A Murderous Game (14 page)

"God, what a
horrible night!"
She clutched it to her breast. "I wanted to
die when my father accused you of…and I had to admit I made everything up…and
everyone was laughing." She looked at the floor and bit her lip, so much emotion
playing on her face he could barely keep from taking her in his arms.

"And when Kelly started
reading about you kissing me and…you were so angry with me. I didn't have the
courage to stay and face you."

"I wasn't angry with
you."

"But I heard you curse. And I
saw the look in your eyes. You looked like you might—"

He touched a finger to her lips.
"I was mad, yes, but not with you. Your father had already humiliated you
in front of dozens of people. I was furious with him. And I wanted to strangle
Kelly for adding to your embarrassment, especially when it was over me. I took
the diary from her and went looking for you, but you'd already disappeared.
When I couldn't find you, and since I didn't want to go to your house and risk
setting your father off again, I took it home and put it in my dresser
drawer."

"Why'd you keep it?"

Gage shrugged. "I guess I
thought I might run into you the next time I visited my aunt and uncle. I went
back to school and forgot about it, and I never did see you again. On the drive
to the shore this morning I started thinking about the scene with your old man,
and I remembered the diary. I really didn't expect it would still be there, but
when I checked the dresser in my old room, there it was, right where I'd left
it all those years ago."

Abby stood very still for several
seconds. He saw her shoulders begin to shake, and he reached out to hold her,
intending only to soothe the humiliation he thought she must be reliving.

He pulled her gently against his
chest and felt her shake harder. A surge of protectiveness filled him. He
glanced down, intending to tell her it was all in the past.

She looked up and to his surprise
he saw she was laughing! He eased back, staring at her, wondering if she could
be having some hysterical sort of reach-back reaction.

"I'm so glad we cleared up
that nonsense about me wanting to stalk you," she said between laughs.
"If you'd read this, it might have made you wonder if it weren't
true."

The amusement suddenly faded from
her eyes and she frowned. "You didn't umm—" She glanced up at him
through half-lowered lashes.

Gage hiked a brow.

"You know. You didn't read it,
did you?" She chewed on her bottom lip and seemed to hold her breath.

"That wouldn't have been a
very gentlemanly thing to do, now would it?" He arched his brow higher and
adopted his best insulted look.

She released her breath and smiled.
"No, it wouldn't. It's boring reading anyway, nothing but girlish fancy.
Anyway, Kelly read the worst of it." She avoided his eyes. On a nervous
laugh she added, "I don't know what my father got so upset about. It was
just a kiss."

Gage bit his tongue—everything in
its time. When she glanced back at him, he just smiled.

Abby blushed. She must have been
worried she hadn't convinced him because she went on to say, "I mean, I
was only a kid. What did I know? I don't even remember what I wrote, but I'm
sure it was grossly exaggerated. I have quite a talent for exaggeration."

Gage ran his tongue over his lips.
He saw her eyes flare. He took a step forward, brushing his hands up her arms
again. "Did you exaggerate our kiss?" he asked, desire making his
voice husky. Abby's mouth parted, and he watched as passion darkened her eyes.

She started suddenly. "Of course
I exaggerated it. I told you I have a vivid imagination. And, well, reality's
never as good as fantasy."

"Isn't it?" Gage pulled
her closer and lowered his head toward hers.

"Gage, what are you
doing?"

He weaved his fingers into her
hair. "Testing that theory," he murmured, and captured her lips
before she could object. He felt the moment she let go of her resistance and
drew her in, angling his mouth over hers. Abby groaned and to his tremendous
pleasure, returned his ardor.

The kiss went on, growing more
desperate. Desire snapped through him, lashing out, whip quick and demanding.
Moisture broke out on his forehead as he fought to control the need she
ignited.

He ran his tongue over her lips and
her mouth parted, and like a starving man he devoured her. He was wise enough
to realize if he pushed her too far, too fast, he'd risk what he wanted most of
all.

He'd staked a claim, now he would
tend it carefully. Everything in its time, he reminded himself. And he wanted
everything.

Her lips were still parted as he
eased her gently away. They were moist, a bit swollen from their kiss, and they
were his. Her lashes drifted up with a languid, dreamlike quality. Unable to
resist one more taste, he covered her mouth again, slowly, gently, achingly. He
wanted, knew she wanted, but he wouldn't rush her. When he finally took her to
bed, which he knew was inevitable
now,
he wanted her
to be very sure she wanted to be there with him.

"I think," he murmured
against her lips, "your theory is full of holes." He ran the tip of
his finger down the bridge of her nose, chucked her under the chin, and walked
out the door.

CHAPTER
SIX

G
age kissed her.
She let him because she had wanted him so much. It was heaven, just as she knew
it would be. She felt hot, starved for his touch. He pulled her against him and
again she let him. She had wanted that, too, as much as his kisses. His hand
moved up her ribs, and she knew he was going to touch her breast. She wanted
that, too, to feel his palm on her bare skin. He wanted her desperately. She
could tell, and she would give herself to him. She belonged to him and he
belonged to her. She begged him to touch her, and he did, as if he'd only been
waiting for her permission. He pushed her tank top up over her head and threw
it on the beach. His hands were everywhere. He acted like he couldn't get
enough of her, and she knew she'd never get enough of him.

Abby leaned back against the
headboard and laid the open diary upside down across her legs. Man, thank God
Gage hadn't read any of this because it was scaring
her
! Day after day
of Gage wanting her, Gage needing her, Gage loving her. Why hadn't her parents
insisted she go to tennis camp or something to keep her mind occupied?

She touched her mouth. Well, she
finally knew what kissing him really felt like. And he'd been right. Reality
had been better than anything she'd ever imagined. No man had ever kissed her
so thoroughly. From the moment Gage's mouth had claimed hers she'd been lost.
She had wanted it to go on forever. It had ended too fast. It could never
happen again.

Abby grabbed one of the bed
pillows, and bringing her knees up, leaned forward and buried her face in it.
What if he'd just been testing her? What if now he wouldn't want to work with
her again? She groaned loudly into the pillow. He'd probably just been curious.
All
that talk
about kissing, and old crushes, and
whatever—it happened—get over it.

Sleep finally quieted her woes.
Amazingly, she slept undisturbed and woke Sunday morning feeling more rested
than she had in weeks.

Abby spent the day cleaning and
refused to think about Gage or the repercussions of their kiss. The temperature
reached the low seventies. She opened the windows to air things out, enjoying
the sound of the chickadees that came to the feeder in her tiny back garden.
She scrubbed the kitchen and bathroom floors. She did a couple of loads of
laundry.

That evening, she ordered pizza and
watched
A Fish Called Wanda
. As much as she liked it, she didn't think
anything beat
Faulty
Towers
for
vintage
Cleese
.

She was in the middle of brushing
her teeth before going to bed when the phone rang. Still brushing, she picked
up the phone.
"
Alo
."

"Hello, green eyes."

That rush again. Damn. She took the
brush out of her mouth. "Hi Gage." She wondered if he'd called to
tell her he'd changed his mind again.

Aren't you supposed to be
getting over it? So he kissed you. He probably got over it before the door
closed! Of course he had, he kissed women all the time. So you think maybe the
earth moved when he locked lips with you? Dream on, Abby girl.

"Did I interrupt anything
important?"

"Important?
Umm,
no."
She paced in front of the night stand. "I was just
brushing my teeth."
All right, good one
.
Just what he'd probably called to hear, an update on her dental hygiene.

"I won't keep you then. I
thought you might be worried about tomorrow, and I wanted to put your mind at
ease. Trust me, and I'll take care of everything."

"Okay. So you still want me on
the account?"

"Of course I still want you.
Why wouldn't I?"

"Oh, I don't know, just
checking." She considered telling him if they were going to work together
they should set some ground rules, but it probably would be better to do that
in person. She'd wait. "Is that all?"

"That's all. I didn't want you
to worry about it."

"Okay," she quipped,
"thanks." She tapped the toothbrush against her bottom lip.
"Bye."

"Goodbye, Abby." His
voice went all deep and lazy again, wrapping around her like a warm soft
blanket. "Actually, there was one more thing. You're a very good
kisser."

She opened her mouth to respond
only to realize he'd hung up.

~~~

Madeline brought glazed doughnuts
to work on Monday. Abby passed the box several times without giving in to
temptation. When she went to refill her coffee around nine thirty, her
willpower crumbled, and she snatched one on the way back from the lounge and
took it into her office.

It seemed every one of her clients
picked that day to call for one reason or another. The morning flew by, and
before she knew it, it was almost one.

"I'm off to lunch," she
told Madeline on the way out. "I'm just going to grab something from a
vendor so I should be back in twenty or thirty minutes." Norwell hadn't
stopped by her office with any news yet, and Abby didn't want to be gone long
in case he did. She hated the anticipation, preferring to get on with things
and deal with whatever fallout resulted when Gage called to say he wanted to
change account managers.

She bought a hot dog from the
corner stand and started back to the office. Halfway there, two teenagers on
skateboards came breezing down the sidewalk. An elderly man walked out of a
building right into their path, oblivious to any danger. Abby called out a
sharp warning. It alerted the boys, who both swerved to avoid hitting the man,
but in doing so one of them veered straight toward her.

Clutching the hot dog, she raised
her arm in a reflexive gesture to protect herself. The skateboarder managed to
prevent a full-on collision, but his elbow flew out as he careened by, knocking
her hand into her chest and throwing her slightly off balance.

"Sorry lady," he called
back from several feet beyond her. Abby steadied herself and glanced down at
her white linen blouse where a large glob of mustard and ketchup had been left
behind from the hot dog. She tried to wipe it off but only made it worse. Now
she had a big fat pumpkin colored stain marking the location directly over her
right nipple. Well that was just
freakin
' great!

When she got back to the office,
she saw Billings
coming down the hall from Norwell's office. His expression left no doubt Gage
had finally called. He stopped about two feet in front of her, eyes glowering.
"Norwell wants to see you immediately." 

She headed toward her office to get
her jacket but Billings
snapped, "Now Carpenter! He isn't in any mood to be kept waiting." As
she turned back, Billings
stepped in front of her. "This little blip doesn't mean a thing."

If Norwell was in a mood, it would
be unwise to keep him waiting even a second longer than necessary. She'd just
have to clean herself up later.

She knocked on his door and waited
for the familiar bellow. To her surprise, it opened quietly and Norwell said,
"Come in, Carpenter." His conciliatory manner threw her off guard,
and she cast him a wary glance as she entered the room. "You remember Mr.
Faraday," Norwell indicated with an outstretched hand.

Abby's gaze jerked to the right to
see Gage sitting in front of Norwell's desk.

"Yes, of course," she
said, surprised to see him.

"Good afternoon, Ms.
Carpenter." Gage glanced at her blouse, then without missing a beat,
extended a hand. He seemed alarmingly detached, and cold, but as they shook
hands his fingers tightened in a gentle squeeze. It worked miracles to calm her
nerves. It had been his way of telling her to relax, to trust him, and
everything would be fine.

As Abby sat down, Norwell cleared
his throat. "Mr. Faraday asked for this meeting after he realized, based
on a conversation he had with Harold last week, that a misunderstanding had
occurred."

Abby stole a glance at Gage. He
looked powerful and almost too handsome for words in a deep charcoal grey suit
that had obviously been made for him, a crisp white shirt, and maroon and
silver paisley silk tie. His long body rested casually in the chair.

"Unfortunately, when Mr.
Faraday told me to assign Billings
to the account, I assumed he meant permanently." Norwell paused and
glanced at Gage, who looked up and after a moment inclined his head for Norwell
to continue.

"In actuality," Norwell
went on, "he intended to meet with Billings a couple of times and then to
do the same with you, reserving a decision until he'd had the opportunity to
determine which one of you best suited his style."