Truth and Humility (23 page)

“Oh,” she breathed when it hit her.  “It’s
the
library.”  She remembered hearing about it when Laney stole her homework.  The rows of books reached from floor to ceiling on both sides and curved around to surround the two tall windows on the outer wall as well.  She didn’t notice Austin’s eyes on her when she gravitated toward the drafting table in the corner.  It was laid flat with books and papers placed on top in orderly piles.  A drafting arm and lamp were attached like appendages but it was clear they hadn’t seen use for some time.  “Was this your father’s office?” she asked and chose a book from the table.

“His sanctuary,” Austin corrected behind her.  “He’d disappear in here for days sometimes, mostly to meet deadlines.”

“Ah.”  Danny noticed a separate bookcase behind the table and tilted her head for a better look.  Something there caught her interest and she glanced over her shoulder for permission.

Austin nodded and settled down on the arm of a high-backed chair.  “Go ahead.  There might be something you could use.”  His gaze settled over her back as she bent over and pulled out a book here and a book there.  Then she gasped and carefully drew one out that was one of the newest in the collection.  Its soft cover was glossy and unmarred, boasted structural design for fire safety in the title.

“I’ve been looking for a used copy of this,” she said in wonder and flipped through the pages.  “It’s a fairly new addition.”

“It must be from the batch that arrived just after he died.”

“It covers it all.  Steel,
concrete, timber, time-temperature curves, interpreting code requirements, compartment fires...holy crap, do you realize how far ahead I’d be if I could master this before finals?”

His deep chuckle reached her from behind and reminded her to take a breath.  Her look was intense as she studied one page, then flipped to review the next.  Then a thought struck her and once again Austin had her full attention.  Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“This wouldn’t happen to be some sort of olive branch, would it?”

He held his thumb and forefinger up without shame.  “Maybe just a little one.”

Everything in her went to jelly.  “A big one.”

Damn straight it was a big one.  He never came in this room.  His family never came in this room, would never
let
anyone come in here.  Good lord,
especially
not a Bennett.  He could get in some deep water if his mother ever found out, but it was a risk he was willing to take.

The truth of it was mirrored in his eyes.  He was propped there on the chair, watching her, arms crossed, giving her this gift without one single expectation in return.  And Danny knew it.

Her words were laced with playful intent.  “Or, you think this will be a good distraction when you tell me not to work tomorrow.”

His grin was big as he played along.  “Is it working?”

“Oh, yeah.”

She produced such a childish, giddy laugh Austin sat pole-axed for a moment.  That crooked smile of hers wasn’t because of bruising or swelling.  It was all natural, and only presented itself when she wasn’t thinking about it.  Then, just like that, the excitement was forgotten and she settled onto the couch to read, giving her undivided attention to the pages of a book.  The ache in his heart was excruciating.  This woman, who happened to be a Bennett, had him by the balls.

And unless she made the first move, she was forever out of reach all because of his cursed feud with her brother.  And it was because of her brother, and a few mismanaged priorities on his part, that she would never trust him.

Well, hell.

With a sigh, Austin rose and studied the bookcase behind him.  Spying a book he remembered reading as a kid, he pulled it from the shelf and made himself comfortable in the chair opposite her.  If he had to choose between going to bed alone and reading in companionable silence with Danny Bennett the student nerd, there was no competition.  It was late.  It was quiet.  There was work tomorrow.  But he’d take what he could get.

For now.

Danny woke the next morning to such an incredible softness against her skin that she wasn’t aware it was a bed sheet until she moved.  The luxury was so uncommon from the cheap sheets on her servant’s bed that for a moment she simply basked in the feel.

The mattress beneath her was soft and pillowy and when she snuggled further, her body seemed to sink right in.  She groaned with pleasure and flipped to her side, hugged the feather-down pillow closely to her chest, inhaled deeply.  It held a scent that was familiar.  A scent that was incredibly appealing.  Then she remembered.  It smelled like Austin after a shower.

Her eyes popped open.  The room was bathed in the morning light that poured through the windows.

This isn’t my room
, she realized in the breadth of a second. 
It’s late,
she realized the next.  She sat upright on a gasp and clutched the top sheet close to her chest. 
I’m not wearing any clothes!
  Then she looked down.  Well, at least she was still wearing her pink top, even though the ties were undone and her cleavage was showing through the gaping fabric.

But this was definitely Austin’s room and she was definitely in his bed and she was definitely scantily clad.  At least she was alone, but what the hell had happened between the time she’d fallen asleep in the library and now?

“Well, good morning.”

Danny jumped and clutched the sheet even tighter, focused on the direction from which the voice came.  Her eyes zeroed in on the person in the doorway.  “Ruth?” she observed in utter horror.

The woman who shared Austin’s dark coloring and height smiled knowingly and proceeded to the closet with a handful of dry cleaning.  “I knew you weren’t just a member of the crew.”  Her dark eyes sparkled as she glanced over her shoulder.  When she noted the look of deep horror on Danny’s face, she was quick to sooth.  “Oh, gosh, don’t be embarrassed.  I’m tickled to death.  Poor guy’s been positively dreadful to deal with since his fiancé was killed.”

Ruth closed the accordion closet door and disappeared into the adjoining bathroom.

Well, at least the woman hadn’t mentioned her brother.  Danny threw the covers aside and searched desperately for her clothes.  Where the hell were they?  Not on the floor, not in a chair, not
anywhere!
  What about the library?  When she moved across the hall to check, the door was locked solid.  Panic gripped at her insides and she decided to get out of the hall before she ran into anyone else in nothing but her shirt and panties.  Ruth was still in the bathroom.  On her way to the closet, Danny caught sight of a framed photograph on the tall dresser by the bathroom.  As if in a trance, she moved closer, eyes scanning the photo in earnest.  It was placed front-and-center among an assortment of hair clasps, lipsticks, a large jewelry box and perfume bottles.

Framed in gold, it was a close-up of Austin and a striking black-haired woman, lying on the ground almost nose-to-nose.  They lay facing each other on their stomachs in inches of thick green grass, their adoring looks spelling out a fantastic kind of love.

So, this was Rena.  Holy-moly, the woman was almost too beautiful.  Danny reached up and moved a card from behind the frame with her finger.  It was a wedding invitation with the same photo adorning the background, only in black-and-white.  Softly filtered and glowing behind strategically placed words of commitment.

“So, how long have you two been together?”

Again, Danny jumped out of her skin.  In an act of sheer desperation, she flew to the closet.  She was in her underwear, rifling through a man’s clothes – a man who –outdidn’t belong to her – with a Cahill breathing down her neck.  Panic put an edge to her voice.  “Oh, we are definitely...
not
...together.”

“Oh.”  Ruth shrugged and moved to sit on the end of the bed while Danny tugged on a thick brown terry-cloth robe.  “Nothing wrong with a casual fling, either.”

A hysterical laugh broke through a look of wide-eyed incredulity.  Danny tightened the belt around her waste, ran fingers through her hair while she tried to make sense of it all.  “Ruth, you may not believe this, but nothing happened between me and your brother last night.”  At least she thought.  Could she have been drugged again?

The woman raised her brow, then gave up and shook her head.  “Whatever.  You could do worse, you know.”  Then she stood up and headed toward the door.  “Nice to see you again, Danny.”

Somehow, Danny felt as if she’d insulted Austin’s sister with her denials.  It was quite a predicament.  If the woman only knew who she was, she wouldn’t be so quick to push them together.

After waiting a few minutes to let Ruth clear the hall, Danny made her move to escape.  She took the stairs on the balls of her feet, cautiously scanned the family room then made a mad dash for the kitchen.

And collided violently with Torsten.

“Whoa!” the man yelled, stunned by the impact.  Then his eyes changed when they passed over the length of her.  “Whoa…” he said again and looked from her to the stairs then back to her.

A light came on.

Danny watched in complete dismay as his face morphed from shock to lecherous delight.  The sexual innuendo was coming next.

“Don’t even…”

“Why, Danny Bennett.”

“I fell asleep in the library…”

The jerk didn’t even pretend to listen.  “You and the boss do some plumbing last night?”

Her face ignited.  Of all the people to run into.  “I said,” she ground out through clenched teeth, “I was in the library.”

“In Boss’s bathrobe.”  Torsten clicked his tongue and strutted to the counter where he deposited the glass tumbler and half-empty bourbon bottle he’d carried in. “Yeah, well I wouldn’t use that one if I were you, Monkey.  Boss never lets anyone in the library.”

“Torsten…”

“Hey, none of my business what you two do off-hours, I’m just passing through.”  On his way out again, he delivered one last gem.  “Gotta say, though, you look mighty fetching in that robe.”

The monstrous housecoat was comiecoGottacally large on her small frame.  Danny blinked as her mind whirled.  This wasn’t happening.  With Torsten heading back out to the yard, the entire crew would know what he’d seen.  Word of mouth traveled fast and Torsten had the biggest mouth of all.  The entire crew would think she’d slept with Austin.

Panic of the worst sort began to set in.  Was this a trap?  Was this what Austin had in mind when he took her upstairs last night?  Was his supposed olive branch really a tactical move to make Derek believe he’d carried out his ultimate revenge?

Of course it was.  The feud came first.  And Danny, the ultimate fool, had played right into it.

“Take it up!  Easy!”

Diesel fumes and engine noise permeated the air as Austin gave the signal to lift.  The backhoe whined as it bore the weight of the mammoth steel racks from the Minerva plant, lifting them from the trailer on which they’d just arrived.  Hydraulic oil emitted a smell much like that of bad body odor, but the “yellow bitch” (as she was now referred to) was still in one piece, still running, and still pulling double duty while the forklift was down.

As the racks slowly pulled away from the trailer, Austin heard a loud whistle from behind.  He turned and did a double take.

“Holy shit,” he murmured under his breath, his eyes going wide.  Danny was marching toward him through the dirt and dust in cut-off shorts and the same pink shirt she’d worn the night before.  Her work boots had been hastily donned, the tops flared open, shoelaces untied.  Her hair was messy, and as she approached, he could sense every thought going through every man’s head that watched.

Tools were dropped, mouths fell open, work came to a screeching halt.   Danny Bennett, in all her tumbled, furious glory emanated raw sex appeal in an environment of testosterone-crazed fools.

What the hell was she thinking?

Once he was able to reel in his own tongue, Austin jumped from the trailer and turned to face her.  Her fist impacted painfully with his jaw.  It took him a precious moment to recover from the shocking
thunk
between his ears, but when he was finally about to, he was treated to another one.