“You ought to hear my
Rubber Ducky
,” Jed admitted, grinning at her.
“Please,” she said, as she turned her back to him. “I couldn’t take it. Now let’s get me unstuck.”
With one hand free now, Jed worked the cuff link loose. She turned around to face him. A sigh almost escaped her lips, but the breath caught in her throat, as she found herself trapped by Jed’s nearness. She glanced up at him and instantly felt an electrifying charge jolt through her. The alcove seemed to tilt at a wild angle, and she mentally tried to force it back into place. But she couldn’t. His gaze grew hot, and color grazed his cheekbones.
“Jed,” she whispered.
His mouth covered hers.
Jed felt as if he were drowning. His blood thrummed heavily, vibrantly through his veins. Her lips were incredibly soft, and her response was a sizzling invitation to further delights. Rae whimpered in the back of her throat, as if in protest. Then her tongue mated urgently with his in feminine challenge and surrender. His control snapped.
He crushed her to him. His fingers sank into the tender roundness of her derriere, and he pressed her hips into his at the demand of his rapidly hardening body. Her arms were tight around his shoulders, her body a perfect fit. And her mouth … it teased and tortured, promising unique fulfillment. Like a man too long in the desert, he drank of her sweetness, trying to draw her into himself with just the kiss. Yet he craved more. No other woman had ever provoked such a response in him. She was incomparable, he thought. Her fragile exterior hid a core of steel
and passion. A man could spend years peeling away the layers of Rachel Barkeley, and still not find her essence.
Abruptly the kiss broke off. Shocked and bewildered, Jed stared at her as she backed up against the wall. It occurred to him that all his memories of Rae were from long ago, and that’s what had made the ferocity of the kiss so shocking. Then, she’d been like a pesky little … sister. But she wasn’t little any more, and she’d never been his sister. The expression on her beautiful features reflected the same shock and bewilderment. The kiss had obviously taken her by surprise as much as it had him.
“Rae?”
“Great seeing you again. Hope you enjoy the ball,” she mumbled, as she adjusted her bodice in an unnecessary gesture. She pushed aside the alcove curtain. “Good-bye, Jed.”
He realized that she actually meant to leave, and he reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her. When she faced him again, he couldn’t think of a thing to say. Her body was stiff, and he let go of her arm. She didn’t move away. In desperation, he finally said, “About the estate …”
Immediately, the flustered Rae was gone, and he knew the mention of the estate had been a mistake.
“What about the estate?” she asked in a cool voice.
“It’s not important,” he said, shrugging his shoulders in dismissal.
She raised her eyebrows. “Now, why don’t I believe that?”
Jed sighed. It was his own fault for bringing up the subject. He decided he might as well have put a sign on his back that said ‘Kick Me.’ “It really wasn’t important, Rae. Just that there’s no dispute of ownership. The estate’s yours.”
“Nice of your company to accept that little fact,” she murmured, and stepped back into the ballroom. “But I expected to hear that from you days ago.”
She turned and walked briskly away. Jed stepped out of the alcove and hurried after her. Taking her arm again, he walked along with her. She didn’t pull away. “You really ought to hang around sometime and finish a discussion, Rae. We hadn’t even gotten to the kiss yet.”
She stumbled, then quickly recovered. “It was only a kiss. Men and women kiss all the time. Happens every day.”
“If you think that was
only
a kiss, then you haven’t been kissed nearly enough,” he said, grinning at her. “Don’t worry, though, I’m sure we can remedy the situation.”
“I’ve been kissed plenty of times!” she exclaimed in outrage, as her cheeks flushed with color. She drew a visible breath in an obvious attempt to hold her temper. “Forget the kiss—”
“No way, lady.”
“Jed!” She waved a hand. “What is your company going to do for a site now?”
Trying to find the right words, he hesitated for a long moment. “I’ve been authorized to look for a new one.”
She stopped and he was forced to stop with her. Turning, she stared at him for an equally long
moment, before asking, “And what happens if you don’t?”
Barely aware of the crush of people passing by, he could almost feel a deep chasm opening between them. “Rae, let it go. For tonight, just let it go.”
Her green-gray eyes reflected first confusion at his words, then understanding, then hurt. “You’ll be coming back to me, if you don’t find another site for your condos, won’t you? Nothing I said made a difference. You still want the estate.”
“The company does.” Jed willed his gaze to stay on hers. “I’ve been busting my backside for the last two days, trying to find a new site for the complex. I had no problems with Merriman. He was willing to sell. You’re not. If I don’t find a site, I have no option but to come back to you. I told you once before that it was the perfect place for the complex, and my boss still feels that way.”
“It’s that damn deep water,” she muttered, the disgust obvious in her voice. “The way everybody acts, you’d think the place was the fountain of youth or something. Well, bring on your high-pressure sales tactics, Jed Waters. But I’m not selling!”
She started to walk away again, and he pulled her back. “Oh, no, you don’t. I get the last word this time, Rachel Barkeley. I had to do some fast talking to get Atlantic to agree to look for another site. Right now, I’m the best thing you’ve got going for you. Whatever happens, you remember that. And once the business is over, you better get ready for the real fight, so remember this.”
Ignoring the gasps of the people closest to them,
he pulled her against him and planted a thorough kiss on her surprised lips. Finally, he let her go.
He hid a grin of satisfaction as he walked away.
Shaken, it took Rae several precious seconds before she could get her brain in gear. She realized she’d never before been so caught up in a kiss. Two kisses. And from Jed. Then his words sank in, and a thrill of joy shot through her. He was actually on her side over the estate! He was fighting to protect her interests as much as possible from his own company. It was a miracle turnabout …
Wait a darn minute, Rachel Barkeley, and think
, she sternly told herself. Jed had snuck onto the estate in an obvious attempt to persuade Uncle Merry to change his mind about the sale. Not exactly the act of a forthright businessman. Now, two days later, Jed had turned into Mr. Nice Guy, just because
she
wasn’t a willing seller? And the company had supposedly all but knuckled under, because they had no legal claim beyond breach of contract? Yet if the estate was the most desirable site, the logical course of action would be to press her to sell. Instead, Jed told her that was the last thing he wanted to do. Unless it was a reverse tactic …
“Why, that son-of-a …”
She clamped her jaw shut on the rest of the curse. She couldn’t think of a better way for him to get her on his side than to pretend he was on hers. It was more difficult to say “no,” when someone was being understanding and sympathetic—even
over something that meant a great deal to that person. Obviously, Jed still wanted the estate for his company, only this time he was going about getting it in a much more subtle manner. If he was “busting his butt” to find another site, then she was a monk! Talk about slick operators, she thought angrily. Used-car salesmen could take lessons from Jed Waters.
Lifting her gown slightly off the floor so she wouldn’t trip over the hem, she hurried after him, determined to give him a piece of her mind. But when she spotted him heading for the exit to the lobby, she realized that venting her anger would be useless. He’d only dismiss her conclusions as farcical. She had no proof, just instinct—a good strong instinct that she was being softened for the kill. Still, it might be interesting to let him think that, she acknowledged with an inward grin.
When she was finally beside him, she looped her arm through his. Not stopping, he glanced at her, desire latent in his hazel eyes. A more primitive thrill shot through her this time, reminding her of their kiss. She realized that it probably hadn’t meant anything to him. Her hurt stiffened her spine. “Jed, I want you to know how much I … appreciate what you’ve told me.” She hid the sour taste in her mouth under a smile. “You realize, though, that I’m now forewarned.”
“I just wanted you to know that the estate is business,” he said. “It’s my job, and although I don’t have to like it, I will do it.”
“I understand that.” She paused for a moment, trying to find the right words to show proper sympathy. “I probably understand your position
more than most people would. After all, with my family’s banking interests, I’ve been hearing about how businesses work since before I could walk.”
“Good,” he said, his steps slowing. A slow smile broke out on his face. “Could I interest you in a cup of coffee? It’d be a change from the lemonade we used to drink.”
Rae hesitated. Tempting as his offer was, she decided a momentary retreat was safer. The ball was almost over anyway. “Much as I’d love to, I have to be going.”
To her surprise, he only nodded and said, “Let me walk you out to your car.”
“I have to get my cape,” she said, as relief and an odd disappointment washed through her.
As they walked in silence toward the cloakroom, she decided her disappointment was due to the change in Jed. The Jed she remembered had had integrity. No matter how distasteful the job his father had delegated, Jed had always done it well and without an adolescent complaint. She wondered what had happened in the intervening years to twist him so.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she reached the cloakroom. She retrieved her black wool cape from the attendant. Jed took it from her and wrapped it around her shoulders. Touching his mustache, he asked, “How badly would I blow this truce, if I suggested we have dinner together tomorrow night?”
He wasn’t wasting any time, she thought with disgust. She had enough sense to know that some companies would do almost anything to get the land they wanted, and Atlantic Developers was a
very powerful conglomerate. Much as she wanted to avoid the headaches Atlantic could cause her, she admitted it was better to face the problem head on. That meant dealing with Jed. Taking a deep breath, she said, “I think the truce would hold up.”
At his almost boyish grin, Rae sighed inwardly. She felt as if she’d just agreed to go three rounds with Muhammad Ali. If only she could load her glove with iron horseshoes.
“Eight o’clock?”
“Fine, fine,” she said, as she racked her brain for some solid ammunition. An anvil wouldn’t hurt. She barely noticed when he tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow and began leading her out of the ballroom.
Jed was right in one respect, she decided. As Atlantic’s representative, he had a good deal of input into the company about the estate. If he recommended that the company should make a real effort to find another site, it probably would. Now if only she
could
get him on her side. If only he could see the estate as more than a viable piece of property …
“Got everything?” he asked, then added, “Your purse. You don’t have your purse.”
“I never bring one,” she said, as his words captured her attention. She patted the cape at waist level. “Those little evening bags are ridiculous, and I wind up having to hold the thing all the time. Instead, I keep what I need in a hidden pocket.” She chuckled. “Now that I’ve let out my secret, I’ll probably get mugged.”
“Or else you’ll be taking the dogs everywhere you go,” he said, smiling wryly.
Rae made a face at him. “They try that anyway.”
As they walked toward the lobby exit, she admitted getting him to fall in love with the estate was really a silly idea. She had been forgetting that, for all the time he’d spent around the estate as a boy, he had no personal attachment to it. Still, Jed’s opinion
had
to be a deciding factor with Atlantic. He had handled the transaction with Uncle Merry, and he was still in charge of acquiring property for the marina complex.
“Rae? Are you married?”
Startled, she glanced up at him. He was grinning at her.
“I thought that would get your attention,” he said. “Now that we’ve established that you’re not married—”
“We have?”
“Sure. No wild-eyed husband punched me out for that kiss.”
She refused to answer that, and instead said, “What about you, Jed? Are you married?”
He shook his head. “I almost was. It was right before I graduated from Villanova. One day the girl said, “I found the cutest house for us, and the patio is a great place for my sorority to meet.”
“Oh, Lordy,” Rae muttered, as a vision of a pink-cashmere-clad cheerleader ran through her mind.
He grinned. “After that, I made it a practice to leave her alone with my college roommate as much as possible. He could afford the patio.”
She giggled. “You are a stinker, Jed.”
“Yeah. I tell myself that every year at their anniversary party. On the patio.”
Laughing, she shook her head. They reached the hotel’s revolving doors.
“Any entanglements?” he asked, squeezing next to her and pushing the door around to the outside.
“Once, almost. Like you,” she said, remembering. “It was the oddest thing. We were having a before-dinner drink at his place, and I went into the bathroom. He’d left the shower door open, and there was a damp shower cap hanging over the shower head. His initials were monogrammed on the cap. I kept staring all evening at his perfectly groomed hair, and giggling.”
“He … he …” Jed burst into laughter, as they emerged into the chill night air.
“I know. It seems like a dumb reason not to get married. But the truth is, the shower cap just made me realize how many other things were wrong. It never would have worked. After that, there always seemed to be a shower cap or something else wrong with my dates. Overly cautious, I guess.”