Emerald Fire, page 16
‘My God, Slade!’ Brionny’s shoulders were shaking with laughter. ‘They thought you were a woo-ya-hoo. A demon! No wonder they ran.’
‘Yeah.’ A grin tilted across his mouth. ‘well, whatever they thought, it worked. I waited a couple of hours, but there wasn’t a sign of them.’ He took her hand and brought it to his chest. ‘I figured it was safe to go back to you, that there was no risk they’d sneak back and follow me…’ He drew a deep breath. ‘But when I got to the shack, you were gone.’
Brionny nodded. ‘Yes. Father Ramón—’
‘Had found you. Yes, I know that now. But then—then, I couldn’t imagine what had happened. Had you stumbled into the river and become dinner for another snake? Had the Mali-Mali doubled back and taken you?’ His arms swept around her and he held her to him with fierce determination. ‘I searched for two days, praying to find you—and afraid of what I’d find if I did.’
‘Slade— I didn’t know—’
‘Eventually, I stumbled into Father Ramón’s village. He told me he’d sent you upriver with his men. I went after you—but I was too late. You’d left for the States.’ His smile was swift and hard. ‘And the police decided to put me up in jail as their guest.’
‘Oh, God,’ Brionny whispered. ‘I’m so sorry! I didn’t know—’
‘It was an interesting couple of days, Stuart, I’ll say that.
Impulsively, she reached up and kissed his mouth. ‘I love you,’ she said fiercely. ‘I’d never want anything bad to happen to you…’
Her hand flew to her mouth, but it was too late. The words she hadn’t even permitted herself to think were in the open.
Slade smiled. ‘Do you, now?’ he said, very softly.
Brionny’s cheeks flamed. ‘Finish your story,’ she said, her chin uplifted. ‘How did you get out of jail?’
‘It wasn’t easy. It took me two days just to get word to my office in Rio to tell them to fly somebody down and sort things out.’
‘Your—your office in Rio?’
He nodded. ‘Later, one of my vice-presidents pointed out that I’d have been better off calling my New York office, or the one in Miami— Bree? What is it?’
She had gone white as a sheet. ‘What—what are you talking about, McClintoch? What offices in New York and—and Miami—and—and—?’
‘Rio,’ he said helpfully. ‘Well, of course we have offices in Houston and LA too, but—’
Brionny closed her eyes, then opened them again.
‘I take it you’re—you’re not talking about opening offices to—to supervise the theft of—of antiquities,’ she said in a faint voice.
Slade chuckled. ‘No, sweetheart, I’m not. I suppose I should have told you sooner—hell, I tried to tell you sooner… I’m President, CEO, and the guy generally in charge of Worldwide Construction.’
‘Worldwide Con… The company building that road in Peru?’
‘Yeah,’ he said with a modest smile, ‘that’s the one.’
Brionny slammed her fists against his shoulders. ‘You bastard! You let me think—’
‘I let you think what you wanted to think,’ he said, catching hold of her wrists. ‘You took one look at me and saw a bum.’
‘I— I—’ She stared at him, and suddenly she knew the truth. ‘I— I saw a ghost,’ she whispered. ‘Someone hurt me, a long time ago, and—and I thought I saw him again when I saw you. It was wrong, I know that now, but—’
‘Yeah.’ He blew out his breath. ‘I guess I looked at you and saw a ghost, too, a specter from my childhood, when I was always the kid who had to prove himself over and over…’
Brionny reached up and kissed him again. It was a longer kiss this time, and when it ended they were both smiling.
‘Slade?’ Brionny moved closer into his arms. ‘Were you really going to—to demand payment from me last night?’
He brushed a soft kiss over her mouth. ‘That was the plan. At least, I told myself it was. I think I really had some crazy idea that if I got you in my arms again I could make you admit you loved me as much as I loved you, but—’
‘Do you?’ she whispered. ‘Love me, I mean?’
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘with all my heart.’
‘You’d better mean it. Because if you don’t—if you don’t, I’ll—I’ll—’
Laughing, Slade scooped her into his arms. ‘What will you do? Whip out your gun and shoot me?’ He kissed her, then let her down slowly to her feet. ‘Darling Bree. Will you marry me?’
Would she marry him, her handsome renegade? Of course she would. He might not have stolen the emerald, but he had surely stolen her heart.
‘I should tell you that you weren’t entirely wrong about me,’ he said. ‘I’ve spent most of my life bouncing from one construction site to another—but if you marry me I promise to settle down.’
Brionny kissed him. ‘You don’t have to,’ she sighed. ‘To tell you the truth, McClintoch, I think I’d like to try my hand at being a bum for a while.’
His arms tightened around her. ‘I’m supposed to be in Bora-Bora next week. How does that sound for a honeymoon, Stuart?’
‘It sounds wonderful.’
He kissed her again, and when the kiss grew deep and heated he drew back and gave her an unsteady smile.
‘I think we should carry on this conversation in a more private setting. I happen to know this apartment on the East Side with a great view of the river.’
Brionny laughed softly. ‘I love places with views of the river.’
And, with that, Slade swept Brionny into his arms and carried her out of the director’s office, through the Great Hall, and down the wide marble steps of the museum to the street.
ISBN: 978-1-4603-1131-8
EMERALD FIRE
First North American Publication 2000.
Copyright © 1995 by Sandra Myles.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
Visit us at www.romance.net
Sandra Marton, Emerald Fire
