Dreams: Part Two (14 page)

Diana was so startled by his hand on her shoulder that she yelped, more in surprise than real pain. It was when she swung around with an angry protest that she saw Colby materialize in the doorway behind Aaron.

“Get your hands off of her, you bastard,“ Colby snarled. He was already moving through the doorway, leaping toward Aaron Crown.

“Colby!
No! Don’t hit him. I don’t want you hurt again.“ Diana grabbed Colby’s arm. He shook her off as if she were nothing more than a kitten.

“You stupid son of a…“ Aaron lashed out blindly as Colby spun him around. His clenched fist caught Colby on the shoulder.

Colby didn’t seem to notice the blow. He used his grip on Crown to send him spinning up against the wall. Crown hit it with a thud and sank to his knees.

“Get your things,“ Colby said to Diana. “Take everything you need. You’re not coming back.“ He looked at her as if he expected an argument.

Diana said nothing. She finished putting on her coat, collected a few personal items from the drawers of her desk and picked up her purse. Then she picked up a red pen and scrawled her resignation across the face of the report she had been working on for Aaron.

Crown inched his way to his feet, using the wall for support. He glared at Colby with baleful eyes. “You’ll pay for this,“ he hissed.

“Not likely,“ Colby said carelessly. “If you do decide to go to the cops, tell them you were manhandling my woman before I ever laid a hand on you. If you don’t explain that part, I will. Come on, Diana, let’s get out of here.“

“You can’t leave, Diana,“ Aaron hissed, “If you do, I guarantee you’ll never work here or anywhere else in this town again.“

Diana looked at him. “This is some kind of macho power play, isn’t it? But you don’t have the power to keep me from getting a job outside of C and Y and I don’t like macho power plays, Aaron. They bore me.“ She started toward the door, conscious of Colby close behind her.

“I was right about you,“ Aaron yelled at her. “You didn’t deserve that promotion. It’s a good thing for this company that I talked management out of giving it to you two months ago. I told them you weren’t ready for it. I told them you were just another flighty woman who wasn’t really interested in a long-range career, that you were perfectly content where you were.“

Diana whirled around. “You told management I wasn’t ready for that promotion? That’s why I didn’t get: the position?“

“And I was right to do it, wasn’t I? You’ve proved me right. You ran out and got married to the first man who’d have you, and now all you can think about is getting home early every night to screw your new husband. You’re not management material. You’re just a thirty-four-year-old spinster who’s finally discovered regular sex. Obviously you can’t get enough of it.“

Colby started to swing back toward Aaron. Diana stopped him with a hand on his arm. This time he hesitated, glancing down at her.

“I’ll handle this,“ she said firmly. She could feel the muscles bunched in his shoulders, but he didn’t argue. He stood waiting as she stepped around him and went to stand a couple of feet from Aaron.

“I’ve got news for you,“ she said smoothly, her eyes brilliant with anger, “I am not only going home to be with my husband, I am going home to prepare for my baby. And you’re quite right. Both of them are far more important than my job here at C and Y.“

He stared at her, openmouthed. “You’re pregnant?
Pregnant?“

“That’s right, Aaron. I only came back to Carruthers and Yale because I needed a short-term, fill-in job. A little work to fill in the time until I was ready to resign permanently. Come on, Aaron. What did you expect? You didn’t really think I’d come back here to work on a full-time basis for you, did you? After what happened a couple of months ago? I knew then there was no future for me here. I never intended to come back at all until I got pregnant.“

“Why you little…“

“Say it and I’ll rip your tongue out and feed it to you.“ Colby’s voice was very even.

“Get out of here,“ Aaron snarled. “Both of you. Go on. Get out of here.“

“We’re on our way,“ Colby said agreeably. He took Diana’s arm and steered her toward the door.

Diana didn’t resist. She was suddenly very eager to leave. But when she saw the ring of curious faces out in the hall, she couldn’t hold back a cheeky grin.

“I leave him to you with my compliments. Just don’t trust him any farther than you can throw him.“

“We heard,“ Milly said. “So he was the one who kept you from getting that promotion. That fits when you think about it. He can’t afford to lose you, Diana. He’s just barely smart enough to know that.“

Behind Diana, the door to her office slammed shut.

“The Crown Prince is not amused,“ Milly observed. She grinned at her friend. “Good luck, Diana. We’ll miss you around here.“

“You mean Aaron Crown will miss her,“ muttered another man. “Crown got used to relying on Diana to save his bacon. I’ll bet he doesn’t last six months without her. Especially when none of us is going to go out of our way to cooperate with him.“

“Sounds like a good idea for an office pool,“ someone said. “I think I’ll start a Guess the Date Aaron Crown is Forced Out Due to Incompetence Pool. Who wants in?“

As Colby walked Diana down the hall, she heard the concerted rush of her former co-workers surging forward to get into the newest office game.

Colby said nothing until they were outside the building. It wasn’t until they reached her car in the garage that he spoke. “I know you’re upset because returning to Carruthers and Yale didn’t work out,“ he began gruffly as he took the key from her hand and slid in beside her. “But it’s for the best. You heard that jerk – he deliberately sabotaged your promotion.“

“What made you come by the office today, Colby?“ she interrupted quietly. She was so tense her fingers were shaking.

“You know why I’m here.“ He guided the Buick out of the garage and into the traffic.

“You were going to make certain I followed orders and got home on time tonight. It may interest you to know I was preparing to leave at exactly four-thirty today.“ She clenched her fingers, trying to control their trembling.

Colby grunted. “I believe you probably intended to leave on time, but I’m not so sure you would have made it.“

“I’d have made it. The reason Aaron was manhandling me, as you put it, was that I had just told him very firmly there would be no more overtime.“

“It’s finished. I don’t want to argue about it any more.“

“And that’s the end of it?“ she asked coolly. “You don’t want to discuss it further, so we just dismiss the whole subject?“

“What’s to talk about? You’re not going back to Carruthers and Yale. You wrote that resignation out yourself. I didn’t make you do it.“

“I know.“ She lapsed into silence.

“Diana?“

“Yes?“

“Are you going to give me the silent treatment because of what happened today?“ He sounded only mildly interested in her answer.

“You’re the one who said you didn’t want to talk about it.“

“But that won’t stop you from thinking about it and analyzing it and fretting over it, will it?“

“It’s my career that’s at stake here, Colby.“

“And that’s all you can think about?“

Anger shot through her. The last of her precious self-control snapped. She whipped around in the seat, her eyes blazing.

“It’s not all I think about.“ She fought to keep her voice from rising. “I also spend a lot of time thinking about being married to a man who doesn’t seem to understand how important it is to me to be able to support myself. When I’ve analyzed that to death, I spend hours thinking about this baby I’m carrying and trying to plan for a future I never expected.“

“Take it easy, honey. You’ve been under a lot of stress lately.“

“Stress?
Is that what you call it? That’s a wimpy term for what I’ve been feeling lately. Let me tell you what I’ve been going through. I can hardly get into my clothes anymore, Colby. I’ve been a size eight for fifteen years, and in another couple of weeks I won’t be able to button my skirts or jeans. I’ve been browsing through the pregnancy section of the bookstores and realizing that I don’t handle pain very well. I break out in a cold sweat while getting a shot of Novocain at the dentist’s, for heaven’s sake.“

“You’re scared, aren’t you?“ he said with sudden, unexpected insight. “One of the reasons you were so determined on going back to work until the baby arrives is that you thought it would help keep your mind off what’s happening to you.“

She closed her eyes and drew a steadying breath. “Yes, I’m scared. And yes, a job would have helped me cope.

But the fear isn’t the worst of it. What’s really getting to me is this awful sensation of being totally out of control.“

“I know.“

“No, you don’t. Because you’re totally in control. You always are. But look at me, Colby. I’ve lost control of my career, my body, my future and even my dreams.“

“Honey, I’ve told you, I’ve had those cave dreams for years, and they’re meaningless.“

“Well, they’re not meaningless to me. They’re beginning to frighten me. It’s not natural to share a recurring dream with someone else. I’m getting a horrible feeling that those dreams of ours are somehow linked to the fact that I’m pregnant.“

“That’s just your imagination,“ Colby said soothingly.

Tears burned in her eyes. She dashed them away with the back of her hand. “On top of everything else, I’ve even lost control of my emotions. Look at these stupid tears-.“

Colby threw her a concerned glance as he eased the Buick into the apartment garage. “Pregnancy makes women very emotional. Don’t worry about it.“

‘“Don’t worry about it,’ he says.“ Diana shoved open the car door and leaped out. She wiped away more tears as she hurried toward the elevator.
“Don’t worry about it.
My whole life is coming apart and he tells me not to worry about it.“

Colby caught up with her. He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side as he punched the call button. “As I said, it’s just stress that’s getting to you. You’ve been through a lot of changes in the past couple of months.“

“So have you,“ she snapped. “I don’t see you falling apart.“

“You’re not falling apart. You’re just a little tense.“

She glared up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. “Do you want some advice, Colby? Don’t say another word.“

He ignored her, squeezing her gently as he urged her into the elevator. “What you need is to take a nice hot shower, get into a robe and have a cup of tea or something while I get dinner on the table. You’ve had a hard day and you need to relax.“

“Colby, I’m warning you. If you say anything else, I may scream. Don’t treat me as if I were some silly, emotional, bubble-headed idiot.“

He smiled. “I’ve never claimed you were an idiot. And you’re never silly. You are, however, feeling a little emotional at the moment and it’s perfectly understandable.“

“Is it?“ she asked with a dangerous expression.

“Sure.“ He moved a hand expansively. “Look at what you’ve been through this summer. You’ve lost a job. You’ve gotten pregnant. You’ve been forced to marry a man you hardly know…“

“I wasn’t forced to marry you,“ she interrupted fiercely.

He gave her a small, admonishing shake. “Come on, honey. We both know you felt you had to marry me because of the baby.“

“I didn’t marry you because of the
baby,“
she said, surprising herself with the steel in her voice.

“Yes you did,“ he contradicted easily. “I didn’t give you any option and you wisely realized marriage was the only reasonable solution under the circumstances.“

“Will you kindly shut up, Colby? I did not marry you because of the baby. I’m not saying I wouldn’t have married you solely because of the baby. I mean, you were willing and you’re a good man and you are the father and babies deserve the advantage of having both parents whenever possible, and I might have married you because of all those things. But those don’t happen to be the reasons I did marry you.“

“No?“ He tugged her through the elevator doors as they opened and dug his keys out of his back pocket. “So why did you marry me?“

Diana could tell by the light tone of his voice that he was humoring her. It was the last straw. She dug in her heels and fixed him with a furious gaze. “I married you because I’m in love with you, you big dumb macho idiot. Now get out of my way. I want a hot shower and then I want my robe and slippers and then I want dinner. I’ve had a very hard day.“

As soon as he’d opened the apartment door she rushed past him, dodging Specter’s eager greeting, and fled down the hall to the sanctuary of the bathroom.

Colby stood staring after her for nearly a minute before he became aware of Specter’s anxious whine. He switched his attention to the dog.

“I think,“ Colby announced, “that this calls for a beer and a dog biscuit. You want to join me?“

Specter followed him into the kitchen without protest.

Colby came awake hours later with the last few pages of
Blood Mist
as clear as crystal in his mind. It wasn’t the first time he’d awakened with a sure knowledge of where he wanted to go next in a book, but it was rare to have it this detailed.

He lay still for a moment, conscious of Diana’s sleek, soft warmth beside him. He didn’t really want to leave the bed, but the need to get the ending of the book nailed down while it was fresh in his mind was too strong to ignore.

He waited for a little while longer, going over the details of the scene, and then slid quietly out of bed. He reached for his jeans. He hesitated, gazing down at the sleeping woman in the bed and trying not to think about what she had said earlier while she had been in the grip of an emotional storm.

A man could drive himself crazy dwelling on the real meaning behind a woman’s emotional outbursts.