question lingered in Jake's mind as he went back to the house. He could rename his farm "The Sanctuary." His mother brought him and Trevor there after their father went to prison for the first time. Jake returned after his ex-wife, Libby walked out, leaving him with a five-year-old child. Even Trevor, who swore he'd never return once he left, had come back.

But Trevor only tolerated the farm in small doses. Jake sensed the restlessness in his brother. In another few months, when Trevor got his driver's license back, nothing would keep him from returning to the city. Especially now that he’d rented his house. Since Kate paid up front, Trevor paid off the last of the money he'd borrowed.

That left Kate. Did it really matter why she came? Shouldn't she be entitled to the same privacy that he himself wanted? Not much remained secret in a small town like Tannersville, but for as long as it did, she deserved some measure of peace.

He used Chloe as an excuse. He convinced himself that he wanted to shelter her from being hurt when Kate eventually left. People would come and go for most of her life, and Chloe would have to accept that fact. The problem wasn't Kate, but him. Did he want to have any kind of a relationship with her, knowing that one day she might walk out of his life?

A long overdue night out would make things clearer. He didn't have to worry about Chloe being alone. If she had a problem, Kate would be right next door. He needed some male bonding. Sitting around with a bunch of guys, lying about how he didn’t need a woman, would put things back in perspective.

* * *

"I think you lied to me, Chloe. You're the one who loves chocolate cake."

Kate pushed at the greedy fingers that reached for more icing. While they were at the market, she tried to come up with an idea on how to repay Jake for his missed day of work. She knew he wouldn't accept money, but he wouldn't refuse a cake. Chloe helpfully assured her that both Jake and Trevor shared a passion for chocolate cake.