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With a sigh of resignation and more than a little confusion about how to proceed, he gathered the appropriate paperwork and walked to his car. He had phoned and told her he would be there at 5:00 p.m. He knew he should have had her come to his summer office suite at the Stevens compound. That would have been more businesslike, more appropriate for the situation. But he hadn’t suggested it. He chose to drive to her father’s house even though it put the meeting on her home ground and on a more personal level. And he wasn’t sure exactly why he had made that decision.
A low level of anxiety pushed at him as he drove to the Donaldson home. For the first time in his life he experienced a brief moment when he wanted to turn around and retreat from a problem. But that was not a practical solution to the issue. He toyed with the notion that it was Kim Donaldson who had caused his apprehension rather than the circumstances of the business matter. The possibility made him nervous, something very unusual for the always-confident Jared Stevens.
As he climbed the steps to the porch, Kim opened the door. On more than one occasion over the past couple of days he had visualized the beautiful barefooted woman in the shorts and T-shirt—her slightly mussed hair giving her an earthy look, her full lips revealing a sensuous mouth, a flash of emotion sparkling in her blue eyes even though that emotion had been anger.
A little pang of disappointment jabbed at him when he saw the conservative way she had chosen to dress for their appointment. Unlike the first time he had arrived at her father’s house, she wore a simple white blouse, charcoal gray slacks and low-heeled shoes. His realization of that disappointment said more than he wanted to know. In their one brief meeting she had managed to capture his undivided attention and hold on to it. She was as much of a puzzle as she was a fascinating woman, far more complex than the women he usually associated with.
Kim stepped aside as he entered the house. At that moment he regretted his decision to set the appointment away from his office. This was one business meeting that he wanted to have over as quickly as possible. A little shiver darted up his spine. He had a strange sensation of upheaval, almost like a premonition that his life was about to take a strange detour from his intended course.
He sat on the couch, making a concerted effort to appear casual. He wasn’t as sure about how to proceed as he had been two days ago when he’d confronted Kim Donaldson. He gathered his determination. The debt wasn’t a personal matter, it was a company financial transaction and as such needed to be resolved.
“Has your attorney looked over the documents?”
Kim nervously shifted her weight from one foot to the other, then finally sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the coffee table. For the previous hour she had been rehearsing what she wanted to say when he arrived, but now that he sat across from her, that confidence started to erode. He looked so calm and in control, as if he didn’t have a worry in the world, while in contrast her stomach churned in knots.
“I met with him yesterday.”
“And?”
She forced out the words, her voice barely above a whisper. “He tells me it’s a legal, binding agreement.” She glanced at the floor, unable to meet his steady gaze. It had been the most difficult thing she had ever said, far more so than when she’d told her fiancé the engagement was off and they were through.
“Then I assume you’re prepared to pay the debt.”
Kim squared her shoulders, steeled her determination and forced herself to make eye contact with him. A quick ripple of anxiety darted across her skin. “No…I won’t be paying the debt. This apparent obligation was my father’s business transaction, not mine. You have no legal claim against me or anything I own.”
“You think not?”
A nervous tickle poked at her consciousness as she watched him place the document in his case. He closed the lid and snapped the locks shut. He stood, picked up the attaché case, then turned toward her—every movement, every gesture, slow and deliberate, sending a wave of trepidation through her body.
He cocked his head and shot a curious look in her direction. “Not paying the debt…is that the advice of your attorney?”
“I didn’t consult him beyond his inspection of the documents. It’s simply the way it is.”
“You realize that you’re leaving me with no choice other than to file a claim against your father’s estate, which will tie it up for quite a while and prevent you from selling or otherwise disposing of any of his property, such as this house and its contents.”
Kim’s breath caught in her throat, and a hard knot twisted in the pit of her stomach. Had she heard him correctly? Everything about Jared looked very determined. Her legs trembled to the point where she feared they would no longer support her as the seriousness of what he said sank in. How would she ever be able to fight a multimillion-dollar corporation on a matter that her attorney said was a legal obligation? The anxiety churned through her body as a throbbing headache attacked her temples.
She needed the money the sale of her father’s house would bring to pay off his debts. She couldn’t afford to have his estate tied up in court. A wave of anger threatened to erupt. Jared was nothing more than a predator circling his prey. He had chosen a time when she was most vulnerable and had pounced on the opportunity. He had taken unfair advantage of a situation just like the Stevens family had been doing to the Donaldsons for the past three generations.
She tried to rally her courage while forcing a calm to her anger. “Then I’ll consult my attorney about that.”
“I have legal counsel on staff. You’ll have to hire an attorney, and it will probably end up costing you more than simply paying the debt your father owes.”
At that moment his tone reminded her exactly of her ex-fiancé’s overbearing and controlling manner. She fought the urge to lash out at him for trying to manipulate her life and causing all this trouble. Then a realization hit her. Which him was she talking about? Was it her ex-fiancé or Jared Stevens who had earned her recrimination? She pulled her composure together and tried to look at the situation in a logical and dispassionate manner. He was only trying to collect a debt he believed was owed by her father. She tried to convince herself that it didn’t have anything to do with the Stevens–Donaldson feud. He wasn’t trying to control her life or go out of his way to make trouble for her. It was a straightforward business arrangement, nothing more.
And the enormity of that business nearly overwhelmed her—the amount of money at stake and Gary Parker’s words that it was a legal binding contract and the promissory note was, indeed, long past due. He had told her that Stevens Enterprises had every right to exercise their legal muscle in collecting it. A sinking feeling settled inside her, effectively shoving down whatever fight she had left. She was in a very precarious situation. Being defiant wasn’t going to help matters. She needed to find some sort of cooperative middle ground with Jared Stevens in order to resolve the money situation without putting everything in jeopardy.
Her voice quavered, her words barely above a whisper as despair filled her. “I can’t afford to pay the debt. There’s no way I can raise that kind of money. I need the proceeds from the estate to pay several other obligations of my father’s.”
The strong determination had vanished, and in its place Jared saw a vulnerable woman who didn’t seem to know what to do. He had been prepared for Kim’s strong stance. He could handle her anger. He knew he was more than capable of dealing with any business negotiation. But this touched him on a surprisingly personal level, and he wasn’t at all sure how to handle it.
He allowed his gaze to drift over her features. A tightness pulled across his chest. Yes, indeed—she was an incredibly desirable woman who had definitely heated up his libido.
He turned on the charm that never failed to produce the desired results, but the words were out of his mouth before he could evaluate where they had come from—words that were as much lustful desire as they were serious.
“Perhaps we could reach a compromise. According to my attorney, you’re a high school teacher. I’d be willing to let you, uh…” His words trailed off as his libido shoved at him again. He flashed a smile that was as much pure seduction as it was sincere. “To work off the debt.”
Two
The shock traveled through Kim’s body, followed by a sharp jab of anger, which was compounded by the lascivious gleam in Jared’s eyes and the unmistakable challenge in his face.
“You’d what?” A hard edge surrounded her words, combined with her disbelief at what he had said, but she didn’t care and made no effort to hide it.
“I’d be willing to make arrangements for you to work off the debt this summer while you’re not teaching rather than having to come up with the money from some other source.”
A hint of a grin tugged at the corners of his mouth, a grin he was obviously trying to suppress. Anger welled inside her. He was playing games with her, baiting her…taunting her. She bristled at his suggestion and its implied meaning, a situation fueled by the sexy twinkle in his eyes. She forced her anger down as she carefully measured her words. “That type of ludicrous line might work on the many women who frequent your bedroom, but I’m most certainly not one of them!”
“Whoa! Hold on there. I don’t know what you’re assuming, but what I’m offering is a legitimate way for you to resolve this problem. I need a girl Friday type of person for the summer while I’m here. I usually have one of the secretaries from our corporate offices in San Francisco handle the summer chores, but I’d be willing to allow you to fill that position. And in exchange for that…” His voice trailed off as his gaze slowly drifted across her body, then returned to her face.
The anger crept into her voice. “And in exchange for that, what? You’re going to forgive twenty thousand dollars plus all the accrued interest?” She threw a skeptical look in his direction. “That’s a lot of money for only three months worth of legitimate work.”
He stared at her. She felt as if his green eyes were looking right through her. A shiver of trepidation slowly replaced the anger of a moment earlier. Had she gone too far? Had she been out of line in so quickly jumping to interpret his meaning or, more accurately, to possibly have misinterpreted it? She couldn’t afford to be on the receiving end of a lawsuit. She could not allow the situation to disintegrate to the point where he would file a claim against her father’s estate. Good grief, Kim. Why can’t you learn to keep your big mouth shut and your thoughts to yourself?
“It would be a lot of money if it were actually being paid to someone. I’m looking at the overall picture, the cost to me of bringing someone from the corporate offices. Not only would I need to pay someone a salary while taking them away from their regular duties, I would also need to provide housing for the summer and per diem money since that employee would be away from home on a work assignment. You already have housing here in Otter Crest, and I assume have already made arrangements for whatever money you need to accommodate your bills during the summer.”
It made sense, but did she dare trust what he said? He was a Stevens. For as long as she could remember, her father and Jared’s father had been at odds. And before that it was her grandfather and Jared’s grandfather. The walls seemed to be closing in around her, trapping her in an untenable situation. He had manipulated her to the point where he had taken away any choices she might have had.
She tried to project an assertive, in-control attitude, something far removed from the way she felt. “I would insist that my attorney draw up a document stating the exact parameters of this agreement…that is, if I decide to do it.”
Jared flashed the sexy smile that set her heart fluttering and caused a shortness of breath. “I wouldn’t have it any other way—everything neat and tidy and legal.”
She swallowed hard as several thoughts circulated through her mind. It didn’t have to be all one-sided where she was doing all the giving and he was doing all the taking. There wouldn’t be anything in an agreement that said she had to be pleasant. She could make it the most miserable three months of his life as long as she didn’t step over the line and give him an opportunity to claim she wasn’t living up to her part of the agreement. But was that practical? What she really wanted to do was resolve the debt question, then get as far away from the town of Otter Crest and any connection with the Stevens family as she could.
A brief thought popped into her mind that it might be the sexy magnetism of the troublesome and disconcerting Jared Stevens she wanted to get away from. She tried to dismiss the errant notion as ridiculous, but it continued to linger in the back of her mind, circulating a heated excitement through her veins.
Jared’s smooth voice interrupted her disturbing thoughts.
“Well? What’s your answer?” The triumphant gleam sparkled in his eyes, and the look of victory covered his features. “Are we going to be able to satisfy this debt easily or do I need to have my attorney file that claim against the estate?”
A hard lump formed in her throat, successfully blocking any attempt to speak. He had her backed into a corner. A little shiver of trepidation worked its way through her body, touched by a hint of resentment at the way he had manipulated the situation for his benefit. She reluctantly nodded in agreement. Would it be a decision she would live to regret? One that would come back to haunt her?
“Is that nod your way of accepting my offer?”
She forced the words. “Yes…providing my attorney can draw up an agreement that we both find acceptable.”
Jared opened his attaché case again and removed a writing pad and pen. He seated himself on the couch. “Now, what points do you want to have in the agreement?”
It was another half hour before Jared prepared to leave the Donaldson house. They each had a list of the points they had agreed to. He had offered to have his attorney draw up the letter of agreement, but she had insisted she wanted her attorney to do it. The agreement would take effect on Monday. That would give him four days to devise a work schedule for her and to figure out exactly what he would be having her do.
A little twinge of delight danced inside him as he walked to his car. She could have her attorney draw up the agreement, but as long as it followed the parameters they had agreed to he would be able to give her a whole list of menial tasks and mundane little chores.
Jared climbed into his car, backed out of her driveway, then drove down the street. He had many legitimate projects where he could use the help of a good assistant during the course of the summer, not the least of which was the community center building currently under construction, but could he really trust her to handle confidential business matters for him? To work with his best interests in mind? He wished he could, but he was afraid to take that chance. She had already made it clear the Stevens–Donaldson feud was prominent in her thinking. So he would confine her work to unimportant jobs that did not compromise his business interests or jeopardize any important projects.
He continued to turn the possibilities over in his mind as he drove home. Once again a sense of upheaval in his life burrowed its way into his consciousness, leaving him a little bit uneasy and very uncertain about what the next three months would bring.
Kim stared at the clothes she had brought with her from her apartment in San Francisco. She tried to determine what would be appropriate to wear her first day of work at Jared’s summer office. She glanced at the clock next to the bed—6:30 a.m. A touch of irritation shoved at her, just as it had for the past few days. She had two hours of freedom left, then her contracted work schedule would deprive her of her summer.
She had spent the last three days clearing out some of her father’s belongings—donating his clothes to a homeless shelter, examining his financial records in more detail, then contacting his creditors about his financial obligations. She determined what she wanted to keep and what she would sell, obtained an appraisal of his belongings and listed his house with a real estate agent. The only things she had not inspected were several file folders containing miscellaneous papers. The pressing business matters of her father’s estate had been attended to for the time being. She placed the file folders in a box and set it aside. She would look at the papers some other time.
Her attorney, Gary Parker, had presented her with the letter of agreement according to the points she and Jared had previously established. They had both signed it. And now there was nothing left to do except show up at Jared’s summer office at the Stevens family compound. A jitter of anxiety confirmed that she was far from comfortable about what she had agreed to. She slowly shook her head. It was too late to back out, especially with the huge debt looming over her.
She finally chose a casual outfit of slacks, a simple pullover and sandals. She tried to eat some breakfast, but a nervous energy insisted on twisting her stomach into knots. She settled for some coffee, orange juice and an English muffin, then drove the short distance to the Stevens family compound and Jared’s office.
Kim pulled up to the curb across the street from the large estate. She sat in her car staring at the massive two-story house. A compendium of thoughts and emotions swirled inside her, leaving a very uneasy sensation in its wake. This was the land that Jared’s grandfather, Victor Stevens, had cheated her grandfather, George Donaldson, out of in a dishonest poker game. It was the single incident that had set her grandfather against Jared’s grandfather, which had started the Stevens–Donaldson feud. An intense wave of trepidation left her unsettled.
Kim had never been on the property, never passed through the upright bars of the iron gate that led to the large house behind the high brick wall. The one-hundred-acre land parcel, which fronted the ocean, had been the single most prized possession of her grandfather and the central core of his financial worth. The loss of the land broke him both financially and in spirit. He had made so many plans for the land, plans he knew would end up bringing him a fortune. Instead, Victor Stevens used the ill-gotten land to elevate the already significant Stevens family fortune to new heights.
All her life she had heard about the land swindle and how Victor Stevens had ruined her grandfather, how his son, Ron Stevens, had carried on the Stevens family tradition of trying to cheat the Donaldsons. She never understood why her father had continued to do business with Ron Stevens. Her mother had been noncommittal about it, but her father refused to let the subject drop. Kim had lived with all the anger and resentment her father carried around with him, all the stress his attitudes brought into the house. She had been relieved to escape the tension when she went to college and finally moved to San Francisco when she procured her teaching job.
She stared through the open gates at the large house. The estate covered a mere two acres of the original one-hundred-acre property but had its own private beach and boat dock. The rest of the land had been sold to developers for several million dollars, money that should have been in her family, not the already wealthy Stevens family. And now she was in the uncomfortable position of working for Jared Stevens, helping him propel Stevens Enterprises toward even greater financial success.
She set her jaw in determination. She needed to honor the terms of the letter of agreement and satisfy her father’s financial obligation to Stevens Enterprises, but there was nothing that said she needed to be pleasant or amiable around Jared. She put her car in gear, drove through the gate and up the long driveway.
The closer she got to the imposing structure, the more her confidence drained away until it had been replaced by rampaging anxiety. By the time she had parked in front of the large double door, she needed to force herself out of the car. She took a steadying breath and climbed the three steps to the porch. Her hand trembled slightly as she reached for the doorbell.
A moment later the door swung open and a man in his late fifties dressed in bib overalls and an old plaid shirt, greeted her. “You Miz Donaldson?”
“Yes.”
He stood aside and motioned her in. “I’m Fred Kemper, the estate caretaker. Jared’s expectin’ you.” He started down a long hallway indicating that she should follow him.
She glanced through the archway from the entry foyer into a large, tastefully and expensively decorated living room with a cathedral ceiling, a loft that ran around three sides and a large fireplace. Beyond that was a formal dining room with a crystal chandelier. She quickly counted the chairs around the table—twenty of them. She had never seen a dining table of that size in a private home.
Everything spoke of wealth, elegance and prestige. A jolt of resentment swept through her, followed by a wave of anger. This should have belonged to her family. It should have been her grandfather’s and then her father’s. It would have given her mother an easier life, making the few years she’d had much more comfortable, and would probably have allowed her father to live longer than his fifty-five years. But it had not been so. Victor Stevens had taken that option away from her family when he swindled her grandfather out of the land.
“This way.”
Fred’s voice jerked her out of her thoughts. She followed him down the hallway that ran along the inside of the front wall of the house, then through a door into what was obviously a much newer area than the rest of the house. Suddenly she found herself standing in the middle of an office complex.
“Jared will be right along in a minute.”
Kim watched as Fred headed back the way they had come. As soon as he was out of sight she seated herself on a couch, then took a minute to inspect the office. Everything she saw seemed efficient and streamlined, modern, with all the latest equipment enabling Jared to conduct major business from his house.
His house. She clenched her jaw to ward off the anger that once again threatened to override her attempt at maintaining a calm demeanor. She had never given the land or the Stevens family compound much thought until Jared’s attorney had approached her about the promissory note. Until that moment she had considered the entire land swindle history, something that had a serious impact on her father’s life but did not involve her. Now she found herself reluctantly thrown into the middle of the generations-old feud.
And it all felt very personal.
Her gaze made another sweep of the office area. It was the opinion of most of the people in town that Jared was nothing more than a playboy squandering the fortune he had inherited, that he was merely a figurehead providing a family member as president of the corporation. The real work was undoubtedly done by qualified people who were dedicated to their jobs. So why had he gone to all the trouble and expense of constructing an office wing, and what kind of work could he possibly have for her to do?
A frisson of apprehension darted through her body, an uneasy feeling telling her she might have made a bad bargain for herself in accepting his offer to work off the debt. She closed her eyes, and a mental image of Jared immediately popped into her mind. Once again the intensity of his green eyes and his devilishly sexy smile assailed her senses. A little tremor of excitement told her Jared Stevens was the cause of her apprehension, not the Stevens–Donaldson feud, as she wanted to believe.
“I’m glad to see you’re on time.”
Jared’s smooth voice sliced through her wandering thoughts and startled her to attention. Her eyes snapped open. The sight that greeted her did nothing to dampen her aroused senses or stop her errant musings. He stood framed in the doorway of what appeared to be an inner office beyond the reception area. A shortness of breath caught her by surprise. He might not be the handsomest man in the world, but at that moment she couldn’t imagine who would win out over him. With his head cocked to one side, his arms folded across his chest and his hip leaning against the door jamb, he looked like someone she wanted to get to know much better.
She took a steadying breath, then shoved the disturbing thoughts from her mind. True, she hadn’t been dating anyone lately and had no special person in her life, but Jared Stevens was the last man she needed to be having desirous thoughts about. His family was responsible for the ruination of her grandfather and the bitterness that had controlled her father’s life for as long as she could remember. Jared Stevens was the enemy. She could never let herself forget that.
“I try to always be punctual, Mr. Stevens.” She wanted to kick herself. The words sounded far too strained and definitely way too nervous. That was not the impression she wanted to convey, not the way she wanted to start the first day. She squared her shoulders and stood up. She had to project confidence, an image that said he may have coerced her into this ridiculous situation but he was not going to control her.
He leveled a sharp look at her, briefly making eye contact. “Call me Jared. Mr. Stevens was my father.” He chose to ignore her tone of voice and her blatantly obvious attempt to be disagreeable. If that was the game she wanted to play, she would find that she had more than met her match.
He straightened, slowly crossed the room and perched on the edge of the desk without taking his eyes off her. He had hoped she would have somehow changed since he had seen her so her presence wouldn’t continue to pull at his senses, but no such luck. His pulse jumped and raced as he forced his breathing under control. She was every bit as beautiful as he had pictured her over the past few days, every bit as desirable as he feared she would be and definitely a huge temptation. He took a steadying breath. He had a busy workday ahead of him and needed to keep his mind on business. He didn’t have time for personal thoughts of lust—at least, not at the moment.
He rose from the edge of the desk as he gestured toward the coffeepot sitting on the credenza against the wall. “Grab yourself a cup of coffee if you want, then I’ll give you a quick tour of the office complex before we start work.” Kim poured herself a cup of coffee as Jared waited.
“This—” he walked over and opened a door that went to the outside “—is the entrance to this wing of the house and is used for the business offices. It’s the door you’ll use from now on rather than the front door to the house. As you can see, there’s a driveway from the side street that goes past the garage and there are parking spaces right here by the door.” He handed her a key card. “This will open the side gate.” She stuck her head out the doorway and took a quick look around. He closed the door and headed in the direction he had come from a few minutes earlier, explaining as he walked.
“This room is the reception area where my summer assistant works. This—” he waved his arm as he stepped into a smaller room containing a table and six chairs “—is used as a conference room.” He continued through another door into the innermost room of the office wing with Kim right behind him.
“This is my office.” He reached across the desk, grabbed some papers and quickly shoved them into a file folder. Until—or maybe that would be if—such time as he could trust her with the details of his business dealings he wanted to keep certain papers away from her observation.
Kim surveyed her surroundings. It was a large office with a double set of French doors leading out to a patio, allowing him to come and go without anyone in the conference room or reception area seeing him. She stepped through the French doors. A chain link fence separated a large yard from the rest of the property. A doghouse just off the patio said it was a place where a pet could have lots of outdoor space without interfering with the rest of the property. About twenty feet away were windows that looked into a kitchen and another door into the house.
On the other side of the fence along the back of the house was a large deck next to a swimming pool and a hot tub. Beyond that the property sloped down to the beach and was enclosed by the same type of tall brick wall that surrounded the front of the property. A flower-lined path wound leisurely through the yard and past several trees to a gate leading to a private dock. Moored at the end of the dock was a gleaming white sailboat with bright blue canvas covers over the furled sails. Everything spoke of money and prestige, of a life filled with ease and comfort.
And it had all been stolen from her grandfather by Jared’s grandfather. It should have been in her family.
“This is very nice, certainly quite luxurious.”
“Thank you. I only wish I could spend more time here rather than at my town house in San Francisco, but that’s where the company offices are and where I need to be most of the time.”
She clenched her jaw to keep her negative thoughts from turning into words as she returned to his office. She spotted the file folder on his desk. His furtive attempt to hide the papers had not escaped her notice. Were the papers something personal or business? A little wave of disgust rippled through her. It was probably another of the many shady business deals the Stevens family had been involved in over the years. She tried to muster her determination. One thing was for sure—there was no way she would be party to any of his underhanded dealings. If he thought—
“Do you get along with animals?”
His words grabbed her attention. She had been so absorbed in her thoughts she hadn’t realized he had been talking to her.
“Uh…animals?”
“Yes. That’s the first item on the list of things for you to do today.” He handed the list to her. “I don’t expect you to use your own car to haul Lurch to the groomer. You can use one of my vehicles. The Ford Explorer is the one Lurch is the most comfortable in.”
“Lurch? The groomer?” She wrinkled her brow as she stared at the list without focusing on any of the words. A shrill whistle penetrated her confusion. She looked up just in time to see Jared whistle again, then a large dog with a huge head entered through the open French door and came loping across the office directly toward her. Her first thought was to get out of the huge animal’s way, but she couldn’t move fast enough. She stared, helpless, as the massive animal bore down on her.
Everything happened so quickly Kim wasn’t sure of the exact sequence. The animal stood on its hind legs with its paws on her shoulders. Whether the dog knocked her down or she stumbled and fell, she wasn’t sure. A second later she found herself sprawled on the floor with an energetic Saint Bernard licking her face. She frantically tried to shove the animal away from her, but the more she squirmed the more the dog seemed to think it was a game.
Jared grabbed the dog’s collar and gave it a gentle tug. The unmistakable sound of amusement surrounded his words. “Come on, Lurch. Let Kim up.” He let go of the dog, who gave Kim one more slurp against her cheek, then retreated to the other side of the room.
Jared reached his hand out to help Kim. She hesitated, then accepted his assistance. The moment their hands touched an unmistakable surge of sensuality traveled up her arm and infused itself through her body. He easily pulled her from the floor as if she weighed no more than a feather. She tried to remove her hand from his all-too-tempting touch, but he refused to let go. Instead, he pulled her closer to him until their bodies were almost touching. She looked into his face, and once again the intensity of his green eyes delved into the very core of her existence.
