Contract Bridegroom

CHAPTER TWO

THE alarm woke Celia at four-fifteen that afternoon. After a quick shower, she dressed in a denim skirt and leather boots, with a green silk blouse. No baggy sweaters. No frayed jeans. And plenty of blusher and mascara, she decided, making her face up with care.

Rather pleased with the result, she checked her watch and got up with an exclamation of dismay. She didn’t want to start off this dinner date with an apology for being late. Not a good strategy.

At one minute to five she parked beside Jethro Lathem’s green Nissan at the Seaview Grill and ran up the wooden steps. Jethro had nabbed the best table. Surprise, surprise, she thought ironically, and gave him a cool smile as he got to his feet.

He pulled out her chair and briefly she felt the brush of his hand on her shoulder as she sat down. The contact shivered through her, and it was this that decided Celia to go on the offensive. As he sat down across from her, she said, “So…are you all set to thank me very nicely for alerting Search and Rescue?”

He’d picked up the menu; she watched his nails dig into its laminated covering. “You’re obviously good at your job, and I’m very grateful not to be at the bottom of the sea. So I most certainly thank you for your part in that.”

“What exactly happened?”

“Oh, the usual pile-up of errors,” he said tersely. “Do you want to start with a drink?”

“Not before work, thanks. When I first asked for your position, you took a long time to answer.”

“Things weren’t exactly normal,” he grated. “What do you recommend? Is the seafood good?”

“The scallops are divine.” Clearly, he was going to tell her nothing more, Celia thought, and added, “Your jaw—I presume that very impressive bruise wasn’t from a barroom brawl in St. John’s? Did it happen on Starspray?”

His lashes flickered. “Quit prying.”

“Jethro,” she said, aware of how much she liked the sound of his name on her lips, “you’re the one who insisted we have dinner together. I hate talking about the weather—I talk about it for at least thirty percent of my shift. Dave told me you’d had the flu, that’s why he was at the wheel when you went aground.”

“When did he tell you that?” Jethro lashed.

“He phoned last night. He didn’t want me thinking the Mayday signal was your fault.”

“The skipper’s always responsible. You know that as well as I do.”

“He also told me you saved his life.”

“He told you a great deal too much,” Jethro said tightly. “Are you having the scallops?”

“You bet. With home fries and coleslaw and a big glass of Coke that’s loaded with caffeine so I’ll stay awake all night.” She grinned at him. “So when did you bash your jaw?”

“Just before the helicopter arrived on the scene when I was so close to launching the life raft it wasn’t funny. The yacht was taking on water fast, faster than I could pump.”

Impulsively, Celia leaned forward, resting her fingers on his wrist. “I’m truly sorry about Starspray, Jethro.”

It was her left hand. He said, “No rings. No fiancé and presumably no husband. Although you never did tell me about your lovers.”

Lovers. In the plural. If she wasn’t so angry, she might find this funny. Celia snatched her hand back. “I can see that sympathy is lost on you.”

“I’m not used to failure,” he snarled. “What happened out there on that reef—I blew it. Big time.”

“Come off it,” she said impatiently. “If you and Dave had drowned—now that’s what I’d call failure.”

For the first time since she’d met him, Jethro’s face broke into a genuine smile. “I suppose you’re right…certainly I wouldn’t be around to talk about it. Do you always refuse to tell people what they want to hear, Celia Scott? Or is there something special about me?”

His smile crackled with masculine energy. “I don’t have to answer either of those questions,” she said weakly, and turned to the waitress. “Hi, Sally. I’ll have my usual, please, along with an extra slice of lemon.”

“The same, but beer instead of Coke,” Jethro said.

Sally gave him a smitten grin. “Yes sir. Right away.”

Once Sally was out of earshot, Celia said peevishly, “Do women always fall all over you like that?”

“If they do, you’re the exception that proves the rule.”

She gazed at him thoughtfully, noting the marks that exhaustion and illness had left on his face. His clothes, while casual, were top of the line, and she was quite sure the air of command he wore like a second garment wasn’t due merely to skippering Starspray.

But there was more. A lot more. She wasn’t an exception; she was no more immune to him than Sally was. Because close-up, Jethro Lathem was easily the sexiest man she’d ever laid eyes on. Sexy didn’t begin to describe him. The curl of dark hair in the neckline of his shirt, the way the fabric of his shirt molded his shoulders, even the angle of light across his cheekbones… She found herself longing to rest her fingertips on his sculpted mouth, to trace the long curve of his lower lip and feel it warm to her skin. To lean forward and kiss him?

Cool it, Celia! You’re not into sexy men. You thought Darryl was sexy, remember? And look where that got you.

Jethro, she saw with a flutter of her pulse, was watching her. Watching as intently as a hawk over long grass, waiting for the prey to reveal itself. Panic-stricken, she muttered, “You have the advantage of me—you know how I earn my living. What do you do, Jethro?”

As though he’d read her mind, he reached over and stroked the soft line of her mouth, his finger lingering at one corner. She jerked her head back. “Don’t!”

“You wanted me to do that.”

She tossed her head, refusing to deny what was so obviously the truth. “You’ve been around the block a few times—you know you don’t always have to act out your impulses. Only children do that.”

“Sometimes adults do, too.”

“Not this one.”

“I could persuade you.”

The same panic was rattling round her ribcage like a terrified bird. “Perhaps you could. Although I’m surprised you need to get your kicks that way.”

He said, as though the words were being dragged from him, “Your voice…that night on the radio. There was something about it…I didn’t really come here to thank you. I came because I had to meet you. See what you were like.”

“Oh,” said Celia; and knew that she believed him instantly.

“Your voice is beautiful—I wondered if you sang?” Jethro added. He was now toying with the handle of his fork, and she didn’t need a degree in psychology to tell he was wishing this conversation had never started.

“I used to sing in a choir,” she replied; it had been in the expensive private school her father had sent her to at the age of fourteen, from which she’d managed to get herself expelled by the age of fourteen and a half. She’d been big into rebellion as a teenager. But she’d loved to sing. She did remember that.

“Soprano,” Jethro said with a twisted smile.

“That’s right.” Quickly she changed the subject. “You were going to tell me how you earn your living.”

“Oh, I’m in the boat industry,” he said vaguely, “I’ve always loved the sea.” As Sally plunked down their drinks, he took a white envelope out of his jacket pocket. “Celia, I wanted to help you out in some way—a more tangible expression of gratitude. I don’t know what your salary is—”

“I should hope not!”

“—but you could buy something with this, or take a trip… When you live in Collings Cove, the Bahamas must look pretty good in winter.”

“Money,” Celia said in a hostile voice.

“Yeah, money. Well, a check. You got anything against that?”

“I was just doing my job that night. For which I get well paid.”

She could see the effort it took Jethro to rein in his temper. “I expect you do. I’m talking about the jam on the bread, the icing on the cake.”

“I couldn’t possibly take your money.”

“You’re being overly scrupulous,” he said impatiently, passing her the envelope. “Everyone can use more money.”

She took the envelope from him and tore it in half, and all the while her eyes never left his face. Then she put the two pieces on the table near his plate and picked up her glass.

“How very melodramatic,” Jethro sneered.

Her nostrils flared. “You can pay for my dinner. Then we’re square.”

How ironic if she were to reveal to Jethro that her father was rich; added to which, at the age of twenty-five Celia had inherited her mother’s trust fund. She didn’t need Jethro’s money, she had more than enough of her own. But she wasn’t going to tell him that. Back in Washington she’d been chased too often for her money, Darryl Coates being the worst offender.

The thought of Darryl could still make her wince.

One of the blessings of Collings Cove was her anonymity. Her town house was modest and her vehicle was one she could afford on her salary. Her Cessna, bought when she’d inherited the first lump sum from her mother, was parked at the airport twenty miles from here. Her secret, shared only with Paul.

The thought of Paul could also make her wince, although not for the same reasons.

Jethro said tautly, “So how am I supposed to thank you if you won’t take money?”

“That’s easy. Two words. Thank you.”

“Words come cheap,” he said with a depth of cynicism that rang all her alarm bells.

“Not to me, they don’t.”

“We sure don’t agree on very much!”

“We don’t have to,” she said.

His eyes narrowed; he took another gulp of his beer. “You’re not from Newfoundland, Celia, the accent’s all wrong. The eastern states?”

“Washington.”

“So why are you working in Canada?”

“I have dual nationality—my mother was Canadian.”

“Was?”

“She died when I was five,” Celia said. And overnight her life had altered irrevocably. Her father’s crushing control over her had only started after he was widowed.

Something must have shown in her face. Jethro put down his beer glass and covered her hand with his own. “I’m sorry.”

He’d invested the commonplace words with real force. Celia stared down at the back of his hand, feeling an absurd urge to cry. She’d learned very soon not to cry for her mother; Ellis had seen to that. She tugged her hand free of Jethro’s lean fingers, with their scarred and bruised knuckles, their warmth that seared through her own skin. “It was a long time ago,” she mumbled.

“Is your father still alive?”

“Yes.” Just. And still trying to smother her with that confusing combination of over-protectiveness and emotional distance that had characterized their relations ever since her mother had died. For Ellis had retreated into a white-faced grief for his dead wife, grief that had been his companion for years, and that had shut Celia out as effectively as if he’d slammed a door in her face.

“You don’t want to talk about him any more than I want to talk about Starspray.”

With a wry grin, she said, “There’s always the weather. A ridge of high pressure is moving into the area. Visibility excellent, southerlies decreasing to ten knots.”

“Back off—that’s what you’re saying.”

“Hey, you’re quick.”

Anger glinted in his steely eyes. “You sure know how to get under my skin, Celia Scott.”

“I’d be willing to bet a night’s pay you’re used to women who bend over backwards to agree with every word you say.”

“And who’d take money from me any chance they got.”

Again there was real cynicism in his tone. She said lightly, “Kind of drastic that you just about had to drown yourself to meet someone who won’t let you go past $11.95 for a plate of scallops.”

“You’re forgetting the Coke.”

Celia laughed outright. “And the tip.” Her brow furrowed. “What’s the matter?”

He said roughly, “You’re so goddammed beautiful when you laugh.”

A blush scorched her cheeks, and for a moment that felt as long as an hour, Celia could think of absolutely nothing to say. Then she sputtered, “I’ll make you a deal, Jethro. You talk to me about Iceland and I’ll talk to you about Newfoundland. We’ll omit any mention of gratitude, fathers, lovers and money. Okay?”

“Why aren’t you married?”

“Because I don’t want to get married!…Oh thanks, Sally, that looks great, and you remembered the extra lemon,” Celia babbled.

“Can I get you anything else?” Sally asked, eyeing Celia’s scarlet cheeks with interest.

“That’s fine, thanks,” Jethro said, with a note in his voice that sent Sally scurrying back to the kitchen. Then he said flatly, “That sea captain—he’s your lover, right?”

“Pedro? Oodles of charm waiting for the right heiress to come along. Pedro and I are friends, Jethro. Friends.”

“Friendship’s impossible between a man and a woman.”

“I disagree!”

“Do you mean to say you never got into his bed?” he grated. “Or should I say his bunk?”

“That’s precisely what I’m saying,” Celia announced and ferociously stabbed a scallop onto her fork.

Jethro leaned back in his chair. “Don’t take it out on your dinner, Celia. Tell me to get lost.”

“I’m going to finish eating first. I’ve got a twelve-hour shift ahead of me, or are you forgetting that?”

“Friend,” he repeated in an unreadable voice.

“That’s what I said. Why do you find it so hard to believe?”

“Oh, that’s a long story and not one I’m about to tell. So why don’t we talk about Iceland instead? We were only there three days—just long enough for me to contract the flu. But while we were there, a friend of Dave’s drove us to the Hekla volcano.”

As he kept talking, Celia ate another scallop, willing the color to fade from her cheeks. But Jethro was both entertaining and informed, and soon she forgot her self-consciousness, asking questions, telling him about her trip up the Labrador coast on the freight boat, and some of her adventures in scallop draggers offshore. Sally brought two pieces of chocolate cream pie, followed by coffee. Celia was leaning forward laughing at something Jethro had said, when he remarked, “I think that man wants to talk to you.”

Celia glanced up; her smile vanished as if it had been wiped from her face. “Paul…” she faltered.

Dr. Paul Fielding ran the clinic in Collings Cove. He was pleasant-faced, hard-working, and head over heels in love with her. She’d done nothing to encourage him, even while wondering why she didn’t—couldn’t—fall in love with him. He was everything Darryl wasn’t, he’d be unfailingly good to her, and he didn’t care about her money.

But she’d never felt impelled into his bed. He’d have been willing; she was the one with the problem.

“Paul,” she said, “this is Jethro Lathem. You remember I told you about the Mayday call last week? It was Jethro’s boat.”

“How do you do?” Paul said, without any real warmth.

“Why don’t you join us for coffee?” Jethro said smoothly.

Sally was hovering in the background, as bright-eyed as if her favorite soap opera was playing. “Want a piece of pie to go with your coffee, doc?”

“Just the coffee, Sally, thanks.” Paul switched his attention to Celia. “All set for the dinner on Saturday? Six-thirty, isn’t it?”

He was, with no subtlety whatsoever, laying claim to her. Why couldn’t she have fallen in love with him? If she’d accepted the heirloom ring he’d kept pressing on her, it would have made her father happy. She’d be married. Settled in Collings Cove for the rest of her life, and what could be safer than that? “Six-thirty for seven,” she said, and started describing the clinic to Jethro. She didn’t want Jethro knowing it was a farewell dinner.

Sally brought the coffee in record time. Her blond curls bobbing, she said, “Celia, you make sure you come back here before you head to Washington. I’ll see you get a piece of pie on the house, you betcha.”

“You’re leaving here?” Jethro demanded.

“Tonight’s her last shift,” Paul said glumly.

“You didn’t tell me that,” Jethro said.

“Why should I?” Celia responded in open defiance. She glanced at her watch. “Talking of shifts, I’ll have to go in five minutes.”

Sally brought the bill, Jethro paid, and all three of them got up. As Celia walked past the cash register, Sally winked at her. “Have a good evening.”

“I’m going to work,” Celia said repressively, stomped down the steps and marched toward her car, Paul hot on her heels. As she unlocked the door, he grabbed her in his arms, planted a clumsy kiss in the vicinity of her mouth and said loudly, “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

With a brief nod at Jethro, he climbed into his battered Jeep and drove off, gravel spitting from his tires. Jethro said, “Why don’t you marry him and put him out of his misery? The man’s besotted with you.”

“I know you must find this difficult to believe—most men do—but I don’t want to marry anyone!”

“I could better that kiss.”

The keys dropped from her hand. The evening sun gilded Jethro’s dark hair, the breadth of his shoulders in his leather jacket, his flat belly under his denim shirt. He was three or four inches taller than Paul; he possessed in spades what Paul lacked. Sex appeal. Charisma. Animal magnetism.

And didn’t he know it!

She picked up her keys, swung into her seat and slammed the door. “You’re not going to get the chance to try. Thanks for dinner. You can write me off the books—you don’t owe me a red cent.”

He was rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. “I’ll decide what I do or don’t owe you, Celia.”

If only he wasn’t so devastatingly attractive. If only he didn’t make her blood thrum in her veins and all her recklessness leap to the fore. As she turned the key in the ignition, she found herself gazing at him as though she wanted to imprint him on her memory; because, of course, she wouldn’t be seeing him again. “Goodbye, Jethro,” she said, and suddenly gave him a wicked grin. “You’ve left Sally with enough gossip for the next week. Not bad for one scallop dinner.”

“Then maybe I’ll have to eat there again.”

She didn’t want him staying in Collings Cove. She wanted him gone. Out of her life. She said coolly, “Stay away from the steak, it’s as tough as your hide.”

Unexpectedly he began to laugh. The way his eyes crinkled at the corners made her want to salivate. Get me out of here, Celia thought wildly.

She jammed the Toyota into reverse, swung round and drove away as fast as she could.

Jethro watched Celia drive off. Then he went back to his motel, where he phoned the airport, discovering there was a flight out early in the morning. “I’ll call you in five minutes to confirm,” he said.

Going straight to the top drawer of the bureau, he unfolded the weekly issue of the local paper that was stashed there. It had come out two days after Starspray had sunk. Quickly he ran his eyes down the column. The journalist had done her homework. The article referred to Jethro as an international financier, owner of a huge fleet of oil tankers and container ships. Filthy rich, in other words.

Celia would have seen the paper. In a place this size, she couldn’t have avoided it. So, was her refusal to take any money from him genuine? Or merely a clever ploy?

She was highly intelligent. It was one of the several reasons he was so attracted to her. Intelligent enough to play a double game? He was rich beyond anything Collings Cove could imagine. Was there a woman born who could turn her nose up at his money? More to the point, was Celia Scott that woman?

Did he want to hang around long enough to find the answer?

He’d never chased a woman in his life. Never had to. And anyone who was as prickly as Celia, he dropped quicker than a plugged nickel. Why bother with a female who wasn’t going to come across when the world was full of those who would?

Anyway, he’d known a lot of women more classically beautiful than Celia. Certainly more sophisticated. She wasn’t his type.

So why was he so intrigued by the way her flame-filled hair contrasted with the dark pools of her eyes? How temper painted a flush over her cheekbones and the hollows beneath them? The delicious curve of her mouth when she laughed?

She laughed as though she meant it. Yet her dead mother still caused her sorrow.

Dammit, man, will you forget Celia Scott? You’re going to go back to Manhattan tomorrow morning and start planning your next challenge. After all, isn’t your whole life organized around challenging yourself? You can’t do any more solo races in Starspray. But those peaks in the Andes in Peru, you could take an expedition down there in the next six months….

Impatiently Jethro reached for the phone.

A gray jay squawked from the trees. The breeze smelled pungently of resin and peat, and impetuously Celia pulled off the elastic holding her ponytail and shook out her hair for the wind to play with. A seagull swooped overhead, pristinely white. Free, she thought. Free.

She’d broken her own record. Normally it took her an hour and a quarter to climb Gun Hill, the small mountain behind Collings Cove. But this afternoon she’d done it in sixty-five minutes.

Because she didn’t want to think about Jethro, who must have left town this morning on the early flight? She sure didn’t want to think about the dream she’d had, in which they’d both been stark naked in a bunk on a scallop dragger.

Or was her headlong rush up the hill to keep at bay the dilemma of her father, who wanted her married and settled and safe. What was she going to do about his request?

What could she do?

Nothing.

Celia sighed. She was glad she was going back to Washington. Even if she couldn’t get married to please Ellis, she could at least spend these last few months with him. And who knows, maybe they’d be able to bridge the gap that had widened so drastically with the years. She’d like that. She’d like it very much—enough to put all her energy and imagination into bringing it about.

She sat down on the wind-scoured rocks of the peak and took out an apple, chewing with keen pleasure, then tossing the core to a passing raven.

Behind her she heard a scrape on the rocks.

The hair rose on the back of her neck. She stood up. Picking each step so as not to make a sound, she crossed the rocks to the crest of the north face. Even though logic was telling her it was an unlikely place to find a wild animal, a rattle of falling stones came to her ears. A bear? And her face-to-face with it? Holding her breath, she peered over the edge.

A man was climbing the last few yards of the northern escarpment, every movement smooth and economical. Jethro.

He hadn’t left on the morning plane.

Her first reaction was sheer joy, her second dismay. She had no desire to come face-to-face with him, either, she thought, stifling that treacherous—and meaningless—surge of pleasure. Swiftly, before he could look up, she retreated from the edge. But there was nowhere to hide, and even if she scuttled back down the trail, Jethro would see her: the treeline was well down the slope. Is that what she wanted? To be found in retreat, scurrying for shelter like a frightened rabbit? No way.