“So to protect the inheritaiice all you have to do is hold firm against Aunt Clara and the crowd?”
“Who all think I’m the typical product of an overly liberal education: An impractical, nonconforming, left-wing dropout of uncertain morals—except that after this morning, Aunt Clara is no longer uncertain about my morals.”
“Because I answered the phone?”
“Yeah.”
“You should have told her that you were going to marry me.”
“But I don’t know that I am going to marry you,” Elly retorted very carefully.
“Sure you are.” He leaned across the table and covered her hand. “Nothing has changed. All you have to do is admit that to yourself. Then everything can return to normal.”
“It’s because things weren’t exactly normal between us that I started getting nervous in the first place!”
“Hence the big seduction scene last night?” She flushed, concentrating on her granola. “I’m sure it must have been quite tame as seduction scenes go—I mean, considering what you’re accustomed to in that line.”
Jess didn’t move, but the change in him was immediate and unmistakable. Elly shifted uneasily, knowing she had gone too far. Involuntarily she looked up to find him staring at her with the depths of winter in his eyes.
“Believe it or not, your style of seduction was a totally new experience for me. I’ve never had a woman ask me so sweetly or so honestly to make love to her. I’m used to games in that line, Elly. Not the real thing. I find I like the real thing very much. I’d like another chance.”
Elly lurched to her feet and dropped her dishes into the sink. “I’ve got to get ready for work, Jess. It’s getting late, and you know I have to open the shop at nine. Excuse me while I get dressed. Perhaps I’ll, uh, see you later or something,” she ended lamely as she hurried toward the door.
“You know damn well you’re going to see me later, Elly,” he said behind her, but she was already halfway to the stairs.
Some of the old anger and frustration came back as Jess watched Elly vanish. He owed this mess to Marina. Was the woman going to haunt him in one way or another for the rest of his life? Coldly, Jess dampened the threatening waves of fury. Marina was gone. He would not allow her to interfere in his new relationship with Elly.
Elly was a gentle, reasonable woman. She would calm down and return to her normal, even-tempered self. She just needed a little time. She wouldn’t, she couldn’t continue to hold the past against him.
But Jess knew deep down that matters would have been different this morning if Elly’s sweet seduction scene last night had been allowed to continue to its conclusion. Everything would have been so much simpler today. Elly would have had the reassurance she needed that she was wanted and he… Jess paused, contemplating fully just what it was he had let slip away. He would have had a kind of warmth and closeness he’d never known. And he would have had one more bond between himself and Elly.
Jess swore softly and got to his feet to continue clearing the table. He had been a fool to waste so much time. He should have been making love to Elly for nearly two months. It seemed an act of malicious fate that, when at last matters in that department were finally going to get sorted out, something interfered.
Not something. Someone. Someone who looked a hell of a lot like Marina Carrington. Jess paused by the sink, thinking that last thought through. The only person he knew who looked a lot like Marina was her twin, Damon.
By the middle of the afternoon Elly had finally begun to come to terms with her reaction to the news of Jess’s past. She had spent most of the day rationalizing, lecturing, analyzing and assessing. Jess had had the sensitivity to stay away from the shop. She assumed he was busy talking to the local contractors and craftsmen he would need to start the renovation work on the charming Victorian fantasy he intended to turn into a quiet, luxury inn. Uncertain as to what he would do at the end of the day, Elly busied herself stocking shelves and waiting on customers and tried not to think about the evening ahead.
The Natural Choice was one of those small-town community stores that become a meeting place for people who live nearby. In addition to buying the flours, grains, tofu and other assorted grocery products Elly stocked, local people dropped in to chat, catch up on news or just hang out. Everyone knew everybody else and shared information freely. It would have been impossible for the proprietor of such a shop to keep a romance quiet, and Elly had made no effort to do so. Everyone in the community knew of Jess Winter and his plans for the old mansion. They also knew Elly had been dating him steadily for two months. So Elly was prepared for casual inquiries even though she could cheerfully have done without them today.
“How’s your friend, Elly? Thought I saw him over at Wilson’s this morning?” Sarah Mitchell hoisted a gurgling eighteen-month-old baby onto her hip and reached into her handcrafted leather purse for her wallet. Everything about Sarah was handcrafted—from the long, paisley cotton skirt she had designed herself, to the fringed leather vest she wore over a denim shirt. Her hair reached to her waist and fell in a long heavy braid down her back. The baby, who went by the name of Compass Rose and who wasn’t yet old enough to mind the unusual appelation, was dressed in a handknitted jumpsuit.
“I think he said something about wanting Wilson to do some woodwork in the hall,” Elly murmured, packing rye flour, whole wheat pasta and tofu into a paper sack. She didn’t particularly want to discuss Jess today, but she knew the questions were unavoidable. In the two months he had been coming and going between Portland and the coast, Jess had managed to make himself a familiar and welcome presence in town.
“Is he still going to want the stained-glass work?” Sarah asked a little uncertainly.
Elly suddenly realized what was making her customer anxious. She smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Sarah. He won’t change his mind about the stained-glass order he mentioned to you. Once he makes a commitment like that he follows through.”
Sarah nodded, looking relieved. “Good. The truth is, I could use the work.”
“No check this month?” Elly asked commiseratingly.
The other woman shook her head. “No, and I think I’d better get used to the fact that there aren’t going to be any more checks. Mark is long gone, Elly. He’s not coming back. I’ve accepted that now, but it means I can’t treat the stained glass as a hobby any longer. I’ve got to start making it pay. Or else I’ve got to find another kind of job.”
“Jess will pay well for the beautiful work you do, Sarah. Don’t worry,” Elly said gently. Then, unobtrusively, she added several more ounces of whole-wheat pasta to the order. What the heck. Pasta was relatively cheap and the whole wheat was nutritious for little Compass Rose. Elly figured she wouldn’t miss the profit on the few ounces of pasta. Sarah Mitchell could certainly use the extra food. Elly thought bleakly about the kind of man who would get a woman pregnant and then leave to “find himself.” Jess Winter would never do that. Never in a million years.
“Your Jess is a good man, Elly.”
“Yes.” The kind of man who would follow through on his commitment to buy stained glass from an artist who was having trouble making ends meet. The kind of man who would not get a woman pregnant and then abandon her. Yes, Elly thought, Jess was a good man. His fundamental integrity was one of the things that had made her fall in love with him. She just wished he was in love with her the way she was with him—wildly, passionately, head-over-heels in love.
“Well, tell him I’m available whenever he’s ready to have me start designing. I’ll—” Sarah broke off as the bell over the door chimed cheerfully. “I’ll… good heavens,” she went on in a low tone. “Where did he come from?”
“Who? Jess? Is he here?” Suddenly tense, Elly turned to glance at whoever had opened the door and found herself blinking in astonishment at the newcomer. Sarah was still staring herself. And no wonder, Elly thought in a rush of amusement. It wasn’t every day a man like this
walked into The Natural Choice. “Looks like something from a calendar of ‘hunks,’” she murmured.
The man who stood in the doorway nodded easily, apparently taking the feminine stares as his due. He strode forward with a nonchalance that told its own tale. This man was accustomed to being the center of attention. He was, without a doubt, the handsomest male Elly had ever seen. Tall, lean, with curly blond hair and perfectly chiseled features, he had a casual, sexy, inviting smile and a promise of excitement in his green eyes.
Green eyes, Elly thought suddenly. But there was no time to dwell on the bizarre notion that had just struck her. The man had reached the counter and with unerring instinct was already making the one move calculated to put everyone at ease. He was focusing the full force of his attention, something a few women Elly had met would have killed for, on Compass Rose.
“Hey, beautiful,” he murmured to the wide-eyed toddler. “Where have you been all my life?”
“Her name is Compass Rose,” Sarah explained hastily, bemused by the attention the handsome man was paying to her child.
“Compass Rose,” the stranger repeated in a soft drawl. “Something tells me she’s going to lead a lot of men astray during the next few years.” He lifted a finger and chucked the baby under her chin.
Compass Rose’s eyes got even wider and then, without warning, she started wailing. Turning her face into her mother’s denim shirt, she clung fiercely, her high-pitched cry filling the shop.
“What in the world?” Startled, Sarah cradled the child closer. She cast an apologetic look at the newcomer. “I’m sorry. She’s usually very good with strangers. I don’t know what could have gotten into her. I guess I better get her out of here. Thanks, Elly. I’ll see you later this week. You won’t forget to remind Jess that I’m ready any time he is, will you?”
“I won’t forget,” Elly mouthed above the wails of Compass Rose. Sarah fled from the shop, cuddling the baby.
“Well,” the stranger said philosophically as the door closed on the child’s cries, “I guess I’m not that good with the younger set.” He leaned on the counter and smiled at Sarah. “But I’m hell on wheels with older women.”
Elly blinked owlishly and wondered why she felt the irrational desire to do the same as Compass Rose had done and start screaming. “Perhaps you’d like to meet my Aunt Clara,” she said instead. “She’s in her sixties so I guess she’d qualify as an older woman.”
Green eyes flashed wickedly. “I had in mind something midrange.”
Elly summoned up a polite, shopkeeper’s smile. “Did you? Well, I’m sure you’ll find it. Let me know if you need any assistance while shopping. There are some handbaskets over by the bread counter and one old shopping cart that I keep for emergencies. I’m afraid this isn’t exactly a supermarket.”
“I’m only looking for one particular item.” He didn’t move from the counter.
“Just as well, I’ll be closing soon, anyway. What was it you wanted?”
“I came here to meet someone.”
“I’m afraid I don’t—”
“Nothing to be concerned about,” the stranger said easily. “I’ve got lots of time. Some things are better if they aren’t rushed.” Then he reached out, the same way he had to Compass Rose and caught Elly lightly under her chin.
She was so startled by the audacity of the man that it took Elly a few seconds to realize what he was doing. Then, before she could react to the overfamiliar touch, the shop bell chimed again as the door opened. Without even looking in that direction Elly knew who stood on the threshold.
Far too gently, Jess closed the door behind himself and stood taking in the sight of Elly’s uncertain, wary expression as the other man’s hand dropped from her chin. Then, as if there was no particular importance about the matter, he glanced at the blond-haired, green-eyed newcomer.
Elly’s pulse was racing as if she’d found herself in a fight-or-flight situation rather than safely behind the counter of her shop. She watched Jess walk calmly down the aisle to where she stood behind the waist-high barrier. The room seemed to be filled with strange tension. A part of her urged flight, but another element warned that there was no safe place to run. Then Jess was flattening his palms on the polished counter, leaning across it to kiss her with seeming casualness.
Elly didn’t resist, but she knew her lips must have been as cold as his. This was not a kiss of warmth or even casual affection. This was a public announcement for the benefit of the green-eyed man who stood watching in amusement. Coolly, Jess straightened and turned to confront the other man.
“Well, Carrington, I would have been happy to live the rest of my life without ever seeing you again. But I guess that was too much to hope for. What the hell brings you here?”
Damon Carrington smiled, and Elly cringed inwardly. “Is that any way to greet family?” Damon asked mildly.
“You’re not family. Not anymore.” Jess leaned against the counter, his pose deceptively cool. “I’m not overflowing with patience this afternoon. What do you want?”
“What makes you so sure I’m after something?”
“It’s your nature.”
Damon considered that. “Maybe you’re right.”
“So what is it this time?”
“Going to give me what I want without a fight, Winter? That’s not like you. I expected to have to work at this a little.” Damon glanced at Elly’s still face. “But maybe you’ve got other things to worry about these days, hmm? Little projects you wouldn’t want jeopardized. She’s not too bad, Jess. Not in Marina’s league, of course, but how many women are?” He started to lift his hand again, apparently planning to recapture Elly’s chin. Green eyes examined her with calculating interest.
Jess didn’t move. “Touch her and I’ll kill you, Carrington.”
The threat hovered in the air, as real as the man who had made it. Damon’s eyes narrowed in amusement, but he dropped his hand. “Well, well. This is serious, isn’t it?”
“I think it’s time for you to leave, Carrington. Elly is going to close the shop, aren’t you, Elly?” He pinned her with his glance. The command radiated from him in waves.
Elly didn’t even make a pretense of resisting. She wanted out of that tension-fraught room more than anyone could have imagined. “Yes,” she said firmly, “I am.” Quickly she began readying the cash register.
“No need to run, Winter. I can find you easily enough. It’s a small town, isn’t it? A little too small for you, I would have said.”
“Small towns have their advantages. It’s easy to keep track of unwanted strangers. You might keep that in mind.”
Damon shook his head sadly. “You surprise me, Winter. I would have expected you to keep going in the fast lane. All the way to the top, wherever that is. People used to say the sky was the limit where you were concerned. Now look at you, getting ready to run an inn in a sleepy little village on the coast. Picked just the right kind of woman to go with your new life-style, didn’t you? She looks sweet, Winter. Maybe a little too sweet for you. After all, you’re accustomed to something with a little more tang, aren’t you? I never—Hey! Damn you, what the hell do you think …?”
“Jess!” Elly whirled around, stunned to see Jess come away from the counter in a smooth, coiled movement.
He had Damon flattened against the wail before Elly fully realized what had happened. Raw menace etched Jess’s face, and his eyes were like ice as he leaned forward. His voice was a harsh whisper.
“Get out of here, Carrington. Don’t let me see you again. Is that very clear? I swear as God is my witness I won’t be able to guarantee your safety if I ever see you again. If you come near Elly I can promise you that I’ll make you pay.”
Damon hissed, “Pay? You’re the one who’s going to pay, Winter. You owe me!”
“For what?”
“For what you did to Marina!”
“I didn’t do a damn thing to her except divorce her.
And as I recall she was already tired of me anyway. Are
you crazy, Carrington?” _
“She’s dead!”
“I didn’t kill her and you damn well know it,” Jess growled.
“She’d be alive today if it hadn’t been for you.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You cut her off without a penny,” Damon said accusingly.
“So? She’d socked away plenty while she was married to me. Not exactly my fault if she didn’t invest it! You are crazy.”
“She wouldn’t have had to sleep with that old bastard if it hadn’t been for the way you left her high and dry.”
“I get it,” Jess said wearily. “If she hadn’t been sleeping with him for his money she wouldn’t have been on his yacht when it capsized. Therefore, it’s all my fault. Is that your logic? You’re out of your mind, Carrington.” He released his victim. “Get away from me. I don’t want to see you anywhere near Elly again. Get out of here!”
Damon moved warily away from the wall, straightening his rumpled black shirt. “You owe me, Winter.”
Jess ignored him, reaching for Elly’s arm as she came around the counter. “Are you ready?”
“Yes,” she whispered, shaken by the violence. “Yes, I’m ready.”
The chime sounded as the door closed abruptly behind Damon Carrington. Elly jumped a little at the noise. “Excitement,” she said almost inaudibly.
“What?” Jess was turning off the lights with swift, chopping motions of his hand.
“You said the Carringtons brought excitement into one’s life. I don’t think I’m into excitement, Jess. Not if that’s any sample of it.”
Jess halted at the door, turning to look down at her. His eyes were fierce. “And you’re not going to get ‘into’ it. You’re not going to get anywhere near it, do you understand? I don’t want you in the same room with Damon Carrington. Elly, I’ve seen Carrington in action.
The man’s a warlock where women are concerned. He casts spells on them.”
“Not on all women,” she denied.
Cautious Lover Page 5
