Читать книгу Confessions: He's The Rich Boy / He's My Soldier Boy - Lisa Jackson - Страница 10

Chapter Two

NADINE’S MOTHER WAS waiting in the kitchen. Running a stained cloth over the scarred cupboard doors, Donna glanced over her shoulder as Nadine opened the door. She straightened and wiped her hands as Nadine set the sack of groceries on the counter. The scent of furniture polish filled the room, making it hard to breathe.

“Running with a pretty rich crowd, aren’t you?”

“I’m not running with any crowd.” Nadine dug into the pocket of her cutoffs, found her mother’s change and set four dollars and thirty-two cents beside the sack.

“So how’d Hayden Monroe end up in our truck?”

“I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Nadine admitted.

“I thought you took your father to the mill.”

“I did.” As she began to unpack the groceries, she gave her mother a sketchy explanation of how she’d met Hayden. Donna didn’t say a word, just listened as she folded her dust rag and hung it inside the cupboard door under the sink.

“And he just left a brand-new Mercedes in the lot of the mill?” She twisted on the tap and washed her hands with liquid dish detergent.

“Yep.”

Shaking the excess water from her fingers, she said, “You know, it’s best not to mingle with the rich folks. Especially the Monroes.”

“I thought the Fitzpatricks were the people to avoid.”

“Them, too. They’re all related, you know. Sylvia Monroe, Hayden’s mother, is Thomas Fitzpatrick’s sister. They’ve had money all their lives—and lots of it. They don’t understand how the other half lives. And I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts your friend Hayden is just the same.”

Nadine thought of the ten-dollar bill Hayden had tried to hand her and her neck felt suddenly hot. But her mother probably didn’t notice her embarrassment. Donna was already busy cracking eggs into a bowl of hamburger, bread and onions.

“Thick as thieves, if you ask me.”

“You don’t know him. He’s not—” A swift glance from her mother cut her justification short and she quickly bit her tongue. What did she know about Hayden and why did she feel compelled to defend a boy who had mortified her? She remembered the look on his face as he’d tried to pay for her company. He was clearly surprised that she wouldn’t take the money. Her mother was right. All Hayden had ever learned was that anyone who did him a favor expected money in return. People were commodities and could be bought...if the price was right. “He’s not like that,” she said lamely.

“What he’s ‘not’ is our kind. There have been rumors about him, Nadine, and though I don’t believe every piece of gossip I hear in this town, I do know that where there’s smoke there’s fire.”

“What kind of rumors?” Nadine demanded.

“Never mind—”

“You brought it up.”

“Okay.” Her mother wiped her hands on her apron and turned to face her daughter.

Nadine’s heart began to thud and she wished she hadn’t asked.

“Hayden Monroe, like his father before him, and his grandfather before him, has a reputation.”

“A reputation?”

“With women,” her mother said, cheeks flushing slightly as she forced her attention back to her bowl. “I’ve heard him linked with several girls...one in particular....”

“Who?” Nadine demanded, but her mother shook her head and added a pinch of salt to the meat. “Who?” Nadine repeated.

“I don’t think I should spread gossip.”

“Then don’t accuse him of doing anything wrong!” Nadine said with more vehemence than she had intended.

For a moment there was silence—the same deafening silence that occurred whenever her mother and father were having one of their arguments. Donna’s lips pinched as she greased a loaf pan and pressed her concoction into the bottom. “I thought you were going out with Sam.”

Nadine wanted to know more about Hayden and his reputation, but she knew that once her mother decided a subject was closed, there was little to do to change her mind. She lifted a shoulder at the mention of Sam Warne. She and he had dated a few times. He was fun to hang out with, but she wasn’t serious about him. “We might go over to Coleville and see a movie Friday night.”

The ghost of a smile touched her mother’s lips. She approved of Sam—a nice boy from a good family in town. His father was employed with Fitzpatrick Logging and his mother came into the library often where Donna worked a few afternoons a week. As far as Donna was concerned, Sam Warne had all the right criteria for a future son-in-law. Sam was good-looking. Sam was middle-class. Sam was only a year older than Nadine. Sam was safe. He probably would make a good husband; but Nadine wasn’t planning to marry for a long while. She had high school to finish and college—if not a four-year school, at least a two-year junior college.

Though she couldn’t get Hayden from her mind, Nadine held her tongue. Her curiosity was better left alone, she decided, as she spent the next few hours vacuuming the house and helping her mother weed the garden where strawberries, raspberries, beans and corn grew row by row.

An hour before her father’s shift was over, Nadine took a quick shower and combed her red hair until it fell in lustrous waves to the middle of her back. She slipped into a sundress and glossed her lips, thinking she might see Hayden again. Her silly heart raced as she dashed to the pickup with Bonanza leaping behind her. Guiltily she left the dog behind. She couldn’t take a chance that he would soil or wrinkle her clothes in his enthusiasm for a ride.

A few minutes before quitting time, Nadine turned the old truck into the lot of the mill. Other workers were arriving for the next shift and men in hard hats gathered near the gates, laughing, smoking or chewing tobacco as they talked and relaxed for a few minutes between shifts.

From the cab of the Ford, Nadine scanned every inch of the parking area, but discovered the sleek Mercedes was gone. Her heart took a nosedive. She looked again, hoping to see signs of the car or Hayden, but was disappointed. Her brows drew together and she felt suddenly foolish in her dress.

“Don’t you look nice!” Her father opened the pickup’s passenger door. Smelling of sawdust and sweat, he shook out his San Francisco Giants cap, squared it onto his head and climbed into the warm interior. “Goin’ out?”

“Nope.” She stepped on the throttle. “I just wanted to get cleaned up.”

He smiled at her and she felt foolish. “I thought maybe you and Sam had decided to go somewhere.”

“Not tonight,” she replied, irritated at the mention of Sam. Yes, she dated him, but that was all. Everyone assumed they were going together—even her family.

“Boy, am I glad it’s quittin’ time,” he said, rubbing the kinks from the back of his neck. “Hardly had time for lunch, today.” He leaned against the back of the seat and closed his eyes as Nadine drove him home.

It wasn’t until later, during dinner, that Hayden’s name came up. The Powell family, minus Kevin who was working the swing shift at the mill, was seated around the small table. Over the scrape of forks against plates, the steady rumble of a local anchorman’s voice filtered in from the living room. From his chair at the head of the table, George could glance at the television and despite his wife’s constant arguments, he watched the news. “It’s a man’s right,” he’d said on more than one occasion, “to know what’s goin’ on in the world after spending eight hours over that damned green chain.”

Donna had always argued, but, in the end, had snapped her mouth shut and smoldered in silence through the evening meal while her husband had either not noticed or chosen to disregard his wife’s simmering anger.

But this night, George hardly glanced at the television. “You shoulda seen the fireworks at the mill this afternoon,” he told his wife and children. Smothering his plate of meat loaf and potatoes with gravy, he said, “I was just punchin’ in when the boss’s kid showed up.” He took a bite and swallowed quickly. “That boy was madder’n a trapped grizzly, let me tell you. His face was red, his fists were clenched and he demanded to see his father. Dora, the secretary, was fit to be tied. Wouldn’t let him in the office, but the old man heard the commotion and he came stormin’ out into the reception area. Old Garreth takes one look at Hayden and the kid tosses a set of keys to his father, mutters some choice words not fit to repeat at this table, turns on his heel and marches out. Damn, but he was mad.”

“What was it all about?” Ben asked, buttering a slice of bread and looking only mildly interested.

“I didn’t stick around to find out. But the kid didn’t want his car—a honey of a machine—Mercedes convertible, I think.”

“Why not?” Ben asked, suddenly attentive.

“Hayden claimed he was old enough to see who he wanted, do what he wanted when he wanted, with whom he wanted—you know, that same old BS we hear around here. Anyway, the gist of it was that he wasn’t going to let Garreth tell him what to do. Said he wasn’t about to be...just how’d he put it?” Her father thought for a minute and chewed slowly. “Something to the effect that he couldn’t be bought and sold like one of Garreth’s racehorses. Then he just flew out of there, leaving me and Dora with our mouths hangin’ wide open and old Garreth so mad the veins were bulgin’ big as night crawlers in his neck.”

“Sounds like Hayden finally got smart,” Ben observed as he reached for a platter of corn on the cob. “His old man’s been pushing him around for years. It was probably time he stood up to him. Although I, personally, would never give up a car like that.”

“Maybe you would if the price was too high,” Nadine interjected.

“Hell, no! I’d sell the devil my soul just to drive a Mercedes.”

“Ben!” Donna shot her son a warning glance before her knowing eyes landed on Nadine again. For a second Nadine thought her mother would tell the family about Hayden’s visit, but she couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

“I’ve never seen Garreth so furious,” George said. “The old man looked like he was about to explode, and I hightailed it out to the yard and got to work. None of my business anyway, but it looks like Garreth’s got his hands full with that one.”

Donna shot her daughter a glance. “Nadine gave Hayden a ride into town.”

Squirming in her chair, Nadine caught Ben’s curious stare. “Is that right?” Ben asked.

Her father’s eyes, too, were trained in her direction.

“What’d he say?” Ben wanted to know as he tried to swallow a smile.

“About the same thing that Dad overheard.”

Ben snorted. “If you ask me, the whole fight isn’t about a car, it’s over Wynona Galveston.”

“Galveston?” Donna picked up her water glass. “Dr. Galveston’s daughter?”

“I think so,” Ben replied. “Anyway, I heard something about it from his cousin Roy.”

“I wouldn’t trust anything Roy Fitzgerald said,” Nadine cut in.

Shrugging, Ben said, “All I know is that Roy said Hayden’s supposed to be gettin’ engaged to her and she’s the daughter of a famous heart surgeon or something. Roy was bragging about how rich she was.”

“Well it seems Hayden isn’t interested.” George glanced to the television where the sports scores were being flashed across the screen. Conversation dropped as he listened to news of the Oakland A’s and the San Francisco Giants, and Nadine was grateful that the subject of Hayden Monroe had been dropped. She picked up her plate and glass, intending to carry them both into the kitchen, when she caught a warning glance from her mother. See what I mean, her mother said silently by lifting her finely arched eyebrows. Hayden Garreth Monroe IV is way out of your league.

* * *

THE NEXT TIME she saw Hayden was at the lake on Sunday afternoon. Nadine and Ben had taken the small motorboat that Ben had bought doing odd jobs for neighbors to the public boat launch. They spent the afternoon swimming, waterskiing and sunbathing on the beach near the old bait-and-tackle shop on the south side of the lake.

Several kids from school joined them and sat on blankets spread on the rocky beach while drinking soda and listening to the radio.

To avoid a burn, Nadine tossed a white blouse over her one-piece suit and knotted the hem of the blouse under her breasts. She waited for her turn skiing and watched the boats cutting through the smooth water of the lake.

From the corner of her eye she saw Patty Osgood and her brother, Tim, arrive. Patty carried an old blanket and beach basket. A cooler swung from Tim’s hand.

“I didn’t think we’d make it!” Patty admitted as she plopped next to Nadine and began fiddling with the dial of the radio.

“I wonder how she escaped,” Mary Beth Carter whispered into Nadine’s ear. “I thought Reverend Osgood preached that ‘Sunday is a day of rest.’”

“Maybe he thinks hanging out at the beach is resting,” Nadine replied. Though she and Mary Beth were friends, they weren’t all that close. Mary Beth had an ear for gossip and an eye for the social ladder at school. She was already trying to break into the clique with Laura Chandler, and as soon as she was accepted by Laura, a cheerleader, and Laura’s crowd, Mary Beth would probably leave her other friends in her dust.

Patty found a soft rock station and, humming along to an Olivia Newton-John song, began to smooth suntan oil onto her skin. “Your brother here?” she asked innocently, and Nadine bristled inside. Lately she’d had the feeling that Patty was interested in Ben, and had been searching out Nadine’s company just to get close to her brother.

Patty tucked her straight blond hair into a ponytail and took off her blouse to reveal a pink halter top that, Nadine was sure, would have given the Reverend Osgood the shock of his life.

“He’s in the boat,” Nadine said, though she suspected that Patty, already scanning the lake, knew precisely where Ben was.

Her pretty lips curved into a smile at the sight of Ben’s little launch. “Umm. I wonder if he’d give me a ride.”

“Probably.” Nadine turned her attention to the water. The day was hot and sunlight glinted on the shifting surface of Whitefire Lake. Several rowboats drifted lazily, as fishermen tried to lure rainbow trout onto their lines. Other, more powerful motorboats, sliced through the water, dragging skiers and creating huge wakes that rippled toward the shore.

A candy-apple-red speedboat careened through the water at a furious pace. Nadine’s breath caught in her throat. Hayden was at the helm. Her throat closed in upon itself and she tried to ignore the funny little catch in her heartbeat as she watched him.

Wrapping her arms around her knees and staring at the red boat as it streaked by in a blur, Mary Beth clucked her tongue. “So he’s back this summer.” Her eyes narrowed a fraction. “I thought he’d never show his face around here again.”

“His family comes back every year,” Nadine pointed out, wondering why, once again, she felt the need to defend him.

“I know. But after last summer, I thought he’d stay away.” Mary Beth and Patty exchanged glances.

“Why?” Nadine asked, nudging a rock with her toe.

“Oh, you know. Because of Trish,” Patty said with an air of nonchalance.

“Trish?”

“Trish London,” Mary Beth hissed, as if saying a dirty word. “You remember. She left school last year.”

“She moved to Portland to live with her sister,” Nadine said, trying to decipher the silent code between the two girls. Trish London was a girl who was known to be fast and easy with the boys, a girl always on the edge of serious trouble, but Nadine had never heard Trish’s name linked with Hayden’s. In fact, she was certain that most of the rumors about Trish were gross exaggerations from boys who bragged about sexual deeds they’d only dreamed about. The rumor with Hayden was probably nothing more than malicious gossip.

“You mean you don’t know why she left?” Patty asked innocently, though her eyes seemed to glimmer with spiteful glee.

Nadine’s guts twisted and she wanted to hold her tongue, but she couldn’t suppress her curiosity. “I never thought about it.”

“She was pregnant!” Mary Beth said, lifting her chin a fraction. “She went to Portland to have the baby and give it up for adoption without anyone from around here knowing about it.”

“But—”

“And the baby was Hayden Monroe’s,” Patty insisted, a cruel little smile playing upon her lips.

“How do you know?”

“Everybody knows! Hayden’s father caught him with Trish in the boathouse last summer. Garreth was furious that his son was with a girl from the wrong side of the tracks and he shipped Hayden back to San Francisco so fast, he didn’t even have time to say goodbye to her. Not that he probably wanted to. Anyway, a few weeks later, Trish moved to Portland. Very quick. Without a word to anyone. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happened.” One of Patty’s blond eyebrows rose over the top of her sunglasses.

Nadine wasn’t convinced. “Just because they were together doesn’t mean that—”

Patty waved off her argument while glancing at her reflection in a hand mirror. Frowning slightly, she reached into her beach bag and dragged out a lipstick tube. “Of course it doesn’t mean that he’s the father. But Tim knows Hayden’s cousins, Roy and Brian. The Fitzpatrick boys told Tim that old man Monroe put up a ton of money to keep Trish’s family from talking.”

“Roy and Brian Fitzpatrick aren’t exactly paragons of virtue themselves,” Nadine pointed out.

“Believe what you want to, Nadine. But the story’s true,” Mary Beth added with a self-righteous smile. “And it doesn’t surprise me about Trish. She’s following in her mother’s footsteps and everyone in town knows about Eve London!”

Nadine’s stomach turned over. Eve London had earned a reputation as the town whore. With three ex-husbands and several live-in lovers, she’d often been the talk of the town. Trish had grown up in her mother’s murky shadow.

Patty touched the corner of her lips where she’d smeared a little lipstick. “But that’s old news. I heard that Hayden’s about to get engaged to some rich girl from San Francisco. I wonder what she would say if she found out about Trish.”

“She’ll never know,” Mary Beth predicted.

Patty lifted a shoulder. “She’s supposed to come and visit Hayden at the summer cabin. There’s always the chance that she’ll overhear some of the gossip.” With a wicked little grin, she reached for the radio again and fiddled with the dial. “I wonder what she’d say if she found out Hayden was a daddy.”

“You don’t know that—”

“Oh, Nadine, grow up!” Mary Beth interjected. “What is it with you? Why won’t you believe that Hayden Monroe made it with Trish?”

“Maybe Nadine’s got a crush on the rich boy,” Patty said as she found a country station. Settling back on her blanket, she turned her attention to Nadine. “Is that it?”

“I don’t even know him.”

“But you’d like to, I’ll bet,” Mary Beth said. “Not that I blame you. Sexy, handsome and rich. Yeah, I can see myself falling for a guy like him.”

Nadine had heard enough. She didn’t like the turn of the conversation and she didn’t want to believe any of Patty and Mary Beth’s gossip. The fact that her own mother had hinted about some sort of scandal revolving around Hayden just a few days before bothered her, but she’d lived in Gold Creek long enough to know that gossip swept like wildfire through the small town. Sometimes it was true, other times it was just people starting rumors to add a little spice to their own boring lives.

Slinging her towel around the back of her neck, she walked to the edge of the dock, plopped down and dangled her feet over the edge until her toes touched the water. The sun was hot, intense rays beating against her scalp, the bleached boards of the deck warm against her rear end. Squinting, she watched as Hayden drove his boat flat-out, the engine screaming, the prow slicing through the water.

Her heart did a funny little somersault as she focused on his dark hair blowing in the wind and his bare chest, lean and muscular. Was the story about Trish London true? Or just a figment of a small town’s imagination? And what about his engagement to Wynona Galveston? Her stomach wrenched a little at the thought of Hayden getting married, but she chided herself for her silly fantasies. She’d given him a ride to town. Period. As far as Hayden was concerned, she wasn’t even alive.

Ben returned, anchored his boat and hoisted himself onto the dock. “You comin’?” he asked, dabbing his face with the corner of her towel. Nadine shook her head. “Fine. Have it your way.” Over the sound of Kenny Rogers’s gravelly voice, she heard Ben’s retreating footsteps and the low laughter of Patty Osgood. Sliding a glance over her shoulder, Nadine thought she might be sick. Patty’s coral lips were curved into a sweet smile and she was leaning on her elbows, coyly thrusting out her chest, which was tanned and slick with oil. Ben sat down beside her and could barely keep his eyes from the plunging neckline of the reverend’s daughter’s halter top and the heavy breasts confined therein.

Shuddering, Nadine turned her attention back to the lake and the sound of an approaching boat. Her heart nearly stopped when she spied Hayden edging his speedboat closer to the dock.

“I was pretty sure I recognized you,” he said, once the boat was idling. He was wearing cutoff jeans that rode low on his hips, exposing a bronzed chest with a sprinkling of dark hair. Sunglasses covered his eyes again and the old cutoffs hid little of his anatomy.

Nadine’s throat was suddenly dry as sand.

Throwing a line around one of the pilings, Hayden stepped out and plopped next to her on the edge of the dock. Water beaded in his dark hair and ran down his chest. Nadine’s insides seemed to turn to jelly as she stared at him. “I figured I could pay you back for the other day.”

Her temper inched upward at the thought of their last conversation. Why had she bothered defending him to her family and friends? He was just as bad as they’d all told her he was. “I thought you understood how I felt about your money.”

A sexy grin stretched lazily across his jaw. “I wasn’t talking about cash. How about a ride?” He cocked his head toward the boat.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” she said quickly, though a part of her yearned to take him up on his offer. Alone. With Hayden. Knifing through the water with the wind screaming through her hair. The thought was more than appealing, but she didn’t trust him. Despite the fact that she’d fantasized about him daily, she still wasn’t sure that being alone with him was the right thing to do.

“Look, I owe you—”

“I told you before you owe me nothing. We’re square, okay?”

“Then I’d like you to come with me.”

Nadine blew her bangs from her eyes. “Look, prince, you don’t have to—”

Suddenly one of his large, warm hands covered hers and her heartbeat jumped. “I want to, Nadine. Come on.”

She knew she should resist him, that taking a ride alone with him would be emotionally dangerous. If she didn’t heed the warnings of her mother and her classmates, she should at least listen to the erratic, nearly frightened, drum of her heart. But she didn’t.

He tugged gently on her arm, helping her to her feet, and before she could come up with a plausible excuse, he was helping her into the boat.

“Hey!”

Ben’s voice sounded far in the distance as Hayden yanked off the anchoring rope and opened the throttle. The boat took off with so much force, Nadine was thrown back into her seat and her hair streamed away from her face. From the corner of her eye, she saw Ben, running barefoot along the dock, yelling at the top of his lungs and waving his arms frantically. Served him right for ogling Patty Osgood!

“Nadine! Hey! Wait! Monroe, you bastard...” Ben’s voice faded on the wind.

Nadine laughed over the roar of the powerful boat’s engine. Turning, she waved back and forced a sweet smile onto her lips. Ben motioned with even more agitation and Patty, left on the blanket, was frowning darkly, probably because Ben’s attention had been ripped away from her. Too bad. Nadine laughed again before she slid a glance to the boy...well, man really, standing at the helm. The wind blew his hair, revealing a strong forehead with a thin scar, chiseled cheekbones and a jaw that jutted slightly.

“Where do you want to go?” he shouted over the wind.

She lifted a shoulder and hoped that he couldn’t see through her sunglasses to the excitement she knew was gleaming in her eyes. “You’re the captain.”

His white teeth flashed against his dark skin. “If you don’t state a preference, you’ll have to accept my decision.”

“I do.”

He laughed at that and the deep, rumbling sound surprised her. “Hope you’re not disappointed.”

She considered the rumors she’d heard about him, but dismissed them all. She felt carefree and a little reckless as the boat sliced through the water at a speed fast enough to bring tears to her eyes.

He followed the shoreline, turning back on the path they’d taken. On the south side of the lake, they passed by the old bait-and-tackle shop and the dock where Ben’s boat still rocked with the waves. Ben was standing at the dock and his expression was positively murderous. Nadine smiled back at him. They passed the public park and moorage, as well as the old summer camp and chapel. Following the curve of the shoreline, the boat sped along the north bank, the rich side of Whitefire Lake. Nadine caught glimpses of huge mansions nestled discreetly in thickets of pine and oak. Boathouses, patios, tennis courts and swimming pools flashed by. Every so often a private dock fingered into the clear water.

“You probably wonder why I’m driving this—” he said, motioning toward the boat, as if suddenly a little self-conscious.

“It’s yours?”

“My father’s,” he admitted with a grimace, and then, as if guessing her next question, added, “Even though I didn’t want the Mercedes, this is different. I can use the boat without having to worry about having any strings attached to it.”

“No price to pay?”

“Not yet. But it could still happen.” His smile faded. “With my old man you just never know. Everything comes down to dollars and cents with him.” As if hearing the anger in his voice, he glanced at her. “Still want to hang out with me?”

“Talking about your father doesn’t scare me off.”

“It should.”

“I’ve got two older brothers. I don’t scare easily,” she remarked, though her tongue nearly tripped on the lie. Truth to tell, she was frightened even now. Scared of being alone with him, scared of what she might do.

He laughed and shook his head. “You haven’t come up against dear old Dad.”

Seemingly convinced that she wasn’t going to change her mind, he slowed the boat and edged the prow into a small cove on the north shore. Nadine’s heart was thumping so loudly, she thought he could hear its uneven beat. What was she doing here, alone, with a boy she barely knew? A rich boy with a bad reputation? He decelerated the speedboat to a crawl, guiding the craft through a thin inlet that opened to a tree-shaded lagoon. “Ever been here?” he asked, and she shook her head.

She’d never been so close to all the expensive homes on this side of the lake. “Is this on your property?”

“My father’s.” A line of consternation formed between his brows for a second. “Garreth takes great delight in owning things and people.”

“Like you?”

One side of his mouth lifted crookedly. “Well, I’m the one thing he can’t buy. At least not anymore. It frustrates the hell out of him.”

“And gives you great joy.”

His white teeth flashed devilishly. “I do like getting his goat.” Taking her hand, he guided her to a stretch of beach where sunlight pierced the canopy of pine boughs and pooled on the glittering sand. “I used to come here as a kid,” he admitted, eyeing the berry vines that were beginning to encroach along the forest’s edge. “But that was a long time ago, when my father could still buy me.”

“You act as if your father’s an ogre.”

“Isn’t he?”

“My dad doesn’t think so.” Nadine sat on a smooth, bleached boulder and wiggled her toes into the warm sand. “In fact, he thinks your father is a prime example of the American dream.”

“By inheriting a sawmill or two?” Hayden snorted. “He just happened to be the son of a wealthy man.”

She glanced at him pointedly, but didn’t say a word.

“I know, ‘like me.’ That’s what you were thinking, so you might as well say it.”

“It’s just that I don’t see that you have all that much to complain about.”

“But, then, you don’t know my family, do you?”

She shook her head, her long hair sweeping across her shoulders. And when she looked up, he was staring at her, his feet planted wide apart, his muscles tense. She felt the undercurrent of electricity in the air, as surely as the breeze causing the branches overhead to sway. The air smelled of water and cut cedar, and over the erratic beat of her heart she heard the muted sounds of birds chirping and the distant roar of motorboats.

She swallowed against a cotton-dry throat and licked her lips.

“Do you know why I brought you here?” he asked suddenly.

Oh, God! She couldn’t breathe. The air was trapped in her lungs.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Since the other day, when you gave me a ride.”

She could hardly believe her ears and wanted to pinch herself to make sure that she wasn’t dreaming. “You...haven’t called.”

“I didn’t want to call. I didn’t want to see you again.” He advanced slowly and sat down next to her, his body bare inches away. “I mean, I told myself I didn’t.”

“Then why did you stop at the dock?” she asked, her blood pulsing wildly.

“Because I saw you again and I couldn’t help myself.” He dropped his sunglasses into the sand and stared at her with the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. Intense. Electric. Erotic.

She licked her lips, and he let out his breath in a whistle through his teeth.

“Why didn’t you want to see me?”

Laughing derisively, he touched her arm. Her skin tingled with a heat so intense, she nearly jerked away as his fingers wrapped around her wrist. “Because it’ll only cause trouble.”

“I thought you liked trouble.”

His gaze sparked a little. “Some kinds.”

“But—”

“But not girl trouble.” His fingers grazed the inside of her wrist. “Don’t tell me you haven’t heard all the stories about me—all the dark tales about my past.”

“I...I don’t believe everything I hear.”

He gazed at her long and hard, and a warmth curled inside her, gently turning over and causing her skin to tingle.

“You had a nickname for me.”

“What?”

“Prince.”

“Oh.” She smiled a trifle nervously. “You deserved it.”

“Yeah, I suppose I did,” he admitted, but he didn’t remove his hand. Like a manacle, the fingers encircling her wrist tightened, only warmly, gently. “What about you?”

“Me?”

“Have you been thinking of me?”

She wanted to lie. She told herself she shouldn’t give him an inkling of what she really felt, and yet she despised women who calculated every thought or speech to manipulate men. She tried to yank her hand away, but couldn’t.

“Well, have you?”

“Thought about you? Not a whole lot.” She forced the words over her tongue.

“Liar.”

“Why would I lie?” Instinctively she inched up her chin a fraction and found herself staring into eyes so blue, the sky paled in comparison.

“Because I scare you.”

“I already told you I don’t scare.”

His eyebrow lifted an inch and his fingers moved upward to the sensitive skin on her throat. “You’re trembling.”

“I’m not scared.”

“What, then?”

“Cold,” she threw back, refusing to acknowledge that his touch caused her skin to quiver.

Laughter danced in his eyes. “Today. When it’s over ninety degrees. You’re cold?”

“Yes—”

“Could be you’re coming down with something. Chills and a fever,” he said, with a slightly wicked grin.

“Could be,” she agreed, though she guessed they both knew the reason a blush was stealing up her neck and her flesh tingled all over and her pulse was beating rapidly.

He tugged gently on her arm, pulling her closer, positioning her so that his face was bare inches from hers, his breath warm as it fanned over her cheeks. “Or it could be that you’re scared,” he said again.

“I’m not—”

Her protest was cut short when his lips settled easily over hers. His mouth was warm and hard and persuasive, and all Nadine’s resistance faded as surely as the ripples moving slowly to the shore.

Wrapping strong arms around her waist, he pulled her closer and she gasped as they fell to the ground. His tongue found entrance to her mouth, touching and exploring, flicking against her teeth and gums.

A wanton warmth invaded her blood and she opened her mouth even more, tasting him, feeling him, smelling the scent of lake water on his skin. He was hard and male and virile, calling upon a feminine part of her that readily answered.

Her entire body responded to him. Her breasts seemed to stretch the fabric of her swimsuit, and when his chest rubbed against hers, her nipples grew taut and firm beneath the shiny aquamarine Lycra. Hayden groaned and pulled her so close to him that their bodies lying on the sand were pressed intimately together. Her breasts were crushed against his naked chest and her bare thighs fit snugly against his.

A tremor passed from his body to hers, and when he finally lifted his head, his eyes were fired with a passion she’d never witnessed before.

He kissed her again and this time her lips sought his. Desire scorched them, and she felt his hardness pressing into her abdomen. His fingers moved around her rib cage as his lips stole the breath from her lungs. Gently exploring, inching upward beneath her breasts, his hands caressed her.

Moaning, she moved instinctively closer to him and he cradled one breast in his palm.

Somewhere deep in her mind she knew she should stop him, that if she continued kissing him she’d end up in a kind of trouble she’d never even considered, but her body betrayed her and the light, branding touches of his fingers against her swimsuit convinced her that what they were doing was right.

He reached for the knot of her blouse and quickly untied it, parting the cotton fabric before shifting and pressing hot, wet kisses down her neck and into the cleft of her breasts. She arched against him and a wildness deep inside her turned into a molten beast. Her hands delved into the thick strands of his hair, and he ran his tongue slowly up her breastbone, causing her to shiver in delicious anticipation.

There was a dull roar in her ears, the slamming of her heart against her ribs as his fingers rimmed the neckline of her suit. Her breasts felt full and ached for his touch.

“Damn, Nadine, I knew it would be like this with you,” he said, lifting his head. His eyes were glazed and his hair fell over his forehead to cover the scar that cut across one of his dark eyebrows.

She could barely speak. “Like what?”

He smiled, a sexy, boyish smile that touched her heart. “Like there could never be enough.”

“Oh.” She licked her swollen lips, and he kissed her again, harder this time, with a mounting passion that swept from his body to hers. Rolling her quickly onto her back, he threw one leg between hers and she clung to him, kissing him feverishly, dismissing any thoughts of denial. He rubbed against her and she moaned in a voice she didn’t recognize as her own. One hand tangled in her hair while the other scaled her ribs. His lips were everywhere. Kissing her face, her neck, her bare shoulders. And she wanted more. He lowered the strap of her suit and the stretchy fabric gave way, allowing her breast to fall free.

Groaning, he lifted it, touching her nipple with his thumb, while staring at the line that separated tanned skin from the white veined flesh surrounding the rosy tip. “So beautiful,” he said, his hot breath causing her nipple to stand erect. He touched the hard bud with his tongue and Nadine arched upward, forcing more of her breast into his eager mouth. Heat exploded in her veins as he began to suck and she moved against him, wanting more of his touch. His free hand curved around her waist and fitted over one of her buttocks.

She moaned low in her throat.

“Oh, Nadine, don’t do this to me,” he pleaded as he lifted his head and her nipple, suddenly surrounded by air, stiffened with the cold.

“Hayden?” she whispered, and he slammed his eyes closed.

“You don’t want this,” he said.

“I do—”

“Damn it, Nadine, you don’t.” His fingers, still molded around her hip, dug into her buttock, and he swore loudly. “I don’t!” With a guttural sound, he shoved himself off her and ground his teeth together. “Damn it all, Nadine!” he muttered, rolling to his knees and shoving his hair away from his face with shaking hands. “We can’t do this!”

Nadine, suddenly bereft, felt a tide of embarrassment stain her neck. As if coming here and making out had been her idea! “You wanted me to come here with you,” she pointed out.

“Look...I didn’t mean...oh, hell!” He pounded a fist into the ground, then rolled onto his back, staring up at the sky through the pine branches. The bulge in his jeans was still evident, as were the taut muscles of his jaw. “I wanted to be with you. I just didn’t realize that things would get this out of hand.”

“Don’t worry,” she said, hoping to hide the irrational disappointment that burrowed deep in her soul. She should be grateful for his self-control. Lord knew hers had fled. Brushing the sand from her skin and the folds of her blouse, she forced a brave smile. “Nothing happened.”

“Yet. Nothing happened yet. But it wouldn’t take long.” He sent her a look that fairly sizzled. “Don’t try to pretend you didn’t feel it.”

“I think you should just take me back to the dock,” she said, wondering how she could have acted so wantonly. She thought of Trish London and realized that all too easily, she could have been seduced by Hayden. Or was it the other way around? Had she inadvertently started to seduce him? Their newfound relationship was already too complicated and frightening to think about.

“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Hayden said. “I liked what happened between us. It was what I wanted. Or thought I wanted. But...” He opened and closed one fist in frustration. “We should think of the consequences.”

The consequences of getting mixed up with a girl from the wrong rung on the social ladder, she thought with a bitter taste rising in her throat. “I don’t think we should talk about it.”

He shook his head. “And just pretend that what we feel for each other doesn’t exist?”

What we feel for each other. Her throat clogged. “I...I don’t know. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before!”

“Me, neither,” he admitted, and with a shaky smile, drew her into his arms again. She wanted to resist, but when he placed a tender kiss upon her cheek, she melted inside. With a sigh he rested his forehead against hers. “Some mess, eh?”

She almost laughed.

“Come here,” he whispered roughly and tilted her chin upward before capturing her lips in a kiss that was sweet and chaste and so tender, it nearly broke Nadine’s heart.

“What the hell is this?” Ben’s voice boomed through the woods, reverberating through the trees and causing Nadine to jump away from Hayden, but she couldn’t go very far. With lightning swiftness he caught her wrist and held her fast. Ben, nearly six feet of towering rage, strode into the clearing. His near-black eyes snapped with anger.

“Ben, don’t—” Nadine interjected.

“What the devil are you thinking?” His gaze scraped her up and down, and the lines around the corners of his mouth turned white as he stared at her hair and open shirt. Her suit covered her breasts but one strap was still dangling over her arm.

“Oh, God, Nadine, what’re ya doing?”

“I don’t see that it’s any business of yours!” Nadine tied her blouse beneath her breasts.

“Like hell!”

“You weren’t invited, Powell,” Hayden said, his fingers still gripping Nadine possessively.

“This is my sister.”

“I can handle myself!” Nadine interjected.

“You’re only seventeen!”

“That’s no reason for you to think you’re my keeper!” she shot back.

“Well, it looks like someone has to be!”

“That’s enough,” Hayden warned, his eyes narrowing.

Every muscle in Hayden tensed, but Ben didn’t back down an inch. In fact, he seemed almost glad to have a reason to fight—an enemy he could pinpoint.

His fists curled menacingly. “Take your hands off my sister.”

“Oh, stop it!” Nadine said, jerking out of Hayden’s grasp.

Hayden’s nostrils flared, and he looked more than eager for the fight that was simmering in the air. “Don’t let him tell you what to do, Nadine.”

“I won’t!” Outraged, she marched up to her brother and jabbed a finger at his chest. “Leave me alone, Ben. I can handle myself! I’m a big girl now.”

“Who’s about to make a big mistake! If she hasn’t already.” Ben plucked a brittle twig from her hair and twirled it in front of her nose.

“My mistake to make.”

“Damn it, Nadine. Use that thick skull of yours.”

“And you take your macho, big-brother act somewhere else.” So angry she was shaking, she stared Ben down.

“Nadine—”

“I said I can take care of myself.”

“You always were too stubborn for your own good!” Mumbling a curse under his breath, he threw a killing glance over his sister’s shoulder. “Don’t you dare touch her, Monroe. Not so much as a finger—”

“Ben!”

Her brother glared at her, but beneath the rage she noticed a deep regret in his eyes. His words, however, cut like the bite of a whip. “Listen, Nadine, I expect you back at the dock in fifteen minutes. If you’re not there, I’m not waiting. You can explain all...this—” he flung his arms wide “—to Mom and Dad.”

Swiftly Hayden crossed the short distance and glared at Ben. Heat seemed to rise from his body, and the tension he used to restrain himself was visible in the vein pulsing at his temple. “Don’t you ever threaten her,” he ordered.

“Just as long as you leave her alone.” With a scathing glance cast at the rich boy, Ben muttered a choice blue oath under his breath and turned quickly and disappeared down a path. A few seconds later Nadine heard the sound of his boat’s engine grind, then roar away, leaving only a disturbing silence.

“I’m sorry,” she said, as Hayden’s face turned to stone. “I don’t know what got into Ben—”

“I’d better take you home.”

“You don’t have to.”

His jaw tightened. “Ben’s right—”

“Ben’s never right!”

“Look, you’re not going to get into any trouble because of me. Come on.” Without another word of explanation, he grabbed the mooring ropes and tossed them inside the boat. Nadine had no choice but to follow.