Finding Bess by Victoria Gordon

Author:Victoria Gordon [Gordon, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1594141010
Publisher: FIVE STAR/GALE/CENGAGE
Published: 2004-04-01T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Ida stormed in the next morning as Bess was glumly staring at a platter of bacon and eggs. The slender blonde wore ragged jeans and a sweatshirt that had clearly seen better days. Her face was shiny, devoid of makeup, and her hair lacked some of its usual perfection. Yet she still managed to exude an air of profound sexuality, along with a sense of discipline and command.

Geoff was instantly banished to his office, just before Ida poured herself a cup of coffee and straddled a chair across the table from Bess.

“Bloody oath, Colorado, you don’t do things by halves, do you? I suppose it never occurred to you that you could get Geoffrey’s attention without going to these extremes.”

“It was a desperate ploy,” she said, striving for humor and wondering if she sounded as mirthless as she felt. “I can't write the words 'Dammit, Geoff, focus on me' while I'm editing our book. Even if I could, it wouldn't be as effective as looking like a cooked lobster and puking my guts out in the loo.”

“Or is that part of the plan?” Ida said, ignoring Bess's attempt at wit, and her sour mood. “Get him in a situation where he can touch you, but only under very specific circumstances? On the other hand, you’re not going to be feeling terribly romantic for a fair old while, or at least not in any position to do much about it.”

Which finally drew a grin from Bess, who had wakened feeling as if her skin had turned to some brittle form of armor. Who had clambered from the bed with all the alacrity of a geriatric tortoise. Who had staggered into the bathroom to throw water into a face that stared back at her from pain-filled, haunted eyes. Truthfully, she had only fragmented memories of the evening before, of Geoff’s hands manipulating her body, manipulating sunburn lotion into places she could hardly believe he had touched.

Within minutes she was being shepherded upstairs to her room and ordered to get her gear off so a proper inspection could be made of the damage, and so direct and casual was Ida about issuing the orders that Bess never so much as thought to argue.

“Ooooh,” said Ida when Bess slipped off the silky wrap which had been all she could bear to put against her skin this morning. “Ooooh, darling, normally you’d get no sympathy from me for self-inflicted wounds, but I've been there myself and I know only too well how you feel. Happily, I also have a magic remedy that will make it at least bearable, I hope. But first, I think, a quick bath. Okay? You wouldn’t be able to stand a shower, so it’s back to the tub. I’ll slip down and get another cup of coffee. Shout for me when you’re done and I’ll smooth some of this stuff on the parts you can’t reach. Of course, Geoffrey will have to continue the treatment over the next few days.

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