Flirting with Disaster (10 page)

Nadine beamed at him. “I'll have plenty of time to find the perfect woman for you.”

“I don't think so. Thanks all the same, but I've been finding my own dates for a long time now,” he protested.

She pinned him with a gaze. “And how's that working for you, Doc?”

A sheepish grin spread across his face. “You have a point.”

He was so doggone cute, she pinched his cheek before heading for the bathroom. “Leave it to me. I have real good instincts about this sort of thing.”

“Haven't you been married several times?”

“Three,” she conceded. “And in love more times than I can count. That's how my instincts were honed.”

Warren chuckled. “Somehow I find that oddly reassuring.”

“Damn straight,” Nadine retorted. “I just don't see why Josh doesn't understand what a help I could be.”

“Probably because you're his mother.”

“I suppose,” she said, disgruntled about the situation just the same. Just this afternoon she'd tried warning him away from Amanda O'Leary, and he'd gotten his back up over that. She'd simply been trying to save him a little heartache. Sweet as Amanda was, she'd bore Josh silly in no time.

Of course, why should he listen to her? The sad truth was she'd done little through the years to earn Josh's respect. In fact, she was probably lucky that he hadn't written her off entirely. Suddenly she changed her mind about the construction gig. She was going to do her level best to stick around and keep it. After all these years, it was about time Josh found out he had a mother he could count on to follow through with something.

 

Maggie heard the front door at Images being rattled on its hinges and nearly jumped out of her skin. All she could imagine was Brian on the other side of that door intent on destroying the rest of Ellie's paintings. She picked up the portable phone in one hand and a letter opener in the other and peeked into the darkened front room of the gallery.

Since the security system alarm wasn't ringing like mad, obviously the locks had held. She took a few steps into the gallery for a better view outside. When she saw who was making all the commotion, she sighed, put down the phone and stalked over to snap open the door.

“You scared me half to death,” she told Josh. “Did you ever think about calling to let me know you were coming by after hours?”

“I didn't have the number,” he said simply. “It was an impulse thing. I was driving past, saw the light on in back and decided to check on you.”

She stepped aside to let him in. “I was finishing up some paperwork.”

“You shouldn't be here at night all alone. What if it had been that maniac Brian?”

She held up the letter opener. “I was prepared.”

“You intended to hold him off with a plastic letter opener?” he asked incredulously.

“It's sharp,” she retorted. “Don't you watch prison movies? Those guys make weapons out of plastic utensils all the time.”

“And they're not afraid to use them,” he said mildly. “Knives require you to be up close and personal with the intended victim.”

Maggie shuddered. “I hope you didn't come by to cheer me up, because you're not doing a very good job of it.”

“Actually I had no idea you needed cheering up. Do you?”

Maggie smiled. “No, not really. Was there something else on your mind?”

He shoved his hands in his pockets and avoided her gaze. “I have to have dinner with Nadine. I thought maybe you might join us. She seems to like you.”

“As opposed to not liking you?”

He grinned. “No, she likes me well enough to pester me to death, so I'm looking for buffers.”

Maggie thought she detected a guilty expression in his eyes. “Plural? Who else have you invited?”

“Warren,” he admitted slowly. “Is that a problem?”

Maggie had no idea why she was even considering such a ludicrous invitation. Maybe it was simply because he was asking her and not Amanda. Still, she wasn't ready to jump at the offer too eagerly.

“You want my ex-fiancé and I to join you and your estranged mother for dinner?” She gave him a wry look. “How could I possibly say no to such an attractive invitation?”

He winced. “Lousy idea, huh?”

“Really lousy,” Maggie concurred. “What made you think I'd accept?”

“Curiosity?” he suggested hopefully. “The chance to hold it over my head for all eternity?”

“Ah, now we're getting somewhere,” she said. “I'll be ready in five minutes. Just let me turn off the lights in back.”

“You'll actually come with me?” he said, sounding shocked.

“For the chance to have you owe me big time? You bet.”

“I knew you had a perverse streak,” he said triumphantly.

“Oh, sweetie, you have no idea.”

 

Josh was pretty sure he'd died and gone straight to hell. If he hadn't, he should have, for ever having come up with this cockamamie dinner gathering. He'd been so absorbed with protecting himself from having to deal with Nadine, he hadn't really considered all the other dynamics likely to be at work.

Then, again, maybe on some level he had wanted to observe Maggie and Warren in a social setting to see if there were any sparks left between them. So far, though, they'd maintained a facade of such polite civility, such polite
cool
civility, that Josh was surprised icicles weren't forming over their table. If Nadine hadn't been chattering incessantly, the silence would have been deafening.

Suddenly, however, even his mother fell silent and gazed around the table. “Well, this is awkward as the dickens, isn't it?” she said eventually. “Clearly my son doesn't have much experience with planning a successful dinner party.”

Josh frowned at her. “Thanks for pointing that out.”

“Only stating the obvious, sweet pea.” She turned her gaze on Maggie. “Since it's the elephant in the room, let's just face it. Anything you've been dying to get off your chest to Warren here?”

Maggie looked startled by the question. “Such as?”

“What a pig he is for breaking the engagement,” Nadine suggested.

Josh saw Maggie's lips twitch. “I believe I've already mentioned that a time or two since our breakup,” she said.

“Or twelve,” Warren said.

“Hush,” Nadine scolded him. “You'll get your turn. Anything else, Maggie?”

Josh frowned. “Mother, why are you doing this? You're embarrassing them.”

“Oh, I am not. We're all friends here. And if I'm going to find Warren a new lady friend, I want to be sure I'm not stepping on Maggie's toes.”

Maggie gaped at her. “You're going to find Warren someone to date?”

“Only if you don't object,” Nadine said.

“By all means, go for it,” Maggie said. “I can hardly wait to see who you come up with.”

“Me, too,” Josh muttered. Nadine would probably try to hook him up with a stripper.

“Wipe that look off your face, Joshua,” Nadine said. “I am capable of finding some classy women who'll be ideal for a sweet man like Warren. I'd do the same for you if you'd let me.”

Josh recognized at once that he'd just dodged a bullet, thanks to Warren. Maybe she'd forget all about making any more of her misguided attempts to get him to notice Amanda. “Please, feel free to concentrate on Warren,” he advised his mother.

“Yes,” Maggie said. “He can use all the help he can get, now that most of Charleston knows what a pig he is. Oh, wait, I've mentioned that before, haven't I? Sorry.” The apology was uttered with a total lack of sincerity.

Nadine ignored it and seized on Maggie's permission to move ahead with her plan. “Good, then that's settled. There will be no hard feelings if Warren moves on.”

“None,” Maggie agreed firmly.

Josh studied her face intently when she spoke and concluded she meant it. Why he found that to be such a relief didn't even bear thinking about.

W
hen she arrived the next morning to open Images, Maggie was still reeling from Nadine's announcement that she intended to fix Warren up with a new woman. The fact that those two had struck up such an instantaneous bond was mind-boggling. Given Nadine's rather flamboyant personality, Maggie couldn't help wondering if there was something about Warren she'd missed, perhaps some element of excitement and danger she'd never tapped.

But as absorbed as she was in trying to make sense of that, the sight of Ellie sitting in her darkened office, her eyes red-rimmed and swollen, swept away everything else in her head.

Immediately alarmed, Maggie hunkered down beside Ellie and clasped her icy hand. “What's wrong?”

Ellie regarded her miserably. “I have to quit,” she said sadly.

“What? You can't quit. You're my right hand around here.”

“I have to,” Ellie said with more determination.

Finally understanding, Maggie regarded her grimly. “This is Brian's doing, isn't it? He's told you to quit.”

Ellie nodded, looking utterly defeated. “He says if I don't get away from this gallery, he'll…”

Maggie's temper flared. “He'll what? He'll hurt you? Destroy more paintings?”

“No, no,” Ellie said urgently. “It's not me he'll go after. He's threatening to destroy your reputation.”

“How on earth does he propose to do that?” Maggie inquired. She was from one of Charleston's finest families. If all of her own antics through the years hadn't destroyed her reputation, she doubted there was much Brian could do. “You can't let him get to you, Ellie,” she stressed. “He obviously knows he can't frighten me, so he's counting on your loyalty to me, instead. It's a head game, an idle threat.”

“No, it's not,” Ellie argued. “He has a plan, Maggie. He told me.”

“What plan?”

“He'll tell everyone that my paintings are fakes, that I stole his work and put my name on it and that you knew about it.” She clasped Maggie's hands tightly, her expression intense. “I won't let him ruin you, Maggie. Even a shadow of suspicion could hurt you, at least in the short term. You don't deserve that just for trying to help me.”

“He's not going to ruin me,” Maggie said emphatically, though she could see how cleverly the man's mind worked. As Ellie said, such a charge could cast a shadow over the gallery's reputation till she straightened everything out. In the end, she'd stack her family's good name against Brian's reputation any day of the week.

“But he could make trouble,” Ellie insisted.

“Hush a minute,” Maggie chided. “Let me think about this.”

She noticed that despite her distress, Ellie had automatically made coffee when she arrived for the day. Maggie poured them each a cup, then took a seat at her desk and pondered Brian's threat. Surely there had to be a way either to seize the initiative, now that she'd been forewarned, or to minimize the damage if he went ahead with his scheme.

Slowly an idea began to take shape. It was an ingenious one, if she did say so herself. She met Ellie's unhappy gaze. “I think I see a way around this, if you're game for it.”

Brian's psychological torment had clearly taken a toll. Ellie still looked worried. “I don't know,” she said hesitantly. “He's determined to stir up trouble for you, and I've seen him when he gets like this. He's a master manipulator. He doesn't let up till he gets what he wants.”

“Then we simply have to turn the tables on him,” Maggie said decisively.

“How?” Ellie's expression was filled with doubt.

“What does Brian want most in the world?” Maggie asked, hoping she'd pegged the man's real motivation.

“To be recognized as a talented artist,” Ellie said, confirming Maggie's assessment.

Maggie smiled. “I thought so.”

“Then what? You'll let him have a show here?”

“No, never,” she said fiercely. “That would only be rewarding him for his emotional blackmail.” She smiled. “But Images will sponsor an art contest for a poster for this year's Spoleto Festival. We'll have all the entries judged by the faculty at Brian's school and perhaps one or two independent experts. We'll see that he's pressured to enter. So will you.”

Ellie regarded her blankly. “What will that accomplish?”

“When the judges have these originals in hand, we'll also have them compare them to your other paintings and determine which of you painted the works in my vault. I doubt there will be any serious question about it. My hunch is that your style and techniques have evolved quite differently from his. Am I right about that? Could you bring me something of his to look at?”

“I have a couple of his paintings in my studio,” Ellie admitted, though she still didn't look convinced. “Won't this be hard to put together? You have so many other things on your plate.”

“Nothing's more important than nipping this scheme of his in the bud. We can't let Brian win, Ellie. It sends entirely the wrong message,” Maggie insisted. “And actually the festival committee has asked me before to get involved in a poster competition. They'll be thrilled that I've finally agreed, especially when they see the size of the donation I'll be making.”

“What if Brian refuses to enter the contest because it's sponsored by Images? He might figure out it's a trap.”

Maggie could see how that might be problematic. “I'll talk to the committee. Perhaps there's a way to keep the gallery's name out of it.”

“Then you'll lose the PR value,” Ellie said. “That's not right.”

“Sweetie, that's nothing compared to the PR I'll get for this place once we get your works on display and critics all over the country start raving about what a talented find you are.”

Tears spilled down Ellie's cheeks. “I don't deserve everything you're willing to do for me.”

“You most certainly do,” Maggie replied emphatically. “Now get out on the floor and get to work. Victoria's not coming in till later, so you're in charge. I have all those calls to make to get this ball rolling, and I have a ton of paperwork left from yesterday.”

“I thought you stayed late last night to do that,” Ellie said.

Maggie flushed. “I got sidetracked.”

Ellie regarded her with evident curiosity. “Really? By what?”

“Never mind.”

“A man?”

“Two men, if you must know.”

Ellie's expression brightened for the first time since Maggie's arrival. “One of them was Josh, I'll bet. The man is seriously hot for you.”

Maggie gave her a startled look. “You think so?”

Ellie made an exaggerated gesture of fanning herself. “No question about it. Who was the other man?”

“Warren.”

Ellie immediately sat back down, fascination written all over her face. “I have to hear this.”

“No, you don't,” Maggie said. “Living through it was awkward enough. I don't want to relive it today. Besides, it was no big deal.”

“Just tell me this,” Ellie pleaded. “Who won?”

“Won what?”

“The contest,” Ellie replied impatiently.

“There was no contest.”

Ellie's grin spread. “Josh, obviously,” she decided, drawing her own conclusion.

“No, I mean there was
no
contest,” Maggie repeated emphatically.

“Oh, come on, when there are two guys and one girl, there is always a contest.”

“There
was
another woman—Josh's mother.”

“She hardly counts. Anyway, my money's on Josh.”

“You favor him just because he came to your rescue,” Maggie said.

“No, because when he's around or even gets mentioned, there's color in your cheeks,” she said with a wink as she headed for the front room of the gallery. “Artists pay attention to that sort of thing.”

Maggie snatched a compact out of her desk and glanced at herself in the mirror. Sure enough, her cheeks were bright pink. Too bad she wasn't old enough to blame it on a hot flash.

 

Josh had gotten in the habit of taking his lunch break with Amanda and the kids. No one was more surprised than he was that he found their company enjoyable. Besides, it kept him away from Maggie. His attraction to her was beginning to be worrisome.

He'd just set aside his bottle of Coke when Susie crawled onto his lap and brought herself eye-to-eye with him. She patted his cheek with one dainty but decidedly filthy little hand.

“Mr. Josh…” she began solemnly.

He had to fight to keep his lips from twitching into a smile at her serious tone. It was such a somber contradiction to her bright pink sneakers with the flowers on them and the ponytail that was slipping free of its rubber band.

“Yes?”

“Do you got a girlfriend?”

He stared back into those round blue eyes and knew she had a very definite reason for asking. Lord help him, she was probably matchmaking for her mama. He'd had no idea that particular feminine gene kicked in this early.

“No,” he said, then added cautiously, “Why?”

“'Cause I'm thinking you and me should get married someday,” she announced.

Jimmy and Larry made dramatic gagging sounds. Amanda turned away, but not before Josh caught the amusement in her eyes.

“Now, darlin', I have to admit you've caught me by surprise,” he said, trying hard not to laugh. “You really think marriage is a good idea?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Don't you think maybe I'm too old for you?”

Susie studied him intently, then shook her head. “Nope. You're just right. And I'll be bigger someday.”

“And when you are, dozens of guys your own age will be swarming all around trying to get you to marry
them,
” Josh told her with conviction.

“But I love you,” she insisted. “Mama says any girl would be lucky to have a man like you.”

Josh turned a quizzical gaze on Amanda. “Is that so?”

Amanda shrugged. “It's true, but believe me I was not trying to fix you up with my four-year-old.”

“No, I don't imagine you were.” He studied Amanda for a moment to see if he could read anything more into what she'd said, but she was regarding him with the same friendly amusement with which she usually regarded him when they talked. Even so, he wondered if he shouldn't have a let's-get-this-straight chat with her.

“Kids, why don't you go back over to the food tent?” he suggested. “I hear they brought some ice cream today for dessert.”

“All right!” Jimmy shouted, pumping his fist in the air.

He and Larry were about to race off, when Josh called them back. “Hey, guys, don't leave Susie behind. Look out for her, okay?” He set her gently on her feet and watched as she scrambled to catch up with her big brothers.

When they'd gone, Amanda faced him. “That was very smooth, Josh. What's on your mind? You worried I'm filling Susie's head with ideas?”

“No, I just want to be sure you don't share any of those ideas.”

To his chagrin, she laughed.

“Not even close,” she said.

Perversely, her certainty sparked a streak of irritation. “Why not?” he demanded.

She laughed. “Not five seconds ago you were warning me off. What did I do? Hurt your tender male ego?”

Feeling foolish, Josh grimaced. “Something like that. Or maybe I'm questioning my own sanity. I'd like to know, why not me? We get along okay, don't we?”

“Of course we do. And to be honest, it would be easier for me if there
were
some spark between us,” she added wistfully. “You're a great guy. You're wonderful with the kids.”

“But?” he asked. “Maybe we should test things, Amanda.” His life would probably be a whole lot saner if he did fall for a woman like her, instead of Maggie.

She stared at him with alarm. “Test things? How?”

He leaned forward and stole a kiss, letting his mouth linger on hers, waiting for the spark that could be fanned into something more.

There was no spark.

When he pulled back, she gave him an odd look. “What was that about, Josh? Are you running scared?”

“Running scared? I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Maggie,” she said succinctly.

“Not an issue,” he said staunchly.

Amanda merely grinned. “Keep telling yourself that. Meantime, I think you and I are destined to be friends, nothing more. The kids and I have really come to count on you and Caleb.”

Josh grinned, despite her obvious sincerity. “I suppose everyone can use a saint and a sinner around. Kind of evens things out, when it comes to setting an example for the kids.”

She nudged him in the ribs. “I would trust you with their lives, Joshua Parker, so don't you go selling yourself short.”

Startled, he met her gaze. “You really mean that, don't you?”

“Every word. You're one of the good guys.”

She stood up and brushed the dust off the seat of her jeans. In any other woman it might have been a conscious gesture to draw attention, but with Amanda he knew it was completely innocent. Didn't keep him from looking, though. She was too thin for his taste. Unfortunately, he found Maggie's curves more appealing.

“Josh?”

He blinked and looked up into her face. Her mouth was curved into a knowing smile.

“I'm going to get those kids before they eat all the ice cream and make themselves sick, okay? Let me know what you need us to do this afternoon.” She leaned down and brushed a kiss across his forehead. “I meant what I told Susie—any woman would be lucky to have you. Though it's beyond me why, I don't think you believe that. You should.”

He stared after her, an odd sense of contentment settling in his chest. Praise like that had been in short supply in his life. He hadn't realized before now how much he craved it.