A Love for All Time (4 page)

She turned startled eyes toward him and at the same time burrowed her hands and arms beneath the sheet. Her eyes ran over Dan quickly before she turned her head away. The movement was too quick and she flinched from the pain as her ear and cheek pressed into the pillow. He was just as she remembered—a man totally in command of himself. Finally she remembered to return his greeting.

“Hello.”

There was silence. “May I sit down?”

“Be my guest,” she said ungraciously, keeping her face turned away from him.

“Thanks.” He carried the chair around the end of the bed and placed it so that when he sat down his eyes were only a couple of feet from hers.

There was nowhere for Casey to look but at him. He was wearing a brown shirt with pearl snaps and tight-fitting, Western cut slacks of tan corduroy. It wasn’t his casual attire that held her attention, but the rugged planes of his tanned features, lean and strong. She had had no difficulty remembering his size or the dark glitter of his eyes, but she had forgotten about the unruliness of his thick, dark hair. She watched the straight, firm line of his mouth curve in a smile that softened the hard contours of his face.

Casey lay stiffly, all her nerve ends tingling under the scrutiny of those eyes. She knew she had
never looked as unattractive as she did then. There was no artificial cause for the color that tinged her cheeks as his gaze traveled over her face, taking in the bruises beneath her eyes, the unwashed hair pulled back from her face, and the dressing that covered her cheek and ear leaving the stitches visible across her forehead.

Her gold-flecked eyes held a definite shimmer of defiance when she met his glance. All her defenses were raised. Casey didn’t fully understand this inner need to protect herself from him, it was just there and seemed to be purely instinctive. The strong mouth slanted its line, but it never made the full transition into a smile. His glance locked with hers.

“Hello again. Why are you so cross tonight? Did you have a bad day?”

She wanted to say, Hell, yes, I had a bad day. Every day from now on will be a bad day. But it would be a gross display of bad manners.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound cross.” Her throat felt as if it had a rock in it.

He bent forward and she imagined she felt his breath on her face. “We don’t need false politeness between us, Casey. If you had a bad day, say, Hell, yes, I had a lousy day.”

Oh, God! Can he read my mind?
“Hell, yes, I had a lousy day today and expect to have a lousier one tomorrow,” she blurted out.

“That’s better. It’s natural to resent what’s happened
to you. Don’t keep that resentment bottled up inside. It’ll be easier if you share it with me.”

Her retort was quick. “You don’t know anything about it. I’ve only seen you twice in my life.”

“In this life, but not in the others.” He made the statement a challenge and his eyes gleamed with amusement as the corners of his mouth lifted.

“I think you’re missing a few bricks!”

He threw his head back and laughed. “No, you don’t. Haven’t you ever felt as if you’ve done something before, known someone before, looked on something beautiful before? The feeling only lasts for an instant, but it’s very real at the time. That’s the way I feel about you. We could have rowed the Nile as Mark Anthony and Cleopatra; reveled in Camelot as Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere; walked the shores of the Deschutes River as an Indian brave and his maiden; or come across the great plains as man and wife on a wagon train. Think about it. Do I seem like a stranger to you?”

The question caught her off guard. She was conscious of the uneven hammering of her pulse under the steady gaze of his dark eyes. He didn’t seem like a stranger, but she wouldn’t admit it to him!

“If I knew you in another life, more than likely I was a rabbit and you were a hawk!”

“No. If you were a rabbit I was a rabbit.” The dark gray eyes danced with pure mischief. “Our life was short, but we did our share to insure the future of the species.”

Casey’s stomach churned with a violent emotion, which she interpreted as anger. The frown of disapproval she shot at him did nothing but intensify the devilish grin on his face.

A man this attractive must have someone at home, she thought, even if he wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. She had another thought on the heels of that one. With his strength and gentleness, he would be a warm and demanding lover.

She wanted to say something clever to let him know the conversation was getting too personal and that she didn’t appreciate his humor. She looked into dark friendly eyes and suddenly the matter was out of her hands. She smiled, a wobbly, halfhearted smile.

“I rather left myself wide open for that one,” she said shakily.

“You have a very beautiful mouth, Casey Farrow,” he said softly. “I’ll see to it that it smiles more often.”

Her mood instantly changed back to anger. “Don’t practice your moves on me, Sir Lancelot. I don’t know what field you think you’re playing on, or what you hope to gain by tossing out flowers. I’ve already told you I’m not going to file a legal claim against you.” The anger in her eyes was echoed in her voice.

Dan switched on the lamp on the bedside table, replacing the gloom with soft light. Although he was still lounging in his chair, an electricity emanated from him. Casey knew that she had angered
him. She stared into dark eyes and desperately asked herself how things could have developed to such a point. Where was her painfully acquired discipline and self-control?

“We may just as well get this relationship started off on the right foot, Casey.” His face had a harshness that made her shiver.

“There’s no relationship between us, Mr. Murdock.” She felt shaken and a little out of breath, but compelled to retort caustically.

“Oh, but there is!” His voice was soft, but the measured words left no doubt as to their rock-hard meaning. “I’m very attracted to you. I’m thirty-four years old and you are the first woman I’ve ever wanted in any way other than physically, and that’s not saying that I don’t want you that way, too. After you get to know me, you’ll find that I don’t pass out compliments lightly. I meant it when I said you have a beautiful mouth and I also mean it when I say you have a hard, cynical attitude.”

“What you’re saying is ridiculous! I’m not … hard or cynical,” she blurted out, and moved her head so suddenly on the pillow that she winced. “You don’t know anything about me, and … my personal life is none of your business.”

“I do know about you. I hadn’t planned on having this conversation just yet. I wanted to wait until you were stronger.” He paused and raised his brows in question, but Casey was too dumbfounded to speak. He reached over and lifted her hair from her neck and tucked it behind her head. “You have
beautiful hair, too. When I was in your apartment I saw the posters of you demonstrating the cosmetic line. I stole one of them.”

“You’ve … you’ve been to my apartment?” Casey’s mouth remained agape after she gasped the words.

“Of course. How do you think your personal things got here?” He laughed at the vaguely puzzled look on her face.

“I thought Judy brought them up before she left on one of her flights. She’s a stewardess for an international airline and lives next …” her voice trailed off in disbelief.

“I met Judy,” Dan said matter-of-factly. “She helped select what you’d need. She also told me your rent was due. I paid it for another month, so you needn’t worry about that.”

“You have a nerve! I’ve lived there six years. They wouldn’t have thrown me out for being a month behind in my rent.”

“I realize that under the circumstances your landlord would have waited for the rent money, but it wasn’t necessary.” He looked at her intently. “Why are your arms covered? Are you cold?”

“No! Yes!” She couldn’t think with him sitting so close to her and looking as if he knew every line and hair on her body. Consciously she willed herself to remember that this man was a stranger to her. She knew absolutely nothing about him except what he had told her.

“I like touching you,” he said softly, breaking
into her thoughts. His hand slid beneath the sheet and his fingers closed around her forearm. “That’s better.” He smiled into her eyes as if it was the most natural thing in the world for him to caress her arm.

Casey felt the warmth and sense of connection that pulsed so powerfully between them. At the moment it was a quiet, yet profound feeling, but suddenly she was jolted by an instant flash of memory.
This had happened before!
I’m losing my mind was her next thought. Then, overwhelmed by what she was feeling, the stiffness left her body, her eyes lost themselves in the dark, gray depths of his, and she seemed to be filled with a warmth and completeness that was new to her. She was conscious of nothing except firm warm fingers on her arm holding her back. But … from what?

“I knew you’d relax if I could touch you.” His voice came softly through the roar in her ears. “You’ve been lying there stiff as a board.” The hand moved slowly up and down her arm. She had a mad impulse to hug it to her side, to keep the security of his touch with her. “We’ve got to get you out of here so I can take you home with me.”

“What?” Reality returned instantly. “What?” she said again, and her mouth remained open, her lips still forming the word.

Dan laughed, his eyes moving over her face. Firm fingers pressed beneath her chin to push her lips together.

“I want to take you to my home near Bend as
soon as you’re released from the hospital. You’ll be in no condition either physically or mentally to stay alone. We have a big house. You won’t have to see anyone if you don’t want to, yet we’re only fifteen minutes from town. You’ll love the—”

“Hold it! We’re not living in the Dark Ages, Sir Lancelot. This is the twentieth century. When I leave this hospital I’m going straight back to my apartment and try to get my life back together. I’ve got six months to wait before the plastic surgeon can work on my … face. I still need to find out if my insurance will cover the cost of that and if I have a job.” She paused. The little short breaths she was forced to take because of her hurt ribs were not enough to allow for a long speech. Dan didn’t take advantage of the pause to speak. He waited patiently, his rough fingertips finding the pulsing vein in her wrist and holding it.

“Don’t plan my life,” she sputtered. “Not one day, one week, or one month. I won’t stand for it!” She wondered if he knew her stomach was like a washing machine. Irritated at the thought that he knew so much about her, she said, “Leave me alone, Mr. Murdock, I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself!” She stared at him with a defiant look.

The quiet hung heavily after her outburst. He smiled and her blood ran cold. She stared at him in almost total panic, because in that smile had been threat, amusement, implacable determination, and admiration. The realization that he was being as tolerant of her outburst as if she were a stubborn
child frightened her. She had the inescapable feeling that she could run from him all she liked, but he would be behind her every step of the way.

“I admire your independence,” he said softly. “I realize you and your mother had it pretty rough after your father left you. But don’t let what he did cloud your opinion of me. I won’t disappoint you. I’m delighted to find my Guinevere still somewhat inexperienced and man-wary at age twenty-seven. You have a freshness about you, an inner beauty that I’m attracted to.” His smile held a hint of possessiveness.

“I’m not attracted to you at all,” Casey lied, struggling to rally her defenses against him, but it was like swimming upstream against a strong current.

“You didn’t mind my kiss the other night. I’d really like to kiss you again if you promise not to snap at me.” The glitter in his eyes made her feel as though her heart might leap from her breast. She was too stunned to answer and her lips parted softly in surprise. “I think I’ll take my chances,” he said, lowering his mouth to hers.

At first the kiss was gentle as he explored without haste the flavor and texture of her mouth. His tongue stroked her lips, sweetly, hesitantly, but did not enter her mouth as if waiting for an invitation before the first tender invasion. Never had she been kissed like this before. Her mind fed on the new sensations created by his firm but gentle lips, the feel of his teeth, his tongue, the freshness of his
mouth, and even the hardness of his nose lying beside hers.

He made the world spin.

When she did not protest—when in fact she welcomed it—he deepened the kiss with a mounting urgency. A wild crescendo rose within her and she felt she had become one with Dan and then an extension of him. That was how it would be if he made love to her, she realized. She wanted to fill her arms with his rock-hard body, nuzzle the cheeks that needed to be shaved twice a day. She longed to surround and enfold him in an intimate embrace.

His lips softened, caressed, and clung with a leisurely sweetness that held still the very moments of time. He lifted his head; his half-shuttered eyes looked into hers and her gaze wavered beneath his direct stare. A deep, inner restlessness flickered to life in the pit of her stomach.

“You see how it is? We can’t control our destiny, my Guinevere.” His lips briefly touched her nose. “And don’t be difficult about this, sweetheart. Go with the tide.” He stood abruptly. “Don’t say anything,” he cautioned. “Don’t say anything at all.” And with a faint brushing of his mouth against hers, he was gone.

Casey stared at the closed door. Damned if I’m not beginning to believe him, she thought.

Three

“A
nd you’ll have
a five-year supply of Allure products,” Neil Hamilton said as if he were giving her the earth. He moved restlessly about the room, edging ever closer to the door. “If something opens up in the office, later on, we’ll give you a call. Meanwhile, you’ll have your workman’s compensation. God knows I’ve paid enough into that fund.” His voice had an irritated twang to it.

Thanks for nothing, Neil, Casey thought bitterly. I know, and you know, that you wouldn’t have a face
like mine in your office. Every woman who worked for him was a walking advertisement for Allure. There was murder in Casey’s amber eyes as she looked at him. Damn him, she’d like to see what he would do in her position. How would he handle it? The bastard! He couldn’t even look at her!