by Janet Dailey
“I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to get a job,” Laurie smiled weakly. “But I really wouldn't feel right about taking any more charity.” The harsh words of her aunt were still ringing in her mind.
“It wouldn't be charity,” Tom Farber insisted with a perceptive understanding of the reason behind her refusal. “As soon as you find yourself a job, you could pay us whatever you felt was fair for your board and room.” It was a very tempting offer, but Laurie hesitated. “Tell you what, you think it over,” he smiled. “Sit down here on the couch, have a cup of coffee, and relax. Ed Jenkins will be here in about fifteen minutes to relieve me so I can go home. If you decide you want to leave, I'll give you a lift wherever you want. If you want to come home with me, then that would be just great. How about it?"
“I'll agree to that suggestion, Mr. Farber.” His cajoling expression coaxed her into a genuine smile.
“It's Tom to my friends."
“And Laurie to mine,” she smiled, taking the hand he held out to her.
A quarter of an hour later, Tom Farber was loading her red luggage in the boot of his car. Of the two alternatives he had offered her, only the one was sensible-to stay with Tom and his wife. Laurie refused to consider the third possibility of contacting Rian. As much as she loved him, she would rather starve than marry him when he didn't love her.
When Tom crawled behind the wheel of the car, Laurie glanced hesitantly at his cheerful face. “Tom,” she began, then paused to phrase her words, “if someone should come looking for me at the apartment, could you ... would you tell them you don't know where I am?” If Rian did come looking for her, Laurie wanted to be sure he couldn't find her and manage to charm her into marriage.
“Are you in some kind of trouble?” he probed gently.
“No, not really. There's a man who might want to speak to me, but I don't want to see him,” Laurie replied in a tight voice.
“Then he'll never find out where you are from me,” Tom declared with a wink.
Betty Farber, Tom's wife, turned out to be as warm and friendly as her husband, shooing away Laurie's apologies for disrupting their household and declaring she would be glad of a woman around the house to gossip with. Exhausted by her hurried flight from Mobile, hurt by the rejection of her aunt and uncle, Laurie had trouble sleeping that night. Her mind insisted on reliving each memory of the moments spent with Rian, the tortuous knowledge that she must never see him again adding unbearable pain. Her pillow was damp when she finally fell asleep.
The next day Betty insisted that Laurie needed to rest up from her trip, allowing her to do no more than circle advertisements for help wanted. Despite the woman's perpetually gay chatter, Laurie felt the hours dragging by and wondered how she would ever get through a lifetime without Rian.
At the supper table that evening, Tom Farber eyed her curiously, taking in the slightly puffy eyelids, the dullness of her expression, and the absence of her usually ready smile. When the dessert had been consumed and the coffee cups were in front of them, he cleared his throat. Blank blue eyes glanced up at him in a reflex action.
“Were you referring to that Montgomery man yesterday?” he asked, masking his interest to stare at his cup.
“Was he at the apartment?” A piercing sadness mixed with the apprehension in her expression as Laurie avoided a direct answer.
Tom nodded, “Yes, he was. At first I thought he was looking for LaRaine and I told him she'd moved back with her parents. But he quickly put me straight in no uncertain terms that he was looking for you."
“What did you tell him?” she whispered, imagining the thwarted anger that must have driven Rian to make him fly all the way to Los Angeles to find her.
“The truth, but not the whole truth. I said you arrived at the apartment yesterday afternoon, discovered your cousin had dropped the lease, made a telephone call, and left."
“Did he believe you?"
“I think so,” the man nodded. “He said you were his fiancée."
Laurie blanched, her fingers touching the faintly white circle where the sapphire ring had adorned her hand. “I was, but it's all over."
A silent message was exchanged between husband and wife that Laurie missed and the subject was deftly changed to some inconsequential happening that didn't require her attention. A few minutes later she mumbled a request to be excused and walked swiftly to her room, where not even the shedding of tears could assuage the twisting, agonizing pain in her heart.
After only a few days of job hunting, Laurie had her application accepted for an opening in the typing pool of a large attorney firm. Concentrating on the awkward legal jargon kept her attention centered on her work, and forced the haunting images of Rian to the recesses of her mind. The daylight hours passed swiftly during the week, without the agonizing cruelty of the nights and the empty loneliness of the weekends. But the ache remained, striking with piercing swiftness as an odd word would bring back some memory with vivid clarity, or throbbing in the background becoming a part of her existence like the beat of her heart.
Never once in three months did Tom or Betty Farber bring up the subject of her broken engagement, and Laurie couldn't talk about it either. The first month after she had gone to work, she had made a half-hearted attempt to find an apartment. Few were in the price range that her meager salary could support. The prospect of sharing an apartment with another girl didn't appeal to her either. And Betty and Tom were so set against her going out on her own that Laurie finally gave in and agreed to stay on with them.
One Monday evening after the supper dishes were done, Laurie sat at the oval dining room table, leafing haphazardly through the newspaper. A photograph leaped out at her from the top of the page, freezing her into immobility as she stared at the virile, dark-haired man in the centre of the picture. The blur of the newspaper photograph didn't hide the arrogant set of Rian Montgomery's head as he gazed down at the girl at his side. Unwillingly Laurie shifted her attention to the dark-haired girl provocatively glancing up at him. It was LaRaine, her cousin!
Swallowing back the sob that bubbled in her throat, Laurie read the caption beneath the picture. “Hotel owner and entrepreneur Rian Montgomery was seen escorting the rising young newcomer LaRaine Evans at a recent Hollywood party. Rumour has it there's a dark-haired fiancée in Rian's life. Could this be the one?"
Laurie tried to be glad that Rian and LaRaine had got back together. She tried, but she kept remembering the way his dark eyes looked at her, probing, searching, sparking that flame of desire that punctuated the times they spent together. All those memories that she had fought so hard to push to the back of her mind came racing back. It might as well had been yesterday that she had left him, so sharp and fresh was the pain of her love. Laurie didn't even realize she was crying until she saw the wet drops smearing the newspaper print. A hand to her cheek verified their wetness. Quickly she scrubbed the tears away, closed the paper, and walked to her room, not noticing the questioning gaze from the man in the easy chair.
Laurie's powers of concentration had deserted her. Liberal use of cover stick make-up hid the dark circles, evidence of a trio of sleepless nights. Tired blue eyes skimmed the page Laurie had just typed, despair crying out at her inability to tolerate the remotest introduction of Rian's name in her life as she realized she had typed his name in place of the party's name that belonged in the legal document. The glaring error could not be corrected. The entire page had to be done over again, and Laurie wanted to weep her frustration as she removed the paper and its carbons from the typewriter.
Footsteps sounded beside her desk and Laurie cringed in anticipation of Mr. Jennings’ wrath when he discovered the document was not completed. A quick apology formed on her lips.
“I'm sorry, I haven't got it finished yet. I only have one page left—” The apologetic words died in her throat as Laurie glanced up. Her mind was playing tricks on her, making her see Rian's face when he wasn't even there. She blinked once, then again, but he didn't go away.
“Hello, Laurie,” Rian said grimly, obsidian-dark eyes staring at her with unrelenting harshness.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered. She glanced around anxiously, seeing the interested looks on the faces of the other girls in the room.
“I should think it would be obvious,” his cruel voice jeered.
Her senses were undergoing a terrible upheaval. Laurie wasn't able to meet his mockingly severe look and turned to stare at her typewriter. “Go away, Rian.” It was more than she could bear to have him so close to her and not want to be in his arms.
“The game of hide and seek is over,” he declared viciously.
“Please, leave me alone,” she begged in a whispering voice that threatened to break.
“Miss Evans, do you have that agreement typed yet?” A harried man with disheveled hair came bustling to her desk, his preoccupied air preventing him from noticing the tall imposing man standing there as well.
“Not yet, Mr. Jennings,” Laurie answered tightly.
“I need it immediately."
“Would you mind,” Rian interrupted with the autocratic ease of one accustomed to making others wait. “I'm speaking to the young lady."
“See here—” her employer began indignantly, turning an outraged face towards Rian, only for the expression to slowly recede as he met the full force of the arrogantly set gaze. “Aren't you—” Mr. Jennings began.
“Montgomery, Rian Montgomery,” he supplied without the barest glimmer of remorse of his usurping of Laurie.
“Of course, I thought I recognized you,” Mr. Jennings smiled, his pale eyes lighting up at the name. “What can we do for you, Mr. Montgomery?"
“I'd like to talk to Miss Evans alone. Somewhere private.” Rian ignored the gasp of dismay that came from Laurie.
“Miss Evans?” the man repeated blankly, gazing down at her as though he had forgotten she was there. “Yes, of course,” he stumbled briefly. “There's an office right over here you can use."
The dark gaze rested on Laurie again, challenging her to refuse to see him alone. That was exactly what she wanted to do. The shock of seeing him again after so many months had shattered her defences. He read the hesitation in her eyes, the half-formed decision to protest.
“Would you prefer to have our discussion take place here?” Rian asked, a derisive glance encompassing the roomful of women. “In front of an audience?"
Reluctantly Laurie rose from her chair, surprised to find her legs were capable of supporting her, and followed Mr. Jennings to the office two doors down the hall from the typing pool. Rian followed her, anticipating her desire to bolt and successfully shutting off her escape.
Inside the office with the door closed behind them, Laurie glanced anxiously towards Rian, thinking his features had grown more forbidding and cynically withdrawn. His long stride carried him to the window where the sunlight streaming in threw his face into the shadows.
“Did you truly think I wouldn't find you, Laurie?” he asked contemptuously.
“I didn't think you would try.” Laurie edged the softness of her voice.
“Didn't you? Then why did you take such pains to cover your tracks?” Rian demanded.
“I didn't ... or at least, not deliberately,” she amended lamely. “I returned directly to the apartment, then discovered that LaRaine had moved out. I didn't have any money, so when Tom-Mr. Farber-offered to let me a room with him and his wife, I accepted."
“Then made sure he told no one where you were. Too bad the second guard Jenkins wasn't so closemouthed. Your aunt and uncle were half out of their minds with worry about you.” His scathing retort lashed out at her already tender nerves.
“That's a lie! Aunt Carrie told me not to set foot—” Her angry words died at the sudden glint that appeared in Rian's dark eyes. “It doesn't matter,” she shrugged, then hugged her arms about her to stem the churning of her stomach. “Why did you have to come looking for me? Why couldn't you have left me alone?"
“You're my fiancée.” There was uncompromising hardness in his expression and tone.
“Not any more,” Laurie denied fervently, lifting her hand bare without the sapphire. “I'm not wearing your ring. I put it on and I took it off. There isn't any more engagement."
“Only in your eyes. You left my aunt with the impression that you were nursing your sick mother. There was no mention to her of any broken engagement,” he sneered.
“How could I?” Laurie flashed. “What was I to do? Tell her that I hated her nephew?"
“So you left it to me. I know this will be a revolting discovery to you, but Vera still believes we're engaged.” His mouth curved into a sarcastic smile.
“Is that why you've gone to such lengths to find me? So you can rub my nose into the mess I made of things with my masquerade? You have no idea how much I regret the day I arrived in Mobile!” Her statement ended in a choked sob.
“No doubt your return trip will be just as regrettable."
“I'm not going back,” Laurie retorted.
“Oh, yes, you are,” Rian rasped out harshly. “Vera wants you to be at her wedding!"
“Wedding? Do you mean ... Is she marrying the Judge?” A tiny glow of happiness brought a sparkle to her jewel eyes.
“Yes,” with a savage snap. “And she expects my fiancée to be there."
There was a small pause as Laurie wished secretly that she could be there as a friend. “It's impossible,” she said aloud, knowing she could never stand up under the prolonged strain of being with Rian and not letting him see she loved him. “Take LaRaine. It's time she met your family, anyway."
“LaRaine be damned! It's you that Vera is expecting!"
“Make up a story, or tell the truth,” Laurie pleaded, her feet involuntarily carrying her closer to him. “We just can't keep up this pretence any longer."
“There was no pretence.” The shadows no longer hid his face and the piercing glare of his gaze unnerved her. “I offered you marriage."
“Yes, but marriage without any feelings between us,” she protested. Not until she saw the sudden tightening of his jaw did she realize her hands were resting against his chest in a beseeching gesture. They fluttered quickly to her side as the silence pounded as loudly as her heart.
“There was always something between us.” Rian's voice vibrated with barely controlled violence. The glitter in the depths of his eyes compelled her to meet his gaze even as Laurie tore herself away, more shaken by his steel-hard magnetism than was safe.
“No.” The tiny word of denial severed the thread that had held Rian in check.
The iron grip of his fingers closed over her throat, the brutal pressure pulling her against the hardness of his lean body. Yet there was no fear in her blue eyes as she gazed with aching desire into the savage brilliance of his forbidding face.
“I could kill you for the hell you've put me through,” Rian snarled. His gaze moved possessively over her face. There was the slightest lessening of the pressure of his fingers around her throat. His thumb rhythmically massaged the pulsating cord in her neck, his touch so sensually arousing that Laurie's eyelashes fluttered down to hide the heat waves he was sending through her. “You've haunted my days and possessed my nights until you've nearly driven me crazy with wanting you,” he declared hoarsely. “And then you say there was nothing between us."
His mouth closed over hers with punishing thoroughness. The glorious words Laurie had just heard were still ringing in her ears as she managed to return his kiss with equal fervour despite the fury that drove him to hurt. In the next moment she was crushed against his chest, Rian's lips burying themselves in the dark cloud of her hair.
“I won't let you go, Laurie,” he vowed hungrily. “I can't let you go! You're mine and, God help me, I can't live without you!"
“Rian, Rian,” she whispered, her whole being erupting with unbelievable happiness as she uncaringly bestowed kisses on his expertly tailored jacket concealing the heart that was thudding as wil
dly as hers beneath the expensive material. “Are you telling me you love me?” she asked breathlessly.
“Yes,” he groaned bitterly. “Yes, I love you. I worship you. The first time I touched you at the pool when I thought you were LaRaine something strange happened to me. I blamed the violence I felt on your deceit. But I kept wanting to touch you again, to hold you in my arms and destroy you the way you were slowly destroying me."
“Rian, stop!” Laurie cried, unable to bear the bitter torment in his voice any longer. But his hand closed over her mouth, halting any words of love she wanted to say.
“Doesn't it amuse you?” he sneered, staring down into her agonized expression. “Surely the taste of victory is sweet to know that you've brought Rian Montgomery to his knees!"
Mutely she shook her head in denial.
One moment Laurie was crushed against him, in the next she was free and Rian was standing with his back to her staring out the curtained window, wearily rubbing his hand along the back of his neck.
“Will you come to Mobile with me?” he asked quietly.
“I'll go to the North Pole with you, darling,” she answered just as quietly.
There was a moment of stillness when Rian froze at her words, then he pivoted swiftly around, staring at her in stunned disbelief. “What did you say?” torment in his dark, proud eyes as he braced himself for her retraction.
“I said I love you, Rian Montgomery,” Laurie replied, letting all her pent-up emotion shine for him alone. Then she was gliding into his arms, to be locked in a possessive embrace, returning the fire of his kiss with the white-hot flames of her own.
A considerable amount of time later, Rian held her away from him, withdrawing a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it with shaking fingers.
“As much as I would like to see you walking down the aisle of a church to me, I think we'd better get married before we fly back to Mobile,” he decreed.
“Yes, Rian,” Laurie agreed meekly, wrapped in the searing knowledge that he loved her.
“Laurie, why did you leave?” Even as he asked the question, his dark eyes were possessively exploring her face, reassuring himself of the love that glowed there for him.
