"How are you doing these days, Joey?" Dr Collier asked as they unfolded their napkins. "Any more luck with finding a guide?"
"I'm still working on it—but I'd say things are definitely looking up," she replied, masking her unease with a smile.
"Delighted to hear it." With raised brows he made a great show of breathing in air suddenly redolent of the spicy aroma of Mexican cooking. Even Joey's mouth watered.
She caught the attention of a passing waitress. "Do you think you could add one more setting? I'm expecting another person". At the waitress's brisk nod she leaned back in her seat and tried to relax. It was not as easy as she would have wished, though Dr Collier's presence certainly helped.
The doctor's inquisitive look required an explanation. "I hope you don't mind, Allan, but I had arranged to meet someone else here tonight as well. I believe you know him " Her gaze moved back to the door. Everyone had been seated, and service had begun. What kind of game was he playing with her?
She was hardly aware of Collier's reply. Just as one waitress finished setting a third place and another was serving up generous portions of enchiladas, tacos, refried beans, and rice, Luke arrived .He swept in on a breath of cool air and shut the door behind him in one smooth motion, turning to stand almost defiantly in the entryway. Joey rolled her eyes and stifled a groan. He never failed to make a dramatic entrance, and if he had planned to draw the castigating eyes of the town to him once again, he had certainly succeeded.
Dr Collier paused in the act of raising a forkful of rice to his lips as he followed her gaze to the door. The clink of silverware and glasses faded to silence. Joey felt her own face flush with chagrin and something she didn't care to name.
Luke's attention was only for her. Like a hero out of an old western, he strode into the room, ignoring the stares, and stopped before the table. His green-gold eyes moved from hers to Dr Collier's.
"I see there has been a change in plans. I hope I'm not intruding." His voice was silky and almost intimidating, but the force of his concentration was now on the doctor. Collier shifted in his seat but set his fork down calmly, giving Luke stare for stare. Fascinated in spite of herself, Joey twisted her hands in her napkin and watched.
"Ah, Luke. So nice to see you. It's not often we're graced with your company here." His mild blue eyes shifted from Luke to Joey and back again. "Joey was just telling me she was expecting another friend tonight .I can see I won't have to introduce the two of you."
There was a brief moment of perceptible tension between the two men, and Joey remembered what Maggie had told her. These two knew each other—and clearly knew each other well. Collier wasn't like the other townsfolk, who seemed reluctant to deal with Luke at all. And, unlike the others, Allan Collier stood his ground.
"Sit down, boy. Don't just stand there The food'll get cold, and it's much too good to waste." Collier dropped his gaze back to his plate and began to eat. Joey watched Luke stiffen at the word "boy"—and suddenly succumb to the doctor's eminently unruffled good sense. He slipped into his chair noiselessly and pinned Joey with a stare that she interpreted as disapproval—and something more ambiguous. She smiled back sweetly.
Just as Joey began to resent the long silence, Luke seemed to relax. He leaned back in his chair, one of his booted feet touched Joey's under the table "Sorry I'm late," he said softly, all the threatening tension gone in an instant. "I didn't realize you knew Allan. It's always a pleasure to see you too, Doctor."
His unnerving golden stare did not seem to break the older man's concentration on his food, which he consumed with every evidence of enjoyment. The doctor swallowed and took a sip of wine.
"Have you ever had Mexican food, Luke? Considering how seldom you usually come to town, you should take advantage of the opportunity." He seemed to emphasize certain words in a way Joey couldn't quite interpret, there was definitely an undercurrent here. She took an experimental mouthful of enchilada, hardly tasting it.
"It's very good," she put in quickly Luke's gaze shifted back to her. She leveled her best and brightest grin at the doctor and caught Luke's reaction out of the corner of her eye. Surely that quickly suppressed frown couldn't suggest something as simple as jealousy?
"You were right about the food here, Allan," Joey said.
Luke's eyes narrowed. "I see Allan's been doing his best to make you comfortable in town, Joey," he murmured. His sudden smile was not particularly friendly. "Like most doctors, he's very handy with advice."
Collier looked up from his meal. "Alas that more people don't recognize good advice when they hear it," he commented softly.
There was a long, humming moment of tension between the two men, but at last Collier dropped his eyes, and the moment passed. Luke lifted a fork and picked at his food in brooding silence. He examined the rice critically and let it fall back to the plate.
"If you won't eat it, I certainly will," Collier said jovially as he pushed away his empty plate Luke scowled and gestured, the doctor took the proffered food with a nod of thanks.
The rest of the meal alternated between periods of silence, mild verbal sparring between Luke and the doctor, and long, significant looks between her and Luke. Joey had found herself with little appetite, her unease was suddenly back in full force. She'd been prepared to flirt outrageously with Luke at dinner, but Collier's presence seemed to inhibit both of them. Luke was subdued, more restrained with her than he'd ever been, no evidence of his predatory interest other than the intensity of his gaze.
However much Joey might have appreciated the temporary reprieve, it did not serve her purpose. She contented herself with encouraging glances at Luke, meeting his eyes as if she were delivering an unspoken promise. Had they been alone, she thought she might have touched him, she wanted to know if he would burn her.
Sooner or later she would have to find out.
When the meal ended and groups of sated diners scattered to gossip or leave for other activities, the three of them sat in subdued solitude. Luke's gaze came to rest more and more frequently on the doctor. If looks could kill, Joey thought absurdly. Collier seemed oblivious, sipping the last of his wine with many sighs of contentment. As much as she enjoyed his company, it was clear she would make no progress with Luke in the doctor's hindering presence.
Even so, her heart began to pound with leaden thuds as she cleared her throat and straightened in her chair. "It's been a wonderful evening, Allan I'm glad you were able to join us." She smiled, hoping he would take the hint graciously. At first she was certain he would ignore it, but he fixed her with a sudden, very knowing look that confirmed her earlier suspicions.
"Ah. You have plans for the evening." His lifted brows made it a question,;he seemed to be studiously avoiding Luke as he gazed with real interest at Joey. She shifted uncomfortably.
"Yes. We have plans." Luke cut off her stammered reply and rose to his feet. The move was somehow ominous, in a single, almost imperceptible motion he shifted to stand behind the doctor's chair, leaning over it in a way that sent shivers up Joey's spine.
Collier slumped more deeply into his seat. He took one last lazy sip of wine and smiled at Joey. Luke's fingers tightened on the carved wood of the chair back. Collier's only acknowledgment of his presence was the barest tilt of his head, his eyes never left Joey's.
"Well, my dear, far be it for me to interfere in the plans of two young people." His tone was even, but the searching quality of his expression could not be mistaken. Joey shivered again at the unspoken message in his eyes. Was it because he knew Luke all too well that he seemed to be trying to warn her?
With deliberate confidence, Joey answered him. "I hope we'll be able to have dinner again soon, Allan."
The doctor nodded, all the laugh lines smoothed from his face, and rose. Luke had so effectively boxed him in that he could not leave the table, and he turned and looked the younger man up and down with a stare that came very close to scathing. Luke stepped back quickly and released the chair Collier's gaze lingered on
Luke's face for a long moment, and then he turned back to Joey.
"I share that hope, Joey." He looked over his shoulder as he moved away. "Please do remember that if you ever need me—for anything—I'm easy to find." With one last significant glance at Luke he left them in silence.
Joey locked gazes with Luke across the table. There was an almost tangible potency in him, as if he had been restraining some wild passion and was on the verge of releasing it at last. She almost called after the doctor then. But even her uncertainty—yes, even her fear, she admitted—could not erase the memory of why she was here. What she wanted, what she needed and had fought so long to find.
His long fingers played across the worn wood of the chair back. "I find it very stuffy in here, don't you?" His tone was light, so unlike what she expected to hear that she nearly jerked in reaction. Her gaze broke from his to take in the empty room.
"Yes." She stared down at the table before her. "Yes, I find it very stuffy in here."
"Then why don't we find somewhere more pleasant to talk," he suggested, moving around the table to take her arm. She flinched and caught herself as he touched her, offense and excitement mingling uncomfortably. He didn't quite burn as she had feared, as her dreams had promised—but the casual possessiveness of his gesture, the subtle intimacy of it, almost made her tremble.
"Shall we go?" he said, seemingly unaware of the effect he had on her. Struggling for composure, she allowed Luke to guide her out the door and onto the porch, and then across the verge of neatly kept lawn. Beyond, the forest was darkening, the sky was still flushed with a patina of gold and pink. It was beautiful. Joey wished she were able to appreciate it. But her heart was in her throat, and it was all she could do to suppress a powerful desire to shake from head to toe. Even as they walked across the grass to the forest's edge, she was preparing herself for the next move in the game.
Chapter Four
Luke felt her tension under his hand as he led her out of the lodge. He had learned enough of Joey—of her stubborn pride and determination—that he could not believe she was truly afraid of him. She had held up remarkably well, all things considered. Ordinarily he would have been happy to make use of any advantage in the hunt, but he found in himself a sudden—and surprising—realization that he didn't want her fear. He wanted very much to believe that her almost imperceptible shivers were the result of desire. The same desire he felt for her.
She did not resist as he crossed the lawn and into the trees. He was eager to get the smell of the lodge out of his nostrils—the smell of too many people, of tension and hostility. He had gone there tonight fully intending to take advantage of his reputation, to upset the narrow-minded townsfolk gathered there in a place where he seldom intruded. But somehow it had not left him with the usual satisfaction. And there'd been Allan with his damned interfering ways.
Perhaps, he considered as the trees closed over them, he was simply too preoccupied. The clean odor of pine needles, rich earth, and growing things gradually washed away the stench of civilization, and he could smell her again—that unique scent that drew him so powerfully.
As he paused to look down at her, she tugged her arm free of his grip and rubbed it slowly, gazing about. He could sense no unease about the place he had chosen—nothing but restrained curiosity and that same fierce resolve that never left her eyes. She, too, was preoccupied.
"I'm sorry if I hurt you," he said. With a start she ceased the absentminded massage of her arm and disguised the movement, folding her arms across her chest.
"You didn't hurt me," she answered. Her eyes scanned over the trees again and finally met his. "Though it would be nice if you asked next time instead of grabbing me." She did not quite manage to hide a faint tone of irritation in her voice, though her expression remained smooth and unruffled. He sensed her nervousness clearly under the calm façade, she might have succeeded in deceiving another man.
"I'm glad to hear there will be a next time." He let his eyes wander over her as he had not felt free to do in Collier's presence, admiring the clean lines of her body, the lithe suppleness and delicacy. She was beautiful—but not merely beautiful. His pulse rose as she shifted, leaning back against a tree trunk with unconscious grace.
"You didn't eat much tonight," she offered at last, sidestepping his comment. She was not looking at him now, looking, in fact, everywhere but at him, and her fingers played idly with the rough bark at her back. Luke wanted to see her eyes again, he wanted to see the desire in them. "Allan was right, you know. That was pretty decent Mexican food."
He found it hard to concentrate on her attempts at conversation. "I'm sure it was. But I leave exotic cuisine to Allan, I have a taste for other things." He moved forward a step, willing her to acknowledge him. She turned her cheek against the bark, pale hair fanned out to catch in the serrated edges of the dark wood. The twilight calls of birds, the chattering of a squirrel above them filled the long silence. Her breathing was soft and rapid, he could feel her uncertainty as clearly as if she had spoken it aloud.
When she turned to him at last she had put on a smile, but her chin was tilted up, and her shoulders were squared with decision. "Shall we walk a bit?" she suggested. It was she who took the lead this time, pushing away from the tree and reaching up to tuck her arm through his.
The gesture startled him. A shock ran through his body as it had when he had touched her before, it overwhelmed any desire to examine her change in attitude. Her hip touched his thigh, and he could sense every inch of her in his imagination. He fought the rising compulsion to forget caution and feel her body against his in truth.
But she was talking again, with that lightness that seemed designed to hold him at bay. "I never quite get over how quiet it is here—how untouched. Where I'm from, it's hard to remember that any place like this exists."
She reached out with her free hand to brush fingers across the leaves of a mountain ash, pausing to examine the small applelike berries. "It would be nice sometime to come up here with no other purpose than simply to enjoy it. There's so much to see, and I feel as if I've only scratched the surface."
Luke looked down at the pale crown of her head, breathing in the scent of her hair. "The forest has many mysteries," he murmured. "There are things here few human beings have ever seen."
"But you have?" She stopped to meet his eyes, the deep brown of her own catching the last of the light filtering through the trees. "Do you suppose you might be willing to show me some of these 'mysteries'?" Her voice had suddenly become throaty, her expression almost an invitation.
Luke shifted to face her, bringing his hand up to touch her shoulder in the lightest of caresses, deliberately keeping his craving in check. "That might be possible. Very possible."
He leaned forward slowly, and she did not draw back, his face hovered inches above her own. Parted and full of promise, her lips beckoned.
Her deft retreat was so subtle it took him completely unaware. Somehow she slipped away, moving back until she stood once more against the anchor of a sturdy fir. A smile flickered on her face, almost teasing, he drew in his breath and forced it out again carefully.
"If you want to see things no other woman has seen, I can show them to you," he breathed, his footsteps soundless as they passed among the ferns and fallen needles. She was tall, but she had to look up at him as he advanced to trap her against the tree. He stopped mere inches away, letting her feel his nearness, not quite touching. "Is that what you want, Joey?"
Her eyes were hooded with deliberate allure. "What do you want, Luke?" She stretched her arms behind her, curving about the trunk, open and vulnerable. He gave up any pretense of circumspection.
"You know what I want, Joelle." He pressed against her, feeling the swell of her breasts, his arousal hard where she was soft. He set his hands to the rough bark on either side of her, leaning forward until the pale hair falling over her forehead stirred with his breath. Her palms came up flat against his chest, and his heart beat hard under her touch. N
ever, never had he wanted any woman this much. But soon, soon, he would have her.
The pressure of her hands was firm and steady. "I know what you want, Luke. I'm flattered by your interest." Her eyes flickered down. "I've never been the impulsive type, but you're very persuasive. If only I didn't have other commitments, things I have to do first." Her voice was still throaty, but it quivered now, her body resisting his. The words cut through his potent hunger like a dash of water from a mountain stream.
He froze and stared into her eyes. She looked up, blinking but holding his gaze unwaveringly. "I know what you want, Luke. And maybe, if I can finish what I set out to do here, I might feel free to accept what we could both enjoy." She let out her breath slowly. "If you'll help me, Luke."
A tremor ran through Luke, a shudder of unexpected fury. For a long moment he wavered between taking her then and there, silencing her cold bargaining with the rage of his lust and abandoning her to the uncertain mercy of the forest. But he drew into himself, allowing the anger to become cold and hard, as it did when he caught the townsfolk glaring at him with their implacable bigotry.
He withdrew from her slowly, pulling his body away until he could no longer feel her compelling warmth.
"So."
He looked her up and down, and she set her jaw defiantly. Even now he could admire her for that. "You've been playing a nice little game with me, Joey. A dangerous game." He suppressed the desire to turn and pace furiously up and down before her. "I'm not in the mood for any more games. You want something from me. What is it?"
To her credit, she never hesitated. "I want you to guide me up into the mountains to find the place where my parents died." She let the words fall into silence.
Luke stood very still, listening to the wind in the tops of the spruce and fir. "Of course. That is why you came to Lovell, isn't it?"
He remembered everything he'd learned of her and knew that his first guess had been right. He'd known she wanted something, had even acknowledged to himself that he would use that to further his own ends. It should come as no surprise that her change in attitude had been no more than a desire to get what she wanted. She had never fallen prey to his charms at all.
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