Hidden Talents

  “I'll do my best, sir.”

  Roland had turned around to look at him, his eyes glittering with determination. “Of course you will do your best. A Ventress always does his best. You will be a credit to this family, Caleb.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And when the time comes,” Roland had concluded with quiet vehemence, “you will marry a good woman, a woman who is above reproach, one who will bring strong, clean bloodlines back into this family. You will choose a woman who is the exact opposite of the cheap bitch who bore you. Do you understand that, Caleb?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  A small, scratching sound on the veranda outside his bedroom broke into Caleb's thoughts. He pushed aside the memories of his eighteen birthday and rose from the bed.

  There was a soft, urgent knock on the French doors just as Caleb reached for the knob.

  “Caleb?” Serenity's voice was barely audible. “Are you in there?”

  He opened the door and found Serenity, dressed in a bathrobe and slippers, standing outside. She had her hair twisted up into a loose knot on top of her head. The style emphasized the graceful line of her neck. She was hugging herself against the cold.

  Caleb felt his insides grow warm and heavy at the sight of her. She was just what he needed to take his mind off the jewelry case. “Fancy meeting you here,” he said softly.

  “Can I come in? It's freezing out there.”

  “Be my guest.” He held the door open. “I wasn't expecting you.”

  “I want to talk to you.”

  Caleb arched one brow as he slowly closed the door. “Something wrong?”

  “I don't know. That's what I want you to tell me. I've got a few questions to ask you.” Serenity broke off as she caught sight of the jewelry case sitting on the bedside table. “What's that? It looks like a woman's jewelry box.”

  “It is. It belonged to my mother.”

  “Really?” Serenity went over to the box and picked it up. “It's beautiful.”

  “It's just cheap plastic.”

  “What does that matter?” Serenity examined the box with an air of excited wonder. “Your mother probably used it to hold things that were very important to her. I imagine it meant a lot to her, and it must mean a lot to you because it's something that belonged to her.”

  “I'm not the sentimental type.”

  Her smile was very knowing. “Of course you are. You're a very emotional sort of person. That was one of the things I liked about you right from the start.”

  “What you liked about me from the beginning was the fact that I could help you get your catalog business going.”

  She gave him an exasperated look. “What's wrong with you today? You've been in an absolutely lousy mood since we left the mountains.”

  “Sorry, I don't have much variety when it comes to moods. For the most part, I don't even have moods.” Caleb crossed the room and plucked the case from her hand. He opened the nearest bureau drawer and put the jewelry box in it.

  “Are you going to take that with you when we leave tomorrow?”

  “Why would I want to do that?” Caleb closed the drawer.

  “Because it's obviously important to you.” Her hand went to the little griffin at her throat. “We all need to keep a few things around us that have a special meaning. No one should try to live in a vacuum, Caleb.”

  “Forget about the jewelry box. What was your question?”

  “Oh, that.” She narrowed her eyes. “I want to know why you brought me here.”

  “Isn't it obvious? You and I are involved. I wanted you to meet the family.” He drew a finger down the side of her cheek. “I'm the conventional type, remember?”

  The simple act of touching her aroused and warmed him. The gate that had opened deep inside when he had removed the jewelry case from its hiding place closed once more. The old rage was safely trapped behind the iron bars. He had himself back under control.

  Caleb knew that Serenity saw the desire in his eyes because she caught her breath and took a step back. He smiled slightly. She couldn't hide her response, he thought. She hadn't had the practice that he'd had at concealing his emotions.

  “I'm not sure you brought me here for the sole purpose of meeting your family,” she said. “At least, not in the conventional manner.”

  “No?”

  “No. It was almost as if you wanted to make them disapprove of me. And I was trying so hard to fit in, too.”

  “You did fit in.”

  “Well, I certainly did my best, but I didn't get much help from you. I didn't like what was going on in that living room tonight, Caleb. It was as if you were deliberately taunting your family.”

  “Taunting them?”

  “Taunting them, baiting them, whatever.” Serenity sliced her hand through the air in an impatient gesture. “I got the impression you wanted to provoke them and that you were using me to do it.”

  “Why would I want to provoke my family?” He moved toward her, and this time he was irritated when she took another step back to avoid him.

  “I'm not sure.” She glared at him as she came up against the wall. “But I've been doing a lot of thinking this evening. I couldn't help remembering how you came totally unglued when you first learned about those pictures Ambrose had taken of me.”

  “What do those damn pictures have to do with this?” Caleb didn't like the direction of her thoughts. Instinctively he wanted to distract her. He braced his hands against the wall on either side of her head and trapped her.

  She lifted her chin. “It occurred to me that your grandfather would probably be even more outraged than you were if he ever found out about those photos. He's from another generation, after all. I'll bet he's even more straitlaced and conventional than you are.”

  “Don't worry about it. He's not going to find out about those pictures.”

  “But if he ever did find out, he would be very upset,” Serenity insisted. “He might not be able to accept me. He might want you to stop seeing me.”

  Caleb set his back teeth. “Do you think for one minute that I'd end our relationship because my grandfather didn't approve of you? Understand something here, Serenity. I do a lot for my family, but I don't allow them to interfere in my personal relationships.”

  “I'm more concerned that you might be throwing your relationship with me in your family's face. I watched you tonight. It was as if you were daring them to disapprove of me.”

  “The hell with all of them.” He captured her mouth and kissed her hard to stop the flow of words.

  She didn't fight him, but she didn't respond the way she had the last time, either. She simply waited until he was finished.

  When Caleb raised his head, he was breathing hard. “Serenity, this has nothing to do with my grandfather.”

  “Are you sure of that?”

  “Damn sure.”

  “Because I mean it, Caleb.” Her eyes searched his. “I won't let you use me in some private vendetta you may have going with your family.”

  “I want you,” he muttered against her throat. “I brought you here to introduce you to my grandfather. I grew up in a family that values conventional rituals and I'm expected to honor them. But nothing Roland Ventress says or does will influence what happens between you and me. Is that clear?”

  She hesitated and then slowly some of the tension went out of her. She smiled tremulously. “Word of honor?”

  “Word of honor,” Caleb whispered.

  The realization that he meant every word of the vow hit him with the force of a tidal wave.

  He wanted her more than he had ever wanted anything else in his life. She was one of the few things he had ever wanted just for himself, alone, not because it would please his grandfather or satisfy the old man's unrelenting demands for perfection and success.

  Caleb was aware that his desire for Serenity made him potentially vulnerable in a way he had never been. It gave her more power over him than he had ever granted to any other woman. But he was certa
in he could handle the situation. If there was one thing he had learned growing up in his grandfather's house, it was how to control his emotions.

  Furthermore, he had no intention of making the same mistake his father had made. He would not allow a woman, any woman, to destroy his life. Not even Serenity had that much power, Caleb thought.

  “Caleb?”

  “Kiss me.” He caught her head between his hands and set his mouth on hers. This time he coaxed rather than stormed, persuaded rather than invaded.

  Serenity opened her mouth and let him inside. She wrapped her arms around his waist and melted against him.

  Excitement rushed through Caleb. He slipped his hand inside her robe and found the sweet shape of her breast. She trembled in response. She wanted him. The knowledge set fire to his blood.

  Without releasing her mouth, Caleb started to ease Serenity toward the bed. At first she went willingly enough, but after two steps she abruptly dug in her heels.

  “No,” she whispered, pushing herself out of his grasp. “We can't.”

  “Why not?” He did not want to argue. All he could think about was getting Serenity into bed. “The other night I got the impression that you'd changed your mind, that you wanted me to make love to you.”

  She scowled at him while she hastily adjusted her robe. “It's got nothing to do with what I want. At least not tonight. I'm sure it would constitute a terrible breach of your grandfather's notion of good manners. His generation doesn't approve of that kind of thing. It's only right that we show proper respect for his ways when we're under his roof.”

  “Damn it, Serenity, I just told you, I don't care what he thinks.”

  “Yes, I know, but I'm a guest in this household, and I feel I should behave according to your grandfather's rules. He strikes me as a very old-fashioned sort of person. He would probably think it was quite indecent of us to have sex here in your childhood bedroom.”

  Caleb realized she was very serious. “My grandfather may be in his eighties but he's not senile. I'll give you odds he thinks we're sleeping together.”

  “That's not the point,” she grumbled as she stalked toward the French doors. “The point is, he's the kind of person who would expect his grandson to conduct his love affairs with discretion. That was the way things were done in his day.”

  “How would you know?”

  “Come off it. It's obvious.” She paused, one hand on the door knob. “Tell me the truth. Have you ever made love to another woman under this roof?”

  Caleb rested his arm on top of the bureau and regarded her in silence for several seconds. He realized he was well and truly pissed. He wanted to take the next step in this relationship. Serenity was deliberately being difficult about it for some reason. If she had been any other woman, he would have suspected that she was playing games with him. But Serenity was Serenity. He could not envision her successfully playing this kind of game.

  “No,” Caleb said. “I haven't.”

  “There? You see? Until now, you've felt the need to be discreet while visiting here. Admit it.”

  Caleb thought about it and then shrugged. “You could say that.” There were times when Serenity was too damn perceptive. It was true that on the handful of occasions when he had brought a woman to meet Roland, he had always made it a point to behave with the propriety that he knew was expected of him.

  “This is a small town, after all, with small-town values,” Serenity said in a lecturing tone. “Your grandfather has lived here all his life. You were raised here. Everyone knows you. It doesn't take a sociologist to figure out that some things never change in small towns.”

  “If you're so committed to honoring small-town conventions,” Caleb said, “why did you come to my room tonight?”

  She blushed furiously. “I came down here because I absolutely had to talk to you. I needed to have your word that you weren't using me somehow.”

  “Serenity—”

  “But now that we've had this little chat and I know that you're not playing some weird game with your family, I really have to get back to my room.”

  “Serenity…” Caleb repeated patiently.

  “What?” Clutching the lapels of her robe with one hand, she stealthily opened the French doors and peered out into the darkness. It was obvious that she didn't want to be spotted scurrying back to her room.

  “I just thought you'd like to know that there haven't been many.”

  “Many what?” she asked over her shoulder.

  “Women. And I have always been extremely discreet.”

  She grinned. “I know. That's one of the things I like about you, Caleb. You've got high standards in everything.”

  “I'm not the only one,” he said. “Am I?”

  “Nope. I've got my standards, too.” She stepped outside into the cold darkness and closed the door very softly.

  Caleb walked over to the French doors, opened them soundlessly and watched as Serenity hurried along the veranda to the door of her own room. When she vanished safely inside, he closed his own door again and leaned back against it with a low groan of deeply felt regret.

  He considered the condition of his heavily aroused body and decided that he was going to have a very hard time getting to sleep. This was getting to be an unfortunate habit. One of these days he was going to have to get this crazy relationship on track.

  He gazed at the bureau where he had hidden Crystal Brooke's plastic jewelry case. Then he crossed the room to open the drawer. He stood looking down at the tacky little box for a long time. Serenity's words echoed in his head. I imagine it meant a lot to her, and it must mean a lot to you because it's something that belonged to her.

  Serenity was wrong, he thought. The jewelry case meant nothing to him. One of these days he would throw it out.

  Caleb hooked one booted foot on the bottom rail of the paddock fence, rested his arms on the top and surveyed the spectacular gray stallion with a horseman's sense of satisfaction.

  He had been raised to know good horseflesh when he saw it, and there was no doubt but that the Arab was a prize. Windsailer was one of the finest studs Roland Ventress had ever owned. The stallion was descended from Windstar, and it showed. There was primitive equine intelligence in the large dark eyes, and grace in every sculpted line of a body that had been bred for endurance and power.

  “He's looking good, isn't he?” Roland asked as he walked up to stand beside Caleb.

  “Very impressive.” Caleb watched Windsailer munch hay.

  “Every crop of his foals breeds true,” Roland said. “They've all got his looks and his stamina. You can see Windstar in all of them. Blood tells.”

  “So you've always said.”

  Roland leaned against the top bar of the paddock fence. “This one's different from the others.”

  “This season's foals, you mean?”

  “I'm not talking about horses,” Roland said. “I'm talking about Serenity Makepeace.”

  Caleb smiled to himself. “Yes, she's different.”

  “You any more serious about her than you were about the last one?”

  “Serious?”

  “Goddammit, don't play games with me, boy.” Roland narrowed his eyes. “You know what I'm talking about. Are you going to marry this one or not?”

  “I'll let you know when I decide,” Caleb said politely.

  “It's past time you settled down and started a family. Hell, I had a twelve-year-old son when I was your age.”

  “I'm aware of that, sir.”

  “Damn, talking to you these days is like talking to a stone wall. Each time I see you it gets worse.”

  “What do you want me to say?” Caleb asked.

  “You know what I want you to say.” Roland gripped the paddock rail. “I want to hear you tell me that you're going to marry a good woman and start making babies. I'm not going to be around forever. Before I go to my grave, I want to know that there's going to be another generation of Ventresses.”

  “My cousins are having b
abies right and left. There were plenty of Ventresses at your birthday party yesterday.”

  “It's not the same thing and you damn well know it.” Roland seethed with frustration. “I should never have let you set up Ventress Ventures. I should have insisted you come back here to Ventress Valley. Everything started going wrong after you went into business for yourself.”

  Caleb shrugged. They both knew that Roland had had nothing to say about the establishment of Ventress Ventures. Caleb had made the decision to go into business for himself long before he had even graduated from college. He had known he was never going to live in Ventress Valley.

  Ventress Ventures was one of the few things that belonged entirely to him. He ran the business his way and was accountable to no one but himself.

  “What do you mean, everything started going wrong?” Caleb asked.

  “It was as if you started drifting away from me after that.” Roland grimaced, anger and frustration plain in his weathered features. “Hell, I don't know how to explain it. When I look back on it, I realize it started even before you created Ventress Ventures. It started the day you left for college, didn't it?”

  “I don't understand what you're talking about,” Caleb said. “Are you telling me that I've neglected my responsibilities to the family?”

  “No, damn it. You still go through all the right moves, but it's as if you're just pulling strings and pushing buttons these days.”

  “That's not very specific,” Caleb said dryly. “Maybe you'd better clarify things for me. Any complaints about how I've handled the family's investments?”

  “Hell, no.” Roland shot him a glowering look. “The family's financial picture has never looked better and you know it. The Ventresses have more money today than they've ever had.”

  “I'm surprised to hear you admit that.”

  “Why should you be surprised? You did what I expected you to do. It's not just the family that's done all right since you started managing our investments. This whole valley has gotten more prosperous because of the new businesses you've helped get off the ground.”

  “Then what, exactly, are you complaining about?”

  “Don't you get it?” Roland waved a hand to encompass the house and stables. “What's the point of having all this if I can't be certain there'll be another generation of Ventresses? I lost my son because of that slut who stole him away from his people, seduced him into giving up his responsibilities. All I've got left is you.”