“I like the color you’ve chosen. The beige makes the room seem bigger. Did your brothers redo the gold leaf around the proscenium?”
“They did.” His gaze was directed upward and then those wonderful brown eyes came down to examine me.
“Looks fantastic.”
“The auditorium…or me?” Shameless, I was.
“Both,” he said, bring me around so that I stood with my back to his chest, making us both able to look at the stage. “When are auditions?”
“Two weeks from today.” He changed our position so that we could walk down the aisle together.
“You’ve created a firestorm in our house.”
I stopped and turned around to him. “Oh, no, Jake. I came out there today to make peace in your house, not stir up trouble.”
“Mother’s pretty certain that Leslie will let her school work slide if she gets involved in a show.”
“How about if I see to it that Leslie does her homework?”
“How can you do that?”
“I have my ways. What about Laura and Gabe? Are either of them interested in auditioning?”
“I told Gabe he could audition…over my dead body.”
“Jake! I am going to need men and they are usually in short supply. How could you think I’d have any interest in Gabe? He’s young and brash and not my type at all.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“I’m positive. Couldn’t you tell by my reaction that I wasn’t taking anything he said seriously?”
“I have another brother. Dorian. He’s out of the country right now, looking at a breed of cattle they use in Nigeria.”
“Nigeria? With the outbreak of that virus?” I was so alarmed I almost felt sick. “Jake, that’s dangerous. He should come home at once.”
“So I’ve told him. But the stubborn ass…idiot doesn’t want to leave there until he has all the information he went to get.”
“Your mother must be worried sick. Yet she never said a thing.”
“My mother knows how to handle adversity. She’s had plenty of experience.”
“When I met your mother, I thought she was an extraordinary person. Now I’m more in awe of her than ever.”
“I didn’t want to tell you like this, on a night you need to be celebrating, but I knew sooner or later it would come out. I want you to know everything there is to know about my family.”
“I consider that a privilege.” I wanted to change the subject, lighten the mood for Jake. “Did you want to go down and see how much better the dressing rooms look?”
“Of course.”
He followed me down, just as he had the first time, but by now, I was used to the funky feel of that third step. The lights were already on when I landed safely on the floor.
“Nice,” he said, looking around. “I like it. Your brother installed extra lighting?”
I nodded. “He also got a wonderful seamstress to make the privacy curtains.” I grabbed some of the wild, flowery material and draped it over me. “I was going to have a dress made to match for opening night. What do you think?”
“I think you look better in black,” he said, loosening the curtain from my grip so that it fell back into place. “This dress must have been designed specifically to drive a man crazy. I‘ve been wanting to do this all night.” He found the slit in my dress and ran his hand up my thigh to my core, even while he leaned over and kissed my bare shoulder. He went on kissing my collar bone while he pushed aside the thin scrap of material keeping him from my heat and slid his finger into me. The shock of being touched without any warning, the danger of being touched so intimately in a public place made me shudder with a feeling I had never felt before. Wild excitement coursed through me and with it a heated longing like nothing I’d ever known. Using his free hand, he guided me behind the privacy curtain and pulled it closed. Now we were here in this little world where we’d been once before. He backed me against the left wall.
“These dividers aren’t all that sturdy,” I said in a breathy whisper.
“That’s all right. I’m going to hold you. Pull your dress down for me, sweetheart. Let me see that beautiful breast.”
Now he held me steady with a hand at the back of my waist. I’d never bared myself like this to a man before but again, the wild excitement of it had me writhing with anticipation. I pulled down the dress and my flesh sprang free.
“Beautiful,” he breathed, and in the next second he covered me with his mouth, sucking me. By now my whole body was alive with nerves that were stinging. His finger went deeper in me even while he suckled me more deeply drawing more of my breast in his mouth.
“Lynne?” Hunter’s voice.
Jake went on pleasuring me with his mouth and his fingers. I struggled, trying to make him stop, but he only gripped me tighter. I had to use every ounce of control I had to keep from crying out with pleasure. The thought that Hunter was just outside that curtain only heightened the danger…and the pleasure. Just as I was sure I was going to cry out with the ecstasy of my orgasm, Jake covered my mouth with his. I heard Hunter’s feet walk past the dressing room where we were. He continued on down to the end and back. The privacy curtains did not reach all the way to the floor. If Hunter looked down, he had to see Jake’s boots and my high heels standing together.
“She doesn’t seem to be down here,” Hunter said. I could detect a bit of irony in his voice, but I doubt that anyone else could.
“I swear I saw them come down here.” John’s voice.
“They must have gone up the other side. Maybe they went out to get some fresh air.” Hunter’s voice receded.
Jake’s hands looped around my waist behind me while he leaned away from me to examine my face, the desire burning in his eyes.
I stood there for a second and then I couldn’t contain it any longer. I burst into laughter. “We’re…like…a…couple of high school kids…” by now I was choking with laughter. Jake began to chuckle.
When I finally stopped laughing, I said, “Jake, how old are you?”
“I’m thirty-five. You?”
“I’m twenty-nine.” I started to giggle all over again. “We should have just pulled the curtain open and said, ’Do you mind? We’re a little busy here.” That set me off laughing again.
“When are you going to tell Hunter the truth?” Jake asked.
“What truth? Jake, he knew we were here. He could see our feet. He wasn’t going to go into big brother mode and pull the curtain open and demand you meet him with pistols at dawn.” I began to laugh again at the thought.
“Well, let me tell you something. Hunter might have a few years on me and be a bit broader, but I wouldn’t want to meet him with pistols or fists or anything else at dawn. He’s a formidable guy.”
“And you’re not?”
“I used to be able to hold my own in a bar fight or two. But those days are gone. Lynne, this thing happening with your brother brings up an important issue. We’re not teenagers. We’re old enough to know what we’re doing. At the same time, we have family members who need to know what is going on between us. I know we haven’t known each other all that long but…I don’t want to sneak around corners. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I‘d like everybody in the world to know it. I need to know if you feel the same.”
“Is this a marriage proposal?”
“I don’t have a ring…but I have one picked out. It’s back at the house. Yes, this is a marriage proposal.”
I wanted to say yes, I really did. “I…need more time.” At the look on his face, I said, “That’s not an unreasonable request. We’ve never even dated.”
“We’ll get engaged…and then we’ll date.” He was so sure of himself, so implacable that I wanted to laugh. “Say yes, Lynne. You know we’re right for each other. You’ve known it since the first night we stood on the stage reciting Shakespeare together.”
“How about I give you my answer on opening night?”
“That’s three mo
nths away.” He sounded as if I’d asked him to wait till the next millennium.
I moved into him and every cell in my body was alive with wanting him. “Come back to the hotel afterwards. We’ll have “a date.”
With one hand, he caught my waist to keep me where I was, close to him. His other hand covered my shoulder, caressing me, moving over the slight rises and hollows. His hands were the hands of a working man and how I loved the feel of them on my skin.
“It’s a “date.” Did I tell you how much I like this dress…and how lovely you look in it?”
“Yes,” I said, “but you can tell me again.”
“It is perfect,” he bent and kissed my shoulder, “and you look fantastic.”
I knew if I stayed here much longer and let him kiss me in all the places he was headed, we wouldn‘t get upstairs at all. We would stay here down in this world that Jake created for me whenever I was near him, a safe, wonderful world. “I really need to get back upstairs and put in an appearance.”
Jake pulled me in to kiss me with determination, as if stamping his brand on me. I gloried in his domination, knowing that his only thought was my pleasure…and his own.
I pushed him away a bit. “Jake, really, I have to go.”
“So go,” he said as he leaned down to kiss my throat. I stood there and let him kiss me, my back bent backwards to aid his nibbling path downward.
“Lynne,” Hunter’s voice outside the curtain, “there are people upstairs waiting to see you.” He didn’t sound exactly like a father but he was darn close. Jake straightened and so did I. I pulled back the curtain to see Hunter standing there with a look on his face that said he wished his sister was a bit more discreet.
“Spoilsport,” I said, under my breath, but Hunter heard me.
“Get upstairs before I spank you,” he said, equally as low.
“I might have something to say about that,” Jake said. “Lynne has agreed to marry me. She is my future wife. As such, she should be shown the proper respect.”
“As long as she acts respectably,” Hunter said smoothly.
“Just cool it, you two. You’re going to be brothers soon.” I climbed up the stairs clutching the hand rail, trying to get my raging hormones and my irritation at my big brother under control. I wasn’t sure how this would go. Hunter had been my surrogate father for so long, but Jake was equally determined that Hunter knew he, Jake, was now my protector. I stepped onto the floor of the stage where people were dancing to the music my sound man had provided. People moved and jived and the mood was one of gaiety. I don’t know what made me do it but I opened my bag and glanced at my phone. Trailing across the screen was a message. I have Leslie, it began. My throat tight with fear, I sank down on a chair at the edge of the ring of dancers. Jake noticed my change of mood immediately. I opened the message to read, I have Leslie in your hotel room. She is safe…for now. The only way you can retrieve her is to come for her yourself, alone. If I hear a siren or see anybody approach this room but you, I’ll cut her beautiful face so that she will never appear on the stage. One word of this to your range- fed cowboy and lovely Leslie will be lovely no more.
I shoved my phone back into my purse and tried not to look as stricken as I felt. A thousand questions pounded in my brain. How had Richard found me? And how had he known I would do anything to keep Leslie from harm? This would test my acting skills to the limit.
“I…oh!” I put my hand to my head. “I…”
Instantly, Jake sat down beside me and grasped my hand that was clutching my purse. “What is it?”
I had to be careful. I didn’t dare overact. Jake would see through it in a minute. “I…it’s nothing really. Just a slight headache. I’ll be fine. I suppose it’s just nerves, spending so much time working on the theater and this open house,”
Hunter appeared on my other side. “What’s wrong?”
“A slight headache,” Jake said.
“She should go home and rest,” Hunter said.
“Just what I was thinking.” Jake stood up. “I’ll see her home.”
“Guys, guys. I’m a big girl and I came in my own car. I’m perfectly capable of driving myself home. In fact, I insist. Hunter, you need to stay here to answer any questions about the restoration. Jake, as president of the board, you have an obligation to meet and greet. Please don’t make me feel guilty about leaving by coming with me.”
As one man, they said, “If you’re sure…”
“I’m sure.” Holding my head for effect, I hustled out of the theater and into my car. I drove way over the speed limit, but luckily my hotel is close and I didn’t get stopped.
I jumped out of the car and took the elevator up to my room, trying not to imagine how frightened Leslie must be. I used my key to open the door…and found Leslie sitting across the table from Richard, her eyes on a stack of papers in front of her. When she saw me, she jumped up and came to hug me. “Oh, isn’t it fabulous. Mr. Haines is a Broadway producer. He says you told him about how talented I was and he wants me to be in one of his shows. He gave me this contract to read and insisted I read every line. I get a little lost in the legalese…”
“Leslie, I want you to gather up the contract and take it home to have your mother and brothers go over it with you. I’m sure you’ll feel much better if your whole family shares your good news. Here are the keys to my car. Take the contract and go home. Now.”
I couldn’t look at Richard. I could only imagine the triumph in his eyes. At the tone of my voice, she rose. “You’re all right with this, aren’t you? I mean you aren’t jealous or anything?”
“I’m not jealous. I just want you to go home immediately. I need to talk to Mr. Haines…alone.”
“But…” Leslie said.
“Go!” I said. “Now.”
I stood there, using all the acting ability I had to look calm and composed. At the door she gave me one last look.
Richard said, “It’s all right, Leslie. We’ll talk about this later.”
I don’t think I took a real breath until she was out the door.
I turned to Richard and said in acid tone, “You always know exactly how to hit below the belt.”
“Long practice studying people, my dear. I thought about tying up your cowboy friend, but it occurred to me that enticing his sister would be a much better bait to bring you to me. This is quite a nice hotel room. I most enjoyed going through your drawers seeing your delicate under things. I had no idea you had so much sexy underwear. Have you been buying it for your lover?”
Thinking of Richard touching my things made me sick to my stomach. “What do you want?”
“Why, I thought you knew. I want you, my dear.”
I thought he was bluffing about the knife but now I saw it, a gleaming wicked thing.
“I’m not sure where I’m going to start to put my brand on you. A slight nick on the cheek, perhaps? Or on that lovely breast that I can’t quite see?”
I was too angry to be afraid. And I knew darn well Richard really wasn’t going to attack me.
“Give it up, Richard. You’re too much of a coward to indulge in physical violence.”
Big mistake. He lunged at me and nicked my arm. I cried out, more with surprise than pain. “So you think I’m a coward, do you? Before this night is over I’ll have you screaming for mercy. But not before I give you a taste of the heaven you’ll have when I make you mine.”
I only had one hope and that was the fireplace I had thought was so ridiculous. I moved around and grabbed up the poker.
To my surprise, Richard laughed. “Oh, my dear. Talk about clichéd. You think that poker’s going to be a defense against my knife?”
“You’re right. I have no defenses against you, darling Richard.” I dropped the poker down to a non-defensive position, holding it like a croquet mallet.
“I’m so glad you finally recognize the bond between us.” He stepped closer, his guard down. I swung the poker up between his legs as hard as I could. He fell to t
he floor, clutching himself. His scream must have been heard all the way to Jacksonville. I went to Richard and said, over his screams, “If you ever come near me or mine again, I’ll tell the world that I bested you with one blow to your balls. And then I will mention how you enticed an underage female to your hotel room. Stay away from me, stay away from the Rutledge family. Do you understand?
“Call…an …ambulance. For the love of God, Lynne, call an ambulance.”
“Not until you agree to stay away from me and anyone whose name is Rutledge?”
“Yes, yes, I agree.”
“And you won’t bring charges against me?”
“No, I won’t bring charges against you. Just…call…an ambulance.”
I went to the phone, dialed 911, and requested an ambulance. Then I walked out of the room, straight into Jake’s arms. Hunter was right behind him.
“I knew damn well you didn’t have a headache,” Jake growled as he gathered me into his arms. It felt so good to be held close to him.
“What’s going on, Lynne?” Hunter asked.
“It was Richard. He sent me a text saying he was holding a knife on Leslie, Jake‘s sister. When I got there, he’d merely given her an ersatz contract to look over. He hadn’t really threatened her, thank God. I got her out of the room, but then Richard pulled the knife on me. Luckily, I picked up the fireplace poker and hit him right where it would hurt the most. He says he won’t press charges against me. I don’t think he will because it will be embarrassing for him to admit what he’d done.”
“Bastard,” Jake muttered. “I ought to go in and finish him off.”
“No.” I grabbed his suit collar. “I don’t want to you to go back into that room. And I don’t want to be here when the ambulance arrives. Richard can make up some story. He’s good at that.” I looked up at Jake. “Just…take me home with you.”
“I’ll go and get your things…”
“No,” I said. “I don’t want anything in that room. Just take me out of here.”
“You’ve got it covered?” Hunter said to Jake.
“I’ve got it covered. I’ll take good care of her.”
A Cowboy for Lynne: Cameron Family Saga Page 11
