Mad About The Man (12 page)

Jacques
'
s response was to sweep off her hat and layer her against his muscular chest until she knew he would feel every tingling millimeter of her breasts through the orange silk blouse she wore. She felt her own flesh, its quickening, in a searing flash all the way to her knees.

"
Gaby, Gaby.
"
His fingertips moved lightly up and down her back.
"
I
'
ve been waiting for you a long time.
"

The fight seeped out of Gaby. She rested her forehead on his chest, at the opening of his khaki shirt where dark hair curled, and closed her eyes.

"
It
'
s like that for you, too, isn
'
t it?
"
Jacques stroked her hair.

Gaby struggled against the desire to wrap her arms around him.
"
I don
'
t have the faintest idea what you
'
re talking about. You wear me out. I
'
m tired of arguing.
"
She actually felt her body grow heavier. If he
weren
'
t
holding her she
'
d be inclined to sit down right where she was.

"
We don
'
t have to argue. We have better things to do—like getting to know each other.
"

Like giving him a chance to lull her away from gathering signatures.
"
I
'
m going to go now, Jacques,
"
she said carefully, planting her free hand in the middle of his chest and pushing herself away.
"
And I don
'
t want you to interfere with what I
'
m doing again.
"
His scent—clean, male skin and something very faintly woodsy—lingered.

"
You don
'
t want me to get out of Goldstrike.
"

"
I
…
"
She wanted to stay exactl
y where she
'
d just been—wrapped in his strong arms, against his solid chest, with her face nestled close enough to taste him if she felt like it.
"
We
'
re going to fight you, Jacques.
"

"
You don
'
t sound convincing.
"

Camilla Roberts
'
s face flashed before Gaby.
"
You
'
re very good at turning women into slaves, aren
'
t you?
"

He laughed and fanned her face with her black straw hat.
"
What would make you say a thing like that?
"

"
Yesterday I had the dubious pleasure of meeting a true Jacques Ledan fan.
"

"
One of many,
"
he said, still chuckling.

"
She said you were a visionary. The very word you used to try and flatter poor Nigel into your corner.
"

Jacques
'
s smile slid.
"
Who are we talking about?
"

"
We
'
re talking about the woman you were probably with last night. The one you must have tucked away somewhere while you kept bothering me on the phone.
"

Complete confusion settled on his face.
"
I don
'
t know what you
'
re talking about.
"

"
Does the name Camilla Roberts ring a bell? She talked about you with pure diamond-studded stars in her eyes. She just
knew
you intended to offer her a piece of the action at the
spa!
This is all unbeliev
able.
"

"
Gaby—
"

"
No. Don
'
t try to explain or gloss any of this over.
"
How could she, even for a second, forget what this man wanted from Goldstrike—and from her.
''
You can
'
t use me, Jacques.
"

She cut around him and set off purposefully for Hacienda Heaven. When Jacques didn
'
t follow she fought the temptation to look back. She didn
'
t want him.
She didn
'
t.

Hacienda Heaven was separated from the road by a cracked parking lot fronted by a brick wall. A planting strip sported dusty plastic cacti alternated with molded pink flamingoes on poles.
Gaby reached the door of what had, during late mining days, been the site of a Chinese joss house. Barney
'
s neon
Hablamos Españ
ol
sign flashed in double-time.

"
Do they?
"
a male voice asked softly.

Gaby jumped and stepped back onto Jacques
'
s feet.
"
Do they what?
"
she almost shrieked.

He nodded to the sign.
"
Speak Spanish.
"

"
Yes
…
no. At least, I don
'
t think so.
"
She pushed the door.

"
Thirsty?
"

"
I beg your pardon?
"

This time he indicated Barney
'
s other sign, this one hand-painted on a window amid a smattering of unlikely renditions of sombreros and large flowers.
"
Little early for some of the
n
o
cerveza,
isn
'
t it?
"

"
If I was a drinking woman, Jacques Ledan, I
'
d be more than ready for a cold drink, or two, of beer or anything else.
"
She shoved the door once more. It didn
'
t budge.

"
The place is closed.
"

"
Observant of you.
"

"
I could have told you the guy who owns the place isn
'
t in.
"

Gaby nanowed her eyes.
"
How?
"
She started back the way she
'
d come.

"
He drives a beaten-up green van.
"
Jacques fell into an easy lope beside her.
"
You ought to watch that temper of yours. Gets in the way of optimum performance. One old, green van drove away while you were steaming up to the door. You
'
d have seen it if you hadn
'
t been giving in to unfounded anger.
"

"
I
'
m not angry.
"

"
You
'
re angry because you
'
re jealous. Giving in to jealousy makes you feel out of control—which you are in this case—and you
'
re a very controlling personality.
"

They passed Nigel
'
s store and reached Caleb
'
s place on the co
rn
er of Main Street.
"
So far you haven
'
t made any points with me this morning, Jacques. In fact, you
'
ve lost some.
"

"
You
'
re jealous because you want me, and you
'
re afraid Camilla Roberts has beaten you to it.
"

Gaby rounded on him, opened her mouth, then closed it again firmly and turned left toward her workroom. The man was bored. Nothing more. Of course an argument could be made that if he truly believed he needed her on his side, he wouldn
'
t t
r
y to alienate her. But then, he might think this pseudo-smitten act would be enough to flatter a dumb little hick hat maker into infatuated submission. On the other hand, he was powerful enough not to have to run around doing his own dirty work.

"
I
'
ve known Camilla a long time.
"

"
Lucky you.
"

"
Please, Gaby. Listen to me. She is absolutely nothing to me and never was. A hanger-on at parties I
'
ve given—that
'
s it.
"

"
I
'
ll bet you give lots of parties and I don
'
t see you as a man who
'
s ever without a gaggle of what you call hangers-on. I
'
m going to work now. The war is still on.
"

He stopped and turned up his palms.
"
Okay, have it your way. See you later.
"

Frowning, Gaby watched him stroll away before walking slowly to the courtyard beh
ind the work
room.

Char, working alone on one of the pieces for
Going to the Dogs,
greeted Gaby with a cheerful,
"
Hiya, toots.
"

"
That is one very strange man,
"
Gaby said.
"
First he follows me all over town while I tell him to get lost. Then he just gives up and walks off.
"

"
The romance blossoms,
"
Char said, tacking ostrich plumes to a chartreuse felt tricorn.

Gaby ignored the comment.
"
Why would he suddenly decide not to fight anymore?
"

"
You just said you told him to get lost.
"

"
Yes, but
…
"
Gaby put down the clipboard. She didn
'
t want him to stay, but she didn
'
t want him to go.
"
Good grief, was that the shop bell?
"

"
Certainly was.
"
The plumes were deep blue and turquoise dusted with silver.
"
Any idea who it might be before nine on a weekday morning?
"

"
You go.
"

"
Impossible. We don
'
t have any time to waste on this project and I seem to be the only one working on it
.
"

From the shop came a whistled version of
"
Some where Over the Rainbow.
"

"
Char,
"
Gaby whispered hoarsely.
"
It
'
s
him.
Take it from me—he won
'
t go away unless you go and tell him to.
"

"
Nothing doing.
"
Char smiled sweetly.
"
Tell him yourself. I
'
ll send help if you don
'
t come back in, oh, an hour?
"

"
This isn
'
t funny,
"
Gaby wailed.

The shop bell rang again. Then silence.

"
He
'
s gone,
"
Gaby said. Why wasn
'
t she relieved? The bell sounded once more.

Char set down the hat.
"
What—
"

And again the tinny noise trilled.
"
Maybe the door isn
'
t properly shut,
"
Gaby said.