A Tricky Proposition (3 page)

“I can’t. Terry and I are having dinner.”

“Afterward?”

“It’s been a long day. I’m heading home for a glass of wine and a long, hot bath.”

“Do you want some company?”

Unbidden, his thoughts took him to an intoxicating, sensual place where Ming floated naked in warm, fragrant water. Candles burned, setting her delicate, pale shoulders aglow above the framing bubbles of her favorite bath gel. The office faded away as he imagined trailing his lips along her neck, discovering all the places on her silky skin that made her shiver.

“Jason?” Ming’s voice roused him to the fact that he was standing in the elevator. He didn’t remember getting there.

Damn it. He banished the images, but the sensations lingered.

“What?” he asked, disturbed at how compelling his fantasy had been.

“I asked if I could call you later.”

“Sure.” His voice had gone hoarse. “Have a good dinner.”

“Thanks.”

The phone went dead in his hand. Jason dropped the cell back into his pocket, still reeling from the direction his thoughts had gone. He had to stop thinking of her like that. Unfortunately, once awakened, the notion of making love to Ming proved difficult to coax back to sleep.

He headed to his favorite bar, which promised a beer and a dozen sports channels as a distraction from his problems. It failed to deliver.

Instead, he replayed his conversations with both Ming and Evan in his mind. She wanted to have a baby, wanted Jason’s help to make that happen, but she’d decided against it before he’d had a chance to consider the idea. All because it wouldn’t be fair to Evan if he ever found out.

Would she feel the same if she knew Evan was dating Lily and that he didn’t care if Ming got hurt in the process? That wouldn’t change her mind. Even if it killed her, Ming would want Evan and Lily to be happy.

But shouldn’t she get to be selfish, too? She should be able to choose whatever man she wanted to help her get pregnant. Even the brother of her ex-fiancé. Only Jason knew she’d never go there without a lot of convincing.

And wasn’t that what best friends were for?

*

Fifteen minutes after she’d hung up on Jason, Ming’s heart was still thumping impossibly fast. She’d told herself that when he’d asked if she wanted company for a glass of wine and a hot bath, he hadn’t meant anything sexual. She’d called him for a shoulder to cry on. That’s all he was offering.

But the image of him sliding into her oversize tub while candlelight flickered off the glass tile wall and a thousand soap bubbles drifted on the water’s surface…

“Ready for dinner?”

Jerked out of her musing, Ming spun her chair away from her computer and spied Terry Kincaid grinning at her from the doorway, his even, white teeth dazzling against his tan skin. As well as being her partner in the dental practice and her best girl friend’s father, he was the reason she’d chosen to become an orthodontist in the first place.

“Absolutely.”

She closed her internet browser and images of strollers disappeared from her screen. As crazy as it was to shop for baby stuff before she was even pregnant, Ming couldn’t stop herself from buying things. Her last purchase had been one of those mobiles that hangs above the crib and plays music as it spins.

“You already know how proud I am of you,” Terry began after they’d finished ordering dinner at his favorite seafood place. “When I brought you into the practice, it wasn’t because you were at the top of your class or a hard worker, but because you’re like family.”

“You know that’s how I feel about you, too.” In fact, Terry was so much better than her own family because he offered her absolute support without any judgment.

“And as a member of my family, it was important to me that I come to you with any big life-changing decisions I was about to make.”

Ming gulped. How had he found out what she was going to do? Wendy couldn’t have told him. Her friend knew how to keep a secret.

“Sure,” she said. “That’s only fair.”

“That’s why I’m here to tell you that I’m going to retire and I want you to take over the practice.”

This was the last thing she expected him to say. “But you’re only fifty-seven. You can’t quit now.”

“It’s the perfect time. Janice and I want to travel while we’re still young enough to have adventures.”

In addition to being a competitive sailor, Terry was an expert rock climber and pilot. Where Ming liked relaxing spa vacations in northern California, he and his wife went hang gliding in Australia and zip lining through the jungles of Costa Rica.

“And you want me to have the practice?” Her mind raced at the thought of all the things she would have to learn, and fast. Managing personnel and finances. Marketing. The practice thrived with Terry at the helm. Could she do half as well? “It’s a lot.”

“If you’re worried about the money, work the numbers with Jason.”

“It’s not the money.” It was an overwhelming responsibility to take on at the same time she was preparing for the challenge of being a single mom. “I’m not sure I’m ready.”

Terry was unfazed by her doubts. “I’ve never met anyone who rises to the challenge the way you do. And I’m not going to retire next week. I’m looking at the middle of next year. Plenty of time for you to learn what you need to know.”

The middle of next year? Ming did some rapid calculation. If everything went according to schedule, she’d be giving birth about the time when Terry would be leaving. Who’d take over while she was out on maternity leave? She’d hoped for twelve glorious weeks with her newborn.

Yet, now that the initial panic was fading, excitement stirred. Her own practice. She’d be crazy to let this opportunity pass her by.

“Ming, are you all right?” Concern had replaced delight. “I thought you’d jump at the chance to run the practice.”

“I’m really thrilled by the opportunity.”

“But?”

She was going to have a baby. Taking over the practice would require a huge commitment of time and energy. But Terry believed in her and she hated to disappoint him. He’d taken her under his wing during high school when she and Wendy had visited the office and shown her that orthodontia was a perfect career for someone who had an obsession with making things straight and orderly.

“No
buts.
” She loaded her voice with confidence.

“That’s my girl.” He patted her hand. “You have no idea how happy I was when you decided to join me in this practice. There’s no one but you that I’d trust to turn it over to.”

His words warmed and worried her at the same. The amount of responsibility overwhelmed her, but whatever it took, she’d make sure Terry never regretted choosing her.

“I won’t let you down.”

*

Crickets serenaded Jason as he headed up the walk to Ming’s front door. At nine o’clock at night, only a far-off bark disturbed the peaceful tree-lined street in the older Houston suburb. Amongst the midcentury craftsman homes, Ming’s contemporary-styled house stood out. The clean lines and geometric landscaping suited the woman who lived there. Ming kept her surroundings and her life uncluttered.

He couldn’t imagine how she was going to handle the sort of disorder a child would bring into her world, but after his conversation with Evan this afternoon, Jason was no longer deciding whether or not he should help his oldest friend. It was more a matter of how he was going to go about it.

Jason rang her doorbell and Muffin began to bark in warning. The entry light above him snapped on and the door flew open. Jason blinked as Ming appeared in the sudden brightness. The scent of her filled his nostrils, a sumptuous floral that made him think of making love on an exotic tropical island.

“Jason? What are you doing here?” Ming bent to catch the terrier as she charged past, but missed. “Muffin, get back here.”

“I’ll get her.” Chasing the frisky dog gave him something to concentrate on besides Ming’s slender form clad in a plum silk nightgown and robe, her long black hair cascading over one shoulder. “Did I wake you?” he asked, handing her the squirming Yorkie.

His body tightened as he imagined her warm, pliant form snuggled beside him in bed. His brother had been a complete idiot not to give her the sun, moon and whatever stars she wanted.

“No.” She tilted her head. “Do you want to come in?”

Swept by the new and unsettling yearning to take her in his arms and claim her lush mouth, Jason shook his head. “I’ve been thinking about what we talked about earlier today.”

“If you’ve come here to talk me out of having a baby, you can save your breath.” She was his best friend. Back in high school they’d agreed that what had happened after prom had been a huge mistake. They’d both been upset with their dates and turned to each other in a moment of weakness. Neither one wanted to risk their friendship by exploring the chemistry between them.

But in the back of Jason’s mind, lying in wait all these years, was curiosity. What would it be like between them? It’s why he’d decided to help her make a baby. Today she’d offered him the solution to satisfy his need for her and not complicate their friendship with romantic misunderstandings. He’d be a fool not to take advantage of the opportunity.

“I want to help.”

“You do?” Doubt dominated her question, but relief hovered nearby. She studied him a long moment before asking, “Are you sure?”

“I’ve been thinking about it all afternoon and decided I’d be a pretty lousy friend if I wasn’t there when you needed me.”

A broad smile transformed her expression. “You don’t know how much this means to me. I’ll call the clinic tomorrow and make an appointment for you.”

Jason shook his head. “No fertility clinic. No doctor.” He hooked his fingers around the sash that held her robe closed and tugged her a half step closer. Heat pooled below his belt at the way her lips parted in surprise. “Just you and me.”

Something like excitement flickered in her eyes, only to be dampened by her frown. “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”

“Let’s make a baby the old-fashioned way.”

Three

“O
ld-fashioned way?” Ming’s brain sputtered like a poorly maintained engine. What the hell was he…? “Sex?”

“I prefer to think of it as making love.”

“Same difference.”

Jason’s grin grew wolfish. “Not the way I do it.”

Her mind raced. She couldn’t have sex—make love—with Jason. He was her best friend. Their relationship worked because they didn’t complicate it by pretending a friends-with-benefits scenario was realistic. “Absolutely not.”

“Why not?”

“Because…” What was she supposed to give him for an excuse? “I don’t feel that way about you.”

“Give me an hour and I’m sure you’ll feel exactly that way about me.”

The sensual light in his eyes was so intense she could almost feel his hands sliding over her. Her nipples tightened. She crossed her arms over her chest to conceal her body’s involuntary reaction.

“Arrogant jackass.”

His cocky grin was her only reply. Ming scowled at him to conceal her rising alarm. He was enjoying this. Damn him. Worse, her toes were curling at the prospect of making love with him.

“Be reasonable.”
Please be reasonable.
“It’ll be much easier if you just go to the clinic. All you have to do is show up, grab a magazine and make a donation.”

“Not happening.”

The air around them crackled with electricity, raising the hair at the back of her neck.

“Why not?” She gathered the hair hanging over her shoulder and tugged. Her scalp burned at the harsh punishment. “It’s not as if you have any use for them.” She pointed downward.

“If you want them, you’re going to have to get them the old-fashioned way.”

“Stop saying that.” Her voice had taken on a disturbing squeak.

Jason naked. Her hands roaming over all his hard muscles. The slide of him between her thighs. She pressed her knees together as an ache built.

“Come on,” he coaxed. “Aren’t you the least bit curious?”

Of course she was curious. During the months following senior prom, it’s all she’d thought about. “Absolutely not.”

“All the women I’ve dated. Haven’t you wondered why they kept coming back for more?”

Instead of being turned off by his arrogance, she found his confidence arousing. “It never crossed my mind.”

“I don’t believe that. Not after the way you came on to me after prom.”

“I came on to you? You kissed me.”

“Because you batted those long black eyelashes of yours and went on and on about how no one would ever love you and how what’s-his-name wasn’t a real man and that you needed a real man.”

Ming’s mouth fell open. “I did no such thing. You were the one who put your arm around me and said the best way to get over Kevin was to get busy with someone else.”

“No.” He shook his head. “That’s not how it happened at all.”

Damn him. He’d given his word they’d never speak of it again. What other promises would he break?

“Neither one of us is going to admit we started it, so let’s just agree that a kiss happened and we were prevented from making a huge mistake by my sister’s phone call.”

“In the interests of keeping you happy,” he said, his tone sly and patronizing, “I’ll agree a kiss happened and we were interrupted by your sister.”

“And that afterward we both agreed it was a huge mistake.”

“It was a mistake because you’d been dumped and I was fighting with my girlfriend. Neither one of us was thinking clearly.”

Had she said that, or had he? The events of the night were blurry. In fact, the only thing she remembered with crystal clarity was the feel of his lips on hers. The way her head spun as he plunged his tongue into her mouth and set her afire.

“It was a mistake because we were best friends and hooking up would have messed up our relationship.”

“But we’re not hormone-driven teenagers anymore,” he reminded her. “We can approach the sex as a naked hug between friends.”

“A naked hug?” She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or hit him.

What he wanted from her threatened to turn her emotions into a Gordian knot, and yet she found herself wondering if she could do as he asked. If she went into it without expectations, maybe it was possible for her to enjoy a few glorious nights in Jason’s bed and get away with her head clear and her heart unharmed.

“Having…” She cleared her throat and tried again. “Making…” Her throat closed up. Completing the sentence made the prospect so much more real. She wasn’t ready to go there yet.

Jason took pity on her inability to finish her thought. “Love?”

“It’s intimate and…” Her skin tingled at the thought of just how intimate.

“You don’t think I know that?”

Jason’s velvet voice slid against her senses. Her entire body flushed as desire pulsed hot and insistent. How many times since her engagement ended had she awakened from a salacious dream about him, feeling like this? Heavy with need and too frustrated to go back to sleep? Too many nights to count.

“Let me finish,” she said. “We know each other too well. We’re too comfortable. There’s no romance between us. It would be like brushing each other’s teeth.”

“Brushing each other’s teeth?” he echoed, laughter dancing in his voice. “You underestimate my powers of seduction.”

The wicked light in his eye promised that he was not going to be deterred from his request. A tremor threatened to upend the small amount of her confidence still standing.

“You overestimate my ability to take you seriously.”

All at once he stopped trying to push her buttons and his humor faded. “If you are going to become a mother, you don’t want that to happen in the sterile environment of a doctor’s office. Your conception should be memorable.”

She wasn’t looking for memorable. Memorable lasted. It clogged up her emotions and made her long for impossible things. She wanted clinical. Practical. Uncomplicated.

Which is why her decision to ask him to be her child’s father made so little sense. What if her son or daughter inherited his habit of mixing his food together on the plate before eating because he liked the way it all tasted together? That drove her crazy. She hated it when the different types of food touched each other.

Would her baby be cursed by his carefree nature and impulsiveness? His love of danger and enthusiasm for risk taking?

Or blessed with his flirtatious grin, overpowering charisma, leadership skills and athletic ability.

For someone who thought everything through, it now occurred to her that she’d settled too fast on Jason for her baby’s father. As much as she’d insisted that he wouldn’t be tied either legally or financially to the child, she hadn’t considered how her child would be part of him.

“I would prefer my conception to be fast and efficient,” she countered.

“Why not start off slow and explore where it takes us?”

Slow?

Explore?

Ming’s tongue went numb. Her emotions simmered in a pot of anticipation and anxiety.

“I’m going to need to think about it.”

“Take your time.” If he was disappointed by her indecisiveness, he gave no indication. “I’m not going anywhere.”

*

Three days passed without any contact from Ming. Was she considering his proposal or had she rejected the idea and was too angry at his presumption to speak to him? He shouldn’t care what she chose. Either she said yes and he could have the opportunity to satisfy his craving for her, or she would refuse and he’d get over the fantasy of her moaning beneath him.

“Jason? Jason?” Max’s shoulder punch brought Jason back to the racetrack. “Geez, man, where the hell’s your head today?”

Cars streaked by, their powerful engines drowning out his unsettling thoughts. It was Saturday afternoon. He and Max were due to race in an hour. Driving distracted at over a hundred miles an hour was a recipe for trouble.

“Got something I didn’t resolve this week.”

“It’s not like you to worry about work with the smell of gasoline and hot rubber on the wind.”

Max’s good-natured ribbing annoyed Jason as much as his slow time in the qualifying round. Or maybe more so because it wasn’t work that preoccupied Jason, but a woman.

“Yeah, well, it’s a pretty big something.”

Never in his life had he let a female take his mind off the business at hand. Especially when he was so determined to win this year’s overall points trophy and show Max what he was missing by falling in love and getting engaged.

“Let me guess, you think someone’s embezzling from Sterling Bridge.”

“Hardly.” As CFO of the company his grandfather began in the mid-fifties, Jason had an eagle eye for any discrepancies in the financials. “Let’s just say I’ve put in an offer and I’m waiting to hear if it’s been accepted.”

“Let me guess, that ’68 Shelby you were lusting after last month?”

“I’m not talking about it,” Jason retorted. Let Max think he was preoccupied with a car. He’d promised Ming that he’d keep quiet about fathering her child. Granted, she hadn’t agreed to let him father the child the way he wanted to, but he sensed she’d come around. It was only a matter of when.

“If it’s the Shelby then it’s already too late. I bought it two days ago.” Max grinned at Jason’s disgruntled frown. “I had a space in my garage that needed to be filled.”

“And whose fault is that?” Jason spoke with more hostility than he meant to.

A couple of months ago Jason had shared with Max his theory that the Lansing Employment Agency was not in the business of placing personal assistants with executives, but in matchmaking. Max thought that was crazy. So he wagered his rare ’69 ’Cuda that he wouldn’t marry the temporary assistant the employment agency sent him. But when the owner of the placement company turned out to be the long-lost love of Max’s life, Jason gained a car but lost his best buddy.

“Why are you still so angry about winning the bet?” Despite his complaint, Max wore a good-natured grin. Everything about Max was good-natured these days. “You got the car I spent five years convincing a guy to sell me. I love that car.”

He loved his beautiful fiancée more.

“I’m not angry,” Jason grumbled. He missed his cynical-about-love friend. The guy who understood and agreed that love and marriage were to be avoided because falling head over heels for a woman was dangerous and risky.

“Rachel thinks you feel abandoned. Like because she and I are together, you’ve lost your best friend.”

Jason shot Max a skeptical look. “Ming’s my best friend. You’re just some guy I used to hang out with before you got all stupid about a girl.”

Max acted as if he hadn’t heard Jason’s dig. “I think she’s right.”

“Of course you do,” Jason grumbled, pulling his ball cap off and swiping at the sweat on his forehead. “You’ve become one of those guys who keeps his woman happy by agreeing with everything she says.”

Max smirked. “That’s not how I keep Rachel happy.”

For a second Jason felt a stab of envy so acute he almost winced. Silent curses filled his head as he shoved the sensation away. He had no reason to resent his friend’s happiness. Max was going to spend the rest of his life devoted to a woman who might someday leave him and take his happiness with her.

“What happened to you?”

Max looked surprised by the question. “I fell in love.”

“I know that.” But how had he let that happen? They’d both sworn they were never going to let any woman in. After the way Max’s dad cheated on his wife, Max swore he’d never trust anyone enough to fall in love. “I don’t get why.”

“I’d rather be with Rachel than without her.”

How similar was that to what had gone through his father’s mind after he’d lost his wife? His parents were best friends. Soul mates. Every cliché in the book. She was everything to him. Jason paused for breath. It had almost killed his dad to lose her.

“What if she leaves you?”

“She won’t.”

“What if something bad happens to her?”

“This is about what happened to your mom, isn’t it?” Max gave his friend a sympathetic smile. “Being in love doesn’t guarantee you’ll get hurt.”

“Maybe not.” Jason found no glimmers of light in the shadows around his heart. “But staying single guarantees that I won’t.”

*

A week went by before Ming responded to Jason’s offer to get her pregnant. She’d spent the seven days wondering what had prompted him to suggest they have sex—she just couldn’t think of it as making love—and analyzing her emotional response.

Jason wasn’t interested in complicating their friendship with romance any more than she was. He was the one person in her life who never expected anything from her, and she returned the favor. And yet, they were always there to help and support each other. Why risk that on the chance that the chemistry between them was out-of-this-world explosive?

Of course, it had dawned on her a couple of days ago that he’d probably decided helping her get pregnant offered him a free pass. He could get her into bed no strings attached. No worries that expectations about where things might go in the future would churn up emotions.

It would be an interlude. A couple of passionate encounters that would satisfy both their curiosities. In the end, she would be pregnant. He would go off in search of new hearts to break, and their friendship would continue on as always.

The absolute simplicity of the plan warned Ming that she was missing something.

Jason was in his garage when Ming parked her car in his driveway and killed the engine. She hadn’t completely decided to accept his terms, but she was leaning that way. It made her more sensitive to how attractive Jason looked in faded jeans and a snug black T-shirt with a Ford Mustang logo. Wholly masculine, supremely confident. Her stomach flipped in full-out feminine appreciation as he came to meet her.

“Hey, what’s up?”

Light-headed from the impact of his sexy grin, she indicated the beer in his hand. “Got one of those for me?”

“Sure.”

He headed for the small, well-stocked fridge at the back of the garage, and she followed. When he bent down to pull out a bottle, her gaze locked on his perfect butt. Hammered by the urge to slide her hands over those taut curves, she knew she was going to do this. Correction. She
wanted
to do this.