“Beth, wait,” he countered.
She turned back to face him.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” he inquired pointedly.
Beth frowned.
He bent over and picked up that “something” he was talking about from the ground. Oops, her bra. “Aren’t you forgetting this?” he asked.
With a deepening frown on her face to match the aggravation she now felt toward herself, Beth marched back to where he stood and tried taking her piece of clothing away from him.
“Uh-uh,” he said. “I took this bra off of you. I’m putting it back on.”
In his wildest dreams, Beth thought. No one was putting that bra back on her tonight. It wasn’t necessary anyway. She already had her blouse on. “You’re bringing me straight home, Jack, so there’s no need to worry about it now.”
“Oh, but I insist on worrying about it now, Beth,” he said. “If I don’t, then who will? You seem to care less. Besides, I’m the party responsible for taking it off. The least you can do is let me rectify that.”
He began unfastening the buttons to her blouse. The very buttons she had just fastened.
“Now wait a minute, Jack,” she said, trying to stop him.
But he brushed her hands away. “Behave, Beth. This won’t take me but a moment,” he said.
Behave, indeed.
She glared at him, trying to decide whether or not she wanted to continue arguing her point.
But before she could even make that decision, she found herself naked again from the waist up. It happened that fast. He was really getting good at taking her clothes off.
Too good, in fact.
“You really are beautiful, Beth,” he said, his gaze poring over her in a gentle, caring way.
Her breath locked in her throat. Funny thing was, she felt all tingly and beautiful inside, just as he said.
Suddenly a combination of emotions sprang up in her from out of nowhere, allowing an enormous fear to seize hold of her heart. A huge, diehard fear that warned her against letting the situation between them get any more out of hand. She couldn’t let that happen. Not again. Not so soon. Not ever.
Her thoughts must have shown on her face, because Jack abruptly reined in his actions. A moment later he helped her slip her arms through the straps of her bra and then secured the undergarment in place without further ado. “There. See, I told you,” he said. “I can touch you and still be your best friend.”
Beth breathed a sigh of relief. “Just don’t do something crazy like fall in love with me, Jack. That would ruin everything.”
“Me?” he said, shaking his head as if that was the most unheard of possibility in all the world. “Fall in love with you? No way, José.”
Then he cleared his throat. “Just don’t you go and fall in love with me,” he added, fastening the last of the buttons on her blouse. He straightened her collar and smiled at her in that way she knew and loved. It was such a relief to have her old friend Jack back.
“You needn’t worry about that,” Beth replied. “I’m not that dumb.”
“See,” he said, giving her the sexiest grin she’d ever seen. “I told you that we were okay. You’ve got to learn to trust me, Beth.”
“Oh, but I do trust you, Jack. I trust you with my life.”
He bent over and kissed the tip of her nose. “Then let’s get out of here before that cop decides to come back and see if we’ve obeyed the law.”
Moments later they were back in Jack’s Chevy, heading into town, and the whole episode of their kissing and touching, of their wanting, was behind them.
They had just made it over another hurdle in their relationship. And according to what Jack said, they had come out smelling like roses.
When Beth fell into bed that night, she couldn’t have been more pleased.
Her plan was going to work.
The ringing of a telephone awakened Beth in the dead of night. It seemed she’d just closed her eyes to go to sleep. She couldn’t imagine who was calling her at this late hour, unless her two divorced parents were at it again and one of them was calling her to whine about the other. That happened every so often, like clockwork.
“Hello,” she said, her voice more of a croak.
“Bern...?”
She cleared her throat. “Yes.”
“Now that sounds more like you,” he said, laughingly.
“Jack... Jack, is that you?” Beth forced herself to wake up and propped herself up on one elbow.
“Yeah,” he said with a chuckle. “Who else other than your parents would call you at three o’clock in the morning just to talk?”
“You want to talk?”
“Uh-huh.”
She yawned first and then said, “About what, for heaven’s sake?”
“About anything. I can’t sleep. I thought you’d keep me company for a while.”
She groaned. “What can we possibly talk about at this time of morning?”
“We can talk about anything,” he said, as though he was halfway expecting her to have a topic of discussion right there on the tip of her tongue. Her brain wasn’t even awake yet.
When it was obvious she had nothing in mind to say, he whispered, “Beth, do you ever sleep nude?”
Beth rolled over flat on her back and at first laughed out loud. “Now why in heaven’s name would you want to know something like that?”
“Hey,” he said, “I’m just trying to make conversation.”
“No. I never sleep nude.”
“But you would be, wouldn’t you, if you had a lover with you?”
Suddenly it felt as though her lungs were decompressing and she couldn’t breathe. This line of questioning wasn’t exactly what she had been expecting from him, especially not during a phone conversation at three o’clock in the morning.
“Jack, are you all right?”
“Not really,” he said. “I can’t seem to forget what happened between us at Wilibee’s pond. I can’t close my eyes without seeing how beautiful you were right before that deputy showed up. I haven’t slept a wink all night.”
This time, Beth’s lungs really did decompress. Somehow, in the back of her mind, she’d known all along that his phone call had something to do with what happened at Wilibee’s pond.
“What happened between us at Wilibee’s pond was a mistake, Jack. We both know that. I’m just thankful that the deputy sheriff came along when he did.”
“Yeah, well, if it’s that simple for you to put aside, then come over here and try telling that to my libido.”
“Just don’t think about it,” she said, trying to keep a tight rein on her own emotions.
“Come on, Beth, it isn’t that simple, and you know it.”
Did she? Beth wondered. Of course, she did. She’d had her own problems trying to fall asleep tonight because of the intensity of what had happened between them at the pond. She drew in a deep breath. “Okay, Jack, so it isn’t that simple. But that’s the way it has to be...for now. We can deal with these feelings when—”
“When we try to make a baby,” he said softly, seductively. There was a momentary pause. Finally he groaned, “You’re not helping me out at all with this.”
“I’m doing the best I can,” she said with a sigh. It was obvious to Beth that Jack had no idea how difficult this was for her. She had feelings, too. Feelings she didn’t want to examine too closely at the moment. She had enough on her mind as it was.
“Jack,” she said, “I think the best thing I can do for now is hang up before this conversation goes any further. Try and get some sleep, okay? Good night.” “Beth, wait!” he exclaimed. “Look, there is something else I want to talk to you about.”
“Not tonight, Jack.”
“It won’t take but a second.”
She sighed heavily into the receiver so that he would think her patience was wearing thin. And, in fact, it was.
But she stayed on the line anyway, and waited to hear what he had to say.
“
A colleague of mine is coming into town tomorrow for a couple of days of meetings at the office,” he said after a moment. “Anyway, my boss asked me to take him to dinner tomorrow night, and I thought you might like to join us. Malone has been wanting to meet you for some time now. What do you say? Can you come?”
“Why does he want to meet me, for heaven’s sake?”
“I guess ’cause I talk about you a lot.”
“Oh.”
“Will you come?”
“Well, I guess so. If you want me to,” she replied.
“Great. Then I’ll call you tomorrow with the details. Oh—and, Beth. Take my advice. Try sleeping in the nude now and then. After all, you’ll have to soon enough.”
Then he hung up the phone.
When Beth woke up the next morning, she was mildly surprised to find herself naked in bed. Smiling to herself, she remembered that after hanging up with Jack last night—or, rather, this morning—she had decided on a whim to take his advice about sleeping naked. Now, after running her hands slowly down the sides of her body to feel the texture of her own skin, she stretched her arms over her head and yawned widely. She certainly had slept sound. She felt rested and ready for the day.
After climbing out of bed, she got ready for work and was the first one at her realty office that morning. By the time the others arrived and the workday began full force, she had already taken care of several details concerning her and Jack’s upcoming marriage. She had found a Justice of the Peace to marry them on Saturday, and she had decided that the off-white silk suit she already had hanging in her closet was going to be perfect for the occasion. She’d only worn it once, to Jack’s cousins’s baby’s baptismal ceremony last year. There was absolutely no reason for her not to consider wearing it again, this time to her own wedding. Her hair...well, she still didn’t know exactly what she was going to do with it. But surely she or Karen would come up with an idea between now and Saturday. In the meantime, she had also decided that she and Jack would have cake and champagne for after their ceremony. Something had to be traditional about her wedding, after all. In any case, she had an appointment with a baker that very evening to see what he had to offer.
Beth broke the news about her upcoming wedding to her employees later that morning in the coffee room. She didn’t give them all the details, just the necessary ones. After last night, she’d learned her lesson about giving out too much information concerning her private life. As it was, three of her friends who’d attended Karen’s party the night before, as well as Karen herself—who, by the way, knew all the details already—had called her at work this morning, wanting to know what exactly was going on between her and Jack. She kept having to repeat the same old story, over and over again.
Blessedly, Beth had appointments most of the day that kept her out of the office, but when she finally checked in at five o’clock, there was a message on her desk from Jack, saying he would pick her up around seven for dinner with his colleague.
Darn, Beth thought. She had forgotten that she agreed to the dinner. Now what? She had that appointment with the baker tonight at six-thirty. She supposed that she had enough time to make both dates, if she tried. Besides, Jack had mentioned the name of the restaurant where they would be dining. She could always join them there after she finished placing her order with the baker.
She checked her wristwatch. It was already after five. She called Jack’s office, but the answering service picked up. She didn’t bother leaving a message. Instead she called his home and left a brief one on his answering machine, telling him what she was planning to do. Then she rushed home, took a quick shower, did her hair up off her shoulders and slipped into one of her nicer cocktail dresses. It was black, straight and low-cut down the back—perfect, she thought, for tonight’s restaurant with its low lighting, plush carpeting and fine china dining. Lobster and Steak “à la Vinet” were the chef’s specialties, and the piano bar located in the restaurant was one of the best places around for a quiet, romantic evening. Since she was meeting the baker first, she was going to have to explain to him why she was dressed as she was. She felt certain he would understand.
As it turned out, he did—and so did his wife and four children. By the time that he and Beth—and his wife and four children—had decided on the cake she wanted for her wedding, it was already past sevenfifteen. Racing from the bakery, she got into her car and hurried downtown to the restaurant to meet with Jack and his colleague. She only hoped that her lateness hadn’t stopped them from going ahead with their evening as planned.
But when Beth pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot, she didn’t see Jack’s car in any of the designated places. Of course, she didn’t exactly go around the whole lot, looking for his car. She just thought she would have seen it as she pulled in. Only she hadn’t.
She went inside.
After approaching the hostess, she gave the young woman Jack’s name, then gazed out over the dining room for herself, thinking she would see him. She didn’t.
“Your table is for a party of three,” the hostess said.
“That’s right,” Beth answered, smiling.
“You’re the second of your party to arrive. There’s a gentleman already seated. I’ll bring you to your table now, ma’am,” the hostess politely said.
Beth immediately assumed that the gentleman who was already seated at their table was Jack, and she found herself wondering fleetingly if his colleague was still planning to join them.
“This way, ma’am.”
Beth followed the hostess to where she thought she would find Jack. But instead, a dark-haired, incredibly handsome man in a dark three-piece business suit was sitting at the table.
“There must be some mistake,” Beth said hesitantly.
The gentleman quickly stood. “Ahh...you must be Beth,” he began. “I’m Franko Malone, Jack’s colleague.” He practically snapped to attention right in front of her. Beth could only watch as he did. “I’m honored to meet you at last,” he said, taking her hand and placing a kiss right above her knuckles. “Jack speaks so highly of you.”
“He does?” Beth said, awed down to her toes that this...this gorgeous man actually knew who she was. Franko. For heaven’s sake, what a hunk of a name for a hunk of a guy. “P-pleased to meet you,” she finally stammered.
He was still holding her hand. “The pleasure is all mine, I assure you.” Then he let go of her and pulled out the chair next to him. “Have a seat, my dear, and let us wait for our good friend Jack to arrive.”
She sat, although truthfully it felt as if she was sitting on air, not a chair. Franko Malone was so much more than she had been expecting, and she wondered momentarily if her clear red lipstick was still on and looking as dewy as the labeling on its package said it would after hours of wear.
Finally she pulled herself together enough to ask, “Where is Jack? Shouldn’t he be here already?”
“Jack...?” he said, as though the name were completely foreign to him. Actually Beth was thinking that maybe he was foreign. He had an accent of some kind.
“Ah, Jack, yes...” he finally got around to saying. “Well, he told me that he had something he had to do first and that he might be running late. But don’t you fret, my dear Beth,” he said, smiling at her, “I promise to do everything within my power to keep you entertained until our boy Jack shows up.”
Beth frowned fleetingly. It wasn’t like Jack to be late. But obviously he would be tonight. She smiled back at Franko.
“I’ve taken the liberty of ordering a bottle of wine for our table. Would you care for a glass?” he asked.
Such manners. No doubt about it, this guy could easily swoop her off her feet. My, my, what even white teeth he had. Didn’t that line come from a nursery rhyme somewhere? And he was so meticulously dressed, too. Not a hair out of place. She was impressed with him.
“Yes, thank you,” she said. “I’d like that very much.”
He took her glass and poured a couple of ounces of wi
ne in it. “Let’s make a toast,” he said smoothly. They raised their glasses. “To Jack, for finally introducing me to his gorgeous friend Beth.”
Beth glowed with pleasure from hearing him praise her. But she was also a little embarrassed by it, too. She had just met the guy, but he certainly didn’t mind coming on a little strong. Frankly the intensity in his gaze was beginning to make her feel somewhat uneasy.
“To Jack,” she said. “The best friend a girl could ever have.”
They took sips from their wineglasses and then placed them down on the table. “I’m glad Jack is your friend,” Franko said a moment later, leaning in close to her. “He can be your friend. I’d rather be something else, if you know what I mean.”
Good grief, did she ever, Beth thought to herself, almost choking on her wine. She coughed twice, and then her stomach knotted. She should have known that a guy as good-looking as Franko was too good to be true. When it came to Knights in Shining Armor, that was usually how it went for her.
She frowned. Where was Jack when she needed him anyway?
He should have been here by now.
And when he got here, she was going to drag him off to the side and tell him what she thought of him leaving her alone like this to entertain his colleague. The guy was charming...and good-looking...but—
But it wasn’t enough.
Boy, was she going to give Jack a piece of her mind just as soon as he got here.
“Would you like to dance?” Franko asked.
Just her luck, Beth thought to herself. Prince Charming at last. And what did she think of him? Frankly she wasn’t all that sure. He was handsome, yes, and nice—but he wasn’t Jack. And there was a certain something about him that was beginning to bother her a lot. He gave her the feeling that he thought he already knew her far better than she knew herself, and she didn’t like it one bit. One thing for sure: She could never trust him, not like she did Jack.
But, because Jack had asked her to join him and his colleague for dinner tonight, she had enough grit in her to sit here with a smile on her face and bear this man’s company for one short evening. If the shoe had been on the other foot, Jack would have done the same for her.
Shotgun Groom Page 7
