Enthralled (18 page)

"Ahem... sir... I should
get the plane into the hangar." They looked up to see the pilot watching
them from the door of the plane.

Chazz laughed and nodded. Teel
reddened and thanked the man for flying her to Chazz.

Chazz was still chuckling as
he led her to the Rolls- Royce. Behind the wheel sat Darby, dressed in an
official uniform and cap. To Teel's delight, he bounded out of the car and came
toward her, his arms outstretched.

"So, Sister Terese Ellen
is no more, is it?" His elfin face was wreathed in smiles as Teel hugged
him and kissed his cheek.

"Darby, please forgive me
for deceiving you," Teel begged, glancing warily at Chazz. "It seemed
like a good idea at the time." It surprised her when he looked grim
instead of smiling.

"Well, all's well that
ends well, isn't it?" Darby shot a searching look Chazz's way, then said,
"I just got back from a trip to Ireland to see my folks. Had a lovely
time."

"Oh, it sounds wonderful.
How old are your parents, Darby?"

"My dad's ninety-seven
and my ma's ninety-five, and both of them as chipper as the day they were
married fifty years ago."

Teel's eyes opened wide.
"Amazing."

Darby helped Teel
into the back seat, then resumed his place behind the wheel. It startled Teel
when Chazz closed the glass partition between them and the driver. "Ah, I
like the violets," she told him. "How did you know what color to
get?"

"I remembered this from
when I went through your clothes the other evening and thought it might be the
dress you would wear." Chazz stared at the back of Darby's head, his voice
terse.

Teel was bewildered by his
sudden anger. "What's the matter with you?" she asked. "Is
something wrong?"

Chazz turned toward her, his
eyes glittering fiercely. "I damn well don't enjoy being jealous of
Darby."

Teel's jaw dropped. "You
have an empty room in your upper works, buster," she breathed, watching
his black eyebrows form a stiff bridge across his forehead.

"That I know," he
growled. "You've never once come up to me and put your arms around me and
kissed me, have you?" He looked furious. She was flabbergasted.

"No," she admitted

"Damn
you." To her surprise, Chazz hauled her into his arms. "One day you
will." His mouth punished her. She felt his teeth against her lip; then
all at once his lips softened, coaxing her, warming her. Teel forgot Darby,
forgot that they were riding in the Rolls-Royce, forgot that she was nervous
about meeting his aunt. She was annoyed when Chazz released her and she kept
her arms around his neck. The frown melted off his face.

"Wait, darling, I have
something for you." All at once he was serious again.

Teel looked down just as he
pushed a square-cut emerald onto her third finger. "Chazz!" Her voice
came hoarsely, and she tried to pull her hand free.

"This is yours," he
told her, his voice solemn. "If you try to give it back to me, I'll throw
it down the nearest sewer."

"At least
sell it and give the money to the poor," Teel offered in a dazed voice,
not taking her eyes from the ring.

"Keep it.
Wear if. If you do, I promise I'll give the equivalent of what it cost to the
poor."

Teel's eyes flew to his face.
"That's bribery," she cried.

"You're damn right it
is." Chazz kissed the ring on her finger. "Do you like it?"

"Who wouldn't like such a beautiful ring?
I can't believe it's real."

"It's real." Chazz chuckled. "It
matches your eyes perfectly. That's why I had to buy it."

He pulled her into his arms,
and she cuddled close to him for the rest of the trip into Manhattan. She
didn't even try to move away. She was a prisoner of her own emotions. One
moment she rebelled at his high-handedness. The next she melted at his tough,
romantic streak. The ambivalence weakened her resolve to fight him.

When the car pulled up in
front of a brownstone with a patch of grass and an old-fashioned iron street
lamp in front, Teel's fears returned.

Seeming to sense her
hesitancy, Chazz practically lifted her from the car and told Darby to return
at midnight.

"Won't that be too late
to fly back to Selby" Teel asked.

"Yes. We'll stay at my
apartment tonight. You have clothes there. I'll have you flown back in the
morning."

"I don't have clothes
here," Teel mumbled, regarding the front door with its ornate knocker as
though she were facing a rattlesnake.

"You do now, angel. I
gave your measurements to Madame Delmar."

"My friend, Charine,
designs my special clothes," Teel protested, trying to rally as Chazz
opened the door.

"Fine. Next time you can
get Charine." He paused. "I don't think I know the house."

"Snob," Teel sniffed
as he led her into a small foyer decorated in gilt and a soft cerise color. It
was both elegant and comfortable.

A woman who looked like an
aging Barbie doll tottered toward them on the highest heels Teel had ever seen.
Her makeup gave her a pale clown face. Two perfect circles of rouge drew
attention to her high cheekbones. Her lips were bowed in cherry red, her
eyebrows penciled thin, black, and arched. Her lashes looked as though they had
been dipped in black mud. Her amber eyes twinkled with delight as Teel watched
her approach. Her all-over curls were dyed a terra cotta red.

"You mustn't try to mask
your shock at my appearance, my dear," the woman said. "If you don't
look suitably laid low, I shall think I don't have enough makeup on." She
stretched to press a kiss on Teel's cheek, her silk caftan, which was threaded
with gold and silver, billowing around her.

"You have more than
enough makeup on, Tilda," Chazz mocked as he leaned down to lift the woman
into his arms and kiss her.

Tilda tapped him playfully on
the cheek with a finger.

"Don't be naughty. You
know I must preserve my image.

"Why?" Chazz
grinned, setting her back on her feet and putting an arm around Teel to bring
her forward. "This is Teel Barrett."

Tilda Charles put
one saber like cherry-colored nail to her front teeth and tapped, her eyes
narrowing on Teel. "So this is the woman who has taken the wind out of
your sails, eh? She's a beauty. Would you mind if I painted you, my dear?"

Teel gasped. "But you
don't do portraits!" She reddened when Tilda and Chazz laughed. Chazz
squeezed her waist and whispered, "Nut."

Tilda took Teel's hand in both
of hers, her eyes warm. "Yes, that's true—most of the time. But I have
done a few people." She glanced quickly at Chazz. "This ne'er-
do-well of mine insisted that I would want to paint you the moment I saw you,
and he's right. So, for a wedding present to my nephew, I would like to paint
you. Will you mind?"

Teel shook her head, bemused,
knowing she should tell this woman that a marriage between Chazz and herself
was impossible, that it couldn't possibly work.

"Thank you,
darling," Chazz murmured, bending down to kiss her lightly on the mouth.

Teel reddened even more. Tilda
Charles beamed and took hold of Teel's free arm. "Come with me," she
said. "I want you to meet some friends and"—she shrugged, a tiny
frown appearing on her penciled brow—"some hangers-on, I call them. I
wonder how these people find out when one is going to entertain," she
mused as if to herself. "You can't really throw them out." She
shrugged to Teel. "But I resent their being here on such a... a personal occasion."

"I have no qualms about
removing anyone, Tilda," Chazz said. "Just point out the ones you
want gone and I'll take care of it." He looked grim as he scanned the
cluster of people, many of whom had turned in their direction.

Teel heard many calls of
"Hi, Chazz," and "Chazz, how are you." She would have hung
back, but a warm hand on her arm guided her forward.

Tilda Charles stopped, her
hand on her cheek. "Chazz, my dear, we are both a couple of fools. Neither
of us took Teel's lovely jacket from her. Here, dear, let me hold your violets
while Chazz takes your jacket. Monroe will hang it up." Tilda gestured to
a tall, thin woman dressed in black with a salt-and-pepper bun screwed tight to
the back of her head.

Teel felt the
jacket being lifted from her body; then she returned to retrieve her violets
from Tilda, who was looking at her with wide eyes. "Dearest girl, that
dress is gorgeous. You look like a sea nymph. I shall paint you in that
dress."

Teel heard other
comments as if through a thickening haze, for one look at Chazz's tight, angry
face made her pulse race with fear. She looked down at the violets to hide her
anxiety. What was wrong with him?

"Chazz, old
man, you've snared the most beautiful woman in New York." Teel glanced up
to see a sandy- haired man coming up to clap Chazz on the back.

"Yes, I have, haven't
I?" Chazz's voice was like hot steel hitting cold water.

"Hello." The
sandy-haired man sketched a slight bow toward Teel, who held out her hand.
Instead of shaking it, he kissed the back. "I'm Trevor Mahon. Chazz and I
attended Columbia grad school together. I'm a much better engineer than he is,
and I'd would make a much better husband. Reconsider, o beautiful one."

Teel relaxed, letting her
laughter bubble over, enjoying Trevor Mahon's nonsense.

Both men stared at her,
unsmiling. "Trev, old man," Chazz mocked, "I'd hate to see your
body mangled."

Trevor, who was inches shorter
than Chazz but of equal breadth, said, "She'd be worth the risk." He
smiled back at Chazz, then at Teel. "That dress is simply stunning on
you."

"Yes, isn't it."
Chazz folded her closer to his side and bent his head to her ear. "I love
looking at your breasts, darling, but if I'd known this little number was cut
so low, I'd have made you wear something else. Tell Charine I want higher
necklines next time."

Teel looked angrily up at him
and her lips barely moved, when she said, "I wear what
I
choose." She almost
cried out as the pressure of Chazz's fingers on her waist increased tenfold.
She bit her lip, then turned to Trevor Mahon. "You're not a native New
Yorker," she guessed.

Trevor looked pained.
"And I thought my New York accent was perfect." He smiled. "I
was born in Sydney, Australia, but I've been in this country since my
undergraduate days at Rensselaer."

"I visited Sydney with my parents," Teel commented. "It was a graduation present. I thought
it beautiful, and the people were very friendly." She grinned. "Even
though the topless bathing shocked my mother... and intrigued my father."

Trevor threw his head back and
laughed, and even Chazz's frown disappeared in a reluctant grin.

Soon they were bantering
easily back and forth, and Teel felt as if she'd known Trevor for ages. She
began to relax and even enjoyed the attention when other guests crowded around
to meet her and admire her ring.

Sometime later, she realized
that she'd been separated from both Trevor and Chazz for several minutes.

Suddenly a voice seemed to
come to her out of the past. "Hello, darling. Do I say congratulations or
best wishes?" She turned to find Ben Windom looking her up and down, his
pale blue eyes boldly assessing her figure, lingering provocatively on the
swell of her breasts.

Surprise and discomfort
assailed Teel. One of her first thoughts was to wonder what she'd ever seen in
the milksop standing before her in a black evening suit, his blond hair
thinning but not gray. "Are you a friend of Chazz's?" she asked
coldly.

Ben cocked his head. "I
know him. Let's just say I'm better acquainted with Tilda Charles."

"Oh, then you must be one
of the hangers-on she mentioned earlier," Teel replied, her voice hard.
She watched with very little feeling as Ben's neck flushed red. She wanted to
be rid of him as quickly as possible.

"You'd better be careful,
Teel," Ben warned her, his features set in an angry line. "How do you
think that fiancé of yours would like it if I were to tell him I was the one
who deflowered the virgin Teel Barrett at the tender age of eighteen?"

Teel was so angry that she
decided immediately to call his bluff. "There he is," she said,
"right over there. Why don't you wander over and tell him?"

Ben put his hand on her arm,
his smile reappearing. "Now, now, angel, you know I wouldn't do that. I'm
hoping we can all be good friends. I have some people who want to do business
with your fiancé, and they'd like you—"

"Drop dead, creep."

Ben Windom's mouth fell open
and his face twisted with anger as Teel turned away from him, thoroughly
disgusted by his vile behavior. But she had only taken two steps when his voice
rose behind her.

"Ladies and gentlemen,
the newly engaged lady is too shy to tell you that she's a most accomplished
musician, but I'm sure you would love to hear her sing and accompany herself on
the piano."