by Joan Wolf
“It’s not black-tie if that’s what’s worrying you.” Jay sounded irritated.
Mary Anne’s voice was more pleasant. “It isn’t formal, Caroline. Any kind of a nice dress will do.”
“I did bring my trusty white jersey,” Caroline told Mary Anne. “I’ve had it for years, but it still looks presentable. If I put some pearls on, it should be okay.”
“Terrific!” Joe beamed. “We can all drive in together tomorrow then.”
“What about Mary Anne’s dress?” Jay was the only one who hadn’t smiled at all during this conversation.
Mary Anne laughed. “I brought it with me. Your father insisted.”
Jay stared at his father’s genial face. “You think of everything, Dad.”
His father’s eyes gleamed. “I aim to please.”
Jay grunted and went back to eating his dinner.
They left for Sheridan early the following evening. Caroline was the last one ready, and she was conscious of all their eyes on her as she swiftly descended the stairs. “Sorry,” she said. “I couldn’t find my earrings.”
“My, my, my,” said Joe admiringly.
“Is that your trusty old dress?” asked Mary Anne.
“It’s traveled around with me for years,” Caroline said with perfect truth. “It packs like a dream.”
Jay put his hands into his pockets and stared at his stepsister. The dress in question was an ivory jersey, long-sleeved and long-waisted, with a soft full skirt. It had a deeply scooped neck that showed a tantalizing hint of cleavage. Jay was surprised by those high, full breasts, so apparent under the soft jersey material. She was so slim that such voluptuousness was unexpected. He realized suddenly that he was staring at her chest and raised his eyes to her face.
She was flashing a gay, radiant smile to Mary Anne. “Your dress is super,” she said. “I love the color.”
Jay looked at Mary Anne as well. She did indeed look charming, her pretty, vivacious face bright with expectation, her small figure bright in turquoise quiana. It was a new dress, he realized, bought especially for tonight’s dance. It had come, he knew unerringly, from the largest department store in Sheridan. His eyes traveled back to his stepsister.
Caroline’s glorious hair was brushed back off her face and fell in a shining cloud around her shoulders. The light from the overhead fixture played on the exquisite bones of her face arid made her honey-colored skin seem to glow. He realized he was staring at her face and dragged his eyes away, downward, toward the floor.
It was the first time he had ever seen her legs. Always before she had worn jeans or slacks. Like the rest of her, they were long and slim and elegant. He looked at the high-arched feet in their frivolous straps of leather, at the almost fragile tendon of the ankle.
Mary Anne was speaking to him. “I beg your pardon?” he said.
“Doesn’t Caroline look pretty?” she asked him.
He looked once again from his date to his stepsister. Caroline’s dress, he reckoned, had cost at least a thousand dollars. Poor Mary Anne. How could she hope to compete with that? How could any woman who wasn’t an Eastern heiress?
“Yeah,” he said. “Very pretty. Let’s get going, shall we?”
“I think I left the car keys upstairs,” Joe muttered, patting his pocket. “I’ll be right back.”
As he went up the stairs, Caroline turned and looked at her stepbrother. He was wearing a light-gray suit, white shirt, and conservative striped tie. The suit, Caroline recognized instantly, was very expensive. It fit him perfectly. He moved impatiently over to the fireplace and leaned against the wall. His suit jacket was open. Caroline stared for a minute at the width of his shoulders, the lean outline of his hips under the well-tailored gray trousers. “You’re looking very elegant,” she said coolly.
He gave her a look of unmistakable dislike. “I occasionally wear something other than dungarees,” he said sourly.
Mary Anne gave him a quick look and turned to Caroline. “We do have some cultural life in Wyoming, Caroline,” she said with a friendly smile. “Why, there’s even a symphony orchestra in Cheyenne.”
Jay’s face looked sardonic as his eyes held Caroline’s. “Doesn’t that sound enticing?”
Their eyes were locked in mutual combat over Mary Anne’s innocent head. “Music is wonderful,” said Caroline, “but my real love is ballet.”
“Ballet,” he repeated with loathing.
“Yes. Have you ever seen one?”
“No.”
“You’d enjoy it. A great athlete like you,” her husky voice dripped honey and sarcasm, “would really appreciate the physical difficulty of it.”
“Jay was quarterback for two years at the university in Laramie,” Mary Anne said proudly.
“Quarterback.” Caroline looked from Mary Anne back to her stepbrother. “I see. I didn’t think you had the build of a football player.”
“Got ‘em!” said Joe from the stairs. They went out of the house and over to the drive, where the station wagon was parked. Joe handed the keys to his son. “You drive,” he said. He opened the back door for Caroline. “And not too fast!”
Jay grinned. “Yes sir,” he said and helped Mary Anne into the front seat before he went around to slide behind the wheel.
Caroline thought of the road into Sheridan and looked at Joe in some alarm. The rancher smiled at her. “Don’t you worry, Caroline. He’s actually a very good driver. Dammit, he should be. He’s been driving since he was twelve.”
“Twelve,” Caroline repeated blankly.
“Yep.” Joe leaned back against his seat and looked at her. “Now,” he said, “you tell me all about your job. I want to know what those Eastern senators will be up to next.”
Chapter Six
The dance was held in the most elegant hotel in Sheridan, and it attracted all of the more important citizens of that small city. Joe took Caroline in charge and introduced her around. Everyone was pleasant, and Caroline soon found herself enjoying the dance very much. She danced with a variety of men, both young and old, and at one point found herself sitting out on the terrace with Dr. Underwood, the local veterinarian. He was a man of about fifty-five, strong and burly, and Caroline found his tales of animal life in Wyoming absolutely fascinating.
She was glad to get away from the ballroom for a while. The dance had been in progress for over two hours, and Jay had never once come near her. He danced several times with Mary Anne and then began to move around the big room, pausing at first one group of people and then another, stopping for a short conversation, an amusing remark, and then moving on. Caroline found herself admiring the way he moved, so quick and sure. Then she was annoyed with herself for noticing him. Then she was annoyed with him for not noticing her. And the more annoyed she got the more brilliantly she smiled and the more bedazzled the young lawyer who had followed her to the terrace became.
Caroline had laid a hand lightly on the bedazzled one’s sleeve and was giving him the full benefit of her splendid gray-green eyes when Jay came up behind her. “I hate to break up this touching picture,” he said sarcastically, “but how about giving me a dance, Caroline?”
She didn’t remove her hand, but the radiance left her face and the expression in her eyes cooled noticeably. “You ask so persuasively,” she said, “how can I refuse?”
He stared pointedly at her hand. It was not the sort of hand one would expect of a girl of Caroline’s present elegance. It was square and short-nailed, a boy’s hand wearing a very lovely aquamarine ring. Caroline removed it from the lawyer’s arm and smiled at him. “Will you excuse me, Dan? Duty calls.”
The look Dan Masters gave Jay was not friendly. “Sure, Caroline,” he said. “I’ll see you later.”
Caroline moved onto the dance floor among the other dancing couples, and her stepbrother took her in his arms. He grasped her lightly in a hold that was almost brotherly. The emotions that his touch set off in Caroline, however, were not at all sisterly.
“Did Joe g
ive you orders to dance with me?” she asked sweetly.
In the soft light of the chandelier the dark-blue eyes were opaque as they studied her face. “Of course. Dad has always stayed after me about my manners.”
“It’s a pity he wasted his time,” she returned smoothly.
“Is it?” There was a pause as he turned her and began to move her back across the floor. “You, on the other hand, have wonderful manners,” he said then. “One would think to watch you that you were having the time of your life.”
“I was enjoying myself,” she answered, stressing the past tense.
He was holding her a good six inches away from him, so she was able to see his face clearly and was gratified to notice a muscle twitch next to his mouth. That last barb had gotten him.
“Oops. Sorry, Jay.” The burly vet and his wife had collided with them, and Caroline found herself pushed against her stepbrother. For a moment her breasts were crushed against the hard wall of his chest and his arms tightened around her instinctively.
“That’s okay, Sam,” Jay said, and after a minute his arms loosened. “Are you all right, Caroline?”
“Yes.” Her voice sounded breathless to her own ears.
They finished the rest of the dance in silence and ended up standing by the patio doors. “Do you want to get some air?” he asked jerkily, and she nodded and preceded him out to the terrace.
No one else was outside, and she went to stand by the wrought-iron railing. A pleasant breeze stirred her hair, which she had carefully feathered back from her face and allowed to fall loosely past her shoulders. Jay came to stand next to her.
“Why don’t you lay off poor Dan?” he asked after a moment. “He’s not in your league, Caroline.”
“Shut up,” she said. “You don’t know anything about me, so just shut up.” Her voice was husky with emotion.
“I know enough. You come in here, in your designer dress, queening it over everyone ...”
Caroline swung around until she faced him, her eyes glittering with anger. “Why don’t you grow up, little boy?” she said deliberately, cruelly. “I’m not your mother.”
There was a breathless moment of stunned silence, and then his eyes moved over her body with arrogant frankness, lingering on the revealing swell of her breasts beneath the fine ivory jersey, moving to the slender curve of her hips, “No,” he said with brutal insolence, “you’re certainly not my mother.”
Caroline’s breath caught with shock, but she refused to be intimidated. “May I put my clothes back on now?” she asked tautly, and his eyes met hers.
“You’re a gorgeous bitch, and I don’t like you,” he said. His beautiful mouth was set in a very grim line and his long lashes were half-closed, concealing the expression in his eyes.
But Caroline knew what those lashes were hiding. His mind was closed against her, but the rest of him felt what she was feeling. Quite suddenly Caroline wanted to break the control he had been so carefully exercising where she was concerned. She could reach the male animal in him even if she couldn’t reach anything else. She stepped close to him. In her high-heeled sandals she stood five-ten, only a few inches shorter than he was. Their faces were very close. “Jay,” she said softly and put her hands on his shoulders.
Her breasts were just touching him. “I don’t like you either.”
The result of her action was almost instantaneous. He locked his arms around her and bent his head. It was the most aggressive kiss Caroline had ever had to deal with. His mouth on hers was hard, bruising, punishing, just as his chest was hard against her breasts, the muscles of his shoulders hard under her hands. He was a tough, angry male, and Caroline was thoroughly shaken by the ruthless brutality of him. She struggled to pull free, and after a minute he let her go. Her lips felt bruised. She backed off from him until she felt the rail behind her. Then she turned and stared out at the pool. “Go away,” she said in a deep, shaken voice. After a minute she heard his steps on the concrete, and then the terrace door closed. She was alone.
Caroline licked her lips and tried to stop shaking. In all of her previous relationships with men, she had been the one in control, the one who called all the shots. For the first time she was getting a taste of what it felt like to be on the other side.
Her knees were shaking, and she sat down on one of the terrace chairs. She was profoundly upset. What was happening to her?
The terrace door opened again, and Caroline started and looked around apprehensively. It was Jay, and he was carrying her purse. “Here.” He handed it to her. “You’d better repair the damages before you put in another appearance.”
Wordlessly she accepted the small silver envelope from him. She put it on her lap and stared at it, waiting for him to go.
“Caroline ...” He sounded weary, bitter. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
She shrugged, her eyes still on her lap. “I shouldn’t have provoked you.” Caroline prided herself on her fairness.
“No.” His voice sounded muffled, and she glanced at him. He was rubbing his hand across his face. She opened her purse and took out a small handkerchief, which she held to her lip.
“Christ!” The word was like an explosion. There was a pause and then he spoke again, more calmly now, though with obvious effort. “Look, Caroline, you and I clearly are not hitting it off. Why don’t you go home?”
Caroline put her handkerchief away and took out her lipstick. “Wednesday,” she said. “I’ll say on Tuesday that the office called and they need me back.”
“That would be best.” His voice held absolutely no expression.
“I think so.” She took the top off her lipstick, but her hands were still shaking too much for her to put it on. She felt tears sting her eyes, and she bent her head. “Damn,” she muttered.
He took a step toward her and then stopped. He swore under his breath and then turned on his heel. “I’ll see you later,” he said, and once again she was alone on the terrace.
After a few minutes she tried her lipstick again and this time managed to put it on. Then she stood up, squared her shoulders, and went back into the ballroom.
Jay was dancing with Mary Anne. Caroline’s eyes found him immediately, drawn to him as irresistibly as a piece of metal to a magnet. Mary Anne’s cheek was pressed against his shoulder, and they were dancing slowly, closely. Over the dark head of the girl in his arms, her stepbrother’s eyes met hers. Caroline turned abruptly away and in less than half a minute had been claimed by Dan Masters.
She got through the rest of the dance on sheer nerves. For the last forty-five minutes she sought out Joe and remained strictly under the protection of his company. She did not come within twenty feet of Jay until they went out to the station wagon for the return trip to the ranch. Mary Anne was not with them, as she was returning home with her parents. She had invited Caroline to come into town to meet her for lunch one day, and Caroline had promised to call her.
Joe held the front door of the station wagon for Caroline, and she glanced at him a little nervously, hoping he was planning to drive home. But it was Jay who slid behind the wheel. He put the car into gear, backed out, and started down the street. “They had a good crowd,” he said over his shoulder to his father.
“Yep. Did you talk to Donald Barnes?”
“I did.” Jay’s voice sounded very grave.
“We haven’t had one of those things to worry about for a while.”
“No. Let’s hope they get him before he moves onto our range.”
“Get what?” asked Caroline.
Jay’s profile was impassive. “Mountain lion up by Montana,” he said. “Donald got a call from his brother-in-law. The cat’s killed a whole lot of cattle, and it looks like he’s headed this way.”
“A mountain lion,” Caroline repeated. “Dear God.”
“Yeah,” said Joe. “One lion can account for a hell of a lot of cattle if he’s a mind to.”
“Is there a hunt out for him?” Caroline asked.
<
br /> “There is, and I hope they get him. But just in case ...” The big rancher trailed off meaningfully.
Jay grunted. “I’ll alert the men. We’ll be ready to go if we have to.”
Caroline’s throat felt dry. “Will you go after it, then?” she asked her stepbrother.
“May have to. If it moves this way.”
“Jay’s the best shot in the county,” Joe said with simple pride.
“Oh.” Caroline watched the shadowy profile of the man next to her. “Do mountain lions attack humans?” she asked after a little.
She could see the white gleam of his teeth. “Not usually,” he said.
“Oh,” Caroline said again.
He laughed. “Are you worried about me?”
“No. I’m worried about the lion.” Her voice was very gentle. “I hate to see an animal die of food poisoning. It’s so painful.”
There was a minute’s silence and then Joe chuckled. “I think you’ve just been insulted, son.”
“And by an expert.” Jay sounded amused. “Don’t worry, Caroline. No mountain lion is going to get close enough to take a bite out of me.”
“The ASPCA will be so pleased.”
“Wait a minute!” said Joe. “You two are beginning to sound as if you were brother and sister.”
At this very unperceptive comment, Jay and Caroline exchanged an involuntary glance. Brother and sister, Caroline thought. Dear God.
“Um, Joe,” she said after a minute of silence. “I did so enjoy talking to Dr. Underwood. He had a million stories—though none of them were about mountain lions.”
“He’s a grand person,” said Joe, diverted as she had intended he should be. There was a faint smile on Jay’s lips as he glanced at her, but he contributed little to the conversation, seemingly intent on guiding the station wagon along the mountain road.
They arrived home quite late, and Caroline was tired when she finally crawled into bed. She did not go to sleep right away, however, but lay awake for a long time, her mind a chaotic whirl of thought and emotion. Finally she got out of bed and went to sit by her window, wrapped in a blanket against the chill of an early Wyoming morning.
