“The kids?”

“Taken care of,” she answered, grimly hanging on to her smile. Did he think she was an idiot? Of course she’d made certain Susan knew to keep Andraya and Kyle locked away in the nursery while they had company in the house. He was almost as bad as Jake. She’d lived with the security for two years, understood it and accepted it, but she didn’t need a babysitter. She was not going to be humiliated by having Joshua follow them from room to room. He could sit in the kitchen and listen for screams if he was as paranoid as Jake. Jake had said in the house, not necessarily in the room.

The scent of fresh-baked bread permeated the house, and after a brief hesitation and quick warning glare at the telecommunications man, Joshua abruptly turned on his heel and headed for the kitchen.

Emma turned her attention to the workman. He was short and stocky, with wavy brown hair and warm, smiling eyes. He looked so familiar Emma found herself frowning, trying to place him. “Do I know you?”

“Sort of.” He followed her down the hall, staring, a little awed at the massive, beautiful rooms they passed. “We’ve bumped into each other in the grocery store, in the produce section. You helped me pick up my apples when I dropped them.”

Emma laughed. “I remember, of course. You enjoy juggling.”

His gaze flickered downward to her left hand, noted the absence of a ring as she waved him into a room. “Quite a house you’ve got here.”

“Thank you.” Emma loved the house, and appreciated anyone who recognized its beauty. “It takes quite a bit of care, but I love working here.”

“I always wanted to see this estate. No one can actually get on the property without an escort. The grounds are incredible and the house even more so.”

“It is a working cattle ranch,” Emma explained.

“Is Mr. Bannaconni here much?”

Emma tossed a small smile over her shoulder, but didn’t answer the query. Her loyalty was solidly with Jake, and as such, she never gave information about him to anyone. The smallest remark could end up in a tabloid, and Jake had enough people hounding him. In truth, he flew often out of the country as well as to the many states where he owned properties, but he always returned home to the ranch.

They passed the long, wide, sweeping staircase and the high ceiling where the bronze leopard sat amid climbing plants. She was pleased at Patterson’s swift intake of breath. “This house is amazing. You must love it here.”

“Yes, I do.” And she took great pride in making certain it was clean. Jake insisted on cleaners coming twice a week, but she managed every day and it made her feel possessive and proud of their home.

She gestured toward the phone in the den. “This is where I notice the noise the most. The other phones have just a tinge, but this one is more pronounced.”

Greg set his equipment down and watched as she perched on the arm of a chair across the room from him. “This may take a while.”

“That’s fine. I expected it to,” she answered, her voice pleasant.

Greg snuck another quick look at her before returning his gaze to the phone cradled in his hand. “Are you and Mr. Bannaconni together? I didn’t notice a ring, but that doesn’t seem to make much of a difference these days.”

Emma stiffened. Was he looking for information for the tabloids? She tried to keep her voice light and casual. “I work here.”

Greg shot her a quick, shy smile. “Well, in that case, there’s a great movie opening at the theater tomorrow night that I was hoping to see. I don’t suppose you’d want to go with me?” He couldn’t make himself look at her when he asked her, rubbing at an imaginary fleck of dirt on the telephone instead.

Emma sucked in her breath. She’d never dated anyone, not really. Not before Andrew. But Jake had just taunted her, made fun of her actually, by telling her she’d never find another man because she didn’t pay attention to men. Jake, Greg seemed young and uncomplicated, even tame. He certainly didn’t stir her sexually, but she needed something, a change, a way to deal with the way Jake made her feel.

“If you don’t mind me meeting you there, and it would have to be the late show,” Emma found herself agreeing. She held her breath, suddenly hoping he would say no.

“Great!” An enthusiastic smile lit his eyes. “Tomorrow night, then.”

Emma’s heart thudded in alarm. What had she done? Jake had hurt her ego, and in a small spurt of defiance she had made a decision she wasn’t really ready for. And it wasn’t fair to Greg. She had no real interest in him. Her decision was really about being afraid of herself, of the aching needs she couldn’t quite get free of. She wasn’t herself lately at all, and her dreams were downright humiliating. Every single one of them was about Jake and things she had no real knowledge of and wasn’t certain she really wanted to learn.

“Greg, I’ll go with you as a friend. Nothing more. If that’s not what you want, then I’ll have to back out. I should have made that clear.” She kept her voice gentle, low, sorry she might be hurting him, angry with herself for getting into such a position because of pride and fear. It wasn’t Greg’s fault that he’d happened along at precisely the moment she would agree.

“I understand. It’s all good,” he said. “I’d like to go with you.”

He sent her another brief grin, one that was strangely reminiscent of Andy’s. Sweet. Not asking for anything. Friendly. Maybe he was just what she needed. Jake’s personality was overwhelming, swamping her, chipping away at her resistance. Everything about Jake tore at her continually. His intense needs. His dark, brooding manner. His pain. His arousal. His orders and flashes of temper. The way he softened when he was with her. The way he lay next to her when he couldn’t sleep and idly played with strands of her hair, sometimes touching her soft skin and sliding his fingers over her warmth as if she belonged to him.