by Lori Foster
“Hello?” Sean nudged Gabe sharply in the ribs. “Check out the redhead coming this way.”
Gabe glanced up halfheartedly. A voluptuous woman with flame-red hair was slinking her way to their table, a knowing smile on her pouty lips. The Hoodlums smiled broadly.
She walked straight to Gabe. “Hi there. My name’s Melissande.”
He nodded.
She smiled, and he felt her chest brush across his shoulder. “You don’t seem to be having a good time here. Is there any place I could take you, and maybe help you feel better?”
He could sense the barely concealed glee from the other men at the table. He shook his head. “No. Thanks.”
Her eyes widened in obvious surprise. She leaned over a little farther. “Are you sure? I’m very, very good…at cheering people up.”
He turned to her, shrugging her touch off of his shoulder. “I don’t mean to be rude about this, but I’m not interested. Okay?”
He turned back to his beer, hearing rather than seeing her flounce of indignation.
The guys watched her walk away, then pounced on him. “Are you out of your mind? That woman was hot!”
He glared at them. They ignored his obvious attempt to shut them up.
“Maybe it’s Charlotte,” Ryan said suddenly.
Gabe’s head jerked up. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Ryan shrugged. “Well, the fact that she’s finally gotten lucky has got to mean that you’re that much closer to losing your bet. But I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I mean, she’s dating like crazy, but I thinks it’s still impossible for her to get somebody to marry her in a week, man.”
“How do you know she’s ‘gotten lucky’?” Gabe asked in a low, chilling voice.
“She had a hickey the size of Cleveland under her jaw, that’s how.” Ryan laughed. “Happened a week ago.”
Mike gasped. “Charlie? Our Charlie?”
“Our Charlie has got to be a lot happier than our cheerful friend here, is all I can say,” Ryan said sagely. “Maybe you should take a page out of her book, man, and lighten up. The day after she got that monster, she was so lit up you could have used her for a scoreboard.”
“Is she still happy? Shown any more…marks?” Gabe asked, more sharply than he’d intended. Had she found someone that quickly? That was what you said she deserved, his conscience asserted. His chest obviously disagreed. The dull ache intensified at the thought of someone else enjoying her luscious body, her bright, sweet smile. Her.
Mike turned to Ryan curiously, but Sean continued to stare at Gabe, his eyes narrowing. Gabe was too intent on Ryan’s answer to care.
Ryan frowned. “Now that you mention it, I don’t think so. I mean, she’s working a lot, but she seems to go out with a different guy every night, and out to lunch with another one every day. While I’ll say she’s a lot more, er, social than she’s ever been, no way is our Charlie easy.” On that point he looked adamant.
“So what happened to the guy who gave her the hickey?” Gabe prodded. “She’s never mentioned who it is?”
“Well, no,” Ryan admitted, shrugging. “But it’s pretty obvious, don’t you think?”
Gabe held his breath.
“It’s gotta be Jack. He was the only guy she was dating around that time that I know of.”
“Well, whoever it was, he’s one lucky man,” Mike said, chortling. “I may have to give her a call, myself….”
Gabe reached across the table and went for Mike’s throat.
“Hey!” The other men quickly disengaged Gabe’s hands from their friend’s neck. “What are you doing, man?”
“Don’t talk that way about Charlotte,” Gabe demanded, his hands shaking in rage. “Not when I’m around. Not around anybody. If I find out you’ve said anything about her to anyone, I’ll tear you apart.”
“I wasn’t disrespecting Charlotte, Gabe!” Mike yelled, rubbing at his neck. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Ryan shook his head. “Oh, no.”
Gabe turned to face him, ready to take him on, too. “What’s your problem?”
“I should have realized. You’re being sullen, irrational, touchy and hair-trigger violent.” Ryan sighed indulgently. “Why didn’t you tell us you’re in love, man? We could have packed up all your breakables.”
“I am not in love,” Gabe growled. And that was the one thing he could be thankful for. Like he didn’t have enough problems right now! “Being in love makes a man crazy. It always ends in disaster, and it’s always with the wrong woman. I’m not doing any of that!”
He stormed away, but not before hearing the Hoodlums say in unison, “Yup. He’s in love.”
JACK DROPPED CHARLOTTE OFF at her house that night. She was glad to see him, but she felt a slight awkwardness after everything that had happened between her and Gabe. Still, Jack had been understanding about her other dates. He’d been downright wonderful about keeping her busy, too. He took her to movies, out to dinner, even on a trip to the zoo once. But she could sense a growing tension from him, a sort of uneasiness that intensified every time she saw him. Whatever it was, it was getting worse, she surmised. He hadn’t said anything to her the whole car ride back, and that was unlike him.
He walked her to her door, as usual. “I guess this is good night, Jack,” she said, giving him a quick hug. She hadn’t kissed him since that disastrous smooch after the Black and White Ball. This time, he kept his arms around her loosely. “What is it?” she finally asked.
“This is sort of rough for me to talk about,” Jack said haltingly. “Have I ever told you about my family?”
“No,” she said, with some surprise. “Now that you mention it, you’ve always listened to me, but you haven’t told me much about yourself.”
“They’re wonderful, don’t get me wrong,” he began, but his eyes looked troubled. “My father is a publisher, you’ve probably read that much. He and my mother are the greatest, but they’ve really been pushing me lately. Between them and the press hounding me, I feel like I’ve been unable to get anything important accomplished, and I’ve given up meeting anybody who will just care about me for me. I’m at the end of my rope. It’s like no one will leave me alone, you know?”
Charlotte smiled. “Actually, I do know. Dana and Bella have been like that for years. You don’t want to be pushed around by them, but you love them, and you don’t know how to say no.”
“That’s it. That’s it exactly.”
She sighed. “I’ve finally gotten them to calm down somewhat, but now and then, I wonder if I shouldn’t just change my name, shave my head and run away to join the circus.”
He smiled sadly. “I’ve got an easier solution, sort of,” he muttered, sighing heavily. “But it’s crazy.”
“Jack, we’re friends,” Charlotte said, and meant it. “You can tell me. What’s wrong?”
“You’re going to think I’m insane, but I was just wondering…would you do me a favor?”
He looked so at a loss, her heart immediately went out to him. “Anything for a friend, Jack. What is it?”
“Do you think you could marry me for a while?”
12
“WHERE’S CHARLOTTE?” Mike looked around expectantly. “I thought she said she’d play today. It’s the Hoodlum Super Bowl.”
“We’re sort of…not talking right now.” Gabe shrugged, trying to remain cool and ignore the pain the words brought. “But she’s fine, don’t worry about it.”
“Who’s worried?” Mike frowned, then laughed as realization dawned on him. “Oh, I get it. You pissed her off again, didn’t you? What’d you do this time?”
I lost her. “I didn’t do anything.”
Sean gave him a quizzical look. “Maybe that’s what pissed her off.”
Gabe leveled a steely glare at him. “Shut up and throw the damn ball, okay?”
The other guys playing immediately started catcalling and taunting him before settling down to play some serious football. Half an h
our later, their jeers had been replaced with groans of pain.
“Dammit, Gabe,” Mike muttered, rubbing at his ribs. “This is touch football, man, not the NFL. Go easy, will you?”
Sean grabbed Gabe roughly by his collar. “Time out!” he called to the others, dragging Gabe toward the crashing surf. When they were out of earshot, Sean let him have it. “What is up with you, Gabe? You almost killed Mike, but you haven’t caught a single pass I’ve thrown to you. Where is your head?”
Gabe shook off Sean’s grip with a rough shrug. “I don’t know.”
“It’s the girl, isn’t it?” Sean gave him a rough pat. “What’s she into now?”
“It’s not so much what she’s into. It’s what I’m into. Or not into. What I…that is…” Gabe growled in frustration. “I slept with her.”
Sean simply looked at him, nodding. “Like that’s somehow a shock.”
Gabe blinked at him. Didn’t he understand? “I said, I slept with her.”
“So? Charlotte’s beautiful,” Sean said, smiling wistfully. “I’ve entertained some daydreams myself. But she’s, like, your soul mate. I mean, the guys are close and all, but that woman knows your heart. So you did something about it.” Sean shrugged. “So what’s the problem?”
Gabe stood, silent.
“I mean, you told her you loved her, right?”
Still nothing.
“You do love her, right?” Sean emphasized his words, as if talking to a child. “I’ll kick your ass if you think you don’t, because nobody disrespects our girl that way. Least of all an idiot who can’t see the truth when it’s staring him in the face.”
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” Gabe rasped. “All I know is, I made that stupid bet, and suddenly nothing was the same. She was still Charlotte, sure, but she was wearing those clothes, and we were spending all this time together, like we always do…and then something changed. I did everything I could think of to get us just to be friends again,” he argued, “but it just happened. I couldn’t stop myself.”
Sean sighed. “I sense stupidity ahead. What did you do after that?”
“I stopped it before it got worse,” Gabe said, closing his eyes. The incident still played through his head every night. If he wasn’t thinking of the night they’d spent together, that is. “I thought maybe I could catch it in time, that I wouldn’t screw up the friendship completely, but I was too late. Now she won’t see me or talk to me. I don’t know what to do.” He opened his eyes, looking over at Sean. “It was just what I thought would happen. I don’t know what I’m going to do without her.”
“Gabe, you’re like a brother to me, right? So I’m going to tell you this from the heart.” Sean put a heavy hand on his shoulder. “You’re a schmuck.”
Gabe blinked. “Sorry?”
“You heard me. You’re in love, man.”
Gabe thought about it for a minute. “I don’t believe this,” he said slowly, even as the truth began to hit him. “Even if I am…that’s not going to help me. I can’t make a relationship work. I never have.”
“Those other women you thought you were in love with. That was bull. You weren’t in love with them. Heavily in lust, addicted to drama, but not in love.”
“I tried to make them work,” Gabe said. “They all just fell apart, no matter what I did. That’s when I made the rule—friends over commitments.”
“And do you know why?” Sean’s dark eyes bore into Gabe. “Because you always had Charlotte. She was always the first person you called when one of the women you believed you were ‘in love with’ went haywire. If you had a problem, or good news, or if she needed you, then you two were together, no matter who you were dating. They had your body, but Charlotte’s always had your heart.”
Gabe stopped, started to speak, then stopped again.
“This time, you’ve got a shot at the whole thing—marriage, kids, the whole nine yards. And you’re scared.” Sean shook his head. “Scared of all that, but even more, scared of screwing up the most important thing in your life and losing her. So what did you do?”
Gabe sighed. “I screwed up and lost her.”
“Bingo. So what do you think all this means?”
Gabe stood for a minute, staring at the waves. He never wanted to see Charlotte with another man. He couldn’t stand all the time he’d spent without her. He needed her smile, her laughter, and most of all, her love.
“It means I’m in love with Charlotte, and I’m going to do something about it.”
“All this time together, and you’re just figuring it out.” Sean sighed. “It’s things like this that convince women we’re idiots, man.”
Suddenly, Ryan came running down the beach, crowing and waving a newspaper.
“Ryan, don’t you wear a watch?” Mike yelled as Ryan approached the group. “You’re two hours late!”
“You’ve gotta see this,” Ryan answered, puffing from his run. The guys crowded around him, and he pushed a tabloid into Gabe’s hands.
“What the…” Gabe gaze fell on a full-color picture of Charlotte and Jack in a tabloid. The lurid headline jumped out at him: Lady in Red to Wed Jack Landor?
“Isn’t it a scream?” Ryan’s face broke into a wide, foolish grin. “Our honorary girl Hoodlum, getting married to the Most Eligible Bachelor in America?”
Gabe watched, detached, as his fingers twisted the paper, practically ripping it in two. He barely heard Ryan’s yelp of protest.
“You’ve got to go, Gabe.” Gabe looked up, and Sean’s face was solemn. “It’s not too late.”
Gabe made a break for his car, praying Sean was right.
CHARLOTTE WAS EATING LUNCH outside at Martha’s Café with Dana and Bella. She wasn’t looking forward to her conversation with them, but it had to be done. They would notice when she suddenly, after a few weeks of mad socializing, stopped dating anyone at all and disappeared from the scene.
What she really wasn’t looking forward to was explaining why.
“So I finally told him, I don’t care whose wedding you’re working on, you promised me two hundred orchids for tonight’s banquet and I don’t want to hear another word about it.” Dana nodded sharply, and Bella laughed. “Honestly! Like I’m going to let him put me on the hot seat at work because some Arabian prince needs centerpieces!” She glanced over at Charlotte, winked. “Now, if it were Jack Landor’s wedding, that would be something else….”
Before Charlotte could question that, Bella sent her a piercing, inquisitive look. “Speaking of, is there anything you’d like to tell us?”
“Well, yes…” Charlotte said, then frowned as the tone of her question sunk in. “Wait a minute. What are you talking about?”
“Charlotte, it’s been in all the tabloids,” Dana said in a rush. “There’s a picture of you in that red dress, and there are all these rumors that you’re going to get married!”
“We wanted to wait until you told us,” Bella said with a brilliant smile. “But you were taking so long, we just couldn’t hold out! So what happened? How did he propose to you?”
“And when’s the wedding?” Dana asked, jumping in. “I’m so excited, I could pop! Imagine, just like you thought, a proposal in under a month!”
“Now, hold it just a second,” Charlotte said firmly. “Jack did propose, but I need to explain a few things….”
“Charlotte.”
She stopped, midsentence. Taking a deep breath, she turned. “Hello, Gabe,” she said quietly. Her fingers tensed on her glass of lemonade.
“Ooh, Gabe, have you heard?” Dana’s voice was bright and, to her credit, only a little smug. “He proposed! Jack proposed to her!”
“So the papers claim. I thought I’d find out for myself what the story was.” His voice was low and dangerously husky. “It took me a little while to track you down, but I need to talk to you, Charlotte.”
He looked like hell, Charlotte thought, her heart aching. He had a rough day’s growth of beard, and his hair was windblown and ca
reless. It would have made him look more rugged, like Indiana Jones, if it weren’t for the shadows in his eyes. He looked like a man fighting demons.
Every fiber in her being wanted to stand up and throw herself into his arms. But she just sat there. “Couldn’t believe it, huh?”
“I didn’t want to, but yes, I believed it.” His eyes gleamed silver and lightning. “I just wanted to hear the truth from you.”
She struggled to keep her voice calm. “If you must know, yes, Jack did propose to me.”
“I see,” he said, his voice low.
She barely noticed the excited sounds from Dana and Bella. It was as if the world had narrowed to encompass just herself and Gabe.
With a slow, deliberate motion, Gabe reached into his leather jacket pocket and pulled out his checkbook. “I guess you win, angel. As it happens, I have the check right here.”
Dana and Bella high-fived.
Charlotte’s heart broke, splintering like glass. She showed no outward signs. Her face remained impassive and her eyes were glued to the check in his outstretched hand.
“It’s yours,” he said. “Just come here and get it.”
Like a marionette, she got up and walked to where he was standing. On the front of the check, in his bold handwriting, was the amount: one thousand dollars. And written in a scrawl on the memo line was a small sentence.
“‘Congratulations to the winner’?” she read aloud.
He nodded.
She would rip it up and throw it in his face, she thought. Then she’d leave and never see him again.
She reached for the check.
With a quick motion, he grabbed her wrist, pulling her to him, molding her to him. She looked into his tortured eyes just before his mouth dipped down to hers and she felt the inferno that built whenever they kissed.
“Double or nothing,” he whispered against her lips. “I bet you that I can make you happier in the next fifty years than that guy could have ever made you. I swear.”
She felt a wild surge of happiness but pulled back a little, tugging against the hands that caressed her back and looped her in his embrace. “Gabe…”
