Читать книгу The Boss, The Beauty And The Bargain - Judith McWilliams - Страница 8

Two

Livvy tensed as the doorbell shattered the stillness in her apartment. Its normally melodious chimes suddenly seemed raucous. Nervously she ran her turquoise silk pullover down over her faded jeans. Conal was here! But that wasn’t any reason to be jittery, she tried to tell herself. She had never felt nervous around him before. Exasperated, sometimes, and usually excited, but never just plain nervous.

But then she’d never been pretending to be his fiancée. The thought sent a flood of complex emotions swirling through her, the major one being anticipation.

The bell chimed again. After quickly glancing around her small living room to make sure that she hadn’t inadvertently left out one of the numerous portraits of Conal in various stages of undress that she had painted over the last year and a half, Livvy hurried to open it.

The sight of Conal standing there wearing a pair of tan slacks and an Aran knit sweater momentarily left her speechless. He looked even larger in the bulky sweater than he normally did. And somehow different in casual clothes.

“Good afternoon,” Livvy said, feeling awkward. Their pretend engagement had introduced a new element into their relationship. An element she didn’t quite feel comfortable with yet.

“Not so far it hasn’t been!” Conal stalked into her apartment.

Livvy blinked, caught off guard by his scowl. Was he regretting their masquerade already? Did he want to back out of their agreement?

“Larson stopped by the office this afternoon right after you left,” Conal announced. “He brought the model he hired with him to see what you thought.”

“And to think I missed a treat like that,” Livvy said, relaxing slightly when she realized that Conal’s ill humor was work related.

“You probably would have thought it was a treat,” Conal said sourly, “since you were the one who gave him the bright idea.”

“I did not! I am intellectually and morally opposed to the exploitation of the female body by a bunch of overage, drooling male adolescents!”

Conal’s annoyance dissolved in the face of her outraged expression. “Very good. Did you practice that or does such slogan mongering come naturally?”

“I am not kidding,” Livvy muttered. “I think it’s disgraceful.”

“I agree with you, but you’ve got the wrong end of the stick. Larson thought about what you said about finding some overmuscled male to wear a sequined jockstrap in the commercial and decided it was a great idea.”

Livvy’s mouth fell open, and she stared at Conal in shock. “He found a male model in a red sequined jockstrap?”

“Actually they were blue sequins,” Conal said. “And I couldn’t talk him out of it.”

“I should hope not!” Livvy said virtuously. “Total nudity is going entirely too far.”

“Where’s your sense of outrage now?” Conal demanded.

“I’m looking for it.”

“Well, you’d better find it before Monday morning because Larson is coming back.”

Livvy grinned. “Lovely...something to look forward to. Maybe he’ll bring the model with him. I’ve never actually seen a sequined jockstrap.”

And if he had his way she never would, Conal thought on a flash of a dark, uncomfortable emotion that he very much feared was jealousy. He didn’t want Livvy looking at strange men. For that matter he didn’t want her looking at familiar men. At least not until he’d had a chance to thoroughly explore the emotions she seemed to so effortlessly raise in him. Explore them and dissipate them. Then he wouldn’t mind what she did.

“Where’s your suitcase?” Livvy suddenly realized that he hadn’t brought one. A feeling of disappointment engulfed her. Had her first guess been right, after all? Had he changed his mind about pretending to be her fiancé?

“I left it in the car,” he murmured, trying to decide if this would be a good time to give her the diamond he’d spent all last evening choosing or whether he should wait until they had actually arrived at her home. Now, he decided. That way if she objected he would be able to argue with her, something he couldn’t do in front of her family.

He’d wanted to buy her a piece of jewelry for months now. Something like a diamond pendant. On a long gold chain so that the diamond would nestle between her breasts. Her bare breasts. He swallowed at the tantalizing image that popped into his mind. Later, he told himself. When they were actually lovers, he would buy her what he wanted. But for now he would have to be satisfied with giving her what he could make a good case for her accepting.

Conal pulled the small black leather box out of his pant’s pocket and shoved it at her.

“Here,” he said. “To help the impersonation.”

Livvy stared at the box as a feeling of longing, heavily tinged with sadness, slipped through her. It had to be an engagement ring. An engagement ring she wanted so desperately to be real. A ring she wanted to mean something to him. To be a promise from him for a future together.

Livvy took the box and slowly opened it. A gasp escaped her as the huge diamond caught the sunlight pouring in through the window and splintered it into a million fragments of rainbow-colored light. The ring was absolutely gorgeous in its simplicity. A single stone set in a plain gold band. It practically shouted good taste and...the money to indulge it, she realized. Anything that beautifully cut, to say nothing of that big, had to have cost a fortune. She couldn’t accept it. Even temporarily. No matter how much she wanted to. It was far too valuable.

“If you don’t like it—”

“It’s the most gorgeous ring that I’ve ever seen,” she said truthfully.

“Then what’s the problem?”

“What if I lost it?” she asked.

“I’d collect from my insurance company. It’s just a ring I bought a few years ago and then didn’t need,” he lied. Somehow, it was very important to him that she accept that ring. Accept it and wear it.

“A few years ago?” Livvy tried to swallow the metallic taste of anger that unexpectedly coated her mouth. Why had he been so willing to marry some other woman then and yet he was now vocally opposed to marriage?

“Uh-huh. There was this gorgeous blonde...” Conal tried to lull her suspicions.

“Why is it always a blonde?” Livvy snapped, not wanting to hear about the woman who had almost tempted Conal into marriage despite his clear aversion to the state. Or had it been the blonde who had soured him on marriage?

“It isn’t always a blonde,” Conal assured her. “There was a redhead named Cindy, who—”

“That was a rhetorical question,” she cut him off. “Not a request for a list of your conquests.”

Conal grinned ruefully. “I think I was Cindy’s conquest if you want the truth. But fascinating as you appear to find my past love life, we need to get going. According to the rental agent, it’ll take us a good three hours to get to Scranton at this time of day.”

“A bad three hours. The traffic is always miserable.” Livvy stalled, suddenly overwhelmed by last-minute doubts about the wisdom of changing the status quo. She had the strangest feeling that once she put on Conal’s ring nothing would ever be the same again, and she was afraid. She might find her hopeless love for Conal emotionally frustrating, but she could handle it. Once she got a taste of what it was like to be physically close to him, could she handle the deprivation which would fill her when they returned to New York and he slipped back into his old role as her boss?

“Sorry, what am I thinking of? I almost forgot.”

Livvy looked up at Conal, wondering what he was talking about. She wasn’t left wondering for long. He grabbed her and pulled her up against his chest. His arms tightened around her, squashing her against him. A hot, tingling sensation sizzled through her breasts leaving them achy. She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and savor the sensation. Instead, she forced herself to focus on what he’d said.

“Forgot what?” she mumbled into his sweater.

“That we’re supposed to be an engaged couple. Engaged couples kiss.”

Engaged couples do lots of things, Livvy thought longingly, as a sudden image of Conal’s broad, bare shoulders filled her mind.

Livvy fought against the desire that was eating at her composure and tried to think. It was hopeless. The only thing she could think about was what it felt like to be pressed up against him. Even better than she’d thought it would.

She peered up into his eyes. There were tiny sparks glowing deep in them. Like minuscule explosions of passion were being set off just below the surface. But was it really passion? And if it was, was his passion directed at her personally or was it simply the result of him holding a woman, and any woman would have produced the same results?

The question lost some of its urgency as she watched his head come closer. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at his firm lips. They looked so enticing. So alluring. She wanted to taste them and explore the exact shape and texture of them.

Her eyelids were becoming heavy, weighted down by her growing need. It was all she could do not to grab his head and yank him down to her. Finally when she was ready to scream with frustration, his lips brushed hers and a shower of reaction drenched her. Goose bumps popped up on her arms, and shivers chased after them. To her massive disappointment Conal made no effort to deepen their kiss. Instead, he raised his head, staring down at her, his expression unreadable.

What was he thinking? Unease began to nudge aside the pleasure Livvy felt. Had he found their kiss a disappointment? Chagrin drove the last lingering shreds of desire from her mind. The thought that Conal might find her deficient in the area of lovemaking made her feel confused and uncertain. Her relationship with him to date might not have developed along the lines she’d wanted, but at least it had been fairly clear and uncomplicated. It hadn’t reduced her to this present dithering mass of uncertainty.

Livvy watched as Conal took her hand and gently pushed the ring over her finger. It was a perfect fit. An omen? All it signified was that the girlfriend that Conal had bought it for had the same size hands she did. She mentally chided herself. The idea that she was nothing more than one of an interchangeable line of women moving through his life infuriated her.

“Thanks,” she snapped, and turned to her suitcase, which was sitting open on the sofa.

Conal frowned slightly at her clipped tone, wondering if it was the ring she objected to or if the problem was with the man who had placed it on her finger. Or could it simply be that she was nervous about the coming weekend? He didn’t know. There was so much he didn’t know, he thought uneasily. Starting with how to act around her family. His experience with families was limited to visits to his married friends and what he’d seen on television. He wasn’t so naive as to believe that sitcom characters represented reality. At least he sure hoped not.

Concentrate on what you can do and don’t worry about what you can’t, Conal reminded himself of the motto he’d shaped his life around. He had finally managed to breach Livvy’s seemingly impenetrable professional shield. Or rather, her mother had breached it for him. But whatever the reason, he now had the opportunity to get to know Livvy on a personal basis.

Conal swallowed as his body clenched beneath the onslaught of images he had of just how personally he would like to get to know her. He wanted so much to take her in his arms again. To nuzzle the velvety skin of her cheek. To run his lips down over the soft flesh of her neck. To explore the precise texture of her breasts. To... He took a deep, steadying breath. For so long he’d felt starved for the taste and feel of her, but strangely enough, the brief kisses they’d shared had only made his hunger worse. Before, he’d only had his imaginings; now, he knew exactly what it felt like to have her in his arms and he wanted more. Lots more.

Conal totally lost his train of thought as Livvy bent over to close her suitcase and the well-worn jeans tightened over her hips. His eyes narrowed as he savored the sight. She had the most fantastic shape, slim and yet femininely rounded. The only way she could look any better would be if she were naked. He gulped as he felt sweat pop out on his forehead.

You’re in a bad way, Sutherland, he told himself. You need a woman. No, he corrected himself. He didn’t need a woman; he needed Livvy Farrell and he needed her very badly. He was getting damn sick and tired of spending hours every evening trying to work off his frustrations in the gym.

The snick of Livvy’s suitcase locking echoed loudly in the still apartment, cutting through his thoughts.

“Is that all you’re taking?” He gestured toward the case.

“That and five dozen bagels.”

Conal blinked. “Five dozen bagels?” he repeated. “What are you going to do with five dozen bagels?”

Livvy grinned at him. “At the risk of appearing obvious, I’m going to eat them. Or rather, my mother is going to serve them at the buffet dinner this evening. Mom swears that only a real New Yorker can make a proper bagel.”

“She’s right. You get the bagels, and I’ll bring the suitcase.”

Livvy grabbed the bagel sack off her kitchen counter, checked once more to make sure that everything was turned off and hurried after Conal who was carrying her heavy suitcase as if it weighted no more than a few pounds.

She stole a furtive glance at his upper arm. Just how strong was he? she wondered. He’d played professional football until two years ago when he’d retired and opened the ad agency. Football players were supposed to be very strong.

Maybe she would have a chance to explore the exact state of his musculature over the weekend. A shiver of anticipation danced over her skin. The possibilities seemed endless.

To Livvy’s surprise, Conal was a competent driver who showed an amazing patience for the idiosyncrasies of the other drivers on the road. Apparently he had escaped the macho speed syndrome that had infected so many of the men she’d dated over the years.

“Now where?” Conal asked her, once they had left the expressway in Scranton.

“Turn right at the light and go straight for a while.”

“Interesting place.” Conal glanced curiously at the old houses that lined the hilly streets. “Did you grow up here?”

“Uh-huh. My family has been in the Scranton area for a hundred and fifty years. Before that, they starved in Ireland.

“Turn right at the next light,” she said absently, as she tried to decide what she should tell him about her family. Should she warn him about potential conversation pitfalls like mentioning the health hazards of smoking to her great-uncle Harry, or politics to her aunt Rose, or tax audits to her grandfather, or the state of the public school system to her cousin Henry? It seemed kind of unfair to let Conal meet her family with the assumption that they were all rational adults who would respond to seemingly innocuous conversational gambits politely.

Livvy shifted in the rental car’s soft leather seat, feeling guilty at what she was letting Conal in for. He probably came from a nice, normal family whose members were all polite to guests no matter what the provocation. Not that she knew much about his family background. In fact... Livvy frowned as she searched her memory, she knew almost nothing about Conal’s background, period. Just that he’d played pro football and worked in the advertising business in the off-season until an injury to his knee had forced his retirement. That and the fact that he’d wanted to belong to a big family when he’d been a kid.

Her feeling of unease grew the more she thought about it. Why hadn’t Conal ever mentioned his family to her? Because he didn’t believe in mixing his work life with his personal life, and he didn’t foresee her, or really any woman, ever occupying a meaningful niche in his personal life? Strangely enough, the thought made her feel slightly more optimistic. Conal had absolutely no idea that she harbored long-range plans where he was concerned. No idea that she wanted a whole lot more than just a weekend from him. And since he didn’t know he wouldn’t be on guard. If she were lucky, she might be able to slip underneath his defenses before he realized what had happened. If she were very lucky, she might also find out why he seemed to have ruled out a wife and children for himself.

She glanced sideways at Conal, her eyes lingering on the strong line of his square-cut jaw. Slipping under Conal would be a distinct pleasure. Livvy shifted restlessly as the memory of his lips pressing against hers sent a burning sensation over her nerve endings.

Even though she didn’t begin to understand it, kissing Conal was far more than she’d ever believed a simple kiss could be. Far more than her previous experiences would have led her to believe was possible. Which made her wonder what making love to him would be like. Her breathing developed an uneven cadence.

“Turn left at the next corner.” Livvy gamely tried to redirect her thoughts toward something harmless. “My mother lives at the top of the hill in the yellow house on the right. The one with the car with the Maryland license plates on it, parked in front,” she added slowly. Had her uncle David and his family come, after all?

Conal shot her a quick glance as he deftly parked. “What’s the matter?”

“Matter? Why should anything be the matter?”

“I asked first. Tell me—after driving all this way, are we just going to sit in the car? I promise not to do anything too unsociable.”

The note of uncertainty she heard in his voice surprised her. Could Conal be nervous? He always seemed to be so in control of himself and the situations he found himself in. That he might have a few insecurities himself had never occurred to her before. And she wished it hadn’t now, she admitted. She had enough to worry about without worrying about Conal, too.

“I don’t know whether you consider it a plus or a minus, but in my family, not doing anything unsociable would probably make you unique,” Livvy said.

To her shock, Conal responded by suddenly grabbing her and tugging her across the car seat toward him. She landed awkwardly, her breasts squashing into his chest. A torrent of sensation slammed through her, bringing her emotions clamoring to life.

“What are you doing?” Livvy mumbled, knowing the question was ridiculous, but using it to gain some time to deal with the feelings he so effortlessly raised in her.

“Getting into the role of a besottedly engaged man,” he told her. “And what better way than to kiss the object of my affections.”

Livvy stared into his eyes. He had such gorgeous eyes, she thought distractedly. Dark and velvety with thick brown lashes. She felt as if she could drown in them. As if—Her thoughts scattered as he leaned closer, and his lips captured hers.

They were warm and firm, and they pressed insistently against hers. Livvy shivered violently as his tongue traced over her full lips, and she mindlessly opened her mouth welcoming his deepening of their kiss. His tongue moved over hers and a tiny moan bubbled out of her throat to be swallowed up by Conal.

“I’m beginning to feel engaged,” he muttered against her tingling lips. “But not quite.

“Unfortunately for my mood enhancement, someone is staring at us from the house next door,” he added.

Livvy turned her head, following Conal’s glance. There was a scruffy-looking young man peering at them, a peeved expression on his face. The neighbor’s husband’s second cousin’s son? If so, she was doubly grateful not to have to dodge him all weekend.

“My rival?” Conal casually leaned over and brushed his lips across her cheekbone. Livvy’s reaction was not so casual. Heat from his lips seeped into her skin, warming it and making her wish they were anywhere but in a car in plain sight of anyone who cared to look. But then, the only reason he was kissing her was precisely because they were in plain sight of everyone, she reminded herself.

Determinedly she scooted away from Conal and reached for the door handle. “Let’s go inside before Mom comes out and we have the whole street watching the introductions.”

Livvy climbed out of the car and waited for Conal to reach her before she started up the front walk. She let out a squeak and spun around when she felt a gentle pinch on her rear.

“Conal Sutherland!”

Conal gave her an impossibly innocent look. “Engaged couples don’t do that?”

“This engaged couple doesn’t do that.”

“That’s not quite accurate, since I just did,” he said. “Perhaps you should say that your half of this engaged couple doesn’t do that.”

“Darling, come in. I’ve been waiting all afternoon for you.” Marie’s welcoming voice called to Livvy from the open door.

Livvy glanced over her shoulder and hissed at Conal, “Behave yourself,” as she hurried through the front door, giving her mother a warm hug.

“Darling, you look wonderful and this must be...” Marie stared past her at Conal.

“Mom, I’d like you to meet Conal Sutherland. He’s—”

“Darling!” Marie shrieked as she caught sight of the engagement ring Livvy was wearing. “You said yes!”

Livvy winced at the ecstatic note in her mother’s voice.

“I’m so pleased to meet you, Conal. You can call me Marie.” She dimpled happily at him. “That’s what my other son-in-law calls me.”

“Marie,” Conal obediently repeated.

A high-pitched shriek followed by a thud echoed down the stairwell from the second floor, and Marie glanced nervously at the ceiling as the chandelier swayed. “Oh, dear,” she murmured.

Livvy blinked as a second thud followed the first.

“It doesn’t sound as if they’re taking prisoners up there,” Conal offered.

Livvy jumped as yet a still-louder thump sounded. “Um, Mom, do you think we ought to see what happened?”

Marie vigorously shook her head. “I’m quite sure I don’t want to know. It’s your cousin Mark. Your uncle David sent him upstairs and told him to stay there until he decided to behave.”

“They won’t be here that long,” Livvy muttered. “I thought Uncle David said they couldn’t come?”

“He did!” Marie whispered confidentially. “They simply appeared an hour ago saying that they found they were able to make it after all. And I can’t find anyplace for them to stay. I’ve called every single one of our relatives, and they all said they haven’t got one spare bed.”

Livvy grimaced. “Do you blame them? Those kids of theirs are completely out of control. Why don’t you send them to a hotel?”

Marie looked shocked. “Darling, I can’t do that. They’re family. I love David and Sarah.”

“I love them, too, but I’ve found my feelings for them increase the farther I am from their kids.”

“Shh,” Marie muttered. “They’ll hear you. Come on.”

“Fascinating,” Conal murmured as they followed Marie into the living room. Livvy wondered whether he was referring to the continuing noise from upstairs or her mother. Either one was probably outside his experience.

“Welcome to the family!” Her uncle David cheerfully wrung Conal’s hand. “I don’t have to tell you you’re getting a girl in a million with Livvy.”

“We’re so glad to meet you, Conal,” Sarah gushed. “My daughters will be so excited. You will let them be your bridesmaids won’t you, Livvy?”

“Um, I haven’t gotten to the planning stage yet,” Livvy stalled.

“Take my advice, Conal, and elope,” David said.

“Livvy, darling,” Marie said, “would you help me a minute in the kitchen?”

“Come on, Conal,” Livvy said, unwilling to leave him alone with her relatives. David would probably launch into one of his incredibly boring fishing stories.

“Darling, I hate to ask this of you,” Marie said the minute the kitchen door was safely closed behind them, “but I can’t think of what else to do. Would you and Conal mind dreadfully spending the weekend at your sister’s? Fern flatly refused to take any of David’s kids. She said she still hasn’t gotten the grape-juice stains out of her carpet from the last time they were there.” Marie shook her head. “And Fern a teacher, too. You’d think she could know how to handle them.”

“With a whip and chair,” Livvy muttered, but her mother ignored her.

“But she said she’d love to have you and Conal,” Marie said.

“We would be happy to stay at Fern’s,” Conal promptly said, and Marie gave him a grateful smile.

“You’re so kind,” Marie said.

Kind? Livvy examined her mother’s description and found that it was true. Conal was kind. Not the cloying, patronizing variety of kind, but the bracing, practical type.

“You’ll just have time to get over to Fern’s and unpack before it’s time to go to Olivia’s for dinner. And for heaven’s sake don’t be late,” Marie warned. “Olivia is already mad that Mom and Dad won’t be there tonight. She seems to think that it’s my fault that Dad’s doctor said he had to rest tonight if he was going to have the whole family out to the farm tomorrow. And make sure you take the bagels with you. You did remember them, didn’t you?”

At Livvy’s nod, Marie stood on tiptoe and gave Conal a kiss on his cheek before she enveloped Livvy in a hug. “I can hardly wait to show off my soon-to-be son-in-law. I hope you aren’t going to have a long engagement, dear?”

“It couldn’t be too short as far as I’m concerned,” Conal said, and Livvy winced at the laughter she could hear coloring his voice. As usual her mother was oblivious to nuances.

“Wonderful!” Marie clapped her hands together in pleasure. “I’ve always loved Christmas weddings.”

“Or Thanksgiving,” Conal added.

Livvy gave him a quelling glare as she dragged him toward the back door. Playing a part was one thing, hamming it up quite another.