Once Upon A Mattress

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  She gave him a puzzled look. “It’s okay if you don’t like it. I designed it for myself, so I can’t expect other people to love it the way I do.”

  “Oh, I like it,” he said, backing down the hall. “That big old bed just reminded me of how much sleep I need, and I’m suddenly beat.”

  “Sure. I understand.” She sounded disappointed again, the way she had when he told her about his idea for Leanne.

  He was sorry about that, but if he didn’t leave her place within the next five minutes, he’d have even more to be sorry for. “Thanks for everything, Amelia,” he said. “You’re one in a million.”

  “You’re welcome. See you tomorrow.”

  “Right.” Grabbing his jacket from a chair, he made a quick exit out the front door. He didn’ t realize until he was halfway home that there had been no one’s picture on her bedside table.

  ———

  THE NEXT MORNING Amelia found an unmarked package on her desk. Inside was a small box with Leanne’s name on it. Amelia held it to her nose. So Will had managed to find a chocolate shop open after he left, she thought. And he’d pretended to be exhausted. Well, love could revive even the most tired fellow.

  She went into the lunchroom when no one was around and set the tiny box inside Leanne’s Minnie Mouse coffee mug. Then, feeling enormously depressed, she returned to her office, called Peterson and agreed to open his Fifth Avenue store. He was delighted, he said, and invited her to dinner that night so they could celebrate. She forced herself to accept.

  She had no trouble identifying the moment Leanne found her chocolate. Her squeal of delight could be heard throughout the store. A few minutes later, Amelia wandered out into the showroom. After Troy finished with a customer, she walked over to him.

  “Cha-ching!” he said with a grin. “And a Hedonistic Greek model goes to the couple from Laguna Beach.”

  “Laguna Beach? That must mean our expanded ad campaign is working.”

  “It sure is. And that sale puts me ahead of Leanne for this quarter. Luckily for me, she was so busy trying to figure out who her secret admirer is that she missed seeing that couple come through the door.”

  Amelia pretended surprise. “Secret admirer?”

  “Oh, yeah. Some guy must have sneaked into the lunchroom and put a piece of chocolate in her coffee mug. She even thinks it might have been me. I wish it had been. Damned good idea. Women love that kind of mystery.”

  “Aren’t you already involved with someone?”

  Troy frowned. “She moved out last night.”

  “Hey, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s been coming for a long time.” He glanced at Amelia. “But I think I’ll finally trade in the Irish Milkmaid grouping she begged for and get the Sex in Space that I wanted all along.”

  Amelia smiled. The kid in Troy was one of the things customers found so appealing about him, and why he’d sold so much of her fantasy furniture. “Then if you can locate a woman who likes traveling in a rocket ship to galaxies far, far away, you’re in business.”

  “See, that’s why I wish this secret admirer guy hadn’t shown up. I happen to know Leanne likes Sex in Space. She’s even talked about trading in her Wild, Wild West grouping for it.”

  Amelia’s brain threatened to go on overload. Will wanted to date Leanne. Troy wanted to date Leanne. It was a miracle that Peterson had asked Amelia to dinner instead of asking Leanne. Amelia decided she should be grateful that at least one man on the planet wasn’t mooning over the lovely Ms. Fairchild.

  She patted Troy on the arm. “Cheer up. Space is in vogue these days. I’m sure you’ll find lots of women who want to help you command the bridge, so to speak. Anyway, congratulations on selling another Hedonistic Greek.” Out of habit she glanced toward the white-columned bed with its distinctive dome rising from the canopy frame. The cobalt-blue bedding was quite rumpled. “Better go make the bed again, Troy.”

  “Yeah.” He grinned. “It’s a great sales tool, letting them crawl onto the mattress and imagine themselves owning the setup. You should have seen the way the guy looked at the woman once they were lying there together. I had a feeling if I turned my back, they’d go right to it.”

  “It’s happened before.” Amelia laughed. “Four years ago, soon after I’d opened the store, I walked out of my office one afternoon and found a couple rolling around on the Wild, Wild West bed, and clothes were starting to come undone. I swear to God if I hadn’t showed up they were about to christen it.”

  “I believe you.” Troy’s eyes sparkled. “And you can’t blame them. You’ve primed the place so that’s what they start thinking the minute they come in the door. Why, before you hired me I had planned to become a priest, but you ruined me.”

  “Oh, sure.”

  “It’s true!” He lapsed into a bad brogue. “When I broke the sad news to me family, me poor mither cried her eyes out, she did.”

  “Oh, Troy, will you cut that out?” Leanne approached them carrying a small box Amelia recognized instantly. “You’ve been sleeping in that Irish Milkmaid bed way too long.”

  “So I’ve decided.” Troy waggled his eyebrows at her. “Gonna get me a Sex in Space as soon as Amelia can arrange the delivery.”

  “Whoa. Think you can handle something that snazzy, Troy-boy?”

  “Are you offering to help me handle it?”

  “That depends.” She balanced the small box on the palm of her hand. “Want to own up to this?”

  “Wish I could.”

  Leanne glanced at Amelia. “I don’t suppose you happened to see who put this in my coffee mug this morning?”

  “My lips are sealed.”

  “Aha!” Leanne smiled. “But you know who it was, don’t you?” Amelia just gazed at her without speaking. “Aw, come on. Just a little hint. This is driving me crazy.”

  “If I told you, your admirer wouldn’t be secret anymore, would he?” Will’s plan was working, Amelia thought. Leanne was intrigued, and after a few more days she’d accept any invitation just to find out who her secret admirer was. “Did you like what was inside the box?”

  “Are you kidding? I ate it already!” Leanne opened the box and displayed it. “See? Nothing in there but the note. I licked the bottom of the box, the chocolate was so good.”

  Troy glanced at her. “I’m really sorry I missed that.”

  “It is you, isn’t it?” Leanne turned toward him. “This would be just like you, to pull a crazy stunt and not admit it. But I’ll be watching you from now on.”

  “Cool.”

  “What did the note say?” Amelia asked with all the nonchalance she could muster.

  “I memorized it.” Leanne’s brown eyes grew dreamy. “It was so romantic, which is the only reason I don’t think you’re the guy, Troy.”

  “Thanks a bunch.”

  “It said Lucky is the chocolate that knows the touch of your lips. Your Secret Admirer.“ Leanne sighed and carefully put the top back on the box. “I’ve never had a man write to me like that before.”

  “Who knew you’d like it?” Troy grumbled.

  “All women like it.” Amelia heartily wished she hadn’t asked Leanne what was in the note. Now it would haunt her. Well, she could report to Will that his plan was a raging success. And she’d been the idiot who had agreed to help him put it in motion.

  ———

  WILL MANEUVERED the delivery truck through morning traffic as Gabe fiddled with the radio.

  “Nothing but commercials.” Gabe shut the radio off in disgust.

  “Well, I did it.” Will said. “No joke?” Gabe stared at him. “The secret admirer thing? Excellent!”

  “Amelia’s helping me.”

  “Get outta here.”

  Will shrugged, as if Amelia’s part in the plan was inconsequential. Never mind that he’d dreamed about her the entire night, and most of the dreams had been connected with that silver and ivory temple of a bed she owned. “I needed somebody to plant the stuff so I wouldn’t be caught
doing it,” he said. “I figured it should be a woman, and I don’t know the new lady in sales very well.”

  “Me, neither. She’s married.” Will grinned. “You say that like she has a terminal disease. Are you only friends with single women?”

  “It’s safer that way,” Gabe said. “No point in yearning for something I can’t have, if you know what I mean.”

  Will did know. He’d done his best to control his daytime thoughts, but he couldn’t seem to do the same with his dreams. “Anyway, I asked Amelia if she’d help me do this, and she seems happy to.”

  “You know what, I’m not surprised,” Gabe said. “She’s a real standup lady. The kind you know you can count on. I can’t imagine you asking her, though, considering you’re scared to ask Leanne for a date straight out.”

  “I’m not scared. I’m just not good at it. I know myself, and I’d make a mess of the whole thing. For some reason I can talk to Amelia, probably because I have no intention of asking her out.”

  “I guess that makes sense. So what’d you start out with? An x-rated video? An extralarge condom?”

  “You’re romantic clear to the bone, aren’t you, Gabe?”

  “Only kidding, dude. Don’t get touchy. Seriously, what was your first move?”

  Will told him about the single piece of expensive white chocolate and that he planned to follow that with more goodies in the days ahead.

  Gabe nodded. “Not bad. Sounds like you’re on your way to a rendezvous with the luscious Leanne. Congratulations, buddy.”

  “It’s all your fault.”

  “You’ll thank me on some night in the near future, when your long dry spell is about to come to an end.”

  “Hey! You think this is all some sort of calculated setup to get Leanne into bed?”

  “It isn’t?”

  “Hell, no. All I’m thinking about is a date, to see if we get along. I’ve never even touched her.”

  “That’s not my fault. And I keep telling you she thinks you’re cute, so you’re halfway there already.”

  “Yeah, but how do I know if the chemistry’s right? Maybe we’ll be all wrong for each other, and—” He stopped as he became aware that Gabe was laughing. “What’s so funny?”

  “You. You haven’t been with a woman in God knows how long, and you’re worried if the chemistry will be right? Hell, you won’t care if she has purple eyes and green hair and uses bug spray as her favorite cologne. Just get you alone with an available woman, any available woman, and you’ll be ready, man. It’s almost a shame to waste Leanne’s charms on you, sort of like giving cordon bleu to a starving man, but you’re lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, so bon appétit.“

  Will frowned and cleared his throat. “Okay, so maybe I am easily aroused these days. Leanne’s going to have to want to, you know. And she just might not.”

  “And she just might. The word is that the guy she broke up with was very bright but sort of a zero in the bedroom. Had some sort of religious hang-ups she thought she could work around, but no dice.”

  “Where do you get all this stuff?” Gabe smiled. “I’m a good listener.” Will had a horrible thought. “You haven’t told anybody that I’ve been sort of ...without action for a while, have you?”

  “No, buddy, I haven’t. I like to see all these affairs turn out well, and I can’t imagine how that would help your cause, if Leanne thought you’d take the first woman who smiled at you.”

  “That’s not true, dammit.”

  “If you say so.”

  Will decided that the more he argued the point, the less Gabe would believe him. But surely Gabe was wrong. He hoped he was wrong. He’d hate to think that his reaction to Amelia the night before had been based on nothing more than deprivation.

  Maybe he needed to test himself and find a private time to talk with Leanne. If he felt the same cravings when he was alone with her as he had the night before with Amelia, then he’d know that Amelia probably wasn’t the most astounding woman he’d ever met. His current state of mind had only made her seem that way.

  Chapter Five

  THE DAY SLIPPED AWAY from Amelia before she realized it, and she’d intended to give Will some feedback on the success of his campaign, plus suggest a better place for him to leave his daily gifts. Okay, so she was pathetically eager to see him, even if they had to talk about his interest in another woman. In fact, she looked forward to spending a few minutes in conversation with Will more than spending an entire evening with Peterson. Bad sign.

  Late in the afternoon she went to the storeroom looking for Will and found Gabe instead.

  “Greetings,” Gabe said, flashing his brilliant Latino smile. “What can I do for you?”

  “Has Will gone home yet?”

  “I don’t think so. He said something about grabbing a cup of coffee in the lunchroom before he left.”

  “Thanks.” As Amelia returned Gabe’s smile and headed for the lunchroom, she thought about what a good-looking guy Gabe was, yet she’d never been in the least attracted to him. He even hauled furniture around like Will did, and she supposed he had a good body, although she’d barely noticed. She wondered what made the difference with Will. Maybe it was his shyness, or his incredible eyes, or the cute way his mouth turned up at the corners when he was amused. And maybe there was no analyzing an attraction this strong. It just was.

  She found him in the lunchroom, all right, and wished she hadn’t. Her imagination had created enough pictures of him with Leanne to make her thoroughly depressed. She hardly needed a dose of the real thing.

  He stood with his broad back to her, his head slightly bent as he talked with Leanne. Although she couldn’t see Will’s face, she caught a glimpse of Leanne’s as she gazed up at him with a friendly smile. Too damn friendly to suit Amelia.

  “I love the beach, too,” Leanne said. “Just me, the waves and my Walkman. I get the best workouts jogging there.”

  “So you don’t stroll along looking for shells,” Will said.

  “Nah, I’m really not into shells. I collect Disney memorabilia, though. Just last month I bought a big glass case to—” She stopped when she spotted Amelia. “Hi, Amelia. I told you about that display case I found for my Mickey and Minnie collection, right?”

  Will turned quickly, almost guiltily, as if he’d been caught doing something illicit.

  “Yes, you told me,” Amelia said. “It sounded like a real bargain to me. Listen, I didn’t mean to interrupt, but when you’re finished here, Will, would you please stop by my office for a minute?”

  “Sure.”

  Leanne tossed her blond hair back. “Hey, if you two have something private to discuss, I’ll just take off. Troy’s on floor duty tonight, so I’ m a free woman, and I have about fifty errands to run and an appointment for a massage at six.”

  Amelia knew she should feel some remorse for interrupting a cozy little chat between future lovers. “Okay,” she said breezily without the least bit of regret.

  Leanne picked up her purse. “I also need to get home and find out if my VCR is working right. I’ve decided to record all the Seinfeld reruns and I think there’s something wrong with my machine, but I’m not sure.” She glanced at Will. “Do you like Seinfeld?”

  “I guess I would if I ever had time to watch TV. But lately—”

  “I can’t imagine never getting to watch TV.” Leanne shook her head. “You must be one of those disciplined, dedicated types I envy so much. Well, see you two tomorrow.” She glanced back at Will. “Maybe I’ll get another message from my secret admirer.”

  “Yeah, could be,” Will said. After she left Amelia made herself apologize. “Sorry about that. I should have left as soon as I saw you two were alone in here.”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Will rubbed the back of his neck. “You know, this is probably a huge mistake. I don’t have time to watch TV, so I won’t be able to connect with her on that, and I’m really not up on Disney stuff, either.”

  “Maybe
you could give her a massage.” He gave her a narrow look. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

  A devil had hold of Amelia’s tongue. “I can’t help wondering what you two have in common, besides the obvious.” His dark eyes probed hers with compelling intensity. “So you think this is just about sex, too?”

  “Too?” Somehow she managed to carry on the conversation, although her pulse rate increased several notches as she looked into his eyes. “Is someone else in on this campaign?”

  “Gabe. He suggested the secret admirer deal in the first place.”

  “I see. Well, it was a brainstorm. She’s loving it.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Oh, yeah. The candy and the ...note were a big hit.”

  “She showed you the note?”

  “She showed everybody the note.”

  “Oh.” Red crept up his neck. “I didn’t count on that. I guess I thought she’d keep the note to herself. It was private.” He glanced at Amelia. “Of course, you could have read it before you gave it to her. I didn’t seal it up or anything.”

  “I would never do that.” He studied her for a moment. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t.”

  She met his gaze for longer than was wise and found herself wanting to tell him she’d never show a love note to anyone, that a walk on the beach to collect shells sounded like heaven and she didn’t have time for TV, either. But so what if all that was true? Obviously she didn’t have the physical attributes he was looking for in a woman and Leanne did.

  She might as well do the matchmaking job she’d agreed to. “I don’t think anybody noticed that box on my desk this morning,” she said. “But one day they might, so why don’t you leave your gifts in my top desk drawer? No one opens that except me. I’ll just check the drawer every morning and make the transfer when no one’s around.”

  He took a deep breath. “Listen, before this goes any further, let’s get something straight. I’m not doing this just because Leanne has a great body and I want to get her into bed.”

  “Okay.”

  “You don’t believe me.”

  “You’re the one who said you couldn’t imagine what the two of you would talk about.” He ran his fingers through his hair and glanced away. “That’s because I’d probably have trouble knowing what to talk about with any woman I took out.”