Still Mr. And Mrs.

by Patricia Olney

  She must be drunk, she decided, frowning at her glass. It was only her second drink, and the fruity concoction was supposed to be fairly innocent. But the combination of the drinks, little dinner, and total exhaustion was making her silly. Her movements did seem awkward, and her head was too heavy for her neck. That was it, she thought in relief. She was just a little bit tipsy. Maybe more than a little, she conceded. But that explained her unusual reaction to the man.

  “Jess! He’s at our table!” Although her best friend, Sandy Fitzgerald, was literally rubbing shoulders with her, Sandy had to shout over the din.

  In a panic, Jess looked around, then shivered with relief when she saw Sandy meant the dancer, Adonis. He was performing directly in front of reserved, elegant Gwen. Laughter overtook Jess when Gwen pulled the linen tablecloth over her head. Gwen was taking Sandy’s practical joke well, Jess thought.

  The five women, Sandy, Gwen, Adele, Miranda, and herself, had been close friends since they’d attended Bryn Mawr College together, and every year one of the group played a practical joke on another. This time Gwen had been Sandy’s victim. Dinner and gambling in Atlantic City had actually been a “Ladies’ Night” show at the Breakers Casino/Hotel—the very last thing Philadelphia socialite Gwen Halloran would ever attend. This joke had been perfect and diabolical in its simplicity, Jess thought, and Gwen had been truly caught. Although they had all been shocked initially by the male strippers, they had soon relaxed and begun enjoying themselves, even laughing at the men’s outrageousness. It was innocent fun, Jess decided, wiping the tears from her eyes.

  Adonis moved closer to her, and her mirth immediately subsided. But the dancer settled on Sandy for his next private audience, and she started to relax.…

  Her entire body froze when the good-looking dancer turned to her. He gave her a lazy smile, while his hips began to circle slowly. She hadn’t realized how tiny his G-string was. The damn thing was almost nonexistent!

  “Oh, no!” she moaned, and buried her face in her hands.

  “Stop being a prude, Jess!” Sandy shouted in her ear.

  “I’m not!” Jess lied, laughing with good-natured humiliation.

  She turned to her friend and spread her fingers wide so she could see perfectly. Sandy burst into laughter. Jess didn’t turn back to the dancer, however. One look had been more than enough.

  But Adonis moved closer until he was actually bumping her chair. She instantly closed her fingers together and wished the floor would open up and swallow her. She had to get rid of him.

  Snatching up her purse, she grabbed the first bill her fingers touched and shoved it at the dancer. It was a twenty.

  Sandy leaned forward and asked dryly, “Would you like change?”

  “A Brannen doesn’t wait for change, darling,” Jess drawled in her best Bryn Mawr voice. She didn’t have a smaller bill, and even if she had, she’d be damned before she’d hunt for it.

  Adonis kissed her on the cheek and danced away.

  “We’re blowing our conservative image to Hades!” Gwen shouted, finally emerging from the tablecloth. Her carefully styled hair wasn’t even mussed.

  “You are,” Jess screamed over the pounding music. “I have to keep up the family image of eccentricity!”

  “What?”

  Jess waved her hand. Her throat was already raw, and it would never carry past three people. She watched Gwen nod in understanding about the noise level. Anyway, Gwen already knew what Philadelphia’s first families thought of Jessica Brannen. All the Brannens were noted for flaunting convention upon occasion. Still, her career as a landscaper raised more eyebrows than usual. Why it should, she didn’t know. Doing what she liked and had a talent for made a lot more sense than working at some job she hated.

  She chuckled to herself. People might frown, but it didn’t stop them from asking her to landscape their properties.

  Suddenly, she felt as if someone were staring at her, and glanced toward the doors. Mikaris whirled on his heel and left the room.

  Jess sighed. She hoped she wouldn’t pay for this night out.

  And in more ways than one.

  * * *

  Nick Mikaris strode through the hotel lobby and into the bar. He needed fortification for the upcoming battle with Tony.

  “Whiskey. Straight up,” he told the bartender.

  When his drink arrived, he just stared at it. Booze wouldn’t help what he was feeling. Damn Tony, he thought, curling his hands into tight fists. He could understand his brother’s need for financial independence. But why did Tony have to take his clothes off in front of hundreds of screaming women to achieve it?

  He thought of one woman in there, slim and dark and ethereal, who had stared at him so boldly and made him forget everything but her for a long moment. He cursed and brought his wandering attention back to the problem of Tony. It didn’t matter if the job paid the tuition for law school, he thought angrily. Didn’t Tony realize how this would follow him through his career?

  Despite the closed padded doors on the other side of the lobby, he could hear the shrieking women. He deliberately relaxed his body and finally admitted the truth. It was all his fault. At twenty-eight, he hadn’t been prepared to raise a sixteen-year-old boy. He had made mistakes over the past seven years. Too many, obviously. Somehow, somewhere, despite all his care, he had done something that had warped his brother.

  And somehow, somewhere, he would have to find the exact right thing that would persuade Tony to give up stripping.

  Months of yelling hadn’t worked so far, and Nick thought of his hotel room with grim satisfaction. Tony was supposed to be staying at a motel with the show, but Nick vowed to keep his hardheaded brother captive here all night until he pounded some sense into him.

  “I don’t think it’s fair that Jess can get out of it, but I can’t,” Gwen protested after the show was over.

  “That’s because you’re the ‘jokee,’ ” Sandy said, rising from her chair. “You, my dear, have to go backstage and meet the guys in the-”

  “Buff?” Jess offered with a straight face.

  “Thank you.” Sandy tilted her head in acknowledgment, then turned back to Gwen. “Jess was up at five so she could finish the Howards’ place before coming to the sore. I think we can let her off this one time.” Sandy patted Jess’s shoulder. “We’ll go pick up the room keys, then come back and get you, okay?”

  “In the meantime, I’ll take a nap,” Jess said, smiling. “Try not to be an animal, Gwen.”

  “Thanks a lot,” Gwen grumbled, and was swept away to her fate.

  Jess giggled. Getting out of meeting the male strippers had almost been too easy. Good thing it had, she thought, leaning her elbow on the table. She didn’t have the energy to get out of her chair, let alone the desire to meet nearly naked men. Besides, nothing would ever rival the expression on Gwen’s face when she’d seen the first dancer in action.

  Closing her eyes, Jess listened with pleasure as the room quickly cleared out and near silence descended. Every muscle in her body ached as if she had run the Boston Marathon. A dense fog had enshrouded her brain. If breathing wasn’t involuntary, she’d be in big trouble. She was paying now for her twenty-one-hour day. Leave it to Serena Howard to demand an entire acre of back lawn be dug up and resodded in one day, she thought. Thank goodness Sandy had arranged for the group to stay at the hotel tonight. She never would have survived the long drive back to her home in Yardley, Pennsylvania. All she had to do was stay upright until they came back for her.

  Jess smiled at the thought of a bed. She couldn’t wait to peel off her clothes and climb between the sheets. She’d tuck the covers against her chin … burrow her face in the soft pillows …

  She became aware of laughter, all-out female laughter. A corner of her mind, disturbed but it, wished they would stop so she could sleep.

  “Jess! Jess!”

  She forced one eye open. All she could see was a white cloth stretching forever. “Wha …?”

  �
��Wake up.” Somebody was shaking her shoulder. “Jess, wake up so you can go to bed.”

  The last word penetrated her groggy brain, and she forced the other eye open. She was staring at a linen-covered table. She gratefully closed her eyes, puzzling over why she had dreamed she was the guest of honor at a Chinese funeral. Suddenly, naked men danced across her numb mind. She smiled. This dream was going to be a doozy.

  “Jess!”

  She bolted upright and stared uncomprehendingly at the crowd that appeared magically on the other side of the table.

  “What?”

  Sandy’s face swam to the forefront. Jess frowned as she unsuccessfully tried to bring her friend into focus.

  “Jess, honey.” Sandy’s voice came from a great distance. “Think you can make it upstairs?” She was laughing, and Jess wondered why.

  “No problem, Sandy,” she mumbled, and laid her head back down on the table.

  “Let’s get her up.”

  Hands helped her out of her chair. The entire room tilted violently and she groaned.

  “Maybe we ought to get some coffee into her.”

  “Anything but that!” she gasped, turning her head to glare at the person who would make such an appalling suggestion.

  The room tilted again, and she immediately closed her eyes. She finally reopened them when her stomach settled, this time keeping her gaze straight ahead. The room only rocked gently that way.

  “Ready?”

  She nodded, and realized her mistake when a reminder to keep her head as still as possible crashed through her. She obeyed.

  “Ready,” she muttered.

  Despite the hands grasping her upper arms, she staggered around the table. Laughter boomed through her ears. She forced herself to continue putting one foot in front of the other, hoping to get away from the painful noise. But with each step, she was positive she’d fall flat on her face any second.

  “She’s not going to make it!”

  Jess took the remark for a command, and gratefully let her knees buckle under her.

  “Grab her!”

  She was unceremoniously hauled upright.

  “Look at her! I think she had too much. This will never work, Sandy.”

  “Yes, it will. I’ve planned it perfectly.”

  “Sssh! You’ll give it away!”

  “No, I won’t. Jess. Jess!”

  Jess tried to focus on the voice calling her name.

  “Do you know what I’m talking about?”

  Jess hadn’t even attempted to follow the conversation. All she could think about was lying horizontally. Lord, but she was tired.

  “Jess, the elevators are just a little bit farther.” It was Sandy’s voice again. “You can do it!”

  “Wanna bet?” Jess muttered, concentrating on the seamed double doors in front of her. Odd that her house had suddenly acquired an elevators, she thought dimly, then wished the people behind her would shut up. Every sound was like a knife plunging into her. Her stomach lurched sideways now with each step, and her head weighed at least two tons. A voice in her brain, though, was chanting wildly, “One more step to the bed.” She hung on desperately to the thought.

  The elevator ride was merciless. Fortunately, once off the thing, it was a short stagger down the hallway to a room. Someone opened the door, and Jess gazed in awe at the wide, inviting bed. The blessed promise was there before her in all its glory.

  Unexpectedly, something inside her protested crossing the threshold. Jess ignored it, and lurched forward. She’d kill anyone or anything who stood between her and the bed. Flopping onto the soft enveloping mattress, she closed her eyes. At last, she thought hazily. Peace, comfort, and sleep.

  “Dammit, Nick! How many times do I have to explain to you,” Tony snapped, clenching his glass of cola. “The whole purpose of this job is that I’m the one who pays for school. I do it. Not you. Not anybody else.”

  Nick glared across the small table at his brother. “There are plenty of other jobs, much more respectable jobs, that pay well.”

  “Not like this!”

  “You’ll regret this one for the rest of your life. What if sometime in the future you want to be a judge? You won’t get appointed with … stripping in your background. And you don’t have to do it. I’ve told you I’ll pay the tuition for school. That’s final, Tony. End of discussion.”

  Tony leaned back in his chair and eyed his brother sourly. “Stop being a pride, Nick, and look at this from a purely financial angle.”

  Nick swallowed his drink in one gulp. “I am. And I’m not a prude!”

  Tony laughed. “Nick, you’re so conservative that you used to call dates ‘business meetings.’ ”

  Nick gaped at Tony. He hadn’t realized his brother had caught on to his ruse of years ago. Okay, so maybe he’d been a little extreme when he’d first divorced Janet. He clamped his jaw closed at the thought of his ex-wife. “You were only sixteen, Tony, and you didn’t need any more disruption to cope with. Besides, there weren’t that many dates.”

  “I was seventeen by then, and not stupid.” Tony waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. “The point is that I pay for law school, Nick. And I’ll only have to work three nights a week to do it. I’ll have plenty of time for studying.” He leaned forward and said earnestly, “I gave this a lot of thought, and I know exactly what I’m doing and what it means for my future. It’s going to be all the sweeter because I was the one who worked for it.”

  “But—”

  “No buts, Nick! Even if I were willing, you can’t pay for the tuition. You’ve got everything tied up in those custom homes you’re building. You’re strapped enough right now, and I’ll be damned before I strap you any further. It’s my turn to pay. The job is fine, and I have enough sense to stay away from the ladies, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “Tony-”

  “No. Face it, Nick. I’m twenty-three, and I’m all grown up. You have to stop being a parent.” Tony stood. “Now, this is the end of the discussion. It’s two in the morning, and I have to get back to the motel and get some sleep. Tomorrow afternoon, we’re leaving for a show in Baltimore.”

  He walked away.

  Rising, Nick cursed aloud and threw money down on the table. He quickly caught up with his brother.

  “Tony …”

  “Give it a break, Nick.” His brother smiled to soften the words. “Come on, I’ll walk you up to your room.”

  Nick sighed in defeat. He knew if he pressed the issue he’d drive Tony away from him. It was the last thing he wanted. Maybe Tony felt the same, since their arguments always ended before irreparable damage was done.

  “Come over and have breakfast with me before you go,” he said as they crossed the lobby. “We can pick up where we left off.”

  Tony grinned. “Anybody ever tell you you’re a wonderful, kindly brother?”

  “Not lately.”

  “Good, I wouldn’t want to spoil my record. By the way, thanks for letting me use your shower earlier. I’m drenched after a show.”

  “I bet,” Nick grumbled, remembering his brief introduction to his brother’s work.

  Tony wagged a finger. “Watch out, Nicolas Mikaris. You’re going to fall off that pedestal of yours very soon, and I’m going to be there to see it.”

  Nick stared at him. There was smug amusement in his brother’s tone, and his eyes were alight with mischief.

  “You look a little too pleased about that.”

  Tony attempted to smother his amusement under a shrug. He wasn’t entirely successful. “At least you didn’t punch me in the jaw tonight. For a moment there, I thought you were going to.”

  Nick cuffed him lightly. “Don’t tempt me, pal. Adonis! Lord help us!”

  Tony laughed. “Hey, it’s my real name.”

  Nick couldn’t deny that. The name on Tony’s birth certificate was Athoni, which, unfortunately, meant Adonis in Greek. If Nick had his way, Tony would be named Hector or Wilbur or something. The less said ab
out Adonis, the better.

  When they reached his hotel room, Nick unlocked the door and flipped on the light. He noticed Tony staring slack-jawed into the room. He turned around to see what had caught his brother’s attention. Except for one side of the bedspread slightly rumpled, the room was as it had been when he’d left it earlier.

  “Did you sit on the bed when you cam up for the shower?” he asked.

  “Oh! Ah … yes.” Tony straightened. “I … ah … called Bill to tell him I’d be late. Hope you don’t mind.”

  “No problem.”

  His brother blinked, and to Nick’s surprise, peered around the room again. “Right. Well, I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Around ten?”

  Tony gave the room a last searching glance, then nodded.

  “Are you all right?” Nick asked, puzzled by Tony’s odd behavior.

  “Fine. Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Nick closed the door behind him and shrugged. Maybe he’d been too tired tonight to argue effectively with Tony. There had been several problems at the job site today, and as the owner of Mikaris Builders, he had been the only one able to fix them. For a while, he’d almost thought he wouldn’t be able to get away to see Tony. Not that it had done any good, he thought with irritation. Things were still at their usual stalemate.

  Yanking off his pullover, he flexed an aching shoulder and decided what he needed was a good night’s sleep. He pulled down the covers of the bed, shed the rest of his clothes, and climbed between the cool sheets.

  The image of the woman he’d spotted in the banquet room flashed through his mind. She had been captivating, with her shining brown hair and large innocent eyes. Her features had been almost angelic in their delicacy, and yet he’d sensed a waiting fire in her. It had teased him, tantalized his sanity.