Rose of Betrayal (33 page)

“I think Bernie felt
a little threatened.
 
Once I explained
how much I love Ted and how important our future is together, she relaxed.
 
She's crazy about you, you know.”

           
Sam's deliberate comment about her
feelings for Ted was like salt in a wound the pain making Brad utter an
unexpected explanation.
 
“Bernie's a
wonderful person.
 
She means a lot to me
as a friend, but there could never be anything serious between us.”

           
Like striking a match, Brad ignited
Sam’s anger. There probably could never be anything serious between any woman
and Brad Johnson.
 
He was a womanizer who
had every female in attendance drooling, and making absolute spectacles out of
them.
 
Well, she would never be a number
on his philanderer's hit list, never!

           
With a slow sweep of Brad's eyelids,
the sparks dancing in his eyes quickly transformed into a brooding glaze gliding
across her face and coming to rest at the swell of her breasts.
 
Speaking was not necessary his eyes said it
all, black velvet eyes so drugging they promised a new religion capable of
bringing her to her knees.
 
She clutched
the brick wall for fear of losing her balance.
 

           
A finger gliding across her neck
bone slid beneath the diamond and ruby necklace. Lifting it from her polished
skin, he held it suspended.
 
She wanted
to move, shove him away, run deny the sudden rush of exhilaration and fire flaring
inside until she noticed an odd light of worry, perhaps of disapproval in his
eyes.

           
Wondering where Ted got the money
for such an exorbitant gift made Brad's imagination run rapid.
 
“Obviously Ted loves you very much.
 
I have never known him to buy anyone such
extravagant trinkets, but, then I imagine when he saw its radiance it reminded
him of you - elegant and beautifully made.
 
Any man might wish to be as close to you as this necklace.
 
Ted is a lucky man.”

           
The atmosphere charged by the intimacy
of Brad's observation made Sam not only conscious of his body, but her
own.
 
The force of his will, piercing
through her made her mouth feel as though it was full of cotton balls.
 
Swallowing or speaking was impossible.
 
The moon's glitter reflecting off his
cavernous eyes hypnotized her into a rigid stance.
     
 

           
When Brad returned the necklace to
its resting place, the back of his finger, as though a spider’s tiny legs
touching her skin, at a snails’ pace, traced a straight line halting at the
vee
of her cleavage.
  
The touch of Sam's skin, the heaving of her breasts rapidly replaced
amusement with naked desire.

           
Trying to escape from Brad then
would have been like trying to skate with slippers.
 
Sam imagined rarely did anyone ever outrun a
panther.
 
She went numb except for the
area he was touching.
 
A laser beam of
desire shot to the quick of her.
 
His
leashed sensuality found an answering response inside that scared her to death.
 
If he continued the siege any longer, she
would have willingly given him anything, anything.
 

           
As quickly as the heat rose between
them, it chilled by Ted's words, the tone quiet and faintly menacing.
 
“We have been looking all over for the two of
you.
 
I believe congratulations are in
order on your impressive dancing?”
 
         

News certainly
traveled quickly among this lot.
 
Typical, Brad fumed.

           
Bernie's eyes bounced from Brad to
Sam to Ted.
 
A woman knew, sensed things
men couldn't.
 
The vibes between Sam and
Brad were explosive.
  
Ted would have to
be blind not to see, or feel it.
 
Desires
that spelled trouble with a capital T.
 
The exchange between them told her further, despite their earlier
intimacy, she had no chance with Brad.
 
As politely as she could, without drawing attention to her aching
emotions, she excused herself returning to the noise inside.

As silence dragged,
icicles formed in both men’s eyes.
 
Sensing peril, Sam slipped her arm through Ted's coaxing him toward the
door. “I'm cold, Ted.
 
Please, let’s
dance.”

           
Gathering Sam close, Ted sailed her
around the dance floor his hands warm and tender, his lips brushing her neck
and shoulder while whispering endearments in her ear.
 
It was only his imagination running
wild.
 
Brad was a trusted, loyal friend
who would never do anything to hurt him.
 
For years, he had always watched over and protected him.
 
He was simply doing the same for Sam, that's
all.
 
Wasn't that what he had asked him
to do?
 
He had encouraged them to get to
know one another, left them alone.
  
Insisted they dance.
 
While they
danced becoming lost in Sam's embrace shoved Ted's doubts aside.

           
The changes in Ted, though
wonderful, were unsettling.
  
Trying to
keep his promise had widened the distance between.
  
Wanting him to stir her emotions like Brad,
she snuggled closer until each of her dance steps matched his as they spun
around the floor.
 
The warmth she felt
was enveloping, and her skin tingled everywhere Ted had placed a kiss, and yet
an empty gnawing deep inside remained untouched.
 
Sam was desperately trying to convince
herself the feelings Brad evoked were simply figments of her imagination.
 
Feelings only the Devil could summon.
 
It would be dangerous to believe her body was
telling her she longed for more.
 

           
Brad was relieved to be alone.
 
The uncertainty of his future was teetering on
the end of a springboard.
 
Dancing with
Sam, he sensed the past slip from under him as surely as the springboard from
under a diver, plunging him into an abyss.
 
Walking the grounds, trying to cool the embers Sam fanned, he planned
his departure.
 

           
After Thanksgiving, he would settle
his business affairs, and then go back to Wyoming to re-strategize his
life.
 
Sam was just a passing fancy.
 
Someone he desired only because he could not
have her.
 
Women were never a necessity
in the life he had designed.
 
Sam was not
going to be the exception.

 
A tap on his shoulders startled him.
 

 
Keller apologized, “Sorry, I didn't mean to
frighten you.”
 

“I was enjoying the
fresh air.”

           
“I don't mean to pry, Brad, but I wondered
if you and Bernice have something going?”

“No, we're simply
good friends.”

           
“Good! I mean . . . I would not want
to come between the two of you.
 
Bernie
is something else, I have not laughed as much in such a long time.
 
She certainly is not like the dim wits I am
accustomed to.
 
She's street smart.
 
That intrigues me.
 
I know she's been around, but then, so have
I.”

“I'm glad the two of
you have hit it off so well.”

“You wouldn't mind if
I asked her to spend the week with me would you?” Peter queried.

“That would be up to
her.”

“She may feel she is
disappointing you, Brad.
 
I understand
you asked her first.”

“No problem.
 
I'll assure her it's alright with me.”
     
 

“Thanks friend.
 
Oh, by the way, what are your thoughts on the
proposal with Sommer’s?”

“My honest opinion?”

“I trust that is what
you have always given me.”

           
Plunging his hands deep into pant
pockets, Brad searched the channels of his mind as if tossing an invisible
coin.
 
What will it be, sell out my
life-long friend, or allow a millionaire to lose a mere portion of his
wealth.
 
The problem was it would ruin
his impeccable business reputation.
 
The
honorable answer lurked on the tip of Brad's tongue before the question even
fully registered, but his answer ricocheted making him feel as though he had
plunged a knife into his back.
 
“My name
appears on the contract, doesn't it?”
 
Brad paused, knowing he was making the biggest mistake of his life.
 
“I never sign anything I don't believe in.”

“I'm counting on
that.
 
Well, I do not want to leave
Bernice too long or some young stud might snatch her up. Enjoy.”
   

           
Brad rejoined the party pushing his
way through the vociferous crowd.
 
He
wanted Bernie to know whatever she decided would be fine with him.
 
Giving Brad a lingering look, hoping with
everything she had, he would insist she stay with him, after a long void
without a word, she forced a fake smile, kissed his cheek and returned to
Keller's side.

CHAPTER 30

           
No
one in the glittering, chattering crowd seemed to care that it was two in the
morning, among them Sam and Ted.
 
The
friction of their bodies as they danced had kindled a flame in Sam bringing on
an unusual sexual tension that enticed Ted's curiosity.
 
She had a surprise for him, she whispered in
his ear.
 
With his imagination-running
wild with delight, it required little effort to coax him to leave the
festivities.
 
His secret plan had
worked.
 
Sam had come to her senses.
 
It was time.

           
They
quickly returned to Brad’s estate. Removing his jacket and tie, Ted started a
fire to chase away the dampness, prepared himself a martini then reclined on
the sofa waiting for Sam to return from freshening up.
 
As a cocky smile tugged his lips from ear to
ear, he unbuttoned his shirt.
 
Loosening
his tie and belt, he settled into the cottony softness of the cushions.
  

Ted's gaze inspected
Brad's living room in his opinion nothing like the lavish comforts of the
penthouse he preferred.
  
The house was,
too secluded, too rural, too much like Wyoming.
 
There was no way he could spend the remainder of the week isolated from
the hubbub of the city.
 
There was too
much work waiting for him in Manhattan, and if Sam disappointed him, other
comforts of the flesh he desperately needed.
 

           
Cream
lace and satin glided over a crown of glossy black, tumbling down olive curves
to cling lovingly to Sam's skin.
 
Slender
arms pushed through sleeves of a soft matching robe. A ribbon gathered thick
locks into a ponytail.
 
The finishing-touch
drops of musk smoothed over all of her alluring features.
 
           
Sitting
at the dressing table, she laid her brush aside and, while her stomach
somersaulted, marveled at the blush on her cheeks.
 
Releasing a shy, she resolved, “It was
time.
 
She had waited long enough to
become a woman.
 
She loved Ted and that
is all that really mattered.
 
He tried so
hard to be patient, now it was up to her.”

           
The
fire provided the only illumination in the room, the dim flickering light
  
silhouetting Sam’s body.
 
Stretched out on the sofa Ted was
asleep.
 
Slipping the glass from his
hand, her delicate fingers swept golden threads from his brow before kissing
his forehead, nose, eye’s, and cheeks, still no signs of movement.
 
Amazingly, sleep made him look vulnerable and
princely, scanning the blonde patch on his chest rising and falling with each
breath, sent tiny thrills skipping over her skin.
 
A single finger took the liberty of tracing
the lines of his mouth, chin, and throat, slithering down to the tuft to linger
playfully in the thick matting.
 
As she
dawdled arduously, attempting to wake him, desire rustled inside, but Ted did
not relinquish the sleep his exhausted state craved.
 
The feelings multiplying from contemplating
their evening together were surprisingly difficult to endure.
 
Her fruitless efforts at arousing Ted added
to the disappointment clustering in her chest.