Iris Johansen - A Summer Smile

“I think so too.” Pandora’s grin lit her face with breathless beauty. “You can’t back out now. It will be fine. I’ll make sure he doesn’t get in your way and I’ll do all the cleaning myself. I’ll keep all the servants out of your room and get a couple of blankets and bunk in here with him during the night. Philip assigned me a guest room next door but it doesn’t have a tub like this or I would have kept Androcles in there. He won’t be any trouble at all.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” Zilah made a face. “Now, let me look at your arm and see what your harmless little pussy cat has done to you.”

Pandora silently held her right arm out. There was a hand towel tied around her forearm in a make-shift bandage. When Zilah removed it she inhaled sharply. There were several deep claw marks on the girl’s thin arm, three of which were still bleeding. Zilah shook her head. “Just a little scratch,” she murmured caustically as she slid back the mirror above the vanity to reveal a medicine chest. “You should have disinfected those claw marks right away. For a doctor’s daughter you’re very ignorant of primary first aid.”

“My father and I don’t get along very well. He never got around to teaching me much about anything,” Pandora said with a shrug. “He’s never liked me.”

“Sometimes it’s difficult to tell if someone likes you or not,” Zilah said gently as she took a roll of gauze and a bottle of antiseptic from the shelf and closed the sliding mirrored doors. “People aren’t always easy to read.”

“I can tell,” Pandora said fiercely. Her eyes lowered to watch Zilah carefully wash the scratches. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t care anyway.”

Zilah opened the antiseptic. “This will sting.”

Pandora inhaled sharply but made no other indication of pain as Zilah applied the antiseptic to the raw wound. Her dark eyes were narrowed intently on Zilah’s face. “ You like me. I can tell that too.”

“Yes, I like you.” Zilah looked up from winding the gauze about Pandora’s thin, wiry arm. “Which only goes to prove I have temporary attacks of insanity. I have an idea you’re going to bring me nothing but trouble.”

“I like you too,” Pandora said awkwardly. “At first, I thought you were pretty flighty. But you’re not afraid of tiger cubs, or blood, or even Philip. The only thing you’re afraid of are those nightmares.”

“I imagine you could dredge up a few more things that I’m nervous about.” Zilah stepped back after taping the gauze bandage firmly in place. “If those wounds start to fester, we’ll have to go to your father for antibiotics.”

“We’ll see,” Pandora said noncommittally. “It will probably heal all right. I’m pretty tough.”

With a streak of vulnerability a mile wide, Zilah thought. “I’ll change the dressing every day until we see how it’s doing,” she said firmly as she opened the mirrored panel and replaced the first aid materials on the shelf. “I’m pretty tough too.” Then, as if to belie the statement, she suddenly swayed and had to grab the counter of the vanity to keep from falling. “Oh, damn!”

Pandora’s arm was swiftly around her waist, steadying her. “What’s wrong?” Her brow was creased in a troubled frown. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Zilah said, taking a deep breath. “I guess I’ve been on my feet too long. I forgot all about being a convalescent for a little while.” She made a face. “Unfortunately, nature has a way of reminding you. I was stung by a scorpion yesterday morning and I can’t seem to get my strength back.”

“I didn’t know you’d been ill.” Pandora’s face was stricken. “Come on, I’ll help you get back to bed.” Pandora’s grip was surprisingly strong for so slight a girl and she was almost lifting instead of supporting Zilah as she whisked her across the room. “You should have told me. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you. Is that why Philip wanted me to act as your maid?”

“I imagine you were right the first time. I doubt if he was really concerned about me.”

“Probably not.” Pandora pushed her gently down on the bed and leaned forward to switch on the bedside lamp. “You just rest here and I’ll go get you something to eat.”

“You don’t need to bother. Daniel said he would bring me something after my nap. He should be here anytime now.”

“Then I’ll go find him and tell him not to bother. You can see him in the morning. You’re too weak to have to deal with visitors tonight.”

“I am?” Zilah asked blankly.

Pandora nodded with authority. “You need a good meal and an early night.” She scowled. “I’ll even brush your hair and help you put on your creams and junk. You wouldn’t want him to see you with all that slippery stuff all over you.”

“I use only a little moisturizer,” Zilah said absently. “And he’s seen me look a lot worse.”

Pandora’s eyes were speculative. “Is he the one you’re sleeping with? You don’t have to worry about my getting in the way. After you’re well again you won’t even know I’m around, but you shouldn’t have to worry about that sex stuff when you’re sick.”

“Thank you,” Zilah said meekly. “But Daniel and I are only friends. You won’t have to use such discretion. He’s probably the one who told Philip I needed a maid.”

“You’re not sleeping with either one of them?” Pandora shook her head. “How peculiar.”

Evidently in Pandora’s experience, good-looking women didn’t sleep alone. It wasn’t surprising with a man like Philip El Kabbar as a mentor. “Not really.” Zilah smothered a smile. “I understand it can be quite restful. I thought I’d try it. Merely as an experiment, you understand.”

“You’re laughing at me,” Pandora accused Zilah with an uncertain frown. “I don’t know if I like that.” Then she grinned mischievously. “Oh, what the hell, it’s no worse than what I was going to do to you.”

“Something worse than a tiger in my bathtub?” Zilah asked warily.

Pandora had turned and was striding swiftly toward the door. “Only if I found it was Philip you were sleeping with,” she said soothingly over her shoulder. “Otherwise I was going to forget all about it.”

“Forget about what?”

Pandora paused as she opened the door, and there was a touch of fierceness beneath the mischief in her eyes. “I was going to wait until you were in the middle of…” She paused delicately, and then came out with an obscene Anglo-Saxon term that caused Zilah’s eyes to widen in shock. “And then I was going to sneak in and drop Androcles on top of both of you.” She smiled with infinite satisfaction. “I’d say that would do the job of spoiling the mood.”

“I think you could count on it,” Zilah said faintly as she watched the door swing shut behind the girl. Throughout this entire weird encounter she had been feeling sympathy for Pandora in her passionate attachment for the sheikh. Now she began to wonder if she shouldn’t feel a bit sorry for Philip El Kabbar.

The meadow of wild poppies seemed to stretch into forever and beyond. The silken scarlet of the petals was still trembling beneath the weight of the crystal dew and the breeze of dawn whipped across them like the murmur of a lover.

“It’s beautiful.” Zilah’s voice was as hushed as the world around them. The sun was just rising above the tamarisk trees in the distance, streaking the sky with hazy pink and gold. “I’ve never seen such heavenly colors.” She lifted her face and let the cool breeze touch her cheeks, inundating her with the sheer sensual pleasure of sight, touch, and scent. She breathed in the fragrance of the rich earth blended subtly with the tamarisk and the poppy. It was so intoxicating, it almost made her dizzy. “Why didn’t you bring me here before?”