“I’m serious,” she warned him.
“Yourbossmust know you well if he knows you always get a to-go box,” Marvin said.
Shaking her head at both of them, she went to her favorite table and watched Nathan finish placing his order then pull out enough cash to pay the bill.She unzipped her jacket and hung her purse from the chair back while still watching him.He went up a bit in her estimation when she saw him stuff a five-dollar bill in the tip jar.
After putting his wallet back into his pocket, he sought her out with his gaze.
For a wild moment, she wondered what it would be like if they were more than employer and employee.But before the thought could careen across her mind and spin out of control, she shoved it aside and took her seat.
Nathan Donovan was her boss.Nothing more.Not ever.
He sat across from her and dropped her duffel bag at his side.“You know I invited you here for ulterior motives,” he said.
Kelsey frowned.“Something you want to discuss about work?”Maybe the fact she’d left without saying goodnight?
“No.That stays at the office.”
She crossed her legs.“Then?”
“I’m curious about you.”
“Me?”She glanced around, as if he could possibly be talking to anyone else.
“I’ve read your résumé.I know about your job experience, your education, your GPA and the civic organizations you volunteer at.Now I want to know about the blank lines.The stuff you left out, either because you needed to or thought you should.”
She crossed her legs in the opposite direction.His cell phone was out of sight.His watch was blanked out.He was watching her so intently it was as if there were no other person on the planet and he was determined to uncover all her secrets.Some of them were so deep even she didn’t want to excavate them.But she had a sudden and uncomfortable feeling that he knew something about her that she’d prefer he didn’t.“And why would I tell you?”she asked.Then she realized her tone sounded sharp, defensive.
“I’ll go first,” he said conversationally, as if they were friends, or even more than friends.“Earlier you asked about my grandfather, the Colonel.He was really only a captain, but after he married my grandmother, he was placed in charge of one of the divisions of her family’s business.That was their wedding gift from her father.He had to work his ass off to prove himself.And apparently he was gruff.So he earned the nickname.”
“Must run in the family.”
As if she hadn’t spoken, Nathan picked up his story where he’d left off.“My dad was nothing like his father.He was supposed to marry my mother, but he fell in love with a woman named Stormy.”
“After he was married?”
“No.”Nathan shook his head.“He was at the Running Wind, learning about the ranch.She was a riding instructor, if I remember.She’d been hired by the ranch as a wrangler.Once he met her, Dad lost sight of the woman back home.To be fair, they weren’t officially married or engaged.But the families had arranged for it, and he went along with it.He knew her and liked her.And since he hadn’t dated much, she seemed like a logical choice.”
“So it was an arranged marriage.”
“Of sorts.More like an agreed-upon marriage.”
Intrigued, she leaned forward.
“But Stormy got pregnant and ran away.She didn’t want to be part of the Donovan family, and she refused to let them take her son away.Even though my dad went on to marry my mom, I think they both knew he was still attached to Stormy.All that passion versus the responsibility he had back in town and at Donovan Worldwide.He was expected to run it, when his heart was at the ranch.”
“Are your parents still together?”
His eyes seemed to cloud over momentarily.
The glimpse of emotion got to her, softened her, made her understand him a bit better.She wasn’t sure that was a good thing.
“No.”His voice was flat.“My dad died in a car wreck.”
Her heart twisted for him.She resisted the impulse to touch his hand.“That kind of loss is never easy.”
“Rebuilding Donovan Worldwide has taken a lot of time and attention.I never take the responsibility lightly.”
“Is that part of why you’re—?”
