Enthralled (9 page)

"I didn't harass you.. I
had to make an emergency trip to Singapore the week after you left the Deirdre
and I just got back last night. I realized that my best chance of seeing you
now was to hang around the Special Olympics tryouts. When I saw you and your
friend jogging toward the Garden, I couldn't believe my luck." He shot her
a quick glance as the Ferrari peeled through traffic. "Don't you know how
dangerous it is to jog alone in New York?"

"I realize now that I
could meet someone like you," Teel replied. "From now on I'll take an
attack dog with me."

"That's what
I love about you, Teel. You're so affectionate." Chazz chortled, then gave
her another quick look. "Teel. That's an unusual name."

"My father combined the
first two letters of my name Terese Ellen. The name stuck. I've never been
called anything but Teel," she answered in stilted tones, her chin in the
air.

"I like it."

"It is immaterial to me whether you like
it or not."

"Ouch. That tone of voice
would fast freeze a herd of elephants."

She gave him a saccharine
smile. "Suspicions confirmed. You have a thicker hide than an elephant:
otherwise you would buzz off."

"Never, darling. I've
decided you're not getting rid of me." "I'm not going to be one of
your prostitutes." Her voice echoed loudly in the car, the fear that he
might find out she loved him trembling through it.

"Wait until you're asked,
love."

Teel felt as
though she had suddenly swelled to twice her size. She was about to explode in
withering denunciation of all things that made up Chazz Herman when he made a
sudden right turn, throwing her against her seat belt. She watched open-mouthed
as the Ferrari dropped down into the darkness of an underground garage. They
parked in a space marked Herman. Two other spaces were marked the same way. One
held a Rolls-Royce. "Lousy capitalist," she hissed at him as he came
around to open her door and released her from the seat belt that refused to
separate under her own hands.

He followed her
gaze toward the cocoa-brown Rolls. "Don't you like the Royce?" he
asked blandly, helping her from the car, impervious to the hand that tried to
pry his fingers from her arm.

"You're a selfish,
egotistical, manic, pompous, less- than-human amoeba." Teel scraped her
heels against the concrete as Chazz half-carried, half-dragged her to an
elevator in the underground garage.

"Does that mean you don't
like Rolls-Royces?" He gave her an interested glance.

"Don't patronize
me!" Teel said, staring up at him ready to explode as his one arm clamped
her to his side while the other hand punched the number board in the elevator.

"You mustn't get so
excited. It will upset your lunch," he pointed out in soothing tones.

"Louse," Teel hissed
as he pulled her out of the elevator into a foyer paneled in rich oak with a
shiny oak floor. A round Kerman rug in cream, green, and pink formed the focal
point of the circular room. Several doors led off from it and a stairway
followed the curve of the room to an open balcony on the second floor.

Teel was staring at a
cut-glass lamp suspended from the two-story ceiling when Chazz tugged on her
arm, urging her toward one of the doors. "Where are we?" she
demanded, digging in her heels and glowering up at him.

"Where do you think? My
apartment. We're going to have lunch," he explained impatiently.

"I knew it," Teel
cried. "You lured me
here...
you...
lecher."

"Will you
keep your voice down. My housekeeper will think you're crazy." He frowned
at her, taking her arm again, then opening the door behind him and leading her
into a beautiful room that appeared to be a lounge or library.

Teel glanced
around her at the book-lined walls. "I'll bet you stole these books from
the New York Public Library," she muttered, gazing at the large green Kerman rugs. The same green was repeated in silk-covered sofas that were placed at right
angles to the Adam fireplace. A huge painting depicting the green sea and a
storm- tossed whaling ship hung over the mantel. A ghostly white lighthouse
seemed to waver in the background. "It's beautiful," Teel whispered,
walking closer to check the name of the artist. "Tilda Charles," she
read, turning to frown at Chazz. "Wouldn't you know you'd have an original
Tilda Charles!" She sniffed. "Such ostentation. This is probably the
largest canvas she has ever painted, and you have to have it over our
mantel." Teel looked back at the painting, craning her neck to read the
title— "'Saving the Whale Off Martha's Vineyard.' Wow. I wonder if she
ever saw such a thing or if she just imagined it."

"Oh, she saw it."
Chazz leaned down, grazing Teel's neck with his lips. "Don't you recognize
the man standing in the bow with the hawser in his hands?" His breath sent
tingles down her neck.

"I beg your
pardon?" Teel struggled to keep her emotional and physical balance. It was
an ordeal to be with Chazz. Her eyes didn't focus, her hearing faded, her
muscles became limp, her backbone seemed to disappear. He gave her headaches
and gas. God, Chazz Herman was a one-man torture chamber for Teel Barrett. She
took deep breaths and kept her mind on the picture. She tilted her head as the
high cheek bones, chiseled chin, hawklike nose, and dark hair of the young boy
depicted in the painting all seeped into her consciousness. "You! What are
you doing in a Tilda Charles painting?" she accused him, as if he had
bought his place in the painting.

"She's my aunt."

"Oh!" Teel closed
her eyes, then looked blankly from him to the painting, and from the painting
to him.

Chazz put his arm
around her waist. "She and I were staying at my place on Martha's Vineyard
when a sperm whale beached itself. Some of the locals and I struggled for hours
to get the animal into deeper water. It returned twice. The third time out we
circled it until it seemed to orient itself and swim away. Of course we have no
way of knowing if it beached itself someplace else, but I can't describe to you
the exhilaration we felt when that whale began to move smoothly on its own. We
celebrated all night. It was wonderful. Aunt Tilda stayed on the beach the whole
day watching, and I suppose sketching too. The first I knew that she had
painted the scene was when this"—he pointed upward—"was delivered to
my door." He sighed. "The sea was just that color." He smiled
down at Teel. "You and I will go there soon." He leaned down and
pressed a hard kiss on her open mouth. "But for now, it's time you had
lunch. I have to get you back. I've already volunteered my services for the
afternoon, so I'll be with you for the rest of the day. Tonight, I'll take you
to dinner and a show."

As Chazz spoke, he
led her through double doors into a very large dining room that could easily
seat thirty people. Teel looked up at him questioningly. Chazz laughed.
"No, we're not going to eat here. We'll eat in the morning room. It's
smaller and cozier. I think you'll like it."

"Does it matter?"
Teel asked, feeling as though she were walking on air as Chazz carried her
along at his side.

"Don't be testy. It isn't
good for your digestion," he soothed, leading her out into another
hallway, then through more doors into a circular room with a glass wall that
overlooked a large terrace with a swimming pool and garden. The view of New York City was breathtaking. Teel heaved a sigh of satisfaction. The round table in the
middle of the room was set for two. The table and chairs were of rich rosewood,
as was the paneling on the walls. On the floor was a round Chinese rug in deep
blue and cream. Teel studied the room carefully, turning slowly. "I wonder
what a psychiatrist would say about your penchant for round rooms," she
mused. "It's probably your emperor complex surfacing."

"No
doubt," Chazz agreed smoothly. "Won't you be seated, Empress?"
He smiled at her, then turned to greet a portly woman who entered through
swinging doors from the kitchen. She had salt-and-pepper hair and wore an apron
that belled out around her form like a small circus tent. She clasped her hands
in front of her and looked at Chazz expectantly. "Ah, Mrs.
Pritchett," he said. "This is Miss Barrett. She is the lady I told
you I was bringing for lunch."

"How do you do, Miss
Barrett."

"It's nice to meet you,
Mrs. Pritchett." Teel felt a sudden discomfiture at the assessing look the
housekeeper gave her.

"I'll bring lunch right
along sir. I made it light, as you ordered."

Mrs. Pritchett disappeared,
but before Teel could say anything to Chazz, she was back with a tureen of
soup. As the fragrance of the home-made mushroom broth reached her nostrils,
she realized that she was ravenous. When she sat back a few minutes later,
after finishing her bowl, Mrs. Pritchett seemed to answer some unheard signal.
This time she appeared with two large bowls of julienne salad, which she placed
with care in front of Teel and Chazz.

"I've added cubed chicken
breasts and tuna steak instead of ham, sir. I think it makes the salad more
piquant," Mrs. Pritchett announced proudly. She pointed to a cut-glass
cruet. "That's my own celery seed dressing," she told Teel. "But
of course, if you prefer, I also have commercial dressings."

"I would much prefer the
homemade, Mrs. Pritchett. Thank you." Teel smiled as the older woman
nodded once and her cheeks flushed. She looked at her employer.

"It's high time you were
bringing one home. Your taste is better than I thought it would be." Mrs.
Pritchett turned and left the dining room.

Teel looked at Chazz, unable
to stop the laugh that bubbled up. "She's certainly an original."

He shrugged.
"She worked for Aunt Tilda for years, then decided she wanted to work for
me." He grinned. "I assure you I had little say in the decision. She
just turned up one day and stayed. She runs the house like clockwork and
handles the few parties I have here with aplomb, but she's quick to point out
my faults."

"The woman must have a
computer mind if she can remember them all." Teel smiled and sipped from
her glass of chilled Riesling.

"Don't be nasty,
love." Chazz's menacing smile appeared. "I'll have to paddle your
lovely derriere." He seemed not to hear her gasp of anger as he steepled
his hands and gazed toward the ceiling. "Now, let's see, where was I? Ah,
yes, I was saying that Pritch is quick to point out my flaws. Did I mention
that she dotes on me? That she is looking forward to being nanny to my many
offspring when I marry? Interested in the job?"

"I'm interested in
tipping you off the George Washington Bridge with a cement block fixed to your
neck," Teel snapped, hoping to keep her face expressionless. She couldn't
keep the thought of a gurgling baby with black curly hair and golden eyes from
invading her mind.

Who would bear that child? The
question was like an electric prod to her insides.

"I take it
that means you won't marry me?" Chazz inquired, leaning forward to pour
her a cup of coffee from the silver pot.

"How like you
to poke fun about something as beautiful as marriage!" Teel took a
mouthful of scalding coffee and tried to cool her burning tongue with a quick
swallow of ice water. She coughed when the water went down the wrong way. Chazz
rose to stand next to her and proceeded to slap her back with all the
gentleness of a sledge hammer.

"Better?" he asked.

"Better?" Teel
cried, wiping tears from her eyes. "Were you trying to break my back,
slapping at me like that?" She took a deep, ragged breath, and sent him a
murderous look when he sauntered back to his seat, took his chair, and smiled
at her benignly.

When Mrs. Pritchett walked
into the room with a cheese board and more coffee, Teel was still so furious
that she could only shake her head when the housekeeper offered an alternate
dessert of cheesecake.

"That will be
all, Mrs. Pritchett," Chazz told her. "We have to leave shortly. Miss
Barrett has children entered in the Special Olympics tryouts."

Mrs. Pritchett's interest
seemed genuine, and as she left the room she told Teel that she must come again
soon.

"You've made
a hit with her," Chazz commented as he came around the table and held her
chair.

Teel felt his breath on her neck, "I must get
back," she choked. "We still have a few minutes. Let me show you the
terrace." "No need," Teel said. "I've seen terraces
before."Chazz chuckled and led her down the hall to the room with the
beautiful seascape over the mantel. He motioned her through glass doors that
opened outward onto the terrace.

"Nice," Teel
managed. "Large."

"Nervous, darling?"

"No."

"Good." Chazz put
his arm around her and led her around a corner toward the swimming pool.
"Would you like to swim?" He pushed a tendril of hair from her
forehead, then leaned down and pressed a feather-light kiss on her cheek.

"No time," Teel
gasped, feeling his mouth continue down her neck. Heat curled in her lower
abdomen as his lips forayed across her shoulder. Somehow the zipper on her
sweat jacket had come down, and Chazz had pushed the material away from her
skin. "Too soon after eating," Teel protested through cardboard lips.
"Getta cramp."