"Your timing is way off, Saxon," she said shakily. Tears threatened but she willed them away. "If you'd said it this morning, I might have believed you. But after seeing you with Sherry Carson tonight..."
"Maybe I should accuse you of cheating on me, Juliet." Caine's voice was rapier sharp. "After all, you were at the concert tonight with Walsh."
"Don't try to shift the focus onto me by—"
"You went to the concert with Mark as his date," Caine interrupted, his voice rising. "While I was there strictly for business reasons." He let go of her wrist. "Did you hear me, Juliet? I was not at the concert with Sherry Carson. I was there because Channel 42 bought and was giving away three free dinners for two at The Knight Out, and they asked me to present the certificates to the winners. Sherry Carson was there from the station to draw the winners' names from a barrel. We happened to be seated next to each other, yes, but we were not—I repeat not—there together."
Juliet began to tremble as the impact of his words struck. "But—but Sophia said she saw you leave the restaurant with"—she gulped—"a sexy blonde who turned out to be Sherry Carson."
"Sophia!" Caine snorted. "And what happened the last time you and your sisters listened to Sophia, Juliet?"
Juliet's cheeks flamed. He was making her feel extremely stupid. "But this time I actually saw you with the very woman Sophia described," she whispered. "And Sherry told Mark that she wouldn't see him anymore because she wanted a man with more money and a fancy sports car."
Caine heaved a sigh. "Oh, Sherry was pouring on the charm, all right. It oozed out of her every pore. And it was probably her idea to pick me up at the restaurant to drive to the concert in the studio's limo—which we shared with five TV and radio execs."
Juliet said nothing. She felt too sick to talk.
Caine went on. "I canceled our dinner date tonight because I had to work, and that's what I was doing, Juliet. Working. The brief appearance at the concert falls under the category of public relations, as advertising for the restaurant. Do you believe me?"
Even in the relative darkness of the car she could see his amber eyes glowing with anger. "You sure as hell don't have much confidence in me, do you?" he asked. "If you think that I could leave you after everything we shared . . . Damn, why do you have such a low opinion of me, Juliet?"
She swallowed hard. She didn't have the answers to any of his questions but one. "I believe you, Caine," she forced herself to say. She had blown it, really blown it, she thought. He was furious and he had a right to be. She had displayed an appalling lack of trust. An unforgivable lack?
Caine swung off the road and braked the car to a stop. In front of them was a wooden sign, lit by a floodlight, on which apple country inn was painted in bright red letters.
Juliet's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't realized how far they'd driven. She'd been oblivious to everything but the tension sizzling between her and Caine. What now? she wondered, and her limbs went weak. Her blood throbbed and drummed wildly at every pulse point.
She absently rubbed at the red marks on her wrist left by his angry grip. He watched her for a moment, then lifted her wrist to his mouth and touched his lips to the soft skin. "Come inside with me, Juliet." Once again, it was not a request but a demand.
Her eyes filled with tears. "Caine, I—I—"
"Juliet." He held out his hand to enforce the order. Silently, trembling, she laid her hand in his. He led her inside the inn, where the cheerful Mrs. Castle greeted them and showed them to an upstairs room.
It was the same room where they had spent their first night together, marooned by the storm. Caine closed the door and locked it. Juliet watched him, her face pale.
He walked toward her, his eyes holding hers. "My original plan was to bring you here, where no one would know where we were, and make love to you until you were helpless and mindless and clinging. Too weak to make any protests at all. Then I was going to make all the necessary explanations. I didn't think you'd listen to me or believe me until I had you properly weakened, you see."
His face softened. "But it seems you trust me a little after all. You listened to me in the car and you told me that you believed me. I'm glad. Juliet," he added quietly.
"I wish I'd never doubted you," she burst out. "Even seeing what I saw, I should have given you a chance to explain, instead of jumping to all the wrong conclusions. You asked me to trust you, but I failed miserably at it. "
He smiled slowly, his first smile since entering the Post house that night. "Let's upgrade your failing mark to a C minus with extenuating circumstances."
He stood directly in front of her and cupped her face with his hands. "I had a Hash of insight a few minutes ago out in the car when I was railing about your lack of confidence in me. It's not a lack of confidence in me at all. It's a lack of confidence in yourself."
He gently tilted her head up, forcing her to meet his eyes. "Miranda displayed the same symptoms in her relationship with Grant. No doubt Olivia has, too, although she and Bobby Lee have certainly had an easier time of it."
Juliet gave a shaky little laugh. "As a trio we're unstoppable, but singly, on our own
His gaze filled with understanding. "You do such a terrific job of projecting the image of the irrepressible leader of the sought-after Post triplets that no one is aware that Juliet isn't quite sure of her own worth as a mere individual."
"It's so easy to get attention when you're an identical triplet," she explained softly. "All you have to do is to walk into a room—anywhere—as a group and all eyes are upon you. But if you walk into the same room all by yourself... no one looks.
"And then there's the added problem of sustaining interest. When the three of us are together all we have to do is stand there and smile and be identical and people are fascinated." She expelled a small sigh. "It's different without the group. You have to do a lot more than stand and smile."
"And you and your sisters worry that, separately, you don't have what it takes to sustain people's initial interest in you," Caine finished quietly.
"All those years my sisters and I were spotlighted in dancing school recitals and piano recitals and school variety shows, we knew we didn't have any talent for any of it. We knew the only reason we were chosen was because there were three of us and we looked alike and made the audience oh and ah."
She looked up at him with earnest, thoughtful eyes. "We triple-dated all through school, and when we started our catering business we thought we could succeed only if we appeared as an identical set, our usual conversation-piece selves."
She shook her head ruefully. "Holding the interest of a man like you seemed impossible for me to do all by myself. Seeing you with Sherry tonight confirmed my worst fears."
"I'm the man who's in love with you, Juliet. With only you." He brought her body slowly against his, one big hand cradling her head while he stroked her back with long, lazy caresses. "I have a lifetime interest in you, sweetheart. And I want to spend a lifetime proving it."
Juliet felt the terrible tension, the stiffness and the misery slowly begin to drain from her. She was where she wanted to be, where she had feared she would never be again.
"You're everything I've ever wanted, Caine. The man I dreamed of, but never really expected to find. You're kind and understanding and tender ..." Her arms tightened around him and she leaned into the strong, hard length of him.
"You're the only woman to bring out those qualities in me, Juliet. There's never been anyone like you in my life. You're totally unique." He nipped gently at her lips before skimming his tongue over them. "And heaven knows I've had enough experience with women to know when I'm really in love for the first time in my life. I know I've found the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with."
She drew back a little, fun and laughter shining in her vivid blue eyes. "You were doing fine until that part about all your experience with all those other women, Saxon."
A burst of pure happiness spun through her when she saw the love in hi
s amber eyes. It was for her and her alone, she knew, and felt ashamed for ever doubting it, for doubting him. "I love you, Caine," she said huskily.
"I know you do. And I love you, Juliet. And I knew we had to straighten things out between us tonight or face being caught in a web of hurt and misunderstandings, like Miranda and Grant were."
"Now that we've straightened things out"—she flashed a sudden impish grin—"does that mean you're not going to ravish me until I'm helpless and mindless and clinging? What a disappointment!"
"I'd hate to disappoint a lady." His deft fingers made short work of the buttons on her blouse. He slipped the silky blue garment from her shoulders and let it float to the floor.
He trailed his hands over her arms and shoulders. "Tell me again that you love me," he demanded, brushing his knuckles over her ivory-colored camisole. Her nipples were already hard and tight and visible beneath the soft silk.
"I love you, Caine," she whispered on a sigh. Her scarf sash and skirt soundlessly hit the floor. "And I'm sorry that I—"
He ran his fingertips over her lips, silencing her. "Repeat after me. 'Caine, I'm sorry that I thought you were stupid enough to fall for a grasping broad with an obvious lust for money and sports cars.' "
Juliet laughed and dutifully repeated it. He was deliberately making light of it now, relegating the entire episode to the level of a bad joke. She would never fear the Sherry Carsons of the world again, though she and Caine might laugh at them.
Caine steered her over to the bed, and she felt the soft quilt brush her thighs. She wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled into his neck. "The last time we were here you hid out in the bathroom for ages and insisted on wearing your jeans to bed," she reminded him, wriggling sinuously under his caressing hands.
"Mmm, I remember." His hands disposed of her camisole, then slipped into her panties to remove them. "This time there will be no barriers, cloth or otherwise, between us, honey."
They wanted to touch, to taste every inch of each other. Caine felt Juliet tremble—with passion, with excitement and anticipation—wherever he touched her, and the feel of her sensitive fingers upon him drove him to heights he'd never reached before.
They spun on an upward spiral to ecstasy until they were both mad from the pleasure of it all. until the whirling urgency claimed them and sent them spinning together into the sweet planes of rapture.
They lay together, naked and intertwined and content, for a long, long time, savoring their closeness and the bright promise of their love.
Caine was the first to break the comfortable silence. "I didn't get a chance to tell you that I ate the piece of white-chocolate-mousse cake you brought down to the restaurant. It was delicious, Juliet. Will you make it again for me sometime?"
"Sure." She playfully nipped at his shoulder. "But don't expect me to give the recipe to your chef so he can serve it at the Friends of Mr. Jefferson Lawn and Garden Club's annual luncheon. Those defectors will have to miss it."
"Uh-oh." Caine arched his brows. "Here it comes. Miranda already read me the riot act at the restaurant tonight for allegedly stealing your customers."
Juliet arched her brows too. It seemed quite an effective gesture. " 'Allegedly'?"
"I'm an innocent man, honey. I've never spoken to a single one of Mr. Jefferson's friends. Grant was the one who went out and hustled the good ladies during his breakup with Miranda. He knew the anniversary story and decided it would be a terrific act of revenge to usurp the luncheon. And it would have been," he added with a grin, "if Grant had gotten up the nerve to tell Miranda what he'd done."
"He didn't tell her?"
"Not on your life. Since she seemed to believe that I was at fault he pleaded with me to take the rap."
"Which you did."
"Hey, I wasn't about to risk having to hear 'Send in the Clowns' forty-three more times in a row. Anything to keep the peace between those two."
Juliet looked thoughtful. "It worries me a little that Grant and Randi haven't been totally honest with one another. He thinks it was I who told him off here at the Apple Country Inn, and now she thinks it was you who pirated the luncheon. Do you think they'll ever tell each other the truth?"
"I hope so. Right now they're both walking on eggshells around each other. Maybe when they've lived together and are more sure of each other, they'll come clean—and have a good laugh about it."
Juliet snuggled closer to her lover. "Caine, I want you to promise not to keep anything from me, even if it means sometimes breaking the peace between us."
"You're not afraid to fight with me, hmm?"
"No." Her eyes shone with confidence and love. "Because I know we'll always make up afterward."
"Always." Their kiss was a tender, ardent affirmation of their love. "Juliet?" Caine murmured huskily. "Will you marry me?"
"Oh, yes, Caine." She hugged him tight.
"This isn't exactly the way I'd planned to propose." He smiled as he stroked her hair. "I'd planned to wine and dine you, to romance you with dancing and candlelight and soft music, and then I'd look deeply into your eyes and make some pretty speech about true love and our destinies being intertwined."
She sighed. "It sounds lovely. Can we do it tomorrow?"
He chuckled. "I suppose we ought to have a cover story to tell our children. I can hardly admit that I proposed to their mother in bed!"
"Our children." She sighed again. The thought of having Caine's babies sent a delicious ache of longing through her. "I'd like to have at least three. Maybe four."
"I'll be happy to oblige. But, sweetheart, could we have them one at a time? I'd sort of like to ease into fatherhood gradually."
She gave him a dreamy-eyed smile. "The only promise I can make is to keep on loving you, come what may."
"And that, sweet Juliet, is more than enough for me."
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