Twelfth Sun. Mae Clair

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СКАЧАТЬ deck shoes. “Ms. Cassidy, Dr. Cross, I’ve had the staff retrieve your luggage and place it in your rooms. If you’ll kindly follow me, I’ll show you the way.”

      Brody leaned close to whisper in her ear. “Competent cuss, isn’t he? Five-to-one, Elijah decks him before the weekend is over.”

      Reagan elbowed him in the ribs, unable to smother a smile. She looked in Elijah’s direction, but he appeared unfazed by Pellar’s attitude. Flashing Livy a dazzling parting grin, he sprinted after the older man.

      Reagan set her drink down and hurried into the hallway, huffing to keep up. “I thought you’d wait for me,” she complained, falling in step beside Elijah.

      He was still wearing his outer jacket and slid his hands into the pockets. “Why?”

      “Because it’s the courteous thing to do.” She looked at Pellar’s rigid back, making sure their conversation didn’t carry. In true highbrow fashion, he appeared impervious to their discussion, stiffly leading them up the sweeping staircase she’d noted earlier.

      Elijah shrugged. “I didn’t want to tear you away from Brody. You looked attached at the hip.” He sounded jealous, a crazy notion. His eyes slid to the side, blue and black-lashed, so incredibly striking, her heart jumped.

      “What about you and Livy Franklin?” she countered. “From what I could see, you had a long, private powwow.” She cringed immediately, uncertain what had prompted the remark. She’d only just met this man, but was behaving like someone engaged in a popularity contest, vying for his attention.

      It had to be the confusion…arriving at Sothern’s estate, planning to purchase the journal outright, only to find she was in competition. Nothing was going as planned. Nothing had gone as planned from the moment she’d stumbled on Elijah Cross utterly naked in his room. As much as she wished otherwise, she couldn’t shake the initial attraction she’d felt for him. If only he’d do something stupid and geeky to obliterate his appeal.

      Elijah frowned. “Livy and I were discussing nautical superstitions. She’s minoring in maritime history.”

      “Isn’t that convenient?” Dismissing him, Reagan looked straight ahead. They’d reached the top of the stairwell, giving her the opportunity to shoulder past him. It was in her best interest not to discuss anything further, unless it concerned Rook’s journal.

      Elijah grew quiet.

      Pellar led them across the loft and down a shorter hallway, eventually halting before side-by-side rooms. “I trust you’ll find everything acceptable.”

      Both doors stood open. Reagan glanced inside, finding them near-mirror images with differing color schemes.

      “Mr. Sothern calls them the twins,” Pellar explained, noticing her glance. “They share a Jack and Jill bath. For privacy, I suggest you make certain the opposite door is locked when you use the facility.” He departed with a slight incline of his head.

      Elijah rolled his eyes. “The facility. Can you believe that guy?”

      Reagan paled. The thought of sharing a bathroom with him, even one with locking doors, left her queasy. After the humiliating circumstances of their initial meeting, it was too much like tempting fate.

      “What’s the matter?” Elijah propped a shoulder against the doorframe of his room. “Want help unpacking? I could color coordinate your lingerie. Pink and pink.”

      She steeled herself, tempted to slap him. The return of his casual cockiness smothered her anxiety. Had she really felt an attraction to him? Good God! “You really are a despicable man, Dr. Cross.”

      “Is that why you can’t keep your eyes off me?”

      Slapping be damned. He needed to be drawn and quartered, then dumped headfirst into a vat of boiling oil. Reagan scrunched her hands into fists. “You arrogant, self-centered, egotistical–”

      “Handsome?”

      She wanted to scream. He was toying with her, playing a game of aren’t-I-the-calm-clever-one? Exasperated, she shook her head, intending to leave before her composure cracked. Elijah surprised her by grabbing her arm and tugging her against him. He was all muscle and sinew, deliciously lean sensual male. Shocked by the unexpected feel of him, she froze.

      He lowered his head and claimed her mouth in a soft, exploratory kiss. Warm, gentle. Nothing like she would have expected. Before she could fully comprehend what had happened, he released her with a smile.

      “See you at dinner.”

      The door snicked closed. Stunned, Reagan stared at the wood. A minute passed before she felt the slow burn of heat on her face. He’d done it again. Made a fool of her; and she’d let him. What was she thinking? The man was a–a–child!

      With a PhD, a silent voice mocked. He was damned attractive, and she knew it.

      Disgusted, she dug her fingernails into her palms. Is this how he planned to charm Livy Franklin? It wasn’t Brody with his blond good looks and suave manner she had to worry about. It was Elijah Cross. Despite her better judgment, despite their age difference, she couldn’t get him out of her head.

      Or erase the feel of his lips on hers.

      Panicked by the realization, she kicked the door as hard as she could. Pain spiked from her ankle to her kneecap. She spat an unladylike curse and hobbled in a circle. A glance down the hall told her no one had witnessed her ridiculous fit of temper. All she needed was the arrival of golden-girl Livy or model-perfect Monica to make her humiliation complete. Muttering, she limped into her room and slammed the door. A painting wobbled on the wall.

      She glared at it, as if it had questioned her integrity. She could still feel the heat of Elijah’s lips on hers, a sensation that left her unnerved. Did she want to wring his neck, or invite him for an encore? The resurrection of her bewildering attraction sent her over the top, and she did the only childish thing she could think to do. Stomping into the bath, she locked the adjoining door, permanently barring him from the shared room.

      * * * *

      Elijah grinned when he heard the loud thump against his door, Reagan’s curt response to his spur-of-the-moment kiss. Maybe it had been a stupid thing to do, but he couldn’t get the woman out of his head. It wasn’t as if he’d never felt instant attraction before, but this went beyond normal male hormones and the allure of an impromptu fling. He clicked with Reagan and liked the rarity of that. Most of his relationships went belly-up once a woman realized how exhausting his mind could be. Even at sixteen he’d been involved with older women, a side effect of rarely having been with people his own age. He knew women found him attractive, but once the novelty of his intelligence and looks wore off, they grew bored with what remained. A fish out of water.

      Elijah paced to the window and laced a hand through his long hair. He’d grown up in a hurry, forced into awkward social situations before he was ready. Intellectually, he’d been ahead of the game, but had lacked the maturity of his much older peers. To cover his insecurities, he’d developed an off-the-cuff attitude. It was a role he’d grown comfortable with over time. Too comfortable.

      He shouldn’t have behaved the way he had with Reagan. Anyone with a smidgen of common sense would have let the attraction develop at its own pace, but, idiot that he was, he lived life in fast-forward. He СКАЧАТЬ