Still Mr. And Mrs.

by Patricia Olney

  Rebecca was sure that if Gabe’s hand weren’t resting on her hip just then, she would sink to the floor. She ran the tip of her tongue across her lips and imagined him touching her bare skin. The taste of him still lingered in her mouth.

  For a minute she could believe that he touched her because he wanted to. Because he cared.

  As he pulled his hand away and stepped back, a sudden coldness came over her. The kiss Gabe had given her was wonderful and sweet. But now Rebecca could feel that familiar wall forming around his heart.

  And shutting her out.

  She wanted to tell him to hold her, to continue the moment, but she couldn’t.

  She heard Gabe take in a deep breath of air and watched him pull himself together in that cool and controlled manner of his.

  It was just as well, she thought, snapping her attention back to what was really important. She couldn’t afford to get emotionally involved. She wanted a baby, his baby, and she’d get it too. But she wouldn’t lose her heart again in the process.

  “So when is the celebration taking place?” Marian Dorset asked.

  “I’ve planned a gathering of thirty or forty people for this coming Sunday,” Evelyn explained. “It’ll be held at the Indian Springs Country Club.”

  Evelyn reached across the bar and patted Gabe’s hand. “It’ll be divine. Don’t you think so, dear?”

  “Yes, Evelyn. Divine.” Gabe looked like he thought it would be anything but. “You wouldn’t have it any other way, would you?”

  “Of course not,” Evelyn said.

  “So, a grand celebration,” Jonathan said over Rebecca’s shoulder.

  She turned around. “I hope you’ll come.”

  “I’ve always been particularly fond of anniversaries, myself,” Jonathan said. “Sentimental old fool, I suppose. In fact …”

  As Jonathan continued, Rebecca’s mind drifted to the kisses she and Gabe had shared earlier. Their wild passion had always caught them both off guard. But she had to keep her wits about her. She would be a fool to think this would lead to anything. Gabe had rejected her once before, just like her mother. But she was stronger, more independent and wouldn’t let him hurt her again.

  “I must tell you, Rebecca,” Jonathan said. “I’ve never seen a couple more suited for each other than you and Gabriel.”

  “Do you really think so?” she asked. She glanced up and caught Gabe staring at her, hunger in his gaze. Rebecca shivered with icy anticipation. She gave him a slight smile, remembering the feel and the taste of his lips caressing hers.

  And she hoped that kiss had affected him as much as it did her.

  And she hoped what Jonathan had said was true.

  Early the next morning in Evelyn’s garden room, after too many cups of coffee, Gabe shoved the computer printouts to one side.

  The columns and figures had turned into one massive blur. He couldn’t keep his mind on business and knew it was pointless to try. He had to focus on the merger plans and prepare for the meeting scheduled that morning, but he couldn’t. All he could think about was Reb.

  And the thoughts troubled him more than he cared to admit.

  He kept telling himself the charade was only temporary, that it would end soon, but he knew he was kidding himself.

  After seeing Reb again, kissing her again, he wondered if he’d ever be free. It was like she’d cast a spell on him all over again. She was irresistible.

  He leaned back in his chair, coffee mug in hand, telling himself to get through one day at a time and one night at a time.

  Good advice. The only problem was he wasn’t sure that when this deception business was over, he’d be able to walk away from her as easily as he first thought.

  He swallowed a gulp of his coffee, the taste suddenly turning bitter.

  “Another cup of coffee, sir?” Hines interrupted Gabe’s thoughts.

  Gabe shook his head and covered his mug with his hand. “No thanks, Hines. Do you know when my grandmother will be downstairs?”

  “Not usually until nine-thirty in the morning. She wanted me to tell you to begin the morning activity without her.”

  Gabe shoved his mug aside. “What morning activity?”

  “I wouldn’t know, sir. You’d best check with Miss Evelyn or Miss Rebecca. They planned it.”

  With that said, Hines walked out the door.

  Planned what? Gabe’s stomach began to churn again. Between the two of them, trouble was most likely.

  He stared at the door as though magically willing Reb to show up. He had to get to the bottom of this.

  Then suddenly she seemed to appear out of nowhere.

  “Good morning, Miss Rebecca.” Hines followed her into the garden room.

  “Morning, Hines.”

  “Would you like some coffee?” Hines asked her.

  Reb smiled. “I’d really love a Bloody Mary. And don’t forget the celery stalk.”

  “Certainly, miss.”

  Gabe let his gaze slide over her.

  She wore a simple white short jumpsuit that showed off her long, tanned legs to perfection. And she looked more ravishing than he ever remembered.

  Her dark red hair was woven into a tight French braid, and her large gold hoop earrings touched the curve of her neck when she turned her head.

  She sat down at the glass-top table, and propped her feet on the white wicker chair beside her.

  His gaze drifted to her face, to her mouth. He remembered how natural her lips had felt pressed against his just yesterday.

  She looked at him with those large green eyes of hers. “Morning, Gabe.”

  “Morning,” he murmured tightly.

  “How did you sleep last night?”

  She thanked Hines when he brought her the Bloody Mary.

  “I slept like I always do,” he answered. “We need to talk and talk now.”

  She took a leisurely sip of her drink. “What about?”

  “Did you and Evelyn plan something this morning?”

  “Yes, we did.”

  He frowned, making her laugh out loud.

  “Goodness, Gabe. You seem to have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed, or rather, the couch.”

  “And fallen on my head.” He leaned forward. “What the hell is going on that I don’t know about?”

  “Rollerblading.”

  Gabe started to laugh. “With Jonathan no doubt.”

  “No doubt. At nine o’clock,” she said. “Evelyn suggested a little morning exercise, and Jonathan wants to try rollerblading.”

  “We have a meeting,” Gabe protested.

  “Now you don’t.” She gave him a smile. “Come with us. I told Jonathan that you personally like to check out all of the products The Toy Factory sells.”

  Gabe groaned. “I have a business to run. Merger plans to put together.”

  “Just like always. There’s never any time in your life to let go, is there, Gabe?” she asked, hitting directly to the core of their problems. “No time in your busy work schedule for me.”

  “Don’t you think this is somewhat reckless?” Gabe still argued with her, although the idea of having a break appealed to him. “Jonathan is a little old for this, isn’t he?”

  “He wanted to go. He should know,” Rebecca said, looking at him. “And I think it would be a prudent business move.”

  He laughed. “How’s that?”

  “It’s a good chance to show Jonathan we’re truly a couple.” She stirred her drink with the celery stalk. “And it’s an opportunity to get to know him before you start all those tedious talks.”

  He couldn’t help but smile. “I don’t know. You might get me into bigger trouble.”

  She let out a deep breath. “You know, Gabe, I think you can do that all by yourself.”

  “How’s that?”

  “Well, those kisses yesterday just might get me to thinking that you do still care about me,” she said. “First the one on the lawn, then in the living room. I really don’t know which I liked best.�
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  “Don’t get ahead of yourself. The kiss—”

  “Kisses, Gabe. There were two.”

  He flushed. “Kisses, then. They meant nothing to either of us, so quit changing the subject. I want to talk about this rollerblading escapade.”

  “But they meant something to me.” Her voice was a husky whisper that sent a coil of heat ricocheting through him. “And if you can sit there and say that they meant nothing to you, you’re lying.” She pressed her lips to the celery stalk, then took a bite.

  He tried to tell himself that her eyes weren’t a lovely shade of green or that the way her pink lips parted didn’t still excite him.

  He swallowed. Because it did. Big time. Just as his body was proving it to him right at that moment.

  “I’m telling you,” he said, in as calm a voice as he could manage, “the kisses meant nothing other than that we’re still human. The second one was only part of the act—”

  “An act?” She laughed. “Well, you better put on a rollerblading act for Jonathan. He’s expecting you. And you must be one hell of an actor, Gabriel Stewart, because those kisses were like starting a fire.”

  “A fire?” Jonathan asked as he walked into the garden room. “Did I hear you say something about starting a fire?”

  He sat down at the table next to Rebecca.

  Rebecca gave Gabe a little smile. “Tell him about the fire, darling.”

  “Ah, maybe later. Care to go rollerblading, Jonathan?”

  “This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life.” Gabe leaned over and tightened the laces on Reb’s rollerblades.

  “You didn’t have to come, you know,” Rebecca told him. “Nobody is forcing you.”

  He gave the bright purple laces on her skates one last tug. “That’s not what you said earlier this morning.”

  She leaned against the wooden park table that was under a large shade tree, and gestured toward the black Cadillac. “You could get back in that car and let Hines take you home.”

  Gabe glanced over his shoulder and saw Jonathan pulling another pair of skates out of the trunk.

  He wanted to laugh out loud from the sheer insanity of it all. He was losing every ounce of control he had left of his very controlled life.

  Merger or no merger, it was crazy. And this last-minute romp through the park could just be the end of him yet.

  “Not in a million years am I going to let you out of my sight.”

  “Now that’s what I like to hear, Gabe darling.” She gave him a look that practically knocked him off his skates. “You sound like you might actually start to care for me.”

  “I’ll always care for you.”

  “Enough to call off this charade?”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” he said. “Besides, I can’t let you go off with Jonathan and have him think I don’t spend time with my loving wife. That’s what he expects, isn’t it?”

  “Yep. Now there’s some good thinking,” she said. “And it’s nice to see you lighten up a little.”

  “Is this how I lighten up?” He pointed to the skates strapped to his feet.

  “It’s a damn good start.”

  He reached out to take her hand but came up with nothing but air.

  With a smile curving her lips, she skated backward. And completely out of his reach.

  “Reb,” he warned. “I’m not very good at this.”

  “Learn,” she shouted.

  “Come back here. I need—”

  As the last few words escaped his mouth, his feet slipped out from beneath him and the next thing he saw was the blue sky overhead.

  The soft patch of grass cushioned the blow to his head. He let loose a few well-chosen words, only to bring Reb to his side.

  “Gabe, are you all right?” She came to a fast stop with a turn of her skates, her voice full of panic.

  She fell to her knees beside him and touched his face, his arms, shoulders.

  “I’m all right.” He pulled himself to a sitting position, feeling various parts of his body already beginning to ache.

  “I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you,” she said quietly. “Maybe you shouldn’t be doing this after all.”

  He cupped his hand against her cheek, then smoothed back a few loose strands of red hair. She leaned closer to him and touched her lips to his.

  At first the contact was light, teasing, then grew more demanding as he pulled her closer to him.

  “Er-hem.”

  Rebecca moved away from Gabe at the sound behind them.

  “Are we skating this morning?” Jonathan asked. “Or do we have a different agenda?”

  Rebecca stood. “Gabe took a little fall.”

  “So I see. Are you injured? Should we call for help?”

  Gabe shook his head. “No sir. I’m fine.” He looked at Reb, and her gaze turned soft when he smiled at her.

  “My ego is bruised, that’s all.”

  “Very well,” Jonathan said. He gave Rebecca a wink and skated away.

  Several hours later, Rebecca returned from her shopping spree at Frenchy’s. As she slipped past the closed library doors, she could hear the muffled voices coming from the other side.

  She paused for a second, knowing it wasn’t right to listen, but she couldn’t help herself. She heard Gabe’s deep voice, then Marian’s. She didn’t fail to catch Jonathan’s heated and disapproving tone. She frowned. The talks didn’t sound like they were going very well.

  “Eavesdropping, dear?” Evelyn said behind her.

  Rebecca whirled around, her hand at her throat. “Evelyn, you scared me.”

  Evelyn raised her brows. “I suppose I did. But that usually happens when people are caught doing something they probably shouldn’t.” She smiled and patted Rebecca’s hand.

  “Things aren’t going too well, are they?”

  Evelyn shrugged. “All this nasty business stuff.”

  “Anything I can do to help?”

  “Putting an end to this divorce would be a start. Although a real kick in Gabe’s pants would do the job much better.”

  “Oh, Evelyn.” Rebecca laughed. “I meant with the negotiations. What’s the problem?”

  Evelyn waved her hand in the air. “The recent drop in sales are making the talks more difficult. It bores the heck out of me. That’s why Gabriel is in there instead of me. I’m getting too old for all of that.”

  “You’ll never be too old, Evelyn. Why don’t you go for a swim with me. I bought myself a suit.” She indicated the bag from Frenchy’s.

  Evelyn turned Rebecca away from the library, looping their arms together.

  “That sounds wonderful. Then perhaps you and I could talk about what we can do with this stubborn grandson of mine.”

  “I couldn’t agree with you more,” Rebecca said and followed Evelyn up the stairs.

  After being sequestered in the library for most of the afternoon, Gabe felt drained and tired.

  Fox was driving a hard bargain, one that The Toy Factory needed to accept even though the board couldn’t see it yet. Their discussions—arguments, really—would continue during dinner at the Indian Springs Country Club.

  Minutes after everyone left for a tennis match at the club, Gabe headed straight for the bar. He spied Evelyn making her way up the stairs, noting that she’d been outside swimming.

  He pulled out two soft drinks, and walked outside to the pool.

  He stood for a moment, taking a huge swallow of his drink, not surprised to find Rebecca lounging on her back on a bright yellow float, like a satisfied, pampered cat.

  In fact, he’d hoped she’d be there.

  “The water looks good,” he said, thinking how beautiful she was.

  Rebecca smiled and stretched. She slid off the raft and glided through the shimmering water to where he stood near the edge.

  “Why don’t you join me?”

  “Why don’t you join me for a drink, instead?” He showed her the cold can.

/>   Her brows lifted above her dark sunglasses. “That’s the nicest offer I’ve had all day.”

  She stepped out of the pool to stand inches from him, and for the first time Gabe noticed her new bathing suit.

  He took in a sharp breath of air.

  The one-piece suit was emerald green and hugged every curve of her body. The back dipped low and was cut high on the hips.

  Gabe took a swallow of his drink, trying to push the memories of her naked body in his arms out of his mind.

  “I’d like something cold to drink. Thanks.” She took the can from him, and their fingers brushed for a second.

  She walked toward a chair, giving him a closer look at how perfectly she filled the bathing suit. The sweep of her tanned back, the gentle sway of her trim hips sent a surge of arousal through him.

  He walked toward her, and she turned swiftly around. The sun’s rays flashed against the fiery-red of her hair. The curls, now unbound from her French braid, fell across her shoulders in soft waves. She removed her sunglasses and placed them on the table.

  The emotion he saw in those green depths moved him. For a split second he wanted to touch her, run his hands down the curve of her spine, feel the smoothness of her skin. He wanted to grab her to him and kiss her until she was dizzy. Until she begged him to stop.

  “Hard day at the office?” She raised the can to her lips and took a drink.

  He took her hand in his. “Couldn’t be worse,” he whispered, more intrigued at the soft feel of her skin against his.

  “Remember how I would massage your neck and shoulders when you had a tough day?”

  He nodded, remembering how the touch of her skilled fingers along his tense shoulder muscles would put him in another dimension.

  “It’s amazing how you always seemed to know when I needed that little extra attention to make my day easier. It’s as though you possessed some sixth sense.”

  “It comes when you truly care for someone, Gabe.”

  “I suppose I should have told you this when we were married,” he said, “but I really appreciated all that you did for me. Always putting my needs before your own. Maybe it would’ve helped us if I’d acknowledged that then.”

  “I could do it now for you if you want,” she offered in a soft voice.

  Without waiting for his reply, she put her can of soda down and then his. She nudged him onto a lawn chair and stood behind him, gently rubbing and kneading his shoulder muscles.