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No, Scotch would dull his mind, but it wouldn’t stop the burning ache that scorched through his brain and settled uncomfortably in his loins.
He shifted, painfully aware of the bulge straining against his jeans. His only relief would come from lying with Tessa again and making love to her. But he wouldn’t succumb. Making love to Tessa was the one pleasure he would deny himself, no matter what the cost!
Chapter Four
The next four days were torture. Tessa avoided Denver like the proverbial plague, and fortunately he left her alone. The kiss they’d shared beneath the oaks had charged the air between them—changed the complexion of their relationship, igniting old emotions that should have long ago smoldered into ash.
“You’re a coward,” she told herself, glancing into the rearview mirror as the old Ford bounced down the lane. She and Denver had studiously avoided crossing paths, even missing each other at dinner. Most of the time he was holed up in the study, and Tessa kept herself busy outside. At night, she found excuses to go into town, only to return late and wonder where Denver was.
Not that she cared, she told herself as she parked the truck near the barn and switched off the ignition. She glanced at the house and sighed. Sooner or later, she’d have to face Denver again. If only he’d just pack up and leave, she thought angrily as she climbed out of the cab and glanced at the hazy sky. Tattered clouds floated high above the valley, and insects thrummed in the lazy afternoon. Overhead, swallows cried and vied for positions under the eaves of the barn.
Tonight, Tessa decided as she yanked open the barn door, she would talk to Denver and make a formal offer on the ranch.
She snapped on the lights then marched to the oat bin. Running her fingers through the grain, she didn’t hear the door open again.
“Looks like the rats are havin’ themselves a feast,” her father said. He surveyed the bin with a practiced eye. “Maybe we should get another cat. Marsha doesn’t seem to be doin’ her job.”
“Marsha’s busy with four kittens,” Tessa replied. The old calico had delivered her litter three weeks before. Hidden beneath the floorboards of the barn, the little kittens mewed softly. Even now, Tessa could hear their worried cries.
“Still—a good mouser is a good mouser.”
“Tell Marsha that the next time you see her.”
“Don’t think I won’t.” He sat heavily down on an overturned barrel. “Denver cornered me today.”
“Did he?” Tessa didn’t look up. As if she had no interest in Denver whatsoever, she fixed her gaze on the dusty seeds running through her fingers. “What did he want?”
“The same old thing. I swear that man’s a broken record.” He shook out a cigarette and thumped it on the barrelhead. “He seems to think there’s some reason this place has lost money—something more than what we’ve told him or what he can see in plain black and white.”
“Meaning?” Tessa asked. Her hand stopped moving restlessly through the grain.
“He suspects me of mismanagement.” Curtis’s lips twisted cynically in the gloomy interior.
“He’ll find out differently,” she said.
“I doubt it. It really doesn’t matter how hard we talk or what the figures say on paper, the man has it in his mind. It’s that simple.”
“So he’s already convicted us.” A heavy weight settled upon her shoulders.
“That’s about the size of it. I guess we should be glad that he’s only talking mismanagement rather than embezzling.”
“Embezzling!”
“He claims some of the figures don’t add up.”
“Hogwash,” she snapped, furious again. Ever since Denver had returned, her emotions had been riding a rollercoaster that was climbing steep hills and plunging down deep valleys, running completely out of control. “He’s wrong.”
“He’s also the boss.”
Damn Denver! Embezzling? That was the craziest notion he’d come up with yet!
“Calm down. Like I said, he hasn’t really accused anyone yet—”
“He wouldn’t!” Tessa cried. “He—he couldn’t! No one’s taken a dime.”
Curtis’s old eyes warmed fondly at his spirited daughter. “Just remember, Tessa, that man’s got a chip on his shoulder—a chip that’s grown to the size of a California redwood in the past seven years.” He straightened slowly, his old muscles tight from sitting too long in one posi
tion. “Stay away from him,” Curtis advised.
