Hooper, Kay - [Hagen 09] (20 page)

Because he had to touch her, hold her, he wrapped his
arms around her waist and lifted her off her feet, kissing her with a
hunger that hadn't lessened. -Her arms wreathed up around his neck as
she returned the kisses fervently.

"God, I love you," he murmured.

Her eyes gleamed up at him when he lowered her
reluctantly to her feet. "I love you too. And those answers
you were worried about haven't changed a damn thing."

He went still, searching her face with a probing gaze.

"I had a visitor around dawn this morning,"
she told him softly, smiling a little. "It was a bit of a shock.
There I was totally convinced there was no one in the world like you
– and then your mirror image shows up."

Dane swore softly. "Jenny, I would have told you
about Skye as soon as it was over – "

"I know. I understand why you couldn't."

"What did he tell you?" Dane asked warily,
slightly surprised by her calm acceptance.

Her smile widened. "Several things he thought I
should know. And he was right. He obviously loves you a lot. Can I
guess that you're older?"

Dane smiled despite himself. "By ten minutes."

Jennifer nodded, unsurprised. "Most of what he said
didn't really surprise me. I did tell you I already had all the
answers I needed, you know. That was true. But I suppose I can hardly
blame you for doubting me after the way I acted."

"Doubting you?"

"Isn't that what you were doing?" she asked
gently. "Thinking that when I heard the truth about your life, I
wouldn't love you anymore. That it would change me somehow."

Roughly, he said, "Jenny, there are dangers in my
life."

"I know that. I've known it for days. Those
promises in your eyes. Promises of happiness and excitement –
and danger. You always keep the promises you make, and I'm looking
forward to all of them."

"Are you sure, honey?" he asked huskily.

"All
of them, Dane. Because what you promise
most of all, is
life.
It's the reason I fell in love with
you."

He bent his head and kissed her deeply. "I don't
deserve you," he said as he lifted his head.

Jennifer fought to keep her voice light. "You
probably angered the Fates. I'm half Italian, remember?"

That reminder made Dane recall the papers he was still
holding, and he hesitated before saying, "There's one more thing
I wanted to tell you."

"You don't have to. Skye didn't just visit me; he
took me back to Belle Retour. We watched that last hand between you
and Kelly." She was smiling again.

After a moment, Dane said, "I'm going to shoot
him."

"Kelly?" she asked innocently.

"No, dammit. My interfering brother." Dane was
obviously uncomfortable, and cleared his throat before
continuing. "Jenny, the plantation belongs to you and your
mother. It's been legally transferred."

"And you hate debts," she said mildly.

"You don't owe me anything," he insisted.

Ignoring that, she mused, "You've got at least a
million dollars in that plantation. More than that, probably,
since I'll bet you paid off the mortgage. I don't see how I'd ever be
able to pay you back." She shook her head ruefully.

"Jenny – "

"This is dreadful," she told him in a solemn
tone. "I can't have the both of us worrying about that debt.
Maybe I could sell the place, and then – "

"Are you out of your mind?" he exploded. Then
he realized she was smiling again.

"Just wanted you to put it in the proper
perspective," she said gently.

He almost shook her, torn between relief and
exasperation. "Dammit, Jenny."

"Well, there really is only one solution." She
reached behind her to take the packet of papers from his hand and
tossed them on the couch, then slid her arms back up around his neck.
"You keep Belle Retour. You won it fairly, after all."

"I didn't cheat," he admitted, wanting her to
know that. "But I spent this whole morning – "

"And I'll live there with you," she
interrupted calmly. "I'll be in my home again, and I won't owe
you a million bucks for it. Simple. Even an international gambler
should have a base of operations, and think how your stock will rise
when people find out yours is a two-hundred-year-old Louisiana
plantation. Besides, it fits you even better than a riverboat."

He stared at her for a moment, then blinked as if to
clear away mental cobwebs. "You must have gotten it from your
mother," he said reflectively. "I noticed she had it too."

"What?" she asked guilelessly.

"The ability to make the most insane things sound
perfectly reasonable. Jenny, I
won't
take your plantation."

"Of course you will. But we'll argue about it
later."

He eyed her warily. "We will?"

She smiled up at him. "You should get some steep
first, though. You must be exhausted."

His mouth curved. "Slightly. Jenny, will you marry
me?"

"Yes."

He lifted her off her feet again, kissing her. "Who's
hitching whose fate to a rogue star?" he murmured against her
lips.

"We both are, I think. And isn't it nice that I'm
wearing them again, just like the night we met?"

"Wearing what?"

"Garters." Held on a level with him, she
peered solemnly into his vivid eyes. "You know, those sexy
little devices used to hold up stockings? They came before some total
moron invented pantyhose."

He cleared his throat, then said, "Lace garters?"

"Uh-huh. The same as before."

In a single strong movement, Dane shifted his hold on
her so that he cradled her completely against his chest. Then he
headed for the bedroom.

Breathlessly, Jennifer said, "I suppose you can
always sleep later?"

"Much
later," Dane said, and kicked the
bedroom door shut behind them.

"I still can't believe it," Raven Long said,
studying Skye intently. "I always thought Dane wore more than
one hat – but I never suspected there were two of you."

"You weren't supposed to," Skye reminded her
in amusement.

She sighed, then looked at her husband, who was sitting
beside her on the couch in their hotel suite. "And if Dane
hadn't bolted off on his honeymoon, we'd probably never have known."
Parenthetically, she added, "I knew he'd get sidetracked by that
blonde."

Josh smiled at her, his normally hard blue eyes
softened, as always, when he looked at her. "By now, we
should have learned to expect this sort of thing," he commented.

Raven smiled in agreement, then returned her gaze to
Skye. "But you said that security man of Kelly's had some
interesting information?"

Skye nodded. "Very interesting. It appears he had a
brief stint as a federal agent about the time he was leaving
thumbprlnts on the lock of your apartment."

Raven stared at him for a long moment, and then said
hollowly, "Don't tell me – "

Clearing his throat, Skye murmured. "Afraid so."

Thirty seconds later. Raven was on her feet and pacing
violently.
"Hagen,"
she uttered in a voice that made
the name a curse. "He's gone too far, Josh, this time he's
really crossed the line! I'll kill him with my bare hands."

Her husband lit a cigarette, watching her calmly. "Don't
waste energy getting mad, darling," he told her. "This
time, we're going to get even."

Skye, watching them, felt a stab of pity for Hagen. He'd
seen smiles before like the kind these two were wearing; he'd even
worn a few himself . . . just before all hell broke loose.