Page 8

"Money, wealth, power. Gladys's father owned the cannery."

"You weren't in love?"

He laughed and rolled over on his back.

"Love," he pronounced with his lips tight, as if saying it left a horrid taste on his tongue. "I said it and she said it, but neither of us believed it. We swallowed our lies like castor oil and said 'I do' in front of the priest. Even he had doubts when he pronounced us man and wife. I could see it in his eyes. Mon Dieu. Love. Is there really such a thing?"

"Yes," I said firmly.

"Your mother and father, are they truly in love?" he challenged with laughing eyes.

"They were," I replied. He stared at me for a moment and then he smiled.

"I could fall in love with someone like you in the blink of an eye."

"Monsieur Tate!"

"I'm not that old," he protested. "Yvette Livaudis, a girl in your class, is going to marry a man older than I am, right?" In the bayou everyone knew everyone else's business. I wasn't surprised he knew about Yvette. "You shouldn't think me too old."

"You're not old, monsieur," I granted.

"That's right. I'm not." He looked back at our canoes and then at me. "I'll swim back and get your canoe," he offered. "Thank you, monsieur."

"For a kiss," he added, smiling.

"No, monsieur!" I cringed.

"Why not? It's harmless enough. Just one kiss and you're free again." He sat up and leaned toward me. I turned away until I felt his lips on my shoulder and then my neck. I started to protest when he reached behind my head to pull my lips closer to his. Then he kissed me. I tried to pull away, but he held me firmly. I felt his tongue between my lips and then his hand move up the side of my body until the palm found my breast. I backed away quickly and he laughed.

"There, now wasn't that nice?"

I shook my head, clutching the towel against my bosom.

"To the canoe," he shouted, and dove off the rock. He swam quickly and got into mine. "Have no fear, damsel in distress, I'm coming to rescue you."

He began to pole my canoe toward the rock, behaving as if we were two children pretending. He brought the canoe back to the rock and stood there, holding out his hand.

"Come on. I'll help you in."

"I can get in myself. I've done it hundreds of times." When I spoke, I tried not to look at him standing there stark naked.

"I'm sure you have, mademoiselle, but we're surrounded by alligators."

"We are not," I said.

"You can't see them like I can. Come," he said, beckoning. I thought there was no other way to rid myself of him, so I gave him my hand and kept my eyes down. But when I stepped into the canoe, he embraced me and pressed his body to mine. We tottered as I struggled to be free.

"Whoa," he said. "We're going to fall in."

"Please, let me go," I pleaded. And then we did fall over and into the water. He shouted as we splashed under. When I came up, I no longer had my towel and he was already climbing back into my canoe.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," I said. "Get out of my canoe."

"First I have to do the gentlemanly thing and help you to safety," he insisted. "Come along now." He reached out and seized my wrist. I climbed up and over the side of the canoe, and he sat back as I got in, this time pulling me over him and throwing his arms around my waist. His mouth was on mine again and then his lips moved quickly over my neck and down to my breasts, trailing his kisses with laughter. I tried to struggle out of his grip, but he was too strong and he turned me over so that I was now beneath him. Then he leaned back and smiled.

"Quite a temptation, you lying out here like this, waiting for a man like me."