Читать книгу Practice Husband - Judith McWilliams - Страница 9

Two

“Do you have a reservation, sir?” The hostess eyed Joe as if he were a particularly appetizing entrée.

“Yes. Barrington.” Joe glanced around the crowded restaurant looking for Addy, oblivious of the hostess’s interest. “I’m meeting a Miss Edson.”

“She hasn’t arrived yet.” The hostess became businesslike at the mention of another woman. “Should I show you to your table now or would you prefer to wait in the bar?”

“The table, please.” Joe followed the woman through the busy restaurant to a secluded table for two in one corner.

“Thank you.” Joe sat down facing the doorway and checked his watch. Addy had said she’d meet him here at eight, and it was just after that now. So where was she? Could she have changed her mind? He certainly hoped not. He needed her property, and he needed it now. But then his need had never been in question. Only her willingness to sell.

So what inducement could he offer her to part with it? He didn’t have a clue. Everyone else he knew responded to money. Offer them enough cash, and they caved in and did exactly what you wanted.

But Addy didn’t fit the normal mold. Money didn’t appear to hold the slightest fascination for her. According to what Hodkins over at the bank had told him, she hadn’t even touched the substantial amount that her parents had left her. Not even the interest on it. And her rushing off to Africa to do good works was further proof that she simply wasn’t motivated by conventional things. The women he knew were totally preoccupied with their own interests, not those of starving kids half a world away. No, Addy was definitely different.

He absently drummed his fingers on the pristine white tablecloth as he considered the situation. But that didn’t mean that there wasn’t something that she wanted. It simply meant that it would be harder to figure out.

Unconsciously, his lips lifted in a reminiscent smile as the memory of her clutching a doll to her pudgy chest and smiling at him through her tears when he’d routed her tormentors all those years ago flickered through his mind. Poor Addy. She may have had loving parents, but in a lot of respects her childhood hadn’t been much happier than his.

She’d borne the brunt of her peers’ teasing because her body hadn’t conformed to what society said it should, while he’d been tarnished by his mother’s drinking. Not that it was his mother’s fault. Joe’s features momentarily hardened. It had been her lover’s fault. But the day of reckoning was coming, he promised himself. Very soon.

His eyes narrowed as a redheaded woman entered the restaurant, and Joe felt a curious sense of pride twist through him when he recognized Addy. Pride that Addy had turned out so well. So very well. The silky, emerald material of her dress clung lovingly to her slender curves, hinting at what it covered. His eyes lingered on the tantalizing swell of her breasts.

It was strange that she could look so overwhelmingly sexy without really revealing anything. Her neckline didn’t expose her breasts, nor was her skirt short. And yet, despite the lack of specifics, he could feel himself getting hard just looking at her.

With a monumental effort, he blocked out his response as he got to his feet. Addy was a friend, he reminded himself.

Addy felt herself tense as she noticed Joe’s expression. Was he annoyed that she’d asked him to meet her here for dinner? Had he had other plans that her request had interfered with? Such as a previous date? But if that had been the case, he probably would have said so, she decided. Joe had never been the least bit reticent about saying what he thought before.

“Good evening, Addy.” He held a chair for her, and she sank down into it.

“May I get you a drink?” the waitress offered.

“Addy?” Joe asked.

“A glass of iced tea,” she said, wanting to keep her wits about her. She was nervous enough about what she was going to ask Joe. It wouldn’t help anything if she were to muddle up her thoughts with alcohol.

Joe’s dark eyebrows shot up at her choice, but to her relief he didn’t say anything. He merely ordered Scotch and water.

When the waitress left, he turned to Addy and said, “The message you left said that you wanted to discuss my offer?”

Addy gave him a rueful grin. Whoever had said that nothing ever changed must have had Joe in mind. He was exactly the same as he always had been. No small talk. Just go right to the heart of the matter. Would he make love like that? The unexpected thought popped full-blown into her mind. Would he be a physical lover without spending a lot of time on talk? Would he...

Stop it! She hauled her imagination up short. It was no business of hers what kind of lover Joe was. And she didn’t want it to be, she assured herself. She had no desire to engage in casual sex and, while she was certain that sex with Joe wouldn’t be the least bit casual, it would be a disaster. At least for her. She hadn’t really needed Kathy to tell her that Joe was not a man who was interested in marriage. It was written all over him. Even someone as inexperienced as she was could tell that Business was Joe’s love. A woman would come in a poor second.

“Here you are.” The cheerful voice of the waitress as she delivered their drinks interrupted Addy’s thoughts, and she let them fade away.

“Well, you were saying?” Joe persisted when the waitress left.

“I wasn’t saying anything. You were demanding.”

“You were the one who asked me to meet you here. Why?”

Addy took a deep breath and mentally scrambled to marshal her thoughts. She was pretty certain that his first reaction was going to be negative. Nervously, she studied the firm line of his dean-shaven jaw. Very negative. Which was why she had asked him to meet her here. She’d figured that no matter how negative Joe felt about her proposal, he wouldn’t yell at her in a public place. Nor was he likely to get up and leave. Here, she at least had a chance of getting him to consider her proposal seriously instead of automatically rejecting it.

Joe studied the curious play of emotions flitting across her face. She was very nervous about something, which probably meant that he should be nervous, too.

“Just spit it out,” he ordered.

“It isn’t that simple.”

“Negotiations rarely are. But we’re never going to get anywhere if you can’t bring yourself to make me a counteroffer.”

“I need to explain something to you first.” Addy groped for words, wanting him to understand what she felt in the hope that he’d be more sympathetic to what she wanted.

Joe took a long swallow of his Scotch, studying her over the rim of the glass. “About what?” he finally asked.

“About why I came back from Africa. You see, my Aunt Margaret asked me if I wanted to be a nun.”

A nun! No! His mind totally repudiated the idea. Not his Addy.

Addy chuckled at his expression. “That was kind of my reaction, too. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a nun, it’s just that it isn’t right for me.”

Joe felt some of his tenseness dissolve at her reassuring words.

“But the question did make me examine what it was that I wanted to do with my life,” Addy continued. “Something I’ve never done before. I’ve simply sort of gone with the flow.”

“Like most people,” he said cautiously, wondering where this was leading.

“Yes.” She nodded in agreement. “Anyway, when I thought about it, I realized that it wasn’t really a what I wanted so much as a who. Or several whos.”

Addy leaned forward in her eagerness to explain, and Joe’s eyes were drawn to the neckline of her dress, which at that angle was giving him a tantalizing glimpse of the swell of her breasts. He swallowed and forced his eyes up to her earnest face.

“What whos?” he asked.

“A husband and kids,” she blurted out.

Joe’s eyes widened as the impact of what she was saying hit him with the force of a blow. She couldn’t mean that she wanted him to marry her, could she? A confusing swirl of emotions tore through him, the overriding one being panic.

“But I have a problem,” she continued. “Actually, I have several.”

“Such as?” he asked cautiously.

Addy absently tucked a wayward strand of hair that had escaped from her chignon behind her ear and said, “First of all, the small size of the pool.”

“The pool?” Joe tore his gaze away from the way the dark red curl was snuggled against her slim neck. What she was saying was difficult enough to follow without his getting sidetracked.

“Of eligible men to marry,” she explained patiently. “Most of the good ones are already taken. And I don’t have the—” she gestured ineffectually “—the ability to attract the few who are available.”

Joe allowed his eyes to roam down the length of her body. “I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” he murmured.

Addy swallowed, trying to ignore the way her skin prickled under his stare. “I’m not talking about grabbing their attention. I’m talking about maintaining it long enough for a relationship to develop. The plain truth is that eligible men make me tongue-tied. I know I’m not overweight anymore on the outside, but inside I still feel awkward and unattractive.”

Joe studied her, surprised by her admission, although he could certainly relate to it. He had more money than anyone in this damn town and yet he still felt socially inferior at any gathering.

“I have no experience with making small talk with men,” she plowed on when he didn’t say anything. “With the kind of sexual banter that every other woman I know seems to have learned in grade school. I don’t know what men like or how they think or what they expect from a date....”

“It can’t be that bad.” Joe felt an urge to comfort her. To put his arms around her and wipe away the uncertainty darkening her eyes.

Addy grimaced. “Do you know how many dates I’ve had in my life? I’ll tell you,” she rushed on before he could say anything. “Three. Exactly three. One in high school and the twit parked the car on the side of the road and demanded sex.”

“His technique left a lot to be desired, even for a high-school kid,” Joe said dryly.

“Technique nothing. He told me that anyone as fat as I was should be grateful to trade sex for a date.”

“The little bastard!” Joe felt a flash of anger at Addy’s bleak expression.

“Definitely. Anyway, I slapped him and walked home. My second date was during nurse’s training and all he wanted to talk about was his microbes. I doubt that I even registered as a woman to him. I was simply an audience who was too unsure of herself to tell him that I found him boring as the devil.”

Joe chuckled. “You said three. What about the third?”

“The son of a patient I nursed. His mother was an unstable diabetic, and he was divorced with two teenagers. one of whom was pregnant and the other one was strung out on drugs. He saw me as the answer to all his problems. A nurse to take care of his family.”

Joe shook his head. “The man was blind.”

“Desperate,” Addy corrected, “but what I was trying to make you understand was that I have no experience at dating. And if I’m going to have any luck at finding a husband, I’m going to have to get some.”

“What ever happened to looking across a room and falling madly in love?”

“I did that once,” Addy assured him seriously. “At a hospital dance. As usual, I was standing on the sidelines trying to pretend that I was waiting for someone who just hadn’t shown up yet. Then I looked over at the refreshment table and saw the most gorgeous man. Every hormone I had went into overdrive.”

“What happened?”

“I mentioned him to a girlfriend of mine later in the evening, and she said that he was a disbarred lawyer who was at the hospital doing community service that had been ordered by the court because he’d been convicted of embezzling funds from his elderly clients. That took the shine off my feelings.”

“I rather imagine it might. All right, I’ll concede that you have no experience at dating, but what does that have to do with your property?” Joe decided to risk finding out if he was the husband she had in mind.

Addy ran her tongue over her lower lip, took a deep breath and blurted out her plan. “I’ll sell you my property if you’ll let me practice dating skills on you.”

Joe blinked, taken aback. “Exactly what do I have to do?” he asked cautiously.

“Well... I thought... If we were to have some dates, then I could practice relating to a man. And you could tell me how men feel about various things. That way when I went out with a real candidate, I’d have some firsthand knowledge of how the male mind works.”

Joe stared down at his drink as he considered her crazy idea. But the more he thought about it, the saner it seemed. Addy had identified her goal, as well as what it was that was keeping her from reaching that goal, and she’d thought out a logical way to remedy her lack. Her reasoning was impeccable. What she really wanted was a combination brother and Dutch uncle. He glanced up into her soft, brown eyes, which were watching him hopefully.

He could help her, he told himself. It wasn’t as if she were trying to marry him. Which made sense because he’d always known that his main attraction for women was his money, and Addy didn’t care about money.

No, Addy wasn’t a threat to his blissfully single state. And she was his friend, he reminded himself. And while he didn’t have a great deal of experience with friends, even he knew that friends helped each other out. His eyes homed in on the soft, pink fullness of her lips. Would his tutelage include kissing her? The idea shook his composure.

Her land. He dragged his mind back to the central issue with an effort.

“It’s an intriguing idea,” he said slowly, “but there’s a problem from my perspective. I need your property now, not at some time in the future when you finally manage to lure some hapless male to the altar.”

Addy tried to ignore her sense of discouragement at his immediate judgment that it would take her a long time to find a husband, focusing instead on the rest of his words. “But if I sell you my home, then I won’t have any place to live,” she pointed out. “And—”

“Damn!” Joe’s roughly bitten-off expletive interrupted her. He was staring at a point over her left shoulder, an annoyed expression on his face.

Addy started to turn around to see what had caught his attention.

“Don’t look,” he ordered. “It’s Charlie Wheeling. Come on.” He stood up and held out a hand for her. “Let’s dance. Maybe he’ll take the hint and go away.”

Addy put her hand in his and stood up, suddenly full of inhibitions. “I can’t dance,” she hissed as he led her out onto the crowded, postage-stamp-sized dance floor. “I never learned.”

“You aren’t about to learn here, either. There isn’t room. Just follow me.”

Addy did as she was told, instinctively moving closer as he took her in his arms. The heat from his body reached out to engulf her, warming her flesh and softening her muscles. She felt pliable. As if she could mold herself to him. Another couple bumped into them and Joe gathered her even closer, cradling her protectively against him. Her breasts brushed against his chest, sending a tingling sensation shooting through her. She could feel the tips stiffening, and she had to fight an impulse to move closer to try to intensify the sensation.

Addy took a deep, steadying breath, but it only made matters worse. The scent of his cologne filled her nostrils. He smelled so good, she thought dreamily. Not overpowering, the way some men did, but subtle. As if he were hiding most of his personality from the casual observer. As he probably was, she realized with a flash of insight. Joe Barrington was a very private person. What would it be like to probe behind the face he presented to the world? The tantalizing idea caught her off guard and she stumbled, falling against Joe’s chest. It was like hitting a warm wall. There was no give to him anywhere. He must be pure muscle. What would he look like without his clothes on? The images that flooded her mind flustered her and she stumbled again.

Still, she decided she’d much rather Joe thought she was clumsy than so susceptible to his nearness. It was only propinquity, after all, she tried to tell herself. She’d been thinking about men and sex and marriage and children for over two weeks now, and Joe was an attractive man. A very attractive man. It was hardly surprising that she would react to being this near to him.

“Oh, hell!” Joe bit out. “Wheeling sat down at our table. Can you believe that? The jerk is going to wait for us.”

Addy glanced back at their table. The man seated in Joe’s chair looked pretty harmless to her. “Maybe he just wants to say hello?”

Joe gave her a cynical look that chilled her. “Charlie sells insurance, and he’s been after me to buy my liability insurance from him for months.”

“Tell him no and be done with it. As long as you keep avoiding him, he’ll hope you’ll eventually agree.”

“I did say no, the first time he asked, so now he’s switched his tactics. He keeps inviting me to things.”

Addy studied Joe’s annoyed features thoughtfully. Apparently she wasn’t the only one who couldn’t throw off the past. Joe appeared to assume that a social invitation automatically came with strings attached. That no one could want him just because they enjoyed his company.

“Have you ever considered that he might simply want to get to know you better?” Addy suggested.

“No.”

“Well, consider it now.”

Joe narrowed his eyes, stared briefly at the ceiling and then said, “Okay. I considered it, and I still don’t believe it.”

“You’re far too cynical.”

“And you’re far too trusting,” he countered. “I suppose it comes of your being so hung up on religion. You’ve started to believe what they tell you.”

“I am not hung up on religion!” she objected. “I simply happen to believe in the value system that my particular religion espouses. And one of those values is that one should give the benefit of the doubt to people.”

“Hung up,” he repeated. “If you’d take a good look around you, you’d see that people aren’t very nice.”

“They are too! Most of them,” she amended.

“You need a reality check. Come on.” Taking her arm, Joe shepherded her back to their table.

“I’m going to introduce you to Charlie. That should be enough to convince even you.”

“Joe!” Charlie got to his feet as they approached and, giving them a wide grin, held out his hand. “My wife saw you when we came in and she told me that I should come over and invite you to a party we’re having this weekend. Kind of a coming-out party for her cousin Warren.”

“Where’s he been?” Addy asked cautiously, fearing the worst. She was fast coming to the conclusion that Joe had been right. Her gut reaction to Wheeling was distaste. He was simply too...something.

“Married. His divorce becomes final next week. So we thought we’d throw a party and celebrate his freedom. You’re invited too, Miss...”

“Edson,” Joe introduced her. “Addy, this is Charlie Wheeling.”

Charlie frowned at her. “I vaguely remember an Edson from high school, but you couldn’t be her. She was fat and...”

Addy stared at him as anger and embarrassment surged through her. She wanted to yell at him and run and hide at the same time.

“Oh, sorry. No offense intended...” Charlie stammered. “I didn’t mean...”

“I’ll get back to you about the party,” Joe said, cutting him off.

“Sure. Anytime.” Charlie hurriedly escaped.

“Yes?” Joe gave her a wicked grin. “You were telling me what a good guy he was.”

Addy sank down into her chair. “People who go around saying ‘I told you so,’ are universally disliked.”

“But at least they don’t get taken advantage of. Or insulted.”

“Maybe he didn’t mean to be insulting.” Addy tried to be fair, even though Charlie’s comment burned in her mind. “After all, I was fat in school. All he did was state a fact.”

“There are lots of facts that are better left unsaid, and one would expect someone his age to have figured that out.”

“It would have been nice. Who’s he married to?”

“The bleached blonde sitting beside him.”

Addy turned and looked to find a vaguely familiar woman staring at her. The woman smiled and waved, and Addy politely waved back as she tried to place her.

“When you knew her, she was Cookie Lawton,” Joe offered.

Addy’s mouth dropped open in shock. “That’s Cookie Lawton! She’s at least seventy-five pounds heavier than she was in school and she looks...artificial.”

Joe shook his head and gave her a mournful look which was belied by the twinkle in his eyes. “Shame on you. Taking pleasure in the fact that one of the social lions of your high-school class has gone to seed.”

“I wasn’t...” Addy began and then giggled enchantingly. “Yes, I was. If you only knew how many years I put up with her sly little digs about whales during gym classes, and now to find out that she’s overweight...”

“While you look like the embodiment of every man’s dream,” Joe finished.

Addy stared at him uncertainly, wondering if he was just saying what he thought she wanted to hear, or if he might actually like how she looked.

“As long as the dream doesn’t turn into a nightmare,” she finally said. “Now, about what we were talking about before Charlie interrupted?”

“Yes, nightmares and marriage do kind of go together.”

“Don’t be facetious,” she said. “I’m serious. Will you help me?” She held her breath, mentally willing him to do it.

Joe stared down into the melting ice cubes in his drink for a long moment and then said, “As I was saying, I need your land now.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Addy felt her spirits sink.

“There is a way around it, though,” he said slowly. “I live in the old Iverson place.”

“I think I remember it. Isn’t it that huge old Queen Anne place sitting on most of a city block over on North Washington?”

“That’s it. It was in pretty bad shape when I bought it, and I had it virtually rebuilt inside. There was also a housekeeper’s cottage in the back by the garage that was redone at the same time. But, since I prefer my privacy, I use a cleaning service and the cottage has never been occupied. You could stay there.”

Addy was taken aback by his offer. Apparently he didn’t think that she was enough of a threat to his privacy to matter. For some reason the thought rankled. Just once, she’d like a man to consider her a massive threat to his peace of mind. Someday, she promised herself. And accepting Joe’s offer was the first step on the road to that someday. She took a deep breath, trying to keep her focus on the future and not the past and said, “It’s a deal.”

“I’ll have my lawyers draw up the papers first thing in the morning, and you can stop by the plant about ten and sign them.”

Addy chuckled. “You mean, here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?”

“The sooner you sign, the sooner I can get started on the new plant,” he defended himself. “Also the sooner we can get started on your project.” His eyes narrowed, and he stared past her.

Addy, who was coming to recognize what she thought of as his thinking mode, waited.

“Maybe we ought to go,” he finally said.

“Go?” Addy frowned. “Go where?”

“To the Wheelings’ party. It’ll give you a chance to look over the competition.”

“How so?” Addy asked, not understanding.

“If the party is to reintroduce Warren to the social scene, then it makes sense that all the eligible women that the Wheelings know will be there.”

“Clever.” Addy gave credit where it was due. “But I would have thought that you already know the competition?” She couldn’t resist the gentle probe into his private life.

“I haven’t the time for parties. Nor the stomach,” he said bitterly. “You know damn well Cookie Wheeling would never have invited me if it weren’t for my money. She practically held her skirts away from me in school when I passed her in the halls so that I wouldn’t contaminate her.”

Addy felt her heart twist at his revealing words. Somehow, she’d never thought of Joe as caring what the others thought of him. But obviously she’d been wrong.

“Joe...” she began, not sure what she should say. What she could say. Only knowing that she wanted to ease his pain.

A wry smile curved his lips. “Please, spare me the consoling homily.”

“I wasn’t going to give you one. I was merely going to point out that people change. Everything changes.”

“Yeah, particularly my financial worth.”

“Quit harping about your money!”

“Why not, when it’s my major appeal to people?”

“And don’t talk in generalities! I could give a hang about your money.”

“Which makes you the exception that proves the rule.”

Addy shook her head in annoyance and gave up. He wasn’t going to listen to her. Maybe she could find some way of showing him. It would be a fitting reward for helping her.

“About the Wheelings’ party,” Joe persisted.

Addy bit back her instinctive refusal and tried to think. If she was going to find a husband, then sooner or later she was going to have to face the social scene. It might as well be sooner. And Joe would be there. Her spirits rose fractionally. She wouldn’t have to face the situation on her own.

“I think you’re right,” she finally said.

“I usually am,” he said with a smugness that made her smile. Joe was such a strange mixture. She had never really realized what a complex man he was. Getting to know him again was going to be an intriguing process.