Caprice (18 page)

fiercely glad he wasn't in front of her for, infuriatingly, her cheeks

flamed again. She would have to get in control by that evening, no

doubt about it.

'Hallo, yourself,' she said, cheerfully enough. 'What can I do for you?'

'Busy this afternoon?'

With a feeling of maliciousness that was quite disproportionate, she

said gently, 'Alas, yes. What did you have in mind?'

'Nothing that won't keep for another time. I should have thought to

ask you earlier. Well, I guess I'll see you this evening, then.'

'What kind of restaurant did you have in mind, so that I can dress

accordingly?' she asked quickly, the beginnings of an idea forming at

the back of her mind.

'I thought we'd stay in town, if you don't mind. I have an early

morning flight tomorrow at an ungodly hour.' He named a place she

was well familiar with, and they rang off right after.

She had it, she definitely had it. She called Roxanne, who answered

with a clearly audible yawn. Caprice grinned. 'Sleep late, too?'

'Yeah,' the other girl mumbled. 'What's up?'

'I need a favour.' She glanced up and down the hall, finding herself

quite alone, which suited her just fine.

'Name it. Anything but money, and it's yours.'

'Poor thing,' she said commiseratingly. 'Hold tight. The first of the

month is coming up quick.' A snort greeted that. 'Listen, have you got

someone you could call up to take you out this evening?'

'What kind of favour is that?' Roxanne demanded. 'Yes, sure.'

'I'm eating out tonight, with Pierce Langston, and I can't cry off

without him suspecting,' she began.

'Good God, why would you want to?' \was the brunette's

expostulation.

'Ah, it's a long story. Look, I'll explain some other time, OK? Now,

what I want is for you two to show up at the restaurant around six-

thirty this evening, and we can sort of team up for supper, all right?'

'Well, if that's what you really want -'

Roxanne said doubtfully.

Caprice cut the other girl short. 'Believe me, I'm quite serious. Please,

Rox?'

'You got it, kiddo.'

They hung up after a comfortable talk. The evening was taken care

of, after all. Caprice told herself she was relieved.

She spent her afternoon leisurely, and dressed for the evening in a

peach dress, which delicately brought out the sun-kissed quality of

her deep tan. She let her fair fall loose to her shoulders, touched a

light shade of cinnamon shadow to her eyes, with a matching shade

of colour on her lips, and she was ready.

Pierce was quite prompt this time, and as the family was gathered in

the den for drinks before supper, they were invited to stay. But when

he looked to her enquiringly, one black brow raised, she shook her

head, and so they soon left. .

As he pulled out of the driveway, driving the Jaguar again, he said

quietly, frowning at the road, 'You look lovely this evening. That

dress suits you perfectly.'

She smiled as she stared out of her window at the passing streets,

flattered by the compliment. 'Thank you. You know, you don't look

so bad, yourself.' At that, he laughed, but the sound was short lived,

quickly dying away.

Sunday usually meant rather less restaurant business, and so they

were seated soon enough, without reservations. Caprice sat back and

perused an already familiar menu while Pierce ordered a bottle of

house wine.

When the waiter had left, he leaned forward, his own menu open and

disregarded in front of him. 'I want to talk about last night,' he said

softly.

That brought her eyes up with a jerk. They sparkled, brilliant, angry,

and then she lowered her lids again and distantly ran her eyes over

the meal selection. 'Oh, you do,' she said, absently. 'I don't,

particularly.' She put her finger to one item, and frowned. 'Now, I

can't remember if I've tried that and liked it, or tried it and didn't like

it. Maybe it was this one.'

'Don't you want an explanation from me, or anything at all?' he

pressed, voice going even lower. She could feel his hardening gaze

boring into her like a physical drill.

'Hm? About what?' she murmured, turning the page and looking over

the dessert section with every appearance of interest. She didn't see a

thing.

'About why I left like I did.'

She glanced up quickly, blonde brows slightly raised. His jaw was

slightly thrust out, the mouth hard, his eyes showing the beginnings

of anger. 'No,' she said simply.

'I'd advise you to cut the act,' he said, almost gently. 'It just doesn't

wash with me.'

'I'm not acting,' she said, deliberately innocent. There was an angry

satisfaction in watching his face clench tight. He was angrier than

she'd ever seen him before. With a chill down her spine, she suddenly

wondered about their drive back to her house.

'Quit pretending to be so damned obtuse,' he whispered between his

teeth, eyes glittering. 'What are you going to do, rim away again

when you could learn something?'

She smiled, inwardly so furious she could hardly sit still, and said

with great charm, 'I will do anything I please.'

His eyes flicked behind her uninterestedly, and then sharpened. She

watched as he positively spat out, 'Goddammit!' By that, she knew

her relief had arrived.

Roxanne said from behind her, sounding quite surprised, 'Pierce—

and Caprice. Hello, you two.' She let her eyes dwell admiringly on

Pierce's grim profile. 'I didn't know you were seeing each other.'

Caprice looked up, eyes still snapping. 'A recent development,' she

said flippantly. Her eyes flicked behind Roxanne, and her expression

lightened to a genuine smile. 'How are you, Kurt? It's been a while

since I've seen you.'

'Fine, just fine,' said the young man, greeting her with a flattering

warmth. 'And how about yourself? You're looking terrific.'

She laughed with pleasure, glanced at Pierce and saw his blank,

polite expression and knew he was still very angry. Roxanne blinked

at the table, ingenuously. 'Have you two eaten yet?'

'Oh, no,' Caprice said, looking around herself. 'Would you both like

to join us?'

Another glance risked at Pierce revealed absolutely nothing, but Kurt

must have sensed something, for he started to say, 'I don't know --'

'We'd love to!' Roxanne gushed, and Caprice could have thrown her

arms around the other girl and kissed her.

And so two more chairs were brought to the table. Pierce still sat

opposite, for which she was thankful. She couldn't tell if he suspected

anything or not. There was certainly no fault to be found in his

manners to the other couple. In fact, she found it a bit chilling to see

how well he could cover up his true feelings. It left her wondering if

perhaps he had acted the same with her, and if so, when.

She treated them all with warmth, never refusing to look Pierce

straight in the eye, or to say something to him directly, and she could

feel the brunette's puzzled, questioning gaze on her from time to

time. Was she playing her own role that well then? Was this a habit

she'd got into, over her lifetime? Had she played it for so long, she no

longer knew if she was fooling herself or not?

None of the deep trouble these questions brought her showed in her

lively, cheerful face.

After the meal, when they were waiting for their ordered coffee,

Caprice began to feel the strain and stood, murmuring, 'Excuse me,

please.' The men rose, also, as she picked up her bag and went in

search of the ladies' room.

She heard, as she walked away from the table, Roxanne's voice, and

the other girl rushed to catch up with her. After they were well away

from the other two, Roxanne said quietly, 'What's going on between

you two?'

Caprice pushed through the swinging door and went over to the

opposite wall, where mirrors and a counter lined it from end to end. 'I

don't know,' she admitted, and her voice was harsh. She slapped her

handbag down, and opened it with shaking fingers. With determined

calm, she drew out her brush and unnecessarily straightened her hair.

'The atmosphere was so thick when we walked up, I thought for sure

we would slam into it. He looked angry.' Roxanne was watching her

closely.

'We were having an argument,' she said, and bowed to put her face

into her hands. Her shoulders shuddered once, and then she was

back, in control, shocked at her own loss of composure, her own

reaction. 'I'm not going to see him after this.'

She went back to her grooming, touched lipstick at her lips carefully,

and added blush to her pale cheeks. Roxanne stared at her for a few

moments before turning her attention to her own appearance. 'I'm

sure that's best,' she said. But she didn't sound sure. She sounded

worried, and doubtful.

Before they went back to the table, Caprice looked hard at herself,

and saw the beginning of tiny lines of stress on either side of her

mouth, along with the faint smudges appearing under her large eyes.

She stood quite still. Then she wiped all expression away, and put on

a placid smile. The change was incredible, and Roxanne blinked

before nodding to her encouragingly as they went out the door.

The coffee was served, the two men at their ease with each other, and

the rest of the time fairly flew by, until the bill was paid and the tip

laid down on the table, and they were all leaving. Pierce had his hand

to her back as she gave the others one last wave, and then they made

their way to the Jaguar in silence.

The evening was more balmy than it had been last night, the breeze

refreshing instead of chilling, swaying through trees and telephone

and electric lines in an ever-present, restless sound. Pierce unlocked

the passenger door and attentively saw her seated within before

moving to the driver's side.

He hadn't said a thing, hadn't shown any difference in his behaviour

after leaving the other two, and yet she tensed, from neck muscles

down to her thighs, as he started the car up with a low purr, and

backed smoothly out of the car park. After a few moments, he said

conversationally, 'You invited them to stay for supper on purpose,

didn't you?'

She might prevaricate with someone else, but she knew better with

him. 'Yes,' she said, shortly.

The Jaguar picked up speed. She doubted if he even realised. 'Who

are you afraid of, yourself or me?'

That stung. Why did it sting? She replied sharply, 'I'm not afraid of

anyone!' Without the softening effects of low music being played, the

words resounded terribly in the silence of the car. She lowered her

voice. 'I don't know what you mean.'

'Sure you do. You're not stupid, you just like to act it,' he said quite

savagely. She stared out of her window, wishing they were already

home. It was a short drive, but it seemed to be taking forever. They

were both tense and quiet for the next few minutes: Then he said, 'I

shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry.'

Oh yes, she had it figured out now. That dull ache in her chest was

her heart. But the personality wasn't in the heart, was it? It was in the

brain, running electric currents which made her feel so miserable at

times, and so good at others. 'You call them as you see them,' she

said flippantly.

'Stop
it,' he said, low-voiced. She looked over to him and saw how

his hands were clenched, bone-white, on the wheel. They were

nearing the house. She bowed her head, and sighed wearily. Funny.

She knew it would be goodbye, but he didn't. It was better that way.

He pulled into the driveway, and switched off the engine. Then he

sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose as if he were tired, and he

leaned his head back against the seat like he had yesterday. Strange,

how different things were from yesterday. 'I have to go back,

tomorrow.'

'I never thought any differently,' she said, quite surprised. She turned

her blonde head in his general direction. 'Thanks for this evening. I

hope you enjoyed their company.'

'No, I didn't.' He was quite flat about it. No polite nonsense from him.

'Well,' was her dry response. Her hand went fumbling for the car

door. 'On that note, I think I shall say -'

From that instant on, everything changed. His dark head turned,