Jane Millionaire (23 page)

He had to admire her spunk. Few men he knew would have returned to the lake so quickly after a brush with death. Of course, there wasn’t much he didn’t admire about Jill. Last night she’d convinced him she was close near to perfect.

A new surge of regret filled him. One he had to deal with, as he’d been a fool to give in to her sweet seduction. But only a monk could have resisted.

They walked toward the dock. Moonlight reflected off the inky blue-black surface of the water, belying the treachery that lay hidden.

Crickets chirped around them and a frog croaked in the distance. A breeze rustled the leaves of the surrounding shrubbery. Unease settled in Rob’s soul.

He watched Jill stare out at the water with mixed emotions. He understood her need, yet he’d be lying if he didn’t admit he feared for her safety. He didn’t want her to go in the water. How would he ever find her in the darkness if she cramped in the water?

Then it hit him. He didn’t want to have to go in the water. Period.

Aw hell.

Without a word, Jill stripped down to the swimsuit she wore beneath her clothes. Her lithe beauty momentarily distracted him from his harsh realization. With the moonlight bathing her skin in its glow, she walked down the length of the dock and dived in without pausing at the edge for a single second.

Rob’s stomach dropped somewhere beneath his feet as he ran to the end of the dock. He skimmed the shadowy water surface.

“Jill?” he called. Dear Lord, why had he let her talk him into this?

Chapter Fourteen

Jill dove into the water and prayed this wasn’t the most foolish thing she’d ever done.

Still, she refused to live in fear of water. Confronting the terror that had gripped her every time she’d closed her eyes while in her suite was the only means she had of conquering her fear.

She sank beneath the dark water seamlessly. Shock as the cool water chilled her skin filled her with panic, causing her to go still.

What had she done?

Then her reflexes automatically kicked in and she kicked her legs, propelling herself through the water and toward the surface. Nice and easy, taking time to assure her mind that all was right.

Jill wasn’t sure if she’d swim to him or vice versa, but Rob was now close enough to touch. Close enough that the moonlight reflected from his tawny eyes.

“Thank you.”

Jill stared at him in surprise. “For what?”

“I hadn’t even realized I’d decided the lake was evil until you forced me here.” His shoulders lifted from the water. His bare shoulders.

She glanced at the dock. Was that dark bump his clothes? She couldn’t be sure in the lighting.

“This afternoon was an accident. The water is neutral. Neither good nor bad.” Did she make sense or was she merely babbling? The realization that he’d stripped warmed her insides, made her remember how his strong body had felt tangled with hers. She gulped down the lump forming in her throat.

Water droplets ran down his face and Jill decided she’d been wrong. Water was good. Life-giving good.

“You’re okay?” he asked, and she got the impression he asked so much more than what met the surface. There was tenderness in his eyes that belied everything he’d said earlier in the day.

“I am now.” She bobbed in the water, wondering if he’d kiss her. She wouldn’t ask him to, but she hoped.

“Jill.”

Her chest swelled at the emotions wrapped into her name. Emotions that told her even if he kissed her, even if he made love to her right at this moment, he’d regret it in the morning. She had to let him make the next move.

And he wasn’t ready to make that move. Not tonight. Maybe not ever. And if she were wise, she wouldn’t be longing for him to make love to her again.

With more courage than it had taken her to dive into the lake, she flung her arms forward and showered an unsuspecting Rob with water.

Surprise flickered onto his face, before he grinned. “You’re going to pay for that.”

“Really?” she daunted, kicking her legs back in preparation to make a quick escape. “By who? You?”

He dived toward her, sending a spray of water in her direction. Jill took off, swimming away for all she was worth, determined not to let him catch her, but honest enough to admit that if he did she wouldn’t be heart broken.

She surfaced quite a distance from the shore. No sign of Rob. Where was he hiding? She turned and scanned the calm lake surface, thinking the brilliance of the moonlight reflecting from the water one of the loveliest sights she’d ever seen.

Maybe it was her company that gave the world such a rosy hue.

She leaned back and re-wet her hair to keep it from her face. Something grabbed her foot. Rob. She shrieked and kicked half-heartedly, trying to escape his hold.

Jill lurched away, but was too late. He grasped her and ducked her under, not holding her there but for a second. Probably in deference to her experience earlier in the day.

“Why not?” She timed her move just right and thrust her body upward as she clamped onto his shoulders. “Because I might do this?”

“As long as their clothes are on.” JP chewed on the cigar as he squatted in the bushes with the cameraman he’d dragged with him.

Jill tried to keep from giggling as she and Rob snuck up the stairs. Why they snuck she didn’t have a clue. It wasn’t as if cameras didn’t capture their every move.

“You just keep thinking that you
let
me. I’ve heard that delusion is a sign of mental illness. Guess you prove that theory.”

She stared into his golden eyes, wishing she could read what was in his heart as easily as she could see the waging battle in his gaze. He wanted her, yet he didn’t.

And he couldn’t enter her suite from the main hallway. Not with the cameras zoomed in on them. She had a role to play. If he wanted her, really wanted her, he knew which door she’d welcome him through. The one she’d left unlocked last night.

And they both knew what it would mean if he opened that door.

Certifiable, he’d said.

“Definitely,” she agreed, ducking under his arms and hightailing it into her room before she changed her mind and dragged him to her bed, regrets or not.

# # #

Jill sat on a sofa surrounded by the remaining four bachelors, Jeff and Steve included. Tonight was her last night before decisions had to be made.

And they were playing a game of Win, Lose or Draw.

Seemed odd to her, but there had been no scheduled activities for the evening that they hadn’t already filmed. When they’d looked for a game to play, this was the only one they’d been able to find other than the deck of cards they’d worn out during the late night hours for the past two weeks.

One of the remaining four was drawing a picture and gesturing wildly with his hands as his team mate, Steve, tossed out guesses. Several of the crew members were hanging with them, but in the background as JP had insisted upon recording the game in case they decided to use it in one of the last two shows.

She hadn’t seen Rob all day and had only caught a brief glimpse of him yesterday. She’d hoped, without success, that he would change his mind. Each night she lay in bed listening for the door to creak open.

It never did, and tomorrow was her last day at the castle.

Hard to believe it had been four weeks since the bachelors had arrived. She had no doubt as to which one she’d choose to spend the “honeymoon” week with. For the past two weeks, she’d spent the majority of her free time with Jeff. She really liked him, but she had no disillusions about the differences between friendship and romance. Jeff fell into the wrong category. If only she could have fallen for him instead of Rob. Life would be so much simpler. But as always she’d royally screwed up when it came to men.

None of it really mattered anyway. Tomorrow, Jeff would choose the hundred grand, and she’d be home a few days later. Everything would return to the way it had been before her Jane Millionaire days.

Except now she knew what sex could, and
should
, be like.

Damn it, she wanted more.

More of the way she felt with Rob. More of the fun she’d had with him at the lake. More of the hot, wild animal mating she’d had with him the night she’d gone to his room.

She fanned her flushed face.

“You’re turn to draw.” Jeff’s sharp tug on her blouse sleeve pulled her from her thoughts.

Jeeze, she’d totally phased out of their game. She smiled at the camera as she drew her card, then stepped up to the dry erase board they’d set up.

Rob leaned back against his leather chair as he watched the live feed of Jill and the four bachelors playing a game. Jill had grinned when she’d looked at her card. What had it read?

Curious, he watched as she drew a big heart on the board. Next, she drew a dollar sign. Her teammate, Kensington,
of course
, began tossing out words.

“What are you talking about?” JP looked innocent,
for once
, and Rob knew the older man told the truth. JP couldn’t lie worth a flip.

His gaze drifted back to the screen where she was high-fiveing with Kensington while the other three grinned and rolled their eyes at Jill’s antics. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Everyone, but him.

He’d had two weeks of hell.

Hell, because he’d walked her to her door after their swim and hadn’t so much as stolen a kiss. Not that he hadn’t wanted to. But he’d known he wouldn’t stop with a single kiss. Still, if she hadn’t ducked into her room, he might have risked everything.

Hell, because he wondered if she’d open her body and heart to him if he threw logic to the wind and entered her room through the door he stared at night after night? Or had she changed her mind and locked him out long ago? After his behavior following their short dose of heaven, he wouldn’t doubt it.