Looking for Love (Boxed set) (38 page)

"So?"

"So everything's absolutely fine," Marci said brightly.

Kimberly narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure, Marci? You're not just telling me this?"

Marci pressed her hand to her cheek in mock dismay. "You know I wouldn't do a thing like that."

"Uh-huh." Kimberly folded her arms across her chest. "Okay, spill it, what happened?"

"I told you, nothing," Marci said defensively. "What's wrong, don't you trust me, sis?"

Kimberly worried her bottom lip. Marci actually looked hurt at her implication. "It's not that—"

"I know what happened last time you went out of town, but this time I behaved myself," Marci said in a rush. "You don't have to worry about a thing."

Why did she have the sinking feeling her sister wasn't being completely honest with her?

Kimberly frowned, picked up her purse, anxious to get to the center and check on things. But when she spotted her reflection in the mirror, she groaned. Her eyes were puffy and swollen, her cheeks red, her face streaked with mascara.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall... who's the most miserable twin of all ? And the dumbest?

Kimberly sighed and pulled out her compact. Definitely her. Not Marci.

* * *

Two weeks later, Austin signed the papers on the deal he'd been working on, shook Randolph Peterson's hand and stepped out in to the beautiful summer sunshine, completely unhappy. He'd just closed the biggest deal of his life. He'd secured the bid on a contract for a multimillion dollar shopping mall which would give him the security and financial backing to fund some of the renovation projects he'd been dreaming of doing for ages. He should be happy.

Only he was completely miserable.  

Because his dreams had been filled with memories of Kimberly, not work.

Her tear-streaked face had haunted him day and night. Every day he'd held his breath when he'd checked the mail, expecting annulment or divorce papers to arrive. But so far, zilch. Maybe she was waiting for him to file the papers.

Or maybe she didn't want to get rid of him.

Could he possibly rebuild his relationship with her?

He decided to take a walk and clear his head, knowing his lack of excitement over the new contract had everything to do with the fact that he was heartbroken over losing Kimberly.

Inhaling the summer air, he loosened his tie, his mind roaming back to memories of that weekend in Virginia. When he'd first learned of Kimberly's deception, his anger and pride had ruled his actions. But over the past two weeks, his fury had faded and wonderful memories had invaded his thoughts, memories of intimate, erotic moments he'd shared with Kimberly that had gotten into his soul.

He missed her. The real Kimberly, not Marci.

All the time he'd been with her, he'd been attracted to her as he'd never been to Marci, the waitress. Now he understood the reason. Kimberly might look exactly like her sister, but their personalities were completely different.

Kimberly had a shyness, a sweet vulnerability about her. Trying to sort the truth from the act she'd been putting on was hard, but he sensed that most of the time she
had
been herself.

Hadn't she dressed differently—without him asking her to? And what about the job she'd made up, all that talk about the children's center, could it be true?

Nah, it was probably just a lie. After all, he'd been the one to suggest they make up a job for her; he'd suggested she say she was a teacher.

He raked his hand though his hair, his warring mind continuing the argument. But still, hadn't she fit in with his family, talked with his dad about sports, chatted with his sisters and their kids, looked at him as if she wanted him with all her heart?

He froze, his heart thumping.

Hell, yes, Kimberly had looked at him like that.

And after all, he had paid her sister Marci to lie. Maybe Kimberly had been an innocent in the situation. Maybe it had all started as a game to her as it had for him, and she
hadn't
faked her attraction to him.

Taking a deep breath, he prayed the hot sun wasn't making him hallucinate. But if there was a chance, just the slightest chance he and Kimberly could work things out, shouldn't he at least give it a try?

Austin pivoted and headed in the opposite direction. He had to know one way or the other. Because he couldn't go on like this.

If Kimberly didn't want him, he needed to get on with his life.

* * *

Kimberly hung up the phone, rubbing her temples to alleviate the impending headache. Marci had said everything had gone smoothly. Her sister had obviously told a little white lie.

While nothing disastrous had come to her attention yet, over the past two weeks she'd sensed there were some minor glitches in Marci's story. Marci had told the building inspector in no uncertain terms that he needed to quit hassling Kimberly and get a life. And she'd ordered playground equipment for the center that Kimberly couldn't possibly afford.

The phone jangled again. "What now?" she mumbled as she reached for it. Her heart raced as it had every time the phone had rung, hoping it wasn't another problem to deal with and wondering if Austin had decided to call her.

"Kimberly Turner. KidsCare."

"Ms. Turner, this is Pruitt Thompson calling about that renovation job."

"Yes?"

"I've got some quotes here."

"Okay." Kimberly scribbled the estimated figures as the man talked, sighing under her breath. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'll have to get back to you."

She dropped her face in her hands. There was no way the center's budget could cover the estimates. Her thumb rested on the envelope with the check from Austin, and she shook her head.

There was no way she would accept his money either. She licked a stamp and quickly popped it into the stack of mail to send back to him.

The phone jangled again and she picked it up. "Kimberly Turner. KidsCare."

"Kimmie, it's me."

"Hi, Marci. What's up?"

"Gee, you don't have to sound so excited to talk to me, sis."

Kimberly groaned. "Sorry, I'm just getting a headache."

"And still moping over Austin?"

"I don't want to discuss him."

"Good. 'Cause if he dumped you, he's not worth it."

"Thanks. You're really cheering me up here."

"That's my plan," Marci said as if she hadn't noticed the sarcasm.

"Why did you call?" Kimberly asked.

Marci's earrings clinked in the background. "Well, there's the cutest... I mean the nicest man here at the bar I want you to meet."

Kimberly rolled her eyes. "I'm not interested in any man you met in a bar," she said emphatically. She was expecting divorce papers from Austin any day now.

What was her sister thinking?

"I don't mean for a date, silly," Marci said with a laugh. "He's a construction worker. I think he might give you a good deal on the job you need done."

Kimberly reached for her purse. "How long will he be there?"

"I'll keep him occupied until you get here," Marci said.

Kimberly pushed thoughts of her private life aside and hoped this time Marci would come through for her.

After all, her sister owed her big time.

* * *

Austin squared his shoulders, determined to talk to Marci. He'd called Kimberly's apartment and there was no answer, and now that he'd decided to talk to her, he didn't want to put it off another minute. Was Kimberly a waitress, too? If not, where did she work and what did she do with her time?

A thousand questions plagued him about Kimberly, and he realized he wanted to find out everything there was to know about his wife. Especially the truth about how she felt about him.

He strode into the restaurant, his pulse racing at the thought of seeing her again. He spied Marci immediately. Then he gritted his teeth when he saw Kimberly because his dear, sweet wife was sitting with another man.

Fury snaked through him. While he'd been losing sleep over this woman, she'd obviously forgotten him.

His temper soaring, he stalked toward her table. Marci glanced up, gaudy earrings dangling, her pink lips agape, and Kimberly gasped, those sweet blue eyes widening in surprise.

"Hi, darlin'," he said, slipping his hand over her knee. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"I... I wasn't expecting you either," she whispered, her expression wary.

That was obvious.

He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, then turned to the man across from them. "Hi. I'm Austin McDane, Kimberly's husband."

The man's red eyebrows climbed his forehead as he scooted as far back in his seat as possible. "Nice to meet you. Tate Walker here."

He shook the guy's hand, noting his fingers were greasy and black and his jeans and workshirt slightly creased with dirt, much like some of the men who worked for him. So Kimberly and Marci liked blue-collar construction workers, huh?

"Did you need something?" Kimberly asked in a low voice.

He grinned slyly. "Just wanted this guy to know you're my wife." Then he shocked himself by framing her face and kissing the breath out of her.

Tate stood abruptly. "Err, I think we'd better meet later."

"Wait," Kimberly said, reaching her hand out to stop the man from leaving. "We need to discuss—"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Tate said, obviously realizing Austin had thrown a fence up around his wife. "But—"

"I'll talk to him." Marci glared at Austin, then grabbed Tate's hand and dragged the man to safety.

Kimberly stood, clenching her hands by her sides. "Why did you do that?" Her chin wobbled, making his heart squeeze. "Were you just trying to hurt me, to get back at me? 'Cause if you were, it certainly worked."

She snatched her purse, a lone tear streaking down her cheek, then disappeared out the door before he could reply.

Austin sat in stunned silence, knowing he'd made a complete ass out of himself. He'd never acted so foolishly over a woman in his entire life.

A moment later, Marci reappeared, jerked out the chair next to him and plopped down in to it. "I hope you're proud of yourself."

He shot her an irritated look. All of this could have been avoided if she had shown up as his date instead of Kimberly.

But then he never would have met Kimberly and shared that incredible weekend with her...

"You'd better be quiet and listen." Marci jabbed his chest with one of her spiked nails. "I'm going to say this once and once it is. You are a jerk."

He knew that, she didn't have to announce it. "But—"

"I said
listen."
Marci jammed her hands on her hips. "I know you were mad when you found out we'd switched on you, but it wasn't the first time—"

"You mean you do this stuff all the time?"

Marci waved him off. "Yes. I mean no. We've switched on dales before, but Kimberly's never gone off and married one of them."

"Well, that's a relief," he said, wiping his brow with a napkin. "At least she's not a bigamist."

"Don't you dare say anything rude about my sister." Marci gave him a look that was hot enough to fry an egg. "Kimberly is the sweetest, nicest, most sincere person I know. And I'm not saying that just because she's my sister. She's trustworthy and loyal to a fault. God knows she's bailed me out of trouble enough times. But that's my sister. When she loves someone she'd do anything for them."

Even forgive them for being a jerk?

Marci was on a roll. "She's worked day and night to get that daycare center going, sacrificing a better paying job just to help these needy folks, begging people to donate time and money to the center—"

"There really is a children's center?" he asked, his gut churning.

"Of course there is," Marci said in exasperation.

So that part of her story hadn't been a lie. Could her feelings for him be real, too?

"And you just ran off a guy who was going to give her a great deal on doing the renovation work she needed!"

His heart hammered. "That guy... he was... it was about work?"

"Well, what did you think?" Marci rolled her eyes, then paused and studied him. "You mean you thought..."

He squirmed under her indignant gaze, feeling naked and more exposed than he had when Kimberly had seen him in his flashy red underwear.

"You were jealous?" Marci slapped her thigh. "I get it now."

"I'm glad you think it's so funny," Austin said, his face burning.

"Nothing else has been funny the past few days," Marci assured him. "My sister has been absolutely miserable because of you." She paced in front of him, her high heels clicking. He winced as people started to stare. "You broke her heart, you know that?"

"What?"

She planted her pink fingernails on his chest, poking him to emphasize each word. "You. Broke. Her. Heart."

A pang of longing hit him in his chest as Kimberly's tear-streaked face flashed in his mind.

Marci narrowed her eyes. "You were obviously jealous when you saw her with Tate. Does that mean you really care about my sister? You didn't do that just to humiliate her?"

"God, no," he said, his breath whooshing out.

"No, what?" Marci jabbed his chest again with her nail.

"I'd never do anything to humiliate her," he said quietly. "I'm in love with her."

Marci's face burst into a bright smile. "Then what the heck are you doing sitting here talking to me? Go tell her, you idiot."

Chapter 12