Leopard 03 - Burning Wild

solidly with Jake, and as such, she never gave information about him to anyone. The smallest remark could end up in a tabloid, and Jake had enough people hounding him. In truth, he flew often out of the country as well as to the many states where he owned properties, but he always returned home to the ranch.
    They passed the long, wide, sweeping staircase and the high ceiling where the bronze leopard sat amid climbing plants. She was pleased at Patterson’s swift intake of breath. “This house is amazing. You must love it here.”
    “Yes, I do.” And she took great pride in making certain it was clean. Jake insisted on cleaners coming twice a week, but she managed every day and it made her feel possessive and proud of their home.

    She gestured toward the phone in the den. “This is where I notice the noise the most. The other phones have just a tinge, but this one is more pronounced.”
    Greg set his equipment down and watched as she perched on the arm of a chair across the room from him. “This may take a while.”
    “That’s fine. I expected it to,” she answered, her voice pleasant.
    Greg snuck another quick look at her before returning his gaze to the phone cradled in his hand. “Are you and Mr. Bannaconni together? I didn’t notice a ring, but that doesn’t seem to make much of a difference these days.”
    Emma stiffened. Was he looking for information for the tabloids? She tried to keep her voice light and casual. “I work here.”
    Greg shot her a quick, shy smile. “Well, in that case, there’s a great movie opening at the theater tomorrow night that I was hoping to see. I don’t suppose you’d want to go with me?” He couldn’t make himself look at her when he asked her, rubbing at an imaginary fleck of dirt on the telephone instead.
    Emma sucked in her breath. She’d never dated anyone, not really. Not before Andrew. But Jake had just taunted her, made fun of her actually, by telling her she’d never find another man because she didn’t pay attention to men. Jake, Greg seemed young and uncomplicated, even tame. He certainly didn’t stir her sexually, but she needed something, a change, a way to deal with the way Jake made her feel.
    “If you don’t mind me meeting you there, and it would have to be the late show,” Emma found herself agreeing. She held her breath, suddenly hoping he would say no.
    “Great!” An enthusiastic smile lit his eyes. “Tomorrow night, then.”
    Emma’s heart thudded in alarm. What had she done? Jake had hurt her ego, and in a small spurt of defiance she had made a decision she wasn’t really ready for. And it wasn’t fair to Greg. She had no real interest in him. Her decision was really about being afraid of herself, of the aching needs she couldn’t quite get free of. She wasn’t herself lately at all, and her dreams were downright humiliating.
    Every single one of them was about Jake and things she had no real knowledge of and wasn’t certain she really wanted to learn.
    “Greg, I’ll go with you as a friend. Nothing more. If that’s not what you want, then I’ll have to back out. I should have made that clear.” She kept her voice gentle, low, sorry she might be hurting him, angry with herself for getting into such a position because of pride and fear. It wasn’t Greg’s fault that he’d happened along at precisely the moment she would agree.
    “I understand. It’s all good,” he said. “I’d like to go with you.”
    He sent her another brief grin, one that was strangely reminiscent of Andy’s. Sweet. Not asking for anything. Friendly. Maybe he was just what she needed. Jake’s personality was overwhelming, swamping her, chipping away at her resistance. Everything about Jake tore at her continually. His intense needs. His dark, brooding manner. His pain. His arousal. His orders and flashes of temper. The way he softened when he was with her. The way he lay next to her when he couldn’t sleep and idly played with strands of her hair, sometimes touching her soft skin and sliding his fingers over her warmth as if she belonged to him.
    Just thinking about his touch made her slick with damp heat. She took a breath, let it out and forced a smile, trying to understand what Greg was saying to her.
    Greg explained every detail as he worked, his voice droning on and on, until she felt desperate. It was impossible not to think about Jake when she wasn’t in the least bit interested in how the phone worked.
    She heard him call her name