James, Stephanie (8 page)

voice trailed off abruptly as if he had said something he wished he hadn’t. Then he essayed a crooked

little smile. “But it was very pleasant having you stay with me last night until I fell asleep.”

“No one likes to suffer alone.” She smiled as they headed down the long corridor lined with stateroom

doors. “I was very happy to stay with you.” At least he seemed to think she had left him after he’d fallen

asleep. It was nice to have that confirmed. It made everything so much more comfortable between them.

She looked up as they arrived at her cabin door. “Well, good night, Dev. I hope you sleep well.”

“I’ll call you before breakfast in the morning,” he said deliberately. Then he added quickly, “That is, if

you’d like to have breakfast together?”

She took pity on his suddenly anxious expression. “I’ll look forward to it.” Then, feeling very confident

about what her reception would be, Tabitha balanced herself again on her toes and brushed her mouth

lightly against his. “See you in the morning,” she said before he had a chance to react. She stepped inside

her own cabin and closed the door. Her own aggressiveness was enough of a shock to herself. No point

in alarming him with it, too!

Out in the corridor, Dev watched the stateroom door shut firmly in his face and his knuckles whitened

around the curved handle of his cane. Damn it to hell! This was taking more out of him than he had

expected. How much patience did she think a man had?

With another muttered oath he started on down the corridor to his own room. There were only five days

left on the stupid cruise. Five days left to figure out how to let Miss Tabitha Graham talk herself into bed

with him. Well, he shouldn’t complain, he told himself as he opened the door to his cabin. Look at the

progress he’d made this evening. He’d made himself seem so nice and safe that she’d actually taken the

initiative out on deck. And to think he’d spent the previous hour in the cocktail lounge wondering how to

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go about taking her into his arms without scaring the daylights out of her!

But it had all worked out very nicely, even if she had cut him off far too quickly. Dev shut the door

behind him and set down the ebony cane. Tabitha was going to find herself in his bed eventually. He just

had to be patient. You couldn’t stalk a tabby cat with an elephant gun. Subtlety was called for here.

It was strange, he decided as he caught sight of the grim set of his face in the mirror, he would never

have thought himself the subtle type. But then, he’d never tried to attract a woman like Tabitha Graham,

either. A man was never too old to learn new tricks, it seemed. Then he winced as he sat down on the

edge of the bed, his fingers going to his bruised ribs.

He might not be too old to learn new tricks in some areas, but there was no doubt that he was too old to

be dabbling in his former line of work. How in hell had he ever let Delaney talk him into making that

pickup on St. Regis?

Painfully, wishing he had another bottle of whiskey handy, Dev undressed and got into bed. It was really

much more pleasant when Tabitha was around to fuss over him. He shouldn’t have automatically denied

the headache. Unfortunately he had spoken without thinking, and by the time he’d realized his tactical

error it was too late. If he’d just thought it out beforehand, he could have had her here right now using

her wonderful fingertips on his forehead.

Muttering about his failure to think fast enough on his feet, he reached out to switch off the bedside light.

Then he lay staring out at the moonlit darkness beyond the window.

There was no point kidding himself. Tabitha had no idea at all of the kind of man he was. She had given

him a fantasy role. To her he was gentle and vulnerable and sensitive. Just the kind of man she wanted. If

he kept his head and didn’t make any serious errors during the next couple of days, she would crawl into

his lap like a trusting little cat. And then he would find out exactly what it took to make her purr.

With that thought in mind, Dev closed his eyes and went to sleep. He did not stay awake long enough to

ask himself just why it was so important to make Tabby purr.

The ship’s itinerary the following day included an afternoon stop at another of the lesser-known islands

on the list detailed in the brochure. Tabitha was looking forward to it with great anticipation. She bubbled

over at breakfast as she read the description given in the ship’s daily newsletter.

“It says here that a lot of expatriate-artist types have established a colony on the western tip of the island

and that passengers from the ship are welcome to visit,” she informed Dev over fresh papaya.

“I take it you’d like to visit the colony?”

“Definitely! No telling what sort of unusual things might be going on there.”

“I’ll bet.” He chuckled.

“I meant in the way of creativity,” she told him repressively.

“So did I. Put a bunch of free-spirited artists together on an island, and there’s no telling what sort of

creative endeavors they’ll get up to.”

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“You’re teasing me,” she accused, but the knowledge left her feeling remarkably light-hearted. It was the

sign of a good relationship when each party felt free to gently tease the other, wasn’t it?

“You’re right. I’ll look forward to seeing the colony as much as you will,” he assured her blandly.

“Another cup of coffee?”

“Please.” Then Tabitha frowned. “Are you sure you’re feeling up to the trip? How are your ribs this

morning?”

“A little sore, but nothing that should stop me from accompanying you.”

And they didn’t, apparently. Tabitha double-checked several times during the afternoon to make certain

Dev wasn’t overexerting himself, but he seemed able to maintain the pace she set. Together they toured

the small shop at the art colony, and Tabitha fell in love with one item after another. A wide variety of

work was being done in all sorts of media from woodworking to pottery and weaving.

“Look at this lovely dragon design, Dev,” she exclaimed jubilantly as she examined a woven wall

hanging. “He’s going to look great over my fireplace.”

Dev eyed the hanging thoughtfully. “He does appear to be looking for a home. Look at those pathetically

pleading eyes. Too bad about the big teeth and the fiery tongue. Who’d want to take a chance on him as

a house pet?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! I would! He’s gorgeous.” She began rolling up the hanging. “And a perfect copy of

a small German bronze figure I have.”

“How did dragons make their way into bestiaries? From fairy tales?”

“The monks weren’t that naive,” she sniffed. “They knew the difference between fairy tales and real life.

No, they probably came from descriptions of large serpents like pythons. And there are some other big

reptiles in the world which could have been described as dragons. When you think about it, it’s not hard

to imagine some real-life dragons.”

“Well, if you’re going to take him home, I’d very much like to buy him for you,” Dev said. “To replace

the little carving that got left behind on St. Regis.”

“Oh, that’s okay. You needn’t do that,” she said hurriedly, pleased at the offer.

“I’d very much like to, though, Tabby. Will you let me?”

She cocked her head to one side at the soft note of entreaty in his low voice, and then she gave him a

dazzling smile of acceptance. He really wanted to do this. How could she refuse? A man like Dev Colter

would feel guilty at the knowledge that he’d been the cause of her leaving her trinkets behind on St.

Regis. Such a thoughtful person!

“That’s very kind of you, Dev. If you’re quite sure you want to do this…”

“I am.”

She lifted a shoulder in helpless appreciation. “Then thanks. I’ll think of you every time I look at him,”

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she added with a grin.

“What is it about him that’s going to remind you of me? The fiery breath or the nasty-looking tail?”

“I think it’s the eyes,” she said musingly and then blushed as she realized it was the truth. Brilliant silver

pools filled with a barely masked vulnerability. That was what she saw when she looked into Dev’s eyes.

That night she again floated into dinner on his arm, and it seemed to Tabitha that her conversation had

never been so witty and intelligent. The evening drifted past on dragon’s wings, full of magic and

shimmering excitement Dev must have felt some of the sorcery, because he seemed as wrapped up in her

as she was in him. Everywhere she led, he followed, willingly changing conversational directions,

duplicating her order of turbot with cucumber sauce at dinner and insisting that she choose the wine.

So enthralled was she in the warm, vibrant relationship which seemed to be developing that Tabitha was

unaware of the increasingly frequent glances she was receiving from more than one nearby male

passenger. Her animation and sparkling excitement were like small, glittering lures that frequently caught

the attention of others. But after so many years of playing the role of observer rather than participant,

Tabitha was not equipped now to recognize that kind of subtle masculine attention.

Dev, on the other hand, discovered he’d developed a whole new set of instincts where Tabitha Graham

was concerned. Sitting across from her in the cocktail lounge later he saw disaster approaching long

before it walked over to the table. He did some quick evaluation of the situation even as Tabby began a

detailed discussion of basilisks.

“That’s the creature that supposedly kills with only a glance,” she was saying chattily as Dev watched a

rugged, athletic-looking, blond man start toward the table. “It could be a completely fabulous creature

with no basis in reality, but some people have pointed out that it could simply have been confused with

some reptiles which can spit their venom. Those poor monks sitting around their tables dutifully writing

out bestiaries had no way of verifying many of the reports they got about animals in far-off places,

remember. At any rate, although any creature who looked straight at it reportedly keeled over, the thing

was apparently vulnerable to weasels. That was the theory at the time.”

Dev tried to produce a basilisk-style stare which he directed at the blond man who was now directly

behind Tabitha. It had no effect, probably because the other male had eyes only for Tabby. He’d taken

one glance at Dev’s cane earlier in the evening and had undoubtedly concluded, quite accurately, that it

limited the older man’s social activities. And the band was a very good one that night. Dev knew Tabitha

was about to be asked to dance.

“Excuse me,” the man said with a smile that came straight off a California beach. “Would you care to

dance?” Tabitha looked up in surprised confusion. Before she could respond, the stranger turned to Dev

and went on coolly, “I’m sure you won’t mind if I borrow her for a while, will you?” Left unspoken was

the rest of the sentence but Dev heard it, anyway.
After all you can’t ask her out on the floor. Why

shouldn’t I take her away from you?

The casual challenge had an unexpectedly savage effect on Dev. He was not normally the possessive

type, and even if he had been, he knew Tabitha well enough by now to know she was hardly the kind of

woman who would play two men off against each other even if she got the chance. Hell, Tabitha

wouldn’t know
how
to play that kind of game. But the knowledge didn’t lessen his purely masculine

reaction to the blond beach boy.

“I beg your pardon?” Tabitha was saying, glancing up at the stranger with a puzzled expression in her

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huge, sherry eyes.

“I asked if you’d like to dance. The name’s Steve, by the way. Steve Waverly.” The man gave her

another of his sunny grins, confidence radiating from every pore. He had assessed Tabitha’s companion

and decided there was no threat from that quarter.

“Oh,” Tabitha murmured, sounding rather flustered, but nonetheless pleased, “that’s very kind of you,

but I’m really not much of a dancer, I’m afraid. Not much practice, you see. And I was right in the

middle of telling Dev, here, about basilisks. And weasels.”

“Weasels?” The stranger’s smile slipped a bit as he attempted to follow the conversation.

“You use weasels to get rid of basilisks,” Tabitha explained kindly. “They might not actually have been

weasels, of course. There is some speculation that they were mistaken for mongooses which do tackle

snakes. And since basilisks may have been a type of snake, it makes sense that mongooses might…”

She was interrupted by a muffled groan from the other side of the table. Instantly her head came around

in frowning concern. Dev gave her his bravest smile. “Sorry, honey. My ribs are acting up again. You

know the doctor said they would be sore for a few days.” He gingerly put a hand inside his jacket, testing

the bruised ribs. “And I’m afraid all that exercise today might not have been the best thing for my leg. It’s

aching a little. But don’t worry, I’ll just take a couple of aspirin while you have a dance with Mr.