The Scent of Jasmine (Edilean 4)

When several minutes passed and he said nothing, Cay looked up at him. The bottom of the window was above her eye level, so she was leaning against the wall. “What do you see?”

“Several old friends. How do you think you’d look in a red dress?”

“Will you keep your mind on the business at hand? Do you see my brother?”

Alex pulled himself away from the window to look down at her. “How would I know? I’ve never seen your brother before.”

“Why didn’t you say—?” She cut herself off from saying what she should have thought of herself. “Lift me up.”

Alex made no expression, but she knew he was laughing at her. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. A sweet, innocent boy-girl like you would be shocked by what’s in there. Why, there’s one young man with a woman on his lap and he has his face buried in her . . .” Alex made a gesture to indicate a prodigious bosom. “Someone who is as innocent as you are couldn’t possibly see something as immoral as— Ouch!”

Alex held his arm where she’d hit him.

“Lift me up so I can see, and stop making fun of me.”

“If I did that, I’d have to give up talking. All right, lass, just don’t hit me again. With all the alligators you’ve been wrestling, your punches are beginning to hurt.”

She narrowed her eyes at him as he put his hands about her waist and lifted her. She put her feet on his bent thigh and stood still to get her bearings.

The first thing she saw—the only thing she saw—was her brother Tally sitting at a gaming table, one hand full of cards, the other around the waist of a woman who Cay thought was fat. Or she would be when she removed her corset. The middle of her was pulled into a small circle while the top and bottom bulged out in a truly vulgar way.

“Anybody you recognize?” Alex asked, his arms around her, his face pressed against her side.

She could tell by the laughter in his voice that, somehow, he knew exactly who the young man was. “I don’t know anyone

in that place,” she said firmly.

“Are you sure? I could swear that I saw a resemblance between you and one of the young men in there. But I guess it was my imagination.”

“Let me down!” she hissed, but he still held her up. Bending, she tried to get below the level of the window, but Alex’s strong hands on her waist kept her standing on his thigh. “So help me, if you don’t let me get down, I’ll make you sorry.”

“And what would you plan to do to me?” he asked suggestively.

“Not whatever it is you have in your tiny brain. Let go of me!” She struggled against him for a moment, then realized she was still standing in front of the window. When she glanced back inside, Tally was staring at her. At first she thought he couldn’t possibly see her, but when he unceremoniously dumped the woman off his lap, put down the cards, and got up, all while his eyes were glued to Cay’s, she knew he’d seen her and recognized her.

She bent down so she was out of the window. “Tally saw me, and he’s coming out here.”

Alex immediately put her down. “What do you want to do? We could hide tonight and see him tomorrow.”

“Hide? From Tally? Not in this lifetime. I want you to . . .” She looked around. “I want you to help me get on top of that roof.”

“You want what?” He looked to the small building that ran along half of the back of the hotel. It was low, only one story, and the roof slanted sharply. “If you’re afraid of him, I’ll talk to him first.”

“I’m not afraid of him and I don’t want to hide from him. If you won’t help me up, I’ll have to do it myself.” She threw her leg up to get on top of a rain barrel, but it was too tall and her legs were too short.

Alex had no idea what she was up to, but curiosity overcame his common sense. She shouldn’t be walking on a roof in the middle of the night, but he wanted to see what was going to happen. Putting one hand under her round little fanny, he pushed her upward. He had to climb onto the barrel to help her up to the roof, then he went back to the ground just in time to see her brother come out the back door.

Standing in the shadows, Alex watched. Since he’d met Cay, she’d complained incessantly about this brother, and he wanted to see them together.

Tally was a tall young man, with dark hair that had a reddish tint. He was handsome in a mischievous way that Alex thought women would like, and he looked as though laughter was never far from him. Silently, Tally left the lighted hotel doorway and walked into the dark back alley. Alex wondered why Tally wasn’t calling to his sister. Instead, the young man walked slowly, looking about him cautiously.

When Cay stepped to the edge of the roof and looked like she was about to jump, Alex left the shadows. What in the world was she doing?

Tally stopped walking when he saw Alex, and his eyes widened. In the next second, Cay emitted a sound that was a combination of Indian war cry and an alligator roar, and she leaped from the roof onto Tally.

Alex ran forward to try to catch her, but she hit Tally hard. He staggered backward but didn’t fall. And Alex could see the way he was holding her, protecting her, so that not even a strand of her hair was hurt.

Alex stepped back and watched. Obviously, this was something that had happened between them many times. But, still, just in case, Alex stood nearby, ready to step in if he was needed.