“Ah. You have plans for the evening.” His lifted brows made it a question,;he seemed to be studiously avoiding Luke as he gazed with real interest at Joey. She shifted uncomfortably.
“Yes. We have plans.” Luke cut off her stammered reply and rose to his feet. The move was somehow ominous, in a single, almost imperceptible motion he shifted to stand behind the doctor’s chair, leaning over it in a way that sent shivers up Joey’s spine.
Collier slumped more deeply into his seat. He took one last lazy sip of wine and smiled at Joey. Luke’s fingers tightened on the carved wood of the chair back. Collier’s only acknowledgment of his presence was the barest tilt of his head, his eyes never left Joey’s.
“Well, my dear, far be it for me to interfere in the plans of two young people.” His tone was even, but the searching quality of his expression could not be mistaken. Joey shivered again at the unspoken message in his eyes. Was it because he knew Luke all too well that he seemed to be trying to warn her?
With deliberate confidence, Joey answered him. “I hope we’ll be able to have dinner again soon, Allan.”
The doctor nodded, all the laugh lines smoothed from his face, and rose. Luke had so effectively boxed him in that he could not leave the table, and he turned and looked the younger man up and down with a stare that came very close to scathing. Luke stepped back quickly and released the chair Collier’s gaze lingered on Luke’s face for a long moment, and then he turned back to Joey.
“I share that hope, Joey.” He looked over his shoulder as he moved away. “Please do remember that if you ever need me—for anything—I’m easy to find.” With one last significant glance at Luke he left them in silence.
Joey locked gazes with Luke across the table. There was an almost tangible potency in him, as if he had been restraining some wild passion and was on the verge of releasing it at last. She almost called after the doctor then. But even her uncertainty—yes, even her fear, she admitted—could not erase the memory of why she was here. What she wanted, what she needed and had fought so long to find.
His long fingers played across the worn wood of the chair back. “I find it very stuffy in here, don’t you?” His tone was light, so unlike what she expected to hear that she nearly jerked in reaction. Her gaze broke from his to take in the empty room.
“Yes.” She stared down at the table before her. “Yes, I find it very stuffy in here.”
“Then why don’t we find somewhere more pleasant to talk,” he suggested, moving around the table to take her arm. She flinched and caught herself as he touched her, offense and excitement mingling uncomfortably. He didn’t quite burn as she had feared, as her dreams had promised—but the casual possessiveness of his gesture, the subtle intimacy of it, almost made her tremble.
“Shall we go?” he said, seemingly unaware of the effect he had on her. Struggling for composure, she allowed Luke to guide her out the door and onto the porch, and then across the verge of neatly kept lawn. Beyond, the forest was darkening, the sky was still flushed with a patina of gold and pink. It was beautiful. Joey wished she were able to appreciate it. But her heart was in her throat, and it was all she could do to suppress a powerful desire to shake from head to toe. Even as they walked across the grass to the forest’s edge, she was preparing herself for the next move in the game.
Chapter Four
Luke felt her tension under his hand as he led her out of the lodge. He had learned enough of Joey—of her stubborn pride and determination—that he could not believe she was truly afraid of him. She had held up remarkably well, all things considered. Ordinarily he would have been happy to make use of any advantage in the hunt, but he found in himself a sudden—and surprising—realization that he didn’t want her fear. He wanted very much to believe that her almost imperceptible shivers were the result of desire. The same desire he felt for her.