The Matchmaker's Happy Ending: Boardroom Bride and Groom

by Shirley Jump

  The grandfather clock in the hall gonged the hour and Nick pulled back, his fingertips sliding around and releasing her jaw last, as if he wanted to linger there for as long as he could. Then he smiled. “I think about that most of all.”

  “Me, too.” Why bother lying? He’d only read the truth in her eyes, the quickening of her pulse, her rapid breathing.

  He studied her, his eyes dark. “If we’re going to stay here together, we might want to have a few ground rules.”

  “Ground rules?”

  Nick traced along the edge of her lips. “Because if we keep doing that, I’m going to break every rule of gentlemanly conduct known to man, and with a child around, that’s probably not a good idea.”

  Carolyn took a step back. Putting some distance between them helped her clear her head, find her footing again. “You’re right. Bobby will be here in a few minutes, and although we want to be one big happy family for the next few days, we don’t exactly want to go too far.”

  “Or pretend to be something we aren’t.” Nick’s gaze met hers, penetrating, searching for answers. “Like happily married.”

  The truth. Right smack-dab back between them again. Why did they always have to circle back to this?

  The dog, apparently disappointed that none of this concerned him, turned around and left the room, picking up a plastic bone as he left. He gave the toy a squeak-squeak of indignant protest at being left out of all the fun.

  “You’re right,” Carolyn said, picking up her bag. All business again, any trace of what might have been between them a moment ago gone. Nick had a point. Pretending to be happily married—or pretending to be any kind of couple at all—could only lead to trouble and broken hearts down the road.

  Where did she expect their kisses to go, really? After Bobby went home, she and Nick would return to their lives, to their careers. The impasse they had reached three years ago still as wide as ever. Nick was still the devil-may-care playful guy he’d always been, the one who couldn’t see how important Carolyn’s career was to her. He hadn’t listened to her then; he wasn’t listening to her now.

  And either way, they wanted different things from their futures. Nick came from a large family. He’d told her that someday he wanted the same thing for himself. The three-bedroom house she stood in was in-your-face evidence of that. She was still the woman who wouldn’t take that chance, partly because of the hours she worked and partly because she was no good at mothering. If ever two people weren’t meant to be together, it was Carolyn and Nick.

  “Maybe I should just get settled in,” Carolyn said, “and then, when Bobby comes, we can concentrate on him. And forget that kiss ever happened.”

  His jaw tensed. “We’re very good at that, aren’t we, Carolyn? Pretending things never happened between us.”

  Before she could answer, Nick took the suitcase out of her hand and charged up the stairs.

  CHAPTER NINE

  THE TROUBLE WITH ACTING on impulse was where it got you. All Nick could think about now was the way Carolyn had felt in his arms. How she had moved against him, touched him, kissed him back. How for one long, sweet moment she had been his again.

  And then reality had intruded and brought them right back to square one. Fellow attorneys who used to be married. Now she was using the convenient Bobby wall to keep from even coming near him. Everywhere they went, it was Nick-Bobby-Carolyn, so that Carolyn didn’t even have to get close to Nick.

  Fine. That was probably just as well. He didn’t need to court temptation more than once to know it was a bad idea.

  They were at the park with Bobby, killing time until the fireworks started. The minute Bobby had arrived, Carolyn had announced that they should have a picnic at the park, as if she wanted to get out of the house as quickly as possible. They’d packed up a cooler with some food, grabbed a blanket and set out for the park, leaving a dejected Bandit at home.

  Now, with the food eaten, Nick had put the cooler back in the truck and they were wandering the park, looking for the perfect location to view the fireworks. The sun had nearly set, casting everything around them in a dark-purple haze of twilight.

  “I missed the fireworks last year,” Bobby said quietly as they walked down a grassy hill. “That was when my daddy died.”

  Nick and Carolyn exchanged a glance. He saw tears well in Carolyn’s eyes—of sympathy? Of understanding? Or of her own memories? She looked away first, and he wanted to reach out to her, but again she withdrew, putting up that damned wall.

  Instead, Nick laid a hand on Bobby’s shoulder. “Let’s hope these fireworks are extra great.” It was a wonder the words even made it past the lump in Nick’s throat.

  Bobby nodded. He thought for a minute, then he turned to Carolyn. “Do you think my dad can see them, too? In heaven?”

  She seemed taken aback by the question. A shadow washed over her face.

  She had to be wondering the same thing. Was her father watching from above? Had he watched all the milestones in her life? Her graduation from law school? Her first case? Her short-lived marriage?

  How lucky Nick had been to have a two-parent cheerleading team for everything he’d done, while Carolyn hadn’t had anyone. She’d forged forward, essentially on her own, through all the milestones in life. No one sitting in a cramped seat in the too-hot assembly hall of the elementary school, a tissue pressed to a face, beaming with pride over a screechy rendition of “Hot Cross Buns.” No one who would hang every A-plus test on the refrigerator front and center, layering the achievements one on top of the other with the pride only a parent could have.

  Carolyn turned her face up to the sky, then met Bobby’s inquisitive look. “I believe he can, Bobby. And I bet he has the best seat in the house.”

  “Yeah.” Bobby smiled at the thought. He had on a brand-new USA sweatshirt that Nick had bought him from a street vendor, and wore a neon necklace around his neck—a Carolyn purchase. Nick had no doubt that before the night was over, Bobby would be decked out with at least one item from every vendor staked out around the park. “Do you think your dad watched them from heaven with you, too, when you were little?”

  Carolyn fiddled with the fringe on the edge of the blanket in her arms. “I don’t know, Bobby. I haven’t watched fireworks since I was eight.”

  “Really?” Nick gaped at her. “Your aunt never took you?”

  Carolyn shrugged like it was no big deal. “She didn’t see the point. Thought they were a waste of the city’s money. And the show was put on after my bedtime, anyway.”

  “But surely one night out of the year—”

  “You had to know my aunt Greta, Nick. There was no ‘one night out of the year’ with her. Not for anything.” The pinched look on Carolyn’s face told him the subject was closed.

  “I like to stay up late,” Bobby said, interjecting a change of conversation with the timing only a kid could have. “My momma says it’s okay, as long as I’m reading.”

  “What kind of stories do you like to read?” Carolyn asked, clearly grateful for the subject switch. Once again, treading anywhere near her past had her building up the walls so fast, Nick could practically hear the bricks knocking into each other.

  Bobby shrugged, and for a second Nick thought he wouldn’t answer, would refuse again to connect with Carolyn. Nick was about to intervene, when Carolyn started talking again.

  “When I was a girl,” she said, the memory leaving her lips in a quiet stream, “my father used to read me adventure stories. Books with pirates and lost treasures. Knights who had to slay fire-breathing dragons, things like that. Those were my favorites.”

  Bobby brightened. “I like those, too! I don’t have very many, though. When my momma is sick, we don’t get to go to the library because it’s a long walk. And pirate books are expensive to buy. But it’s okay. Sometimes I just make up pirat
e stories in my head.”

  Carolyn smiled. “Well then, tomorrow how about we go to the bookstore and buy you lots of pirate books? That should keep you busy reading for a long time.”

  “You will? Promise?”

  She nodded. “Nick and I will read as many of them to you as you want, too. One of the things I did to pass the time when I was a girl was read. I still love reading.”

  “I can’t wait!” Bobby grinned. “I love bookstores. And books.”

  “That’s great.”

  Bobby’s grin spread further. “Can I go play for a while? Until the fireworks start?” Carolyn and Nick nodded. Bobby ran off to the playground, swinging his arms and humming to himself.

  When Bobby was gone, Nick closed the gap between himself and Carolyn. “I think you’ve made a buddy now.”

  “It was easier than I expected.”

  “I hate to say it, but—” he grinned “—I told you so.”

  “At least he’ll have some wonderful memories to take home with him.”

  “Yeah. Memories and toys.” That was all they could give the boy. It wasn’t anywhere near what Nick had had as a kid, but hopefully it would be enough.

  Carolyn watched Bobby head over to the playground, then begin to climb on the jungle gym. Only a hundred yards or so separated them, but a feeling of panic rose in Carolyn’s chest. “Do you think he’s okay? Not too far away?” She glanced around the park at the swarm of strangers. “I don’t think there’s enough security here.”

  “He’s fine, Carolyn. Nothing’s going to happen.”

  “Maybe we should call him back. There are an awful lot of people here. Do you see that guy over there?” She gestured with her head. “I think he looks suspicious.”

  “The one who is helping his daughter climb the monkey bars?”

  “No, the other one. The one on the bench. Watching the kids. What’s he doing?”

  “Watching his own kid.” Nick took Carolyn’s hand, rubbing a thumb over the back. “It’s okay. Not every human is a criminal. And besides, we’re right here.”

  She shook her head, not convinced, her gaze darting from person to person, assessing every one of them as if she were a judge determining guilt or innocence. “Bobby’s not ours. I couldn’t bear it if something happened.”

  “Carolyn, look at me.”

  It took a lot of effort, but she tore her gaze away from the boy and turned toward Nick. “What?”

  “Everything will be fine. What happened to you isn’t going to happen to Bobby.” He reached over, brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. “When you learn to let go, you’ll have a life, too. The one you’ve always deserved.”

  She shook her head and busied herself unfolding the blue plaid blanket in her arms. Nick grabbed the opposite end and helped her spread it on the ground. “It’s not that easy, Nick.”

  “It’s exactly that easy. It always was.”

  Carolyn settled on the blanket, back to watching Bobby, the concern etched again in her face. “You always thought so.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  She sighed. “To you, everything is black-and-white. One and one makes two. But for me there are other variables, things you never considered. I don’t blame you, Nick. You can’t consider what you haven’t experienced.”

  His temper flared, a burst of leftover frustration from years before, rising to the surface. “I can’t consider what you’ve never told me, either.”

  “I’ve told you everything about my past.”

  He let out a chuff. “You’ve told me like you were a witness on the stand, Carolyn. Relating facts in a case, not giving me your heart.” He gestured toward Bobby, who was holding on to the bars and swinging back and forth. “You told Bobby more in the last five minutes than you ever told me.”

  She followed his line of sight, considering his words for one long moment. “I suppose you have to ask the right questions, Counselor, to get the right answers.”

  Nick swallowed hard. Had that been the problem? He’d never asked the right questions? Never delved deeply enough with Carolyn?

  They didn’t say anything for a while, just watched Bobby play. “He looks kind of like you, don’t you think?” Carolyn said softly.

  Nick glanced at the boy. A towhead, yes, but Bobby did have some similar features. Same eye color, lanky build. “A little, yes.”

  “It makes me wonder...” Carolyn cut off the sentence, shook her head.

  “Wonder what?”

  “Nothing. Never mind.”

  “Oh, no fair, leaving me in suspense. Here, let The Great Nick read your mind.” He turned her toward him and placed a palm on her forehead. The whole thing started out as a joke, a tease—one of the parlor tricks he’d pulled a hundred times in college—but then, as he paused long enough to think of what Carolyn might have been thinking, the truth hit him hard. His palm dropped away. The tease left his voice. “You’re thinking what if...what if we had a child. What if Bobby was...ours?”

  “Of course not.” She inserted some distance between them. “You know I’m not the kind of person who should have kids.”

  “Why?”

  “You know why, Nick. I work a million hours a week, so that rules me out right there.”

  Nick settled on the blanket, pretending to watch Bobby slide down the slide, dart back to the steps, climb up again and make the swooshing trip down again. “And why is that, Carolyn? Your work schedule can be shifted, you know. There are plenty of attorneys who have families and careers.”

  “I’m fulfilled the way I am now.”

  “If you’re so fulfilled, why did you kiss me back?”

  “If you’re so happy, why did you kiss me?” she countered.

  He let out a laugh. “Always the lawyer. Answering a question with a question. Am I going to have to get a bailiff and a Bible, Miss Duff, to get a straight answer out of you?”

  A burst of white light exploded over their heads, arcing outward in a scatter of stars. “The fireworks have started, Nick.”

  He caught her gaze, defiant, strong. Sexy. Despite everything, he still wanted her. “Yes, Carolyn, they most certainly have.”

  Carolyn tried to keep her gaze on the explosions in the sky, the vibrant colors blasting outward in heavenly flowers. But every time another bloom of sparks soared overhead, Carolyn found herself glancing at Nick. Thinking of their conversation—

  And of where they were going as soon as the fireworks show was over.

  Back to his house. Back together. After all she had done for the past three years to stay away from Nick Gilbert—away from the temptation of his eyes, his smile, his touch—she had offered voluntarily to spend the next few days with him.

  Crazy, absolutely crazy.

  The humidity draped around them like a thick, heavy blanket. Carolyn had worn a sleeveless shirt and shorts, as had Nick. What had been a great decision weatherwise, however, only gave her a heightened awareness of Nick. Despite their conversation, their differences, differences that seemed to get less and less resolved the more time they spent together, she couldn’t stop thinking about kissing him earlier, and about what it would be like to kiss him again.

  Beside them, Bobby went on watching the fireworks, completely enthralled and utterly unaware of the adult tension right behind him.

  Nick’s fingertips brushed against Carolyn’s bare shoulder and she flinched, then turned, a thousand nerve endings standing at attention. “Just brushing away a mosquito,” he said.

  “Oh. Thank you.”

  “Anytime.” That familiar grin, the one she could have drawn blindfolded, curved once again across his features, and something tripped inside her chest. The switch that was always waiting, as if the light inside her had gone dark years before, and now here he was, the only one who coul
d turn it back on. “Anytime at all.”

  Now, she wanted to say. And the next second after that. And the one after that. But she didn’t say any of those words. Instead, she returned her attention to the sky—

  And didn’t see a single thing.

  “How do they make these?” Bobby asked her.

  “Well...” Carolyn began, then stopped. “I don’t really know. Nick?”

  He took the opportunity to scoot closer, and Carolyn drew in a breath, so very aware of his presence, of how they made a little family, and how if she let herself, she could believe this was real, that they were real, and together again. “They’re made out of lots of things, Bobby. Gunpowder makes them explode, but it’s the colors that are the cool part. Certain colors are made by different chemical compounds. Blue comes from copper salts, for instance, gold from aluminum and magnesium.”

  “That’s pretty cool,” Bobby said. “So the people that do this job gotta know how to mix all those chemicals, huh?”

  Nick nodded. “And especially how to light the fireworks safely.”

  “When I grow up, I’d love to have that job. It would kind of be like being a dragon.”

  Carolyn chuckled. “Yes, I suppose it would be.”

  “Except, my momma says I should go to college.” He crinkled his upper lip.

  “You should,” Nick agreed. “And when it comes time, you look me up. I’ll write you a recommendation. Help you find a good school.”

  “You will?” His eyes widened, the blast of red and green above reflecting in his gaze, his smile. Then his smile drooped and he dropped his head. “Maybe I will.”

  Carolyn could have read the body language from a mile away. Bobby had been disappointed so many times in his life he didn’t want to put any hope into the future. He’d rather let the dream go now than hold on to it for the next dozen years and then find out Nick was only making an offhand comment—and didn’t really mean it.