Julie grinned at that. “I wouldn’t care if it did. You know, you’re a very sweet man.” She impulsively stepped forward and huggcd him.
Sal squeezed her in a quick, gruff manner. “Don’t be tellin’ no bad guys I’m sweet or nothin’, okay? I got a reputation to think of.”
Julie raised her right hand. “I promise.”
Sal grinned. “I knew you were a good girl.”
“That depends on where you’re standing, but thanks just the same.” And then the moment stretched out. She didn’t know where to look and noticed that neither did Sal. “Um, I’ve got to go now. I know you do, too. Just—well, just thanks, Sal. Thanks for being here. Mike has a good friend in you.”
Sal shifted around and groused. “He won’t think so when I take his head off in a minute for hurtin’ a good woman like you.”
“Like I said, you’re a good friend. Goodbye, Sal.”
“Goodbye, Julie.” He gave her a small wave and then turned toward the elevators. Her heart full, Julie watched him for a minute. Almost to the elevator, he stopped and turned back to her. “For the record, I think DeAngelo is a fool.”
“So do I,” Julie called right back.
Sal grinned. “You gonna let him get away with this?”
Julie searched her heart. And surprised herself with what she found. “No, Sal. I don’t think I am.”
Sal laughed out loud and gave a thumbs-up gesture. “That’s my girl.”
9
“MOM, YOU STARTED THIS. And now you’re going to help me end it.” This phone call was a big step for her. Julie plopped down in a tired heap on her bed. Telling Sal she was going to fight for Mike was one thing. Doing it was another. So, no more two-day, hand-wringing, crying jags. Time to act.
“Started what?” came Ida’s distracted response in her ear. “No, Jack, not that channel. Put it on eleven. I want to hear the six o’clock news. Just put it on eleven, please. I know I’m on the phone, but I’ll be off in a minute. It’s Julie.”
“Mother, will you listen to me, please?”
“Your father says hello. And I am listening. Now, tell me, sweetie, what was it I started?”
“This thing with me and Mike. I want him, and I’m going to fight for him. Now, are you going to help me or what?”
“No.”
The merest gust would have blown Julie over. She brought the handset into her line of vision and stared at it hard before putting it to her ear again. “Hello, I’m trying to reach Ida Cochran. Do I have the right number?”
“That’s cute. You heard me—I said no. Caroline is family, and I won’t hurt her.”
“Caroline is fam—what about me? What am I?”
“That’s different.”
“Explain.”
“Oh, Julie. Okay, you’re my daughter. If I find you a husband, that’s fine. But if I take one from someone in the family, then everyone’s mad and there’s a family squabble.”
“There’s going to be one, anyway, Mother. Right here-between me and you.”
“No, there isn’t. It takes two to argue. And I’m not arguing.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you—Dammit, Mother—”
“Julie Marie Cochran, you’re cursing. Do you want your father to hear you?”
“You’re about twenty miles away, Mother. He can’t hear me.”
“He can if I tell him.”
“Oh, fine. Never mind. I’ll do it myself.” She exhaled sharply and switched gears. “Anyway, I also called to tell you that I got my promotion.”
“Julie! You did? Oh, that’s wonderful! I can’t believe it! Let me go tell your father.”
“No, Mom, this is not a good—-” Julie again took the receiver from her ear “—time.” She looked up at her longsuffering reflection in the mirror above her dresser and shook her head. “Ten bucks says Dad gets on the phone now.” She put the receiver back to her ear and waited.
Bingo. “Hi, Dad. Yes, good to hear your voice, too.” She looked at her reflection again and told it, “You owe me ten bucks.” Then she turned her attention back to her father. “Yes, I know—I got that promotion. Yes, I’m very excited about it. I can always use the money. Yes, I’ll invest part of it-”What? No, not a party. Really, I don’t want a party. Tell her no, Dad. When? Mom says Friday at seven o’clock here at the apartment clubhouse? And she’ll make all the arrangements. What? Invite my friends from the bank?” That was about fifty people. Julie rolled her eyes and gave in. No one but her mother could pull together a party of this size in two days. “All right, fine. Yes, everyone will come. They won’t want to have to tell Mom why not. Oops, I have to go—someone’s at the door. Look, I’ll give you all my new-job details Friday night, okay? Yes. Love you, too, Daddy. Kiss Mom for me. Okay. See you then.”
Julie hung up the phone. No one was at the door, but it’d gotten her off the hook. A knocking sounded at the front of her apartment. Okay, there was someone at the door. That’d teach her to lie. Rebuttoning her blouse, she padded down the hall and opened it. She froze in place, but her heart lurched. “Mike.”
Leaning indolently against the jamb, his arms crossed over his blue-suited chest, he removed the silver-tinted sunglasses that hid his eyes. “Surprised?”
“Shocked.”
He put his sunglasses in an inside pocket of his suit coat. “Can I come in?”
“No.”
He straightened up. “Look, Julie—”
“No, you look, Mike. I made an ass of myself only two short days ago in your office. I’ve cried my tears, and I’m done with you.”
She cocked a hip and crossed her arms, just to prove it. If only she could quit blinking so rapidly. And wondering what she was thinking of. She’d told Sal two days ago she was going to fight for him, and she’d just tried to enlist her mother in that same struggle. And now here she was saying she was done with him—and saying it to his face. What gives?
She watched him sweep her up and down with his black-eyed gaze. Then she got into a staring-down contest with him, barely managing to blink again when he gave her his verdict. “You don’t mean that.”
What gave him the right to be so darned sure of himself? She made a move to close the door. “Well, you’re wrong this time. Because I am through with you.”
Mike stopped the door with his hand. “I’m breaking off with Caroline.”
It hit her like a ton of bricks. She should’ve been cutting a Woody Woodpecker victory dance all over the apartment, but she wasn’t. She should’ve thrown her arms around Mike’s neck in the throes of ecstasy, but she didn’t. Maybe if Monday hadn’t happened, this would be a touching moment. But Monday had happened, so instead, she stood there, doing a slow burn. “What does that have to do with me?”
A crease formed between his eyes as a frown claimed his face. He came inside and put a hand out to her, but didn’t touch her. “Everything. I want to be with you.”
Surprising even herself, Julie turned her back on him, taking a deep breath. When she whipped back around, he was closing the door behind him. “What brought on this sudden decision? On Monday, you couldn’t stomach the thought of breaking a promise. Or of having a working wife. And you pretty much told me to get out of your life.”
“Yeah, and Sal pretty much jumped in the middle of my chest about it, too. Anyway, I thought about everything you’d said. And what he said. And you’re right, both of you.”
Sal really had jumped on him about her? God love that big teddy bear. “I am? We are? Imagine that. Um, what are we right about? I just want to be sure here.”
“About me marrying Caroline, and it not being fair to her. You’re right. And Sal said if I lost you, he’d kick my ass—and then marry you himself.”
Julie grinned and bit at her lower lip. A stray curl caught on her eyelashes. She swiped it away. “So, you’re here because of Sal.in a way?”
“Hell, yes. You seen the size of that guy?”
J
ulie chuckled softly. “Yeah, but his heart’s bigger.”
“Sal’s a sweetheart, all right. But I’m not really here because of him. I’m here because of you. And me. Us.”
“Us? Don’t you think you ought to talk to Caroline first before you go talking about an ‘us’?”
“I thought you’d be glad.”
“Glad? That you’re breaking my cousin’s heart? Why would I be glad? Especially when I got this today in the mail.” She skirted the couch and picked up a creamcolored envelope from off the coffee table. She held it up for him to see. “You probably recognize this as an invitation to your wedding?”
Mike ignored the envelope. But he did unbutton his suit coat and loosen his tie, as if he were the man of the house, just come home. “Well, that makes it a little messier for me. Damn. Is getting this invitation why you’re acting like this?”
Julie wanted to fling the fancy envelope at him. “What am I acting like?”
“Like you’re mad as hell.”
“I am mad as hell, Mike. I’ve been on an emotional roller coaster since I met you. I haven’t even known you a month, and I’ve already told you I love you. Heck, I’ve already slept with you. I’ve thrown myself at your feet, chased you to your office, humiliated myself, and all to be—I don’t know, what’s a good word?—spurned by you not more than two days ago.”
“Spurned?”
Julie stopped long enough to stare at him. “It means burned.”
“I know that. I just haven’t heard it used in a long time.” He frowned, as if trying to recall exactly when he had heard it last.
Julie stepped up to cuff him on the sleeve with the invitation. “Concentrate, Mike.”
He grinned at her and took hold of her arms. “I want to see if you’re lying.” With no further ado, he pulled her to him and kissed her. Soundly.
The invitation fell from her hand. Julie made a determined effort to keep her eyes open, her body rigid, her mouth closed and her heart unresponsive. Her supreme effort lasted about one second before she fluttered into his arms and pasted herself to him from lips to toes. God, he felt wonderful and warm and solid, and smelled clean and musky and male. She salvaged her pride by repeating, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I love you.
“No!” She shoved away from him and kept backing up until she figured she was at least out of arm’s reach. Not for anything would she admit how wonderfully wet and tingly her lips felt. She swiped at her mouth with the back of her trembling hand. Quickly, she tucked it behind her.
Too late. Looking mighty smug, he folded his arms across his chest. “You were lying.”
Julie threw her hands up in the air. “Lying about what?”
“About not caring about me.”
Had the man suffered a minor stroke? “When did I say that? My life would be easy if I didn’t care about you. But I do. And therein hangs a tale.”
“Therein…what? Shakespeare, right?”
Had he—Shakespeare—just popped up in front of her in a puff of smoke, she couldn’t have been more distracted. “Yeah, or Chaucer. I can’t remember which.” Then she heard herself. English literature—when her life was falling apart? “What’s the point of this conversation?”
He grinned, like a five-year-old who knew a secret. “Me breaking off with Caroline to be with you.”
“You look pretty happy for a man who’s about to break a woman’s heart. That’s not very endearing, you know.”
Mike sobered and ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, well, I don’t think I’ll be breaking her heart. The differences in our two worlds are starting to show. We’d never make it.”
Julie looked down and spied the invitation on the floor. Behind Mike, under his feet. Lordy, the symbolism. “Apparently Caroline doesn’t know that yet. Because I got my invitation.”
“She wouldn’t do the actual sending. That’s Reginald’s job. Maybe she forgot to send him a memo. Who knows? Or maybe she doesn’t have anyone there with her, like I have you and Sal, to make her rethink everything that’s important to her.”
“Maybe she doesn’t” Julie stared at the envelope while she collected her thoughts. Okay, here goes—the big test. She looked up at Mike. And caught his heart in his eyes. Well, she knew how to douse that light. “I got my promotion. I’m now a vice president with First Southern Bank.”
The light faded. Julie’s stomach dipped, even as he smiled and nodded at her. “That’s great. I’m happy for you. I know you worked hard for it.”
Julie raised her chin another notch. “Yes, I did.”
He put his hands in his pockets. “I guess you can get that condo now. And your life will be complete, Ms. Easter Bunny.”
Okay, she’d started it. But now it was too intense, too close to what was really wrong between them. Afraid to go down that road, Julie pulled back, resorting to flippancy. “I sure as heck hope my life isn’t complete. I think they bury you immediately after saying things like that over your dead body.”
Mike offered a halfhearted grin and took a deep breath. He then turned his head to look. out the sliding glass doors to the descending darkness outside. Finally, he turned back to her. The look on his face sent icy fingers up her spine. His expression was so. final. “Look, Julie, I just want you to know that what I’m doing with Caroline—going up there and breaking off our engagement—has nothing to do with you.”
She swallowed the clumped emotion in her throat and forced her words out. “I’m glad. Remember, she’s family. I wouldn’t want to be the cause of a squabble.”
“Yeah, I can see how you’d feel that way. Anyway, I’m flying up to Boston on Saturday morning to tell her. Then, Sunday evening I’m coming back through Atlanta to get Aaron at Tory’s parents’ house. And then I’ll be home.”
When he stared at her without blinking, without seeming to breathe, Julie felt that chill wash over her again. “Go on.”
“I want to know if you’ll be here when I get back.”
Julie cocked her head, feigning confusion. “Of course I’ll be here. I live here. I can’t get a condo that fast—”
“For me, Julie. Will you be here for me? Will you open the door if you know it’s me? Will you take my calls at work? Will you.see me?”
Oh God, oh God Here it was—the point of no return. Julie put her hands over her face and hunched her shoulders. Why were life and love so hard? Bringing her hands down, she choked back a sob, determined that she’d listen to her head and not her crying heart.
“No, Mike, I won’t. I refuse to be your Rebound Woman. Men never stay with their Rebound Women. Not forever. They move on. I couldn’t take that, Mike. Besides, you need some time alone. Time to—”
Mike exploded. “To hell with time, Julie! To hell with Rebound Woman. What I need is you. And not some women’s magazine diagnosis. I know my heart and my head now—maybe for the first time in my life. And they both tell me I need you.
“Look at me. I can’t even touch you now. I’m close enough to you to smell your heat. I want to devour you, and I can’t even touch you. It’s like there’s this.canyon between us. Don’t turn away from me now, Julie. I’m doing what you said on Monday—I’m fighting for you.” He stared at her. “I love you.”
He forced it out, as if it were a curse. Stunned, Julie couldn’t even react. The little cogs in her brain locked, brought all systems to a halt. The seconds ticked by. Though wrenching emotion gripped her chest in its fist, she managed to whisper out, “Hurts, doesn’t it? Now, please leave. Because we’re not good for each other. Loving someone isn’t always enough, Mike. Not for you and me.”
STANDING IN A GROUP of her friends, Julie dropped the conversational ball when Mike walked into the middle of her promotion gala Friday night. Either he was crashing the party, or her mother was involved. She turned back to Charlene. “Excuse me a minute. I have to go kill my mother.”
Charlene affected a pout, even as she raised her drink in a salute. “But, boss, you promised I could help.”
/> “Maybe next time.” Julie spared her assistant a grin, but still kept Mike in her sights. While she watched, she saw her father greet Mike as if he were a conquering hero. Et tu, Brute? This whole party was a plot to kill her, just like Brutus and the Roman senators had murdered poor old unsuspecting Julius Caesar. And it wasn’t even the Ides of March yet.
She wormed her way through the crush of her wellwishing friends, all of whom had a pat or a hug or a congratulatory word for her. But finally, Julie found the devious Queen Ida. And just in time, too. She grabbed her mother’s arm, stopping her from further regaling two glassy-eyed, male VPs from the bank with the clinical details of Susan’s pregnancy. Making her apologies to the two men, Julie dragged her mother off to a corner before hissing into her ear. “What is he doing here?”
“He who—John Carpenter or Hank Atchison? You work with them, so you tell me.”
“Not them!” she shrieked and whispered at the same time. “Him.” She turned her mother slightly and pointed toward the clubhouse’s tiled-and-mirrored foyer. “Him!”
Ida clapped her hands together excitedly. “Oh, goody, he did decide to come. I knew you’d be excited.”
“I am not excited, Mother. Not.”
Ida pulled back from her daughter. “You asked me to help you.”
“And you said no.”
“Well, I changed my mind. You’re my baby, after all, and—”
“And I don’t want Mike, Mother. Not anymore.”
Ida’s eyes grew round. And her hand went to her pearl necklace. She absently fingered the beads as if they were a rosary. “Oh. Well, which is it? First you want him. Then, the next minute you don’t—”
“Well, it’s final. I don’t.”
“Fine, but you’re telling him. Not me.”
“Fine. I’ll tell him.” Julie put one foot in front of the other. No problem. Get out, Mike. It was easy-Her mother grabbed her arm and pulled her back into their corner. “When I called Mike on Thursday to ask him to come tonight, he told me you two had words, and then he said he’s flying to Boston tomorrow to break his engagement to Caroline. Did you know he’s doing that?”
A Man In Demand Page 12
