Sandra Brown - Smoke Screen

“Toast.”

“I brought some fruit.”

She approached the table and saw a plastic basket of strawberries and a cantaloupe. She picked up the berries and carried them to the sink. “These look delicious.” She turned on the faucet and rinsed the berries.

“I got you some clothes,” he said. “I don’t know if they’ll fit.” She set the basket of berries on the counter to drain. He extended her several of the sacks. “Don’t expect too much.”

Curious, she peered into one of the bags. “Thank you. I’ll go change into something now.”

She had almost reached the bedroom when he said, “Are you on the pill?”

She came back around. “What?”

He frowned as though to say You heard me. Are you going to make me repeat it?

She made a noncommittal rolling motion of her shoulders.

He propped his hands on his hips. “Is that a yes or a no?”

Britt liked neither his stance nor his tone. “It’s a none of your damn business.”

“Unfortunately, as of last night it is.”

A tide of anger surged through her. “Listen to me, Mr. Gannon. Of the men I’ve slept with, most were flattered, some were grateful, all were satisfied, but none felt unfortunate.”

“How nice for you. Are you protected or not?”

“Either way, it’s no concern of yours. It won’t be. Ever. You’ve got nothing to worry about, okay?”

Then she turned on her heel and stalked into the bedroom, soundly closing the door behind her. Still feeling the simmer of anger in her cheeks, she unceremoniously dumped the contents of the sacks onto the bed, prepared to hate everything.

Actually, the selections were pretty good.

Everything was white, black, or denim. Mixable basics. The kinds of garments you’d pack for a casual weekend trip. She wondered if Hallie had taught him that fashion sense.

She ripped the tags off a set of underwear and put on the panties and bra, then dressed in a pair of white jeans and a black T-shirt, white sneakers with silver leather trim. Not bad at all. The sizes were either spot on or not too far off, even the undies. It made her flush hotly to think that, if he’d bought these items yesterday, he might not have been as accurate.

Along with the clothes were some basic toiletries, including body lotion, a lip gloss, a compact of blusher, and a tube of mascara. For added confidence, she applied them before returning to the kitchen, where he was gutting the cantaloupe. He glanced at her over his shoulder but didn’t remark on the new clothing.

“I feel more like myself now,” she said. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He reached around her to take a bowl from the cabinet, but he wouldn’t look her in the eye.

“Is it going to be the purple elephant in the room?”

He hacked into the hapless melon with a butcher knife, slicing it quickly and efficiently. “What?”

“Don’t play dumb, Raley. Are we going to act like adults and talk about what happened last night, or are we going to ignore it?”

“We already talked about it. Last night.”

“That was talking about it? You grunted a few syllables and turned out the light.”

He shrugged. “You didn’t leave me much to say. All that mumbo jumbo you spouted was-”

“You thought it was mumbo jumbo?”

He set down the knife and turned to her. “Well, what we did was either that, what you said, or it was two people just wanting to hump each other. You pick.”

“You don’t have to be so crude.”

“You don’t have to be so analytical.” He picked up the knife and went back to slicing the cantaloupe.

“I thought you would rather it be analyzed,” she said. “You’re the one who vowed he’d never touch me, remember? Then a few hours later you were-”

“Fucking you like there was no tomorrow. But there is a tomorrow. Today is tomorrow,” he said, making stabbing motions toward the floor with the knife. “And I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Except to reassure yourself that there won’t be any consequences to you nine months from now.”

“Aren’t you worried? I could have an STD.”

“You? Careful, paranoid-about-protection Raley Gannon? Not a chance. I think I’m safe.” He turned away, but she caught his elbow and brought him back around. “My analysis is as much for your benefit as for mine. It relieves us of responsibility. It lets you off the hook for having a woman that Jay had first, that Jay had only a few nights ago.”

His jaw turned to iron. “You said he didn’t.”

“I said I didn’t think so.”

“You were emotionally hopped up the night he died, same as last night. How do you know you didn’t climb all over him the way you did me?”

“What if I did? What do you care? Why are you so hung up on that? Because of Hallie?”

He pushed the bowl of melon toward her. “Do you want any of this? If you do, eat up. We’ve got work to do.”

She stared up into his newly shaven face and saw in his expression a steely resolve not to take this conversation any further. Fine. She didn’t want to talk about it, either. He could believe what he wanted. She knew why she’d thrown herself at him.

Remembering it now made her burn with embarrassment. But that outpouring of lust was excusable because of her experience in the river. That was the only reason she’d behaved as she had. She hoped he understood that.

She hoped she did.

She bit into a slice of the melon, talking as she chewed. “Are you going to tell me about the fire now?”

“Later. First I’m going over to Delno’s and see what’s on the news this morning. See if they’ve found your car.”

“Do you think they have?”

“Doubtful. The guys who pushed you off the road surely didn’t report it. While I’m gone you can-”

“I’m not staying here by myself.”

“Why not?”

“Somebody tried to kill me last night!”

“So they think you’re dead. And even if they don’t, they don’t know you’re with me.”

“They might.”

“They couldn’t.”

“I’m going with you.”

“It’s a long walk. It’s hot. You’ll get your new sneakers dirty. And Delno’s place isn’t exactly a garden spot.”

“If there’s news about me, I want to hear it firsthand.”

He stared at her with vexation, then shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

He took two bottles of water from the fridge and handed one to her, then tramped out, she behind him. They thrashed through the woods, where there were bugs and nettles. Her new sneakers did get dirty, but she didn’t utter a word of complaint.

If there was a trail, it was undetectable to her, but Raley knew where the worst of the briars grew. He gave wide berth to a dead tree where yellow jackets had made a nest and said, “Mind the gator,” when they walked along the edge of a swamp where there was a thick grove of cypress trees. Their knobby knees poked up out of the cloudy water like stalagmites. The alligator was completely submerged except for his malevolent eyes.

By the time Raley announced, “We’re here,” she had sweated through her new T-shirt.

He’d warned her that Delno’s place was no garden spot, but he hadn’t told her it was a dump ground surrounding an odd-looking structure balanced on stilts but bolstered by all the stuff crammed into the crawl space.

Raley led her through an obstacle course of junk-some of the rusted objects she couldn’t even identify-and up a set of rickety wood steps. Animal pelts and reptile skins were tacked to the exterior walls. For decoration? she wondered. Or were they patches?

The three hounds were dozing on the small porch. They must have recognized her and Raley’s smells because they didn’t bark, or even move, when they approached, although one whined when Raley nudged him away from the door.