HOW TO BE THE PERFECT GIRLFRIEND

by Heather MacAllister

  She shook her head. "We just head on out."

  Simon grabbed his jacket and turned out the lights. As the girls galloped down the hall, he looked at Sara. "You can do this? It's not interfering with any other plans?"

  "You think I'd abandon you now?"

  He winced. "Am I that transparently desperate?"

  "Oh, yeah."

  He laughed. "Thank you for the lifeline."

  "Just tossing back the one you threw me earlier."

  The look he gave her was … was something. Was it interest? In her? No, there wasn't a gleam. Hayden and Missy said she'd see a gleam. She wanted to see that gleam, which meant she'd probably spend the whole evening trying to cause one.

  She drove her own car, leading the way so Simon wouldn't have to admit that he didn't know where Dave and Buster's was. His car was a plush luxomobile, on the sedate side for her, but she knew he had to drive visitors around. Besides, on her list hadn't she only specified that her perfect man's car should be running?

  When they arrived at the restaurant, Amber and Kayla fled to the bathroom to put on lip gloss and eye makeup, Sara guessed.

  Simon gripped her arm. "Quick—what kind of place is this?"

  Sara briefed him. "Video games. Pinball machines. Super interactive games that you can play against other people by getting in pods."

  "Pods, got it."

  "Expensive."

  "Roger that."

  "You can win tickets that are redeemable for prizes. Mostly plastic junk, but some cool stuff. To eat, there's pizza and hamburgers and drinks, but regular adult meals, if you want them. It's a lot of fun." When he nodded in all seriousness, she added, "It's not a place to be uptight."

  Simon immediately removed his tie and stuffed it into his pocket. He sure got points for catching on quick. If he stuck with Sara, Kayla would think he was the coolest big brother ever.

  Sara smiled, just because he was trying so hard.

  Simon smiled back.

  Oh, yes. The smile was good. The smile drew a person—her—right in. The smile made a person—her, again—forget other stuff, stuff like time and place and circumstances.

  Sara reached out, then hesitated.

  "What?" Simon asked.

  "Uh … you need to…" She hesitantly unbuttoned the top button of his shirt.

  She could feel the warmth of his skin and was aware that his eyes never left her face. When she glanced up at him, she saw an intensity in his expression, but she wasn't sure what it conveyed. It was an expression she wasn't familiar with and she tried to analyze it. She wanted to be able to report back to Hayden and Missy and see what their take was.

  Without knowing better, she'd say it was longing. But why would Simon Northrup look longingly at her?

  The girls erupted from the restrooms and Sara took a step backward. They'd been hitting the lip gloss and some flowery scent and had combed their hair. Their cheeks and eyes sparkled—and not just from excitement.

  Simon either didn't notice, or wisely chose not to say anything.

  Kayla gave Sara a wary look and Sara responded by brushing one of her own cheeks to indicate that Kayla had gone too heavy on the glitter. Kayla rubbed at her cheek and raised her eyebrows. Sara gave her a nod and a discreet thumbs-up. Too bad Sara only had a big brother. She would have been a really cool big sister.

  They were shown to a table and Sara made sure they ordered pizza. Kayla would have glowed, Sara thought, even without the glittery skin gel.

  "This rocks!" She and Amber craned their necks all around.

  "While we wait for the pizza, I bet Kayla and Amber would like to play some games," Sara prompted.

  Kayla quivered in delight. Simon looked at her. "It's fine with me."

  Sara raised her eyebrows. "Now, Simon, don't tease. Go ahead and give them some token money." She looked at Kayla. "He's afraid you'll forget about the pizza and we'll be stuck here with a bunch of cold cheese."

  "No, we won't. Promise!"

  Simon reached into his pocket for change. "Let's see what I've got here." He meticulously picked out five quarters.

  "You are such a kidder." Sara hoped he actually was kidding. With him, it was hard to tell. "Give me that wallet, bud." The girls giggled as Sara snatched it out of his unresisting hands and looked through the folding money. Okay, so his walking around money equaled her next month's rent. Wasn't financial solvency on her ideal-man list?

  She shouldn't be thinking of Simon in terms of the list and drat Hayden for suggesting him.

  She pulled out a twenty and nudged Simon's foot when he opened his mouth to object. "Get a couple of power cards and come back for the pizza, or we'll come find you. And you know how embarrassing that would be."

  Kayla snatched the twenty and she and Amber hurried off with a gushing thanks, a giggle and two huge smiles.

  Simon stared after them. "You gave her twenty dollars."

  "And you'll give her twenty more before the night is over. Expensive, but a bargain. Did you see her face?"

  "Yes." He looked at Sara. A long time. Long enough for her insides to get fluttery. "Thanks."

  "I owed you," she told him.

  "Not this much."

  "More."

  "I'd argue, but the night is very young and Kayla is very temperamental."

  "Hormones. Don't worry about it."

  "Never underestimate the power of hormones."

  Good advice, because Sara was aware of a little hormone simmering herself. They needed to just unsimmer because number one, while she didn't actually work with, or for, Simon, they did work at the same company and anyone who had ever read Cosmo knew that was a royal no-no. Sara even had the added reinforcement of Hayden's example. Examples. Hayden survived just fine, though, because when she was finished with men—and she was usually finished with them first—she was finished. Completely. There were sticky moments from those who failed to get the message, but they all eventually got said message because Hayden could be witheringly blunt.

  Sara didn't ever seem to be finished with men before they were finished with her. She also had a low humiliation threshold. That would be the number two reason to cool it with Simon.

  Very mature and rational reasoning on why this "date" was purely for practice, if Sara did say so herself, conveniently ignoring the fact that she'd decided not to practice on Simon. She waited for the coolness and calmness of logic to soothe the prickly awareness of him. The awareness part wasn't bad; it added a nice, harmless zing to their dealings.

  It was the prickles. Sara imagined hormones jumping just beneath her skin. Prickles weren't good. Prickles generally led past awareness right into touching. Then more touching … and stroking … and kissing … and your-place-or-mine-ing … and looking for the blinking light on the answering machine … and avoiding him at work.

  No. Not this time. Not until there was a chance of reciprocity. She'd add that to the list and make sure Missy put it in the spreadsheet. In the meantime, a prickly Sara drank deeply from her glass of iced water in hopes of drowning the little suckers.

  "You're probably wondering about Kayla," Simon said out of nowhere.

  Sara nearly choked. "Not really."

  He just looked at her.

  "Okay." Carefully, she set down her glass. "Yes. But I'm too polite to ask."

  Simon gave her a half smile. It was a quick gesture, but, oh, it really tugged the heart strings. A tugged heart string was much more lethal than mere prickles. How could he do that? By revealing that he was vulnerable, that's how. Strong men with a hint of vulnerability were just so darn irresistible.

  "I dated Joanna in college."

  Sara had a feeling she didn't want to hear this.

  "I took her home one Christmas to meet my parents."

  Nope. She definitely didn't want to hear this.

  He drew a deep breath, then another.

  Sara couldn't stand it. "You don't have to—"

  He held up a hand and fired a barrage of staccatolike information
at her. "My father fell for her. Instantly. It destroyed my parents' marriage. They divorced when Joanna got pregnant with Kayla. She and my father married. I never saw them again until he was dying."

  Men just did not know how to tell a story. If such a betrayal had happened to her, it would have been good for at least an hour in the telling and a whole evening devoted to exploring motivations and feelings, along with emotional nurturing and revenge plotting. There would certainly be chocolate involved and probably alcohol as well.

  Because he was a man, Simon had no doubt buried all his hurt and betrayal. It wasn't healthy. Women were much healthier in that respect, even with all the alcohol and chocolate.

  "I went back for a 'deathbed reconciliation.'" He made air quotes with his fingers. "He asked me to look after Joanna and Kayla. I thought what bloody nerve—Joanna could look after herself. But there was Kayla." Simon looked down at his hands that he'd laced around his own water glass. "She was my sister. You have to understand that I hadn't ever thought about her that way. She was just Joanna's baby. Anyway, after my father died, Joanna and Kayla moved to Houston because Joanna wants to finish her degree and because I'm here to help with Kayla."

  Sara was trying not to be judgmental about Joanna. And failing.

  "Kayla is something else. She sasses her mother and Joanna isn't firm enough with her. She's getting away with who knows what. It's not hard to see that she was spoiled. I don't have any other brothers or sisters, so there weren't any grandkids for my father to indulge."

  Sara filed that tidbit away.

  "If someone doesn't take her in hand, this little girl is headed for trouble. Amber isn't a problem. In fact, if I were Amber's father, I wouldn't want her to associate with Kayla, but I'm not Amber's father. And I'm not Kayla's father. Nevertheless, Joanna wants me to help with her and I think it's a good idea."

  Sara had a feeling that wasn't all Joanna wanted.

  Simon spread his hands. "Not only have I not had experience with teenage girls since I was a teenage boy, I never even met Kayla until she was ten years old. Do you think that's horrible?"

  Surprised he asked, Sara quickly shook her head. "I have no right to judge you."

  "Which means you have."

  "Not really. I would have been mad, too. And I admire you for trying to make things right with her now."

  "I don't know. I'm having trouble getting past the fact that she's more than twenty years younger than I am—and had I not brought Joanna home that Christmas … I've had to deal with a lot of bitterness. And I did." He smiled. "I'm still dealing with the guilt over ignoring Kayla, though."

  Okay. This guy had serious baggage. Number one on her no way, Jose list. If he couldn't be there for her one hundred percent, it didn't matter how great he was otherwise. "Look," she said. "We don't know each other very well. I don't want you to feel awkward for telling me all this stuff." She brightened her voice. "I suggest a pitcher of margaritas. What do you say?"

  He gave her a wry look. "I think you're a wise woman."

  "Yeah, and I saw that wallet. You have enough cash to keep those two busy for hours. And, hey, there's a lot of great games you'd find fun, too."

  Simon grinned. He suddenly looked like a college kid. Impulsively, Sara asked, "How old are you?"

  "Thirty-three."

  Sara dropped her jaw. Ten years younger than she would have guessed. Okay, maybe not ten, but he'd said he was more than twenty years older than Kayla and it seemed to fit.

  "Don't give me that look."

  "What look?"

  Simon flagged down their waiter and ordered the margaritas. "You know what look."

  She did. "Well, you just act older."

  "Just because I don't participate in casual Fridays…"

  "And why don't you?"

  "Because I constantly deal with European clients. They don't do casual Fridays. I'm dressing for them. Besides, I'm more comfortable in suits. Women should wear suits all the time," he told her. "Trust me when I tell you that casual Fridays are no friend of women in the workplace."

  He grinned and shook his head. "I can't believe I'm giving fashion advice."

  "And I can't believe I'm taking it."

  Their pizza and margaritas arrived just then, which was good because Sara wanted a margarita about now.

  "I never drank these until I moved here," Simon said.

  "They are the national drink of Texas." Sara held up her glass and they clinked the salty rims together.

  As he drank, Simon looked around for the girls.

  "They'll be at the midway." Sara nodded to the garish archway leading from the room. "It's on the other side of the building."

  "Great." He stared down at the huge pizza.

  "Have a slice." Taking one for herself, Sara tilted it so the pepperoni grease could run off.

  "And you're eating that why…?"

  He'd caught her just as she took a mouthful. She held up a finger as she chewed and swallowed. "Because it tastes fabulous." She nudged the plate toward him. "Do not try to pretend you've never eaten pizza."

  "Not one so enthusiastically greasy."

  "You must not order pepperoni, then. Pepperoni is grease. And salt, too. Yummy, yummy."

  "I get portabella, green pepper and sliced tomatoes with Parmesan shavings grilled over a wood fire."

  "Oh, you poor, poor, deprived man." She picked up a piece. "Eat."

  "But the girls—"

  "Will come back when they run out of money. Not too much longer, I think."

  Holding her gaze with his, Simon opened his mouth and Sara moved the pizza toward him. After chewing a mouthful, he raised his eyebrows and nodded. "I'll admit that it has a certain gooey charm that a grilled portabella mushroom lacks."

  "I guess so."

  He looked around again and Sara realized he was worried about the girls. She wasn't because she'd been watching the exit and the midway video monitors behind him. "Does Kayla have a pager or a cell phone?"

  "Good idea." He reached for his and punched a single number.

  So he had his little sister's cell number on autodial.

  "Pizza's here," he said into the phone and closed it.

  Sara was eating said pizza and enjoying it thoroughly. Maybe too thoroughly because she was aware of Simon doing his staring thing again. Just observing her. It made her self-conscious, especially when a string of cheese caught on her chin. Why wasn't he eating? She set the slice down and pointed to his. "Aren't you going to eat?"

  "I enjoy watching you eat. You're really into it."

  Pig woman. What an attractive image. "You can't do that—not without eating, too. It's too weird."

  He laughed and picked up his pizza.

  She was liking him a little too much, here.

  "So, what's between you and Joanna?" That should be a mood killer.

  "Nothing." He calmly bit into his pizza.

  "Does she want there to be something?"

  "I don't know. I don't care."

  Sara believed him. It would have been more helpful if she didn't.

  Simon was in an alien land. If Kayla had been a boy, he would have had a frame of reference, but Kayla was almost a teenage girl. He'd thought a nice grown-up restaurant like La Griglia would be a treat. Obviously not.

  If Sara hadn't been in his office, he would have experienced yet another failure with his sister. But now, watching as she and Amber galloped to their table, their smiles huge, he realized it was the first time he'd ever seen Kayla completely happy when she was with him.

  She and Amber grabbed pieces of pizza and he started to correct them, or at least Kayla, but didn't and was rewarded by hearing them tell about the games they'd played. The words tumbled out of them. They looked at him a couple of times and he made all the right noises, he thought.

  Sara picked up two plastic cards that looked like credit cards. "They need their power cards recharged."

  "After pizza?" he asked.

  Sara grinned at him. She had a small, w
ell-shaped mouth and a cute indentation at the corner when she smiled. It distracted him from immediately noticing that she was gesturing downward with the power cards.

  The pizza was gone. "Did you two inhale it?"

  They giggled.

  "Do you want more?"

  They shook their heads. Sara took a card in each hand and waved them back and forth as though signaling.

  "I take it me and my wallet are invited to the midway." This caused more giggling, some from Sara.

  As he followed them across the restaurant toward the midway arch, Simon felt as though he'd had a breakthrough with Kayla. The relief was enormous. His little sister apparently harbored a huge resentment because she felt he'd ignored her. Simon knew he had Joanna to thank for making her feel that way.

  But he also accepted the blame because he'd never actually thought of her as his sister. He hadn't thought of her at all, really. He'd been so hurt and the situation had been so awkward, that he'd stayed away. Now he was struggling to get to know this girl who shared a father with him and tonight's success was entirely due to Sara.

  Sara. One minute, he'd been up to his elbows in the copier and the next, he'd looked over his shoulder at her standing there and felt his heart skip a beat. And just like that, he was back in the game. Oh, he had the best of intentions with regard to Kayla, but in his mind, Simon had already traveled from a chance meeting at a photocopier to rethinking his No Women rule. And rethinking it with Sara.

  Simon looked at her standing in line, laughing and talking about video games to the girls with a casual ease that he envied. If she had any idea of what he was thinking, she'd run. Because he wanted to touch her. Curl his hand around her nape, draw her close and kiss her. Right here. Right now. He wanted to taste her. Devour her.

  Instead, he extravagantly shoved bills at the cashier, endured squeals and hugs from both Kayla and Amber, then smiled at Sara. "Come on." He nodded toward a row of white pods. "Let's go kill some aliens."

  * * *

  4

  « ^ »

  The next day, Sara immediately set up another lunch with Missy and Hayden in the atrium café of their building.

  She spotted them from the top of the escalator and could tell they were arguing. It was to be expected, since they usually rationed the time spent in each other's company, and two lunches in two days was pushing it.