by Mae Clair
“All right.” His gaze tracked to Wyn as he helped himself to more coffee. “Maybe I did, unconsciously,” he was careful to stress, “exert some of my, um–”
“Charm,” Wyn said with sarcasm.
“Charm,” Caleb agreed. “But only to keep Arianna here so she’d be safe from Seth.”
“And that included having me slash her tire. She’s furious with you. With both of us.”
Caleb scowled. With all of the complications in his life, he had no room for Arianna Hart. Maybe it was chemistry, as Wyn liked to call it. She was shapely and beautiful, and he’d been without any kind of sexual release for too long. He was probably just starting to feel the strain.
“Paging Colonel DeCardian. Some attention, please, Sir.” Wyn snapped his fingers, jarring him back to the present.
For a doctor, the man could be annoyingly flippant. But he was also brilliant and gifted, professional to a fault when needed. And he was a friend.
Or almost. After Seth’s betrayal, Caleb had given up on friendship.
“Bottom line,” Wyn said. “Tone down the pheromones. Arianna’s not the kind of girl you pick up for a one night stand.”
Unwillingly to admit it was hard to keep his mind off the shapely schoolteacher, Caleb changed tactics. “Right now I’m more interested in the dead animal the sergeant mentioned. Reilly was at Weathering Rock last night. He killed that deer to taunt me.”
“Forget about him and concentrate on keeping your headaches under control. You were messed up last night. I think we should stop the treatments for a while.”
“No.” On that he was adamant. “I’ll be fine, Winston. As I recall, you were going to increase the dosage today. I don’t want to go backward.”
“Caleb.” Growing uncomfortable, Wyn glanced at his hands. “What I’m doing isn’t without risk. The drugs I’m giving you are experimental. If it weren’t for Mitch Elroy–”
“I know.” Caleb waved the observation aside. He didn’t know much about Wyn’s friend, only that he ranked highly in some secretive government branch, and had been a close friend of Wyn’s father, David DeCardian. A scientist, David had died when Wyn was a child, leaving Elroy to fill the role as a quasi-father figure. It was Elroy who supplied the experimental drugs used in Caleb’s treatments.
Caleb knew his nephew had placed his professional reputation at risk. Should anyone discover what he was doing, his license, his career, everything he’d worked hard to achieve would be destroyed in a heartbeat. Caleb had no right to be difficult with him.
Except he’d forgotten how to trust.
“I’d like to go to the library in Sagehill, Winston,” he said, deciding the matter for both of them. “I’d prefer to get the injection over with now. I’ll cope with the headaches the same as always. I believe you keep everything we need in your den?”
Wyn sighed, signaling defeat. Discounting the centuries that separated them, he was a year older, but Caleb was a battlefield commander. He’d been leading men far older than him from the time he was twenty-three. He’d survived countless battles, suffered more than one gunshot wound, and had once fought for two hours with shrapnel lodged in his throat.
Grimacing, he fingered the scar on the side of his neck. A few headaches didn’t amount to much after the bloodshed he’d witnessed. Wyn would have to understand–he’d do whatever was necessary to get his life back, including sacrificing his health.
Or Wyn’s career.
Chapter 5
After stopping at a service garage for a new tire, Arianna swung by the grocery store for a few perishables and boxed goods. It infuriated her to think Caleb had ordered Wyn to slash her tire. He may have thought he was protecting her by keeping her at Weathering Rock, but he’d had no right to make that decision.
According to Lucas there had been a rabid animal running around and, yes, she’d seen something outside the window, but how dangerous could it be? And how had Caleb known in the first place? She supposed she should have told one of them about what she’d seen, but she’d been too angry over the tire. Luke said there were no wolves in Pennsylvania, so it was possible she’d imagined the whole thing.
Still fuming, she returned to her townhouse and unloaded the car. She was putting the last of the groceries away when she spied several books lying on the kitchen table. She’d been brushing up on Gettysburg, the first of her summer fieldtrips only two weeks away. It was always a challenge getting seventh grade schoolchildren interested in history, especially when they’d rather be playing ball or camped out in front of the TV with a Wii or Xbox. Arianna was determined this year would encompass more than the same humdrum recital of facts. Mentally, she added the library to her list of errands, hoping to forget about Caleb. Why the hell couldn’t she get the man out of her head? He exasperated and bewildered her, but was gorgeous, magnetic and…sexual.
It surprised her to think of a man she’d just met in an erotic fashion but, for all his courtly grace, Caleb exuded an aura of power that was primal. All she had to do was come within a few feet of him and her skin tingled.
The phone rang, jarring her from her thoughts.
She snatched the handset from the counter. “Hello?”
“Ari?” Her sister’s voice echoed over the receiver, ripe with annoyance. “It’s about time. Did you shut off your cell? I’ve been trying to reach you all morning.”
“Oh, hi, Daph.” A high-maintenance older sister was the last thing she needed. She’d been blowing Daphne off for days, knowing her sister wanted to gush about the latest man in her life. Daphne went through men like clothes, but her crush of the moment was always the one.
“Where have you been?” Daphne persisted. “I tried to reach you three times this morning.”
“I was grocery shopping.”
“At eight AM?”
Arianna tucked the phone against her shoulder as she juggled two cans of Italian wedding soup onto the top shelf of the cupboard. “I must have been in the bathroom.” Explaining to Daphne how and where she’d spent the night would only result in an endless string of questions. “I have to run back out,” she said, hoping to hurry the conversation along. “I’m meeting Lauren later.”
“That’s why I’m calling. I left a message for her, but figured you’d see her first. Let her know my catering company can handle her party and I’ll have menus to her this afternoon.”
“Okay.”
Lauren Talbot was known for her yearly summer party, a tradition she’d started while married to Rick Rothrock. A man who’d made the most of the real estate market when it was booming, Rick had bagged his first million before turning thirty. Lauren was still living off that wealth, her settlement in the divorce sizable enough to make up for his foolish infidelity. “Lauren should have used me in the first place,” Daphne pouted into the phone.
Arianna tuned out the whine as she crossed into the family room and opened the vertical blinds on her patio door. Her sister’s catering company was small; Lauren’s party larger than anything Daphne had hosted before. She’d gotten the job at the last minute when the first caterer had backed out due to illness.
“The other caterer is a friend of Lauren’s mother,” Arianna reminded her. “She had to go with her. You’ve got the job now and that’s what counts.” Satisfied with the blinds, she pulled a few dry leaves from the fern on the coffee table. “I guess I’ll finally get to meet Sam.” Or was it Stan? Returning to the kitchen, she dumped the leaves into a trashcan.
“It’s Seth. Seth Reilly. I told you about him before.”
“That’s right–Seth. You keep raving about him.”
“He’s incredible, Ari.” Daphne sighed wistfully into the phone. “I can’t wait for you to meet him. I’ll bring him to Lauren’s party.”
“That’s great.”
At thirty-four, Daphne was six years older, but Arianna often felt like the more responsible sibling. Her sister loved instant gratification and tended to get bored unless she was talking about herself or her
latest passion. The fad of the moment was Seth.
“I don’t mean to cut you off, Daph, but I have to go.”
“I know, I know.” She was probably rolling her eyes. “The library. You’ve always got your nose buried in some boring history book. We need to get together so I can tell you all about Seth. How about lunch?”
“Sounds good. I’ll call.”
Arianna breathed a sigh of relief as she hung up the phone, thankful to have delayed Daphne’s frivolous gushing. She grabbed the stack of library books from the table and headed out the door. If nothing else, her sister’s phone call had taken her mind off Caleb.
* * * *
There was little activity at the Sagehill library when Arianna arrived. Saturday mornings were never busy, even slower during the summer. She parked in front, gathered her books, and walked up a short sidewalk flanked by shrubs. It was quiet inside, the silence making her feel at home. She’d always enjoyed excursions to the library, a habit she retained despite the availability of online resources.
As a teacher, she was well versed in several periods of history, but had a special fondness for the Civil War. Perhaps it was an attempt to make sense of a senseless event. For nearly four years the nation had plummeted into a period of madness and desperation, brothers, friends and neighbors fighting each other in a time of chaos. Regiment and brigade commanders were often appallingly young–colonels and generals who were forced to make life and death decisions on a daily basis. It was hard to imagine the kind of man who could fight such a catastrophic war and emerge emotionally, if not physically, unscathed.
Arianna paused to chat with the librarian when she returned her books, then wandered off to look for something new. As she headed for the history section, she passed a handful of stations with computers, a teenaged girl typing away at one, a balding senior at another. She was almost to the back when she spied a blond-haired man alone at a table. He sat hunched over several open books, his head bent, forehead supported by his palm. She didn’t need to see his face, the white-gold gleam of his longish hair more than enough to identify him as Caleb.
Arianna came to an abrupt halt, surprised to encounter him so soon after their snappish parting. During the second it took to register his presence, he lifted his head and stared directly at her. The potent mixture of uncertainty and attraction she’d felt before crashed over her in a wave.
“Arianna.” He spoke in a hush befitting the library.
She pretended not to hear, moving into one of the aisles and pulling down a book at random.
“Annie.” He trailed her into the aisle. “Did you get your vehicle fixed?”
She spared an icy glance.
“Car. It’s a Chrysler. Why can’t you just say car?” Still angry about the tire, she made no effort to conceal her hostility. Venom was all she had to counter her impulsive, over-the-top attraction. As close as he stood, she could feel a high voltage crackle of electricity thrum between them, warning of consensual heat and desire.
She tightened her hands on the book. Hell, yes, he was good-looking, but it wasn’t as if she’d never been around a handsome man before. So why did her knees feel like putty, her heart perched to somersault through her chest?
She flipped a page, vaguely aware she’d selected a book about South Carolina’s secession and Beauregard’s siege on Fort Sumter. Ironic, given she felt under siege herself.
“I had my tire replaced, if that’s what you mean,” she said with a distinctive edge of frost.
Caleb leaned close, bracing one arm against the shelf. In the small confines of the aisle, she felt dwarfed by his height. Her natural instinct was to withdraw, but she held her ground, determined he wouldn’t intimidate her.
“Let me make it up to you,” he suggested.
She raised her chin. “How would you do that?”
“I’d like to invite you to dinner. At Weathering Rock.”
“You and Wyn?”
“Just me.”
That was worse. “Sorry, I’m busy.” Snapping the book shut, she returned it to the shelf. Before she could retreat, he caught her arm.
“I haven’t told you what night.”
“It wouldn’t matter.” His touch left her unbalanced, the familiarity too free for her liking. “I’m busy tonight and tomorrow.”
“Then you pick the night.”
“Excuse me?”
“What night are you free?”
“Caleb.” Annoyed by his persistence, she pulled away and glared up at him. “What makes you think I’d want to have dinner with you? I barely know you.”
“All the more reason to accept. We’ve gotten off on the wrong foot, and I’d like to correct that. Are you afraid to spend time with me?”
She knew he was manipulating her, but couldn’t resist rising to the challenge. “Thursday. I’m free Thursday.”
“I–” He faltered, caught off guard by her quick turnaround. Apparently she’d picked a night that didn’t suit. Too bad.
“If that doesn’t work, we can skip it altogether.”
“No.” He cleared his throat. “Thursday is fine. Seven o’clock?”
“Seven.” She’d have dinner, let him try to repair the damage he’d done, and then put their association behind her. It might be enjoyable watching him squirm. “Hopefully this time I won’t need a spare tire.”
Before he could say anything further, she shoved past. As she walked by the table where he’d been sitting, curiosity made her glance at the title of the nearest book: Beyond Blue and Gray: Strange Phenomenon of the American Civil War.
It seemed she wasn’t the only one interested in history.
Chapter 6
“So you’re actually going to have dinner with this guy?”
Arianna could tell by Lauren Talbot’s voice that she wasn’t sold on the idea.
“It’s just dinner,” she said with a glance across their small cafe table. She used her fork to weed through a salad of mixed greens topped by plump grilled shrimp. The cafe had long been a favorite hangout for her and Lauren, especially now that the mild June weather invited al fresco dining on a broad outdoor deck. After 1:30 on a Saturday afternoon, the surrounding area hummed with traffic and pedestrians, the deck pleasantly noisy with the din of conversation.
“Ari, this jerk slashed your tire,” Lauren reminded her.
“Not really.” She sipped her lemonade, listening to the faint clink of ice cubes against the glass. She’d spent the last twenty minutes talking about Caleb and Weathering Rock, telling her friend everything that happened since she’d left Lauren’s home the previous night. “I think Wyn slashed my tire.”
“Because Caleb told him to.”
“Yes.” Arianna hesitated as she set her glass down. He’d done something that should have been unforgivable but, the more hours that passed, the more she softened. “I know it doesn’t make sense, but there’s something about him I can’t turn off. I wish I could.” She frowned. She’d been trying to weed through her confusion ever since encountering Caleb at the library, helpless to explain her feelings. “The man annoys me, but he’s charming and old-fashioned, even chivalrous. Other times he’s downright arrogant and commanding.”
“A typical man.”
“No, I think it has to do with his military background…like he expects everyone to do whatever he says. I get the feeling he ordered a lot of people around in his career.”
Lauren gave a soft snort. “That would get old, fast. The guy needs a rude awakening.”
“Maybe.” Arianna felt like she had in high school whenever they’d discussed boys over pepperoni pizza and Coke. She folded her arms on the table and leaned forward. “He is awfully good looking. Sexy too.”
Lauren didn’t bite. “So is Rick. I rest my case.”
Arianna sighed. “Lauren, all I’m doing is having dinner with him. I plan on making him squirm, but part of me likes the idea of seeing him again.”
“Because he’s a player, and he’s good at the game.”
Lauren shook her head, sending a short cascade of ginger curls bouncing against her shoulders. As usual, she was immaculately dressed, everything from her eggplant-colored blouse and designer capris to her heeled sandals and gold leather handbag, proclaiming chic prestige. Sometimes Arianna felt hopelessly overshadowed beside her–the mousy schoolteacher eclipsed by the swank boutique owner. She adored Lauren though, their friendship far too strong for anything as petty as jealousy.
“Are you forgetting I was married to Rick, the king of intriguing men?” Lauren asked. “Trust me, Ari, this jerk is manipulating you.”
“I don’t think so.” Arianna poked a shrimp with her fork, pushing it from its bed of leafy romaine. A light breeze ruffled the drink napkins on the table, carrying the scent of honeysuckle from a nearby park. “I’ve been around. I can tell when a guy is insincere or looking to score. He may be up to something, but Caleb is not trying to get me into bed. Not every guy is Rick Rothrock.”
“Thank God for that!”
Arianna smiled. Lauren’s ex wasn’t a horrible man. He’d just never grown up, enjoying life in the fast lane too much. In the beginning, his marriage to Lauren had been a whirlwind of giddy highs, but even Arianna had noticed the magic fading after a year. Rick had an incurable fondness for young blondes in short skirts, a weakness that kicked into high gear once he’d put a wedding ring on Lauren’s finger. Somehow, despite his infidelity, he and Lauren had remained friends after the divorce. It was usually Lauren who Rick called for advice when he needed to atone for some indiscretion with his latest girlfriend.
“Okay.” Behind Arianna, two busboys worked at clearing a table, the muted clack of dishes and silverware blending with the softer murmur of conversation. “Let’s forget about Caleb. I’d rather talk about your party.”