The Princess and the Pauper (8 page)

“What do you mean? Why not?”

“I’m not going to make love to you on the wrought iron bench in your parents’ backyard,” he said.

“Make love?” April nearly choked.
“Make love?”

“What did you think?”

April could scarcely concentrate on their conversation. All she could see were Jesse’s sensual lips, reddened slightly from kissing her. Instinctively she leaned toward him and was humiliated by the way he drew away sharply.

“Stop it, April. I mean it.” He bounded to his feet suddenly, jerkily.

“Now who’s afraid,” she asked, slowly rising from the bench. Her knees were strangely weak.

“You don’t know what the hell you’re doing!”

“I’ve got a pretty good idea.”

He swore rudely. April’s the one thread of hope lay in the fact he hadn’t actually marched off and left her. She stood before him, her blouse open, wisps of hair falling into her face.

“You don’t want me?” she asked softly.

He didn’t answer, but she could see a muscle working in his jaw. April tentatively slid her arms around his waist, tipping up her chin, hoping for another kiss. His response was to drag her tightly against his tensed body, kissing her so hard that her head fell back, and holding her so closely that she felt his state of arousal. She was thrilled by the evidence of his desire, even as it frightened her.

Abruptly he let her go, swore again and stalked toward the corner of the house.

“Wait!” she called after him. His purposeful strides kept right on going. “Jesse, wait!”

He was at the gate before she caught up with him, grabbing at his arm. He turned so suddenly that he nearly knocked her off balance. “I’m not interested, Princess. Understand?” he growled harshly.

“But I—”

“Go tease someone else.”

With that he strode through the gateway and down the road. April’s battered pride surfaced just long enough to keep her from following him.

But she wasn’t going to give up.

Chapter Four

D
riving the Mercedes at a fast clip toward Rock Spring’s city center, April passed Tamblin’s Lumber Mill on her left. Behind her sunglasses, she glanced casually out of the corner of one eye. It was three-thirty. Quitting time. If she was lucky, she might be able to catch a glimpse of Jesse climbing onto his motorcycle.

She slowed down deliberately, drove around the nearest curve, then parked behind a sprawling oak tree in the center of the parking lot, nose pointed outward. The engine idled quietly. April turned off the air conditioning and pushed a button on the walnut dash board. The sunroof slid backward with a soft hum; the sunlight almost blinded her.

She sighed. Following Jesse had become an obsession. At first she denied, even to herself, that her trips past the mill were more frequent than before, that her visits to Louie’s, the local burger joint two miles past the mill, had steadily increased. So she’d suddenly developed a craving for fast food. So what?

But occasionally cruising to the truck stop had been what tipped the scales. She couldn’t lie to herself any longer. She’d gone there for one reason, and one reason only: Jesse.

Carrie’s feeling about her strange behavior had been painfully clear the last time April had approached her friend about grabbing lunch at Louie’s. “Are you out of your mind?” Carrie had demanded. “I’m sick of Louie’s, and I’m never coming within a mile of that truck stop place again!”

No amount of cajoling could persuade her to go. Which was just as well, April supposed, in case she actually ran into Jesse.

July heat poured into her car, baking hot. April pulled her long hair off her bare shoulders and flung it over the back of the seat. She’d cornered Jesse twice since the night in the gazebo. Once at Louie’s, once when he was walking through town with Bettina. Both times he’d acted as if she were invisible. Bettina had managed to say hello.

She’d had better luck with Jordan. Two nights before, she’d caught sight of him stuffed inside an older Suburban with a group of high school friends. Waving, April had managed to get the driver to pull over. She pointed to Jordan and yelled for him to join her.

Amid hoots of laughter his friends had practically tossed him out of the car. Sliding into the front seat of the Mercedes, Jordan had whistled softly. “Nice wheels.”

“My father’s, not mine. We sold my Mustang because I’m going to be living on campus. I’m afraid I’m carless.”

“Then we’re two of a kind,” he said, pulling a beer from the inside of his coat and cracking it open. “Only I just can’t afford one. Want some?”

“No, thanks.”

“Why did you pick me up?” he asked twenty minutes later, while April was driving aimlessly along River Road. He’d polished off the beer and crushed the can between his palms.

April bit her lip, wondering if she should admit her feelings for Jesse – whatever those feelings might be. She wasn’t sure what attracted her, what compelled her to try and see him, but she was unwilling to let it lie. “I’ve met your brother.”

Jordan turned her way, staring at her in the same unnerving way, Jesse did. “So?”

“So I… want to see him again,” she admitted breezily.

Jordan half-choked. “Jesse?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Well, if you think I can help you, you’re out of your mind. Jesse doesn’t listen to me.”

“I just want to see him again, that’s all. To talk.”

Jordan’s silence was eloquent of his disbelief. “How did you two meet?” he asked curiously.

April shook her head. “It’s too long a story to go into. But I think he got the wrong impression of me, and I just want to straighten it out.”

Jordan stared her down in such a way that April averted her eyes. To her amazement he touched her arm understandingly and said, “Jesse doesn’t like girls from Windsor Estates. It doesn’t matter what you do, April. He won’t like you. He can’t stand Tasha, either.”

She gazed out the window, swallowing the swelling lump in her throat. Jesse’s prejudice made April’s soul ache. Inside, she yearned for something deep and nameless. Something only he could give her. “How does Jesse know Tasha so well?”

“Oh, he just does.” Jordan shrugged. “Jesse’s not exactly impressed with her, if you know what I mean.”

Now April laid her head against the car seat and stared through the sunroof at the dusty-blue sky. She had to see Jesse again. Soon. She only had a couple of months until she left town. Before meeting him, she’d been anxious to depart, but now she desperately wanted to renew what had begun between them.

An engine whined and a shiny blue car drove past. April watched it until it disappeared from sight. Three more cars sped by before a black and chrome motorcycle, catching and reflecting the sunlight, caught her attention. She recognized the helmet and leather jacket. April nosed the Mercedes into traffic.

Another car sandwiched itself between her and Jesse. Good, April thought with satisfaction. She wasn’t all that keen on a high-speed chase, and she was certain Jesse wouldn’t slow down if he saw her.

He drove directly home, turning into the rutted driveway. Drawing on her courage, April pulled in behind him. When Jesse spied her, he stiffened and warily watched her climb out of the car.

“I followed you from work,” April explained unnecessarily. “It seemed the only way to get you to talk to me.”

His gaze slid from her to her car. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a Mercedes in my driveway before,” he said wryly.

April heaved and exasperated sigh. “Would you mind taking a drive with me? Please?”

“Like you did with Jordan?”

She flushed deeply. “He told you? And you still wouldn’t meet me,” she added despairingly.

“Princess, we have nothing to talk about.”

“Stop calling me that! I’m not some stupid child you can just order around. I’ve got some things I need to say. Just give me a chance.” She swept an arm in the direction of the Mercedes. It was a brave display of courage she truly didn’t feel.

To her surprise Jesse did as she suggested, fitting his lean form into the passenger side of the car. April quickly scooted behind the wheel and switched on the ignition.

“I’m not going to jump out,” he said, when she threw the car into reverse, and dirt and gravel spewed out from the back tires.

“We’ll see,” she muttered.

For lack of anywhere better to go, she headed toward River Road again. Now that she had him captive, she was suddenly tongue-tied and shy, and it made her irritable. They drove for miles before Jesse asked sardonically, “Well?”

“I think you have the wrong impression of me,” April managed to say, her eyes trained steadily on the road in front of her. “I’m not Tasha Bennington.”

“Okay, you’re not Tasha Bennington.”

“And I do know what I’m doing,” she added with some heat.

Jesse smiled and said nothing.

April was so frustrated that she wanted to stamp on the accelerator. Instead, she pulled off at a narrow turn around and cut the engine. “I don’t know why, but I care what you think of me,” she declared. “I’m not a spoiled brat.”

“Okay.”

“Stop humoring me!”

“What would you like me to do?” Jesse asked cuttingly.

Unhappiness welled inside her, suffocating her. She glanced away, then wrapped her arms around her middle, squeezing hard, staving off the tears that were suddenly scalding the back of her throat. “I just wish – you’d like me – a little.”

Whatever he’d expected, this clearly wasn’t it. Jesse ran a hand through his hair, tugging furiously at the length of it against his nape. “I don’t want to like you,” he told her tautly. “I don’t want anything to do with you.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re trouble,” he ground out. “Because you’re slumming. Because just as soon as you get whatever you want from me, it’ll be over, and I’ll be left to save my skin.”

Tears of fury stood in her eyes. Her lips quivered uncontrollably. She didn’t trust herself to speak.

“Why don’t you ask yourself what you want –
really
want – from me?”

“This was a mistake,” she murmured unsteadily, reaching for the ignition. Jesse’s hand clamped over hers, stopping her. Several times he tried to say something, then exhaled furiously and swore.

“I’ll take you back,” she said, and he finally flung himself back in the seat.

“Fine.”

She drove to his house with care, emotions seesawing. She wished he would just kiss her again. Pull her into his arms. Love her.

When the Mercedes slid to a stop in front of his house, he didn’t climb out immediately. Shooting April the wry look she was coming to know, he said, “You’re going to college in the fall.”

She barely nodded. “UCLA.”

“Seeing each other’s pointless.”

“I guess.”

A drip of sweat rolled down his throat. He swiped it away. “I could meet you at the park later tonight,” he said, so quickly that she half-believed she’d imagined it.

“When?”

“Later.” He slid out of the seat.

April was so jubilant that she couldn’t find her tongue. Fumbling with the keys, she watched him walk up the driveway. A tired-looking woman was standing on the porch, her frowning gaze turned April’s way as she backed the Mercedes onto the road, her heart beating light and fast.

Tonight, she thought excitedly. Tonight…

The air was thick and close as April shifted her weight anxiously from one foot to the other. She peered through the inky darkness at her watch. Ten o’clock. Where
was
he?

The leaves shivered beneath a hot breath of wind. Silence filled the park. April stood to one side of the entrance, inhaling the dusty smell of the sun parched ground. Jesse had been right, she thought uneasily. Who knew what or who could be lurking in the shadows? So then why had he suggested meeting here?

What if he didn’t show?

April closed her eyes and turned her face to the itinerant breeze. She was hot and perspiring. He would come. He had to. Whatever else could be said about him, Jesse was not the type to make idle promises.

Growing restless, she walked along the pathway through the center of the park and darted anxious looks in all directions. There was no one here but herself.