Wise Folly (21 page)

Dianna shook her head. “It’s this, this . . .”

“You haven’t been down here since the party, have you?”

“Jimmy picks me up at the lobby entrance,” she stammered, her gaze sweeping every comer of the darkened lot as her fingernails dug into the flesh of her arms.
Cars after cars were lined up in the marked spaces. Enough to hide a hundred rapists...

He
reached over and
held her against his broad chest, smoothing back a curling tendril of ebony-colored hair. Her eyes were wide, looking even larger than usual in her pale face. She could feel his steady heartbeat as his hands ran over her back in an attempt to infuse her with some of his strength.

“Look around you, Dianna There’s nothing here to frighten you. There’s good lighting, security guards
on every floor
,
cameras that watch everyone coming and going and are monitoring us right now,
bright colors, and lots of cars. Nothing else. It’s just a
n office building that caters to two thousand employees.
That’s all
.”
He tried to soothe her, but his words could not penetrate the barrier of fear around her heart He gave a deep sigh. “It seems the only way to erase old memories is to give you new ones to think about”

She
was a beat behind his words and
knew what he was going to do but couldn’t move to avoid it
.
He was casting a spell: old and new, new and old. Old ghosts fought with the new feelings that flooded her body. She watched, mesmerized, as Noah’s mouth descended upon hers, sweeping her into a vortex of heated emotions. The warmth in her blood flowed quickly to ease the shaking that had begun with her realization of where she was. Now she was conscious of neither time nor place, aware only of the world inside the car, with Noah.

Her fright lessened every minute she was in Noah's arms. The parking area
had held such a bogey-man
status
to this place that it had become habit to dread it.  Noah was right. She had to stop giving into the power of the memory. It wasn't the place
that was evil as the act that
Charles
committed
. He'd become a bogey man in her thoughts and she
hadn't
erase
d
it when he died.
She also had to admit to herself that she might be angry with Noah for not loving her, but she knew he'd protect her and Tabby with his life. He would always be there for her. She was stupid not to have recognized that before....

Butterflies swirled in her stomach and her hands became moist as they clutched Noah’s silky shirt
.
Pulling or pushing? She didn’t know. The flat of his hands moved sensuously across her back, molding her to him intimately, leaving a burning heat where they touched His lips were warm, moist, firm, against hers, teaching her to respond to him all over again. Slowly she understood the depth of his wanting and realized that her own desire matched it
.
She wanted him to stay with her, hold her,
and keep
the dark underworld of the basement at bay. And he did. Her heart beat faster, no longer in fear but in need. Then his hands were everywhere, softly, softly, molding, melting. Butterfly wings unfurled to send out radiating heat through her slender form
. Giving into a
wild abandon she pulled him closer, unsatisfied with their separateness. All thought all inhibition was lost
.
It was just the two of them, and
that mattered. She trusted Noah completely.

“That you, Mr. Weston?” A man’s gravelly voice stopped Dianna’s heart for a beat
.
She glanced over Noah’s shoulder to see the guard as he
stood next to the
window, a knowing look in his eyes.

“Yes, Watts, it’s me.” Noah’s eyes registered the heightened color on Dianna’s high cheekbones. “Everything all right?”

‘Yes, sir. Everything’s just fine.” He turned and continued his stroll through the parked cars, leaving Dianna still breathless and slightly confused.

His deep gray-black eyes twinkled at her, a small smile playing about his mouth. “Not only do I break my promise to leave you alone, but I also get caught
in the act
!” Noah chuckled without a trace of remorse and Dianna pushed herself away from his broad chest
.
The further away from him she was, the better she could think!

“It’s just as well. I don’t think this is the right time to pursue what you had in mind—or the right place!” She realized what she had said and turned dismayed eyes to him. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to . . . to . . .”

He sighed heavily. “I know, I know. He then gave her a slow, warm smile. “At least your response wasn’t forced!” he teased before getting out
, then
help
ed
her from her side of the car. He guided her to the elevator and pushed the button. “Hope springs eternal,” he murmured, glancing at her as she strove for an inner calmness.

How could she have been so
heated by his presence
? How could he be so controlled now when just a few minutes ago they had both been like animals in heat, panting in unison? Another flush covered her cheeks and she deliberately kept
her face averted from him.

As they stepped off the elevator a distant beat of music drifted through the hallway. Surprised, Dianna glanced at the guard lounging against the wall.

“Afternoon,” he mumbled, straightening instantly when he saw Noah.

“Where’s the music coming from?’ she asked, knowing the answer almost immediately as she followed Noah’s eyes down
the
darkened corridor. At the end, a door stood partially open and a streak of light illuminated the hallway, the music coming from the room beyond. Noah’s grip tightened as he led her toward their door, but she stopped, waiting for his answer.

“I thought you knew. There are two suites on this floor. Ours and the one that originally belonged to Char
l
es.”

She placed her purse on the hall table as they entered the apartment “Is that where you put Catherine?”

She st
raightened, turning to face him,
but he was gone. The study door clicked softly closed.
She was almost glad he hadn’t heard her question. She didn’t want to know the answer. If he told her yes she would be forced to respond with heated indignation, and if he said no she wouldn’t
believe him anyway. Such logic!

She walked into her bedroom and
slid
out of her shoes. The bed was soft and inviting, the silk coverlet fe
lt
cool and soothing. Why wasn’t she angry?
Because she realized that Catherine couldn't impeded on their privacy by having that condo on her own? She
would worry about one thing at a time, and right now her main worry
was
Tabby.

But she did wonder what
would have happened if the guard in the parking lot had
n't
interrupted. Letting herself imagine the possibilities, she was surprised to find she was not the least irritated with the idea. In fact. . .

When she awoke,
the lights of
Dallas
were reflected in the ceiling of
a
dark and cloudy sky. She stretched, feeling wonderfully refreshed and very hungry. As if to prove that she needed food, her stomach growled.

The hall light was on, as was a lamp in the living room, but there was no Noah. She
didn't want to know w
here he was
and would rather believe he was downstairs in his main office. She wasn't going to dwell on it. No more wailing at the walls of injustice. Tabby was doing well and would do better each and every day. For almost six years and now for the past week, it had been her all-consuming goal and it was being achieved right now.
Tabby was healing and getting stronger with every hour. 
Whatever happened
beside that
that was nothing compared to Tabby's surgery.

She
entered the kitchen and began cooking at once, quickly
sautéing
several ingredients together in a pan before finding the bacon and eggs. Once the bacon was done, she poured the e
ggs in and began her omelet
.
She worked intently, so focused
on what she was doing that she didn’t hear the door swing open.

“Looks like you’re making enough to feed the entire office staff!” Noah grinned before bending to place a kiss lightly on her ear. “Will there be enough for me to have a bite?”

“Of course. If you like onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese, and bacon in your omelet
.
” Her smile came quickly, a natural response to his lighthearted mood.

“Good grief!” He moaned in mock horror. “I’ve heard of omelets with any one of those ingredients, but never all
."

“Then you haven’t lived.” She grated a small amount of cheese. “Sometimes we have omelets for dinner when I've had a bad day and don’t really feel like cooking. Tabby loves this combination.”

“With such a notable authority giving her approval, how could I possibly turn it down?” He rummaged in the drawer for silverware and set the table, picking up the tune Dianna had been humming and harmonizing with her own notes.

"
Is
Catherine okay or would you like to invite her, too?" she asked, not even bothering to look in his direction.

I haven't seen Catherine today and let's not go there, Dianna. She has nothing to do with either one of us in our private life."

"Right." She said it without sarcasm, but only because she didn't feel like rehashing that subject either. Her daughter's surgery was over, Tabby was doing well and no one from the hospital had called. Her cell phone was in her pocket and she continued to look at it every fifteen minutes or so just to check she hadn't lost a call somewhere.

Peace for a while.

Dianna
pushed the thoughts of yesterday and tomorrow out of her mind. She was determined not to break the peace that had finally come
between
them. It was a fine
, thin
thread with which to build a tapestry of life
.
E
verything had to start somewhere.
Why not now? Why not here?

Noah made her wish she had invented something special for their late
evening
snack as he
verbally
applauded her efforts. They cleaned the kitchen together, leaving it spotless enough even for Mrs. Frank. After a fleeting hesitation, she gave in to the pressure of his arm around her shoulders as he guided her from the kitchen to the master bedroom. He continued to hum
a
wordless tune as they entered the darkened room, but despite it, easiness fled. They both knew what he was leading up to and she wasn’t prepared to deal with it
.
Not yet

“I think I’ll take a shower,” she managed as she drew away from him and moved toward the bathroom.

He looked surprised but amused. “I must have the cleanest wife in town,” he murmured as he leaned over the bed and pushed a switch Dianna had not yet investigated.
A piano played Bach and
dreamy music filled the air
, making her
surroundings
feel even
more intimate
. A
s Dianna hesitated by the bathroom door she realized the bedroom now made the perfect setting for seduction. The lights were lowered just enough to form shadows
.i
n the comers, shining gently on the large
thousand thread
sheeted bed. Thoughts of the same place but in another time flitted through her mind, reminding her of Noah’s gentle lovemaking, and her cheeks blushed becomingly.

Noah lay with his hands beneath his head, his back propped up by the headboard. His legs were crossed and his dark gray knowing eyes held a smoky look. His shirt gaped open to show a shadow of dark springy cu
rl
s on his broad chest
.
She crossed to the bathroom and closed the door quickly, wondering if she was using it as a barrier to him—or herself.

The shower stall was large and completely tiled in oatmeal-colored ceramic. The water was hot and inviting, soothing her tense muscles. Strangely enough, tonight the
re didn't seem to be half
as
much tension there had been
in nights past
.
She let her head drop forward as the water gently massaged her neck. She tried to avoid the mental picture of Noah as she had left him, relaxed, yet with sexual magnetism emanating from every pore. No man should have that much se
xuality
!

Suddenly the shower door opened and Dianna turned quickly,
losing
her balance on the slick soapy floor. Noah steadied her with a hand on her waist as he calmly stepped in and shut the door behind him.