Beauty and the Wolf / Their Miracle Twins (7 page)

Eli gave her disbelieving look. “You were going to join a bunch of college kids, in the rain, to listen to a freshman lecture everyone about solving the world’s ills?”

“How did you know the scheduled speaker is a freshman?” she asked, intrigued.

He shrugged. “They’re always freshmen—by their second year in college, students are more cynical.” He
lowered his voice. “Rumor has it, the change is due to the amount of beer consumed at all those freshman frat parties.”

Cornelia laughed. “I think you may be right, Eli.”

“He could be.” Frankie tried to hold back a smile but failed. “I bet you formed this opinion through first-hand experience,” she said dryly.

“I have to confess I helped lower the beer level in a few kegs during my freshman year at college,” he confirmed. “But I never picked up a bullhorn and lectured the student population on a solution for world peace.”

“Did you rally for any good causes?” Cornelia asked him.

Curled next to him on the cushioned wooden bench seat, Frankie sipped her tea and listened as Eli bantered back and forth with her mother about his activities in college. He’d been a part of their extended group of family friends for a long time through his friendship with Justin. She knew he’d attended the University of Washington by combining scholarships and working at Wolf Construction. By the time he’d earned an engineering degree, Wolf Construction’s business had taken off under his leadership and become a major contender for commercial building in Seattle and the surrounding area.

Everything Harry had told her about Nicholas Dean’s success could be said of Eli, she thought, feeling a surge of pride at his accomplishments.

Eli glanced sideways at her, his gaze warming.

“Come to the movies with me tonight, Frankie,” he
said easily. “We’ll be inside a theater, we’ll be dry and I’ll buy you buttered popcorn.”

“What movie are you going to see?” she asked, aware of her mother listening.

“An action adventure based on a book by one of my favorite authors.”

“Sounds like fun.”

He eyed her. “You like those kinds of books, too?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

His blue eyes gleamed with approval. “I’ll be damned. I keep learning things about you that amaze me.”

Frankie huffed. “Lots of women read suspense novels.”

“I know, but you have a PhD in English literature. Somehow, I didn’t expect you to like action-adventure fiction.”

“I’d be just as interested if there was a new film based on one of Jane Austen’s titles,” Frankie said firmly. “But I’m not a snob about books—I like all different kinds. I’d love to see the movie tonight.”

“Great.” Eli looked at Cornelia. “How about you, Cornelia? Would you like to come with us?”

“Oh, no.” Cornelia waved a hand. “My favorite mystery series is on PBS tonight, and I’ve been looking forward to the next installment. I’m going to curl up in my jammies in front of the TV with a bowl of ice cream.”

“All right, but you know you’re welcome to join us if you change your mind,” Eli told her. He looked at Frankie. “I’ll pick you up at seven?”

She nodded. “I’ll be ready. What theater are we going to?”

“Pacific Place downtown.” He stood, the swing dipping and swaying on the heavy chains suspending the seat. “I’d better get going. I need to run by a construction site and check with the security guard.”

“Is there a problem?” Frankie felt a swift stab of concern.

“Only with water—we’ve had a lot of rain the last couple of days. I want to make sure there’s no flooding.” He took his jacket from the back of the chair and shrugged into it.

Cornelia rose, collecting the tea tray. “It was lovely to see you, Eli—stop by again soon.”

“I will, Cornelia, thank you.”

Her slim figure disappeared into the front hall.

Eli held out his hand, and Frankie put her fingers in his, letting him pull her to her feet. He slung an arm over her shoulders, tucking her against his side, and walked her toward the outside door.

“I hope you don’t mind my dropping by without calling. But when Justin told me you were spending the afternoon with your mom, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to return your earring and spend a little time reinforcing Cornelia’s belief that we’re a couple.”

“I don’t mind at all—I’m glad you stopped by. I confess I don’t like keeping the truth from Mom. The only thing that makes me feel okay about deceiving her is that I know she’d be the first to join us if she knew Harry was meddling again.”

“I suspect you’re right about Cornelia. But the more people who know about our plan, the more difficult it would be to keep it a secret from Harry, I’m afraid.”

Frankie sighed. “I’m sure you’re right.”

He stopped at the door, turning to face her, his back to the screen and glass and the gray rain outside.

“You don’t have to take me to the movie tonight, Eli. Mom will never know.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Are you kidding? Hanging out with you is one of the perks of this scam. Besides, it’s always more fun to watch a movie with someone. Then later you can go over the good parts, or, if it’s a bad film, you can commiserate and complain about all the lousy acting and special effects.”

“Ah, I see. So it’s not that you want my company,” she teased, inordinately pleased that she’d see him later, “it’s that you want someone to compare opinions with after the credits roll.”

He laughed. “You’ve caught me, that’s part of it.” He bent his head to whisper in her ear. “Your mom is standing at the kitchen sink. If she looks sideways, she can see us. Want to give her something to tell Harry?”

“Okay.” Frankie nodded, her heartbeat beginning to race as his mouth curved in a slow smile at her assent.

He slipped his arms around her waist and eased her nearer, lifting her up on her toes as his head bent.

Warm, seductive, his mouth coaxed hers to respond. Frankie clutched his biceps, her head spinning as the world narrowed to the hard body she leaned against and Eli’s lips on hers.

The kiss only lasted a moment. Too soon, Eli lifted his head, easing her back off her toes.

“I’ll pick you up at seven,” he murmured, blue eyes darkened to navy.

She nodded, unable to gather her wits and form a sentence.

He bent, his lips brushing against the sensitive shell of her ear. “And, Frankie, kissing you is one of the best parts of this scheme.”

Frankie felt her eyes widen. Then he shoved the door open behind him and, with a quick grin, left her. The door closed on his back as he loped down the sidewalk. Moments later, his pickup truck accelerated away from the curb.

He’s right,
she thought, still faintly dazed.
Kissing is definitely one of the perks of having Eli pretend to be my boyfriend.

Eli arrived at Frankie’s condo that evening and within a short half hour, they’d reached the Pacific Place and were settled into comfortable seats in a row near the back of the theater. He held her coat while she slipped out of it before handing her the container of popcorn.

“This is a lot of popcorn for only two people,” she said, eyeing the bucket dubiously.

“I like popcorn. Trust me.” He winked at her. “It won’t last long.”

Frankie laughed and took a handful of the salty kernels. As she ate, she glanced around the theater. The lights were still on and local business advertisements
played with minimal sound on the wide screen up front.

“This reminds me of going to the movies with Mom and my sisters when we were little,” she said. “I love rainy Sundays at the theater.”

“Granddad used to drop off me and my brothers at the theater in Ballard on Saturday or Sunday afternoons,” Eli told her. “I suspect it gave him a much-needed break.”

“I’m sure Mom enjoyed the peace and quiet when we all were focused on the screen, too,” Frankie replied. “Parenting looks like a tough job when there are two people, but being a single parent must be beyond difficult.”

“I agree.” Eli nodded. “Watching Justin and Lily with Ava has been a real eye-opener. Don’t get me wrong,” he added hastily. “I think she’s great, but, man, she wears me out.”

“I know what you mean. Ava has nonstop energy.” Frankie smiled with affection as she sipped her water. “I have a play date scheduled with her on Saturday morning and I’m wondering if I should increase my vitamin intake and start lifting weights to build my endurance.”

Eli grinned at her. “Might not be a bad idea. Aren’t you a little old to have play dates?”

“Absolutely not,” Frankie said emphatically. “I adore Ava and every third Saturday, we get together to go to the park or the zoo or a children’s exhibition at the Seattle Center. Of course,” she added with a twinkle,
“I call it bonding, but Ava insists we’re having play dates.”

“Ah.” Eli nodded. “Makes sense. So what else did you do when you were a child?” Eli asked. “Besides go to movies on Sunday afternoons.”

“Skipped rope, rode bikes, played Monopoly with my sisters, and—” Frankie paused to sip her water “—volunteered at a horse rescue barn in Arlington.”

Arrested, Eli stopped eating popcorn, one eyebrow rising in query. “I didn’t know you were interested in horses. I thought you were a city girl, through and through.”

“I suppose I am to a certain extent,” Frankie agreed. “But I love animals, especially horses. When I celebrated my eighth birthday, Mom told me it was time for me to pick a cause to donate my time to and I chose abused horses.”

“Good choice.” Eli nodded, his eyes gleaming with approval. “When Granddad told us we were old enough to start giving back to the community, I picked Habitat for Humanity.”

“That’s a wonderful cause,” Frankie enthused. “I’ve considered signing up, but I don’t know anything about carpentry.”

“A lot of volunteers don’t when they start. Join my group,” he said. “I’ll make sure you learn how to swing a hammer and saw a board.”

“I doubt it’s that easy,” she said with a shake of her head.

He shrugged. “It’s not complicated—and professional
carpenters team with new volunteers to supervise them.”

“If you promise to teach me enough about carpentry so my contribution doesn’t result in a house falling down, I’ll sign up,” she told him.

He laughed. “You couldn’t make a house fall down. Don’t worry about it.”

Before Frankie could respond, the house lights dimmed and the previews for upcoming movies began.

When the popcorn container was empty and napkins had wiped away any traces of salt and butter, Eli caught her hand in his, threading her fingers between his own. Startled, she glanced sideways at him, but he was focused on the screen, his profile lit by the flickering light from the movie.

There was something nice about sitting in the dark theater, Eli’s warm, callused palm pressed to hers, the hard strength of his shoulder against hers.

Frankie turned back toward the screen, deciding to enjoy the moment and not worry about what it might mean that her heart stuttered each time his thumb smoothed over the back of her hand.

Since they both had to rise early for work the following morning, Eli dropped her off just after ten-thirty, saying good-night with another kiss that left her breathless. Forty minutes later, as she climbed into bed and switched off the lamp, Frankie realized she hadn’t spent such a relaxing, thoroughly enjoyable evening in a very long time.

And it was entirely due to Eli’s company.

Part of her loved the thought—while another part dealt with the niggling worry that she liked his company far too much.

A wise woman wouldn’t tempt fate, she thought drowsily.

O
n Wednesday morning, Frankie was in her office at Liberty Hall on the University of Washington campus. Since completing work on a museum exhibit in December, she’d been reassigned from her usual duties as a research assistant. She was now temporarily filling in for an English Literature professor who’d gone on emergency leave. Much as she loved the variety of her research work, Frankie welcomed the opportunity to teach in a classroom. The new responsibility challenged her creativity and gave her one-on-one contact with students, which wasn’t usually the case.

Since her next lecture wasn’t for another forty-five minutes, she planned to make good use of the time to catch up on a few non-classroom duties.

Her desk was littered with data reports, printouts of
class grading curves and miscellaneous information. Deep in thought, she contemplated a possible change in her syllabus notes for the current lecture series on classic British authors of the twentieth century.

“Hey, Professor.” The deep male voice was soft, just above a murmur, but Frankie jumped nonetheless, startled, her gaze flying to the doorway.

Eli leaned against the doorjamb, one broad shoulder propped against the walnut edge. He was dressed for work in a blue-and-white plaid flannel shirt that hung unbuttoned over a white T-shirt tucked into the waistband of snug faded jeans. A black leather belt was threaded through the belt loops of the jeans, and dusty black boots covered his feet.

“Hey,” she responded faintly.

“Sorry I startled you.” He shoved away from the doorjamb and walked toward her, his stride easy. “I had to stop at a job site near here, and when I picked up coffee, I thought about you, probably stuck in your office, slaving away. So I brought you a latte—double shot, vanilla, right?” He held up two take-out Starbucks cups with lids.

Frankie beamed at him, delighted. “You remembered.” She took the cup and sipped, closing her eyes in pleasure. “I owe you.”

“And I’ll collect,” he shot back, grinning when her eyes opened and she studied him with suspicion. He picked up a straightback wooden chair and spun it around, straddling it, his forearms resting along the
top of the polished oak back. “Any new thoughts about our next move against Harry?”

Frankie leaned back in her swivel chair, propping her stockinged feet atop the open bottom desk drawer, ankles crossed. “Believe it or not, Harry called this morning. He’s having a group of people over for dinner on Friday night to welcome a visiting software mogul from London. He asked if I’d like to join them.” She looked at Eli from beneath lowered lashes. “I told him yes, providing I could bring a date.”