by Helen Conrad
Janet laughed too, feeling a bit uncomfortable. “Well, I haven’t done anything so spectacular.”
Mavis patted her knee. “Just being here is enough. You bring new life to the place.” There was a sparkle in her eyes. “You and Matt just bring me alive again. I feel as though my life has been on hold for much too long. Now I’m back in action. I’ve got something to do with my days. I have to figure out the whole mystery of just what Matt is up to.”
Janet gulped. Could she have really heard Mavis right?
“Wh-what?” she asked.
“Never mind, dear, it’s nothing.” Mavis reached over and patted her knee again. “Nothing at all.” She sat back in her wheelchair. “You and Matt make such a handsome couple, but I do have to tell you, I’ve had my moments. I mean, for a pair who’ve been married all these years, you two still act as though you’re dating, don’t you?”
“Really?” Janet tried to smile but found it rough going. Mavis seemed to be much more perceptive than Matt had given her credit for. “What makes you say that?”
“Why, the way you are with each other. The way he looks at you with those hungry eyes.” Her forehead wrinkled in thought. “But maybe that’s because you were apart for a while, and he missed you. Matt’s obviously a very passionate man.” She smiled. “And you, darling”—she laughed—“why if I didn’t know better, I’d almost think you were virginal.”
Janet blanched but managed a strained chuckle, thanking her lucky stars that Matt wasn’t around to hear Mavis’s views at the moment. She had no doubt he’d have had caustic comments of his own to make.
Mavis chattered on, but Janet barely heard what she was saying. She smiled in the right places, said “Really?” a lot, but her mind was elsewhere, trying to deal with Mavis’s obviously suspicious statements. It wasn’t until she heard the mention of Matt’s name that she came back to reality.
“Do you know that Matt’s mother brought him to the States to go to school when he was sixteen, that she stayed with him even into his college years, and they never so much as called me on the telephone? Hard feelings among family members are the hardest of all. And the Jessups are known for their cold-hearted stubbornness.”
“It ... it must have been quite a surprise to you when you heard from Matt.”
“Yes.” She nodded. “Quite a surprise.”
Janet was reminded of what she’d said a bit earlier, of how the mystery of Matt’s motives was interesting to her. Was that what she’d meant? That she didn’t quite understand why a Jessup would suddenly warm to her? Well, from what Mavis had told her, Janet didn’t understand it either.
“I’m just so glad that you and Matt aren’t continuing the feud.”
“Never.” Suddenly Matt was in the room, his tall body dominating everything. “How could I, now that I’ve gotten to know you?” He bent and kissed Mavis on the top of her head, but his gaze was on Janet. Straightening, he looked her over, his admiration obvious. “Nice,” he said simply.
She could have said the same about him. Still dressed in shorts, his hair was windblown and his eyes alight with excitement. He must have had a good sail. He looked like a man who’d accepted a challenge and won. She could hardly bear to look fully at him; it was like looking directly at the sun.
He and Mavis murmured pleasantries, then he turned to Janet. “I’m going up to change,” he said. “Would you like to come along?”
The invitation in his tone, in his eyes, was clear for all to see. Janet felt blood rushing to her cheeks. “No ... no I don’t think so,” she said awkwardly. “I . . . I’ll stay down here and keep Mavis company until dinner.”
His shoulders rose and fell abruptly. “Suit yourself,” he growled, then turned and left the room.
Janet forced herself to look at Mavis, expecting more teasing about her virginal attitude, but the older woman’s face was completely blank. “Well, dear,” she said comfortably, “since you’re here, why don’t I show you some of my hummingbird research?”
Janet nodded.
Alexander! her mind cried. Where are you?
CHAPTER SIX:
Like Bonnie and Clyde
Dinner was sumptuous and as elegantly served as breakfast had been. Mavis had a single slice of chicken with broth, but Janet and Matt were treated to dilled scallops and wild rice along with a broccoli souffle. As dinner progressed, the light conversation changed in tone, and before Janet knew what was happening, Matt was questioning Mavis closely about her many husbands, so closely, in fact, that he came right to the edge of impertinence and had Janet seething with indignation for Mavis’s feelings.
But Mavis didn’t seem to mind. Instead of taking offense, she outlined her plans to entertain the two of them.
“Now. Tell me,” she said, turning to Janet over coffee, “how do you like it here at our beautiful little beach town?”
Destiny Bay had always been Janet’s home and it felt a little strange pretending it was all new to her. “Oh, it’s lovely . . .”
“Yes, it is, isn’t it? I’m so lucky to be living here, even if I do have to stay indoors most of the time. But I don’t want you and Matt to be tied down. In fact, I’ve arranged a little surprise for you for tomorrow.”
She was beaming so happily, Janet made an attempt at a wan smile in return. If all went well, she surely would be gone by tomorrow. She couldn’t tell Mavis that, but she hated keeping things from her.
“You and Matt are going rafting.”
“Rafting!”
Mavis had hit upon one of the things she liked to do most. In fact, a number of her friends from high school days still worked the rafting concessions up on the river in the summer.
“Yes. Rafting down the Destiny River. It will be ever so much fun.” Mavis lifted a handkerchief to her mouth and patted delicately as she sighed. “I used to go rafting with Herman, my third husband. I don’t suppose I’ll ever be able to do it again.”
Matt put down his spoon and leaned back in his chair, examining Mavis through narrowed eyes. “Are you saying you’ll never be able to walk again?” he asked her bluntly.
Janet turned wide eyes to see the older woman’s reaction.
“I’m afraid that’s what the doctors tell me,” Mavis said sadly.
Matt put his napkin on the table. “Oh, come on,” he said lightly. “I’ll bet under the right circumstances you could do it.”
Janet choked on the last bite of strawberry mousse she’d taken, but Mavis merely smiled.
“What circumstances do you have in mind?” she asked.
“Oh, I don’t know.” He toyed with the coffee cup that looked impossibly delicate in his large hand. “Maybe therapy. Maybe an operation.” His gaze rose and met Mavis’s directly. “Maybe all you need is the proper incentive. Say—that front door opening and the man who could very well be husband number four standing in the doorway.” His eyes were hard and direct, not humorous at all. “I bet you’d get up out of the chair and run into his arms.”
“Matt!” Janet was horrified. She could hardly believe she’d heard him make such an outrageous statement. But once again, Mavis laughed.
“Is that what you think, you young whippersnapper?” she teased affectionately. “Well, why don’t you get hold of the right man and we can test it out?”
Matt’s smile was icy. “I just might do that,” he murmured.
Janet could hardly contain her fury until an hour later when they were alone in the bedroom. That’s when she whirled on Matt and let him have it.
“You have got to be the most vile, despicable, underhanded man I’ve ever known!” she began fiercely.
“Really?” he said, as though he were actually interested in all the vile, despicable men she might have met before. “Your experience is limited, isn’t it?” He began to unknot the tie he’d put on for dinner with Mavis.
“I knew you were low,” Janet sputtered, beginning to pace along the length of the long room. “I knew you were cruel and selfish. But I had no idea how
far you could go.” She spun to face him. “You’re a boor!”
Matt yanked off the tie and dropped it on a chair before he began to unbutton his shirt. “That’s me,” he said cheerfully. “Why fight it?” His shoes were off and halfway to the closet.
But Janet was too furious to notice the progress of Matt’s undressing.
“I cannot believe that anyone would willingly be so hurtful to such a dear old lady!”
“Oh, come on.” Taking off his shirt, he dropped it and began to unbuckle his belt. “It didn’t seem to upset her half as much as it has obviously upset you.”
“You questioned every word that came out of her mouth! You practically accused her . . . !”
“I didn’t accuse her of anything. I was merely setting up hypothetical situations.” The belt landed on the dressing table. “There are questions that sometimes need to be asked, Vanessa. You can’t sit around and play patty-cake all the time.”
“My name is Janet Cardona,” she cried, turning on him. “Get this. Read my lips. Janet Cardona!”
“Maybe so.” The sound of his zipper should have warned her, but she was pacing again. “But you’ll always be Vanessa to me.”
She knew he was teasing her, but she couldn’t help but rise to the bait. “I just don’t get you,” she muttered angrily as she made another lap across the room, her arms waving in the air. “Here we have a dear old lady who is crippled and in a wheelchair and you are so concerned about keeping her happy and at peace that you are willing to steal my cat and force me to pretend to be your wife, and then you attack her at her own dinner table.”
Stopping before him she looked up and then gasped. He was down to his briefs and his thumbs were in the waistband of those, ready to tug them off right in front of her.
“What are you doing?” she cried, covering her eyes with her hands and turning quickly away.
“I’m going in the Jacuzzi,” he replied calmly. “Care to join me?”
“Oh!” She wanted to throw things. “You enjoy embarrassing me, don’t you?”
He grinned. “You got it.”
“I will not sit here while you parade around naked.”
“If you don’t want to see anything you’d better turn off the light.”
Keeping her eyes averted, she felt her way to the switch by the door and snapped it off. She sighed with relief. Only moonlight from the sliding glass door now lit the room. She could still make out the contours of his body, but somehow that seemed all right in the dark.
“That’s better,” she said, sinking down onto the bed. Gloria, or someone, had cleaned up all the boxes and even hung up her new clothes. It was nice having someone around to take care of you. But she’d better not get used to it. It wasn’t going to last much longer.
She listened to Matt’s groan of pleasure as he sank into the hot, bubbling water. “You ought to come on in here,” he said. “It’s great.”
She didn’t bother to answer. A silky teddy was folded neatly on the bedside table. If she was very careful, she could probably wriggle out of her clothes and into the teddy without him noticing. She looked over at the back of his head. Yes. It was now or never.
She slid deftly out of her sundress.
“Are you taking off your clothes?” he asked suddenly.
She froze, peeking out at him, holding her clothes against her chest. His back was still to her.
“Yes,” she said. “Please don’t turn around.”
“Oh, I won’t,” he promised. “I just wanted to know. Food for the imagination.”
Her mouth curled at the edges in the darkness. She finished dressing, enjoying the feel of the cool silk as it slid down over her body. Only lace covered her breasts, and tiny satin rosebuds decorated the closure low on her chest. She’d never owned anything like it before, and she felt daring and sexy.
She crept into her bed, pulled the covers over herself, and listened to Matt humming something tuneless.
Suddenly she realized that the smile was still on her face. She was happy. Happy!
How could that be? Here she was a virtual captive, trying desperately not to fall for Matt Jessup . . .
She stopped. There. It was finally out in the open. She had to admit it to herself. She was attracted to Matt. Fatally attracted to him. Crazy about him!
Her breath was coming shorter. What was she going to do about it?
It was too late to pretend she could fight this feeling. Maybe if she’d escaped after that session in the woods . . . but now it was too late. She was infatuated with the man. The sound of his voice, the sight of his tousled hair, meeting his dark eyes—everything about him made her tingle. A man like that, and she was falling for him like a ton of bricks!
What should she do about it? She’d never wanted a man before. She’d had crushes. She’d gone out on dates. She’d even thought she was in love once. But she’d never felt this overwhelming drive to hold a man to her before. Just thinking about it made her breath come in short, nervous gasps.
She was a woman. Hadn’t she finally admitted that to herself that very afternoon? And it was okay to feel this way, wasn’t it? As long as she knew what she was doing . . . She was a modern woman, after all. She knew these things happened. She could handle it.
If she were brave, she would join him in the Jacuzzi. That would do it, wouldn’t it? That would be as good as saying, “Hey, I’d like to take you up on that offer you made earlier.”
Wouldn’t it? Maybe she ought to do that.
Turning over on her stomach, she leaned on her elbows, watching him in the moonlight. His head was thrown back and his eyes were closed. Just looking at him made butterflies start up in her stomach again. She could never do it.
But it was tonight or never. If all went well, she would be gone in the morning and he would have no further use for or interest in her. She would probably never see him again. Never touch him. Never feel his lovemaking. A melancholy ache spread through her. She had to do something.
Closing her eyes, she remembered his touch in the woods. Her breasts ached. She’d never understood this kind of longing before. The only cure would be to have him, to take him deep inside. She moved against the mattress, stifling the moan of tortured anticipation that rose in her throat.
What would it be like to make love with Matt? She thought she knew. Clean and sure. There would be no fumbling, no wondering when it was all over what really had happened. Instinctively she knew that love-making with Matt would leave no room for questions.
And yet she couldn’t do it. It just wasn’t her. Pressing her fingernails into the flesh of her palms, she had to admit it. She wasn’t quite as modern as she thought.
“Matt?” she asked tentatively.
His head came up. “What?”
“Tell me more about Vanessa.”
“Vanessa?” He turned down the jets and moved restlessly in the water. “I thought we were going to forget about her.”
“Where is she? What is she doing now?”
“She’s in Brazil, I imagine,” he muttered, leaning back again. “Doing Brazilian things.” The questions made him uncomfortable. They reminded him that he was still lying to Janet.
“What does she really look like?”
His eyes opened wide and he stared out at what he could see of the ocean in the darkness. And he tried to remember the one picture he’d seen in the magazine article. “Long black hair like yours. Blue eyes.”
“What made you fall in love with her?”
Matt grunted. This was getting ridiculous. Why not just tell her the truth and be done with it? He peered out into the shadows of the room. The truth. It would be easy. Why not, after all? Cecile’s mocking face swam before his eyes, but he shook it away. He couldn’t go on being bitter about Cecile forever. Besides, she had nothing to do with this situation. Nothing at all.
All day he’d been thinking he should tell Janet how things really stood. And yet, when he tried to frame a succinct statement, telling her that he really
wasn’t Matt Jessup at all, he couldn’t find the words. It wasn’t going to be easy to explain. And she wasn’t going to like what she would see he was doing to Mavis. In fact, he wouldn’t put it past her to warn Mavis about him.
“I can’t remember,” he said gruffly, answering her question.
She heard the tension in his voice and something shriveled deep inside. Did he still love Vanessa?
“All right,” she said with forced lightness. “Can you remember what made you break up?” She cringed in the dark. That question was a little personal, no?
He didn’t like it much either.
“I don’t want to talk about Vanessa,” he said curtly, then regretted it. He reached for a towel. “She’s not a part of my life. I just used her to keep Mavis happy.” He rose from the tub, water cascading everywhere, and Janet didn’t look away. She couldn’t make out the details of his body in the dark, but the outlines were there.
As he’d said, food for the imagination.
“Just like you use everyone and everything,” she said softly.
“That’s right. I’m a real user, I am.” He sounded halfway annoyed, halfway amused. In fact, he felt that way too. And more. Restless. Frustrated.
He looked over at Janet on the bed, her dark hair spilled out in a midnight cloud. She looked like an angel against the white sheets. It had been a long time since a woman had captured his natural male inclinations like this one had. He tried to hide it with jokes and lighthearted banter, but it was there. It never left him. Right now desire was coursing through him, strong and hard. He could taste how she would be. He could smell it.
Damn it all to hell, he raged at himself silently. She doesn’t trust you. She doesn’t want you. Leave her alone.
“Tell me, Janet,” he said aloud. “What’s your theory? Why do you think I’m doing all this?”
“To somehow get your hands on Mavis’s money,” she said promptly, then grimaced. How could she be so attracted to a man she suspected of being such a bastard?
He laughed ruefully. Damn it all, in a way, she was right. “So you really think I’m a con artist, do you?”
