by Carol Rose
Jared laughed. “Okay, we’ll push the ‘dinner done right’ theme.”
After a moment’s pause, he said, “So, tell me about your sister and Doug. What’s up with that?”
His question triggered the concerns she’d been holding at bay since her brief conversation with Doug, and she couldn’t help frowning. “She’s in love with him.”
“And he’s in love with you,” Jared concluded.
Kelsey made a disgusted sound in her throat. “He thinks he’s in love with me, but the man’s too clueless. We’re all wrong for each other. I have to make him see that. I owe it to Amy.”
“You really love her.”
“Of course,” she responded, surprised. “Don’t you love your sister?”
Jared smiled. “Yes. Both of them, but none of their swains has indicated a preference for me.”
“Good for you,” Kelsey said, laughing softly. “I wish I could say the same.”
CHAPTER FIVE
The next morning, Kelsey put the telephone receiver back in the cradle and sighed. Still no answer. When she’d returned from lunch with Jared yesterday, Kelsey found that Amy had called in sick for work. Kelsey had tried calling her and had only gotten the answering machine. On the third attempt, she’d decided to leave a message. But here another morning was starting and her sister hadn’t called her back yet.
Kelsey couldn’t blame her for being upset. Amy loved Doug and he’d really had been a jerk at the banquet. But surely after their talk yesterday, he would have tried to contact Amy and apologize to her.
Sitting back down at the small kitchen table, Kelsey flipped through the newspaper, waiting for her coffee to cool. She’d woken early this morning, so worried about her sister that she’d been unable to sleep. As a result, she now had a few minutes to kill before getting ready for work.
Engrossed in an article on a local homeless shelter, she reached the end of the page and searched for the continuation. As usual, the newsprint refused to crease in the place she needed. Kelsey flapped the pages with both hands, trying to subdue the section. In her efforts to wrestle the thing into a readable size, the rest of the paper slid off her knees to the floor.
“Crap,” she muttered, bending to pick up the stack—
Kelsey froze. There on the front page of the financial section was a small article with a headline proclaiming Layton and Associates Anticipating Market Drop.
Gathering up the paper, she ignored the odd sensation in her stomach. Almost without conscious thought, she let the rest of the paper drift onto the table top, the financial section in her hands.
Layton and Associates.
Her eyes scanning the article, she read about John Layton’s take on how the latest economic indicators would affect the stock market. She’d always known that her father was a financial adviser in Manhattan. But how many John Layton’s could there be working in a town this size? Ten? A hundred? This probably wasn’t him.
Kelsey reread the article, unable to stop herself despite the fact that it said little beyond stock prognostications. At the end of it, she calmly refolded the section of newspaper and returned it to the stack on the table.
Even if this John Layton was her and Amy’s father, what did it matter to her?
***
An hour later, Kelsey sat at her desk, the phone tucked against one ear as she munched on a bagel with cream cheese.
“Yes, Sal. I understand. You want someone perkier for the coffee shot. Okay. All right. I’ll take care of it.”
She hung up, swearing softly when she saw that a glob of cream cheese had landed an inch above her left breast. Busily scrubbing at the spot with a damp paper napkin, she picked up the phone absently when it rang again.
“Hello?”
“I’ve had it!” Amy’s anger radiated over the phone wire.
“Thank God, you finally called. I was beginning to think you’d been murdered in the subway.”
“No,” her sister snapped. “I just couldn’t come in to work, couldn’t talk to anyone.”
“I’m sorry,” Kelsey said miserably. “This whole situation is my fault.”
“No, it isn’t,” Amy disagreed impatiently. “Doug’s a big boy. He knows just what he’s doing. He came over last night, said something about ‘not meaning to upset me’.”
“Well, that’s good,” Kelsey said, brightening with the hope that her little talk with him had made an impact.
“No, it wasn’t good. He sort of apologized. Then he started talking all weird about you dating ‘tough guys’ and I told him what you did wasn’t any of his business. Then he got mad at me and we had it out.”
“Oh, dear.” Kelsey couldn’t attribute the sudden sinking feeling in her midsection to the bagel.
“You can have him,” Amy declared passionately. “He can go on being your little slave, running every time you look his direction—“
“That’s not what I want,” Kelsey protested.
“It doesn’t really matter. That job offer in London came through,” Amy went on, a sob breaking through her voice. “I can’t stay here and watch him drooling over you. I have to leave New York. It’s the best thing to do.”
“You can’t leave,” Kelsey objected immediately. “I’ll miss you too much. Besides, you love Doug and…he needs you.”
“He doesn’t need me,” Amy disagreed tearfully. “We had a terrible fight last night. He’s just as furious with me as I am with him. I’m such a wreck that I called in sick again this morning. I’ll probably end up getting fired.”
“No, you won’t. You’re a great worker. I can’t believe you and Doug fought about who I date.” Kelsey sighed impatiently, tapping her pencil against a stack of proofs.
“That was just the starting point—“
A movement in the hallway drew Kelsey's glance. Jared stood in her doorway, his dark suit jacket slung over his shoulder, the pure white of his immaculate shirt making his shoulders look even broader.
He looked cool and delicious enough to eat. Kelsey immediately glanced down at the cream cheese stain on her blue shirt.
“—from there,” Amy continued, “we went to the specific dangers of you dating Jared.”
Kelsey’s gaze swung to Jared’s face. He stepped into her office and seated himself in the chair on the opposite side of her desk.
“The dangers?” Kelsey's throat suddenly felt very dry. Just how much of Amy’s conversation could Jared hear?
“Yes. I got so angry at the stupid way he talks about you, like you’re little Bo Peep looking for your sheep, and then he said he was just trying to protect you.”
“Uh, why?” She probably shouldn’t have asked, she realized instantly.
“Because he said Jared is a wolf. He’s never had a long term relationship since his divorce years and years ago. Doug says you’ll get hurt.”
“Oh.” Like she'd ever planned on a long term relationship with a man. Their mother’s continual attempts toward that goal had certainly never netted her much beyond a decent investment portfolio. Kelsey preferred to earn her own retirement fund.
“But I told him that was just an excuse,” Amy declared. “He doesn’t need to worry about you. You’re certainly tough enough to go up against Jared. It’s not like you’re inexperienced or anything.”
“Of course not.” Kelsey smiled nervously at Jared.
“Then I told him you were probably having a better time with some guy at that very moment than we were,” Amy said bitterly.
“That, um, probably didn’t help matters,” Kelsey commented.
“Nothing is going to help.” Amy broke into tears.
“Don’t cry,” Kelsey begged her, no longer worried about Jared’s presence. “We’ll make it okay. I’ll find a way.”
“I’m just wasting my life waiting for Doug to get a clue,” Amy said, between sobs. “I’m going to London.”
“No!” Kelsey implored. “I’ll convince Doug that I’m not available. I’ll talk to him tonight. Tell him aga
in that there’s no hope of us ever—“
“Don’t waste your breath,” Amy said viciously. “He won’t believe you.”
“But I could try again,” Kelsey faltered. “Tell him that I didn't realize before—“
“Words just don’t sink in. It’s true that actions speak louder than words. I just need to get away from him, go to London.”
“Wait, Amy,” Kelsey yelped. “Promise me that you won’t take that job offer yet. Give me a week to come up with something.”
Amy sniffled and she was silent for a moment. “Okay. I guess a week won’t hurt, but I don’t think it’ll do any good. As long as you’re there, he’ll keep waiting for you to realize he’s your Prince Charming.”
“Then I'll just have to convince him otherwise,” Kelsey said with a surge of determination.
“Whatever,” Amy said. “Since you want me to, I’ll give it a week, but then I’m moving.”
Kelsey hung up the phone, feeling both stunned and frightened. She had to do something quick if she didn’t want her sister moving an ocean away. Amy had already given Doug chance after chance to see her as a potential mate. How many women would do that while a man mooned over someone else?
If only she herself were committed to someone. If Doug saw her as irrevocably tied to another man.
“Boy, do I need a husband,” she blurted out. “Immediately.”
Jared felt his brows climb in surprise. “Excuse me?”
She tossed her pencil on the jumbled desk and said in anxious disgust. “I need a husband.”
“This is about Doug, isn’t it?” After having lunch with her, Jared had dreamed about her all night. Hot, erotic dreams. He’d been compelled to see her today and had dropped by only to walk into something totally unexpected.
So, she thought she needed a husband? This was a twist he hadn’t anticipated.
“Yes,” she sighed, “Doug’s pushed Amy as far as she can go. She’s seriously considering taking a job overseas and I can’t let that happen.”
“You want to stop her from moving?”
“She’s my sister. I love her.” Kelsey said emphatically, picking up the pencil again. “And I feel responsible for the problems between them.”
“Why?”
Her blue eyes seemed impossibly dark. “Because I’ve been a selfish, dimwitted idiot for fifteen years.”
Jared couldn’t help smiling. “You’re going to have to explain that.”
“I’ve just realized in the last week,” she said with dignity, “that Doug really thinks he’s in love with me, has thought so for years, and that he’s convinced I’ll eventually return his feelings if he just hangs around long enough.”
“Okay, that explains part of it. Now tell me about the selfish, dimwitted idiot part.” Seeing her obvious distress made him want to haul her onto his lap and kiss her silly. She was so sweet.
Oblivious too. Doug’s infatuation was plain.
Kelsey made an exasperated sound, flinging out a slender hand. “All this time, I’ve…relied on him. Led him on, I guess. Amy’s right. I had no idea that she was so much in love with him and I’ve been throwing him crumbs all these years and never thought about her side of things. Or his. Don’t you think I should have noticed when he cancelled plans to be with me? Ran errands for me? Sent me flowers when my dates turned out to be jerks? I just got…used to him being there.”
“And now you’re wallowing in guilt,” Jared concluded, understanding perfectly how a vibrant, vivacious woman like Kelsey could get used to men’s attentions.
“Rightfully so.” She paused. “I never thought about his feelings or Amy’s. I love her and I love Doug like a brother. I feel terrible that I’ve been…using him.”
“And the husband thing?” This was the part that intrigued him the most. The more he saw of her, the more he was convinced that he was the only husband for Kelsey. So, the thought of her considering marriage possibly to someone else did not please him.
“Amy says Doug thinks I’ve got a commitment problem, that I’m afraid to fall in love. Now I realize, he thinks if I come to terms with my fears, I’ll automatically fall in love with him. But if I were to get married to someone else, Doug would have to see that the reason I haven’t fallen in love with him is that I don’t love him that way.”
“Of course.” Jared realized with a jolt that she was totally serious. She was actually considering getting married to help Doug get on with his life, hopefully with Amy.
“So,” he said, his mind shifting into hyper-alert, crisis mode, “why do you suppose you haven’t married one of the guys you’ve dated. No one made your heart flutter?”
Kelsey leaned back in her desk chair, an expression of disgust on her face. “They all make my heart flutter, but I haven’t run across one that I felt the need to marry.”
“You’re not a tender romantic?” he asked, knowing her answer. He felt his mind clicking along at the speed of light. This was his strong point, though, the ability to take any problem thrown at him and find a good solution in the heat of the moment.
How could he use this? How could he make the most of such an unexpected development? He certainly hadn’t envisioned anything like this when he nudged Amy to bring things to a head with Doug.
“I’m as romantic as the next girl,” Kelsey said impatiently, “I just don’t fool myself that relationships last forever. Look around you. How many married couples do you personally know that actually enjoy each other after the first five years?”
“A few,” he murmured, a picture popped into his mind of his parents laughing together after thirty-five years of marriage. This, of course, wasn’t the moment to debate the issue of love with her.
If she was going to marry anyone, it had to be him, he decided instantly. He knew marrying Kelsey at this point meant the possibility of a second divorce, something he’d promised himself would never again happen in his life. But he was a gambler at heart and, in this instance, was relying on his ability to win her over.
“Just look at the statistics on infidelity and divorce.” She shook her head. “Marriage is for when you’re ready to have kids. After that, you just hope it stays together long enough to get them raised.”
Jared suddenly regretted not pumping Doug for more information on Kelsey and Amy’s family background. All he could remember was that their parents divorced early.
Maybe Kelsey had enjoyed Doug’s attentions because the people who were supposed to have been there for her weren’t. Doug was always there, she’d said.
“So you haven’t married because you’re not ready for children?”
“Not yet,” she said, her eyes going distant. “Someday, but not yet.”
Jared catalogued that piece of info. She wanted kids in a big way, but hadn’t found the right guy to have them with. He was the one, he knew. He wanted children, too. Wanted a family of girls with brunette hair and blue eyes. But he’d have to catch Kelsey’s heart first.
“If you don’t believe in relationships lasting,” Jared said, knowing he was toying with his own future, “why don’t you tell Amy to give up on Doug? Move on to someone else?”
Her gaze dropped and she paused before answering. “Amy really cares about Doug. Loves him. She thinks he’s terrific. Maybe I’m wrong about love not lasting. I mean, maybe they’d hit the lottery and it would work for them. I think my sister deserves a chance anyway. After all these years of hanging around waiting for Doug to get real about me, she deserves a chance at finding love with him.”
“You don't think it’ll last, but you want to give your sister a shot at—“
“Being…loved for a while,” she said, her lashes dark against her skin as she looked down at the pencil in her hands.
“I’ll marry you,” Jared said, taking the plunge, excitement and adrenaline pumping through his veins. He knew it was risky, but risk frequently brought reward.
Maybe it was the biggest gamble he’d ever taken, marrying Kelsey before she’d come to terms wi
th her refusal to love. But he couldn’t let her marry some other guy.
Kelsey looked up at him, her expression shocked and startled. “W-what? You’re kidding!”
Jared leaned forward, his arms propped on her desk, meeting her gaze at point-blank range. “I said, I’ll marry you and I’m completely serious.”
She seemed to gulp for air, her berry red mouth open. “I-I didn’t mean for you to think…. It really isn’t your problem.”
“I know. I like Doug and Amy, but they have nothing to do with my offer.” He watched her face intently, trying to gauge the emotions that flowed over her face.
“Then why would you want to marry me?”
He was ready for this one, had actually been working on it for several minutes now. “For the sex. If you end up marrying some other guy, just to help Amy, you won’t have sex with me.”
Kelsey’s jaw dropped further.
“I haven’t had sex with you,” she said. “I mean we haven’t had sex.”
“Not yet. But I want to and I think you do, too.”
“I, uh,” she stopped and cleared her throat. “I thought marriages of convenience were usually…celibate.”
Jared shook his head. “I think I’d find it very inconvenient to be married to you and not have sex.”
“Oh.” She’d dropped the pencil and was now nervously cracking her knuckles. “So you’d actually marry someone for the sex? I wouldn’t think you’d need to.”
This was the clincher, Jared knew. He couldn’t give Kelsey even a whiff of his real interest in her. She’d run like the blazes, Amy and Doug bedamned. He had to give her convincing alternative reasons for his proposal.
He leaned back in his chair, willing his face to show nothing more than a man offering to buy a car. In some ways, the strategy was no different from nailing down any acquisition.
“You’re a very presentable woman. Beautiful, intelligent, very comfortable in business and social situations. As a wife, you’d be a great asset to me socially.”
“Oh.” She stared at him, shock still lingering on her face.