She ran toward one of them and then realized she had no purse.
“Georgia!”
It was Carson coming after her.
She ran to the first limo. It wasn’t Carson’s. What was she doing? She couldn’t commandeer someone else’s limo.
“Georgia,” Carson said, a lot less urgent. He was right behind her.
She turned around, leaning against the back door of the limo, and reluctantly looked at him. Her whole body still shook from their kiss. The internal chaos that stirred was too wild for her to corral.
She looked toward the estate. The need to flee was so strong she felt irrational. She had to get away from here. Now.
Chapter 7
Carson saw the wildness in Georgia’s eyes and in the way her hands flattened against the sleek, black limousine and didn’t step any closer. She was about to run. She was a vision in the dress, a stunning creature. Leaning against the limo, she was so beautiful it stole his breath. Some of her dark red hair had come free of her hairdo and now fell untamed along her face and décolletage.
There had to be more going on to cause her to react like this. More than her issue with rich people.
“Kate’s limo is right there.” He pointed to the limo ahead of this one. “Why don’t we go somewhere and talk.”
She started to shake her head.
Taking a chance, he stepped forward and reached for her hand. “Come on. It’s okay.”
She eyed him and then looked toward the estate again.
“I’ll get you away from here.” He took her hand and gently coaxed her to go with him.
She didn’t fight him, some of the wildness leaving her eyes. That kiss had sure spooked her. He wanted to know why.
At the limo, the driver had already spotted them and had the door open. He mouthed thank you to the man, who gave no indication that he’d seen or appreciated it other than a discreet nod.
With Georgia in the backseat, he sat next to her, seeing how her chest rose and fell with each agitated breath.
“Cooper Point Park,” Carson told the driver. It wasn’t far from here.
He watched over the next few minutes as Georgia’s breathing calmed. By the time they reached the park, she’d regained control.
“I’m all right, Carson. We can go back.”
“We’re here. Might as well show you the homestead.”
“Homestead?”
He got out of the limo and waited for her. The limo parked in front of the historic nineteenth-century house. It was closed at this hour, but still a spectacular sight.
There was a walking trail with a bridge over a stream where a pond drained. There were picnic tables along the way.
He walked next to Georgia, careful to give her some space.
“I don’t fit in with those people,” Georgia said.
“That isn’t why you ran.” It was too extreme of a reaction.
She stopped, and he did, too, facing her. “What?”
He took in her genuine confusion. “I kissed you.”
Georgia resumed her trek along the path, and Carson easily stayed next to her.
“What is it?” he asked. “And don’t tell me you don’t fit in.”
“I don’t fit in.”
“There will always be people you don’t like. It doesn’t take being associated with my family to run across people like that. And anyway, that’s beside the point. You ran for another reason. You were fine until I kissed you.”
She looked over at the old homestead, lights illuminating it in the dark. “I don’t want to be a part of the way you and your family live.”
“You base too much of your beliefs on what Ruby experienced,” he said. “You’ve spent so much time protecting her that you can’t stop. You’ve taken it too far. Let go.”
She kept walking and didn’t say anything, but he didn’t think she agreed.
“You love her like she’s your real mother, but you need to start living your own life, Georgia.”
“I do live my own life.”
She was happy being a librarian, but she could do that anywhere and she didn’t need her limiting ideals that stemmed from being raised by a spurned Ruby.
“Why haven’t you settled down with anyone?” He’d asked her this before, but he hadn’t gotten down to the crux of what made her the way she was, what held her back.
“I haven’t met anyone.”
As she said that, she averted her gaze. And the sound of her voice, so tentative, held no conviction. She had met someone. She’d talked about seeing someone but they’d parted friends. This had to be someone different.
Putting his hand on her arm, he stopped her, then used both hands to turn her to face him. “What happened? Who is he?” He hadn’t asked her one question that she’d asked him. “Someone you loved?”
“No. Well...I mean, I did love him, but it didn’t work out.”
“He broke it off?”
She stared at him awhile, and he suspected there was a lot going on in her head right now. Whoever the man was, the breakup had been messy, not friendly like the rich man she’d told him about.
“It was mutual. I hoped it wouldn’t end, but I can see now that it was inevitable.”
He wouldn’t press her for much detail. He could see it was painful for her to talk about it. “How long ago?”
“A few months.”
Not much time had passed. Not enough to move on with someone else. Not that he was contemplating that with her. He thought of the kiss. Was he?
“I’m sorry I ran off,” Georgia said. “The dress. The party...” She looked toward the homestead again and then back at him.
And then the kiss. She didn’t have to tell him that had been the thing that pushed her over the edge.
“He was a friend from college and we started dating,” she said. “That was a mistake. When things came to an end, I lost a man I loved and an old friend.”
Things hadn’t gone as she’d expected. Georgia needed everything in her life to go as expected. Taking care of Ruby may have done that to her. Georgia had the weight of the world on her shoulders. If she unloaded some of it, would she be so devoted to Ruby? It wouldn’t mean she loved her any less if she put herself first a few times.
Funny, how he wanted to be the one to show her that was okay, to make her aware of what she was doing.
“Let’s go back to Kate’s,” he said, and when her face fell with dread, he added, “Not to the party. Tomorrow you can go to the spa and then the next day we’ll go back to San Diego. We’re not going to find Jackson here any easier than we will there.”
He watched her come close to backing out of her day with Kate, but then the strong Georgia returned and she simply nodded. She felt obligated. But Carson knew Kate would make her feel at ease, which was exactly what he wanted after the party.
“You might love the spa, you know,” he said as they walked back to the limo. He’d have no mercy on her.
When she sent him a tiny smile that softened her, he was sure that all she had to do was admit wealth had nothing to do with her reluctance to be intimate with him. He began to have reservations as to his motives for trying so hard to win her over. Was it the challenge? Was it only that he meant to show her how wrong she was? Or was it hot, intense attraction?
* * *
The next day, Georgia went with Kate to the spa. It was all she could do not to get on a plane, go get Ruby and go home. She couldn’t understand why she hadn’t told Kate she wasn’t going to the spa with her. But as she walked toward the Halcyon Spa, she was happy she’d changed her mind. She could use a little pampering. She had never treated herself to something like this before.
Inside the stone building, light brown blocks of tile spread over a relaxation lounge filled with ivory cushioned chairs and recessed lighting. A woman appeared through a doorway.
“Kate O’Hara,” she greeted, leaning in for a two-cheek kiss.
“Nellie, this is Georgia Mason.”
“Welcom
e to Halcyon Spa. I’m normally not so informal with my guests, but Kate and I go way back.”
“We went to school together,” Kate said. “Georgia is a librarian in Florida.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful. You’re a reader, are you?”
Not expecting such a warm greeting, Georgia stammered. “Uh...well, yes. The library where I work is nearly a hundred years old. It’s beautiful.”
“Books and old architecture. Does it get any better than that?” Nellie said.
“Yes,” Kate said. “With a hot-stone spa treatment.”
Georgia laughed with Nellie.
“Well, let’s get you started then.” Nellie led them to another room with beige chairs, a hot tub and two massage tables.
There were dressing rooms for privacy. Georgia went into one silk-curtained stall and Kate into the other. She undressed to her underwear and then slipped into the robe that hung from a wooden hanger.
She stepped out at the same time as Kate, feeling a little awkward.
“Your first massage?” Kate asked.
“Yes.”
“You’ll relax in no time.” Kate went to one of the tables and unabashedly removed her robe, picked up the blanket that was neatly folded on the cushioned table and wrapped it around her. Then she got onto the table stomach-down.
Georgia did the same at her table, wrapping the blanket around her, doing her best to preserve her modesty.
“They’ll start with your back and you’ll be purring,” Kate said.
“I could use some tension release.” Georgia thought of Carson and wondered if he could provide another kind of tension release. She also wondered what it would be like to get a massage like this with him instead of Kate.
She grew warm just thinking about it.
The masseuses entered the room and began to work their magic.
Kate was right. As soon as the woman’s kneading hands sank into her back, she felt as though she could fall asleep.
“I saw you run from the party last night.” Kate’s voice sounded drugged with relaxation. “I don’t mean to pry, but I talked to Carson and he told me about Ruby, how upset she was after she and Reginald split up.”
And all about how she’d walked away from his money and the emotional anguish she’d suffered.
“I can see why you’d be so protective of Ruby, but do you feel like she needs to be protected from Carson?” Kate asked.
“No.” Georgia kept her eyes closed, lulled by the massage.
“I saw Carson talking to Robert at the party,” Kate said. “I bet that was taxing. He loves to talk about himself.”
Georgia smiled into the face rest of the massage table. “Yes, he does.”
“He’s about to go bankrupt, you know.”
Georgia opened her eyes, wishing she could see Kate. “Really?”
“He lies about his money. He’s about thirty days from losing everything. His wife has a gambling problem and cheats on him. They’re going to get a divorce.”
“I would have never guessed.”
“And Noreen?” Kate said.
“Ah, Noreen.” Georgia smiled again.
“She’s been after Carson since they went out in high school. Did you think she comes from money?”
Georgia’s smile fled with that question. “Yes. Doesn’t she?”
“Oh, no. Her father was a firefighter and her mother waited tables at a truck stop.”
Georgia fell speechless while the oddness of that sank in.
“It’s true,” Kate said. “Noreen has been trying to snag herself a rich man her entire life. She called me as soon as she heard about my fund-raiser, asking if Carson would be there. She knew he’d been discharged and was waiting for an opportunity. Carson is too kind to her. But I suppose he feels sorry for her. She’s desperate.”
“How does she get invited to parties like the one you threw? Don’t you have to have a lot of money to donate in order to attend?”
“Yes, but we’ve always given Noreen special consideration. She’s more of a friend of the family.”
One who’d forced her way into that friendship, plowed into it. And Kate’s family was too kind to turn her away.
“She didn’t know about you or I doubt she’d have come to the party,” Kate went on.
“Why not?”
“You have Carson.”
“I don’t have Carson. Last night was a date, that’s all.” And not a real one. She still refused to think of it that way.
“It was more than that. I’m no fool, Georgia Mason.” She laughed softly. “I know love when I see it.”
Georgia scoffed. “Carson and I aren’t in love.”
“Not yet. But you will be.”
How could this woman have so much insight? She tried to predict the future and she had no way of being sure what that future held. She was only voicing her hope. She loved her nephew. Why wouldn’t she want him to be in love, especially Carson—who’d shut himself off from the world he knew and gone off to the Marines?
After falling speechless again, Georgia relaxed and shut her eyes. The masseuse worked on her shoulders now and it felt heavenly.
“People aren’t who they seem sometimes,” Kate said, drowsy with relaxation.
And sometimes they were. Reginald. Or had he been as he seemed? Carson struggled with that same concept. Kate challenged Georgia’s bias. Carson did, too. They were ganging up on her.
“That’s not the only reason you ran off, though, is it?” Kate asked. And when Georgia didn’t answer, she said, “It’s because you have feelings for Carson, isn’t it?”
“I do like him,” she admitted.
“But...?”
“Yes, but.” She wasn’t going to talk about that.
Kate didn’t probe further. She’d done what she’d intended, and that was to get Georgia thinking about the source of her bias. It came from Ruby and her overprotection of her. Her defenses went on high alert around the people who’d hurt her so deeply.
After the massage, Georgia glided into the nail salon, where state-of-the-art chairs lined one side and a water fountain kept her mood serene.
They were seated, both in a bubble of leisure.
A woman entered the room with a tray holding two glasses. “Your complimentary glass of champagne.”
Kate took the first one, and Georgia took the second. They’d drink champagne while getting their nails done. Georgia could get used to this. It was almost as satisfying as shopping.
She could also live without it.
More than two hours later and after being treated to a European facial, Georgia walked out of the salon a new woman. When she returned to Florida, she was going to get her nails done on a regular basis.
The limo pulled in front of the salon just as Georgia noticed a man sitting in a car that was backed into a space that faced the salon. She couldn’t see his face clearly but knew he was looking at them.
An uneasy feeling came over her. Had the man who’d shot at Carson followed them to North Carolina? How would he have known they’d come here? Maybe it was just a husband waiting for his wife. The car didn’t look expensive. Just a sedan of some kind.
“Something wrong?” Kate asked.
After a slight delay, Georgia shook her head. “No.” She got into the limo.
As the driver drove out of the parking lot, Georgia looked back and saw that the car was following them.
* * *
Carson paced the huge living room at Kate’s house later that day. His aunt had just told him that someone had followed them until Kate had told the driver, who’d sped up. As soon as he’d done that, the man in the car behind them had turned off onto a side road. There had been no plate on the front of the car. He was seized with fear that whoever it had been knew where Kate lived and that he and Georgia were here.
“He didn’t see us come here,” Kate said. “My driver is trained for this.”
He stopped pacing. “We should leave. Tonight.”
“Carson, don
’t overreact,” Kate said.
Georgia didn’t think he was. “No. We should leave. It might be dangerous if whoever followed us knows where you live.”
“I’ll alert Security,” Kate said. “It’s tighter than ever since I was shot. You don’t have to worry. No one is getting in here.”
Carson relaxed because she was right.
“Can we get tickets this soon?” Georgia asked.
She wasn’t thinking. “I can have a jet ready in two hours,” Carson said. “I arranged for one to take us back to San Diego.” By the time they packed and made it to the airport they’d be right on time.
He saw Georgia staring at him. He’d planned to take her back in a jet. More pampering. He could tell she was reaching her boiling point. Good. That’s what she needed.
Just then, Patrick came rushing into the room. “Kate!” He went to her.
She stood, and he took her into his arms.
“Are you all right?” he asked, leaning back to inspect her.
“Yes, Patrick. I told you over the phone.”
“You told me someone followed you. With Reginald’s murder...” He breathed an anxious breath. “You’re going to send me to an early grave, woman.”
She laughed softly and kissed him. “I love you.”
He smiled and relaxed. “My Kate.”
Turning back to them, Kate said, “I hate to see you leave so soon. We would love to spend more time with you. We don’t get to very often.”
“There will be plenty of other times now that I’m back in the States.”
Kate turned to Georgia. “Good. We’ll all look forward to seeing you both in the near future.”
He and Georgia went up to get their things and then met out on the side of the estate, where the same limo was waiting. After saying goodbye to Kate and Patrick, he and Georgia sat in the back of the limo and left.
Carson searched the road after they passed through the guarded gate and saw no sign of a suspicious car. It wasn’t until they reached the road that led to the highway that he spotted something. The opposite direction led to the salon where Georgia and Kate had gone. A car was parked on the side of the road, waiting. Sure enough, as soon as the driver saw them, he drove into the traffic.
The Marine's Temptation Page 11
