A House Full of Fortunes!
Page 10
“We have to get this stuff inside. Everything’s going to get soaked.”
Angie, still dazed from her erotic sleep-induced bliss, didn’t take the time to decide whether Toby had been fully awake or dreaming. Instead she snapped out of it long enough to run for the movie projector, pull the hefty old machine off the relocated patio table and lug it, extension cord and all, inside the kitchen, trying to dodge the shooting sprays of water as she went.
She set the reels on the table, just as Toby dropped the first load of wet blankets on the kitchen floor.
“Why are you guys all wet?” Kylie asked, walking into the kitchen before Angie could process what had happened outside on the lawn.
Angie waited for Toby to answer because she didn’t think the words would form in her throat.
But a red flush on Toby’s face as he reached down for one of the damp pillows and placed it in front of his waist suggested that her hormones hadn’t been the only ones getting an early-morning workout.
She didn’t know whether to laugh at his discomfort or run out of the room in embarrassment because, whatever had just happened—sleep-induced or fully conscious—their friendship had just taken a tremendous turn in an unexpected direction.
Maybe it was best if she got out of here.
She was usually good with smooth exit strategies, but she couldn’t seem to get her brain to engage.
As much as she’d like to pretend this morning hadn’t happened, she hated to leave Toby to face the music alone. And judging from the pink tint blossoming underneath his stubble-covered cheeks, he didn’t quite know what to make of it, either.
“The sprinklers came on early this morning,” Toby mumbled, not dropping the pillow. “So Angie and I were trying to get all this stuff inside.”
“Why didn’t you bring it in last night?” Justin asked, making his way into the crowded kitchen, oblivious to the strong but awkward sexual attraction swirling in the room like a Texas dust cloud.
“Sweet,” Brian said, padding in to join them, his red hair sticking up on one side of his head. “You guys had a sleepover.”
Oh, great. That wasn’t going to look good in the social worker’s report—if one of the kids happened to mention Toby having a woman spend the night while the kids were home.
Angie reached up to smooth her own sleep-tousled hair.
Maybe she should tell the kids she’d been out for a morning jog and had decided to stop in for breakfast.
She glanced down at her bare feet. No, they were too smart to fall for that. She needed to nip this thing in the bud before everyone in town heard that she and Toby had slept together—which, technically, they had.
“It wasn’t really a sleepover,” she said. “I just dozed off while watching the movie.”
“Then can Mike Waddell kinda fall asleep over here next Saturday after our baseball game?” Brian asked.
The energy-drink kid? Angie could only imagine the hyperactivity that would come along with that night. But at least the focus was now off her.
“We’ll talk about it later,” Toby said, finally releasing the pillow.
“If Brian gets a sleepover, then can I have a slumber party?” Kylie asked.
“How many girls do you want to come to your slumber party?” Angie asked.
“My teacher said that, if we have a party, we have to invite everyone from the class so we don’t hurt anyone’s feelings. And we have twenty-three kids in our class. But I don’t want to invite Destiny Simmons because she told everyone my hair looks funny because I don’t have a mommy to do it right.”
That reminded Angie that Kylie needed a real mother figure, someone permanent. And not a fly-by-night female role model who’d nearly made love to a man outdoors in broad daylight, with three impressionable kids inside the house.
“Twenty-three kids?” Toby asked. “But that’s counting the boys, too. You can’t invite them to a girls’ slumber party.”
Kylie pointed at Angie. “But you had a girl over for a slumber party.”
The tiny red-haired cherub in the princess pajamas had brought the conversation full circle without missing a beat.
And just as quickly, Toby opened the pantry door and changed the topic. “Hey, guys. We need to get our chores done early today. Why don’t I make pancakes for breakfast? You can help me by setting the table and getting the juice out of the fridge.”
Smart move. New focus.
While the children were distracted with setting the table and getting the orange juice out of the refrigerator, Angie decided it was the perfect time to sneak out of here.
She was such a coward. But she was doing what she did best—leaving before things got uncomfortable again.
So she slipped out the back, quietly shutting the door. When she walked by the kitchen window, Toby spotted her and lifted his eyebrows.
She gestured, then mouthed, “I have to go.” It was a lame excuse, especially since she really had nowhere to go on a Saturday morning. But she couldn’t very well stay here and play house with Toby and the kids.
He nodded as if he understood. Yet guilt, embarrassment, fear and other emotions she hadn’t yet pegged all tumbled around in her throat, threatening to cut off her air supply.
She put her thumb to her ear and her pinkie to her lips, giving him the universal sign for telephone. Then she mouthed, “I’ll call you.”
Again, he nodded.
Then she climbed into her car before she could debate whether she really had any business calling Toby at all.
* * *
Ten minutes after Angie drove away, the cordless phone on the counter rang and Kylie answered it before Toby could make a grab for it. Was Angie calling him already? He could understand her wanting to get the heck out of Dodge this morning. He’d been tempted to jump in her car and go with her just to escape the curious eyes pelting him with unspoken questions.
What had he been thinking, spending the entire night with Angie like that? Better yet, what had he been thinking setting those damn sprinklers on a timer to go off at six in the morning? If they hadn’t blasted them with water, Toby knew exactly what he would have done to Angie’s sweet, warm and tempting body this morning. He wouldn’t have stopped with a hand on her lush breast—that was for sure. Instead, they’d gotten sprayed with water like a couple of dogs someone had to turn the hose on to keep from going at it on the front lawn.
“Yeah, Aunt Stacey,” Kylie said. “He’s right here, fixing pancakes for us and Angie.”
Obviously, Kylie still hadn’t realized that Angie had left. Or that Toby was still staring out the kitchen window after her like a sad, abandoned puppy.
He tried to reach for the telephone before Kylie could tell his sister anything else, but his hands were full of slimy eggshells, which he’d have to rinse off first.
“Uh-huh,” Kylie continued. “Angie and Toby had a sleepover last night. And Toby got my pillow all wet, but that’s okay because he said I get to invite my class over for a slumber party.”
With his hands clean, but still wet, Toby took the phone from Kylie. “Hey, Stace. What’s up?”
“Why did Kylie put you on the phone?” Stacey asked. “I wanted to talk to Angie.”
“She’s not here,” Toby said, a bit more defensively than he’d intended.
“She left already?” Justin asked. “Aw, man. I wanted to ask her to help me build a spaceship out of LEGO.”
“We’ll see her later,” Toby told the disappointed boy.
But the truth was, he didn’t know when they’d see Angie again. Or if Angie would even want to see him after the way he’d been pawing at her this morning.
“Later, huh?” Stacey asked. “I heard the two of you have been spending a lot of time together lately, but I had no idea you guys were at the sleepover stage.”
After giving all the kids an assignment, Toby walked into the living room so they wouldn’t hear his line of defense.
Not that he’d done anything wrong. Had he? Maybe if he just explained what had happened...
Hey, wait. He didn’t owe anyone an explanation.
When he reached the living room, he asked, “So how’s Piper?”
Everyone knew Stacey adored her nine-month-old daughter, so he figured he’d change the subject to one of toothless grins and sleepless nights.
“She’s fine,” Stacey said. “Growing cuter and smarter every day.”
“And how about Colton?” he asked, hoping he could get her talking about her new fiancé, one of the neighboring ranchers. “Have you guys set a date yet?”
“Colton is doing great, but don’t try those distraction tactics on me. I’m one step ahead of you, big brother. You are not getting out of this one. What’s going on with you and Angie Edwards?”
His sisters, Stacey and Delaney, were protective over all their brothers, but particularly Toby since his family always accused him of being a softy—and a sucker for a sob story. Not that Angie was a sob story.
“Nothing’s going on,” he said. “Angie’s been helping me out with the kids. That’s all.”
“Are you paying her for babysitting services? Because I heard Angie’s always looking for a new job. She never seems to stick with one very long.”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but no, I’m not paying her. She’s doing it to be nice and because she likes the kids. And for your information, Angie is a very hard worker. Just because she hasn’t found a career she likes doesn’t mean she isn’t a good person.”
“I never said she wasn’t, Toby. I was just telling you what I’ve been hearing around town. I went to high school with Angie, remember? She used to date a lot back then.”
Toby felt a jostle of jealousy stir up again in his veins.
“What do you mean she used to date a lot? Like she was...” Toby didn’t want to say anything that would be demeaning to Angie, but he didn’t know how else to ask.
“Well, she didn’t have a reputation for being fast or anything like that, but she was known as the Queen of the First Date.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means she would go out with a guy if he asked her, but usually, they never made it to a second date. I don’t know if it was fear of commitment or what, but she never went steady with anyone or took any of the guys seriously. She for sure never had sleepovers with anyone before. Or at least none that I heard about.”
The envy died down a little bit inside him. At least he couldn’t fault Angie for being choosy.
“Listen, last night wasn’t a sleepover. It was just an accident. Nothing, uh, really happened.”
He hoped his sister hadn’t caught the hesitation in his voice.
“Aha!” she said. “Define ‘nothing.’ And ‘really.’”
“I’m not defining anything.” Toby looked back to the kitchen to make sure none of the little ears had made their way within hearing distance.
Stacey clicked her tongue. “You wouldn’t be getting so defensive if your relationship was strictly platonic. So how far have you guys gone?”
Toby couldn’t believe Stacey had just asked him that. “This isn’t high school, Stace. We’re not playing truth or dare. I’m not talking about my sex life with my little sister.”
“So you’re saying there is a sex life to talk about,” she said, a spark of excitement lighting her voice as if she’d tricked a leprechaun into revealing the location of his pot of gold.
Embarrassment was an understatement. Toby remembered holding the wet pillow up to cover his arousal this morning when the kids came into the kitchen. He wished he had something to hide behind now.
He wasn’t going to admit to anything. He’d said too much as it was and figured silence was his only option.
“So,” Stacey said, apparently changing tactics, “the reason I called was to tell you that Mom and Dad are having a family dinner at their house tonight. And we’d like you to bring Angie.”
“Why, so you guys can check her out and pump her for information? No way.”
“Mom told me and Delaney you’d say that when we came up with the idea.”
Great. His family was already plotting and scheming.
“That’s why,” Stacey continued, “Delaney is calling Angie right now and asking her to come over for dinner. Too bad she didn’t pick up the phone a few minutes earlier. We could’ve killed two birds with one stone.”
“I’m not coming to dinner tonight,” Toby said. “And I’m not inviting Angie.”
“Why not? If there’s nothing going on between you two, then why try to keep her away from your family?”
Stacey had a point. Unfortunately, with the sparks that were jumping between him and Angie lately, he doubted a blind man would believe there wasn’t anything going on between them.
And knowing his family the way he did, he was sure they’d figure out something was up the second he, Angie and the kids walked in the door.
Hell.
“Okay,” he finally conceded. “But let me invite her. And I’ll only do it if you guys promise not to interrogate her.”
“My, aren’t you the protector. She’s lucky to have you in her corner.”
Toby didn’t know about that.
“Oops,” Stacey said, “Piper just smeared green beans all over herself. Gotta go.”
Good, Toby thought. He was glad Stacey’s baby had made a mess she’d have to clean up. That was what his sister got for butting into Toby’s business.
He just hoped he didn’t have an even bigger mess to deal with now.
* * *
Angie saw Toby’s name displayed on her caller-ID screen. She’d been too chicken to call him after she said she would. What was the proper length of time one should wait to call the man they’d intimately nestled against all night long? Three days? Maybe there was an article in some women’s magazine she could reference.
Ugh. She needed to get this over with. He was probably calling to tell her that they needed to see less of each other. That he wasn’t looking for a relationship. He’d made that more than clear. The sooner she bit the bullet, the sooner she could get over him. Unfortunately, she didn’t think she’d ever get over the feeling of his fingers stroking their way up her waist. Or his husky voice telling her how good she felt.
She tried to sound more upbeat than the groan stuck in her throat would allow when she said, “Hello?”
“Um, hey.”
Couldn’t he even manage a proper greeting? He must already be experiencing remorse at what they’d done and guilt over what he was about to tell her.
She should make it easy for him and call things off first, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words for him.
“Did my sister Delaney call you yet?” he finally got out.
“Not that I know of. But I haven’t looked at my missed calls since I got out of the shower.”
Why would Delaney be calling her? Had the rumors started already? Was Toby trying to do damage control? Maybe they needed to get their stories straight about her spending the night out at the Double H.
“Good. I wanted to talk to you before she did.”
Uh-oh. This didn’t bode well.
“It sounds like my family is doing a dinner thing tonight and they want me to bring you.”
“Why would they want me there?” Unless they thought something was going on between her and Toby. Of course, she didn’t know why his family would think that when she, herself, had no idea if there was any
thing going on between the two of them.
“They, uh, well, they’re just curious about you since we’ve been spending, uh, so much time together and, you know...” Was Toby nervous? His voice tripped over the words like a shy schoolboy asking her out to prom. He was usually so confident. What had happened to all his swagger and self-assuredness?
“So they want to check me out?” She actually wanted to ask if they were trying to determine if she was good enough for their Fortune Jones standards. Angie had the feeling she wouldn’t pass that test.
“It’s really not a big deal. It’s just a little family get-together. And I made Stacey promise that they wouldn’t interrogate you or anything.”
“Yeah, that’s not exactly selling me on the idea, Toby.” In fact, the implication that he probably had to wrestle the promise from his sister made it seem that much more likely that what his family had planned was a full-scale inquisition.
“Well, I figure we could either go to the dinner together and show a kind of united front, or we can sit back and wait for them to come into the Superette one by one and hound you for information.”
That was a good point. She didn’t relish being the subject of the Fortune Joneses’ scrutiny, but she’d rather it be in the privacy of their family ranch than in public at her place of employment. She didn’t mind working in the bakery on occasion, but she’d hate to have to hide back there for good.
“Plus,” Toby continued, “the kids will be there and Stacey is bringing Piper. If we stick close to at least one of the children, we should be safe, right?”
Angie didn’t know if he meant they’d be safe from the prying questions from his family or safe from their own raging hormones.
But she just wasn’t sure she should go. She wanted to spend more time with him, but would this just make things more complicated? He sounded as if he was eager to have her there, which wasn’t how a man would act if he was trying to break it off with a woman.
“Let me think about it,” she finally said.
“Fair enough. I’ll be at the baseball field most of the afternoon, so just give me a call on my cell when you decide.”