Men Made in America Mega-Bundle

by Gayle Wilson, Marie Ferrarella, Jennifer Greene, Annette Broadrick, Judith Arnold, Rita Herron, Anne Stuart, Diana Palmer, Elizabeth Bevarly, Patricia Rosemoor, Emilie Richards

  He’d never know what his silent approval meant to her. “I’d like that.” Relieved that was over, she turned to leave.

  “Consider it done. And, Aly?”

  She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Yes?”

  His words came slowly, measured, each with its own field of emotion. “While you’re up there in this godforsaken place on a stick, if you ever find yourself needing anything, I mean anything, just pick up that telephone and call me. I’ll be on the next flight.”

  She pressed her lips together. “I know you will. And I appreciate it, big brother.”

  Turning, and throwing her arms around Kevin’s neck, Alison hugged him, blinking back tears. She didn’t raise her head to look at him, not because she didn’t want him to see her cry, but because she knew he didn’t want her to see him doing the same.

  Chapter Eight

  Holding two glasses aloft, Luc made his way out from behind the four-sided bar in the center of Lily’s main dining area. It took a little maneuvering not to bump into anyone.

  The doors had been closed for this private party. It was almost as crowded within the small, upscale restaurant as it had been at the trendy club Kevin and Jimmy had taken him to three nights ago. But, unlike the club, here the noise was genial, almost soothing. There was a warmth generated by these people who had come to see Alison and the stranger who was taking her off with him on a brand-new adventure, to a little town not one of them had heard of before today.

  He knew none of these people, had only met Alison’s sister, Lily, when he had arrived with Alison earlier, yet for the space of the evening, they had all accepted him into their wide circle. They were treating him like a friend, one of their own.

  It made him think of the Salty and Hades, where everyone, whether they knew one another to only nod at, or to carry on a daily relationship with, was invisibly and irrevocably linked to everyone else.

  The pang went right through him. Sharp, deep, sweet. He was homesick, he realized. It felt good to have somewhere to miss. To remember missing somewhere. And someone. But this time, it was family and friends he missed. Not like the other time, when Janice had left him.

  He’d even given a ring to Janice. Nothing fancy, but it had been his mother’s and there was a world of sentiment attached to the small, antique gold band. He’d found it, along with a note, on his dresser after the wedding was to have taken place. His best man had left everything in his wake, taking his intended instead. Janice had left, she wrote, with Jacob, because he was a man who had vision. The news had hit him with the force of a tsunami, completely flattening him. Flooding him with hurt and anger, and a gut-wrenching feeling the depth of which he had never even vaguely admitted to, not even to Ike, although he had a feeling the latter had suspected.

  The anger had been the first to leave. In time he had grown to miss Janice less, to be less hurt. And in the place of all those feelings had come a wariness, a sense that he could never care again in that way, would never care again in that way. The interlude with Janice had created invisible bars around his heart, dedicated to preserving his pride, his dignity and his feelings.

  He’d thought them invincible. He wasn’t a hundred-percent sure of that anymore.

  Approaching the table where he, Alison and her family were sitting, he saw her. And heard her. The sound of Alison’s laughter came to him like a soft, sensual, undulating wave. Reaching him, it began at his toes and moved upward with the unexpected thrust of an incoming tide. Slowly, then quickly, building momentum until it reached its peak.

  He waited until it passed, then continued on his odyssey to the table.

  Would she regret giving all this up? Leaving these people she obviously cared for so much and going off to what amounted to the end of the world? He knew she had said she was looking for somewhere to make a difference, to apply her skills and make them count for something, but he knew there were times that rhetoric and reality were two very different things.

  How homesick would she get?

  Well, he thought, moving around a couple so deeply involved in a conversation they were oblivious to everyone else, it would be something they would both find out in time. With luck, he’d be there to help her over the bumpy parts.

  He finally made his way to their table. “Oh, you did get the drinks.” Smiling at him, Alison reached for hers. “We thought maybe you got lost.”

  “No, it just took a while, that’s all.”

  Lily, a taller, slightly older version of her sister, glanced over her shoulder. For most of the evening, she’d been alert, the consummate hostess, but just these last few minutes she’d allowed herself to be merely Alison’s sister, sharing her on her last night home for who knew how long? The alertness was back in her eyes as she looked toward the bar. “Bill’s not usually so slow.”

  “He’s not. But he looked beat, so I said I’d cover for him for ten minutes while he took a break. I made these.” Luc set his own glass down, then took the vacant chair beside Alison. She’d been holding it for him, he realized. “And a few others, as well.”

  There were seven orders in a “few.” The bar was far fancier than what he was accustomed to at the Salty, but the basic stock was the same. And he’d known his way around a bar ever since he’d been in his midteens and Ike had talked him into working with him for the Salty’s owner. Until eventually they had become the owners. That, too, had been Ike’s idea.

  You always need a fire lit under you. I can’t keep lighting them, or waiting for them to light. I want a man who’s going places, who wants to give me things. That had been part of Janice’s note, too. He’d wanted to give her things, but the kinds of things he’d wanted to give her hadn’t involved money as the bottom line.

  Lily’s brow drew into a reproving frown. “Hey, you’re the guest of honor here along with Aly. You shouldn’t have to be doing any of the work.” Studying the man behind the bar, she realized Luc was right. He did look tired. Probably coming down with something. She hoped it wasn’t catching.

  Lily rose, pushing back her chair. Bill could probably use a longer break. “Duty calls.” She smiled at Luc. The man wasn’t afraid to help out without waiting to be asked. That spoke well of him. Maybe Alison was going to be all right after all.

  Bending, she brushed a quick kiss against his cheek. “Thanks for pitching in. I appreciate it. But you should have called me, or hauled Jimmy over. He knows his way around an order.” Jimmy had worked as a waiter all through medical school and taken his turn behind the bar, as well, when the need arose.

  Luc only grinned. There was no point in going into his own past. “He looked busy.”

  Scanning the crowd, Lily picked Jimmy out. He was on the far side of the room, surrounded by three women. So what else was new?

  “He’s always busy that way.” Her eyes slanted toward Alison and Luc before shifting to Kevin. “Speaking of busy, why don’t you make yourself useful and feed the jukebox some money so these nice people—” she gestured around the room “—will dance instead of eating me out of house and home.”

  Kevin reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of change. He deposited the coins on the table, spreading them out in order to pick out the quarters. “Dancing stirs the appetite for some, you know.”

  Lily deliberately avoided looking at either her sister or Luc, but her inference was still clear to Kevin. “Maybe I’m counting on that, too. Start with ‘Moon River.”’

  “‘Moon River’?” Luc repeated, puzzled.

  “Slow number,” Kevin told him. He scooped up the quarters in one hand, dropping the rest of the change into his pocket. “One of Lily’s favorites.” He made eye contact with Luc, leaving. “Alison’s, too.”

  He looked at Alison. It seemed to him that the crowd around them was drawing back. He leaned in closer to her so he didn’t have to raise his voice to be heard. “I didn’t think you were the type to like old music.”

  She lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. “I don’t mind it one way o
r the other. But that particular song reminds me of my dad.”

  He noticed that her eyes grew a little misty as she spoke.

  “He used to play it a lot. Said it was his and Mom’s favorite.” Blinking, she chased away the sadness and kept only the sweetness. “They danced to it at their wedding. When I hear it, I remember sitting on the floor in the den, coloring, while my dad worked on his lesson plan. Kevin said he was a hell of a teacher.” She sighed. “I don’t remember that part of it. I just remember ‘Moon River.”’ The music began to fill the room, reaching her above the pleasant din of voices in the background. Her eyes were stinging again. She looked away. “It always makes me feel a little sad to hear it now.”

  He wasn’t sure what to do, only that he didn’t want to add to her discomfort. “Would you like to dance or just sit this out?”

  There was no hesitation. She was on her feet immediately. “Dance. If I’m moving around, maybe I won’t get too sloppy.”

  Taking her hand, he brought her away from the tables. Her body fit so well against his, it was hard to imagine that they hadn’t always been like this. Hadn’t always danced together. He looked into her eyes. And felt a smile forming within him.

  “Can’t picture you sloppy.”

  She laughed softly. The sound flirted with his stomach muscles, tightening them before he ordered them to relax.

  “Thanks, I needed that. I guess I’d better keep you away from my brothers, then. They’d be more than willing to give you an earful of all my shortcomings. Especially Jimmy.”

  He glanced over toward where he had seen the other man earlier. Like them, Jimmy was dancing. There was a redhead in his arms and a blonde a breath away, looking as if she meant to cut in at any second. He sincerely doubted that Jimmy could be torn away right now to give him a litany of Alison’s faults, real or imagined.

  He liked them, he thought. Liked all of them. They were good people. Concentrating, he could remember Jimmy treating him in the E.R. “What’s your brother’s specialty?”

  Alison followed his line of vision, although she knew he wasn’t asking about Kevin. Her mouth curved fondly. “Women.” As far back as she could remember, there had always been girls following Jimmy around, calling at all hours, turning up on the doorstep, wanting to see him. And though she’d teased him, he’d never really allowed it to go to his head. “But if you mean medically, he’s got his sights set on being an orthopedic surgeon. Right now, he’s practicing by setting broken hearts instead of broken bones.” She turned her attention back to Luc. “Why? Are you thinking of recruiting him, too?”

  He looked at her, trying to decide if that had just been a random choice of words. “Is that what I did with you, recruit you?”

  She shook her head. It was hard concentrating, when the music was whispering to her like this. Making her feel things.

  “No, I guess you didn’t. I recruited myself. But I don’t think the frozen North holds much appeal to Jimmy. Especially if there’s a shortage of women.” She leaned her head back, her hair brushing against his arm. “Don’t get me wrong. He’s dedicated and all that, but he really likes to have his fun, too.” She paused, pensive.

  “What is it?”

  She looked away again, this time laying her head against his shoulder. “Nothing.”

  Something small and warm moved through him, A wisp of smoke curling through his veins.

  “I don’t think so. It’s something.” She made no answer. He didn’t like the idea of something bothering her. If she had doubts about this huge step she was about to take, he wanted her getting them out in the open now, while there was still time to change her mind. “One of the skills I developed tending bar in Hades is listening. I’m pretty good at it now. And at being able to tell when someone’s not telling the truth.”

  She raised her head and looked at him. “I was just worrying—thinking,” she amended quickly.

  “Second thoughts?”

  It was too sweeping a term. “Not about the work.”

  “The place?”

  She bit her lower lip, wondering how far to let him in. Wavering between not at all and just a little bit. “The people.”

  She seemed to get along so well with everyone here, he couldn’t imagine her worrying about getting along with anyone. “I can vouch for a good many of them myself.” It wasn’t that, he thought, studying her face. But it was something. “What about the people? Specifically.”

  She tried again, telling herself not to freeze up. Feeling that iciness anyway. “I was just thinking—you said there was a shortage of women—maybe—”

  It was as if her thoughts telegraphed themselves to him in clear, precise sentences.

  “Nobody clubs you over the head and rushes off to the nearest cave, if that’s what you mean.” He thought of the way it’d been when Sydney had arrived. Men tripping over themselves and each other to make her feel welcome. “It’s kind of the reverse, really.”

  “You’re going to have to explain that one.”

  The song had ended, but Kevin had obviously thought it deserved an encore because it began again. “They’ll all vie for your attention. Shayne’ll probably suddenly have twice as many patients as he usually does, for a while.” That, too, had happened when Sydney had pitched in to help him at the clinic. Shayne’s brother, Ben, had left almost two years ago and everything had been chaotic ever since. “All coming to look you over. All coming to hopefully be looked over.”

  The explanation didn’t seem to help. He felt her stiffening ever so slightly, saw the uncertain look in her eyes. It made him think of a kitten that had been mistreated and was afraid to draw near to the hand that was stretched out toward it.

  “Nobody’s going to play tug-of-war with you.” His hand tightened around hers protectively, though he hardly realized it. “For one thing, nobody’s going to let anybody get ahead of them that way. It’ll be kind of like a system of checks and balances.” God, but she looked beautiful in this light. “And for another—”

  Though she couldn’t explain why, she felt as if she were alone with him. As if there was no one else but them within the room. Within the moment. “And for another?” she coaxed when he didn’t continue.

  “I won’t let them.” He paused, then forged ahead, knowing he had no gift when it came to talking. That was Ike’s department. Ike had the silver tongue. As for him, he was more of a doer, when things needed doing. “You’re kind of my responsibility.”

  She raised her chin ever so slightly, independence coming to the fore even while something small within her rallied to his promise. “I can take care of myself.”

  He hadn’t meant for her to think he thought otherwise.

  “I know that, but Alaska’s a whole other ball game. I’m just going to hang around in case you need some of the rules explained.”

  She cocked her head, the light catching the tiny diamond studs at her ear, sending out flashes everywhere like tiny rainbows. “Rules?”

  Maybe rules wasn’t a good word. “Things you should know,” he amended. “Like you called it the frozen North a few minutes ago. That’s only in the winter. Right now, it’s hotter there than it is here probably.” He was willing to bet on it. “And there’s about two minutes of nighttime. That makes up for the fact that six months from now, there’s almost nothing but night.” He stopped, wondering if he’d scared her off. He wasn’t exactly painting the best picture of the place. God, but he wished Ike was here. Ike liked Hades as much as he did. Ike would have been able to present it in its best light, glossing over its drawbacks instead of highlighting them.

  He didn’t want to scare her away. He wanted her to come.

  She appreciated his honesty. Above all else, honesty had always been important to her. She relaxed again, softening in his arms. “I grew up in rainy Seattle. I can handle gloom.”

  He nodded, then pretended to be serious. “But can you handle perpetual sun?”

  Her eyes danced. “I guess we’ll just have to see, won’t w
e?”

  Luc had the strangest sensation that he was being taken captive, without ever having heard any shots being exchanged. “Yeah, I guess we will.”

  He felt it.

  What’s more, Luc hadn’t realized he was feeling it until it was there beside him, nudging him, demanding his attention.

  He was attracted to her.

  And, what was better—or worse, depending on his point of view—his attraction gave every indication of something that was in the middle of gestation. It was growing, blooming.

  Except that it shouldn’t. He didn’t want it to. He’d been there, involved up to his heart in a relationship that he firmly believed was one thing when it was completely another. The upshot of it all was that he’d gotten his teeth kicked in and his heart demolished. He had no burning desire for that to ever happen to him again. Once was quite enough, thanks.

  Besides, this wasn’t about attraction, not for her. She was going because of some noble purpose she felt she was fulfilling. To boot, she was going to be doing him a favor, trying to save his pride. Another noble sentiment. Giving in to feelings that were scrambling around in him like so many laboratory mice looking for the right path, would be no way to pay her back.

  And yet…

  And yet all the common sense he was attempting to infuse into his brain seemed to disappear the moment they arrived in front of her house. The noise the car doors made as they were closed echoed through his head, pulsating. Adding to the beat that was going through him.

  They were the only ones out on the street.

  Kevin had remained at the restaurant to help Lily with cleanup. Luc and Alison had volunteered to lend a helping hand, but Lily had refused, saying it was their party, not their mess. And Jimmy had gone off to cover for the person who had covered for him so he could attend the party.