Нора Робертс - Key of Knowledge

She stopped, considered biting her tongue in half. “Sorry. That sounded harsh.”

“No, it didnt. It sounded true.” Malory stared up at the ceiling. She seemed to have the knack for this kind of painting. “I didnt have the talent to paint, so I directed my energies into a career where I could be part of the art world in other ways. It doesnt hurt my feelings, Dana.”

“Okay, but you get a free kick later if you want it. Kane used Malorys desire to paint to pull her in, to distract her from the search. But our heroine proved much too clever for him and turned the tables.”

Malory inclined her head regally. “I like that part.”

“Its one of my favorites,”Zoe agreed. “Do you want to write, Dana?”

“No.” She pursed her lips for a moment, thought about it. “No, I dont. But I have to be around books, have them around me. Im fascinated with the people who can and do write them.”

“Including Jordan?”

“Lets not go there, at least not yet. What Im saying is books are personal to me, the way art is to Mal. So thats why I think my key is connected to books. Ive got this gut instinct that it has to do with a book Ive read. Something personal again.”

“Im going to do another title search, one using „key, and see what books I come up with.” Her brows drew together as she tried to puzzle it out. “The whole key-in-the-title angle may be too simple, too obvious, but it gives me another place to look.”

“We could split it up,” Malory suggested. “If you make a list of the books you think might be the one, we could divide it into three and each take a chunk.”

“That would help. We dont know what were looking for,” Dana continued. “But weve got to believe well know it when we see it.”

“Maybe you should put together a list with „goddess in the title, too,” Malory told her. “My key had to do with the singing goddess, from Rowenas clue. Yours might link to the goddess who walks, or waits, in your clue.”

“Good thinking.” With her section of wall finished, Dana got to her feet. “God, our eyes are going to bleed. Theres this other thing.” Wanting to keep busy, she went back to her brush roller. “Your key had to do with this place, Mal, with the way he—or your head—transformed it into your fantasy of happy home, family, painting in your studio. So far, mines been a deserted tropical island. I dont think Im going to find its root here in the Valley.”

“You dont know where youll go next time.”

Dana set down the brush and stared. “Well, gee. Thats a happy thought.”

SHE may have been unemployed, but Dana doubted that shed ever worked harder or put in longer days.

There was Moe to deal with, which she equated with having an eighty-pound toddler on her hands. He needed to be fed, walked, scolded, entertained, and watched like a hawk.

There was the sheer physical demand of painting for several hours a day, which had considerably upped her respect for anyone who did it for a living. But as Moe came with comfort and amusement, so did the work on the building bring satisfaction and pride.

Maybe it didnt look like much yet—theyd decided to prime all the walls before starting on color—but when you had three determined, dedicated women working as a unit, you saw considerable progress.

There was the design and strategy of the business she would debut in a matter of months. She had long, long lists of books, intriguing sidelines, possible styles for shelves and tables, for glasses and cups.

It had been one thing to fantasize about owning a bookstore, but it was another matter entirely to deal with the thousands of details involved in creating one.

Added to that were the hours of midnight oil she burned searching for the key. Reading had always been a passion, but now it was a mission. Somewhere in a book was the answer. Or at least the next question.

And what if the answer, or the question, was in one of the books shed assigned to her friends? What if they missed it because it would only resonate with her?

That way lay madness, she told herself.

On top of everything else she had to do, had to think about, had to worry about, she had to get ready for a date. A date, she reminded herself, that she should never have agreed to.

Talk about the road to madness.

If she canceled, Jordan would either nag and harangue her until she sliced him to pieces with a butcher knife and spent the rest of her life in prison, or, even worse, hed get that smug, told-youso look on his face and claim hed only proven that she was afraid to be around him.

In which case, it was back to the kitchen knife and life in the womens penitentiary.

The only choice left was to go—and to go fully armed. She would not only prove she wasnt the least bit concerned about spending a few hours with him, she would drive him mad while she was at it.

She knew he was a sucker for scent, so she slathered herself in perfumed body cream before slipping into what she thought of as her tonights-the-night underwear. Not that she would give Jordan the chance to see it, but she would know she was wearing the sexy black bra, the lacy panties, the lace-trimmed garter belt and sheer hose.

And they would make her feel powerful.

She checked herself in the mirror—front, back, sides. “Oh, yeah, I look just fine. Eat your heart out, Hawke.”

She picked up the dress shed laid on the bed. It looked deceptively simple, one long, fluid line of black. But when you put a body into it, everything changed.

She slipped it on, gave it a few tugs, then did another turn before the mirror.

The scoop neck took on a whole new dimension when there were breasts filling it out, rising teasingly over the edge. The column turned seductive when the slightest movement parted that long side slit and revealed the length of leg.

She slipped on her shoes, delighted that the stiletto heels added three inches to her already impressive height. Shed never been sensitive about being tall. She liked it.

She hadZoe to thank for the hair. Shed done it sleek and loose, with a little jeweled clip anchored between the crown and the tip of her left ear. Just another tease, Dana mused. The clip didnt do anything but sit there and sparkle.

She dabbed perfume at her collarbone, in the valley between her breasts, at her wrists. Then tossed her head. “You are a dead man, pal. You are meat.”

It occurred to her that she was actually looking forward to the evening. It had been weeks since shed dressed herself up for a date. Plus, she had to admit she was curious. How would Jordan handle himself? How, for that matter, would they handle each other? She wondered what it would be like to be with him, within the ritual of a date, now that they were man and woman rather than boy and girl.

It was, she had to admit, exciting. Particularly exciting since she was certain he intended to win her over and she had no intention of being won.

She leaned toward the mirror, slid murderous red on her lips, then dropped the tube of lipstick in her purse. She pressed her lips together, opened them again with a cocky little pop. “Let the games begin.”

When Jordan knocked at exactly seven-thirty, she couldnt have scripted his reaction any more perfectly.

His eyes widened, blurred. She actually saw the pulse in his throat jump. Then he fisted a hand and rapped it twice against his own heart as if to get it started again.

“Youre trying to hurt me, arent you?”

She angled her head. “Absolutely. Howd I do?”

“Kill shot. Am I drooling?”

Now she grinned and turned back inside to get her coat. He stepped in behind her, leaned down and sniffed. “If I whimper, try to…” He trailed off as he saw the books. Piles and stacks of them beside the sofa, another stack on the coffee table, a sea of them on her dining table.

“Jesus Christ, Dane, you need treatment.”

“Theyre not just for reading, not that theres anything wrong with that. Theyre for work and for research. Im playing an angle on the key and Im preparing to open a bookstore.”

She slipped into the coat, trying not to be miffed that he now appeared to be more interested in the books than in how incredible she looked.

“ The Key to Rebecca, Key Witness, A House Without a Key . I see where youre going here. The Key to Sexual Fulfillment ?” He sent her a long, smirking look.

“Shut up. Are we going to eat?”

“Yeah, yeah. Youve got your work cut out for you.” He crouched down, began flipping through pages. “You want me to take some of these?”

“Ive already split the load with Malory andZoe .” She knew hed start reading in a moment; he wouldnt be able to help himself. In that area, they were identical twins.

“Thats enough. Hungry here.”

“What else is new?” He set a book back on a tower of its fellows, straightened and took another good long look at her. “Wowzer.”

“Aw, thats so sweet. Are we going?”

He moved to the door to open it for her. “Wheres Moe?”

“Romping in the park with his best friend. Flynns dropping him off before he goes home. Where are we eating?”

“Just get in the car, Miss One Track Mind. Youll get fed. Hows the painting brigade doing?” he asked once she was settled and he was behind the wheel.

“We rock. Seriously. I cant get over how much were getting done. And I have the body aches to prove it.”

“Anything you want me to rub, just let me know.”

“Thats a kind and selfless offer, Jordan.”

“Just the kind of guy I am.”

She crossed her legs, making sure the move was slow and parted the slit of her dress well up to her thigh. “But I have Chris to take care of that for me.”