The Baron

by Sally Goldenbaum

  “Hi there. We’re finished.” Halley breezed into the room, then stopped just inside the door. “Oh, dear, you’ve had to sit here alone with nothing to keep you company but Dad’s Rogue’s Gallery.”

  “I enjoyed every minute of it, Halley Summa Cum—”

  “Oh, that.” She blushed and wiped a grease-stained hand on a rag beside the door. “Dad insists on keeping it there. I was the first Finnegan to graduate from college, and he and his Irish pride want the world to ‘damn well know it.’ ”

  “The date should make you about twenty-four years old.…” Nick lifted his eyebrows mischievously.

  Halley shook her head and laughed. “The Baron is diplomatic. Obviously I worked for a while first. Then, with Leo Thorne’s encouragement and support, I went back on a scholarship, got in a few graduate courses so I’d know what I was doing at the Thorne Library, and went from Penn State to the Thorne Estate.”

  “Just like that?”

  Halley clicked her fingers. “Just like that. Leo opened many doors in my life,” she added softly.

  Nick nodded. He was beginning to realize the importance of the diploma.

  “So you see,” Halley said brightly, “my life has been happy and normal … until one night not too long ago when I went off to a murder and landed in the arms of a baron—”

  “And he swept you away into a world of sensuous pleasure.”

  Halley crooked one eyebrow.

  “Well,” Nick amended begrudgingly, “he wanted to sweep you off.… Still wants to.”

  Their laughter collided in the suddenly charged air. Nick’s was firm and decisive, Halley’s a blend of embarrassment and sudden shyness.

  “Well, Nick.” Joe appeared in the doorway and saved both of them before contemplating what to say next. “Anytime you have car trouble, bring the beast in and I’ll give her a once-over.”

  “Thanks, Mr. Finne—”

  “Joe. Everyone calls me Joe or Finn. Even the kids.”

  “Joe it is, then.” Nick shook his hand politely, and Halley motioned toward the door. She was overdosing Nick with family; she could see it in his face. It never occurred to Halley that someone might be ill at ease around those she loved, but it was a different world for Nick. Was that it? Was that what was causing the lines across his handsome forehead to deepen?

  She dismissed the idea almost as soon as it crossed her mind. Nick Harrington, whatever he might be, was not a snob.

  “Wait, Halley.” Her father stopped her at the door. “Don’t rush the gentleman out so fast. Has he seen the diploma, I wonder now?”

  “Pop, how could he miss it?” Halley laughed and kissed him warmly on the cheek. “He’s duly impressed, I’m sure. See you tomorrow. Give Mom my love.”

  “You’ll have to excuse Joe,” Halley said as she backed the car out of the garage and into the street. “Some things are dear to his heart. My degree happens to be one of them.”

  “He’s nice.”

  “Very.”

  Nick was quiet as Halley drove. He didn’t even ask where they were going. Joe Finnegan was on his mind, along with those pictures. All the love that leapt from one person’s eyes to the next, the hugs and smiles, was so foreign to him—and the simple pride that lit Joe’s tired eyes when he looked at his summa cum laude daughter. Nick suspected his pride would have been as strong if the diploma had been for finishing a speed-reading course.

  The next several hours were a whirlwind. Nick declined to get out of the car at most of the places Halley stopped to do errands. These people were engulfing him too quickly. He didn’t know how to respond. He didn’t know how.… The thought clouded his mind as he watched Halley dash into a school supply store to pick up a bunch of games she needed for the toddlers’ room at the library; as he watched her greet the postmaster with a warm hug when she picked up a stack of library mail; as he watched her sweet-talk a printer into sending over his “extra” sheets of paper for an art class at the library that she wanted to offer senior citizens. Many of the library patrons had never had such opportunities, Halley explained to her captive audience as Nick tried to find room in her tiny car for his cramped legs. Many residents of the Hill never finished high school, she went on, and now, finally, they could fill in some of their time with satisfying activities.

  Then her attention switched to the orange marbled sky, and she smiled brilliantly, swallowed up by the beauty of it, until Nick had to remind her that the light had changed and there was a string of cars behind them.

  In spite of his uneasiness in this world in which she moved so naturally, Halley herself was filling him with a sweet pleasure that defied any explanation. Her pride touched him, her delight aroused him, her closeness drove him crazy, and by six-thirty that evening, Nick couldn’t stand it anymore.

  “Halley, stop right here. Pull over.”

  “Nick, what’s the matter?” Her voice lifted in alarm, and she immediately pulled the car over to the edge of the deserted drive leading to the library.

  “This is what’s the matter.”

  Before she could get her foot off the brake, Nick had taken off her glasses and wound his fingers into her thick hair. In a fraction of a second his lips were devouring hers, pressing again and again with all the pent-up desire of the day. Nick tasted Halley’s small gasp of surprise, and it aroused him even more. His tongue slipped effortlessly through her parted lips and began to explore the sweetness he’d remembered and dreamed about.

  Halley’s response came quickly and without thought, her hands circling around behind his head and digging into the thick black hair at the base of his neck. “Oh, Nick,” she whispered softly.

  But Nick’s searching tongue prohibited discussion of the matter and slowly, lovingly, he slipped one hand beneath the lower edges of her shirt and touched the silky smooth skin beneath.

  Halley moaned but didn’t move away. His lips continued to move rhythmically against hers, while his fingers left heated trails across her stomach and up the delicate skin at her side. Her bra was a thin stretch of cotton and lace, and Nick quickly released the small snap hidden in the valley between her breasts. They were magnicent, round and soft and silky smooth. He cupped one, then the other, in his large hand, and Halley’s head fell back as she surrendered to the delight of his touch.

  Her mind stopped then, and she kissed Nick back hungrily, loving the taste and feel and strength of him, and wishing against the wall of reason that it would never end.

  A rippling movement swept through her, so real that she smiled into his kiss. “You’re making me imagine I’m on a cloud, drifting along …”

  Nick nuzzled kisses into the soft skin of her neck. “A cloud, huh? A magical … Oh, hell!”

  Halley’s eyes shot open at the nonsensical words just in time to see a clump of white pines pass by.

  “Oh, good grief! Nick, we’re moving!”

  Six

  “You hurt, missy?”

  The voice was gruff and frightened.

  Halley looked up into Archie’s worried brown eyes. He was leaning down at the car window, shouting through the glass. The car was wedged firmly in the middle of a large clump of black raspberry bushes.

  Halley shook her head and hunched over the wheel while she smoothed the front of her shirt. Was she dressed? Yes, of course she was. It was only in her imagination that she had shed all her clothes and dramatically professed her desire for the dark-eyed Baron. What was happening to her, anyway?

  “We’re fine, Archie,” Nick confirmed loudly, opening his door to prove it.

  “What happened?” Archie pulled Halley’s door open and helped her out. “I was taking my evening constitutional when I heard this rustling sound coming through the thicket. Thought there was a trespasser and was about to go after him—”

  “No.” Halley shook her head and laughed shakily. “No trespassers in sight. Only Nick and me.”

  Archie slanted his head back and carefully looked her over down the length of his nose. His rough, square
chin was set rigidly. “You sure you’re all right, Finnegan? Your hair’s all tangled and you have a mighty dazed look on your face like you might have hit the dash.”

  He reached out one broad hand and gently pushed a lock of hair from her eyes. “Any bumps?”

  “Nope, no bumps, Archie.”

  Nick had walked around the car and draped his arm over her shoulder, and was making teasing taps on her neck. “We’re both fine. Sorry I can’t say the same about the raspberry bushes.”

  Archie shook his head. “Still doesn’t make sense. Did someone run you off the road? Maybe we should call the cops.…”

  Halley shook her head. The situation was bordering on slapstick comedy, and she no longer trusted her voice.

  “What then? The brakes give out on you, Finnegan? Joe ought to take a look at that.”

  “He did,” Halley managed to squeak out. “Just today. Brakes are fine, Arch.”

  Halley nudged Nick for not helping her out, but he only smiled, then tickled the skin on her shoulder.

  Archie shook his head in total bewilderment. “Hell, you know, it’s quite a scoop in the land here. I don’t know if Nick and me are strong enough to hike her on outa there—”

  “I think you’re right, Archie,” Nick said. “It’ll be much easier in full daylight. Do you think Halley needs driving lessons?”

  Halley glared at him.

  Archie contemplated the question for a minute, then rubbed the stubble on his chin. “Don’t know, don’t know. It’s the damnedest thing I ever saw. You don’t know how it happened, huh?”

  “Just one of those things,” Halley murmured.

  “One of those crazy things,” Nick agreed.

  While Archie looked on in sober amazement, Halley and Nick began to laugh, soft laughter that grew and grew until Archie began to laugh along, slapping his wide girth and throwing his head back. But he never did know why.

  Halley slept soundly, her mind filled with rich, sensual dreams of Nick Harrington. His passionate kiss stayed with her, fueling her dreams, and his arms wrapped her tightly in an embrace she could still feel when she awoke the next day. When he showed up later that afternoon, it almost seemed to Halley as if he had never left.

  “I came to help you get the car out,” he explained, laughter lighting his smoky eyes. The heated air between them was electric and alive. After they’d freed the car and he was about to leave, he kissed her good-bye, and the kiss held for Halley all the substance of a passion that had been lit deep inside her and which grew each time he touched her.

  There were no promises, no assurances that he’d be back, but each day Halley’s heart waited while she went about the business of being a librarian, and almost every day he dropped back into her life for however brief a time.

  Being with Nick filled Halley with a happiness she savored. He often lapsed into moody periods of quietude, but Halley told herself it was simply that he didn’t get much chance to talk around her outgoing family and friends. She knew there was more to it, knew that there had to be reasons why he was uncomfortable sometimes, but he would tell her in time. Her suspicion that there was a lot more to Nick Harrington than his handsome demeanor revealed was all right too. As Scarlett would say, she’d think about that tomorrow.

  • • •

  “All right, Marian the librarian,” Nick said, barging into her office the next Thursday morning. “Today is mine.”

  Halley looked up and her heart stopped. He did that to her now, easily confused her life functions, causing her heart to stop, her pulse to race. Her lips lifted in a smile.

  He wore a pale blue-gray pair of slacks that fit him perfectly—loose enough to be decent, fitted enough to catch her eye and feed her imagination, not that it needed much help. The vee neck of his deep red cashmere sweater displayed a thatch of curling black hair that her fingers itched to touch. She quickly grabbed a pencil.

  “Nick, hi! Today is … what?” She couldn’t even concentrate on simple conversation!

  “Mine. Today is mine.” With determination he walked behind the desk and kissed her tenderly on the lips. The chair scooted crazily to the side, and Nick laughed and stopped it with one foot. “Halley, I’ve wandered around this place for days now—”

  “Yes,” she said softly. Was this it? she wondered. He’d finally realized where he was and decided to move on to a world more suited to Nicholas Harrington the third.

  His fingers slipped beneath her hair and played with the soft, smooth skin of her neck. “And it’s a damn nice place to be, granted, but do you realize how seldom I see you alone?”

  She nodded slowly and wet her lips. It was true, of course. She had tried not to think much about being alone with Nick, because it sent her body directly into orbit.

  “And it’s driving me crazy! So today is mine. All mine. I’m taking you away from all these nice people that make up your life, and I’m going to have you all to myself for four whole hours.”

  “Nick, I—”

  “Can go with you, and I’d love to.” He kissed the top of her hair, but she felt the kiss somewhere deep down below her breasts. “That’s what you’re to say, my love.”

  “But the library—?” She tilted her head back to look into his face.

  “Will exist without you, no matter what you think. You have a meeting later today—”

  Halley’s eyebrows lifted.

  Nick merely smiled. “And between now and then you’re free. Volunteers are handling the desk, and your fine, capable assistant, Kate, is in charge.”

  “You’ve—”

  “—arranged all that. Yes. You see, I have this insatiable desire to see who Halley Finnegan is when she’s not a contessa or a daughter or a sister or an aunt or a friend or a librarian. Now up, my love. We’re wasting valuable time.”

  Halley stood and found that her legs were shaking. She placed one hand on Nick’s arm, but when she looked up, she had no idea what to say.

  “Speechless, I see.” His eyes twinkled merrily. “Good.”

  Halley took a deep breath and smiled slowly. “I guess I’m not used to being swept off like this, Nick.”

  “That’s all right. I’ll make it worth your while.”

  When she laughed, her heart slowed to a manageable beat. “Where are we going?”

  “We are going on a picnic, my love. Just you and me.”

  She looked at him questioningly and smiled. “And the food?”

  “Waiting in my chariot.” Before she could dig up any other questions or protests, Nick ushered her quickly out the door.

  Halley hardly remembered the ride out of town, only that the windows were down and the fresh, sweet-smelling air of the countryside swirled around them. The silence was easy and comfortable, and she finally let go and allowed herself to sink into the delicious pleasure of having Nick Harrington there beside her. Alone.

  “Here we are.” Nick pulled off a one-lane road a short while later and parked the car in a small graveled parking area. “Ever been here?”

  Halley looked around at the rolling hills and patches of thick woods that dotted the slopes. The trees were a flaming patchwork of color that took her breath away, and through the branches, off to the right, she could see the sparkling waters of a small lake. “No, I haven’t, Nick. It’s lovely!” She stepped out of the car and breathed in the pungent smells of earth and water and crisp autumn leaves.

  “We used to ride horses around here as kids,” Nick said as he opened the trunk and lifted out a woven picnic hamper. “Then they turned it into a park, but they have kept it fairly untouched. No hot-dog stands or boat houses.”

  Halley smiled and shoved her hands into the wide pockets of her skirt. She could picture Nick astride a fine, muscular steed, riding off across the hills, his black hair dramatic against the blue sky beyond.

  Nick held the basket in one hand, tucked a plaid blanket beneath his arm, and led Halley over to a quiet green spot beneath a group of tall pine trees. It was utterly quiet except for t
he gentle lap of water along the shore in the distance and the slight breeze whistling through the treetops.

  “This is perfect, Nick. A perfect spot, perfect planning. But what would you have done if it had rained?” She smiled up at him.

  “When you plan something twelve hours ahead, you diminish your chances for error.”

  “I see. Then if something occurs without any planning at all …?” Like himself, she thought, and the way he had fallen so unexpectedly into her life. Plop! He’d landed right there in a world that made him oddly uncomfortable, and yet he kept coming back for more. What were the chances for error there?

  “That remains to be seen.” He smiled down at her, and she couldn’t see behind the smile, nor tell if he had read her mind. “Hungry?”

  “Starving.”

  He set the hamper down and spread the blanket beneath a tree. “Voilá,” he said. “Now sit down and relax, my love. This is my show, and I want you to enjoy it completely.”

  With a sweeping gesture he lifted the hinged top of the hamper and pulled out a small silver bucket, two crystal wineglasses, and two gold-edged china plates.

  “A picnic?” Halley stared in wonder at the items, then burst into delighted laughter. “Nick, this isn’t a picnic, this is a carryout from L’Auberge!”

  “I have to admit my expertise in the area of picnics leaves a little bit to be desired, but I think this should work okay.” He shrugged boyishly, and Halley found herself touched by the uncharacteristic gesture. For a brief moment it wasn’t the self-assured, suave Nick Harrington standing before her but a man who seemed strangely vulnerable.

  He uncorked a bottle of Bordeaux and poured it, then handed a glass to Halley. “To picnics,” he said, holding out his glass.

  “To picnics,” she answered. She sipped the wine, basking in enjoyment as Nick served. It was all so lovely, from the linen napkins, to the plates heaped with cold crab salad, to the hunks of crisp French bread and chilled fruit.