by Jayne Castle
"I am not being cowardly!" Reva hissed.
"It's all right, honey," Josh told her, reaching out a large hand to pat her on the head in a totally incongruous action that enraged her. "I knew what was best for you back in that jungle and I know what's best for you here. I'll take care of you." He yawned, raising a fist to cover his mouth.
"You haven't 'fallen' for me," Reva argued forcefully. "It's only that you've spent the past four months isolated in that awful little country. It was only natural that you'd concentrate on the last woman you'd ... you'd been with. You'll get over the fixation once you've had a chance to readjust. Believe me!"
He blinked, looking rather sleepy. "What makes you such an authority on my reactions? You don't even understand your own!"
"I'm merely exercising some common sense, Josh!" she yelped furiously.
"So we revert to plan A which I outlined a little while
ago," he sighed, leaning deeper into the pillows behind him and watching her with a somewhat owlish expression. "The wearing-down routine." "That's nonsense!"
"I agree, but you seem to be lacking in sense, so we'll try it the other way. Actually, it might be rather interesting. I've never set out to completely seduce a woman. Getting them into bed always seemed enough before I met you." He yawned again, ignoring Reva's fierce look. "But I think I'll have to start the project in the morning. I know this doesn't sound particularly romantic, but I'm exhausted. I've spent the past few months working day and night to salvage my company's holdings in that godforsaken country, and as soon as I could get away I came straight here to Portland where I was again obliged to work day and night tracking you down. I'm tired, Reva. Do you mind if we continue this brilliant conversation in the morning?"
But he wasn't really asking for agreement, apparently. Josh had already made his decision, Reva thought ruefully, watching as he closed his eyes and turned over on his stomach. He calmly went to sleep beside her, the slow, even pattern of his breathing telling her he wasn't playing games. She waited a few minutes, staring down at his broad, tanned back in mingled astonishment and disgust, and then, not having the heart to try and kick him out of bed, she dragged the quilt up over his shoulders. He was tired, she thought wonderingly, thinking of how indefatigable he had seemed during those three days in South America. He must have been through a lot since then, she told herself. And she had already told him he could stay the night. What did it matter whether he slept in here or out on the couch?
It wasn't her decision to let him stay in her bed that
surprised Reva, it was the temptation she experienced to stay beside him. For a long, intriguing moment she sat amid the covers and toyed with the notion of simply slipping down alongside his lean warmth. Then the rational side of her mind took over. Matters had come perilously close to disaster once tonight when she'd practically thrown herself into his arms. She'd been downright lucky he'd convinced himself he wanted her mental as well as physical surrender. It would be stupid to have him wake up beside her and decide he'd take what he could get, after all!
Very carefully Reva slipped from the bed, adjusting the covers once more over the large man lying half tangled in her sheets. Then she padded silently out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. In the living room she found Xavier curled in the middle of the sofa bed and she smiled at him as she got under the covers.
"Did you have a nice conversation out here with my guest, cat?" she asked politely, propping herself on her elbow and slowly stroking the large animal's thick gray fur. He opened his eyes sleepily to let her know he heard her and then pressed himself cozily against the warmth of her leg. His right ear, which had been chewed rather badly in a long-forgotten fight, twitched absently.
"I thought the two of you might get along quite well," Reva went on softly, her eyes on the city lights which sparkled below her eighteenth-floor apartment. "There's something about that man which reminds me of you, Xavier. He told me he's not what I thought he was but I still have the feeling he's been through a lot. Like you, he's tough and he's carrying some scars, even if they're not visible. And now he's decided he wants a home." Reva sighed gently, settling back against the pillow. "I'm grateful to him, Xavier. But you can't marry a man out of
gratitude. And even if he's not a mercenary, it doesn't take much insight to realize he's not at all the sort of man I want for a husband. I'm sure the only thing we have in common is that time we spent in South America. No, tomorrow I'll tell him he has to leave," she concluded decisively. With that thought firmly etched in her mind, Reva turned on her side and went to sleep.
Saturday morning dawned cloudy and wet. The Portland sky drizzled rain down onto a city long accustomed to such weather and Reva awoke with a long, luxurious stretch. It took a moment to realize she wasn't in her own bed and then her memory snapped back into focus. Josh Corbett had returned and this morning she had to find a way to get rid of him. She didn't want to risk any further repetitions of last night's near surrender. With a determined, energetic motion Reva threw back the covers, ignoring Xavier's protests at being summarily awakened, and headed for the bathroom. A brisk shower was called for before she tackled her unwanted guest, Reva thought.
The shower refreshed her considerably, as had the night's sleep. Reva emerged in her bathrobe, certain that Josh, whom she remembered distinctly as being an early riser, would already be up and about. Indeed, she was mildly surprised he hadn't awakened first. But, then, he had seemed genuinely exhausted last night, she reminded herself. She hesitated outside her bedroom door for a moment, listening for sounds of activity within, and frowned when she heard none. Reluctant to walk in as long as Josh still occupied the bed, Reva decided to forego dressing for the moment and headed, instead, for the kitchen. It seemed reasonable enough to provide him some breakfast before she told him to leave. He'd certainly provided her with enough meals in the past!
She frowned as she peered into the nearly empty refrig-
erator. A couple of grapefruit and some eggs were about all that looked appealing. Josh would be hungry, she thought wryly. He would probably be expecting something on the order of bacon and eggs and toast or stacks of hctcakes. Well, he would have to make do with what she normally ate, although she supposed she could double his portions of poached eggs and grapefruit.
She puttered around the efficient little kitchen for a few minutes, preparing coffee and cutting the grapefruit. Then she paused once again to listen for sounds from behind her door. Nothing.
Growing vaguely curious, Reva walked to the still-shut door and raised a hand to knock very gently. There was no response. Perhaps she should let him sleep, she thought. But surely he'd had enough rest by now. It was getting late. She knocked once again, louder. This time when there was no answer, she called his name.
"Josh?"
This time there was an answering thud from within. It sounded as if her alarm clock had been pushed off the bedside table. Growing somewhat worried, Reva called Josh's name once more and this time when there was no answer she pushed open the door, a quelling frown in place in case he was playing some sort of game with her.
But Josh didn't look at all as though he were playing games. He didn't look as though he could even attempt the effort. Reva stared in consternation at his large form huddled, obviously shivering, beneath the weight of the quilt, the bedspread, and a couple of spare blankets he'd located at the foot of the bed.
"Josh! What's wrong?" Hurrying into the room, Reva nearly tripped over the alarm clock which was lying on the floor, pushed there by an outflung hand that now trailed over the edge of the bed. He stirred at the sound of her
voice, opening the honey-colored eyes just wide enough to regard her balefully through two narrow slits.
"It's all right, Reva," he mumbled heavily. "I'll be up soon. Give me a few more minutes." His eyes closed as if the effort had been too much. The outflung hand rose to his forehead. "My head's killing me," he muttered.
"You're ill!" Reva exclaimed.
A few days! Reva stood beside the bed, staring nonplused at the man in it. She knew immediately that all her plans for getting rid of Josh Corbett by that afternoon had just vanished in a puff of smoke. She couldn't throw the man who had saved her life out of her apartment when he was in this condition!
CHAPTER FOUR
"Reva, honey, I want you to know I'm sorry about last night," Josh began half an hour later as he sat propped up in bed picking unenthusiastically at poached eggs and grapefruit. He looked up with a bleak, rueful expression to meet her eyes as she sat at the foot of the bed, Xavier in her lap. "I know I must have embarrassed the hell out of you at that restaurant and Lord knows what you must have thought of me later!" He shook his head and swallowed a bite of the rosy grapefruit carefully. He'd explained that one of the symptoms of his complaint included a sore throat. "All I can say in my own defense is that I was probably coming down with this bug yesterday and went a little crazy. The main part of the fever hit me last night. I certainly was looking forward to seeing you again, but I sure didn't intend to make all those nutty demands about marriage!"
Reva smiled a little uncertainly, freeing Xavier, who had taken a notion to leave the comfort of her lap in favor of investigating the contents of Josh's breakfast tray. She watched him affectionately as he padded across the quilt, her hands idly brushing cat hair from her expensive designer slacks. Gray cat hair discovered at various location around the apartment and on her person had become a fact of life since Xavier had moved in. Reva accepted it
philosophically and merely brushed it off when she found it on the cushions of the chinoiserie-style furniture or on her clothes. She had gotten dressed before she cooked Josh's breakfast and, in addition to the well-made camel slacks, she wore a soft, plush velour pullover striped in deep jewel tones. ,The sun-washed hair was brushed into a loose curve around her shoulders, held back over one ear by a cloisonne comb, and her bold frames were perched aggressively on her nose. She peered consideringly at her guest through the lenses and her smile widened.
"I don't know whether to be offended or not!" she chuckled, feeling vastly more relaxed around the large man in her bed now that he was meekly sidelined with the strange malady. "You mean you haven't spent the past four months dreaming of coming back here and forcing me into marriage?"
He groaned feelingly and she giggled at his rueful expression. "Don't tease me, Reva," he pleaded. "I feel bad enough as it is! I came here to Portland to spend some of my time off with someone I'd come to consider a very close friend. I expect I was a little upset by having to waste half a week locating you and then finding you out on a date. Typical male reaction compounded by the beginnings of a fever. Forgive me?" The honey-colored eyes watched her with genuine pleading and the hard line of his mouth was twisted wryly.
"Of course I do, Josh," Reva relented at once, thinking how harmless he looked this morning compared to the returning warrior of last night. She had really let her imagination run wild all those months ago. The thought made her bite her lip and she realized she had an apology of her own to make. "Do you forgive me for thinking you were some sort of cutthroat mercenary?" she asked with a self-deprecating smile.
He returned the expression and nodded his head. Then he raised a hand to the back of his neck as if the motion had escalated the headache. "Damn!" he muttered, "I feel weak as a kitten. No offense, Xavier," he added to the cat, who was politely eyeing the remains of a poached egg. "I'm sorry to make a nuisance out of myself, Reva. It's very decent of you to let me stay here while I recover after the way I behaved!"
"Well, you can't go to a hotel in your present condition. You could fall and hurt yourself during a dizzy spell like the one you had a few minutes ago coming back from the bathroom. Besides, how would you eat?" Reva pointed out logically.
"Room service?" he suggested weakly.
"Nonsense. You need good food when you're ill, not greasy french fries and hamburgers, which is probably what you'd order," Reva contradicted briskly, getting to her feet to tidy the covers around him. "Do you want some hot tea with lemon and honey? Very soothing on the throat," she asked invitingly as she patted the quilt into place.
"Sounds wonderful," he agreed, raising his eyes to meet hers. He looked very thankful, she thought. "You have all the makings of a good nurse," he told her. "My throat feels like steel wool. Maybe I'll move out onto the couch in the living room. You're not going to want to sit in here by my bed all day and I would like to talk to you. Aren't you curious to know how things turned out after you left on the DC-3 that morning?" he began, and then interrupted his question with a muttered oath. "Xavier, you thief!"
"What happened?" Reva asked, turning around to glance at the cat, who was calmly swishing a pink tongue around his whiskers.
"He got the last of the egg when I wasn't looking," Josh grumbled. "Haven't you taught this beast any manners?"
Reva chuckled fondly. "Unfortunately, I didn't have Xavier from kittenhood. By the time he adopted me he was fully grown and had picked up any number of bad habits living in alleys. He tries to put on a facade of politeness and civilized behavior but underneath he's still an alley cat."
"Takes what he wants and to hell with the rest of the world?" Josh growled. "Something like that."
"I'm surprised you tolerate him," Josh noted mildly, glaring at the cat. "He doesn't seem to fit in with your life-style." He swept a hand out to indicate the chic oriental-style furniture, the beautiful apartment, and the rich off-white carpeting. Then he slanted a strange look up at Reva, who was closing a closet door she had left open. She felt his glance and looked back at him over her shoulder.
"He doesn't," she shrugged. "But something about him appeals to me and besides, I'm not at all sure I could get rid of him if I tried." She walked back to the edge of the bed and frowned thoughtfully down at Josh. "Are you sure you want to move out into the living room? Perhaps you should be sleeping."
"Believe me, I've had this bug often enough in the past to know how it's going to react. Sore throat, headache, fever in the beginning and occasional dizziness, plus a general weakness. It will run its course in a few days and I'll be fine. In the meantime there's nothing to do but rest and I can do that as well out on the couch."
"If you're sure . . ."
"I'm sure."
Reva arranged quilts and pillows on the dark red couch, assisting her patient out to his new bed when all was ready.
Xavier followed along, jumping up to nap at Josh's feet when he was reestablished. She fixed Josh the honey-and-lemon tea, and agreed to a game of cards when he proposed it.
Reva was in the middle of laying down her third winning hand in a row when the phone rang. She picked up the receiver of the red instrument, which matched the couch in color, and automatically said hello, her mind still on the gin rummy game. She was deliberately keeping an eye on Josh, who had shown signs of being willing to cheat, although it hadn't done him any good so far.
"Bruce!" she exclaimed in surprise as she recognized the voice on the other end. "Yes, that's right, you said you'd call!" She smiled with pleasure, her eyes on Josh, who glanced up with a frown as she spoke the other man's name. The frown cleared almost immediately, however, and he went back to studying his hand.
"Everything's fine, Bruce," Reva said in reassuring response to her caller's first question. "Poor Josh has come down with some sort of recurrent illness that he gets occasionally, though, and I'm putting him up for a couple of days."
"Did he ask you to do that?" Bruce demanded on the other end of the line.
"Oh, no," Reva laughed. "He was all set to move into a hotel but he couldn't possibly get good care there."
"I see," Bruce remarked a little stiffly. "I'm a bit surprised you're willin
g to be so kind to him after the way he behaved last night."
"He apologized for all that," Reva explained. "And he is an old acquaintance, Bruce. I can't throw him out into the street. I owe him a favor." She thought Josh tensed briefly as she said the last words, but he didn't look up.
"What sort of favor?" Bruce asked suspiciously.
"I'll tell you all about it some day," Reva promised, not wanting to go into the subject.
There was a silence on the other end of the line for a moment and then Bruce went on a bit aggressively. "Do you still want to go to that concert Sunday evening?"
"I most certainly do," Reva said at once. "I wouldn't miss it for the world. You know that!"
"I wasn't sure if you might feel you had to baby-sit," he grumbled.
"I think Josh can stay by himself tomorrow evening," Reva laughed. "What time shall I expect you?"
"I'll pick you up around seven o'clock," Bruce told her, sounding slightly mollified.
"I'll be looking forward to it." She said her good-byes and hung up the phone.
"Tanner?" Josh asked curtly as Reva resumed her seat on the hassock beside the couch. He kept his attention on the new hand of gin he had just dealt.
"That's right. He was worried about me after watching you drag me out of the restaurant last night," Reva smiled, considering her cards carefully.
"If he was all that worried he shouldn't have let me do it," Josh said coolly, selecting a discard. "I sure as hell wouldn't have let some stranger walk up and haul my woman off into the night!"
Reva lifted one brow quellingly behind her glasses. "I'm hardly Bruce's 'woman,' Josh," she commented with a caustic note in her voice. "I was his date for the evening and I chose to leave of my own free will. I hate scenes and you looked very much as if you were prepared to make one!"
Josh winced. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I've already apologized for that. But just the same, it seems to me if