Love and Arson

by Woods, Karen

  “I must have been exceptionally young and naïve when I made that statement,” Jase replied, not removing his eyes from the court before him.

  “I believe we were all of twenty. As I recall, you had just broken my heart into a thousand pieces by telling me you wouldn’t marry me after you graduated from West Point.”

  Jase looked away from the court and at Sarah. “I don’t know why you’ve continued to put up with me all these years. I can be a real jerk at times.”

  “No,” Sarah disagreed mendaciously. “Whatever gave you that idea?”

  Jase shook his head.

  “Hmm,” Sarah continued, “You want to know why I put up with you?”

  Jase looked at his long time friend. “I’m almost afraid to hear this.”

  “You’re a good man, Jason Alexander Wilton. You’re funny and kind, most of the time. You’re good company, usually. And I can count on you to make up the numbers when I’m putting together a dinner party,” Sarah told him. “I guess I’ve always harbored the hope maybe, someday, you would change your mind about us. We get along so well. And there are far worse reasons to marry than friendship.”

  “Sarah, I...”

  “Don’t say anything, Jase. It’s not your fault I’ve pinned my hopes to something which isn’t going to happen. I don’t know whether to be happy for you, or to be sad. Do you think she could be seriously interested in God’s Gift to Women?”

  “She could be the best thing to ever happen to Steve.”

  “Or the worst thing to ever happen to you?”

  “Maybe both,” Jase admitted on a sigh.

  After a moment, when Jase had turned his attention back to the tennis game, Sarah continued, “Oh, Jase! Why don’t you just tell her how you feel about her?”

  “No comment, madam reporter.”

  “I wonder why that sounds familiar?” Sarah replied in amusement. “Could be she’s said virtually the same thing to me?”

  Jase looked at his friend, “You’ve asked her about me?”

  “It would be a match made in Heaven, or at least in Wall Street. It would do a good deal to consolidate your base of power at Devlin. As though you need to.”

  “Mind your own business, Sarah,” Jase said, without rancor, as Dani won game, set, and match without giving up even a single point to Steve. Jase couldn’t remember the last time Steve had been skunked so thoroughly. It was painfully obvious neither Steve nor Dani had played at less than their personal best.

  “Well,” Sarah stated, “Michelle is here. We’ve got the court next. At least with her, I stand a chance of winning. Unlike with Harry’s daughter. If you think she skunked Steve, you should’ve seen us play. I’ve never been so outmatched in my life.”

  “I believe it. I haven’t played Dani either. Now, I’m almost afraid to.”

  “Be afraid, be very afraid,” Sarah teased.

  “Have a good match,” Jase replied. “Do you have dinner plans?”

  “No. Not really,” Sarah said. “I’ve already checked in on my great aunt. Lucas is away on business. If I went home for dinner, it would consist of a sandwich or a nuked diet meal out of the freezer.”

  “How about having dinner with me in the clubhouse?”

  “That would be nice. See you after the match.”

  Steve, with a towel slung over his sweaty neck, came off the court, just as Sarah and Michelle took up their positions there. “Jase, your stepsister’s a tigress.”

  “She’s got the Devlin ruthlessness.”

  “Whew...more matches like that, and I’ll lose my reputation as a good tennis player,” Steve admitted, his tone the only dry thing about him, as sweat poured off his forehead. “God, she’s devastating.”

  “She’s younger than you are, and she’s always been a jock,” Jase dismissed.

  “Talking about me again?” Dani asked as she joined them.

  “Naturally. Steve was bemoaning the loss of his reputation,” Jase answered.

  Dani chuckled. “Well, I owed him a small dose of humiliation, after he rescued me from Buster the Dobie,” she teased. “The next time we play I won’t be quite as out for blood.”

  “You mean you’ll let me win?” Steve asked with a laugh.

  “I don’t think I’d go that far. I do hate to lose, at anything...Speaking of losing, it seems you owe me a steak dinner, and you better make it a big one. I worked up quite an appetite out there.”

  Steve smiled. “Did you? Good. Maybe the way to your heart is through feeding you? Why don’t you go make yourself even more gorgeous? No, that isn’t possible. You’re already incredibly beautiful. I’ll meet you in the dining room at the club house in half an hour?”

  Dani smiled. “Make it forty-five minutes. I need a little time to recuperate in the hot tub, and it will take a while to do something presentable with my hair.”

  Steve touched her face tenderly. “I shouldn’t have pushed you so hard.”

  She shook her head. “It’s no problem. You gave me one of the best matches I’ve had in recent years. I really had a good time. Thank you.”

  “That was entirely your pleasure, Dani,” Steve replied mischievously. “Forty-five minutes.”

  “Yeah. I’ll meet you in the bar,” Dani replied as she gathered her things in preparation for heading to the locker room. “See you later, Jase.”

  Jase nodded. “It was a good match, Dani.”

  “It was. One of these days, you and I will have to play,” Dani said.

  “So you can wipe the court with me, too?”

  “Can’t think of anything I’d like more. I owe you as well,” she told him with a smile and a wink just before she walked away.

  Jase looked at Steve. “You watch your step with her.”

  Steve smiled. “Dani is a wonderful woman, Jase.”

  “Yes, she is. She has a good heart. But, she’s had a hard life. I don’t intend to see her hurt any further, by anyone. That includes you,” Jase warned. “Don’t break her heart.”

  “I’ve asked her to marry me.”

  Jase looked at Steve for the longest moment. “You’ve what?”

  “You heard me. I asked Dani to be my wife.”

  “You’re not serious,” Jase replied.

  “Completely. I’ve started looking at houses for us.”

  “I didn’t even know you had been seeing each other.”

  “We haven’t been, really. Tonight is our actual first date.”

  “And you’ve proposed already?”

  “It’s a surprise to me, too. I never thought I could feel this way about any woman, not after Gwen...”

  “The question is how Dani feels about you.”

  “Yeah,” Steve admitted. “That’s the question. Has she said anything to you?”

  Jase grimaced and sighed. “She said she wasn’t taking you at face value, even though your face was quite appealing.”

  Steve laughed. “That sounds like Dani.”

  “It’s a quote,” Jase told him. “She also told Harry she isn’t interested in getting serious, that settling down isn’t on her agenda at the moment.”

  Steve sighed. “Well, I’ll just have to change her mind, won’t I?”

  Jase sighed. “Changing Dani’s mind is like demolishing a brick wall with a teaspoon. It can be done, maybe, but the effort required is absolutely outrageous.”

  Steve laughed. “She’s worth every bit of the effort.”

  “She’s been seriously burnt once, Steve. She’s awfully gun shy where men are concerned.”

  “I figured as much,” he said, with a nod, a long moment later. “Any hints about the best way to handle her will be appreciated.”

  “I don’t want to see you get hurt, either. You’ve been my friend since grammar school,” Jase admitted. “She’s Harry’s daughter. I’m in a very uncomfortable position. You don’t exactly have the best recent history with ladies. Her past isn’t lily white. That’s not something you may be able to live with, considering your ambitions. I do
n’t want to see either of you hurt if a romance goes badly between you. One way or the other, one of you may end up hurt, if this relationship develops between you.”

  “That’s life. There’s nothing without risk. Especially with women.”

  “I know.”

  “When Dani says ‘yes’, I want you to stand with me as my best man,” Steve said.

  Jase nodded slightly. “If she agrees, I’d be honored.”

  “Gotta go change. Promised Dani dinner and dancing.”

  “Don’t keep her out too late.”

  “That sounds like a big brother speaking.”

  “Doesn’t it, just?”

  Jase watched as his friend walked away. It might have sounded like a big brother, but as Sarah had seen, Jase realized his own feelings for Dani were anything but brotherly.

  An hour later, Jase and Sarah sat across the dining room from Steve and Dani. The other couple had danced while waiting for their dinner. Jase didn’t like the feeling of jealousy as he had watched Steve hold Dani close to him on the dance floor. He didn’t like it at all, but he recognized it for what it was — an attack of the green eyed monster.

  He couldn’t ever remember feeling jealous over any woman. He didn’t like being jealous over Dani. Jealousy would mean his feelings toward her were serious. Could he be in love with Harry’s daughter?

  The two of them, Steve and Dani, looked very good together. He knew how Steve felt about Dani. And from how closely she was letting Steve hold her, it was obvious she felt something for him, in spite of her statements to the contrary. Jase couldn’t imagine her letting anyone take ungranted liberties with her.

  “Jase,” Sarah said as they were served dessert, “do me a massive favor.”

  “If I can. What do you want?”

  “Don’t ask me to share dinner with you when your mind is elsewhere. You’ve been horrible company tonight.”

  “At least the food has been good.”

  “You could have been eating cardboard for all you knew. Your steak came medium well and you like it medium rare. You ate it anyway, seeming not to even taste it. You’ve been somewhere else all evening.”

  “I’m sorry. I’ve just been pre-occupied.”

  Sarah nodded. “If we weren’t such old friends, I might be offended. But I read you like a book. I can see the way you look at her.”

  Jase shook his head. “She’s Harry’s daughter. And in spite of her dinner date with Steve, she’s thinking about becoming a nun.”

  “Oh, Jase. I used to wish that someday, some woman would tie you up in knots the way you do to half the women you meet.”

  “You’ve got your wish.”

  “Somehow, it isn’t nearly as satisfying as I thought it would be.”

  “Things seldom are as satisfying as we anticipate them to be.”

  “Don’t go philosophical on me.”

  Jase smiled. “Would you like to dance, Sarah?”

  “For old times sake?”

  “No, just for friendship.”

  “Sure.”

  * * *

  From across the dining room, Gil Jermon watched as he had dinner with a client. But he hadn’t missed the way Jase Wilton was watching Harry’s daughter. There was something there, something that he could use if he had to.

  * * *

  “I’m going to ask you again, will you marry me, Mary Danielle Devlin?” Steve asked as they danced.

  “Usually, it’s the woman who wants to know where the relationship is going,” Dani hedged.

  “Look, Dani, I’ve been approached by some people wanting to know if I would be interested in a run for the Senate in the next election,” Steve explained. “I need a wife by my side, someone from a good Virginia family. Could you live a political life?”

  “Steve, is politics what you really want out of life?”

  “It’s one of two courses. If I let it out that I was willing, I could have a place on the federal bench. That could lead to a seat on the Supreme Court. But politics, as in legislating, does appeal to me, far more than sitting on the bench. I wouldn’t mind at all being a Senator from Virginia, with the goal of eventually becoming the President of the United States.”

  She sighed. She couldn’t think of anything to which she was less suited than a high profile public life. “No. Steve. I won’t marry you. You’re going places that I’d hold you back from. It wouldn’t be fair to you.”

  “I could strangle Edward Hastings with my bare hands for making you so cautious, for making you afraid to reach out and snatch up what’s being offered to you,” Steve replied fiercely in a low voice that carried no further than Dani’s own ears.

  “I simply don’t love you in the way a woman should love the man she marries. I like you. I value what may turn out to be a close and abiding friendship between us. I don’t love you. I like spending time with you. But the sight of you doesn’t make my heart go pitter-pat. I don’t find myself unable to concentrate when you’re near me. There’s no chemistry here on my part. That’s not going to change. You deserve better than a woman who doesn’t love you with all her heart. There’s a woman out there, somewhere for you. But I’m not her. I am sorry, Steve.”

  Steve brushed a light kiss across her temple. “I guess that’s final, huh?”

  “About as final as it gets. Can we still be friends?”

  “Just try to get rid of me.”

  “Frankly, I’d rather not. Friends, real friends, are too hard to come by.”

  When Steve and Dani had returned to their table, a distinguished looking older man came over to them. “Hello, Steven.”

  “General Matthews,” Steve acknowledged with respect in his voice. “Sir, may I present Miss Devlin. Dani, General Nathan Matthews.”

  The general pulled up a chair without being invited to do so. “Miss Devlin, may I call you Dani?”

  “Of course.”

  “I’m in charge of Westfield Military Academy, as this young man will tell you. We’re in desperate need of a tennis coach for the upcoming year. I saw you trounce this young man earlier tonight. Well done, Miss Devlin. You have my profound respect. We, at Westfield, also need a track and field coach. As well as a fine arts instructor. I’ve been given to understand you have art teaching credentials and experience in both areas of coaching. Any or all of those positions are yours for the upcoming school year, if you want them.”

  Dani smiled. “Thank you, General. Lyn already offered me the teaching job. I’ve just received the paperwork approving my application for a teaching license in Virginia. I’d like to have a tour of the school and look at the contract before giving my answer to that job offer.”

  “Certainly. I’d be delighted to show you around. Call out to the school one day, and we’ll see you have a tour,” he invited.

  “Thank you. How’s tomorrow afternoon for you? I can come over to the school after Hank Douglass’s funeral.”

  “Perfect,” the general replied. “Now, Steven, the hour has passed ten. Don’t you think it’s time you take her back to her father’s house?”

  Steve laughed as he looked at Dani. “You have to learn with this old man his bite is much worse than his bark. When he phrases something like that, it’s an order, not a suggestion. And if you don’t fall in line, he’ll make life miserable for you.”

  Dani laughed. “Sounds like some other people I know. Thanks again for the job offer. I’ll keep it in mind. But, Steve doesn’t have to take me anywhere. I came in my own car and am perfectly capable of getting myself home.”

  “Modern women,” he dismissed with a laugh. “I will see you tomorrow,” the general reminded her.

  “Yes. Thank you, Sir.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Jase just finished swimming his mile when he saw Dani come out onto the pool deck wearing her swim suit and carrying a terry robe. “Swimming after the workout on the tennis courts?” he asked from the side of the pool.

  Dani looked at him and shrugged. “No. Thought I’d take a sauna
.”

  Jase pulled himself out of the pool. “That sounds like a good idea. I think I’ll join you, if you don’t mind?”

  “It’s still a free country, last I checked.”

  The quiet between them was companionable for several minutes as they sat inside the very hot redwood enclosure. Jase looked at her as she semireclined on the bench across the room from him. Her blue one piece suit was about as modest as a swimsuit could get. Yet, his temperature was up several degrees, and it wasn’t from the superheated rocks or the steam. Her eyes were closed. He threw some water onto the superheated rocks. A cloud of steam rose with a hiss.

  “So,” Jase asked, “have you and Steve set a wedding date?”

  She sat up as though his words had shocked her. “No, and we aren’t going to. I told him I wouldn’t marry him,” Dani replied. “How did you know that he’d asked me?”

  “Steve asked me to be his best man,” Jase replied.

  Dani shook her head. “Oh, God...I’m sorry, Jase...I thought he’d have better sense than to go making plans.”

  “Why did you refuse him, Dani?” Jase asked. “He really cares about you.”

  “Excuse me,” she said as the timer rang.

  Jase followed her out of the sauna onto the patio. “Do you love Steve, Dani?”

  She turned to face him as she toweled off. “What’s love got to do with anything?” she replied. “I don’t fit into the life he wants. Give me credit for being that practical. Politics are a rough business. A dirty campaigner could smear Steve from here to next Christmas just on my personal history. He’s got too much to give to let him be held back because of his association with me. He needs a woman who can be good for him, not one he’ll come to hate because she holds him back from what he wants.”

  Jase looked at her for a long moment. She cares for him, a lot, Jase thought with a sinking heart. “For what it’s worth, Dani, I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah...Thanks...” she said as she pulled on her floor length terry robe and fastened the belt.

  “I’m going to make myself some tea. You want some?” he offered as he threw on his own robe.

  “I’m not very good company tonight, Jase. I’ll see you in the morning.”