Eye of the Tiger

Darcy paused. “Honey, I hope you know what you’re doing. That isn’t a man, it’s a ladykiller.”

“I’m a big girl now.”

“A babe in the woods.”

“Not quite,” Eleanor said gently. “Not at all anymore.”

Darcy sighed. “Well, I should be shot for agreeing, but I will. Where are you going?”

“To a cocktail party at the Blake estate.”

“The Blakes own half of Fayette County!”

“Yes, I know. I’m so nervous. I thought I’d wear that little black cocktail dress I wore to our Christmas party….”

“You will not! It’s three years old! I have a strappy little gray silk number, you’ll wear that. It will just fit you. And I have an evening bag and shoes to match. No arguments. I’m not sending you to the Blakes’ looking like something out of a Salvation Army charity store!”

That cut, because it was how Wade had made her feel. She hesitated, then gave in gracefully. She really did want to go to the party with Wade, to get a taste of that luxurious other world. And her little black dress would only embarrass him.

“Okay,” she told Darcy. “You’re a pal. I wish I could do something for you.”

“You are,” came the smug reply. “You’re filling in for me Friday so that I can see that new picture with Arnold. Come over Saturday morning and we’ll fix you up.”

“I’ll be there at nine, with coffee and biscuits from the Red Barn, how’s that for true friendship?” She laughed.

“That’s true friendship,” Darcy agreed. “See you then.”

Eleanor excitedly told her father about her plans for Saturday, then went back into the kitchen to wash the breakfast dishes, frowning when she heard a car drive up in front. She peeked into the living room, and her heart leaped as Keegan walked into it, frowning and looking worried. He sat down and started talking to her father, fortunately not glancing toward the kitchen. She quickly drew back inside.

She was too far away to hear what was being said, but she had a terrible feeling it had something to do with her. Well, let them talk, it wouldn’t stop her. She liked Wade, she’d been in a state of hibernation for over a year, and she was tired of her own company. She wanted to get out and live a little before she turned into a vegetable or an old maid. And if Keegan didn’t like it, that was too bad. She didn’t care about his opinion. She didn’t care about him, either.

The kitchen door opened, and the object of her dark thoughts came into the room, hands rammed into the pockets of his pale slacks. She glanced at him and then concentrated on her dishes.

“Can I help you?” she asked carelessly.

“Your father says you’re going to a party at the Blakes’ with your new boyfriend.”

“So what if I am?” she asked coldly.

“You’re going to be out of your league, little girl,” he said bluntly. “They’ll eat you up.”

Her cheeks reddened with anger. She put the dishcloth down slowly and turned to face him, her dark eyes narrow and icy. “You don’t think I can behave like a lady, is that it?” she asked, glaring up at him. “Well, don’t worry, Mr. Taber, you won’t have to suffer my embarrassing presence. And I think the Blakes will manage not to laugh at me.”

“I didn’t mean… Damn it, girl, will you stop putting words in my mouth? I’m talking about Granger. I’ve already told you he’s a wolf! A rich, sleek, well-fed wolf with a big wallet, just fishing for a naive little girl like you to warm his bed!”

She turned and stared at him. “Just like you,” she agreed, and watched him explode, then turned back to her dishes. “Why are you worried about my morals? If I want to be corrupted by someone else, that’s my business. Besides, I’ve always wanted to make love suspended from a tree limb,” she added dryly.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he murmured, studying her. “Eleanor, you’re trying to fit into a world that has nothing of value to offer you.”

“Like yours?” she asked politely.

“I’m talking about you and Wade Granger! Aren’t you experienced enough to realize why he’s sniffing around you?”

He made it sound so cheap and vulgar! “I am not a tramp,” she replied through clenched teeth, “despite your efforts to make me feel like one.”

“When did I ever do that, Eleanor?” he asked in a deep, poignant tone, his eyes searching hers.

She didn’t want to remember that night. “If you want to stay to lunch, I’m making ham sandwiches,” she said abruptly, washing a plate hard enough to scrub half the pattern off.

He came up behind her, smelling of tangy cologne. She remembered the scent of it: it had clung to her body that night. It had been on her pillow when she awoke the next morning. It was a graphic reminder of her one lapse in a lifetime of sanity. The warmth of his body radiated toward her, warming her back, threatening her.

“I was careful with you that night,” he said, his voice velvety rough, warm. “More careful than I’ve ever been with a woman, before or since. Even afterward, I was tender. I’ve never been able to forget it, the way you wanted me at first, the wild little shudders, the sweet cries that pulsed out of you until I hurt you.”

“Please,” she whispered, closing her eyes. “I don’t want to remember!”

“You cried,” he murmured. His lean hands smoothed her waist, drew her back so that she rested against his powerful body. “You cried when I took you, looking straight into my eyes, watching…and I felt that you were a virgin, and I tried to stop, but I was so far gone…”

“No!” She wept, lowering her face.

His lips touched her hair, and his hands trembled. “You were fire and honey in my arms,” he whispered, “and I remember crying out because the pleasure was an agony.”

She tore out of his arms and retreated behind the table, looking across at him with dark, wounded eyes. “Go away!”

His eyes were dark blue with remembered desire, his face shadowed by the flash of light behind him through the curtains. “I will, but the memory won’t,” he said huskily.

“You used me,” she whispered brokenly, involuntarily, letting the hurt show, seeing how his face hardened. “You had a fight with your sophisticated girlfriend, and you took me out to spite her. And like a fool, I thought you’d asked me because you cared about me. It wasn’t until…until it was all over, until it was too late, that you told me the truth. I hated you then and I hate you now. I’ll hate you until I die, Keegan Taber!”

His eyes shifted to his boots, to the worn linoleum. “Yes, I know,” he said quietly.

“Will you please go?” she said in a defeated tone, refusing to look at him again. “My life is none of your business now. Nothing I do concerns you.”

“Do you want him?” he asked.

She went and opened the kitchen door. “Goodbye. Sorry you have to leave so suddenly,” she said with a bright, empty smile.

“I thought I was invited to lunch.”

“Do you really like arsenic?” she asked with raised eyebrows. “Because I’ve never been more tempted in my life.”

“Neither have I,” he agreed, but he was studying her slender, pretty figure with narrowed, blue-black eyes. “You’re exquisite, Eleanor. You always were, but maturity has done amazing things to your body.”

“I am more than a body,” she said curtly. “I’m a human being with thoughts and feelings and a few minor talents.”

“I know that, too…. Do you fancy a guardian angel, Eleanor?”

She blinked. “I don’t understand.”

“You will,” he said with a grim smile. “At least keep away from his apartment, can’t you? I hear he has a bed that begins at the doorway.”