Chasing Trouble (Texas Trouble) (13 page)

In between each
bank of windows was a tall archway that opened to a hall.  Off to the right a wide stairway looked like it led straight to heaven, because it ended close to the ceiling.  There was a catwalk up there that circled the room.

A squeaking noise on the marble floor caught Jenny's notice and she dragged her eyes from the fresco on the ceiling to see a tall lanky man in hip waders and a flannel shirt walking toward them. 

"Well, hello pretty ladies," he said brightly and his voice bounced off the walls of the big open room.  Fine wrinkles bunched up around his eyes and lips as a beautiful and very familiar smile split his face.  This must be Chase's grandpa, he had to be.  The resemblance was uncanny.

"Papa Jack?" she ventured
with a grin and walked toward him.

"I see my reputation precedes me...don't believe anything they've told you," he said
with a snort and his smile got wider, if that was possible.  She stuck out her hand, but he pulled her into a hug instead.  He smelled like sandalwood mixed with a mossy lake.  When he pushed her back he said, "And you must be Jenny, my grandson told me all about you too."

Jenny groaned and felt blood heat her face.  "Don't believe everything he told you about me either."

"He said you were beautiful and a doctor, and wouldn't give him the time of day...smart girl," he told her with a chuckle and a wink.  "Make him work for it."

Jenny shook her head.  Chase had evidently told hi
s grandpa that he was interested in her, and he thought she was playing hard to get.  "It's not like that between us, Papa Jack.  I work for him now.  I'm just staying here until I find a place."

"
Well that's too damned bad...looks like my grandson needs some tips.  Maybe I'll have a talk with him," the older man told her with another wink.

She could also see where Chase Rhodes got his charm.  Five minutes is all it had taken him to charm her.  "Oh, he's got the lines, Papa Jack.  I just don't have the inclination now that I work for him.  Too many problems, you know?"

"Well, Jack had to chase Curly all over Texas until he got her, and my grandson has the same blood in his veins, so I imagine he won't be taking no for an answer, sugar.  Just warning you.  And if Curly has anything to do with it, you can bet your pretty ass he won't be giving up...and she does, my daughter-in-law doesn't quit.  She always gets what she's after."

Jenny sucked in a breath, shocked that her worst fear had just been confirmed.  Although she already knew what his answer would be, Jenny asked in a trembling voice, "And what exactly would that be, Mr. Rhodes?"

"You and Chase to give her grandbabies," he told her with a laugh.

The blood in Jenny's face dropped to her toes and a buzzing started in her ears.  She'd given up a good job, at a reputable hospital and torpedoed her career, because Chase Rhodes's mama wanted grandbabies and had bought herself a breeder
, by having them offer her a job at Rhodes Drilling and Exploration.

Her voice sounded strange even to her when she asked him, "Where is he?"

"Aw, hell, I didn't mean to upset you, darlin'.  You're pale, come over here and sit down," he said and went to take her arm.  "I'm a crazy old man, and have lake sludge for brains, don't pay me no mind."

She pulled away from him and stepped back, then met his clear blue gaze.  "No, sir, I think you're the only
Rhodes family member who's been straight with me, and I appreciate it.  Now, please help me find your grandson."

He studied her for a minute with his intelligent blue eyes, then nodded and walked back toward the hallway
where he'd emerged a few minutes ago.  She followed him, her legs feeling like rubber beneath her, her anger increasing with every step she took.  A silent and solemn Terri trailed behind her.

Papa Jack led them through several turns and into a huge kitchen with a curved center island surrounded by bar stools.  Jenny was too stunned to stop and appreciate the gorgeous dream kitchen, she just zeroed in on the back door
where she could see the pool and the building behind it through the window.   He led them outside, across a wide concrete patio set up with several tables and chairs and a massive stainless steel outdoor grill, down a short flight of stairs, and along a pathway to a side door into the building by the pool.

He twisted the knob then stopped and turned back to face her.  "Sugar, I think you need to calm down before you talk to him.  Just sit out on the patio and think about things.  I don't think Chase knew what his mama was up to..." he told her.

"He had to know, he offered me the job," Jenny replied and sickness rolled in her stomach.  "If he didn't know, he let her manipulate him in to it...which is just as bad."

"I think you're wrong, honey.  Chase is a good boy, and he might have a soft spot for his mama, but he's not going to do what he doesn't feel is right."

"Well, maybe he wasn't adverse to the idea.  It doesn't matter...they tricked me into quitting my job and moving here.  I'm not staying."

Terri stepped up beside her and put her arm around Jenny's waist.  "I'm your friend, so whatever you decide, I'm here for you.  You can stay with me in Henrietta, until you decide what to do.  I'll bet the hospital would hire you back in a heartbeat," Terry told her kindly.

"No, they won't.  The director was pretty mad when I quit.  By the time I'd served my notice, he had someone else hired to fill my spot."

"Well, you could probably get on at the hospital here," she suggested.

"Not with the mark on my record.  It happened here, and people have long memories.  I moved to Henrietta, so I could start over. Now I'm stuck...I guess I'll have to go to Africa now.  By the time my two years are up, maybe they'll have forgotten and just look at my service."

"You're not fucking going to
Africa, Jenny.  I'm not letting you go!" Terri shouted.

The door opened and Chase stood in the doorway looking at them curiously. 

"What the hell's going on?" he asked, his eyebrows knitted together.

"That's what I'm here to ask you," Jenny spat and shoved him back into the pool house.
 

Chase staggered back into the pool house and caught himself against the wall.  Disbelief shot through him as he looked at Jenny's
pinched face and figured out she was madder than a wet hen...at him.  "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Jenny's full lips twisted ruefully, then she put a finger beside her mouth and glared at him.  "Let's see..."

She paused to think for a minute, organizing her thoughts, before she stalked over to him and poked her finger into his chest. "Could I be upset that you've ruined my life?" she asked sarcastically, then punctuated each point with another poke of her finger in his chest.  "I quit my job, let go of my apartment and moved five hours from the place I've called home for two years," she hissed then leaned her face toward his until they were nose to nose before she finished, "All to bear the children of the wealthy Rhodes heir.  What could possibly be wrong with me?"

Chase shook his head and tried to make sense of what the angry woman in front of him was saying.  "What the fuck are you talking about?  I hired you to
work
for me, paid off your student loans, helped you move..." he said in confusion.

"Evidently, you're a little dense
, probably because you're a
Mama's Boy
and she does all your thinking for you.  I'm not for sale, Chase Rhodes.  I don't give a shit what you've done to get me here, I'm not staying.  You can put up with your mother's manipulation, but I'll be damned if I will.  I'll pay you back every fucking penny you spent getting me here, but you'll have to get in line right now, since I'm
unemployed
, thanks to you."  Jenny pushed both hands against his chest and curled her lip in disgust.

He looked at Papa Jack who was standing by the door shaking his head, then he glanced at his mother who had faded back by the front door and was shuffling her weight from foot to foot nervously. 

Dragging his gaze back to Jenny's enraged face, told her, "You've got it wrong, sugar.  I had nothing to do with that if it's true.  I hired you because I need a health and safety officer, and you fit the bill.  My dad even agr--" Chase stopped speaking as the pieces of the puzzle slid into place and stunned him.

He groaned and shoved a hand through his hair, then turned toward his mother who was just gr
abbing the door knob to leave.

"
Stop right there," he growled and stomped over to her.  "This is the last straw," he told her and spun her to face him.  "You have interfered in my life for the last time, mama."

"I, uh...well, um..." she stuttered and her face flushed.

"You told daddy to put the idea in my head to hire Jenny didn't you?  Because you thought you could use her to trap me into giving you grandkids.  I'm thirty-two years old, mother, and I think I'm more than capable of finding a woman on my own.  Your interference in my life is over, is that clear?"

She lifted her chin and said indignantly, "I didn't mean to--"

"I don't give a damn what you
meant
to do--I'm a
grown man
--stay out of my business.  As soon as I can pull it off, I'm moving.  I think we both need a little space."

Tears filled his mother's eyes and he felt like a sonofabitch, but this conversation had been too long in coming.  "I love you mama, but I'm not going to put up with this anymore.  You need to get a life and leave mine alone," he told her a little gentler.

The front door burst open behind his mother and Joel rushed inside huffing for air.  He stepped around his mother and pushed Chase back a few steps.  "Why the hell are you yelling at mama?" his brother demanded.  "I heard you from outside!"

"None of your business," Chase told him belligerently and shoved him back.  "Every fucking one of you just needs to mind your own business...."

"I've had enough of this family drama...I left Amarillo to escape my own.  I'm leaving," Jenny told them and walked to the back door and flung it open.  Chase was behind her before she could take a step outside.  He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her out then shut the door behind him.

"You're not leaving," he told her bluntly.  "I need you...the company needs you."

"I'm not staying," she repeated through gritted teeth and glared at him.

"You're under contract," he reminded.

"Contracts were made to be broken, especially when they're entered into under false pretenses," she said and crossed her arms over her chest.

"This one is rock solid, you're locked into working for
Rhodes for two years."  He knew it was solid, because he'd worked with their staff attorney to make sure of it.

"You can take your offer and shove it where the sun don't shine, bucko.  You wanna take me to court on the contract? 
Do it and I'll sue you for sexual harassment," she threatened.

Evidently, she hadn't read the contract thoroughly enough, because she was forgetting one thing. 
"You're not employed yet, sweetheart.  The contract doesn't start until next week, even though I've paid your loans off.  And it definitely will
never
be contingent on whether or not you and I have a relationship."

Her beautiful ocean blue eyes narrowed and she spat,
"Well, you can take it to hell with you and burn it for all I care.  I'm not working for you.  You only hired me, because your mother manipulated your father."

"Not true.  I hired you because you're a goddamned trauma doctor,
a good one, and I need someone with your knowledge to train and supervise my onsite medics.  Have more faith in your abilities,
doctor
."

She sucked in a breath, then blew it out slowly and
her lower lip trembled as she told him, "My abilities aren't in question here, but your motives sure are."

If she cried, Chase was going to lose his mind
, and it looked like she was real close.  He knew that wasn't a common thing for her.  Jenny Anderson was a strong woman.  Him being the cause of her doing it now would kill him. 

Gently, he took her shoulders in his hands and told her, "I
'm not gonna lie to you, sugar...I want you like I've never wanted any other woman, but my company needs you.  Once your contract starts, even though it will be absolute hell, I give you my word I'll keep my hands to myself...if that's what you want.  We'll be friends and nothing more."

"And until then?" she asked.

"Until then, I'm going to do everything I can to make you want to continue a relationship with me," he told her bluntly.  "We need to settle what's going on between us, for both our sakes."

"I don't want to
mess this up, Chase.  I want to do a good job."

"You're going to do a good job, I have ultimate faith in you, and besides you'll be trained by the best, me...how could you not be good?" he said with a wink.

"Handsome and humble, an irresistible combination..." she told him with a watery chuckle, then a tremor moved through her body and Chase pulled her to him for a hug.