Tread Softly (24 page)

"He
does?"

"C'mon,
Cady, you know how Rafe dotes on you," Gareth scoffed. "When he first
met you, he acted like a guy who'd just had a lobotomy." He laughed
loudly. "Remember, Gavin? He had just bought the Porsche and he would
never let anyone near it. Then one day after he met Cady, you and I were over
at his apartment in Georgetown admiring it. When I said—just joking, of course—that
it would be nice to borrow the car for the evening, Rafe just gave me a glazed
look and said, 'Sure, go ahead.'" Gareth threw back his head and laughed
harder.

"I
remember," Gavin said. "I asked him if he had lost his mind and he
mumbled, 'No, my heart.' Then his face turned beet red and he walked back into
his apartment."

"Did
he really do that?" Cady asked dreamily, her chin in her hands.

Gareth scowled
at her. "Damn it, Cady, don't be such a baby doll. You led Rafe around by
the nose and he loved it."

"No!"

"Yes,"
the twins chorused.

Later,
when they rose to go, they both kissed Cady on the cheek and told her to wear her
prettiest dress that night.

"Always
dress well for a hanging, Cady." Gareth gave her a look so much like
Rafe's mischievous expression that she caught her breath.

That
evening before Rafe arrived home, she was in the tub soaking in an exotic
essence he had brought her from India, where he'd gone on a fact-finding trip.
Unlike many of his political colleagues, Rafe had paid his own way and not
charged the trip to the taxpayers. At the time there had been a decided
coolness between him and Cady, and though he had given her a perfunctory invitation
to join him, she had felt that he didn't really want her to come.

She stood in her
terry-cloth robe, a damp towel arranged like a turban around her hair to keep
it wet while the conditioner worked. Though she scrutinized each formal dress
she owned, in her own mind there was no doubt what she would wear that evening—even
though her prudent self told her to forget it.

She
pulled the chocolate-brown sheath from the closet and held it up in front of
her. It was watered silk, strapless, with a matching stole in the same fabric.
There were tiny, deep violet flowers sewn at the breast and along the top of
the deep ruffle that edged the hem. Each of the small violet flowers had tiny
brown hearts in the center. The dress was dramatic and had nothing to do with
Christmas. But Emmett had an unwritten rule that the women who attended his
Christmas soirees wear either green or red. The decorations at Durra would
echo those colors.

Cady
rubbed her body with perfumed lotion prior to donning the brown bikini panties
that were the only garment she would wear under the figure-hugging silk. Her
hair was left bouncing clean and fresh on her bare shoulders. Deeming the
dress too modern to coordinate with her antique amethysts, she decided to leave
her ears bare. She chose to wear a thin gold chain around her neck as her only
adornment. She would take the stole even though she knew that Emmett kept the
house quite hot. Emmett thought that energy conservation was for other people to
worry about.

She
was turning to look at her back in the three-way mirror when Rafe entered from
the connecting bathroom, his shirt studs still undone, two boxes in his hands.

"I
called Mrs. Lacey to see what dresses you had put out to decide among for tonight."
He grinned at her. "When she mentioned that one of the dresses was neither
green nor red, I took a chance you might pick it. Rebel." He handed her
the larger of the two boxes.

As
Cady lifted the cluster of tiny purple orchids from the box, she oohed her
delight.

Rafe
let his eyes rove over her in slow appreciation. "Where will you pin them,
love? It seems there's a great deal of you showing." He let his forefinger
trace the low-cut neckline, lingering with obvious pleasure on her creamy skin.
"You're so very beautiful."

"I'll
pin them at my waist," Cady breathed, feeling giddy because of the look in
his eyes.

"Will
you?" he drawled, his finger gentle in the valley between her breasts.
"I'd rather stay home altogether and discuss where the flowers should
go."

"You
would?" Cady swayed toward him, then paused, sighing. "We can't. Your
father will be expecting us, and my father will be here soon as well."

Rafe
snapped his fingers. "That's what I wanted to tell you." He leaned
forward and kissed her nose. "You're too distracting. Your father is here
now. I knew what time his plane was coming in, so I picked him up on the way
home. He's changing now."

"Rafe,"
Cady chided him as he rained butterfly kisses on her cheek, "you should
have told me at once."

"Yes,"
he muttered, his attention seeming fixed on her ear. Then he jerked back from
her. "That's the other thing I wanted to show you." He lifted his
hand to caress her hair. "I didn't remember you having jewelry for this
dress, soooo—I called Cartier's today..." He grinned like a boy as he
popped open the other box in front of her.

Cady
stared at the drop earrings that looked like braid— braid made up of amethysts.
There was also a braided necklace of the same amethysts. She reached up to remove
the gold chain, but Rafe's hands were there before hers. He fastened the
necklace, then stood back to let her insert the pierced earrings. She looked at
herself, then at the image of Rafe peering over her shoulder. "I love
them."

"They
match your eyes... but they aren't as pretty." Rafe slipped his hands
around her and pressed his lips to her neck. He let out a gusty breath. "I
suppose we have to go this evening, but I tell you now, love, if it weren't for
pulling the rug out from under Bruno, we'd be staying home, even with your
father here and invited to his party."

"Aye,
aye, sir," Cady said with a mock salute.

"Brat."
Rafe swatted her backside, then strode toward his own room, calling behind him
to Cady to check if there was ice to make her father a drink before they left
for Durra.

Trock had seen to the ice and had already handed Professor
Nesbitt a glass of wine when Cady entered the room. She smiled as her father
talked to the two dogs that lay sprawled at his feet.

"What do you think of those two now?" Cady walked
into her father's arms.

"You'd
never recognize either of them from the rag-and-bone condition they were once
in." The professor sipped his wine, then nodded his thanks to Trock, who
turned at once to fix a glass of mineral water for Cady.

"Trock."
Rafe strode into the room, looking vital, strong, and very handsome, Cady
thought. "I want you to accompany us this evening and bring the
dogs," Rafe said calmly, making his father-in-law's brows arch and his
wife gasp.

"You
can't," Cady pointed out. "Emmett hates dogs. So does Bruno."

Rafe grinned at her. "So they do. And so does Greeley."

 CHAPTER
TEN

Durra
was a Christmas fairyland of green and red. Green and red lights festooned the
trees, the hedges, the colonnades, the windows. A huge spruce at the curve of
the drive was draped in green and white with red. The rest of the decorations
were all red and green.

"You'll be
the belle of the ball, my love," Rafe whispered to Cady as she hesitated
on the fan-shape steps leading to the front door.

"I'll
stick out like a sore thumb," Cady gulped, glad of his hand at her back as
they stepped into the foyer, which was also ablaze with green and red. Her
father stepped forward first and shook Emmett's hand. He bent over Lee Terris's
hand in a courtly manner. If he looked surprised at the effusive welcome the
twins gave him, he quickly masked it.

"That's
something I have to tell you, later," Cady muttered to Rafe. "Bruno
and the twins."
Rafe nodded, his face grim.

Then Emmett was
looking at Cady, his eyes widening
i
n shock. Before he could speak, Cady
grasped his hand, shook it, said, "Nice to be here," and turned to
Lee Terris. Emmett was still looking at her, open-mouthed, as his son wrung his
limp hand.

"My dear
Cady." Lee looked pained. "Has no one ever told you that we wear
green and red at Durra?" She was dressed in red velvet.

"Has no one
ever told you that being repetitive is dull?" Cady retorted. She gave Lee a
wide smile and patted her on the arm, then moved toward the twins, who were
grinning at the red-faced Lee.

When
Cady heard Emmett bellow behind her, she braced herself and turned slowly.

"No,
damn it, Rafe, you can't bring those mutts into this house. And what's he doing
here?" Emmett fulminated, the angry red of his face fitting right in with
the decorations. "What? What surprise are you talking about? What do you
mean I'll understand later?" He glowered at his eldest son. "I don't
like it. You'd better make sure neither of those mutts chews up my
guests." He threw an angry glance Cady's way, then glared at the placid
animals who were sitting on either side of Trock as he stood behind Rafe.

Since the long
guest list for the Durra Christmas get-together made it more a mob scene than a
party, Emmett was soon distracted from the dogs. A ten-piece band provided
music, though most of the guests would wait until after dinner to dance. Still,
a few couples had eschewed cocktails and were on the solarium floor swaying to
the big-band sound.

"Shall we,
Mrs. Densmore?" Rafe kissed her ear.

"I thought
you would want to talk to some of your—" Cady was delighted when Rafe
interrupted her by sweeping her onto the dance floor. Her heart was fluttering
wildly when he began to sing the words to "Everything I Have Is
Yours" into her ear, his sure baritone caressing and deep.

"I like it
when you sing to me, Rafe." She leaned back to look up into his face.

"Do
you, angel?" His eyes roved over her. "I like it when you do anything
to me... except ignore me, of course." He pressed her closer. "Did I
tell you that you're the most beautiful woman here?" He swung her away
from his body as the tempo changed, then brought her back, dipped her, and
swung her away again.

Breathless,
Cady laughed up at him. "I never ignore you."

Rafe nodded, then caught her close to him again, concern
etched deep on his face. "I forgot for a moment. Is it all right for you
to dance fast like this?"

"Of
course it is." Cady twirled around him. "Dancing is good
exercise."

"Don't you
whirl like that again. Your legs showed clear up to the thighs," Rafe
growled, catching her close as the music died.

Dinner was a noisy gathering of round tables of ten each
that filled the ballroom to overflowing. The centerpieces were spruce greens
and red carnations. Some tables had red candles; others had green. Cady was
seated at a table with Rob Ardmore. At a nearby table sat Todd Leacock, his
smile knowing when he caught her eye. It was all Cady could do to keep a bland
look on her face.

"That's
Leacock." Cady smiled at Rob as though she were telling him a joke.
"The one with the cranberry-color dinner clothes."

Rob smiled and lifted his glass to her to acknowledge that
he knew whom she meant. "Bruno isn't here yet." Rob's smile widened.
"I sure hope he gets here soon."

"He
will." Cady's voice held more confidence than she felt. She had a shivery
feeling that Bruno had somehow discovered their plans and was at that very
moment winging his way to Katmandu.

Later Cady sipped her after-dinner Cointreau and listened
to Emmett relate how well the merger between Densmore Ltd., a British
affiliate, and Werrings Electronics had gone, that profits were up at every
quarter.

Cady
couldn't help but think her father-in-law looked like one of the strutting
peacocks that roamed the front lawn at Durra. She had to fight back a laugh as
his friend Greeley wiped crumbs from his portly front and announced that he,
too, was proud of his efforts in the past year. Much of the legislation that
his group of lobbyists had backed had been pushed through Congress.

"Great
country, America." Greeley belched delicately.

Cady could feel
Rafe looking her way, but she knew that if she looked at him she would laugh
out loud.

Feeling
more at ease now, Cady was not prepared for Bruno's entrance into the room. One
moment she was sipping her liqueur and listening to Gavin talk about a course
that was giving him trouble, then she looked up, choking on the hot, sweet
liquid. Bruno! As he stood in the doorway leading to the hall, to Cady he
looked like a vulture in a tuxedo.