Newlywed Games (25 page)

“Olivia! Leave the boy alone,” he heard his father say in a stern voice.

“At least tell us where you are going,” his mother said.

“Meg’s place,” Gayle said with a smile, and Bruce almost burst out laughing. Leave it to Meg’s mom to suddenly seem pleased that they had two places.

Bruce shook his head. “Nope. I’m taking my bride to a place where we won’t be found.” He pinned Brock with a glare. “By anyone.”

“I need to at least get my purse, so you can set me down,” Meghann said.

He didn’t budge. “Where is it?”

“On the table behind the couch.”

He moved in that direction.

“Aren’t you going to put me down?”

“No.” He leaned over enough for her to grab her purse. He wasn’t about to let her go and risk losing her to this crowd.

“What if we need to get in touch with you?”

“You’ll just have to deal with whatever crisis comes up yourselves, Mother,” he said over his shoulder. “Would you get the door, my dear?” He grinned at Meghann, bending far enough for her to reach the knob.

Her answering smile convinced him he’d done the right thing, and he walked out without any effort to close the door behind him. At the elevator he had her press the button with the toe of her shoe.

“You can set me down now.” She attempted to lift her legs free.

“Not yet.”

He stepped inside the elevator and waited for the doors to close before freeing her legs. As her feet touched down, their eyes locked. He wanted nothing more in that moment than to pull her into his arms and kiss her deeply, but instead he slowly released the hold his other arm still had on her.

Meghann started giggling. He loved to hear her laugh and feasted on the sound. His mouth, too, turned upward. She laughed all the way to his ‘Vette.

“I don’t think your mother can believe you did that,” she said when she caught her breath.

His smile broadened and he chuckled. His mother’s anger wouldn’t last long. In fact, she’d probably be bragging on her forceful, obviously-in-love son to her community charity compatriots within the week. “I can’t believe I did it, either. It was sort of a spur of the moment inspiration.” He wasn’t normally an impulsive person. Plan things out thoroughly to avoid potential failure; that was his motto. But he had never felt as possessive
about a woman as he did about her. “I got tired of the crowd and figured you might be, too.”

Her expression was grateful. “Yes, I was. I don’t know how much more I could take. Thank you for rescuing me.”

He glanced over at her after pulling into traffic. “My pleasure.”

She leaned her head back and sighed heavily. “So where are you taking me?”

“How does dinner sound?”

“Isn’t it a little early?”

“Not by the time we get there,” he said wryly with the raise of his brows.

They headed north and an hour later arrived at Havana Street Station.

“Two?” the hostess asked and showed them to a table in the middle of the dimly lit restaurant. It was still early and the place was nearly vacant. Only one table was occupied with four little old ladies. Soft music wafted through the air, just enough to set a relaxing mood but not overpowering to distraction. Plants tucked in here and there gave the place a warm, earthy feel.

“Could we possibly get that table over there?” Bruce pointed to a cozy corner booth out of the line of traffic.

“Sure,” the hostess said and seated them in the requested spot, leaving them with a pair of menus. Latticework between theirs and the adjoining booths gave it an air of privacy.

A few minutes later, a tall, lanky young waiter with sandy blond hair appeared next to the table. He took
their drink orders—raspberry lemonade for Meg, iced tea for Bruce—and nodded. “I’ll bring those right out.”

They settled into their chairs, taking their time perusing the menu. Bruce felt himself finally starting to relax in the peaceful quiet between them. “How about we get a couple of appetizers for now and order our meals later?”

Meghann agreed readily, so Bruce ordered the appetizers a moment later when Scott returned with their drinks.

This, he thought as he watched the waiter retreat, is what he had wanted at Christmas. Just the two of them together, over dinner. Regret, sharp and painful, stabbed through him. If only he’d made sure it had happened. If only they’d been able to start back then, building a relationship. But now they had this deception between them. Though it brought them together, it also kept them apart.

Meghann’s nose wrinkled slightly and she tilted her head, studying him. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

He raised his brows. “Like what?”

She pondered the question. “Like you’ve got something on your mind.”

I do. You. Every minute of every day.
He laid his napkin in his lap. “I was wondering why you moved so far away from your mother when it’s only the two of you.”

“Oh, I guess I needed to spread my wings. I love my mom dearly, but sometimes she can be a bit much. I needed some room to figure out who I was.” She took a sip of her lemonade.

“So how did you end up here?”

“A friend had an uncle down here with a family camp ranch, so we came down to work for him for the summer.”

“Is your friend still working for her uncle?”

“No.” She twisted her glass around by its base. “It turned out she was allergic to horses, so she got a job in town, but I stayed at the ranch. When the summer was over, she went back home. I fell in love with it here, got another job, and started college.”

“Your job at the hotel?”

“I wish.” She abandoned spinning her beverage. “I worked many assorted jobs before I landed that one.”

He watched her draw lines on her glass in the condensation. Was she nervous? Did she think he was prying? He only wanted to get to know her better, to know everything about her. “You must like it there.”

Her head came up then. “I love that old hotel. It has so much charm and character. Like many of the employees, I was a little afraid of losing my job when the hotel changed owners. That was just before you were hired. There were so many rumors about staff cuts and the hotel possibly closing. But apparently the only one who lost his job was the manager. Some say he quit, others say he was fired.”

“He resigned. There were irreconcilable differences between him and the new owner.”

Interest sparked in her eyes at that. She leaned forward, a small smile on her lips. “You wouldn’t mind divulging a little information on him would you? Or is it a her? Them?”

Oops, wrong subject. “I’d love to tell you everything I know, Meg, but I can’t. I’m not at liberty to discuss it. The owner prefers to remain in the background for now.”

She pouted for a moment, then sat back with an understanding smile. “Well, he or she must have a passion for the place, restoring it and all.” Excitement danced in her hazel eyes. “I like to think of her as a sweet little old lady.”

“Old?” He smiled at the idea.

She nodded, clearly entranced with her fantasy. “She spent her honeymoon at the Palace Hotel as a young woman desperately in love with her new husband. They had a long and wonderful marriage, and when she lost him, she decided she would do something to honor all they’d shared. So she’s restoring the first place they were together to its grand old style.” She sighed. “Her name would be Maud or Betsy or Cora Bennet.” Yes, Cora Bennet. She liked the sound of it even if it was fabricated from her imagination.

Quite a little romantic, his pretend wife. He loved listening to her, seeing her like this. Reaching out, he covered her hand with his. “Will you be terribly disappointed if you’re wrong?”

She looked up from their hands but didn’t move away. “A little. It’s such a wonderful story. But when it comes down to it, I’ll like anyone who would go to the trouble to restore my grand old hotel.”

He arched his brows at that. “Your hotel?”

The sweetest pink tinged her cheeks, and she laughed at herself. “In my heart, my dreams. I love that place.” Her eyes shone. “I can hardly wait to see what it
looks like when it’s back to its original glory.”

Bruce smiled, his eyes fixed on her glowing face, convinced that even the majestic old hotel in all its original beauty couldn’t hold a candle to the glory he was looking at right that moment.

More than three hours later, after lingering over dinner and dessert, they headed back to Bruce’s apartment.

“I can’t believe we were at the restaurant for that long,” Meghann said, but she wasn’t the least bit sorry they’d taken so much time. It had been wonderful. “It went so fast. I feel bad we took up a booth for so long. Waiters and waitresses practically live on their tips. They depend on them. I know, that was one of my jobs in college.”

“I don’t think Scott, our waiter, minded. I left a very generous tip to more than cover any tip he may have missed out on.” Bruce grinned. “Besides, he was quite taken with you.”

“Taken with me?”

“He gave us far more attention than was necessary. Had I been there with a business associate, I wouldn’t have seen him nearly half as much. Didn’t you notice him flirting with you?”

She frowned, thinking back. The young man was very nice and always smiled at her. And her lemonade was never quite gone before he brought her another.…he angled a look at Bruce. “Am I to assume it doesn’t bother my supposed husband that another man was flirting with me?”

“Not at all, for three reasons.” He held up three fingers as he glanced over at her, then switched to only his index finger raised. “One, he was only eighteen or nineteen. Too young for you.”

Well, the nerve! She sniffed at him. “How do you know I don’t prefer younger men?”

He turned his gaze from the road, and the teasing laughter she saw in his eyes almost made her smile.

“Do you?”

She gave a careless little shrug. “I’ve never really considered age a major factor—” he arched one of those expressive brows, and she allowed a small smile—“but I confess I prefer men I date to be older than I.”

Triumph filled his face and he focused his attention back on the ribbon of black highway stretched before them.

“And number two?” she prodded.

“This.” He pointed out into the darkness. “There is more than an hour’s distance separating the two of you. My guess is he’s working his way through school. Both his time and money are limited. I doubt he would spend a fortune on gas, if he has a car at all, to come see you. Not to mention the limits of time.”

So, he didn’t think someone would go out of his way to see her. “Okay. What’s number three?”

“The most important of all. You.”

“Me?”

“You didn’t seem to have the least bit of interest in him whatsoever.”

Guilty as charged. She didn’t even notice Scott’s flirting. Her interest lay elsewhere—and she figured
Bruce knew that as well as she. But he could have at least acted a little bit jealous.

Why should he? There was no one around of consequence, so appearances didn’t matter.

She turned to stare out into the darkness enveloping them. Why did it always come back to that? Why couldn’t she just enjoy their time together for what it was?

Because you’re not sure what it was, that’s why.
True enough. She sighed. “Where are we going now?”

“Your place.”

“But you told your mother—”

“What’s the point of escaping if we can be easily found?” He disarmed her with a heart-stopping smile. “Besides, I thought you would like to be at your own place for a change.”

He was right again. It would be good to sleep in her own bed. She sighed heavily and leaned her head back.

“Are you tired?”

“No, not really. It’s just nice to relax.”

They pulled into her driveway. They slipped from the car and she followed him as he unlocked the front door of her house, holding it open for her to enter.

“Good night.”

At the low words, she turned to face him in surprise. “Aren’t you coming in?”

He studied her in silence, a slight smile on his lips. Then he shrugged. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Why ever not?
This had been a lovely evening and she wasn’t ready for it to end just yet. Disappointment swept her from relaxation into vexation. “Why are you doing this?”

His smile broadened. “Standing out in the cold?”

“No. Pretending to be married to me. I’m doing it for my mom. What do you get out of all this? And don’t you dare say you have a mother, too.”

He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. “To be honest, I feel trapped in this now that my parents have arrived. I feel as if my family’s openness to faith, to what I’ve been trying to share with them, somehow hinges on this. My father is looking for any excuse to condemn Christianity, to drive a wedge between my mother and siblings and faith in Christ. I know I’ll have to tell them all the truth eventually…” He gazed out at the evening sky. “I’m just not ready yet. I’m worried about the distance it will put between us.”

She blinked back tears at his words. If only she had known that careless little lie would lead to all this.…

I’m sorry. Father, I’m so sorry.

He inclined his head and looked back at her. “Besides, I can’t really back out at this point, now can I?” There was a trace of laughter in his voice.

Would you if you felt you could? Are you eager to be gone?

His gaze captured her. She couldn’t speak or look away—or breathe for that matter. There was a spark of some indefinable emotion in his eyes. All she knew was that what she saw there made her want to throw herself in his arms for the rest of her life. His smile and the caress of his smooth voice made her heart beat faster. All logic and common sense flew out the window. She blinked, light-headed, feeling for all the world as though she were drunk.

Bruce Halloway was intoxicating.

The phone rang, startling her. She gasped in air and turned, staring at it in confusion.

Bruce grabbed her hand to keep her in her place. “Don’t answer that. You’re not supposed to be here. Don’t answer the phone for any reason.” He gave her hand a squeeze when she nodded.

The simple touch of his hand on hers sent shock waves jolting through her. Maybe he was right. Maybe it was a good thing he wasn’t coming in.