Название: A Baby In The House
Автор: Pamela Bauer
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
isbn: 9781472023995
isbn:
Garret suspected he was probably right. There was no shortage of men in her life. He only hoped that the man she did bring wouldn’t be Roy Stanton. After the way Roy had betrayed her, Garret didn’t want to think she would ever let the creep back into her life. Yet he knew the possibility existed. History had proved that she’d forgive him for almost anything.
“Will you be bringing this Samantha as your date to the wedding?” Quinn interrupted his thoughts.
“Ah…I’m not sure,” he said evasively. Until now he hadn’t considered taking anyone, but if he needed a date, Samantha would be a sensible choice. She was, after all, more his type than someone like Krystal.
Again his thoughts returned to the beautiful, impulsive hairdresser. He wondered if she ever thought about their night together, or had she simply written it off as a night she wanted to forget. Judging by the way she’d avoided him whenever he’d stopped in at 14 Valentine Place lately, he guessed it was the latter. He knew he should do the same. Forget about her, forget about that night.
Only he couldn’t. He’d messed with a fantasy and his life would never be the same.
“I’M SO GLAD YOU WERE OFF today and you could help me move,” Samantha told Garret as she filled a shelf with books.
Because she’d hired professional movers, there was little to do except help her unpack boxes. To someone as organized and as efficient as Samantha, it was a task that didn’t take long to accomplish.
“I believe that’s the last of it and just in time,” she told him as she dusted her hands off on her blue jeans. “I’m ready for lunch. Where do you recommend, since this is familiar territory to you?”
“Dixie’s is good and it’s close.”
“Great, I’ll just make a couple of phone calls and we’ll go.” She leaned over to grab her phone from her desk.
“I’ll wait for you downstairs. It’ll give me a few minutes to talk to my mom,” he told her, then headed down to the first floor.
He found his mother in the kitchen seated at the large round oak table. She wasn’t alone. Krystal sat across from her, a pair of scissors in her hands. Her expression was one of concentration as she cut clippings from a magazine.
Dressed in a T-shirt and jeans with her hair pulled back from her face and held in place by a barrette, she looked like an innocent and very different from the woman who’d seduced him the night of the hospital ball. She’d been all glitter and glamour and his body tightened as he remembered what had happened after they left the party.
“All finished?” his mother asked when she noticed him.
“Yes.” He didn’t miss the way Krystal kept her eyes lowered and focused on her task. Usually she greeted him with a grin and started a conversation, but not today. He’d expected that after the way they’d parted the next morning, things would be awkward between them, but not this awkward.
As he moved closer to her he saw what had her attention. Spread out on the table were what looked to be paper dolls, only they were all men wearing swimsuits and none of them had heads.
“What’s up with that?” he asked, gesturing to the clippings. “Are you venting your frustration with the opposite sex?”
“We’re working on a game for Dena’s wedding shower,” his mother answered.
“What kind of game has headless male swimsuit models?” he asked.
“A fun one,” Krystal answered, cutting around a pair of men’s legs.
His mother used her scissors to point to a small stack of paper heads. “The object is to match the celebrity’s head with the body. Each match is worth a point. The person with the most points wins. It’s as simple as that.”
“But Quinn is five points,” Krystal corrected.
“Quinn? You have his body in here?”
“Of course. He is a celebrity,” his mother reminded him. “Although it wasn’t easy finding him in a swimsuit. He’s usually photographed in his hockey gear.”
Garret peered more closely at the headless paper men on the table. “Which one is he?”
“You can’t tell?” his mother asked.
He chuckled. “No, Quinn has clothes on when I’m with him.” That comment caused Krystal to smile, but she didn’t look up at him. “Won’t this give Dena an unfair advantage? She’s probably the only one who’s seen that much of Quinn’s skin.”
“That’s part of the fun…seeing if she can identify her own fiancé without his clothes,” Krystal answered.
She glanced up at him then and, from the look in her eyes, he knew she was remembering what he looked like without his clothes. If his swimsuit-clad body was in the game, he wondered if she would be able to identify it.
She looked away and he knew that what had happened the night of the hospital party had definitely changed how she felt toward him. The old Krystal would have flirted with him and made a comment regarding the two of them sharing a secret. The new Krystal looked as if she wished he wasn’t in the same room with her.
Just then Samantha appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. In her usual take-charge manner, she strode in and greeted his mother.
“I’m glad you’re all settled,” Leonie said. “Have you met Krystal?”
“Yes, at the hospital ball,” Samantha extended a hand, but Garret could see her smile was forced. “It’s nice to see you again.”
Krystal stiffened and for a moment Garret thought she might bolt right out of her chair, but to his surprise, she smiled brightly, shook Samantha’s hand and said, “You’re right. You had on the dress with all the ruffles.”
The two women made small talk about the food and music at the party. Garret tried to remember Samantha’s ruffled dress, but all he could recall was the slinky dress that Krystal had worn. It had been a bright blue and cut to a vee in the front revealing a generous cleavage that had drawn the eyes of every man in the place. Then there had been the slit up the side that had spread whenever she walked, revealing a thigh that was ever so…
“Garret, I asked if that’s all right with you?” Samantha sounded a bit impatient and he realized he’d missed what she’d been saying.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“Your mother offered to show me how to use the laundry facilities. You don’t mind waiting a few minutes longer, do you?”
She didn’t wait for his response but headed out of the kitchen.
Leonie followed her out and suddenly he found himself alone with Krystal for the first time since the party. She didn’t look at him but continued cutting out the paper dolls. Before today it would have been unusual for there to be quietness between them. But then it would have been unusual for anyone who was in Krystal’s company. She could talk enough for two people and often СКАЧАТЬ