Queen of Hearts Read online

  Queen of Hearts

  ✥

  Jayne Castle

  A MacFadden Romance

  Kim Publishing Corp

  432 Park Avenue South New York. N.Y. 10016

  Copyright 1979 by Kim Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.

  Published by arrangement with the author. Printed in the United States of America.

  ISBN: 0-89772-173-X

  A LESSON IN LOVE

  When Nat Halleck begged her to pretend to be his fiancee, Jenna firmly refused. It simply wasn't in her to be so deceptive, even as a favor for such a good friend.

  Then she met Nat's older brother, Adam and Jenna took on her role with fire and conviction. Adam Halleck was unbelievable! So smug, so domineering, so determined to have his own way. What a pleasure it will be to teach that man a lesson, Jenna thought. How I'll laugh when Adam finds out he's been tricked!

  But when Adam took her in his arms, Jenna's plans were suddenly turned upside down. It seemed that Adam would win the last laugh after all...while Jenna was taught a lesson in love.

  WHAT WAS HE GOING TO DO?

  Kiss her? Not the woman who was supposed to be his brother's girlfriend!

  "I think," Adam began softly, "that you owe me a proper thank you for the evening." Before Janna realized what he intended, he drew her toward him in a swift maneuver.

  "How could you do this behind your brother's back! He trusts you!" she argued, using the only weapons she had left. "Even if you think nothing of me, you must have some sense of shame about assaulting Nat's future wife!"

  "If you were, indeed, going to marry him, I probably would be able to scrape up some tattered bits of a conscience," Adam whispered huskily, lowering his head until his mouth hovered just above hers.

  "Of course I'm going to marry Nat!" Janna used the lie as a shield and wished desperately it wasn't such a flimsy barrier.

  "I told you earlier this evening I would do anything I had to in order to keep that from happening. When I want something badly enough, my feisty little queen, I let nothing stand in my way. Didn't you realize that?" He swooped to take her lips, but Janna managed to turn her face into his shoulder.

  "Don't fight me, Janna," he warned, his mouth nuzzling her throat, "You'll only get hurt."

  CHAPTER 1

  "This," announced Janna Courtney with sudden conviction, "is never going to work!" With what amounted to an effort of will she tore her clear,blue-green gaze away from the man who had just entered the darkened restaurant and directed it toward her table companion.

  "You never told me your brother was so...so..." she broke off with a small gesture of anger and frustration, confronting Nat Halleck with an accusing glare.

  "So what, Janna?" Nat asked innocently, only the hand running through his rather long brown hair betraying his inner agitation. "I mean, I know he's kind of big..."

  "Big!" Janna hissed, trying to keep her voice lowered so as not to attract attention from nearby students and faculty who were rapidly filling up the available tables. The place Nat had chosen to bring her face to face with his older brother was a casual, popular establishment on the edge of the college campus. "Big!" she reiterated, lifting her head to watch Adam Halleck make his way purposefully through the busy restaurant. "Why, he must be at least six foot four and he's built like a...a..." Again words failed her.

  "Like a rock?" Nat supplied drily, not turning around to view his brother's progress. "I know. I told you he's in construction."

  "You told me he owned a construction firm," Janna corrected, turning her neat head with its sable brown hair sleekly knotted at the nape of her neck to face Nat.

  "Well, he owns it because he started working there the summer Mom and Dad were killed," Nat explained patiently, eyeing Janna warily. She knew he was beginning to be afraid she would back out on him, leaving a difficult situation to be clarified to a domineering older brother, "He began at the bottom when he was nineteen and now he's thirty-three and owns the operation. The classic, self-made man," Nat added with an absent shrug, his grey eyes narrowing worriedly. "Janna, please! Don't change your mind about helping me! Think about Lucy! If you're intimidated just by the sheer size of my brother, think how she would feel!"

  "Is that why you chose me to play decoy, Nat Halleck?" Janna demanded, lifting her strong chin to give the lightly built younger man sitting across from her the full benefit of a chilling glare. "Because I'm the tallest woman you could find?" As a woman who viewed the world from the height of five feet and ten inches she had found it relatively easy to quell most men with a single glance and Nat was no exception. He began making protesting noises at once.

  "No, Janna! It's not that. I mean, it's not just that! You are about the only woman I know who would stand a chance of handling Adam. It's not your height alone. It's that you're, well, strong and..."

  "Say no more," Janna sighed with resignation. She didn't need to be told that she resembled an amazon and

  Nat was dangerously close to saying something along those lines. At twenty-five she was fully aware of her effect on the majority of the male population. It wasn't merely the fact that she looked many of them in the eye, it was that she was much too independent and intelligent to hide her own strong character and cater to masculine egos. At any height, Janna would have been a formidable woman. The strong lines of her face with its firm chin and high cheek bones were feminine but not soft. No one had ever called her beautiful, although the term 'striking' had been applied from time to time by those with enough perception to see the way in which her features complimented the equally strong lines of a firm, elegantly shaped figure. Janna had developed a knack of moving with a royal grace on the theory that if she was going to be stuck looking like an amazon queen, she might as well act the part. Over the years, however, it had ceased to become an act. Janna's natural personality, maturing a few years after her body, had found a most suitable home in her tall, well-proportioned frame.

  The large man who was Nat's elder by ten years was almost upon them now. Janna had time to wish devoutly that she had never agreed to Nat's crazy scheme as she absorbed the impact Adam Halleck was having on her, and, she suspected, probably everyone else in the restaurant. From several feet away his hair, cut much shorter than that of the other men in the restaurant, gleamed a jet black. Heavy brows emphasized a pair of vividly intense grey-green eyes. Such eyes, Janna knew instinctively, would miss little. And, she discovered suddenly, they were fully capable of reflecting the steel willpower of the man, for they abruptly locked with her own brilliant gaze, trapping her as thoroughly as if Adam had reached out to take hold of her.

  There was an instant of recognition on Janna's part. In an unnerving, almost frightening way, the woman in her recognized the sheer maleness of Adam Halleck. Recognized and responded to it. This man was every bit as strong, if not stronger than she. And then the strange, uncanny sensation was gone, leaving Janna angry at herself. She decided that she had a case of overactive imagination. Adam Halleck was a man like any other, she reminded her slightly shaken brain. True, he was large and, according to his younger brother, quite domineering, but he could be managed. She was sure of it. Then he was at the table, his eyes still on Janna as he greeted Nat.

  "Sorry I'm late," Adam apologized almost absently. "I had a little trouble finding a place to park."

  "Don't worry," Nat said hurriedly, getting to his feet to pull a free chair away from another table. "Here, have a seat. Janna and I haven't ordered yet..."

  "Aren't you going to introduce me?" Adam asked reasonably, still watching Janna who had gone very still beneath his piercing stare. She could feel a warmth rising into her cheeks as she returned his gaze with a haughty one of her own, refusing to be the first to turn away. His voice, she thought
inconsequentially, perfectly fitted the rest of him. Deep, resonant and carrying an automatic authority. No wonder Nat was bent on keeping him away from Lucy until after the marriage!

  "Janna, this is my brother, Adam," Nat began immediately as Adam accepted the chair and sat down. Even sitting he was taller than Janna and his sheer size and personality seemed to dominate their corner of the restaurant. Nat completed the formalities quickly, watching Janna for signs of imminent defection from the cause. His concern sparked the return of her sense of humor and she smiled suddenly, straight at Adam Halleck. If he knew the gentle curve of her mouth was reflecting humor rather than polite greeting, he gave no sign.

  "I understand you've driven quite a way just to meet me, Mr. Halleck," she said smoothly, remembering that Nat had said his brother lived and worked in San Jose, California. That would have meant a three hour drive inland and south to reach the little college town of La Paloma.

  "I decided to come as soon as Nat informed me he was thinking of getting married, and please call me Adam."

  Thinking! Janna thought with grim humor. Nat's wedding to Lucy Dalton was scheduled for next Saturday in the college chapel! Poor Nat had tried to delicately probe his older brother's potential reaction to the forthcoming nuptials and, according to the story he had told Janna, had been soundly lectured on the inappropriateness of taking such a step when one was just finishing the requirements of a master's degree and hadn't even found a job. The damage had been done, however, and Adam Halleck now knew there was a woman in his brother's life. He had insisted on meeting her as soon as possible, although Nat had managed to keep the news of the impending marriage from him.

  "How kind of you to show such interest in Nat's future wife," Janna remarked sweetly, slowly and deliberately wrenching her gaze away from Adam's. "We're not planning anything immediately, of course. This is Nat's final week of exams and I'm going to be busy working all week, myself. When classes are over next weekend we thought we'd start thinking more seriously about a date." She fixed Nat with a determined glance, willing him to follow her lead, "Lots of time to worry about that, however."

  "I couldn't agree more," Adam said calmly, picking up the menu and glancing down at the list of sandwiches and pizzas. "Nat will have more than enough on his mind worrying about finding a job with an MA in Philosophy, of all things!"

  "Don't forget the minor in Business Administration!" Nat injected with mild disgust.

  "You'll thank me for forcing that on you, yet," Adam informed his brother, lifting his eyes briefly from the menu.

  "You didn't approve of Nat's desire to study philosophy?" Janna asked quietly, ready now to do battle. What hard features the man had!

  "It's hardly a practical subject for a man who's going to work for a living." Adam returned his attention to the menu, appeared to make up his mind and then tossed the plastic page aside. "And a man who is considering marriage must first deal with how he will support a wife, don't you agree, Janna?" he concluded, grey-green eyes clashing with blue-green as he confronted her.

  "The matter isn't so crucial when the wife in question already has a good position and can finance her husband until he's found work," Janna pointed out, aware of the edge in her low voice. That was exactly the situation between Lucy and Nat. Lucy and Janna were both professional librarians at the college library where they had met and become friends and she knew, roughly, the other girl's salary. It was Lucy's first year of working and there wouldn't be a lot of money, but Janna thought it would be sufficient to keep the marriage financially afloat until Nat found a job.

  "Women's Liberation aside, Janna, no man should put himself in the position of having to be supported by his wife. Especially not at the beginning of a marriage!" Adam snapped, brows lowering threateningly.

  "That's ridiculous!" she shot back, goaded. Light gleamed from her shining, deep brown hair as she leaned forward intently to make a point. "If two people are in love and are adults they should be allowed to make their own decisions on matters like marriage!"

  "Or make their own mistakes!" Adam retorted, one heavy black brow lifting quizzically.

  "Yes!"

  "Surely you'll agree that as his older brother, I have an obligation to try and keep Nat from making serious mistakes with his life?" Adam's eyes were all steel grey now, the green in them washed out by the metallic glint.

  "Nat is over twenty-one and quite capable of coming to his own decisions! I fail to see how you could offer him sound advice on marriage, anyway. He tells me you've never been married, yourself!" Janna smiled challengingly. She was dimly aware that Nat was beginning to look distinctly uncomfortable as her argument with Adam escalated. Well, too bad. He had asked her to put his brother off the scent of the impending marriage to Lucy and he would just have to be satisfied with Janna's methods!

  "A man doesn't have to put his fingers into the flames to realize such an action would be unwise. I'm rather surprised Nat doesn't recognize fire when he sees it! Thought I'd raised him with more sense."

  "Are you referring to me or the institution of marriage as the fire, Mr. Halleck?" janna asked dangerously, wondering how he had survived so long. There must surely be a great many people in this world who would like to do Adam Halleck an injury. His rude manners probably reflected his lack of formal education and polish, she decided, trying to be fair. Nat had told her his brother had dropped out of college during the first year in order to go to work to support himself and his younger brother.

  "With the divorce rate as high as it is these days I should think it was obvious that marriage is a highly flammable matter," Adam elaborated, shrugging casually out of his expensive looking suede jacket. Underneath he wore an open-necked long sleeved shirt which snugly fitted the strong, solid outline of his body. Even through the material, janna thought, there was no doubt that Nat's description of his brother's physique was accurate. The man was built like a chunk of stone from the granite hard planes of his face to the smoothly muscles contours of his broad shoulders and tapering waist. There wouldn't be an ounce of fat on him, she decided. Then she realized abruptly that he had neatly sidestepped her question. Discretion, however, seemed the better part of valor at the moment. She wisely decided not to pursue Adam Halleck's opinions of herself.

  Before she could gather herself for another line of attack, the waitress appeared, ready to take their luncheon orders. Adam gave his as if he had been involved in a mild discussion of the weather. Nat managed in somewhat worried tones to request a cheese sandwich and Janna, not hungry in the least, requested a salad in a reasonably polite voice.

  "Now," Adam continued as the waitress withdrew, "Where were we? Oh yes. The risks of marriage." He sounded positively enthusiastic about continuing the attack, Janna thought furiously.

  "As I said, a highly volatile institution, especially in these days of the emancipated woman. A man who enters into it should take extreme care to be sure he is clearly the one in charge. To allow himself to be supported by his woman would be to hand over an important masculine right and duty. One which might be very difficult to regain later."

  "Pardon me, but your male chauvinism is showing," janna gritted with mock sweetness. "And don't you think you're putting far too much emphasis on the financial aspects of marriage? If two people love each other, it shouldn't matter if they take turns being breadwinners in the family."

  "I would never allow my wife to support me," Adam declared flatly, pinning Janna with his hard eyes.

  "A decision to which you are quite entitled," she agreed readily. "Although you don't seem to have had any luck finding, a woman who will tolerate your rather old-fashioned, domineering ways," she smiled loftily. "Regardless of your own, personal views on the matter, however, you should have the fair mindedness to allow Nat to come to his own decision!"

  "Perhaps you're right," Adam said, a grin slashing suddenly across his rugged features. "Nat should be allowed to make up his own mind. But with me pulling one way and you pulling the other, the poor boy d
oesn't stand much of a chance, does he?"

  "The 'poor boy'," Nat interrupted forcefully, "has had enough of being discussed as if he weren't present. Do you two think you could manage to stop going for each other's throats long enough to eat lunch?" He glanced up apologetically at the hovering waitress who was trying to set plates down without calling attention to herself. The atmosphere at the table had become charged with a tension that was plainly noticeable by others, Janna thought. How had she let herself be dragged into the argument in the first place? What good were five years of college and a well-developed professional poise if it didn't enable one to avoid sparring matches with ex-construction workers, she chided herself angrily.

  "Don't misunderstand, Nat," Adam said easily, picking up the roast beef sandwich he had ordered, "Janna and I aren't quite at each other's throats. We're merely testing each other, aren't we, Janna?" He took a large bite of the sandwich, chewing with obvious pleasure as he awaited her response.

  But Janna had herself back under control now. She would not allow this creature to bait her into an undignified response again.

  "Your brother and I have quite different opinions on marriage and, I suspect, several other subjects, Nat," she smiled warmly across at the younger man. "But it's no cause for alarm. After all, it's not him I'm going to marry, is it?"

  "True," Nat agreed quickly, eyeing his brother cautiously. But Adam seemed content to continue with his meal, not bothering to comment on Janna's observation. "I was thinking," the younger man added, apparently feeling his way carefully, "that you could have dinner with Janna tonight, Adam. I'll be studying until after midnight in the library and she doesn't have anything to do. It would give you two a chance to know each other..."

  Janna nearly choked on a piece of lettuce. She reached quickly for her water glass just as Adam's large hand landed heavily against her back. The blow sent such a jolt through her that she upset the glass, sending water across the table.