“Because I like you when you do.”
She gazed at him for a fleeting second longer, and he felt as if she’d just let down an invisible barrier between them. Then the doorbell rang, and her expression instantly became guarded. The dogs raced for the door.
“You can clean up the mess,” she said. Samson raced back into the kitchen and began to gobble down Delilah’s cache. She smiled sweetly. “You can also clean up the mess he’s going to make later, after he gets sick.”
“Thanks,” he muttered, as she left to answer the door.
Samson gave the now bare floor a final lick, then galloped after her. Jed followed at a slower pace, down a short wide hallway into the foyer. A grand curving staircase wound its way up and backward to a landing high above, and as he passed underneath it he couldn’t help but admire it once again. If a prettily pouting Scarlett O’Hara were to suddenly come sweeping down, he wouldn’t have been at all surprised. It was like stepping back in time, he admitted. The image of Rae, dressed in her red gown, gracefully descending the staircase ran through his mind. He grinned, thinking Scarlett would have run a poor second. His amusement faded as he wondered if strangers would care about the mansion’s beauty and heritage as much as Rae did, if it were turned into a clubhouse. He doubted it. High piping voices reached his ears, breaking into his musings.
Jed rounded the staircase to find the front door wide open and three young boys racing after the dogs outside on the front lawn. Rae was talking animatedly to a older male version of herself, who was lifting suitcases from the back of a Mercedes. Rand Barkeley had been a less frequent visitor to the house, but Jed had met the good-looking, poised older brother on several occasions. As a teenager, Jed had always felt inadequate and awkward
around Rand, and that old sense of insecurity rose within him again, making him reluctant to go outside and greet Rae’s brother. He wished Burrows had returned with some decent clothes. His tuxedo trousers and shirt were hardly appropriate dress for morning and were sure to raise eyebrows. He had no wish to embarrass Rae.
Boys and dogs suddenly burst through the open door. They skidded to a halt in front of him. He noted that the two older boys were strikingly dark-haired and blue-eyed, while the younger was less dramatic in coloring, with medium brown hair and eyes. Delilah growled at him.
Jed grinned at the dog, admiring her determination. “Hi.”
“Who are you?” asked the youngest.
Jed judged him to be about four or five years old. “Jed. Who are you?”
“Michael. I’m five.”
“I’m thirty-five.”
“That’s old,” said Michael.
Jed smiled. “Yeah, but I get to have a great big birthday cake”—he made a round circle with his arms—“to hold all the candles. And it gets bigger every year.”
The young boy’s eyes widened. “Wow!”
“I’m Mark,” the middle boy said. “Are you the electrician?”
Jed blinked at the odd question. “No.”
Mark’s face fell. “Oh.”
“An electrician almost blew himself up fixing our lights, and Mark missed it,” volunteered the oldest. He thrust out his hand in an adult gesture of politeness. “I’m Randall Barkeley, sir.”
Jed shook his hand, then in turn shook the other boys’ hands. Each one had a disconcerting adult grip, as if they’d practiced many times—even young Michael. “I’m very pleased to meet all of you.”
“There you are, Jed,” Rae said, as she and her brother came into the house. “Rand, you remember Jed Waters.”
“Of course,” Rand said, offering his hand. “I envied the way you could do backflips so effortlessly. I damn near killed myself trying to imitate you.”
Shocked and surprised, Jed nearly forgot to shake the man’s hand. Quickly recovering, he took Rand’s firm grip in his own and said, “I don’t think I could do them now. It’s been too many years. How are you?”
“Fine. How’s your dad?”
“Fine,” Jed said, again surprised that Rand would have even remembered his family. He realized he was still shaking hands and immediately let go.
“So Rae’s kidnapped you,” Rand said with a grin. He ignored his sister’s gasp, and added, “She certainly makes life interesting.”
Astonished that Rand seemed to be enjoying the idea of Rae as a kidnapper, Jed stared at him for a long moment, then grinned widely. He transferred his gaze to Rae’s delicately flushed features and murmured, “I think she makes it more than interesting.”
“Don’t you have to go, Rand?” she asked in a caustic tone.
“Much as I wish I didn’t, Alicia will be waiting.” He grinned at his sons. “Okay, guys, you’re off duty. Cram as much fun as you can into the weekend, but don’t tear the house apart, and I’ll pick you up tomorrow night.”
Confused by Rand’s odd words, Jed watched the boys grin back at their father in complete understanding. He realized there was only one enviable thing Rand Barkeley had now, family. Unconsciously, his gaze returned to Rae. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she was looking at her nephews with a mixture of love and amusement.
Rand offered his hand again, saying, “Good to see you again, Jed.”
“Same here.”
After shaking hands, Rand added, “And good luck. I believe Rae intends to use the boys as new and unsurpassed torture.”
Jed laughed.
“What’s unsurplussed?” asked Michael.
“Unsurpassed,” Rae corrected, ruffling his hair. “That’s you, sweetie.”
Rand smiled. “Good-bye, guys, Jed.” His voice went up two octaves and he added, “Good-bye, Auntie Rae.”
She made a face at him.
The door had no sooner closed after their father than the boys erupted with a thousand questions and comments. Jed chuckled, as Rae waved a hand to silence them.
“First things first. We’ll go upstairs and unpack and see Harvey. And please don’t let him out of his cage.” The boys groaned. “Burrows says it took him three days to find him the last time. Michael, you can sit on Samson later!”
“Did you really kidnap that man, Aunt Rae?” Mark, the middle boy, asked.
“Yes. Now upstairs.”
“Wow!”
Admiring the curving outline of her jean-clad derriere as she followed the boys up the staircase, Jed smiled to himself. He could still feel her lips on his. Her mouth had been so soft and incredibly sweet in surrender. She’d admitted she liked him—and he knew she didn’t want to. Her emotional defenses were weakening, and so were his. His career was in the balance, and yet he was more worried about pleasing Rae than his company. Unfortunately, there had been no opportunity so far to really talk to her, and it looked like there wouldn’t be until after her nephews left tomorrow evening. He wondered what would have happened if the boys’ visit had been delayed another week …
If Rand’s words were correct, then the boys’ arrival had been a last minute plan by Rae. His smile widened when he realized she was using them as a form of physical protection. But who didn’t she trust? Him?
Or herself?
“And this is a front door too.”
Rae sighed in exasperation as Michael, her youngest nephew, grinned happily up at his new friend. Closing the door in question after all of them had passed through, Jed smiled indulgently at the child.
“I know,” he said, transferring his smile to her. “A long time ago people used to sail on the river, so everyone had their front doors put in backwards so they could watch out for pirates. Then
everyone got smart and started using the road, so they put in a second front door. But,” his voice lowered dramatically, “on a dark and stormy night you can still hear the pirate ghosts howl as they search the river in vain for ships to loot.”
As the boys chattered excitedly about pirates and gold, Rae hid a smile. She hadn’t been much older than Michael when she’d proudly told the same story to Jed. Years later, she’d been disappointed to learn that the pirates had been part of Uncle Merry’s imagination.
“Beat ya to the river!” Mark suddenly yelled.
The older boys and Samson immediately broke into a run across the patio and down the sloping lawn. Little Michael’s chin quivered as he stopped and watched.
“They run too fast.”
Jed scooped him up in a fireman’s hold, saying, “We may still lose, buddy, but we’ll have fun doing it!”
Michael’s high-pitched giggles reached Rae’s ears as Jed dashed after the rest of the group. She looked down at Delilah, who continued at her mistress’s slower pace, and said, “He found Samson’s weakness for people food, and now he’s got a friend for life. Michael thinks he’s the best thing since ice cream. Mark thinks his being kidnapped is great. Randall discovered he likes Harvey, and Burrows treats him like a treasured guest. Even my brother likes him, because he could do back-flips. You’re the only decent judge of character in this family, Delilah.”
She wished she could say the same for herself, but she too had fallen under Jed’s spell. It was his
standing in the corner with Samson that had done it, she decided. She liked him. In spite of everything, she liked him. And the longer he stayed, the stronger her feelings toward him would grow. The thought terrified her.
She admitted it was her own fault. Until she’d kidnapped him, she’d been relatively safe. Her emotions had been firmly in control, and she’d been able to keep a tight rein on her attraction to him. But there had been a fire in that first kiss, a fire she hadn’t known she was capable of feeling. What would happen when that fire finally went out of control?
Allowing her question to go unanswered, she inhaled the cool crisp air and made her way down to the riverbank. The back gardens were fading with the promise of winter but were still beautiful, and the trees were in their autumn glory. At the edge of the property, the muddy blue river rolled past, its deep ripples endlessly joining, one after another. The estate had always seemed like an ageless sanctuary. No, not quite like a sanctuary, she corrected herself. It was like coming home. A Barkeley had built it, and a Barkeley had sold it, and a Barkeley had bought it back again. A Barkeley would keep it this time, she vowed, while trailing a loving hand along a browning azalea bush.
Deep laughter captured her attention, and she looked up to see Jed pointing toward the river as he explained something to the boys. His lean body was outlined in the jeans and blue hooded sweat-shirt he’d changed into after Burrows had returned from his errands. A drugging warmth
flowed through her body, and she hugged her arms around her middle in an attempt to fight the sensation. Even as a child, she’d been drawn to him. What she was suffering now, however, was a purely adult reaction. She wanted him. Knowing she wanted the wrong man didn’t stop the feeling. In fact, it only made the warmth burn hotter and deeper. While the boys’ presence would keep her physically safe from Jed, she realized they were no barrier against what was happening inside her. That was something only she could fight.
Joining them at the steep riverbank, she forced herself to relax. Delilah finally raced off with Samson on a doggie hunt, and, with a sense of resignation, Rae watched her go. Delilah might not have accepted Jed yet, but the dog obviously realized everybody else had. Including herself.
She sat down next to Michael at the top of the stairs that led down to the wooden dock and said, “Did you win?”
“Almost,” her youngest nephew replied, satisfaction in his voice. “Jed runs real fast.”
“And Jed’s pooped out,” Jed added, sitting on the grass next to the steps. He casually leaned back on his elbows.
Rae was all too aware of the hand that rested only inches away from her hip. She swallowed and fought the urge to lean back against him.
“Do you think the pirates took their prisoners over there and tortured them?” Mark asked, pointing to the woods directly across the river.
“Bloodthirsty brat,” Rae said affectionately, reaching over Jed’s middle and cuffing her nephew’s leg. Mark grinned at her.
“Maybe they hid their treasure there,” Randall commented, staring at the tree-lined horizon.
“Maybe they did,” she said, getting to her feet. “And it’s up to the Barkeley Club to find out. Everyone to the car!”
The boys whooped. Grabbing Michael’s hand, she started running for the garage on the far side of the house. Suddenly, Jed was running on the other side of Michael.
“Can a Waters join the treasure hunt?” he asked.
“Yes, please!” Michael gasped and took his hand too. His feet stumbled as he tried to keep up with the adults. The older boys passed them.
As one, Rae and Jed lifted the little boy off his feet. Michael screamed with fear and delight as he literally flew through the air.
“Almost makes you wish you were five again,” Jed said, grinning at her over Michael’s head.
Rae had no breath to answer. Silently, though, she admitted she’d never want to be five again.
It was much too young for what she was feeling.
“Coffee, sir.”
Startled by the interruption, Jed glanced up from his reading to see Burrows entering the drawing room. The butler carried a heavily loaded silver serving tray.
“Thanks, Burrows,” he said, rubbing his tired eyes. “Where is everybody?”
“The young gentlemen and Miss Rachel have turned in for the night.” Burrows set the tray down on the low Duncan Phyfe table in front of the sofa. Lifting a silver coffeepot, he poured the steaming black liquid into a delicately flowered porcelain cup. “If I may say so, sir, you should turn in too. The hour is late, and young boys are no doubt quite enthusiastic on a treasure hunt.”
“So my bones tell me. What an afternoon! But I’m almost finished here.” In spite of his disappointment that Rae had gone to bed, Jed smiled
as the strong bitter aroma of hot coffee reached him.
“Will you be needing anything else, sir?”
“No, thanks.” A question that had begun to intrude into his thoughts earlier surfaced again. “Burrows? You’ve been with Merriman for a long time, haven’t you?”
The man stopped rearranging the sugar bowl and creamer and straightened. “Forty-three years, sir. I … entered his service during the war.”
“The estate was his home for even longer than that, wasn’t it? He told me he’d bought it in the thirties.”