Come Lie With Me - Linda Howard [45]
She sagged into a chair, crumpling the flesh-colored teddy in her lap. “It’s no use,” she muttered. “It’ll never work.”
Serena eyed the teddy. “If he’s human, it will.”
“All of these props are useless, if the actors can’t perform,” Dione said in self-disgust. “I don’t know how to seduce anyone, least of all a man who’s been around as much as Blake has!”
Serena’s eyes widened. “Are you serious? The way you look, you don’t have to seduce anyone; all you have to do is stand still and let him get to you.”
“Thanks for the pep talk, but it’s not that easy,” Dione hedged, unable to tell Blake’s sister the entire story. “Some men like my looks, but I know that Blake’s always preferred blondes. I’m not his type at all.”
“How you can look in a mirror and still worry about not being blond is more than I can understand,” Serena said impatiently. “You’re…sultry. That’s the only word I can think of to describe the way you look. If he hasn’t made a pass at you yet, it’s because you haven’t given him a go-ahead signal. Those clothes will do it for you. Then just let things develop naturally.”
If only they would! Dione thought as she paid for the teddy and a bottle of heady perfume that the saleswoman had sworn drove her husband mad with lust.
She didn’t want Blake mad with lust, just aroused. What a dilemma for her to be in! Life was just full of little ironies, but she couldn’t find this one very amusing.
Blake wasn’t in evidence when they arrived back at the house, and Dione could only be thankful for that. She didn’t want him to have any idea of the extent of her shopping trip. Angela silently helped Dione and Serena carry all the packages up to Dione’s room, and when asked about Blake’s whereabouts, the woman smiled shyly and murmured, “In the gym,” before quickly walking out.
Serena gave a little laugh after Angela had left the room. “She’s something, isn’t she? I think Blake picked his entire staff on the basis of how much they talk, or rather, don’t talk.” Before Dione could make any comment, Serena changed the subject. “Do you mind if I stay for dinner? I know you probably want to start your campaign, but Richard told me this morning that he’d be late coming home tonight, and I’m at loose ends.”
Far from being anxious to begin her “campaign,” Dione was dreading it, and gladly asked Serena to stay. As she usually had dinner with them, Blake might think something was off if all of a sudden she stopped the practice.
While Serena went to the den to entertain herself, Dione made her way down to the pool and entered the gym. She stopped abruptly. Blake was on the bars, balancing himself with his hands, while Alberta was on her knees, moving his feet in walking motions. From the looks of him, he’d been hard at it since she’d left with Serena that morning, and poor Alberta was frazzled, too. Blake wore only a brief pair of blue gym shorts, and he’d tied his shirt around his forehead to keep the sweat from getting into his eyes. He was literally dripping as he strained, trying to force his muscles to do his bidding. Dione knew that he had to be in a great deal of pain; it was revealed in the rigid set of his jaw, his white lips. The fact that he’d enlisted Alberta’s help instead of waiting for her to return said something about his determination, but she was afraid that he’d tried to do too much. He’d paid for his excesses the night before with agonizing cramps, and she had the feeling that tonight would be a repeat.
“Time for the whirlpool,” she said easily, trying not to sound anxious. Alberta looked up with an expression of acute relief, and achingly got to her feet. Blake, on the other hand, shook his head.
“Not yet,” he muttered. “Another half hour.”
Dione signaled to Alberta, who quietly left the room. Taking a towel from the stack she always kept handy, she went up to him and wiped his face, then his shoulders and chest. “Don’t push it so hard,