Читать книгу It Happened in L.A. - Lori Wilde - Страница 20

PAUL COULDN’T TALK YET, although he was in a lot better shape than five minutes ago. Gwen had settled next to him, dragging a soft throw over their bodies. He had his arm around her and her head was in the hollow where his chest met his shoulder.

“Well, this is a fine how-do-you-do,” she said.

He chuckled, never having heard that as an aprés-sex comment before. “Appropriate, though,” he said, feeling that he knew a great deal more about her than before.

“Huh?”

“Nothing,” he said, lacking the verbal and mental skills to explain. “Don’t expect me to be coherent.”

“Fair enough.”

“I have to say, for a couch, this wasn’t so bad.”

“What do you mean?”

He let his hand smooth down her arm. “It didn’t scratch up my ass.”

He felt her lips curve into a smile.

“First thing I checked out in the department store.”

“Dropped trou, did you?”

“It was a major purchase.”

His head lifted as he grinned, but he couldn’t really see her face so he let it flop back again. “Popcorn and a treat. Best movies ever.”

“It’s not what I expected.”

“No?”

“We were supposed to be friends.”

He lifted his head once more. “Aren’t we?”

“We hadn’t exactly discussed the benefits package.”

He really needed to see her face. He lifted her chin, which upset the balance of things, but had to be done. “Are you sorry?”

The look she gave him was honest, if not quite as satisfying as a whimper and instant denial, but that was Gwen. “I don’t know. I don’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. God, I did. But—” she sat up, tugged the blanket a bit to cover her lap “—I’m not sure where it leaves us.”

“Does it have to leave us anywhere in particular?”

Her shrug said as much as her troubled gaze. “I’d like to say no, but that’s not how I operate. I’m not a casual sex kind of person.”

“Nothing about you is casual.”

She poked him lightly with her elbow. “If that was supposed to be a compliment, it sucked.”

“It was.” He ran a hand over his face, then sat up a bit straighter. “I admire it, though. I like that you have high standards.”

“I suppose—no, I don’t understand that, either.”

“Case in point,” he said. “But I’ll try to explain. You don’t settle, and you expect the best from me. Which makes me want to give you my best. I’ve never had that with a friend before, benefits notwithstanding. The truth is, somewhere during the past few weeks, I realized I wanted more.”

“You didn’t say anything.”

“I kissed you.”

She sighed in the nicest way. “Yes, you did.”

“And as I recall, you kissed me back.”

This time, he got a nod.

He stroked her face with the back of his fingers. “What do you want?”

She captured his hand and held it there for a moment. “I don’t know. I was just getting used to the friendship part.”

He thought about that. About what being friends with Gwen had started out as, and how different it was from anything he’d experienced before. It had never occurred to him that he was moving too fast. In his life before Gwen, these things tended to happen quickly, skipping over the friendship altogether. The only exception in recent memory had been Autumn, but she didn’t seem to count anymore. It felt as if meeting Gwen had forced a spotlight on Autumn’s game-playing, and in that glare, it had lost all its charm.

“Hello?” She looked him in the eyes, waiting.

He wanted the sex. It balanced things for him, but he skittered away from that thought. No, he’d wanted her. “I should have waited.”

“Please don’t feel bad. I was right there with you. I could have said no.”

“That’s fair. Tell you what. Let’s play it by ear. I’ll try to be more focused on the friend thing.”

“I like that. I’m still learning so much about you.”

“Huh. That’s a pretty shallow pool.”

“No, it’s not. I thought it would be, but you’ve turned out to be an interesting guy.”

“Don’t let that get out. It’ll ruin my reputation in this town.”

She grinned. “We’re in Pasadena. You’re still safe in Hollywood.”

After looking at a face that had changed so much in such a short time, he pulled her into a kiss. Nothing fancy. Just a hope, perhaps that while the whole nine yards might be off-limits, this might not be. Kissing her was something he didn’t want to give up.

Finally, she drew away. Pushed some hair back from his forehead with the tips of her delicate fingers. “It’s late.”

“One thing, and then I’ll go.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Friends with kissing, that could work, right?”

She looked at him with those green eyes of hers. He could practically see the debate inside her head. Finally, she smiled, and he knew her answer.

“Yes. Friends with kissing could work.”

“Yippee,” he said, mocking his own exuberant reaction so she wouldn’t get scared and change her mind. “I’ll wash up.” He stood, left her the blanket, gathered his pile of clothes and went into the bathroom. As he cleaned up, he tried to remember why he’d considered her so plain. Probably the contrast to Autumn. But now that he knew Gwen so well, the scales had shifted. There was little better than winning a smile from Gwen.

Naturally, when he got to the door he wanted to try the whole friends with kissing thing. Just to make sure they both understood the concept.

Wrapped in her blanket, he tugged her close and kissed her. Not a peck, either, but a long, hot kiss that made them both moan. When he broke away, it was with real regret, but also hope. Oh, yeah. Friends with kissing was a great start. He just prayed he could stand it while he waited for her to see the wisdom of a comprehensive benefit package.

IT WAS FOUR DAYS until he saw her again. Monday night trivia, and of course, he arrived only minutes before the game. She had saved him a seat, and there was a game player waiting, but what he mostly wanted was a beer.

He sat down, pleased to be in the hubbub and chatter of the now-familiar gang from her work. He knew everyone at the table tonight, which was cool.

First thing, he turned on his machine. Second, he leaned over and kissed Gwen a proper hello, although it wasn’t nearly the kiss he could have planted on her. Then he went to type in his nickname. When he looked up, no one at the table was talking. In fact, they were all staring at him. With a thunk, he realized that he’d just done a very stupid thing.

He cleared his throat and looked desperately for a waitress as he cast about for some way to fix this. She worked with these people. She clearly didn’t want them to know they were kissing friends, and here he’d been so pleased that he’d shown such restraint.

“It’s good to see you, too,” Gwen said, her voice pleasant, her glare not so much.

His whole face got hot, but when he dared look at her, there was no real anger in her eyes. Braver, he looked at his tablemates. They were obviously bewildered, but no one shot him furious glares or threw anything at him. The last test would be Holly.

She was all shock, but pissed off, too. Not at him, though. At Gwen. Holly leaned over his back, forcing his head down to the table.

He heard Gwen say, “Ouch,” and figured Holly had given her a shot in the arm.

“What was that for?” Gwen said.

Holly grunted, but in a feminine way. “You know perfectly well.”

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. We’ll talk later, I promise. But the game’s starting now, and I think you’re killing Paul.”

Holly eased up but gave him a shriveling glare. “Some nerve.” She gave him a pop, too, and it hurt quite a bit. “She’s my best friend. I should have been in the loop.”

“Sorry,” he said, wishing the beer would get there, wishing he didn’t want to rub his arm like a little girl. Glad it was out in the open, and that he could touch Gwen tonight. He’d missed her, even through a ridiculously busy few days. There’d been no reading, no movies, not even any baseball games. Just work, a phone call here and there and some nice memories to put him to sleep.

After the first question came up on the board, Gwen leaned over so her mouth was close to his ear. “Smoothly done, Casanova.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered back. “I didn’t think.”

“I forgive you.”

He turned fully to her, the whisper be damned. “Do you now? How magnanimous.”

She nodded, pleased with herself.

He leaned toward her, shifting his glance between her eyes and the big board while he moved his hand to his game machine. He made sure she was looking at him, though, when the next question popped. That’s when he kissed her again. A long one. If there’d been any doubts before from any of her coworkers, they were dispelled by the smoldering lip-lock. Of course, he answered the trivia question at the same time, and when the answer period was over, he let her go. He couldn’t suppress his grin, knowing he’d won on two counts.

She looked up at the board. Then at him. Then she socked him in the other arm. It hurt a lot worse than Holly’s punch.

GWEN KEPT HERSELF as calm as possible as the game continued. It wasn’t his fault, that kiss, not really. They hadn’t discussed the public face of their relationship. Friendship. Besides, it had been a spontaneous gesture that had been not only sweet but a little breathtaking, so she couldn’t be mad at him. She’d learned long ago to defuse tricky situations by acting as if they weren’t tricky at all. But now that they were pressing buttons, trying to win, drinking beer, in essence back to normal, the gravity of what he’d done hit her.

These were the people she worked with. To most of them, she was the boss, although in her office there wasn’t much of a caste system. There was a great deal of camaraderie, but when things got dicey they all knew her word was final. No one objected and the atmosphere at work was mostly jovial, if task oriented.

She’d only brought one man into the fold at all, and that had been on two occasions. Alex had been nice, but mostly a rebound guy, and their dalliance hadn’t lasted long.

Paul, on the other hand, had been allowed in on the basis of being her friend. No hint had been given that there was more. Well, Holly had wanted it to be a love affair, but that was Holly. No wonder she was cranky. Gwen wasn’t even sure why she’d kept things so quiet.

Although she hadn’t seen Paul since that night on the couch, they’d spoken every day. Poor guy, he’d been slammed with work and clients and entertaining, but he still managed to sneak in his daily call.

While it had been nice to speak to him, she hadn’t been prepared for dreaming about him. Not just any dreams, either. Vivid, sexy, naked dreams.

Naturally, she didn’t tell him. Not when she was so confused about what this thing was between them. At least she still had a grasp on the fact that sexual attraction was not enough. Although it sure felt as if it would be. No, there were issues to be dealt with. Big ones.

For example, the incongruity of the two of them together. Even now Kenny kept sneaking stares, his expression perplexed, although he tried to hide it. And there was Steph, shaking her head with what looked to be disbelief.

Gwen shifted her attention to the game, her drink, anything rather than see the reactions around her. It wasn’t a surprise. Come on. She might have a lot of good qualities, but beauty wasn’t one of them. It wasn’t something she could hide or disguise. What pissed her off was that it had never been a part of her relationships at work. Never.

She pressed the button on her machine, realizing too late it was the wrong name. She swore, not just at her bad answer, but at her concern over what her friends thought. Ridiculous. She had nothing to apologize for. Nothing to feel weird about.

“What is going on with you?”

She jumped at the sound of his voice, so near to her.

“You’re going to win,” she whispered. “I hate that.”

“Get used to it, darlin’. I rock at this.”

She gave him a glare, then said, “Cheater” semidisguised as a cough. “You’re going to pay for that.”

“Oooh, how?” He looked entirely too excited.

“I don’t know yet. It won’t be the fun kind of revenge, mark my words.”

He laughed, which got everyone looking at them. Gwen kissed him, which he really didn’t deserve. But what the hell, right? He made her laugh, and he made her happy. If anyone didn’t like it, they could just screw off.

FINALLY, PAUL WAS UP TO BAT for the first time.

Gwen stood in the bleachers right next to Holly. She wanted him to knock it out of the ballpark, but barring that, to not strike out. He’d been touted as a ringer. He certainly looked like one. Terribly buff in his T-shirt and jeans, he even managed to make the batting helmet look sexy.

“Go, Paul!” Holly was shouting so loud Gwen had to cover her ears.

“I don’t think they heard you in St. Louis.”

“I’m just being an excellent teammate,” Holly said. “You should be shouting, too.”

“I’m encouraging him in my own way.”

Holly bumped her shoulder. “He can’t see you crossing your fingers.”

The pitcher lobbed the ball and it was a swing and a miss.

“That’s okay, Paul.” Holly shouted again. “Good eye, good eye.”

Gwen saw that while his timing was off by a hair, he had real power. As soon as he did connect, the ball would fly out of the park. She crossed the fingers of her other hand.

Another strike.

The whole team was shouting now, at least those not too busy drinking beer from the conveniently located cooler. They were playing against Harland, Inc., a very reputable agency with very nice people whom her crew liked a great deal off the field. The loser had to spring for beer and pizzas after.

At the third pitch she held her breath. A ball. That was okay, but her heart couldn’t take this. She wanted to sit down, shut her eyes until it was over, but couldn’t. Another pitch and damn! The crack of the bat filled the air and that ball was so far out of there it almost hit a car across the street. A home run!

Gwen shouted like a lunatic. She was so proud of him, it set off every girl hormone in her body.

Then when he came back to the bleachers, panting after running the bases, and swept her into his arms for a kiss, she positively swooned with such happiness that she had no words. Only feelings. Lots of them.

“WHAT’S THIS?”

Paul’s secretary placed the brightly wrapped package on his desk. “It just arrived.”

“What is it?”

“I believe you’re going to have to open the package to find out.” Tina grinned at him, then returned to her office.

He had a million things to do today, but he could take a few minutes to open it, right? He tore into the paper and there was his first hint, a rather big one. The name Christopher on a shipping label on the box. What was Gwen up to?

He wrestled with the tape and finally got the box open to find a very well protected, very small reproduction of Venus de Milo.

He knew instantly that he’d assumed the wrong Christopher yet again.

A card was inside the box.

Sweet, Wonderful Paul,

Here I am in Rome with all its great restaurants and fabulous bars, but all I can think of is you. I hate that you haven’t called me. I know I’ve been out of town, but I’m coming home on Thursday. Please, please let’s do something wicked. I won’t be able to have a good time until I’m with you. I hope you like the Venus.

Love, Autumn

Damn. He’d been putting it off, but that had to end. He’d make lunch plans with her. That couldn’t end up too badly, right? Besides, he didn’t think it would break her heart not to have him chasing after her. Her ego, maybe, but nothing more.

He needed to tell her what was going on with him and Gwen. Or maybe he should break it off with her first, then tell her about Gwen another time. Knowing Autumn, that seemed the best route.

He placed the Venus, which didn’t match the decor in his office or his house, and was pretty shabby in fact, back into the box. Then he hit Gwen’s speed-dial number on his phone.

“Gwen Christopher.”

“It’s me.”

“Hey,” she said, and he could hear her smile.

“What are you doing tonight?”

“Book club,” she said, her voice low and intimate.

They hadn’t done more than kiss since that night. He hadn’t pressed, she hadn’t brought it up. All the same there was a whole lot of simmering going on. “Tonight?”

“Yes, tonight.”

“Oh.”

She laughed. “I completely understand why you haven’t finished the book. It’s okay. You’ve been incredibly busy.”

“Yeah, but—”

“No buts. Besides, I don’t think you’d love book club. Especially my book club. We tend to go off on tangents. Long ones. Many involve cooking.”

“Cooking?”

“Seriously, Paul. Finish the book if you like, but don’t think twice about these little meetings. Use tonight to catch up on some sleep. You need it.”

“I know what would make me sleep better.”

She snorted. “That’s such a lie I can’t even stand it. Drink some warm milk. Read. Sleep.”

He sighed. “I’ll try, but I’ve been putting off a couple things I need to handle. Save tomorrow night for me. I’ve got a dinner to go to at The Ivy. No big deal…it would be nicer if you were there.”

There was a pause, which he figured was work related. Finally, she came back to him. “I wish I could. I don’t think that’s gonna work for me, though. Anyway, my three o’clock is here. Talk to you later.”

With that, she was gone. What had happened? How had a woman he shouldn’t even know become so important to him?