He finger-combed his thick, damp hair away from his face, and tried not to grimace at the less-than-refreshed reflection in the mirror—he looked tired, haggard and as irritable as a provoked bear. “You have every reason to be grateful that she didn’t allow things to progress further than they had last night,” he told himself, pivoting toward the bedroom door.
But as he headed downstairs, he found it difficult to be gracious about Teddy’s rejection when he’d tasted the need and hunger in her kiss, and in the way her body had responded so openly and honestly to his touch. There had been nothing calculated about her soft groans as he’d caressed her breasts, nothing fabricated about the sensual way she’d arched toward him for more.
Letting out a deep breath to erase those arousing thoughts that would surely haunt him for months to come, he entered the kitchen. Jordan, who’d always been one to be up bright and early, flipped down the corner of the Sunday sports section and glanced at Austin. A slow grin spread across Jordan’s face as he homed in on his brother’s cantankerous disposition.
“You look like hell this morning, little brother.” Humor threaded Jordan’s voice and creased the corners of his eyes.
Austin gave a noncommittal grunt in response. Of course, Jordan looked neat and orderly and ready to begin the day, his knit shirt pressed, and his jeans crisp and a vivid shade of blue, which indicated they were fairly new. Austin barely contained a disgusted snort. Didn’t his brother ever dress for anything but success?
Jordan’s grin increased. “And you should be plenty rested, considering I heard you come in just a little after midnight.”
Jordan’s insinuation that Austin’s evening plans hadn’t ended as he’d personally hoped rankled. Crossing the cool tiled floor, he opened the cupboard and brought down a bowl and a box of cereal, then withdrew a carton of milk from the refrigerator. “I thought I’d outgrown you waiting up for me long ago.”
“Oh, I wasn’t waiting up.” Jordan folded the section of newspaper neatly, and laid it aside. “I was awake, in bed reading. Even if I wasn’t, the way you stomped up the stairs and slammed your bedroom door would have woken the dead.”
He grimaced as he carried his breakfast items to the table. “Sorry,” he said, genuinely contrite. Sitting across from Jordan, he poured Cap’n Crunch into his bowl and added a generous amount of milk. Jordan looked on disapprovingly at the sugared cereal, which Austin had eaten for breakfast since the age of eight.
Jordan believed in a healthy start to the day; Austin wasn’t about to sacrifice his favorite cereal for the scrambled eggs, wheat toast and cantaloupe his brother preferred. “I guess I’m still not used to having someone else in the house.”
“I figured as much.” Jordan shoveled scrambled eggs onto his buttered wheat toast and took a bite while considering Austin through curious eyes. “Dare I ask how things went last night?”
Austin tried for a nonchalant shrug and failed miserably. “Depends on whose point of view you want.”
“How about hers?” Jordan asked, slicing his cantaloupe into precise wedges.
“Great.” Unequivocally, Austin was sure. There was little doubt in his mind that everyone at Sharper Image had fallen for the ruse, which could only work to Teddy’s favor.
“And yours?”
He scooped up a spoonful of cereal, glancing at Jordan before taking the bite. “Disappointing and frustrating.” And a multitude of other emotions he didn’t care to verbally analyze.
Jordan digested that, appearing sympathetic. “Care to talk about it?”
Austin wasn’t one to spill his guts about personal issues, but Jordan had always been a good listener, reflective without judging, and Austin needed that quiet male camaraderie and support right now. “The night itself was great. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I had such a good time with a woman. Teddy is smart, sexy, amusing…and entirely too determined,” he added on a note of annoyance.
Jordan lifted an eyebrow. “Usually that’s a good thing.”
Austin pushed his half-eaten bowl of Cap’n Crunch aside. “She’s determined to the point of seeing nothing beyond her promotion.”
“Can’t begrudge a person for wanting to be successful.”
Austin didn’t miss the bitter note to his brother’s voice that had nothing to do with Teddy.
“I don’t begrudge Teddy for wanting that promotion, but what about being successful and making time for a relationship?”
Jordan picked up his glass of orange juice. “Depends on the person’s priorities.”
Austin snorted. Teddy had made it patently clear where her priorities lay—in the hands of Sharper Image. “I guess I went with her to this party expecting something…different. Like maybe another date, where we could get to know one another without that ridiculous charade between us.” Shaking his head, he scrubbed a hand over the light stubble covering his jaw. “Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve felt that way about a woman.”
Jordan chuckled, the sound entirely too gleeful. “She certainly has you tied up in knots.”
Austin scowled, but knew he’d be a hypocrite if he denied what was so obviously the truth. Teddy did have a hold on him, one he couldn’t shake. She made him think about things he’d decided were beyond his reach until his landscaping business was financially stable. She made him think about what it would be like to come home to her smiles in the evening and her soft, feminine scent filling this old Victorian house. And then there was the luxury of making love to her every night, and waking up beside her for the next fifty years.
Commitment. Security. And the comfort of having a family. After years of playing the field, the notion appealed to him. More and more with each passing year.
Folding his hands over his bare belly, Austin leaned back in his chair, rocking on the solid hind legs. “Jordan, you ever think about settling down?”
Stacking his fork and knife on his plate, Jordan shrugged noncommittally. “I thought I was close once, but it didn’t work out, which is just as well because look at where I am now. If I had a family to support, I never would have been able to quit and walk out on those dishonest bastards.”
Austin nodded in understanding.
“Now, I’m an unemployed architect, living with my bachelor brother, and I have no idea what the future holds.”
“You could always take over Fantasy for Hire,” Austin offered with a devilish grin.
Jordan visibly shuddered. “I’m nobody’s fantasy, and I prefer to conduct business with my clothes on, thank you very much.”
“You don’t give yourself near enough credit. I’m sure there are women out there who fantasize about straitlaced architects.” Austin ignored the dirty look Jordan cast his way. “I’d sell you the business real cheap.”
“What, you thinking of giving up being the object of every woman’s fantasy?” Humor threaded through Jordan’s voice.
“I’ve been considering selling the business for a while now,” Austin admitted. “Not only is Fantasy for Hire becoming too much for me to handle along with all the business coming in for McBride Landscaping, I’m tired of all the pretense.”
“Feeling a little taken advantage of, hmm?”
He hadn’t, not until he’d met Teddy. For this particular reason, he’d always been careful to draw the line between his job as a fantasy for hire and the customer he performed for, but that’s where he’d failed with Teddy Spencer. He’d brazenly stepped over that line because of an intense, mind-boggling attraction, and he’d gotten burned for his efforts.
Teddy would rather cling to the fantasy than grasp the reality of what was between them.
“I want a normal life,” Austin said, hearing the frustration in his own voice. “And when I meet a woman, I want to be sure that she’s interested in me because of who I am, and not what particular fantasy of hers I might fulfill.”
Jordan stood and carried his dishes to the sink, rinsing them. “Sounds like you’ve got some decisions to make.”
“Yeah.” He’d already come to the conclusion to put Fantasy for Hire on the market, and after the holidays he’d see if he could find an interested buyer for the business. Then, he’d see what he could do about finding a woman who wanted the real Austin McBride.
THE CORDLESS PHONE in Teddy’s lap rang, and she tossed aside the woman’s magazine she’d been thumbing through and clicked the connect button before the sound completed its cycle.
“Hello?” she answered.
“You are a very bad girl, Teddy Spencer.”
Teddy immediately recognized her sister-in-law’s low, throaty voice. Relief mingled with the awful anxiety that had been her constant companion all day long, easing the knot in her chest by a few degrees. Normally, Sundays were her day to relax and catch up on personal errands and chores. Today, she’d been too intent on talking to Susan to move more than an arm’s stretch away from the phone. She hadn’t even taken a shower yet because she’d feared missing the call. The only thing she’d allowed for her vigil was a quick change into leggings and an oversize sweatshirt, a scrubbed face, brushed teeth and a ponytail.
Not wanting to appear too anxious, she strove for a casual air. “It’s the bad girls that have all the fun.”
Susan laughed. “You certainly seem to be having your share,” she said, her tone sly. “When were you going to tell the family about Austin? Or were you going to keep this guy all to yourself?”
The latter, but Susan’s phone call last night had nixed that plan. Not quite ready to answer that question until she had a chance to feel Susan out, she said, “It’s after five. Where have you been? I’ve been trying to get hold of you all day.”
“No kidding.” Susan snickered. “Thirteen messages on the answering machine is a bit excessive, don’t you think?”
“No.” Teddy straightened indignantly. “Not when I needed to speak with you about eight hours ago.”
“Brent, the kids and I were out of the house early this morning,” Susan said breezily. “We went to brunch with your brother Russ and his family. I would have invited you to come along, but thought you’d have better things to do this morning.”
The insinuation in Susan’s tone caused Teddy’s face to warm and a horrifying thought to invade her mind…the very real possibility that Susan had shared that assumption with her brother Brent. “Susan—”
“Then Brent and Russ took the kids to see that new animated Christmas feature playing at the movies, and me and Natalie went shopping with your mother for Christmas presents for the kids. Santa went broke this year, and what I didn’t get on the kids’ Christmas list, Grandma insisted on buying.”
Teddy shot up off the sofa, her heart slamming against her ribs. Oh, this didn’t sound good at all! “You went shopping with my mother?” The question came out as a croak.
“She was on her best behavior,” Susan assured her. “I swear, there’s something about the holidays that brings out the very best in her. And when I told her about your new guy, she actually beamed.”
Teddy squeezed her eyes shut, imagining her mother’s pretty face, alight with happiness at the thought that her only daughter was finally coming to her senses and settling down. “No,” she moaned.
“Yeah, she actually beamed,” Susan reiterated, misinterpreting Teddy’s denial. “She looked radiant.”
Teddy shook her head, then realized that Susan couldn’t see the silent gesture. She didn’t know whether to laugh deliriously, or scream at the dreadful turn of events.
All day, her active imagination had come up with various scenarios of how her sister-in-law might have handled last night’s conversation with Austin. She’d expected Susan to mention Austin to Brent, of course, and knew she could have quashed any rumors between the two before they’d circulated through the family. But this…this was her worst nightmare!
“Austin McBride is just a friend,” she blurted desperately.
“Oh, sure he’s just a friend, Teddy,” Susan said, clearly expressing her disbelief. “The tiger is out of the bag, honey, and I have to say, he was an incredibly charming, sexy-sounding tiger. The whole family is dying to meet him—”
“The whole family?” she wailed, feeling pushed to the edge of hysteria.
“Of course the whole family. Since he agreed to come for Christmas Eve, I didn’t see any reason to keep this exciting news all to myself.”
“He agreed?” Teddy wheezed, collapsing back onto the sofa. Why hadn’t Austin informed her of that minuscule fact? She replayed her conversation with Austin in her mind, and remembered telling him she’d take care of the discussion he’d had with Susan.
“Well, I admit to a teensy-tiny bit of coercion on my part,” Susan added impishly.
Teddy rolled her eyes. “You don’t know the meaning of subtle.”
Susan laughed, as if Teddy had issued her a compliment. When Teddy didn’t join in on the humor, Susan attempted to smooth things over. “Honey, I don’t know why you’re so upset. This is a good thing, really. Your mother is thrilled that you’re dating again, especially since this is the first guy we’ve heard about since Bart.”
Just the mention of the fiasco with Bartholomew Winston gave Teddy a migraine.
“And even if Austin is just a friend, there is a bright side to all this,” Susan offered.
All Teddy saw was doom and gloom in her future. “Which is?”
“Well, I know how particular your parents can be when it comes to who their children date, but I’m thinking that if they see that you’re at least making an effort to find a potential husband—not that you are,” Susan quickly amended, knowing what a hot button that was for Teddy. “But if your parents believe that, then maybe your mother will leave you alone and quit obsessing about finding you a suitable man.”
Teddy rested her head against the back of the sofa and stared up at the ceiling, her instincts rebelling against Susan’s preposterous plan. Austin was hardly what her parents would consider “suitable”. Yet he’d managed to fool everyone at Sharper Image, her conscience reminded her.
As she mulled over the suggestion, she began to see the merit behind the idea. Introducing Austin to her family didn’t mean she had to marry him, for goodness’ sake, but showing up with a date would at least pacify her mother into believing her daughter was finally circulating, instead of devoting so much time to “that silly little job” of hers.
Oh, yeah, her mother would be tickled pink. But this grand scheme required seeing Austin again, and that was the tricky part. Not only did the man set off disturbing sensual cravings and make her yearn for things she had no room in her life for, but she was pretty certain she’d chafed that male pride of his with her well-rehearsed speech last night. Which meant she’d be swallowing a large dose of her own pride if she asked this favor of him.
“So, is Austin as scrumptious as he sounds?” Susan asked, her excitement traveling over the phone lines.
Taking a deep breath, she forced a cheerful note to her voice. “You’ll have to wait, and see for yourself.”
7
TEDDY’S HEAD was killing her. Nearly twenty-four hours after hanging up the phone with Susan, what had started as a slow throbbing in her temples had escalated into full-blown pounding in her skull. Dread was the culprit for her headache. She’d yet to call Austin, and considering Christmas Eve was only a few days away, she knew she couldn’t stall the inevitable another day, or even another hour.
Desperate for relief, and wanting her mind calm and focused before she spoke with Austin, she removed her purse from the bottom drawer in her desk and dug for the small bottle of aspirin she carried with her. A loose piece of paper crinkled, and she withdrew the yellow slip, recognizing it as the receipt Austin had given her for the money she’d paid him to escort her to the Christmas party. Except he hadn’t accepted her payment, and had instead donated the money to a needy organization. There was nothing to indicate his generous donation on the receipt, but she didn’t doubt for a second the sincerity of his claim. Austin was gen
uine, through and through, and she was about to take advantage of that generosity. Again.
Not wanting her thoughts to travel that road for fear she’d talk herself out of calling him, she tucked the receipt in her desk drawer, right beneath his Fantasy for Hire business card, and continued her search. Finding the plastic bottle, she twisted open the top and shook three tablets into her palm.
Needing water, she headed out of her office, down the plush halls of Sharper Image, to the small, unoccupied kitchenette at the end. Plucking a small paper cup from the dispenser next to the watercooler, she filled it, tossed the pills into her mouth and washed them down in one huge gulp. She closed her eyes, and forced herself to relax, hoping her headache would ebb soon.
Something brushed across her skirt-clad bottom, jolting her back to awareness. Startled, she glanced around and found Louden standing two feet away from her, his pale blue eyes giving nothing away. The caress had been so subtle, she would have thought she’d imagined it if she’d been by herself. She didn’t trust Louden, but neither could she prove anything had just happened.
Uneasiness slithered through her. Not wanting to be alone with him, she tossed her paper cup into the trash and turned to leave the kitchenette. He grabbed her arm before she could escape, gently, but firm enough that she couldn’t dismiss the gesture.
She glanced sharply at him, and he slowly released his hold, though he remained in her direct path. “I haven’t had the chance to ask if you enjoyed the party Saturday night.”
He hadn’t had the opportunity because she’d deliberately avoided him all day. She’d decided steering clear of Louden as much as possible was the smartest course of action until after next week, when the promotion was either assigned to her, or Fred Williams.
She straightened, meeting his gaze head-on. “The Christmas party was great. Austin and I had a wonderful time.”
Janelle Denison - Christmas Fantasy Page 10