Julie shook her head and looked back at Mike, as if to say, “Now do you understand?”
“You have my utmost sympathy.”
“Thank you, Mike.” She laughed at his formal tone. “I don’t think I can hold her much longer. You’d better go.”
“I think you’re right. The cold, wet stuff I’m feeling on my arm is probably melted ice cream. Well, if you ever need the FBI, call me. And somehow, I think you will.”
Will what? Need the FBI? Or call him? Julie suspected she was melting at a faster pace than the ice cream she so desperately wanted to lick off his skin. Okay, where was this lusting stuff coming from? Maybe her mother was right. Maybe she was spending too much time numbercrunching at the bank. Maybe she did need to get out more.
As the moment stretched out, Julie became aware that she and Mike were still staring at each other. Just as her last shred of female decency threatened to tear and send her leaping into the man’s arms, Mike saved her by clearing his throat and dragging his gaze away to speak to his son. “Come on, hotshot. Let’s go put this stuff away, and then we’ll go for a workout in the gym. Are you game?”
When his son nodded enthusiastically, Mike turned his assessing gaze on Julie, looking her up and down. “See you around.”
She should have been offended at his blatant mental undressing of her, but she was too busy trying to picture him in a sweaty T-shirt and tight shorts. When he cocked his head at her, Julie realized that he was expecting an answer. “What?”
“I said I’d see you around, as in a parting comment.”
She nodded and grinned, probably stupidly. How was it possible for one man to be such a walking poster boy for sexuality? Whoa. The man is a father. He has his child with him. Say something—something decent, preferably. “Um, sure. See you around. I’m just going to go kill my mother.”
He gaped at her for a moment and then laughed. “Okay, but when the cops come, I know nothing. Fair enough?”
“Sure. All’s fair in love and war, as they say.”
When his expression changed to let her know she’d just grown braying-jackass ears, Julie struggled, by sheer will, to douse the hot flush that claimed her cheeks. Oh, God
“Uh, yeah. Love and war. Well, I have to go. Come on, Aaron.” Shaking his head, he turned away.
For the next few moments, Julie stared after the Hunk’s departing derriere. With a heavy sigh, she stepped back inside and closed the door. As soon as she did, mortified reaction set in. She needed to scream. Hoping to muffle it from her neighbors, she leaped for her flower-patterned couch and plunged face-first onto the overstuffed cushions, burrowing her face into them. And then she screamed.
Coming up for air, she braced herself on her elbows. Her mother, one hip perched over the back of the couch, calmly reached out and smoothed the hair out of Julie’s face, completely unaware, apparently, that her baby was engaging in primal screaming—on her account.
“Your hair’s getting long, honey. You really need to go in for a cut. I swear, your hair’s as red as mine. I always wanted you kids to have your father’s coloring.”
Julie stared at her mother as if she’d never seen her before. “Well, at least Susan and Dan have Dad’s blond, blue-eyed coloring. Two out of three ain’t bad.”
“Don’t say ‘ain’t.’ Men will think you’re not educated. But I suppose there’s nothing wrong with your red hair. I hear it’s all the rage now. Still, if only you had green eyes to go with it, instead of your grandmother’s icy blue ones. Hey, why don’t you get some colored contacts?”
Julie looked at the cushions under her. Get ready for another round, she warned them. Then, turning on her side, she cupped her cheek in her hand and looked at her mother. What a riot she was. And an absolute bulldog when it came to her children. She’d see them happy, even if it meant making them miserable first. God, how she and Susan and Dan laughed together about Mom’s latest antics. But, all that aside, she absolutely had to stop her mom’s holy quest to find a suitable husband for her baby. Julie tried, yet again, to make her mother understand.
“Mom, I’m not getting contacts. And you need to join the twentieth century. Women have careers. Marriage and kids just get put off for a while, that’s all. It’ll happen for me, too. I promise. You’re just worried because I’ll be thirty this year. That’s what started all this, isn’t it?”
Ida clasped her hands together. “Oh, I suppose. But, sweetie, if only you’d look for a man. Just date. But you won’t. So, what choice do I have? Is it so much to ask that, before I die, I can be sure you have someone to love and care for you?”
“I don’t need a man to care for me, Mother. I can do that myself. Besides, you’re only fifty-seven. You’re not going to die.”
“I most certainly will.one day. Besides, I haven’t been feeling well lately. I—”
“Bull. You’ll outlive us all.”
“Such language. It’s unladylike, and men don’t like it.”
Julie grinned evilly at her mother, knowing just how to get to her. “Sure they do. Especially in bed.”
Ida stood up. “If you’re going to talk like that, then I’m just going to go home.” She looked at her watch. “Your father should be back from golfing about now. I bring you a nice man, and this is the thanks I get.”
Julie jumped up and came around the couch to put her hands fondly on her mother’s shoulders. “I didn’t ask you to bring me a man. And he’s the fourth one this month. But this guy is an FBI agent. Don’t be surprised if they show up at your door and haul you off. Or maybe they’ll have your taxes audited every year for the next twenty years, Mom.”
“The IRS does that. But didn’t you think he was nice?”
Julie opened her mouth, closed it, and then tried again. “Yes, I did. Very nice. Especially under the circumstances. But that’s not the point, Mother.”
“Good, because I thought he was, too. And such a handsome man. Now, with any luck, your bank will be robbed and he’ll be assigned the investigation. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
“The bank being robbed would be wonderful?”
Ida made an impatient noise. “No, of course not. Seeing Mike again would be wonderful.”
A sudden terror swept over Julie. “Mom, you wouldn’t go so far as to arrange a bank heist, would you?”
A huge bulb of an idea appeared over Ida’s head and lit her face. But it dimmed just as suddenly. “No. That wouldn’t work. Too many details.”
Julie threw her hands up in the air and started pacing the length of her bright living room. “All right, you win! I give up. 1 swear to you I will resume dating, forget my job. forget the promotion I want and find a husband. There! Are you happy now?”
“Find a husband? What’s wrong with the one I brought you?”
Julie stopped pacing and conceded defeat. “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong with him. The man is gorgeous—”
“So, you think he’s gorgeous? I did do well this time, didn’t I? See? I told you I could pick you a prince.”
Julie thought about that. A prince? Boy, no kidding. “All right, fine. I’ll marry him. There. Are you happy? Now will you stop putting ads in the personals and setting up interviews at the mall?”
Her mother had the grace to look chagrined. “Those were disasters, weren’t they?” Looking everywhere but at her daughter, Ida walked over to get her purse from the glass-and-brass dining room table. She pulled out a letter. “This is from Susan. She’s been to her obstetrician again, and her letter’s just full of baby news. I thought you’d want to read it.”
Husbands and babies. Her mother’s world. Julie’s heart softened. “What am I going to do with you. Mom?”
Ida pulled her world-famous pouting face. “Well, I just want you to be happy. Like Dan and Susan are in their marriages. Is that so terrible?” She plopped the letter on the table.
But Julie wasn’t sucked in. Instead, she pictured her older brother and sister, who would be laughing about now. “Dan lives in Maryla
nd and Susan in California. Do you think it’s an accident that they fled Florida, Mom?”
“They didn’t flee anything. Dan was transferred to Baltimore, and Ben took that teaching job in San Francisco, so what choice did Susan have but to follow him? That’s what wives do.”
“I wouldn’t know.” She was already cringing when the words hit the air. No, no, no.
“Which brings us back to why I’m here.”
2
“IT’S FRIDAY AFTERNOON, Mike, and you’re just now telling me that some crazy lady last Saturday says you need to meet her daughter, then grabs your kid’s hand and hauls the two of you to her kid’s apartment. Then she introduces you to this gorgeous redhead and says the two of you should get married? You sat on that for a week? Man! Why don’t things like that ever happen to me?”
Mike filled his mug with coffee and placed the glass pot back on its burner. Looking over at his partner, pug-nosed and sporting a crew cut, he grinned. “Things like that don’t happen to you because you’re so damned ugly, Sal. Mamas take one look at you and see ugly grandkids. Nobody wants ugly grandkids.”
“Yeah, yeah, and the horse you rode in on, DeAngelo. So, how come you didn’t say nothin’ until today?”
“Hell, I don’t know. Nothing else to talk about by Friday, I guess. It’s not like it’s big news.”
“Are you kiddin’ me here? News? It’s headlines, Mikey. Headlines. A gorgeous redhead handed to you on a silver platter—by her mother? And you don’t think it’s news? I thought I raised you better than that.”
Mike grinned. When Sal was excited, his Brooklyn accent thickened. “You sure don’t talk like a fed, Agent Pomerantz.”
“Hey! I was from Brooklyn before I was FBI, cowboy. Like you and Oklahoma. It’s in the blood, you know? So, you gonna tell this chick about Caroline?”
A sudden stab of.something…pricked at Mike, making him sound more abrupt than he’d intended. “Her name’s Julie. And it doesn’t matter about Caroline, because I’m not going to see her again.”
Sal’s feet and chair came down in simultaneous thumps. “You’re yanking my chain here. You and Caroline on the outs or something? And here I thought you and she were like this.this perfect couple.”
“Man, pay attention. Not Caroline. Julie. I won’t be seeing Julie again.”
Sal sat back. “Oh, Julie. My mistake. So, can I have Julie? I like gorgeous redheads as much as the next guy.”
Refusing to rise to the bait, Mike ignored Sal’s hooting laughter. Sipping at his coffee, he went to stare out the single window in their cramped office. Not even the thought of picking up Caroline at the airport could hold his attention today.
Distracting him instead were the same thoughts that had kept him preoccupied all week. Thoughts of one cute-ashell redhead about ten miles away in Brandon. Who hadn’t been wearing a bra. Or shoes. And who had a crazy mother. Talk about crazy—that was Life with a capital L You think you’re all set, and then—bam. There she is—the woman of your dreams. Only she’s not the girl who’s wearing your ring. Mike shook his head, like he was the butt of this huge cosmic joke.
Wait just a—what the hell was he thinking? Woman of his dreams? He glanced quickly at Sal, half-afraid he’d spoken his thoughts aloud. No, Sal was busy scribbling something in his journal. Relieved, Mike turned away from the window and went to sit at his cluttered desk. He set his mug on a manila folder, looked at the ream of paperwork waiting to be dealt with, and immediately stood up again.
Sal banged his hand down on his desk, startling Mike. “If you don’t quit pacing around like some kinda animal, DeAngelo, I’m gonna throw you out that window myself. What’s eating you? You missing your sweetie or what?”
“Hell, no.” Mike frowned, knowing he’d lose several macho points if he ever admitted to something as sentimental as missing his fiancée. Sitting back down, he ducked his head to keep Sal from seeing the secret smile that stole over his features when he pictured Caroline. The woman he loved and was going to marry in two months. Caroline. That was who he needed to think about.
Probably what he loved best about Caroline, he decided, was that she wasn’t anything at all like Victoria. Thinking about his ex-wife deepened Mike’s frown. Life to Tory was like some damned smorgasbord laid out before her, and all she had to do was nibble each moment before moving on to the next dish. The sad part was, being a wife and a mother had been nothing more to her than the next thing to be tasted. Well, he hoped she was happy now, globetrotting for that fancy travel magazine. Thank God for Caroline. He was lucky to have her. She was warm, sweet, loving and committed to Aaron and him. Just as he was committed to her.
Having tightened the load on his heart considerably, Mike turned to his partner. “You know what, Sal? For the first time since I’ve known you, I think you’re right. I must be missing Caroline. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have noticed a redhead with legs up to her neck.”
Sal frowned. “Hey, don’t take this love thing too far, Oklahoma. You’re engaged, is all. So, if ever you don’t notice a gorgeous woman, I’ll say nice things about you at the funeral. Because you’ll be dead.”
Mike grinned. “All right then, to prove I’m not dead, did I tell you about this funny thing Julie said? She yanked her mother into her apartment and closed the door. And then she opened it again and—” He clammed up instantly when Sal’s expression became purely mocking.
Sal pushed back in his swivel chair and put his feet up on his metal desk. “So-o-o-o, tell me again about the woman you’re engaged to marry? The one you’re picking up this very night at the airport and escorting tomorrow night—Saint Valentine’s Day, no less—to some family outing? Tell me, your future best man, about her.”
Mike pulled a face and tugged at his knotted tie. “Aren’t you the one who said it doesn’t cost anything to look?”
“There! You did that thing again with your tie. You know you do that every time I mention Caroline or you gettin’ married?”
Mike frowned. “Do what?”
“You pull at your tie and loosen your collar. Like they’re choking you.”
Mike stared at him. “The hell I do.”
“The hell you don’t.”
“The hell I do.”
“Okay. Have it your way.” Sal grinned and stared. Then he blurted, “Caroline!”
Mike caught himself as his hand went to the knot at his throat. He scowled, which had no effect on Sal’s riotous laughter. “Knock it off, Pomerantz.”
Sal held his hands up. “Okay, okay. I’m on your side, Mikey. It ain’t like I’m the one always talking about honor and commitment. That’s your life.”
Mike scowled. “Damn straight it is. Because those are two things my ex-wife never felt, not even for Aaron. Her job was always more important than her family. It came first every time. And from the little I know about Julie, she’s the same way. But not Caroline. Caroline will always be there for Aaron.”
“And for you,” Sal added softly. “Eh, Mikey?”
Mike looked at his partner and then looked down at the work on his desk. “Yeah, for me, too.” Then, after a moment of silence, he turned to Sal. “Don’t you have something you need to be doing, Pomerantz, besides sticking your nose into my life?”
Sal leaned back in his chair, knotting his fingers together behind his head. “I got the same as you—squat. Just pushin’ paper.”
Mike grimaced his agreement, then picked up a file and opened it. Turning to Sal, he gave him his best Defender of Freedom face. “If you wanted adventure, young man, you should have joined the navy. This is the FBI, where we have to wait around until the bad guys rob banks or something.”
“Yeah, well, they’re overdue. Damn criminals. Can’t depend on nobody anymore. But at least we’re not stationed in Milwaukee or Detroit. If I have to be bored, then the view may as well be good. It’s the middle of February, and we got sunshine and beaches and women. Can’t complain.”
Sunshine and beaches and women. Mike
stared at the file in front of him, but the image of that damned pixie face and red hair played through his mind instead. He smiled. Can’t complain.
“WELL I’M GLAD YOU THINK it’s funny, Susan. I was so embarrassed, I could have died. You’re safely married-and pregnant again. And on the other side of the continent. So you’ve forgotten what Mom’s like.” Julie kicked off her heels and began unbuttoning her suit jacket. She balanced the telephone receiver between her jaw and her shoulder.
“What? Sorry. I’m undressing. Well, because the phone was ringing when I walked in from work. Okay, wait a minute.” She put the receiver down to yank off her shortsleeved jacket and slim skirt. And then her bra and panty hose. Ah, heaven.
Clad only in her underpants, she sat cross-legged on her bed and put the phone back to her ear. “Okay, I’m back. Yeah, I’m picking you up at the airport tomorrow. Yes, arrival time.gate number.and the airline—got ‘em. Susan, I’ll be thirty in September, and I’m a lending officer at one of the biggest banks in Florida. Who just happens to be up for a vice presidency. All that adds up to me being a responsible adult. Oh, shut up. Career, career, career. I know. Huh? Oh, please—not the biological clock thing again. You’re beginning to sound like Mom. Hah! Thought that’d scare you.
“Hey, is Tommy excited about his upcoming airplane ride?” She listened for a moment and then laughed. “The little turkey. I can’t wait to see him. It will be so much fun tomorrow night Or a complete nightmare, considering all the relatives here for Nana’s eighty-fifth birthday. I know! I can’t wait to see y’all, either. Yeah, Dad’s picking up Dan and Joan tonight. Okay, I’ll let you go. Give Ben and Tommy my love. Bye.”
After hanging up the receiver, Julie straightened her legs out and fell backward on the bed. Closing her eyes, she lay unmoving, trying not to think. Could it be that her family was right and she was wrong? Would she regret her decision to have a career first, before marriage and children? She thought about her life. Well, aside from a little loneliness, she was pretty happy with things. And she’d be a heck of a lot happier if she got that promotion.
A Man In Demand Page 2