Mad About The Man (11 page)

"
Fresh and satisfying?
"
Skepticism loaded Rita
'
s voice.

"
That
'
s what I said and that
'
s what I
think
.
"
Heavy footsteps thudded on the wooden stairs, and the top of Bart
'
s blond head came into view.
"
And here
'
s the man himself. He must have followed his burning ears.
"

"
Shush,
"
Rita said urgently.

"
Trust me.
"
Jacques smiled an evil smile.
"
I
'
m feeling in a really good mood. She likes me. I can feel it and I like the feeling.
"

"
Who likes you?
"
Bart
'
s face resembled a week
'
s worth of bad news.

Jacques decided to ignore the thunderous countenance. He felt too optimistic to be brought down by either Rita or Bart
'
s foul tempers.
"
Gaby McGregor, of course. Don
'
t tell me that
'
s any surprise.
"

"
I was afraid you
'
d say that.
"
Bart dropped into a chair, stretched out his legs and let his feet flop apart
"
Hi, Rita, love. How
'
s it goin
'
?
"

"
Fine, not that you care.
"

There was definitely something odd between these two.
"
Why would you be afraid?
"

"
I ran into Camilla Roberts. She wants to see you. Says she
'
s just passing through. I thought it might be a good idea to put her off until I
'
d warned you.
"

"
Damn it.
"
Camilla had been a nuisance for longer than Jacques wanted to remember.
"
Keep her out of my way for as long as you can. I want to get a shipment of fresh roses sent in.
"

Bart frowned up at him.
"
Am I allowed to ask why?
"

"
Sure. I
'
m going to snow Gaby with attention. Make them those red roses with frosty white inside the petals. Several dozen. Twelve dozen should do it. Long-stemmed. Baccarat crystal vases, one for each dozen. I want them here by tomorrow.
"

"
Twelve dozen roses and twelve Baccarat vases.
"
Bart scrubbed at his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"
Hell, what a mess.
"

Jacques dropped his hands to his sides.
"
Would you like to elaborate on that remark?
"

"
Not if I could help it.
"

"
Give it your best shot.
"

"
You
'
ve decided to woo the fair Gaby, correct?
"

"
Correct. For the first time in my life I
'
ve met a woman I think might actually be worth the effort.
"

"
Sex and intellect all rolled up in one package.
"

"
I wouldn
'
t have put it quite like that, but close.
"
Today, he resented having to deal with other people
'
s jaded views.
"
We don
'
t have to get into a discussion on this subject. Just arrange for the roses to be delivered to me. I
'
ll take them to her myself.
"

"
There
'
s something you ought to know,
"
Bart said into his fist.

"
Have you noticed who raises pigs around here?
"

"
Pigs?
"
Bart and Rita chorused.

"
Forget it.
"
They
'
d never understand that he felt
spontaneous and
free—and ready to do the outra
geous.

Bart got slowly to his feet.
"
I
'
m out of here. Let me know when you
'
re ready to listen to me.
"

"
Okay. I
'
m ready. I
'
m listening now.
"

"
You
'
re going to hate this.
"

Jacques sat on the edge of the desk.
"
Tell
me.
"

"
You think you
'
ve got a thing for Gaby McGregor?
"

He hated the indirect approach.
"
I don
'
t think, I know. And I
'
m going all out to make her see that she feels the same way.
"

Bart shifted.
"
You believe she does?
"

"
I
'
m sure of it.
"

"
At this moment Gaby
'
s out collecting signatures on a petition.
"

Jacques grinned, imagining black hair flipping in the breeze
…
and soft cotton shifting over even softer skin.
"
Gaby
'
s never going to be idle. What cause is she championing?
"

"
The anti-Jacques Ledan cause. Gaby
'
s doing her damnedest to
get you run out of this town…
for good.
"

9

S
ix foot plus of dark, powerfully lean—and evidently mean—muscle came into view and it was heading straight for Gaby.

"
Thanks, Mrs. Meaker,
"
she said hastily and tucked the clipboard under her arm.
"
You won
'
t regret it.
"
Goldstrike
'
s postmistress nodded and went on her way.

Jacques had called last night and she
'
d hung up on
him
—five times. This morning she
'
d left home early to see how many signatures she could get before going to the shop. After deciding to dedicate yesterday to helping kick off the campaign, she felt anxious to get back to work.

"
Gaby!
"

He didn
'
t sound any less angry than he had last night. Ducking her head and pretending to concentrate on keeping her hat in place, she scuttled past Caleb
'
s gas station and whipped around the co
rn
er in the direction of Hacienda Heaven.

"
Gaby!
"

She slowed her pace. If this was going to be the moment of direct confrontation, so be it.

"
War, huh?
"
He fell in beside her.
"
Are we going to talk about this?
"

Gaby switched the clipboard to her other arm.
"
Not if I can help it.
"

"
You can
'
t help it.
"
Looking straight ahead, a brown sack clasped in one hand, he strode purposefully at her side.
"
What did I do?
"

"
There
'
s nothing to discuss, Jacques. Please excuse me.
"

Nigel Parker lounged in front of his hardware store. Gaby marched up to him and proffered the clipboard.
"
Good morning, Nigel. We
'
re collecting signatures for a petition to block the project proposed by Ledan Enterprises.
"

"
Well, now.
"
Nigel straightened his long, rangy body and peered at the paper.
"
I don
'
t rightly know how I feel about this.
"

"
Good for you!
"
Jacques grabbed Nigel
'
s hand and pumped.
"
That
'
s what I like to see. A man with vision. You
'
ve been here in Goldstrike a long time, haven
'
t you, sir?
"

.Nigel rolled a wad of chew from one cheek to the other.
"
Sure have. My dad was here before me, too. And his dad. My great-granddad settled here when they were still scrabbling for gold in them hills.
"
He laughed and coughed.

"
I love hearing the old stories,
"
Gaby told him, sliding Jacques a withering glance.
"
Your family, and people like them, made Goldstrike what it is.
"

"
What it w
as,"
Jacques remarked, centering his gaze on the hills.
"
They were men of vision. They had the guts to forge into a new frontier and take chances. Damn big chances they were, too.
"

Nigel nodded.
"
That
'
s tellin
'
it.
"

"
They were men who would have known what to do today,
"
Jacques continued.
"
Nigel, if your great-grandfather were here today, he
'
d say that you come from stock that
'
s never been afraid of something new. He
'
d tell you Goldstrike needs something new right now if it
'
s not going to die. And he
'
d say,
'
Nigel, this Ledan guy
'
s got what you need. Support him.
'
That
'
s what he
'
d want you to do.
"

He was completely unscrupulous.
"
Sign,
"
Gaby said briskly, handing Nigel the pen.
"
Your greatgrandfather would have signed and he
'
d want you to sign now. He wouldn
'
t have wanted the town he founded to change into something that
'
ll look like a fairground.
"

Jacques reached into the brown sack he carried and produced several gold-wrapped candies shaped like little pots and tied around with rainbow-colored ribbon.
"
Try these,
"
he said, and gave them to Nigel.
"
We
'
re making pots of gold the motto for Ledan Park in Goldstrike.
"

"
Leprechaunville,
"
Gaby muttered.
"
You
'
ll never win.
"

"
All
'
s fair,
"
Jacques murmured back. He heaped more candy upon Nigel.
"
Your great-grandfather
'
s gold—the gold he tore out of cruel rock, with little more than his bare hands, is what inspired our theme. Give some of these to your friends and tell them Jacques Ledan is looking forward to working with them—hand in hand—to make this town everything it can be.
"

Nigel considered the candy for a long time before leveling a brown stare on Jacques.
"
My great-
granddaddy never did mine no gold. Didn
'
t hold with it. He was an undertaker. Reckoned as how the kind of fools who wasted everythin
'
they had on hackin
'
away at dumb rocks weren
'
t about to be long for this
world. He figured there
'
d be more call for prettyin
'
u
p the remains and buryin
'
than marryin
'
. That
'
s what he did a
fore he come out here. Ran a marr
yin
'
chapel.
"

Gaby pressed fingers to her mouth and swallowed a laugh. Jacques
'
s arched brows slowly rose.
"
Your great-grandfather was a minister?
"
he asked.

"
Nope. Thanks for the candy, though.
"
Nigel took the pen from Gaby and signed the petition.
"
There. Now I guess everybody
'
s happy. I
'
d better be gettin
'
on.
"

With Jacques at her side, Gaby watched Nigel go inside his store.

"
The man
'
s a moron,
"
Jacques said.
"
Everyone
'
s
happy? What is that?
"

"
That
'
s simplicity,
"
Gaby told him.
"
We aren
'
t complicated people here.
"

"
You aren
'
t one of these people.
"

"
I certainly am.
"
A trace of discomfort crept up her spine.
"
What makes you think I
'
m not?
"
She couldn
'
t expect to keep her origins from him indefinitely.

"
No one told me. I
'
m not a fool. Don
'
t ask me how, but you
'
ve m
anaged to soak up some sophisti
cation from somewhere and it shows.
"

She wished she could regard that as a compliment.
"
Well, have a good day.
"

A long, strong hand closed on her arm.
"
I
'
ve been trying to talk to you since yesterday morning. How come you didn
'
t go to work all day?
"

"
I don
'
t have to answer your questions.
"

"
Why did you keep hanging up on me last night?
"

He didn
'
t know how to quit.
"
I didn
'
t want to talk to you.
"

"
I want to talk to you.
"

"
Goodbye, Jacques.
"
She turned away, but he didn
'
t release her.
"
Let me go, please.
"

"
I
'
m not hurting you.
"

"
I didn
'
t say you were.
"

"
Please could we talk?
"
His voice became softer.

"
About what?
"

He spun her toward him.
"
About this foolishness! What happened since the last time we were together? I thought we were really getting somewhere.
"

"
You thought you
'
d snowed me onto your side, you mean.
"
She raised her chin and glared into his eyes—blue eyes turned almost black by frustration.
"
Admit it. You thought winning over the dumb lit
tl
e lady from the hat factory would be a cinch. Well, you were wrong. Now. Get out of my way.
"

"
Gaby, I never thought any such thing. What I intend for you and me has nothing to do with what you do or what I do. We
'
re going to have something special. You know that as well as I do.
"

His sharp cheekbones accentuated the lean lines of his face, the face of a hunter, a man who went after and got what he wanted.

"
I think you
'
d better tell me what it is we
'
re supposed to be going to have,
"
Gaby said.

"
You
'
re being difficult.
"
He pulled her close until she had to tip back her head to look at him.
"
We
'
re going to be lovers.
"

Before she could stop herself, Gaby gasped.
"
Don
'
t say things like that.
"
She looked around.
"
Not here.
"

"
We
'
re both over twenty-one. What we choose to do with our personal lives is our own affair.
"

"
Don
'
t
use that word!
"

He smiled and slid his arm all the way around her.
"
Affair?
It does have
…
an intimate ring. I rather like it, myself. We
'
re going to make long, wonderful, sexy love, Gaby. You and I are going to be addicted to the things we do together. I promise you that, and I don
'
t promise anything I don
'
t intend to carry out.
"

"
Let me go,
"
she said between gritted teeth.
"
Or I
'
ll scream.
"