Winds Of Fortune Part 13

Surprised at Deo's perceptiveness, Nita nevertheless shook her head. "Believe it or not, that wasn't the fi rst time I've ever been cruised."

"I'll bet."

"Let's just say our styles don't mesh and let it go at that."

"So if it wasn't something I did," Deo pondered aloud, "then it must be something I make you do." Deo grinned and snapped her fi ngers. "You want me."

Nita snorted and despite herself, she laughed. "G.o.d, you are so arrogant!"

"Ah ha. You do laugh." Pleased, Deo pressed her luck. "So, why won't you go out with me?"

Nita rolled her eyes. "We've been through this already. I'm not interested because I already know how the story ends. Women like you aren't interested in making a connection, you're only interested in making a conquest."

* 100 *

Winds of Fortune Deo's eyes fl ashed as all traces of humor left her face. "Just what do you base that on? The fact that I'm single and don't hide the fact that I like women?"

Nita fl ushed. "I apologize. That was absolutely uncalled for. I'm very sorry. I have to go." She tried to sidestep Deo again and, again, Deo moved with her. "Please."

"No you don't." Deo narrowed her eyes. "It's not me at all, is it?

It can't be, since you've had your mind made up about me since the minute we met. So who was she?"

"I'm not going to have this conversation with you," Nita said tightly. Deo was far too close to the truth, and not only didn't she want to think about the debacle she'd made of her life, she didn't want Deo to know. She didn't want Deo to know just how susceptible she actually was to Deo's brand of charm. G.o.d, how could she be so shallow to want that kind of attention? Why did she crave the intensity of Deo's gaze, why was even Deo's arrogant possessiveness exciting? Why did being anywhere near her make her feel as helpless as a reed bending in the wind. "I don't owe you any explanation. My answer is no-today, tomorrow, and any time thereafter."

"Okay," Deo said mildly. "You don't have to tell me." She jostled the key ring hanging from her belt loop. "I was about to go inside. Do you need something?"

Nita blinked, trying to adjust to the sudden change in topic. Once again, Deo had her off balance. "I don't understand. Do you work here?"

"My offi ce-well, my desk-is inside. I rent some s.p.a.ce from my aunt to take care of my billing, store my fi les, that sort of thing. I don't need much." Deo unhooked her keys. "What do you need?"

"Nothing. I was supposed to do a walk-through on the house tonight because the closing is tomorrow afternoon and I'm not going to be able to get away during the day." She shrugged, frustrated. "But I didn't get away in time today, either."

"So, we'll do it tonight." Deo fi t her key into the lock and looked over her shoulder. "Come on inside out of the rain while I fi nd the paperwork."

"Can you do that? I mean-"

Deo grinned. "Elana is my aunt. I stand in for her from time to time. It's no big deal."

* 101 *

RADCLY fFE "Well, it would help. Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Deo held the door open with one arm and fl ipped a switch that lit the room with the other. "It'll be fi ne. And then you won't be pressured tomorrow." Deo leaned against the door, holding it open with her back while she slowly met Nita's eyes. "What do you say? Or are you scared that you might discover you're wrong about me?"

"I'm not the one who's woefully misguided," Nita said sharply as she walked past Deo into the room.

Laughing, Deo followed and let the door swing slowly closed behind her.

* 102 *

Winds of Fortune

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

Here," Deo said, handing Nita an industrial fl ashlight as they stepped into the wide foyer of what once had been a grand mansion standing on a rise above the harbor. The storm had heightened in intensity and precipitated an early dusk. "Watch your step. This house has been uninhabited for thirty years."

Dutifully, Nita clicked on the fl ashlight and played the harsh white beam over the dark walnut hardwood fl oors. "It seemed very sound the day I saw it."

"It probably is, but we're going to check out a few places you probably didn't go during the showing." Deo slanted the beam from her light so that the edges bathed Nita's face. In the pale light her skin took on a richer, earthy tone, and her features seemed almost exotic. She was beautiful precisely because her beauty was not conventional. Deo's stomach tightened, but she steadfastly ignored the low-level pulse of arousal. "You can stay down here if you want, and I'll go through by myself."

"I thought this was just a rubber-stamp visit to be sure the roof hadn't suddenly developed a huge hole or something."

"Ordinarily it is, but I'm a certifi ed building inspector and you might as well take advantage of me while you can."

Nita almost laughed. "You are shamelessly relentless. What I don't understand is why you're expending the energy when I'm sure you could fi nd company with no effort at all."

"Maybe I don't like people having unfounded impressions of me."

"People?" Nita tilted her own fl ashlight and Deo turned her face away, but not before Nita saw the unhappiness in her eyes. "What people?"

Deo grabbed Nita's hand and tugged. "Come on. Let's check out the kitchen."

* 103 *

RADCLY fFE Recognizing the avoidance ploy because she used it so often herself when there was something she didn't want to discuss, Nita didn't push. Deo was certainly ent.i.tled to her privacy, and besides, discussing personal matters wasn't the wisest thing to do when she was trying to keep her distance. Whatever Deo's troubles might be, they weren't her concern.

The wide central hall was divided in the center of the house into two narrower pa.s.sages by the take off of the central staircase that rose to a second-fl oor balcony level. As she recalled, the formal living room and dining room were off the right hallway, and the parlor and library were off the left. The large kitchen occupied the entire fi rst fl oor rear. With only their fl ashlights to guide them, Nita felt the oppressive atmosphere of the long abandoned house closing in around her. Refl exively, she tightened her grip on Deo's hand. Deo's palm was slightly b.u.mpy- work calluses, she presumed-and very warm. For a fl eeting second she imagined how that rough, heated skin would feel chafi ng over her nipples. The unexpected image and the sharp stab of excitement that shot through her groin made her gasp.

"You okay?" Deo asked.

"Yes," Nita responded sharply, aware that her voice sounded breathy.

"Even though the place has been closed up for years, it doesn't smell damp or moldy," Deo observed, stopping just inside the kitchen.

She shone her light over the fl oor, walls, and ceiling fi rst and then moved on to highlight the wood counters and cabinets. The appliances had all been removed long ago. "No evidence of water damage. That's a good sign. The roof is likely sound and the window cas.e.m.e.nts are probably in good shape."

Nita extracted her hand from Deo's, and immediately the tension in her chest eased. She took a deep breath and chided herself for her mindless response. She had gone far too long without any kind of physical intimacy. That's all it was.

"So what do you think?"

"I'm sorry?" Nita realized Deo had asked her a question while she'd been a.n.a.lyzing her reaction to Deo's touch.

"I was asking whether you wanted to convert the interior to something contemporary or go for a historical restoration."

"If I'd wanted a contemporary house, I would have bought one."

* 104 *

Winds of Fortune "Well, that makes sense," Deo said, a note of confusion in her voice.

Nita fl ushed. She was making too much of a brief visceral reaction and allowing it to completely disrupt her control. It was ridiculous. "I want to renovate the house with materials and design that are historically suitable, within reason. I don't intend to walk around the house at night carrying a candle."

Deo laughed. "I think it probably would have been gaslights."

"I consider fl ush toilets, electricity, central heat and air, telephones, and cable to be essential," Nita said dryly.

"It's going to cost you something to put in the air and bring the electrical system up to today's standards," Deo observed.

"I have considered that." Nita saw no reason to explain that she had money. Her family would take nothing from her now and being single and having gone to medical school on scholars.h.i.+ps, she had very little debt. The house was her indulgence.

"I want to check the cellar before we go upstairs," Deo said. "I recommend you wait here."

"To save us repeating this conversation, I'm buying this house and therefore I'm coming with you."

Deo illuminated Nita's face again. "Afraid of spiders?"

Even in the semi-darkness, Nita could make out the mischief in her eyes. She gave Deo a cold stare.

Deo grinned. "Guess not." She reached for Nita's hand once more, and after a second's hesitation, Nita took it. "Stay close, okay? People leave the d.a.m.nedest things lying around in these empty houses, and who knows what kind of critters might be living down there."

"Charming," Nita muttered, moving closer to Deo in the impenetrable darkness that enclosed her as soon as Deo moved her light away. As she followed, she couldn't help but occasionally brush up against Deo's back. Even if her nipples hadn't tightened at the slightest touch of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s against Deo's body, she wouldn't have been able to deny how much she enjoyed the contact. Her blood was practically singing with excitement.

"I don't think anyone's been down here for a while," Deo grunted as she tucked the fl ashlight under her arm and banged the slide bolt with the heel of her hand. It moved with a rusty groan. After pus.h.i.+ng the door open and fl ooding the stairwell with her bright light, she * 105 *

RADCLY fFE announced, "All the stairs are here and look like they're in reasonably good shape. Just let me test each one on the way down."

"Maybe we should postpone this until tomorrow," Nita said.

"There's no point in taking chances."

Deo pivoted on the top stair, the movement bringing her face very close to Nita's. "Is that what you really believe? Or are you just afraid that you might like it?"

Nita's jaw tightened. "You're in a dangerous position if your intention is to irritate me." She rested her index fi ngertip lightly in the center of Deo's chest. "It wouldn't take much to knock you down these stairs on your a.s.s."

"I like you when you're angry." Deo let go of Nita's hand and grasped her fi nger. She lifted it and delicately touched her tongue to the tip. When Nita s.n.a.t.c.hed it away, she laughed. "I don't mind taking risks."

"One more move like that and this inspection is over," Nita said, closing her fi st until the tingling in her fi nger dissipated.

"All right," Deo said softly. "I promise I won't touch you again until you ask me to."

"Then that will be never."

"I do need to hold your hand on these stairs, though," Deo amended and extended her hand.

Nita took it. "As long as you remember it's just business."

"Fair enough."

"And as it happens, I'm not wild about spiders," Nita remarked as she followed Deo downstairs. "Feel free to dispense with any webs that come our way."

Laughing, Deo swept her arm over their heads as she walked.

"Wait at the bottom of the stairs until I get a good look at what's down here."

Nita had the sense of a large room interrupted at intervals by thick fl oor-to-ceiling wooden posts. The bright circle of her light illuminated several rough wooden chests overlaid with inches of dust, a chifforobe, several broken chairs, and a rusty oil tank next to an ancient furnace.

The fl oor was hard packed dirt. A faint s.h.i.+mmering illumination at the far end of the room marked Deo's location.

"Anything of interest down there?" Nita called.

"Not much. Looks like someone tried to jack up the- s.h.i.+t! "

* 106 *

Winds of Fortune Nita jumped at the sound of a loud crash. At the same time, Deo's light winked out and a cloud of dust rolled eerily toward her through the beam of light she directed at Deo's location. Quickly, she covered her face and turned away. She felt grit coat the back of her neck and her exposed forearms, but she didn't even consider rus.h.i.+ng back upstairs.

Something had happened to Deo, and nothing else mattered.

"Deo! Deo, are you hurt?"

At the sound of coughing, the fear squeezing Nita's heart eased.

"Deo?"

"Broke my f.u.c.king light," Deo grumbled from somewhere in the darkness.

"Just stand still and keep talking. I'm coming to get you."

"No! There's debris all over the fl oor."

Ignoring her, Nita started forward, alternating between illuminating the ceiling above her and the fl oor in front of her. What looked like large chunks of lathe and plaster lay heaped about.

"What happened?" Nita called.

"Someone used a fence post for a strut and it was rotted through. A piece of the underfl ooring came down. s.h.i.+ne the light at the ceiling and stop walking. G.o.d d.a.m.n it," Deo snapped, "I'll come to you."

Since it made sense for Deo to walk out of darkness toward the light, rather than for her to keep pus.h.i.+ng into darkness, Nita did as Deo requested. A minute later Deo, her dark hair and T-s.h.i.+rt white with dust, appeared within the circle of Nita's light. Against the pale powder coating Deo's face, the bright red trickle of blood that ran from her right temple down her cheek looked garish, as if it had been intentionally painted there.

"You're hurt," Nita said, and while her physician's mind told her that the injury could not be serious considering that Deo was walking under her own steam and talking coherently, her stomach clenched with worry.