A Spear of Summer Grass - By Deanna Raybourn Page 0,94
capable, quiet Dora hands, were balled into fists at her sides, and she was flushed.
“You shouldn’t let your temper get the better of you,” I told her. “It makes your complexion go blotchy.”
She took a step forward. “I mean it, Delilah. You can joke all you want and pretend nothing is serious. But other people have feelings, too, you know. And those feelings can run quite deep.”
I folded my arms. “Whose feelings are we talking about? Helen’s? Because Rex seems to be fairly far down on her list of people to do these days. And if he comes sniffing around me, maybe it’s because he’s a little lonely, have you ever thought of that?”
The colour in her face ebbed a little. “What are you saying? Have you started an affair with Rex already?”
“Of course not.” My teeth snapped hard on the words. She was pushing me past even my endurance. “And I don’t intend to. We’re just friends—not that it’s any of your business. But if I did, I don’t think it would be the worst thing anyone has ever done. They have an open marriage.”
“People always say they have an open marriage when they’re trying to justify their adultery.”
“What do you want from me, Dora? You know what I am. You’ve known me longer than anyone and you know I do as I please. Leopards don’t change their spots.”
I walked away from her then, leaving her to oversee the destruction of the cannabis field. I could feel her eyes boring into me as I left.
We didn’t speak the rest of that day, but in the evening a messenger came with a handwritten invitation from Helen. I shoved it back into the envelope but not before Dora had spotted the handwriting.
“Is that a summons?” she asked coldly.
“She’s having a party tomorrow and I am invited.”
“Just you?” There was an ugly note of triumph in her voice and I knew she was hoping that Helen planned to put me straight about any possible involvement with Rex. Of course, I wasn’t planning an involvement with Rex, but it was easy to see how our friendship could be misconstrued. True, he was older, but still handsome and with a vitality that could easily put men half his age to shame. And Rex was solid as Stonehenge. He was established, with an air of command that put him head and shoulders above most men. Kit paled in comparison, and although my afternoons with him were deeply pleasurable, even pleasure palls when it has nothing else going for it. As for Ryder...I pushed all thoughts of him aside, as I had been doing since he left on safari. There was no point in thinking about Ryder. No, Rex was a friend. Under other circumstances, he could have been more, but I was behaving perfectly well where he was concerned. It irritated me to no end that Dora refused to see that. I didn’t like having to explain myself to anyone, least of all a wet rag like Dodo.
I smoothed the envelope and slipped it into my pocket.
“Yes. Just me.”
* * *
The next evening Kit came to collect me before the party. I was still dressing when he arrived, tying on my black silk ribbon. I wore Moses’ bracelet to add a touch of the exotic, and I had varnished my nails a poison-green to match my beaded dress. My dancing shoes were walking sin—the highest heels I owned and designed to make a man look twice. Kit gave a low whistle as he stood in the doorway of my bedroom.
“Didn’t anybody ever tell you it’s bad manners to invite yourself into a lady’s boudoir?”
He held up the dangling ends of his bow tie. “I never was very good with these things. Help.”
“You’re thirty-five, Kit. How have you never managed to learn how to tie a bow tie?”
He shrugged. “Rebellion against the establishment. Besides, I usually wear a cravat. Much less fuss and you can always tie someone up with it,” he said, leering a little.
I slid the tie out from under his collar. “And you think you can’t have fun with a bow tie? Fine, I’ll teach you how to tie it. But pay close attention.”
I propped my foot on the dressing stool and slid my dress up slowly. I slipped the tie behind my thigh and brought the ends forward.
“Now, you see how one end is longer than the other? Bring that across, and over and up from behind. Like this.”