by Linda Cajio
And if only Rick’s attentions included more than gentlemanly touches at her back and elbow, and the brushing of his lips across her cheek that passed for a good-night kiss. Once again, when she should be grateful to him for sensibly keeping his distance, she was irritated and frustrated enough to want to chuck all of her plans and cast herself into his arms, the consequences be hanged.
Such temptation frightened Jill. She had a strong suspicion Rick was keeping his physical distance in order to solidify the emotional bonds growing between them. Lust she could handle. But this other, this tingling feeling whenever he looked at her, the sudden flush of warmth when he walked into a room, and—even worse—the strange restlessness when he was away from her … She wasn’t entirely certain she could deal with any emotion that resembled love.
What was she going to do? she wondered miserably. The regatta would be over in a couple of days, and it had been her last hope to find the Colonel. If she failed, then she’d have no choice but to go home, without the necklace, and leave Rick behind.
“Thinking about the idea for the book?” he asked suddenly.
Another temptation, she thought, nearly groaning aloud. That damn notion was already insidiously worming its way under her barriers. Just like Rick. The Daneforth/Murphy Law was working overtime today.
“If I were fresh out of college,” she said. “I would have jumped at it—”
“What’s to stop you?” he interrupted, never missing a beat with the pole. “A job you picked up because your own field didn’t have the opportunities you expected?”
“It’s not that easy, Rick. I don’t even know if I’m capable of writing such a book, let alone giving everything up to do it.”
“I think you’d write a terrific book. But I didn’t bring you out to argue the point. I brought you out so I could have the prettiest girl at the regatta in my boat.”
“Except for the hands,” she joked.
“You can’t be perfect.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You will pay for that.”
“Will you pull down my pants and—”
“Rick!” She sat up abruptly.
The boat rocked violently and Rick nearly overbalanced. He righted himself and pulled on the pole. But he had leaned his weight on it to keep from falling into the river and now it didn’t come up, clearly stuck in the muddy bottom. The boat drifted forward. Rick stretched between it and the pole as he tried to free the latter. When he could stretch no farther, he very calmly and very gently slid right into the water.
“Rick!” Jill yelped again, astonished and laughing at the same time.
“Good man, Kitteridge. Never lose your pole,” the dean of Trinity called out as he punted Lettice by in a boat.
“Words to live by, sir, thank you,” Rick replied, clinging to the pole while completely immersed from the waist down. “Jill, there’s a paddle in the boat. Be a good girl and come back for me.”
“Spoilsport,” she said, grabbing the paddle from the bottom of the boat. The straw boater was still perfectly straight on his head, and she giggled.
He glared at her. “Just hurry up!”
“Now play nicely,” Lettice said, in between her laughter.
“Extra pair of flannels you can have,” the Dean called out, well beyond them now. “Tell Mason at the house.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Jill managed to rescue him, in spite of the boat nearly tipping them both in at one point. She held onto the pole, while Rick finally hoisted himself into the bow. His white trousers were now a washed-out brown.
He tugged at the pole, but it was truly stuck in the mud. He took the paddle from her and turned them back toward the boat rental. “I hope you enjoyed one of Oxford’s greatest traditions. We’re going home now.”
His aplomb was ruined by the water pouring off his pants and shoes into the bottom of the boat.
“It was delightful,” Jill replied, still giggling. She kept her feet up out of the small pond growing under the seats. Lord, but he could make her laugh. She didn’t want to stop laughing—with Rick.
An hour later, they were back at the regatta. The dean’s trousers had fit, to Rick’s relief, although he still was squishy in the shoes. Jill tried not to laugh, but her control broke several times.
“Are you going to snicker for the rest of the day?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said.
“Just checking.”
She looped her hand through his arm in apology. As they strolled along the towpath, she realized she would probably never find the Colonel, but somehow she’d never felt more contented in her life.
It came when she least expected it.
“Jill! I don’t believe it!”
She turned around to see Annalissa Maxwell, a friend from home, waving to her from a group of people. A group of people that included Colonel Roger Fitchworth-Leeds. She stared at the slim, graying, ramrod-straight man for one brief moment that lasted forever.
“Annie, hi!” she called out, surprised at the calmness of her tone. Her brain whirred with panic and anticipation, while two armies of butterflies warred in her stomach.
“Friends from home?” Rick asked.
She paused, realizing she shouldn’t have made any acknowledgment in his presence. She should have excused herself from Rick somehow and come back later. But she hadn’t been thinking straight. She never thought straight when she was with Rick. Now she was stuck. She did the only thing she could under the circumstances. “I’ll introduce you.”
The small group consisted of Annalissa and her husband, two other American couples, one middle-aged and one young, and the Colonel. He was obviously staking out his pigeons from among the flock. Introductions were made and hands were shaken. Jill forced herself to remain calm as she took the Colonel’s hand in hers, resisting the urge to curl her fingers around the man’s stiff neck. What an actor.
“How lovely to see you again, Colonel,” she said, then added for the others’ benefit, “We met when he was in the States.”
“A pleasure.” His gaze slid past her as if she weren’t there.
She wondered if he was worried about what she might say to his new victims. She was tempted, but that wouldn’t get her necklace back.
Beyond strangling the man, though, she had absolutely no idea what to do next. So much of her time and thought had been given to Rick the past several days, she hadn’t prepared for this moment beyond some sketchy idea of getting the Colonel to think she was a pushover for a con job.
One of the men snapped his fingers and turned to Rick. “Of course! I thought I knew the name. You rowed for Oxford at one time. You took a blue, I think.”
Rick smiled. “At one time.”
Jill’s heartbeat quickened. It was too risky to have Rick with her at this moment. She’d been so long hiding her plots from him, and now one mistake on her part and everything would blow up in her face.
“So where are you staying in Oxford?” Annalissa asked. She was gazing at Rick with speculation. “If I had known, we could have had you over.”
Jill stifled a groan at the thought of the gossip the woman would probably spread back in Philadelphia. “Actually, I came over with Rick’s grandmother, Lettice. You know Lettice. We’re commuting every day from Rick’s home in the Cotswolds.”
The other woman’s eyes lit up. “Oh, the three of you come and stay with us. It’s ridiculous to do all that driving back and forth. We’ve all rented a huge house, so there’s plenty of room. We’re having a big farewell regatta party tomorrow night.”
“We couldn’t put you out,” Rick said.
“Don’t be silly,” Annalissa said, waving a dismissing hand. “The place has oodles of bedrooms, and after today there’s only one more day left anyway. Come and stay. You don’t want to miss the party. It’ll be fun.”
It was now or never, Jill thought, for any chance to get the goods on the Colonel and retrieve her necklace. But Rick and Lettice were not to have been part of the plan. Th
eir inclusion in the invitation meant the chance of Rick catching her at her scheming had risen to an ominous level. He would hate her. But three hundred years of Daneforth heritage—and possibly her parents’ marriage—were hanging on this opportunity. For once in her life she had to do the right thing.
“Wonderful!” she exclaimed with false excitement. “I know Lettice will love it too.” Her stomach was so tight from nervousness, it felt about to burst. But she leaned forward to Annalissa and said in a perfectly audible voice what only a complete idiot would make public. “I brought that diamond necklace of mine, you know the one, and I’ve been wondering where I would wear it. This will be perfect.”
Annalissa giggled.
Out of the corner of her eye, Jill was gratified to see a momentary pause in the Colonel’s movements as he struck a match for his cigarette.
She turned to Rick, who gave her a look that shook her right down to her pumps. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, so she smiled brightly, the picture of innocence. After a moment of hesitation, he smiled back. Her guilt instantly threatened to overwhelm her.
“You’re sure it’s no trouble?” he asked Annalissa.
“No, it’ll be great fun.” Everyone chimed in with similar comments … including the Colonel.
Jill felt the satisfaction down to her toes. As Holmes would say, “The game’s afoot.”
Eight
Rick whistled as he unloaded the overnight bags onto Annalissa’s drive, late the next afternoon. The regatta was done for the day, and the partying was about to start.
He hadn’t been too sure about this idea at first, but Jill had been so enthusiastic to visit with friends, he hadn’t been able to say no. Now he had the feeling something momentous would happen at this houseparty. And if it didn’t, then he’d help it along. Out from under his own roof, his constraints were crumbling fast.
Of course, there was still his grandmother, the chaperon extraordinaire.
“Oh! Dear, dear, dear,” Lettice said at that moment. He glanced around the hood of the boot as she went on to Jill, “I nearly forgot. Archie asked me to come to his little party and to stay the night. I’m sure you children don’t mind if I go. I meant to tell you earlier, but I’m getting so absentminded these days.”
The forgetfulness concerned him, but the opportunity was too good to pass up. He would be “alone” with Jill. The gods had heard his prayers. Rick grinned and put his grandmother’s case back in the boot.
“But Lettice. you can’t,” Jill began. She had an odd expression on her face.
“In a pig’s eye, I can’t!” Lettice snapped. “Really, Jill, I would think you young people would be glad to get rid of the old bat for once.”
“I only meant that Annalissa’s expecting you,” Jill said.
“Then she can unexpect me.”
“Let the ‘old bat’ go to her party, Jill,” Rick said, coming around the side of the car.
His grandmother whirled on him. Rick realized he had just committed a mortal sin.
“Would you like to rephrase that?” she asked, giving him the “regal” eye.
“Absolutely,” he said, and cleared his throat. “This might be the last time Grandmother gets to see her English friends—”
“I don’t think you want to say it that way,” Jill broke in, grinning at him.
He immediately backtracked, realizing how his words sounded. “It’s a great honor to be asked to the dean’s party.”
“And all the old bats are at death’s door anyway,” Lettice added in a sarcastic tone, “so they might as well enjoy themselves.”
“I wouldn’t touch that with a ten-foot pole,” Rick said, straight-faced. “How about if I drive you over to the dean’s?”
“You may.”
The front door to the house opened and Annalissa emerged, still wearing her regatta clothes. “Wonderful! You’re all just in time for pre-dinner party cocktails.”
Rick noticed the odd expression was back on Jill’s face as Lettice explained the slight change in plans and apologized to their hostess, who was very gracious.
“I’ll just drive you over, shall I?” Rick said, opening the car door for his grandmother.
Lettice patted Jill on the arm. “You’ll be fine, dear.”
Jill sighed and nodded. “Right.”
Lettice got back in the car. Rick slammed the door on the soft swirl of skirts and Chanel perfume. She would probably kill the dean, but he had no doubt the old man would go with a smile on his face.
He patted Jill on the arm too. “I’ll be back.”
He hopped into the car, unconsciously whistling the entire time in anticipation.
One hurdle down. One to go.
“He’s a hunk. Too bad I’m married. Otherwise I’d give you a fight.”
Jill had wondered when Annalissa would get to the probing. She dropped her small suitcase onto the bed and gazed around the room assigned to her. It was decorated in chintz roses and cherrywood.
“This is a lovely room,” she said, deciding to ignore totally the comments about Rick. Anything she said would only sound false, so she’d say nothing at all. Wanting to keep the subject changed, she focused on the closet door and the armoire next to it. “There’s certainly plenty of clothes space. Who are you renting from?”
“I don’t know. It was through an agency,” Annalissa said.
“I hope you didn’t go to too much trouble about Lettice. If I had known she had other plans, I would have told you.”
“No trouble.” Annalissa frowned, clearly frustrated by her friend’s lack of response to her hints about Rick. “Anyway, I’m glad to have the free bedroom.”
“Good.” Jill suppressed a twinge of anger at Lettice’s fast getaway. She had been depending on the woman’s presence to protect her from Rick, and to be an ally on some level concerning the Colonel. Instead, Lettice had deserted her—something Jill would never have expected. Her stomach tightened as she thought of the Colonel. She couldn’t believe her plan was finally happening. Her stomach tightened further as she thought of Rick being there while she put it into motion. She would have to play a cautious game here. But first, she had better get to work.
“I didn’t know you knew the Colonel,” she said to her friend. “Did you meet him when he was over in the States?”
Annalissa shook her head. “No. He’s a friend of the Youngs.” The older couple, Jill thought, remembering the introductions of the previous day. Annalissa went on. “He and John have been talking about doing some kind of import business. Bringing Rolls-Royces to the States, I think.”
“Oh.” Jill shrugged as if uninterested, although she guessed the Colonel was in the midst of a con. That would make her job a little harder.
“Don’t tell me you’re interested in him, rather than that hunk you brought with you?”
Jill choked. She made Rick sound like a wedge of day-old bread. “No, just being nosy.”
Annalissa grinned. “Then you are interested in Rick Kitteridge. I really wasn’t sure, so I put you in adjoining rooms—”
“Adjoining rooms!” Jill squawked, shocked at the idea. She glanced wildly around, realizing that the door she thought was a walk-in closet was actually an access to the next bedroom.
“Would you rather be together?” Annalissa asked.
“No!” Jill pushed away her astonishment and got hold of herself. “I’m just traveling with Rick’s grandmother, as a kind of favor to her. That’s all. How about if I just move to that other room …”
“Just say no, Jill. Surely that will be easy, since you’re not interested. Besides, I’ll need the room for unexpected guests. There’s bound to be one or two who can’t make it home.” Annalissa grinned like a cat as she strolled to the door leading to the hallway. “Come down for drinks when you’re ready. We’ll all be waiting.”
She glided out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Jill rolled her eyes. Everybody was a comedian.
She turned and
stared at the “closet” door. Tendrils of fear feathered through her when she considered how thin the wood seemed. Too thin to hold back what was beyond, she was sure. This was a complication she hadn’t even considered. Annalissa’s comment about just saying no came back to her.
Yes seemed all too easy.
*
“… and did you hear about the gentleman cat burglar who’s at the races this year, Elliot? He’s robbed two houses already. Wouldn’t it be fun if he comes here?”
“He could retire on the loot here, old lad.”
Rick glanced around at the farewell regatta party. The conversations were amazing, including the one taking place near him. The jovial, even raucous mood indicated this had been a successful race year with no regrets. A number of people he knew were there, and several visiting Americans. Everyone was trussed to the nines, including himself.
He tugged at the restricting collar of his starched shirt and wondered why Americans thought it a kick to dress up like Lord Peter Wimsey. It was easy to spot Jill in the elegant crowd, though. No other woman had quite her charm and vitality. Her strapless midnight blue cocktail dress shimmered with beads and sequins, the bodice cut impossibly low while the material curved up and around, precariously cupping her flesh before ending in a point above each breast. Her heavy brown hair looked almost chestnut in the light, and she’d pulled it back in a chignon, revealing the delicate line of her jaw. What the high heels did for her trim ankles and calves was enough to make him a leg man.
Hell, he thought in amusement, he was an all-over man when it came to Jill.
But it was the ring of white fire around her throat that drew the eye. Diamonds set in an old-fashioned pattern glimmered brightly before ending in a large pendant nestled just at the cleft of her breasts. Fabulously expensive diamonds, he had no doubt. The faceted pendant had to be at least ten carats. The stones seemed to draw warmth from her flesh, just as they should.