Texas Proud and Circle of Gold

by Diana Palmer

  “You harp on my age,” he murmured coolly, but he was still looking at her soft, swollen mouth. “You shouldn’t tell Pauline things you don’t want me to hear. She can’t keep a secret.”

  “I wouldn’t tell her my middle name,” she muttered. “She hates me, haven’t you noticed?”

  “No, I hadn’t.”

  “It would never have been my idea to send the girls to boarding school,” she insisted. “I love them.”

  His eyebrows lifted. Kasie didn’t appear to be lying. But Pauline had been so convincing. And Kasie was mysterious. He wanted to know why she was so secretive about her past. He wanted to know everything about her. Her mouth was sweet and soft and innocent, and he had to fight not to bend and take it again. She was nervous with him now, as she hadn’t been before. That meant that the attraction was mutual. It made him feel a foot taller.

  “Pauline wants to go down to Nassau for a few days with the girls. I want you to come with us,” he said abruptly.

  She gaped at him. “She won’t want me along,” she said with conviction.

  “She will when she has to start looking out for Bess and Jenny. Her idea of watching them is to let them do what they please. That could be disastrous even around a swimming pool.”

  She grimaced. It would be a horrible trip. “We’d have to fly,” she said, hating the very thought of getting on an airplane. She’d lost everyone she’d ever loved in the air, and he didn’t know.

  “The girls like you,” he persisted gently.

  “I’d really rather not,” she said worriedly.

  “Then I’ll make it an order,” he said shortly. “You’re coming. Have you got a current passport?”

  “Yes,” she said without thinking.

  He was surprised. “I was going to say that if you didn’t have one, a birth certificate or even a voter’s registration slip would be adequate.” He was suspicious. “Why do you keep a passport?”

  “In case I get kidnapped by terrorists,” she said, tongue in cheek, trying to put aside the fear of the upcoming trip.

  He rolled his eyes, let her go and walked to the door. “We’ll go Friday,” he said. “Don’t take much with you,” he added. “We’ll fly commercial and I don’t like baggage claim.”

  “Okay.”

  “And stop letting me kiss you,” he added with faint arrogance. “I’ve already made it clear that there’s no future in it. I won’t marry again, not even to provide the girls with a grown-up playmate.”

  “I do know that,” she said, wounded by the words. “But I’m not the one doing the grabbing,” she pointed out.

  He gave her an odd look before he left.

  She could have told him that she didn’t have much to take anywhere, and she almost blurted out why she was afraid of airplanes. But he was already out the door. She touched her mouth. She tasted scotch whiskey on her lips and she was amazed that she hadn’t noticed while he was kissing her. Why had he kissed her again? she wondered dazedly. The other question was why had she kissed him back? Her head was reeling with the sudden shift in their relationship since the night before. Kissing seemed to be addictive. Perhaps she should cut her losses and quit right away. But that thought was very unpleasant indeed. She decided that meeting trouble head-on was so much better than running from it. She had to conquer her fear and try to put the past behind her once and for all. Yes, she would go to Nassau with him and the girls—and Pauline. It might very well put things into perspective if she saw Pauline and Gil as a family, while there was still time to stop her rebellious heart from falling in love.

  * * *

  Kasie’s seat was separated from Gil’s, Pauline’s and the girls’ by ten rows. Gil didn’t appear pleased and he tried to change seat assignments, but it wasn’t possible. Kasie was rather relieved. She was uncomfortable with Gil since he’d kissed her so passionately.

  Pauline was furious that Kasie had been included in the trip. She was doing everything in her power to get Kasie out of Gil’s life, but nothing was going the way she planned. She’d envisioned just the four of them in the exquisite islands, where she could convince Gil that they should get married. He agreed to her suggestion about the trip more easily than she’d hoped, and then he said Kasie would have to come along to take care of the girls. He didn’t even mention boarding school, as if he didn’t believe Kasie had suggested it. Pauline was losing ground with him by the day. She could cheerfully have pushed Kasie out of the terminal window. Well, she was going to get rid of Miss Prim over there, whatever it took. One way or another, she was going to get Kasie out of Gil’s house!

  They boarded the plane, and Kasie smiled with false bravado as she passed the girls with a wave and found her window seat. There was only one seat next to hers. She was watching the people file in while she fought her own fear. Seconds later, a tall blond man wearing khakis swung into the seat beside hers and gave her an appreciative smile.

  “And I thought this was going to be a boring flight,” he chuckled as he stuffed his one carry-on bag under the seat in front of him and fastened his seat belt. “I’m Zeke Mulligan,” he introduced himself with a smile. “I write freelance travel articles for magazines.”

  “I’m Kasie Mayfield,” she replied, offering her small hand with a wan smile. “I’m a governess to two sweet little girls.”

  “Where are the sweet little girls?” he asked with a grin.

  “Ten rows that way,” she pointed. “With their dad and his venomous secretary.”

  “Ouch, the jealousy monster strikes, hmm?” he asked. “Does she see you as competition?”

  “That would be one for the books,” she chuckled. “She’s blond and beautiful.”

  “What are you, chestnut-haired and repulsive?” he chided. “Looks aren’t everything, fellow adventurer.”

  “Adventuress,” she corrected. She glanced out the window and noticed the movement of the motorized carts away from the plane. It was going to take off soon. Sure enough, she heard the rev of the engines and saw the flight attendants take up their positions to demonstrate the life vests even as the plane started to taxi out of its concourse space. “Oh, gosh,” she groaned, tightening her hands on the arms of her seat.

  “Afraid of flying?” he asked gently.

  “I lost my family in a plane crash,” she said in a rough whisper. “This is the first time I’ve flown, since I lost them. I don’t know if I can...!”

  She’d started to pull at her seat belt. He caught her hand and stilled it. “Listen to me,” he said gently, “air travel is the safest kind. I’ve been knocking around on airplanes for ten years, I’ve been around the world three times. It’s all right,” he stressed, his voice low and deep and comforting. His fingers contracted around hers. “You just hold on to me. I’ll get you through takeoff and landing. Once you’ve conquered the fear, you’ll be fine.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked on a choked laugh.

  “I walked away from a crash once,” he told her quietly. “A week later I had to get on a plane for Paris. Yes,” he added. “I’m sure. If I could do it, I know you can.”

  Her lips parted as she let out the breath she’d been holding. He was nice. He was very nice. He made her feel utterly safe. She clung to his hand as the airplane taxied to the runway and the pilot announced that they were next in line to take off.

  “Here we go,” her seat companion said in her ear. “Think of Star Trek when the ship goes into light speed,” he added on a chuckle. “Think of it as being flung up into the stars. It’s exciting. It’s great!”

  She held on tighter as the plane taxied onto the runway, revved up its engines and began to pick up speed.

  “We can even sing the Air Force song as we go,” he said. “I spent four years in it, so I can coach you if you can’t remember the words. Come on, Kasie. Sing!”

  Kasie started to hum the words of the well-known so
ng.

  The passengers around them noticed Kasie’s terror and her companion’s protective attitude, and suddenly they all started singing the Air Force song. It diverted Kasie with uproarious laughter as the big airplane shot up into the blue sky, leaving her stomach and her fears far behind.

  “I’m very grateful,” she told him when they were comfortably leveled off and the flight attendants were getting the refreshment cart ready to take down the aisle. “You can’t imagine how terrified I was to get on this plane.”

  “Yes, I can. I’m glad I was here. Where are you staying in Nassau?” he added.

  She laughed. “I’m sorry. I don’t know! I didn’t realize that until just now. My boss will have all the details in hand, and a driver to meet us when we land. I didn’t ask.”

  “New Providence is a small island,” he told her. “We’ll see each other again. I’m at the Crystal Palace on Cable Beach. You can phone me if you get a few free minutes and we’ll have lunch.”

  “Do you go overseas to do stories?” she asked.

  He nodded. “All over the world. It’s a great job, and I actually get paid to do it.” He leaned close to her ear. “And once, I worked for the CIA.”

  “You didn’t!” she exclaimed, impressed.

  “Just for a year, while I was in South America,” he assured her. “I might have kept it up, but I was married then and she didn’t want me taking chances, especially while she was carrying our son.”

  “She doesn’t travel with you?” she asked curiously.

  “She died, of a particularly virulent tropical fever,” he said with a sad smile. “My son is six, and I leave him with my parents when I have to go away during his school year. During the summer, he goes places with me. He loves it, too.”

  He pulled out his wallet and showed her several photographs of a child who was his mirror image. “His name’s Daniel, but I call him Dano.”

  “He really is cute.”

  “Thanks.”

  The flight attendant was two rows away, with snack meals and drinks. Kasie settled down to lunch with no more reservations. She’d landed on her feet. She wondered what Gil would think if he saw her with this nice young man. Nothing, probably, she thought bitterly, not when he was so wrapped up in Pauline. Well, she wasn’t going to let that spoil her trip.

  * * *

  Nassau was unexpected. Kasie fell in love with it on first sight. She’d seen postcards of the Bahamas, and she’d always assumed that the vivid turquoise and sapphire color of the waters was exaggerated. But it wasn’t. Those vivid, surreal colors were exactly what the water looked like, and the beaches were as white as sugar. She stared out the window of the hired car with her breath catching in her chest. She’d gone overseas with her parents as a child, but to distant and primitive places. She remembered the terror of those places far better than she remembered the scenery, even at so young an age. Even now, it was hard to think about how she’d lost the parents who’d loved her and Kantor so much. It was harder to think of Kantor...

  “Do stop pressing your nose against the glass, Kasie. You look about Jenny’s age!” Pauline chided from her seat beside Gil.

  “That’s funny,” Bess said with a giggle, not understanding the words were meant to hurt.

  “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful,” Kasie murmured a little shyly. “It really does look like paradise.”

  Pauline yawned. Gil ignored her and watched Kasie a little irritably as she and the girls enthused over the beach.

  “When can we go swimming in the ocean, Daddy?” Bess asked excitedly.

  “We have to check into the hotel first, baby,” Gil told her. “And even then, the beach is dangerous. Kasie doesn’t swim.”

  “Oh, we can take them with us,” Pauline said lazily. “I’ll watch them.”

  It occurred to Gil that he never trusted Pauline with his children. She wasn’t malicious, she just didn’t pay attention to what they were doing. She’d be involved in putting on sunscreen and lying in the sun, not watching children who could become reckless. Bess was especially good at getting into trouble.

  “That’s Kasie’s job,” Gil said, and put a long arm around Pauline just to see the reaction it got from Kasie. It was a constant source of anger that he couldn’t keep his hands off Kasie when he was within five feet of her, and he still didn’t trust her.

  Kasie averted her eyes. Odd, how much it hurt to see Pauline snuggle close to Gil as if she were part of him. Remembering the hungry, masterful way he’d kissed her in the study, Kasie flushed. She knew things about Gil Callister that she shouldn’t know. He made her hungry. But he was showing her that he didn’t feel the same way. It was painfully obvious what his relationship was with Pauline. Even though she’d guessed, it hurt to have it pointed out to her like this.

  She knew then that she was going to have to resign her job when they got back to the States. If he married Pauline, there was no way she could live under the same roof with them.

  Gil saw the reaction that Kasie was too young to hide, and it touched him. She felt something. She was jealous. He could have cheered out loud. It didn’t occur to him then why he was so happy that Kasie was attracted to him.

  “Who was the man you were talking to on the concourse, Kasie?” Gil asked unexpectedly.

  “His name was Zeke,” she replied with a smile. “He had the seat next to mine.”

  “I noticed him. He’s good-looking,” Pauline said. “What does he do?”

  “He’s a freelance writer for several travel magazines,” Kasie told her. “He’s down here doing a story on a new hotel complex.”

  Gil didn’t look pleased. “Apparently you made friends quickly.”

  “Well, yes,” she confessed. “I was a little nervous about flying. He talked to me while we got airborne.” She grinned. “Didn’t you hear us all singing the Air Force song?”

  “So that’s what it was,” Pauline scoffed. “Good Lord, I thought the plane was full of drunks.”

  “Why were you afraid of flying?” Gil persisted.

  Kasie averted her eyes to the girls. “My family died in an airplane crash,” she said, without mentioning under what circumstances.

  He shifted uncomfortably and looked at his daughters, who were watching for exciting little glimpses of people playing in the surf on the white beaches as they passed them.

  “I’m all right now,” she said. “The flight wasn’t so bad.”

  “Not with a handsome man to hold your hand,” Pauline teased deliberately.

  “He was handsome,” Kasie agreed, but without enthusiasm, and without noticing that Gil’s eyes were beginning to glint with anger. He leaned back, glaring at Kasie.

  She wondered what she’d done to provoke that anger. It made her uneasy. Pauline obviously didn’t like it, either, and the woman was giving Kasie looks that promised retribution in the near future. Kasie had a feeling that Miss Raines would make a very bad enemy, and deep in her stomach, she felt icy cold.

  Chapter Seven

  It took an hour to get checked into the luxury hotel. The girls played quietly in the marble-floored lobby with a puzzle book Kasie had brought along for them, while Pauline complained loudly and nonstop about the inconvenience of having to wait for a room to be made ready. By the time the clerk motioned them to the desk, Gil was completely out of humor. He hadn’t smiled since they got off the plane, in fact. When they were given keys to a two-bedroom suite and a single adjoining room, Pauline’s expression lightened.

  “Oh, that’s nice of you, darling, letting Miss Mayfield have a room of her own.”

  Gil gave her a look that combined exasperation with impatience. “The girls can’t be alone at night in a strange hotel,” he said curtly. “Kasie’s staying in the room with them, and the other bedroom in the suite is mine. You get the single.”

  “Why can’t I just share with you
, darling?” Pauline purred, enjoying Kasie’s sudden flush.

  Gil looked furious. He glared down at her from his superior height. “Maybe you’ve forgotten that I don’t move with the times,” he said quietly.

  Pauline laughed a little nervously. “You’re kidding. What’s so bad about two...friends sharing a room?”

  “I’m not kidding,” Gil said flatly. He handed Pauline her key and motioned for Kasie and the girls to follow him.

  Pauline stomped into the elevator, fuming. She gave Kasie a ferocious glare before she folded her arms over her chest and leaned back against the wall. The bellboy signaled that he’d wait for the next elevator to bring their luggage up, because six other people had jumped into the elevator right behind Pauline.

  Gil and Pauline led the way down the hall, with Kasie and the girls following suit.

  “At least, you can take me out tonight,” Pauline told Gil, “since Kasie’s along to baby-sit. Come on, darling, please? They have the most beautiful casino over on Paradise Island, and floor shows, too.”

  “All right,” he said. “Let me get the girls and Kasie settled first, and find out about room service. You will want to have supper up here, won’t you?” he asked Kasie stiffly.

  “Of course,” she said, not wanting to make things worse than they were—if that was possible.

  “Good. Kasie can take the girls out to the beach while I check with the concierge about reservations,” he added, watching Pauline’s face beam. “I’ll pick you up at your room at five-thirty.”

  “But that only gives me an hour to dress,” she moaned.

  “You’d look beautiful in a pillowcase, and you know it,” he chided. “Go on.”

  “Okay.” Pauline walked off to her own room without a word to the girls or Kasie.

  Gil opened the door, noting that the bellboy was coming down the hall toward them with the luggage on a rolling carrier. He motioned Kasie and the girls inside.