Joker's Wild

by Sandra Chastain

  “May I come in?”

  “Why? I don’t think we have anything to talk about.”

  “I think we do. Joker doesn’t believe that you’ll listen to him, but maybe you’ll listen to me. Joker vetoed the idea of having you endorse the springs the moment it came up. He doesn’t blame you for thinking what you did. He should have told you about our problems. But Joker can’t talk about personal trouble. He never could.”

  “Maybe, but your newspaper editor already has the front page pasted up. That sounds pretty definite to me.”

  “Everybody is involved in the grand opening reception. Tom just assumed when he saw you coming out of the doctor’s office that you were there to discuss the plans. He’s sorry. We’re all sorry. We get carried away with the importance of the center. But we’d never ask you to do something you didn’t feel comfortable with.”

  “It isn’t just that. Why didn’t Joker mention the idea to me? It should have been my decision, not his.”

  “He knew you’d feel obligated, and he didn’t want to put any pressure on you. And by now you should know Joker. He never accepts anything unpleasant. He thought he’d come up with another way. For weeks he’s been calling friends inviting them to the reception. He figured that if enough of them see Minnie and Luther, they’ll give the springs a try. Otherwise, I don’t know. I’m afraid that we may be in big trouble.”

  “Is he having any luck?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. That’s not important. If Vandergriff, Inc. has a few setbacks, we’ll recover. We’ve done it before. The important thing is you and Joker. You belong together.”

  “Well, you’ll have a hard time convincing him of that,” Allison said, her voice full of pain. She’d been wrong. For the first time she’d fallen in love. Yet the first time she’d been called on to prove her devotion, she’d failed. She’d disappeared just like Mark. And she hadn’t called either. At least Joker had never made promises he couldn’t keep. He’d expected her to leave him—and she had.

  “Allison, I know my brother. If Joker has to walk down Peachtree Street stark naked to protect you, he’ll do it. Please, don’t leave him. He’s convinced that you’ll go like everybody else he’s ever cared for.”

  “Go like everyone else? Not on your life, King Vandergriff. If there’s one thing your brother has taught me, it’s that a person can do just about anything she really wants to. I’m going to endorse those springs. I’m going to find a way to bring the world to Pretty Springs, and, my brother-in-law-to-be, your brother’s going to make an honest woman out of me—whether he wants to or not.”

  “Good luck, Allison. I think Joker’s going to have a very interesting life.”

  “So do I. But I have to work fast. You’re more right than you could possibly know.”

  A story in the Pretty Springs Gazette about the visit of the Summer Olympic Site Committee to Atlanta gave Allison the solution to the problem. The reception to honor the grand opening of the new Sports Medicine Rehabilitation Center at the Pretty Springs Golf and Tennis Retirement Community gave her the means to accomplish it.

  By the next morning she was sitting in King Vandergriff’s office with her proposal. By the next afternoon King gave her the approval of the board of directors and stockholders to carry out her plan.

  The site committee for the Summer Olympics was already considering Atlanta as a possible site for the 1996 summer games. As a personal favor to Allison, they’d added a stop at the reception to their itinerary. Allison explained the healing properties of the springs, and at her suggestion her old coach agreed to present a proposal to consider the center as a rehabilitation site for the athletes. If one gold medal winner’s endorsement would publicize the springs, a whole team’s ought to be just perfect.

  The results were out of her hands. She’d done all she could. She’d simply have to sit back and wait. In the meantime she’d go and share her plans with Gran.

  “Allison, I can’t possibly go to that reception in a wheelchair,” Lenice Josey protested.

  “Oh, yes you can. If I’m going to be on display, so are you. We’ll show ’em, Gran.” Allison laughed out loud. “Ah, Gran, I’m going husband-hunting, and I wouldn’t want you to miss the fun.”

  “All right, if you’re sure. But I’ve got to get my hair and my nails done. And I’ll have Minnie take a tuck in my blue dinner gown. Oh, Allison, I can’t wait to see Joker’s face.”

  “There’s no point in her old boss coming,” Joker complained to his sister-in-law Kaylyn. “I only invited him so that he could see that Allison was ready to go back to work, and now she isn’t even going to be at the reception.”

  “You never know how things are going to turn out, Joker. You go on into Atlanta and pick him up. Maybe the ice show contact will be profitable for the health center. Allison can’t be the only skater who is injured.”

  “Maybe.” Joker tugged at the collar of his tux and crawled into his van. What he’d have liked to do was dump Darron Vardin into the springs and go back to the gazebo and the first day Allison had stumbled into his arms. He’d been so sure that he’d done the right thing for her. But maybe he’d made a big mistake.

  Allison felt that old threat of panic sweep over her as she began to dress. Ice shows and Olympic events were simple. A social occasion that forced her to meet her old friends and past associates would be difficult. Her Olympic coaches would be there. They all knew everything about her, and she still wasn’t sure she could face the questions. But she had to do it—for Joker.

  Who was she fooling? It was Joker she was afraid to face. What if she were wrong? What if he didn’t really want her?

  After a long soak in the tub, a long nap, and a pep talk from Diamond, she was ready to face him. She pinned her hair into a severe chignon, glanced in the mirror, and loosened several curls to drape softly around her face. She applied a dark coating of eye shadow and some mascara. Her skin was paler than usual, and she knew it was because she’d never before taken such a gamble with her future.

  Over her shoulders she pulled her only long dress, a backless ebony gown that glimmered like stars when the light caught the sequins. There was a scandalous slit up the back that allowed her to walk. Adding a pair of diamond earrings, Allison slipped her feet into matching black heels. Her last move was to stick a pearl white chicken feather in the knot of hair at the base of her neck. To heck with fashion, she thought. She was making a statement to the man she loved.

  Jack was obviously taken aback when he opened the door and saw the woman standing in the light. “Good evening, Allison. You’re stunning. I’m not sure my brother deserves such a beautiful wife. Your grandmother is in the car.”

  “They are coming, aren’t they?”

  “If you mean the Olympic Site Committee, yes, they arrived a little after six. Diamond took them to dinner.”

  “And Joker?”

  “Yes, he’ll be there. You really love him, don’t you?” Jack draped her wrap about her shoulders and escorted her to the big black Lincoln parked in the courtyard.

  “I really do.”

  “You two are something,” Jack observed, shaking his head in disbelief. “I just hope your plans don’t backfire and you both end up losing the game.”

  “Both? Oh, Jack, what is Joker up to? Is he still trying to get rid of me?”

  “Well, let’s say that he’s going to make it easy for you to be gone.” Jack started the engine. “We’d better hurry. King has the reception under control, but we don’t want to be late.”

  The crowd was worse than she’d imagined. The entire population of Pretty Springs had been invited to tour the center between six and eight. Now the VIP group was arriving. From the moment Allison walked into the hall, she was overwhelmed by old friends.

  “Hi, Allison, you look great.” The speaker was vaguely familiar, but no name came to mind. “We’re glad you’re back,” called another.

  “That’s wonderful. Thank you.” Allison moved away to speak to the next group,
pushing Gran through the crowd until Sandi Arnold intercepted them and took Mrs. Josey over to join Minnie and Luther Peavey by the speaker’s stand.

  The Olympic Site Committee was easy to identify when they arrived. They were wearing matching red jackets with blue vests. Photographers and reporters mobbed the committee members, peppering them with questions about their opinions of Atlanta’s chances to be the site for the 1996 summer games. The officials had already been taken on a tour of the facilities, and now they fanned out, eager to discuss the power of the springs.

  Allison made herself available to the committee, giving her own testimony as to the success of the healing water. As she spoke her gaze continually swept the crowd. He had to be there. Jack had told her that he was coming. But so far she’d seen no sign of red hair or a bushy beard.

  “I can’t believe how well you look,” one of the committee members observed. “I heard about what happened. I thought that you weren’t expected to walk again.”

  “It’s the springs,” Allison answered positively, “the miracle healing springs, along with the man I’m going to marry, whose magical hands brought me back completely after I’d been given up on as a lost cause. This is what I want to share with all of you. That’s why I asked the committee to tour our facilities and hear what we have to offer.”

  And then she saw Darron Vardin, the man who’d been the creative director of the Carnival Ice Follies. He was the last person she’d ever expected to see, and he was headed straight for her.

  “Hello, Allison. You look great.”

  “How nice to see you, Darron. What are you doing here?”

  “Looking for you. Someone told me you’d be here and that you were ready to go back to work. What about it, sugar, want to give the ice another whirl?”

  “You’re offering me a job?” It was incredible. Jack had hinted that Joker was up to something, but this was the one thing she’d never expected to happen. He’d promised her that she would skate again, and he’d given her a second chance at a career. “No, thanks.”

  Darron looked surprised. “Why not, Allie? Not many people get a second chance.”

  “You don’t know how right you are,” Allison said, fervently searching the crowd for the big titian-haired man with the beard.

  “So the answer is no. Why?”

  “Simple. I want to skate again, and I probably will. But I’ve found something I want more. Oh!”

  She’d been looking at him for several minutes before she recognized him. Joker was wearing a tuxedo. Standing with Tom Brolin, he was watching her.

  At that distance she felt Joker’s touch, and her skin rippled in response. No wonder she hadn’t recognized him. He’d shaved his heard and mustache. No longer was he a burly, bushy-haired giant. He was an imposing, sophisticated, debonair executive. Gone was the mustache that had fired her lips with its touch. Gone was the beard that caressed her breasts with fire. He was breathtakingly handsome, and suddenly she wasn’t certain that she could carry out her plan. What in heaven’s name would a man like that want with a woman like her?

  “I’m sorry, Darron. Thank you, but you’ve made a trip here for nothing. I’m not coming back to the show, now or ever.”

  “What about Mark?” His casual words stopped her, but only for a moment.

  “What do you mean, what about Mark?”

  “He’s completed his tour in Europe. He wants to see you, Allison. We thought you two might get back together again. Think what a splash you’d make.”

  Mark was coming back? At one time she would have given anything to hear that. He wanted her back. The thought evaporated almost as soon as it came to mind. All she wanted now was to get the man she loved.

  “Tell him that I wish him good luck, but I can’t accept your offer. I have other plans, that is if a certain rogue has any intention of doing the proper thing. You don’t by any chance have a shotgun, do you?”

  “Shotgun?” She left Darron mulling over her strange refusal as she threaded her way across the room.

  “Friends, distinguished guests, and members of the press,” King Vandergriff said as he stepped before the podium. “On behalf of the entire Vandergriff family and the board of directors, I’m delighted that you could join us to celebrate the grand opening of the Pretty Springs Sports Medicine Rehabilitation Complex here at our Golf and Tennis Retirement Community. And I am pleased to make a special announcement. Pending approval by the governing board, we have been tentatively selected as the official rehabilitation center for the members of our U.S. Olympic Team for the next four years.”

  An “oooooh” went up from the crowd.

  “And”—King clapped his hands to regain control—“I’d also like to announce that our own Olympic gold medalist, Allison Josey, has agreed to accept the position as director of our program and liaison officer between the Olympic Committee and our sports medicine staff. Would you please come to the platform, Allison? I’m sure that the press would like a picture of you and your fiancé and the chairman of the Olympic Site Committee shaking hands on the agreement.”

  Allison reached Joker’s side and looked up at the stunned man with a smile. “Is it all right, big guy? Do you have any objection to your wife working?”

  “But your skating,” he whispered dazedly. “Won’t you miss it?”

  “Probably, but I expect to be very busy with … lots of new things. Please, Joker, touch me. I need you. I’m scared to death to go up there alone.”

  “You want me to come with you?”

  She grinned at his choice of words. “Always, Jamie. I need you with me always.” She tugged at his arm and pulled him along to the platform, posing for pictures and smiling with happiness that would never be artificial as long as his hand was touching her.

  After obliging the press with answers to their questions, Allison told her friends good-bye, gave her grandmother a big wink, slid her hand into the crook of Joker’s arm, and carefully maneuvered him through the crowd and out the door.

  “Why, Allison?” Joker pulled her into the shadow of Lizard Rock, the great guardian of the healing springs that gave the city its name. “I saw you talking to Darron Vardin. I knew he was offering you your old job back.”

  “Uh-huh! How do you suppose he came to be here?” She looped her arms around his waist and looked up at him in the moonlight, this clean-shaven stranger who looked as if he had stepped off the pages of a magazine.

  “I … I called him,” Joker answered. “How’d those Olympic people get here?”

  “I … called them,” Allison shifted her body, pressing herself suggestively against her beautiful protector.

  “But you wanted to skate again. You should,” Joker argued, feeling the familiar rise of heat in his body where they touched.

  “Uh-huh.” She slid her fingertips up his backbone, counting each vertebra until she reached the back of his neck.

  “Why did you do it, Beauty?”

  “I love you, Jamie Daniel. You need me as much as I need you. I finally figured it out. It wasn’t being a star that made me want to skate again, it was belonging. And I found the place where I belong. I never loved Mark. He’s in the past, and I’ve put that behind me. You let me prove to myself that I can run my own life, and I’m doing exactly what I want to do.

  “And when you clowned around and used your special touch, you were just trying to make yourself belong too. And where we both want to be is right here, with each other. You need me to love you, James Daniel Vandergriff.”

  “I do?”

  “You do. And I’m not going anywhere. We are getting married two weeks from Sunday. The arrangements are already made.”

  “They are?”

  “They are. This is one decision that I intend to see carried out.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I wouldn’t dream of trying to tell somebody else what to do.”

  “And you’re going to let your beard grow back right away.”

  “You don’t like me as a handsome prince?”

&nbs
p; “Nope, I want my beast back.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” His answer was meek enough. But the wicked glint in his eye gave her the true picture of what she could expect when they got back to Elysium.

  “I never told you that I love you, Allison.”

  “Yes, you did, Jamie, every time you carried me in your arms, every time you did some foolish wonderful thing to help me walk, every time you kissed me. You told me.”

  “And you’re sure you want to give up everything for a simple gardener who likes to make things grow?”

  “No, I’m not giving up anything, you wonderful man. And making things grow is exactly what I have in mind. I want to have a child right away. Will you give me a child, Jamie?”

  “I’ll give you anything you want. You’ve made me so very happy, my darling. I have things to give you that you don’t even suspect. Let’s go home.”

  When Joker carried her to the van, she didn’t argue. The aura of his touch was a warm reminder of the magic they’d found, and she knew that she’d never tire of loving this red-haired giant of a man who’d showed her such joy.

  As for giving, she had her own plans. And she’d show him, if all went well, in just about nine months.

  For Irene

  THE EDITOR’S CORNER

  Welcome to Loveswept!

  Love is in the air this month – and no, I’m not talking about that holiday. I’m talking about all of our fantastic Loveswept releases coming up, and I’m so excited to share them all with you.

  Tina Wainscott’s red-hot WILD ON YOU introduces the Justiss Alliance, an elite team of heroes out to do right. This is one book that will be hard to put down, as one untamable SEAL meets a woman who handles the wildest sort of animals—until she herself becomes the hunted. Another book that I keep raving about it Sally Eggert’s electrifying romantic suspense, IN THE DARK, where passion raises the stakes when a woman is drawn into a dangerous game, with a man who may not be what he seems. Intrigued? I was! If you’re a fan of historical romance with tons of sensuality, adventure and intrigue, look no further than Sharon Cullen’s PLEASING THE PIRATE, where a ruthless pirate and a Scottish lass are wrenched between love and duty. And if you were sucked into Stacey Kennedy’s CLAIMED like I was, you’ll be happy to hear that the oh-so-sexy Club Sin returns in BARED – a wicked and wild tale of submission, seduction, and love.