My Phony Valentine

by Marie Ferrarella

  But she hadn’t met him as herself. She’d met him as Theresa and she was stuck with that. There wasn’t anything she could do to change that now.

  Christopher lifted his shoulders, then let them drop carelessly. “Well, I wasn’t going to put it exactly that way.” He felt a little foolish. “I’m not always that good with words.”

  “You’re doing just fine.” Maybe too fine, she added silently. It was getting increasingly harder to remember just where the line was drawn between role-playing and reality. Her mind kept drifting, as did her feelings. Having him extol her “honesty” wasn’t making things any easier on her.

  He slowly twirled the wine stem. The overhead light reflected in the pink liquid, making it gleam. Christopher studied it before continuing. He wasn’t accustomed to baring his feelings. But somehow he thought she’d understand.

  “You’d be surprised at how many women have ulterior motives when it comes to relationships. Not that I’ve had the time for that many in the last few years.”

  There was more here than that. There had been a flicker of sadness in his eyes. Compassion made T.J. forget to feel uncomfortable. “But the one you did find time for ended badly?” Empathy filled her. She remembered the pain when she’d discovered the truth about Peter.

  “You might say that.” He finished his glass, then set it down beside hers. “I fell hard.”

  He was being unabashedly honest with her, more than he’d ever been with people he’d known most of his life. Funny how he felt closer to this woman he hadn’t known forty-eight hours ago than he did to his friends. But there was so much understanding in her eyes, it drew him out.

  And in.

  “She, on the other hand, fell for my name and my bankbook. And the family connections.” Christopher looked at her. “Do you ever run into that?” She’d mentioned something about it earlier, but he thought she was just making polite conversation. He couldn’t imagine anyone using her.

  T.J. thought of Theresa. Of the jet-setting life she managed to conduct along with a fair amount of business. And of the men who swarmed around her cousin. In comparison, there were times she felt like the family ugly duckling, even though they were essentially cut out of the same cloth. They looked alike, but it was Theresa’s zest for life, her flair that made her beautiful. There were times, just a few, when she had envied Theresa her free and easy style, her way of drawing the fun out of life and discarding the rest.

  With sobering determination, T.J. reminded herself that she had Megan and a career she loved. That was enough for her.

  It was, she insisted silently, trying to negate the power of his gaze.

  With the air of a conspirator, she leaned into Christopher, lowering her voice as she resumed her role. “Do I ever run into that? All the time.”

  “I guess that gives us something in common.” He thought that over for a moment. “Actually, we have a great deal in common.” He saw by the look in her eyes that she was unconvinced. “We both helm family businesses, both are only children and both have to glean the wheat from the chaff.”

  And we’re both unattached, he added silently.

  “Except that you’re all business and I’m not.” Oh, and just one more tiny little thing. I’m not who you think I am.

  He inclined his head. Maybe it was the place, or the humbling effect of waking up to find himself in a flowing nightshirt. More than likely, it was the company. The light in her eyes, the husky laugh. All of which made him want to turn over a new leaf. To finally enjoy the life he’d been so busy rushing through.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t be. All business, that is. I don’t have to be,” he corrected. “Not with the right person.”

  Completely sobered now, T.J. looked down at her plate, wishing there was a way to disappear. What was he going to say when he found out that he’d been pouring his heart out to a fraud? A phony? She felt for him. And for herself.

  T.J. did the only thing she could—she diverted him with work. Desperate, she grabbed on to the first thought that surfaced. “You know, speaking of the right person, I’ve been thinking. Valentine’s Day is less than two weeks away—”

  “I know.” He cocked his head. What was she getting at?

  She lowered her eyes. This wasn’t going to come out at all if she was looking at him. He had a way of making her mouth grow dry. “If we hurry, we can launch a TV campaign a couple of days before it hits—”

  “A Valentine campaign for MacAffee Toys?” Humor twisted his mouth. “Toys aren’t generally associated with Valentine’s Day.”

  “No, but stuffed animals are.” Mercifully, the idea began to take form in her head. As far as she knew, there were no commercials featuring stuffed animals for the day. That was strictly the domain of flowers and candy. “I was going through your catalog last night. You’ve got several items that would make wonderful gifts for men to give to the women in their lives.”

  Warming to her subject, her enthusiasm grew. “For instance, that white bear you have. The one that says, ‘I wuv you’ when you squeeze it.” Pulling a pen out of her purse, she made a quick sketch on her napkin, turning it around for Christopher to look at. “It’s perfect. We could say something like, ‘Can’t find the words to tell her? This Valentine’s Day, send an emissary in your place.’ And then we can feature the bear.”

  He laughed, amused, but he was taken with the idea. Her enthusiasm was infectious. Just like she was. “So that the lady in question can think she’s getting a message from Elmer Fudd?”

  She grinned. “Trust me, all women love stuffed animals.”

  Her eyes were shining. Did she like stuffed animals? It seemed almost incongruous. “I would have thought you preferred jewelry.”

  Theresa adored anything that sparkled and came in carats. T.J., on the other hand, had a weakness for plush.

  “There’s room for both. As an added touch, you could have the bear holding a diamond ring box in its paws. They could be tied around it with a bright red ribbon.” Hastily she added a few more lines to the drawing. It was of a woman hugging a man, a toy bear dangling from her fingers. “So, what do you think?”

  “I like it.” It would open up a whole brand-new avenue for them. “Get on it.”

  “Consider it done.” She beamed, pleased. And then remembered. Nothing had been formalized. They were getting ahead of themselves. “We have contracts to sign first.”

  Christopher waved the obstacle away. “A formality I’ll have taken care of before the end of the week. I’ve already had our lawyers draw up preliminary papers.”

  She leaned back, looking at him. “So you were pretty sure you were going with us?”

  Experience had him answering cautiously. “Not really. I wanted to check you out myself. I don’t believe in dealing with companies whose CEOs don’t care about the quality of the work, only the money it generates. You’ve completely won me over.” He put his hand out to seal the bargain.

  Something fluttered inside her as she slipped her hand into his. It was pleasure, mingled with satisfaction and a degree of anticipation, that overwhelmed her.

  Christopher didn’t break the connection immediately. Instead, he sat, holding her hand, savoring feelings that had nothing to do with the bargain their lawyers and accountants would ultimately solidify. They had to do with a man sitting across from a beautiful woman.

  He raised his glass. There was only a drop left in it, but he toasted the merger anyway. “Here’s to a long association.”

  She touched her empty glass to his. She fervently hoped it wasn’t prophetic that they were toasting with empty glasses.

  “Amen to that.” And may you never find out that we pulled something over on you.

  He felt the flutter in her wrist as he released her hand. “You seem nervous. Do I make you nervous?” It didn’t seem possible, and yet...

  Maybe a pinch of honesty would placate him. “No, I make me nervous.”

  That was enigmatic. “Why?”

  The words just seemed to
fall from her lips of their own accord. T.J. hadn’t meant to be this open, but once she began, there was no way of gracefully turning back.

  “Because I’m having all these thoughts I shouldn’t be having.”

  His eyes held hers. The amusement in them slowly faded into something far more intense. “About?”

  She had come this far, she might as well admit the rest. Or as much as she could. She couched it in terms that Theresa might have used. “Mixing business with pleasure.”

  He watched in fascination as her long, sooty lashes swept along the swell of her cheeks. Christopher felt something tighten in his gut. “Funny. Me, too.”

  It would be so easy to let things just evolve.... Easy, but not right. T.J. drew herself up. “But we can’t.”

  Reserve? Christopher hadn’t expected that. “Why not? Sometimes these things work out.”

  She thought of the consequences that loomed ahead if they were to become involved. “Not this time.”

  She was far more reticent than he would have thought. Shy even. The lady was a box just filled with surprises—each more pleasing than the last, Christopher decided.

  His eyes caressed her face. He liked the light that rose in her eyes, and the tiny, nervous flutter he detected in her throat. This wasn’t an act she was putting on for his benefit. This was genuine. Christopher found himself charmed all over again.

  “You’ll never know until you try.”

  Her mind scrambled for a way out. She thought of the conversation. “I don’t want you to think that I’m seducing you for your business.”

  A couple passing their table just then looked from Christopher to T.J. and shook their heads disapprovingly as they moved on.

  TJ. sank down in her seat, but laughter bubbled in her throat. “They probably think I’m propositioning you.” The thought of her propositioning anyone was completely ludicrous.

  And yet, he was generating these unfamiliar feelings within her. Reckless, delicious feelings.

  “Instead of the other way around.” He didn’t want her misunderstanding. This had nothing to do with business. “And we’ve already sealed the deal, so anything that happens between us is after the fact.”

  He looked at his empty plate and the empty glass beside it. Suddenly Christopher knew exactly what he wanted for dessert He was rarely so sure of anything outside of business. But he was sure of this.

  It just felt right.

  Nodding at her place setting, Christopher asked, “Ready to go?”

  “Yes.”

  The answer, she knew, had come a little too quickly and perhaps breathlessly. But she wanted to be out of here, away from the setting of just the two of them and back home, where there was Megan and Cecilia and a shower that had cold water. She planned to stand under the shower head for a few hours.

  Picking up her purse, she slid out of the booth. Christopher was beside her by the time she rose to her feet. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and guided her out. He’d already paid the bill before the food had ever arrived. There were some advantages to eating in a steak house, he mused, glad the mood could continue unbroken.

  As they walked out the door, he thought he felt her shaking. It couldn’t be because she was nervous. Theresa Cochran was too sophisticated for that. And yet, it wasn’t cold out. On the contrary, the night was warm and sultry, adding to his mood.

  Another explanation occurred to him as he directed her toward her car at the far end of the lot. “Theresa, are you feeling all right? You’re not coming down with what I had, are you?”

  It was her way out.

  She wanted to jump at the excuse. But she was already hip deep in lies. She didn’t want to add to the pile any more than she already had.

  “No.” Reaching the car, she turned toward him. When she raised her eyes to his, her expression was somber. “I don’t think we should take this any further.” She’d never hated saying anything more in her life. But it was for the best

  Had he misinterpreted the signs? No, he was better at reading people than that. Christopher searched her face for a clue. “Why?”

  Theresa could have come up with something, created a dozen excuses. T.J. could only whisper the truth. “Because I want it too much.”

  Funny how six simple words could change his life. He’d never been a public creature, never one to display his feelings. But that didn’t seem to matter right now. Unmindful of where they were, and of the fact that there were people coming and going in the lot, Christopher gathered her to him.

  His arms felt as if they belonged around her. As if she belonged against him. His body needed the warmth that hers generated. Inhaling deeply, he drew the fragrance of her hair into his lungs.

  “I understand.”

  She looked at him uncertainly. Anticipation trembled within her. What was she doing, jeopardizing everything because the touch of his hand made her heart flip-flop? After tonight, she was never going to see the man again. She didn’t subscribe to the “Two ships in the night” theory.

  And here she was, wanting him to touch her. To want her. To make love with her.

  She had to be crazy.

  “You do?” she asked.

  He nodded. “You’re afraid to surrender to your emotions. You always have to be in control.”

  Boy, was he wrong. She opened her mouth to protest, but he laid a finger against her lips.

  “I know,” he confided, “because I’m the same way. But it doesn’t have to be about surrendering control. No one has to be in control. It can just be about two people enjoying each other.”

  He made it sound so simple. If only it were, she thought in despair. If only she had met him as herself, instead of as Theresa.

  Guilt and desire warred with one another. Guilt won. But she had an uneasy feeling that it might not be a permanent victory.

  Worse, that she didn’t want it to be.

  “Funny, that sounds like something I would say.” Or that Theresa would say, she amended silently.

  “See? We’re of one mind. The more I talk to you, the more alike we turn out to be.”

  “Incredible, isn’t it?” Her laugh sounded a bit hollow to her ear.

  “Incredible is the word for it.” And for her. His voice was soft, and the look in his eyes as he lowered his mouth to hers threatened to make her heart stop altogether.

  Feelings took over. Without waiting for him to make contact, she rose on her toes and buried her hands in his hair. An eagerness she was unaccustomed to filled her as she pressed her lips to his.

  And then she was completely swept away.

  She never stood a chance. She didn’t want one. She wanted, instead, to have this wonderful, wild, heady feeling to completely drain all thoughts, all feeling of guilt and deception away from her.

  T.J. felt his hands along her back, pressing her to him, felt the leap of joy as he deepened the kiss until it anesthetized her. She felt limp even as her blood roared through her veins.

  She was trembling again, he thought, mystified. Or was that him? He didn’t feel his knees. A first. Christopher had never been shaken up by a woman before. It was an experience he would have found frightening if it wasn’t so thoroughly enjoyable.

  He tasted the wine on her lips. Wine and desire. It was a hell of a heady combination, but he thought he could handle it. And do it justice.

  Her heart pounding madly, T.J. managed to place her hands on his arms and push herself back. An ache of regret accompanied her words. “I think we’d better be getting back, don’t you?”

  “I’m not sure I can. I didn’t drop any bread crumbs to mark my way.”

  Oh, please let him be talking about where she lived and not about his emotions. Because she felt it, too. She tried to ignore the thrill that created.

  T.J. opened the driver’s side and got in. “That’s all right. I’m the one driving and I remember the way back.”

  Flipping the lock open on his side from the control panel, she silently added, Maybe.

  7r />
  CHRISTOPHER HAD ALWAYS exercised extreme caution in his relationships. Suspicion of motives had been second nature for him. It was the way his father had raised him. He thought it was the way things would always be.

  There were no suspicions now. It was as if something had fallen away from him. A protective glass shield. A force field around his heart. He had no desire to be guarded.

  The woman beside him in the car completely captivated him. She was everything he had ever wanted in a woman: smart, funny, resourceful, nurturing. A sexy Mary Poppins with a dash of Andrew Carnegie’s business acumen. Hell, what more could a man want?

  To build on the foundation before him, Christopher thought. That was what a man could want. It was what he wanted.

  He was never slow about making up his mind. And he’d made it up this evening.

  All things considered, the steak house had been an improbable place to find himself falling in love.

  Improbable, but not impossible. It had to be love, he reasoned, because he’d never felt anything like this before.

  He wanted to take her dancing along the banks of the River Thames. To Paris to sip wine in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. To Tahiti to make love on the beach. He felt wild, reckless, none of which he could even vaguely remember feeling before. It had to be love. Or total insanity.

  Maybe, he mused, watching her profile, it was a little bit of both.

  They were almost home. If T.J. weren’t driving, it would have been a struggle for her not to knot her fingers together in her lap. It wasn’t something Theresa would do. Theresa would never have allowed an outward display of nerves to be witnessed. T.J. didn’t think Theresa was even capable of being nervous. They were very different in that respect.

  What did Theresa have to be nervous about, anyway? She led a charmed life. That was because her cousin knew that she would always be there to bail her out. TJ.’s jaw clenched as she turned onto her street.

  Well, maybe she was sick of being the dependable one. Good old dependable TJ., always living in Theresa’s shadow.

  But tonight was different. Tonight she was Cinderella. Or Theresa, she amended. She glanced at Christopher and saw that he was looking at her. Warmth bathed her all over again. TJ.’s stomach quavered as she offered him a wide smile.