A Man to Call My Own

Chapter 55

"WHAT'D YOU DO, PRESS your ear to the door?"

"Of course," Amanda admitted, then complained, "My room would have to be across the hall from hers this time, rather than next to it."

She'd opened her door again the very moment Chad had stepped back into the corridor. He didn't try to avoid her this time. Actually, she was standing in the middle of the hall, so he couldn't.

"That does make it hard to eavesdrop, doesn't it?" he said, his tone sarcastic.

"Yes, unless voices get raised," she agreed, then raised a brow at him. "What do I have to do, lead you through this step by step?"

"You could try minding your own business, or is that too much to ask?"

"When you're making such a muck of yours?"

"You made a muck of mine. And you still are. If you were a man, I'd—"

"Yes, yes, I'm sure you would," she cut in impatiently. "You didn't ask her, did you? You were supposed to tell her you knew the truth. That's the only way you're going to get her to drop her defenses. You can't get rid of the hurt unless you lay it bare, and you can't get to that point unless you find it first. She'll never own up to it on her own. She's too proud for that."

"You're bored again, aren't you?" he guessed. "Three days with nothing to do until Bridges returns to town. That's what this is all about, isn't it? Just a new scheme for your entertainment because it amuses you to trifle with other people's emotions."

She sighed. "I'm trying to help you. If you'd just get over past grievances for a few minutes, you'd see that. I've given you the truth. I even told you where to find the proof of what I said. But you didn't even bother to look at the paintings, did you?"

He sighed. "The painting of a nude isn't proof of anything, Amanda."

"Of what?"

"Mari told me she painted a nude of me because she found me an interesting subject. Hardly flattering, and definitely not proof."

Amanda started to laugh. "Oh my, that's priceless. She told you about it instead of letting you actually see it. Good for her. Threw you off track and kept you from seeing the real painting. I didn't think she had it in her, to lie that well."

"But you do."

"Sure I do. It's an art, you know. But occasionally it isn't useful to lie, and this is one of those occasions. I told you I'm feeling benevolent, so let me tell you about the real painting. She rendered you lying in a bed of straw, in the process of removing your shirt. And looking up at her, your expression is so filled with passion, there's no doubt you're looking at a woman. She would have had to be standing over you to have that view. Did she? I only eavesdropped, so I didn't actually see you two. But the painting says it all, a perfect likeness, even shows a scar near your navel. That's not something she could have imagined, unless you don't really have a scar there. Do you?"

"You should know," he gritted out. "You were the one standing over me."

Amanda rolled her eyes. "I don't paint. I tried it once and was so embarrassed by my lack of talent, I never touched a brush again. I've always been jealous of Mari's talent. I admit it. She got all the artistic ability, leaving me none. So I had to create a talent of my own.

"To manipulate people."

"Yes, how astute of you," she said dryly. "But wake up, cowboy. That's not what I'm doing here. What's preventing you from seeing the truth?"

He gritted out what she was overlooking, "For the simple reason that she would have told me. She wouldn't have let you get away with such a lie."

"But she did. Find out why, and you'll probably find the hurt you need to mend."

For the fourth time that day, Chad turned the handle on Marian's door. It was locked this time. He had no patience left to knock. He slammed his shoulder against the door. It didn't give.

But he heard from the other side, "Don't you dare!"

He slammed his shoulder against the door again. Damn door still didn't give way. But she opened it before he tried a third time and stood there with a furious glare.

"I don't believe you just did that!" she hissed.

"And I don't believe you let me think, even for a minute, that I made love to Amanda!"

She caught her breath, stared at him. He walked past her into the room, so angry at that moment that he probably shouldn't say another word.

He swung around. "You would have let me marry her based on a lie!"

She lowered her gaze from his. "No, I wouldn't have. I would have spoken up if you'd been forced to go through with that—even though I didn't think you'd appreciate it, or that it would matter."

"How could it not matter?"

"If you didn't believe it. And at the time, I was sure you wouldn't. But I would have made the effort anyway. There was no point, though, after Amanda married Spencer."

"No point? No point! Just leave me agonizing over what I thought was the biggest mistake of my life? You were never going to tell me, were you?"

"No."

"Why the hell not?"

"You know why. I thought you were making love to me, but you weren't. You thought it was her all along."

"I told you I didn't."

"And I told you I don't believe you. I was there! Yes, it was me. So you can't deny you called me by her name. You were sure it was her!"

"Hell, Mari, that's what this is all about?" he said incredulously. "Yes, for the briefest moment I did get a little confused and thought it might be Amanda. Your boldness just surprised me. But only for a moment."

As she turned away from him, she saw his shoulders slump. She really didn't care. Just as on that day in the stable, she was going to say nothing.