Angel in Disguise

by Patt Marr

  Pete understood the questionnaire was a big deal, but Meggy said she’d completed his with such crazy answers he couldn’t possibly win. Thirty minutes, she’d said, and it would be over.

  “Okay, here we go,” the host said. “Remember, the couple with the most points at the end of the show shares a fabulous Dream Date. Then in a couple of weeks they’ll return to rate their date. Will it be a dream…or a nightmare? Everybody ready?”

  Pete hadn’t dated since high school and wasn’t about to start now. He leaned forward in his chair, the better to concentrate on losing.

  “The first category,” host Mike Michaels enthused, “is ‘Food on a First Date.’ On their bios, contestants were asked to state where or what sort of food they would enjoy on a Dream Date. Cheryl,” he said to the blonde with the low neckline, “let’s start with you. What’s your choice in food?”

  “Well, Mike, I like really nice restaurants. Romantic places with gourmet food and fine wine. Oh, and valet parking.”

  The audience chuckled, and Pete smiled at the idea of turning his old pickup over to a parking attendant. ELEGANT DINING popped onto the board behind the woman. Mike moved on to the brunette. “Jacy, how about you?”

  “Sushi, Mike. Can’t get enough sushi. I like to head down to the marina and spend some time there.”

  As SUSHI appeared on the electronic board behind Jacy, Pete wondered if either the weight lifter or the longhair were more willing to eat raw fish than he was.

  Mike turned to the redhead. “Sunny, what’s your preference?”

  Sunny glanced at the studio audience where a dozen or so teenage girls chanted, “Do it. Do it. Do it.”

  Taking a deep breath, she turned back to the emcee and said, “Mike, I like to stay home and cook for my dates.”

  Looks could be deceiving, but Pete would have bet his pickup that this woman didn’t know a whisk from a blender.

  The board faithfully registered HOME COOKING, and the host looked at the redhead with awe. “We don’t get too many women choosing to cook. Bet you’re real popular, Sunny.”

  The redhead grinned and shrugged her shoulders. Personality sparkled in her pretty brown eyes.

  It was only a little twinge Pete felt. A little zing in the gut. But it took him by surprise. It had been so long since it happened that a moment passed before he recognized the feeling. Attraction, he guessed you’d call it. Man, it had been a while.

  Even in the old days he’d never been attracted to redheads, yet he felt the impact of this one’s smile right down to his socks. What was her name? Sunny? She sure was when she smiled. The smile was beautiful. In fact, spectacular.

  She caught him staring at her. Her eyes were huge, the warm color of butternut, and uneasy. Rather pointedly, she turned toward the host. He had to smile. She didn’t know it, but she didn’t have to worry about him coming on to her. Any interest he had in her was purely analytical.

  “Kevin,” Mike said to the longhair, “on your questionnaire you stated that you prefer ethnic food. Right?”

  “Mostly Mexican and Thai. The hotter the better,” Kevin claimed in a dark, sultry voice, dramatically swishing his hair as ETHNIC FOODS registered.

  Pete was fairly sure he’d have trouble relating to Kevin.

  “Frank, our fireman from the LAFD…”

  “Firefighter,” the weight lifter corrected politely.

  “Frank the firefighter,” the emcee repeated goodnaturedly, “says he prefers pasta and salad. Looks good on you, Frank.”

  Frank smiled as if he might think so, too. Pete approved of his diet, if not the attitude.

  “According to Pete,” the host said, “the perfect meal is a big pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob dripping with butter and chocolate-chip cheesecake.”

  The audience groaned. So did Pete, at least inwardly. He avoided red meat and kept an eye on his fat grams. The pot-roast fantasy was Meggy’s creation. “Trust me,” she’d said. “I know these girls and what they say.”

  She’d better, since her life was on the line.

  “Pete also says,” continued the host, “that his favorite place to eat is his mom’s own backyard. Isn’t that nice?”

  The audience laughed. Pete thought they’d get an even bigger kick if they knew his mother was so into her art that she never knew when it was time to eat.

  He looked warily at the board behind Sunny. Her HOME COOKING could be a match with Frank’s PASTA or the POT ROAST hanging over his own head.

  “What do you say, audience?” yelled the host. “Which couple matches? Cast your electronic votes now.”

  In mere seconds the boards flashed behind Pete and Sunny.

  The “Do it” girls exploded in screams and piercing whistles as they high-fived each other all over the place. The blonde threw him a pout, and the brunette seemed disappointed.

  Sunny looked as if she’d been sentenced to ten days in the county jail. He wasn’t happy about the match, either, but he couldn’t say he liked her reaction.

  In the second category, which had to go better than the first, Mike started with the guys, asking their music preference on a first date. Frank the firefighter liked rhythm and blues. Kevin the longhair predictably talked about rock and said he sang with a band. Since Pete didn’t know the answer Meggy had given for him, he gave his honest preference: country.

  Sunny’s answer, “All types of music,” made him nervous until Cheryl answered, “Rock.” That, of course, was a perfect match with Kevin the longhair, and Pete breathed easier.

  For the next category, “TV Preference on a First Date,” Mike started with Sunny. “I understand you’re a teacher and the girls’ basketball coach at San Josita High?”

  She nodded and flashed that beautiful, warm smile. Again Pete felt the zing, and again it surprised him.

  Mike glanced out at the teenagers. “You didn’t happen to bring the team with you?”

  “Whuh, whuh, whuh,” the group of girls chanted.

  “Actually, Mike, they brought me. This was their idea. I promised to do anything they wanted if they’d win the regional championship. They won.”

  “Get a nice trophy?”

  “Big trophy. Huge,” she said, smiling down at the girls.

  “Congratulations! I can see you’re proud of your team, and it looks as if they’re rooting for you to take home a ‘huge’ trophy from Dream Date.”

  The audience laughed, especially when the firefighter flexed a bicep. The girls broke out more high fives. Pete frowned. He couldn’t see Sunny and the firefighter together, but what did he know? Or care.

  “What kind of TV do you watch on a first date, Sunny?”

  “Sports. Football or basketball, mostly.”

  Pete’s mouth went dry. If he were honest, that’s what he’d say, too. But hey, all guys would. Well, maybe not the longhair, but he knew he could depend on the firefighter.

  Kevin’s answer, MTV, and Frank’s SPORTS, came as no surprise. His own preference, again compliments of Meggy, was a revelation. He was sure he had never watched SPORT FISHING. In fact, he wouldn’t know a trout from a tuna, but he had to give Meggy credit. It put him in the clear. He smiled as the match went to Frank and Sunny.

  Not only was her team ecstatic, Sunny didn’t seem to mind winning this one. If he’d cared, he might have taken the difference in her reaction personally.

  In the category “Transportation on a First Date,” it was a tie. Jacy the brunette matched Kevin with FOREIGN SPORTS CAR, and for their second point, Sunny matched Pete with PICKUP TRUCK.

  It was true that more women drove pickups these days, but he couldn’t imagine this redhead in her miniskirt behind the wheel of one.

  “Congrats on your second point, Pete and Sunny!” The emcee beamed at them. “What do you think, Sunny? Have you got a place on your mantel for a trophy like Pete?”

  Sunny forced herself to laugh along with the audience even though there was positively no place in her life for a state-of-the-art
stud like Pete. He reminded her so much of Bruce, it was scary. Give her an average-looking, good-hearted guy anyday, not some blue-eyed, raven-haired hunk.

  During the next break, she waved at her girls and tried to act as if she were having a good time. She loved those kids, and, more than anything, wanted them to love the Lord. Sometimes it made it hard for her to be as firm with them as she should.

  For instance, she should have put her foot down when they claimed dressing her for the show was part of the deal. Tugging on this dinky strip of leather they called a skirt, trying to gain an inch of modesty, she thought of her family’s reaction. Daddy’s blood pressure would soar, and Mother would choke on her pearls.

  She didn’t especially like the idea of upsetting them, but maybe they’d finally realize she wasn’t going back to Bruce, no matter how much he promised to win her. Last month he’d gone too far, showing up at her school, announcing she was his fiancée and ruining the relative anonymity she’d enjoyed this school year. Now, faculty and students alike believed Bruce’s version, and the rumor mill was killing her.

  But her girls knew her and smelled a rat. If she were engaged they’d have known it. Why Bruce would pretend something that wasn’t true, they didn’t know, but they knew it wasn’t right.

  Behind her back, they’d set her up for this show. Her ex couldn’t claim he was engaged to a Dream Date contestant, could he? It made sense to her. So here she was, rooting for the women beside her, counting the minutes until the show ended.

  In the new round, “Outdoor Activity on a First Date,” the guy with the earring said he liked to walk along the beach, and the guy with the bull neck said he liked mountain climbing. Hopefully she wouldn’t get matched with anyone, but if she absolutely had to be matched, she prayed it would be with one of them. They didn’t intimidate her at all. Just please not the hunk. Though he did have the sweetest smile she’d ever seen, she wanted no part of him. Guys like him were so full of themselves; they did what they pleased and expected you to thank them for it. She’d already been there and done that.

  He must have felt her eyes on him for he slid one of his slow, lopsided smiles her way. Warm tingles fluttered in her stomach, and she almost smiled back. Silly tingles, reacting to chemistry instead of good sense.

  “Pete,” the emcee said, “tell us about being a carpenter. What kind of carpentry do you do?”

  A strange look crossed Pete’s face. Then he gave Mike a phony smile. Definitely phony. She was an expert on that. It was an odd reaction to a simple question.

  “Mostly residential construction,” he said.

  It wasn’t exactly the truth. She was sure of it, but why lie about that?

  “Your questionnaire says your choice of ‘Outdoor Activity on a First Date’ is camping and exploring the great outdoors. How long have you been into ‘exploring the great outdoors’?”

  The guy glanced uneasily toward the side of the stage. It wasn’t the first time Sunny had noticed an interchange between him and a cute brunette holding a clipboard.

  “Mike,” he said, clearing his throat, “I can’t remember when I first became interested in camping and…exploring, but it’s been…an indescribable part of my life.”

  Even without her teaching experience, Sunny recognized hooey when she heard it. Why had he made that up?

  Pete’s lack of candor apparently didn’t bother Cheryl, the first woman in the round, for she sent a seductive glance his way and said to the emcee, “Mike, I know my bio says my favorite outdoor activity is shopping, but I want to change that to camping and exploring.”

  The audience laughed, but Pete looked embarrassed, which surprised her.

  The host smiled regretfully. “’Fraid that’s not the way it works, Cheryl. Let’s see SHOPPING on Cheryl’s scoreboard!”

  Jacy’s answer was “volleyball,” and, for once, Sunny could answer honestly. The team had allowed her the one genuine preference. As she answered, and BACKPACKING went on the board, she knew why. Backpacking had point-maker potential.

  Mike instructed the audience, “Okay, ladies and gentlemen. We’re down to the wire. Kevin has matched two of the women—Cheryl and Jacy. Sunny has matched two of the guys—once with Frank and twice with Pete. That means we could have a tie between Jacy and Sunny. Cheryl, honey, it looks like you’ll have to go shopping alone, at least this time.”

  “That’s okay,” she said. “I had a great time. And, Pete, I’ll give you my number. For a real date, you give me a call.”

  The crowd loved it. Sunny thought they made a perfect pair.

  “Okay, what’s it going to be, folks? Do you see Kevin and Jacy ‘walking on the beach’ after a hot game of ‘volleyball’?”

  “Oooo,” the audience reacted. They had Sunny’s vote.

  “Or do you see Sunny ‘backpacking’ as she ‘mountain climbs’ with Frank? Or Sunny ‘backpacking’ as she ‘camps and explores’ with Pete?”

  Sunny cringed as she heard far more people screaming her name and Pete’s. Hot color crept up her neck. Please, God, get me out of this.

  “A match for Sunny and Pete gives them a clear win. Otherwise we go into our tie-breaker. Okay, folks, time to cast your vote. Do it now.”

  Sunny heard her team chanting Pete’s name and thought of the windsprints and laps those girls would get.

  When the scoreboards behind her and Pete registered the win, her heart sank. She didn’t know how she was going to get out of this, but she was not going camping with a stranger.

  Pete couldn’t remember ever letting his sister down, but there had to be a first for everything. He wasn’t doing the date.

  “I can’t do it, Meggy,” he said, his arms folded, ready for the inevitable wheedling debate. “That wasn’t part of our deal.”

  “I know. I don’t expect you to.”

  That surprised him. From babyhood, she’d expected him to leap tall buildings if that was what it took to get her way.

  “I’d like to help you out, but…”

  “It’s okay. A promise is a promise. I said you wouldn’t have to do the date if you won, and you won’t.”

  “You won’t get into trouble?”

  “It doesn’t matter. I can always get another job.”

  Guilt was an awful thing to swallow. This was the best job Meggy had ever had. She loved this job.

  “Who would have thought we’d get a woman who wanted to cook for her dates?” she muttered. “Ridiculous!”

  Well, not from a man’s point of view. That is, if he actually wanted a date.

  She sighed, brave disappointment on her face. “That’s it, then.”

  If he screwed this up for her, could he forgive himself? Probably not.

  “I guess no job’s perfect.” She sighed again.

  It was only one date. He could do it. Drawing an extra deep breath, he said, “Okay, you win, but don’t expect me to bail you out again. This is the last time, understood?”

  “You’ll…do the date?” She looked stunned.

  No wonder. He felt stunned. Already he could kick himself for rescuing her again. “What do I have to do?”

  “I can’t believe this,” she whispered. A tear welled in her eye. “You haven’t dated since…”

  “Don’t start. Just tell me what I have to do.”

  “Thank you, Pete,” she said in a shaky voice as a tear dropped on her cheek.

  “Darn it, Meggy, stop that.” She knew he couldn’t stand tears. He rubbed the tear away with his thumb.

  She sniffed and gave him the watery smile she’d perfected as a toddler. “We’d better go meet the guy who plans the dates.”

  He followed Meggy down one hallway and then another, wondering what other guy would feel sick to his stomach knowing he had a date with a gorgeous redhead. A real, honest-to-goodness date. Time alone with a woman when you weren’t sure what you were going to say or what was going to happen?

  From junior high on, he’d been paired with Lisa. He’d never had to plan where they wer
e going or what they’d do. Well, that much wouldn’t change. Dream Date would take care of the planning.

  He knew they were getting close to the meeting room when the girls’ basketball team spotted him and started up that stupid “Pete, Pete, Pete” thing again. The piercing whistles came from the tallest girl. Pete had to respect the way she could whistle with her fingers in her mouth. He’d have given a baseball card to be able to do that when he’d been a kid.

  In a conference room Sunny sat on a short sofa, showing more leg than she wanted if you judged by the way she shifted around, tugging at that little skirt. As far as Pete was concerned, she might as well give in gracefully. Those were truly great legs.

  As he entered the room, the first thing he noticed was the change in Sunny. Her wide-eyed, admiring expression was the one he usually got from women these days. Even if it was only The Face she liked, it was better than her earlier reaction. The change seemed strange. Stranger still was the fact it mattered.

  Sunny felt like an idiot, giving Pete her warmest smile, but with twenty-eight years of practice, she knew what to do when life threw her a curve. As long as she had to do a televised date with this guy, she’d make the best of it. All she had to do was act as if Pete were the answer to a single girl’s prayer. He was probably used to that role. It was only TV, and she’d played “pretend” all of her life.

  As he settled into the love seat beside her, Pete’s arm touched hers lightly, briefly. Just one touch, but tingles radiated along her arm. It was all she could do to keep from rubbing the sensation away. Her heart raced, but it had to be from nerves, not awareness.

  “Sunny Keegan,” she said, extending her hand.

  “Pete Maguire,” he responded, taking hers. His hand was slightly callused, a working man’s hand, and his handshake was confident, firm, just right.

  Sitting slightly sideways, he slid his arm along the low-backed cushion behind her. His scent was exactly the way she liked men to smell, faintly of soap and woodsy aftershave, not that he was leaning too close or coming on to her. Any man Pete’s size took a little more than his share of the room.