by Jackie Black
“Sonny, I’ll miss you, too,” she said sincerely, giving him her sweetest smile. Then, she leaned forward and kissed him with slow thoroughness. When she straightened at last, the look of sweet, lambent sexuality in her eyes was enough to encourage Sonny to endure his frustration and take heart that his perseverance and patience would eventually win him his heart’s desire.
“Good night, Lissa,” he said, his voice husky and strained. “I’ll see you Friday.”
As Elizabeth watched him leave, she was aware that her feelings for him were escalating so quickly, she was one step away from being hopelessly in love with him.
Though Elizabeth wasn’t surprised to find herself missing Sonny the next evening, she muffled it by giving free rein to her curiosity about how things had gone with the Foursome, and by the time Danny and Darla and Jay arrived home, just in time for dinner, she was about to burst.
She looked for signs as she hugged each of them in turn, and was much relieved when she saw that Danny didn’t seem to be out of temper, and Darla didn’t appear to be upset.
“Well,” she demanded when their coats were put away and they sat down in the living room to relax for a few minutes before they ate. “How did it go?”
“It went all right,” Danny admitted with only a trace of grudging- ness in his voice. “No one knew the difference apparently.”
Elizabeth was relieved, but she was also put out with Danny because he was being so grudging about the whole matter. She could tell from the look on Darla’s face that she wasn’t all that pleased with Danny either.
Jay, stretched out on the sofa, grinned to himself, but Elizabeth caught his look and put him on the spot.
“Jay, what do you think?” she asked pleasantly. “Did the audiences react to Darla all right?”
“She did fine as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “What’s for dinner?”
“Yankee pot roast,” Elizabeth said, her tone relieved. But she turned away from Jay and addressed Darla next. “Did you feel comfortable, Darla?” she asked solicitously. “No jitters?”
Darla shrugged and winked at Elizabeth. “No jitters,” she said calmly, “and I think I did better than all right. I got a standing ovation after singing Danny’s new song, so I must have done something right.”
“It’s a good song,” Danny put in, getting to his feet. “Let’s eat.”
Disgusted with Danny’s refusal to give Darla any credit at all, Elizabeth scowled at him. But she knew her brother well enough that she didn’t waste her breath taking him to task, which wouldn’t have done the least good and would only have put him in a foul mood.
“All right, let’s eat,” she agreed, getting to her feet.
After dinner, Danny went upstairs to his room to work on a new song, and Jay left for a karate lesson. Elizabeth and Darla sat in the library chatting, and after Elizabeth had heard all about the concert, she noticed that Darla was looking at her in a curious way.
“Is something bothering you?” Darla asked.
Elizabeth hesitated, but she felt so comfortable with Darla, she finally decided to confide in her. It would be nice to talk to somebody about Sonny.
Slowly, guiltily she explained about Sonny, and when she was done, Darla was staring at her in amazement.
“Why would you want someone who’s such a snob?” she asked bluntly. “Surely, you’re not ashamed of Danny or your own musical talent either, for that matter. One doesn’t create the kind of sensation you did unless there’s solid talent behind all the makeup and costumes.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “No, I’m not in the least ashamed of Danny, Darla. And though I don’t want to make a career of music, I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t appreciate the kind of response I got as the Vixen, and I’m not ashamed of what I did. But you have to understand the medical community, Darla. Some of its members are very staid and traditional, and still accept women doctors grudgingly. They surely wouldn’t believe how serious I am about medicine if they knew I’d been the Vixen.”
“But from what you’ve said, Sonny admires you for wanting to become a doctor,” Darla objected.
Elizabeth nodded. “You’d have to have been there to see how he reacted to the Vixen, though,” she said gloomily.
Darla snorted. “He couldn’t have reacted too badly if he came backstage and kissed you,” she pointed out with dry sarcasm.
Elizabeth frowned, thinking about the way Sonny had behaved that night. “I still don’t know why he did come backstage,” she said thoughtfully. “And I kissed him, Darla ... at least, I started the kiss.”
“And he finished it.” Darla nodded.
“Yes, he did . . . Elizabeth said slowly, “but he did it in such a curious way. It was like he didn’t want to, but he couldn’t help himself. But I guess that’s not surprising after what I’d just told him,” he grimaced. “He thought I was a tramp.”
Darla looked annoyed.
Elizabeth smiled ruefully. “Darla, you have to admit that not many respectable men would react favorably to a woman who’d just told them she was going to sleep with a man to pay him for giving her a job!”
Darla shrugged. “I suppose not,” she said grudgingly, “but you said he didn’t like the Vixen from the beginning. Do you think it’s because his daughter is so infatuated with the Foursome, and especially the Vixen?”
“I honestly don’t know if that’s all of it or only part of it.” Elizabeth sighed. “I wish I did.”
Darla gazed at her sympathetically. “Well, I’m not much good at handing out advice,” she said gently, “but I think the smartest thing for you to do is to find out. You’re going to have to tell him someday, Lissa. Don’t you think you’d better do it before the two of you get in over your heads? Both of you can get badly hurt if you wait too long.”
Elizabeth knew Darla’s advice was sound, but she was afraid to take it just yet.
“Well, I’m pretty tired,” Darla said lightly as she reached over and patted Elizabeth’s hand. “So if you don’t mind, I think I’ll go upstairs and go to bed.”
Elizabeth nodded absently, and it was only when Darla had reached the door that she remembered to ask about her friend’s mother.
“Darla, did your mother go to that physician I recommended?” she asked.
Darla turned, her expression serious. “Yes, she did,” she said gravely. “And he recommended she have the operation. But Mom’s still dithering about making a decision.”
Elizabeth was surprised, but she didn’t show it. “Well, it isn’t a life- threatening matter,” she said soothingly, “so it won’t hurt her to think about it for a while. Just give her some time.”
Darla nodded, said good night, and went upstairs to bed.
Elizabeth sat on, wrestling with her own problems. She knew what she needed to do. It was only a question of when to do it.
Chapter Twelve
After the Foursome left Friday, Elizabeth was looking forward to her evening with Sonny, and she was extremely disappointed when he called and canceled.
“Maggie’s coming down with something. She has a temperature of 102 degrees right now, so I think I’d better stick around and keep an eye on her until I know what she’s got.”
“Yes, I think you should,” Elizabeth agreed, trying not to sound as disappointed as she felt.
“I’ve missed you,” Sonny then said, and Elizabeth’s heart lightened.
“I’ve missed you, too, Sonny,” she said with warm sincerity.
Sonny was so pleased by her words and tone that it was almost enough to make up for the jealousy he’d been experiencing over the past three days thinking of her with someone else. It was also enough to make him regret more heartily than ever that he couldn’t see her that evening.
“Lissa,” he said, “if it turns out nothing serious is wrong with Maggie, can I see you tomorrow?”
Elizabeth readily agreed, and then she had a sudden thought. If things between her and Sonny worked out, there was still the problem of Mag
gie’s jealousy of her to be dealt with, and she knew that taking Sonny away from his daughter when she was ill wasn’t going to win her any points with Maggie.
“Sonny,” she said, “why don’t we spend tomorrow with Maggie? She could probably use the company if she can’t go anywhere with her friends.”
Sonny was torn between his desire to be alone with Lissa and his admiration for her consideration for his daughter’s feelings.
“That’s kind of you, Lissa,” he said softly. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
Of course, she would rather have been alone with Sonny, but Elizabeth merely said, “I don’t mind, Sonny.”
“Then I’ll call you in the morning and tell you how she’s doing,” Sonny said, and they rang off.
Elizabeth had had enough of studying for a while, and rather than spend the evening alone missing Sonny, she called Aunt Sarah and invited her and Uncle Ferris over for dinner.
It turned out that Maggie merely liad a cold, so at Sonny’s invitation, Elizabeth drove over there the next morning and the three of them played games and watched television.
To Elizabeth’s relief, Maggie showed no overt hostility toward her. The girl was rather quiet, but Elizabeth attributed that to the fact that Maggie wasn’t feeling well, and began to feel optimistic that things were going to work out all right.
Sonny felt so much the same that by late afternoon, he thought it would be all right to suggest that he and Lissa go out for dinner together and let Maggie have an early night.
Elizabeth happily accepted the invitation, and when Sonny left her and Maggie alone for a moment to take a call, she was totally unprepared for the attack Maggie immediately launched.
With a hostile gleam in her blue eyes, Maggie said scornfully, “You think you’ve got it made, don’t you?”
“What?” Maggie was astonished by the change in Maggie. Before Sonny had left the room, the girl had been smiling. She wasn’t smiling now.
“Don’t play dumb,” Maggie snapped. “I can tell by the way you look at Daddy that you think you’re in love with him. But I don’t believe you are. I think you just want to marry a good-looking doctor who has a nice house and a lot of money!”
Elizabeth stared at Maggie as anger welled inside her. She took a moment to control her temper, and then decided Maggie Strotherton needed a good lesson in being able to take it as well as dish it out.
‘I have some news for you, Maggie,” she said firmly, projecting quiet confidence into her tone. “I can probably buy and sell your father if I want to, my house is as nice as this one if not nicer, and since my father was a doctor, and I’m going to be one myself, I don’t feel the need to marry into the medical community to enhance my social status. In fact, if your Dad and I should get married, it will be because we love one another and for no other reason.”
She got to her feet, holding the girl’s gaze as Maggie stared up at her looking belligerent . . . and worried.
“I’ll tell you something else, Maggie,” Elizabeth went on quietly. “I think you have the potential to become a fine person. But if you don’t learn to stop thinking only of yourself ... if you don’t learn that loving isn’t just a one-way street, all taking and no giving . . . you’ll never amount to anything. I think your father deserves more kindness from you than you’re showing him by trying to get rid of every woman who might give him the sort of love he had with your mother, don’t you?”
Maggie didn’t answer, but Elizabeth hadn’t really expected her to. She merely hoped she’d given the girl some food for thought.
Sonny returned then and said regretfully, “I’m sorry, Lissa, but I’ve got to go to the hospital for a while. Dinner will have to wait.”
“That’s all right, Sonny,” Elizabeth immediately said. “I’ll go home and wait. Maggie looks like she’s getting sleepy.”
She stood aside as Sonny bent to kiss Maggie’s forehead.
“You go upstairs and get some rest, honey,” he told his daughter, “and if you need anything, just call down to Mrs. Mullins on the intercom.”
“I will, Daddy,” Maggie said a little more soberly than was her wont. “But I think I’m sleepy now.”
“Good. That’s the best thing for you.”
Maggie trudged upstairs, and Sonny walked Elizabeth to the door. Putting his arms around her, he kissed her thoroughly. When he raised his head, his eyes were glowing with humor and desire.
“I was beginning to think I was suffering withdrawal symptoms,” he teased softly. “That’s the first kiss I’ve had from you in over three days.”
“But it was all the better for the wait,” Elizabeth teased back, tightening her arms around his neck to hold him close.
Sonny kissed her again . . . and then again . . . and by the time he raised his head, his breathing was unsteady, as was Elizabeth’s.
“I’ve got to go,” he said, “but I’ll be damned if I want to. I’d much rather be with you than listening to Mrs. Hadley complain to me that she thinks her surgeon left something that isn’t supposed to be there in her abdomen.”
Elizabeth burst out laughing. “You don’t think she’s right, do you?” she chortled.
“Of course not,” Sonny said, grinning. “Mrs. Hadley would complain if God Himself had done her surgery.”
After he’d helped her on with her coat, he held the lapels and drew her close to him. “I’ll be by to get you when I’m through at the hospital,” he said huskily. “Be ready for me.”
Elizabeth swallowed, nodded and raised her mouth for another kiss, which Sonny made a slow, tantalizing one that left them both breathless again. Then Sonny put his own coat on and they walked out to their separate cars together, hand in hand.
As Sonny drove to the hospital, he was smiling and whistling. At that moment, he’d have been willing to bet his practice that before another six months had gone by, Lissa Farrell would be changing her name to Strotherton.
Elizabeth drove home thinking about Maggie. She had no doubt that she could become fond of the girl, but she also had no doubt that Maggie was the type of child who would push adults just as far as they would let her. Still, it might help smooth things over with Maggie when the girl learned that her heroine, the Vixen, and Lissa Farrell were one and the same . . . that is, if Sonny allowed the relationship to continue once he found out the same thing.
Elizabeth dressed in a feminine pale-pink and gray silk dress and when Sonny arrived to pick her up, his eyes swept over her caressingly and he gave a low whistle of appreciation.
“My beautiful Lissa,” he said as he pulled her into his arms and ran his hands over her back. Then he sobered and held her gaze steadily. “You will be mine one day, Lissa. I’m convinced of it.”
Elizabeth’s expression was as sober as his. “Only time will tell, Sonny,” she said huskily, “but I’m beginning to hope you’re right.”
Sonny studied her face, glad of her response, but made uneasy by the slight note of doubt in her tone. But he didn’t want to deal with doubt right then. He wanted to savor being with Lissa to the exclusion of all else.
“Come on,” he said, smiling. “Let’s go eat before I sweep you off your feet, carry you upstairs, and ravish you unmercifully.”
The thought was so appealing to Elizabeth that she had to look away in order not to give Sonny a silent invitation to carry out his threat.
By the time they’d had a leisurely meal and a bottle of wine, and had returned home, Sonny was in such a dangerously erotic mood, he was afraid to trust himself to be alone with Lissa.
Elizabeth, however, couldn’t bear for him to rush off and she drew him to her father’s study, got him a snifter of brandy, then sat down beside him on the leather couch to sip her own.
“Your father had an impressive medical library,” Sonny said, gesturing at the book-lined walls. “How much of it have you read?”
“Quite a bit.” Elizabeth smiled, reaching out to stroke the back of Sonny’s neck with her fingers. The wine had put her i
n a reckless, amorous mood, and though she knew she was playing with fire, she couldn’t resist touching Sonny.
He reached up and caught her hand, bringing it to his mouth to kiss her palm.
Elizabeth felt her body warming up, and the expression in her eyes was slumberous as Sonny looked up at her.
He found her expression too tempting to resist. Setting his brandy aside, he reached for hers and set it aside as well.
“Come here, Lissa,” he said, his voice low and slightly rough. “My patience is about at an end.”
As much as Elizabeth wanted to go to him, his last words made her hesitate.
Sonny made up his mind then and there that if it took every speck of willpower he had, he would create a need in Lissa that she couldn’t easily dismiss. But at the same time, he had no intention of seducing her completely until he knew she could come to him without a single reservation, for fear he might lose her completely if he was too precipitate.
“Lissa, I haven’t forgotten my promise,” he said with soft firmness. “Come here.”
Searching his face, Elizabeth believed that he hadn’t forgotten, and she leaned closer, whereupon Sonny lifted her smoothly and turned her until she was lying in his lap.
“Now,” he said, his voice low and purposeful, his eyes alight with a blue flame. “Let’s see if I remember how to go to the brink and then get up and walk away before burning up completely.”
Elizabeth felt a thrill of pleasure, spiced with a hint of fear because of the purposefulness in Sonny’s expression. But she was beginning to trust him enough to dismiss the fear, and in any case, once Sonny’s mouth opened over hers and his arms tightened around her, she wasn’t capable of feeling anything but complete involvement in the pleasure he gave her.
Sonny kissed Lissa again and again, on her mouth, her eyelids, her cheeks, her long, lovely throat, and it was the hardest thing he’d ever done to keep remembering that his intention was to give her as much intense pleasure as she could stand while containing his own to manageable limits.