Murder Of A Snake In The Grass (4 page)

“Good judgment comes from bad experiences, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. Besides, Kent and I were just friends, and I don’t know what you mean about Wally.”

“Sure. So, you’re going to give your ex another chance?”

“No, yes, I mean, I’m going to see him, not get back together with him.” She turned to the bookshelves that lined three of the four walls in the great room and began to rearrange the volumes. “I need to see him.”

Simon took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. “Why? You know he’s a bastard. Why do you need to reconfirm that?”

“I have two good reasons.”

“Okay. Let’s hear them.”

“First, Luc says he’s changed.” She held up a hand. “Yes, I know he’s probably lying. But he claims he’s seen the error of his ways and wants to make up for the past by setting up a foundation for abused kids. He wants me to be on the board of directors. Think of how many kids someone with his money and connections could help.”

“And this just happens to be in New Orleans, right?”

“Yes, he wants to do it in his hometown.”

“I thought the root of the problem between you two was that Luc wouldn’t back you up when you reported one of his friends for abusing his daughter.”

“That’s roughly what happened, yes.”

“And now Luc plans to set up a foundation to help those kids?” Simon sounded skeptical.

“Look, I don’t necessarily believe him, but I am willing to hear him out before I make up my mind. Someone from an important family like his could open up a lot of eyes down there.”

“There’s another reason you’re seeing him.”

“Yes, I need closure on our broken engagement.” Skye
rested her hands on his chest. “We’ll never be able to go anywhere with our relationship if I don’t do this.”

Simon gathered her into his arms and gave her a quick kiss. “I just want to go on record as saying that seeing Luc is a bad idea.”

Before she could answer, there was a knock on the door. Simon let her go. “Are you expecting anyone?”

Skye walked to the foyer and checked the side window. She turned to Simon with a rueful smile. “Only Luc.”

S
kye took one look at Simon—a cold, grim expression had settled over his features—and felt the blood drain from her face. Realizing she was light-headed, she stumbled over to the hall bench, sat down, and put her head between her knees.

“Aren’t you going to let him in?” Simon’s voice held a challenge.

“I just need a minute.”

“Shall I open the door?”

There was no sign of the warm, humorous man she had spent the afternoon with. Simon had withdrawn into a kind of cool correctness.

They stared at each other as the knocking started again.

I need to get the doorbell fixed
. Skye frowned. Why had she thought of that now? Of all times, this was when she needed to stay focused.

She got up, moved toward the door, and froze. Simon stepped in front of her and opened it.

The handsome man standing with his fist raised in mid-knock put his hand down, smiled, and tipped his hat. “Bonjour, y’all.” He swept past Simon into the foyer, dropped his expensive leather suitcase on the floor, and pulled Skye into his arms. “Darlin’!”

Skye closed her eyes to escape Luc’s devastating grin.
Her legs felt shaky, and she drew in a deep breath before attempting to speak. “Luc, let me go.” She looked around. Simon had disappeared.

Luc ignored her words, but she managed to wiggle out of his embrace, so he contented himself with grabbing both her hands. The odor of Aramis washed over her, reminding her of the hot Southern nights they had spent in their king-size bed. Oh my lord, she should never have agreed to see him. This was a gigantic mistake.

His smooth baritone was low and seductive, with just a hint of New Orleans. The uptown crowd prided itself on not having the accent most people associated with Louisiana. “When I look at your beautiful face, I feel as if we never parted. It’s as if, poof, the years are gone.”

Skye snatched her fingers away from his and said in a stronger voice, “Look closer. We were finished over two and a half years ago. I still remember very clearly the day you dumped me and cleaned out our apartment while I was at work being fired.”

“Darlin’, I was confused.” He tried to get closer, but she dodged out of his reach. His touch was dangerous. “I know now I was wrong, but at the time I thought you were being unreasonable, jeopardizing everything for a lying, attention-seeking teenager. I realize now she wasn’t the one lying.”

“Still, you didn’t believe me when I told you I was sure she was being abused.”

“When she recanted, everyone thought she had been making up stories.”

“I never did,” she corrected him. “And you should have believed me. It was obvious she was being threatened by her all-powerful father.”

“You’re right, I see that now, and I’ve come to make it up to you—and to help children who find themselves in similar situations in the future.”

Skye couldn’t believe that this was the same man who had all but run her out of town on a rail. “I’m glad to hear
you’re going to help abused kids, but you don’t have to make it up to me. It’s in the past. I have a new life now.”

Where was Simon? She looked around and saw that he had left through the great room’s French doors and was sitting on a patio chaise lounge facing the river. He was surrounded by a gray blanket of fog that had rolled in off the water, making him almost invisible. Skye raised her voice, “Simon, come meet my
ex
-fiancé.”

He got up and spoke from the open doorway. “Why don’t you two settle things by yourselves first? Don’t worry,” he said over his shoulder as he turned back to his chair, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Luc frowned. “Is that man your fiancé?”

“No, but we are dating.” Skye wondered what Simon was up to, staying out on the deck. He was behaving strangely, or maybe he wasn’t. Who knew in a situation like this how anyone was supposed to act?

“Ah, then I’m not too late.” Luc moved close, trapping her between his body and the wall. “I’ve never stopped loving you.”

Skye blinked back tears that suddenly formed. Her heart felt as if it had lodged in her throat and made it difficult to speak. “I don’t want to hear that. You never really loved me. My middle-class background appealed to you as just another way to provoke your parents.” She pushed her way free of him and ran into her bedroom. It was all too much.

She went straight to the bathroom, locked the door, and splashed cold water on her face. She had tried to erase the feeling of Luc’s touch and the sensation of his kisses from her memory, but they still remained. Even now she had the strongest yearning to go back into the living room and throw herself into his arms. But a more powerful urge was to grab him by the collar of his designer shirt and demand to know why he’d broken her heart.

Skye knew she had to go back and finish things with him. But why did he have to look better now than he had in the
past? His black hair, with a touch of silver at the temples, was still full and thick. His eyes were a clear indigo blue. And worst of all, the few age lines around his mouth gave him a look of strength. His youthful good looks had matured into something better, much better. Why couldn’t he look like the spoiled, selfish man she knew he was?

It suddenly occurred to her to wonder how she looked to him. Should she change clothes, fix her hair, put on some makeup? No! When she’d left him, she had vowed never again to change herself for any man. Instead she dried her face and marched back to the battlefield.

Luc was seated on the sofa, trying to coax Bingo near enough to be petted. The cat sat just out of reach and stared at him with unblinking golden eyes.

“Darlin’, you’re back!” Luc sprang to his feet. “I see you got my gifts.” He gestured around the cottage. “I hope you like them and they help you forgive me.”

“I asked you to quit sending me presents.” Skye stood with her back rigid and her voice like ice. “You know, for the first few months after you walked out on me, I secretly hoped you’d see the light, that you’d be miserable without me and realize your mistake. But since then I’ve changed.”

He hung his head. “You were right. I have been miserable since you’ve been gone. Not a day went by that I didn’t think of you. Please give me a chance to win you back.”

“I don’t want you back in my life. All I want is to help you with your foundation for abused kids and then once and for all say good-bye, properly this time.”

Luc sat back down on the sofa and patted the cushion beside him. Skye ignored the silent invitation and seated herself across from him on the director’s chair.

“Ah, but to do that, you need to hear the whole story, from when you left New Orleans to this very minute.”

“Okay, then let’s start with why I should believe anything you say.”

“Because you still love me?”

“Buzzzz, wrong answer.” Skye crossed her arms.

“Because you’re a fair-minded person?”

“Strike two.”

Luc opened his mouth and closed it. He repeated this several times before he spoke again. Finally he said, “Because you need closure so you can go on with your life, and until you and I really finish things, you’ll never be able to have another serious relationship?”

She couldn’t believe her ears. Since when did Luc St. Amant know things like that? She couldn’t admit that he was right. It would give him way too much advantage. What should she say? When the answer came to her, she smiled thinly. She should say exactly what she had learned in graduate school:
Don’t let him assign feelings to you; make him own his own emotions
.

Skye loved it when she could actually make use of her education. “So, you’re saying you’re having trouble moving on and need my help.”

A strange look crossed Luc’s face, but he quickly smoothed it away. “Darlin’, I’ll always need your succor and support.”

Skye ignored the twinge in her stomach. “Okay, I’ll listen to what you have to say, but I won’t promise to believe it. Let’s start at the beginning.”

“Why don’t you come sit beside me?” He patted the couch cushion again.

“No. If we’re doing this, we’re doing it my way. And my way is for you to keep your distance.”

“You were always afraid of your own sensuality.” Luc got up and sat on the coffee table facing Skye’s chair. “Let yourself go, darlin’.”

Skye moved her legs so her knees were not touching his. “That reminds me of one of our problems,” she said. “Anytime you didn’t instantly get what you wanted, you blamed a character flaw in me.”

“You never used to think that way. You used to be grateful for my guidance.”

“You don’t want to go down that road,” Skye warned. She got up and moved away from him. “It isn’t one of my more pleasant memories.”

“What?”

“Remembering how pitifully eager I was to fit into the mold you made for me. How I was willing to give up my own feelings, standards, even morals to be more like you and your crowd.”

“When we first met,” Luc said, “you told me you wanted to be more sophisticated, more uptown. You said you were sick of your small-town, naïve persona.” Luc stood behind her, and put his arms around her waist. “You asked me to teach you how to behave around the ‘right’ people.”

What he said was true, and it was a hard truth to swallow. Skye hadn’t understood the rules. She had read Miss Manners, but in New Orleans things were different. It was the unspoken edicts—the social conventions, styles, trends, what-is-and-isn’t-done-when—that had tripped her up. And she had desperately wanted to fit in. Now she was ashamed of how shallow she had been.

She wiggled out of Luc’s embrace, unhappy with the image of her he was resurrecting. “As you said, I was naïve. It’s amazing how fast you mature when you’re fired, jilted, and left flat broke.”

Luc refused to look her in the eye as he said, “I didn’t get you fired.”

“True, but you didn’t stand up for me either. You didn’t tell them to lay off. When your friends decided I had to be shut up to protect Mr. Big Shot, head of New Orleans society, you didn’t lift a finger to help me.”

“And I was wrong. I should have fought at your side, but I was weak back then, and you were accusing the most powerful man in town of sexually molesting his daughter.” Luc
fingered a crystal bowl on one of the bookshelves. “And she wasn’t even a student in your school.”

“Where she was enrolled was beside the point. I was a mandated reporter, which meant if a kid came up to me on the street and told me she was being abused, I had to tell the authorities. But that’s beside the point. The point is, a child was in trouble and asked me to help her, and you didn’t want me to because it might hurt your place in society.”

“I know, and I recognize now how selfish that was. But at the time, especially after she took it all back and said she had lied to get her parents’ attention, I… I took the easy way out.” Luc’s knuckles turned white as one hand gripped the other. “I have suffered for it.”

“She had been coerced into changing her statement,” Skye said. “It was obvious she was frightened of her father.”