Lady Love (15 page)

He flinched as if she’d hit him, and she turned and ran into the house and up the stairs like a wild thing. She slammed and locked the door to her room, and cried until she thought her heart would break in half. It was ironic, she thought, that the first man she truly loved had to be a man just like Adam, one who wanted her for her wealth. She’d gotten over Adam, but she knew she’d never get over Cameron. Not as long as she lived.

Chapter Ten

O
rganizing her father’s party kept Merlyn’s mind busy. But the nights were still bad, despite the fact that it was almost a month since she’d left the lake house and Cameron behind. She wondered if he’d tried to trace her and smiled wistfully.

She missed Amanda and Lila, and wished that she could contact them, just to say hello. But that wouldn’t be a good idea. Inevitably, Lila would mention Cameron, and Merlyn couldn’t bear to hear his name. It would hurt too much.

She sighed as she looked over the guest list one last time. The invitations had already gone out, but she was checking to make sure she hadn’t left anyone out. Had he searched for her? she wondered. Had he cared enough? Or had she really been just a one-night stand?

She still blushed when she remembered that wild night, her own brazen behavior as she pulled off her dress and went to him, as she led him into the bedroom. It had been beyond her wildest expectations. And despite the fact that she had disregarded all her principles that night, a small part of her was glad that it had happened. She loved him. Not that loving made it right, but she’d known somehow that one night would be all she could have of him. One night, to last a lifetime. She laughed bitterly. She could never marry now, never allow another man to touch her as he had. It would probably amuse him to know she’d given him her heart along with her body. For her, it hadn’t been just a night. It had been forever.

Sadly she shook her head, feeling the new length of her hair with nervous fingers. She’d had it cut to fall saucily around her face and neck, and she liked the look of it. She looked like something out of the Roaring Twenties. But the old gaiety had left her face, the dancing mischief had gone out of her wide eyes. She was a shadow of the carefree woman she’d once been.

“How’s it coming?” her father asked from the doorway.

“It’s done,” she told him. “Right down to the band and the caterers. You, uh, did mean to invite the Radners?” she added, trying not to sound as if she minded.

His eyes narrowed. “Yes, I did. Afraid Thorpe will come with them?” he taunted.

She felt herself pale, but the eyes she lifted to his were brave. “Not in the least,” she returned. “He wasn’t invited.”

“Yes, he was,” he replied. He put his hands in his pockets and smiled slowly. “I phoned him.”

The hands holding the list trembled. She lowered her face. “Did you?”

“And you’re dying to know what he said, aren’t you?” He chuckled. “He sounded pretty raw, if you want to know.”

“Maybe Delle’s giving him fits,” she muttered coldly.

“Maybe you are,” he said. “I’d bet odds that he tried to find you, even though he couldn’t have known where to look. Apparently, you didn’t tell anyone your last name. He was shocked to the back teeth when I told him who my daughter was.”

“Whom shall I invite for you?” she asked, refusing to be baited.

“Maggie Blair,” he said, naming an old friend and occasional dinner guest. “And who’s coming for you?”

“Dick Langley,” she said without hesitation.

“Is he still racing those damned cars?”

“He won the last race,” she protested. “He’s a nice man. Very rich. Great fun.”

“And a dead loss,” he scoffed. He cocked his head. “Why didn’t you call him?”

“Dick?” she hedged.

“Thorpe!”

Her shoulders moved restlessly. “I don’t like looking back.”

“It’s not my place to dictate to you,” he said after a minute. “But if you get pregnant, he has the right to know.”

Her face jerked up, and she paled. “But…!”

“Did you think it wouldn’t show?” he murmured dryly. “You left here a little innocent and came back looking whipped and half alive. It didn’t take much imagination to see how things went. Are you pregnant?”

“I don’t think so,” she said honestly, and with a faint smile. “But I wish I were. Does that shock you?”

“Not at all,” he said, and smiled with genuine fondness. “I’d like a grandchild or two. But it would suit me better if you had a husband first.”

“I could marry Dick.”

“You could marry Thorpe. If he’s as tormented as he sounded, he’d probably say yes if you asked him.”

“He only says yes when he’s seduced,” she grumbled.

He laughed. “So that’s what happened!”

“You always used to say, ‘Go after what you want in the most straightforward way possible,’ didn’t you?” she asked innocently.

“It worked for me,” he agreed, and winked. “How do you think I got your mother to say yes?”

“Dad!”

He turned away, laughing. “It will all work out,” he said with characteristic smugness. “I know that, even if you don’t.”

He left, and she watched him with loving eyes. He knew her so well. It had taken years for them to build this relationship, but she was grateful for it. At least she had someone to run to, someone to talk to. She wondered how it would have been if she hadn’t?

Her hand touched her stomach lightly. She hadn’t thought much about pregnancy. She felt no different. It was too soon to tell, of course, but she hoped. How she hoped! If she couldn’t have Cameron, his child would be almost as wonderful. She leaned back with a tiny smile and daydreamed about how it would be. Then she suddenly remembered that she hadn’t phoned the florist. Well, there would be time to daydream later.

***

All too soon, the night of the party arrived, and Merlyn stood at the top of the staircase, looking down on the elegant guests. She was taking a page out of her mother’s book, wearing a stark white gown that fell gracefully from a strapless bodice. For contrast she had added black high heels and a black fur boa around her bare shoulders. The saucy little hairdo suited the look, although, just this once, she missed the masses of hair that she had once piled into elegant coiffures.

Her eyes scanned the newcomers anxiously. Well, at least Cameron hadn’t shown up yet. Perhaps he wouldn’t come.…

She started slowly down the staircase, poised and graceful, and glad of her choice of gowns when her father looked up and grinned with pride.

She’d just reached the bottom step when the door opened to admit the Radners—Delle and her mother—and Cameron. Cameron was chatting with an acquaintance, and Merlyn’s helpless eyes made a meal of him. He looked broader than ever in his tuxedo, darker and more masculine. His crisp black hair was slightly damp, as if he had been in the rain, and she remembered another rainy night.…

“Why, Miss Forrest,” Charlotte Radner said with a laugh, as if she were shocked to find Merlyn in such grand company, “how unexpected.”

Merlyn’s eyebrows rose with just the right amount of hauteur. “Mrs. Radner,” she said, extending her hand. “We’re delighted that you could join us.”

Charlotte blinked, staring at the outstretched hand. She took it automatically.

“Dad,” Merlyn said deliberately, “this is Charlotte Radner and her daughter, Delle.”

“Charmed,” he returned with a twinkle in his eyes. He lifted Charlotte’s hand to his lips. “Merlyn has mentioned you both.”

Charlotte looked as if she might choke, and Delle gaped.

“But your name is Forrest,” Delle blurted out.

“My full name is Merlyn Forrest Steele,” Merlyn said with quiet poise. “I use my mother’s maiden name in my travels. You’d be amazed at how many people court me just because of my father.”

Charlotte was pale. “Yes, I see,” she managed. “How kind of you to invite us.”

“Darling,” Dick called, laughing, as he moved through the throng with a glass of champagne. He looked handsome in his pale blue tuxedo. “Here you are.” He handed the champagne to her. “Mr. Steele.” He nodded at her father. Then he grinned at the Radners. “How nice to see you again.”

“You remember Dick?” Merlyn asked the women carelessly, smiling up at him. “He’s the heir to the Langley fortune—oil, you know,” she added. “When he isn’t indulging his passion for formula racing cars, he sits in with a band in Gainesville.”

“I always wanted to be a drummer,” he confessed. He held out his hand. “Miss Radner, may I introduce you around?” he asked Delle. “Mrs. Radner?” he added with a pointed glance at Charlotte.

“How lovely,” Delle said in an excited voice.

“You…will excuse us?” Charlotte asked, smiling wanly. She walked off with her daughter and Dick, looking as if she were choking on a watermelon.

“Feel better?” her father asked.

Merlyn shook her head. “Not much. I thought I’d enjoy it. I didn’t.”

“Better get yourself together. Here comes trouble,” he said under his breath.

Cameron was just excusing himself to his acquaintance. He turned to greet Mr. Steele and Merlyn. And the look on his dark face was carefully controlled to show no emotion.

“Ah, Thorpe!” her father said with a beaming smile. He moved forward to take Cameron’s hand. “So glad you could come! This is my daughter, Merlyn. I believe you’ve met?”

“Met is hardly the word,” Cameron returned. His dark eyes narrowed, as though he could control himself no longer. “Do come and have a chat with me, little miss heiress.”

“I have to receive my guests,” she replied stiffly, frightened.

“How would you like to do it hanging over my shoulder?” he asked.

“I’d go, if I were you,” her father advised with an amused glance. “You’d look pretty silly being carried out of here in a fireman’s lift.”

“Some help you are!” she accused.

Her father shrugged. “Don’t blame me. You seduced him.”

Cameron’s eyes flared. “Well, I’ll be damned,” he burst out, glaring at her. “What did you do, come home and brag about your conquest?”

“You’d better keep your voice down, Mr. Thorpe, or Delle will hear you,” she advised, struggling as he grasped her upper arm.

“Cameron?” came a plaintive little voice from behind him. Delle came up, glancing past him at Merlyn.

“What is it, Delle?” he asked as if he couldn’t care less.

“Well, I just wondered if you wanted to come and have some punch,” Delle said helplessly.

“Merlyn and I have things to talk about,” he said shortly.

“What things?”

“Our baby, for one,” he said as he stared into Merlyn’s shocked face.

“Baby!” Delle burst out.

“What baby?” Merlyn asked.

“Oh, I happened to mention that you were pregnant,” Mr. Steele said pleasantly, smiling at Merlyn with superb nonchalance.

“Dad!” she cried, aghast.

He shrugged, lifting his glass of champagne toward Delle. “Would you like to dance, Miss Radner?” he asked with a grin. “I’m pretty light on my feet for an old man.”

And before Delle could say another word, he led her away.

Merlyn looked up at Cameron. “I don’t care what he told you, I’m not pregnant.”

“Aren’t you?” he asked. His eyes wandered over her slowly. “How can you be sure? It hasn’t even been a month.”

She shifted from one foot to the other. “Well, I’m pretty sure.”

“Not positive?”

Her heart was beating like a drum. She could hardly breathe at all. And while she was trying to find words, he moved forward. He pulled her gently into his arms and bent to kiss her full on the mouth.

She protested once, weakly, but the old, sweet hunger filled her again. His lips probed and teased. Finally, she went on tiptoe to kiss him back, letting her mouth open under his. He trembled wildly, and she felt a burst of warmth at her own power.

He lifted his head and looked down at her like a starving man, oblivious to the amused stares of onlookers. “My God, I’ve gone out of my mind trying to find you,” he murmured huskily. “I never should have let you get away. Well, I’ve got you now, and I’m not letting go. I don’t care about the money, I want you!”

He actually seemed to mean it. Of course, she’d thought Adam meant it, too. She glanced dazedly past him and saw people starting to whisper among themselves.

“Cameron…”

“That’s how you said my name in bed,” he recalled, bending to rest his forehead on hers. “I’ve relived that night over and over again. Come on, let’s go somewhere and talk.”

“You don’t want to talk,” she accused, moving away from contact with his long, hard body.

“Of course I do. Eventually.”

“Then you can do it in a crowd,” she said in a huff, going to sit on the staircase. “I’m not going to go off and be alone with you.”

“I’ll let you seduce me again,” he coaxed, dropping down beside her.

She flushed and avoided his hot stare. “How are your mother and Amanda?”

“Missing you. Amanda’s moped around like an orphan. Mother senses that something happened, but she’s been too busy finishing the book to ask. That’s why she isn’t with me,” he added, smiling. “I didn’t tell her who the Steeles were.”

“Would you have come to find me, if you’d known?” she murmured.

“Yes,” he said. He reached out and touched her hair lightly. “I’ve had little more than memories and dreams to sustain me these past weeks,” he said tautly. “The reality of you is shattering. Did you miss me?”