The Cowboy's Temptation Page 0,19

was around her.

Jake was quiet for a moment before stating, “You’re lying. Why?”

Elissa didn’t like the way he could read her so easily. “Because I need to,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

She laughed softly. “Maybe I need to pretend there’s someone waiting for me. Just so I can make sure my life is normal in some small way,” she explained.

A lump formed in Jake’s throat. The sadness in her voice and the pain in her eyes caught him off guard. She was supposed to be a tough city girl, self-centered and pampered. Her comments didn’t fit the image he had of her.

“Why do you need to pretend? Aren’t there men back in New York?”

Elissa shrugged. “None worthy of mentioning.” She sat up then, afraid she’d reveal too much under the romantic stars. She didn’t think Jake wanted to hear about her love life, or lack of it. “Well, I’d better get to bed,” she said.

He stood up with her. “Good night,” he said, and watched as she walked into the darkened house.

Elissa made headway in all areas of her day that week. The house was starting to look wonderful now, she was cooking five course meals, complete with desserts and loving every minute of it. And despite Jake’s constant snapping, she knew she was doing well with Jemima. Oh, she wasn’t ready to start jumping fences and tying up calves, but she could hold her own in the corral now.

The nights worried her more and more. Each evening, no matter where she was in the house, she seemed to run into Jake. She hid out in the library one evening but he came in, sifting through some papers, stopping short when he saw her.

“Hiding?” he challenged.

Elissa was but she wasn’t going to admit it to Jake. “Reading,” she said, laying the book down on her lap so he couldn’t read the title.

But Jake noticed the telling blush on her cheeks and walked over to find out what had caused it. He picked up her book, easily evading her hands that tried to stop him as he read the title.

“Byron?” he questioned, then looked at her face. “You’re reading Byron?”

Elissa grabbed the book and tucked it back on the shelf. “I was.”

“Byron?” he asked again, unable to comprehend her reading romantic poetry.

She turned on her heel and confronted him. “He’s a very good writer with some interesting ideas. What’s it to you, who I read anyway?” she demanded, her hands on her hips.

Jake looked at her with her hands on her hips, confronting him. He slowly walked over to stand directly in front of her and he noted with approval the wariness that came over her expression as he towered over her tiny body.

“No need to get all sassy with me, little one,” he said, his eyes scanning her flushed face.

She quickly backed up a pace, which he eliminated immediately. “I don’t take sass from anyone, much less a tiny woman who barely reaches my shoulder.”

“You wouldn’t hurt me,” she said, sure he wouldn’t do physical harm to her but not sure what he could do.

“I don’t hit females,” he said softly, “But there are other ways to get rid of sass,” he warned. Then quickly turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

Elissa let out her breath, unaware that she had been holding it. Her first thought was what other ways? Her next one was that she needed to run. That got her feet moving and she made it all the way up the staircase and into her room, quickly closing the door behind her.

Wednesday, she decided to tackle the pool. The days were getting hotter and the pool needed cleaning. She had no idea how to do it but she found the pool tools in a small closet off to the side of the pool and used the nets to clean off the top of the water. It took her almost all afternoon, but by the end of the day, she was able to look at the crystal clear water and nod in satisfaction.

It was too late to swim though. She had to rush to get the evening meal ready. She only made simple sandwiches but added some gourmet cheese to spice them up and some homemade salsa. She debated making Jake a sandwich, not wanting to be nice to him after the previous evening’s threats. But she relented, knowing he didn’t get back to the house until well after it was dark. He always looked tired,