“Taylor knows she doesn’t really have the right to ask, but she needs a favor.”
“What?”
Taylor frowned in his direction, then looked back to Meg. “Mort Heckel liked whatever it was you did with the kids last night. You know, reading. Can you teach me how to do it?”
Meg pushed up her glasses. “You want me to teach you how to read?”
Jarett smiled—it was the first show of spunk Meg had shown since they’d arrived.
“No,” Taylor snapped. “I want you to teach me how to read aloud to kids.”
“How to tell stories,” Jarett added. “If that’s possible. And if you have time.”
“Why?” she asked Taylor.
Taylor sighed. “Because Mort expects me at a children’s hospital in a few hours and wants me to do what you did last night.”
The first real smile since they’d arrived curved Meg’s lips. “Really?”
“Really,” Taylor said flatly. “So I need to know your tricks.”
“If you have time,” Jarett added.
“Right,” Taylor said.
Meg looked dubious. “I guess I can give you a few pointers.”
“Great,” Taylor said quickly. “Let’s get on with it.”
“Do you know what book you’ll be reading?”
Taylor blanched. “Is that important?”
Meg rummaged behind the counter until she came up with paper and pen. She hesitated a moment, lost in thought, then began to write on the paper. “Here are a few titles to pick up at the bookstore. You might get a few extra copies to leave with the kids.”
“Write that down,” Taylor said.
“Now,” Meg said. “When you read, use a stage voice, really enunciate and project. How now Brown cow,” she said loudly, then looked to Taylor. “You try it.”
Jarett leaned back against a column and watched Meg teach. She was in her element, and he’d never been more attracted to her. He knew what lay beneath those dusty garments—the layer of ash just made him want to make love to her in a shower. He’d bet Jr. had never taken her in the shower.
He shook himself mentally, and simply observed the situation. Meg explained to Taylor about making eye contact with the audience, how to make big gestures, and a few common stage noises. The odd thing was, Taylor seemed to be paying attention.
“This is like putting on a one-person play,” Taylor said at one point.
“Exactly,” Meg said, before going into the finer points of character voices.
Side by side, Meg and Taylor were so different, he could scarcely remember that Meg had looked so much like his charge just last night, that other people couldn’t see the glaring differences. His sex hardened just watching Meg move. She was graceful, like a dancer. It was her natural body control, he realized suddenly, that made her such a wonderfully responsive lover.
He’d spent most of the day investigating the center that Taylor had agreed to enter for two weeks of rehab. So far, so good—it seemed to be a discreet facility. But his research had taken twice as long because he simply couldn’t stop thinking about Meg in his bed, under the influence of his hands, his tongue, his body. He hadn’t slept with a huge number of women in his life, but he was no monk, either. And to date, none of the experiences had warranted more than a vague sense of gratitude on his part.
So what was different about Meg Valentine? Why did the woman stick in his mind like a burr?
“So that’s it?” Taylor asked.
“Well, it helps if you like kids,” Meg said.
Taylor bristled. “I like kids.”
“You hate kids,” Jarett reminded her.
Taylor frowned. “I can pretend to like kids for a couple of hours.”
He was embarrassed for her, Jarett decided, shaking his head.
“Kids pick up on that kind of thing,” Meg said quietly, her face serious. “Remember, some of these kids are never going home. Others are in pain every minute of every day. I don’t think it’s too much to ask to put one of them in your lap if they want to get close.” Meg pushed up her glasses and averted her gaze.
Even Taylor had the decency to look remorseful. “I’ll do my best,” she said in a tone so nor mal, he almost didn’t recognize it.
“Taylor, could I have a private word with Meg?”
Taylor pulled herself up. “I don’t see why not.
I need to go to the ladies’ room before we leave anyway.” Meg pointed the way, and by mutual consent, neither she nor Jarett said anything until Taylor had left the room.
He claimed the wooden stool that Taylor had vacated. Meg sat with her hands wrapped around her knees, waiting.
“Meg, I’d like to see you again.”
She turned her head abruptly. “That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
She lifted her hand. “Because I’m engaged to another man. Last night was a mistake, Jarett.”
“Then why did you do it?”
She shrugged. “Last fling before I settled down?”
Her glib answer cut through him.
“There’s something between us here, don’t you feel it?”
She made an exasperated sound. “Yes—lust.
Jarett, you told me you’re not interested in being tied into a relationship. Well, guess what? I’m not interested in having a purely sexual one. I know it probably seems backward to you, but I like the idea of having security in my life, of knowing someone is going to be there for me. That that person needs me as much as I need him.”
“And that person is Carnegie?”
She looked away. “Yes.”
“The way it was between us last night—is it like that with him?”
She hesitated for so long, he already knew her answer. She finally lifted her gaze. “No, it’s never been like that between me and Trey. But he loves me, and he would never hurt me.” She choked.
“He doesn’t deserve the way I betrayed his trust.”
“You don’t strike me as the kind of person who would betray his trust lightly.”
“Really?” she asked, then laughed. “Do you know I’ve been told that my entire life? That I seem like the kind of person who would do this, or not do that? Well, I have a news bulletin for you, and for everyone else.” She swallowed. “I did betray his trust lightly, all because I wanted a one-night stand with a great-looking guy.”
He hadn’t expected it to hurt so much—he re ally thought their encounter had meant something to her. Because it had to him.
She climbed down from the stool. “Don’t try to put me on a pedestal—I don’t want to be up there.”
He stood and clasped her arm as she turn to walk away.
“Meg, do you love this guy? If you do, tell me and I’ll walk away.”
She turned back to him, her eyes bright. “You know something, Jarett? You’re going to walk away no matter what I say—that’s how you’re wired. But yes, I do happen to love him. Good bye.”
He watched as she disappeared through a set of swinging doors into another part of the building.
It took everything in him not to go after her. But she was right—he wasn’t prepared to offer her the kind of stability, the kind of future that Carnegie offered? They’d known each other for mere hours—he couldn’t very well expect her to turn her back on Carnegie because the sex had been spectacular.
Taylor emerged looking very pleased with herself. “Are you ready?” she asked, giving him a sweet smile.
“Yeah, I’m ready,” he said, heading for the door. “There’s nothing for me here.”
19
MEG SURVEYED the restored dressing room with satisfaction, then inhaled deeply—not a trace of smoke. The costumes were freshly cleaned, and the commercial cleaners had used a citrusy detergent on the floors and walls. Very nice.
Just in time for Rebecca to arrive home, two days early as she’d predicted. Meg was planning to stay long enough to have dinner with her sister and new brother-in-law, then she’d be back in Peoria by ten o�
��clock or so. She preferred driving in the daylight, but at this point, she just wanted to leave Chicago. Her bags were already packed and in the car.
There were too many bad memories here.
Besides, she was exhausted. Every night she lay down, tired and aching, and every night she tossed and turned, replaying scenes with Jarett in her mind over and over and over. His lovemaking was so ingrained in her memory now, she suspected she’d be babbling about it in her old age when all of her other memories had faded.
She snapped her fingers, suddenly remembering that she had another item to pack. She opened the supply room closet and stared at Harry, the blow-up doll with something extra, according to her sister. And hadn’t Trey shown up just after she told Harry to work his magic on her?
Meg angled her head. “Okay, maybe you’re not magic, but you do kind of grow on a person.”
He grinned at her, and she laughed. “How many strange looks do you think I’ll get on the Interstate with you sitting in the passenger seat?”
She moved a crate and a chair to clear a path to him. Might as well wrestle him out and size up his traveling requirements.
The bell on the door rang. “Hidy-ho!”
“I’m in the closet, Quincy!”
He appeared a few seconds later and looked over her shoulder. “Hey, Harry.”
Meg shook her head. “It’s crazy, but you almost expect him to answer.”
“Are you putting him on display?”
She laughed and pointed to Harry’s ever-ready arousal. “I don’t think that would be a good idea. I’m taking him back home to a friend of mine.”
“A single friend?”
“Yes,” she said dryly. “Not that I believe any of that malarkey about a good luck love charm.”
“Hey, you’re engaged, aren’t you?”
She looked at her ring and nodded. “But Trey asked me to marry him before I came to Chicago.”
“Well, maybe Harry helped you make up your mind.”
“Okay, I give up. Just help me get him through the door, okay?”
“Sure thing.”
She picked up the doll by his arms and pushed him through the doorway. Quincy helped with wayward limbs and baggy pajamas. When Harry was out, Meg turned around to rearrange items in the spot he’d taken up, and gasped.
“What is it?”
A bulky envelope lay in the floor. “It’s the missing deposit.” Her heart thudded as she retrieved it, and her hands shook.
“That’s great!” he said, clasping her shoulder.
But her stomach had fallen. “No, it’s awful.”
He frowned. “How is finding fifteen thousand in cash awful?”
She clamped her hand to her forehead. “Don’t you see, Quince? If I hadn’t lost this cash, I would never have accepted Jarett’s deal to impersonate Taylor. I only did it to make myself feel better about the money he gave me to cover the deposit.” She thought she was going to be sick.
“How did the deposit get in here?”
Meg closed her eyes, trying to remember the details. “I came in to get a night deposit bag, and I guess I had the envelope with me. That’s when the fire broke out, and I ran for the fire extinguisher.”
“But I thought the firemen found the night de posit bag in the dressing room.”
“They did, but I must not have had time to put the envelope in the bag. I guess I dropped the envelope in here, and the night deposit bag when I was using the extinguisher in the dressing room.”
“So all this time, Harry’s been standing on fifteen grand?”
Meg sighed and managed a little laugh. “I sup pose you’re right.”
A slow smile crept up Quincy’s face. “So what you’re saying is that if it hadn’t been for Harry, you would never had spent the evening with Jarett Miller.”
She scoffed. “That’s not what I’m saying at all.” Then she squinted. “Wait a minute—that is what I’m saying.”
Quincy’s low chuckle rumbled out. “I wouldn’t have believed it, if I hadn’t seen it firsthand.”
“But what am I going to do with all this money? I used the money Jarett paid me to cover the deposit.”
“Consider it compensation for all the trouble you went through.”
Meg fingered the stack of bills and frowned. “I suppose.” But it still didn’t feel right to her.
“Rebecca is going to flip when she hears how Harry managed things this time.”
“Oh, no, don’t you tell her,” Meg warned, shaking her finger. “She’s already obsessed with this crazy doll.”
“You have to admit, it’s all pretty strange, Meg.”
She nodded. “But you’re forgetting something—Jarett Miller isn’t the man I’m going to marry, is he?”
“You’re not married yet,” Quincy said softly. “And I know you’re crazy about the guy, Meg.”
She bit down on the inside of her cheek. “Yeah, I was.”
“Still are?”
“No.” She shook her head. “It was just a flash in the pan affair. No, I’m going to marry Trey.”
Quincy made a rueful noise. “It’s your life and your decision, Meg. And if it’s any consolation, I think you’re doing the right thing.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. You just don’t seem like the kind of person who would break off a long-term relationship for the love of some guy you’ve only known a couple of days.”
Meg closed her eyes.
“YOU’RE AWFULLY QUIET this evening,” Jarett said over the dinner table a couple of months later. “Do you feel okay?”
Taylor smiled and cut into a chicken breast. “Better than I’ve felt in years.”
At least the trip to Chicago had yielded one positive thing—Taylor had responded well to rehab. He’d been worried she wouldn’t take the program seriously because he’d practically blackmailed her into going. But that storytelling stint in the children’s hospital had changed Taylor. She’d walked in a starlet, ready to see and be seen. But the machinery and the suffering on those kids’ faces had transformed her in a matter of minutes. Jarett wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t witnessed it himself. Taylor had walked out of that hospital a changed woman. She’d breezed through rehab with a positive energy that had surprised everyone, including him. And she’d been clean for the last month that they’d been back in L.A.
More than clean—happy, and definitely more mature. Taking charge of her career, and herself. Jarett was starting to feel as if she wouldn’t even need him around much longer. And strangely enough, where he’d once been sure of what he wanted to do with his freedom if he ever got it, he wasn’t so sure anymore.
Meg.
Suddenly Taylor’s silverware clattered to her plate. For a second Jarett wondered if he’d spoken Meg’s name aloud, something he avoided because it seemed to upset Taylor so much. He’d never known her to be quite so jealous of anyone, although the circumstances had been unusual. “What’s wrong?” “I need to talk to you.”
He set down his own utensils. “So talk.”
She stood and walked over to a table, then slid open a drawer and removed an envelope. “I received this letter last week, and it’s been weighing on my mind.”
“Who’s it from?”
She turned around. “Meg Valentine.”
His stomach bottomed out. “Meg? Why would she be writing to you?”
“She sent me a check for fifteen thousand dollars.”
“What?”
“The day of the fire, she thought the store’s deposit had gone up in flames.”
And he’d paid cash that day—not a small sum.
“So,” Taylor continued, “when you offered to pay for the damage, she took enough to cover the repairs and the deposit.”
“Twenty thousand—that sounds about right.”
He’d thought she was pocketing the extra money for her trouble. He hadn’t cared—he’d offered more, even.
“Well, apparently, the reason she agreed to be my bo
dy double was because she felt guilty about taking the extra money.”
“Okay…”
“But the day she left Chicago, she found the deposit—it hadn’t burned after all.”
“So she’s refunding the extra money.”
“Basically.”
He nodded. “I’m not surprised. Meg is a de cent, good-hearted person.”
Taylor burst into tears.
Jarett went her side. “What’s wrong?”
“I was terrible to her,” Taylor said. “She came to the hotel for my help, and I used it against her—against you.”
“What are you talking about? When did she need your help?”
“She was approached by a photographer who had followed the two of you, and knew she was filling in for me. He had pictures, and he wanted ten thousand dollars for them and the negatives.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I thought I could kill two birds with one stone. I told Meg that I’d take care of everything if she stayed away from you.”
Jarett stepped back.
“And that if you tried to see her again, she was supposed to ignore you.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “You’d do that to me?”
“I’m sorry, Jarett. You know I’ve always fancied myself in love with you. But now I realize I’ve been a shrew. I can’t imagine why you didn’t wash your hands of me long ago.”
“Because I made a promise to David, and to your parents, to look out for you.”
Taylor sniffed and straightened. “And you’ve done a wonderful job, but I think it’s high time I start looking out for myself, don’t you?” She held out the letter. “Go to her. She loves you, I know it. And you’ve been pining for her ever since we got back.”
He took the letter, afraid to give in to the joy building in his chest. Was it possible that Meg did love him? “But she’s engaged.”
Taylor smiled and wiped her eyes. “Then you’d better go tonight.”
20
“AMAZING. LISTEN TO THIS.”
Meg looked over the top of her tuna fish sandwich at Kathie, sprawled in her usual chair in the teacher’s lounge, reading a celebrity magazine.
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