Reckless Moon (20 page)

“Did you hear what I said?” he asked.

“Yes, I heard it,” Beth replied faintly. “Forgive me if I don’t throw myself into your arms.”

Bram sighed, pressing his lips together. “Okay. Look, I know I have a lot to answer for, but I can’t explain anything if you don’t give me the chance. Please stay, Beth. We’ll go someplace and talk. Please?”

Beth met his eyes and couldn’t resist the mute appeal she saw there. She nodded silently.

His brow cleared instantly. “Wait here,” he said. “I’ll go and tell Raines.”

“Bram, don’t... don’t…do anything to him.”

Bram shot her an exasperated look. “I’ll spare his life at your request, fair lady,” he said, and Beth had to smile. She sat in a nearby chair and tried to convince herself that she wasn’t making another drastic mistake.

When Bram came back he steered her toward the doors leading to the promenade. “I booked us a room at the airport hotel,” he said. “I thought we could talk there.”

Beth stopped walking. “Confident, weren’t you?” she said.

He halted too, looking down at her. “No, mouse. Just hopeful.”

She searched his face and saw that he was telling the truth.

“Shall we go?” he asked softly.

“Yes,” Beth replied, following him outside.

* * *

The hotel room was filled with flowers. Baskets and vases overflowed with red roses. The heady perfume washed over them like a wave as they entered.

“Do you like them?” Bram asked eagerly, watching her face.

“Of course. Who wouldn’t? Such an extravagant gesture, Bram; it’s just like you. Nothing by half measures, right?”

He didn’t answer.

“I’m overwhelmed, as you intended,” Beth added.

“I guess I did the wrong thing,” Bram said dully.

“No, but...

“But?”

Beth licked her dry lips, wondering if she could possibly make him understand. “Bram, you can’t expect to walk all over me one day and then romance the hurt away the next when you feel better. Women have been letting you get away with that behavior far too long.”

He sagged against the closed door. “No sale, huh?” he sighed. He walked to the bed and sat on its edge, putting his head in his hands. Every line of his body bespoke disappointment and defeat. “Don’t give up on me, Beth,” he whispered. “Please.”

Beth approached him and put her hand on his bent head. The thick, springy hair, as black and shiny as polished onyx, curled about her fingers with a life of its own.

“I could never do that, Bram,” she said quietly. “I love you much too much.”

He sighed deeply, not looking up, then put his arms around her, hiding his face in the folds of her skirt. “I’m sorry, Beth,” he murmured, his voice muffled by the clinging material. “Forgive me.”

Beth knelt beside him, forcing him to sit up and look at her. “I do forgive you, Bram, but I don’t understand you. I know how difficult yesterday was for you. It must have been horrible to find your father so ill, with all that had gone wrong between you, then to have to face Anabel at the same time. Her arrival was obviously the last straw. But instead of leaning on me, sharing with me, you
turned
on me. You made me the target, the outlet for all that hostility. It wasn’t fair, Bram.”

His brown eyes, shot through with gold at the irises, dropped away from hers. “I know that,” he said hoarsely. “I was up all night last night kicking myself for saying those things to you.”

“Why? Why did you do it?”

He stared at the floor, still avoiding her gaze. His lashes, long and spidery and as black as his hair, fanned against his cheeks.

“I never wanted you to know about Anabel,” he said in a low tone. “I never wanted anyone to know, but especially not you. After she made that scene, I felt...” he paused, curling his left hand against his chest in a gesture expressive of the depth, the intensity of his emotion. “I felt...” he said again, and stopped.

Beth grasped his hands in both of her own. “You felt what, darling? Tell me.”

“I felt ashamed,” he said. “I mean, it’s so apparent what she is, what she
was.
And yet I let her come between my father and me, I let her disrupt my whole life and drive me out of my own home. I was such a fool.”

“Bram, you were just a boy.”

“I let her get to me. And I didn’t want you to see that, I didn’t want you to know that she was the reason I left. She wasn’t worth it then, and she certainly isn’t now.”

Beth took his face between her hands. “Bram, listen to me. You have to let this go. Your father is getting better, and you’ve already started to rebuild your relationship with him. I know that Anabel is going to cause trouble in the future—she left no doubt about that—but she has no power to hurt you anymore. I’ll be with you; we’ll fight her together. You won’t be alone.”

Bram pulled her into his arms in a quick, fierce motion, pressing his lips to her hair. “I don’t want to be alone,” he said softly. “I’m so tired of being alone.”

Beth closed her eyes in thanksgiving. She knew that this was hard for him to say, even more difficult than admitting he loved her.

He held her off and surveyed her, his eyes shining with happiness—or a suggestion of tears—Beth couldn’t be sure. “I have something for you,” he said. He reached into his pocket and produced the mouse charm, dropping it into her palm. “I had the chain repaired.”

Beth closed her fingers around it. “I’m sorry I broke it. I have an awful temper.”

“The outburst was justified,” Bram answered. “I have something else, too. I picked it up while I was at the jeweler’s. I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone.” He produced a small, velvet covered box from his other pocket, handing it to her.

“Open it,” he urged, when Beth simply stared at it.

Her heart pounding, Beth lifted the cover. On a bed of royal blue velvet sat a sparkling, pear-shaped diamond.

“You had this when you came to the airport,” she said.

“Of course.”

“What would you have done if I’d refused to listen to you?” Beth asked.

“Kill myself?” he suggested, sounding like he was only half kidding.

Beth looked up from the ring to meet his eyes.

He shrugged. “I guess I would have waited until you got back and then tried again.”

“Even if you thought I was having an affair with Jason?”

He lifted one shoulder slightly. “I gave you reason enough to turn away from me. And I’m the last person who should sit in judgment of anyone about that.”

Beth dropped the box on the rug and flung her arms around his neck, bursting into tears.

He held her close for a few seconds, and then said tentatively, “Does this mean you’ll marry me?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” she replied, clinging to him. “I’ve spent a third of my life waiting to answer that question.” She burrowed into his chest until her sobs subsided, and then drew back to examine him. Bram tilted her chin up with one hand and wiped the wetness from her cheeks with the other thumb.

“My most precious mouse,” he murmured. “I don’t deserve you.”

“That’s true,” Beth responded. “But I love you anyway.”

He laughed, and kissed her lightly. Beth kissed him back eagerly, and he pulled her onto the bed with him.

“We might as well use this room,” he muttered, his kisses trailing to her neck as he unbuttoned her blouse.

“Certainly, if it’s paid for,” Beth answered, holding his head against her. “We wouldn’t want to waste the money.”

He undressed her in record time, slipping off the bed to shed his own clothes. When he lowered himself on top of her he groaned with satisfaction.

“Oh, Beth, I love you so much,” he whispered. “Why did it take me so long to realize that?”

Beth didn’t get a chance to reply. His mouth covered hers and she was lost in a world of sensation.

* * *

Beth woke to hear Bram ordering a bottle of champagne from room service.

“What are we celebrating?” she inquired when he got off the phone.

“The night I finally grew up,” Bram said, settling back and drawing the blanket around her shoulders.

“Hear, hear.”

“You don’t have to be so smug about it.”

Beth giggled. “Sorry.” She yawned and stretched. “I guess I dozed off.”

“I guess I wore you out,” Bram replied in a dry tone.

“So when are we getting married, Mr. Curtis?” Beth asked.

“Whenever you want.”

“We have to establish a few ground rules first.”

Bram groaned and pulled the sheet over his head. “More ground rules?”

“Yup.”

He sighed dramatically. “Okay. Let’s have them.”

“No more running off to sea.”

“Absolutely not. Everything I need is right here.”

“No more drinking and getting into fights.”

“I’m taking a solemn vow of abstinence right now,” he said, raising his right hand so that it indented the sheet above his head.

“No more withdrawing from me when you’re upset.”

His draped head nodded back and forth.

“And no more visits from Gloria at your house.”

He whipped the sheet off and flung it away from him. “Now wait a minute. I draw the line right there.”

Beth punched his arm.

“Ouch. Gloria is my secretary. Sometimes I bring work home.”

“You’re not bringing that kind of work home anymore.”

He grinned. “Okay, boss. I guess I’ll just have to transfer those duties to you.” He grabbed her and pulled her on top of him.

“Bram?” Beth said, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“What will happen to poor Gloria and poor Dr. Reynolds now? Not to mention that poor station manager and whatever other poor women you’ve been seeing.”

“Lots of poor ladies in Suffield,” he commented.

“Answer the question.”

“Well, I suppose they will observe a suitable period of mourning, the usual sackcloth and ashes, maybe a funeral wreath or two. Then if they try hard enough, they will probably be able to recover and lead full, productive lives.”

“You are insufferable.”

“You asked me,” he said, his eyes widening.

There was a knock at the door. Bram pulled on his pants and answered the summons, returning with a bottle in his hands.

“I thought you were giving that up,” Beth said.

“I’ll start tomorrow.” He popped the cork and poured the wine into two bathroom glasses, giving her one.

“To us,” he said, raising his high.

“I’ll drink to that,” Beth replied, and touched her tumbler to his. They both drank deeply. Bram climbed back into bed, juggling the bottle and his glass.

“Do you suppose there’s a reckless moon tonight?” Beth asked.

Bram looked at her, smiling slightly. “Where did you get that expression?”

“You told me about it the night of my father’s party. Don’t you remember?”

“Did I? God, what a memory you have.”

“I think I remember everything you’ve ever said to me.

He set his burdens on the end table, turning to her and taking her empty glass out of her hand. “I don’t know about a reckless moon in the sky, but there is a reckless man in this bed.” He dropped her glass on the rug.

Beth smiled at him. “And a reckless woman, too.”

“Then we’re a perfect match.”

And with her cooperation he proceeded to prove it.

— THE END —

Look For:

ANOTHER MARRIAGE

OF CONVENIENCE

(scheduled for October 2012 release)

A sequel to the enormously popular

contemporary romance

A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE

I am Doreen Owens Malek, author of over forty books and lifelong fan of romantic fiction. I live in PA with my husband and college student daughter, a mini dachshund and a sun conyer parrot. I would like to tell you a little about myself.