“We weren’t going to do this in the office. Use some self-control,” she teased, trying to make light of the moment and end it.
“Sure. For now,” he replied, heading to his desk. As Zach circled his desk, she noticed that he no longer limped and she was certain he would be able to go back to his normal life very soon and would no longer need her. The thought of telling him goodbye hurt with a pain that ran deep. She had faced the truth that she was in love with him. Hurt was inevitable.
They both were busy and lunch was brief, but he ate with her and she was glad. She wanted to be with him and the clock was ticking. Their time together would end too soon. She wanted more than just dining with him, of course, but each time they made love, her heart was bound more tightly with his.
Zach sat with work in front of him, but he couldn’t keep from continually watching Emma. She was filing, moving around from desk to file cabinet, paying no attention to him. The tight jeans molded her hips and long legs. Her hair was tied behind her head with a ribbon and through lunch he had wanted to reach over and untie it.
He should have told her goodbye when they got back last night and he should have eaten lunch on his own today. He thought about her brother; he had meant it when he had told Connor he didn’t want to hurt Emma. He glanced at his desk calendar. He would go to the doctor tomorrow and he suspected he would be told he had recovered and could return to his usual activities, which meant her job would be over.
If someone had bet him everything he owned that he would go home with a secretary who was a homebody deluxe, he would have lost every cent he owned. All during the ride back in the car, he had longed to lean over the seat to kiss her. When they arrived home, their lovemaking was inevitable. He could not resist.
He thought of what she had said in the car about the way he was with his family. Was his solitary life because he didn’t know how to open up with his brothers or risk his emotions again and get them trampled as he had when he was a child?
He was leaving the ranch and the country as soon as he could. He would probably spend Christmas in Italy. He thought about the fun she would have with her family and couldn’t keep from comparing that with thoughts about him rattling around the house in Italy all alone. The Italian home didn’t hold near the appeal it had a month earlier.
Thoughts of her heated him. He wanted her right now and he wanted her in his bed again tonight. What would it be like to marry Emma and have her in his bed each night? The question shocked him because it was the first time he had contemplated even a thought of marriage with any woman he was friends with. How emotionally entangled was he with Emma? She stirred responses and emotions in him no other woman ever had. But there was no way he could have a permanent relationship with her.
She made her choices and she knew the job would end soon and they would part and not see each other again. There was absolutely no future in seeing her after she returned to Dallas. This wasn’t the woman for him. Except in bed. He couldn’t get enough of her there. Just watching her and thinking about her, he was getting aroused.
Knowing he had to get his mind off her and cool down, he turned to pick up the weekend mail, trying to concentrate on business.
It was almost four when Zach’s phone rang. Emma had closed her computer and it looked as if she were clearing her desk to get ready to go. Zach answered the phone to hear Will.
Zach turned to ice, swearing quietly, causing Emma to look at him. “I’ll be there as fast as I can get there.” He replaced the phone.
“Caroline’s gone,” he said, glancing at Emma as he punched a number on his cell phone while he came around his desk.
“Oh, no. How long ago?” Emma rushed to keep up with him. She hurried beside him. “What happened? What will you do?”
“Go look for her. You can stay or you can come with me.” Zach broke off to talk to his foreman. “Carl, Zach. Caroline’s dog ran off and she went after it. They don’t know where she is. Organize the guys and get them to head over to Will’s ranch to help look for her. I’m going now.” He listened and then ended the call. He grabbed a jacket he kept in the back hallway. He tossed her one of his. “Take this if you’re coming with me.”
She yanked on the heavy jacket, half running to keep up with him.
“Will and Ava are in Dallas. They were going to the symphony,” Zach explained as they hurried toward the eight-car garage. “They’re flying back now.”
“How did Caroline disappear?”
“Muffy got out and Caroline went after her. The nanny, Rosalyn, went after Caroline, but Rosalyn slipped and fell. They think she hit her head on a rock because she lost consciousness briefly. When she regained consciousness, Caroline was gone.” He was tempted to tell Emma to stay at the ranch because he could go faster without her, but they probably would need everyone they could get to help search for Caroline. His insides were a knot thinking about the little girl wandering around on the ranch with night coming.
“Thank heavens the weather is warmer than last week,” Emma said, half running to keep up with his long stride.
“Will already has a chopper in the air and he’s calling Ryan. He’ll notify the county sheriff after he talks to Ryan,” Zach said. He was chilled with fear for Caroline and couldn’t wait to get to Will’s ranch to start searching. Hazards spun in his mind and he tried to not think about them. How long would it take Caroline to get to the highway? From what Will said, she must have been near the house when last seen. He’d think forty minutes to an hour at best before she could possibly reach the highway. He glanced at the sky. It probably would be dark in another two hours.
“Damn, there are some canyons and some woods on Will’s land,” he said. “She’s just so little.”
Climbing into a pickup, with Emma rushing into the passenger seat, Zach headed toward the highway pushing the truck as fast as he dared.
Emma called her mother, relaying the situation. “My family can at least say a few prayers,” she explained to Zach. “How long has Caroline been gone?”
“Not long. The minute she regained consciousness, Rosalyn called Will on her cell, so it was just a brief time. The bad thing was Rosalyn had no idea which direction to go to look for Caroline.”
“Surely she hasn’t gone far from home. Maybe she’ll find her way back soon.”
“She’ll be chasing that little dog,” he said, explaining about how easily Caroline could find her way to the highway. “Little kids can go fast sometimes and they like to run.”
“I think we’ll find her. She hasn’t had time to get far.”
“We’ve got a creek that has a few deep spots. She swims, but it’s cold and I don’t know what she’d do if she panicked. We have rattlesnakes in abundance,” he said, clamping his mouth closed. “At least it’s winter and the snakes won’t be the same problem as in summer,” he said, aware he was thinking out loud. Caroline was too little, her life too sheltered, to have any idea how to take care of herself.
“Hope for the best, Zach,” she said, looking every which way out the windows. “I know she can’t be this far out, but I can’t keep from looking around.”
He gritted his teeth. He couldn’t understand Emma’s hopeful tone as if finding Caroline had become a certainty. There had been only rare moments in his adult life he had felt terrified, but he did now. He never had to this extent.
The car left a cloud of dust in the graveled road as he sped along, sliding on curves, sending plumes of dust into the air. They reached the highway in record time and he was amazed his driving hadn’t scared Emma. Feeling a grim foreboding, Zach pushed the truck to its limit, speeding on the flat road. He gripped the steering