Double Dealing (2013) (12 page)

In amazement, Jed asked, “What the hell were you two doing in Greece during the war?”

“Spying, sir,” the small man replied matter-of-factly. “Mr. Merriman and I were on a joint mission for the American and British governments. We were ever so grateful to see those soldiers finally pack up and leave.” Burrows smiled another tiny smile. “They left us quite a nice path through the snow. We barely got our feet wet.”

Jed almost laughed at the idea of Merriman and Burrows as James Bond-like spies. It was outrageous. Still, Burrows had never struck him as a man to tell tales.

“I take it, sir, that you are having difficulties with Miss Rachel.”

Jed shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. “I wish it was just difficulties, Burrows. Patience is getting me nowhere fast.”

Burrows shook his head. “You’re overlooking the obvious, sir.”

“There is no obvious,” Jed snapped in frustration, as he leaned back against the wall of the house.

“Miss Rachel’s behavior has been quite obvious, and so has yours. Consider that, sir.”

Now what, Jed wondered, did Burrows mean by “obvious” behavior? What had they done?…

He realized exactly what they had done, and he glanced up sharply only to find Burrows had gone. Jed swore. Somehow, the butler had discovered that he and Rae had made special use of the drawing room last night. He doubted there was very much that Burrows didn’t know—about anything. As the man said: he wasn’t a dunce. Even the boys probably sensed there was something more going on between him and Rae than a simple kidnapping. Although Michael didn’t understand the nuances of their relationship, the five-year-old was so attuned to them that he was acting almost like a matchmaker, and doing a damn good job of it. Face it, Jed told himself, he and Rae hadn’t done much to hide their strong attraction to each other. That was obvious. The conflict between them over the estate had also produced some rather bizarre behavior too. That Rae had kidnapped him was bizarre enough, but he’d taken it a giant step further by insisting on remaining kidnapped. Setting foot on this property was like
stepping into a loony bin. Both of them were certainly giving Merriman a run for his money in the eccentricity department.

Setting foot on the property …

Stepping into a loony bin …

It was the house! The house made people do crazy things. He had heard of houses being possessed by poltergeists, but this one must be possessed by an eccentricity bug that made people behave like loonies. Merriman had bought the house as a young man, and he probably hadn’t been eccentric then, but now the man was noted for it. Rae hadn’t even been in the house a month before she was kidnapping people. Of course, she had had years of exposure to the place. He was working against his own company for her, and Burrows, who should be on her side, seemed to be on his. Impossible and insane. It was definitely the house. That was the only explanation. Nothing else made sense.

He heard light footsteps coming up the steps of the terrace, and knowing it must be Rae, he decided one piece of insanity had gone on long enough. As she reached the top step, she nodded to him and headed for the French doors.

“Rae.”

She stopped for an instant at his call, then continued on her way, saying, “I’m sorry, Jed, but I have to make an important phone call.”

Jed strode over and took her arm before she could disappear inside. “Wait. This is more important than a phone call. You have to listen to me—”

“There’s nothing to discuss—”

“I think Burrows knows we made love last night.”

Her eyes widened in shock, and she sputtered, “But that’s impossible! Everyone was asleep.” She gripped his arm. “Do you think he saw …?”

He curved his arm around her shoulders in comfort. “No. He just said our behavior was obvious. We haven’t exactly been hiding our attraction to each other. Face it, Rae, anyone could have figured it out. But his saying that made me think about the way we’ve been behaving over the estate too. Have you ever kidnapped anyone before? Even thought of it? Or done anything even remotely as crazy? Not something a little wild or silly, but something really off the wall.”

She shook her head.

“See. Your behavior is obvious. I’ve never done anything off the wall, either, but now I’m risking my job to find another site and insisting on staying kidnapped. Then there’s your uncle. Merriman’s been mad as a hatter for a long time. What about when he was younger, before he bought this place?”

“I don’t know. He used to say he never had any fun.” She frowned at him. “Why?”

“I think it’s the house, Rae. It makes people do crazy things. There’s something wrong with—”

The look on her face stopped his words. Her beautiful features were set with a blank expression. The only giveaway was her chin. It quivered as she tried to suppress her amusement. Suddenly she burst into hysterical laughter. She buried her face in his shoulder, her body shaking
with mirth. He glared down at the top of her head.

“Dammit, Rae! Will you get serious?”

“I … can’t!” she gasped in between fits of laughter.

He turned her to face him, and grasping both shoulders, gently shook her. “I know it sounds crazy, but think about it. Think about what Burrows said. And Michael … even he—”

Her amusement immediately stopped, and with a horrified moan, she pushed out of his arms. “Oh, no! Michael saw us too?”

“No, of course not! I just meant that even he’s aware of something strange going on, and he responds to it.”

She slumped in relief. “Thank goodness! Michael is too young to understand the birds and the bees, let alone visual aids. I have been meaning to talk to you, though, about … about what happened.”

“Then why have you been avoiding me?” he asked in disbelief, forgetting all thoughts about the house being possessed.

“I haven’t.”

“Sure, you haven’t.”

She waved a hand in dismissal. “I admit I’m attracted to you, Jed. That fact surprised me, and I guess I was …” She made a face. “Let’s just say, it was a combination of things. The point is, we’re not going to make love again.”

Jed stared at her. “We’re not?”

“No,” she said flatly. “We’re not.”

There was a long silence. Finally, he said, “That’s it? Just we’re not?”

“That’s right. Just we’re not.”

Jed said nothing, because he was afraid of what he
would
say. He knew he shouldn’t be surprised by her reaction. As Burrows would say: her behavior had been obvious. She was still being obvious. Even after last night, she was still refusing to acknowledge there was something special between them. From her tense stance, he realized she was more than ready to fight him on the subject. He considered all his options and the risks involved with each, then decided on the one she’d least expect.

“Okay.”

Her jaw dropped open in clear astonishment. “You … you agree?”

“Absolutely. You don’t have to explain anything, Rae. Not a thing. I understand completely, and I just want to say thank you for being mature and sensible.” He patted her shoulder, then opened the French doors. “You’d better go make that phone call now.”

“What phone … oh, yes, the phone call.” She turned toward the open doors. She turned back and gazed at him in bewilderment. Jed kept his smile friendly. She turned around and walked into the house, while muttering something incomprehensible under her breath.

Jed shut the doors after her. He grinned. It wouldn’t be long before she’d be furious with him for
not
fighting her on the subject. If she reacted the way he hoped, they’d be doing more than talking tonight.

• • •

Hours later, Jed paced the darkness of the trophy room. So much for reverse psychology, he thought in disgust as he brushed against a stuffed moosehead.

Rae hadn’t reacted the way he’d expected. She hadn’t reacted at all. At first, he’d been pleased at the way she shot him dirty looks all afternoon. He knew she was building to a confrontation, and he knew she was only waiting for the opportunity to let loose. But when the boys left for home shortly after dinner, she immediately excused herself, claiming a sick headache. Something had gone wrong, and he had no idea what. He’d be damned, though, before they went back to the beginning. He wanted her. He needed her. And the more he wanted her, the more he needed her. Her excusing herself was a clear rejection, just as her attitude had been all day. Either that, or she thought he was crazy for telling her the house was possessed.

Hell, he thought, this had nothing to do with the house. Stick to the obvious. They had something unique together. It transcended their differences over the estate. It was something that couldn’t be denied. Yet, she was denying them both. She had no right to do that, and it was about damn time she learned it.

He strode over to the trophy room door.

She couldn’t sleep. She knew it was useless to try, but she reshaped her pillow anyway, and rolled onto her side. She closed her eyes and attempted
to clear her mind of everything but rolling green pastures.

Their behavior was obvious.

With a loud groan, Rae rolled onto her back. Those words just wouldn’t go away.

She acknowledged that her behavior had certainly been obvious today. She’d acted like a teenage girl embarrassed to face a boy after a first date. In spite of her resolve of the morning, she just hadn’t known how to broach the subject without making a fool of herself. Well, she’d done that by avoiding him in the first place. When she finally confronted him on the terrace, she wound up looking even more foolish. And being told she was mature and sensible had only bewildered and aggravated her. She’d spent the rest of the time wanting to smack his face—or something equally as satisfying. She probably would have, too, if Burrows’s words hadn’t kept coming back to her. After her brother had picked up the boys, she couldn’t stand it any longer. A headache hadn’t been far from the truth, she admitted. The need to be alone and think had been pounding through her by then. Unfortunately, her thoughts had circled in her brain like a merry-go-round.

Obvious behavior.

She remembered Jed’s notion that the house caused people to act crazily, and a giggle escaped her. Lord, he could make her laugh, and if he wasn’t making her laugh, he was making her want him so badly that she thought she
would
go crazy. The moment she had uttered the words “We won’t,” she knew she wanted to say exactly the opposite.
She’d been attracted to men before, but she’d always been in control. Not with Jed, though. Something more than physical chemistry drew her to him. She’d tried to ignore it at first, then tried to guard herself from it, and finally, she’d tried to fight it. Last night, she’d surrendered to it, and, dammit, she still didn’t know what it was. She only knew that with each minute that passed she was drawn in deeper.

Yet it was supposed to be obvious.

“Oh, my God!” Rae gasped, and shot upright as realization dawned.

Moaning, she covered her face with shaking hands and tried to calm herself. She couldn’t possibly be in love with Jed. It was all wrong, there were so many problems … and yet it was so obvious. In spite of everything, she’d fallen in love with him. She could feel the rightness of it in her bones. How, she wondered wildly, had it happened? When? She didn’t bother with why, since she had no answers to the first two questions.

Leaning back against the pillows, she lowered her hands from her face and acknowledged that there was no sense denying that she loved him. She’d even known it the previous night when she worried that her heart was involved. She hadn’t been able to face it then. She had to face it now.

The door to her bedroom suddenly opened, and she recognized Jed’s silhouette on the threshold. Without a word, he shut the door behind him and strode over to the side of her bed. He yanked his sweater over his head and dropped it on the door. His hands went to his waist. She heard the snap of his jeans being pulled open. Any thoughts of protesting died at his actions. She stared, wide-eyed,
at the virile shadow he made as he quickly shed the rest of his clothes. Naked, he lifted the covers and slid into the bed. She sensed his determination and need, and knew she couldn’t deny him. She loved him.

She had never felt so vulnerable before in her life.

Then his arms were around her, and she knew she’d never felt so safe.

Much later, Rae lay exhausted in Jed’s arms. Breathing in the musky scent of their lovemaking, she smiled to herself as she lazily stroked the muscles of his back. He had taken her with him to an even sweeter oblivion this time, and she didn’t regret one moment of it. However, there was one tiny detail which had to be cleared up.

“I thought,” she finally murmured in amusement, “that you agreed we weren’t going to do this again.”

His lips had been caressing the soft column of her neck, and she felt him grin against her skin.

“I lied.”

She laughed softly. “You cad, Jed Waters. To think, I trusted you to behave yourself.”

He kissed her for a long moment, then said, “Do you trust me, Rae?”

For a second, her insides tensed at his question. She trusted him with her life. If she were in
danger, the only person she’d want at her side would be Jed, and she did trust him to protect her as best he could from his company’s interests in the estate. It was her heart that made her hesitate answering him. Could she trust him with her heart?

Reaching up, she touched his mustache and said, “Yes, I trust you. I trust you to do your best not to hurt me—in any way.”

His mouth tenderly covered hers, and she sensed not only his gratitude at her admission, but his promise not to betray her fragile offering.

Finally, he lifted his head. “Work with me to find a new site, Rae. I think we’ve been working against each other long enough.” He rubbed a hair-roughened leg against the sensitive flesh on the inside of her thigh as he added, “Wanna bet the farm that we’d be hell together outside the bedroom too?”

Laughing, she said, “You don’t have a farm, Jed.”

“A little hedging never hurt anyone,” he drawled, nuzzling her neck. His hand drifted to her breast. “Ready for some more obvious behavior?”