Bride On Loan

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“Oh, nobody you couldn’t threaten into disappearing, I’m sure,” Sabrina said dryly. “But that wasn’t what I—”

“Then he’ll believe it. He won’t have any other choice.”

“You mean you’re going to lie to him.”

“I mean we’re both going to be very convincing. Let’s get one thing straight, Sabrina. We aren’t going to tell anybody about our private arrangement, and I mean anybody.”

“But Jake’s different,” Sabrina argued. “He was right there yesterday. He heard what you said to me.”

“And he will surely understand how profoundly I now regret that outburst,” Caleb said.

His voice was deep and warm and so convincing that even Sabrina felt herself wavering. “How do you do that?” she asked admiringly. “If anybody ever does a remake of the Garden of Eden, you’d be a natural to play the serpent. One word from you and apple sales would skyrocket across the nation.”

Caleb laid a finger across her mouth to shush her, then with the edge of his nail lightly traced the outline of her lips.

It was all she could do to sit still. From the corner of her eye, Sabrina noted that Jake had stopped on the threshold as if he’d run smack into a glass wall. Slowly, still watching the couple on the couch, he crossed the room and set a bulging briefcase on the floor next to the couch. “Don’t think, just because you’re wounded, that you’re going to take a vacation, Caleb,” he said. “I brought all the—”

Caleb didn’t appear to hear. He was still looking soulfully into Sabrina’s eyes.

“Caleb?” Jake said a little louder.

With a long sigh, Caleb let his fingertips drop from Sabrina’s face—though he didn’t release the wrist he was holding with his other hand—and turned toward Jake. “It’s amazing how a simple accident can clarify your vision,” he mused. “That fall yesterday was probably the luckiest thing that has ever happened to me, because I might never have met Sabrina otherwise.”

Jake looked at him as if he were a scientific specimen. “Did they X ray your brain last night, Caleb?” he asked brusquely. “Because if not, they should have. Sorry, Sabrina, but—”

“Oh, you don’t need to apologize to me, Jake.” Sabrina looked straight at Caleb while she peeled his fingers loose from her wrist. “I told you he’d never believe it.”

“It may take him a little time to be convinced.”

She stared at him in utter disbelief. Surely, in the face of Jake’s obvious skepticism, Caleb wasn’t going to pursue this nonsensical course. Was he?

He went on smoothly. “In fact, I expect lots of people are going to have their doubts for a while. Even though it isn’t every day I confide that I’m serious about a woman, my friends may well be hesitant to believe—”

“You’re absolutely right about that,” Sabrina said judiciously. “It’s not every day, and it’s not exactly a whispered secret from you to your friends, either. From what I hear, it’s more like twice a month and announced in the society page headlines.”

Caleb’s scowl was clearly a threat, but his voice was gentle and reasonable. “It’s not at all the same thing, my dear. All the women who have been in my life up till now sort of run together into a blur as I think about them.”

“That I can believe,” Sabrina muttered unrepentantly.

“In fact, my darling, compared to you they don’t even exist. I’ve never declared myself this way before, because I’ve never felt about any woman the way I feel about you, Sabrina.”

The seemingly innocent sincerity in his voice left Sabrina staring at him in reluctant appreciation. She’d run into men before who had an endless supply of gall, and ones who possessed more than a touch of pure blarney. But she’d never before encountered a man who not only possessed both qualities but who used them so effectively. No wonder women fell over themselves to get near him—and no wonder he left such a swathe of destruction in his wake.

And to make it worse, he was telling the precise truth. I’ve never felt about any woman the way I feel about you. Well, two could play at that game.

She patted Caleb’s cheek and said with utter honesty, “And of course there’s never been a man who could inspire the sort of feelings I have for you, Caleb, dear.”

She realized abruptly that it was the first time she’d actually said his name. She had neither anticipated nor avoided the action; in fact, she hadn’t given it any thought at all. So it came as a shock to discover that the taste of his name on her tongue was like the hottest of chili peppers—it not only tingled at first exposure but it hinted of a burn that instead of fading would grow even stronger with time.

She edged away from him. “I’m sure you don’t need me sitting right here while you talk business.”

“And you’d probably be bored by all the details,” Caleb agreed.

Sabrina bit her tongue to keep from retorting that she wasn’t his typical bimbo, incapable of understanding the nuances of a business discussion. Bringing up the point again would probably make no more impression on Caleb than the last time she’d tried. Besides, it would just make her situation worse by giving him an excuse to keep her sitting beside him—the last place on earth she wanted to be.

And what difference did it make, anyway, if he thought she was as airheaded as the rest?

Talk about his ego, Sabrina told herself. You’ve got more than a little problem with your own, if you’re worried about what he thinks of you.

She smiled sweetly and murmured, “And it would be so rude of me to yawn in your face just because I couldn’t possibly keep up with the discussion, darling. Far better if I just go away while you and Jake have your important talk.”