The Tycoon's Tender Triumph (8 page)

Chloe wiggled so her legs could drop to the floor and she pushed her hair back.  “Oh, it isn’t that bad,” she said but her cheeks were too cold to smile and talking actually hurt now. 

Jessy
obviously didn’t believe her and hustled Chloe out of the enormous leather coat, then shooing her over towards a high chair set up on the island in the middle of the kitchen.  A moment later, a warm cup of beef stew was placed
in front of her
on the black granite counter,
Jessy
set
a large spoon in Chloe’s hand with the order, “Eat!”.  A plate of biscuits came next along with a cup of steaming coffee. 
Jessy
continued to move about the gorgeous kitchen, opening maple cabinets and pulling out ingredients, chatting the whole time as she worked at making some sort of dough on the counter in front of the breakfast bar where Chloe sat. 

Chloe didn’t argue this time.  She was too hungry.  But as soon as the food started to warm her fatigued body, she could feel the exhaustion start to come on.  Before she could fall asleep at the counter, she stood up, her fingers still wrapped around the warm cup of coffee.  “I really appreciate the wonderful meal, but I need to get back to work.”  Thankfully, Sam had retreated from the room so it was only
Jessy
to argue with and Chloe was fairly certain the tiny woman wouldn’t be much of an impedim
ent to getting out of the house
and away from Sam’s charismatic turf. 

“Don’t you dare,”
Jessy
called out, not even looking at Chloe as she pulled a monstrous sized bag of sugar out of a cabinet by the stove.  “You’re supposed to stay here and talk to that big oaf who doesn’t know what’s up or how to do what’s right.”

Chloe was fairly certain
Jessy
was referring to Sam, but since she’d never heard him referred to in that manner before, she wasn’t one hundred percent positive.  “I have a lot of work to do that can’t wait.
  I’ll just stop by my dad’s room and say hello.
”

Jessy
hefted the bag in her spindly arms, carrying it like it weighed nothing when it looked as if it were probably a twenty pound bag.  “I wouldn’t if I were you.  Just set yourself right back down and wait while I get Sam back here.  His orders were that you were to eat, then talk, and in that order.”

Chloe really didn’t like the sound of that.  “I don’t report to Sam, no matter what he thinks,
Jessy
.”

Jessy
smiled and shook her head.  “Ah, so that’s the way you’re working this, huh?”  She chuckled slightly.  “Now I understand a bit more.  You’re not one of those women, thank goodness.
  And maybe that explains a lot. 
I think there’s a whole lot more but it’s really none of my business.”  She thunked the bag of sugar down onto the granite countertop and looked directly at Chloe.  “I’m getting the impression that there’s a whole lot more going on here than what I can see with these old eyes, but never mind that.  My business is following the boss’s orders.  And right now, he wants to talk to you.  So just set right back down.”

She picked up the phone and pressed a button, while Chloe shook her head.  The only thing she “set” down was her coffee cup with her protesting fingers.  “I really need to go.”  Without another word, she picked up the coat that had been hung on the bar stool next to her, swinging her arms into it as quickly as she could. 
Jessy
was already off the phone, having muttered something into the receiver and clicked off in only a
matter of seconds.  Which meant
that Sam was nearer than she’d thought and she needed to move faster.  “Tell Sam that I appreciate the help, but I can handle….”

“You can
stop right there,” his deep voice said from behind Chloe.  Too close, she thought.

She shook her head, not bothering to turn around.  “I have to go.  Thank you for the warm meal.  It was delicious.”

“We need to talk.” 

Chloe shook her head.  “No, I have to get back to work.  I need to get that roof fixed as quickly as possible.”

“An
d what about a sprinkler system?
  Are you going to install that on your own?”

Chloe had no idea what he was talking about and her eyes whipped around to look up at him.  “Sprinkler system?”

“And a solid feed system?  And what about heating and ventilation equipment?  I don’t know if you’re equipped to install all of that on your own, but I’m guessing you’re going to try, aren’t you?”

Chloe stared at him for a long moment, absorbing his words and trying to make sense of them.  As she finally did, her mind went numb.  “You’re right.  A sprinkler system would be needed to keep the horses safe.  I don’t know about a feeding system or heating equipment, but there’s no way I would be able to install all of that by myself.”  Her shoulders sagged with the overwhelming information he’d imparted.  “I probably can’t get insurance for the guys if I don’t have at least a sprinkler system installed.”

“Damn right!” he put a hand to the door and closed it with a solid thud.  “And I don’t think you’d make the horses sleep in an unheated
stable
, now would you?”

She sighed and leaned back against the kitchen door.  “No.  I couldn’t do it, I wouldn’t put my guys through it either.  You’re right, of course.”

Sam looked down at her and felt slightly
mollified that she was at least listening to him and acknowledging that she couldn’t do it all on her own.  “Now that we’ve established that you need some help, how about if we move into my office and discuss some options?”

Chloe didn’t want to go.  She didn’t want to be alone with him, much less admit that she needed his help.  Wasn’t there anyone else she could discuss the matters with besides him?  Looking around,
Jessy
was her only other option right at the moment and she was up to her elbows in making what looked to be cookies.  “Fine,” she said with as much graciousness as she could muster at the moment with her heart racing. 

She took a deep breath when Sam nodded in approval and finally pulled back, putting some space between them.

“Good.  I have some ideas if you’re willing to listen to them.  This way,” he said, gesturing to the other side of the kitchen.

Chloe pushed away from the door and walked around him, giving herself a good two feet of space and feeling a little ridiculous when she saw Sam smother a smile, as if he knew what she was doing. 

Walking through the kitchen, she was fairly sure she could feel his eyes on her back.  And other places.  She didn’t know how she was so sure, but it was just a feeling she had, as if her back, and bottom were tingling.  Which was ridiculous of course.  There was no way his eyes could relay the same amount of energy his hands had delivered the day he’d kissed her in New York. 

He led her through the house that was familiar, and yet somewhat different.  The furniture had all been updated since she’d been her
e
that last summer.
  Since she entered through the side door on the other end of the house, she hadn’t gone through the great room while visiting and hadn’t noticed the changes before now.
  It was modern, but with a western
, rugged
flair to all of it.  Gone were the tweedy couches and the more colonial looking tables and everything was replaced by leather and cleaner lines.  She liked it, she thought as she walked down a long hallway.  Glancing back, she caught him!  His eyes were staring at her bottom! 

As she glared, his eyes moved upward and Chloe caught her breath at the heat she felt emanating from his look.  “A man can appreciate a work of art,” he replied to her unvoiced accusation, his voice husky.

Chloe didn’t know what to say as her cheeks flared with a blush.  Turning back, she walked more quickly towards where his office used to be, praying that it was still in the same place. 

The door was already open and she walked in, noting the heavy wood desk covered with papers and three computer screens, all with numbers filling up the space. 

“
H
ave a seat,” he said behind her and Chloe jumped out of her skin.  She took the seat, but she wasn’t glaring at his back as he walked around to sit at his desk. 

“As I see it, you’re trying to be independent and not accepting help from a neighbor.”

“I’d like to do this on my own.”

Sam lifted a shoulder as acknowledgement.  “And do you have the money to do this right?”

Chloe looked down at her raw, torn up hands and sighed.  “No.  I don’t.”

“So you need a loan so you can get people in to do this correctly and safely, and not risk your health at the same time.”

“I won’t take money from you, Sam.”

“Why not?”

“Because I won’t be indebted to someone. 
Looks like my father wouldn’t accept help from you either
.”

“
Your father isn’t the question here.  I’m pretty sure your dad has the money to make all the repairs so it was just that he wanted to do them himself.”

She grimaced and nodded her head. “I think you’re right, but that doesn’t alter the fact that I don’t want him on that roof again.  I’m terrified of him falling again.  He’s too old to be doing most of that work,” she said and rubbed her hands over her tired eyes.  “I need to get it done myself before he moves back to the ranch.”

Sam leaned forward.   “You know I didn’t start this whole thing on my own, don’t you?”

Chloe tried not to roll her eyes.  “Sam, your financial prowess is pretty legendary.”

“I am good with investments, true.  But your father helped me when mine died all those years ago.  Without his help and support, I might not be here.”

This was news to Chloe.  She’d always thought of Sam as a self-made man.  “What did my dad do for you?”

Sam thought for a moment.  “Primarily, he believed in me.  He gave me some seed money and a whole lot of advice
on how to raise horses, what to look for when purchasing new horses, who to talk to and basic things like that
.  Now I’d like to repay him for that
by keeping you alive and healthy
.
  And not letting you kill yourself by trying to do all the repairs that man is too stubborn to hire out to workers more capable than himself.
”

Chloe sat there in the huge leather seat, suddenly feeling uncomfortable and petty.  “What if you could repay him by providing help to someone else?
  Sort of a ‘passing it forward’ type of payback.
”

Sam chuckled.  “You’re going to be stubborn to the end, aren’t you?”

“No,” she replied quickly.  “I just really want to do this on my own.”

“Even though there is plenty of room in my
stable
to house those horses, they’re comfortable and you could be over here
riding and doing other things that interest you more rather than
trying to kill yourself
repairing
that damn
roof
?”

That made her even more curious.  “What do you mean?” she asked cautiously. 

The look that came over Sam’s face could only be described as victorious.  Chloe tried to be reasonable and not jump up and race out of the office but it took a great deal of effort. 

“
You obviously don’t want to be a rancher or you would have come back to help your father after college.  So I’m guessing you want to do something different. 
I’m also assuming you’ve been so miserable in that job in New York that you’
ve thought
about a career you’d genuinely love
a great deal, even coming up with a plan on how you’d like to approach building up whatever business your dream might entail. 
Are you willing to tell me what that enterprise might be
?”

Chloe didn’t dare tell him about her photography, too embarrassed since she didn’t think her pictures were good enough to go anywhere in the art market.  “I love the horses,” she countered.  “
I enjoy riding.”