With an uncomfortable shrug of his shoulders he pushed open his door and walked around the truck to open hers and help her out.
Giving him her hand, Sallie felt the warmth of his grip, the strength in it. He wasn’t like any other man she’d ever known. Hell, most of the men working on his and the Culpeppers’ ranches were former military come to think about it, and the Culpeppers shared Jacob’s arrogance and sense of responsibility.
They’d come together to protect Deer Haven and the surrounding towns, because it was their home, because they had the ability when others didn’t.
A modern-day warrior, Sallie thought, her heart racing, filling with him as he walked next to her, protecting her as he rushed her through the loading entrance and into the supply store.
Jacob could feel that odd premonition of approaching danger, the watchfulness, all his senses heightened. He covered Sallie’s back, keeping himself between her and any danger that could be incoming, be it a bullet or a body.
Nothing could happen to her. Not now, not after he’d found her.
With one hand at the small of her back, his gaze moving constantly over the area, he hurried her into the store and up to her office. He wanted her to get what she had to do over with and to get her home to his ranch as quickly as possible. Only there could he be completely certain of her safety.
As they stepped into the outer office, Tara came out of her chair, an expression of relief racing over her face.
“Thank God you’re here,” she exclaimed as Jacob rushed Sallie across the room to the office door as Tara rushed behind them. “This place is going crazy, Sallie.”
“I know, Tara,” Sallie answered her as Jacob pushed open the office door and quickly checked the room before allowing her in.
He stood aside as she walked quickly to her desk as Tara headed to the coffee maker in the corner of the room.
“Davison is refusing to order extra supplies despite the fact that the numbers are severely low. Mr. Dillerman has already called twice today for you, and he’s not happy at all for some reason. Every department head is going crazy and yelling at me because you’re not here to hold their hands, wipe their noses, and tell them what good little assholes they are.” She finished with a roll of her eyes and a lethal dose of sarcasm.
His cousin normally didn’t get agitated easily.
Sallie was obviously smothering her laughter at Tara’s agitation.
“Make the calls,” she told her assistant. “Get the department heads up here in an hour and I’ll address their problems. While you do that, I’ll call Dillerman. I’ll take care of Davison during the meeting with the others. It may be time to let him go and advance his assistant, Jim Allen.”
Jacob knew both Roy Davison and Jim Allen. Davison had been given the position by Dillerman several years before Sallie took over the store. He was a superior ass who thought he should have had her position. Allen had been Sallie’s choice as assistant just after she arrived, and she couldn’t have made a better pick. The problem was, Jim Allen had no opportunity to do more than learn the ropes under Davison.
“I was talking to Rancor the other evening when I saw him in town.” Tara took a seat in the chair next to Sallie’s desk and crossed her legs as she leaned forward, resting her arms on her thighs. “Justice hesitates from moving his accounts from Prader’s because of Davison, Sallie. I’ve heard several other ranchers are having the same reservations. Before you came in, we were always refunding accounts, making excuses, and dealing with irate customers because of him. He should have been replaced immediately.”
“I promised Stanley Dillerman I’d wait the three years before replacing department heads.” Sallie shook her head. “They were expecting a chance at the managerial position and it was jerked from them. That time is up now, so replacing him with Jim won’t be a problem. I want to hear what he has to say first, though.”
“You’re being far more diplomatic than I would have been.” Tara snorted. “That man is nothing but a bully with everyone but you and me.” She flashed Jacob a smile as he propped himself next to the door, his coffee in hand. “He’s too scared of my cousin to try to push me around.”
Jacob lifted his coffee cup in a toast to her as a smile quirked his lips. Lily, Shay, and Tara were the only girls among his cousins; he was protective of them. And he made certain everyone knew just how protective he could be.
Those protective instincts that his father had always lamented were still rioting. He listened as Tara and Sallie discussed each department and Tara gave her opinions easily. Sallie listened to each point, a thoughtful expression on her face as she occasionally made notes on the tablet in front of her.
When they finished, Sallie went over the notes she’d made, typed in several more, then gave Tara the go-ahead to call the department heads together for a meeting within an hour.
Tara gave a quick nod, rose from the chair, and hurried to the door, her gaze flicking warily to Jacob as he reached for the lock on the door at her approach.
“Should I lock the outer door?” she asked softly as he opened it for her.
Jacob gave a subtle nod and after she left the room, closed and relocked the door.
“You don’t have to stand there,” Sallie told him, rising gracefully to her feet and moving to the file cabinet. “The couch is really comfortable.”
She began pulling files, moving among the four drawers until she had what he assumed were the files on each department head. She looked at him again when she returned to her chair, her gaze faintly quizzical.
“I’m not used to sitting around, baby,” he reminded her with a slow, teasing grin. “Now, if you want to suggest something a little more energetic on that couch, we could discuss it.”
He watched the faint flush that colored her face and neck but her expression showed definite interest. A second later she gave a little shake of her head and opened the first file.
“Davison is becoming a problem.” She sighed. “He’s one above normal order away from completely depleting our feed supplies. I had to make an emergency order last night.”
“Good thing,” he agreed. “Grange mentioned putting in our monthly supply order in a few days. And I know Justice intends to go through you when he orders for his own ranch.”
“So both of them warned me by text yesterday evening.” She was distracted now, her attention on the file she was going through. “Everything will be ready when they call. I made certain of it.”
Remaining quiet, Jacob watched her as she worked, faintly surprised at how intent she was. Most people seemed to think she sat back and did little where actually overseeing the large business was concerned. And though Tara had denied the charge, Jacob had often wondered about it. Watching her now, he found himself agreeing with his cousin. The business may not be hers, but she was damned serious about ensuring its success. And very few people who knew her realized that.
She’d hid from the world in more ways than one. Along with hiding from the danger that followed her, other than a few friends, she hid from everyone else as well. She preferred loneliness to the fear that friends could be hurt if they tried to protect her …
At that thought, a memory, insidious and at first blurred, slipped into his head. One minute, his memories were still blank where that warehouse meeting was concerned, then suddenly, parts of it were there.