Big Sky Country: Montana (The Americana Series Book 26) Read online

  "Get in. I'll give you a ride," was the curt command.

  Riordan again! He must have been waiting outside the library for them to leave, Jill decided swiftly as Kerry remained frozen in her tracks. The invitation was meant for her roommate alone and Jill knew it. Riordan intended to have his talk with Kerry, and Jill knew of only one way to circumvent it.

  "Why, Mr. Riordan! We didn't expect to see you out here waiting for us." Jill stepped quickly forward, a bright smile curving her mouth. "How thoughtful of you to offer us a ride. Studying can be so mentally exhausting that it just drains all your energy." As she slipped into the passenger seat, she avoided the gaze that tried to impale her on the pair of steel sabers. "A person can tell you're Todd's brother. He's always doing thoughtful things like this."

  Only when she was seated and about to make room for the bewildered Kerry did Jill allow her innocent blue eyes to be caught by his gaze. The line of his mouth was forbiddingly harsh. She let her eyes widen and the smile fade from her lips. "Oh," she murmured in a very tiny voice, "you were only going to take Kerry, weren't you? You didn't mean to give me a ride, too. I am sorry, Mr. Riordan. I didn't mean to be so obtuse. You want to talk to Kerry alone, don't you?"

  "If it wouldn't inconvenience you greatly, Miss Randall, I would," he agreed with cynical tautness.

  "It's all right." Jill began sliding out of the car, making her shoulders give a falsely self-conscious shrug. "It isn't all that far to walk. I've done it lots of times, although never at night and alone."

  As Jill stepped from the car, Kerry's gaze clung beseechingly to her face. Jill smiled faintly, not giving her roommate the reassurance she wanted.

  "You go ahead and ride with Mr. Riordan," she prompted gently. "I'll see you back at our room."

  "Jill, no, not alone!" The frightened protest was to voice Kerry's apprehension at being alone with Todd's brother.

  Jill deliberately misunderstood her. "Don't be silly, Kerry. I'm not going to be molested. Except for that one block, it's all very well lit. I'll be okay, really."

  As she expected, Kerry still didn't get into the car, hesitating while she silently pleaded for Jill to rescue her. From inside the car, Riordan swore under his breath.

  "Both of you get in!" he snapped.

  Her back was to the open door and Jill winked broadly at Kerry. It was difficult to conceal her smile of triumph, although she knew it was only a temporary one.

  She urged Kerry to get in the car first while her mind raced for a way to rescue her friend once they arrived at their destination. There wasn't any chance that she would be able to sit in the car and take part in the discussion as she had done in the hallway.

  As they pulled away from the curb, a silence settled in, threatening to become oppressive. An uncontrollable shiver quaked over Kerry's shoulders, signaling to Jill that she couldn't let Riordan's presence dominate them.

  "I guess it's the romantic in me that always finds weddings so exciting." Jill heard the sound of disgust that came from Riordan's throat and smiled securely in the darkness of the car. "Kerry has already promised that I can be her maid of honor. I know Todd will ask you to be his best man. That's why I'm so glad I've had this chance to meet you before the wedding." She rushed on, "We've been talking about what colors Kerry should choose. She wants green and yellow. They are her favorites, but I was thinking it should be yellow and white or green and white. What's your opinion, Mr. Riordan?" she asked, leaning forward as if she was really interested in his answer, then hurrying on before he could reply. "I guess it really depends on when they decide to get married. Yellow and white would hardly be good winter colors, although I doubt if they would wait that long before tying the knot."

  The inanity of her chatter sickened Jill. She knew it reinforced Riordan's opinion that she was a silly dumb blonde. At the moment she was interested only in shielding Kerry for as long as she could. All too soon the short distance was traveled from the library to their dormitory.

  The car stopped in front of the building. Unable to meet Kerry's pleading eyes, Jill glanced around her roommate to the impassive profile of the driver.

  "Thank's a lot for the ride, Mr. Riordan," she offered brightly, and received a curt nod of dismissal in reply.

  A quick good night to Kerry and Jill was out of the car. She wanted to run to the front door, but she kept her steps unhurried. The instant the door was closed behind her, she raced for the telephone booth.

  Excitement had her fingers shaking. Jill had to try twice before she dialed the number correctly. "Todd Riordan, please, and hurry!" Her voice was oddly breathless. She curled her fingers in the coil of the telephone receiver as she waited impatiently.

  "Todd Riordan here," came his familiar male voice.

  "Todd, this is Jill."

  "Jill?" His surprise was obvious. "What's wrong? Is something the matter with Kerry?"

  "Yes, in a way. I haven't much time to explain. Your brother is here."

  "Riordan? Damn him!" was the muttered response.

  With a flash of insight Jill realized that Riordan had evidently made his opinion of Todd's engagement quite clear when Todd had made the telephone call to inform him of it. At least it didn't mean she had to make a lengthy explanation.

  She took a deep breath. She might as well let Todd know that she was aware of his brother's displeasure.

  "He and Kerry are outside the house now. I believe he's suggesting that your engagement is unwise. Kerry didn't want you to know about this, so when I go out there to tell her you're on the phone, I want you to pretend you're the one who called and not me."

  "I'll take care of it," Todd answered grimly.

  Setting the receiver on the small counter of the booth, Jill pivoted sharply out of the glass doors and retraced her path through the front door to the car. Her heart was pounding in her throat as she bent her head toward the window.

  "Kerry, Todd's called. He wants to talk to you." In spite of her attempt to relay the message calmly, there was a thread of victory. The sensation was increased by the look of utter relief on her roommate's face.

  Kerry nearly bolted out of the car, not offering one word of goodbye to the grim-faced man behind the wheel. Jill couldn't resist a glance at him. There were times when rubbing salt into wounds was very enjoyable.

  "Maybe you would like to talk to Todd, Mr. Riordan?" she suggested with saccharine sweetness.

  His mouth tightened harshly. "No, Miss Randall, I wouldn't."

  The key was turned in the ignition and the powerful engine purred to life. Jill closed the door that Kerry had left open. Satisfaction glittered in her blue eyes as she watched the disappearing taillights that declared her the victor in this round.

  At a more leisurely pace, she returned to the building. A glance at the tearfully happy smile on Kerry's face indicated that Todd was doing a very adequate job of reassuring her of his affection.

  Riordan's first attempt had been thwarted and Todd was now aware of the attempt. Would Riordan try again? A light brown brow arched faintly in speculation. Yes, he probably would, she decided. Perhaps with Todd involved he wouldn't be nearly as blunt, but she doubted if his determination had lessened.

  It wasn't part of Jill's nature to inquire later exactly what Todd had said to Kerry. She and Kerry exchanged a lot of confidences, but her roommate was a very private person when it came to her inner emotions. There were personal aspects of her private life she was too shy to discuss and Jill wouldn't probe

  The only sour note in the evening's conclusion was that the dinner the following evening was no longer an uncertainty. Like it or not Jill had to attend. She couldn't plead the excuse that it was a family affair, not after she had bragged about the dinner to Riordan and invited him herself.

  When the appointment hour arrived, Jill discovered that she was strangely looking forward to another encounter with Riordan. She attributed it to curiosity. It would be interesting to find out what his tactics would be now that he was presented with a united
front. He had failed to divide Kerry from the rest and conquer her. Would he attempt to take on all three of them?

  The hotel's wall mirror told Jill she had chosen her clothes well. The simple design of her dress gave her an air of innocent sophistication while the azure color pointed up the purity of blue in her eyes.

  Jill caught Todd's warm smile in the mirror and returned it. They were comrades in arms, united to protect the petite, dark-haired girl walking between them.

  "Where is he?" There was a tremor of nerves in Kerry's whispered question, her brown eyes sweeping the hotel lobby including its open staircase to locate the man they had come to meet.

  Todd's arm tightened slightly around her waist. "Riordan said he'd meet us in the lounge."

  "Doesn't your brother have a first name?" Jill focused her attention on the closed lounge door. She half expected him to appear with the striding suddenness of the first time.

  "Yes, it's John, but I can't remember the last time anyone called him that. He's always been simply Riordan. And I wouldn't suggest that you call him John either, unless you fancy being turned into a frog. He despises the name."

  "John? But that's a good Christian name." Her blue eyes widened in surprise.

  "My mother named him after the man she admired most—her father," Todd answered dryly as his hand slipped to Kerry's elbow. He reached around to open the lounge door.

  Jill would have liked to pursue that curious statement, but there wasn't time for a discussion of the Riordan family history. They were inside the lounge and somewhere in the dim room Todd's brother was waiting for them.

  Like Todd and Kerry, her eyes searched the scattered occupants of the room. She didn't recognize Riordan among the men sitting at the bar, nor was he sitting at any of the small round tables.

  A light flickered in a corner booth, flaring brightly for an instant as a match would. The brief flame cast a golden light over onyx black hair and the darkly tanned, rugged features of the man bending to its light.

  Jill felt her senses sharpening immediately. Darting a glance at Todd, she saw by the arch of his brow that he, too, had seen his brother. Meeting her glance above Kerry's head, his hazel brown eyes said, let's get it over with. The arm at Kerry's waist turned her towards the booth and the three of them started forward at the same time.

  An inner voice told Jill that Riordan had seen them the minute they had entered the lounge, although he didn't visibly acknowledge their presence until they were nearly at the booth. Then he slid with catlike grace to his feet to meet them.

  The sheepskin-lined parka was gone. So were the denims and the cowboy boots. Jill realized, too late, that she had been partly taken in by his western garb in their previous meeting.

  She had not anticipated the worldliness and sophistication that she saw now. A stranger viewing this Riordan in gray slacks, black blazer and ribbed white turtleneck would see him as a business executive, not a man of the rugged outdoors as Jill had labeled him. She had underestimated him, and it was a mistake she didn't intend to repeat.

  The metallic gray eyes ignored both Jill and Kerry as Riordan met the silent challenge of his brother's gaze. Todd resolutely forced him to acknowledge both of them by making formal introductions. The action brought a twisting smile of cynicism to the ruthlessly hard mouth, but the look directed briefly at Jill and Kerry in turn was smoothly without emotion.

  "Shall we sit down?" Riordan suggested blandly.

  With some misgivings, Jill noted that she was to sit on the booth seat next to Riordan. Naturally Todd wanted to be close to Kerry, although Jill wished he had chosen to sit beside his brother.

  The desire to slide as close to the wall as possible was nearly irrepressible. The palms of her hands were beginning to become damp. Jill chided herself to relax and stop being intimidated by the man sitting beside her. She had maneuvered him quite easily yesterday. There was no reason to think she couldn't do it again if the need arose.

  To break the silence until the waitress arrived to take their drink order, Todd inquired about the ranch and received ambiguous replies from Riordan. In another second the weather is going to be discussed, Jill thought tensely, darting a quick look at the slightly pale face of her roommate.

  After the waitress had their order, Jill could see the impatience building in Todd's face. Riordan wasn't angry. There was none of the aloof black moodiness that had been evident yesterday in his expression. In fact, he seemed quite content with just making them uneasy.

  "May I have a cigarette?" Jill broke in after another vague, uncommunicative response from Riordan to one of Todd's questions.

  Todd was reaching into his jacket pocket when the hand of the man beside her shook a cigarette out of a pack and offered it to her. Was it amusement she saw glittering in the gray depths of Riordan's eyes? What had she done that he found so amusing? He couldn't possibly guess that her request for a cigarette had merely been a ploy to soften Todd's tight-lipped expression and distract his growing anger.

  "No, thank you," Jill refused with a demure smile. Todd's pack was in front of her and she took one from it. "I prefer filter-tipped cigarettes," she explained with studied lightness. "The kind you smoke, Mr. Riordan…well, the tobacco always clings to my lipstick."

  His gaze centered on the sensual curve of her lips, glistening with the moistness of gloss. "I envy the tobacco," he said dry voiced.

  A pulse throbbed in her throat as unwillingly Jill glanced at the firm line of his mouth, a hint of cruelty in its masculine hardness. It would be no gentle kiss that he'd give a woman.

  The scrape of a match head was followed by the pungent scent of burning sulfur. Then his fingers were cupping the flame and offering it to Jill. Her gaze skittered away from the gleam of mockery in his eyes. He couldn't possibly read her thoughts, she scolded herself, bending her golden head to touch the tip of the cigarette to the flame.

  The drinks arrived, causing a momentary distraction. The more time Jill had to think about Riordan's suggestive remark, the more she realized it had not been an attempt to flirt with her. He wasn't the type to flirt. He had been stating a fact. Men had often complimented her, so why should his casual reference to her beauty disturb her? It didn't make sense.

  Her fingers closed around the cold glass in front of her. She smiled across the table at Kerry, who was glancing uncertainly at Todd. The electric current flowing from the man beside her needled Jill. She lifted her glass.

  "I'd like to propose a toast," Jill declared. From the corner of her eye she could see Riordan leaning back, almost physically detaching himself from the group. "To the future Mr. and Mrs. Todd Riordan."

  A shy pink crept into Kerry's cheeks as she peered at Todd's smiling face through the veil of her dark lashes. The faint reflection of embarrassment made the sparkle of love in her brown eyes all the more radiant

  Three glasses met in the center of the table, but it was the absence of the fourth that was most notable. The gentle smile that had been on Todd's face faded as his gaze clashed and locked with his brother's. Sooty lashes had narrowed to a black screen, throwing shadows to darken the watchful gray eyes.

  Todd didn't carry the glass to his mouth. "Riordan?" he prompted firmly.

  Riordan appeared unmoved by the reprimand at his rudeness. In fact, he appeared very relaxed and in command.

  "I've made my disapproval of your engagement quite obvious. Don't expect me to drink to it, Todd," was the bland response.

  "It happens to be my life. Surely it's my business what I do with it," challenged Todd.

  "Being your brother gives me the right to interfere or at the very least, voice my opinion." The broad shoulders shrugged expressively. "If you are intent on marrying this girl, I can't stop you. But I can and I will withhold my support."

  "That's not fair, Riordan, and you know it. That money is mine for my education," Todd snapped.

  "It's unfortunate that your father gave me sole control of the trust fund until you're thirty, then, isn't it?" The lo
w voice was lazily calm as Riordan figuratively spread his cards on the table. He held a strong hand.

  "It may come as a shock to you, but I think Kerry and I can make it without your support. It will mean sacrifices for both of us, holding down full-time jobs and a full schedule of credits at college, but we can do it." Todd's arm circled Kerry's shoulder, drawing her closer to him.

  "And maintain the grade level you have?" Riordan mocked.

  "Maybe not, but we would get our degrees."

  "I imagine it sounds all very noble to the two of you, struggling together, completely on your own. The harsh fact is that you'll be so busy struggling to survive that it will be four or five years before you realize you've made a mistake. The two of you simply aren't compatible. By that time there might be a child involved. You and I, Todd, know what it's like to grow up with parents that have separated."

  "Kerry and I are very compatible and very much in love," Todd disagreed forcefully.

  "That's what our parents claimed, too," was the quiet and silencing reply.

  Todd wasn't able to hold the level gaze of his brother, a certain indication to Jill that Riordan's remark had touched a vulnerable spot. He let the pregnant silence settle heavily over the table before he continued.

  "I'm not trying to make things difficult. I'm trying to appeal to your reason, Todd," he said calmly. "This is not the time in your life to tie yourself down with a wife. Not because you're young-age matters little—but because the next few years you need to devote to your studies and your future career. You can't possibly give the attention your wife would be entitled to receive. Your timing is off, Todd. You're rushing into something with your eyes closed. Open them. Make certain you're not confusing lust with love. Take her to bed. Make her your lover or mistress. But don't be a fool and marry her!"

  Kerry's ashen face flamed scarlet. Jill wondered angrily why she had thought Riordan would be any less blunt with the three of them. Todd had started to listen to his brother's arguments, but the disrespect in the last of his statements had fortunately wiped out the inroads Riordan had made. He had overplayed his hand.