Mystery Date (Harlequin Blaze) (11 page)

“Last night it wasn’t patience you wanted from me,” he said.

She leaned forward, setting her tea down, wrapping her hands around the cup. A strand of her bobbed hair fell forward but she didn’t tuck it back. Last night she hadn’t known what she wanted out of Riley. Right now, though, sitting across from him, she couldn’t imagine life without him. Her heart felt torn just thinking about it.

“Honestly, I don’t know what I’m doing,” she said. “I asked you to stick with me while we tried new things. New ‘adventures’ like Margot and Leigh were having.” Sexual and career changes, just to see if they would change her. He kept saying that he was falling in love with her all over again while seeing this side of her.

“I’m always up for something new,” he said. “But every day, I feel you getting a little further from me, Dani.” He reached across the table and held her hand. “There’re some demons you’re trying to chase off, and I have to wonder if most of it’s because of what your dad did....”

“If you don’t mind, it’d be great if we didn’t have to talk about him.”

Riley held tight to her, his voice steady. “I’m not him.”

She looked into Riley’s blue eyes, nearly drowning in them, making her feel instead of think. One of those demons that nagged at her said,
Too many people in love don’t think, and that’s why they don’t stay together.

She held Riley’s hand tightly. “Could you tell me the truth? Did you like it last night?”

Glancing at the employees behind the counter, he returned his gaze to her. “Dani, you could walk into a room in a sweat suit and that would work me up. We don’t need toys or scenarios. We never did.”

He’ll get bored within a year if you don’t spice it up and keep his
attention,
said that ugly voice.
Just ask your dad....

She reached over to smooth his hair back from his face. She didn’t have to say that he really was enough for her; they’d been together for so long—engaged forever, it seemed—that they had their own ways of communicating.

It was also obvious, though, that Riley believed she was only going through a phase, that soon she’d stop bringing home exotic massage oils and toys from the naughty shops and go back to “normal.”

She wasn’t sure what that even meant anymore.

In a none-too-subtle hint that the coffee shop was closing, the lights dimmed.

Riley chuckled, leaning over to kiss her on the temple. “That’s my cue to see a man about a horse. Be right back?”

Before he got up, she rashly angled over to press her lips to his. Bursts of color danced on the back of her eyelids, bright spots she couldn’t hold on to, so she gripped him even closer.

When they were done, he took a breath. She’d caught him off guard, but he didn’t mind.

She smiled at him as he stood, then walked off, leaving her alone.

After sending a “really, we’re almost out of here” grin to the lingering employees, Dani got out of her seat. She left a tip and cleared the table, then strolled toward the door. She’d forgotten to turn her phone back on after the movie. As soon as it powered up, the screen showed her a voice-mail message she’d missed.

Margot.

Earlier, before the second mystery date, she and Leigh had told Dani that they would call in the morning, so the fact that there was a change in plans worried Dani a bit, and she accessed the message.

“I swear, Leigh’s gone off the deep end.” Margot was whispering excitedly. “She’s in the bath right now, la-di-daing away in there, so I’m sneaking in a call before tomorrow. Mystery Man invited her on a retreat for a few days next week. I know! And she’s going, even though he still hasn’t told her who he is.”

A niggle haunted Dani again, but she tried to chase away the fear that if she didn’t do something just as exciting with Riley, she was going to bore him all too soon.

And if he ever left? She’d be as devastated as she’d been when her parents had sat her down five years ago and told her that they weren’t in love anymore.

The message continued. “We’ll call you tomorrow morning, okay? Leigh can tell you all about how she was... To put it mildly, Dan, we’re dealing with quite the advanced flirt, and I don’t know where she came from. Leigh’s definitely feeling her oats these days. You’ll see. Anyway, I also wanted to tell you that Clint and I are really looking forward to your visit to the ranch next weekend—”

Dani stopped the message just as Riley was making his way toward her, and she tucked the phone into her purse.

They walked out of the shop, and he put his arm around her shoulders. Warm, safe, secure.... She wrapped her arms around his waist as they strolled in the direction of his truck.

“You ready for our little trip next weekend?” she asked.

“Wouldn’t miss a jaunt over to Clint’s.” He was smiling, and she got the feeling he’d already talked to Clint about their plans. Or maybe he was smiling about something else, because he slipped his hand under her tight sweater, his fingertips touching her waist, sending a shiver through her.

“There’re other trips I’d like to take you on first,” he said.

“You can take me anywhere you want.”

Later that night, he did, and she fell asleep in his arms before she could think about how much longer he’d be satisfied with this life.

* * *

L
EIGH HAD NEVER
experienced a longer stretch of time than the few nights she’d just gone through while waiting for Basket Date, Part Three.

When the day of departure came, a limo arrived at her home to take her to a small airport in Lodi where a private plane was waiting for her, stocked with champagne and hors d’oeuvres. She hadn’t been told anything about this date but the basics, and she shivered a little anticipating the mysteries in store.

After they landed at McClellan-Palomar Airport in San Diego County, another limo showed up, with an elderly driver who asked her very politely to put on a blindfold.

A little embarrassed—and pretty turned on, too—she did so. The driver didn’t even act as if this was an out-of-the-ordinary request for Callum to have made of her, and she figured that either her Mystery Man did this often with women or the driver worked for other kinky men besides Callum. Whatever, he seemed to take the quirks of his job in stride.

It was only after the longish drive, when the limo had come to a stop, that she was allowed to remove the blindfold. As she got out of the car, she blinked, looking around her.

They were in the sunny countryside where it was quiet, and the driveway leading up to this hilltop was oak lined. A road wound by beneath the property, with wood fences paralleling the blacktop and horses wandering alongside in corrals. Orange trees surrounded them, and when she turned around, she saw the house: a Tuscan-style stone building that was big but wasn’t quite a mansion, either. In the background she caught sight of the stables and, on the other side of the property, rows of grapevines.

“What do you have in mind this time, Callum?” Leigh asked herself as the driver went to fetch her luggage.

She wandered closer to a walkway with rosebushes on both sides. The scent of hay, flowers, oranges and fresh air revived her. She’d grown up on a ranch with horses, a modest converted farmhouse and a swimming hole that...

No, she wasn’t going to think about the swimming hole, since that was where Hannah had died. But everything else about the country revived her, bringing to mind lazy days of summer when she would ride horse trails and cruise in pickups down the windy bucolic lanes because teens like her didn’t have anything better to do.

The door to the house loomed just ahead of her, and Leigh hesitated on the walkway. Had this been a bad idea, accepting Callum’s invitation to extend their date a few more days? She hadn’t been able to resist the lure of maybe discovering who he was. And she was really curious about how they would interact if he insisted on keeping his identity a secret.

What kind of erotic games did he have planned?
she also kept asking herself, and the possibilities had owned her.

Now she really knew what the phrase “Curiosity killed the cat” meant, she thought as she started walking again, approaching the doorway. But frankly, curiosity would’ve eaten her alive if she hadn’t come here.

Earlier the driver had given her a disposable phone, and she’d been waiting for it to ring the entire time. It did just before she got to the door.

She answered it, looking up at the windows. Was he watching her arrive from one of them?

“How was your trip?” he asked in that smooth, caressing voice.

“Great.”

“Good to hear. The door’s unlocked.”

Leigh guessed that was an invitation to stroll right in, so she obliged him. At the same time, she absently ran a hand over her hair, suddenly wishing she’d fixed it into something other than a low, very Leigh-like boring braid. Maybe she also should’ve worn something other than a simple white blouse that tied at the waist, a burgundy wraparound skirt and cowboy boots. But she hadn’t known what Callum had in mind. How could she dress for the unexpected?

As she walked into the foyer, she took in the smooth stone floor and rustic wood furniture, along with a huge iron light fixture that reigned over the stairway. Italian country, Leigh thought, wondering how this reflected Callum’s tastes.

“So this is your place?” Leigh asked.

“It actually belongs to...a friend.”

Damn, thwarted again. But naturally, Callum would avoid having her stay at any property that gave even the slightest clue about him.

When the driver entered behind her, he headed toward the staircase.

“You travel light,” Callum said as she followed the man.

So he
had
seen her through a window. Those erotic shivers consumed her again. “This is more baggage than I usually bring. I’ve learned to pack like a pro with all the traveling I do for the show, but I figured I’d need a few extras for this trip.” Like several sets of the nicest lingerie she’d recently bought.

She saw the driver take a left down the hallway as Callum said, “So what did you bring here that you usually don’t need for your show, Leigh?”

“A girl never tells.” She wanted to save the lingerie for later.

For the newest scenario with Callum.

The driver had entered the second room on the right, and she walked in after he set her bags on her bed. Nodding to her, he left. Clearly, he’d been instructed to stay mum. But she didn’t have time to dwell on that thought when she got a load of the elegant room. A white duvet-covered bed with embroidered throw pillows dominated the space. A bay window overlooked the small vineyard, and heavy damask curtains framed the glass. A massive cherrywood desk took over one corner while a case with delicate wrought-iron sculptures of leafless trees owned another. There was also a roomy armoire, plus dressers and nightstands, and a dressing screen decorated with images of the sun.

“Not a bad place to spend a few days in,” Leigh said.

“Make yourself at home.”

There was a note of pride in his voice, and it tweaked Leigh’s curiosity. Walking into the bathroom, she almost sighed in pure delight. Marble floors and counters, a garden tub with a nearby shower, a light-studded vanity mirror connected to a table with a chair in front of it.... She already felt like royalty.

“This has got to be heaven,” Leigh said into the phone.

“We haven’t even gotten started.” He paused. “Is there anything you need right now?”

She had a million requests that she knew he wouldn’t fulfill...yet. “I don’t know. Maybe a tiara?”

Laughing softly, he said, “There’s a hot tub in the back, if you’re interested, as well as a spa room and stables.”

“Anything you don’t have here?”

She could tell he was grinning. “I even thought about you and your cooking. I’m not going to put you to work or anything, but if you want to experiment in the kitchen with some state-of-the-art equipment, it’s all yours, just like at the other mansion. But this one’s even better stocked.”

“With what?”

“Some experimental equipment, like appliances you’d use for molecular gastronomy dishes.”

Leigh laughed. “I’m just a down-home cook who spices up her food with candlelight and innuendo. I haven’t flirted a lot with food science.”

“Be that as it may, this place is also outfitted with a multiunit range with gas burners, a wok burner, a griddle and a steamer or fryer. They’re all at your disposal, but if you want to be waited on, there’s staff available when you pick up the house phone.”

“Will I be seeing any of them?”

“I’ve left instructions for us to be left alone as much as possible.”

Alone. With Callum. Her breathing quickened.

“About the hot tub...” she said softly.

He waited, and she smiled.

“What if I didn’t bring a bathing suit?”

He laughed again, but this time there was an aching darkness to it. Those shivers ran up and down and in and out. He sure knew how to make her want more of him.

“I should give you a chance to settle in,” he said, and at the thought of him going, she resisted.

“I’m already settled,” she said, exploring the room again, running her fingers over the clearly expensive dresser. “So...” She needed to talk; she didn’t want him to go. “This is what it’s like after you make it in life, huh?”

“What do you mean? You have a show on TV.”

“It’s not a blazing hit or anything, just a minor one.” Enough to have allowed her to buy a ranch house as well as one for her parents, who’d retired twenty miles away from her.

She’d never thought that she was the type to yearn for riches, and maybe she wasn’t. If anything, she was merely impressed by what she saw right now, but she didn’t mind being treated as if she was valued every once in a while. Didn’t mind it a bit.

“Is it so hard to admit that you’re a success?” he asked.

His voice.... How had she come to be so attached to it? When would she get enough of it?

“I suppose I’m just modest,” she said, not wanting to talk about always being in second place, always being the one who wasn’t treated as well as Callum was treating her. She changed the subject. “Tell me, how many houses do you have?”