Deception (26 page)

Then, because an embarrassing flush was slowly creeping up her neck again and onto her cheeks, she pushed him out of the way and marched out of the room and up the circular staircase that led to the loo. The hell with him. She didn’t need him that: badly.

Once in her bedroom, she went to the armoire, yanked out a blanket and a pillow then walked back to the railing overlooking the living room “Santini!”

Dan looked up just in time to see a bundle of bedclothes tumbling over the railing.

Lying in the dark, Dan chuckled. He had never seen Jill in such a state, and he’d had great fun getting her to that point. It had also taken an enormous amount of willpower on his part to resist that tempting invitation.

The title of a song—“What Kind of Fool Am I?”—sprung into his mind. How fitting.

Any other time, he would have responded to her not-so-subtle advances with lightning speed But this was different. He knew that whatever needs she had tonight, they wouldn’t extend beyond that.

This basic reaction of reaching for another human being after a brush with death was one he had experienced himself many times. And because he had experienced it, he knew that the feeling didn’t last. And he knew Jill. By morning, she would regret It. She might even hate herself for initiating something she wasn’t ready for. He couldn’t have that. Not the way he felt about her.

Deep down, he suspected she felt the same way. He’d seen little indications here and there, puzzled glances, as if she was trying to figure out something she didn’t quite understand.

But until she did, until she was willing to take a chance on them again, he wouldn’t lay a finger on her.

Crossing his hands under his head, he stared up at the loft where he could hear Jill walking back and forth. So what now, Einstein? he asked in a silent question. The woman you love offered you a night of hot, unbridled passion and you turned her down on a principle. Does that make you feel noble? Or incredibly stupid?

Rather than answer the rhetorical question, Dan closed his eyes and tried not to think of Jill undressing.

Still fuming, Jill yanked off her clothes and sent them flying across the room. She had never been so humiliated in her entire life. Turning her down like some cheap floozy. If she wasn’t so pissed off, she’d teach him a lesson, see how long he’d last once she decided to really heat things up.

In her pink Victoria’s Secret satin bra and matching bikini panties, she stood in front of the mirror and studied her reflection with a critical eye. Okay, so she wasn’t Raquel Welsh but she wasn’t exactly Twiggy, either. There were curves there, curves some men might even call sensual.

Of course, with that heavy wool sweater and those baggy pants she had worn to the Catskills, those curves hadn’t been all that apparent.

Maybe what she needed was a different approach, something she’d never done before, something that would take Dan totally by surprise, take the wind out of his sails, so to speak.

Something that would make that famous Santini control crack.

Her anger forgotten, she opened a dresser drawer and started going through her things. Not finding what she was looking for, she opened another drawer, then another.

Where was the damn thing?

When at last she found it, she allowed herself a wicked little laugh. Say no to that, Santini.

Her thoughts already zeroing in on her plan of attack, she walked into the bathroom, unhooking her bra as she went.

Bending over the tub, she turned on the shower, kicked off her panties and stepped under the steaming water.

Dan wasn’t sure what woke him up. For a moment, he wasn’t even sure if he was awake or if the vision before him was a figment of his imagination, the product of too many recent fantasies.

The vision stood at the bottom of the staircase, one hand on the wrought-iron railing, another on her slender hip.

Fully awake now, Dan felt his mouth open. She wore one of those lethal little nothings women, for reasons he couldn’t fathom, called a teddy. This one was made of black lace. It skimmed her incredible body like a second skin and was cut low enough in the front to reveal a cleavage, so deep and luscious, he couldn’t quite draw a full breath. Sheer black stockings, held in place at the thighs with a band of black lace, showed enough creamy skin to send his blood pumping. Completing the outfit were black stiletto heels that made her long legs seem even longer.

Remembering what those legs could do, how tightly they could wrap around him, his heart began to beat like a bongo drum.

“Cat got your tongue, sailor?”

Not trusting his voice, Dan didn’t answer.

With a low chuckle, Jill let go of the railing and began walking toward him, one slow, undulating step at a time. She had both fists on her hips now and was smiling seductively. As she came closer, that same scent she had worn years ago closed around him, prompting a thousand erotic memories.

His good intentions melting fast, he sat up on the sofa, unable to do anything but drink in the sight of her. This was not the Jill he knew. Yes, there had been passion in their lovemaking, and unexpected surprises, but she had always been shy about her body, unsure of herself as a woman, and, at times, almost inhibited.

There was nothing inhibited about her now. The young girl whose shyness had delighted him had turned into a siren, a seductress who could make a man forget his own name.

He didn’t stand a chance.

“Well, well…” Kicking off one shoe, Jill propped her black-stockinged foot on the edge of the sofa. “For a man who was so eloquent a moment ago, you don’t seem to have much to say now, do you?”

“You’re beautiful.” His voice sounded as hoarse as if he had just come back from a week-long pep rally.

“Am I really?”

Dan nodded.

“What is it that you find beautiful?”

He knew what she was doing. She was torturing him. And she would do so slowly, until he couldn’t take it anymore and begged for mercy. “Everything.

Every inch of you is beautiful,” he said, feasting his eyes.

She swung her knee back and forth, like a slow pendulum. “You didn’t seem to think so earlier.”

“Earlier I was a fool.”

Mesmerized, Dan watched that knee as it kept swinging, each time coming within a hair of his face. He wanted to grab and grope. His body, already aroused beyond its limit, was screaming for release.

Grinding his teeth, he held back the fierce lust that threatened to explode. This was her game, and it would be played under her rules or it wouldn’t be played at all.

Placing a hand on her knee, he rubbed it gently, almost absently. “Is that what you usually sleep in?”

“No, I usually sleep in the buff.”

The vision sent his lust indicator up another notch.

Ashley bought me this little number for my birthday last year. You like it?”

He swallowed. “Love it.”

She thought I’d want to wear it for Giancarlo.”

Dan sat up. “Who the hell is Giancarlo?”

“An Italian count I met at a charity ball.”

“And.. did you wear it for him?”

She looked at him coyly. He could even have sworn that her eyelids fluttered. “Would you be jealous if I did?”

His hand moved slowly up her thigh. “I’d kill him.”

“Oooh.” She shivered with feigned delight. “You won’t have to do that, though. Giancarlo turned out to be a con artist. He was after my money, so I dumped him.”

Dan’s hand climbed higher, his thumb gently stroking the inner part of her thigh where the skin was as soft as silk. “I hope you learned your lesson about fortune hunters.”

“Oh, I did. From now on, I will only be seduced by men who don’t care about money.”

“I hate money.”

She laughed again, a sexy, confident laugh. “I know.” With both hands on her thigh now, Dan gripped the lacy band and pulled the sheer nylon down, slowly, inch by inch. Bending his head, he kissed her skin as it was being exposed.

Jill’s breath caught in her throat. She had planned to tease him mercilessly, to have him on his knees, begging. After all, it was a small price to pay for rejecting her earlier. She could have done it, too, if she hadn’t been so hungry for him, if his mouth hadn’t been so damn arousing as he kissed her naked thigh.

After all these years, and all the women he must have had, he still remembered what turned her on. That she could still respond with the same urgency as before didn’t surprise her. Her body, as well as her heart and soul, had always belonged to just one man. This man.

When she was left with nothing but the teddy, Dan pulled her onto his lap. Sinking his hands into her hair, he brought her face to his and kissed her. His mouth was hot, his tongue eager as it claimed hers.

“Take me upstairs, Dan,” she whispered against his mouth.

Still holding her, he slid one arm under her knees, stood up and carried her up the circular staircase, the way he had so many times before.

But that’s where the similarity ended. Tonight would be different. Tonight there would be no desperation in their lovemaking, no hope that a few hours of mindless sex would solve tomorrow’s problems. Tonight, they were just two people responding to a need they could no longer control.

As they climbed the stairs, she let her hand roam up and down his back. His body was just as she remembered it-lean and hard with muscles rippling in all the right places.

As Dan lowered her onto the big sleigh bed, the anticipation became almost unbearable. Reaching behind her back, his fingers found the small zipper and slid it down. As the upper part of the teddy fell off, her small breasts spilled free, their nipples already hard.

Her eyes locked with his and she slithered out of the black garment. Once naked, she threw the teddy at him.

Dan caught it in midair and pressed it against his mouth, inhaling her scent.

“You’re overdressed,” she whispered, glancing at his shorts.

Bracing herself on her elbows, she watched him as he took them off, then crooked a finger. “Come here.”

Answering the command, he stretched beside her and took her in his arms. “Are you aware of what you’re doing to me?”

Her laugh was husky as she felt his rock-hard erection against her. “Absolutely.”

He cupped her buttocks and brought her even closer. “Tell me what you like, Jill.”

“You already know.”

“Hmm, let’s see…” Bending over her, he drew on a taut nipple. “I think you used to like this.”

She closed her eyes. “I still do.”

Holding her hips Still, he let his mouth move lower. With each kiss, she felt her skin heat up. When he reached her center, a violent shudder went through her entire body.

“How about that?” He pressed his mouth over her.

Feeling herself dangerously close to the edge, Jill gripped his shoulders and pulled him back to her. Later there would be time to explore each other’s bodies, to reawaken old pleasures and discover new ones. Right now, she needed to be joined to him’ needed to feel him inside her, needed to experience that slow, delicious, excruciating climb to the top.

He slid into her, filling her as gloriously as she remembered, pulling her into his rhythm, slow and measured at first, then more powerful as he quickened the pace.

Fingers entwined, their heart beating as one, they moved together, in perfect unison. She whispered his name, over and over, and dug her fingernails into the palm of his hands. Then, with one last cry, she gave in to the mounting heat and let him take her over the edge.

Twenty-Six

Curled up against Dan, her head on his shoulder, Jill began to wake up, making happy groaning sounds and slowly stretching her leg along his.

Gentle fingers pushed a curl from her forehead. “What are you grinning about?” Dan asked.

Jill laughed softly. “I just lost twenty bucks.”

“How?”

She snuggled closer. “Ashley bet me twenty dollars that you and I were a better match now than we were thirteen years ago and that I’d soon realize that.”

He kissed the top of her head. “So … what do you think? Was it money well spent?”

“Oh,” she ran her hand over his flat stomach “-I’d say I got one hell of a bargain.”

“Then you don’t have any regrets?”

She looked at him, rocked by the sudden serious expression on his face. Did he really think she’d regret making love to him, that last night had been nothing more for her than a satisfying romp?

She shook her head. “Of course not. But shouldn’t I be the one asking that question?” she teased. “After all, I seduced you.”

“Now that you mention it,” he deadpanned. “I do have a few-”

Before he could stop her, she grabbed her pillow and was hitting him with it. Taking it from her, he tossed it aside and pinned her to the bed. “All I regret is that the night wasn’t long enough.”

“In that case, why don’t we stretch it out a bit?”

They made love again, slowly this time and with a tenderness and an awareness of each other’s bodies that brought tears to Jill’s eyes.

Afterward, as she lay in his arms, spent and happier than she had been in years, she almost blurted out the words I love you, then stopped herself just in time. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear. If it was, he would have said it first. So why spoil the moment?

Knowing that the news of Jill’s snowmobiling accident would make the morning papers, Jill had called her mother and told her about both attacks.

Amanda had reacted predictably. “Isn’t it enough that I’ve lost a husband?” she’d cried on the phone. “Must I now fear for my daughter’s life, as well? Why didn’t you tell me sooner about this?”

“Because I didn’t want to worry you.” It had taken a few more minutes to calm her down, to make her understand that, now that Wally was reopening the investigation, the killer no longer had a reason to come after her. “It’s all in the open now, Mom. Wally knows everything I know, and the killer is aware of that.”

Cyrus had been more understanding but no less worried. He had refused to hang up until Jill had promised him that from now on, she would leave the murder investigation to the authorities.

At B&A, where the news had spread quickly, several of Jill’s co-workers had been calling all morning to express their relief that she hadn’t been hurt.