Mistress of Magic

by Heather Graham

  He could speak for himself, she thought. During the immediate moments when he brought her out of the shop, he wouldn’t have seen a damn thing.

  She stared furiously at Wes. “What is the matter with both of you? I’m telling you, there was someone in there with me. How can you doubt me? Max, did you really look? Or did you just assume I was having some hysterical fit of exhaustion?” she asked angrily.

  “Reggie, I know the shop. I looked,” he returned. “But we can call security and have them go through the place, too.”

  “I imagine it would be too late now,” Wes said. “If someone was there—”

  “Someone was there!” Reggie insisted. “Maybe whoever it was is gone now, but I didn’t imagine it.”

  Wes stared at her. His arms were still crossed over his chest, his face hard. There was no humor to the curl of his lip. “Are you sure, Reggie? The lights didn’t just go out and frighten you?”

  “I was tangled in a cloak—”

  “You might have done that yourself.”

  “Yes, I might have. But I didn’t. And if you don’t want to believe me—”

  “I do believe you,” he told her. Despite everything, she felt her heart skip a little beat.

  “What was this thing saying to you?” Wes asked her.

  She swallowed hard, then stared at her brother. “It was saying that you were a murderer. And that—”

  Max’s eyes narrowed sharply. “And what else?”

  “And that I was going to die.”

  Max stared at her. Something veiled seemed to fall over her brother’s eyes.

  “Don’t you dare look at me like that!” she charged him. “None of this is my imagination! And I have never lost faith in you! How can you lose it in me so easily?”

  “Hey!” Wes interrupted quietly, “let’s slow down here, huh? If someone is out to destroy the park, the best way to do it would be to put the two of you at odds, right?”

  Reggie exhaled slowly. She saw Max blink, and that defensive barrier of his was gone. “All right. Let’s slow down and start over. Max, Wes, I’m neither hysterically tired nor just plain crazy. When I went into the costume shop after the show, I didn’t pay any attention to the love seat. I called Diana to see about my house. Then, when I hung up, I realized that it wasn’t the same robotronic sitting there. Then I realized that it wasn’t a robotronic at all. Max, Wes, damn you both! Someone came in there purposely to goad me or to really hurt me—I’m not sure which! And that same someone figured out some way to disappear!”

  “I’ll take a walk through,” Wes said lightly. “It has to be too late to catch anyone up to tricks, but maybe there will be something in there to find.”

  He walked through the main door and disappeared. Max clasped Reggie’s hand lightly. “Sorry,” he said softly. His lashes were low over his cheeks. “Damn it, Reggie, don’t you see? I want you to be hysterical. I’m getting scared to death that you are going to get hurt for some sort of transgression on my part!”

  “I’m—I’m not going to get hurt,” Reggie said quickly. “I’m all right, really.” But she hadn’t been, she thought. She had been terrified.

  That’s because she hadn’t been ready for what had happened. But no one would be able to play such a trick on her again. She would never think, in her wildest imagination, that an oversize, electronic mannequin could come to life—even for a fraction of a second!

  Next time she’d get hold of the human-in-costume—and she’d do so quickly!

  Max started to say something, but Wes was on his way to them. He had something in his hands.

  A pair of gloves. Long dark gloves.

  He handed them to Reggie. “These were stuffed into a small compartment in the rear. One was dangling.” He looked at Max. “And there is another way out of the shop.”

  Max frowned.

  “The fire exit,” Wes said.

  “But the alarm would have sounded.”

  “Not when the alarm was turned off,” Wes said.

  “Turned off!” Max exclaimed. He looked at Reggie.

  “I didn’t do it!” She let out a soft expletive. “I swear to you both, someone was in there.”

  “Well, then, maybe we need to call Wiler again,” Max said wearily, rubbing his temple between his thumb and forefinger.

  “There’s nothing we can do here,” Wes said, his hands on his hips. He shook his head. “They can dust for prints, but they’ll come up with dozens of them. We’ll call Wiler. But let’s get out of here first.”

  “Let’s.” For the first time in her life, Reggie really wanted to leave the park.

  She almost hated dinosaurs.

  No! she told herself. She couldn’t stop loving the dinosaurs because they had come first. They had started the dream. The park, the buildings, the food concessions, the rides, the shows, they had all come after.

  The dinosaurs had created the magic.

  And she refused to lose it.

  Reggie sluiced cleanly through the water, swimming hard and with an energy that was startling after the length of her day.

  But the water felt good. It was deliciously cool. And when she slowed at last, floating on her back and barely paddling to keep that way, she stared at the moon high above then closed her eyes for a moment appreciating the sensations of the water. She closed her eyes again.

  It was beautiful out here. It was the kind of balmy night that was just perfect. There was the slightest breeze, but not enough to make the air cold. The moon was vivid against the velvet darkness of the sky. It was a full moon. Vibrantly full.

  The kind of full moon beneath which movie vampires stalked their prey. Mmm, yes. The kind of full moon that turned gentle men like Lon Chaney, Jr., into furious and furry werewolves.

  The kind of moon …

  That turned robotronics into living creatures?

  She felt water move by her, then she shivered, startled by the ripple of pleasure that streaked through her as masculine hands touched her, moving over the bare flesh at her midriff. She opened her eyes, not at all alarmed despite the recent ghoulish twist in her thoughts.

  Wes was beside her.

  She straightened, treading water, meeting his gaze. It was not easy being here like this, even though the night was going very nicely. They’d all talked little on the drive out to her house. But once they’d arrived, Diana had somehow managed to break the tension that had been forming, demanding to know what had happened. Reggie had been extremely grateful for her instant faith. They’d called Wiler, who had said he’d be in to see her in the morning. When Reggie had talked briefly with Wiler, she had been surprised to discover that Wes had spent the majority of the day at the police station. But with everyone’s concentration being on her and what had happened in the costume shop, she’d had no chance to question Wes. And when she had gotten off the phone, Diana had assured them that she had the food well under control, that the three of them should take a swim, the water was beautiful. And Reggie, wanting nothing to do with her brother or Wes at the moment, had begun to swim laps, and the laps had slowly taken the tension from her.

  And now, looking at Wes, she found herself appreciating some very basic things about him. She loved the bronzed coloring of his shoulders. She loved the way he was built, strong, lean and taut, with muscles that rippled subtly rather than bulged, long, strong thighs and lean hips, an altogether very attractive package. Now, his fingers moving lightly against her midriff, left bare by what she had once thought to be a fairly decent bikini, she could almost forget that they weren’t alone, that her brother—elder by those five minutes—was watching her with concerned interest.

  She met Wes’s gaze, the gold of his eyes enhanced by the reflection of the water. Then, despite herself, she found herself glancing toward the barbecue and her brother and Diana. It was a mistake. She caught the mocking curl of Wes’s lip. “I was sent,” he told her. “The food is just about ready.”

  “Oh,” she murmured awkwardly.

  “I don�
��t play games, Reggie,” he warned her.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I think you do.”

  She shrugged. “Whatever—”

  “With Max. With me. You can’t keep pretending that nothing has happened.”

  “For your information, Mr. Blake, Max warned me to be careful with you.”

  He smiled suddenly. “And for your information, Miss Delaney, Max warned me about you, too.”

  “Oh!” she exclaimed. Then she frowned. “Why?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Well, he is my brother. He should be defending my honor.”

  “Maybe. Or maybe he was warning me that you liked to use men.”

  “Me!” Reggie flared. Damn! She was blushing again. “I’ve barely gone so far as to have dinner—”

  “Maybe that’s the point,” he said softly. She was startled at the heat in his eyes as they focused pointedly on her. “Tell me something.”

  “What?”

  “Why didn’t you marry him?”

  “What?” she repeated. She had heard him. She just wasn’t ready with an answer. Where had he come up with a question like that?

  “Why didn’t you ever marry Caleb?”

  There was water between them. A foot of it, at least. Gallons of it, maybe. Yet it seemed that she could feel the heat of him. And the strength of him. Something almost overwhelming. Something that nearly choked her. “It’s none of your business!” she rasped out. Pain seemed to come rushing to her. The pain of losing him.

  The pain of what she might have given, what she had held back. Pain she had never meant to inflict.

  Something dark flickered across his hazel gaze as he studied her intently. Something tightened around his mouth and he asked, “Does being Miss Delaney mean that much to you?”

  “What?” She gasped, amazed. Then her temper soared. She was furious that he would believe such a thing of her so simply.

  “Damn it, Reggie, you’re hearing me quite well, I know it.”

  “Oh, yes, I heard you! That the Delaney name was worth more to me than a relationship.”

  “It is a well-known name,” he said. He didn’t back down, she thought. Ever.

  “You’ve no right to accuse me—”

  “I’m not accusing. I’m asking.”

  “Like I said before, it’s none of your business. Think what you want!”

  She turned, and with a powerful stroke started to swim away. He caught her arm, pulling her against him in the water. For a moment, their physical contact was so acute that she could scarcely breathe. But the tension in his grip, the anger in his eyes, made her fight for a defensive stance with him, and she steeled herself against him.

  “It is my business,” he stated flatly.

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m sleeping with you now. I want to know.”

  Tears were suddenly stinging her eyes. “Well, I don’t want to tell you.”

  “Reggie—”

  “Maybe he never asked me.”

  “But he did. Max told me that he did.”

  “Well, then, go back and ask Max whatever else you want to know, too!”

  “Damn you, Reggie, you’re the one I’m sleeping with!”

  “Well, you don’t have to continue to do so.”

  His fingers curled around her arm so tightly that she nearly cried out. She could feel the tremendous power of his legs as he treaded water, keeping them both afloat. For a moment she nearly cowered. Just how well did she know him? He was so angry he might have lashed out and struck her.

  No, she thought. She knew him well enough. He would never strike her.

  He pulled her close. There was no distance at all between them in the water. She felt the powerful thrust of his legs. Felt the heat of his flesh brushing hers. She thought perhaps he was going to wind his arms around her. Lock her into an endless, passionate embrace that would bring them both sinking to the bottom, heedless of whether they could breathe or not. And she’d have no choice but to say something to Max because Wes would be halfway making love to her right there.

  She trembled, her lips parting, for his were moving closer and closer to hers. Longing and desire flashed through her, and she was amazed at the wanton heat that filled her when other people—her brother among them!—were so close.

  But he wasn’t going to kiss her. Not at the moment. She could feel both of them, as if they would combust. And she could feel his anger, fierce, dark, compelling.

  But then he thrust her away from him.

  “Fine, Miss Delaney,” he said softly. “I don’t force any woman,” he added bluntly.

  Then suddenly she was adrift and on her own.

  She started to sink beneath the water. She quickly kicked against it and swam to the steps that would take her to dry land.

  She was shaking. Shaking so badly that she wasn’t sure she could climb the steps.

  “Reggie! Come on!” Diana urged.

  She found the step. Suddenly she realized that Wes was back, offering a hand to her. Her cheeks were flaming. She hated him at that moment.

  He was asking too much of her. Far too much. And she really didn’t know what he was offering in return.

  “Give me your hand. You don’t seem to be able to make it out.”

  “I can make it out,” she assured him. quickly. “I can make it without you in any way.”

  “Give me your hand!”

  She told him in explicit terms just what he could do with himself.

  He arched a brow, then took her by the wrist, whether she had planned to offer her hand to him or not. And when he had lifted her from the water he drew her close once again, his words offered for her ears alone. “Maybe I touched a nerve. A real nerve. If so, I’m sorry. But if you do want me to sleep with you again, Miss Delaney, you had best ask. And nicely.”

  “What nerve—” she began furiously, shaking again, and wishing that the searing stare from his hazel eyes wasn’t making her feel hot inside despite the force of the breeze.

  She didn’t get any further.

  “Towel, Reggie!” Max called. He threw her a huge bath towel. Wes caught it. And wrapped it around her.

  It was one they sold at the park. There was a huge, friendly-looking Dierdre Dinosaur on the towel.

  I can’t escape! she thought desperately. There were dinosaurs everywhere in her life.

  Hadn’t she made it that way herself? she wondered. Wes was staring at her still. His lip curled into a taunting grin, as if he was reading her mind.

  Yes, her life had been dinosaurs.

  But she had needed the dinosaurs!

  And now …

  Despite her harsh words, she was afraid she was beginning to need something else. Someone else.

  Wes.

  Chapter 10

  She would have spoken then, but he wrapped the towel around her, then walked away. She paused for a moment, breathing deeply.

  She walked around from the ladder to the barbecue and picnic table, which were elevated on a brick dais at the left side of the pool. Farther back, there was a screened-in free-standing patio. She’d had it made to avoid the bugs that sometimes came heavily in the summer. She hadn’t wanted the pool screened in, though, even if it did make the maintenance a little tougher and even if there were bugs in summer. She had always loved to be in the water, looking up at the sky.

  And tonight, they hadn’t attracted more than a daring fly or two. By the time Reggie walked to the picnic table, Diana had seen to it that all the food was arranged and covered. She’d done a nice job with dinner. There were ribs and chicken, her special baked beans, corn on the cob and a sweet and sour salad. She and Max had eschewed the table to take seats on one of the lounges. Max, with a chicken leg in his fingers, was sitting at the rear of it, and Diana was comfortably leaned against him. Diana popped a cucumber into his mouth, asking if he liked the dressing.

  It was nice. It seemed especially domestic, and close, something warm b
etween them. Reggie felt a peculiar fire streak through her, and she was aware, even before she glanced at him, that Wes was watching her, and watching her reaction to the other couple. Just what the hell does Wes want out of me? she wondered irritably.

  He hadn’t made his plate of food yet—he was waiting for her to do so. But maybe she was moving too slowly. He stepped beside her, piled his plate high, praising Diana for the meal, then took a seat on another of the pool chairs.

  “Want a beer, Wes?” Max asked.

  “Yeah, thanks.”

  “Reggie, they’re in the cooler there,” Diana said. “Grab one for Wes, will you?”

  She gritted her teeth. It was her house. Mmm. And she should be hospitable. Especially because Max and Diana would leave. And then she would be left alone with Wes.

  Wes, whom she had angered. And then she had told him he could go …

  And she really didn’t want him to walk away on her. To leave her.

  He wouldn’t leave her. He had some kind of code of honor that wouldn’t let him do that. He was a cavalier, she reminded herself.

  But she didn’t want him to just stay. She wanted him to hold her again.

  To sleep with her, to make love to her.

  She just didn’t want him to ask questions. And she hated it that he seemed to think the worst of her with no questions asked.

  Silently, she handed him a beer. Their fingers brushed. Warmth came sweeping through her. She wanted to sit in front of him, the way Diana was sitting in front of Max. She felt his gaze.

  She couldn’t meet his eyes.

  She decided to have a beer herself. She popped the top and took a seat at the picnic table, her Dierdre Dinosaur towel wrapped around her waist.

  “Tell me what happened again, Reggie,” Diana said suddenly, staring thoughtfully at her ear of corn.

  Reggie sighed. She’d explained it so many times. “The robotronic on the love seat wasn’t a robotronic at all. I hung up from talking to you and the figure jumped up and pointed at me and told me that Max was a murderer and that I was going to die.”

  “And last night, there was someone in your house,” Diana added.

  “It’s as if someone was out to get Regina instead of Max,” Wes said.

  “Maybe you should go somewhere safe,” Max said suddenly. “Maybe somebody is out to hurt you.”