Disclaimer - see chapter 1)
This story slowly draws to a close, but I will have saved some Richard-rage for the last chapter... Want to find out more? Well, not now. For now: Have fun with chapter 7, in which the 'silverfox returns' ;o).
Chapter 7
The next
few hours were pure delight and a little business, but
Chad seemed to have disappeared.
Until now.
Now he had
hunted her down, slowly circling her like any fox would do before dashing out
of the forest and leaping upon his prey. Maybe he shouldn't have been so
forward with her, but then, he knew he couldn't have charmed her into anything
so he had chosen to bribe her into it.
Maybe even
force her, if need be, though he was sure he wouldn't have to.
He watched
her dancing with a man who had been introduced to him as Mike McCormick,
laughing at something he had said. 'Have fun while you still can, lovely. Soon
you will be moaning my name, one way or the other.'
Emily tried
to ignore him, always keeping as much distance as possible between them. She
didn't want to talk to him, or worse, have to dance with him again. Any kind of
contact with this man was dangerous. She had seen it in his eyes. He meant
trouble.
No matter
what, she'd have to make sure that he wouldn't get her alone. The best option
would be to stay close to Richard, but she couldn't possibly say no when
someone asked her to dance, it would have been impolite.
So she
tried to make the best of the situation and decided to enjoy herself, relying
on her husband to keep an eye on her.
It had
worked fine until now. Richard was dancing with Nora, mainly to keep her from
falling down until her husband returned to put his arm around her again. It
wasn't obvious to most of the crowd, but knowing Nora since elementary school,
Emily read her friend like an open book and knew when the cheerfulness was
caused by one too many eggnogs. Gladly, Richard had understood when she had
told Mike she couldn't dance with him and left his wife standing alone, since Mike
didn't seem to mind at all. She was beginning to wonder why, taking a mental
note to have a word between friends with Nora sometime soon.
If she had
been anyone else, Nora surely would have been the topic at the next DAR meeting
but since she was a close friend of Emily, she would find a way to cover for
her friend.
She only
had to make sure that Doris van Aalderen, the little snake, wouldn't see her
like this.
Deep in
thought and conversation she had been too preoccupied to see him approaching,
silently cursing when she suddenly saw him standing next to them, smiling that
slick smile of his. Her stomach turned when he touched her shoulder.
"May I, Mike?"
Of course
her dance partner stepped away, it was the polite procedure. Still, she had
hoped he wouldn't.
Mentally
preparing herself to have to dance with him again, she hoped Mike would follow
her next advice. "Why don't you go and reclaim your wife for this dance?" She
knew he didn't want to stop dancing and his nod brought a slight wave of
relief. Now she only hoped he'd be quick about it.
Feeling
Chad's
hand on her back, the muscles in her stomach contracted while she tried hard
not to show that she actually feared him a little.
Suddenly a
picture of Richard on a white horse, wearing armor flashed through her mind as
her body went into the dance routine.
This was
silly.
Why should
she fear him? Still, when she looked into his eyes, a cold shiver rain down her
spine. Mentally scolding herself for acting the way she so proudly claimed she
wouldn't, she braced herself for this new encounter.
"Did you
miss me?"
Chad
grinned.
Emily bit
her tongue, something in the back of her mind stopping her from telling him
what she really thought of him. He held her closer than was appropriate but at
least his hand didn't hold hers in a death grip this time. If it hadn't been
for the look in his eyes, she might have almost enjoyed this dance.
"What do
you really want,
Chad?"
She kept her voice low, not wanting anyone to overhear their conversation, not
sure what would follow next.
His smile
widened, at least she called him by his given name now that was a first. "Oh,
Emily, you know exactly what I want."
She
furrowed her brow. "As a matter of fact, I don't."
Chad chuckled lowly, pulling her even
closer to him, his cheek brushing hers as he whispered, "You."
The way he
said it made her blood run cold. She felt as if she were about to faint,
forcing herself to not lean into him as her knees went weak for a moment. "What
would you want with me?"
His face
was still dangerously close to hers as he answered. "Oh, there are several
things I could come up with. If you're a good girl and give me what I want, I
might consider not telling your husband what went on between us."
Emily
pushed away, looking into his eyes. "But nothing happened."
Shrugging,
he replied. "The way you reacted back then, one could think something did. And
believe me, I could make it look as if we'd been having an affair. Your husband
would believe me"
"You can't
do that. Richard would never believe you. And besides, my daughter was right
there with us, she would back me up if-"
"-So you do
think you'd need backing up? Isn't that interesting."
Emily bit
her tongue. Why did she say that? What had she been thinking? She couldn't let
him get the upper hand at this. Under no circumstances could she allow him to
talk to Richard. Of course, he wouldn't believe him. She had told him what had
happened. But if he really said anything… she tried hard not to shiver at the
thought of what her husband was capable of doing if this man succeeded in
stirring his jealousy.
The worst
thing about it was that she couldn't do anything to prevent him from following
through on his plan. She couldn't warn him in any way or he might change his
plan altogether and get to Richard. If he would provoke him, he could get their
money and more. He could ruin their reputation. He could get Richard to the
point where he would be blinded by his emotions and do God knows what. On the
other hand, she couldn't possibly give in to him and do what he originally
asked of her. How could she ever look into her husbands eyes again if she'd
give in to this man? There was no way to react.
No matter how she twisted it, it always turned out badly.
Well, well, well... SIx reviews for chapter 6. #does her (in)famous happy dance# - I LIKE that. Thank you so much folks!!
Mrs.Scott323 - Ah yes, time zones. I think we're living in the same, aren't we? Might be one hour between us, I'm not sure. So, I hope this made your noon this time. ;o)
LorLukealways - You are right, it would definitely do their relationship with Lorelai good if they'd be their true selves around her as well. But you know them...
Emily-RichardFan - I'm so happy you liked it! So you liked reading the chapter as much as I liked writing it? ;o) Yes, jealous Emily is fun, but I think semi-jealous Richard is even more fun. The next chapter will be the last but he ... no, I won't tell.
Branda - Maybe you should just stay logged in. ;o). Thanks for both your new reviews! I enjoyed reading them and that story you told was interesting. I would really like to know more about that church thing. Did you write about it on MySpace? Then I could read it there.
Miss GoodManners - #big hug# Waking up to a rELLIeview is one of my fav ways to start the day! I don't mind the typos in your reviews. Don't bother re-reading & correcting them. It's just so great to get a review as detailed as yours are. :oD It's great that you had fun with this chapter and I am glad you think I kept her in character.
Mary - Yes, that 'strange encounter' was not of the 3rd kind this time.
But close. ;o) And of course Chad is back... so... missed him?
;o)
