by Cajio, Linda
“Slow down, or we’ll have an accident!”
“Oh, I hope not,” she said with a nervous giggle. “It would ruin the kidnapping.”
“What!”
She let go of the wheel with one hand and patted his knee. “I’m kidnapping you, Jed. So sit back and enjoy the ride.”
Five
“You’re kidnapping me!” Jed exclaimed, positive he hadn’t heard her correctly. “This is a joke, right?”
“You can laugh after the ransom is paid,” she said as the Rolls screeched around another corner. “Besides, what’s a little kidnapping between friends?”
Although unconvinced about her seriousness, he realized the car was heading farther and farther away from the hotel—and at a rate of speed that was unsafe for the traffic. She was certainly going all out to pull off the punchline, he thought. Deciding to take her advice, he deliberately relaxed back against the leather seat cushion.
“I don’t mind being kidnapped, Rae,” he said in a casual tone, playing along with her. “But I would like to get to the hideout in one piece. Could you slow down a little?”
“As long as you promise not to jump out of the car at the first stoplight.”
“And miss my kidnapping? Heaven forbid!”
She immediately slowed the Rolls to a more normal speed, and they rode in silence. It wasn’t until she steered the car onto the ramp of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge that he began to wonder if she really was kidnapping him. Amused by the thought, he admitted he couldn’t think of a more beautiful kidnapper than Rae. The only question he had was why she would do it. It certainly wasn’t for the money. He chuckled to himself. It would be interesting to see what she intended to do with him once she got him to her “hideout.” He leaned his head against the back of the passenger seat and closed his eyes, thoroughly content to go along for the ride.
Half an hour later, Rae brought the Rolls to a stop in front of the portico of her new home. She glanced over at Jed, who hadn’t uttered a word since he’d asked her to slow down. His eyes were closed, his chin rested on his chest, and his body was slouched down in the seat. It was depressing to realize her kidnappee had fallen asleep.
“Wake up, Jed!” she snapped, disgusted with him and herself. Hell, she thought, her first kidnapping, and the victim had slept through most of it! She shut off the engine and yanked the key out of the ignition.
“Where are we?” he asked, rubbing his eyes as he sat up.
“At the hideout. Come on.” Getting out of the car, she spotted Burrows opening the front door. The foyer light silhouetted his figure in the entry. She slammed the car door shut and hurried up to him.
“Good evening, miss,” said the butler. “Did you enjoy the ball?”
“It was … different,” she replied. “By the way, I’ve kidnapped Mr. Waters. He’s in the car.”
“Very good, Miss,” Burrows said without hesitation. “Shall I put him in the cellar? I believe that is standard practice among kidnappers.”
“I think we can find better accommodations for him.” Annoyed that Burrows hadn’t even flinched at the news, she wondered if she’d skipped something important, like fireworks at the scene of the abduction. Still, very little fazed Burrows, she admitted. He was an old-school butler. “Put Jed in the trophy room. He’ll be company for Harvey.” She smiled in satisfaction at the thought.
“I doubt that Mr. Waters will be happy sharing a room with a tarantula.”
“Why not? Harvey won’t eat him.” Harvey had been a gift from Uncle Merry to his great-grand-nephews, her brother’s children. Her sister-in-law wouldn’t allow the spider in her house, so Harvey stayed at the estate. Rae suppressed a shiver, realizing for the first time that she’d been deeded custody of the pet along with everything else. She wasn’t exactly crazy about Harvey either, but the boys loved him. The inner tension that had given her the stamina to get home now drained out of her, and she suddenly felt tired and apathetic. Hearing the passenger car door open, she acknowledged that she just didn’t have the energy to face her kidnappee. “I’ll leave Jed to you, Burrows. I’m going to bed.”
As she stepped into the warmth of the house, she vowed that the next time she kidnapped someone she’d bring Harvey along as an accomplice. A tarantula was sure to liven things up.
The next morning, Rae sat in the breakfast nook in the kitchen and stared at the cup of coffee cradled in her hands. Before she turned in last night, Burrows had tapped on her door and informed her that Jed had settled into the trophy room with very little complaint. She had yet to see him this morning. Thank heaven for that, she thought, unconsciously hunching her shoulders in shame.
The same thoughts she’d had during her restless night returned, and she wondered where the hell her common sense had been the night before. How could she have even seriously considered kidnapping Jed? What if he had her arrested? She shuddered at the thought, knowing that the crime was a felony. What had possessed her to do it?
She would be facing him at any moment, and she had no idea how to explain her insane actions. She never would have conceived of the kidnapping, if he had truly been a stranger. That was the problem, she decided. She kept forgetting herself with him. Maybe her best bet would be to apologize for any inconvenience, and hope he would think it was all a joke.
Grasping at the idea, she bolted upright in her chair. That was it! Just treat the whole mess as a joke. He’d probably be annoyed with her, but he surely wouldn’t think of going any further than that.
Hearing footsteps, she glanced sharply at the doorway then slumped in relief as Burrows strode into the room.
“I believe our ‘prisoner’ will be downstairs shortly,” he said, as he moved to the ten-burner range. On its own island in the middle of the work area, the range was the focal point of the kitchen. Burrows lifted a copper pan down from among the cookware hanging over the stove. “Might I suggest mulberry pancakes, miss.”
“No thanks,” she mumbled, her stomach flipping at the thought of food. “I’m not hungry. Jed would probably like some, though.”
“I believe, miss, that haute cuisine is unacceptable fare for a kidnap victim. I have taken the liberty of preparing bread and water for Mr. Waters. You, however, must eat something more substantial.”
“Burrows!” she gasped. “I did not kidnap Jed—”
“Could have fooled me,” Jed said, coming into the kitchen.
Rae whipped around to face him. He had on the pants and shirt from his tuxedo. The silk sleeves were rolled up to expose the corded muscles of his forearms. His hazel eyes were gleaming with amusement, and the grin under his mustache was positively rakish. He took the seat to the right of her. Inhaling the clean sharp scent of him, she swallowed back a wave of butterflies. “Jed. I was just kidding last night about kidnapping you. It was only a joke, and—”
She interrupted herself as Burrows set a plate with several slices of bread on it and a glass of water in front of Jed. “Your repast, sir.”
Jed glanced up at the butler. “You’ve got to be kidding, Burrows. How can Rae return me in good condition if I don’t eat properly?”
“I’m sorry, sir. I hadn’t realized. Of course, if your stay with us is to be a short one …”
Burrows’ voice trailed off, and both men turned questioningly to Rae. Jed asked, “How long will it take to get the ransom money? By the way, who are you going to ask for the ransom?”
She groaned aloud. “I’m not asking anybody!”
“Then I’ll be around for a while.” Jed picked up the plate and glass and handed them back to Burrows. “Eggs over easy and bacon, please. And coffee.”
“Would you care for some mulberry pancakes, sir?” Burrows asked. “I have the batter already prepared.”
“Great!”
Rae groaned again.
“Very good, sir.” Burrows returned to the range.
Turning to her, Jed rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “Now that breakfast is settled, we’ve got to figure
out who you’re going to get the ransom from. Like most companies, Atlantic has a policy of not paying ransom money for their employees, so they’re out.”
“Jed—”
“My parents are retired now, so their income is limited,” he continued. “My brother just graduated from med school, so he doesn’t have a thriving practice yet. Gee, I’m beginning to feel like the kid in the O. Henry story who nobody wanted back.”
“Dammit, Jed!” she exclaimed, waving a hand in the air. “The kidnapping was just a joke, okay? After breakfast is over, I’ll drive you back to the hotel so you can get your car.”
“You were very serious last night, weaving in and out of traffic like the entire Philly police force was after us,” he pointed out. “Why would you bring me here otherwise? Or lock me up with a tarantula as a guard?”
“Well, I … uhm … see …” Humiliated at her own sputtering, she lamely said, “You can go now.”
“But I can’t,” he protested. “I’ve got to stay here until a ransom is paid. That’s Article Four, Section One of the Kidnap Handbook. By the way, Harvey is a good guy to bunk with. He doesn’t snore.”
“Cute, Jed,” she snapped. “But you’re not staying. You are supposed to be looking for a new site for the complex, and you can’t very well do that if you’re kidnapped, can you?”
He stroked his mustache for a moment, then said, “As long as I have a phone to keep in touch with my people, I can, and it’d be a damn good way for you to make sure I do. What’s the matter, Rae, are you chickening out?”
She glared at him. “There’s nothing to chicken out of!”
“Then I’ll just hang around until we can figure out who’s going to pay the ransom. I assume I have freedom to move around the house and grounds. After all, you can always set the dogs after me. Where are they?”
“Outside,” Burrows said, before she could give a caustic reply. He set a cup of coffee in front of Jed. “Your breakfast will be ready in just a few minutes, sir.”
“Thanks.” Jed glanced down at his lap. “I’ll need a change of clothes, and my car is still at the hotel. If they haven’t already towed it away. Have you had it moved, Rae? It’s a dead giveaway that I’m missing.”
“Damn you, Jed,” she muttered through gritted teeth.
“After I have finished here, I can retrieve your car for you, sir,” Burrows volunteered, returning to the work area. He expertly flipped the eggs over in the pan. “Mr. Coe, our next-door neighbor, owns a bookstore in Center City. He can drive me in. Miss Rachel really shouldn’t return to the scene of her crime.”
“Burrows!”
“Excellent,” Jed said, grinning at the butler. “Could you stop by my place and get me some clothes?”
“I believe I could, sir.”
Furious with the two of them for teasing her, Rae jumped to her feet. “That is enough! If it makes you so damn happy, Jed, then consider yourself kidnapped.” She shook her finger at him. “But you damn well better be on that phone, really trying to find a new site for the complex. And you damn well better find one!”
She whirled on her heel and stalked out of the room.
After breakfast, Jed eventually found her in the music room. He assumed it was the music room, since a grand piano sat in regal majesty in one corner, a harp reposed in another, and gleaming white shelves held stacks of sheet music.
He stood in the doorway and watched her as she sat motionless on a chesterfield sofa and gazed out the French doors to the terrace. Her chin was thrust out in stubborness, and her eyes were wide and unfocused. Her slender body was relaxed, yet there was an inner tension about her. Lord, she was beautiful, he thought. Outwardly cool and elegant, but inside all fire that ignited a man until he burned out of control.
With a silent chuckle, he remembered his shock of the night before when he realized she was actually serious about kidnapping him. He still couldn’t quite believe that he had been shut up in a huge room full of stuffed game animals and one live spider in a glass aquarium. The only other pieces of furniture had been two sets of bunk beds. Burrows told him the game animals were the victims of Merriman’s hunting days and the bunks were for Rae’s nephews who occasionally stayed overnight. Jed grinned, thinking that thousands of boys would have traded their Rambo toys for a night in that room. Likewise, he wouldn’t trade a night in the trophy room for a month at the Warwick—unless, of course, Rae was with him.
Sobering, he wondered if Rae’s initial anger had cooled, or if it was still boiling. Maybe he shouldn’t have waited until after breakfast to go looking for her. At the time, though, it had seemed better to let her be alone for a while. She had to accept that he was staying put. A man would be a fool to walk away from such a beautiful and intriguing kidnapper.
She turned suddenly to face him. Immediately, he smiled and walked into the room. “Burrows is leaving to get the car. Any last-minute instructions?”
“I can think of several,” she said in a dry tone. “None of them repeatable in mixed company.”
“I should be the one to be angry, Rae,” he said, taking a seat next to her on the sofa. He made no comment when she adjusted her body none too subtly away from his. Instead he added. “I was the one who was kidnapped, not you. And I’m going to stay kidnapped.”
She frowned at him. “You’re not behaving like a proper kidnap victim, Jed.”
“I must have skipped the etiquette chapter in the Kidnap Handbook,” he replied.
“No kidding. Well, since you insist on staying, you are now considered a guest.” She made a face. “You might as well be, after the breakfast you had. You may come and go as you please, and the sooner you please to go will suit me fine. I feel like I just let the enemy into the general’s tent.”
“Rae, you can’t change the game plan halfway through the first quarter,” Jed said, not sure he liked being thought of as a guest. As a kidnappee, there would be all sorts of possibilities to be negotiated. But as a guest, the rules for good manners were already laid out. The last thing he wanted to be with her was on his best behavior.
She gave him a sugary smile. “Jed, I am the kidnapper, and as such I am the one who decides how the victim will be treated. I firmly believe my victims should be given all the comforts of home, with as little intrusion on my part as possible. I’m sure you’ll find everything you could possibly want or need.” She rose to her feet. “Oh, and feel free to use the phone. For anything.”
He reached out and pulled her down onto his lap. He grinned as she squirmed to free herself from his tight embrace. “Keep that up, and I know the first thing I’m going to require.”
She froze, but there was an angry green fire in her eyes. “Why do I have the feeling you’re going to be as hard to get rid of as ‘Red Chief’?”
“Why do you keep trying to walk away in the middle of a discussion?” he asked in return. “The Rae I remember couldn’t stop talking. I’d be clipping hedges, and you’d be right beside me jabbering away about anything and everything.”
“Maybe I’m all talked out,” she said, arching an eyebrow.
“Maybe you’re lonely,” he countered, gazing around the room. Ten people could have lived in it, he thought, and never touched each other once. “Was that why you hung around so much whenever I was working here? You were lonely?”
“I was being friendly!” she exclaimed indignantly. “And believe me, Jed, you looked like you needed a friend.”
“More than likely,” he admitted. “I was one of those moody teenagers. You grew up on an estate like this one, didn’t you?”
She frowned at him. “I did a lot of growing up here, Jed.”
“So you did.” He wondered what it was like to grow up with such wealth and luxury. His parents had had a comfortable house in a development, where the homes came in only three styles and the streets were named after the fifty states and their capitals. True suburbia, and worlds away from her, he acknowledged. Or maybe not. Despite their differing backgrounds, they’d both be
en lonely children.
“Could I get up now?” she asked, breaking into his musings.
He gazed into her eyes for a long moment. “No.”
His sudden kiss took her by surprise. His mouth was warm and coaxing, and Rae found herself responding to it just as she had the night before. His arms were around her, safe and comforting, and she forgot everything—the estate, her anger, his slick ways. Her lips parted at his tongue’s tender invasion, and a languid heat started deep inside her belly and spread outward along her veins. She wound her arms around his neck, plowing her hands through his thick hair. She moaned into his mouth as his palm cradled her breast, and his demanding fingers brought it to a hard aching peak. Clutching at him, she moaned again in supplication. The kiss turned white-hot, and she dimly realized that she wanted more and was terrified, all at the same time.
The want and fear fought each other for a brief instant, but before the outcome could be resolved Jed gently broke the kiss.
“I don’t think I want to get ransomed,” he murmured.
In spite of the panic she felt roiling inside, a giggle escaped her. Deep down, though, she knew she was in trouble. She shouldn’t be enjoying his company. Worse, she shouldn’t be so attracted to him. This time when she tried to get up, he let her go. She headed for temporary refuge by the piano. Somehow, she had to put even more space between them, and telling herself over and over how his every move was designed to get her to sell her home didn’t seem to help. She needed something more.
A feeling of excitement mixed with dread washed over her, as she watched him rise from the sofa and come toward her. She told her feet to move, but a sensual anticipation kept her traitorous body rooted to the spot. No man had ever affected her like this, she thought wildly.
When he stopped in front of her, she finally found her voice. “I’d better find Burrows and get him to pick up a few things while he’s out.”
“Coward,” he said softly, as she slipped by him and hurried toward the door.
“With a big yellow stripe down my back,” she muttered to herself, her feet racing even faster across the Brussels carpet. In the safety of the hallway she decided that after she found Burrows, she’d call the dogs inside. She would need all the help she could get to stay away from Jed. Then she’d call her brother and borrow her nephews for the weekend.