Double Dealing (2013) (11 page)

Rae became aware of her surroundings at the
same moment she became aware of a chuckle rumbling in Jed’s chest.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, feeling as if her body were floating.

“I was just thinking,” he said, “that it was a good thing I knew you before only as a little girl. If you had been a few years older, you would have wreaked havoc with my adolescence. Lord, you’re a dangerous woman.”

She smiled into the warm skin of his shoulder. They lay together for a long moment in contented silence. Finally, she asked, “Jed?”

Her voice sounded unsure, and he knew that he had to dispel the doubts that were beginning to resurface. He raised his head and gazed down at her. She was so beautiful, he thought, and so vulnerable. Smiling, he smoothed her hair back and said, “I would never hurt you, sweetheart. Never. I promise.”

She buried her face in his shoulder and nodded.

He would keep that promise, he vowed, as he held her in a tight embrace. She may not realize how much trust she had placed in him tonight, but he was well aware of it. He sensed that she had never allowed another man inside her barriers as she had him. To hurt her would be to hurt himself. It was awfully soon to make love, but they had both surrendered to a need that had been too strong to fight. He admitted that it was the best damn thing that had ever happened to him. He had no regrets.

Cool air wafted across his back, and he realized that the room was rapidly growing colder—or rather he was just beginning to notice it now.

“It’s late, Rae, and you should be in a nice warm bed.” He grimaced in disgust, knowing he wouldn’t be joining her. The boys’ presence had brought them together. Now, it would keep them apart.

Her arms tightened around his neck. “Not yet.”

Jed decided he’d be a fool to protest. Concerned that his weight might be too much for her, he shifted to his side, keeping her between himself and the back of the sofa. Lazily stroking the slope of her hip, he said, “Now don’t fall asleep, or else your nephews will get quite an anatomy lesson in the morning.”

“Then you’d better stop what you’re doing, because it feels too good,” she said, tracing his collarbone with a forefinger.

He closed his eyes at the tingling sensation. “And you’d better stop what you’re doing, otherwise I might do this.”

He let his hand drift lower, his fingers spreading across her luscious derriere.

She leaned back and gazed up at him with knowing green-gray eyes. “Don’t make any promises you can’t keep, Jed.”

He sensed that her teasing was an attempt to lighten her mood, and he was all for it. Pretense sometimes became reality—with a little help. He lightly kissed her nose. “Don’t tempt me to try it. You’d be asleep halfway through the proceedings.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but a yawn emerged instead. Covering her mouth with one hand, she sheepishly lowered her eyes.

“The prophet has spoken, my dear,” he said, chuckling. “Time for bed. Besides, my tush is freezing.”

She giggled again, and he rolled over to pick up the robes from the floor. Her white bikini underwear wasn’t in the pile. Frowning, Jed leaned further over the edge of the sofa to check underneath its skirt. He leaned too far. Losing his balance, he slid right off the sofa and landed with a thump on the carpet. Surprised, he sat there for a moment. A short time ago, the couch hadn’t seemed nearly so small.

Rae stretched toward the edge of the cushions and rested her chin in her fist. “Is your tush warmer now?”

He wondered if she knew what a beautiful picture she made, with her dark hair falling forward to frame her face, and her body gleaming like ivory in the glow of the lamp. He grinned at the mirth filling her eyes. “It’s getting hotter by the minute.”

“Probably just a rug burn, Jed. Nothing to get excited about.”

Her full curving lips were inches from his, and unable to resist, he kissed them … slowly … leisurely. When he finally lifted his head, she gave a satisfied sigh.

“Now that’s a rug burn, Jed.”

“I know.”

It was some time later that they reluctantly dressed and left the room. It was with even more reluctance that Rae watched him turn away from her bedroom door and continue down the hallway to the trophy room. He hesitated, his hand on the doorknob. In the darkened hallway, she sensed more than saw him give her one last look. Then he opened the door and slipped inside.

Once settled in her own bed, she found her body satiated and her mind restless with thoughts. She acknowledged she had created her own trap and had walked into it with her eyes wide open. Everything she’d done to keep her resistance up had had the opposite effect. She had been totally caught up in a sensual moment.…

Liar, she told herself in a sudden burst of honesty. She had allowed their lovemaking to happen—had wanted it to happen. In a lousy attempt at absolution, she had tried to convince herself she’d been “caught up” in something she never could have resisted. She had known what she was doing. From the beginning, her control had been almost nonexistent with Jed. Yet she’d gone right ahead and kidnapped him, allowed him to stay, and brought in her nephews who, instead of keeping them apart, had in a roundabout way actually thrown them together. If only there hadn’t been a meeting of the Barkeley Club. If only Jed hadn’t wanted to show her what he’d discovered in the reports. If only.

People had regretted those two particular words all their lives, she thought. She wasn’t sure what she regretted—making love with Jed … or making love with her heart as well as her body.

Rae closed her eyes tightly against the thought.

“She’s still sleepin’.”

Michael’s voice pulled Rae from a deep slumber. Not bothering to open her eyes, she mumbled, “Go watch cartoons.”

She felt the edge of the mattress sink as the little boy climbed onto the bed. He crawled under the covers and snuggled against her back. She smiled to herself at the feel of his small pajamaclad body next to hers. Oh well, she thought, the cartoons were always worth a mention. Mark would probably be next. She hoped he wouldn’t bounce on the bed as usual, but she knew the wish was in vain. She braced herself for the expected jolt.

“Here, you can get in on this side, Jed.”

Her eyes flew open, and she sat bolt upright. Jed was standing at the foot of the bed with a huge grin on his face. Dressed in jeans and a blue sweater, he’d obviously been awake for quite some time. Momentarily speechless, she watched as
his gaze drifted lower to the flimsy bodice of her satin nightgown. The amusement in his hazel eyes was instantly replaced by a hot glow. Memories of their lovemaking came back to her in a rush, and a heavy warmth flooded her body. She yanked the coverlet nearly to her chin, then turned to her nephew.

“Ah, Michael,” she began, forcing herself to calm down and smile naturally. “I don’t think Jed would like … I mean, Jed isn’t interested … it’s not a good idea, Michael.”

“Why?” Michael asked.

The child’s inevitable question, Rae thought. Now if only she could answer it without making an ass of herself.

“Because I was about to get up, anyway.” She congratulated herself on her fast thinking. She usually functioned by rote before coffee.

“Oh.”

Michael’s disappointment was obvious. She sighed inwardly at the unhappy expression on his face. He had always liked to wake her up to snuggle and talk, and he evidently wanted to share that with Jed. Under the circumstances, though, it wasn’t hard to be firm.

Reaching down, she brushed a stray lock of hair from Michael’s forehead and said, “We could take a nap together this afternoon, okay?”

“Okay,” Michael said, sitting up. “Just you, me, and Jed, though.”

She suppressed a groan of frustration. Michael’s friendship certainly knew no bounds. She glared at Jed, who hadn’t spoken a word yet.

“I don’t think Jed will be tired then,” she said sweetly. “Will you, Jed?”

He stroked his mustache before answering. “It’s hard to say—”

“Will you, Jed,” she repeated forcefully.

“Well, the truth is—”

“
Will you, Jed!
”

“Maybe I’ll—”

“
Aaaaggh!
”

Having vented her feelings, she flopped back on the pillow and pulled the covers over her head. It would be nice if lightning suddenly struck him, she thought. Or a bomb. She wasn’t picky.

“Aunt Rae?”

She assumed it was Michael who was now rapping on her forehead through the quilt. “What?”

“Are you mad at me?”

“No, Michael.”

“Are you mad at Jed?”

“No, Michael.”

“I think we should give your aunt a little privacy,” Jed said.

“Truer words were never spoken,” Rae muttered into the bedclothes. As her nephew scrambled over her and off the bed, she poked her head out from under the covers.

“Michael,” she whispered loudly. He turned around. “I need a good morning kiss.”

Smiling, Michael scooted over to her and bussed her on the cheek. She snaked an arm out and yanked him on top of her, tickling him through the covers. Shrill giggles filled the room, as he squirmed and twisted away. Finally she stopped. Panting for breath, he settled down on her chest
and leaned his forehead on hers. They stared at each other until she crossed her eyes. He giggled again.

Chuckling, she said, “Good morning, sweetie. Now beat it, so I can get up.”

“Okay.”

He shoved himself off her and ran over to Jed, who was staring at her with an odd expression on his face. For a wild second, she thought he was going to ask for a good morning kiss, too, but he just ushered her nephew out the door.

After they shut her bedroom door behind them, Rae groaned loudly and pulled the blanket back over her head. She wished she could stay there forever … or until Jed finally disappeared. Last night she hadn’t considered how awkward it would be to see him again, but she’d never conceived of her own nephew inviting the man into her bed to snuggle and talk! She covered her face with her hands and shuddered. What a way to wake up. Jed’s teasing hadn’t helped any … or had it?

She lowered her hands. Any way would have been awkward—for her, at least. Jed handled embarrassing situations with aplomb. Luckily, Michael’s innocent puzzlement and Jed’s teasing had distracted her just enough to keep the awkwardness on a superficial level.

But what, she wondered frantically, would she say to him now? What did he think? More importantly, what was he feeling?

Shaking her head at the unanswerable questions, she acknowledged that matters were even more complicated between them now. They couldn’t
make love again. Jed was the wrong man at the wrong time and definitely in the wrong place. She’d have to make that very clear to him. What happened was just a result of physical attraction combined with close quarters. If and when …

No, she told herself.
If
and
when
meant she was looking ahead.

She had to deal with the present.

After lunch, Jed stood on the terrace in the shadows of the house and watched as Rae adroitly managed to avoid him for the third time in as many hours.

She was good, he thought, damn good at changing directions without actually seeming to. She had come through the French doors, spotted him at one end of the terrace, and waved before lightly running down the steps toward the maze. He doubted if anyone would have realized she hadn’t been headed there in the first place, even though she’d had the straw basket on her arm. There was nothing in the maze to fill the basket with except hedge clippings.

Gazing down at the blooming chrysanthemums lining the terrace, he remembered how he’d decided to take a chance and talk to her that morning. He had actually had his hand on her bedroom doorknob when Michael came skipping down the hallway and proceeded to drag him into the room. Lord, she looked vulnerable—and sexy. The satin nightgown barely covered her coral-tipped breasts, and her eyes were wide with shock and surprise. He would have given anything to join her in her
bed. Instead it was Michael who did. Little Michael! He still couldn’t believe the hard shot of jealousy he felt watching her with her nephew. It was silly, of course, to be envious of a child. Michael was her nephew. But seeing her act so warm and affectionate with someone other than him had almost driven him to distraction. He was the one who should have been in that bed, dammit! They could have talked, sorted everything out.

He knew he had handled the rest of the morning all wrong. He shouldn’t have waited, hoping she’d come to him, but he wanted to give her time to adjust to the fact that they’d made love. She turned it into a game of avoidance. At the moment, though, there was really nothing he could do. Not with the nephews around. Any discussion was bound to be interrupted. The French doors opened again, and he looked up to see Burrows coming through them.

“Good afternoon, sir.”

Jed muttered a greeting before turning his head to stare at the maze. He knew it was better to wait until nothing could interrupt them. Tonight, he promised himself. They’d straighten quite a few things out then. Tonight, when the boys were gone.

“Have you found an alternate site yet for your construction project, sir?”

Jed turned back. Burrows was adjusting a white wrought-iron chair under the table.

“What?”

“I said, have you—”

“I got the question,” Jed said, interrupting the butler. “How do you know what I’ve been doing?”

Burrows straightened, and fixed a stern glare on him. “I am not a dunce, sir.”

“No, you’re not,” Jed agreed, realizing that the butler probably knew enough to guess the rest. “Burrows, can I ask you something?”

“Of course, sir.”

“Did you ever find yourself trying to climb a wall while someone was kicking the blocks out from under you?”

“Once, sir.” Burrows gave him a ghost of a smile. “It was in Greece during the war. Mr. Merriman and I were trapped on a cave ledge for twenty-two hours while a platoon of German soldiers took shelter inside the cave to avoid a snowstorm. We could hardly kill fifty men before they killed us. If I may use your analogy, sir, we didn’t even have the slight advantage of a wall. You see, I had a bad cold at the time. One cough and we were dead men.”