Finding the Perfect Man

by Marie Higgins

  He shook his head. “Well, not really, Jordan. My brother doesn’t know you.”

  His words confused her again. “Brock didn’t tell you he was seeing me?”

  “My brother’s name is Jake.”

  “Then who is Brock?”

  “I am.”

  Her head pounded from confusion. Oh, no! He did have multiple personalities! She needed to sit. She needed to scream, cry, or just…throw up.

  “Can we go into your office and talk?”

  She nodded, then turned and led the way. Her favorite chair was closer, so she hurried and sat on the leather cushions before her legs lost strength. Besides, this also meant he could not sit next to her, but on the couch, instead.

  “Do you want to explain to me why you’re Brock and not Rocky?”

  “I’m both. Brock Hamill is my name, but my nickname is Rocky.”

  “Then why did you lie to me and tell me Brock was your brother?”

  “I didn’t…well, not really. You asked if I had a brother. I told you yes, because I do have a brother. Jake. You asked how I knew Brock. I ignored your question and asked how you knew Brock. So, in reality, I never admitted to having a brother named Brock.”

  She put her shaky hand on the back of her neck to massage out the stiffness. “Okay, now we’ve gotten that out of the way, which man are you? Are you Brock Hamill with the cheating fiancé, or are you the man I met in the bar?”

  He grinned. “Both.”

  “No, you can’t be both.”

  “A little over two years ago, I was married to Lanie. She cheated on me with my best friend. She was the reason I became an alcoholic. But if you’re asking which man I’d rather dress like, well, my answer will have to be Rocky. I’ll admit, right after the divorce, I looked as pathetic as the client you’ve been seeing, but this is the way I am now. Like it or not.”

  Oh, but that’s the problem. She liked it too much. “Lanie was your wife, not your girlfriend. I understand.” Or did she? She forced herself to smile. “Now, the big question. Why are you here this morning? And more importantly, why the charade?”

  He leaned forward and linked his large fingers over his knees. “I’m interested in your advertisement.”

  “How did you know it was my advertisement?”

  “I called the day after the ad came out in the paper. I tried not to sound too interested at first because I had a plan. Once I met you in the bar that first time, I knew I wanted to get to know you better. When I learned you were a psychiatrist, I decided to become your client, in a sense. You see,” he paused and chuckled, “because your ad asked for acting ability, I thought the best way to prove to you I had that talent was to show you.”

  Her hand dropped from her neck, and she stared at him, dumbfounded. She wanted to be angry over his trickery, yet…the man amazed her. Could she consider him intelligent for thinking up such a plan? Had all of this been an act? When he touched her so tenderly, kissed her with so much passion, and called her pretty lady, was that all an act too? Her stomach churned again, and she worried she would indeed empty her stomach right here.

  She cleared her throat again. “Well, I certainly see you can act, but what of the other stipulations in the ad?”

  “I’m sure you know how charming and witty I can be.” He winked, which caused butterflies to dance in her stomach, even though she wished they wouldn’t. “I’m thirty-six years old, so I fit in your age category.”

  He relaxed back in the couch, propping one leg over the other knee. Darn! He looked so rugged and…manly that way. Even his cocky grin was sensual.

  She clasped her cold hands together and rested them in her lap. “All right, I see you fit the qualifications perfectly.”

  “Are you going to tell me what kind of business partner you need?”

  “Yes, of course.” She breathed deeply, trying to clear her brain from his overpowering masculinity. “I’m looking for a man to portray my um, boyfriend.” His eyes widened, but she continued. “Today my stepmother and her husband are coming for a visit. It’s important they think I’m involved in a serious relationship. They won’t believe me if I just tell them. They need proof.”

  He tapped his finger on his chin. “What is this all about? I can feel there’s something you’re not telling me. I think I know you well enough to know you’re not just doing this as a joke.”

  “Of course not.” She scowled. “But it’s complicated.”

  “Please tell me.”

  The sincerity in his voice caused her to catch her breath. Could she be honest with him? Her track record with men wasn’t the greatest, and giving them her trust was like stabbing herself in the heart. Yet, Brock was different. This whole situation was different. She didn’t know if she could trust him after what he’d just done with her. If she didn’t yearn to tell someone about her life so badly, wishing almost daily for someone to confide in…maybe she’d be able to turn him away and not say a thing. The tugging of her heart also convinced her it was all right to tell him. She hoped she was doing the right thing.

  She rose from her chair and walked to the window, leaning her shoulder against the wall. In softer tones, she continued. “The man my stepmother married is my ex-boyfriend.” She heard his quick intake, but didn’t dare look at him. “He dumped me and married Serena for her money. Anyway, his betrayal was hard for me to take, and I haven’t had a serious relationship since he left. The reason I want you to be my business partner is because I don’t want him…” She paused, clearing her throat when self-pity began to rise inside her. “I mean Serena is dying of lung cancer, and I don’t want her to worry.”

  The cracking of the leather couch let her know he stood. His footsteps echoed on the wooden floor behind her. He clutched her shoulder, and heat from his hand melted through her suit jacket.

  “When do you want me to start?”

  His breath teased the sensitive skin by her ear, shooting a chill down her spine. She turned her head and looked at him. He was closer than she’d thought. His breath smelled of mints. She dropped her focus to his lips, and her heart picked up rhythm.

  “There’s one thing I have to know before I take you as my partner.”

  “What’s that, pretty lady?” His fingers lifted from her shoulder and touched her neck in a tender caress.

  His nearness made her limbs weak, as always. “I want to know why you kissed me the way you did at the bar, and in my car.”

  He shrugged. “I was caught up in the moment.”

  She tore her gaze from his mouth and looked into his warm green eyes. “I’m only looking for a business relationship out of this. Nothing more.”

  “So you just want me to forget about the passionate woman I know you can be?”

  “Yes. I wasn’t Doctor Reed when I was with Rocky.”

  “Then bring that other woman back.”

  “She doesn’t exist.”

  “She sure did last night.”

  Pushing past him, she walked to her desk, absently arranging the notepads. “I mean it, Brock. If I agree to take you on as my partner, you’ll not see that woman again.” She looked over her shoulder at him. “Ever.”

  He stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his Levis as he leaned against the wall. “You’re the boss. If that’s the way you want it, then I’ll do what you say.”

  She breathed a sigh of relief. If only she could keep herself from breaking her word. His touch did strange things to her, and even she couldn’t figure out.

  NINE

  Jordan sat across the table from Serena in the country club’s restaurant. Her attention was pulled to the window as she watched the snow gently falling on the already snow-covered lawns. She had a hard time concentrating on Serena’s conversation, but Jordan wasn’t really thinking about the weather, either. So far the visit with Serena had turned out well, but Jordan just couldn’t keep from thinking about Brock.

  Was she crazy to take him on? The days ahead would be pure torture—good torture. She could pr
obably keep him from touching her, but how was she going to keep from touching him? How was she going to keep herself from wanting to be held in his arms while his kisses distracted her from the real world?

  Oh, dear. What had she done?

  Even now she couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed Rocky and Brock were the same man. A trained psychiatrist should have seen that. No two brothers looked alike or talked alike unless they were twins, and even twins were never truly alike. Brock and Rocky smiled the same crooked grin, and laughed the same way, making goosebumps rise over her arms. Both also held the same look of passion in their eyes. So why hadn’t she analyzed this before? What a fool, she’d been.

  “Jordan, darling, are you listening?”

  Serena’s voice brought Jordan’s attention back to her stepmother. Smiling and nodding, Jordan said, “Of course, I’m listening.”

  “No, you’re not. I just asked you a question, and by the faraway look in your eyes, I couldn’t help but wonder if you were off in some other place.”

  Jordan chuckled and sipped her hot chocolate. “I’m sorry, once again. You’re right. My mind just skipped away for a moment, but I’m back now.”

  Serena drummed her acrylic, manicured nails on the tabletop, her eyes locked on Jordan’s. Uncomfortably, Jordan shifted in her chair, knowing eventually she’d have to lie to Serena.

  “What was the question?” Jordan asked.

  Surprisingly, her stepmother’s caked-on lipstick didn’t crack when she smiled. “I just asked how you’ve been lately. I mean, have you gotten any symptoms from your father’s disease?”

  Here we go again! “No, Serena. Like I have told you several times already, I am fine. My mental health is perfect…better than perfect.”

  “Promise me if you start feeling any—”

  “Yes, I promise,” Jordan nearly growled the words. She understood Serena’s concern. After all, the woman was married to Jordan’s father and had to live with the craziness during the last months of the man’s life.

  “Good.” Serena smiled. “So let’s move on to more important matters. Have you been seeing anyone lately?”

  Jordan laughed lightly. “Actually, I met a man a couple weeks ago. Nothing serious yet, but I have high hopes it will change.”

  For the first time in a long time, color seeped into Serena’s face as she smiled. She leaned forward on the table. “Tell me about him.”

  “He’s absolutely gorgeous,” Jordan began, knowing this part wasn’t a lie. “And he really knows how to treat a woman. He’s the owner of a construction company here in town, and very well-known.”

  “He sounds wonderful. When will I meet him?”

  “I thought about asking him to join us for dinner tonight.”

  “Superb idea.”

  Jordan breathed easier now, but knew the hardest part was yet to come.

  Serena reached across the table and clutched Jordan’s hand. “I’m so happy for you. It’s good to see that you’re finally over Kenneth.”

  Jordan pulled her hands away and dropped them on her lap, bunching them into fists. “Of course I’m over Kenneth. Shouldn’t I be? What happened between us was a long time ago. It’s water under the bridge.”

  Serena’s eyebrows pulled together. “My dear, I can read you well, and you’re not fooling me. I can still see how much you hurt.”

  Jordan laughed. “Who’s the psychiatrist here? Don’t you think I’d know if I still had feelings for him?” She reached over and wrapped her fingers around the cup then brought it up to her mouth. The liquid moistened her parched throat. The only feelings she had for Kenneth were hatred and loathing.

  She set the cup down and smiled. “Kenneth means nothing to me, I assure you. We hadn’t even known each other for very long in the first place, so why should I still have feelings for him?”

  Serena shrugged. “Because I married him.”

  Jordan flipped her hand in the air. “That just goes to show, Kenneth and I weren’t meant for each other, and the two of you are. I’m glad to see you happy again. That’s what matters.”

  Serena nodded. “You’re sounding like a doctor again.”

  “I can’t help it. I do this twenty-four, seven.”

  “Maybe you should try separating your work from your personal life.”

  Jordan rolled her eyes heavenward. “Thanks again, Doctor Serena, but I assure you, I’m happy with the way I live my life.”

  They put the conversation on hold when the waiter came to the table with their salads. Jordan quickly bent over her chicken salad and ate, trying to ignore her stepmother in hopes Serena would get the message. That worked for only five minutes. Soon, Serena looked over Jordan’s shoulder and smiled.

  “There’s Kenneth.”

  Jordan’s heart sank to her lap. She didn’t want to see him now. Especially not when her mouth was full of salad. She swallowed in a hurry and took a big drink of her water to help the process.

  “There you are.” His voice rang through the air, before he appeared at the table.

  Kenneth kissed Serena. He looked at Jordan and smiled. “It’s good to see you again, Jordan.”

  She swallowed the remaining food, before lying through her teeth. “And it’s good to see you.”

  His gaze moved over her face, hair, then dipped down to the sweater she wore. “The years have been kind to you.”

  She bunched her hands from his most obvious ogle. “Thank you. You’re also looking fit.” She folded her arms across her chest, so his attention would switch back to her eyes. “What have you been up to lately, Kenneth?”

  He took the empty chair beside Serena. “The same as I’ve been doing since I married. Your stepmother has me running the company, and not giving me any time off.”

  She nodded, reassuring herself once again that Kenneth Kramer had dropped her like a hot potato when he realized how much more he could have with Serena, financially.

  “Yes,” Jordan replied. “I’m sure you’re kept really busy. How is business going, anyway? Profits still up?”

  “But of course.”

  She stabbed her fork in her salad, piercing a couple of vegetables, imagining them to be Kenneth’s head.

  Once again, the conversation hit a lull for a few minutes, and Jordan couldn’t stop herself from studying the last man she’d had a relationship with. Still tall and nice looking. Unfortunately, his light blond hair hadn’t turned silver or receded like she’d hoped it would. He was a good ten years older, and she wondered if he colored his hair. Of course he did, he was a prize for the powerful Serena. He had to look his part.

  The longer she studied him, the more she wondered why she was ever attracted to him in the first place. Was it because he was older, and at the time she needed a mature man in her bed? Or was it because he’d been friends with her father?

  Whatever the reasons, her taste in men had changed dramatically. In a way, she was like Serena. With Brock, all she could see was the outside appearance, and Brock’s rugged GI Joe looks made Kenneth look like a Ken doll. Just the thought made her giggle.

  Both pair of eyes from the other side of the table looked at her with lifted eyebrows.

  “Sorry,” Jordan mumbled.

  “Why did you laugh?” Serena asked.

  “It’s nothing, really.”

  Serena waited a few more moments, then turned back to Kenneth, when Jordan didn’t provide any more information.

  Through the several conversations going on in the club’s restaurant, she heard a name being called behind her, which brought all thoughts slamming to a halt. She spun around in her chair. Her attention skimmed across the room, trying to find to whom the name belonged. Then she heard it again.

  “Lanie, over here.”

  That was Brock’s ex-wife? It had to be. Not many women were named Lanie.

  A tall brunette woman with long curly brown hair, wearing clothes that fit her slender body like a glove, waved her hand and motioned to the woman who had just called her name.
Lanie was a strikingly beautiful woman. Brock’s ex-wife sashayed through the room, heading toward the other woman sitting at a table. Lanie’s hair bounced around her shoulders as she walked.

  Jordan rolled her eyes. Good grief, that woman even made walking look good. Jordan absolutely despised women who were so…perfect on the outside.

  When Lanie reached the table, she gave the other woman a hug then sat across from her. Jordan recalled Brock telling her about a friend who had lured Lanie to the fast life, who encouraged Lanie to go clubbing with her. Jordan wondered if this was the same woman.

  Jordan felt a need to introduce herself. But what would she say? She couldn’t very well say she was Brock’s psychiatrist, because she wasn’t any longer. She also didn’t want Lanie knowing that Brock was her business partner.

  “Jordan, dear,” Serena’s loud voice brought Jordan back to the table, again. “Would you like to go skiing with Kenneth and I after lunch? The snow is perfect for this sport.”

  Jordan focused on her stepmother. “No, thank you. I’m not very good at skiing.”

  “How about going swimming?” Kenneth asked. “The indoor pool here looks tempting.”

  Jordan shrugged, not really excited about squeezing into her swimming suit, especially with him around. “Maybe later.” She glanced over her shoulder and noticed that Lanie’s friend had left the table and moved toward the buffet layout. Jordan couldn’t stop the urge to go over and talk to Brock’s ex, if just to see if Brock’s story was really true, since he hadn’t really been honest with her so far.

  Jordan looked back at her stepmother. “I see an old friend. Do you mind if I say hello?”

  “Of course not, dear.” Serena flipped her hand through the air. “Just don’t be long.”

  Jordan pushed her chair away and stood. As she made her way closer to Lanie’s table, she tried to think of something to say. She couldn’t give away her relationship to Brock, but she had to say something. When she reached the table, the woman looked up at her. Jordan’s heart thundered in her chest, and she hoped she looked more composed than she felt.