Joker's Wild (20 page)

Authors: Sandra Chastain

BOOK: Joker's Wild

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Allison made herself available to the committee, giving her own testimony as to the success of the healing water. As she spoke her gaze continually
swept the crowd. He had to be there. Jack had told her that he was coming. But so far she’d seen no sign of red hair or a bushy beard.

“I can’t believe how well you look,” one of the committee members observed. “I heard about what happened. I thought that you weren’t expected to walk again.”

“It’s the springs,” Allison answered positively, “the miracle healing springs, along with the man I’m going to marry, whose magical hands brought me back completely after I’d been given up on as a lost cause. This is what I want to share with all of you. That’s why I asked the committee to tour our facilities and hear what we have to offer.”

And then she saw Darron Vardin, the man who’d been the creative director of the Carnival Ice Follies. He was the last person she’d ever expected to see, and he was headed straight for her.

“Hello, Allison. You look great.”

“How nice to see you, Darron. What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you. Someone told me you’d be here and that you were ready to go back to work. What about it, sugar, want to give the ice another whirl?”

“You’re offering me a job?” It was incredible. Jack had hinted that Joker was up to something, but this was the one thing she’d never expected to happen. He’d promised her that she would skate again, and he’d given her a second chance at a career. “No, thanks.”

Darron looked surprised. “Why not, Allie? Not many people get a second chance.”

“You don’t know how right you are,” Allison said,
fervently searching the crowd for the big titian-haired man with the beard.

“So the answer is no. Why?”

“Simple. I want to skate again, and I probably will. But I’ve found something I want more. Oh!”

She’d been looking at him for several minutes before she recognized him. Joker was wearing a tuxedo. Standing with Tom Brolin, he was watching her.

At that distance she felt Joker’s touch, and her skin rippled in response. No wonder she hadn’t recognized him. He’d shaved his heard and mustache. No longer was he a burly, bushy-haired giant. He was an imposing, sophisticated, debonair executive. Gone was the mustache that had fired her lips with its touch. Gone was the beard that caressed her breasts with fire. He was breathtakingly handsome, and suddenly she wasn’t certain that she could carry out her plan. What in heaven’s name would a man like that want with a woman like her?

“I’m sorry, Darron. Thank you, but you’ve made a trip here for nothing. I’m not coming back to the show, now or ever.”

“What about Mark?” His casual words stopped her, but only for a moment.

“What do you mean, what about Mark?”

“He’s completed his tour in Europe. He wants to see you, Allison. We thought you two might get back together again. Think what a splash you’d make.”

Mark was coming back? At one time she would have given anything to hear that. He wanted her back. The thought evaporated almost as soon as it came to mind. All she wanted now was to get the man she loved.

“Tell him that I wish him good luck, but I can’t accept your offer. I have other plans, that is if a certain rogue has any intention of doing the proper thing. You don’t by any chance have a shotgun, do you?”

“Shotgun?” She left Darron mulling over her strange refusal as she threaded her way across the room.

“Friends, distinguished guests, and members of the press,” King Vandergriff said as he stepped before the podium. “On behalf of the entire Vandergriff family and the board of directors, I’m delighted that you could join us to celebrate the grand opening of the Pretty Springs Sports Medicine Rehabilitation Complex here at our Golf and Tennis Retirement Community. And I am pleased to make a special announcement. Pending approval by the governing board, we have been tentatively selected as the official rehabilitation center for the members of our U.S. Olympic Team for the next four years.”

An “oooooh” went up from the crowd.

“And”—King clapped his hands to regain control—“I’d also like to announce that our own Olympic gold medalist, Allison Josey, has agreed to accept the position as director of our program and liaison officer between the Olympic Committee and our sports medicine staff. Would you please come to the platform, Allison? I’m sure that the press would like a picture of you and your fiancé and the chairman of the Olympic Site Committee shaking hands on the agreement.”

Allison reached Joker’s side and looked up at the stunned man with a smile. “Is it all right, big guy? Do you have any objection to your wife working?”

“But your skating,” he whispered dazedly. “Won’t you miss it?”

“Probably, but I expect to be very busy with … lots of new things. Please, Joker, touch me. I need you. I’m scared to death to go up there alone.”

“You want me to come with you?”

She grinned at his choice of words. “Always, Jamie. I need you with me always.” She tugged at his arm and pulled him along to the platform, posing for pictures and smiling with happiness that would never be artificial as long as his hand was touching her.

After obliging the press with answers to their questions, Allison told her friends good-bye, gave her grandmother a big wink, slid her hand into the crook of Joker’s arm, and carefully maneuvered him through the crowd and out the door.

“Why, Allison?” Joker pulled her into the shadow of Lizard Rock, the great guardian of the healing springs that gave the city its name. “I saw you talking to Darron Vardin. I knew he was offering you your old job back.”

“Uh-huh! How do you suppose he came to be here?” She looped her arms around his waist and looked up at him in the moonlight, this clean-shaven stranger who looked as if he had stepped off the pages of a magazine.

“I … I called him,” Joker answered. “How’d those Olympic people get here?”

“I … called them,” Allison shifted her body, pressing herself suggestively against her beautiful protector.

“But you wanted to skate again. You should,” Joker argued, feeling the familiar rise of heat in his body where they touched.

“Uh-huh.” She slid her fingertips up his backbone, counting each vertebra until she reached the back of his neck.

“Why did you do it, Beauty?”

“I love you, Jamie Daniel. You need me as much as I need you. I finally figured it out. It wasn’t being a star that made me want to skate again, it was belonging. And I found the place where I belong. I never loved Mark. He’s in the past, and I’ve put that behind me. You let me prove to myself that I can run my own life, and I’m doing exactly what I want to do.

“And when you clowned around and used your special touch, you were just trying to make yourself belong too. And where we both want to be is right here, with each other. You need me to love you, James Daniel Vandergriff.”

“I do?”

“You do. And I’m not going anywhere. We are getting married two weeks from Sunday. The arrangements are already made.”

“They are?”

“They are. This is one decision that I intend to see carried out.”

“Yes, ma’am. I wouldn’t dream of trying to tell somebody else what to do.”

“And you’re going to let your beard grow back right away.”

“You don’t like me as a handsome prince?”

“Nope, I want my beast back.”

“Yes, ma’am.” His answer was meek enough. But the wicked glint in his eye gave her the true picture of what she could expect when they got back to Elysium.

“I never told you that I love you, Allison.”

“Yes, you did, Jamie, every time you carried me in your arms, every time you did some foolish wonderful thing to help me walk, every time you kissed me. You told me.”

“And you’re sure you want to give up everything for a simple gardener who likes to make things grow?”

“No, I’m not giving up anything, you wonderful man. And making things grow is exactly what I have in mind. I want to have a child right away. Will you give me a child, Jamie?”

“I’ll give you anything you want. You’ve made me so very happy, my darling. I have things to give you that you don’t even suspect. Let’s go home.”

When Joker carried her to the van, she didn’t argue. The aura of his touch was a warm reminder of the magic they’d found, and she knew that she’d never tire of loving this red-haired giant of a man who’d showed her such joy.

As for giving, she had her own plans. And she’d show him, if all went well, in just about nine months.

For Irene

THE EDITOR’S CORNER

Welcome to Loveswept!

Love is in the air this month – and no, I’m not talking about
that holiday.
I’m talking about all of our fantastic Loveswept releases coming up, and I’m so excited to share them all with you.

Tina Wainscott’s red-hot
WILD ON YOU
introduces the Justiss Alliance, an elite team of heroes out to do right. This is one book that will be hard to put down, as one untamable SEAL meets a woman who handles the wildest sort of animals—until she herself becomes the hunted. Another book that I keep raving about it Sally Eggert’s electrifying romantic suspense,
IN THE DARK,
where passion raises the stakes when a woman is drawn into a dangerous game, with a man who may not be what he seems. Intrigued? I was! If you’re a fan of historical romance with tons of sensuality, adventure and intrigue, look no further than Sharon Cullen’s
PLEASING THE PIRATE,
where a ruthless pirate and a Scottish lass are wrenched between love and duty. And if you were sucked into Stacey Kennedy’s CLAIMED like I was, you’ll be happy to hear that the oh-so-sexy Club Sin returns in
BARED
– a wicked and wild tale of submission, seduction, and love.

And of course, we can’t forget about those classic romances that made us fall in love time and again. This month we have two fantastic books from two beloved authors: Sandra Chastain’s irresistible reads:
JOKER’S WILD
and
LEAN MEAN LOVING MACHINE,
and Ruth Owen’s wonderful historicals:
MIDNIGHT MISTRESS
and
GAMBLER’S DAUGHTER.
Then there’s Karen Leabo’s tale of hot pursuit and hotter passions,
HOT PROPERTY,
and Linda Cajio’s
EARTH ANGEL,
where a boardroom hotshot discovers heavenly pleasure with an unlikely angel. And a sensuous historical tale from #1
New York Times
bestselling author Iris Johansen,
WILD SILVER: THE DELANEY’S
– who doesn’t love a story with a wicked prince and a beautiful, willful captive?