Diamond (10 page)

For a long moment, neither spoke. And then Diamond surprised them both when she answered.

“Yes there is, Henley. I want you to stop calling me ‘Miss Houston,’ and I want you to teach me how to drive.”

His jaw dropped, but the fact that he made no comment other than to close his mouth said much for the control he maintained over his emotions.

“Yes, Miss Diamond,” Henley said. “Will there be anything else?”

Diamond grinned. The concession he’d made with her name was as far as he’d go, and she knew it. “Not today.” She pinned him with a hard stare. “When can we start?”

“At your convenience,” Henley said.

“What about now?”

“Very good, Miss Diamond. Please follow me.”

She did, with alacrity.

Jesse’s touring bus was empty save for Jesse and the driver. Tommy and the members of Muddy Road had disembarked in Nashville and headed for their respective homes. They had exactly one day of rest before recording on the new album would resume, and Jesse knew exactly what he’d do with that day. He didn’t intend to move from his premises for at least twenty-four hours. As always, traveling to and from concerts left him drained, not to mention the performance itself.

When the driver turned down the dirt road leading to his home, a kick of excitement surfaced as he realized that in minutes he would see Diamond. It was a strange, almost comforting feeling to know that someone was waiting for him. He wasn’t certain how he felt about Diamond Houston except that he didn’t want to lose her. He had yet to decide whether that added up to selfishness, lust, or something else. It was the
something else
that was making him nervous.

“Hey, Jesse!” the driver shouted aloud. “Look out there!”

Jesse looked toward the direction in which his driver was pointing, expecting to see almost anything but what came into view as they turned the curve in his drive.

His old green Dodge pickup, the one he used to haul hay and feed to the horses, was moving at a fast clip through the pasture in front of the house. He cursed and closed his eyes, an unconscious reaction as the Dodge narrowly missed a small stand of trees before turning to run alongside the fence leading toward the barns.

“Look at her go!” the driver yelled, and whistled through his teeth as the old truck cleared a dip in the field by sailing neatly over it instead of driving through it.

“Oh, hell,” Jesse said, muttering beneath his breath. A long swatch of blonde hair flew out the open window and then was sucked back inside as the truck made a u-turn in the field.

Diamond!

He felt a swift surge of panic, followed by anger. When he’d offered to teach her to drive, she’d laughed in his face and turned him down. If his eyes didn’t deceive him, that was Henley sitting beside her in the truck. Jesse stared. By all that’s holy, he thought, she’s got to him, too. If he hadn’t seen it, he never would have believed it. Henley was laughing.

The bus came to a stop as Jesse vaulted from his seat. The driver tossed the bags onto the porch and made a hasty exit. He could tell by the look on Jesse’s face that he was none too happy about what he’d seen, and the driver had no intention of staying around for the explosion.

Diamond swerved, missing the trees in the middle of the pasture by inches. She turned the pickup truck back toward the barns and then laughed at the sight of the mare and her colt running with the truck, with only a board fence separating them in the race to the barn.

The bay mare’s tail flowed out behind her like a kite as she ran, her mane a rich brown tangle in the wind. She tossed her head and whinnied as if in pure delight from the chase, while her baby followed, determined not to be left behind.

“Watch that dip,” Henley shouted.

“What dip?” Diamond yelled, and spit hair from her mouth as it whipped across her face.

“Never mind,” he said, grunting as they went slightly airborne, then landed with a thud on the other side of the shallow ditch.

Diamond laughed again at the look on Henley’s face and turned her attention to the business at hand.

“Slow down,” Henley scouted again. “The gate is coming up.”

“Piece of cake,” Diamond said, and sailed through the narrow opening with inches to spare.

For a beginner, she’d been surprisingly adept at driving. Henley would have liked to believe it was solely due to his expertise as a teacher. However, he was honest enough to realize that once Miss Diamond set her mind to something it was her persistence that was responsible for her newly acquired skill. As for the driving, it wasn’t perfect, but with only two days of practice under her belt, she was damned good at it.

She came to a skidding halt beneath the trees in front of the house, ground the gears into park, and turned off the ignition.

“Made it,” she said, laughing at the expression of surprise on Henley’s face. It was obvious he’d been uncertain of the outcome of their ride.

“And I thank the Lord for small favors,” he said. He took the key and slipped it into his pocket.

Diamond turned toward the house, intent on teasing Henley into baking some of his brownies, when she saw the man leaning against the porch post. The black denim Levis, red shirt, and wide-brimmed black Stetson were unmistakable. Jesse was back, and from the look on his face he was none too happy about what she’d been doing.

“Uh-oh,” she said. “We’ve been caught.”

Henley took one look at his boss’s face and made a quick decision.

“So it seems,” he said, and escorted her to the house. “Sir. You’re home.”

That much was obvious, but it was all that Henley could manage considering Jesse’s expression and the arms he’d folded across his chest.

“I suppose that you’ll be wanting to rest as usual. I’ve prepared a casserole and some salad. The food is in the refrigerator. Miss Diamond knows. I’ll be heading on home now. Have a good evening, sir.”

With that, Henley handed the pickup keys to Jesse, got into his own car, and drove away without looking back.

An explanation was on the tip of Diamond’s tongue when she looked up at Jesse’s face and forgot what she’d been about to say.

That his feelings were hurt was putting it mildly. He was jealous as hell. She’d laughed more with Henley just now than she’d laughed with him since he’d known her. When Henley had handed him the truck keys, he’d had an intense urge to punch his houseman in the face.

It was completely unjustified and unreasonable to expect that Diamond owed him anything other than gratitude for taking her from Cradle Creek. But when he’d seen that look of complete joy on her face and known that another man had put it there, he’d lost all sense of reason.

He stared down at her and started to stuff his hands into his pockets, but found himself wrapping them around her wind-blown hair instead. “Why?” he asked as he tugged gently, urging her up the steps until they were face to face.

Diamond heard the disbelief in his voice but completely misunderstood its origin.

“I didn’t think you’d mind me using the truck,” she said. “It was all my idea, too, so don’t be mad at—”

“Why not me, lady? You let Henley inside your world but you won’t let me.”

He shook her gently to punctuate his questions, expecting her to stiffen and pull away. But she didn’t.

Diamond watched his eyes darken with pain. She couldn’t bear the thought of being the one who’d put it there.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Don’t be mad at me, Jesse.” Her voice faded away into a whisper. “Please…don’t be mad.”

“Oh, my God,” Jesse said, and pulled her into his arms. “Mad? I’m not mad, I’m crazy—crazy about you.”

The catch in her breath was all it took. He tossed his hat through the open door behind him, lowered his head, and inhaled her sigh. Their lips met and the magic began.

Soft and supple, her mouth responded to the insistent pressure of his own. She came alive beneath his touch, moving against him and with him as if there were a slow but steady magnetic pull between them. He took a step forward, pressing her between his body and the porch post, and then groaned when she moved, letting him slide one leg between hers.

The moan that slipped up her throat and into his mouth sent a line of sweat beading across his forehead. He thrust his leg forward and rocked it gently against her body, then turned loose of her and reached for the porch post for support when her hands dropped down to caress the bulge behind his zipper.

“Easy…”

It was the only warning she was going to get. If Diamond wanted this to stop, she would have to be the one to stop it.

She heard the hesitation in his voice and recognized it for what it was. What happened next was entirely up to her. She made her choice.

“I missed you,” she said softly, and began to unsnap his shirt, baring his chest to her touch.

Jesse’s eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. It was all he could manage as her fingers feathered across his belly.

“You sure you want to do this, lady? In about one more heartbeat, what control I have left will be gone.”

She answered by pulling his shirt from the waistband of his jeans.

Jesse wrapped his arms around her, tilted her face to his, and swooped, taking what he wanted of this woman’s offering. What he wanted was everything. Jesse got what he wanted.

Diamond felt the ground disappear beneath her feet as Jesse lifted her into his arms and carried her inside the house. He kicked the door shut behind him and walked blindly toward the staircase, using instinct to guide him as her hands locked around his neck and her gaze focused entirely on the shape of his mouth.

“I’m going to make love to you,” he said.

“I know.”

“Is there anything you want to tell me before I completely lose my mind?” His question was no more than a low, husky growl as he looked down at the beauty in his arms.

“Just hurry,” she said.

And he did.

A path of their discarded clothing began at the head of the stairs, trailing down the long hallway past her bedroom and through the open door of his own. There was nothing left to remove but their pants and boots by the time he shut his door and tossed her onto the bed.

Diamond’s heart was racing, and her limbs were heavy from the wanting. She couldn’t move other than to follow him with her gaze as she lay helpless on his bed, waiting. She’d never wanted anyone or anything this much in her life. She’d never allowed herself to care this much for a man. The feeling frightened her. If this was a mistake, she was about to make it. Stopping now was as impossible for her as it would have been for him.

And then he stood naked before her, unashamed of his need as he approached her.

“I don’t use any…I don’t take—”

“I’ll protect you,” Jesse said, and reached for the drawer of his bedside table to fulfill his promise.

She tried to speak as he knelt above her on the bed and began removing first one of her boots and then the other. And then her body arched beneath his hands as he stripped her of her Levis, leaving nothing between them but a narrow strip of thin white nylon. Then that, too, disappeared.

Breathing became difficult, and his hands shook as he bared her body for his touch. Then he blinked back tears as her eyes closed and she smiled. This woman was made for loving.

His eyes were dark, his movements slow and steady as he lowered himself onto her and then gently into her. She sighed and moved, wrapping her arms around his neck as his whisper feathered across her breasts.