Married in Seattle

by Debbie Macomber

  Steve appreciated women as a whole—some more than others, of course. He didn’t focus on body parts. But it was torture to sit with Meg in the close confines of his car and keep his eyes off her legs. The woman looked incredible. If only she’d keep her mouth shut!

  Nancy was standing on the porch when Steve pulled into the driveway.

  “This is where your sister lives?” Meg asked.

  “It’s my home,” Steve answered, certain she was about to find something wrong with it.

  “Your home?” She sounded impressed. “It’s very nice.”

  “Thanks.” He turned off the engine. “Nancy’s quite a bit younger than I am—a surprise for my mom and dad. She attends college at the University of Washington nine months out of the year. Our parents retired to Montana a couple of years back.”

  “I see. Does Nancy live with you?”

  “Not on your life,” he said, climbing out of the car. “She’s in residence during the school year. She got a job here this summer and I agreed to let her stay with me a few months. A mistake I don’t plan to repeat anytime soon.”

  Steve was watching for his sister’s reaction when he helped Meg out of the car. To her credit, the nineteen-year-old didn’t reveal much, but Steve knew her well enough to realize she was shocked by Meg’s appearance.

  “You must be Nancy,” Meg said in a low, sultry voice.

  “And you must be Meg,” Nancy said, coming down the steps to greet her. “I’ve been dying to meet you.”

  “I hope I’m not a disappointment.” This was said in a soft, cooing tone, as if she couldn’t have tolerated disillusioning Steve’s little sister. She clasped Steve’s arm and he noticed for the first time that her nails—now two inches long—were painted a brilliant fire engine red.

  Nancy held open the door and smiled in welcome. “Please, come inside.”

  Meg’s high heels clattered against the tile entryway. Steve looked around, pleased to note that his sister had cleaned up the house a bit.

  “Oh, Stevie,” Meg whined, “you never told me what a beautiful home you have.” She trailed one finger along the underside of his jaw. “But then, we haven’t had time to discuss much of anything, have we?”

  “Make yourself comfortable,” Steve said and watched as Meg chose to sit on the sofa. She sat, crossing her legs with great ceremony. Then she patted the empty space beside her, silently requesting Steve to join her there. He glanced longingly at his favorite chair, but moved across the room and sat down next to Meg.

  The minute he was comfortable, Meg placed her hand possessively on his knee and flexed her nails into his thigh. Inch by provocative inch she raked her nails up his leg until it was all Steve could do not to pop straight off the sofa. He caught her hand and stopped her from reaching what seemed to be her ultimate destination.

  Her expression was mildly repentant when she looked at him, but Steve knew her well enough to know the action had been deliberate.

  “I thought you might be hungry before Steve takes you to dinner, so I made a few hors d’oeuvres,” Nancy said and excused herself.

  “What are you doing?” Steve whispered the minute his sister was out of the room.

  “Doing? What do you mean?” She had wide-eyed innocence down to an art.

  “Never mind,” he muttered as Nancy returned from the kitchen carrying a small silver platter.

  “Those look wonderful,” Meg said sweetly when his sister put the tray on the coffee table in front of them. “But I couldn’t eat a thing.”

  To the best of his knowledge it was the first time his sister had cooked from the moment she’d moved in with him, and he wasn’t about to let it go to waste. He chose a tiny wiener wrapped in some kind of crispy dough and tossed it in his mouth.

  “You shouldn’t have gone to all this trouble,” Meg told his sister.

  Nancy sat across the room from them, apparently at a complete loss for words.

  “I suspect you’re wondering about all these letters and e-mails I wrote,” Meg said, getting the conversation going. “I hope you aren’t unhappy with me.”

  “No, no, not at all,” Nancy said, rushing the words together.

  “It’s just that I’ve come to know what people really want from me by the things they say.” She turned, and with the tip of her index finger wiped a crumb from the corner of his mouth. Her tongue moistened her lips and Steve’s insides turned to mush.

  “I learned a long time ago what men want from a woman,” Meg continued after a moment, “especially when I went to work for a phone sex line. Most of the guys are just looking for a woman to talk dirty to them.”

  “I see.” Nancy folded her hands primly in her lap.

  “There was the occasional guy who was looking for a good girl to shock, of course. I got very talented at acting horrified.” She made a soft, gasping sound, then laughed demurely.

  “Why…why would someone like you place an ad in Dateline?” Nancy asked, nervously brushing the hair from her face.

  “Well, first,” Meg said, holding his sister’s gaze, “it’s just about the only way someone like me can meet anyone decent. But it wasn’t your brother who answered the ad, now, was it?”

  “No, but—”

  “Not that it matters,” Meg said, cutting her off. “I was tired of my job and all those guys asking me to say those nasty things, and I didn’t want to start working on my back again.”

  “On your…back,” Nancy repeated.

  “I’m sorry, sugar. I didn’t mean to shock you. I’ve got a colorful past—but that doesn’t mean I’m a bad girl. I’ve got a heart just brimming with love. All I need is the right man.” Her gaze wandered to Steve and was long and deliberate. “Your brother’s given me a reason to dream again,” Meg said softly. “Lots of people think women like me don’t have feelings, but they’re wrong.”

  “I’m sure that’s true,” Nancy said tentatively.

  “I knew I chose right when I found out your brother has his own business.”

  “He’s struggled financially for years,” Nancy was quick to tell her. “It’s still touch and go. He lives from one month to the next.” Nancy glared at him pointedly. “Don’t you, Steve?”

  “Not anymore. I’m more than solvent now,” Steve tossed in for good measure, struggling not to laugh. He was enjoying this.

  Meg tightened her arm around his. “I can see how well Stevie’s doing for himself. He’s wonderful,” she said, refusing to look away. The adoration on her face embarrassed him.

  “Why, Steve here could make enough money to keep me in the lifestyle to which I’d like to become accustomed.” She laughed coyly.

  “Ah…” It sounded to Steve as if his sister was close to hyperventilating.

  “Of course, I wouldn’t take anything from him without giving in return. That wouldn’t be fair.” She snuggled closer to his side and gave him a look so purely sexual Steve was convinced he’d embarrass them all.

  “There are things I could teach your brother,” Meg said in a husky voice full of sexual innuendo. She acted as though she was eager to get started right that moment and the only thing holding her back was propriety. Her breathing grew heavy—and if he didn’t know better he’d think she actually had worked for one of those disreputable phone services.

  Soon he was having a problem controlling his own breathing.

  “Steve!” Nancy snapped.

  He turned his attention back to his sister, staring at her blankly.

  “Didn’t you hear Meg?” she asked.

  He shrugged. He knew the two women were talking, but he’d barely noticed their conversation.

  “Meg’s talking about moving in with you,” Nancy said through clenched teeth.

  “I don’t mean to rush you, darling’,” Meg whispered. Leaning forward, she licked his earlobe with the tip of her tongue.

  Hot sensation shot down his spine.

  Meg threw back her head and laughed softly, then whispered just loudly enough for Nancy to hear, �
��I have an incredibly talented tongue.”

  Nancy closed her eyes as if she couldn’t bear to watch another minute of this. Frankly, Steve didn’t know how much more he could take himself.

  “I think it’s time we left for dinner,” he said. Otherwise he was going to start believing all the promises Meg was making. Heaven knew, he wanted to believe them. The demure bookseller had turned into something completely different. All traces of innocence had disappeared and in their place was the most sexually provocative female he’d ever met. Just being in the same room with her made his blood sizzle.

  “You want to leave already?” Meg gave the impression that she was terribly disappointed.

  “That’s probably best,” Nancy muttered, and then realizing what she’d said, hurried to add, “I mean, you two don’t want to waste your evening with me, do you?” She frowned at Steve. “You won’t be late, will you?”

  “No.”

  “Unfortunately, I’m still working for the phone people,” Meg said, “so I won’t keep him too long, but I can’t promise he’ll have much kick left in him when I’m finished.” Apparently thinking herself exceptionally clever, Meg laughed at her own joke.

  It wasn’t until they were back in the car and on the freeway that Steve recognized how angry he was. It made no sense, but he wasn’t exactly rational just then.

  “Why are you so mad?” Meg asked about halfway back to the bookstore. They hadn’t spoken a word from the time they’d left his house.

  “Talk about overkill,” he muttered.

  “I thought I did a good job,” she said.

  “You came off like a—”

  “I know. That’s what I wanted. After meeting me, do you honestly think your sister’s going to encourage our relationship?”

  “No,” he growled.

  “I can guarantee you that Lindsey doesn’t want me to see you, either. I thought that’s what this whole scheme of yours was about.”

  “It sounded like a good idea at the time.” He tightened his hands on the steering wheel. “It seemed like a surefire way to convince your daughter that I was the wrong man for you.”

  “And your sister that I was equally wrong for you.”

  Silence settled over them like nightfall. Neither of them seemed inclined to talk again.

  Steve edged his car into the alley behind Meg’s store and parked his car behind hers.

  “I’m not so sure anymore,” he said without looking at her.

  “About what?”

  “The two of us. Somewhere in the middle of all this, I decided I kind of like you.” It hadn’t been easy to admit, and he hoped she appreciated what it had cost his pride. “It probably wouldn’t have been as obvious if you hadn’t made yourself out to be so cheap. That isn’t you any more than the rebel without a cause is me.”

  He wished she’d say something. When she did speak, her voice was timid and small. “Then there was the kiss.”

  “Kisses,” he corrected. “They were pretty great and we both know it,” he said with confidence. He knew what his own reaction had been, and she hadn’t fooled him with hers.

  “Yes,” she said softly.

  “Especially the one on the motorcycle,” he said, prompting her to continue.

  “Especially the one on the motorcycle,” she mimicked. “Honestly, Steve, you must’ve known.”

  His smile was full blown. “I did.”

  “I…I didn’t do a very good job of disguising what I was feeling.”

  She hadn’t, but he was in a gracious mood.

  “How about dinner?” he suggested. He was eager to have the real Meg Remington back. Eager to experiment with a few more kisses—see if they were anything close to what his memory kept insisting they’d been.

  She hesitated. “I want to, but I can’t,” she eventually said.

  He bristled and turned in the driver’s seat to face her. “Why not?”

  “I promised Lindsey I’d be home by seven and it’s nearly that now.”

  “Call her and tell her you’re going out to dinner with me.”

  She dragged in a deep breath and seemed to hold it. “I can’t do that, either.”

  “Why not?”

  “After meeting you, I promised her we’d talk. She wanted to last evening, and we didn’t…. That was my fault. You kissed me,” she said, “and I didn’t feel like a heart-to-heart with my daughter after that.”

  “And it’s all my fault?”

  “Yes,” she insisted.

  “Do you know what Lindsey wants to discuss?”

  “Of course, I know. You. She doesn’t want me seeing you again, which is exactly the point of the entire charade. Remember?”

  “Yeah,” Steve said, scowling.

  “Are…are you telling me you’ve changed your mind?” she asked.

  “Yes.” He hated to be the one to say it first, but one of them had to. “What about you?”

  “I think so.”

  Steve flattened his hand against the steering wheel. “I swear you’re about the worst thing that’s ever happened to my ego.”

  She laughed and rested her hand on his shoulder. The wig she had on tilted sideways and she righted it. “That does sound terrible, doesn’t it?”

  He smiled. “Yeah. The least you could do is show some enthusiasm.”

  “I haven’t dated much in the last ten years. But if I was going to choose any man, it would be you.”

  “That’s better,” he said. He wanted to kiss her. He’d been thinking about it from the moment he’d picked her up.

  “Only…” Meg said sadly.

  “Only what?” he repeated, lowering his mouth to hers.

  Their lips met and it was heaven, just the way he’d known it would be. By the time the kiss ended, Steve was leaning his head against the window of the car door, his eyes closed. It was even more wonderful than he’d remembered, and that seemed impossible.

  Meg’s head was on his chest, tucked beneath his chin.

  “It’s too late,” she whispered.

  “What’s too late?”

  “We’ve gone to all this trouble to convince Lindsey that you’re all wrong for me.”

  “I know, but…”

  “Do you think Nancy will believe this was all a silly joke?”

  “No.”

  “I think we should end everything right here and now, don’t you?” she asked.

  Steve stiffened. “If that’s what you want.”

  She moved away from him. “I guess it is,” she said, with just a hint of regret.

  Five

  Lindsey was pacing the living room, waiting for Meg when she walked in the front door.

  “Hi, honey,” Meg said, trying to sound cheerful yet exhausted—since she’d led Lindsey to believe she was taking inventory at the bookstore and that was why she’d come home so late.

  “It’s way after seven!” her daughter cried, rushing toward her. “You weren’t with Steve, were you?”

  “Ah…” Meg wasn’t willing to lie outright. Half truths and innuendos were about as far as she wanted to stretch this.

  Lindsey closed her eyes and waved her hands vaguely. “Forget it. Don’t answer that.”

  “Honey, what’s wrong?” Meg asked as calmly as she could. Unfortunately, she didn’t think she sounded all that reassuring. She’d left Steve only moments earlier and was already feeling some regret. After following through with this ridiculous charade, Steve wanted to change his mind and continue seeing Meg. She’d quickly put an end to that idea. Now she wasn’t sure she’d made the right decision.

  “Mom,” Lindsey said, her dark eyes challenging, “we need to talk.”

  “Of course.” Meg walked into the kitchen and took the china teapot from the hutch. “My mother always made tea when we had something to discuss.” Somehow, the ritual of drinking tea together put everything in perspective. Meg missed those times with her mother.

  Lindsey helped her assemble everything they needed and carried it into the dining ro
om. Meg poured them each a cup, once the tea had steeped, and they sat across from each other at the polished mahogany table.

  Meg waited, and when Lindsey wasn’t immediately forthcoming she decided to get the conversation started. “You wanted to talk to me about Steve, right?”

  Lindsey clasped the delicate china cup with one hand and lowered her gaze. “Do you really, really like him?” she asked anxiously.

  Meg answered before she took time to censor the question. “Yes.”

  “But why? I mean, he’s nothing like what I thought he’d be.” She hesitated. “I suppose this is what Brenda and I get for pretending we were you,” she mumbled. “Maybe if you’d read his stuff, you would’ve been able to tell what kind of guy he really is.”

  “Steve is actually a fine person.” And he was. Or at least the Steve Meg knew.

  Lindsey risked a glance at her. “You’ve said hundreds of times that you don’t want me to judge others by outward appearances, but sometimes that’s all there is.”

  “You’re worried about me and Steve, aren’t you?” Meg said gently.

  Lindsey rubbed her finger along the edge of the teacup. “I realize now that what Brenda and I did was really stupid. We linked you up with a guy who has a prison record. We sure were easy to fool,” Lindsey said with a scowl. “We’re only fifteen years old!”

  “But I like Steve,” Meg felt obliged to tell her.

  Lindsey looked as if she didn’t know how to account for that. “I’m afraid he’s going to hurt you.”

  “Steve wouldn’t do that,” Meg assured her, “but I understand your concern, honey, and I promise you I won’t let the situation get out of hand.”

  Lindsey frowned, stiffened her shoulders and blurted out, “I don’t want you to see him again.”

  “But…”

  “I mean it, Mom. This guy is trouble.”

  Talk about role reversal!

  “I want you to promise me you won’t see Steve Conlan again.”

  “Lindsey…”

  “This is important. You may not understand it now, but I promise you will in the future. There are plenty of other men, law-abiding citizens, who’d give their right arms to meet a woman like you.”