Cullen forked a bite of the sixteen-ounce T-bone the server had set down in front of him moments before. It was Thursday night, and the Brotherhood, as the four Temples affectionately called themselves, was in session for its monthly meeting at the Wild Horse Saloon. Even Hunt, who was a five-star chef, admitted the honky-tonk joint’s steaks were hard to beat.
“She’s nice. Smart.” Mac adjusted his glasses. “Very good with numbers.” He was suddenly very interested in studying the intricacies of his loaded baked potato.
“I think what Mac is trying to say is that she’s smoking hot!” Hunt clapped Mac on the back, rattling the table.
“Really?” Joiner piped up. “Jacqueline Aimes? The bookworm? Are we talking about the same girl I knew in high school?”
Mac took a deep breath. “That’s the one. But as Hunt has so eloquently stated, she’s not exactly the same girl we all remember.” He blushed in spite of his best efforts to appear cool.
The brothers hooted and hollered as if they were back in high school themselves. Or maybe junior high.
Mac shook his head. “You guys are so mature.”
“Spill the beans!” Joiner insisted. “I’ve been meaning to pop by and say hello ever since you told me you hired her.”
“When you go, don’t forget you’re a married man,” Hunt cautioned. “I’m just sayin’.”
“Like anyone could turn Joiner’s head away from Stella!” Cullen laughed.
Hunt turned to his twin, rolling his eyes. “Like I think anyone else holds a candle to Gillian.”
“Sarah does.” Cullen smiled at the thought of his wife.
Mac sighed. “Will you guys shut up? You all have gorgeous wives. And I have a gorgeous assistant, which is a totally unrelated matter.”
“Unrelated for the meantime, maybe.” Joiner ribbed his older brother. “Seriously, though, tell us about her.”
“She’s had an interesting life since she left Kilgore. She went to college in Arkansas.”
“Arkansas?” The three brothers groaned in unison.
“Yeah,” Mac said. “But she’s not a Razorback. She won a great scholarship to one of the smaller state schools. Sounds like she had an amazing experience. She was really involved in their honors program.”
“That sounds like her,” Joiner said. “That girl is a brainiac.”
Mac nodded. “She had a chance to study abroad while she was there and then hooked up with KARIS, a group that helps children around the globe.”
Cullen whistled. “Impressive.”
“Yes, I think it was, or is.”
“What do you mean, is?” Hunt asked.
“Well, she worked her way up to a pretty high-profile position. Was the director of communications for the Middle East. She was working out of their office in Afghanistan until just recently, when they had to evacuate.” Mac took a sip of iced tea. “She’s still working for them online a bit, but I guess time will tell whether she’ll go back full-time.” He didn’t dare add that he hoped time would answer “no” to that option.
Joiner asked, “How’d she end up coming here?”
“She’s trying to sell her parents’ property for them, that acreage where they lived. Apparently, they are in some kind of financial difficulty.”
“That land is nothing special, if I remember it right,” Joiner said. “Too bad there’s not oil underneath it or something. That’s about the only way I can see anybody would want to buy it. Course then, they wouldn’t want to sell it, would they?”
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING when Mac arrived at the office, Jacqueline was already waiting for him in the parking lot. She got out of her car when she saw him, and they walked to the front door together, her gray suede high heels clacking on the pavement. Ever since the day he told her it was okay to wear jeans, it seemed she’d gone completely the other direction in her attire, and today was no exception. Embroidered black flowers traced their way from her shoulders to the front of her diaphanous gray dotted nylon mesh dress, layered over a black slip. The dress tapered at the waist before flowing into a raw-edged, trumpet-shaped, high-low hem. A short black jacket and fog-gray tights kept her warm, he assumed.
“I like your dress.”
Jacqueline smiled. “Thanks. It’s one of my favorites. I brought my old wardrobe with me when I moved here.” She tugged at the bottom of her jacket. “It’s kind of nice rediscovering all the things I had no use for in Afghanistan.”
It’s kind of nice for me, too. He enjoyed seeing her expressions of personal style each day, even looked forward to it. He’d never admit it, but in this, as well as a myriad of other ways, he was finding it harder and harder to keep his feelings toward her strictly professional.
Jacqueline stirred something in him that had long been buried. Her combination of smarts, compassion and exotic beauty were irresistible. It scared him and thrilled him at the same time. Maybe he should ask her out for dinner sometime, he mused. He’d not been on a date in ages, and she was so alluring. Mac would like to get to know her better outside of a work setting. But maybe he shouldn’t. He didn’t want to risk a good working relationship. And maybe there was more at stake than that. He didn’t know if he was ready to risk his heart.
“I guess I may need to get you your own key to the kingdom,” Mac joked, bringing himself back to the moment.
She smiled. “I’m a little early.”
As he held the door for her, he said, “Ella spoiled me. She was always early, had the coffee on by the time I got here.”
“You really miss her, don’t you?” Jacqueline strode directly to the coffeemaker and began their morning ritual.
“I do miss her. She’s my friend.” Mac paused at the front desk. “But you’re doing great. I’m really glad you’re here.” He thought he noticed the color heighten in her cheeks.
“I’m glad you’re letting me do more around here than I was at first. I need to do more than make coffee and answer the phone, for what you’re paying me.”
“Well, I’m not used to my assistant understanding the tax code as well as I do, but it’s a nice change. I could get used to it.”
Jacqueline snorted. “I’ve got a long way to go to understand it as well as you. But I’m glad I can help a little.”
Mac rapped his hands on the desk, unsure of what else to say.
She smiled at him. “I’ll bring your coffee in a minute.”
“Okay.”
They worked methodically through the hours. Jacqueline suggested a system by which she viewed the tax packets people brought in first, cleaned them up and arranged them for Mac according to difficulty. He found that she filtered a lot of things he usually had to do himself. The work went smoothly and by the end of the day they’d accomplished a lot together—more than Mac thought possible. He felt oddly relieved of some of the pressure and responsibility he always felt.
“Jacqueline?” He buzzed her desk phone at quitting time.
“Yes?”
“Can I buy you dinner?”
She hesitated. “I can buy my own. I’m well paid.”
“I’d like to treat you,” Mac said. “I mean, unless you have other plans. You’ve been a tremendous help to me today.”
“Well, I don’t have other plans...”
He could almost hear the wheels turning in her brain and he wondered what she was thinking. He