Gentlemen Prefer Nerds (24 page)

Maddie arranged a pink diamond choker on the display pedestal at Grace Jewelers. The necklace wasn’t nearly as valuable as the Rose but it was still an impressive piece of jewelry. She turned on the fiber-optic light. The diamonds sparkled.

Businesswise, all had ended well. Ogilvie’s Board of Directors and the insurance company were satisfied there was no wrongdoing on the part of Grace Jewelers. William Franklin had made Grace a licensed stockist of Ogilvie Diamonds. Maddie had managed to convince the Sultan of Brunei that the notoriety of the diamond’s misadventures only added to its value, and that as the Rose’s first owner he was ensuring himself a place in history.

Personally, her life had gone from bad to worse. She’d come home to find Al and her brothers had closed up the house and disappeared. Their cell phone numbers were no longer in service. Even Grace had no idea where they’d gone. That was three weeks ago. Maddie was worried sick.

And then there was Fabian. She was furious with him for leaving her at the airport with a brief kiss and no hope that they would ever meet again. But she also missed him more than she could have imagined. After being swept off her feet and whisked into adventure, it was hard going back to her mundane life. She’d come so close to love only to have it torn from her grasp at the last minute.

Grace emerged from her office wearing a sky-blue dress that set off her fair complexion and blond hair. She handed Maddie a check with a flourish. “Here’s your share of the commission, a just reward for the return of the Rose. Why don’t you spend it on a romantic holiday with your gorgeous Englishman?”

“He’s not my Englishman.” Maddie bent to lock the display case, hiding her face. It was too painful to admit she loved him, even to her aunt.

“After all you went through together, I can’t believe he hasn’t called.”

“Why would he?” Maddie shrugged, pretending she didn’t care one way or the other. “We recovered the Rose. That’s all he was interested in.”

“He was so handsome, so charming, so eligible.” Grace sighed. “Don’t you ever think about him and wonder, what if?”

Of course she did. She’d concocted a million romantic scenarios, all of them pure fantasy. Now that he was back in London, he probably didn’t spare a thought for a Melbourne gemologist he’d known barely a week.

“A fling might have been nice,” Maddie said carelessly. “But we left Hamilton Island so quickly we barely had time to say goodbye. Nothing’s ever going to happen now.”

“I saw the way he looked at you, as if he wanted to devour you.” Grace smirked. “Or spank you, I’m not sure which.”

I’m far from immune to you.
Clearly that had been a lie to get her to follow his plan. If he’d liked her at all, he would have emailed or called to see if she’d made it back all right.

“Whatever you think you saw was a ruse,” Maddie said. “He doesn’t show his true feelings.”

“Why don’t you call him?”

“Forget it.” Maddie shook her head. “He’s the son of an earl. His father is a member of the House of Lords. Can you imagine his family’s reaction to Al and my brothers?”

“Do you really think that’s a problem? Fabian didn’t seem like the kind of man to be easily put off if he wants something.”

“One day he’ll inherit the Licciardo Collection. He would never know if I loved him or his jewels.”

“That’s just nonsense.”

“Believe me, he thinks about that sort of thing.” Even if the jewels weren’t a problem he had a whole secret life going on that he couldn’t—or wouldn’t—tell her about. Plus he’d made it abundantly clear he wasn’t in the market for a girlfriend. He was just a Suit, a stupid, arrogant Suit. She didn’t need him. She didn’t want him. “It’s okay, Grace. It’s not like I’m in love with him.”

“Well, now,” boomed a familiar voice with a phony Irish lilt. “If that isn’t a scrumptious bit of fire and ice.”

Maddie spun around to see her father bent over the diamond choker. Glancing up, he winked at Grace, his eyes gleaming appreciatively. Grace sniffed and moved a few paces away. Al came forward to kiss Maddie on the cheek.

“Glad to see you home safe and sound, darlin’.” He held her at arm’s length. “Look at that flaming hair! You look like me great-great-grandmother when she was a lass in Tipperary.”

“Where have you been?” Maddie demanded, flinging both arms around him. “I’ve been so worried. I’ve tried to call you for weeks. I went out to the house five times but it’s locked up and no one’s around.”

“Me and the boys decided we needed a holiday. There were too many cops around asking questions so we took ourselves off to Bali for rest and relaxation.” Al’s bright gaze flicked from Maddie back to Grace, lingering on the older woman. “Hello, Grace. I trust my daughter’s sterling reputation hasn’t been tainted by the questionable goings-on in your shop of late.”

“Grace Jewelry has been publicly absolved of any hint of wrongdoing,” Grace said, bristling. “What are you doing so far from that shack of yours?”

“A man doesn’t need an excuse to check on his daughter.”

“You wanted to see the Rose,” Grace accused. “Well, you’re too late. It’s not here.”

“Pity.” Al took another look at the choker. “But as I said, that necklace is rather wonderful too.”

“Keep your hands where they belong, Albert Maloney, or I’ll call the police.”

“Grace!” Maddie said, astounded at the vehemence of her normally placid aunt. “Dad wouldn’t steal from you.”

Al chuckled wickedly. “You’d think I’d tried to clap me mitts around that juicy round arse of hers.”

“Dad!” Maddie exclaimed, equally shocked with him.

“Well, she started it.” Al turned away. “As she always does.”

Maddie stared in disbelief. “I’m disgusted with the pair of you. And to think I’d wanted you two to get together.”

“Impossible.” Grace straightened her dress.

“Not in a million years.” Al snorted simultaneously.

“I meant, to be friends.” Then Maddie glanced from her aunt to her father, and the truth hit her like a thunderbolt. The sparks flying weren’t due to antagonism, as she’d always thought. “Wait a minute, you two are—”

“If you’ll excuse me, I have a great deal of work to do.” Head high, Grace turned and walked quickly back to her office, her heels tapping briskly on the marble floor.

“Fire and ice.” Al watched Grace’s imperious departure. “Enough to drive a man to drink.”

“I can see you like her,” Maddie said. “Why did you keep her away from me when I was growing up?”

“You’re wrong about me liking her.” He scowled. “She makes me crazy.”

“That doesn’t mean you—”
don’t want her
“—aren’t fond of her.”

Al sighed gustily. “I didn’t want her around after your mother died. I couldn’t forgive her. If she hadn’t covered for Faith when she went off sailing with her fancy man—”

“I heard that!” Grace stormed back out of her office, where she’d clearly been eavesdropping. “She was my sister, what was I supposed to do? You were willfully blind when it came to Faith. You should have confronted her about Thomas but, no, you let her walk all over you.”

“I had the kiddies to think of,” Al said fiercely. “If I’d forced the issue, she might have left and taken them with her.” He turned to Maddie, his eyes blazing. “Whatever went on between her and me, she was a wonderful mother. Don’t you ever doubt it.”

“She took Maddie out on the boat all by herself!” Grace said. “It’s a miracle the child didn’t drown too.”

Aghast, Maddie listened to her father and aunt argue. Puzzling conversations and incidents from her childhood suddenly clicked into place.

“This is why I didn’t want Grace around,” Al said to Maddie. “She would have spoiled your memory of your mother with her foolish stories.”

Angry tears swam in Grace’s blue eyes. “You didn’t want me around because you were afraid of your feelings for me! Afraid you might have to question your whole life.”

“I am what I am,” Al said, stiff with dignity. “I’ll not change, not even for you, Grace Abercrombie.”

“Oh, you! As if I’d want you, you old fraud.” Grace turned on her heel and stomped off across the shop.

“You wanted me all right,” he called after her. “That night of the dance when we were just twenty, it was you I kissed in the moonlight, before I’d even met Faith. Have you forgotten that? You didn’t have the guts to go against your father the way Faith did. You were too much of a coward to be seen in public with me.”

Grace’s office door slammed shut. A second later it opened. She stormed back out. “I’m calling your bluff, Al Maloney. Dinner at Vue du Monde next Saturday.”

Wow, the top restaurant in Melbourne. Maddie turned to her father.

“I’ll be there with bells on.” Al was still scowling but as Grace strode off again, nose in the air, he gave Maddie a wink. “Fire and ice.” He straightened his jacket. “How is Jinx? Did he survive the cattery we left her in? I checked it out personally and considered it the ultimate in luxury feline accommodation.”

“It was excellent, thank you, although she’s been spoiled. She’s more demanding than ever.” Maddie bit her lip. “Are you sure about Faith and Thomas?”

Pain twisted Al’s features. “A man knows these things. I should never have let that slip. Seeing Grace brought it all back to the surface. But never mind that. Tell me everything that happened on Hamilton Island.”

“There’s not much to tell.” Maddie gave him the bare bones of her story, not wanting to reveal Fabian’s connection to Roland or worry Al with her misadventures on the sailboat. He’d probably never believe she’d gone aboard, much less jumped off. “All charges have been dropped. Even, mysteriously, Shirley Tamworth’s charge of cruelty to her nasty little dog.”

“Excellent.” Al glanced at his watch. “I’d better skedaddle. The boys have the Mercedes double-parked.”

“Wait. Are you taking your heart medication?”

“Connor and Liam force-feed me tablets every morning and night,” Al grumbled.

“I’m glad to hear it. You’re going to have that operation as soon as we can schedule it.”

“Do you know how many people die on the operating table every year? Ten percent.”

“What percentage dies from a heart attack? I bet it’s a lot higher.”

“I really have to go.” Al edged toward the door. “Joints to case, places to do over and all that. Say hello to Fabian when you see him.”

Maddie smiled tightly. Not her father too. Would they never let her forget?

* * *

Maddie peered through her microscope at a deep red gemstone that had been listed as a pigeon’s blood ruby in a deceased estate. She didn’t think it was a ruby, but then again, she was having trouble concentrating.

After removing the stone from the holder, she rolled her chair across to the refractometer. With a fresh sheet of paper, she rubbed the table facet to clean it. Then she put a drop of contact liquid on the metal stage, placed the stone in the liquid and slid it onto the glass hemicylinder. Switching on the light, she leaned in to take a reading, rotating the polarizer as she peered through the magnifier. “Pigeon’s blood ruby, my eye.”

A sigh escaped her, deep and sad, for no reason.

“Genuine pigeon blood rubies are so rare that the Burmese have a saying,” an impeccable English accent informed her. “’Asking to see the blood of the pigeon is like asking to see the face of God.’”

Maddie started. She spun around. “Fabian!”

“You really should be more careful about security. Anyone could break in here.”

She drank in the sight of him in his well-cut charcoal suit and snowy shirt with gold cuff links. Dark eyes so familiar, black hair starting to flop over his high forehead, so handsome in his own annoying aristocratic way. Not that that was going to get him off the hook.

“So…” Her voice was shaking. She cleared her throat and said as firmly as she could, “I’m still mad at you.”

“I’m sorry. Sorry for everything. I never wanted to hurt you.” Taking her hand, he pulled her to her feet. His dark eyes gazed deeply into hers and she melted.

Ohmygod.
“What took you so long to get here?”

“My family. There were things I had to take care of.” He reached for her, his voice rough. “Come here.”

Her nostrils filled with the scent of fine wool cloth and sandalwood as he wrapped her in his arms. “Fabian, I—”

“Shh, we don’t have much time. Let me kiss you.”

We don’t have much time.

Those few words told Maddie everything she needed to know. Everything she dreaded hearing. Okay, she could accept that their lives would never mesh, but for the moment he was here. And he was hers.

She held his hand in the back of the taxi that took them to her apartment. It was a more leisurely trip than the last time they’d driven there and she found herself wishing the cabbie would step on the gas. Fabian had suggested they go to his hotel but she wanted the memory of him in her bed, the scent of him on her pillow.

“Did you finish your research on the Rose?” Fabian asked.

“Yes. I sent my paper off to
Scientific American.
It’s being reviewed by a panel of experts in the field including the real Rolf Hauzenegger.”

“You’ll be famous.”

“Only among mineralogists, but that’s plenty for me.” Maddie’s pleased smile faded. “The police still haven’t arrested Roland. Do you know where he is?”

Fabian threaded his fingers through hers. “No, but we’ll find him. Sooner or later.”

“Is that what you were doing over there in London, tracking him?”

“Not exactly.” He hesitated. “My father’s ill.”

“I’m sorry. Is he going to be okay?”

“Fine,” Fabian replied lightly. “How is Al?”

“Oh, Al! I swear he’s got nine lives. Or the luck of the Irish. The devil will have to come for him personally.” Maddie traced the monogrammed
L
on Fabian’s cufflink. She could feel the heat from his thigh next to hers, the weight of their joined hands in her lap. “Are you still mad at me?”

He lifted her knuckles to his lips. “’I could not love thee, dear, so much, loved I not honor more.’”

“What a lot of wank you posh types throw around.” Maddie laughed. “That honor crap went out with the knights in shining armor.” Had he just said he loved her? As a declaration it was pretty oblique, but that didn’t stop her heart from going pitty-pat.

“The quote applies to you, not me. You chose honor when you refused to lie for me. I respect that.”

Maddie mulled that over. His words weren’t a declaration so much as a combination of forgiveness and apology. “You were being honorable, too, in your own way, by not turning in your brother even though he’d tried to kill you.”

“Hmm, least said about that, the better.”

“If he’s not found, he’ll steal again.”

“Then I’ll just have to stop him again.”

They finished the journey in silence, exchanging glances now and then, squeezing hands, saving the intimacy for when they were alone. Outwardly Maddie remained calm. Inside, she was so nervous she could hardly breathe. Finally they arrived and negotiated the lobby without encountering Mrs. Tamworth. The elevator doors closed behind them. Maddie pushed the button for her floor.

Fabian drew her into his arms. “I’ve missed you.”

“Why didn’t you call?” Immediately she regretted her words. She had to be strong. Letting him go again when this was over would take more courage than jumping off a sailboat into the midnight ocean. Back then she’d had a life jacket to buoy her up; now she would have nothing to cling to but her memories. Every moment had to be positive. “I mean, if I’d known you were coming I’d have dressed in something more alluring.”

He smiled down at her retro skirt and blouse with its Peter Pan collar. “I’m selfish enough to prefer that not everyone knows exactly how lovely you are underneath.” He backed her into a corner of the elevator and undid her top button, pushing back the flowered cotton to reveal a voluptuous breast cupped in red lace. “My, my. What happened to Miss Moo-loney?”

Maddie laughed, caught between nerves, exhilaration and the heat pulsing through her. Her skin had peeled where she’d been sunburned and his fingertips tenderly brushed the sensitive new layer. His hips and legs crowded her as his mouth found hers. Then she was reaching into his hair, pulling him closer.

The elevator came to a halt.
Ding.
The doors opened.

“Well, I never!” said a shrill voice. “Pixie, have you ever seen such a disgusting display?” Shirley Tamworth glared at Maddie. The small white bundle of fluff in her arms yapped fiercely. “I’m going to speak to the superintendent about your behavior.”

Maddie pushed Fabian away and without hurry straightened her blouse. She turned to Shirley and drew herself up to her full height. “Speak to whoever you wish. Shout it from the rooftops for all I care. Maddie Maloney was kissing a man in the elevator. Whoop-de-frickin’ do!”

With that, she sailed out, nose in the air. Elated, she burst into giggles as the doors slid shut on Mrs. Tamworth with her mouth hanging open and Pixie whining piteously.

“The worm has turned,” Fabian observed with amusement as Maddie unlocked her apartment door.

“That’s right.” She cocked a brow at him. “So don’t mess with me.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” He followed her inside, glancing around as she turned on lights in the lounge room. The framed cover art from
Cobra Trap
had pride of place on the wall beside the bookshelf. Fabian stopped to look at it. “That wasn’t there before, was it?”

“My father gave it to me just before you whisked me off to Hamilton Island.” Maddie slipped her hand into Fabian’s, basking in the glory of his tall handsome figure.
Modesty Blaise, eat your heart out.

“Al gave it to you?” Fabian said, one eyebrow climbing.

“It got ‘lost’ while being transferred from a private collector to an art gallery. There was a small article in the newspaper about it. When I got home, I paid the owner anonymously in cash plus twenty percent. It was the only way I could think of to make amends without getting my father in trouble.”

“While keeping the painting.”

She threw Fabian a sheepish glance. “I really like it.”

He laughed. “Any other fallout from your little adventure? Police, apartment superintendent?”

“Nothing to speak of.” Maddie slid her arms around his neck. “My bedroom, now.” She lifted her face for his kiss, eyes closing in anticipation. Something soft and furry brushed against her ankles and meowed plaintively.

Fabian disengaged from Maddie to pick up Jinx and carry her to the open window. Jinx blinked balefully, then leaped gracefully onto a branch of the tree outside. Fabian reached into Maddie’s skirt pocket, found her cell phone and switched it off. He walked back to the kitchen and took her landline off the hook. Then he removed his suit jacket and draped it over the back of the couch.

Maddie carried a kitchen chair out to the front door and wedged it beneath the knob. That ought to keep her father out.

Once in her bedroom Maddie stalled. After weeks of fantasizing about making love with him, she found herself swallowing hard. “I’m not very good at this.”

“Says who?” He started undoing the buttons on her blouse.

She stilled his hands. “I’ve never gotten much out of lovemaking. You can dress me up in tight gowns with cleavage down to my navel and paint my face like a drag queen, but inside I’m still a nerd.”

Fabian touched her cheek. “Nerds enjoy sex too.”

“Do they?” she said quietly. “I never have particularly. I think maybe I’m frigid or something.”

“It’ll be different with me, I promise.”

“You don’t understand,” Maddie blurted out. “I don’t want to disappoint you. Because then you wouldn’t…”
Like me anymore.

Fabian met her anxious gaze with calm assurance. “There is nothing you could do to disappoint me. If you’re saying no because you don’t want me, that’s one thing. But for heaven’s sake, don’t say no because you’re afraid I won’t be satisfied.”

If she’d thought letting him go was hard, letting him in was even harder. “I want so much to please you.”

Fabian kissed her gently on the eyes, the cheeks, the neck. “Pleasing you is what will give me pleasure. If I don’t satisfy you that will be my fault, not yours.”

She didn’t doubt his sincerity or his ability as a lover. But what if, in spite of his best efforts she still didn’t…get there? If he couldn’t make her feel, no one could. And that was too terrible to contemplate.

“Do you want to do this?” he asked when she remained silent.

The only thing she really knew was that if she didn’t take what he offered, she would regret it to the end of her days. “Yes.”

Lifting her hands, she let her blouse drop from her shoulders. The slight chill in the air brought tiny bumps to her bare skin. He kissed her, his hands skimming her hips, unzipping her skirt, pushing it down to tangle around her ankles. She stood nearly naked before him. His heated gaze drank in her curving breasts, narrow waist and flaring hips adorned by only a lacy red push-up bra and thong.

Maddie stepped out of her clothes and kicked them aside. Then grabbed Fabian by the shirt front and pulled him close.

Fabian’s eyes gleamed at her transformation. He removed her bra and cupped her breasts, rolling her nipples beneath his thumbs. Sensation rippled through her. An ache started deep inside. Lowering his mouth, he began to suck.

Maddie wanted to touch him too. She pushed him away a little so she could unbutton his shirt. Crisp white cotton parted, revealing the tanned muscular chest she spent her nights dreaming about.

There was tension in his hands as he unzipped and removed his pants. Urgency when he flung them on the floor instead of folding them neatly. Cursing as his normally adroit fingers fumbled over his cuff links.

Finally he flung the shirt away and pulled her into his arms. Maddie moaned as his hot skin slid against hers. Her hands moved over him, testing the hard muscles, the breadth of his chest, the puckered skin of the scar on his arm. She discovered another scar on the back of his shoulder and one between his ribs. She hugged him fiercely, hating that any inch of him should be wounded.

Fabian picked her up and tumbled her onto the bed. Kneeling over her, he covered her face and neck with kisses as his long elegant fingers slipped her thong down over her ankles, leaving her completely unclothed. For a moment Maddie stiffened, vulnerable and uncertain. Then under the blazing ardor of his gaze, something inside her dissolved and liquefied. Abandoning modesty she stretched sensually on the soft eiderdown quilt.

He tugged off his knit boxers. His size and strength deepened the throbbing ache between her legs. Moaning, she pressed her hands to herself, arching her back and opening to him. This was a new Maddie, one she didn’t recognize. If he didn’t touch her soon, she’d explode. “Fabian, come.”

The bed creaked as he lowered himself onto her, covering her with his body. His hands shook as he touched her. His eyes burned as he feathered kisses over her face and neck. Finally she took his jaw between her hands and captured his mouth. He deepened the kiss and her body softened beneath him so that he sank into her, penetrating and filling her. Her hips strained upward, taking him deeper inside. He began to thrust. Maddie moved with him, every nerve ending on fire, every inch of her throbbing.

And then, inexplicably, he stopped.

“What’s the matter?” she panted, still straining against him. “Isn’t it good?”

“I’m just slowing down.” He tormented her sensitive nipples with his tongue. “I want this to be the best you’ve ever had.”

“It already is.” She fisted great clumps of quilt in her frustration. With a heave, she flipped him off her and rolled on top. With her hands on his chest, she leaned back, enjoying the way his eyes lit at the sight of her naked breasts swaying above him.

Their bodies were slick with perspiration, their muscles taut. Gripping her butt, he pulled her onto him, sliding home with a guttural sound of appreciation. She rotated her hips, experimenting with speed and pressure to find just…the…right…spot. Her eyes fell shut and the strength trickled out of her as pleasure began to spiral up and up…and over the top.

Without warning, she found herself on her back again. Fabian took her with a deep, strong thrust that made her gasp. Her first impulse was to struggle, and when she discovered how good that felt, she wriggled some more. Their breath came shallow and fast, punctuated by the soft slap of their bodies coming together.

Her world contracted to Fabian, to his eyes locked with hers, his muscles taut and hard and slick, his body moving above her, inside her.

He imprisoned both her wrists in one hand and with the other stroked her until she was climbing toward another climax. He wasn’t letting her take over again, and his dominance became an added thrill. But it wasn’t his expert technique that filled her with exhilaration and joy; it was his eyes, open and raw, hiding nothing, giving everything.

Unbearable heat and tension built between them. Involuntary moans ripped from her throat. He whispered hot wicked things, shameless things that took her up and up, higher and higher until she shattered, his name on her tongue, his groan of release echoing in her ears…

When she came to again, Fabian was still lying on top of her, a welcome weight blanketing her with warmth. In the soft light of her bedroom, cocooned in the warm aftermath of intimacy, he stirred and kissed her hair, stroking it back from her forehead. “All right?”

A sudden unexpected lump in her throat made it impossible to answer. She nodded, a few warm tears leaking down her cheeks, evidence of the love she could never speak aloud but only hold quietly next to her heart. Forever. Because she knew without a doubt that no one would ever make her feel like this again.

He rolled off her and she lay on her side. For a long moment she just gazed at him, still awed by what had just happened between them.

A small smile played around the corners of his mouth. “You’re beautiful, do you know that? And so sexy. In fact, this afternoon has proved conclusively that you are the hottest woman on the face of the planet.”

“Yeah, right,” she drawled, pleased he’d say so even if it weren’t true. Then it occurred to her that, just possibly, for him she really was the sexiest woman. The thought was powerful enough to shift her universe. She touched his lips. “No one’s ever made me feel like this before.”

His smile turned so smug she almost laughed. Once more he was Fabian the Arrogant Suit. But somehow in a good way.