Eye of the Tiger

She’d given in, but she’d invited him home for a meal instead of accepting his invitation to go nightclubbing. She thought if he saw how she lived, and where, it might cool him off.

He was a nice man, and she liked him. But she didn’t want to get involved. Keegan had cured her of being romantic. Now she knew all too well the consequences of giving her heart, of trusting a man to return her love. She knew how cold the ashes of a love affair could be.

Her father had no idea of the relationship she’d had with Keegan, and she wanted it to stay that way. It had only been one date anyway, one magical night when she’d believed in fairies. What a pity she hadn’t been levelheaded. But she’d been flattered by Keegan’s sudden interest, and she hadn’t questioned it at all. She certainly hadn’t suspected that Keegan was only using her to get back at the woman he really loved. She often wondered what had become of Lorraine Meadows. Petite, blond Lorraine with her Park Avenue tastes and no-expense-spared upbringing. Keegan had announced his engagement to Lorraine the morning after his date with Eleanor. She remembered hearing it and bursting into tears. Keegan had tried to talk to her, and she’d refused to come out of her room. What was there to say, anyway? He’d gotten what he wanted.

But although the engagement made social headlines, less than two months later the couple quietly dropped their marriage plans and went their separate ways. It was incredible to Eleanor, who was in nursing school in Louisville by then. She felt Lorraine would have been the perfect mistress for Flintlock. These days, of course, Lorraine Meadows was never mentioned. Keegan was apparently playing the field now, according to local gossip.

Eleanor drove around for half an hour or so and then went home, thinking Keegan had had plenty of time to finish his business with her father. But he was still there. And she didn’t have the time to avoid him any longer, not with Wade coming at six-thirty. It was four now.

She pulled up at the front steps, behind the classy Porsche, and cut the engine. Nurse’s cap in hand, she walked wearily in the front door and fought down the rush of excitement that seeing Keegan never failed to create.

He was in the living room, sitting across from her father and looking out of place in the worn, faded armchair. He rose as she entered the room, all lean muscle and towering masculinity. There was an inborn arrogance about him that actually rippled the hair at her nape, and he had a way of looking at her with narrowed eyes and a faint smile that brought the blood to her cheeks. His flaming red hair had a slight wave in it, and his eyes were as blue as a summer sky. His cheekbones were high, his features sharp and cutting, his mouth thin and cruel and oddly sensuous. He looked lithe and rangy, but she knew the strength in that slender body. She’d seen farmhands underestimate it, to their cost. She’d underestimated it herself, once. But never again.

“Hello, Keegan,” she said in greeting, her voice calm, confident. She even smiled at him as she bent to kiss her father on the forehead. “Hello, darling, had a nice day?”

“Very nice.” Her father chuckled. “Keegan drove me into Lexington to the therapist. She says in another month I’ll be back on the job.”

“Lovely!” Eleanor laughed.

Keegan was watching her closely, as usual. He got lazily to his feet. “I’ve got to run. Eleanor, your father and I can’t find that last cost estimate he did on building my new barn. Do you know where it is?”

So that was why he’d been here so long. She smiled at her own wild thoughts. “Surely. I’ll get it for you.”

She went into her father’s small study and reached up on a high shelf for the box where he filed his bills and important papers. Her breath caught when she got down to find Keegan lounging in the doorway, his blue eyes narrow and intent on her slender body in its neat white uniform.

“Did I shock you?” he asked with a taunting smile. “It’s been some years since I’ve managed that, hasn’t it, Ellie?”

“I don’t like that nickname,” she said coolly. She avoided his gaze and sat down behind the desk, riffling through her father’s papers until she found the estimate. She pulled it out and extended it toward Keegan.

He jerked away from the doorframe and took it from her. “How long do you plan to hold this grudge against me?” he asked softly. “It’s been years.”

“I have nothing against you, Mr. Taber,” she said innocently.

“Don’t call me that,” he said curtly. “I don’t like it.”

“Why not?” she asked with a bland expression. “You’re the big boss, aren’t you? We live in your house, provide you with entertainment—of all sorts,” she added bitterly, meaningfully.

His thin lips compressed. He rolled the paper in his hands, making a tube of it. He stared at it, then at her. “You came back. Why?”

“Why not?” she asked, lifting her eyebrows mockingly. “Did you expect me to stay away for the rest of my life to spare you embarrassment?”

“You don’t embarrass me,” he said shortly.

“Well, you embarrass me,” she returned, and her brown eyes glared at him. “I hate the memory, and I hate you. Why do you come here?”

“I like your father,” he replied. His chin lifted slightly as he studied her. “He was injured on the job. I’ve been keeping an eye on him since you couldn’t.”

“I know that, and I’m grateful. But he’s almost healed….”

“He plays a good game of chess,” he said. “I like chess,” he added through pursed lips, smiling thoughtfully, and his gaze was thorough and bold.

“You like strategy,” she returned. “I remember all too well what a wonderful manipulator you are, Keegan. You’re great at getting people to do what you want. But not me. Not anymore.”

“You just can’t give me credit for an unselfish motive, can you?”

“Ah, you forget,” she said silkily. “I know all about your motives, don’t I?”

His blue eyes glittered at her like sun-touched sapphires, and his face tautened. “My God, haven’t you ever made a mistake in your unblemished life?”

“Sure. With you, that night,” she replied heatedly. “And the irony of it is that I didn’t even get any pleasure out of it!”

He seemed to go rigid with that accusation, and his face actually colored. “Damn you,” he breathed furiously, crushing the tube in his lean hand.

“Does that rankle? Forgive me for trampling on your vulnerable male pride, but it’s the truth.” She pushed back a wayward lock of her soft, brown hair. “I gave you what I’d been saving all my life for a man I loved, only to find out when it was too late that it was a ruse to make Lorraine jealous, to get her to marry you! Did you ever tell her just how far it went, Keegan Taber?” she demanded, burning up with the years of bitter anguish. “Did you?”

“Lower your voice,” he growled. “Or do you want your father to hear it all?”

“Wouldn’t he have a sterling opinion of you then?” She laughed wildly. “His chess buddy, his idol. He doesn’t know you at all!”

“Neither do you,” he said shortly. “I tried to explain it to you then, and you wouldn’t listen. I’ve tried since, several times. I even wrote you a letter because you wouldn’t talk to me.”

“I burned it, unread,” she replied triumphantly. “What could you have told me that I didn’t already know? Lorraine called me herself. She was delighted to tell me all the details….” Her voice broke and she turned away, biting her tongue to keep from crying out, the pain was so fresh. She took a steadying breath and rubbed the back of her neck. “Anyway, as you said, it was all over a long time ago. I’ll even forget it one of these days.” She glanced at his rigid figure. “Wouldn’t you like to go and manage your farm or something? I’ve had a long day, and I still have to cook supper.”

He was silent. She heard him light a cigarette, heard the snap of his lighter as he pocketed it. She thought he’d stopped smoking, but apparently her father hadn’t known that he’d started again.

His voice sounded bleak when he spoke again. “I didn’t realize until afterward how much you cared about me. And by then it was too late to undo the damage.”

“I hope I wore your conscience thin,” she replied. “You can’t imagine what you did to my pride. But at least I didn’t get pregnant.” She managed a laugh, folding her arms over her breasts. “Whatever happened to your intended, by the way? I expected you to drag her to the altar the minute she opened her mouth and said yes.”

“I don’t want to discuss Lorraine!”

Of course he didn’t; he’d loved the socialite to distraction, despite her wearing ways. She shrugged, as if it didn’t matter, and went to the doorway.

“If those papers are all you needed, I’ll excuse myself. I have to get my man a decent supper.”

He stared at her, his eyes searching and curious. “Your man?”

Her dark eyes widened. “Shocked? I do realize you think you’re a tough act to follow, but I can’t believe you expected me to moon over you for the rest of my life. Yes, I have a man,” she lied. Well, Wade was a man, and he might be hers someday. “He’s gorgeous and sexy and rich as sin.”

“Rich?” he returned.

“You probably even know him. Wade Granger?”

His face flooded with angry color. “You little fool! He’s what’s known as the crowd Romeo! The only way he hasn’t been caught doing it is hanging from a limb!”

“How erotic!” she murmured, smiling sweetly. “I can hardly wait!”

“Damn you, will you listen to me? He’s just out for a good time!”