by Helen Conrad
“What are you talking about?” she asked.
“Well, you see—“ He hesitated and seemed to be searching for the right words. At the same time he hitched up his towel, reminding her of just how bizarre this tete-a-tete was. “You see, I’m talking about you making restitution and about me getting something I need. That’s a fair exchange, don’t you think?”
Janet felt as though she must have fallen down a rabbit hole into an Alice in Wonderland world. The assumptions were all wrong. So was the atmosphere. This man was planning to involve her in something she wasn’t going to feel comfortable doing; she knew that without having to be told any details. The fact that he was devilishly handsome—not to mention practically naked—only added to her uneasiness.
She’d always led a quiet life, first with her father, until his death, now with Alexander along with Baxter and Howie, the latter two former students of her father, who helped her put out the Filicineae Digest, a quarterly magazine which concerned itself exclusively with aspects of the world of ferns. It had been her father’s project, and now it was hers.
Her father had been a world-famous botanist, specializing in ferns. She’d grown up thinking ferns were the most important things in the world, and even after she was old enough to realize there were a few other things of interest out there, ferns took center stage. One of her earliest memories included being hauled up a cliff in a basket, and then dropped, bouncing back down from rock to rock, when her father found a new variety of spleenwort and forgot all about her.
That sort of zaniness she understood, but it was an introverted, quiet brand. This Jessup person wasn’t like that. He was large and strong and assured. She wasn’t used to that. She felt like a mimosa, tender and shy, and she wished she could fold up her leaves and disappear whenever he looked at her with that penetrating stare.
But the last thing she was about to do was let him know it.
“I don’t want to be your wife,” she said, forcing herself to meet his gaze and flash some defiance back at him. “No deal.”
He seemed surprised that she would turn down such a lovely plan. “Why not? Are you already married?”
“No. But . . .”
“What kind of job do you have?” he demanded, then laughed before she could answer. His humor seemed to have improved remarkably since he’d had the idea of making her his temporary wife.
She blinked, feeling weirdly out of touch with reality, and then he moved too close again, forcing her to back up against the glass door.
“Oh that’s right. I forgot. You’re studying to be a full-time burglar, aren’t you? That must take up all of your time these days.”
He was teasing her. No one had done that since her father died. And though she knew she should keep up a stiff front, the teasing caught her off guard. She swallowed and bit her lip.
“I am not a burglar,” she said defensively. “I have a regular job.”
“Is it something you can take a week off from?” he asked.
“Well . . .” She held his gaze reluctantly. “The hours are very flexible,” she said quickly. “I work out of my home, so . . .”
“Wonderful,” he said, as though that solved everything. “We can begin right away.”
Her mouth dropped. What had happened? Had she agreed to his scheme without noticing she was doing it?
“We’ll do no such thing,” she insisted. “I can’t pretend to be your wife. Who am I pretending to?”
“Mavis Jessup. My . . . my aunt.” He coughed as though the words had come out wrong, then glanced up at her again. “The woman who owns this house. You see, I’m just visiting here. I live in South America. My wife and I came to see my aunt, who is not entirely well—only my wife never got here. I’m only staying for a few days and I want to make sure my aunt is comfortable in every way while I’m here. Keeping her content included getting her a cat to replace the one she’d lost. And it includes having my wife here with me.”
Janet frowned. “Where is your real wife?”
“Vanessa Jessup, the love of my life, was supposed to arrive two days ago. She’s been unavoidably detained, and Aunt Mavis expects to see her at breakfast.”
So he really was married. Why did that spark a feeling of disappointment in her chest? She should feel grateful someone had him tied up. A man like that, running around loose . . . She fought off the regret and shrugged.
She looked at him again and for just a moment, she thought there was something slightly familiar about him. But that couldn’t be. She’d never known anyone named Jessup. And he’d said he was from out of town, hadn’t he?
“Did you come from Destiny Bay originally?” she asked curiously.
He gave her a long-suffering look. “The Jessups have never lived in this area,” he told her. “We’re strangers here.”
“And your wife has lost her way.”
“So it seems.”
She frowned. “Why can’t you just tell your Aunt Mavis that your wife was delayed?”
“Impossible.” He began to pace, rubbing a hand roughly through his thick hair, and she bit her lip, praying his towel would hold. “Everything must go according to expectations. No curves to make her . . . uncomfortable.”
She shook her head, still confused. “Why?”
He stopped in front of her, looked at her speculatively for a moment, then smiled.
It was the smile that got to her. Wide and engaging, it wiped away the physical threat she’d felt before. There was warmth in his dark eyes, a deep, compelling, male warmth that made her feel as though liquid gold had been poured into her soul. She felt limp, suddenly numb.
“I have reasons of my own, Janet Cardona,” he was saying. “They will become clear to you eventually.”
Now that the threatening persona had receded, she could see that he was charming and appealing and used to getting his own way. He’d certainly struck a chord in her with very little effort.
But that was what she disliked most about him. She’d met up with slick operators before. Her father’s position and power over academic careers guaranteed that she would be singled out by ambitious young men and women who thought being friends with her might give them an edge. After getting her feelings hurt a number of times, she grew more careful. But there had been a few who had made her believe they really cared for her and once she’d found out the truth, she’d been left with a real distrust of liars and those who seemed too good to be true. That was what this man seemed to be to her. Determinedly, she suppressed the impulse to smile back at him. Instead, she shook her head slowly.
“I won’t do it.”
He didn’t seem at all surprised. “Yes, you will,” he said cheerfully. “You’ll either do it, or I’ll call the police and have you arrested.”
She sighed. “All I did was come looking for my cat. Why don’t you just let me go home? Tell Aunt Mavis the truth and . . .”
“Sorry. I need you here. You’ve got to stay.” His hands went to his towel. “Let’s discuss it over a midnight snack.”
She started to protest, but the towel was coming off, right before her eyes, and she whirled away from him, scrunching her eyes closed and gasping.
His soft chuckle pricked her from behind. “Come on, Janet Cardona,” he goaded. “Vanessa would never be so shy. After all, the human body is merely the vessel of the soul.” His voice hardened. “Besides, I’m sure you saw everything there is to see from behind those drapes before I realized you were here.”
He had her there, and she hated the fact that she showed her discomfort so dramatically. Cursing the warmth that flooded her cheeks, she turned back, eyes wide open, chin high. And found him modestly wrapped in a thick, burgundy robe, just tying the sash securely about his waist.
She refused to comment in the face of his grin.
“How did you know I was hiding behind the drapes?” she asked instead, as much to change the subject as for curiosity’s sake.
“Once the moon came up, its light outlined you quite nice
ly,” he replied. “I spent quite some time debating what to do about you before I asked you to join me.”
Why, oh, why hadn’t she made a run for it then? She grimaced. “Let me go,” she urged one last time.
“No,” he replied. “You’re far too valuable to me now. Come on.” He took her hand and began to pull her toward the inner doorway. She tried to pull back, but he was much too strong to resist.
“Where are you taking me?”
“To the kitchen. All this talking makes me hungry.”
The hallway was dark and he was moving much too fast, pulling her along with him.
“Matt!” she cried out, unconsciously using his name.
“Shh. You’ll wake Aunt Mavis.”
She didn’t want to do that. So she followed where he led her, and at last they reached the first floor, and then entered the kitchen. Matt switched on the overhead light and the first thing she noticed was that his robe was opening.
“Fix your robe,” she said, averting her gaze.
“Vanessa, Vanessa,” he murmured, grinning. “How you’ve changed from the passionate woman of my dreams.”
“I’m not Vanessa,” she hissed.
He worked at the sash absently with one hand, while he pulled her toward the kitchen table with the other.
“Sit,” he ordered, and she sat. “What would you like to eat?”
“I’m not hungry,” she said, though a sudden rumbling in her stomach reminded her that she hadn’t eaten a thing since breakfast, having been much too busy keeping an eye on the Jessup house to stop for food.
“I’ll give you half of my sandwich,” he offered, turning to the refrigerator and pulling out vast quantities of food and placing each item on the counter near the cutting board.
“Just let me go,” she said in a bleak little voice.
He glanced at her, then away. “I’m sorry, Janet,” he said quietly. “I can’t do that. I really need you.”
He swung the refrigerator door closed and began to pile meat and cheese and lettuce and tomato slices on the bread he’d spread out on the cutting board. “I think you’ll like it here,” he went on. “The amenities are superb. During the day you’ll be served by a cook and two maids. There’s also a nurse who comes daily to care for Aunt Mavis.” He placed a sandwich on a china plate and put it in front of her. “Think of it as a vacation.” He sat down across the table from her with his own plate. “I guarantee you’ll have a good time.”
Before she had a chance to answer, there was a whirring sound and they both jumped, turning toward the kitchen doorway. In through the opening came a lady in a wheelchair. If it had been closer to Christmas, Janet might have thought they were being hailed by Mrs. Claus. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes glowed with a vague, slightly muddled goodwill.
“Vanessa!” she cried as she neared them. “It is you, isn’t it? I’m so glad you’ve come! Matt was so worried.”
Janet rose involuntarily from her chair. She wanted nothing so much as to run from the room and never see either of these two people again. The elderly woman was smiling so merrily. It was obvious she’d never met the real Vanessa before, and that she assumed Janet was Matt’s wife.
All Janet had to say was, “I’m sorry, I’m not Vanessa,” and it would all be over. That was all that she had to do.
“I’m just so glad to meet you at last,” the woman babbled on, hands fluttering. “I’ve been looking forward to this for so long.”
Matt watched Janet, his dark eyes calmly masking the turmoil beneath. This wasn’t working out as he’d planned. Aunt Mavis was a sound sleeper. He hadn’t expected her to come out and join them. Janet hadn’t committed herself yet. She needed more prodding, more coaxing. He wasn’t really sure just what she would do. If she told the truth, his whole operation would blow sky high. Silently, he cursed himself for bad timing as he watched Janet, waiting to see which way she would move.
Her green eyes went from Matt to Mavis and then back to Matt again. He could see the indecision clouding them. She needed something to push her onto his side, something quick and clear. Without thinking, he reached out and touched her cheek, touched it softly, a feather-tickling caress, his finger just sweeping down across the rounded softness of her face and lingering.
Her eyes widened and she couldn’t seem to look away from his gaze.
“Vanessa,” he whispered, still touching her cheek.
She swallowed and licked her lips. He pulled his hand away and watched as she smiled stiffly at the older woman. “I . . . I’ve been looking forward to meeting you too, Aunt . . . Aunt Mavis,” she stammered out.
Matt sat back into his chair, grinning his relief. Janet Cardona was a sport after all. He looked down at the hand that had touched her. Funny, his fingers seemed to tingle. He brought them up on the table and wrapped them around his sandwich to keep them busy.
She’s a sport, he mused to himself, with dangerously seductive skin.
But “Vanessa” was still talking to Mavis.
“How was the flight from South America?” Mavis was asking.
“Oh . . .” Janet looked helplessly at Matt. “It was just . . . just ...”
“Delayed by the revolution,” he inserted calmly.
She blinked at him. “What?”
“The revolution. Your flight was delayed. That’s why you’re two days late.”
“Oh.”
Aunt Mavis shook her head, her gaze slightly distracted. “There’s so much of that these days. Funny though. I didn’t see anything in the news about it.”
“Well, no,” Matt said calmly, “it was just a little revolution. And it failed. Didn’t get much air play.”
“Of course.” Mavis nodded wisely. “You have to do something really spectacular to get noticed nowadays, since there’ve been so many of them.” She smiled at Janet. “But what an ordeal for you, my dear. I’m so glad you’ve come through it unscathed.”
“Yes,” Janet answered weakly, “me too.”
Mavis patted her hand. “I’m just glad you finally made it. You know, you’re just as lovely as Matt said you were.”
“Am I?”
She looked at Matt and met his smile with wide eyes.
“Th-thank you.”
Janet felt a little dizzy. What on earth had she let herself in for? She could hardly believe she’d done it. And now that she’d thrown herself into this river of deceit, could she keep up with the current? She wasn’t so sure.
But Mavis didn’t seem to notice her hesitant manner. She went on as though she accepted everything she saw and heard as being perfectly normal. “I’m so sorry the children aren’t with you,” she said warmly. “Tell me all about them.”
“The children?” Janet turned and gazed blankly at Matt. It was beginning to dawn on her just how unprepared for this little game she was.
“The children, darling,” he said with a grin that looked much too relaxed to her. “We have two of them, remember?”
He turned to Mavis. “You’re going to have to forgive Vanessa. She’s like this all the time when she travels.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin and glanced sideways at Janet. “Even under the best of circumstances she’s a little scatterbrained.” His grin was wide and forgiving. “But we love her for it.”
Janet’s mouth was open. She was going to kill him for that one!
The flicker of devilment in his eyes said he knew how his patronizing was infuriating her, but that didn’t stop him. He shook his head with mock melancholy as he gazed at her.
“Look at her. After she travels, she goes into some sort of a time warp. She can hardly remember her name ...”
“I can remember yours,” she said sweetly, pretending to smile, but glaring at him from beneath lowered lashes. “’Mud,’ wasn’t it?”
Matt and Mavis both laughed as though she were only responding in kind to his teasing, but when Matt reached for her hand, she pulled it away.
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re here.” Mavis beamed. “Matt h
as been as jumpy as a cat without you, dear. He kept telling me that the revolution was nothing to worry about, just one local faction bamboozling another. But I could tell he was worried. Now that you’ve arrived, I’m sure he’ll be able to settle down and enjoy Destiny Bay as I want him to.”
She reached out and took both their hands in her frail, blue-veined ones. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me to have you both here. After that terrible fight with my sister and her husband so many years ago, I thought I’d never have any contact with your side of the family again. They took off for South America when you were only a baby, Matt, and I didn’t hear another word until the day you called me from Los Angeles and asked if you could visit.”
She squeezed their hands tightly and it seemed to Janet tears glistened in her eyes.
“My sister and her husband are gone now. It’s too late to make amends with them. But at least I have you. I’m just so happy,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion. “So happy.”
Even Matt seemed chastened by her emotional speech. Janet glanced at him, feeling awful about her part in this hoax. They were tricking this dear old lady. What on earth was Matt up to, anyway?
For the next few moments, they walked with Mavis as she slowly wheeled herself to the elevator to take herself back up to her room on another floor. When she was safely inside the elevator, Janet and Matt said good night and started toward the stairs to go back up, Janet’s mind was working feverishly, trying to make sense out of what she’d fallen into.
Matt obviously took it for granted that she was going to stay. He was quite certain of it. He was also right. She was going to stick around. But not for the reasons he thought.
His threats to call in the law didn’t really scare her. She knew he had enough on her to get her into a fair amount of trouble, but she also knew it wouldn’t put her in jail. She could probably talk her way out of it if she put her mind to it.
No, there was a better reason to stay where she was. She still wanted Alexander, of whom she’d seen neither hide nor hair. And now that Matt knew it, it would be very difficult for her to get back into this house once she’d left. On the other hand, if she stayed, she could bide her time, wait until Alexander was within her grasp, and then leave at the first opportunity, cat in hand.
