“I promise you she’s in no danger, nor will she be,” he said to Molly. “Have a great day.”
“Wait. My purse—it’s back in my office.”
“That’s okay. You’re not going to need it.”
Now she was curious and, heaven help her, more than a little intrigued. After this was all over, she should probably seriously consider some sort of mental-health care.
“Are you comfortable, Ms. Baron?”
The low, soothing voice of Helen, her assigned masseuse, irritated her. “As comfortable as I can be, half-naked, lying facedown on a massage table with a stranger’s hands on me.”
“I gather you’ve never had a massage before.”
“That’s correct.” She’d never had time, nor did she now. What was more, she couldn’t believe she had allowed Colin to drag her to this day-of-beauty salon.
“I’m not hurting you, am I?”
“No.” In truth, the experience so far wasn’t altogether unpleasant. The room was dimly lit. Soft, lilting music played somewhere. But she didn’t have time for this indulgence. Plus, she couldn’t figure out what having a massage had to do with getting Des.
“You’re very, very tense. I can feel it in your muscles. So just try to relax and let me do my job.”
She lifted her head off the table and looked hopefully back over her shoulder. “You wouldn’t happen to have a cell phone in here, would you?”
“No, Ms. Baron.” Helen gently pushed her back down. “Conducting business at the same time I’m giving you a massage would be counterproductive. Besides, even the busiest of people find that an occasional day here at Jacqui’s is beneficial. But you have to give yourself a chance. So, please, just try to relax and let me see if I can get these knots out of your shoulders.”
She yawned as Helen rubbed more warm oil into her back. Despite her protestations to the contrary last night, Colin probably felt he couldn’t count on her to fulfill her side of their business agreement unless he fulfilled his. Fortunately, that was an easy fix. As soon as she returned to the office, she would put her lawyers to work on drawing up the agreement. Then Colin would have to believe her.
Where was he, anyway? The last time she’d seen him, he had been in the main salon, waving her goodbye, as the very beautiful Jacqui, the spa owner, had escorted her into the massage room with a graciousness that was an art unto itself. She sighed. If she only had her cell phone, she could…
“Ms. Baron? Ms. Baron?”
“Yes?” She forced open her eyes. “What is it?”
“The massage is over.”
“It is?” Disappointment tinged her voice.
As the massage had continued, she remembered going into a kind of twilight rest, where she felt as if she were drifting on a cloud. Every once in a while she would become aware of Helen’s heavenly touch as the woman worked her fingers up and down her body, murmuring occasionally about knots. And she’d been conscious enough to turn over when Helen had asked her. But after that, she’d sunk back into her cloud. And now she couldn’t feel a bone in her body.
“Sit up slowly,” Helen cautioned. “You may feel somewhat dizzy at first, but it will pass in a moment.”
She sat up just fine, but immediately wanted to lie down again for another hour of massage. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this relaxed. But Helen was carefully urging her off the table, even going so far as to kneel down and guide her feet into a pair of peach terry-cloth slippers—peach and green being the spa’s colors. The slippers matched the robe she put on a moment later.
Helen straightened and beamed at her. “Do you feel better?”
“Yes, thank you very much. You’re truly gifted.”
With a pleased nod, Helen led her out of the room. “Follow me. Your facial is next.”
“Do you know where Mr. Wynne is?” He had assured her that he would not leave the premises. At the time, her theory had been that he had brought her there and he could damn well stay as long as she did. He’d laughed and agreed.
“No, I’m sorry, I don’t.”
“Here we are.” Helen pushed open another door in a hall that seemed lined with endless doors, and Jill entered another dimly lit room to see three green-smocked women waiting for her. There was also the most comfortable-looking lounge chair she had ever seen. “Ladies, she’s all yours.”
Helen left, quietly closing the door behind her.
A woman with beautiful silver hair came forward. “My name’s Mary, Ms. Baron. I’ll be doing your facial.” She turned and introduced the other two ladies, Cordelia and Alyssa.
“Hello,” she said politely, and received a duet of hellos in return.
“While I’m doing your facial,” Mary said, “Cordelia will be giving you a manicure and Alyssa will be doing your pedicure.”
“How efficient,” Jill said with true approval.
“Some of our clients like to linger all day, while others would rather not,” Mary explained. “Mr. Wynne said you fell into the latter category.”
“He did, did he?” Colin knew her entirely too well. “Do you happen to know where he is?”
“I believe he’s in one of our private salons with Jacqui.”
Private salon? “Do you know what they’re doing?”
“No, I’m afraid I don’t.”
Why should she care what Colin was doing? With the beautiful Jacqui? She didn’t, she told herself. She really didn’t.
“If you would please sit down, we’ll make you as comfortable as possible and begin.”
She complied, sank into another cloud and nearly groaned with delight. She had no idea who made this chair, but she was going to find out and order a dozen, she thought, as once again she drifted off into the twilight.
“Are you ready to wake up?”
Jill heard the question through cotton layers of sleep. The voice was soft, filled with amusement and very, very masculine. The voice was Colin’s. Jill instantly awoke.
He was sitting beside the cloud chair, holding her hand and smiling over at her. “I gather the morning has been a relaxing experience for you?”
“It’s been okay,” she said cautiously. After all, she’d come here under protest, so she didn’t want him to be too pleased with himself. “I didn’t sleep all that well last night, so I took the opportunity for a catnap.”
“Good. I’m glad you were able to get some rest. Are you ready for lunch?”
If there was one thing she was dead certain of, it was that she was too relaxed to get dressed and go out to one of the trendy restaurants where the movers and shakers lunched. “No.”
His brows arched skeptically. “Don’t you want to get your money’s worth? It’s included in the package price.”
“Oh, I hadn’t realized.”
“Well, now that you have, come on.” He gave a light tug on her hand. “After lunch, you’ve got only one or two more things to do, and then we’re out of here.”
She was so relaxed she wasn’t certain she could have made it out of the chair without his help. When she was finally on her feet, she suddenly remembered that she was naked beneath the terry robe. She adjusted it and tightened the belt. She hadn’t been conscious of her relative nakedness until he had shown up.
He looked down at her and stroked her hair away from her face. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this relaxed.”
She gave a light chuckle. “I’m sure no one has. They not only relax your muscles here, I think they also relax your bones.”
He slid his hands along the sides of her face and tilted it up to his. “Relaxed looks good on you,” he said softly, huskily, the glints of gold in his brown eyes holding her gaze until she felt in danger of falling into them.
When he lowered his mouth to hers and lightly brushed his lips back and forth over the full softness of hers, it was almost as if she’d been waiting for it. Suddenly nerve endings sprang to life, carrying tingling warmth to all parts of her body. And the thought fluttered through her mind that
he wasn’t being fair. She was too relaxed to put up any defense against him. Not that she could remember that a defense had helped her last night when they had danced.
He slowly parted his mouth, and she parted hers in response. Heaven help her, she knew what was coming next, and she wanted it. His tongue delved deeply into her mouth, not with the force he had used last night, but with a leisurely gentleness that had her almost incoherent. Heat bloomed between her legs. Surroundings were forgotten. She could only concentrate on what he was making her feel.
His hand slid inside her robe to cup one bare breast, and his thumb stroked her nipple until a soft moan escaped her. As soon as it did, he pulled away.
Her next breath came hard. Her body had been left aching and hurting. She gazed up at him, confused and unsure. What was he doing to her?
He exhaled a long, shaky breath. His face seemed etched in torment, but his next words erased that idea.
He gestured vaguely. “That’s what Des would have done.” He took her hand and practically dragged her toward the door. “Come on.”
Dazed, she followed him out of the room and down the hall toward yet another door. “Jacqui has set our lunch up in here so we can have some privacy.”
Privacy. Oh, yeah, right, she reflected with numbed sarcasm. That was exactly what they needed.
He opened the door to a brightly lit room awash in greens and peaches. The colors had been translated onto sumptuous fabrics that upholstered the chairs and couches. In one corner, where a green ficus grew tall and lush, there was a table set for two, with their plates and glasses already filled.
She headed for it and the champagne she saw. Without looking at Colin, she chose a chair and lifted the flute to her lips. When she’d emptied it, she looked for the bottle.
A second before she could grab it out of the silver bucket, he got it and refilled her glass. “It might be better if you ate something before you have any more.”
The suggestion, though gently made, was received with all the humor of an enraged rhino. Still, she did finally look at her plate. There were large portions of chicken, spinach and fruit salad, along with two small muffins.
With every one of her senses now alive, she realized two things: she was hungry, and she desperately needed to block Colin from her mind.
She picked up the sterling-silver fork and proceeded to attack the food. It was satisfying and delicious.
Her mind was blessedly blank, and amazingly, the relaxation she had gained this morning was still with her. By the time she was finished eating, even her heartbeat had returned to normal and the heat had receded. But she remembered the kiss, the touch—oh, how she remembered.
She looked at Colin and saw that he was staring at her. She glanced at his full plate. He must have been watching her the entire time; he hadn’t taken so much as one bite of his food. Her gaze returned to him. He was reclining in his chair, his elbow propped on its arm, his face bracketed by his thumb and forefinger.
Carefully she laid her napkin over the arm of her chair. “You said something about one or two more things I had to do?”
He nodded.
“What?”
“A hairstyling and makeup lesson.”
“I don’t need makeup lessons, but I’ll agree to the hairstyling.”
“Good.” His expression was absolutely enigmatic.
What was he thinking? Did he remember, as she did, how she’d reacted to his kiss? Did he know how his simple touch on her breast had nearly leveled her? Did he know that she felt different from the person she had been the night of her party? And that the difference had started when she awoke the next morning to find that she had slept the night through all tangled up with him?
“And do you have anything planned after the hairstyling?”
He hadn’t once shifted position, nor had he dropped his gaze from her. She had the feeling that this was one time when he couldn’t figure out what she was thinking. That made two of them.
She looked down at her folded hands and absently noted the clear polish they had applied to her nails as she had slept. It was what she always wore. Her toenails were another matter, though. They had painted them a hot pink. Colin had finally gotten a color on her toenails that made a strong statement.
“We’re driving to the airport, where we’ll board my plane and fly to the American Virgin Islands.”
He paused, obviously expecting her to say something, to object, but instinct told her to remain silent. There could be danger in speaking before she figured out what was bothering her. Besides, she knew there was more to come.
“A friend of mine owns a private island down there that he’s agreed to lend us for a few days.”
Once again he paused, but she continued to remain quiet. As motionless as she held herself, though, her mind was racing. A private island meant they would be alone, with the possible exception of a staff. Colin and she would basically be alone. For a few days, he had said. Her heart gave a hard thud.
After a moment Colin straightened in his chair. “One of the reasons we’re going down there is to give me the opportunity to teach you how to snorkel. Des loves to snorkel.” He fidgeted with the edge of his plate, then pushed it away and looked back at her. “So, as I said, we’re driving straight from here to the airport. As a matter of fact, our luggage is already in my car. I packed my bags this morning, and while you were busy with your massage and so on, I had Neiman’s send over a selection of things you’ll need, beachwear and the like, along with suitcases. Jacqui helped me pack the bags and assured me there was everything in them that you’ll need. I also called Molly, who drove to your home, collected your medicine, along with a few other things she said you’d want, plus your purse, then brought them over. They’re all packed in a separate case, where you can get to them easily if needed.”
He had thought of everything, and he had taken it on himself to arrange everything behind her back. She knew he expected her to get angry, to tell him in no uncertain terms that she wasn’t going anywhere else with him, nor would she let him hijack her aboard his plane. She should. She also knew that, to Colin, she probably appeared eerily calm. She was.
But things were shifting and turning inside her as surely as if they were something tangible she could see on an X ray. She could feel them. It was as if she was having her own private, internal earthquake, and it felt every bit as violent as the shifting of tectonic plates. She just wasn’t sure yet what the changes were and why they were occurring.
“I promised Molly that you’d call her from the plane so that the two of you can go over anything you need to.”
If she stayed in town, she would throw herself back into her work with her usual intensity, and her questions would be shoved into the back of her mind. She would make sure of that.
Instinctively, though, she knew her questions were too important to go unanswered. Besides, why shouldn’t she take a few days off? She’d been working her whole life, starting when she was three years old, when she had begun to work so hard to please a father who could not be pleased.
“Jill?”
She lifted her gaze to him. He looked worried, wary. He wanted an answer. She would give him one. “Fine.”
Seven
Jill stretched slowly awake. Sunshine and a mild breeze glided through a large open door, filling the room with light, the scent of tropical flowers and the soothing sound of the sea’s relentless movement. At the door, flowing, sheer, cream-colored curtains blew inward in a slow, undulating motion. It was the same material that was draped over the tall posters of the bed.
The sounds, the scents were all so completely different from what she was used to that for a few minutes she simply lay there, trying to orient herself.
When they had arrived on the island last night, Colin had shown her to this room and set her new pieces of luggage on two matching teak chests at the foot of her large bed. Two smaller bags had gone into the bathroom. He’d also said that when she was ready, there would be a late dinner
served on the terrace, but she’d been too tired. Instead, she had showered, rifled through the luggage until she had found a pink silk chemise, crawled into bed and gone straight to sleep.
In retrospect, she supposed the inner turmoil she had endured the past few days had left her exhausted. Even on the trip here, she and Colin had exchanged very few words. She’d taken him at his word and called Molly, issuing instructions as to how to rearrange the rest of her week. Then, instead of going to sit with Colin in the cockpit, she had taken a nice long nap. Even so, she had still arrived on the island feeling exhausted.
She slid out of bed and padded over to the doorway that led out onto a wide stone terrace. Last night, she remembered, Colin had driven them up a hill from the landing strip that he had told her was on the other side of the island from the house. He had said the strip had been carefully constructed so that, no matter where you were on the island, it couldn’t be seen, except from the air.
Last night she had been too tired to try to get her bearings. Now, though, she saw that the house did indeed sit on a hill.
She didn’t even have to step out onto the terrace to see the deep-green vegetation that carpeted the hill all the way down to a shimmering white beach and the multihued blue sea beyond. Flowers so brightly colored they didn’t seem real made enormous bouquets amidst the trees and bushes. She could even see white wicker lounge chairs with several matching small tables placed slightly to the left of her doorway, so that they would be convenient but wouldn’t block the view.
She had made a good decision to come here, she thought. The island was an entirely different world, with a different kind of beauty than what she was used to. If any place could get her out of her normal routine where she lived, slept and ate business, it would be this island. The tranquil beauty would allow her a perfect environment to try to process all that had happened to her in the past few days. Yes, she had definitely made a good decision.
And since she was going to be here for a couple of days, she might as well get dressed and venture out to see what or who she could find.
The Barons of Texas: Jill Page 9