Manhattan Merger

CHAPTER EIGHT

RAINEY slept, but it was fitful. At dawn she stole from the queen-size bed to half lie in the window seat and contemplate the vast Atlantic from her bedroom high above the water. As morning broke to the sounds of gulls, she remembered something Craig had said in an attempt to comfort her.

Treat the whole experience with Payne Sterling as part of your adventure in the Big Apple.

He didn’t know it then, but her brother had dispensed the best advice he could have given her. That was exactly the way she was going to look at her situation from here on out.

A marvelous adventure. The kind she enjoyed living with the heroine inside a romance novel until the very last page when she closed the book.

There would come a last page with Payne. Until then, what were the odds of meeting an exciting, brilliant New York billionaire-soon-to-be-trillionaire in her lifetime? Of working temporarily as his live-in assistant in his hideaway which was an architectural treasure?

Maybe a gazillion-to-one?

She leaned out the window to inhale the tangy sea air and enjoy the ocean breeze. The humidity curled the ends of her hair. Her skin, so used to the dry climate of the Colorado Rockies, felt soft and smooth.

By some quirk of fate, she and Payne had been brought together at this moment in time. It wouldn’t last, so why go on torturing herself about it?

Why not be the catalyst that might rouse his fiancée from debilitating fear so she could walk down the aisle to the man waiting for her at the altar?

What were the odds of Rainey ever playing a major role in someone else’s rescue again?

The answer was, never.

“Good morning, Ms. Bennett!”

Rainey looked down to see her host walking up the beach in cutoffs and a T-shirt looking like a contemporary Jane Austen hero.

“Why if it isn’t Mr. Darcy!”

His hands went to his hips. The next thing she knew he was laughing up at her. She found herself laughing with him.

Careful, Rainey. Don’t let him guess the very sight of him turns your bones to liquid. Keep things light.

“If it was your intention to go about startling all the young ladies, you can consider you’ve accomplished your objective, sir.”

“My Dear Miss Bennett-if I startled you, it was because you were hoping I would happen to come along at this precise moment to catch you in, shall we say, flagrante delicto? so you could be pretend to be startled.”

“Oh my, Mr. Darcy. Rumors of your monumental ego combined with your insufferable arrogance have been greatly understated. Isn’t it a good thing you’re in love with yourself since it’s probable no one else would ever be able to love you quite so well.”

More laughter rumbled out of him, the deep, rich male kind.

Suddenly Rainey heard clapping. “Well done, you two. Jane Austen is alive and doing just fine at Crag’s Head.”

Rainey looked to the right and caught sight of Diane. “She wrote one of the great romances, don’t you think, Ms. Wylie?”

“She wrote several. I found Persuasion her most compelling.”

The mention of that particular title sounded cryptic and introduced a different mood into the tenor of the morning. Rainey could tell Payne was equally affected.

Persuasion was what was needed to get her to that clinic.

“I understand we were all going to have breakfast when you arrived. Excuse me and I’ll be right down.” She tore herself from the window, unwilling to put herself through the agony of watching him greet his fiancée.

Yesterday he’d worked with Rainey all afternoon and into the early evening. The rapport between them had been uncanny. She couldn’t believe how well things had gone, what a remarkable teacher he was.

Being with him, she’d been unaware of time passing. It had almost killed her when seven-thirty rolled around and he’d excused himself to go pick up Diane for dinner. At some point in the evening Rainey knew he would inform his fiancée he’d hired Rainey to come to work for him.

Since Rainey hadn’t seen him until he’d been walking along the surf moments ago, it was anyone’s guess how Diane had reacted to his news.

Judging by her unexpected appearance on the path just now, his plan seemed to be working to some degree. She’d plunged right into the thick of things, staking her claim in front of Rainey.

His fiancée had a lot of demons to fight besides her fear that another woman was interested in her fiancé. The last thing Rainey wanted to do was hurt her. All she could do was follow Payne’s lead and hope it caused the kind of reaction that would force Diane to get past her psychological block.

Rainey pulled clothes from the closet and drawers. The temperature had dropped to the low seventies prompting her to dress in a pair of white pleated trousers and a yellow cotton pullover.

With a good brushing of her hair and an application of coral lipstick, there was nothing more to do but join them. She left the bedroom not knowing quite what to expect, but realizing that Diane was waiting for her.

The dining room off the study had its own glorious view of the ocean. Payne and Diane had already started to eat.

His gaze flicked to Rainey’s. So much vital masculinity for breakfast made her heart race. “Help yourself to anything you want at the buffet.”

“Thank you.”

It looked like the housekeeper had outdone herself. Rainey poured herself some orange juice, then went for the sausage and eggs, her favorite breakfast.

“Come and sit down.”

Said the spider to the fly?

The other woman’s smile was benign enough. Yet Rainey did her bidding with a prickling awareness that Diane had been geared for a confrontation since Payne had dropped his bombshell.

“How did you sleep, Ms. Bennett?”

Payne covered Diane’s hand. “Since we’re all going to be seeing a lot of each other from now on, let’s get on a first name basis.”

Fearing she might choke on her juice, Rainey put the glass back down. “To be honest, I was so excited to be right here on the water, I stayed awake most of the night. It’s quite heavenly.”

“No other woman apart from Mrs. Myers has ever slept at Crag’s Head before.”

His fiancée had just fired her first salvo.

“It must be thrilling for you to know that after August first this will be your home, Diane. The design transports you to another realm, yet you’re firmly planted on a headland with a whole ocean at your feet. I think you’re the luckiest woman alive to have all this to look forward to.”

“When Payne installs an elevator, it will be more livable for me.”

“If we leave for Switzerland right away, it’s possible you’ll never have to use another elevator again.”

“It’s not going to happen, Payne. But since you brought the subject up, now would be the time to say what’s on my mind.”

Diane’s gaze swerved to Rainey who wondered what was coming next. She stopped chewing.

“I know why he hired you.”

Her bold declaration revealed the fire Payne had been referring to when he’d asked Rainey to be his accomplice.

“The problem is, I’m not sure he told you why.”

Rainey had no choice but to play dumb. “I don’t think I understand.”

“Those maps of Payne’s are sacrosanct. No one in the hierarchy of his company is allowed inside Crag’s Head to see them. He trusts no one to touch them. They’re his brainchild, the key to his success.

“Then suddenly he decides to let a portrait artist who paints covers for Red Rose Romance move into his fortress and assist him on drawings that are so complicated no one but Payne himself can understand them?” She left out a brittle laugh.

“I don’t think so. I may not be able to walk, but credit me with more brains than that, Rainey. We both know he’s installed you here to force my hand because he wants me to go to Switzerland for an operation.”

The strength it took to hold the other woman’s gaze without flinching called on every nerve and muscle in Rainey’s body.

“I’ve told him I’m not going. Of course he doesn’t understand the meaning of the word no. What he’s done is pull one of his shrewd business ploys to get me to capitulate by bringing a beautiful woman into his home on the pretext of working for him.

“He knows this will cause our families and friends to talk. What better way to get me to change my mind than threaten to humiliate me.”

Rainey’s heart sank like a stone. Though Diane’s delivery had been unemotional, she had to be dying inside.

“What he refuses to accept is that there’s no miracle cure waiting for me at the end of the road. I guess what I’m saying is, the next move is up to you.”

She paused to take a drink of her coffee. When she put the cup down again she said, “If you truly thought he was offering you a legitimate job, and yet you continue to stay under his roof knowing what I’ve just told you, then it will be clear to everyone who loves him that you two are having an affair.”

A groan almost made it past Rainey’s lips.

Diane had just called her fiancé’s bluff. The fear that an operation wouldn’t change anything was keeping her locked in that wheelchair. Rainey could weep for both of them because that fear was holding him prisoner too.

Somehow Rainey needed to say something in a counter move that would still be the truth, yet not jeopardize an already precarious situation.

“I’m aware of his hopes for you,” she began quietly. “It’s only natural when he loves you so much, but I’m afraid the blame for the job offer lies with me.”

One of Diane’s brows lifted in a patronizing gesture. “Your attraction to him has made you the proverbial putty in his hands.”

“I am attracted to him,” Rainey came back, fighting fire with fire. “If you’re talking physical attraction, then I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit it considering I’ve done eight paintings of him already. He’s an incredibly good-looking man.”

The mockery in Diane’s smile started to vanish.

“If you’re talking mental attraction, I admit to that too. Let me tell you why.” Now that Rainey was all wound up, it would be therapeutic to get certain things said.

“You don’t know very much about me. How could you? I grew up in a small town. My brother loves it there. From an early age on, he knew he wanted to live there forever and run a sportings goods store. Come fall, that dream is finally going to happen for him.

“I was different. I had this dream to move to a big city and see what it was like.

“The money from teaching art in public school was a means of keeping me alive, but it was my freelance jobs that paid me enough to get here. In all honesty, I came to New York hoping I might stumble on to my life. Do you know what I’m talking about?”

Diane brushed some hair away from her forehead. “People like you flock to New York every day looking for the same thing. The difference is, none of them ended up in a courtroom with my fiancé.”

A tremor rocked Rainey’s body.

“That’s true. When the judge was reprimanding me, he said it best. Call it destiny or fate, you happened to paint the one man whose phenomenal success in life has made him vulnerable to the ugliest elements in our society.

“It seems that fate, or destiny, whatever you choose to call it, brought me to this house. While your fiancé was upstairs getting changed before taking me to the Boyce’s to meet you, I wandered into his study. That’s when something amazing happened.

“I saw his maps spread over the walls of the lighthouse. They were so fantastic, I was spellbound. I remember feeling the same way when I was young and came across Tolkien’s map of Middle Earth for the first time.

“When Mr. Sterling came back downstairs ready to leave, he found me babbling with so much excitement, I’m sure he didn’t know what to make of it. I practically begged for a chance to work with him.”

Diane’s brown eyes flared in surprise. Rainey could be thankful for that much reaction. At least she was listening.

“Yes, I’m guilty of wanting to grab at an opportunity to work with someone like him because fate would never allow it to happen a second time. But if you’re talking emotional attraction, that’s something else again because he’s spoken for. He’s asked you to marry him.

“If you’d seen your fiancé in court, then you’d know he was only there for one reason. To protect you. To make certain nothing would ever hurt you again.

“He was a frightening adversary when he thought I’d been out there stalking the two of you. After court ended I thought how blessed you were to have a fiancé who showed that kind of devotion to you. One who’d do anything for you. He’d give his life to see you walk again!” Rainey’s voice throbbed.

Diane unexpectedly averted her eyes.

“I discovered the strength of his devotion when he asked me to meet you and help reassure you that I posed no threat to your safety.

“He’s a hero in every sense of the word, Diane. Your hero. The kind you could read about in those little romance novels whose covers I paint.”

She had one more thing to say. This time she turned to Payne who’d been staring at her through shuttered eyes.

He’d enlisted her help. She’d complied with his request and would carry out her part of the bargain for a while longer. But she had to draw the line somewhere because her very existence depended on it.

“Did you tell Diane I’m only here in New York until my brother sends for me?”

“Uncle Payne?”

“In the dining room, sweetheart,” he answered his niece without acknowledging Rainey’s question.

“I brought Linda with me. She wants to meet Rainey.”

“Hi, Linda,” he drawled. “Come and have some breakfast with us.”

“Thanks, Mr. Sterling.”

Seconds later the two teens breezed in the room wearing shorts and tops. Linda was a tall girl with pretty features and a chestnut braid hanging down the middle of her back.

She walked over to Diane. “Hi, Ms. Wylie! How are you?”

“I’m fine, thank you.” But Diane didn’t sound fine at all. Her voice held a definite tremor.

“I bet you’re getting excited for the wedding.”

“Yes,” she murmured.

“Rainey?” Catherine headed for her. “I’d like you to meet my best friend, Linda Miles. Linda? This is Rainey Bennett.”

“Hello, Linda.” The teen moved closer. “What beautiful hair you have.”

She and Catherine exchanged smiles. “Thanks. I saw the pictures you did for Catherine. They’re so good.”

“What she’s trying to say is, do you think you could draw one of Linda sometime?”

“I wouldn’t expect you to do it for free, that is if you had the time to do it.”

“I’ll make the time, and I wouldn’t take your money,” Rainey assured her.

Their host got up to pour himself a cup of coffee. “Why don’t you girls grab a plate of food?”

“Thanks. We’re starving. Oh-before I forget-where did you put Manhattan Merger, Uncle Payne?”

“It’s in my study. Left-hand drawer of my desk.”

“Can I get it now so I won’t forget?”

“Go ahead.”

“Do you like romances, Linda?” Diane inquired as Catherine left the dining room.

After their previous conversation, Rainey had to give the other woman credit for hanging in there. Payne had said his fiancée was a competitor at heart. Rainey believed him.

“I love them,” Linda said. “They’re really fun.”

“How do you mean fun?”

Catherine’s friend found the food she wanted and sat down. “It’s fun to see how two completely different people get together, the problems they have to overcome.”

“Don’t you know that’s one of the big concerns about romances? Our magazine did an in-depth article on them some time ago. It wouldn’t hurt you to read it. Those stories only show the exciting parts of a relationship, and never deal with the ever after.”

“At least the couples in the romances I’ve read get married, Ms. Wylie. In real life a lot of them live together first, and statistics show that more of them break up later and then kill each other or something.”

“Does your mother approve?”

“She doesn’t mind. Mom’s sick of all the violence and sex on TV.”

“Don’t tell me there isn’t a lot of that in those books.”

“Some are graphic, some aren’t. What I like is that the two people are really in love and faithful to each other. There isn’t any violence in them. My grandma says every man should read one so he’d know how to treat a woman better.”

Rainey drained the rest of her juice so she wouldn’t smile.

“Your grandmother reads them?” Diane sounded incredulous.

“Yes. When I had my tonsils out last year she came over and read one to me. That got me started.”

Their host chuckled. “You’re never going to win this argument, Diane.”

“Let me see that novel, Catherine,” she said when Payne’s niece came back in the dining room. Just then his glance slid to Rainey’s. Something was going on with his fiancée. She refused to leave the subject alone.

Catherine handed it to her before hurrying over to the buffet.

“Who wants to go for a sail after we’re through eating?”

“We do!” the girls said at the same time, thrilled over Payne’s suggestion.

“What about you, Diane? It’s a calm sea today.”

“I believe I will come with you.”

“That’s great!” Catherine enthused. “We’ll all get a tan together.”

“Give me a few minutes to get ready.” She pushed her wheelchair away from the table and headed for the hallway.

“That’s three out of four. Rainey? Does the idea appeal?”

Under other circumstances she couldn’t imagine anything more exciting than going out on the ocean with him, but not now. Not ever.

While Diane was still in earshort she said, “If we’re going to work together later, I’d better finish my greeting card project while you’re gone. The deadline for the artwork is coming up soon.”

Payne’s niece turned to her with an interested expression. “What are you working on?”

“Right now, a bon voyage card showing a saucy Siamese cat with diamonds around her neck and red silk gloves up to her shoulders. She’s stretched out on top of one of those mansard rooftops in an elegant arrondissement of Paris waving goodbye with her tail to a rascal of a mutt.”

“Oh how cute!” Catherine cried.

“He has a hobo’s stick over his shoulder. There’s a little bag tied to the end with a Provençal print scarf. His beret is set at a jaunty angle.” Rainey closed her eyes and shook her head. “They’re in love.”

The girls burst into laughter. So did Payne.

“Can we see it?” Linda sounded as excited as Catherine.

“Of course. When you get back from sailing, come to my room. Have fun everybody.”

Grateful the girls were there to provide a buffer against Payne, Rainey left the dining room without looking at him. She hoped it didn’t seem like she was running a marathon to get away from him.

For the next three hours she worked steadily on her sketches, but her body broke out in perspiration more than once anticipating the moment when she had to join Payne in his study.

Those had been hellish moments downstairs with his fiancée. She’d practically accused them outright of having an affair.

Tears filled Rainey’s eyes. The poor thing had tried to handle her pain and outrage in a dignified manner. It was an awful experience. Rainey refused to put Diane through that again.

From here on out, Payne would have to deal with his fiancée on his own. Rainey would remain in the background a little while longer to work on his maps before she left for Colorado. That was it.

Eventually she heard footsteps in the hall. Payne had come back with the girls. Rainey invited them inside and let them look at her drawings.

Before they left to ride their bikes to Catherine’s house, Rainey told Linda to come over on Tuesday morning after Payne left for Paris. Before she got to work she’d do a sketch of Linda and her dog, Hannibal, playing on the beach.

The three of them went downstairs together. Rainey saw them out. When she came back in the house Betty told her Payne had driven his fiancée home and would be back at one to get busy.

Rainey glanced at her watch. She had one hour. Now would be a good time to make a credit card call home and tell her parents what was going on.

Tomorrow she would buy herself a good cell phone. Then she could call her friends and give them a phone number without them knowing her new address. She would ask the post office to hold her mail.

For security reasons as well as personal ones, no one could know she was living temporarily at Crag’s Head.