by Janice Lynn
Was she hurt? Had her wound started bleeding again? Against his better judgment, but unable to risk that she might be ill, he opened the door.
She stood, fully dressed and looking nervous. “I need your help.”
“You’ve already said that.”
She glanced into his suite, her gaze stopping on his bed. No, he wouldn’t be giving her that kind of help. Although hell if his body wasn’t responding to the train of her thoughts.
“I need,” she paused, her gaze returning to his face. “I need you to take me to the lake.”
“What?” That sure hadn’t been what he’d expected her to say.
Her weight shifted back and forth. “I have to go back. Tonight.”
“The hell you say.”
“You don’t understand.” Her shoulders visibly lowered. “I’m afraid.”
“You almost drowned today. I think you’re allowed a little fear, don’t you?”
“It’s not a little. It’s a lot, and I have to go to the lake. If you won’t take me, I’ll find another way. One of the crew, a bachelor, or I’ll go alone. But I have to go. Tonight. Now.”
Rob regarded her, trying to decipher the determined glint to her chin, the desperate look to her eyes. “Why?”
“Because if I don’t go back in that water tonight, I may not ever be able to.”
“You plan to go in the lake? Tonight?” Over his dead body.
“I face my fears, Rob. It’s the only way I can look at myself in the mirror and have any self respect.” She placed her hand over his. “Please take me to the lake.”
Rob called himself every name in the book and then a few more as he drove one of the network’s jeeps out to the lake, Jill at his side.
The last thing he needed was to be alone with her. Or to see her in the lake again.
With him or without him, she was going to the lake.
Did he have a choice but to take her? He’d sit in his room, agonizing over knowing she was at the lake, wondering if she was okay.
So here he was, bumping along a dirt road to a lake he could have lived without ever seeing again.
Jill hadn’t spoken since they’d climbed into the jeep. He glanced her way. Although she couldn’t see much in the dim light, she stared out the window with her hands twisted around the towel in her lap.
He had to admire her spunk. Few men he knew would have returned to the lake so quickly after a brush with death. Of course, there wasn’t much he didn’t admire about Jill. Last night she’d convinced him she was close near to perfect.
A new surge of regret filled him. One he had to deal with, as he’d been a fool to give in to her sweet seduction. But only a monk could have resisted.
“You okay?” he asked when he pulled the jeep to a stop next to the small dock that stretched twenty feet into the water.
“Fine.” She turned to him and offered a tight smile. “I just want to get this over with.”
He could relate. “Let’s go, then.”
They walked toward the dock. Moonlight reflected off the inky blue-black surface of the water, belying the treachery that lay hidden.
Crickets chirped around them and a frog croaked in the distance. A breeze rustled the leaves of the surrounding shrubbery. Unease settled in Rob’s soul.
He watched Jill stare out at the water with mixed emotions. He understood her need, yet he’d be lying if he didn’t admit he feared for her safety. He didn’t want her to go in the water. How would he ever find her in the darkness if she cramped in the water?
Then it hit him. He didn’t want to have to go in the water. Period.
Aw hell.
Without a word, Jill stripped down to the swimsuit she wore beneath her clothes. Her lithe beauty momentarily distracted him from his harsh realization. With the moonlight bathing her skin in its glow, she walked down the length of the dock and dived in without pausing at the edge for a single second.
Rob’s stomach dropped somewhere beneath his feet as he ran to the end of the dock. He skimmed the shadowy water surface.
“Jill?” he called. Dear Lord, why had he let her talk him into this?
Chapter Fourteen
Jill dove into the water and prayed this wasn’t the most foolish thing she’d ever done.
Still, she refused to live in fear of water. Confronting the terror that had gripped her every time she’d closed her eyes while in her suite was the only means she had of conquering her fear.
She sank beneath the dark water seamlessly. Shock as the cool water chilled her skin filled her with panic, causing her to go still.
What had she done?
Then her reflexes automatically kicked in and she kicked her legs, propelling herself through the water and toward the surface. Nice and easy, taking time to assure her mind that all was right.
She broke through the surface and flung her hair back just as a loud splash near the dock caught her attention. Rob?
She searched the shoreline for him, but didn’t see him until his dark head rose above the water about ten feet from her.
“I didn’t know you were coming in.”
“That makes two of us.”
Jill wasn’t sure if she’d swim to him or vice versa, but Rob was now close enough to touch. Close enough that the moonlight reflected from his tawny eyes.
“Thank you.”
Jill stared at him in surprise. “For what?”
“I hadn’t even realized I’d decided the lake was evil until you forced me here.” His shoulders lifted from the water. His bare shoulders.
She glanced at the dock. Was that dark bump his clothes? She couldn’t be sure in the lighting.
“This afternoon was an accident. The water is neutral. Neither good nor bad.” Did she make sense or was she merely babbling? The realization that he’d stripped warmed her insides, made her remember how his strong body had felt tangled with hers. She gulped down the lump forming in her throat.
Water droplets ran down his face and Jill decided she’d been wrong. Water was good. Life-giving good.
“You’re okay?” he asked, and she got the impression he asked so much more than what met the surface. There was tenderness in his eyes that belied everything he’d said earlier in the day.
“I am now.” She bobbed in the water, wondering if he’d kiss her. She wouldn’t ask him to, but she hoped.
“Jill.”
Her chest swelled at the emotions wrapped into her name. Emotions that told her even if he kissed her, even if he made love to her right at this moment, he’d regret it in the morning. She had to let him make the next move.
And he wasn’t ready to make that move. Not tonight. Maybe not ever. And if she were wise, she wouldn’t be longing for him to make love to her again.
With more courage than it had taken her to dive into the lake, she flung her arms forward and showered an unsuspecting Rob with water.
Surprise flickered onto his face, before he grinned. “You’re going to pay for that.”
“Really?” she daunted, kicking her legs back in preparation to make a quick escape. “By who? You?”
He dived toward her, sending a spray of water in her direction. Jill took off, swimming away for all she was worth, determined not to let him catch her, but honest enough to admit that if he did she wouldn’t be heart broken.
She surfaced quite a distance from the shore. No sign of Rob. Where was he hiding? She turned and scanned the calm lake surface, thinking the brilliance of the moonlight reflecting from the water one of the loveliest sights she’d ever seen.
Maybe it was her company that gave the world such a rosy hue.
She leaned back and re-wet her hair to keep it from her face. Something grabbed her foot. Rob. She shrieked and kicked half-heartedly, trying to escape his hold.
He surfaced a foot in front of her.
“You should be ashamed, Rob Lancaster. You scared me.”
“You expecting Nessie?” He laughed.
“Dude, you’re comparing yourself to a monster.” She t
eased back, splashing a light spray of water in his direction.
“Haven’t you learned your lesson yet?” He cast a threatening look in her direction.
“My lesson? You were trying to teach me something? When?” She flicked more water at him.
“That’s it. You’ve had it now.”
Jill lurched away, but was too late. He grasped her and ducked her under, not holding her there but for a second. Probably in deference to her experience earlier in the day.
She sputtered, clasped onto his shoulders and pushed downward.
“Still haven’t learned your lesson, I see.” Laughing, he shook his head at her efforts and doused her again.
When she surfaced she flung her hair to shake the water free. The long strands slapped against Rob’s face.
“No fair. Sea serpents aren’t allowed.”
“Sea serpents? Are you saying I’m an aquatic Medusa?”
“More like a siren than a creature that turns men to stone.”
She’d take being called a siren. “Okay, you win.”
“What?” His surprise was genuine, but he eyed her suspiciously.
“You heard me. You win.”
“You’ll forgive me if I don’t believe you.”
“Why not?” She timed her move just right and thrust her body upward as she clamped onto his shoulders. “Because I might do this?”
With her full weight as leverage she pushed a grinning Rob under. And wasn’t one bit surprised when he refused to go down alone.
# # #
“Just how long am I supposed to keep filming, Boss?” the cameraman whispered.
“As long as their clothes are on.” JP chewed on the cigar as he squatted in the bushes with the cameraman he’d dragged with him.
Damn arthritis made this spying business hell.
“And if their clothes come off?”
JP dangled the cigar from his mouth. Just how far was he willing to take this?
“If clothes come off, you go home.”
# # #
Jill tried to keep from giggling as she and Rob snuck up the stairs. Why they snuck she didn’t have a clue. It wasn’t as if cameras didn’t capture their every move.
“Quit laughing. You’re going to wake the whole castle,” Rob stage whispered, humor lacing his words.
“Or the ghosts.”
“Ghosts?”
“You remember, the ones you warned me about on my first night at the castle.” Had it only been three weeks ago?
“Oh, those ghosts. Can’t say as I’ve heard them creeping around through the castle since.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Guess you scared them off.”
“Hmm, I was thinking the same thing. Only that you’d been the one to scare them away.”
She slugged his shoulder and earning a smothered chuckle.
“I should make you pay for that.”
“Like at the lake?”
“No. This time I wouldn’t let you win.”
“You just keep thinking that you let me. I’ve heard that delusion is a sign of mental illness. Guess you prove that theory.”
“Ya think?”
They stopped outside Jill’s suite. Suddenly realizing they were alone in the dimly lit hallway, Jill’s breath caught.
“I know.”
Jill leaned against the hard wood of her door.
Rob stepped closer, placing his hands to either side of her face. “You’re definitely certifiable,” he breathed softly.
She stared into his golden eyes, wishing she could read what was in his heart as easily as she could see the waging battle in his gaze. He wanted her, yet he didn’t.
And he couldn’t enter her suite from the main hallway. Not with the cameras zoomed in on them. She had a role to play. If he wanted her, really wanted her, he knew which door she’d welcome him through. The one she’d left unlocked last night.
And they both knew what it would mean if he opened that door.
Certifiable, he’d said.
“Definitely,” she agreed, ducking under his arms and hightailing it into her room before she changed her mind and dragged him to her bed, regrets or not.
# # #
Jill sat on a sofa surrounded by the remaining four bachelors, Jeff and Steve included. Tonight was her last night before decisions had to be made.
And they were playing a game of Win, Lose or Draw.
Seemed odd to her, but there had been no scheduled activities for the evening that they hadn’t already filmed. When they’d looked for a game to play, this was the only one they’d been able to find other than the deck of cards they’d worn out during the late night hours for the past two weeks.
One of the remaining four was drawing a picture and gesturing wildly with his hands as his team mate, Steve, tossed out guesses. Several of the crew members were hanging with them, but in the background as JP had insisted upon recording the game in case they decided to use it in one of the last two shows.
She hadn’t seen Rob all day and had only caught a brief glimpse of him yesterday. She’d hoped, without success, that he would change his mind. Each night she lay in bed listening for the door to creak open.
It never did, and tomorrow was her last day at the castle.
Hard to believe it had been four weeks since the bachelors had arrived. She had no doubt as to which one she’d choose to spend the “honeymoon” week with. For the past two weeks, she’d spent the majority of her free time with Jeff. She really liked him, but she had no disillusions about the differences between friendship and romance. Jeff fell into the wrong category. If only she could have fallen for him instead of Rob. Life would be so much simpler. But as always she’d royally screwed up when it came to men.
None of it really mattered anyway. Tomorrow, Jeff would choose the hundred grand, and she’d be home a few days later. Everything would return to the way it had been before her Jane Millionaire days.
Except now she knew what sex could, and should, be like.
Damn it, she wanted more.
More of the way she felt with Rob. More of the fun she’d had with him at the lake. More of the hot, wild animal mating she’d had with him the night she’d gone to his room.
She fanned her flushed face.
“You’re turn to draw.” Jeff’s sharp tug on her blouse sleeve pulled her from her thoughts.
Jeeze, she’d totally phased out of their game. She smiled at the camera as she drew her card, then stepped up to the dry erase board they’d set up.
She read her card and laughed out loud. Had they rigged the game? No way could the crew not have staged this.
“Go.” The bachelor in charge of the timer ordered.
Jill rolled her eyes and began drawing.
# # #
Rob leaned back against his leather chair as he watched the live feed of Jill and the four bachelors playing a game. Jill had grinned when she’d looked at her card. What had it read?
Curious, he watched as she drew a big heart on the board. Next, she drew a dollar sign. Her teammate, Kensington, of course, began tossing out words.
Love. Jill nodded and wrote the word beneath the heart. Immediately, Kensington called out “Money.”
Jill wrote the word beneath the dollar sign.
“For Love or Money,” Rob said out loud, shaking his head in disbelief. Aw, hell. How had that happened?
“Wanna beer?” JP asked as he walked into the studio carrying an extra longneck.
“Did you rig their game?”
“What are you talking about?” JP looked innocent, for once, and Rob knew the older man told the truth. JP couldn’t lie worth a flip.
“Nothing.” Rob took the bottle and set it down on the desk.
“Are you glad it’s almost over?” JP asked, taking a long, noisy guzzle.
Was he? Once they shot the “honeymoon”--if they had to shoot it--he’d never have to see Jill again.
That was good, right?
His gaze drifted back to the scre
en where she was high-fiveing with Kensington while the other three grinned and rolled their eyes at Jill’s antics. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Everyone, but him.
He’d had two weeks of hell.
Hell, because he’d walked her to her door after their swim and hadn’t so much as stolen a kiss. Not that he hadn’t wanted to. But he’d known he wouldn’t stop with a single kiss. Still, if she hadn’t ducked into her room, he might have risked everything.
Hell, because he wondered if she’d open her body and heart to him if he threw logic to the wind and entered her room through the door he stared at night after night? Or had she changed her mind and locked him out long ago? After his behavior following their short dose of heaven, he wouldn’t doubt it.
He’d been a total ass the night she’d given her sweet body to him and again the following afternoon following the taping of Bachelor #4’s departure.
Jill had stuck to her words. Not once since their swim had she made any move toward him, not a single gesture or look to show she still wanted him, that they’d come unglued in each other’s arms, that their night together had meant something to her.
What had it meant to him?
Besides the best sex he’d ever had.
Man, he wished he knew. She was special, totally unlike anyone he’d ever known. He liked being with her. Liked who he was when he was with her.
“You’re quiet,” JP mused, his chair squeaking as he shifted his weight.
“Just thinking.”
“About Jane?”
Rob glanced at his friend. “Why would you ask that?”
“Don’t give me that crap. I’ve known you since you had to shave peach fuzz off that famous face.” JP reminded with a grin, then, he took on a serious expression. “You made the right choice by keeping things simple. Sex would only have complicated matters.”
Rob grunted and picked up the longneck, deciding he was thirsty after all. Real thirsty.
“I’m sure Jane intends to choose Kensington,” JP continued. “Viewers should like that. Marketing shows he holds the highest audience appeal.”
Since she pretty much only spent time with Jeff or Steve except during group and planned individual activities, and Kensington got the preferential treatment, Rob agreed.