Elusive Dawn (3 page)

"What?" Robyn asked uneasily.

Kris grinned and settled back in her lounge. "The phone caught me just as I was leaving my place," she explained cheerfully. "It was Tony-the host of last night's party, remember? Anyway, he sounded very rattled, and he demanded to know my cousin's last name. He complained that I'd introduced you simply as 'my cousin Robyn.' Naturally, I wanted to know
why
he wanted your last name."

"And?"
Robyn prompted.

"And," Kris continued obligingly, "
he
told me that he'd been disturbed at the crack of dawn by a call from Shane Justice, who demanded to know your last name. Tony was so unwise as to ask why Shane hadn't gotten it last night after he left the party with you; he practically got his head bitten off. I gather that Shane can be quite intimidating when he chooses. Anyway, Tony promised to make a few calls and then get back to him. He called me."

"You didn't tell him, did you?" Robyn asked, horrified.

"No, of course not," Kris said soothingly. "I promised to get back to him after I talked to you. I figured that if Shane didn't know your name, you might not want him to know."

"I don't!"

"Then I won't tell Tony. But I have to warn you, sweetie-if Shane is as determined as I think he is, he'll get everything he can out of Tony. And that means
my
name. What am I supposed to say if he comes knocking at my door?"

Robyn chewed on her thumbnail for a moment. "Tell him-tell him that I was just visiting, and that I've gone home.
And make
home
as far away as you can."

Kris giggled. "You know, you're displaying an unholy amount of panic, Robyn. Why? You can always say no if he asks you out! You're not afraid of him, are you?" she asked solicitously.

"Don't be ridiculous; of course I'm not afraid of him." Robyn wasn't about to confess that what she was afraid of were her own feelings. She wanted to see Shane Justice again, and that realization scared her to death. "He'll forget about me soon and race on to whatever's next on the circuit!" she finished bitterly.

"Daytona," Kris murmured soberly. "Tony mentioned that Shane was in Florida for the race. Apparently, he had some business to take care of here in Miami first."

Robyn tried to ignore the information, but her mental calendar automatically registered that the Daytona race was only two weeks away. "There should be no problem; I can avoid him until then," she said calmly.

"I don't know." Her cousin looked at her a little doubtfully. "I've known Tony for five years, and I've never heard him so completely flustered. And it wasn't just a case of morning-after-the-night-before, either. Shane really shook him up. He wants to find you, sweetie-and very badly, I should think. What did you do-put a spell on him?"

Unwillingly, Robyn remembered a deep, husky voice calling her "sweet witch."
And "honey," and "sweetheart."
Fiercely, she shoved the recollection aside. "He'll forget about me," she repeated stubbornly.

"And what about you?"
Kris smiled faintly. "Will you forget about him?"

"He's forgotten," Robyn replied lightly, lying and knowing it. She hopped up from the lounge, determined to change the subject. "I'm going to get dressed and go shopping. Are you game?"

"When have I ever refused shopping?" Kris laughed and rose also, apparently realizing that the subject was closed.

It remained closed for the rest of the weekend. Robyn refused to allow herself to brood about Shane Justice, and she busied herself almost frantically in order to avoid it.

After shopping, she and Kris went horseback riding and then ended up teaching two beginners' classes as a favor to the stable owner, who was a friend of theirs. Although her cousin's students seemed to have grasped the basics, Robyn had to spend over an hour showing her small group the correct way to fall off a horse. One six-year-old in particular won her heart with his fierce determination to master the art, keeping the rest of the pupils in stitches as he gently slid beneath the patient horse's belly again and again.

Sunday was traditionally Robyn's day to help with the housework and washing. Because that didn't keep her as busy as she wanted to be, she also rearranged her bedroom and re-lined the kitchen cabinets.

If Marty thought the unusual burst of energy odd, she said nothing about it. Robyn was too tired on Saturday and Sunday nights to do more than tumble into bed in exhaustion. But she dreamed of eyes of green flame, and a deep, husky voice...

Kris called early Monday morning, waking Robyn from her dream-haunted sleep. Robyn rolled over in bed and fumbled for the receiver, mumbling, "What?" when she managed to get it to her ear.

"He came. Last night."

"Who came?" Robyn forced her reluctant eyes open.

"Shane Justice." Kris sounded disgustingly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. "He offered me everything but an illegal bribe to tell him your last name."

Sitting bolt upright in bed, Robyn awoke with a vengeance. "You didn't tell him?" she wailed.

"Of course not," Kris laughed. "But the man could probably charm a rattlesnake. As it was, I had to keep repeating the multiplication tables in my head in order to maintain control over my own mind."

"Funny," Robyn muttered.

"I thought so." Kris laughed again, cheerfully wished her cousin a good day, and hung up.

Dragging herself from bed, Robyn thoughtfully dressed for work, wondering when Shane would lose patience and give up. Soon, she hoped. She reached into her jewelry box, removed her plain gold wedding band, and slipped it onto her finger. At Marty's insistence she'd finally stopped wearing it to social events, but she was grateful for its repressive effect on her store's male customers.

Moments later, she was driving her small economy car toward the city, wryly remembering Marty's stern command to eat something filling for lunch. She hadn't had much of an appetite during the past year, but then she'd never really been a big eater. She never, much to Kris's loud envy, gained an ounce.

Arriving at her bookstore, she parked her car and went inside, discovering that her assistant, Janie, had already opened up and was busy with several early customers. Placing her purse behind the counter, she began her own work, putting everything else out of her mind.

The morning was hectic, and it was well after noon when things finally quieted down. Glancing sympathetically at her flushed and weary-looking assistant, Robyn grinned. "Okay, Janie, go ahead to lunch. But don't go too far; if I scream hysterically, you have to be near enough to come running!"

"What is it with today?" Janie demanded, leaning against the counter for a moment to recoup her strength. "Is there a blizzard forecast, or what? I've never seen so many people desperately in need of something to read!"

"Beats me, but don't knock it. And get going, before I change my mind and-" Her blonde assistant snatched up her purse and made a mad dash for the door, in so much of a hurry that she nearly collided with the tall red-haired man who was just then coming in.

Holding several books in her arms, Robyn started toward the new customer, feeling a fleeting sense of where-have-I-seen-you-before. "Good afternoon," she said pleasantly. "May I help you?"

His light blue eyes held a peculiar expression as they swept from the smooth coronet of raven hair braided atop her head down over her entire figure, clothed in a casual sundress.

Irritated, Robyn repeated a bit dryly, "May I help you?"

"Urn, I'm looking for a book," he announced.

Robyn glanced around at her large store, filled wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling with books, and then looked back at the customer. "Well, you've come to the right place," she said, and she watched the tips of his ears redden.

"A book about, uh, about witchcraft!" he elaborated almost defiantly.

Choking back a giggle, Robyn pointed toward a corner of the store. "The occult books are in that section." Odd, she thought, he didn't look the type to be interested in the occult. Well, you never knew these days.

The customer wandered toward the section she'd indicated, and Robyn went back to work, sensing his eyes on her occasionally but ignoring him. He came over to the desk a few minutes later and placed a book on the wooden surface. Scanning the title as she picked up the volume, Robyn shot a faintly amused glance at the man.

"Do you participate in
seances
?" she asked politely.

He started visibly, confirming her suspicion that he'd simply selected a book at random. "Oh, uh, a friend of mine is. The book's a gift," he explained rather lamely.

Still amused, Robyn rang up the purchase and gave him his change and the book. "Hope your friend enjoys the book."

"I'm sure she will. Thank you, Miss-?" He lifted an eyebrow inquiringly.

"Lee," Robyn supplied calmly, pointedly placing her left hand on the countertop. "Robyn Lee."

His eyes dropped to her hand and widened in surprise. Without another word, he turned on his heel and left the store.

Robyn wondered about his abrupt departure but shrugged it off. When Janie returned, Robyn took a break herself, ducking around the corner to a small Italian restaurant she favored. After a quiet lunch, she returned to find the store fairly calm, so she went into the back room to review the account books.

Janie poked her head in a few minutes later.
"Robyn, someone to see you."

Robyn
look
up, frowning. "Who is it?"

"Never seen him before."
Janie grinned. "But if I weren't married...!"

Robyn rose from her small desk, groaning, "It's probably a salesman. They're always good-looking. And that radio station's been pestering me to advertise."

"Well, this guy could sell rocks!" Janie grinned again and headed back into the store.

Sighing, Robyn stepped out of the office and looked toward the front counter.
And froze.
Of all the thoughts tumbling through her head right then, the only clear one was a panicked,
How
did he find me?

Shane spotted her immediately and began crossing the room toward her. That he was upset was obvious; there was a curious tautness about his lean body, and his face was masklike in its total lack of expression. He halted barely an arm's reach away from her and stood there, staring. She thought she saw relief shine briefly in the emerald eyes-relief and something else, something she couldn't read-but the fleeting expression was quickly gone, leaving only the reflective glow of cut emeralds.

"Hello, Robyn," he greeted quietly.

She felt again that instant attraction, the magnetic pull stronger than anything she had ever known. The sensation frightened her; it was too intense to be real. "H-hello, Shane," she got out weakly.

"You left without saying good-bye."

Robyn gazed up at him uncertainly, puzzled by his voice. He almost sounded as if he were in pain. Nervously clasping her fingers together in front of her, she murmured, "I thought it would be best."

"Why?"

The one word was stark, oddly raw. She had the sudden, insane impression that he was struggling against reaching out and touching her. The impression was so unreasonably strong that she took an instinctive step backward, blinking in bewilderment. Almost immediately, though, she took a firm grip on her imagination.

"Because..." Her voice trailed away as she tried to come up with a logical reason for leaving him without a word.
The truth?
That she didn't believe in magic, or in anything that was too perfect to be real? That fairy tales happened in fiction but not in fact?

"
Dammit
, why didn't you tell me?" he rasped suddenly, barely louder than a whisper. "I would have understood, Robyn. People make mistakes. You aren't the type to hop into bed with a stranger just because your marriage went sour; I would have known that. You didn't have to creep away as if you were ashamed of what happened between us! It was special-"

"It wasn't real!" she blurted out suddenly, looking down at the gleaming gold band on her left hand.

Surprisingly, Shane seemed to understand at least a part of what she meant. "It
was
like a dream," he agreed huskily, a faintly twisted smile softening the tautness of his face as she looked up at him. "And we both felt that. But it was right, Robyn, and you know that as well as I do." He hesitated, then began slowly, "Your husband-"

"Is dead," she interrupted, unable to allow him to go on thinking she had broken her marriage vows. "I'm a widow."

"Then..." He stepped toward her quickly, unhidden eagerness leaping into his eyes.

Startled, she said hurriedly, "But I don't want to get involved with you, Shane!" She watched the flame in his eyes die and
a baffled expression replace
it.

"Why not?" he asked very quietly.

Robyn bit her lip and again sought reasons. Very conscious of customers moving about in the store, and unwilling to go into a long explanation of her fear of racing, she avoided the subject entirely. "Just let it end, Shane, please," she murmured.

"After a night of heaven?
I'm a lot of things, honey, but a fool isn't one of them." His voice was steady.

Desperately, she tried to explain a situation that made no sense, even to
herself
. "It wasn't
me;
don't you understand? Something happened and-and I don't know what it was! I'm not used to drinking; maybe that was it."

"No." His voice remained steady, the emerald eyes searching her face intently. "You weren't drunk. Robyn, what does it matter
why
it happened? We looked at each other and-"

"It matters!" she cut him off abruptly, afraid of what he might have said. "I've never done anything like that before."

"You don't have to tell me that," he said softly.

"You can't know," she managed unsteadily.

"Can't I?" He smiled slowly, something she didn't understand flaring in his eyes.

For a moment, she felt an almost overpowering impulse to give herself to the magic and let it take her where it would, as it had on Friday night. But she mastered the reckless desire, firmly reminding herself of Shane's racing.