Entice Me Box Set: The Truth About Shoes and Men\Cover Me\My Favorite Mistake (39 page)

“Denise? Oh, it
is
you.”

At the sound of my name, I turned…and froze. Barry’s boss Ellen Brant was coming toward me, all smiles.

13

A
S
E
LLEN WALKED
toward me, I slid my gaze across the room toward Redford, who was handing the clerk our coat-check tickets. A sweat broke out along my hairline, but I managed a smile for Ellen and the older woman next to her. “Hi, Ellen. Did you enjoy the show?”

She gave a dismissive wave. “I’ve seen
42nd Street
a dozen times, but Mother can’t get enough of it.”

She introduced me to her mother. I nodded politely, eager to disappear. “It was nice to meet you—”

“Denise is newly engaged to one of the station’s producers,” Ellen told her mother. “I believe you’ve met Barry Copeland?”

Her mother nodded. “I met Barry at the station once. He’s a handsome young man. Congratulations on your engagement.”

I smiled, near panic. “Thank you.”

“I’m looking forward to getting together Tuesday afternoon,” Ellen said with a little society laugh. “I’ve got to get my ex-husband’s money working for me as soon as possible.”

I tried to chuckle, but it sounded more like a hiccup. “You’ll feel good about working with Trayser Brothers.”

“I feel good about working with
you
, Denise,” Ellen said magnanimously. “A person can’t trust their money to just anyone these days.”

“How true. I don’t mean to be short, but—”

“Here you go,” Redford said, holding my coat behind me.

Dead silence fell around us. I gave him a tight smile and slid my arms inside, my heart thudding in my ears. I dreaded lifting my gaze; when I did, as expected, Ellen’s mother was frowning quizzically at Redford, and Ellen’s penciled eyebrows had climbed high on her forehead.

My mind swirled. If I introduced them, word would get back to Barry. If I didn’t, word would
definitely
get back to Barry, and on top of that, Ellen would probably write me off for being rude. I cleared my throat.

“This is Ellen Brant, the general manager of a local television network, and her mother. Ladies, this is, um…um…”

“Her neighbor,” Redford cut in and his voice had taken on a…
feminine
edge?

I swung my gaze to him, baffled.

He reached forward and shook the women’s hands with two fingers, his wrist as limp as a dishrag. “How do you do?
Love
those earrings.”

“Thank you,” Ellen said, rearranging her face
from suspicion into a knowing smile. “Did you enjoy the show?”

“Oh, did I! It gets better
every
time,” he said, clasping his hands together, a wistful expression on his face.

My mind could not comprehend what I was seeing and hearing. Redford DeMoss, career military man and the most heterosexual man I’d ever met, pretending to be…
gay
? I was stupefied.

“Well, it was nice meeting you,” Ellen said to Redford. “Denise, I’ll see you Tuesday afternoon.” Then she leaned forward and sighed near my ear. “All the best-looking men are gay, aren’t they?”

I nodded and made sympathetic noises and wished them well. Only when they had disappeared from sight could I bring myself to look at Redford, who wore an innocent expression.

“
What
was that?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“What?”

“That bad impression of Steven Cojocaru.”

“Who?”

“A TV personality. He’s…flamboyant.”

Redford shrugged. “Just trying to help you out of a spot. You said the woman worked for a television station. I assume she knows your boyfriend?”

“Fiancé,” I corrected. “Ellen is his boss.”

He lifted his hands. “So…you’re welcome.”

My face burned when I realized why he’d done what he’d done. So word wouldn’t get back to Barry that I was out with another man—another
straight
man. “Thank you, Redford.”

He pressed his lips together. “I just hope he deserves you.”

I couldn’t speak. Deserve
me?
I was doing things behind Barry’s back.
He
deserved someone better than me. I glanced down and rubbed a finger over my engagement ring.

Redford sighed heavily. “But if you tell anyone what I did, I’ll have to kill you.”

I looked up and laughed, shaking my head. “All gay men don’t act that over-the-top.”

He shrugged. “I know, but I improvised. It worked, didn’t it?”

I pursed my mouth, then nodded.

He looked at me, then fingered a lock of my hair that had come loose from my ponytail, leaving a tingling trail across my skin. “You promised me a night view from the top of the Empire State Building.”

I exhaled and smiled. “Yes, I did.”

The Empire State Building was always a crowded attraction, but at this time of the day there were fewer children. And at this time of the year, people stayed on the observatory for less time, so the lines moved quickly. When we stepped out onto the observatory, I shivered in my coat—the air temperature at this height was breathtaking. Redford saw my reaction and put his arm around me. I didn’t object—I couldn’t imagine any mischief unfolding in the frigid air and blustery wind.

Redford was immediately riveted to the unending view—lights twinkling and moving across the city
like Christmas tree decorations, buildings glowing as if they were atop a Lite-Brite board. I pointed out landmarks as we walked all around the platform—the George Washington Bridge, the Chrysler Building, Times Square, the Reuters Building, the Woolworth Building.

“It’s like being on top of the world,” Redford said.

I nodded, then broached a subject that had been eating at me. “Redford, are you…seeing someone special back in Kentucky?”

He shook his head then looked back to the view. “No.”

I wet my parched lips. “Are women scarce in Kentucky?”

He laughed. “Not at all.”

Which meant he looked…as any normal red-blooded single man would do. I injected a teasing note into my voice. “I would think that you could have just about any woman you wanted.”

His laugh was self-deprecating, but he didn’t offer a comment. For my part, I wished I hadn’t asked. Redford’s love life was none of my business…anymore.

A bitter gust of wind blasted us, and my teeth began to chatter. Redford pulled me in front of him and shielded me with his big body, rubbing my arms briskly with his hands. Suddenly his hands slowed and a few seconds later, he lowered his arms and crossed them over my chest. I felt his chest rise and fall with a sigh. I closed my eyes and eased my head back against him, then raised my hands to cover his.
He hugged me closer against him, uttering a low moan that reverberated through my body.

“Denise,” he whispered against my temple. “I—”

I didn’t let him finish. I lifted my mouth to his for a desperate, jarring, upside-down kiss. His lips were warm and firm, his tongue strong and determined. I sighed into his mouth and strained against the awkward angle. He broke the kiss long enough to turn me in his arms, and I met him again, willingly.

My mouth remembered his—every texture, every flavor. Our teeth clicked and our tongues danced, sending white-hot desire shooting through me. I pushed my hands into his hair and kneaded the back of his neck, pulling his mouth closer, deeper. His arms tightened around me and even through my coat, I could feel his urgent desire for me. My body leapt in response, also remembering that magic wand of his. The way his face contorted with pleasure when he thrust deep into me…heaven…

I pressed my body against his erection and he groaned. His hands slid down my back and underneath me, pulling me against him. I gave in to the thrill of him and thrust my hands through the opening in his coat to wrap my arms around his warm back, pulling him closer. I lowered my hand to stroke the thick knob of his shaft through his clothing, and he sucked in a sharp breath.

The sound of persistent throat-clearing reached my ears—and apparently Redford’s. We lifted our heads to see a security guard standing a few feet
away trying to look as if he hadn’t noticed us. I realized other people around us were doing their best to ignore us, and I flushed with embarrassment. Making out in public—was I sixteen years old?

“Let’s go,” I murmured, my ragged breath coming out in white puffs.

Redford tried to take my hand, but I pulled it back and stuffed it deep into my coat pocket. His mouth tightened, but he didn’t press me. Our walk back to the elevator bay and the ride down were quiet. I assumed his mind was as chaotic as mine…or perhaps not since he didn’t have as much at stake. For Redford, a weekend fling would simply be a pleasurable reunion. For me, it would be going back to a place where my body overrode my mind, and I couldn’t live the rest of my life that way. I had a good, logical life waiting for me, with Barry…a man whose ring I wore, whose proposal I’d accepted mere days ago. What kind of woman was I that I could be tempted into an affair so soon after taking a man’s ring?

That
kind of woman…carnal…reckless…rash.

No!
I would not barter my long-term happiness for short-term gratification.

When we exited the building, the wind had kicked up, howling around us, sending litter twirling in the streets and making it nearly impossible to talk. I wanted the wind to pick me up and twirl me into next week. My eBay auction would be over, the IRS audit would be over and I’d have Ellen Brant’s business. My life would be back to normal…better than normal
because I would be a content engaged woman with a fat bonus in the bank, and a wedding dress in my closet.

And Redford would be a memory.

His dress shoes sounded against the sidewalk with military precision, the wind whipping the legs of his slacks. At the curb Redford hailed a cab and we slid inside. I huddled against the door inside my coat, Redford staring out the window, occasionally pulling on his chin. A couple of times, he started to say something, but changed his mind. When the cabbie neared my building, I leaned forward. “Let me out at the next corner, please.”

“We’ll both get out,” Redford said.

“You can go on to your hotel.”

“I’ll walk to the hotel,” he said in a voice that brooked no argument.

I alighted from the cab, steeled for the argument I knew was imminent. When Redford paid the cabbie, he turned to look at me and jammed his hands on his hips. “Denise—”

“I’m sorry, Redford,” I said, my voice clipped. “I made a mistake kissing you back there.”

He was quiet for a few seconds. “Are you saying you don’t have feelings for me?”

His question startled me in its directness. For a few seconds, I was flustered, then irritated. “Redford, how can you ask me that? I’m
engaged
to another man.”

“A few minutes ago, you weren’t thinking about your boyfriend.”

“
Fiancé
.”

“Whatever.” He stepped closer to me and tipped my chin up with his hand, forcing me to look at him. His eyes glittered in the shadow of a streetlight. “Denise, I was on the receiving end of that kiss. Do you have feelings for me?” His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Did you ever?”

A lump formed in my throat and my tongue felt swollen in my mouth. “Redford, my feelings…” I swallowed and tried again. “The feelings that we…that I…had for you…when we first met.” I gestured vaguely. “I was caught up in you…in your sexuality…in your openness. I confused my physical attraction for you with…love.” I exhaled and brushed the hair out of my eyes. “So…yes, I’m still attracted to you…obviously. But…” I pressed my lips together.

He dropped his hand and gave a little laugh. “So I’m only good for meaningless sex.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“It’s okay, Denise.” His shoulders lifted in a shrug, then he put his hands in his slacks pockets. “That’s not such a bad thing for a man to hear.” A sardonic smile came over his mouth. “I had a wonderful time with you today…and tonight. And if it makes you feel better, I promise to keep my open sexuality under wraps tomorrow.”

I shook my head. “Redford, I don’t think I should go upstate with you.”

He cocked one eyebrow. “Oh, come on, I’m not
that
irresistible. Besides, I thought we were going to go over our tax files.” He gave me a teasing grin. “That should pretty much kill any inclination to…make a mistake…shouldn’t it?”

Standing there with his hands in his pockets and the wind ruffling his hair, he looked boyish and completely harmless. Like a rejected prom date, content to be friends. I sighed. Kenzie would be disappointed if I didn’t go. And Redford and I did need to talk about our taxes. And it seemed that we
had
cleared the air of our inappropriate attraction. “Okay. What time should I be ready?”

He smiled. “I’ll pick you up at eight. Bring some riding clothes.”

He was striding away before his words sunk in.
Riding clothes?
He couldn’t possibly mean
horse
riding clothes…although, was there another kind? “I don’t like horses!” I yelled after him, but he only threw up his hand dismissively.

“I…don’t…like…
horses
!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, but the wind whisked my words away.

I frowned and walked inside my apartment muttering, “I don’t like horses.”

14

Sunday

Days left on eBay auction: 2

Bidding on wedding dress up to: $1653

Winning bidder: SYLVIESMOM

* * *

W
HEN
I
OPENED THE DOOR
Sunday morning, Redford stood silhouetted in the early morning sunshine wearing faded jeans, a blue work shirt, a tan corduroy jacket and, of course, the hat.

So much for not being irresistible.

He gestured at my wool skirt and sweater. “Those don’t look like riding clothes.”

I set my jaw against an internal reaction to his outrageous sexiness, then crossed my arms. “I…don’t…like…horses. You and Sam are going to look at your stud. Kenzie and I…aren’t.” I turned around and he followed me inside.

“Horses are the most beautiful animals that God created—well, aside from women.”

I gave him a bland smile.