Man from Half Moon Bay (2 page)

“Hello, luv. How’s tricks?”

Sara jumped, her gaze leaping to the deep shadows on either side of the freight elevator. Then she relaxed as she recognized the teasing voice. “Cam?”

Cameron Bandor ambled toward her. The light shone on him with cold cruelty as he came within its perimeter. However, it could reveal few flaws in Cam’s stunning good looks. It would have been difficult to fault the perfection of classic features, thick tobacco-colored hair with just a hint of a curl, and the loose-limbed grace with which he wore his elegant navy blue suit.

“Lord, Sara, I couldn’t believe it when I checked out this address. A
warehouse
, for heaven’s sake?” He grimaced as he stopped before her. “I should have known you wouldn’t live anywhere that was decently civilized.”

“This is civilized. In fact, it’s very fashionable to have a loft in a warehouse.” She hurled herself
into his arms and hugged him with all her strength. “Oh, Cam, it’s good to see you. I’ve missed you so.”

“And I’ve missed you.” He returned her affectionate hug, brushing her temple with his lips before pushing her away to look down at her. His dark gaze narrowed on the delicate bones of her face and then traveled down to the graceful line of her throat. “You look as gorgeous as ever. Maybe a little too thin—”

“That’s fashionable too.” She unlocked the gate of the freight elevator. “Come upstairs and have dinner with me. I’ll send out for Chinese and we’ll talk. Are you going to be in San Francisco for long?”

He followed her into the elevator. “I don’t think so. I just flew in from Tahiti this afternoon. It depends on—” He broke off as the freight elevator gave a drunken lurch before slowly beginning its ascent. “What if this ancient monstrosity shorted out? You could starve to death before anyone discovered you were in trouble in this deserted warehouse.”

“This elevator works fine, Cam. It’s just a little cantankerous.” The elevator stopped and Sara opened the gate. “My landlord plans to renovate another area near mine into a nice big apartment. As soon as he finds the financing he’ll start, and then I’ll have neighbors.” She crossed the hall, unlocked and swung open a heavy wooden door, and flipped on the overhead lights. “It’s worth putting up with a few inconveniences to have this
much space. Do you know how much apartments this size rent for in San Francisco? Rents are out of sight.”

“I’ve heard rumors to that effect.” Cam stepped over the threshold and his gaze ran admiringly over the large open expanse decorated in shades of cream, beige, and yellow before lifting to the large skylight overhead. “Nice, Sara. Very nice. It looks like you. All sunlight and warmth.”

She gave him a mock curtsy as she closed the door. “I decorated it myself. It took me months to find just the right shade of yellow for the drapes.” She strode briskly past the conversation area encircling the prefab fireplace as she headed toward the kitchen area at the far end of the loft. “I’ll put on a pot of coffee. Sit down.”

“Sara …” Cam had followed her and now stood directly behind her at the entranceway to the kitchen. “I can’t stay.”

She turned to look at him. “You can’t?” Her green eyes were suddenly twinkling. “A date so soon?” Cam’s list of female conquests was legendary. “It must be one of the flight attendants right? You haven’t had time to break out your little black book yet.”

“A man of experience always plans ahead,” he murmured. “But it’s not a date.”

“Then why can’t you stay?”

“Jordan sent me.”

A ripple of shock went through her. She looked away quickly, then back at Cam, and tried to
smile. “Since when have you been running errands for Jordan?”

“You know better than that.” Cam shrugged. “But he asked me to come and I can’t remember a time when Jordan has ever asked me for anything. How the hell could I refuse?”

“He’s a hard man to refuse. We both—” She stopped, trying to keep her voice steady. “I think I’ll make that coffee anyway. I could use it. This damp fog always creeps into my bones.” She took the coffee canister from the shelf. “Is it something to do with the divorce? More papers I have to sign?”

“No.”

“I’ve been expecting to hear any day that—”

“He wants you back, Sara.”

She froze in the act of spooning the coffee into the coffeemaker. “What did you say?”

“He wants you to come home with me. He says to tell you things will be … different.”

She resumed spooning the coffee. Her hands were shaking as she carefully put the scoop down on the counter. She didn’t dare pick up the glass coffee carafe yet. In a minute she would have herself fully under control, but she couldn’t risk it now. “Is this some kind of joke, Cam?”

“I wish it was.” He made a face. “Because I feel awkward as hell doing this. This isn’t my kind of scene.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I love him,” Cam said simply. “Just as you do, Sara.”

“I don’t—” She stopped and drew a deep breath. “Jordan doesn’t understand love. He knows about possession, but he has no conception of any other emotion.”

“You don’t know him.”

She whirled to face Cam, her eyes glittering with tears. “You’re right, I don’t know him. And he wouldn’t let me get to know him if I lived with him for another hundred years. Well, I opted out and I’m staying out. Sex was all Jordan was willing to give me.”

“Perhaps he’s changed.”

She laughed harshly. “Changed? Why should he change? He doesn’t need me. Jordan Bandor doesn’t really need any woman.”

Cam frowned. “Don’t talk rot. I’ve never seen a man as obsessed with a woman as Jordan was with you.”

“That doesn’t mean he loves me.” Her fingers clenched on the edge of the Formica counter. “Sex, Cam.”

“Whatever it was, it was enough to keep you both walking around in a daze for nine months.” His voice lowered. “Was it so bad, Sara?”

“Not at first.” She didn’t look at him. “But I couldn’t breathe. You saw the way it was. He
smothered
me. He wouldn’t let me out of his sight. I had to be Jordan Bandor’s woman and nothing else. I couldn’t live like that. In the end I would have ended up a spineless robot.”

“Sara, he—”

“No! I won’t be anyone’s possession. Don’t you remember that he was even jealous of
you
?”

He nodded. “Jordan wasn’t shy about warning me off you. I even thought it was funny at the time. I should have known it wouldn’t be quite so amusing for you. I’m sorry, luv, I should have stuck around to make it easier for you.”

“How could you? Jordan didn’t give me the chance even to see you after those first four months.”

“Be fair, Sara. You’re speaking as if he kept you a prisoner at Half Moon. I didn’t see any locks on the doors.”

“No, he didn’t lock me up.” Suddenly scarlet stung her cheeks and the muscles in her stomach knotted as she remembered the exact methods Jordan had used to keep her helplessly subjugated. No, she mustn’t remember any of the things they had done together. Jordan had no power over her body or emotions now. As long as she didn’t think of him she was in control. “You’re right, I could have left him at any time. It was my decision to stay.” She picked up the glass carafe of water and poured it into the coffeemaker without spilling a drop. It was a small victory, but it gave her the confidence to turn and say coolly, “And my decision to leave. I’m not going back to your brother, Cam.”

He was silent for a moment. “I didn’t think you would, but I had to try.” He paused. “He went crazy when he found your note. I haven’t seen
him that upset since the day—” He broke off. “Men
can
change, you know.”

“Not Jordan. He doesn’t bend and he doesn’t break. Do you think I didn’t try?”

“You could try again.”

She shook her head. “He’s too strong for me. Why do you think I waited to cut and run until he’d gone to Sydney on business? It was hard enough for me to leave then. Jordan has a way of maintaining a sense of presence even when he’s miles away.”

“He won’t give you a divorce, you know. He can keep you entangled in legal folderol for years to come.”

“I’m not in any hurry. He’ll give up eventually.”

“Jordon?” Cam smiled and shook his head. “I told you that you didn’t know him.” He turned away. “Now that I’ve done my duty, I’ll run along and leave you in peace. Good-bye, luv. I hope the next time we meet we’ll be able to just shoot the breeze and catch up on old times.”

“I’d like that, Cam,” she said softly. “You were the only friend I had at Half Moon, you know.”

He glanced over his shoulder. “You didn’t consider Jordan your friend?”

She didn’t answer.

He shook his head. “He really did make a mess of it, didn’t he? I’d have thought he would have been smarter than that. No wonder he’s so desperate.”

She smiled sadly. “I think you must be mistaken. I’ve never seen Jordan desperate about anything
or anyone. And in spite of your message, I doubt that he’s capable of changing.”

“No?” Cam opened the door. “Think about it. We both know Jordon is jealous as hell. Unfortunately, that remains the same.” He paused. “But he still sent me to you. Maybe he’s trying to tell you something.”

“Like what?”

“That he knows he has to trust you and come to terms with what you want in a relationship.”

“It’s too late,” she whispered.

Cam’s expression reflected genuine regret. “I’m sorry as hell to hear that, but I’ll deliver the message.” He started for the door.

“Cam.”

He stopped. “Yes?”

“Where will you deliver it?” She moistened her lips nervously. “This afternoon I thought I caught a glimpse of Jordan in the street. Later I realized it must have been my imagination but … He’s not here in San Francisco?”

“I haven’t seen him if he is.” Something flickered in Cam’s face and then was gone. “I was in Papeete when he phoned to ask me to come and see you. I assumed he was calling from Half Moon.”

Dizzying relief poured through her. “Yes, of course. I knew I was mistaken.”

Cam started to speak, obviously changed his mind, then smiled. “Good-bye, luv, see you next time.”

She nodded. “Next time.”

The door closed behind him, and Sara let out
her pent-up breath in a rush. How odd to be this tense in Cam’s presence when she had always been so comfortable with him. She was still trembling with nerves even though he was no longer there. Lord, why was she lying to herself, she wondered with sudden impatience. It wasn’t Cam who was generating this sense of panic. It was Jordan.

Just talking about Jordan had brought back the tempest of emotions he created in her. She felt bewilderment, fear, lust. And it
was
lust, she assured herself frantically. It couldn’t be love. During those first heady months of their marriage she had talked herself into believing she loved him, but how could she love a stranger? No, her attachment to Jordan had to be purely sexual. Every woman was entitled to one mad episode in her life, and Sara’s had been with Jordan Bandor. Now her months of temporary insanity were behind her—and that was exactly where she wanted them to stay. She had worked too hard to forget Jordan to let Cam’s words disturb her equanimity.

She started to reach up into the cabinet for a coffee cup and then changed her mind. She was going to have enough trouble sleeping tonight without loading herself with caffeine. She switched off the coffeemaker and turned away. She would dismiss all thoughts of Jordan and concentrate on—

Eighteen months. Why had he waited eighteen months to contact her and why hadn’t he told her he intended to fight the divorce? Why appear
out of the blue after all this time? She had thought it odd he hadn’t tried to contact her after she left Half Moon but assumed he had been consumed by rage and decided to cut her out of his life. She had witnessed his cold ferocity toward adversaries in business, so she thought it quite likely he would treat her in that same way.

She could feel the tension stiffening her muscles and deliberately drew a deep breath, forcing herself to relax. She’d take a hot shower and go to bed. There would be time enough for typing up her notes on the Donovan interview tomorrow morning. Now she must make sure no thoughts of Jordan penetrated the walls she’d built against him. She would go to sleep and by tomorrow her defenses would be stronger.

It was the tactic she had used during those first weeks after she had left him, and it had worked very well. She had only to live hour by hour and minute by minute. Yes, that was the way to survive. She moved wearily toward the Oriental lattice divider that screened her bedroom and bath from the rest of the loft. She had learned a great deal about surviving in these last months, she thought. Jordan had almost destroyed her as an individual, but she had fought back and was her own person again.

And she was damn well going to stay that way.

Mac Devlin’s penthouse apartment was all glittering crystal chandeliers, white and ebony velvet
cushioned modern furniture, and open space. At the moment almost every inch of that space was occupied by laughing, talking men and women who were more glittering than the crystal chandeliers. From the doorway Sara’s gaze idly searched the crowd. She knew some of the people, but most of them were strangers. Then she caught sight of Kelly and Nick O’Brian across the room talking to Mac and immediately began to work her way toward them. She had gone only a few feet, when Penny appeared at her side.

“You made it.” Penny grinned as she took two fluted glasses from the tray of a passing white-coated waiter and handed one to Sara. “Hold on to this. It might be the last drink you’ll get before dinner. Mac should have tagged the waiters with fluorescent safety strips. It’s almost impossible to find one in this mob.”

“Why didn’t you suggest it?”

“I haven’t been able to get near enough to him even to shout.” Penny’s gaze flicked over Sara’s sleeveless wine-colored velvet gown. “Pretty.” She made a face. “But if I had bazooms like Racquel Welch, I wouldn’t be wearing that cowl neck. If you’ve got it, flaunt it, I always say.”

“That’s what I always say too.” Sara’s green eyes were twinkling as she turned her back on Penny. “But flaunt it discreetly.”

The velvet gown bared her entire back and formed a daring V that ended two inches below her waist.