IF RAND HADN’T COME out of his room and seen Maxi sitting on the stairs, she might actually have given in to all the things she was feeling and knocked on his door. Those “things” had in fact driven her from her bedroom—his bedroom when he was small. Knowing that had finally made it impossible for her to stay there.
For a long time, she’d sat on the stairs, listening to Rand pace behind a closed door. Then the door had opened, as she’d known it would. He’d walked out, picked her up in his arms and carried her away.
The interior of the room was dark, illuminated only by moonlight streaking across the dark carpet. Rand halted in that silvery glow to look down at her.
“Max,” he said in a husky voice, “you’re beautiful.”
She wasn’t, not like this: no makeup, hair slicked back, glasses perched on her nose. But he sounded as if he believed it to be true and a shiver of gratitude shook her.
“You’re beautiful, too.” She said it shyly, because she felt so vulnerable. All her life she’d strived to make herself attractive and to show off her assets—until now. She’d thought her plain appearance would protect her from Rand, yet here was a world-class-gorgeous man looking at her, speaking to her plain self as if she really were the most beautiful woman in the world.
His laughter sounded giddy. “I guess that’s a compliment.” He hoisted her higher in his arms. “Max, I knew we’d get to this point, but I sure was getting tired waiting. We’re good together and we’re gonna be even better.”
He carried her out of the moonbeam and to the bed, where he deposited her in the shadows. Without self-consciousness, he began to undress.
She heard a smile in his voice when he said, “We’ve got almost a whole week. I don’t want to waste any more of it.”
“Neither do I.”
He joined her on the bed and reached for her. She went to him willingly, happily. His skin felt smooth beneath her reaching fingertips, his body all silky muscle. What a strange sensation, to be swathed in fabric while he was naked.
But not vulnerable. He took charge with a hungry kiss that left her weak and wanting. When he reached for the hem of her voluminous nightgown, she maneuvered around to make it easier for him to lift it over her head.
Then they both were naked and straining together, exchanging heated kisses and caresses. Their breaths mingled, and after a few moments, she couldn’t have said what she felt and what she felt in him. As her blood heated, her equilibrium retreated.
The thought of pulling back never entered her mind. She’d known what she wanted when she’d come out into the hall; she just hadn’t had the nerve to walk straight to this room and tell him so. Instead she’d waited, and this was her reward….
This drugging rapture, invading her veins like liquid fire. He trailed his hand down her hip, his touch light and teasing. Everything he did, every touch, seemed perfect to her, designed to lift her to a fever pitch—and succeeding. Eager to possess and be possessed, she resented the few seconds lost while he retrieved a condom from the bedside table.
“Hurry up!” She tugged on his shoulder.
“Hey, I’m doing this for you. Left to my own devices—” He tumbled over and grabbed her. “I wouldn’t want anything between us, Max, Maxi, Maxine, baby, darlin’.”
“You’re being sensible.” She curled her leg over his hip, tightened her muscles and pulled him closer. “I’m glad one of us is.” His hardness touched her softness and she gasped. “Randy!”
“Ah…yes.” He was over her with a quick motion, his knees sliding between her thighs. Braced on his arms, he entered her with slow deliberation. Once firmly and deeply joined, he leaned down to draw a puckered nipple into his mouth.
Exquisite pleasure bubbled through her. She’d never been so completely engaged in the act of love, never felt so willing to relinquish control. There was nothing he could do that she wouldn’t welcome, as she welcomed the acceleration of his deep thrusts.
She clutched his shoulders, meeting his strokes fiercely. This man had ducked beneath her defenses and connected with something she hadn’t even realized was there inside her.
That something was love, she acknowledged with a flash of insight that made this climax the sweetest she’d ever known.
THROUGHOUT A LONG NIGHT, they made love, slept in each other’s arms and made love again. At dawn’s first light, Rand stifled his groan against her tousled hair.
“I don’t understand what you’ve done to me,” he whispered, “but I wouldn’t want you to think I’m up to this performance level on an every-night basis.”
“No?” She cuddled closer. “And here I was thinking that by Saturday we could make love…my math’s not so hot, but I was thinking maybe seventeen more times?”
“In six days? I’d be dead!” But he didn’t pull away in horror, just cupped her breast and ducked to take the tip into his mouth.
The glorious taste of her filled him, made him stiff all over again. She was the sexiest woman he’d ever encountered, the wildest in bed and the most deeply satisfying. An unexpected contentment warmed him.
He could get used to this—maybe on a permanent basis. They were already married, after all. What if they decided to…explore the possibilities?
RAND NEXT awakened at full light. For a long time he lay there next to a softly sleeping Max, wondering why he felt so damn good.
In the city, he ordinarily slept late, but as a kid visiting Grandpa, he’d been expected to pile out of bed at dawn. Like all the Taggarts, he hadn’t wanted to disappoint the old man so he’d hauled himself up grumbling at dawn’s early light.
Rand couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt such a sense of anticipation as he did this morning. He hadn’t been here in years. Maybe he’d forgotten the power the Rocking T held over him.
Or maybe the power was Maxine’s—Max, wonderful Max, sleeping with her head on his shoulder and one slender hand curled on his chest. He picked up that hand and pressed it to his lips. Her mouth curved into a smile, but she slept on.
How special she was. When he’d first embarked on this crazy scheme, he’d been grasping at straws, with no real idea how perfect she was to play the part of his wife. But they weren’t playing any longer. She was his wife in every way.
Maybe he’d keep her…or try. Of course, if he decided to do that, he’d have a whole lot of explaining to do to her.
Slowly and carefully, he slid his shoulder and arm free. She sighed and her lashes flickered—amazingly long lashes. Then she turned over, snuggled in the tangle of sheets and slept on.
Moving quietly, Rand grabbed fresh clothing from the bureau drawer and crept out of the room. He’d shower down the hall so as not to disturb her. She needed her rest as much as he did.
And she didn’t have memories of a crusty old grandpa to bedevil her awake before her time.
WHEN MAX OPENED her eyes, he was gone. She sat up abruptly in the bed, trying to get her bearings.
He was definitely gone.
Taking a deep breath, she leaned back on a pillow, a satisfied smile curving her mouth. She didn’t think he’d gone far. After last night…
For several moments she lay there luxuriating in recent memories. Rand was so—
Crooked. Rand was a crook. For her sister’s sake, she must never forget that. He was also a con man, so why was it so hard to admit that he was simply stringing her along? Last night had nothing to do with love or even affection—on his part, and also on hers if she had any sense at all. It was simply sex.
That thought brought her lurching out of bed.
If he’d said a word about his financial problems, perhaps she would feel different about him. But he’d never opened his mouth on that subject, and now she was supposed to believe that one night of great sex changed anything?
Beneath the stinging spray of the shower, she reminded herself that she must be more on guard than ever. He seemed to instinctively find her weaknesses and exploit them, but he hadn’t turned aside her determination to clear her sister. One good tumble couldn’t make her forget a lifetime of obligation.
Could it?
She was still rolling up the sleeves of her plaid shirt when she entered the parlor and stopped short. Rand sat on a velvet sofa, turning a VCR tape over and over in his hands. He looked up, his expression tense.
She felt a stab of alarm. “What is it? What’s wrong.”
“Nothing.” He put the tape aside as if glad to be rid of it. His smile dissipated all the clouds. “How are you, honey?”
The endearment brought a flush of pleasure. “I’m fine,” she said. “Is that coffee I smell?”
He nodded. “You sit down. I’ll get it.”
She did, wondering why it felt so good to be waited on by this gorgeous man. He treated her like a queen, while she—
“Here you go.” He set the mug on the table beside her. “One spoonful of sugar, just the way you like it.”
He even remembered how she liked her coffee. She was in a ton of trouble here.
He sat down across from her, his own mug cradled between his hands. “Max,” he said softly to get her attention.
“Yes?”
“Last night…was incredible.”
Her heart fluttered painfully. “It was…good.”
“Good?” His laughter was incredulous. “You’ve been great ever since you got on that airplane in Chicago. Jeez, that seems at least a hundred years ago.”
It did to her, too. Had there ever been a time when she didn’t know him?
His expression and tone turned serious. “I’ve been doing some serious thinking. This seems as good a time as any to confess that I’ve not been entirely straight with you.”
She sat bolt upright in her stiff velvet chair, resisting the almost overwhelming desire to shout No! at the top of her lungs. Could she handle his secrets now with her emotions still trembling so near the surface? If she was dishonest with him—and she was—she wanted him to be equally dishonest. It made the whole thing cleaner somehow.
But she couldn’t say that and he wasn’t looking at her anyway, instead staring down at the cup between his restless hands.
“Okay,” he said suddenly, “this is what’s really going on with me, what I’ve been trying so hard to keep from you and everyone else. I have been careless with money.”
This was news?
“But not that careless.” He shifted restlessly on the sofa, as if he couldn’t get comfortable. “To explain how I could be as stupid as I was, I need to go back a long way. I had two real close college friends and we stayed close after we left school. One was Brian Kelly, who got married and went to work for the Boston Police Department. The other was Bill Overton, who went into his family’s business. Coconutty—ever hear of it? They make things out of coconuts, stuff like suntan oil and flavoring and candy, all kinds of things.”
Hearing Bill Overton’s name said right out loud startled Maxi so much that she gasped. Was Rand really going to hand her the key to his own downfall and Helen’s vindication?
“Bill was always a fast talker,” Rand went on, “a kind of con man. I knew it, but we were buddies and he never turned that on me. Eventually we more or less went our separate ways. Until he contacted me a couple of years ago, inviting me to invest in the family company he’d just inherited. The idea sounded good to me, and I’ve got to admit, it never even occurred to me to question his honesty. I didn’t know any reason I shouldn’t trust him.”
He sighed and put his cup on the floor between his feet. She started to tell him to be careful, he’d kick it over and make a mess, but she didn’t want to distract him from his story.
He hung his head. “Bill was about to take his company into Internet marketing,” he said. “Why not? Other completely unlikely companies were doing the same, like that cod liver oil company in Texas. He had answers to all my questions, but I still hesitated. I’d already gone through at least half of what Great-grandpa Randall had left me, plus…I had ongoing obligations.”
His lips tightened. “Just about the time all this was going on, Brian the cop was shot to death in a drug bust. He didn’t have much family—he’d gone to college on good grades, not family money like Bill and me. Somebody had to give his widow and two kids a hand. In my own defense…” He grimaced. “Damn, I’m not trying to make excuses, but I was distracted. Bottom line, I sank several million I couldn’t afford in Bill’s big venture. And when he needed more, I provided that, too.”
Maxi sucked in her breath. “A sure thing, I suppose.”
“Oh, yeah, for Bill. A couple of months ago, he skipped with all the loot. Seems he’d been embezzling from the beginning, salting everything away in some Caribbean backwater—at least, that’s what the law thinks.” He grimaced. “I’m not the only one who got taken, but I was the biggest fool in the bunch, if you go by dollars and cents. There was a big to-do about it in the papers. Fortunately none of the investors were named. I don’t think anyone in my family even knows the name of my holding company, thank God.”
“Why thank God?”
“I’d just as soon my family and everybody else in the world don’t hear what a damn fool I’ve been.” He sounded properly disgusted. “Maybe now you understand why I need this ranch so much. In all likelihood, I’ll never see another penny of the Coconutty investment. If I know Bill, he’ll never set foot in this country again—and why should he? He’s got what he wanted.”
“Bottom line—you still intend to sell the ranch,” she said faintly.
“I have no choice.” The grim lines of his face deepened. “You know the worst part of it? Bill and that blond showgirl wife of his are lolling on some tropical island, drinking mai tais, while he laughs at the mess he left behind. I’d give anything I own—anything I have left, anyway—to get my hands on him for five minutes. Just five minutes…”
Maxi’s stomach clenched into a knot. How much of this was true? Was any of it true?
He looked straight into her eyes. “You believe me, don’t you?”
“W-why wouldn’t I?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. You just had a funny expression on your face.”
She improvised. “I was having trouble taking it all in. Are you sure you’re not leaving anything out?”
He looked surprised. “Like what?”
“I don’t know…maybe like…is there a woman involved? I mean besides the showgirl wife.”
He frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You must have had a girlfriend mixed up in there somewhere.”
“Jeez,” he said. “No. Not only no, but hell no. I haven’t dated anyone steadily in more than a year.”
“But I thought…” She faked a frown. “I thought you mentioned someone special in Chicago.”
He shook his head. “That wasn’t me. I was in and out of Chicago to see Bill, but there was never time for anything else. I don’t know any women in Chicago, aside from Bill’s secretary, and I don’t even remember her name. I do recall she was good lookin’, but I got the strong impression she only had eyes for the boss.”
Already fractured by doubt, Maxi felt the bottom fall out of her tight little world. She stared at him wordlessly.
“Now that you mention it…” Rand considered. “I understand the police questioned her after Bill split. I got the feeling they weren’t real happy with her story. I don’t know if anything came of that, but last I heard, they were no closer to nabbing the guy than they were on day one. Although if he’s still getting legal advice from the same shyster lawyer, it should be easy to nab him.”
Maxi thought she might be sick. She had to call Helen and get the truth.
“You look funny,” Rand said, and he didn’t mean funny-haha. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’m fine.” She wasn’t; she just said that.
“You’re upset about the ranch,” he guessed. “Look, Max, after that near-death experience with the hijackers, I’ve got to admit I’ve done some serious thinking. Finding myself back in the bosom of my family is enough to give me pause all by itself, but that’s all—pause. When the time comes, I’ll do what I have to do.”
When the time comes, I’ll do what I have to do. The words reverberated along her nerve endings because they went double for her.
AFTER A QUICK BREAKFAST, Rand went out to saddle a couple of horses for their daily ride, while Maxi darted upstairs to call Helen. With hands that trembled, she dialed the jail.
Only to discover that Helen had been released on bail the previous day.
Thank God! She dialed Helen’s apartment.
Helen answered breathlessly on the first ring.
“Helen, it’s me, Maxi.”
“Oh.” Such disappointment in a single word.
“Don’t sound so happy to hear from me.”
“I am happy, Maxi, but I was expecting someone else.”
“Obviously. How did you get out of jail?”
“He paid my bail.”
“He who?”
Helen hesitated, then said, “Rand Taggart, of course.”
Maxi sat down hard on the edge of the bed. “That’s a lie,” she said flatly.
“Why—why—!” Helen sputtered. “Of course he did. You were the one who guessed that he and I—”
“He and you what? And don’t tell me any phony stories about how he led you on and then left you to face the music alone.”
“Why, Maxine Rafferty! How can you turn against your only sister this way? Who have you been talking to—that wretched lawyer?”
Obviously R. Renwood Keever hadn’t told Helen that Maxi was spying on Rand. “It’s not important how I know,” Maxi said. “I just do. Bill Overton paid your bail. He’s the one you’re involved with.”
“Not the way you mean,” Helen huffed. “Rand Taggart bailed me out, I tell you. There’s nothing between me and Bill.”
“Oh, Helen! I wish I could believe you, but I don’t. Bill Overton’s using you. He’s already married.”
A clearly audible gasp preceded hot words: “He’s not married! He said when this was over, he and I would go away and—”
Helen shut up abruptly, but it was too late. Maxi knew.
“Helen, how can you do this? You’re not the kind of person who’d try to frame an innocent man.”
“Rand Taggart is not innocent! If you only knew how he’s treated Bill, lording it over him because of all his money. So what if Bill takes a little? Rand Taggart has plenty more where that came from.”
“You don’t know that, not that it matters. Bill Overton is the crook. I can’t believe you helped him get away with millions.”
The silence lengthened. Then Helen said, “Bill didn’t exactly get away with millions. There’s the matter of a certain little safe-deposit key.”
Maxi wanted to cry with frustration. “If you’ve got Bill’s safe-deposit key, you have to give it to the police immediately.”
“Why? It doesn’t belong to them.”
“Helen, listen to me. Give the key to the police before Bill shows up and takes it. You’ll be protected if you do.”
“I don’t need protection—not from Bill. He loves me. He wouldn’t—”
“He would! He almost has to, if he doesn’t want to explain you to his wife.”
“How many times do I have to tell you, he’s not married!”
“He is married, and as long as you have that key, you’re in danger. He could show up at your door any minute and—”
“Why should he show up here when I’m meeting him in Las Vegas.”
Maxi froze. “Oh my God, when?”
“None of your business!”
“I’ll come home to Chicago Sunday night.” After Rand’s birthday. “I’m sure I can talk sense to you if—”
“Too late.”
“Helen!”
“Don’t yell at me. I know what I’m doing. But if it would make you feel any better…”
“What?” Maxi grasped at straws.
“M-maybe you’d like to meet me in Las Vegas. It’s not that I’m worried or anything—I’m not, I’m truly not. I know Bill loves me….”
“You don’t know that at all. I can hear the worry in your voice.”
“That isn’t worry. It’s just that we’ve been apart and I don’t know what’s been happening with him.” Helen hesitated. “He isn’t married, Maxi. I know he isn’t.”
“What if he wants the key but not you?”
“I’ll never believe that…but just in case…I would feel better if you were there, Maxi. You’re my sister. I can trust you when I can’t trust anyone else.”
“Of course you can trust me, but—”
“You’d never betray me. Not me, the sister who practically raised you, who kept you out of foster homes, who—”
“That’s enough.” More than enough. Maxi felt sick all over again.
“I want you to know everything because I trust you. Bill’s registering at the Double Play Hotel and Casino under the name Brian Kelly, which I think was someone he used to know. I’ll be flying in at eleven Saturday night. I should be at his hotel by midnight with the key.”
“Don’t do this.”
“I have to. If you love me, meet me at the airport at eleven and we’ll go to the hotel together. That way you can see for yourself that Bill and I love each other. Will you do it?”
Maxi groaned, thinking about Rand, thinking about the danger to her sister. “I don’t see how I can,” she said at last.
“I don’t see how you can’t. You owe me.”
With a click, the line went dead, and with it, Maxi’s hopes.
MAXI WRESTLED with her dilemma all day: her sister or the man for whom she’d developed such deep feelings. Maybe she could sneak away long enough to meet Helen in Las Vegas and still be back in time for Rand’s birthday showdown…or maybe she should confess everything to Rand. But that would surely risk her sister’s future. It seemed as if every choice would destroy one of the two people she loved. Even doing nothing was a choice.
Whatever she did, could she live with herself afterward?
She argued with herself constantly. There was no guarantee Rand could do anything even if she told him. Plus, the police would surely get involved and Helen would be back in jail, this time perhaps for good.
The most telling reason of all to keep quiet was that Rand would hate her forever.
Of course, when all her secrets were revealed, he’d hate her anyway. Was there the slightest chance he wouldn’t have to find out? Maybe after his birthday, after he’d gained—or lost—his inheritance, she could simply disappear and no one would ever have to know the extent of her duplicity.
Ah, but it was hard to think of simply going away—so she wouldn’t. Nor would she continue to wrestle with her conscience. These days were too precious. She had plenty of time to decide what to do, she conned herself into believing.
Each day she and Rand grew closer. They shared long lovely horseback rides and explored every nook and cranny in the house and barn. Best of all, they were completely alone…almost like real honeymooners.
It was heaven, as long as she clung to her vow not to think.
If her days were heaven, the nights were paradise. After dinner, they’d sit on the front steps talking and looking at the stars until, with an exaggerated yawn, he’d hold out his hand to her.
And she…she always took it. In his arms, she was happy. Only later, while he slept beside her, did her secrets overwhelm her.
But inevitably Friday rolled around. Maxi still didn’t know what she was going to do, having flip-flopped at least a dozen times. When they strolled to the corrals after breakfast, she was still in a quandary.
“You’re distracted,” he said.
She sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Maybe you’d rather talk than ride.”
“God, no. I mean, I look forward to our rides.”
He halted suddenly, bending down to drag something from the fringe of weeds growing beside the barn. Straightening, he offered it to her with a smile.
It was a Rocking T branding iron, rusty and forgotten. She took it from him, tears welling in her eyes. It looked so unloved and unappreciated, this symbol of family history.
“Hey!” He lifted her glasses from their perch on her nose, the glasses she didn’t need except as part of her disguise. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. Really.” She swallowed hard and forced a smile. “How about giving back my glasses?”
“Your eyes are too beautiful to hide.” He tightened his hold on her, the glasses dangling from his fingers as the branding iron dangled from hers. “Don’t let anything make you sad, Max. We don’t have time for that.”
“We don’t have time for much of anything.”
“We have time for kisses,” he said.
And so she kissed him, and it became one of those long, leisurely kisses they shared these days on a regular basis.
And she hated herself for it.
THEY RODE OUT much later, over rolling green hills and past grazing herds of curious longhorns. These surroundings were already becoming familiar to her. A couple of riders in the distance lifted their arms in greeting and she waved back, knowing they were Rocking T riders giving the newlyweds a wide berth.
Circling back on an unfamiliar rutted trail, they pulled up their horses on a small hillock overlooking the ranch buildings from the back. Maxi drew in a deep breath of clean fresh country air. Bracing her hands on the saddle horn, she stood in the stirrups to glance around.
She was actually starting to like horses and feel comfortable around them. Within another month she might actually—
Her hand froze in midmotion above her horse’s neck. She wouldn’t be here for another month and neither would Rand.
Lifting the reins, she started to turn her horse, when something against the trees caught her attention. “Is that a graveyard?” she asked.
“Sure is.” Rand, in faded jeans and well-worn boots, looked as if he’d never traveled a step outside of Texas. “Most of the Taggarts are buried there, starting with Jesse Daniel, who was Thom T.’s great-grandpa. My grandpa Travis is there—he died before I was born—and lots more Taggarts.”
She twisted toward him in the saddle in time to see a hunger in his face that had never been there before. Whatever he might say, Rand Taggart’s heritage was important to him.
And he was going to sell it?
Maybe he wouldn’t have to do this awful thing if he could catch Bill Overton red-handed and recover what was rightfully his. There was a chance, wasn’t there?
If Maxi talked, that is.