Daddy's Little Girl (A Homespun Romance) (4 page)

"I have something for you in my study."

"F...for me?" 

Jason nodded, standing aside so she had to walk past him to get to the hall.  He followed her, noticing the loose cotton pants, and long top she wore hid most of her, as usual.

Opening the top drawer of his desk, Jason took out a jewelry box, and placed it on the polished surface.

"See if you like it," he said.

Sara's breath caught in her throat as she picked up the box and opened it.  On a bed of midnight blue velvet nestled the most beautiful ring she had ever seen.  The huge marquise diamond set in white gold must have cost the earth.  She knew because Claire and she had window shopped frequently since Uncle Samuel's death.  Claire loved pretending she was a serious customer, trying jewelry on and finding out how much everything cost. 

Sara looked at Jason.  Why was he giving her something so expensive?  Everything Uncle Samuel had given her; food, a roof over her head, clothes, demanded too much in return.  Obedience, work, undying gratitude.

"It's too valuable," Sara said stiffly.  "I'd be afraid of damaging or losing it."

"It's what people would expect me to give my future wife," Jason said impatiently.  She was the first woman he knew who'd responded to a gift of jewelry with anger.  "Try it on."

It fit her slender finger perfectly.  As she looked at him, eyes round with surprise, he said, "This morning I picked up the ring you normally wear, by the kitchen sink.  That's how I got your size right.  The jeweler polished your ring.  Here it is."

"Thank you."  Sara looked at the gold filigree band as if examining it for damage, before she slipped it on her right hand.

"I couldn't help noticing it has a date inside it."  Jason wondered if it was her parents' wedding date.

"That's the day my father and mother met."

"What did your father do?"  At last they were having some sort of a normal conversation.

Nervousness welled up in Sara.  The terms of the contract they had signed in his lawyer's office had emphasized that they should be completely honest with each other.  "He was an engineer in the army.  He was killed before I was born, when some sort of bridge he was working on collapsed."

"I see."  Had her uncle taken the place of her father, or had it been hard for her growing up without one?  His own long distance relationship with his father had been one of the most difficult things Jason had endured as a child.

"There's something you should know."  She wet her lips, and Jason watched some of the color drain from her face.

"What is it?"

"My f...father and my mother weren't married."  The words came out in a rush.  "He loved my mother and they were going to be married on his next leave, but he died."

Jason's eyes narrowed at the defiant note in her voice.  Did Sara really think things like that mattered these days?  He looked at her lower lip, imprisoned by her even white teeth.  Obviously to her, it did.

"Why did you feel you had to tell me, Sara?"

She blushed.  "It's because of the contract...we have to be completely honest with each other, remember?"  Wiping her hands down the side of her pants she said, "It's also because of what you said.  You expect certain things of your fiancé, and I don't know if this comes out...I mean...its important to some people and I don't want to embarrass you in any way....

"Thank you for letting me know, Sara."  A trite remark wouldn't erase the pain she obviously carried around.  He knew she wouldn't be here telling him this, unless someone had made her feel she was less than perfect because her parents hadn't married.  "It doesn't make any difference to me."

Her startled gaze met his.  She waited, as if expecting him to say something more.  When he didn't, she said, "I'll take good care of your ring.  Maybe the jeweler will take it back when all this is over." 

Jason stared at the closed door after Sara had rushed out of the room.  Diamonds certainly weren't this woman's best friend.  She'd acted as if it were part of a uniform, that went with the job.  Restless he reached for a paper clip and hung it on another.  Sara Adams was like Mrs. Garcia's ball of yarn, after the kitten had been playing with it for a while.

Tangled up, confusing, complex.

She was occupying more of his thoughts than he'd expected her to.  The picture of her on all fours, her bottom wiggling as she played with Kelsey flashed into his mind.  Except for the games she played with Kelsey she was such a serious, solemn thing. 

He'd have to tell her he didn't want the ring back.  She could keep it as a souvenir when all this was over.  When she'd looked at him, her eyes had mirrored her frightened soul, reminding him more than ever of a little golden brown owl.  Inexplicably he wanted to tell her he wasn't a predatory hawk.

Jason's jaw clenched.  Parenting Kelsey had turned him soft.  Sara Adams was a woman, and women always knew how to take care of themselves. 

In the kitchen, Sara quickly set the table with one place.  Jason Graham preferred eating here than in the formal dining room.

"Going out?"  Mrs. Garcia asked.

Sara nodded.  "Claire and I are going shopping."

It was an excuse she had just made up.  Mrs. Garcia and Jason had met Claire, Monday evening.  Sara had rung Claire up at work to tell her all that had happened and Claire had said she had to come by and meet King Midas in person.  Jason had surprised Sara by inviting Claire, and her son Bobby, to stay for dinner.

Claire had been dreamy eyed about Jason ever since.  Sara sighed.  In spite of the fact Claire's husband had walked out on her and her baby son, Claire still insisted on viewing every single man through rose colored contacts.

The richer they were the rosier the hue of those contacts.

Sara sighed again.  Jason had been different yesterday evening.  He'd talked easily with Claire, and asked Bobby how he'd broken his arm.  There had been none of the stern air he adopted around her.

Claire had apologized profusely for her mistake to both of them.  Soon after she'd written down Sara's ad. Claire had received a call from Bobby's school saying he'd fallen and broken his arm.  She'd left immediately.  She was guilty of changing the wording of the ad but not for where it ended up.

Sara hadn't been able to stay angry with Claire.  A honest mistake deserved understanding.  She had explained Jason's proposal to Claire, who'd told her she was crazy to refuse to marry Jason Graham.

Through her new boyfriend, who worked at a Los Angeles paper, Claire had checked Jason out and given Sara a report today.  His company, Graham Electronics, had placed among the ten new businesses that had done extremely well in the last twelve months.  The phenomenal success of Graham Electronics was attributed to the drive and dedication of its owner and chief executive officer, Jason Graham.  According to Claire, Sara had nothing to worry about. 

Sara's gaze fell on the ring.  Every time she looked at it she felt unsettled.  Each day here was weighing her down with more and more responsibility. 

Swallowing, she recalled the strange look on Jason's face when he'd given it to her.  Instinct had told her he was probably remembering the time he had given his wife one.  That occasion must have been the way such moments were meant to be.  Passionate, tender, indelible. 

Looking at Kelsey's curly hair, deep dimples, and tawny eyes, Sara wondered if Jason's beautiful daughter looked like his wife.  There were no pictures of her around but Mrs. Harris, Jason's secretary, had mentioned that Diana had been a very beautiful woman.  On her, the ring would have looked perfect.  On Sara's thin finger, with the carefully trimmed nails, it looked out of place.

This house and Mrs. Garcia were new...Sara suspected Jason had moved to Rainbow Valley because he'd been unable to bear the memories in the house he'd shared in Pasadena with his wife. 

A flash of light from it, drew her attention back to h
er ring.  Jason Graham had been right when he'd said there were certain things people would expect of his fiancé.  It was up to her to prove she could deliver what was expected of her, when the time came.   

CHAPTER
THREE

Jason swore as he pulled into the garage on Thursday.  The sight of Dee Dee's white Cadillac parked beside the curb had ignited his temper.  She chose the most awkward moments to visit Kelsey.  Moses had offered to get a restraining order until the court reached a decision, but Jason had turned the idea down.  He wasn't going to stop Dee Dee from seeing her granddaughter.

If only she'd observe the simple courtesy of calling ahead to let him know.  The last time she'd come, Kelsey had been in the sand box.  Dee Dee had clucked and fussed over her as she'd changed her grimy overalls and lectured him on germs, neglect and the dreadful state of Kelsey's wardrobe.  The next day, six little designer outfits had been delivered by special messenger.

Sara.  Jason's jaw tightened.  He wondered what Dee Dee had made of his new fiancé.  Sara would be no match for her cunning.  Slamming the car door shut, he hurried into the house. 

The sound of voices directed him to the kitchen.  Throwing his briefcase on the living room couch, he pulled his tie off as he walked down the hall.  His hand on the family room door he paused, stopped by Sara's voice.

"I'm so glad you like the ring, Dee Dee.  Jason surprised me with it last night.  He's so romantic.  Won't you have another brownie?"

He blinked.  The light voice, the tinkly laugh, didn't sound like the Sara he knew.  Neither did the quiet confidence in her voice.

"How did you meet?"  Dee Dee's voice was filled with avid curiosity.  "I never thought Jason would ever put someone in my darling Diana's place, but then the person a man chooses for his daughter is different to the one he chooses for himself.  All Jason cares about is Kelsey now."

Jason's hand gripped the door.  Dee Dee must have had a new abrasive coating put on her tongue this morning at the beauty salon she visited regularly.

"A friend got us together by accident."  That light, tinkly laugh again gave no indication that Dee Dee barbs were hitting home.  "It all happened so quickly.  One look and we both knew we were in love."

Jason pushed the door open.  He had to make sure the person in the family room was the Sara Adams he'd employed. 

The scene in the room stopped him short.  Kelsey's building blocks were all over the floor.  Sara and Dee Dee were on the carpet helping his daughter build a huge tower.  Behind Dee Dee was a box which held a doll as large as Kelsey.  Jason drew in a long breath.  He hated the gifts Dee Dee brought Kelsey.

"Hi sweetheart," he said quietly, as he dropped a kiss on the top of Kelsey's head.  Crouching beside his daughter, he looked at Sara.

Her hair was still tied back, but in place of her normal uniform of loose sweaters and long skirts, she wore a snug red top with a scooped neck and jeans.  If it wasn't for the usual flicker of nervousness he glimpsed as their gazes met, he would have thought this was Sara's twin.  "Hello Sara, Dee Dee."

"Jason darling!  What a surprise to see you here so early."  He stared at her, but the shocks weren't over yet.  Sara knelt, placed her arms around his neck and dropped a kiss full on his lips, then followed it up with another quick one, as if she couldn't help herself.  Only he saw the embarrassment in her eyes, felt the way her arms trembled as she smiled at him.  Behind him, Kelsey clapped her hands and giggled approval of the new game.

As if it were something she did all the time, Sara placed the palm of her hand against his cheek. 

"Dee Dee and I have been getting to know each other," Sara kept her face turned towards him, so Dee Dee wouldn't see the way her mouth trembled.  "Maybe we can all go out to lunch now that you're here."

Jason nodded, unable to say a word.  He was still pole-axed by Sara's transformation, by the way her soft mouth had felt against his.

"I have to leave," Dee Dee sniffed as she got to her feet.  "I just came over to say goodbye to Kelsey.  It was a good thing I did.  The poor child was out in the sandbox again, in a dreadful, filthy state."

Jason felt Sara stiffen.  As she moved away from him, he placed an arm around her waist to keep her by his side.  "Being out in the fresh air is good for Kelsey.  The sand in the box is clean, and getting that kind of dirty hasn't killed any kid yet."

Something in Jason's tone must have been warning enough because Dee Dee decided to change the subject.  "Well, I've brought her something she can play with indoors.  I hear you're leaving Sunday night.  How long are you going to be away for, this time?"

"Six weeks."

"All this travelling is hard on Kelsey.  I might take a trip to London, in the next couple of weeks.  I want to watch the Trooping of the Color this year."

Check he wasn't neglecting his own daughter, was more like it.  Jason's temper rose.  "Dee Dee...." he began, when Sara interrupted.

"We'll look forward to your visit."

Dee Dee looked taken aback.  "You're going to London too?"

"Of course," Jason turned and dropped a kiss on the top of Sara's head.  Her hair smelled wonderful.  "Sara and Kelsey are getting to know each other."

Dee Dee sniffed again.  "See you hire some good help when you get there.  I won't have my granddaughter neglected, just because your head is in the clouds." 

Bending she gave Kelsey a hug and a kiss and turned away without a word to him.  Jason fumed, as Sara walked Dee Dee to the door. 

"Did she call before she came?"  he asked angrily when Sara returned. 

She hesitated by the door, as if wondering whether to come in.

"No."  Sara began to put the blocks into the toy chest. 

"She always does that," he said angrily.

"She loves Kelsey."

Jason stared at her in exasperation.  Who's side was Sara Adams on anyway?  She'd switched back to her normal role; avoiding his eyes, working as if he were a slave driver with an invisible whip in his hands.

As she stood by the window stacking the blocks, Jason's thoughts distracted him from his anger for the space of one minute.  The jeans clung to the curves of her hips and outlined her long, slender legs.  The top hugged small breasts, it's neckline giving him a glimpse of her delicate collarbones.  The coltish grace of her body was very attractive.

"I don't want you encouraging her."

"No one can stop her.  Sara did her best."  Jason stared at the housekeeper who stood in the door of the family room.  The woman who rarely talked except for `Yes, Mr. Graham', `No, Mr. Graham', sounded like a tigress defending her cub.  "My eyes almost fell out of my head the way you handled Dee Dee.  You were great Sara.  Come Kelsey, it's lunch time."

The words reminded him he hadn't thanked Sara for the way she'd risen to the occasion.  Her chameleon-like change had unsettled him.  Which was the real Sara?  The quiet woman who stood holding a cushion as if it were a shield, or the woman who had greeted him in front of Dee Dee? 

Their gazes tangled, and Jason watched the color stain her face and neck.  He knew they were both thinking of the kiss. 

Could he have been wrong about her? 

"I used to love acting and I was in the drama club in school," Sara made it all sound very simple and straightforward.  "Dee Dee was very suspicious.  I knew it would take a great deal to convince her that we were really in love."

"You were convincing," Jason said grimly.  She'd certainly convinced him she was a great actress.

"I just cast myself in the role of loving fiancé, that's all.  Television gives one plenty of ideas how to act that out.  I'm sorry if anything I did upset you."

Jason knew she sensed his tension.  What she didn't know was, he was angry with Dee Dee, not her. 

"You said yourself, part of my job was not to let anyone guess the engagement wasn't real," Sara reminded him.  "You also said that as long as we handled these awkward moments professionally, everything would be fine."

He recalled the silken embrace of her arms, the soft whisper of her untried mouth against his.  For an instant he'd been wrapped in the subtle scent of jasmine.  Jason's heartbeat quickened at the memory. 

For a few seconds he was tempted to reach for Sara Adams and show her what a real kiss was like.  The fact he'd responded to her inexperienced touch, unsettled him.  He'd been out with a couple of women since Diana's death, but he might as well have saved himself the trouble.  Their kisses had left him unmoved, convincing him the armor he'd donned since Diana, couldn't be penetrated.

Sara Adams' performance had just caught him by surprise.  Shock was the only reason the kiss had disturbed him.  The next time he'd be more prepared. 

"I stopped by to pick up a couple of disks," he said.  "I'd better get back to the office."

Work would help his emotions settle.

At the door, he stopped and looked back at Sara.  She still stood by the toy chest, hugging the cushion to her, looking like a child who'd been snubbed.  Jason's jaw clenched. 

"You did great, Sara," he said reluctantly.  "Thanks."

Sara put the cushion down as the door closed.  Putting a hand up she ran a finger over her lips.  Had she gone overboard in her attempt to convince Dee Dee that she and Jason really were an item?

The woman's incredulous reception of the news she was Jason's fiancé and her probing questions had made Sara realize the true extent of what Jason was up against. 

A stream of double edged remarks about Jason being a poor father, had goaded Sara's building anger.  The kiss had stemmed from her conviction that only her actions would convince Dee Dee.

She'd only been doing her job.

Sara tugged the neckline of the dark red, clingy top Claire had given her at Christmas.  She'd never felt more self-conscious as when Jason's gaze had swept over her. 

She hoped Dee Dee wouldn't visit often.  How did one handle hugs, kisses, and close encounters of the physical kind professionally?  She didn't know.  The only kisses Sara could recall were the harmless ones she'd exchanged with a boy in her high school class.  After Mom's death, Uncle Samuel's demands and attitude, had made dating impossible. 

Sara's palm tingled as she recalled the firm, smooth feel of his skin.  His mouth had been very warm, very firm.  The pressure of it against hers had surprised her.  She hadn't been able to withdraw quickly, because that would have made Dee Dee suspicious.  Sara hadn't expected Jason's mouth to open, or for his tongue to paint a searing line of heat along her lips. 

Recollection lit a spark in the pit of her stomach that moved up and into her breasts.  It was the first time Sara Adams had been kissed by a man.

It was hard to believe she was on a flight to England, just as it was hard to believe everything that had happened since her first meeting with Jason, ten days ago.  Sara turned her hand.  In the glow from the overhead light above her seat, the diamond in her mock-engagement ring seemed to release hidden fires. 

The executive class cabin they were in was the last word in comfort.  Kelsey's empty seat was between her and Jason.  The airline crib attached to the cabin wall in front of their seats, held the sleeping infant. 

She hadn't seen much of Jason since his mother-in-law's visit.  Not that she minded, Sara told herself quickly.  His secretary, Mrs. Harris, had discussed the arrangements for their trip with Sara.  Jason and Kelsey had a complete set of clothes in the London flat that overlooked Hyde Park, she'd said, so there was no need to pack anything for Kelsey, except a carry-on bag and her latest favorite toy.  Sara had packed her own things in the new suitcase Mrs. Garcia had brought to her room.

"Mr. Graham wants you to use this," she'd said.

Mrs. Garcia wouldn't be there when they returned.  Her daughter in Sacramento was having a baby, and the housekeeper was moving there to live close to her.  Sara had grown to like the quiet women with the shining black eyes, who'd insisted she rub a cream of aloe vera into her hands every day to soften the dry, chapped skin.

According to Mrs. Harris, the flat, as she called the apartment in London, was close to the shops, theaters and everything else that made London interesting.

It had all sounded very grand, but would Kelsey be happy there?  Sara wondered if there was any truth in Dee Dee's accusations about Kelsey's unsettled life having a detrimental affect on her progress.  Was Kelsey going to be upset by this trip?  So far Sara and she had gotten on very well.  Gradually Sara had taken over doing everything for Kelsey, from Mrs. Garcia.  The little girl was very sweet and very intelligent.  She understood everything that was said to her, proving there was nothing really wrong with her.

Sara closed her eyes as Jason turned his head in her direction.  He'd told her to catch some sleep after dinner had been served, but she was too restless to sleep.

The thought she'd proved Uncle Samuel's frequent statement, ”You’re useless, you’ll never amount to anything”, wrong, undid another tie to the past.  By the time this job was over she would have enough money to get her own apartment. 

Sara's face was turned away from him, so he couldn't tell if her eyes were open, but Jason knew she was still awake.  A blue airline blanket covered her from her neck to toe, hiding the jeans, tee-shirt and denim jacket she'd worn to travel in.