“Oh, then please excuse me,” she said sweetly, inching toward the bench, “for misunderstanding when you asked what was wrong with two consenting adults kissing in the moonlight and then telling me that you want me.”
Sarah couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw two flags of color darken his cheeks. “I thought I was giving you a compliment,” he muttered, running a hand through his wet hair.
Sarah reached out and grabbed a fistful of her clothes. Alex lunged to stop her, but she scooted across the tub, dragging her clothes through the water with her, and turned her back to him. “Then please accept my apology for misjudging you,” she said as she found her soaked sweater. “I’ll have to work on keeping my mind out of the gutter.”
She wrestled the wet sweater over her head, pulled it down to her hips, then turned to face him. “Anything else you need to clarify for me that can’t wait until I’ve dried off?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, there is,” he said softly, placing his hands on the edge of the tub. “Why haven’t you put a label on my shelf in the upstairs bathroom?”
Sarah stilled with her pants at her knees. “Excuse me?”
“I want my name on my shelf, just like everyone else. I’ve been home a week and a half, so why don’t I have a label?”
Oh, she had a label for him, all right, but it wasn’t something she wanted Delaney and Tucker to see. Sarah got her pants pulled up just as he leaned closer, his head and chest hanging over the water directly in front of her. “And everyone has one of those silly little bowls of twigs and cones that smell so nice in their bedrooms,” he whispered. “Except me. How come I don’t have one?”
Sarah braced one foot on the wall of the tub, grabbed his shoulders, and gave a powerful yank. She scrambled out of the way and over the side just as Alex’s yelp of surprise ended in a gurgling splash. She slapped her hand down on the jets and then ran flat-out for the house, breaking into a smile as his angry roar followed her down the path.
“Take that, Mr. I-was-giving-you-a-compliment,” she muttered as she ran onto the porch and slammed through the kitchen door. She immediately slowed to a walk, keeping her eyes on her bedroom door as she squished barefooted past Grady and the gaping Delaney and Paul.
Grady downed the last of his tea, then dabbed his mouth with his white linen napkin to hide his smile. Damn if things weren’t going well.
“What do you suppose happened to Sarah?” Delaney whispered.
“She must have fallen in the lake,” Paul returned softly.
The back door slammed open again, and Alex strode inside like a marauding Viking. Grady noticed that his son was equally wet, and he also noticed the tiny bit of lace Alex had crumpled in his right fist. But where Sarah had appeared quite pleased with herself, despite her condition, Alex appeared ready to commit murder.
“It’s a bit cold for swimming, isn’t it?” Paul asked, handing his brother the towel he’d been using to dry the dishes. “Still trying to get rid of that jungle heat?”
“Where is she?”
“Probably in the shower by now,” Grady said, taking his cup to the sink before walking over to Alex. “I heard her door lock behind her, and I prefer not to have to fix the casing, so don’t even think of breaking it down.”
“That—that woman—” Alex stammered, pointing at Sarah’s door while glaring at Grady. “What in hell possessed you to bring her home like some stray…some stray…”
“Mouse?” Grady finished with a chuckle, patting his son’s wet shoulder and then giving him a nudge toward the great room. “Looks to me like she’s got a bit of a roar,” he said, shoving Alex through the swinging door. He pulled his hand back and rubbed his fingers together. “Feels warm for lake water. I told you it’s not wise to use the hot tub twice in one day.”
All Grady got for answer was a glare before Alex finally plodded, wet boots and all, up the stairs without answering Ethan when he looked up from his book and asked what had happened.
Grady smiled at Ethan. “Seems Alex and Sarah are getting to know each other,” he said, wrapping his arm around Delaney when she came up and leaned against him. He turned his smile on her. “You keep saying your prayers, little girl. They seem to be working.”
“It’s a good thing, then, that they had a fight?” she asked, wrapping her arm around his waist.
He tapped the end of her nose. “It’s not really a fight if everyone wins.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s courtship,” he told her, ruffling her hair. “You’ll find that out yourself, one day. Not for many, many years, I hope.” He gave her a nudge toward the stairs. “Go up and make sure Tucker brushes his teeth, will you? Then your daddy will read you both a story—assuming he can string two words together by then.”
Seemingly pleased that Alex and Sarah were courting, Delaney skipped across the room and disappeared up the stairs at a run.
“The only reason I’m keeping my mouth shut,” Ethan said as Paul walked through the swinging door, “is because as long as you’re focused on Alex, I’m safe.”
Grady shot Ethan a feral grin. “For now,” he agreed.
“Was that a bra Alex had in his fist?” Paul asked them both, his own grin lecherous. “Sarah’s bra?”
Ethan snorted and stood up. “It sure as hell wasn’t his.” He shook his head. “Why is he pestering her? She’s going to quit, and we’ll be back to eating canned beans and boiled ham while we look for yet another housekeeper.”
Grady eyed Ethan speculatively. “You worried about your belly or about Sarah?”
Ethan closed his book with a snap and tossed it onto the couch. “Neither,” he hissed, heading for the kitchen. “I’m going to town.”
“Whew,” Paul whistled when the porch door slammed closed. “I think someone has a crush on Sarah.”
Grady nodded. “If Ethan wouldn’t take so damn long to warm up to a woman, he might have better luck.”
“Like me, you mean?” Paul asked. “I don’t have any problems in that department.” He suddenly sobered. “Sarah’s the first woman to catch Ethan’s eye in years.”
Grady shook his head again. “She’s already spoken for. Ethan will have to find his own.”
“Before you find one for him?” Paul asked, backing toward the stairs with his hands raised in surrender. “Just as long as you don’t worry about me, Pops. I’m doing fine on my own.”
Grady headed for the office off the great room, smiling as smugly as Sarah had. Yup, things seemed to be going well. He just wished Sarah and Alex would hurry up and decide they actually liked each other, before he had to break the news that Sarah was opening the sporting camps come April.
Chapter Ten
C ornering Grady was like trying to catch fish without bait. He’d slipped out of the house the last three mornings before Sarah had even gotten out of bed, and in the evenings he locked himself away in the office right after dinner, then headed straight to bed from there.
Avoiding Alex, however, was even harder than cornering Grady. The man wouldn’t leave her alone. Having told her he wanted her and being told he’d have to get in line seemed to have turned the Knight family darling into the family pest. Sarah had thought she was merely being honest but now realized she’d become a challenge. It seemed the more she was around Alex, the dumber she got.
Like this morning, when he’d suggested she spend a few minutes sitting in one of the pickups to get familiar with it, so that when he popped home for lunch, she’d be ready for a driving lesson. Sarah had planned to head up the lake and start cleaning one of the cabins to live in and had told Alex she didn’t have time today, but maybe tomorrow.
He’d told her to be sitting in the pickup at noon.
Sarah glanced at her watch, saw it was one o’clock, and smiled as she looked around the cozy cabin she’d been cleaning all morning. By now, Alex had found her note taped to the windshield of the red pickup, saying that tomorrow was really a better day for her driving lesson. Drat the
man, she was not going to let him get into the habit of bossing her around, much less interfere with her business plans.
And if she didn’t corner Grady in the next few days, he would learn right along with the others that she had moved to the NorthWoods Sporting Camps. She had more than a thousand dollars and countless hours already invested, and moving now instead of next spring made sense. It would take her the rest of the winter to whip all the cabins into shape, and then she still had to get at least the front room and the kitchen of the main lodge ready for guests.
Sarah checked the ancient potbellied stove in the corner to make sure the fire was dead, then slipped on her jacket and headed outside. She stopped on the narrow porch of Cabin One and took a moment to soak in the view of the deep, pristine lake rimmed with lush, evergreen-covered mountains marching all the way past the Canadian border. “Perfect,” she whispered on a deep breath of pine-scented air. “Just perfect. I can lure tourists here from as far away as Europe and Asia.”
Sarah walked to the bicycle leaning against the cabin and checked that the old red wagon was tied securely to the seat post. She’d used it to haul cleaning supplies, a quilt and bedding, and the curtains she’d hung up this morning. “I’ll need to set up a Web site to draw international guests,” she thought out loud as she pulled the bike upright and swung her leg over the seat. She pushed off, the empty wagon rattling behind her. “One more expense to add to my budget. But maybe the Web site can wait until I see how my first season goes.”
Satisfied that her business plans were progressing nicely, Sarah pedaled out the half-mile lane that led to the main hauling artery. Alex had likely returned to the cutting site by now, hopping mad from her note, she hoped, and she had plenty of time to get home and start dinner. They were having lamb tonight, since Sarah knew Alex hated lamb.
She didn’t really understand why she liked pushing Alex’s buttons, but she did know it was fun. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so provoked by the opposite sex—in an exciting, butterflies-in-her-belly sort of way, that is.
Sarah raced down a short hill and madly pedaled to make it up the next knoll, the wagon bouncing on the frozen road behind her. Maybe she should write a book. Not one of those trouble-causing romances, but a book on running an inn, with recipes and little anecdotes about memorable guests. Lord knew, there could never be enough how-to books.
Sarah pulled onto the main hauling artery, making a wide swing because she was going so fast, and the wildly bouncing wagon nearly pulled her off balance. She just pedaled harder, picking up speed with a laugh of delight. Life was good. She had Delaney and Tucker to love and the excitement of a new business venture looming ahead, and for the first time in her life, she finally felt in charge of her destiny. Almost like a heroine in one of her books.
Almost. It was just the hero part that kept plaguing her. But she was a modern woman, not a damsel in distress who needed rescuing. She was damn well capable of rescuing herself.
Sarah saw the empty logging truck headed toward her long before she heard it, because the wagon behind her was making so much noise. She steered to the side of the road, and the truck sped past, the driver giving her a big smile as he reached up and blasted his air horn. Sarah pedaled faster. Drat. The driver would surely tell Alex he’d seen her, and then Alex was going to ask her what she was doing so far from home in the opposite direction of town, and why in hell she had been dragging a wagon behind her.
Well, so be it. He would know about her opening the camps in a couple of days, anyway, when she moved into Cabin One. She’d be safely settled in her new home when the explosion came, when Grady told his sons about his plan to let her reopen the camps. None of them wanted the camps reopened, because they didn’t want tourists clogging their roads and traipsing through their forest taking pictures of moose. Maybe she should invite Delaney and Tucker over that first night, so they wouldn’t have to listen to the heated discussion.
Sarah approached the sharp curve that was half a mile before the lane leading home. That reminded her that she’d have to put up a sign with an arrow at the fork in the road, so her guests didn’t end up at the Knight homestead. She was just thinking she could take a shortcut through the woods, since her wagon was empty, and cut a good mile off her trip, when she rounded the corner and spotted a car parked on the side of the road. It was right beside the shortcut, and Sarah quickly decided to take the long way home.
She steered to the opposite side of the road as she neared the car, noticing it had Massachusetts plates. Probably out-of-staters hunting grouse, the only game open to hunting right now. Deer season had ended two weeks ago, and thanks to Ethan, Sarah had a freezer full of venison.
Just as she was approaching the car, two men emerged from the woods. Sarah’s first impression was that they looked out of place. They weren’t dressed for the woods but wore black leather jackets and sneakers. One was trying to fold a map; the other one was carrying a hunting rifle.
Not a shotgun, which was used for grouse, but a rifle.
Sarah picked up her pace. The men seemed startled to see her and stopped on the edge of the ditch. They stood there as she pedaled past, staring at her with narrowed eyes. She gave them a short smile and a quick wave and kept on pedaling.
Sarah didn’t look back when she heard their car doors open and close; she merely pedaled harder, wanting to get to the turnoff as fast as she could. Had Grady hired surveyors to cruise this section of woods for harvesting? Sarah had met one or two of the foresters they usually used, and they were local men, dressed for the woods.
She was just a quarter-mile from the lane when she looked back and saw the car speeding toward her, leaving a plume of frozen dust in its wake. She didn’t know why the men disconcerted her; she only sensed that they hadn’t liked her catching them walking out of the woods. She looked back again to find that the car had slowed down behind her. This was not good. In fact, it was starting to get downright scary. Why didn’t they just pass her?
She heard the engine rev just before the car sped by and came to a sliding halt not fifty feet in front of her. Sarah steered her bicycle straight into the ditch, jumped off, and ran into the forest at an angle that would take her to the path that led home. The fallen leaves, frozen and dried crisp, made a lot of noise under her feet, but that also allowed her to hear them following. She heard when they suddenly stopped to listen, and she immediately stopped, too.
She didn’t dare move. She looked around the forest, hoping for a place to hide, and spotted a large pine tree with several low-hanging limbs. Watching where she placed her feet, Sarah moved toward the tree, all the while listening for signs of pursuit.
One of the men said something she couldn’t make out, and they both started running in her direction.
Sarah sprinted the last twenty feet to the tree and grabbed the bottom branch to swing herself up, then climbed high into the concealing branches until she could barely see the ground. The men stopped not ten feet away from the base of the tree, and Sarah went perfectly still. They slowly scanned the area as they listened for sounds of her running. Both had guns; one of them had the rifle he’d been carrying earlier, the other a handgun.
“Come on out, honey!” one of them yelled.
Sarah saw him put the handgun into his pocket as he motioned for the other man to set down his rifle. The other guy set the rifle on the ground, then the first man kicked some leaves over it. “We don’t want to hurt you,” he said in a heavy accent as he looked around. “Are you lost? We can give you a ride to town. Come out, lady.”
Just then, Sarah heard a truck coming down the road—a pickup, by the sound of it. It was going quite fast, and she would bet her shoes it was Alex racing home, hoping to catch her pedaling down the road.
The pickup came to a sliding stop, the tires chittering as they dragged on the frozen gravel. The two men below her instantly reacted. One pulled his handgun from his pocket; the other retrieved his rifle from the leaves. Both men spun to face the road.
>
“Sarah? Sarah! Where are you?” Alex shouted.
Oh, God. Alex was coming into the woods to look for her. And he was heading straight toward the two men!
“Sarah!” Alex shouted again.
She had to do something. The men had their guns pointed in his direction, and if he got any closer they might shoot him.
Sarah started climbing down the tree and stopped just above the men when she heard one of them say something in a language she didn’t recognize. One man started to sidle to the left, as if he planned to ambush Alex.
Dammit, she had to do something. “Alex, they have guns!” Sarah yelled, just as she leapt onto them. Both men went rolling to the ground with grunts of surprise, and Sarah yelped at the pain of her knee connecting with a hard shoulder. The man beneath her lashed out with his gun, striking her in the ribs.
The other man rolled to his feet and grabbed her hair, pulling her up in front of him. She kicked back and connected with his shin, elbowing him in his belly at the same time. She then kicked the first man, who was now pointing his gun toward the road, and Alex shouted again.
“Alex! They’ve got guns!” she yelled, as loud as she could.
The man behind her grabbed Sarah by the shoulder and yanked her to the ground. A shot cracked through the woods, and Sarah screamed before realizing the sound had not come from either of the men beside her. They were crouched, motionless, looking toward the road, the one man pinning her down with his knee.
“Leave her,” the man with the handgun said, grabbing his partner off Sarah and shoving him deeper into the forest.
Stunned by her unexpected freedom, Sarah buried her face in her hands, her whole body shaking uncontrollably.
“Sarah? Sarah, where are you?”
She lifted her head and took a shuddering breath, trying to stop trembling. “Alex? I’m here. Th-they ran away, but I don’t know where they are!” she yelled.
The Seduction of His Wife Page 11