by Judy Duarte
She smiled to herself. Maybe he’d just have to try a little harder now. Seeing him give his all could prove…rewarding.
“What’s so amusing?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
He raised one ebony eyebrow in question.
“A girl can have her secrets, can’t she?” She chuckled at that because it sounded so ridiculous to her own ears. But her pathetic attempt at flirting must have been pretty good because he smiled, too, and his gaze traveled her face and hair in an altogether appreciative and intriguing way.
Lisa had been determined to break out of her timid, boring self and become someone confident and exciting. So far so good. She had him fooled, anyway.
What would someone named Lily Divine do if she was finally given the chance to stir things up with a man she’d had the hots for since adolescence? Okay, not the hots necessarily. Back then it had been an innocent unrequited yearning. Now it was the hots.
Well, someone confident like Lily would probably cast inhibition to the wind and grab opportunity with both fists. “Do you want dessert?” she asked.
“Do you?”
“I have brownies, ice cream and fudge topping at my place.”
A grin tilted his lips, drawing her attention to their shape. “More wine?”
The bottle was empty. She wanted to remember the rest of the evening. “Better not. I can’t feel my nose.”
He signaled to their waiter, signed for the check and accompanied her to the door.
It was full dark now, a luminous crescent moon bright in the summer sky. Riley placed his hand in the small of her back as they walked toward the car. The warmth of his touch suffused the fabric of her dress and ignited another glow inside her.
They reached the red Jaguar, and Lisa heard the whir of a camera. Riley had opened her door and she turned to face him, standing in the minimal space between his body and the interior. “Maybe my place isn’t such a good idea,” she said, and her disappointment was sincere. “I have to think about tomorrow’s headlines.”
“What about the ice cream? And the journals?” he asked.
She shrugged.
“I can lose those guys. And I know of someplace private.”
“Where?”
He leaned close so he couldn’t possibly be overheard. “I have a cabin outside town. No one except family knows about it.”
His whisper created goose bumps down her arms and across her shoulders. She looked up at him in the moonlight. “Then you’d better go back in and order dessert to go.”
A grin spread across his face and he ushered her onto the seat. He was only gone a few minutes. She’d seen the way the staff catered to him. They’d probably run for the dessert.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Chocolate-raspberry truffle sound all right?”
She groaned. Chocolate bribes were a no-fail tactic with a woman like her.
He chuckled and started the car.
Within minutes he’d led the news vans away from town and was driving north on Thunder Canyon Road. He sped up, signaled as though he was turning toward his ranch, then quickly turned off the headlights and traveled straight ahead.
“How can you see?” she asked.
“I know where I’m going.”
“You’d better tell me you can see. This is making me nervous.”
“Just a little farther and I’ll turn the lights back on.” He approached a row of trees, which must have been what he was looking for, turned onto a side road and stopped. He turned off the engine and got out.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m checking to make sure no one is following us.”
She had known him in high school. His family had been respected—as well as resented—in this town for over a hundred years. She didn’t think there’d been any serial killers in the Douglas line, but she probably should have checked before coming out in the wilderness with him.
He walked behind the car and returned after a few minutes. “Okay, we lost them.”
After turning the headlights back on, he drove back onto the road, traveled what she thought was north for another twenty or thirty minutes, then took a left turn and headed along a dirt road lined with trees and tall grass. A deer sprang out of the foliage, and Riley braked until the animal bounded from sight.
Lisa was lost now, couldn’t have found her way back alone, and she’d seen too many movies to not have a twinge of discomfort at her predicament. “Where are we?”
“Northwest of our ranch.”
Finally he drove into a clearing where a well and a couple of shingle-sided outbuildings stood. He pulled directly in front of double doors, then got out to open them, and Lisa peered into the garage-like structure. He drove in, turned off the engine and grabbed the carryout bag.
After locking the place, he led her up a lighted stairway.
“This is darker than the mine,” she said. She seemed willing to let this man take her anywhere. Why was that?
“We’ll be upstairs in a minute.” He took her hand, and most of her doubts dissolved at the warm, strong touch. Lily wouldn’t have had second thoughts about this adventure. Lisa wasn’t going to let cold feet put crazy thoughts in her head. At the top was a landing and another door, and he opened it, guiding her into a dark room.
Riley stretched her arm as he groped for something, and a moment later fluorescent lights came on.
Lisa blinked. They stood in a kitchen. A well-appointed kitchen with stainless-steel appliances, wood flooring and a pine table and chairs. The open floor plan revealed a living area with comfortable sofas and chairs and a stone fireplace. Probably not someplace a serial killer would take his victims. Besides, dozens of people had seen them together tonight and even more would see their pictures tomorrow. “This is your cabin?”
“It’s made of logs.”
So it was. “How can it be that no one knows this place is here? Who built it? And delivered the furniture?”
“I hired an out-of-state builder. Brought the furnishings in myself.”
“The appliances, too?”
“Remember me mentioning my financial advisor, Phil Wagner?”
“Yes.”
“He’s a friend. He helped. He uses the place whenever he wants.”
Money will buy just about anything, she thought to herself. Even respectability. Anonymity. “If I asked you to take me home right this minute, what would you say?”
“Before dessert?”
She grinned. She’d had to double-check, after all. “You have newfangled plumbing in this rustic place?”
“There’s a tiny bathroom in that hall right there, another bath through a suite of rooms you’ll see on your left.”
Size didn’t matter right this moment. She found the closest functional room and minutes later felt much better. In the maple-framed mirror Lisa studied a reflection she wasn’t used to confronting yet. Just seeing her new self reinforced her confidence. No wonder Riley looked at her differently. No wonder she felt so different. The new and improved Lisa was a force to be reckoned with. A chick with a life.
All the hard work that had gone into straightening her hair, selecting her clothing and putting together her new look had been worth the time and effort.
She wasn’t sitting home sharing snacks with her dogs tonight. As soon as that thought surfaced, she experienced a twinge of guilt. Sorry, boys. She really liked those nights, too. But tonight was her night to shine. Riley was sniffing out more than popcorn, and she was liking it.
Returning to the other room, she discovered Riley had softened the lighting and made coffee. Chocolate-raspberry truffle waited on two small white plates.
“I have a sauvignon dessert wine if you’d prefer,” he offered.
“No, the coffee smells really good.”
“Have a seat and I’ll pour us each a cup.”
He brought two mugs of steaming coffee and sat them on the low table.
Lisa savored her dessert, momentarily clos
ing her eyes and indulging. “This is incredible. Have you had it before?”
“No.” He observed her with a mixture of awe and uncertainty that she took pleasure in knowing she inspired. One of the reasons she didn’t want to drink any more was that she already felt as if she was watching a bold new Lisa living her life. It was an odd feeling, but the impression was liberating. The times, they were achangin’, and she had to catch up with them.
“So,” she said to break the silence that had stretched. “Only your family knows about this place.”
“And Phil.”
“And your friend, Phil. Does your family drop by? Use the cabin?”
He finished the bite he’d taken. “No, none of them drop by. Or use the cabin.”
“How big is your family?” She didn’t recall him having any brothers or sisters.
“My mom’s from a large family, so I have a lot of aunts and uncles. When they visit my mom, they stay at the big house at the ranch. I have an adopted sister, Katie.”
“Are you close to her?”
“Always was. She married at the first of the year.”
Lisa heard something peculiar in Riley’s tone when he spoke of his adopted sister’s marriage. “Do I sense some tension there?”
“You didn’t read about Katie and Justin Caldwell? Or see them on the news?”
“You mean Katie Fenton, the librarian? I know her from the library, and yes, I read about her playing the mail-order bride in this year’s Heritage Day celebration. Someone stepped in to play the groom because Ben Saunders was sick. Some big-business type from out of town. They got snowed in together at the museum.”
“That was Justin.”
“Oh.”
“Come to find out Justin was in town to get back at my father for using and discarding his mother—and then turning his back on Justin.”
Lisa didn’t understand his meaning, so she waited for Riley to explain, if he was going to. Her brain was probably still a little dulled from the wine.
“Seems my mother had a difficult time when I was born. She found out she couldn’t have more children and she got depressed. She was too disturbed to properly care for me. And she turned my father away. He in turn took his interest elsewhere and got Justin’s mother pregnant.”
“Oh.” She was sure that wasn’t an insightful response, but his disclosure caught her by surprise. “So…Justin Caldwell is your brother.”
“Half,” he clarified. “He undermined us with the investors we had secured for the ski resort and took control away from my father. Then he told him who he was and why he’d done it.”
“That was deceitful.”
“He thought he had his reasons.”
“You’re defending him?”
“No. He did that as retribution for things he felt were done wrong against himself and his mother. It was a terrible time for my father—and for my mother when she learned the truth. Our family suffered because of it.”
“I’m sure there wouldn’t have been a good way for you and your mother to find out.”
“You’re right about that.”
“Adele is a lovely woman and she’s always been very kind to me. That’s more than I can say for a lot of people in this town.”
“My father locked himself in his study and wouldn’t talk to me or my mother. It was only Katie he allowed in, and she’s the one he told the whole sordid story to.”
The hurt in that disclosure was obvious.
“He had given Justin’s mother half a million dollars so that he could keep the baby. But she took Justin and the money and disappeared. Caleb wanted Justin to know he wanted him and asked Katie to get him to listen.”
“The whole thing must have been awful for you,” she said.
He shrugged as though it was of little consequence. “I give Justin credit for doing right in the end. When he learned that my father did care, he ended up turning control of the ski resort back over.”
“So the two of you are on good terms?”
“We’re okay.”
“What about Justin and your father?”
“Hell, they’re golf buddies.”
“And your mother?”
“She’s accepted Justin. His birth wasn’t his fault.”
“Neither was yours.”
He looked aside at that remark. “I’ve never talked about this before.”
She could understand why. “You managed to keep most of this out of the news, obviously. I don’t remember reading anything about it.”
“No one really knew what went on, and my father certainly didn’t want the truth made public. He gave enough information to satisfy them and not enough to paint himself in a bad light.”
“But he’s recognized Justin as his son?”
“Yes. ‘From a previous marriage’ was the slant the papers got when the story finally broke.”
“But he’s not older than you.”
“He wasn’t born here, and since no one doubted the truth, the facts weren’t checked. Suits the Douglas family.”
Lisa sipped the dark brew. “This is incredible coffee.”
“It’s a blend Marge orders for me.” He stood and removed his jacket. “Want to take another cup and sit outdoors? The porch is pretty high above the foliage, so it’s usually free of mosquitoes.”
The porch extended along two sides of the cabin and was furnished with comfortably padded chairs and chaise lounges. The half moon offered a silvered view of treetops and dark distant mountains. Fireflies dotted the landscape and frogs chirped. Lisa stood at the railing and gazed out into the darkness. The seclusion and cocooning silence lent a sense of peace to what had been unusually crazy days.
“It’s a fantastic view in the daylight,” he said.
“I’ll bet the boys would love it here. They’d chase squirrels and rabbits to their hearts’ content.”
“You’re welcome to use the place anytime. Bring them and hide out if you like.”
“I’d never be able to find it.”
“I’d show you.” His voice came from right behind her. “Think about it.”
“You’re always giving me things to think about.”
“I have good ideas.”
She turned to find him studying her. The light from the front windows illuminated his features. Her heart fluttered unexpectedly. Just nerves, she thought to herself.
Lisa could count on one hand the number of dates she’d had in her life. Each one had been awkward and the conversation had been stilted, and she felt exactly the same way now as she had on those occasions: out of place. Was this a date? What did couples say to each other?
Her heart sped up. What did more-than-dating couples say to each other? She couldn’t imagine. She’d watched a hundred movies in which the man and woman flirted and talked and ended up in bed together, but movies were fantasy, and though she loved those cinematic escapes, she was grounded firmly in reality.
What would Meg Ryan say to Tom Hanks right now? What would Kathleen Turner say to Michael Douglas?
“What’s your favorite movie?”
He glanced toward the mountains, then back at her. “I don’t watch a whole lot of movies.”
“You don’t?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. Just don’t take time.”
“But you’ve seen movies.”
“Of course.”
“Then what’s your favorite from those you’ve seen?”
He shrugged, seeming almost uncomfortable at being asked.
“What came to mind when I asked?”
“Platoon.”
Lisa resisted wrinkling her nose. She hated war movies.
“What’s your favorite movie?” he asked.
“I have a lot of favorites. A whole case of them, as a matter of fact.”
“You made me pick one.”
“Okay,” she conceded. “Roman Holiday.”
“Audrey Hepburn?”
She nodded. “And G
regory Peck.”
“What’s so appealing about it?”
She thought it over. “The heroine escapes her real life and has an adventure with no one knowing her true identity.”
“I see the appeal.”
“You do? Have you ever thought you’d like to be someone else for a while?”
“Not really.”
“Too practical to have fantasies like that, huh?”
He touched her bare arm and a shiver darted up her spine. “Nothing wrong with fantasies,” he said.
Lisa closed her eyes and heard the thump of her heart. Felt the chug of her blood in her veins and the heat of his hand on her arm. What would Lily say now?
He ran his palm up her arm, found her collarbone with one finger and stroked it.
Lily probably wouldn’t waste time talking. Or even thinking.
Lisa opened her eyes and deliberately stepped into Riley’s arms.
Chapter Seven
Lisa had never known there were kisses like this outside the movies. His lips on hers awakened a need that had been dormant inside her for a long, long time. It was easy to press uncertainty aside and lose herself in the sensations. He was warm. And strong. But she didn’t delude herself that he felt anything for her. She wouldn’t even let herself wonder if he felt the same flooding warmth and physical hunger she did at this moment, because she didn’t want to spoil her fantasy come true.
Riley parted her lips and curled his tongue against hers in a deep, mind-drugging foray. Lisa slid her hands up along the hard, warm plane of his shirt front, wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his.
This evening, this moment, in Riley’s arms she felt desirable for the first time. She wanted to sink all the way into this experience, to finally know passion and feel good about herself.
With one palm she framed his jaw. The unfamiliar texture of his cheek sent a jolt of excitement through her nerve endings. He turned into her touch and kissed her palm, his mouth hot and wet and more erotic than anything she’d ever known.
With both hands she bracketed his face and pulled his mouth back to hers for another staggering kiss.
Riley flattened one hand on her spine. With the other he rubbed her shoulder blade, stroked her bare arm and then cupped her breast. Her nipples were taut and her body thrummed with tense awareness. She wished she wasn’t wearing this bra. Lisa felt exhilarated and sluggish at the same time and she didn’t know how long she could stand on her own.
