From the Heart

was quite certain Jordan didn’t understand her any more than she understood him. Their lifestyles were at complete variance. Still, she continued to think of him, to watch him, to wonder. He was crowding her mind.
    As she sat in his study, reading over a draft of a new chapter, Kasey recognized that on this level, at least, they were reaching a firm compatibility. He was capturing the feelings she was trying to project to him, then intermingling them with dry facts and data. It was proof of her own usefulness. Being of use was essential to her.
    Kasey laid the papers back in her lap and looked over at him. “It’s wonderful, Jordan.”
    He stopped typing and, lifting a brow, met her eyes. “You sound surprised.”
    “Pleased,” she corrected. “There’s more empathy in this than I expected.”
    “Really?” The statement seemed to interest him as he leaned back in his chair and studied her.
    It made Kasey uncomfortable. She felt that he was intuitive enough to see through her if he chose to. That, she wouldn’t care for. She rose and walked to the window.
    “I think you might delve deeper into the two subcultures of Plains life. The semiagricultural tribes of the eastern plains lived in villages and had traits of the Plains as well as the eastern and southeastern cultural areas. They consisted of ____”
    “Kasey.”
    “Yes, what?” She stuck her hands in her pockets and turned back to him.
    “Are you nervous?”
    “Of course not. Why should I be?” She began to search for her pack of cigarettes.
    “When you’re nervous, you go to the window or,” he paused and picked up her cigarettes, “go for these.”
    “I go to the window to see what’s outside,” she countered, irritated with his perception. She held out her hand for her cigarettes, but he put them down on the desk and rose.
    “When you’re nervous,” he went on as he crossed to her, “you have a difficult time keeping still. Something has to move—your hands, your shoulders.”
    “That’s fascinating, I’m sure, Jordan.” She kept her hands firmly in her pockets. “Did you take a course in psychology from Dr. Rhodes? I believe we were discussing the subcultures of the Plains Indians.”
    “No.” He reached over and twined one of her curls around his finger. “I was asking you why you were nervous.”
    “I’m not nervous.” She struggled to keep her body perfectly still. “I’m never nervous.” A smile moved over his face.
    “What are you grinning at?”
    “It’s very rewarding to unnerve you, Kasey.”
    “Look, Jordan—”
    “I don’t believe I’ve seen you angry before,” he commented, then took his other hand to her throat. Her pulse was beginning to hammer. Desire stirred inside him as it played under his palm.
    “You wouldn’t like it if you did.”
    “I’m not at all sure,” he murmured. He wanted her. Standing there, he could all but feel the movement of her body under his. He wanted to touch her, to explore the sharp angles of her body and the softness of her skin. He wanted her to give herself to him with the enthusiasm that was so much a part of her. If he had ever wanted a woman as much before, he couldn’t remember. “It’s always interesting to watch a strong person lose control,” he told her, still caressing her throat. “You’re a very strong woman, and very soft. It’s an arousing combination.”
    “I’m not here to arouse you, Jordan.” Her body yearned for him. “I’m here to work with you.”
    “You do both very well. Tell me . . .” His voice slid over her skin as gently as his fingers. “Do you think of me when you’re alone at night, in your room?”
    “No.”
    He smiled again. Though he drew her no closer, Kasey felt the needs battering inside her. She was unaccustomed to restraining passion, unused to feeling it necessary.
    “You don’t lie well.”
    “Your arrogance is showing again, Jordan.”
    “I think of you.” His fingers roamed to the back of her neck and tightened. “Too much.”
    “I don’t want you to.” Her voice was weak, and that frightened her. “No, I don’t want you to.” Shaking her head, she pulled away from him. “It wouldn’t work.”
    “Why?”
    “Because . . .” She fumbled and became more frightened. No one had been able to do this to her before. “Because we’re looking for different things. I need more than you’d be able to give me.” She ran a hand through her hair and knew she had to escape. “I’m going to