Four Weeks (6 page)

Her body stiffened. She dropped her gaze to her hands still flattened across his chest then jerked them away to push against his arms. “Let go of me, Trent."

Instantly, he released her.

As soon as he put distance between them, Louise folded her arms across her chest. A flash of something flickered in her eyes. Anger? Or was it what he felt, frustration?

She scowled and turned away from him. “What do you want from me, Mr. Parker?"

He kept his voice soft. “I liked it better when you called me Trent."

"We've talked a lot about what you like."

"That wasn't just talk,” he spoke gently, not sure if he regretted the kisses or not. “It wasn't just me who liked it."

She shifted toward him again and the spark was back in her blue eyes. “Is this some kind of test you give your new employees? If so, I think I passed."

Trent liked this side of her—the part of her that was ready to fight back. He leaned against the wide pillar and chuckled. “I'd say so."

She lifted an eyebrow at him. “What's next?"

"The other qualifications,” he replied, hoping to lighten the tension with humor.

"That kiss is all you're going to get from me."

He almost laughed at her for missing his joke, but if her insides were churning like his, she wouldn't be thinking he was funny at all. “I meant your business qualifications, Miss Hart."

Her expression turned thoughtful and she remained silent for a long time. “Does this mean you're not selling the stable?” she asked.

The question didn't surprise him. Nor did her ability to put aside their intimate exchange so easily. This was all about business to her.

He took a page out of her book and took full advantage of his position. “I'm considering my options."

She dropped her arms and came around beside him. “What's the deciding factor?"

He watched her closely, hoping to catch the smallest indication she knew something significant—possibly something she wanted to keep from him and replied with, “You."

Nothing in her face hinted that she might be holding back information. “There must be a copy of my resume around the stable somewhere."

"I've looked it over thoroughly, I assure you. The only thing it can't tell me is why you want to manage a stable? And especially, why Hawk's?"

She turned her gaze to the horizon. Was she planning her own verbal attack? Trent waited for her to go into a complete explanation of her qualifications, possibly every successful management job she'd had since graduating from high school. It might take him awhile to get her back to the real thing he wanted to know, but he'd do it if it took all night.

She faced him again and the all-business expression he'd been expecting wasn't there. Instead she looked like the cat that ate the canary, or more accurately, the cat that was about to pounce on the canary. She laid her fingertips ever so gently on the sleeve of his jacket and moved closer to him.

"What does it matter why I'm here?” She lifted her other hand to rest it on his shoulder. “Here I am."

The light heat of her palm went straight through to his skin. Within seconds, his whole body rushed with the desire to taste her again. Again, his plan to charm information out of her fell aside and all he thought about was taking hold of the tempting woman standing in front of him.

Without letting himself consider her sudden change of mood, he bent down and kissed her.

She returned his kiss, hesitantly at first, but after a bit of gentle encouragement, she arched into him and he was rewarded with a soft sigh.

Heat replaced the cold tension of the past days and for the first time in days, no months, his world was right and he was whole. It was as though Louise held the missing puzzle piece he'd been searching for. He wanted more—a tighter connection. He murmured to her and she wiggled closer, pushing his pulse up another notch and nearly making him lose control.

Yet somehow his sense reappeared. Louise Hart was anything but a simple woman, and she'd regret her actions later. He didn't want any part of another person's regrets.

He had enough of his own.

Reluctantly Trent pulled away. “I'll get a taxi to take you home."

He almost flinched at the hurt accusation in her eyes, but instead he turned and left without looking back. It was long past time to stop playing games.

After arranging with the bellman for Louise to get back to Sally's, he started for his hotel. He moved as quickly as he could, sucking in long gulps of the evening air. But the air was warm and only served as a reminder of that kiss. To lengthen his walk, Trent switched his path toward one of the quiet, deserted side roads. He needed time to get Louise out of his system and think things through. Unfortunately, his brain hadn't been much help the past few hours. Instead of charming information out of her, he'd ended up doubting his self control and what little information he did have.

LOUISE SWALLOWED HARD. She wanted to believe her reaction to Trent had been part of her plan—some exceptional acting on her part—but she had to accept the truth. Her reaction was genuine. Nothing about the evening had gone as she expected. And everything was much more complicated now that she'd kissed Trent.
Her boss.
She flushed. If Trent didn't sell the stables, she'd be lucky to keep her job.

Trying to cool her heated skin, she pressed her palms to her forehead but it didn't help. Every inch of her was warm. And so alive. Wonderfully alive. But horribly unsettled.

Maybe if he hadn't broken it off so suddenly she would've gotten her fill of his strong embrace. She leaned on the balcony and watched twin boys race down the steep hill below. Their laughing mother, well rounded with another baby on the way, ambled after them. Their happy shouts punctuated Louise's agonizing confusion.

A sigh of frustration exploded from her. She'd failed completely. She hadn't charmed Trent into listening to her arguments about keeping the stable. Instead, she'd let him know how attracted she was to him—an attraction he could use against her.

She'd reacted to him like a love-struck teenager.

He made her
feel
like a love-struck teenager.

Louise squeezed her eyes shut. If only she could take it all back and start over. But wasn't that the story of her life? She'd managed to make her bad situation even worse. She didn't even know which she regretted more, messing up her plan to charm Trent or discovering how wonderful having him pull her close and kiss her so thoroughly she couldn't even remember where she was or what she was supposed to be doing.

No man had ever made her feel that way. If kissing someone she was only attracted to left her out of breath and longing for more, what would a lover's kiss be like?

Louise turned to the thick pillar Trent had leaned against.

His arms had held her so tightly that when she leaned into him, her feet had barely touched the planks of the porch. The tender caress of his lips brought new sensations to life. Sensations she delighted in and feared at the same time. Although the experience left her breathless, the effect had been one-sided. Trent had left without so much as a good-bye.

He'd made his lack of interest crystal clear. Maybe, at first, he'd been curious, but it had been short-lived. If he'd wanted more from her he would have stayed.

The realization of how easily he'd pushed her aside forced her to accept the bleakness of her situation. Things were bad, and she wasn't about to give up, but she steadfastly refused to throw in the towel and go home. Regrouping and establishing a new way to go about things was all she needed to get back on track.

She accepted the fact that she was attracted to the sexy and unreachable Trent Parker and he wanted nothing to do with her personally.

That left only one way to reach him—professionally.

Since he was a businessman, that approach ought to work perfectly with him. Maybe she should've tried it from the start.

Louise headed toward the taxi stand. She had one night to come up with another plan. Apparently she didn't have enough appeal for Trent the man. Maybe she could find a way to attract the attention of Mr. Parker, the new business owner. Considering his lack of interest in the stable, that prospect seemed dim, but not impossible.

The bellman waved down one of the fine carriages that belonged to the hotel. The pair of horses stepped to the curb. The driver tipped his hat to her as the bellman opened the small carriage door. She opened her purse to draw out some bills.

"Mr. Parker took care of all the expenses. Enjoy the rest of your evening, Miss."

She tried to offer the men a smile but failed miserably. With a sigh, she dropped herself onto the red tufted seat. The beauty of the evening was wasted on her. Alone and filled with doubts, she gave the driver the name of her rooming house and sat back to try and think.

TRENT DRANK THE last of his black morning coffee and tossed the white Styrofoam cup into the wastebasket. The sound of the empty cup hitting the bottom of the metal can echoed into the early stillness of the stable.

He'd needed that hefty amount of caffeine after the sleepless night he'd spent tossing and turning in his lonely hotel bed. Even in his sleep the delicate scent of pear blossoms seemed to cling to him, reminding him of the willing way Louise had softened in his arms.

Maybe she wouldn't have regretted giving him more than a few kisses.

Maybe he was an idiot for thinking about her.

Somewhere in the barn he heard Pete's low muttering—he was probably talking to the horses as he fed them. That guy sure kept busy caring for the animals and doing whatever needed to be done. Too bad he wasn't a carpenter, Trent mused. The sound of the large front doors being slid open rolled through the barn. The day was getting started, and he'd soon be seeing the source of his frustration and foul mood.

Louise.

Trent kicked the office door shut. Let her knock.

For the first time, wondered if maybe she hadn't had her own agenda last night. He'd turned his share of female heads, but after the way he'd treated Louise, he seriously doubted she'd suddenly found him irresistible. The way she'd touched him ... that kiss...

A wry smile curved his lips and he almost smacked his forehead. What a sucker he was. Of course she had a plan. To her it was all about the job. Undoubtedly, she always put business first, even if that meant pretending that pleasure was for pleasures sake.

But could someone fake a response, a kiss, like that?

A light knock at the door promised to get him some quick answers. “Come in, Louise."

As she pushed open the door, he turned away to pretend interest in the cloudy morning outside.

The faint crunch of her steps on the floor preceded her greeting. “Good morning, Mr. Parker."

Trent stiffened. She'd retreated to that cool formal tone. Was this the same woman who kissed him last night? He turned and let his gaze roam lazily over her blue jeans and simple pink T-shirt. Yes, she was the very same one. The one who could use whatever business skills were necessary to get a job done. “Don't you think, after last night, we're on a first name basis?"

The bland expression ruining her face didn't change. “You're still my boss."

"So I am.” He shrugged, not at all sure where she was going. “For the moment."

She stuffed her hands in her pockets and stepped forward. “I have a proposal for you."

Her attempt to look relaxed didn't fool him. She wanted something. He lifted his eyebrows playfully. “Another one?"

A pleasing red flush crept across her cheeks, but she squared her shoulders and looked him in the eye. “Do you want to hear my offer or not?"

"Is it the same one as last night?” He hoped she hadn't heard the huskiness in his voice, because then she'd know she'd gotten to him. And how.

She backed up and glanced fleetingly at the doorway. He shouldn't care about upsetting her, but he did. “Fine, Louise. Tell me your business proposal."

"I'd like you to give me four weeks to turn this place around. Since I haven't looked at the books yet, I can't be sure how bad things are, but we can both tell this place is not doing much business. If you'll give me the time,” she continued with confidence, “I'm sure I can convince you to keep the stable."

He wanted to tell her that nothing could convince him to keep the stinking, lousy place. But he didn't. He couldn't.

He'd never been one to give voice to knee jerk reactions—at least business ones—and he wasn't about to start. Even though something about the woman standing a few feet away made his mind spin with confusion, he still had a few shreds of self-control. Besides, the advantage of her offer went two ways.

It would give him enough time to get the answers he wanted about his father and why he'd bought Hawk's. Then he'd sell the old pile of rotting boards and be done with it, his father, and Miss All-business.

He'd get everything he wanted. She'd get her four weeks.

In her ponytail and freshly scrubbed face, Louise looked more like a high school girl than an experienced businesswoman. But he couldn't let her looks fool him. “At the end of the four weeks, when I decide to sell, you'll leave me alone?"

"If."

"When,” he corrected with a firmness she couldn't miss.

She shrugged to say she wasn't willing to accept the inevitable.

That wasn't his problem.

"Okay, Miss Hart, you have your four weeks."

She smiled. Not the same heart-melting smile he'd seen last night, but a professional one. Stiff and formal. Appropriate.

ANXIOUS TO GET away from Trent, Louise hurried down the aisle. That had been too easy. She'd been ready with several good arguments about why her plan was the most businesslike way to handle things and she'd carefully thought of answers to all his possible objections, but he'd simply given in. Sure, she'd gotten what she wanted, but the victory didn't feel complete.

If he decided to sell after the four weeks were up, there would be no discussion. He'd made that clear with more than words. The determined expression in his eyes, and the tightness around his mouth, assured her he wouldn't hesitate to get rid of the stable if she didn't succeed at improving the business.