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An
excerpt from
Silhouette Special Edition |
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Finally, the show of the witchcraft trials ended. The kids stood around, blinking in the sudden light, looking interested, even sober. "So, what did you think?” Lainie asked. One of the boys nudged another. “Tituba looks just like Emma.” The little girl in red scowled. “Does not.” "Does too!” "Does not!” "Emma! Boys!” The teacher said reprovingly. Lainie stuggled not to smile. “Well, I think Emma looks just like herself, and I don’t think?” The words died in her throat. Because there, leaning against the wall at the back of the room was J.J. Cooper, a grin on his beach-boy face. In the first instant of surprise, all she could do was stare, heart thudding in her chest. He didn’t belong there amid the confusion of kids. It was the last place he should have been, and yet somehow, curiously, he looked at home. Then again, J.J. managed to always look at home, no matter where he was. Lainie could feel the flush stain her cheeks. “Well, if there are no more questions, that’s our tour. The exit’s right through here.” There was nothing like being the head of a procession of fourth graders to give a person dignity, she thought wryly as she shepherded the tour into the gift shop. Nearby, a pair of little boys menaced each other with goblin heads. Lainie stood at the doorway to the store and eyed J.J. As though he’d felt her look, he glanced up. Definitely too gorgeous for his own good, she thought. The Van Dyke had changed to a Fu Manchu, she saw, sharpening his chin, making that mouth of his look far too interesting. A crash made her jump. She looked around to see a display of wands and spells scattered on the floor, courtesy of the boys with goblin heads. "Richie, Matt, that’s enough,” the teacher scolded. “Now you go over and help clean that up.” "Don’t worry about it,” Lainie said. “I’ll take care of it.” The last thing she wanted was for them to walk away with bad memories of the museum. She knelt down next to the colorful pile of plastic and glitter, righting the magenta canister that had held the wands. Out of the corner of her eyes saw J.J. head over. She glanced up at him. And it took her breath. She’d known he was there, she’d watched him walk over. Even so, there was something about the jolt of that blue gaze that sent adrenaline vaulting through her system. It was one thing to have the heart thudding thing happen when he’d popped up out of the blue. It shouldn’t be happening now. He bent down next to her to help, picking up the packets and examining them. “Love potions?” he asked. She took it from him. “What’s the matter, Speed, losing your edge?” "Not me.” "What a relief. It would be the end of civilization as we know it. Although I use that term loosely where you’re concerned,” she added. He grinned. “Nice to see you, too, Lainie.” He gathered a handful of pencil-thick Lucite wands and dropped them in the canister. "To what do we owe the honor of your presence?” she asked, picking up the rest of the spell packets and rising. "I’ve got an appointment.” "In Salem?” "In Boston.” She snorted. “I hope you’re better at staying on the piste when you’re racing than you are at following directions. This isn’t Boston.” “I thought something looked funny,” he replied. "South. A long way south. The highway’s right out there,” she added helpfully. He didn’t move. “Trying to get rid of me, Lainie?” "Why, Speed, whatever would give you that idea?” She reached out to toy with a leaflet that promised step by step directions to putting a hex on someone. "Should I be nervous that you’re holding onto that?” "No, the time to get nervous is when I go after the voodoo doll.” He gave her a quick glance. “You wouldn’t, by any chance, have broken one of those out already?” He rubbed his shoulder. “It would explain a lot.” "No, it’s an inspiration I’ve never had until now. Worth keeping in mind, though,” she added thoughtfully. “Why, are you having problems?” Not that she should care, of course. J.J. shrugged, a little stiffly, now that she noticed it. “Ah, I screwed up my shoulder back in July.” "Screwed it up?” "Dislocated the son of a bitch.” "What, did you trip over your ego?” He grinned. “Mountain biking.” "I am so not surprised.” Suddenly, his eyes seemed darker and he was much closer than he had been. Suddenly, she was neatly boxed in between him and the corner shelves. “You know, Lainie, one of these days I will surprise you.” For an instant, she didn’t move, she couldn’t. Then she forced herself to swallow with a throat gone bone dry. “Yeah, well, I’ll be right here holding my breath for when that happens.” She pushed past him, out into the center of the shop. But he’d gotten to her in that moment, and he knew it, she could tell from the enjoyment flickering in his eyes. “So this is where you do your witch work,” J.J. said, glancing toward the exhibit room. “Gee, it’s been fun, J.J. Drive safely on your way home.” He didn’t bother to hide the smile. “Why are you in such a rush?” “I’ve got to get to a meeting at the Seven Gables Inn. I’m late, I’ve got to go.” “Nice day for a walk.” * * * J.J. stood in the museum courtyard, waiting for Lainie. He wasn’t entirely sure what ridiculous impulse had led him to stop in Salem, only that when he had an impulse, he usually found it worthwhile to ride with it. Traffic had cooperated on the drive down from New Hampshire. When he’d glanced at the dash clock and seen that he had a few hours to kill, he hadn’t thought, but just gone with the first thing that came to mind. And in the two days that had passed since the party, Lainie had come to mind a lot. It wasn’t an entirely unfamiliar situation. She’d always had a way of flickering through his thoughts at the most unexpected of times?when he was thousands of miles away, flying down an icy mountain, standing at a party in a room filled with the music of a dozen languages. And, sometimes, unsettlingly, in his dreams. Best not to think of that, he reminded himself. Better to banish those pulse-pounding images to the dark corners of his mind where they belonged. The problem was, this time out of the gate he wasn’t being so successful at the banishing stuff, maybe because he was at loose ends, maybe because he wasn’t involved with anyone. Or maybe because of that moment at Gabe’s party, that strange little snap of connection that had whipped through his system before been prepared for it. “You still here?” It was Lainie, scowling at him, laptop slung over her shoulder. She wasn’t wearing the little skirt and crop top this time but a long summer dress made of some intriguingly fragile-looking fabric that shimmered over the slip beneath and flowed around her calves like water. It should have looked demure, with its faintly old-fashioned looking pattern of pale blossoms, but all it did was make him itch to unfasten the row of buttons that ran down the front, beginning with the hem and rising to the where the fabric dipped down around the slender column of her throat. She wore a necklace with a single bead like a flat pearl, pierced from side to side with a string-thin leather thong so that it sat atop the fragile-looking hollow where her collar bones came together. “Earth to J.J.” He’d been staring, he realized. “I have to go. You shouldn’t have waited.” And she clearly hadn’t wanted him to, though that didn’t bother him. Not when he saw the faint pulse begin to beat in her throat. “Salem could be a tough town. I owe it to your parents not to let you walk around alone. Although,” he eyed the black bulk of her laptop case, “that thing probably counts as a lethal weapon.” “Try to remember that,” she advised him. He reached out and curved his fingers around the black webbing of the strap. Her eyes widened. “Maybe you’d better just give it to me to carry,” he said. She tugged it back from him. “I thought you had a bad shoulder.” “It’s the other one, and it’s getting better all the time,” he told her. She finally gave up, and he slung the bag over his shoulder, trying not to look smug. “So, where to?” She didn’t bother answering, just headed toward the iron gates that led to the street. She could needle him, she could pretend all she wanted that she didn’t want him around. He knew better. He was used to women with quick hungers, women who knew what they wanted, and what they wanted was him. He’d had more memorable times than he could count and none of them were anything like as hot as that moment in the gift shop when he’d stood just a little too close to Lainie and seen the flare of heat in her eyes. He wasn’t sure what to think about it, what to do about it except that he knew there was no way he was just going to walk away. Not until he figured it out. “I really am going to have to come back here sometime and see the whole show.” J.J. looked around at the tall and vaguely otherworldly plantings of the courtyard. Lainie gave him a sweet smile. “Why don’t you turn around and see it now?” “And miss quality time with you? Never.” He followed her across the crosswalk to the trapezoidal town common that spread out from its narrow end opposite the museum. * * * Like she needed to have him tailing her all the way to the Seven Gables Inn, Lainie thought, walking out of habit between the stone pillars that led into the common itself. Even if it was only a few dozen yards, she liked wending her way along the graceful oaks and the grass-edged paths instead of the narrow concrete sidewalk that threaded along the street. On drowsy, Indian summer mornings like this one, it was quiet and tranquil. Usually. She ground her teeth. “Careful,” J.J. said, “you’ll have yourself in the dentist chair if you keep that up.” Lainie just glowered at him and headed toward the side of the common opposite the hotel. The warm breeze slipped over her skin as they walked a few steps in silence. “Nice common,” J.J. said. “Do you spend a lot of time here?” “Sometimes.” “I can see why you would. It must be something in the fall. There are some beautiful places in the world, but there’s nothing quite like New England.” Lainie shook her head like a wet dog. “What are you doing here?” she asked. “Carrying your computer?” He just smiled and began ambling again with that loose, careless stride. He didn’t move with the controlled grace of an athlete, and yet something in the way he held himself suggested that he could do just about anything he wanted to with that body of his. Like she needed to think of that. Lainie made an impatient noise and caught up with him. “You didn’t answer my question.” “Sure I did.” “I mean a real answer.” “A real answer? Dry land training. Rehab.” She snorted. “I don’t think you can be rehabilitated. I think you’re stuck with yourself just as you are. And so are we, sadly.” It didn’t do a thing to wipe away that confident grin. “You know, you talk tough, but deep down inside, I think you’ve got a soft spot for me.” For an instant, there was something almost velvety in his voice. “So young to have terminal delusions,” she said. “In fact, I think deep down inside, you can’t resist me.” “It’ll be an enormous effort, but I think I can just about see my way to it. In fact, I think I’ll manage pretty well.” She threaded her way between the stone pillars on the side of the common and started across the street to the Seven Gables Inn. “I don’t know if I buy that.” There it was again, that velvet note. He flicked a glance at her and their gazes tangled for a moment. Awareness of him dragged at her like some kind of a gravitational field. His smile this time was slow, almost dangerous. A horn tapped and Lainie realized that she’d come to a stop in the middle of the street. “Well, you stand right here until you’re sure.” She shook her head and strode across the pavement as he followed. “Anyway, you told me why you’re going to Boston. That doesn’t explain why you’re here harassing me.” “Because it’s so fun?” “There’s something deeply twisted about you,” she muttered. He laughed in genuine amusement. “So I’ve been told.” “Why are you here? A town like Salem can’t hold anything for a guy like you.” “Maybe I came here to sightsee.” Lainie snorted. “Next thing you’ll be telling me is that you came here to get your fortune told by the Salem witch.” “No. I came here because I wanted to see you,” he said simply. It stopped her in her tracks. In the middle of the sidewalk that ran in front of the plate glass windows of the hotel, cars whizzing past in the street, she turned to stare into those blue gray eyes. And for the first time since she’d been twelve, found herself at a loss for words with him. She moistened her lips. “Why?” He reached out for her hand. Heat vaulted up her arm, making her dizzy. “I don’t know,” he said, staring at her palm as though the answer might be there. “I thought maybe I’d figure it out when I got here.” And suddenly she was very afraid of hearing what that answer was. “I have to go,” she said faintly, telling herself to pull her hand away but instead she just stood there, staring stupidly at him. “I know.” He placed something in her fingers and closed them over it, then raised her hand to his lips. Heat bloomed through her, making her dizzy. She wouldn’t let him throw her off balance, wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of playing Casanova and making her look the fool. “Is that one of those moves you’ve learned in Europe?” Lainie ask unsteadily. “We haven’t even scratched the surface of what I’ve learned in Europe yet,” J.J. said. “I’ll see you around, Lainie.” And he turned and walked away. She opened her hand and found one of the serenity stones they sold in the gift shop. And carved into its surface was the word "beginnings.
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