by Diana Palmer
“Poor you,” he corrected. “You’re falling for the guy, aren’t you?”
She laughed dully. “I think it’s psychological. The house is so much like Thornfield Hall in Jane Eyre, and I met him suddenly in the middle of the night…maybe it’s just my wild romantic streak acting up.” She pressed close to him. “Don’t bother about me, I always get my act together eventually. Where are we going?”
“After we get off the bus? Oh, I thought I’d take you to Limelight.”
It was an Atlanta club with good food, good music and bright lights. “I’d love it,” she said enthusiastically. “I feel as if I’ve been hibernating. Will I do like this?”
“You’ll simply raise eyebrows, and I’ll grin at your radiance,” he returned. “You’ll do fine.”
She did raise eyebrows, but she had a wonderful time. She even managed to get Cameron out of her brain for whole minutes at a time. Admittedly, her fear of facing him was the main reason she stayed out so late with Dick. It was almost four o’clock when she got back to the house.
“I didn’t realize it was so late,” he said ruefully.
“Well, an hour to get there and an hour back,” she reminded him. “Plus the time in the middle. It doesn’t matter. I enjoyed it.”
“So did I.” He bent and kissed her cheek. “Ciao, love.”
“See you. I’ll make sure you’re on the guest list for Dad’s party,” she added with a grin.
“You’d better!”
He drove off with a wave of his hand, and Merlyn walked quietly in the front door. She was surprised that it wasn’t locked, until she entered the brightly lit hall and heard noises coming from the den.
“Cameron, don’t,” Delle was saying. “Honestly, you know I don’t like being kissed so roughly. And you’ve mussed my dress!”
“It will press,” he muttered.
“Stop that!” Delle burst out. “Cameron, what in the world has gotten into you tonight?” There was a flurry of movement, and Delle stormed out into the hall, disheveled and flustered. She stopped dead when she saw Merlyn, and Cameron came out behind her, his eyes flaring as he spotted Merlyn standing frozen in the hallway.
His very appearance spelled trouble. He was wearing his dress slacks, but he’d shed his jacket and vest, and his white shirt was open all the way down the front over that sexy broad chest. His hair was ruffled, his eyes glittering. He looked very much as he had in the closet, and she knew why.
The thought infuriated her, especially when he smiled in a mocking, superior way.
“Just getting in?” he murmured.
Merlyn felt her blood pressure shoot straight up. She wanted to hit both of them. She couldn’t remember ever having felt such murderous rage in all her life. Her eyes blazed with green fire in her white face.
Cameron’s expression suddenly altered, puzzling her, as she lifted her chin proudly.
“I see I wasn’t the only one enjoying myself,” she commented, staring pointedly at Delle’s swollen mouth. “Of course, you two are engaged, aren’t you?” she added with rare venom and a cold smile. “Anything goes these days.”
She started past Cameron, and her expression made him flinch almost imperceptibly. “Good night, Mr. Thorpe,” she said politely. “Miss Radner.”
Delle was giggling, although it sounded as though it was prompted more by nervousness than humor. Cold fish, Merlyn thought. She ascended the stairs as gracefully as her mother ever had, though she had to fight to keep her spine from stiffening with anger. She didn’t look back once, although she imagined she felt eyes watching her. Delle’s girlish voice floated up in excited whispers, but Merlyn couldn’t make out the words. She went straight to her room, locked the door and bolted it.
She didn’t understand why she cried. It wasn’t like her at all. But her mind kept going back to Cameron’s surprising ardor. She’d once thought him a cold man, but her opinion had reversed quite dramatically. He was as potent as aged wine, and she could still remember the touch of his hands, even after taking a hot shower and two aspirin to help her sleep. She tossed and turned wildly, picturing him over and over again holding Delle, kissing her, touching her as he’d touched Merlyn.
“Libertine!” she muttered harshly and buried her tearful face in her pillow. It was dawn before she finally managed to sleep. And almost noon before she woke up.
She dressed in a pair of gray slacks and a candy-striped blouse to go downstairs, putting her dark hair in a bun on top of her head. She felt old today. Old and betrayed, although why she should feel that way about Cameron Thorpe, she didn’t know. He and Delle were engaged, for God’s sake! What business of hers was it what they did in private?
“Good morning, dear,” Lila called to her from the study. “I didn’t want to wake you. Cameron said you’d come in quite late.”
She felt her face go rigid, but she managed a smile, just the same. “Yes, I did. Dick and I went dancing in Atlanta.”
“Did you have a good time?”
“Very nice, thank you.” She sat down. “Have you already started without me?” she asked, glancing toward the small computer screen.
“Just a few lines to get the feel of the next chapter. Here,” she said, indicating a diagram. “This is where I’d like to jump to next.”
“The wedding of Henry the Seventh and Elizabeth of York.” Merlyn nodded. “That was an exciting period. Did you ever read about the interesting plots hatched against Henry by his mother-in-law, Elizabeth Woodville, and his wife’s aunt, Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy? They make fascinating reading.” She began to relate them, and Lila listened avidly, bursting into laughter when Merlyn finished. “Oh, yes, get that all down for me, please. I’ll find some way to incorporate it into the story line.”
“I thought you might like it.” Merlyn frowned, suddenly aware that she hadn’t seen Amanda. “Where’s Amanda?”
“She went to Atlanta with Cameron to put the Radners on a plane to Charleston.”
“My late grandmother was from Charleston,” Merlyn said. Her eyes narrowed. “She had breeding and elegant manners.”
“And the Radners don’t,” Lila murmured dryly. “No, you needn’t apologize,” she said, stopping the quick reply forming on Merlyn’s lips. “I’m well aware of the failings of my future in-laws. They do rather cast a shadow on that city of cities.”
“Well, with all due respect,” Merlyn sighed, “I hope they won’t be back before my work here is done.”
Lila started. “You aren’t anxious to leave?” she asked.
Merlyn looked down at her hands. “I have…other commitments,” she murmured, remembering that she needed to phone her father today about that party. “I’ve enjoyed this very much, but you’re very nearly at the point where you won’t require my services further. And if you need anything additional, you can always phone me.”
“I’ve grown fond of you, Merlyn. I’d hate to think that we were going to lose touch.” Lila’s wise old eyes searched the younger woman’s. “Is it Cameron? I realize he’s made it difficult for you here.”
“He doesn’t intimidate me,” Merlyn said smoothly. “Not at all.”
“He intimidates Delle, though,” Lila murmured. “He was about as friendly as a heated lobster this morning. Much more irritable than usual. You didn’t have words with him?”
“Not at all. He and Delle were still up when I came home.” Merlyn yawned and stretched with pretended indifference. “I just said good-night and went to bed.”
“He was quite curious about your friend Mr. Langley.”
“Was he?” Merlyn asked. She glanced at Lila. “Not his kind of people, of course.” She gasped as she realized the implications of that sarcastic remark. “Oh, I didn’t mean that.”
Lila smiled. “You don’t know Cameron. He doesn’t choose his friends for social position or wealth. He never has.”
“He’s marrying Delle for her father’s firm, though, isn’t he?” Merlyn asked curtly.
Lila’s eyebrows
rose. “Is he marrying her? Lately I’ve been having doubts.”
“You wouldn’t if you’d seen them this morning,” Merlyn muttered.
Lila laughed softly. “Oh.”
She put so much expression into that single syllable that Merlyn actually blushed. She got up. “I’ll go and get my books and be right back,” she said quickly.
Her face was still burning when she got to her room. She didn’t care about that big ape. She didn’t! But why had it hurt so much to see him that way with Delle? She closed her mind to it and went back downstairs with her arms full of books.
***
Cameron didn’t come back until late afternoon. Amanda ran alongside him, her arms full of boxes, her eyes flashing with laughter.
“Hi, Grandmama!” she called. “Look what Daddy bought me. I’ve got worlds of dresses, and new slips, and even a pair of jeans! I must go up and try them on right now, to show you!”
Merlyn was sprawled on the carpet with a book about the house of Tudor. She glanced up as Cameron walked into the room but quickly turned her eyes back to the book.
“Have a good trip, dear?” Lila asked. “Amanda seems rather excited.”
“We went shopping,” he said. He stood in the doorway, hands in his pockets, and stared at Merlyn for so long that she got to her feet in self-defense. Her heart was beating wildly. Her eyes glanced off his as she dropped into a chair near Lila’s desk.
“No date tonight, Miss Forrest?” he asked with cold sarcasm.
“No date, Mr. Thorpe,” she replied sweetly. “Some of us work.”
His dark eyes narrowed. “Would you care to elaborate on that?”
“We’ve just finished a chapter,” Lila said, pulling out the diskettes before she turned off her computer and printer. She put the diskettes carefully into their jackets and then into their box. “Have to be so careful with these little devils,” she murmured. “But it’s worlds faster than a typewriter. Did the Radners get off all right, dear?”
“Yes. They sent their regards, Miss Forrest,” he added, perching himself on the corner of the desk. “Since you weren’t available when they left.”
“How polite,” she said quietly. She glanced at him, her eyes approving his beige slacks and patterned brown shirt. He looked all male in casual clothes, and she remembered suddenly the way his skin felt under his shirt. It was all she could do not to catch her breath at the memory.
“We’d better go into the dining room for dinner,” Lila said, glancing at her watch. “I’ll just fetch Amanda.”
Merlyn stood up, but Cameron blocked her path.
“I wanted to say something to you in private,” he said curtly. “About last night…”
“Now, don’t you worry,” she said with a honeyed smile. “I understand perfectly that you wouldn’t want me to get my hopes up just because you kissed me. Delle has gobs of money and I’m penniless.”
His chest rose and fell heavily, quickly. “What I wanted to say,” he continued coldly, “was that Mother mentioned you were wearing a designer dress.”
“I borrowed it,” she said flatly.
“And you came back in a Jaguar,” he added. “I’d like to know what’s going on.”
Her eyebrows arched. “Do you think I might be an eccentric millionairess?” she asked with a grin.
His dark eyes narrowed. “I’m beginning to wonder quite a lot about you, lady. You’re too damned mysterious to suit me.”
“Just the right woman for you, in fact, if you’d admit it,” she sighed, batting her eyelashes at him. Bluff, girl, bluff, she told herself. “Well, the truth is, I have tons of money, and I’m in the market for a hunk who’s good in bed and wants to take care of me. Interested?” she flirted.
His eyes roved slowly down her body and back up again. “I don’t like the effect you have on me,” he said quietly. “I’ve never gotten hot enough to drag a woman into a closet before.”
Her face felt unusually warm. She dropped her eyes to his vest. “Really? How exciting! See, I’m getting to you, Mr. Rochester.”
“Yes,” he said, but he wasn’t teasing.
“No need to worry, though,” she said. “I’ll be gone in a week, and you can get back to normal again.”
“A week?” He scowled. “I thought you and Mother had barely begun.”
“I work fast,” she told him. “And shouldn’t we go into the dining room?”
He reached out and touched her throat. Just that—warm, strong fingers moving gently on her skin. But it was enough to stop her in her tracks.
“I want you,” he said in an odd tone.
She felt as if the breath had been knocked out of her. Her eyes stared up helplessly into his.
“You’re totally unsuitable,” he said. His breath was coming hard now, quick. “Too reckless, too mercurial.”
“Look here, buster, you’re no bargain either,” she said in a breathless tone. “You staid banker types leave me cold.”
He shook his head. “I got you hotter than hell,” he said in a gruff whisper. “I’d bet half my stock that you’ve never been that way with another man, either.”
“I have!” she burst out, but she sounded and looked frantic, threatened.
“No,” he breathed. “Where did you really go last night? Not to a hotel. You just wanted me to think that.”
Her lower lip trembled. It wasn’t fair! How could she think straight while he was touching her? “We…went to a nightclub.”
His fingers moved lower, to the vee neck of her blouse, and traced its outline. “As I thought,” he murmured. “A totally innocent evening.”
She glared at him. “Yours wasn’t,” she ground out.
“But it was, Merlyn,” he said quietly, and his chiseled mouth curved softly. “I kissed Delle twice and felt your mouth both times.”
Excitement highlighted her high cheekbones, brightened her wide eyes.
“A virgin,” he breathed angrily. His fingers moved up to catch her long hair in a grip that hurt, and his eyes stabbed into hers. “Damn you, Merlyn!”
“I didn’t drag you into the closet!” she whispered on a sob.
“You came, though,” he accused. “You came, and you let me strip you and touch you.…Oh, God, I could feel your skin in my sleep, you little tease!”
She was shaking now, trembling with mingled fury and fear and desire. “I’m not a tease,” she bit off. “Let me go!”
His dark eyes narrowed menacingly. “What would you call it?” he demanded. He glanced down at her blouse. “You led me on, party girl.”
“You were the one who started taking my dress off,” she threw back, green eyes blazing. “Men are supposed to have some kind of control over themselves, aren’t they?”
His eyes widened with disbelief. “You thought I could touch you that way and just break it off with no ill effects?”
Her voice faltered. “Couldn’t you? Adam always…could.”
He drew in a harsh breath. “Who’s Adam?”
She lowered her eyes. “The man I was going to marry.”
He stiffened. She glanced up at him, puzzled by the waiting stillness of his body.
“You were engaged?” he asked.
She nodded.
“And you’re still a virgin?” he persisted.
She glowered up at him. “He didn’t want me. Not that way, at least. He wanted…something my father had.” That much was true; he’d wanted her father’s millions. “But I thought it was just gentlemanly restraint that kept him so respectful of my body.”
“My God,” he said heavily.
“Are you shocked, Mr. Rochester?” she asked with a bitter little laugh.
His eyes met hers. “Yes. Shocked that any man could want something more than you.”
Her lips turned up at the corners. “Thank you,” she said with quiet pride. “It sounds trite, but I did need that.”
He frowned. “Is that why you came to work for my mother? To recuperate?”
She nodded. �
��In a way. Could I go now?”
“Did you want him?”
That was a question she hadn’t expected. Her lips parted, but no sound passed them. She searched his dark face and realized quite suddenly that she hadn’t wanted Adam. She hadn’t known what wanting really was until Cameron Thorpe dragged her into a closet and unzipped her evening gown.
“No,” she said slowly. “I don’t believe I really did.”
“Did you love him?”
“I thought so,” she replied with a faint smile. “I don’t think I knew exactly what love was.”
“Apparently you still don’t know what sex is,” he said flatly. “You’d better not let me go that far again, Merlyn, for your own protection. You’re damned vulnerable with me.”
Her eyes glittered up at him. “I didn’t tempt you in the first place!”
“Like hell!” he returned. “You were flirting for all you were worth.”
“It’s my way!” she flashed. “It’s my defense mechanism! Most men run for the hills when I start.…”
“I’m not most men,” he said with menace in his deep, slow voice. “You throw me off balance and that’s dangerous. I could get hungry enough not to remember Delle or your virginity.”
“I’ll keep my blouses fastened to the throat and dig out my chastity belt,” she promised, easing away from him. “Don’t you worry, sir, I’ll do my best to protect you from yourself.”
He cocked his head, eyeing her narrowly, as if he saw through the mask of her outrageous humor to the frightened woman underneath.
“After all, you have your life mapped out,” she persisted, moving toward the door. “You might just remind yourself occasionally that you’re engaged.”
His bold, slow gaze moved down her body and back up again, and it was every bit as intimate as his touch had been the night before, in the hot closet. “Why did you let me?” he asked gently, capturing her eyes.
Her lips trembled. She couldn’t get words past them.