The Great Escape (27 page)

closed his eyes and brought down his mouth to drink caressingly from

her willing lips. Then he said with a thread of unsteady laughter,

'Deirdre, my mad darling girl, I love you quite passionately and

always will, and I probably would have gotten around to telling you

fairly soon, but did you have to chuck the whole bloody bundle right

out the window to prod me to it?'

Dee exploded into a breathless laugh and pressed her lips to him

again and again, and of course Mike was responding quite eagerly,

and the closeness and the wonderful warmth of him was everything

she'd known it would be. Then, leaning back against the curve of his

arm and laughing brilliantly up into his face, emotion making her

eyes almost impossibly black and blue and white against a pink flush

of happiness, she said, gurgling merrily, 'You've carried your

deduction admirably far, but you haven't reached the whole of it quite

yet.' He smiled involuntarily at her deliberate use of words which

brought to mind their last confrontation, now several weeks ago. 'At

first, several weeks ago, I was desperate enough to think of the Big

Gesture, but I thought about it more and more and I realised that I

really didn't want the money. It became a matter of— well, I just

wanted to be rid of the whole mess. The real gamble was how you'd

react to such an action, not necessarily the actual donations. I love

you. I don't want anything to come between us, ever. But I still don't

think you realise that I
like
to balance my own chequebook every

week, and I
like
to earn a pay-cheque by my own sweating effort. My

father's success was wonderful, but it's not my success, and I want to

taste success the striving, climbing, hard way, the real way. I'm not

the same person who so blithely skipped out of town all those months

ago. I'm different, and I'm older, and I've freely chosen a different

way of life, without pressure from you or anyone else.'

His finger ran over her face lightly, lovingly, and he breathed,

incredibly to her mind, disgustedly, 'At every turn, every single

damned time, I've managed to underestimate you. You wonderful,

lovable lunatic! Dare I assume that you're going to marry me, love, or

did you have something else in mind?'

She sent him a look. 'What do you think?' Her eyes twinkled at him as

he laughed, head thrown back, hair falling off his brow.

He moved off the floor, bent and slid his arms around her, and picked

her up as lightly as if she had been a child. Then he moved over to the

couch and sat down, firmly holding her against his chest as if he

would never let her go. Dee put her head down on his .shoulder, and

his arms tightened convulsively. 'I never want to let you go, never

want to see you walk out of my life,' he muttered, deep in his throat,

staring straight ahead. She held very still, instinctively recognising in

that low tone something important. 'Dee,' he whispered, and the

whispering was both a plea and a command, 'I need you. I need your

warmth and your gaiety, and your zest for adventure and life. I'm too

old for you.'

At that she moved in an instinctive protest, her intention-to deny it,

contradict what he'd say in that low, serious voice. He looked down at

her and held her quiet with his eyes.

'But I'm a selfish man, and always have been,' he continued,

self-mockery evident in his manner. 'And I'm not about to let you go.'

His green eyes were gently smiling at her, and her throat felt

constricted suddenly with emotion.

'Don't you know even now?' she whispered, her eyes a brilliant,

sparkling wet blue as she stared up at him. 'Don't you know that I

need you every bit as much, need your love? That without it, my life

is as barren as a desert?'

But Mike was shaking his head at that and smiling strangely. 'Oh, no.

No, you're one of those special people who never have a barren life,

because of the quality in them that makes them reach out and grasp

what there is in life with both eager hands.'

'And you're not?' Dee queried laughingly. 'I can't and won't believe

that! Not in your line of work, not in your profession! You've reached

out every bit as eagerly for that special life—and that's one of the

reasons why I love you so.'

'Yes,' he mused, leaning his head back on the couch, 'I've led a pretty

full life. I've had some experiences as a private investigator, let me

tell you! It was a good time.'

She stared at him, alarmed. 'You're—you're talking as if it's over,' she

managed to get out, hesitantly. His eyes slanted down to her

roguishly.

'It is,' he said simply, and waited for her explosion. Dee surprised him

yet again by simply staring, finally managing to get out something

that sounded quite strangled.

'I—don't understand,' she whispered.

His eyes looked amused, and it was a gentle amusement that caressed

her. 'Deirdre my sweet,' he murmured in a loving mockery, 'my line

of work has been rough, with its fair share of risks. I've done some

harrowing things in the last few years, not to mention running into a

burning building, nearly getting shot—twice, I believe—and fighting

for my life and yours in near-pitch darkness with two opponents.

Before I had only myself to think of, and now I have you. There's one

thing I never want for you to experience. I never want for you to get a

phone call, or a late night visit from kindhearted, reluctant policemen,

and that would be a possibility, if I didn't quit now. I love you—I

want to spend my life with you. Listen to what I'm saying, Dee.

They're simple words, but they have an overwhelming precedence in

my mind.'

He shook her up so. Her eyes really were blurred, as she looked away,

feeling somehow terribly sad and incredibly touched.

'I have money invested,' he said, continuing cheerfully after one

intense, quick scrutiny of her face and expression. 'It's a fair

amount—quite enough to draw an annual income from, in fact. After

you finish school and have a better idea of what direction your career

life is going to be heading in, I think we should consider traveling

around a bit. I've always wanted to have adventures overseas. Then

perhaps I can think about setting up a detective agency, and put my

administrative college courses to use.'

Dee began to brighten. 'That's an idea. I could be your secretary.'

'Can you type?'

'N—no.'

'We'll work on it,' he told her kindly, and laughed at her expression.

He pressed his lips to her forehead before continuing. 'You say you

want to taste success on your own steam. I think you've demonstrated

adequately this afternoon that money can't be your goal. Just suppose

you were to make a fortune on your own—what in the world would

you do with it?'

She ruefully grimaced and laughed. 'I just got rid of one headache and

here you are trying to give me another one! I really doubt that I would

do that—I'm the world's worst businessperson. In fact, I don't really

know what kind of success or lifestyle that I want to work for, yet! I

think I'll just be happy to be happy, no matter what I do. And I know,'

and she snuggled down closer to him, 'that I'm going to be happy. But

if by some bizarre chance I made a fortune in money, why --' her eyes

twinkled coyly up at his and slipped away, '—I guess I'd give it all

away and do it again.'

The swooping, laughing, unrestrained hug that she got from him at

that was so full of a wealth of joyous warmth and love that she

wordlessly knew she'd already found her fortune, and it was more

than enough for her. Mike grabbed her head, pulled her around, and

he started to kiss her strongly, hungrily, and she suddenly felt the

piercing ache that had been inspired by weeks without him. They

were both so totally swept away with their own wants and needs that

she felt more than a little out of control, and shaken.

He broke off kissing her, leaned his head into the hollow of her

slender neck and shoulder, one hand jerkily massaging her shoulder.

And then she felt him smile, felt his chest heave slightly, and she

smiled to herself, murmuring, 'What? What is it? Tell me.'

Mike turned his head and whispered into her ear, 'I must confess to

some ambitions, even though you are so singularly free from them.'

'Mm. What are they?' she asked, not really paying attention since his

hands were distracting her so deliciously. He brought his lips even

closer and delicately nipped her ear before whispering something into

her ear that made her eyes start open wide, her heart thud hard, and

she laughed breathlessly. 'You're kidding! Tonight? Oh, my, you are

an ambitious fellow, aren't you?'