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Her back was turned when he entered the kitchen area. Busy dishing up something onto his fancy saucers, she pretended not to hear his approach. Incensed, he moved closer. When she still didn’t turn around, he slammed a hand down on each side of her. She couldn’t run now. He’d trapped her.
Leaning next to her ear, he growled, “Are you trying to avoid my questions?”
With a gasp, Jenna whirled around, eyes wide as those saucers. “What do you mean?”
Cripes. She was so near he could feel her body heat. And smell that tantalizing perfume. What had he been thinking to move in this close?
Sweat popped out on the back of his neck. He dug his fingers into the countertop and hung on tight. Regardless of the unwanted physical reaction to his new employee, he deserved answers.
“I need to know more about you than the fact that you cook weird food.”
If such a thing was possible, she drew farther back, pressing into the counter behind her.
“Weird?” Her eyes widened some more, this time in dismay. Her pouty mouth turned down. “You didn’t like it?”
Blast and be danged. He’d hurt her feelings. He tried again. “I didn’t mean weird. Different.”
“Different?” She still didn’t look happy. And her too-near chest rose and fell as if she might cry.
“Different but good,” he said, growing more unraveled by the moment. A smart man would back away from her lush body and her sweet eyes and her tantalizing mouth. A smart man would never have come in here in the first place. “Real good. You’re a great cook.”
She was beginning to brighten. He wanted her to smile again the way she’d been smiling at Gavin all through supper…Dinner…Whatever she wanted to call it. “I haven’t eaten such a meal in weeks.”
Actually, he’d never eaten such a meal, but he knew when to cut his losses and keep his mouth shut.
She relented a little and Dax thought he saw a hint of humor lurking in those eyes. Brown eyes. Like the color of honey. Sweet, warm, delectable honey.
Why didn’t someone just shoot him now?
“I’m glad,” she murmured, the softness of her breath brushing his lips. Temptation tortured him. If he leaned in the slightest bit, they’d be touching from chest to thigh. A little closer and he could feel the softness of her mouth against his. “I want to do a good job for you.”
And he wanted to—With rigid self-control he reined his wayward wants and tried to remember why he’d come in here in the first place.
“You will. You are. It’s just that—” What? What was it he wanted to know?
He wanted to know a lot more than he would allow himself to think about.
Oh yes. Now he remembered.
Slowly, he loosened his white-knuckle grip on the counter and pushed away, leaving enough space between himself and his cook so that she could walk away from this encounter at any time. He’d had no business trapping her against the counter that way. What was the matter with him?
“You’ll be taking care of my son,” he said.
“A delight I’m looking forward to.”
There she went with her fancy talk. “Right, but he’s my son. It’s my job to protect him.”
She got that stricken look again as if he’d slapped her. “I would never do anything to hurt Gavin.”
He believed her, but common sense said he needed more information about his housekeeper. “Why are you here, Jenna?”
“I required employment. You offered me a job.”
“I don’t mean here at Southpaw. I mean here in Texas. You have a new baby. Where is your family? Why aren’t you with them? Won’t they be concerned about you?”
The sadness that overcame her was a punch in his gut. Her bottom lip quivered. She looked down at her clenched hands. “Sophie’s father died in rather embarrassing circumstances. Humiliating for me anyway.”
A gentleman wouldn’t press but Dax had to. “Meaning?”
She hesitated. And then sighed.
“At the time of the accident Derek was…my husband was…” Color drained from her face while she struggled to say the words. She twisted her fingers until the knuckles whitened. Until Dax had the insane urge to take her hands in his and calm her obvious stress.
“Never mind,” he said. “I don’t need details.”
She looked up, her voice a whisper. “Thank you. It’s difficult to discuss.”
He got the picture. Her husband had cheated on her and died in the process. Either that or he was a criminal killed during the commission of a felony. The last thought gave him pause, but even if it was true he didn’t believe for a minute that Jenna was involved. She might be running from something, but not that.
