His heart beat like a racing stallion. Sweat coated his body. He ached with the need for release. But this time had been for Deborah, not for him. She had needed the powerful fulfillment, and what Deborah needed was far more important to him than what he needed.
When Ashe had sent Buck Stansell a warning, declaring Deborah Vaughn his personal property, it had been a ruse. Now it was a fact. If he had to destroy Buck Stansell to keep Deborah safe, he’d do it. No one was going to harm his woman.
CHAPTER TWELVE
DEBORAH SET UP a temporary office in the library, moving in a computer and borrowing Annie Laurie for the first day. She would do whatever was necessary to protect her employees. That might mean staying away from Vaughn & Posey for a few weeks, but it also meant business as usual. Too many people depended upon the real estate firm for their livelihoods, including Deborah’s family. She had no idea whether or not Whitney had any money left in her trust fund, but she doubted it. Not after nearly eleven years of marriage to George Jamison. That meant Whitney, too, depended upon revenue from Vaughn & Posey to keep her and her worthless husband from bankruptcy.
Ashe McLaughlin’s return to Sheffield was a mixed blessing. He and Roarke guarded the family night and day. Anyone wanting to harm her or Allen or her mother would have to go through two highly trained professionals. But her personal relationship with Ashe had her confused and uncertain.
She could not deny that she was in love with him. Always had been. Always would be. But the lie about Allen stood between them as surely as Ashe’s inability to make a commitment. If she knew Ashe loved her, if she knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, telling Ashe the truth about Allen would not be as difficult. But he hadn’t said he loved her and certainly had made her no promises beyond defending her with his life.
“Where do these go?” Ashe stood in the doorway, a stack of file folders in his arms.
“What are those?” she asked.
“They’re printouts of all your current files on your present listings.” Annie Laurie scurried past Ashe, dragging a swivel desk chair behind her.
Deborah smiled at Ashe; he returned her smile. She couldn’t stop looking at him, couldn’t stop remembering how it felt when they made love. She was as giddy and light-headed as a teenager in love for the first time. And the crazy thing was she honestly thought Ashe was acting the same way.
He looked incredible this afternoon, but then he always did. Tall, muscular and lean. Gray slacks. Navy blue jacket. Light blue shirt, worn unbuttoned and without a tie. She could see the top curls of dark hair above his open shirt.
They hadn’t made love since yesterday and she ached to be with him.
Annie Laurie cleared her throat. “We could take a break. It’s after one and we haven’t stopped for lunch.”
“Good idea.” Ashe laid the file folders to the left of the computer atop the antique mahogany desk. “Why don’t you two do whatever it is you need to do and I’ll tell Mazie we’re ready for some of her famous chili. I’ve been smelling the stuff for hours now.”
“Check on Mother, will you?” Deborah asked. “She’s been busy all morning working on that cross-stitch piece she wants to finish before she goes in the hospital.”
“I’ll see if she wants to join us for lunch or have something in her room,” Ashe said.
Deborah looked around the library and wondered if it would ever return to normal once she went back to Vaughn & Posey’s downtown office. Together she and Annie Laurie had managed to keep everything fairly neat, but office clutter had certainly changed the charming old room’s atmosphere.
Deborah fell into the huge, tufted leather chair behind the desk. Her father’s desk. Her grandfather’s desk.
“So, Neil finally came to his senses and asked you out.” Folding her arms behind her, Deborah placed her hands at the back of her head and stretched. “You’ll need to leave here early enough to go home and change and—”
“It really isn’t a date, Deborah. We’re just having dinner and Neil is going to help me study. If I can’t pass the test, I’ll never become a Realtor. There is no need for me to leave early. Neil’s picking me up here after work.”
“Neil could have helped you study without taking you out for dinner,” Deborah said. “My goodness, Annie Laurie, give the man a little encouragement. I think everyone, except Neil, knows how you feel about him.”
“I can hardly throw myself at Neil when he’s in love with you.” Annie Laurie plopped herself down in the swivel chair she’d placed at the edge of the desk.
“Neil is not in love with me. It’s just that he’s had a sort of crush on me for years. I’ve made it perfectly clear that we can never be more than friends.”
“I guess none of us can help who we love, can we? I’m in love with Neil, he’s in love with you and you’re in love with Ashe.”
“I see you have this all figured out.” In Annie Laurie’s version of their love lives, they were beginning to sound like a modern day Southern version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. “But if actions speak louder than words, as Mama Mattie says, then I’d say you’re the woman Neil cares for the most. After all, I’m not the one he checked on first yesterday after the gunman’s drive-by attack.”
“He couldn’t have gotten to you without going through Ashe and Neil certainly would never try to confront Ashe.”
“I’m telling you that if you want Neil, you’re going to have to let him know. And I mean in no uncertain terms. Seduce the man.”
Annie Laurie gasped. “Why Deborah Luellen Vaughn, what sort of advice is that? Are you saying that if I sleep with Neil, he’ll fall madly in love with me?”
“No. I’m saying he’s already in love with you, but just doesn’t know it. Besides, a man Neil’s age isn’t going to be seduced unless he wants to be. And I’m telling you, he’s ready for you.”
“You and Ashe are having an affair, aren’t you?” Annie Laurie kept her head bowed, but risked a quick glance in Deborah’s direction. “I know it’s none of my business, but you’ve been a good friend to me and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
Deborah sighed, then smacked her lips lightly. “Yes, Ashe and I are having an affair. And I know only too well that I could wind up getting hurt again. But I’ve been in love with him for as long as I can remember. I’ve never wanted anyone else.”
“I know exactly how you feel.”
“Then don’t wait around. Go get what you want. Neil isn’t going anywhere, and take my word for it, you’re exactly what Neil needs and what he wants, whether he knows it or not.”
Ashe knocked on the doorpost, announcing his presence. “Chili is served in the kitchen. Coffee? Tea? Cola?”
“Tea,” Deborah said.
“I’ll go wash up and help Mazie get everything on the table.” Annie Laurie stood. “Is Miss Carol joining us?”
“Yes, she said for me to come up and get her when we’re ready to eat,” Ashe said.
“I’ll bring her down after I help Mazie.” Annie Laurie rushed out of the library.
“What’s wrong with her?” Ashe asked.
“I think my advice on her love life upset her.”
“What kind of advice did you give her?”
“I told her to seduce Neil.”
Ashe bellowed with laughter. “Good God, woman! I’d say you’re sending two virgins into uncharted waters. How the hell will they know what to do?”
“I think they’ll figure it out.” When Ashe walked around the desk, Deborah slipped her arms around his neck.
“Annie Laurie and Neil? How long has this been going on? I thought the guy had a thing for you.” Ashe pulled her up against him.
“He thinks he has a thing for me. But given the right encouragement, he’ll realize Annie Laurie is the only woman for him.” Deborah nuzzled the side of Ashe’s neck with her nose. “Besides, Annie Laurie’s so in love with Neil she can’t see straight. A man would have to be a complete fool to reject that kind of love.”
>
The moment she said the words, she wished them back. She tensed in Ashe’s arms.
Taking her chin in one hand, he tilted her face. “It’s all right, honey. I know you were talking about Neil, but the shoe certainly fit me once, too, didn’t it?” He kissed her. Quick. Hard. Passionate. With his forehead resting on hers, he held her close. “I know what a fool I was eleven years ago. I didn’t appreciate what I had. I was too young to know what I wanted or needed.”
And now? she wanted to ask. Did he know what he wanted and needed now? “We can’t change the past. Either of us.”
“We aren’t a couple of kids anymore, are we, Deborah? We can handle a love affair without either of us getting hurt this time.”
“Yes, of course, we can.” She nudged him with her hip. “I’m starving. Let’s go eat.”
NEIL ARRIVED AT six-thirty, late and haggard, fuming about the workmen Deborah had hired to clear away the rubble from the office and fussing at the price their contractor was charging them to repair the damage.
Deborah tried to soothe his ruffled tail feathers, but he calmed very little, even after Deborah assured him their insurance would cover most of the costs.
She finally shooed Neil and Annie Laurie out of the house, suggesting the perfect restaurant for their dinner. When she and Ashe turned to close the front door, they realized Neil couldn’t get his car started.
Getting out of his car, Neil walked back toward the house, leaving Annie Laurie waiting patiently in the car.
“I’ve been having trouble with the darn thing for weeks now, but haven’t had time to take it in for a check-up.”
“Leave it here.” Deborah and Ashe met Neil on the porch steps. “Take my Caddy and you two go on for dinner. Keep it for the night. We’ll call the garage in the morning and have them come get your car.”
“I couldn’t possible take your Cadillac.”
“I insist. I’ll go get the keys.”
When she turned to go inside, Ashe grabbed her by the wrist. “I’ve got the extra set of keys you gave me.” He pulled the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to Neil, who caught them, then almost dropped them from his shaky hand.
“I appreciate this,” Neil said. “I’ll drive safely.”
Ashe and Deborah waved goodbye. Arm in arm, they returned inside to spend the evening with Allen, Miss Carol and Roarke, both of them counting the minutes until bedtime when they could meet at the pool house and make love.
Although the company was pleasant, Ashe wished the time would pass more quickly. He had wanted to drag Deborah off to some secluded spot all day. As the minutes ticked away, he grew more and more restless.
Deborah only partially heard most of what was said during and after dinner, her mind was so completely consumed with Ashe. All she could think about was being alone with him, loving and being loved.
There was no other man like Ashe—not for her. She had always been fascinated by him, even when she’d been a young girl. Indeed, she wondered if his years as a Green Beret hadn’t enhanced the very basic male drives that had been born a part of him.
They watched each other, their eyes speaking the words they dared not utter in the presence of others. Deborah had no idea a man could make love to a woman without touching her. Ashe McLaughlin could. And did.
She felt herself growing moist and hot, her body responding to his every glance. She checked her watch for the hundredth time, wishing her mother and Allen would go to bed early. Roarke had excused himself thirty minutes earlier to take a walk around the block as he did each night.
The phone call came three hours after dinner. Ashe took the call, saying very little, but Deborah immediately knew something was terribly wrong.
Ashe replaced the receiver, a solemn expression on his face. His gaze met Deborah’s; terror seized her.
“What happened?” she asked.
“There’s been an accident,” he said.
“What sort of accident?” Carol Vaughn glanced at Allen, who had stopped watching television and looked straight at Ashe.
“A car accident. Neil and Annie Laurie. They’ve been taken to the hospital in Florence.” Ashe’s gut instincts told him the car wreck had been no accident. Neil had been driving Deborah’s car.
“Oh, dear Lord, no!” Miss Carol clutched her hands together.
“They’re both alive. That’s all I know.” Ashe looked at Deborah. “I think we should go to the hospital immediately.”
“Yes, of course we should,” she said.
“I’ll let Roarke know we’re leaving.” He turned to Carol. “We’ll go by and get Mama Mattie. Pray for them, Miss Carol. Pray for all of us.”
Carol nodded, then placed her arm around Allen’s shoulders when he started after Ashe and Deborah. “Did somebody do something to Deborah’s car? Were they trying to hurt her?” Allen asked.
Ashe halted in the doorway. Deborah rushed over to Allen, pulling him into her arms.
“No, darling, of course not,” Deborah kissed Allen’s cheek. “Please don’t worry about me.”
“We don’t know what happened,” Ashe said. “I’ll talk to the police and find out. But Deborah’s right. Don’t worry about her. I’ll take care of her.”
Allen hugged Deborah, then released her, waving goodbye as she and Ashe left.
NO ONE, not even Ashe McLaughlin, could make Neil Posey leave Annie Laurie’s side, and the doctors allowed him to stay when he told them he was Annie Laurie’s fiancé.
When Deborah, Ashe and Mattie Trotter had first arrived at the hospital, Neil had been incoherent, his eyes glazed with tears as he sat holding Annie Laurie’s hand. Neil had suffered a few cuts and bruises, but nothing serious. Annie Laurie was unconscious. A concussion, they’d been told. If she came around soon, there should be nothing to worry about; however, if she remained unconscious…
Hour after hour passed without any change in Annie Laurie. Mattie Trotter dozed in the big chair in the corner of the room. Still holding Annie Laurie’s hand in his, Neil had laid his head on the side of her bed.
Easing open the door, Ashe glanced around the room, saw his grandmother and Neil sleeping and Deborah looking out the window, watching the sunrise. He set the cardboard carton containing disposable coffee cups on the meal tray, removed the lids from two cups, picked them up and walked over to Deborah.
“Thanks.” Deborah took the coffee. “A few more minutes and you would have found me in the other chair over there asleep, too.”
“Why the hell doesn’t she wake up?” Ashe squeezed the cup he held, pressing a bit of the dark liquid over the edge and onto his hand. “Damn! Good thing this stuff isn’t very hot.”
“I wish we knew exactly what caused the wreck. I can’t believe a careful driver like Neil would have simply lost control of the car.” Deborah sipped her coffee.
“Thank God they were both wearing their seat belts. If that pole hadn’t crashed through the windshield and sideswiped Annie Laurie on the side of her head, she’d be okay.” Ashe drank half his cup of coffee, then set the container down on the windowsill.
“I keep wondering what caused the accident. Neil is such a careful driver. He said the brakes didn’t work, that coming off the hill on Court Street, he realized he couldn’t slow down, couldn’t stop.”
“I think he probably panicked,” Ashe said. “He realized he was going to slam into the back end of the car in front of him and possibly cause a pileup, so he tried to take the car off the road.”
“I have my car serviced often. There’s no reason the brakes shouldn’t have worked.” Deborah clutched her coffee cup in both hands.
“We both know there’s a good chance someone tampered with your Caddy.” Ashe balled his hands into fists. All night he had fought the desire to smash heads together, to run out of the hospital and hunt down Buck Stansell. But he would wait. Wait until he knew for sure.
A tall, skinny nurse walked into the room. Covering her lips with her index finger, she signaled Deborah and Ashe t
o be quiet. Silently she went about her business, checking on Annie Laurie, then nodding goodbye as she left.
“Are you hungry?” Ashe asked. “We could go down for breakfast soon.”
“Let’s wait awhile, until Mama Mattie wakes up. She needs some rest.”
A soft knock sounded at the door. Ashe walked over and opened the door a fraction. Detective Morrow, from the Florence police, stood in the hallway.
“Could I speak to you, Mr. McLaughlin? The chief said to let you know what we’ve found out. He’s talked to Chief Burton over in Sheffield and also to Sheriff Blaylock. They both said to fill you in.”
Ashe stepped into the hallway, closing the door behind him. “Let’s have it.”
“The wreck wasn’t an accident. Ms. Vaughn’s Cadillac had been tampered with. There was no brake fluid. It had all leaked out. Looks like somebody intended for Ms. Vaughn to wreck her car.”
Deborah stood with the door cracked enough to overhear what the detective said. Biting down on her bottom lip, she closed her eyes and said a silent prayer. A prayer to end this madness, to keep those she loved safe.
Ashe thanked Detective Morrow. “I’d like to see a copy of your mechanic’s complete report as soon as possible.” He shook hands with the policeman, then glanced at Deborah.
She opened the door, walked over to Ashe and tilted her chin defiantly. “So now we know for sure.”
“Yeah, we know Buck isn’t through playing games, and the games are getting more and more deadly.” Ashe looked at her, his eyes hard, his face tense. “I think it’s time ol’ Buck and I have a little talk. Face-to-face.”
“No, Ashe. Please.” Deborah grabbed him by the arm. “You can’t go off alone and confront a man like Buck Stansell. He could have you murdered on the spot.”
“Yeah, he could, but he won’t.” Ashe put his arm around Deborah, hugging her to his side. “You forget that I know Buck and his kind. He’s had me checked out thoroughly and he isn’t about to bring down any more investigations on him and his boys right now. Lon Sparks has kept his mouth shut, but there isn’t any doubt who was behind Looney’s murder.”
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