Dancing with Deception (9 page)

“Is it signed?”

Rebecca didn’t blink in fear she would give something away. “Not that I know of.”

“Maybe I could take a look at it. I’m not a professional but I may be able to tell something about the paint.”

Rebecca stood and tested the shoes. Her toes were a little snug, but it wasn’t any different from wearing ballet shoes. “I think I’ll take that run now. I feel flabby if I don’t get a good work out in the morning.”

Jess was only trying to help, but fear balled tightly in her belly. If they found out that she had painted
The Dance
some twenty years ago, would they believe her to be a criminal?

“Flabby,” she snorted. “I can look at it when you get back. I’ll be here.” Again, there was a glimpse of something in her tone. Some sort of sadness that sliced Rebecca’s heart.

“Are you sure you don’t want to run with us?”

“I’m sure. I have some homework I need to get done.” She walked with Rebecca out of her room and down the stairs. “Thanks, though.”

“Ready?” Colin was still sitting at the table looking relaxed and- damn him- still amused.

“Yes.”

They set out at a brisk warm-up pace. Rebecca’s long ponytail whipped in the wind as they rounded the side of the house and jogged toward the beached area.

“Its solid ground about ten feet up from the water so we won’t slip on the sand.”

“Kay.” Rebecca subtly increased her speed and smirked when Colin did the same. So he was competitive. Worked for her. She needed to burn off the calories from the waffle.

Even while she was running, Rebecca took in her surroundings. They were completely surrounded by the big blue lake. She should have felt isolated but she didn’t. She felt secure and safe while they ran along the beautiful beach. They kicked up the little bits of sand beneath their feet as they rounded a sharp corner where the lake came up onto the land.

She wanted to swim, she thought as her feet splashed through a shallow puddle. It had been so long since she had been swimming for any reason other than working out and the water felt deliciously cool on her bare legs.

When Rebecca heard Colin’s breathing begin to strain, she grinned and kicked up to the next speed. She wanted to throw her head back and laugh when he managed to keep pace with her but she just kept increasing her speed. She would make him pay for making fun of her, she decided.

“Do you run often?”

He shot her a look that told her he didn’t want to talk and run but complied. “No.”

Rebecca changed directions and headed back to the house. Colin kept pace but was beginning to grit his teeth. He wasn’t as built as Gideon was but he also had a smaller frame. He still had amazing muscles that were obviously worked out regularly, but Rebecca knew they were built from hammering and lifting more than from cardio.

“Want to race?”

Rebecca started. Maybe he had more stamina than she thought. “Sure.”

“All right.” They were still jogging but he counted to three and Rebecca took off at full speed. She had enough breath left to growl at him when he kept pace with her still. He looked as though he would collapse at any minute, but he held his own.

They rounded the corner that would lead them back to the house and Rebecca gave it all she had. Belatedly, they both realized they hadn’t sat a finish line, so Rebecca called out, “the fence!” And they plunged ahead.

Rebecca beat him by a foot and they both collapsed on the ground laughing.

“Son-of-a-bitch,” Colin wheezed. “I didn’t know ballerinas could run so fast.”

“Neither did I.”

They looked at each other again before dissolving in another fit of laughter. A shadow fell over them and an angry voice startled Rebecca out of her mirth.

“Where the hell have you been?”

Colin looked over idly at his brother. Rebecca all but jumped out of her skin as the laughter died out of her. “We were running,” was Colin’s lazy reply.

Gideon’s blood was hot as he stared at Rebecca’s guilt ridden face. She was pale and withdrawn now where seconds ago she had been glowing. He thought furiously about the way she had kissed him back the day before and his sister’s words from that morning mocked him.
“She wants to like you but she’s a little afraid of you.”

“Why are you back so early?” Colin stood slowly rubbing his sore calf muscles.

“The prick didn’t show up.”

“Damn. I’ll call him later since I’m the one he talked to before.”

“Yeah, do that. Tell him not to waste my damn time again.” Gideon had yet to take his eyes off Rebecca who was looking more reserved by the minute. It made him even angrier.

“I need to go take a shower.” Rebecca looked up at Gideon then turned to Colin. “Thanks for the race. Sorry you lost.”

“Yeah, I can tell how sorry you are,” Colin muttered. “Brat.”

Rebecca smiled at Colin—damn her—then walked into the house. He watched her walk through the door and stared at it as it closed behind her.

“Smooth.”

“What were the two of you so chummy about?” Gideon hated the pettiness of the question. He fell in step with Colin as he turned to walk down to the boatyard.

“I seem to recall you telling me to keep an eye on her. She wanted to go for a run, so we ran. She’s damn quick, too.” Colin pulled a cigarette from the pack and lit it.

“That doesn’t explain why you guys have been gone for two hours.”

“I think it does. We were running.”

Gideon jerked a shoulder as they walked through the gate. “Why the hell would I care?” Colin remained silent as they walked into the office. He pulled out a notebook and flipped it to the page with Jefferson’s number and dialed it.

“No answer,” Colin said and sat the phone in the cradle. “That’s odd for a man who couldn’t get a boat fast enough.”

“Maybe he found someone else.”

“Or bought one from a dealer.” Colin shrugged it off. “His loss.”

“Yeah, it’s not like I don’t have other things to deal with besides a quickie boat job.” Gideon scratched the guy’s number down on a post-it note and stuck it in his pocket. “I’ll give him one more call, that way he can’t tarnish our reputation any. We did all we could do.”

They left and locked up the boatyard and made their way back to the main house. It was relatively safe on the island, but the Avery men didn’t put anything past fellow competitors when it came to safety measures. They locked up every night when they left and had automatic sensor lights installed all the way around the office and yard. Both the main house and Colin’s house could view the boatyard from at least one window of each house which was no coincidence.

Gideon’s house—when it was built—would also have a good view of the boatyard. He had the plans and he had the pipes and lines ran to the site the house would sit on; he just needed to build it. And he wouldn’t do that until Jess was comfortable with people coming to the island. It would take a team of at least five men to have it done in a relatively short amount of time. But Jess’s own tragedy and fears borne from it caused her to shun just about any human contact. Except Rebecca, Gideon mused. She’d embraced their unexpected guest and had even formed a kind of friendship with her in the time she had been there. Considering that was less than twenty-four hours, Gideon was both elated and curious about the bond.

So when Jess was comfortable with people—other than her family—again, Gideon would arrange for the laborers to come build his house. Colin, he, and their father could take a stab at it, he knew. But he wanted everything done correctly.

Gideon scowled at Rebecca’s bedroom window when they reached the house but was unaware he was doing so until Colin chuckled.

“You’re gone, man.” He crushed out his cigarette, shaking his head.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Hey, I wouldn’t poach. You don’t have to be jealous.” Colin opened the front door and waited for Gideon to go inside. Gideon only stared at him. “What? You’re mad because we went off alone but like I said, I wouldn’t poach on my little brother. And you saw her first.”

“I am not gone.”

“You’re headed that way.”

“There’s no way I’m heading that way.” Gideon pushed past him and stormed into the living room cursing.

“Cool then. I guess the field’s open.”

Gideon stared after Colin as he walked out of the room.
Field’s open?
What the hell did that mean? He felt his blood begin to boil as he followed Colin into the kitchen.

Colin poured a glass of tea and asked Gideon if he wanted one. Gideon fumed, telling him what he could do with his tea.

Colin chuckled. “You told me to do the same thing with my promise and let me tell you. Not only would that be embarrassing and uncomfortable but that last part may even be impossible.”

“You think you’re real funny, don’t you?”

“I think you’re really pissed. Care to tell me why?” Colin sat down lazily at the table and winked at Jess as she walked down the stairs and into the room with them.

“What’s going on?

Gideon ignored her. “What the hell did you mean by
the field’s open
?”

“Oh, that?” Colin put his long legs on the chair in front of him and crossed them. “You said you don’t want her. I might. That’s all.”

“Rebecca?” Jess frowned. “Gideon likes her. You shouldn’t poach.”

“Jess!”

“I’m not going to poach,” Colin explained patiently. “He said he
didn’t
want to go there. So it’s not poaching. Now, if he were to tell me he was interested-” Colin shrugged.

Gideon pinched the bridge of his nose.

“What are you interested in?”

Gideon spun around. “Mom!”

“What?”

Gideon took Colin’s tea and drank it down. Not as potent as coffee, or even a good whiskey but it went a long way to cool his mood. “I’m
not
interested. But you’re not going there. Got it?”

Colin smiled.

“All right boys. She has a name- and it’s Rebecca,” Jess said for her mother’s benefit. “And I thought we talked about this earlier this morning.”

“You talked to Jess about your sex life?”

He growled at Colin. “All right, listen-” Gideon took a deep breath and thought about what he was going to say. He never got to finish. The quiet kitchen was punctuated by a very high pitched, terrified scream.

Chapter Six

Horrified and unmoving, Rebecca let out another blood-curling scream.

She’d come up and showered the sweat and dirt away, all the while cursing her reaction to Gideon. She couldn’t help how she felt about him and that confused her. She’d been drawn to men before, but men she had known more than a day. She liked sex, but never really wondered how it would be with any particular man. It just happened after a while of dating and friendship. There’d been no dating with Gideon, no quiet talks or romancing. She’d just look at him and want him.

It scared her a little that he could entice such strong emotions from her in so short of time. The intensity of his personality clashed with her more reserved nature. She was outgoing when she wasn’t being chased by goons. She had friends and liked to be social. From everything she’d learned about Gideon so far told her he was more solitary.

They were polar opposites. Completely different in everything but the situation they were in. Maybe the danger added the intensity. Maybe once her father returned and took the painting, Gideon would lose his appeal to her. She hoped so, anyway.

She’d wondered while conditioning her hair why she couldn’t have been attracted to Colin instead. He had the same sense of intensity in him, yet he seemed so mellow. He was dangerously handsome, much like Gideon. So why couldn’t she suffer these feelings for him? It would definitely be safer for her.

But it wasn’t to be, she had decided as she dried and changed into a new pair of clothes. She was stuck with these unwelcome urges that she didn’t dare do anything about for the next little while. She was brushing her hair when she saw it. Her worst fear had materialized out from behind the cabinet on the wall.

Rebecca was stunned into screaming. She thought maybe it could smell her fear, for it changed directions and crawled on its eight nasty legs.
Right. For. Her.

“Oh, my god.” Rebecca screamed again and threw the hair brush at it. Of course it missed. She screamed again, couldn’t seem to help but scream. Icy fingers of panic brushed against the back of her neck. She backed into the wall and before she could suck in the breath to scream again, the door seemed to explode off the hinges.

Rebecca threw her hands up to block whatever barreled through the door at her. Gideon caught her upper arms. He was screaming at her, she realized, but she couldn’t hear the words. His lips formed the word
stop
over and over again and Rebecca realized she was still screaming.