“Young lady?”
Lindsey folded her arms and pointed her nose toward the night sky. “All I can say is that my mother’s a serious disappointment to me.”
“I’m afraid I can’t help you there.”
“I didn’t think you could,” she said, shaking her head. “I thought better of her than this—sneaking out at night to see a man of … of low moral fiber.”
“Lindsey!”
“Why don’t we all go inside and discuss this,” Steve suggested. He felt more than a little ridiculous standing in Meg’s yard, and he was eager to clear the air between Lindsey and him.
“I have nothing to say to either of you,” Lindsey said. She marched into the house, with Brenda scurrying behind.
Steve watched them stomp off in single file and released a deep breath. He was about to apologize for having made such a mess of things, when Meg whirled around to face him.
“I can’t believe you!”
Steve ran his fingers through his hair. Meg didn’t seem to grasp that this ordeal hadn’t exactly been a pleasure for him, either.
“I apologize, Meg.” He did feel bad about all the trouble he’d caused, but he’d only been trying to help. When he’d found her purse, returning it had seemed the best thing to do. He didn’t want her wondering where it was, and he’d honestly thought he could do it without ending up in jail.
“How dare you tell my daughter to get me a coat.”
Steve’s head jerked up. His throat tightened with the strength of his anger. “I nearly got myself arrested—thanks to your daughter, I might add—and you’re upset because I objected to you traipsing around in front of the neighborhood half-naked?”
Meg opened her mouth and then closed it.
“Okay,” he amended, “you are wearing a robe, although it’s not much of one. Neither of those cops could take their eyes off you. I supposed you enjoyed the attention.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I came downstairs as fast as I could, in order to help you.”
“You call parading in front of those men like that helping me? All I needed was for you to identify me so I could leave. That’s all.” His words grew louder. He was close to losing his cool and he knew it.
“I think you’d better go,” Meg said, pointing in the direction of the street. Steve noticed with satisfaction that her finger shook.
“I’m out of here,” he told her, “and not a minute too soon. You might have appreciated the embarrassment I endured trying to do you a favor, but I can see you don’t. Which is fine by me.”
“Like you didn’t embarrass me?” she shouted.
“You weren’t the one who had a gun pointed at you and a kid claiming you were a menace to society.”
“Lindsey was only repeating what you’d told her.” Meg pushed the hair away from her face, using both hands. “This isn’t working.”
“Wrong,” he said sharply. “It’s working all too well. You make me crazy, and I don’t like it.”
“But … “
“If I’m going to get arrested, I want it to be for someone who’s willing to acknowledge the trouble I’ve gone through for her.” Certain he was making no sense whatsoever, Steve stalked over to his car and drove away.
Meg squared her shoulders and drew her flimsy robe more tightly around her as she opened the screen door and walked back inside. The exhaust from Steve’s car lingered in the yard, reminding her how angry he’d been when he left.
She was angry, too. And confused.
It didn’t help to find Lindsey and Brenda sitting in the darkened living room waiting for her.
“You should both be in bed,” Meg told them.
“We want to talk to you first,” Lindsey announced, her hands folded on her knees.
“Not tonight,” she said shortly. “I’m tired and upset.”
“You!” Lindsey cried. “Brenda and I are exhausted, but that doesn’t matter. What does is that you broke your word.”
“I didn’t promise not to see Steve again,” Meg told her. She’d been careful about that.
Meg went back to the door and stood in front of the screen, half hoping Steve would return—not knowing what she’d say or do if he did.
“You’ve been sneaking out of the house to see him, haven’t you?”
Meg lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
“You have!” Lindsey was outraged. “When?”
Meg lifted the other shoulder.
“Can’t I trust you anymore?”
“Lindsey, Steve’s not exactly what he said he was.”
“I’ll just bet,” she muttered. “He’s got you fooled, hasn’t he? You’d believe anything he says because that’s what you want to believe. You’re so crazy about this guy you can’t even see what’s right in front of your face.”
If she’d been a little less upset herself, Meg might’ve been willing to set the record straight then and there. “We want to talk to you,” Meg told her daughter. “Steve and I, together, and explain everything.”
“Never!”
“Mrs. Remington, don’t let him fool you,” Brenda threw in dramatically.
“Let’s not worry about this now,” she said as defeat settled over her. “It’s late and I have to be at the store early in the morning.”
Lindsey stood, her hands clenched at her sides. “I want you to promise me you won’t see him again.”
“Lindsey, please.”
“If you don’t, Mom, I’ll never be able to trust you again.”
“It’s time we had a little talk,” Nancy said, bringing a steaming cup of coffee to the breakfast table. After the night he’d had, the last thing Steve wanted was a tête-à-tête with his troublesome younger sister.
“No, thanks.”
Nancy left the table, taking the coffee with her.
“Hey, I want the coffee.”
“Oh.” She brought it back and slipped into the chair across from him. “Something’s bothering you.”
“Nothing gets past you, does it?” He almost scalded his mouth in his eagerness to get some caffeine into his system.
“Can you tell me what’s wrong?” She stared at him with big brown eyes that suggested she could solve all his problems, if only he’d let her.
“No.”
“It has to do with that Meg, doesn’t it?”
Steve mumbled a noncommittal reply. He didn’t care to discuss Meg Remington just then. What he’d told Meg was the simple truth—she made him crazy. No woman had ever affected him as powerfully as she did. After the way they’d parted, he doubted they’d see each other again, and damn it all, that wasn’t what he wanted.
“She’s not the woman for you,” Nancy said, her eyes solemn.
“Nancy,” he said in a low voice, “don’t say any more. Okay?”
She closed her eyes, shaking her head. “You’re falling in love with her.”
“No, I’m not,” he muttered. Cradling the mug in both hands, he tried the coffee again, sipping from the edge to avoid burning his mouth.
“Thou protest too much,” she told him, with a sanctimonious sigh. “I’m afraid you’ve made it necessary for me to take matters into my own hands. Someone’s got to look out for your best interests.”
Steve lowered the mug and glared at his sister. “What did you do this time?”
“Nothing yet. There’s this woman, a widow I met on campus, and I’d like you to get to know her. She’s nothing like Meg, but as far as I’m concerned … “
“No!” He wasn’t listening to another word. The last time his sister had roped him into her schemes he’d met a crazy woman with an even crazier daughter. No more.
“But Steve … “
“You heard me.” The chair made a scraping sound against the tile floor as he stood. “I won’t be home for dinner.”
Nancy stood, too. “When will you be back?”
Steve regarded her suspiciously. “I don’t know. Why?”
“Because the least you can do is meet Sandy.”
Steve
gritted his teeth. “You invited her to the house?”
“Don’t worry—I didn’t mention you. I wanted the two of you to meet casually. She’s nervous about dating again, and I was afraid if I told her about my big, bad brother she’d run in the opposite direction.”
“That’s what I’m going to do. If you want to work on anyone’s love life, you might try your own.”
“All right, all right,” Nancy said, sounding defeated. “Just stay away from Meg, okay? The woman’s bad news.”
Steve’s laugh was humorless. “You’re telling me?”
A week passed. Steve refused to dwell on his confrontation with Meg. He didn’t call her and she didn’t phone him, either.
He hated to end it all, but he didn’t see any other option.
He missed her, though. He tried to tell himself otherwise. Tried to convince himself a man has his pride. Tried not to think about her.
And failed.
Early one afternoon, Nancy came by the shop with a friend. They were on their way to a movie, or so Nancy claimed.
Nancy smiled a little-sister smile and cheerfully asked Steve if he’d give Sandy an estimate on repairing her fender.
Sandy was petite. Cute. A little fragile.
It didn’t take Steve long to figure out that this Sandy was the same one Nancy had wanted him to meet. The widow. The woman who’d save him from Meg’s clutches.
“Pleased to meet you,” Steve said, wiping his greasy hands on the pink cloth he had tucked in his hip pocket.
Nancy smiled innocently, looking pleased with herself.
“I’ll have a written estimate for you by the time you two get back here.”
“You don’t have to work late again, do you?” Nancy asked, not even attempting to be coy.
Steve could already see what was coming. His conniving sister was about to wrangle a dinner invitation out of him. One that meant he’d be stuck entertaining Sandy.
“I’m afraid I’m tied up this evening,” he said stiffly.
“Oh, darn. I was hoping you could take Sandy and me to dinner.”
“Sorry,” he said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me … “
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Conlan.”
“The pleasure was mine,” he said and turned away.
Unfortunately, it didn’t end with Sandy. His sister had several other friends with dented fenders or cracked windshields. They all seemed to need estimates in the days that followed.
“The next time a woman comes in and asks for me, I’m unavailable,” he told his crew. Steve made sure that on her next visit Nancy would know he didn’t have time for her matchmaking games. He told her as much when she stopped by—alone—a couple of days later.
“I was only trying to help.”
“Thanks, but no thanks.” He sat at his desk, making his way through the piles of paperwork stacked in front of him.
Nancy expelled a sigh. “You aren’t seeing Meg again, are you?”
His hand tightened around the pen. “That’s none of your business.”
“Yes, it is! A woman like that could ruin your life.”
In some ways she already had, but Nancy wouldn’t understand. Whenever he met another woman, Steve found himself comparing her to Meg. Invariably everyone else fell short. Far short. He was miserable without her.
Nancy left, and Steve leaned back in his chair, studying the phone. All it would take was one call. He wouldn’t have to mention the incident with the police. He could even make a joke of it, maybe buy her a pair of flannel pajamas. The kind that went from her neck to her feet. They’d both laugh, say how sorry they were and put an end to this stalemate.
Then he’d take her in his arms, hold her and kiss her. This was the part he dwelled on most. The reconciliation.
“Steve.” Gary Wilcox stuck his head in the office door.
Steve jerked his attention away from the phone.
“There’s someone here to see you. A woman.”
Impatience made Steve’s blood boil. “What did I say earlier? I gave specific instructions to tell any of my sister’s friends that I’m unavailable.”
“But—”
“Is that so hard to understand?”
“Nope,” Gary said without emotion. “I don’t have a problem doing that, if it’s what you really want, but I kinda had the feeling this one’s special.”
Knowing his foreman had cast an appreciative eye at the widow, Steve suspected it was Sandy who’d dropped by unannounced. “You talk to her.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you.”
“What am I supposed to say?”
Steve rubbed a hand down his tired face. Did he have to do everything himself? “I don’t know, just say whatever seems appropriate. I promise you Nancy won’t be sending any more eligible women to the shop.”
“Nancy didn’t send this one.”
The pen slipped from Steve’s hands and rolled across the desk. “Who did?”
“She didn’t say. All I got was her name. Meg Remington. I seem to recall hearing it mentioned a time or two—generally when you were upset.”
Steve pushed back his chair and slowly stood. His heart reacted with a swift, furious pace. “Meg’s here?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you for the last five minutes.”
Steve sank back into the chair. “Send her in.”
A mischievous grin danced across Gary’s mouth. “That’s what I thought you’d say.”
Steve stood, then sat back down and busied himself with things on his desk. He wanted Meg to think he was busy. The minute she walked into the room, he’d set everything aside.
A full five minutes passed and still she didn’t show up. Steve came out of his office and ran into Gary, who frowned and shook his head. “She’s gone.”
“Gone?”
Gary nodded. “The only thing I can figure out is that she must’ve overheard you say you weren’t available and left.”
Steve muttered a four-letter word and hurried out. He wasn’t sure where he’d find her, but he wasn’t going to let her walk out of his life.
She wasn’t at the bookstore and he didn’t see her car at home. He tried the grocery store, too, for good measure. Without success.
It wasn’t until nearly seven that he drove to her house again. That he was willing to confront her daughter was a sign of how desperate he’d become.
He stood on her front porch and rang the doorbell. Waiting for someone to answer, he buried his hands deep in his pockets. A preventive action, he realized, to keep from reaching for her the instant she appeared.
“Just a minute,” he heard her call.
Then the door opened and Meg was standing there.
His gaze drifted over her. He’d planned to play it cool, casually mention that he was in the neighborhood and heard she’d stopped by the office. Their eyes met, held, and Steve forgot about hiding his feelings. She wore a pretty pale blue summer dress.
“Hello, Steve.”
“Hello.”
The screen door stood between them.
They continued to stare at each other.
“Can I come in?” he asked. Pride be damned. It’d been cold comfort in the past two weeks. If he had to apologize, or grovel or beg forgiveness, then so be it. He wanted her back in his life.
“Of course.” She unlatched the door and pushed it open.
Steve stepped inside. He could barely breathe, never mind think. Pulling her into his arms didn’t seem appropriate, but that was all he wanted to do.
“Where’s Lindsey?” he managed to ask.
Meg’s voice was breathy and uneven. “She’s out for the evening.”
He needed to touch her. Reaching up, he cupped her cheek in his rough palm. Slowly, Meg closed her eyes and leaned her head into his hand.
“I had to come here,” he whispered.
“I’m so sorry. About everything.”
“Me, too.”
Unable to wait a second longer,
Steve folded her in his arms and brought her mouth to his. Gentleness was beyond him, his hunger as great as any he’d ever known.
Meg grabbed his shirt as if she needed an anchor, something to secure her during the wild, sensual storm. He backed her against the door.
Meg gasped, and Steve moved a few inches away. With his hands framing her cheeks, he studied her beautiful face. Her shoulders were heaving, and he realized his own breathing was just as labored.
He rubbed the pad of his thumb across her moist, swollen lips. The action was unhurried—an apology for his roughness, his eagerness.
She moaned softly and he kissed her again. Gently. With restraint. Her arms were around his neck, and Steve had never tasted a sweeter kiss.
“I was going to call,” he told her, burying his face in the slope of her neck. “A thousand times I told myself I’d call. Every minute apart from you was torture.”
“I wanted to call you, too.”
“I’m glad ….”
“You were right,” Meg confessed. “I should’ve been wearing something more … discreet.”
“I was jealous, pure and simple.” He felt her smile against the side of his face and smiled, too.
“I would’ve been jealous if the situation had been reversed.”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t date a single one of the women Nancy arranged for me to meet.”
Meg jerked back. “What women?”
“Ah … it’s not important.”
“It is to me.”
He knew it would’ve been to him, as well, so he explained. “Nancy felt it was necessary to save me from a loose woman, so she introduced me to some of her friends.”
“And you refused to go out with them.” Meg sounded pleased.
“All I want to do is talk to Lindsey. Get things straightened out.”
“Me, too. But we can’t right now.”
“So I see.”
“Hold me,” she said, nestling in his arms. “I don’t want you to leave for a long, long time.”
Steve planted tiny kisses along the side of her neck, marking his way back to her lips. “When will Lindsey be back?” he whispered.
“She’s spending the night at Brenda’s.”
His hold tightened. “Meg,” he said, then kissed her with a hunger he couldn’t deny. “I want to make love to you. There’s a lot we have to discuss before we make that kind of commitment, but we have an opportunity to do that now, don’t we?”