Texas Miracle. Gwen Ford Faulkenberry

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СКАЧАТЬ 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 hoped he wasn’t crossing an invisible employer-employee line. As Ella had been more his mother’s age, this was new territory for him. “No pressure, of course.”

      “I’d love to.”

      “Do you need to go home first, or want to go from here?”

      “We can go from here. That’s fine.”

      After they closed down the office and Mac locked the door behind them, they walked together to his truck. He held the passenger door for her as she climbed up, no small feat in her high heels. Then he settled into the driver’s seat.

      “What do you like to eat? I’m afraid we don’t have the greatest selection in Kilgore.”

      Jacqueline smiled. “What I’m really in the mood for is Indian food. I don’t suppose a great Indian joint popped up since I left?”

      “Actually...”

      “No way! In Kilgore?”

      Mac laughed. “Not in Kilgore. But I’ve heard about one in Tyler. My sister-in-law Gillian swears by it, and she lives with a five-star chef, so I imagine it’s pretty good. But I’ve never been there. Wouldn’t even know what to order.”

      “You don’t like Indian food?”

      “I’ve never tried it. I’m more of a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy.”

      Jacqueline looked at him as if he had grown horns. “Do you mean to tell me you have never tasted Indian food? In your whole life?”

      “Obviously, I am not cultured. In the least.”

      “Do you have any interest in trying it?”

      “I’m not opposed, especially since you are in the mood for it. I’d like to take you there.”

      Jacqueline’s eyes warmed. “Let’s go, then! It is high time you experienced chicken tikka masala.”

      “Chicken what?”

      “Chicken tikka masala. It’s my favorite Indian dish. It’s spicy, aromatic, delicious.”

      “Sounds scary.”

      “You’ll love it.”

      Mac called Gillian on his cell phone to get the name of the place, which was R and R Curry. She warned him it was a hole in the wall, and when he drove up to it after following her directions, he saw she wasn’t kidding. It was in the back of a gas station. “This is a little embarrassing,” he said to Jacqueline.

      “Why?”

      “Because.” Mac searched for the words. Because you look like a movie star and I’m taking you to a gas station for dinner? “I had no intentions of taking you to a dive for dinner.”

      “Are you kidding? This is my favorite kind of restaurant.” Jacqueline practically bounced in her seat.

      She wasn’t kidding. She was excited. In fact, this was the most animated he had seen her since she’d mimicked The Godfather СКАЧАТЬ