by ML Hamilton
“No, I don’t,” said Elena, rising to her feet and depositing Kate’s camera bag in her arms. “Besides, just forget it, all right? If you remember, I’m also unavailable.”
Kate looked away and shook her head in disgust. “You can’t tell me you’d give up a fling with Joshua Ravensong for that dull, decrepit doctor of yours.”
“I did make a commitment to John and I am wearing his mother’s ring.”
Kate laughed at the inside joke. “Well, let’s just say that if that man were to proposition me, I wouldn’t refuse him.”
Elena put on a surprised face. “And all this time I thought you hated John.”
Kate shook her head and laughed once more. “Really, you’re impossible. Come on, let’s get our knight in shining armor and finish this up. I’m tired.”
Elena slipped her arm around Kate’s shoulder. “I really do appreciate you bailing me out.”
“Don’t mention it, just give me intimate details when you and Joshua finally hit the sheets.”
“Really, Katie, do you have to be so crude?” scolded Elena as they turned out the lights in the auditorium and headed down the hall.
* * *
It was nearing one in the morning when they took seats around the graphic artist’s computer. It was fascinating to watch Fred move the titles about, shifting them into every color of the rainbow. Elena was fairly definite about what she wanted, so Joshua merely sat back and watched her and Fred work. Her voice took on such a note of excitement, Joshua couldn’t have helped but be enchanted with her.
“What if we changed the font, slant the letters a little toward the right?” she said, pointing at the characters on the screen. “I want the photo to be sufficiently large so that the consumer can see it without needing glasses.”
Fred nodded. “This font ought to do it,” he said, moving the mouse rapidly over the desk and clicking on various icons.
Joshua glanced at the screen briefly, but he didn’t really understand computers. Furthermore they held no interest for him, but Elena was entranced and she moved forward, her thigh brushing against his. An electrical current shot through Joshua and he clenched his jaw.
Elena became suddenly aware of their contact and she looked up at him, her eyes dilated, her breath coming a little more quickly. Their gazes locked.
“Well, what do you think?” said Fred, leaning back in his chair to study his work.
Elena didn’t seem to hear him, her attention riveted on Joshua.
“Well?” said Fred, shifting now. He caught the look on their faces and turned abruptly away.
Joshua broke the stare, glancing quickly at the computer screen. “Looks good, Fred.”
The deep rumble of his voice startled Elena out of her meditation and she looked toward the screen, her cheeks heating with embarrassment.
“It’s perfect. Can you print it up so I can place the photo against it and get an idea of the finished product?”
“Of course,” answered Fred, glad the tense moment had passed. “I’ll print it on a clear medium, that way you won’t have to cut or paste the photo and the two can be separated to view independently.”
He pushed the chair to the other side of his desk and opened a file drawer. As he rummaged through it, Elena chanced a second glance at Joshua. He smiled crookedly at her, deliberately pouring on all the charm he could muster.
Lord, he’d never wanted a woman this badly before. It was becoming increasingly hard to remind himself she was engaged to another man. As usual, some of her hair had escaped her French braid and had curled around her cheekbone. He reached out impulsively and brushed it away, his fingers grazing her smooth skin. He was pleased to see she didn’t attempt to pull away.
Encouraged by her response, he moved to touch her again, but Fred turned back at that moment, pulling the paper tray from the printer and placing the clear sheet inside. Elena shifted her attention immediately and waited expectantly while Fred moved the mouse to the print function.
As the graphic was repelled from the printer, he handed it to Elena. She opened the manila envelope and pulled out the photo, placing it behind the clear medium and holding it up for them all to view.
“I like it,” said Joshua truthfully. “It’s simple and elegant.”
Fred nodded. “I agree.”
Elena smiled and drew a relieved breath. “I can’t thank you enough,” she said to Fred and rose to her feet, placing both the graphic art and the photo back into the manila envelope. “If I can ever do you a favor.”
“Don’t mention it, just remember me when the next recording comes along.” He shifted his gaze from Joshua to Elena.
“I will,” said Elena, pushing her chair out of the way.
Joshua followed her to the door and stopped to shake Fred’s hand. “Thanks, pal.”
“No problem, just remember that we’re even now.”
“I won’t forget,” responded Joshua with a smile. He held the door open for Elena to pass through and they hurried down the darkened hall toward the exit.
* * *
The night was surprisingly cool as they walked to the car and Elena shivered with cold. She’d forgotten her coat, especially since the days were still unpredictably warm. Joshua quickly remedied the situation by slipping out of his jean jacket and placing it around her shoulders.
“No, I can’t,” she said, shrugging her shoulders to shake it off.
“Take it,” he demanded. “I’m suddenly very hot.”
A flush crept into Elena’s cheeks at his words, but she refused to look up. She waited beside his blue Jeep Cherokee for him to unlock the door and then slipped into the seat, allowing her eyes to drop closed. This had been a difficult and emotional day for both of them. She opened her eyes again when he moved into the seat beside her and started the ignition.
The little Cherokee purred to life and pulled slowly onto the street. Elena wrapped herself in Joshua’s jacket, breathing deeply of the purely masculine smell of him.
There was little traffic on the road this late at night so he made good time to the bridge. Elena looked out at Alcatraz, watching the warning beacons play out over the bay.
“Does your fiancé mind you working so late?” asked Joshua.
Elena shifted in the seat and stared at his strong profile against the pulsing light of the passing lamps. “John? He doesn’t really know.”
Joshua glanced at her. “Doesn’t know?”
Elena looked down at the envelope in her hands. “John’s on sabbatical in Colorado.”
“How long has he been gone?”
“A little over a month.”
Joshua pulled off the bridge and again glanced in Elena’s direction. “Where do I turn now?”
She told him the exit and returned to staring out the window. Staring at Joshua was too unsettling.
“How long will he be gone?”
Elena drew a considering breath. “Another four and a half months. He’s studying plastic surgery right now.”
“He left you for six months.” Joshua couldn’t hide the tone of derision in his voice.
“He’s on sabbatical,” corrected Elena.
Joshua slowed as he came to her exit and again gave her a piercing glance. His eyes seemed to swallow the darkness. “If you were mine, I wouldn’t have left - sabbatical or not.”
His abrupt admission surprised them both and silence reigned in the car for a few minutes. Finally Joshua was forced to break it to ask for further directions.
“Take the third left and then the first right,” she answered, refusing to look at him again.
“Have you gone out to see him?”
Elena shook her head. “No, since he left I’ve been interviewing for this job and now working. There hasn’t been any time, but he wants me to come out with his daughters in a week.”
“You don’t sound too excited.”
Elena laughed. “We don’t get along very well. They think I’m gold digging.”
“How old are they
?”
For a moment, Elena hesitated to answer him. This conversation was getting a little too personal. Yet on second thought, the question was probably asked just to keep things from getting tense again. “Eighteen and twenty-one.”
Elena caught Joshua’s frown from the corner of her eye, but he didn’t say anything. Even so she felt a surprising need to explain herself.
“John is a little older than I am.”
“I would imagine,” he said simply.
Elena chewed on her lip. Why did his remark bother her so much? “First building on the right,” she said abruptly.
He pulled in front of the apartment complex and turned off the ignition. Before she could stop him, he’d stepped out of the jeep and rounded the back to her side. As he opened the door, she descended to the sidewalk, refusing to look at him.
“Thanks for the ride...” she began.
“No way, lady. I always walk a woman to her door.”
She looked up, shaking her head urgently. “No, that isn’t necessary. It’s late enough.”
He merely smiled his crooked smile and motioned her forward. She hesitated in protest a moment more, but he didn’t budge. Drawing an irritated breath, she moved quickly away and through the front gate. It opened onto a densely foliaged courtyard and Elena could almost read Joshua’s thoughts. Too many places for someone to hide and attack an unsuspecting woman.
As she approached the door of her townhouse, the curtains on the unit perpendicular to hers fell back into place. She glanced at Joshua and saw him staring in that direction.
“Mrs. Haversaw,” Elena offered. “She keeps a very close eye on me.”
Joshua met her gaze. “At two-thirty in the morning?”
“As long as my porch light is out, Mrs. Haversaw keeps watch.” She placed the key in the lock and turned the knob, reaching inside and switching on the light. “Well, thank you for the escort.”
He looked down and cuffed the toe of his boot against the walkway. “Look, Elena, I didn’t mean to pry earlier. I hope I didn’t offend you.”
“No offense,” she said quickly and turned to her door. “Good night.” She didn’t trust herself to stand out here in the quiet pre-dawn with Joshua Ravensong for very long, but as she regarded the dark interior of the townhouse, she hesitated.
Memories crowded in on her - memories of a darkened room on a late night and the feel of a man’s hand over her mouth, his body holding her pinned to the floor. A motion in the darkness made her jump before she realized it was merely Savanna.
Her reaction was enough for Joshua however and he was quickly at her side. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said, turning to him and trying to force a smile. It came out strained, her voice trembling with the effort.
Joshua looked in at the forbidding darkness and then back into her frightened, dilated eyes. “I could...” He stopped.
“How ‘bout a cup of coffee for the road?” she said, suddenly knowing she couldn’t enter the townhouse alone.
“That would be great,” he said, smiling carelessly. “It’ll keep me from falling asleep.”
She nodded and forced herself to cross the threshold, turning on every light as she came to it. “Make yourself at home,” she said, motioning toward the couch. “I’ll only be a moment.”
She hurried up the stairs to the two bedrooms, searching through each one to make sure everything was as it should be. Savanna followed her, mewing indignantly. Finally Elena bent and picked her up, hugging her close as she descended the stairs again.
She went into the kitchen and poured instant coffee into one mug and placed a tea bag in the other, then put both of them in the microwave. As it heated, she opened a can of cat food for Savanna, trying hard not to think about the man waiting for her in the other room.
He was wandering around the room, staring at her knick-knacks when she returned with the steaming cups. “Here you go,” she said, carefully handing him the coffee and then wrapping both of her hands around her tea and taking a seat on the couch. The warmth of the tea helped to stop her nervous trembling, but Joshua’s strong presence helped even more.
He took a seat close beside her and sipped at his coffee. She studied his profile a little more closely this time. If anyone could have perfect features, Joshua was the man.
“It must be hard to keep up a long distance relationship,” she said impulsively.
He looked at her in surprise. “You ought to be able to tell me that,” he answered with another crooked smile that sent a shiver up Elena’s spine. Then he laughed and sipped at his coffee again. “Anyway, I’m not very good at relationships as it is.”
Elena licked her lips slowly, tasting the fragrant herbs of the tea. “Didn’t it go well in L.A.?”
Joshua drew a deep breath and fixed his eyes on Elena. “Megan and I decided to end it.”
“I’m sorry,” said Elena quickly, although she wasn’t exactly being truthful. Savanna jumped on the couch beside her and Joshua’s attention was diverted.
“Who’s this?” he asked, reaching out to stroke the cat’s black fur.
“Savanna.”
“Hello, Savanna,” he said and then studied Elena out of the corner of his eyes. “Are you in love with John, Elena?”
She blinked at his question. “Why would you ask that?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just that I looked around a little, while you were getting the coffee. There’s no evidence that there’s a man in your life except the ring on your finger - no photos, no wedding paraphernalia, nothing.”
“We haven’t set the date for the wedding yet.”
He narrowed his eyes. “We or you?”
Elena placed her mug on the coffee table and drew her knees up against her chest. “Since we’re getting so personal, why did you and Megan end your relationship?”
He also set his coffee on the table and shifted, resting one arm over the back of the couch. “The truth?” he asked and she nodded. “I’ve met a woman I can’t get out of my mind. I think of her every waking moment and she’s recently begun to invade my dreams.”
Elena felt her body tense, but she couldn’t break his stare.
“When I went down to L.A., my interest didn’t end, it only increased and I thought it wasn’t fair to be with Megan when I only wanted to be with this other woman.” His eyes narrowed even further. “Now answer my question. Are you in love with John?”
“What does it matter? Why does someone have to be in love to get married?”
“I don’t know, but it usually helps. Take it from one with a failed experience in his background. Marriage isn’t easy.”
“Maybe because everyone is so hung up on falling in love. They get caught up in the passion of it and forget the real reason two people marry - for companionship and security, to stop the horrid, shallow game of dating.”
Joshua tilted his head speculatively. “So is that why you’re marrying a man old enough to be your father - to avoid passion?”
Elena felt her face heat at his sultry words. “I don’t know. I guess I just want a companion, someone to come home to at night, someone to wake up with in the morning, someone I feel safe being around.”
“And no love, no excitement? Safety is fine, but to build a life of it isn’t really living.”
Elena dropped her eyes. “Maybe I don’t want a rock star’s life.”
“Maybe not, but maybe you need a little of it.” He reached out slowly and brushed a strand of hair away, allowing his fingertips to trail over her cheekbone and down toward her chin.
Elena swallowed convulsively and closed her eyes, but although her mind screamed at her to pull away, she couldn’t, she just couldn’t.
He lifted her chin with his fingers and her eyes opened, fixing on his. Ever so slowly he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. Elena shuddered and closed her eyes again, but the parting of her lips was more than an invitation for Joshua.
He brushed his mouth agains
t her lips once more. It wasn’t really a kiss, but it was enough.
“I’d better go,” he said against her mouth.
“No,” she said suddenly, her eyes fluttering open. “I mean...” As she tried to compose herself, Joshua watched her in surprise. “I mean it’s so late.” She glanced at the clock and back again. “Already three. Before you get home, you’ll almost have to turn around again, and I need a ride anyway. My car’s still at Avalanche, remember?”
He nodded slowly.
“You can stay in the spare room. It’ll only take me a moment to make up the bed.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I don’t mind sleeping on the couch.”
“It’s no trouble really.”
He drew a deep breath and exhaled slowly, studying her face. “I think I’d better sleep on the couch, Elena,” he said carefully. “If you need me, you’ve only just to call and I’ll hear you. I’m a light sleeper.”
She nodded and forced a smile. “Let me get some bedding.”
“A pillow and a blanket is all I need.”
She nodded again and rose off the couch, moving swiftly to the closet beneath the stairs. As she handed the bedding to him, he deliberately touched her hand with his own. She blinked in surprise and backed up.
“Good night,” she said, retreating toward the stairs with Savanna on her heels.
“Good night, Elena,” he answered.
1CHAPTER 3
Elena woke the next morning, her mind still numb from lack of sleep. She rolled out of bed on autopilot and stumbled into the hallway, grabbing a clean towel from the linen closet as she went. While she waited for the water to heat in the shower, she dozed, her mind already focusing hazily on the presentation she had to make this morning.
The warmth of the shower did little to wake her. She turned off the water, squeezed it from her long hair and dried with the towel, then wrapped the towel around her head and moved to the mirror. Hurriedly she applied her makeup and combed out her hair. It hung in a tumble of curls far down her back, damp from the shower. Still more asleep than awake, she wandered naked back to her room and slipped into her underclothes, wrapping her silk robe around herself.