Jennifer Taylor - Chase a Dream

She flushed. ‘No! I never expected that at all. I am willing to earn every penny, Mr Ford. I don’t want charity, especially not from you!’

His mouth thinned with displeasure as he took a step towards her. ‘Don’t you think your attitude is rather foolish, seeing as you are dependent on me for so much? I appreciate that you must find this situation you’re in galling in the extreme, but you must admit that you have been extremely fortunate. If I hadn’t made you this offer, then just imagine what might have happened.’

She could! She’d spent best part of the day going over the possibilities in her head, hour after hour. Finding herself broke and stranded in a foreign country was like a nightmare! She swallowed her pride, forcing the anger from her voice as she replied quietly, ‘I apologise. I suppose I must sound ungrateful. I do——’

‘Stephie!’ The delight in the child’s voice was apparent as she hurried across the foyer towards them. Stephanie turned towards the girl with a sigh of relief, only too glad of the interruption. What was it about Logan Ford that aroused her anger so easily? She wished she knew, because it was going to be an uncomfortable few weeks if she jumped every time he spoke. Somehow she was going to have to learn to ignore the effect he had on her, but it wouldn’t be easy. Logan Ford wasn’t the kind of man one could ignore!

‘Hello, Jessica. How are you?’

‘Fine, but what are you doing here? Daddy didn’t tell me that you were coming.’ There was curiosity on the child’s pale face, a sparkle of interest in her eyes, and Stephanie smiled warmly at her.

‘Maybe that’s because he didn’t know I was coming.’ She glanced up at Logan, watching the way his eyes narrowed at the barely veiled sarcasm in her voice. She sighed softly, realising that she was doing it again, declaring warfare when she was in no position to fight the battle.

‘Did you, Daddy?’ Jessica caught Logan’s hand, drawing his attention back to her. He smiled at once, his face softening as he looked down at his daughter. Stephanie felt her heart beat a shade or two faster at the unexpected tenderness she could see on his face. When he looked like that, his chiselled lips curled into a genuine smile, his eyes warm, he was devastatingly attractive, and everything female in her responded in a way that shocked her.

‘Did I what?’ he asked with mock-solemnity as he teased the child.

‘Know that Stephie was coming, of course!’ Jessica sighed noisily, letting go of his hand to stare up at him. ‘You know what I mean!’

‘Mmm. Let me just say that I had a good idea she might come, even if I wasn’t one hundred per cent certain.’ There was open derision on his face as he glanced over his daughter’s head, and Stephanie felt herself go cold as she realised that he had quite deliberately evened the score between them. Abruptly she turned away to stare across the empty foyer, wondering why she felt so hurt. This man meant nothing to her; he was a stranger who had offered her help more for his own reasons than hers. It shouldn’t have mattered what he thought about her, but she was honest enough to admit that it did.

Suddenly she couldn’t take any more of this verbal fencing. She turned to smile at Jessica, studiously avoiding Logan’s eyes. ‘You were about to go out when I arrived, and I don’t want to spoil your evening. Your father can explain everything to you, Jessica.’

‘Oh, but you can’t go yet! Can she, Daddy?’ Jessica’s voice held a note of pleading as she appealed to her father.

‘Of course not. Quite apart from anything else, Stephanie, there are a few things we need to discuss. If you haven’t had dinner yet, then perhaps you will join us?’

Dinner? On six dollars? He must know that she hadn’t, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of hearing her admit it. ‘I’ve already eaten, thank you.’ It was a lie, but such a small one, and she salved her noisy conscience with thoughts of the pastry.

‘Then I’m sure you won’t mind sitting with us while we eat.’ He took Stephanie’s arm, leading her out of the hotel and putting her into the car before she had time to frame any further objections. Jessica scrambled into the back seat, chattering excitedly, blissfully unaware of the tension. Stephanie waited until Logan started the car and Jessica was engaged in playing with a doll she’d plucked from the door pocket before letting him know exactly what she thought of his high-handedness.

‘I said that I didn’t want to come with you. Just who do you think you are, commandeering me like this?’

He barely spared her a glance, his eyes focused on the traffic as they joined the expressway. ‘I am the man who is employing you now. I am paying good money for your company, and I intend to see that I get full value. If I want you to come with us, then you will come; otherwise we may as well terminate our agreement right now.’

‘You may be employing me to look after your daughter, but that doesn’t mean that you own me!’ Anger lent a fire to her blue eyes, added a tinge of colour to her cheeks, and she saw him smile as he glanced round at her.

‘What exactly is bothering you most, Stephanie? The fact that you can’t see another way out of this mess you’re in, or that I’m the one calling all the shots?’

‘I don’t know what you mean!’ She drew back against the door, suddenly wary of what he meant and the way he was watching her.

He shrugged lightly, his shoulder brushing hers, sending an instant surge of sensation flowing through her body. She caught her breath, fighting the strange feeling of weakness the light touch evoked, but there was no way she could control the shudder that ran through her when he answered in that deep, harsh voice, ‘Don’t you? I think you do, and that is why you are so angry. Would you prefer our relationship to have been based on different terms, rather than that of employer and employee?’

‘I... Why, that’s ridiculous!’ Colour swam up her cheeks as she stared at him in horror.

‘Why is it ridiculous? You spilled that drink over me yesterday, obviously for a reason. Why should it be so ridiculous to assume that you would prefer to be on more intimate terms with me than an employee would enjoy?’

‘It was an accident! Someone jogged my arm. I didn’t do it deliberately to... to...’ Her throat closed on the allegation, but he didn’t seem to suffer from her nervousness.

‘Pick me up? Is that what you’re finding so hard to say? Don’t be shy, Stephanie. This is an enlightened era. If a woman sees a man she wants, then there is no reason for her not to be the one to make the first approach.’ He turned the car into the car park of a brightly lit steak bar, cutting the engine. Jessica scrambled from the back and ran across to look at the fish swimming in the huge ornamental pool in the forecourt, leaving Stephanie and Logan suddenly alone. He leant towards her, his eyes holding hers in the dim light from the dashboard, his tone dropping to a note of intimacy that made her nerves tingle.

‘I noticed you watching me yesterday, Stephanie. Before you spilled that drink all over me. I’m not a vain man, but it isn’t the first time that a woman has made her interest known. Don’t be shy about admitting to it now. It’s better that we clear the air, once and for all.’

She couldn’t help the guilty blush that ran up her throat. She had been watching him yesterday, mesmerised by his whole appearance and that aura of power that surrounded him. He laughed deeply, catching her chin when she tried to turn her head away to avoid his knowing gaze. Tilting her face up to his, he stared her straight in the eyes. ‘I said yesterday that your face was almost too expressive, so don’t bother lying, honey. It isn’t worth the effort. All I want is to get things straight before we go any further. You are an attractive woman, Stephanie, extremely attractive, but I doubt if you need me to tell you that. I learned a long time ago that most women are very aware of the power they can wield over a man.’