Secret Love by Brenda Jackson Page B

Jake thought. It was pretty close to midnight, and he was just returning Diamond back to the cabin. It should not have surprised him when she had served each man a piece of pie herself, even ordering him and Blaylock to sit down and be served.
    No joke, the pie had been delicious, but he doubted many of the men remembered much about the taste of it. They had sat in awe, totally dazed, that movie actress Diamond Swain was there in the same roomwith them, and of all things she had cooked pies for them. After making sure all the men had been served, she had sat down and eaten a piece with all of them, joking with them about the cookies she had baked and her fight with the flour.
    Jake had forced all the men back to work. But not before Diamond had thanked each and every one of them for keeping her secret about being at Whispering Pines. Jake had shaken his head at the look of adoration in their eyes, and knew that no matter what, her secret was safe. He doubted that after today, any of them would betray her trust.
    Jake couldn’t help but remember how Blaylock had invited her to stay for dinner and how quickly she had accepted, pleasing the older man immensely. Knowing that like his men he had work to do, he had left her with Blaylock. When he had returned hours later for dinner, he had found that she had made herself comfortable in his study and had curled up in a chair asleep with a book in her hand. Her sleeping form curled in the overstuffed chair next to his desk had taken his breath away. He couldn’t help but stand there in the doorway and look at her. He had heard the sound of a dog barking in the background and the whining sound of the engine from the milking machine out back in the storage house. But Diamond had slept through it all.
    “Don’t wake her, boy. Let her sleep,” Blaylock had said to him over his shoulder. He had nodded, then turned and left the room to go upstairs to take a shower. By the time he had come back downstairs an hour or so later, he knew she had awakened when he had heard voices coming from the kitchen. He had stopped short when he walked into the kitchen and had seen twelveextra faces crowded at his dinner table. He had frowned. They were men who usually ate elsewhere in the afternoons. Other than the few who had permanent residences on Whispering Pines, he couldn’t recall any of the others ever joining him for dinner before. He wasn’t stupid. He knew why they were there.
    “Is there any reason the masses of you aren’t giving your business to Pearl’s Diner tonight?” he had asked them.
    The men, he had noted, had the decency to blush. However, it was his foreman, Percy Davis, who had laughed before audaciously saying, “Jake, didn’t you know that we enjoy being around you so much, it’s just natural for us to be eager for your company.”
    “Yeah, right,” he had snorted before taking a place at the head of the table. Blaylock had seated Diamond at the other end, facing him. It was a spot that should have been reserved for the lady of the house. Since there was not one, that seat had normally remained vacant during meals. It had seemed strange to see someone sitting there, especially since that someone had been Diamond.
    “Do you really think the men enjoyed the pies?”
    Diamond’s question intruded on Jake’s thoughts, and brought him back to the present, reminding him they were now back at the cabin. “Sure they did, couldn’t you tell?”
    Diamond smiled. “Yeah, I guess so. What about you, Jacob. Did you enjoy it?”
    They had reached the door and stood facing each other. Diamond looked up at him for an instant, and a part of her wished she hadn’t. His eyes held hers, and she couldn’t do anything but stare back at him. Shetook in a quick perusal of his features under the moonlight. His handsomeness dazed her.
    Blinking, she forced herself to turn her gaze away from his. Her cheeks flushed with sudden heat when she felt the pit of her stomach go hot. “Did