With relief she recognized Russ McElroy and Jim Haynes, two area fisherman whom she had known casually for several years. "Hi, Russ. Jim. The motor in my truck just blew."
Russ opened the door and hopped out. "Come on, we"ll give you a ride to the marina. You don"t need to be out by yourself like this. There"s too much meanness goin" on these days."
Gratefully she climbed into the cab of the truck and slid to the middle of the seat. Russ got back in and closed the door, and Jim eased the rig onto the highway. "You got a good mechanic?" Jim asked.
"I thought I"d have Burt, the mechanic at the marina, take a look at it. He"s good with motors."
Jim nodded. "Yeah, I know Burt Mardis. He"s real good. But if he can"t get to it, there"s another guy, owns a shop just off Blount, who"s just as good. His name"s Roy Simms. Just look it up in the phone book, Simms" Automotive Repair."
"Thanks, I"ll remember that."
Jim and Russ launched into a discussion of other good mechanics in the area, and soon they reached the marina. She thanked them, and Russ got out again to let her out. They probably hadn"t intended to put in at her marina, but since they were there they decided they might as well. As she unlocked the gate that blocked the launch ramp, Jim began to maneuver the truck so he could back the boat into the water. Next she unlocked the office and turned on the lights. Just as Jim and Russ were idling away from the dock, Burt drove up, and she went to tell him about the demise of her truck.
IT WASN"T LONG after dawn when the phone rang. Robert opened one eye and examined the golden rose of the sky as he reached for the receiver. "Yes."
"The truck didn"t make it into town. It blew just as she reached the highway. She caught a ride to the marina."
Robert sat up in bed. He could feel the fine hairs on the back of his neck p.r.i.c.kling with mingled anger and alarm. "d.a.m.n it, she hitchhiked?"
"Yeah, I was a little worried about that, so I followed to make certain she didn"t have any trouble. No problem. It was a couple of fishermen who picked her up. I guess she knew them."
That wasn"t much better. Guntersville wasn"t exactly a hotbed of crime, but anything could happen to a woman alone. Neither did it soothe him that she had been followed, that help was right behind if she"d needed it. The situation shouldn"t have arisen in the first place. "Why was the timing off?"
"The hole in the oil line must have been bigger than West thought. Probably there"s a big oil puddle in her driveway. She would have seen it if it hadn"t still been dark when she left the house."
In a very calm, remote voice Robert said, "If anything had happened to her because of his mistake, I wouldn"t have liked it."
There was a pause on the other end of the line. Then, "I understand. It won"t happen again."
Having made his point, Robert didn"t belabor it. He moved on. "Be careful when you"re in the house tonight. I don"t want her to notice anything out of place."
"She won"t. I"ll see to it myself."
After hanging up the phone, Robert lay back down and hooked his hands behind his head as he watched the sun peek over the mountains. The day before had made him more uncertain than ever of Evie"s connection with Mercer. He was fairly certain she had rendezvoused with Mercer out on the water, but either she hadn"t told Mercer of his presence, or she had been unaware of his own connection with PowerNet. This appeared to be an efficient espionage ring, to have escaped notice and capture for as long as they had; given that, Evie should have known of him. At the very least, Mercer should have notified her of his presence. What reason could they have had for keeping her in the dark about his ident.i.ty, unless her partic.i.p.ation was very peripheral and no one had thought she needed to know?
The other possibility was that Evie had indeed recognized his name, or been notified, but for reasons of her own had chosen not to pa.s.s on the information that he had leased a slip at her marina and appeared to have formed an intense personal interest in her.
Either way, it followed that Evie wasn"t on good terms with the others in the espionage ring. On the one hand, it gave him a weakness he could exploit. On the other, her life could be in danger.
EVIE MADE ARRANGEMENTS to have a wrecker tow the truck to the marina. That accomplished, Burt stuck his head under the hood to begin the examination. Next he lay down on a dolly and rolled underneath for another view. When he emerged, he wasn"t optimistic about rebuilding the motor. "Too much damage," he said. "You"d be better off just buying another motor."
She had been expecting that, and she had already been mentally juggling her finances. The payment on the bank loan for the marina would be late this month, and then she would have to put off other payments to make the one on the loan. She could get by without transportation for a few days by using the boat to go back and forth from home to the marina. If she absolutely needed to go somewhere, she could borrow Becky"s car, though she didn"t like to.
"I"ll call around and try to find one," she said. "Will you have time to put it in for me?"
"Sure," Burt said easily. "It"s a little slow right now, anyway."
By the time Craig arrived to relieve her, it was all arranged. She had located an engine, and Burt would begin work putting it in as soon as it arrived. Depending on how much marina work came in, she might be driving home the next afternoon.
In Evie"s experience, things didn"t generally work that well. She wouldn"t be surprised if Burt was suddenly flooded with a lot of boats needing attention.
The trip across the lake was enjoyable, despite her worries. The water was green, the surrounding mountains a misty blue, and fat, fluffy clouds drifted lazily across the sky, offering an occasional brief respite from the blazing sun. Gulls wheeled lazily over the water, and an eagle soared high in the distance. It was the kind of day when being inside was almost intolerable.
With that thought in mind, once she arrived home she put her financial worries on hold and got out the lawn mower to give her yard a tr.i.m.m.i.n.g. She glared at the big black oil stain on the driveway where the truck had been parked. If it had been daylight when she"d left this morning, if she hadn"t swapped shifts with Craig, she would have seen the oil and not have driven the truck; the motor would still be intact, and the repair bill would be much smaller.
Just simple bad timing.
The yard work finished, she went inside to cool off and tackle the housework, which was minimal. By three o"clock she was back outside, sitting on the dock with her feet in the water and a sweat-dewed gla.s.s of ice tea beside her. Fretting about the truck wouldn"t accomplish anything. She would handle this just as she had handled every other money crisis that had arisen over the years, by strict economizing until all bills were paid. She couldn"t do anything more than that, since it wasn"t likely a good fairy would drop the money into her lap. Though there might be the possibility of taking a part-time job in the mornings at one of the fast-food restaurants serving breakfast. Forty dollars a week was a hundred and sixty dollars a month, enough to pay the power bill, with a little left over for the gas bill. But for now all she wanted was to sit on the dock with her feet in the water and gaze at the mountains, feeling contentment spread through her.
That was how Robert found her. He came around the side of the house and paused when he saw her sitting on the weathered dock, her eyes closed, face lifted to the sun. The long, thick, golden braid had been pulled forward over one shoulder, revealing the enticing, delicate furrow of her nape. She was wearing faded denim shorts and a white chemise top, hardly a sophisticated outfit, but his pulse began to throb as he studied the graceful curve of her shoulders, the delectable roundness of her slender arms, the shapeliness of her legs. Her skin glowed with a warm, pale gold luminescence, like a succulent peach. His eyes, his entire body, burned as he stared at her. His mouth was literally watering, and he had to swallow. He had never felt such urgent l.u.s.t for any other woman. What he wanted was to simply throw himself on her and have her right here, right now, without thought or finesse.
She was unaware of his presence until the dock vibrated when he stepped onto it. There was no alarm in her eyes as she turned her head to see who had come visiting, only lazy curiosity followed by a warm look of welcome. Even the average five-year-old in a large city was more wary than the people around here, he thought as he sat down beside her and began taking off his shoes.
"Hi," she said, a sort of smiling serenity in that one word, which was drawled so that it took twice as long for her to say than it did for him.
He found himself smiling back, actually smiling, his mouth curved into a tender line as his heart pounded inside his chest. He had wanted her from the moment he"d first seen her; he"d been, several times, unexpectedly charmed by her. Both reactions were acute at this moment, but even more, he was enchanted.
He had whirled across countless dance floors with countless beautiful women in his arms, women who could afford to pamper themselves and wear the most expensive gowns and jewelry, women whom he had genuinely liked. He had made love to those women gently, slowly, in luxurious surroundings. He had taken women when the added fillip of danger made each encounter more intense. But never had he felt more enthralled than he was right now, sitting beside Evie on a weathered old dock, with a blazing afternoon sun, almost brutal in its clarity, bathing everything in pure light. Sweat trickled down his back and chest from the steamy heat, and his entire body pulsed with life. Even his fingertips throbbed. It took all of his formidable self-control to prevent himself from pushing her down on the dock and spreading her legs for his entry.
And yet, for all the intensity of his desire, he was oddly content to wait. He would have her. For now he was caught in the enchantment of her slow smile, in the luminous sheen of her skin, in her warm, female scent that no perfume could match. Simply to sit beside her was to be seduced, and he was more than willing.
Having removed his shoes, he rolled up the legs of his khaki pants and stuck his feet into the water. The water was tepid, but refreshing in contrast to the heat of his skin. It made him feel almost comfortable.
"It isn"t seven o"clock yet," she pointed out, but she was smiling.
"I wanted to make sure you hadn"t chickened out."
"Not yet. Give me a couple of hours."
Despite the teasing, he was certain she wouldn"t have stood him up. She might be nervous, even a little reluctant, but she had agreed, and she would keep her word. Her lack of enthusiasm in going out with him might have been insulting if he hadn"t known how potent her physical reaction to him was. Whatever reasons she had for being wary of him, her body was oblivious to them.
She lazily moved her feet back and forth, watching the water swirl around her ankles. After a minute of wondering about the advisability of bringing up the subject that had been bothering her so much, she decided to do so, anyway. "Robert, have you ever let anyone really get close to you? Has anyone ever truly known you?"
She felt his stillness, just for a split second. Then he said in a light tone, "I"ve been trying to get close to you from the moment I first saw you."
She turned her head and found him watching her, his ice-green eyes cool and unreadable. "That was a nice evasion, but you just demonstrated what I meant."
"I did? What was that?" he murmured indulgently, leaning forward to press his lips to her bare shoulder.
She didn"t let that burning little caress distract her. "How you deflect personal questions without answering them. How you keep everyone at arm"s length. How you watch and manipulate and never give away anything of your real thoughts or feelings."
He looked amused. "You"re accusing me of being difficult to get to know, when you"re as open as the Sphinx?"
"We both have our defenses," she admitted readily.
"Suppose I turn your questions around?" he said, watching her intently. "Have you ever let anyone get close to you and really get to know you?"
A pang went through her. "Of course. My family...and Matt."
She lapsed into silence then, and Robert saw the sadness move over her face, like a cloud pa.s.sing over the sun. Matt again! What had been so special about an eighteen-year-old boy that twelve years later just the mention of his name could make her grieve? He didn"t like himself for the way he felt, violently jealous and resentful of a dead boy. But at least Matt"s memory had diverted Evie from her uncomfortable line of questioning.
She seemed content to sit in silence now, dabbling her feet in the water and watching the sunlight change patterns as it moved lower in the sky. Robert left her to her thoughts, suddenly preoccupied with his own.
Her perception was disturbing. She had, unfortunately, been dead on the money. He had always felt it necessary to keep a large part of himself private; the persona he presented to the world, that of a wealthy, urbane businessman, was not false. It was merely a small part of the whole, the part that he chose to display. It worked very well; it was perfect for doing business, for courting and seducing the women he wanted, and was an entree into those parts of the world where his business was not quite what it seemed.
None of his closest a.s.sociates suspected that he was anything other than the cool, controlled executive. They didn"t know about his taste for adventure, or the way he relished danger. They didn"t know about the extremely risky favors he had done, out of sheer patriotism, for various government departments and agencies. They didn"t know about all the ongoing, specialized training he did to keep himself in shape and his skills sharp. They didn"t know about his volcanic temper, because he kept it under ruthless control. Robert knew himself well, knew his own lethal capabilities. It had always seemed better to keep the intense aspects of his personality to himself, to never unleash the sheer battering force of which he was capable. If that meant no one ever really knew him, he was content with that. There was a certain safety in it.
No woman had ever reached the seething core of his emotions, had ever made him lose control. He never wanted to truly love a woman in the romantic sense, to find himself open to her, vulnerable to her. He planned to marry someday, and his wife would be supremely happy. He would treat her with every care and consideration, pleasing her in bed and cosseting her out of it. She would never want for anything. He would be a tender, affectionate husband and father. And she would never know that she had never truly reached him, that his heart remained whole, in his isolated core.
Madelyn, of course, knew that there were fiercely guarded depths to him, but she had never probed. She had known herself to be loved, and that was enough for her. His sister was a formidable person in her own right, her lazy manner masking an almost frightening determination, as her husband had discovered to his great surprise.
But how could Evie, on such short acquaintance, so clearly see what others never did? It made him feel exposed, and he didn"t like it one d.a.m.n bit. He would have to be more careful around her.
The sun was shining full on his back now, and his spine was p.r.i.c.kling with sweat. Deciding that the silence had gone on long enough, he asked in an idle tone, "Where"s your truck?"
"I"m having a new motor put in it," she replied. "I might have it back by tomorrow afternoon, but until then I"m using the boat to get to the marina and back."
He waited, but there was no additional explanation. Surprised, he realized that she wasn"t going to tell him about the motor blowing, wasn"t going to broadcast her troubles in any way. He was accustomed to people bringing their problems to him for deft handling. He had also thought it possible that Evie would ask him for a loan to cover the repairs. They hadn"t discussed his financial status, but she had seen the new boat, the new Jeep, the house on the waterfront, and she was far from stupid; she had to know he had money. He wouldn"t have given her a loan, of course, because that would have defeated his subtle maneuvering to put financial pressure on her, but still, he wouldn"t have been surprised if she"d asked. Instead, she hadn"t even planned to tell him that her truck had broken down.
"If you need to go anywhere, call me," he finally offered.
"Thanks, but I don"t have any errands that can"t be put off until I get the truck back."
"There"s no need to put them off," he insisted gently. "Just call me."
She smiled and let the subject drop, but he knew she wouldn"t call. Even if he installed himself at the marina until her truck was repaired, she wouldn"t tell him if she needed anything.
He took her hand and gently stroked her fingers. "You haven"t asked me where we"re going tonight."
She gave him a surprised look. "I hadn"t thought about it." That was the truth. Where they went was inconsequential; the fact that she would be with him was what had occupied her mind.
"That isn"t very flattering," he said with a faint smile.
"I didn"t say I hadn"t thought about going out with you. It"s just that the where never entered my mind."
The sophisticated socialites he normally squired about New York and the world"s other major cities would never have made such an artless confession. Or rather, if they had, it would have been in an intimately flirtatious manner. Evie wasn"t flirting. She had simply stated the truth and let him take it as he would. He wanted to kiss her for it but refrained for now. She would be more relaxed if she didn"t have to deal with a seduction attempt every time she saw him.
Then she turned to him, brown eyes grave and steady. "I answered your question," she said. "Now answer mine."
"Ah." So she had been delayed but not diverted. Swiftly he decided on an answer that would satisfy her but not leave him open. It had the advantage of being the truth, as far as it went. "I"m a private person," he said quietly. "I don"t blurt out my life story to anyone who asks. You don"t either, so you should understand that."
Those golden brown eyes studied him for another long moment; then, with a sigh, she turned away. He sensed that his answer hadn"t satisfied her, but that she wasn"t going to ask again. The sensation of being given up on wasn"t a pleasant one, but he didn"t want her to keep prying, either.
He checked his watch. There were a few calls he had to make before picking her up for the evening, not to mention showering and changing clothes. He kissed her shoulder again and got to his feet. "I have to leave or I"ll be late to an appointment. Don"t stay out much longer or you"ll get a sunburn. Your shoulders are already hot."
"All right. I"ll see you at seven." She remained sitting on the dock, and Robert looked down at her streaked tawny head with stifled frustration. Just when he thought he was finally making serious progress with her, she mentally retreated again, like a turtle withdrawing into its sh.e.l.l. But this afternoon"s mood was an odd blend of contentment, melancholy and resignation. Maybe she was worried about the truck; maybe she was nervous about their first date, though why she should be, when he"d already had her half-naked, was beyond his comprehension.
The truth was that she was as opaque to him as he was to others. He had always had the ability to read people, but Evie"s mind was either closed to him or she reacted in a totally unexpected way. He couldn"t predict what she would do or tell what she was thinking, and it was slowly driving him mad. He forced himself to walk away, rather than stand there waiting for her to look up at him. What would that accomplish? It was likely that she would figure out why he was waiting and look up just to get it over with, so he would go. Little mind games were only for the insecure, and Robert didn"t have an insecure bone in his body. Nevertheless, he was reluctant to leave her. The only time he wasn"t worried about what she was doing was when he was with her.
As he climbed into the Jeep, he wryly reflected that it was a sad state of affairs when he was so obsessed with a woman he couldn"t trust out of his sight.
Evie remained where she was until long after the sound of the Jeep"s engine had faded in the distance. Robert had stonewalled her questions, and sadly she realized that he simply wasn"t going to allow her to get close to him. She supposed she could make a pest of herself and keep yammering at him, but that would only make him close up more. No, if she wanted a relationship with him, she would have to content herself with the litte he was comfortable in giving. She had known Matt to the bone and loved him as deeply. How ironic it was that now she had fallen in love with a man who allowed her to touch only the surface.
Finally she pulled her feet out of the water and stood. This had been a day of fretting, though she had tried not to. She would be better off getting ready for her big date. She had the feeling she would need every bit of preparation she could manage.
Chapter Ten.
A WOMAN COULDN"T have asked for a more perfect escort, she realized about halfway through the evening. For all his sophistication, or perhaps because of it, there was something very old-fashioned in the courtesy and protectiveness with which he treated her. Everything was arranged for her pleasure, her comfort, and she herself was old-fashioned enough, Southern enough, to accept it as the way things should be. Robert Cannon was courting her, so of course he should make certain she was pleased by the evening.
His attention was solely on her. He didn"t eye other women, though she noticed other women watching him. He held her chair for her whenever she got up or sat down, poured wine for her and asked the maitre d" to turn up the thermostat when he noticed her shivering. It was a matter of his own presence that his request was instantly honored. Whenever they walked, his hand rested warmly on the small of her back in a protective, possessive touch.
In no time, he had put her at ease. It was only natural that she had been nervous about the evening; after all, she hadn"t been on a date in twelve years, and there was a great deal of difference between eighteen and thirty. Back then a date had been a hamburger and a movie, or just getting together with a bunch of friends at the skating rink. She wasn"t at all certain what one did on a date with a man who was used to the most cosmopolitan of entertainments.
As she watched his dark, lean face, she realized how truly sophisticated he was. He had brought her to a very nice restaurant in Huntsville, but she was well aware that it didn"t compare to the sort of establishments available in New York or Paris or New Orleans. Not by even a hint, though, did he indicate that the standards were less than those to which he was accustomed. Others, worldly but less sophisticated-and certainly less polite-would have subtly tried to impress by describing the truly good restaurants where they"d eaten. Not Robert. She doubted that he even thought of it, for he had the true sophisticate"s knack of being at home in any surrounding. He didn"t rate or compare; he simply enjoyed. He would have been as happy eating barbecue with his fingers as he was dining with gold flatware and blotting his mouth with a starched linen napkin.
Oh, G.o.d. Not only did he play with babies, he was totally comfortable in her world. Just one more thing to love.
He waved his fingers in front of her face. "You"ve been watching me and smiling for about five minutes," he said with amus.e.m.e.nt coloring his tone. "Ordinarily I"d be flattered, but somehow it makes me uneasy."
Her mouth quirked as she picked up her fork. "It shouldn"t, because actually it was flattering. I was thinking how comfortable you are down here, despite how different things are."
He shrugged and said gently, "The differences are mostly good ones, though I admit I wasn"t prepared for the heat. Somehow, ninety degrees in New York is different from ninety degrees here."
Her brows lifted delicately. "Ninety degrees isn"t all that hot."
He chuckled and again wondered briefly at her ability to amuse him. It wasn"t anything overt, just the subtle differences in her outlook and the way she phrased it. "That"s the difference, one of att.i.tude. Though, of course, it gets hotter than that occasionally, to a New Yorker ninety degrees is hot. To you, it"s a nice day."
"Not exactly. Ninety degrees is hot to us, too. It"s just that, compared to a hundred degrees, it isn"t bad."
"Like I said, att.i.tude." He sipped his wine. "I like New York for what it is. I like it down here for the same reason. In New York there"s an air of excitement and energy, the opera and ballet and museums. Here, you have clean air, no overcrowding, no traffic jams. No one seems to hurry. People smile at strangers." His eyes lingered on her face, and when he continued his voice was a little deeper. "Though I admit I"ve been disappointed that I haven"t heard you say "y"all" at all. In fact, I"ve heard it very few times since I"ve been here."
She hid her smile. "Why would I say it to you? Y"all is plural. You"re singular."
"Is it? That minor detail had escaped me."
"That you"re singular?" She paused, aware that she was trespa.s.sing into his private life and that he might well shut down as he had that afternoon. "Have you ever been married?"
He sipped his wine again, and his eyes glittered at her over the rim of the gla.s.s. "No," he replied easily. "I was engaged once, when I was in college, but we both realized in time that getting married-particularly to each other-would have been a stupid thing to do."