Fire in the Wind by Alexandra Sellers Read Free Book Online Page B

hundred different things. What difference does it make whether he had the right reason or not? The hard fact was that you jilted him without a word of explanation. What do you care what explanation he dreamed up for himself? What difference does it make to you?"
    "It makes a difference," Vanessa said doggedly. "I didn't tell him the reason because he didn't ask. If he'd—"
    She broke off because Jake was laughing, a mirthless incredulous laugh. "He didn't ask? What room did you give him to ask?" he demanded harshly. "I told you, you were already married by the time—" He broke off. "You're a woman who demands a lot from a man, obviously. You want a man to keep coming at you while you're saying no, is that it? Is that what I should have done tonight? Made love to you in spite of yourself?"
    She gasped under the force of his attack. "No!" she said angrily.
    "No, eh?" He looked unconvinced. "Well, I'm glad to hear it. Because I don't like shrinking violets and I don't much care for rape. When you come to my bed I want you willing—just remember that. The blame for any wasted time will be at your door, not mine."
    Vanessa sat stunned. "You must be out of your mind," she said coldly. "Believe me, I will not be coming to your bed, willingly or otherwise." And in that moment she believed it.
    Jake shrugged lightly. "Fine," he said. "Nobody wins them all. Let's eat the salmon before it gets cold." He changed the subject then with admirable ease. His voice was cool, detached, as though she were no more to him than a casual conquest he could easily do without. But his eyes held another expression, one she could not read—and she knew that somehow, somewhere, Jake Conrad was lying to her.
    * * *
    He drove her through Stanley Park before taking her back to the hotel, and the magic stillness of the tall Douglas firs enveloped them in the quietly purring car till she could hardly believe she was in a city.
    "It's beautiful," she whispered, and Jake pulled the car over and stopped.
    "Would you like to walk for a few minutes?" he asked. "There's a very pretty pond just over there."
    "At one in the morning?" she asked. "Is it safe?"
    He laughed. "This is Vancouver, Vanessa. The population is barely one million. No one's going to jump us. Come on." He climbed out of the car and walked around toward her door, but she got out by herself and joined him. She breathed deeply in the night air, revelling in the stillness, the peace that surrounded them.
    Brrrh, brrrh.
    Vanessa jumped and reached instinctively for Jake's strong arm. "What was that?" she whispered hoarsely.
    He laughed down at her. "Relax," he said. "It was a frog over on Lost Lagoon. Where we are heading." Suddenly there was a chorus of frog noises so loud it made her laugh. She took Jake's arm, feeling perfectly easy. After he had forgotten his demons tonight, he had been a fascinating companion.
    "What a serenade!" she exclaimed. "I'm glad I'm not a lady frog expected to fall for that racket!"
    "If you were a lady frog," he said softly, "You'd be swooning and falling off your lily pad right now."
    "The croaking is that good?" she asked, smiling.
    "I'm no expert on the quality of the croaking," Jake replied. "But there's no reason to think you'd be less responsive as a lady frog than you are as a woman."
    Her stomach fluttered at the tone in his voice. The night was too softly cool, the stars too bright, the setting too romantic. She wanted to ask him why he was so sure she was responsive, but that way lay danger. She searched her brain for a safe subject.
    "Lost Lagoon," he said, as the path emerged from thick trees at the edge of a small lake, still and perfect in the night. Vanessa sighed in delight.
    "There's a paved path around the circumference," Jake said. "It would take about twenty minutes to walk it. How are your shoes?"
    "Not up to it, I'm afraid," Vanessa said regretfully, lifting a delicately strapped foot for his view. She would have liked the walk. "It's very