Together Again: Spirit Travel Novel - Book #4 (Romance & Humor - The Vicarage Bench Series) (22 page)

On the other hand, he’d just spent the evening with a gorgeous woman who made his eyes go crossed from desire and hunger and… Accusations and remorse followed. There was nothing supernatural about the way his body had reacted to the woman he’d held earlier. He’d wanted her like he’d never wanted another. His brain knew she wasn’t the girl he loved, but his body couldn’t have cared less.

God, he was so screwed up! Probably not a good verb to use right then. The picture it brought to mind didn’t help with his goal to get some shuteye. He fell on the bed, snatched the pillow, folded it in half, and shoved it under his wild hair.

His mind whirled, snagged a “what if” and then switched to a “maybe.” Despair had him questioning whether Dani had been real or only his imagination. During those magical days spent with her, could he have been in a state of enchantment, like a spell or a pseudo hallucination?

Not a chance!

He lay on his bed hour after hour, wringing out his guilt and feeling as low as a snake. When his stamina finally waned, he gave in to his dreams. Dreams that took him where he couldn’t go awake—right back into the arms of the fascinating woman he’d torn himself away from earlier.

The smell of her permeated his subconscious. A sensuous, stimulating odour that drifted into his head and took hold. Lips ripe and wanting trailed over his face, and her soft hands first soothed the skin of his cheeks, then plunged through his hair, forcing his head closer. His power to refuse shattered. Like an addict whose drug has been withheld for too long, her kiss drained until his body shuddered and all but collapsed. He scooped her closer.

Dream Girl still wore the low-cut black dress he’d so admired. His lips travelled to her neck. He sucked and licked her skin, winding his way first up to her ears, under her chin, and then downward to the slopes of her breasts. His hands joined his mouth as he scraped the slinky material and her lacy bra—first down, then under, forcing her enticing mounds to protrude until her nipples stared him in the face. Suckling, biting, he made love to one side and quickly shifted, not forgetting the other.

Her moans of approval heightened his pleasure, and his voice joined hers. They hummed together—electric sparks heating to burn temperature. Trembling limbs, both his and hers, forced him to slow down. Lack of breath made him stop.

He looked his fill—past the white skin, the secretive eyes, and into the heart of the precious fantasy woman he held so gently in his arms…

And he knew.

The knowing wasn’t an explosion of wisdom, but a soft smile of acceptance. How could he have been fooled for even a millisecond? She was his feminine side, everything beautiful in his life, his very own Dani. No one but Dani could make his heart sing this way or twist his senses into loops of happiness.

His eyes opened. The dream drifted away. He was left with a memory—and a body so aroused that he endured carnal discomfort once again.

From the first moment in Ellie’s company he’d felt a strange link existing between them. He’d been attracted to her more than to any other female he’d ever met. Obviously his physical side connected even when his common sense hadn’t recognized her.

Her way of laughing about things had seemed familiar, and his instinctive understanding of why she found something humorous made being in her company so easy. Thinking back, he recognized that even the inflections of sadness in Ellie’s voice were the exact replica of Dani’s. When she’d discussed the old folks’ future after the fire, he’d known exactly how she felt. He remembered quaint phrases she’d used at their last meeting and shook his head at his blindness.

The more he thought on it, the more it made sense. Only she wasn’t seventeen. How much older was she? After the bank robbery, he remembered that he’d done a bit of research, and her bio had listed her as twenty-six. He calculated quickly. Holy hell! It meant that, for her, their days together must have happened some ten years ago.

Heck, even her daughter, Amy, looked the right age and fit into that picture perfectly. Seems Dani’s intuition had been correct after all. She had been pregnant.

Fury surpassed sexual dissatisfaction. Why the hell hadn’t she told him? He sat on the side of the bed, head in his hands. Why hadn’t she approached him honestly, explained the truth about the time travel, about the difference of ten years? What possessed her to play games—to fool with him and his emotions? The only ideas that made any sense at all disturbed and saddened.

She mustn’t trust him. If he’d done the deed with Ellie, she’d have had proof he was a womanizing jerk who couldn’t wait even a week to claim his girl.

Anger simmered, boiled, and ran over at her treachery. The muscles in his arms tightened as fists formed and clenched. How could a man put his faith in a deceiver? How could she have done this to him after what they’d been through? The smile he wore wasn’t pretty—diabolical would describe it more accurately. He’d repay her for her lies and secrecy.

What if I turn the tables on her? Payback might be wrong, but it’ll be damn satisfying. After all, making love to Ellie would really be making love with a grown-up Dani. It wouldn’t be cheating—not really; only she won’t know I’ve figured out her secret.

His girl—no, his woman—needed to be taught a lesson about manipulating people. And he was just the man to teach her.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Dani looked into the mirror for the umpteenth time, checking to be sure her shorts weren’t too short. That her halter-top fit exactly right, and that her crazy hair, which normally gave her conniptions, didn’t ruin the image she wanted to portray.

With gardening gloves and her pretty shade hat ready as props, he’d think she’d been gardening when he arrived. In actual fact, her everyday gardening gear looked more like ragged jeans cut off at the knee, worn with an old T-shirt tatty from too many washes, and a squished and ancient sunhat that fit tightly enough to control her flyaway curls. Not the look she wanted for today. She had in mind something quite different.

Mouth-wateringly sexy, yes—but not easy.

Interested and willing. Good.

An equal—a woman of today who had the poise and pizzazz to choose whichever man she wanted.

If his resistance still couldn’t be overcome, she’d have to accept it, but knowing that Dani the woman attracted him as much as Dani the girl would go a long way to putting her mind at ease.

The hands on the clock moved too slowly. Changing her mind about her outfit wasn’t an option; she’d already tried on half her closet. She knew, having lived with him, not to expect him for at least a couple of hours. He used the mornings to write the work he’d gathered the day before. Therefore, she wouldn’t be seeing him any time before lunch. What to do? She’d go crazy without something to occupy her. Forget starting her new book. She hadn’t made any sense on paper since he’d arrived in Bury.

Updating the beautifully tooled leather scrapbook she had lovingly kept on his work and successes all these years pleasured her immensely, but she had nothing more to add. She’d already put in the latest fire-victim articles.

Amy, her wonderful, annoyingly brilliant child, couldn’t be talked into playing hooky this morning, because the summer-school teacher had promised the class a spelling bee, with a surprise for the winner. Wanting to be a writer like her mother, Amy loved this class the best of all.

In need of something to do or someone to talk to, she decided on a quick visit to her uncle, to get his moral support for the plans she’d set in motion.

Using the devil doorknocker reminded her of the day, ten years earlier, when she’d come to this very house for help. She’d ended up embroiled in a preposterous adventure. On Saturday, her life would come full circle. Imagining Troy’s face when he realized that Ellie and Dani was the same person brought a smile to her heart.

Mrs. Dorn opened the door and immediately the good woman’s mouth dropped open and her smallish eyes protruded. She scanned Dani’s outfit.

“Hel-lo, pet. Where’re ya going? To a hooker convention?”

“Too much? Is it the makeup? Or the clothes? What?”

While Dani turned in a circle, she spotted her uncle coming in from the garden. “Uncle Robert, you’re a man. We need your help.”

“Thank you, my dear. I don’t believe you’ve ever been so loquacious with your compliments. A man, indeed!” Reddened cheeks, tight lips, and a raised eyebrow revealed some discomfort while he scrutinized her attire.

Dani, putting his attitude down to his being an old fuddy-duddy, ignored the signs. She followed him into the garden with Mrs. Dorn bringing up the rear.

“I need your help with my pursuit of Troy, which by the way is madly complicated, but coming along splendidly. He’s falling for me and…” Dani wiggled a jive step while singing the words of the popular Beatles tune, “I Feel Fine.”

A strange movement to his left beckoned the doctor. He swung around to watch Mrs. Dorn’s older version of the jive, her arms waving, ample hips gyrating, while her head bopped.

Caught unaware by their high jinks, his grin responded to her silliness before he could check it. Dani cut him off as he opened his mouth with the obvious intention of speaking.

“But…!” Her uplifted forefinger emphasized. She grimaced, then wiggled her head. “Something is bugging me, and I can’t understand why. After all, everything is going according to plan.”

“Dani, go and make yourself comfortable in the garden while Mrs. Dorn and I get the tea tray. Then we’ll all visit and find out what’s bothering you. Excuse us for a few moments. Come, Mrs. Dorn.” Sweeping his astounded housekeeper from the room and down the hallway took some doing.

“Doctor, stop ‘ere, give over. Are you coming down with something? In all the years I’ve worked with you, not once have you ever wanted to help me make the tea.”

“I still don’t, Mrs. Dorn. I only wanted to get you aside to be sure we were on the same track. In our thinking—so to speak.” He made a comical face when he heard what he’d said. And the whispered words “God forbid” slipped out.

“What do you have in mind, Doctor?”

He cleared his throat. “Did we encourage my niece to play the trollop, to engage with her fellow in insignificant sex?”

“No…” First her head moved to the negative. She watched him for signs and, reading his expression, slowed to a stop, then started moving in the positive. “Did we?”

“Mrs. Dorn. Did we or did we not persuade her to act the floozy so she could determine if Ellie the woman attracted Troy Brennan as much as Dani did as a young girl?”

“That we did, and it looks like we did a fine job, sir.” This time her head did move up and down—a beatific smile lighting up her face.

“Oh, twaddle! What the hell were we thinking? The poor girl’s in a pickle now, and it’s entirely our fault. Come, Mrs. Dorn, no lollygagging. We need to get back to her and see if we can straighten out this mess.”

Dr. Andrews, carrying the tray of cups, saucers, and condiments, was the first to brush aside the hanging fern leaves, step into the garden and see red hair splayed over the side of the rose-decked bench.

His fright at seeing the limp body, its seemingly lifeless arm hanging close to the ground, made him relax his hold on the tray, and everything slid toward the side. At the last moment, thankfully, catching the tiny grin on Dani’s face stopped him from dropping the works and joining Mrs. Dorn in her screaming reaction.

Dani jumped up and ran to the shocked woman. “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Dorn. It was only a joke. I’m fine. Please forgive me. I’m really, truly sorry.”

Mrs. Dorn fell back three steps, clutched her heart, and knocked over the flowerpot sitting in the centre of a table. The doctor wrested the teapot from her frozen fingers in an attempt to save some of the tea, although much of it had already poured out of the tilted spout. Dani guided her toward the bench, but with a look of horror the older woman jostled her aside and instead collapsed on one of the wicker garden chairs.

“Ya wee monster! You’ll feel the back of me hand, ya will. Always knew a good tanning on your backside wouldn’t come amiss. How dare you frighten a poor old woman like this? It’ll be your fault if I lose a few years off me life for this bit of nonsense.”

The grin couldn’t be stopped. “I am sorry, Mrs. Dorn.” Trying to straighten her face and look sincere took all Dani’s acting ability. “Really!”

“After I’ve caught me breath, and me heart stops pounding, I’ll be needing the loo right quick.” With a dark look at the young girl, whose lips still quivered behind her fingers, the housekeeper heaved to her feet and stomped from the room.

“Uncle Robert, I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I thought it would be a silly joke, and we’d all laugh about it. I never thought either one of you would get so upset.”

“I’ve never seen you so witless, my dear. One minute you’re questioning everything, and the next you’re playing silly games.”

His words produced the desired effect. Chastised, she sank onto the bench, and her complexion paled. “Oh, God! I am sorry.”

“We reacted like we did because when you left us, ten years ago, those days were some of the most frightening and horrible ones we ever lived through.”

“Yet for me, they were the best days of my life.”

“Daniell, put yourself in our position. We had no knowledge of where you were, what had happened to you, or if you were ever coming back. It was a nightmare. If not for Mrs. Dorn and Nurse Joye, I think I’d have gone mad.”

When he called her by her full name, she knew he felt strongly and she needed to listen. Dani reached over and threw her arms around her uncle and best friend. She nuzzled into him like a child who knows a welcome is always there for her. “You’re right, Uncle Robert. I’m an ungrateful, thoughtless, stupid little—”

“You’ve made your point, child. Let’s move on. Forget the bad things, and let’s dwell on the good.” He patted her back, set her aside, and then reached towards the teapot.

“Speaking of good, how is Grace Joye, Uncle? I haven’t seen her at all lately.” Dani watched as her uncle’s face underwent a complete metamorphosis, from a kind and loving uncle to a man in turmoil. “What’s happened?”