Once Upon A Mattress

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  “I find that hard to believe. You don’t seem to have any trouble talking to me.”

  He gazed at her. “No, but we’re not dating, are we?”

  Amelia swallowed, disappointment clogging her throat. He could talk to her because he didn’t find her sexually attractive. “No, we’re not.”

  “In my early twenties I overcame my shyness with women, but then I was shipped off to Alaska, and I seem to have lost all the ground I’d gained. I have to remember that two people don’t have to be exactly alike to get along, and Leanne can probably talk enough for both of us. She’s a good beginning for me.” His smile was crooked. “Sort of a date with training wheels.”

  “I see.” Amelia hoped to hell the time spent in New York would ease the ache building steadily in her heart. To salvage a little of her pride, she glanced at her watch. “Whoops. Gotta go. I need to change before I have dinner with Peterson.”

  Will’s eyes narrowed. “You’re having dinner with him tonight?”

  “Yes.” It was unworthy of her, but she couldn’t help it. “We have to discuss the timetable for my trip to New York. He’s providing me with an apartment, and I think he’d like me to consider a permanent move.”

  “You wouldn’t do that, would you?” She took satisfaction in his sudden concern, although he probably only cared about losing her as a boss. “I don’t know,” she said. “Peterson can be very ...persuasive.”

  “But New York’s so cold, and—”

  “Warp speed!” The swinging door on the lunchroom slammed open and a little boy hurtled through. He came to an abrupt stop and looked shocked to see anyone in the room. “Alien life-forms!” he gasped. “Gotta alert the crew!” He spun around and started to run back out.

  “Hey, captain.” Will reached down and gently gripped the boy’s shoulder.

  The little boy tensed and opened his mouth as if to scream.

  Will crouched down next to him. “Don’t lose your head, captain,” he said. “We’re crew members, too. An evil force has changed us into the horrible creatures you see before you. We need your help.”

  His eyes wide, the boy turned to look at Will. He stared at him for several seconds before he started to giggle. “I was just playin’, you know.”

  “Jeremy, you can’t go back here.” Troy pushed open the door, his expression weary. “Oh. I see you’ve got him, Will.”

  “Yeah, he was just checking out the place,” Will said. “He didn’t mean any harm. Right, Jeremy?”

  Jeremy gave Will a grateful glance. “Right.” Troy looked at Amelia. “Sorry. His mother and I were getting the paperwork finished up and Jeremy took off. I’ve never seen a little kid move so fast. Ran all through the store, knocked over a couple of things, but I don’t think anything’s broken.”

  Jeremy’s lip began to quiver. “I didn’t mean to break stuff.”

  “Tell you what,” Will said. He stood and held out his hand. “Let’s take a walk through the store and make sure. That way you won’t have to worry about it.”

  Jeremy nodded and put his hand in Will’s. “I like the rocket ship bed,” he said quietly as they started out. “Let’s look there first.”

  “Okay. There’s some cool stuff in here, isn’t there?”

  “Yeah,” Jeremy said. “Real cool.” As Amelia watched Will take the child back out into the showroom, she pictured Will a few years from now, calming and comforting sick children. He would be wonderful at it. She wondered if he’d have children of his own some day, and the ache in her heart became even harder to bear.

  “Jeremy’s mother’s getting a divorce,” Troy said. “That’s why she’s buying a new bed, so she doesn’t have to sleep in the one she shared with her ex.”

  “She said that in front of Jeremy?”

  “Unfortunately. Then she told him to wait with me while she went out to the car to get her checkbook. That’ s when he took off like a bat out of hell. You can tell he hates having his parents split. Will sure handled him, though, didn’t he?”

  Amelia felt a warm glow of pride. “He’s going to be a pediatrician.”

  “Good choice. Well, I’m sure the mother is back and wondering what happened to me. She’s leasing Midnight Lace.”

  “That’s what she chose, with a little kid in the house?”

  “Yep. Want me to refuse to sell it to her?”

  “You know we can’t do that.” Amelia thought of the red-and-black lace that decorated a black lacquered bed that was almost X-rated in its blatant sexuality. More than one customer had said the grouping belonged in a brothel, and it usually sold to single men. “He’s probably too young to get the significance of the decor, anyway.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  After Troy left, Amelia returned to her office. She really did have to leave the store and get ready for her dinner with Peterson. But she paused for a moment and glanced out into the showroom, where Will was holding Jeremy up so he could get a better look at the futuristic canopy on the Sex in Space bed.

  Amelia had assumed she’d marry and have kids some day, but she’d been so focused on her business that she hadn’t given the matter much thought. Even her crush on Will had been a craving for physical satisfaction with no wish for commitment. Ironically, she’d wanted him for exactly the same reason she’d assumed he wanted Leanne—for sex. Yet her focus was changing. Oh, she still wanted him for sex. That would probably never change. But he was also making her consider what sort of man she’d like to spend a lifetime with, what sort of man she’d like to be the father of her children. Will was that sort of man.

  ———

  WILL TRIED TO TELL HIMSELF that everything was going great. His gifts to Leanne continued to be a hit according to the office gossip supplied regularly by Gabe. Will stopped composing the notes he included once he realized they’d be circulated as faithfully as an interoffice memo. Instead he quoted poetry, which seemed to do about as well. Once he even quoted Mickey Mouse, which according to Gabe, caused Leanne to pledge her undying love to this secret admirer.

  “She wants you bad, man,” Gabe said one afternoon as they were returning to the store after delivering and setting up Troy’s new Sex in Space bedroom grouping. “When are you gonna pop the question about dinner?”

  “Tomorrow.” Will knew he should be more excited about the prospect, but for some reason he felt detached from the entire operation.

  “Cool. Where are you going to have her meet you?”

  “She might not meet me, you know.”

  “Oh, she’ll meet you. That’s one curious lady. She can’t figure out if it’s you, Troy, me, or the new sales guy Amelia hired right before Christmas. She even suspects the mailman because he always talks to her when he gets a chance. The suspense is killing her.”

  Will parked the truck behind the store. He noticed with irritation that Peterson’s rental car was sitting in the space next to Amelia’s Subaru. The guy couldn’t park out in front, like everybody else. He had to pull in back here, as if he had special privileges. Will kept thinking of Amelia’s massive silver bed and wondering if Peterson had seen it yet. He sure as hell hoped not.

  “So you’re not going to tell me where?” Gabe asked as they climbed out of the truck. “What?” Will looked at Gabe in confusion. “Where you’re going to set up the meeting with Leanne. You’ve sure been distracted lately, baby doc. Got a big test coming up?”

  “No, I mean, yeah, kind of.” Will always had tests coming up, so it was a good cover story. “I’m going to make a reservation at that little Italian place I like and tell Leanne which booth I’ll be in. How’s that?”

  “Perfect. Intimate, not too showy. She’ll love it.”

  “Yeah, but I wonder if she’ll love seeing me sitting there. Sure you don’t want to take this one, Gabe?”

  “After all your work? I wouldn’t think of it. Besides, I have a date for Valentine’s night. And she’s cooking at her place.” Will grinned at him. “Sounds promising.”

  “When a wo
man invites you into her kitchen and fixes you a meal, you’re most of the way home, buddy.” He climbed the steps to the loading dock. “That’s in case you’ve forgotten the signs.”

  As Will followed him up the steps he thought of the night Amelia had invited him into her kitchen and fixed him a meal. But it hadn’t meant anything. “What are some other signs?” he asked.

  “Oh, if she takes you on a tour of her place and makes sure you see the bedroom,” he said. “But I think even you could figure that one out.”

  Will nearly choked. But Amelia had made the whole gesture seem so commonplace. Surely she hadn’t been implying ...no, of course not. He walked with Gabe through the large open door into the storeroom and heard voices coming from behind a wall of stacked boxes.

  “...thought you wanted to see the new Erotic Egypt shipment,” Amelia said.

  “I do,” said a man who sounded a lot like Peterson. “In a minute.”

  Will grabbed Gabe’s arm and motioned for him to be quiet.

  “Jonathan, we’ve discussed this,” Amelia said. “I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to— Jonathan, that’s enough!”

  Will started forward instinctively, but Gabe stopped him. As they stood there, Amelia marched out from behind the stack of boxes, her head high and her cheeks rosy. She glanced quickly at Will and Gabe but said nothing as she continued on toward the door into the showroom.

  “Amelia!” Peterson called out. “Don’t you think you’re being a little—” He walked out from behind the boxes, spied Will and Gabe and paused. “Gentlemen,” he said with a curt nod.

  Then he, too, walked through the door into the showroom.

  “Will, are you okay?” Gabe peered at him in concern.

  “Uh, yeah.” Will discovered he was breathing hard from the effort of restraining himself. He wanted in the worst way to go after Peterson and tell him to keep his damned hands off Amelia. But mixed in with his protective urge was the satisfaction of knowing that she didn’t want Peterson, after all.

  Gabe put a hand on his shoulder. “You haven’t totally given up that fantasy, have you?”

  “Sure I have.”

  “Couldn’t prove it by me. You were ready to take that guy apart. Listen, buddy, you’re looking to get your heart broken with that one. She’s going to New York. She may not want Peterson, but he’s only the first of many guys just like him who will be happy to wine and dine our Amelia. That’s going to be her world now. There’s talk she may not even come back to San Diego. Either Troy or Leanne may end up running the store for her.”

  Will took a long, shaky breath. Then he dredged up a smile for Gabe. “So you’re telling me that Leanne could be my boss in a few weeks? Then I could have the same damn problem!”

  “Not a chance. In a few weeks, it won’t matter if Leanne’s in charge or not. You’ll already have established your ...shall we say, new position with her.” He grinned. “And I guarantee sweet Leanne will make you forget all about the boss lady.”

  Chapter Six

  WILL HOPED THAT GABE WAS right and going out with Leanne would make him forget Amelia. He also hoped that once the secret admirer campaign was over he’d get better at remembering the pesky details in his life. He was becoming more absentminded with every day that went by. Between daydreaming about one woman and angling for a date with another one, plus trying to keep up with his course work, he was constantly forgetting the simplest things.

  Case in point—he’d left his only jacket at the store, a fact he didn’t realize until he came out of his night lab and a cold rain sliced right through his T-shirt. The store would be locked up by now, but he had a key to the back, as all the employees did. Rather than suffer through the rest of the night and his early class in the morning, he decided to swing by the store and pick up his jacket.

  When he pulled into the back parking lot his heart started to pound. Amelia’s Subaru was still there. Of course she might have gone to dinner with Peterson and left her car here, but after the scene he’d witnessed the other day, he doubted it. Still, he knew she wanted that New York franchise, so maybe she had to continue placating the jerk with a dinner date now and then.

  Much as Will hated admitting it, he sort of identified with Peterson. Will knew how the guy must feel, wanting Amelia so much he could taste it. But Will’s fantasies were probably more specific than Peterson’s. Will had seen Amelia’s silver bed and had thought a lot about the title of Surrender that she’d given it.

  And unlike Peterson, Will had spent an evening with Amelia when she wore only a satin and lace robe and the scent of lavender clung to her damp skin. His dreams had been filled with images of her untying the robe and allowing it to fall into an ivory heap at her feet. Then she would beckon him toward that bed, slide onto those cool ivory sheets and lie back, waiting.

  Will passed a hand over his eyes and wondered how long he’d been sitting in the parking lot behind the store, car engine running, windshield wipers flapping, headlights on. And an erection in the making. If the security guard happened along he’d probably want to take Will in for suspicious behavior. Damn. Valentine’s Day was almost here, and he wondered how in hell he’d pretend to be infatuated with Leanne when Amelia was the only one he wanted.

  Maybe he should drive away and forget about his jacket. Being alone in the store with Amelia might not be such a bright idea right now. Then again, what difference did it make? He wasn’t the kind of guy to force himself on a woman, or even push the issue as Peterson had apparently tried to do. Amelia had no interest in him. He could simply go in, call out to her so she’d know who it was, get his jacket and leave.

  In spite of that little speech to himself, his pulse quickened as he opened the back door. “Amelia?” he called out in a loud voice. “It’s Will. I forgot my jacket.” He flipped on the showroom light and started over to the wall where his j acket hung on a hook.

  “Will?”

  He turned toward the open showroom door and his heartbeat went off the Richter scale. The light from the showroom teased its way through the thin silk of her blouse and skirt, giving him a dim but arousing view of her body. “Are you in a hurry?” she asked. Not anymore. “Uh, not particularly.” He swallowed. “Do you need ...some help with something?”

  “I’ve started a project that I may not have the ability to finish.” She beckoned to him. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

  “Okay.” Oh, yeah. She wasn’t beckoning him into her bedroom, but she was taking him through Bed City. He’d have to remember that the front of the store was glass, and with the lights on it became a theater for anyone driving by.

  “I’m not satisfied with the way the Valentine grouping has been selling,” she said over her shoulder. “All that white lace is pretty, but it may look too virginal, don’t you think?”

  “Well, I—” Whatever comment he’d been about to make flew out of his mind when she opened the door to the front display window and stepped inside. The shades were pulled down, concealing the window from the street. Once he stepped through the door and joined her there, they’d be shielded from the world.

  Rain spattered against the glass, increasing the sense of intimacy.

  For one crazy moment he wondered if she’d done this on purpose, to seduce him. What a truckload of wishful thinking that was. She’d had no idea he’d be coming by the store tonight. Obviously she wanted to rearrange the display in private, knowing that the fantasy element would be destroyed if customers happened to drive by and see a bare mattress or mismatched bedding.

  “So far I’ ve changed the sheets to red satin with an ermine throw across the foot of the bed,” she said. “I don’t have the matching canopy on yet, but what do you think? Is it too obvious?”

  “Uh...” He wondered how he’d get through this without making a fool of himself. When he looked at the bed, the top sheet tossed back in invitation, the white fur begging him to lay her naked body across it, his groin tightened painfully. But looking at her was no better. His fingers
itched to undo the silk-covered button at the vee in her blouse and find out for sure what he suspected, that she wore the kind of under-things that drove a man wild.

  “It’s too much,” she said, grabbing up the white ermine and clutching it to her chest. “I was afraid it was, but sometimes I don’t know where to draw the line.”

  He stared at the soft fur pressed against the triangle of creamy skin between the lapels of her blouse and almost groaned aloud. How he wanted to press his mouth to that exact place. And that was just the beginning of what he’d like to do. “I...don’t think it’s too much,” he managed to say. “I’m sorry. My brain’s fried right now.”

  She gazed at him. “I’ll bet you just got out of class and want nothing more than to go home and go to bed.”

  She got two out of three right, he thought. He had just left class and he’d love to go to bed, but he had no intention of going home. “I’m not really that tired,” he said, forcing a normal tone into his voice. “What can I do to help you?”

  Her expression brightened. “So you really think it looks nice? Well, not nice. I guess I’m going more for naughty.” Oh, God. “I think you’re getting there.”

  “Great. Then what I need from you is to help me angle the bed a little more. I stood outside and looked at the display from different perspectives before I decided to make this change, and I think the bed should be turned so it’s on a slant instead of straight across the window. I think you’d get more of the effect of the turned-back sheets, more of a desire to climb right into that bed.”

  “Just show me where you want it.” He wondered if she had any clue what this whole conversation in the cozy, curtained window was doing to him. Probably not. He was nothing more than an obliging furniture mover to her. Well, if that’s all he could be, then he’d be the best damn furniture mover she’d ever had in her life. He’d shift and adjust and realign this bed a million times in exchange for the chance to breathe in the scent of her perfume and once in a while be rewarded with an approving glance from those amazing blue-green eyes.