Diamond (5 page)

If he hadn’t turned, he might have caught her. As it was, he only heard the thump when she hit the floor. The sight of her lying sprawled at his feet with her hair spilling across his boots made him sick.

He dropped to his knees, his fingers frantically searching her wrists for a pulse. Fear for a woman he didn’t even know nearly overwhelmed him. Then he leaned back on his bootheels and sighed with relief as he discovered her lifeblood ran strong beneath his fingertips.

Her face was pale and cool. She had thick lashes, several shades darker than the honey-colored hair falling through his palms. Her lower lip trembled and she moaned. Her stomach growled. It was then that he remembered the Lifesavers. It hurt him to think of her hunger when he had so much to share and hadn’t offered.

“Here,” Tommy said quickly as he knelt, “let me help.”

“No!” Jesse said softly. He scooped her up in his arms and stood. For one long moment he stared at her face. “I’ll do it,” he finally said. “I promised.”

Her eyes opened slowly, and with the movement came memory. Jesse grimaced as he watched her expression turn generic. He’d never met a woman who kept everything inside herself as Diamond Houston did. He had no idea how to deal with her, so he waited for her to make the first move.

“I never faint,” she said, and swung her long legs off the edge of the sofa, wincing as another wave of dizziness overwhelmed her.

“So I see,” he said. “I realize we didn’t share any personal information with each other. I hope this is not a sign of things to come—like babies, for instance?”

She flushed angrily. “I’m not pregnant, I’m hungry.”

It was Jesse’s turn to flush. “I’m sorry I gave my cook the week off,” he said. “But when backed against the wall, I can manage a pretty fair omelet. Come with me?” He held out his hand.

She stared at the hand, then up at the man. “Seems to me you’re about as far back as a man can get and still walk, mister,” she said, and then smiled. She reached toward him. Their hands touched and then clasped. Jesse pulled.

Then they were inches apart, staring nearly eye to eye. She inhaled slowly, and Jesse tried not to look at the way her breasts moved beneath her shirt as she breathed. Once again, he felt himself losing touch with reality. What was there about her that fascinated him so? She was prickly as hell and as close to a man-hater as he’d ever seen.

“Well done,” she said.

“What?” He kept losing his place with this woman.

Diamond smiled and walked past him toward the kitchen and the alluring scent of coffee. “I like my eggs well done.”

“Oh.” There was nothing left to say. Jesse followed.

She looked around the area suspiciously, noting that the blood on the floor was missing, as was the man who’d shed it.

“I sent him to Nashville,” Jesse said. “I explained the situation, as I should have done before we ever arrived. The misunderstanding was my fault, the rudeness was his. When you see him again, he will apologize.”

She nodded and poured herself a cup of coffee, inhaling appreciatively before taking the first long sip. “Who is he?”

Jesse grinned. “He’s my manager—and the man who’s going to make you a star.”

She turned and stared at him, the cup halfway to her lips. And then she grinned. Just once, and only from the left corner of her mouth. “Does he know that?” she asked.

“He does now, in spades,” Jesse said. “Now quit worrying about the small stuff. Sit! You’re about to eat food fit for a king.”

“You don’t have to fuss,” she said. “I could do this myself if you’d—”

“No!” Jesse pointed at the table. She took her coffee with her and sat down. “That’s better,” he said. “Now stay where I can see you. It makes a man nervous to cook for a woman whose right hook is better than his.”

Her face was frozen in shock. And then the small smile that had been hovering around her lips erupted into a full-blown laugh.

Jesse had the strangest urge to brush her hair away from her face and kiss her until laughing was the farthest thought from her mind.

His hand shook as he turned away and began digging in a drawer for a spatula. He cracked eggs and diced ham, grated cheese and chopped onions. And tried not to think of how she’d feel lying beneath him as they made love. Over. And over. And over.

Feeding her had been difficult. What to do with her afterward had been impossible. He had phone calls to answer and people to see. But if he tended to business, who would tend to Diamond Houston?

A very unhealthy but obviously possessive streak had begun to assert itself. Jesse realized it for what it was: lust. He pulled himself together. Shuffling through a stack of sheet music in his office, he gathered some that he thought would be of interest to her and headed back to the living room.

It had to be lust, he kept telling himself. Either that or a simple fascination with a woman who sang like an angel. He didn’t believe in love, not at first sight or even forever after. It was a highly overrated emotion that did not fit into his life.

But when he walked into the room and she looked up, he forgot everything he believed in except fate.

“Here,” he said. “Why don’t you look these over? See if there’s anything in here that interests you. Maybe find something you could do for Tommy. If you don’t find anything, don’t worry. I’ve got a man who stays on the lookout for new material for me. All he needs to do is hear you sing, and then he can do the same for you.”

She took the stack of music and dropped it into her lap without giving it a glance.

“What?” he asked. “So now you aren’t interested?” She made him nervous, but he gave nothing away as to how desperately he awaited her answer.

“Oh, I’m interested,” she drawled. “I’m just trying to figure out how much of what you’re doing you already regret, and how much you wish you’d never stopped in Cradle Creek.”

Blood drained from his face. He’d never had so many of his actions questioned in all his life. He placed a hand on either arm of the chair in which she was sitting and leaned forward until he could see his own reflection in those clear, green eyes.

“Don’t even try to second-guess me, lady,” he whispered. “I never regret anything that comes from my heart. I heard you sing. I liked it. I think you have more than a good shot in this business if you’ll quit trying to defend something that isn’t in danger. I won’t hurt you, Diamond. I promised, remember?”

The urge to taste her lower lip was overwhelming. But it trembled once beneath his gaze. He pushed himself away as if he’d just been burned, then stomped from the room in a fit of injured dignity. Something made him stop just outside the hall, and he stood, holding his breath as he listened.

For a few minutes he heard nothing. He closed his eyes and swallowed, almost willing her to move…or curse, or do something to give him an indication of her true feelings. Then he heard the sounds of paper shuffling, knew that she was riffling through the sheet music, and sighed with relief.

“Thank God for small favors,” he muttered softly, and went back to his office.

Diamond looked up from the stack of music and tried not to stare at the man who’d just entered the room. The fat lip she’d given him had gotten fatter since last they’d met. She cocked an eyebrow and waited. It was all the invitation that he was going to get. What he’d called her, with no provocation other than her presence, still rankled.

Tommy wanted to swagger. It was part of his personal intimidation process and usually worked wonders when negotiating deals for clients. He’d spent the better part of his forty-two years perfecting the art. But it was hard to work up the initiative to do so in front of a woman who, hours earlier, had knocked him on his ass. Instead, he shoved his hands into his pockets, pulled himself up to his full height of five feet, nine inches, and leaned against the door frame.

“Miss Houston.”

“Yes?”

“It seems I owe you an apology.”

Diamond dropped the stack of music onto a table and rose. “Seemed like that to me, too,” she said quietly.

Tommy’s toes curled at the ends of his boots. He resisted the urge to duck as she walked toward him. He hated to look up at anyone, especially a woman.

“Sorry.” He shrugged, unwilling to waste anymore time on the subject. “I’m Tommy Thomas, Jesse’s personal manager. He tells me you sing.”

She stopped in midstep, assessing how much of this man’s behavior was bravado and how much was his true personality. If he really was a son of a bitch, she’d already decided to cut her losses and leave. But if he’d only acted out of frustration and anger at Jesse, she could live with that—as long as she didn’t have to live with him.

“Everyone sings, Mr. Thomas,” she answered.

He flushed. His ears were still ringing from the dressing down Jesse had given him. It had never happened before, and he was ready to place blame entirely on this woman who’d entered their lives out of the blue.

“Okay,” he drawled, and grinned, realizing that he’d probably met his match. “He said you had a hell of a voice and that if I had anything between my ears besides a fat lip, I’d listen.”

“Apology accepted,” she said quietly, and held out her hand.

Surprised by the gesture, he shook her hand before he realized it. When she turned and walked back to her music, he didn’t know what to say. Like Jesse, Tommy had come in contact with all kinds of women, many who’d try anything to get in the business, or into the pants of a man already there. But this woman didn’t seem to play by any rules he knew.

“So,” he continued, “Jesse says he promised to make you a star.”

“Those were his words, Mr. Thomas, not mine. I believe at the time he said them, I thought he was trying to steal my money.”

“Steal your money?” He shoved himself away from the door frame and stomped away in search of Jesse. There had to be more to this story than he’d been told, and it was obvious that she wasn’t going to tell him a thing.

“Damned closemouthed woman, anyway,” he muttered. “Jesse! Where the hell are you?”

Her baptism by fire had come and gone with Tommy’s departure. Diamond had gone to bed at the end of the day as weary as if she’d never slept the night before. This war of words was getting her down. Losing Johnny and her sisters in the space of a week was nearly more than she could bear. And she didn’t know how much longer she could evade the issue that she was going to be living beneath the same roof with Jesse Eagle.

He fascinated her. Unlike any man she’d ever known, he seemed to sense when she needed her space. He never overstepped the unspoken boundaries she erected or resented the fact that they were there. And yet she knew to the second when he entered a room. He was full of energy and opinions, positive about the things he knew best—himself and music. And it seemed he was hell-bent on drawing her into his world whether she liked it or not.

Diamond flopped onto her stomach and doubled the pillow beneath her chin. The sheet slipped across her back and then down, coming to a halt just above her waist. Her breasts pressed into her body as she shifted on the mattress, and then her long legs scissored angrily as she struggled to free herself from a tangle of covers. If this was any indication of the rest she was about to get, it was going to be a long night.

Muttering to herself about the futility of trying to fit in where she didn’t belong, she reached out to turn off the bedside lamp. A knock at her door startled her, so that when Jesse asked if he could come in, she told him yes before she thought.

He walked into the room and forgot why he was there. She reached down and pulled up the sheet as she rolled over onto her back. In one smooth motion she’d covered herself.

“The next time I come in, for God’s sake wear a nightgown,” he muttered, trying to suppress the urge that surfaced below his belt.

“I wasn’t expecting company,” she said. “And I don’t own one. Never did, never will. Don’t like restrictions. Never have, never—”

“I get the picture,” he said, and leaned against the wall, trying not to grin.
And you certainly are one,
he thought. He stood and stared, lost in imagination of what her long legs, high breasts, and narrow waist must look like beneath that thin covering of sheet.

“You knocked?” she reminded him.

“Oh!” He shoved himself away from the wall. “Yeah, right. I just wanted to tell you that early tomorrow morning we’ll be driving into Nashville. I have my first rehearsal for the new album. I want you to just sit in and get an idea of how this process works. I won’t pressure you into anything you’re not ready for, okay? Tomorrow you just watch and learn. Later on, when I think you’re ready, I’ll give you a shot at a recording session just to see how you sound on tape.”

Diamond tried to still the shiver of nerves and excitement that threaded through her system. But it was no use. She nodded and pulled the sheet just a tiny bit higher.

Discomfort
was a mild word for what she felt to be stark naked in this bed with a man like Jesse Eagle only feet away. And she was no fool. She could see the want in his eyes. But wanting wasn’t what she needed. Diamond wasn’t like Johnny. She wouldn’t take a chance on anything except herself. If it wasn’t a sure bet, she wanted no part of it. That included men and their infamous ability to mouth empty promises just to get what they wanted.

Jesse watched her shiver and cover herself more completely. He mistook the motion for one of fear. It angered him that in spite of everything he’d said and done, she still didn’t trust him one bit.

“See you in the morning,” he said, and stomped out, slamming the door behind him to make a statement.

He was halfway down the hall when he heard her turn the lock, making a statement of her own.

The air was clear and pure. Many scents were identifiable there on Jesse’s ranch, but none of them spelled coal. For the first time since her adventure had begun, Diamond let herself imagine what life might be like away from the mines and the poverty.

She turned and stared at the panorama of the Tennessee hills, then back at Jesse’s two-story home, admiring the cedar siding and the shake shingles on the steeply pitched roof. The massive rock chimney at the north side of the house blended perfectly with the flagstone walkway that led to the deep porch running the length of the house. To Diamond, it was all too perfect to be believed.