Playing for Keeps/A Tempting Stranger (30 page)

Read Playing for Keeps/A Tempting Stranger Online

Authors: Lori Copeland

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #General, #Contemporary, #Westerns, #test

BOOK: Playing for Keeps/A Tempting Stranger
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Page 31
''What do you do with your time, other than running around to parties and posing as some strange man's wife?"
"I was
not
posing as some stranger's wife! Cecil is a very close friend of my brother's." This guy was really getting on her nerves. He might be one of the best-looking men she had ever met, but his personality was zero in her book.
"Sorry. I forget how touchy women are. . . ."
"I am not touchy!" she fired back rapidly. "And, not that it's any of your business, but I work for a law firm in Kansas City. I'm a legal secretary. What do
you
do whenever you're not out trying to scrape up a job?" she returned snidely.
"I'm not trying to 'scrape' up a job." His eyes had turned a cold, haughty blue. She had finally managed to get his goat. "I happen to be a damn good test pilot."
Chandra's pulse quickened. A test pilot! That sounded extremely dangerous. She caught herself quickly. What did she care what he did? He could risk his fool neck if he wanted to. It wouldn't make any earth-shaking difference to her one way or the other.
"Really," she taunted. "Then why are you trying so hard for this job?"
She felt his shoulders lift in a show of indifference. "It's a good opportunity. I suppose it's time I was settling down somewhere. At my age, I should be putting down roots."
"Does that include looking for a wife?" Chandra asked softly.
"Me?" He threw his head back and laughed loudly. Chandra stared at him stonily. She didn't find the question all that funny.
"I take it that means you're not in the market for a wife."
"Not me, lady! You'll never find me caught in the marriage trap."
"Marriage trap? Do you really view marriage as a trap?" Chandra asked in amazement.
It's probably just as well,
she thought.
No woman would ever be able to live with your arrogance for very long
.
"Let's just say I'm more than content with the way my life isfreedom with no complications from a woman. I don't have
 
Page 32
to put up with tears, tantrums, or someone telling me what to do. No commitments. If I don't like a woman, I simply tell her to 'hit the road.' ''
"Hit the road!" Chandra shook her head in disbelief. "Gee, you're every woman's fantasy in a man. I'd be surprised if you could find a woman who would even have you. You and I are exact opposites.
I
want a marriage with all the ties," she told him heatedly.
"Good luck," he returned flippantly. "You're welcome to my share of marital bliss."
He seemed so smug. Chandra would have loved to have been the woman to bring him to his knees in surrender. She might just have tried, too, if she weren't in love with another man. It would be sheer delight to watch some woman come along and make him eat his words! She suddenly had had enough of this foolish conversation . . . and his company.
"I'm going back to the table," she mumbled hotly and whirled out of his arms. She was suddenly jerked to a dead halt. "Let go of me!" she hissed under her breath. The conceited oaf was going to make a scene out here on the dance floor!
"I'm not touching you," he spat out nastily. "Hold still, dammit!"
"Will you
please
stop that disgusting cussing!" She glared emphatically at him over her shoulder.
"Don't be telling
me
what to do, lady!" He was working frantically with the clasp of his belt buckle, holding her tight against him on the dance floor. "I'll cuss if I feel like it. Your damn dress is stuck on my belt buckle."
She glanced back nervously at the entangled dress, her face flushing a dark pink. "Oh my goshwhat are we going to do now?"
"Just keep moving," he said tightly. "I'll see if I can get it loose."
For the next few minutes Chandra was sure everyone in the place thought he was molesting her on the dance floor. She had never been so embarrassed.
 
Page 33
Disgusted, he finally backed her into the foyer, smiling pleasantly at the other dancers. Reaching the safety of the dark hall, Chandra let out a long, angry sigh. ''That's the most embarrassing thing I've ever had to endure," she spat out, her back still turned to him.
"You think I'm enjoying this, lady?! Just calm downno one saw us."
"No one
saw
us! There was an old man in a blue suit whose eyes were hanging out of his head!"
"That's just your imagination. Look, why don't you try to undo it? Your fingers are a lot smaller than mine," he said from behind her.
Chandra tried to look back at him, sputtering, "You're joking!"
"No, I'm not joking. I can't get it undone, so you'll either have to try or we can stand here all night. . . ." He stopped in mid-sentence. "Or . . . I can just slip these pants off right here."
"You wouldn't dare!" Chandra glared at the wall she was facing.
"As you said, honey, I'm not shy."
"This is simply disgusting," Chandra murmured helplessly as her hand slipped around her back and between them. She worked uselessly for a few minutes trying to twist the stubborn dress out of the belt buckle. A crimson flush crept up her neck as she felt the first stirrings of his desire against her fumbling fingers as she kept brushing the front of his trousers. She glanced back into his innocent, sky-blue eyes, a look of consternation on her pretty face.
He shrugged his broad shoulders, grinning boyishly. "Sorry, this happens every time some good-looking woman fumbles with my belt in the dark."
By now there was definitely a prominent show of his aroused passion.
"Oooooooh . . ." Chandra jerked angrily away from him, ripping a large hole in her dress.
 
Page 34
''Hey, watch it!" he advised shakily, his hands grabbing hers. "
Now
look what you've done!"
Chandra could not make her eyes look at the front of his trousers. "What did I do?"
He stared down, repulsed at the numerous pieces of her dress sticking out of his belt buckle. He looked back up at her in annoyance. "You think
this
isn't going to attract attention?"
Her eyes unwillingly fastened on the pieces of black yarn standing out like a sore thumb against the pale gray of his slacks. "Ohhhh, I'm sorry!" she apologized sincerely.
"What a hell of a mess. I'm not going to stand here and let you dig out that yarn." He took hold of her shoulders and turned her around. "Come on, let's get out of here before one more thing happens. You walk in front of me. We'll make our apologies to the Rhodeses for leaving early, then grab a cab. You didn't drive over by yourself, did you?"
"No, I don't have a car. I came in a cab. But what about the hole in my dress?
"At least you've got one of those black things on under it and the hole's not so noticeable. Just keep your hands to your side and stay close to me. Okay, now start walking nice and easy, just as if nothing was wrong. I'll do all the explaining."
Chandra groaned helplessly as they stepped back out of the small foyer onto the crowded dance floor, smiling innocently at the questioning stares. He kept Chandra against the front of him, his arms draped around her waist casually. If she could get her hands on Darrell right now, she would throttle him alive!
Threading their way over to the Rhodeses' table, they stopped in front of the smiling older couple, Chandra indecently close to her "husband."
"John, I hope you'll excuse us, but my wife has developed a terrible headache and wants to go home."
John observed Morganson's intimate embrace of Chandra and gave him a knowing smile. "That's perfectly all right, son. I'm not too old to remember what it was like to be a newlywed." He
 
Page 35
winked friskily at Chandra. ''We were just about to leave ourselves. We'll give you a ride home."
Chandra's blood froze. Oh brother, now he thought they couldn't wait to get home and alone with each other. The last thing she needed was for this "hotshot" to go home with her.
"Oh, that's all right, sir. We'll just grab a ca" Morganson started.
"Nonsense, my boy. Where is your parents' house, Mrs. Morganson?"
"On Thirty-ninth Street, but really, Mr. Rhodes, we can easily call a cab." Chandra was beginning to panic.
"We're not staying three blocks from there ourselves." He turned to his wife. "Isn't that right, Sara?"
"Of course, we'd be delighted to drop you off. I'll just get my wrap." She stood up and took her husband's arm.
Still walking with Chandra in front of him, Garrett eased their way across the crowded room. "You're going to have to let me go so I can get my coat," Chandra gritted between clenched teeth.
"All right, but you'll have to get mine while you're at it." He looked around uneasily. "I don't want to take the chance anyone will see this damn yarn."
"What about the hole in
my
dress?" Chandra protested. "Couldn't you be enough of a gentleman to get
both
coats?"
"Come on, Chandra, give me a break!" He looked disconcerted for the first time that evening.
"This is a nightmare," she grumbled, just before asking the maid for their coats. "What are we going to do about them taking us home?"
"We'll just have to let them," he said distractedly as he draped the coat over his arm, discreetly covering the front of his trousers. "I'll grab a cab from your house and go on to my hotel."
"I don't know . . ." Chandra suddenly looked blank.
"Well, well, well, are we all ready to depart?" Mr. Rhodes walked up behind them with a fatherly smile.
"Ready sir," the young man grinned.
 
Page 36
''You better put your coat on, dear," Sara cautioned Chandra as they walked through the gaily decorated lobby. "It's terribly cold out there tonight."
"Oh, I'll just drape it around my shoulders." She smiled brightly. "I love this nippy weather!" She would gladly freeze to death before she let them see that gaping hole in the back of her dress. She shifted the coat a little more to the back.
They walked out the front door and a huge gust of wind tore through Chandra's dress. By the time they reached the car her teeth were chattering like a typewriter and she was clinging to her mystery man for some small shred of warmth. She fell into the back seat of the cold car, as her "husband" gave her a mocking grin. He pulled her over to him and wrapped her coat snugly around her as they sat in the dark. She gratefully snuggled close to him, suddenly wanting to be in his arms again. He brushed her ear with his lips lightly. "Are you warm now?"
"Yes, thank you," she whispered against his smooth-shaven cheek.
"Just a small, husbandly duty," he dismissed lightly.
After giving Mr. Rhodes the street number Chandra settled back in Garrett's strong arms and enjoyed the ride home. The night was about to end, and she suddenly felt very tired.
Ten minutes later the Cadillac pulled up in front of her parents' dark house. "Here you are, folks. Safe and sound." Mr. Rhodes left the motor running as the two climbed out the back door.
"Thanks again, sir," the young man told Mr. Rhodes as he took Chandra's hand and helped her out.
"Glad to do it, Garrett. I'll pick you up in the morning around nine. There're several things I'd like to go over with you before I make my final decision."
"In the morning, sir?"
"Right. Nine o'clock sharp. Good night, Mrs. Morganson."
"Good night, Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes." Chandra smiled bravely.
The big black car sped away into the cold night as the two

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