Stolen Kisses (20 page)

A new goal to be achieved, or so she had thought. Was it really a baby that she wanted, or did she want a person to fill up the empty corners of her life? It was yet another question in the circle. This one troubled her the most. When she had begun to seriously think about a baby, she had haunted the infants’ departments at the local stores. She had wanted to be sure that that was what she wanted. After weeks of deliberating over the matter, she had made her decision: She would find a suitable husband and have a baby.

Had she been fooling herself all along? Trevor had shown her there was more to deciding on a husband than a list of qualifications. When she had composed her list, she had forgotten about the human factor. Until the Bushes’ party, she’d been thinking about the man, the necessary father, as a two-dimensional figure, an essential ingredient that was needed to produce a child, but only as a catalyst. Maybe Gina was right about sperm bank roulette. Her own cold-blooded plan didn’t seem much better.

How could a thirty-eight-year-old woman be so irrational about so many things? she wondered helplessly. Even when she was younger, she had known there were no easy solutions in the game of life. Maybe success in achieving her other goals had blinded her to reality. She had tried to put human relationships on the same level as earning a college diploma.

If she had married one of her candidates, she might have had her baby but quickly found herself in the divorce courts. She would have ended up like her mother as a single mother raising her child. Maybe having a baby wouldn’t be so important if she had someone like Trevor in her life, a full-blooded, three-dimensional man to brighten her life. Or perhaps she was trying to rationalize all her motivations too much.

Only one thing seemed certain at the moment: She wanted Trevor to come home. He confused her, made her laugh, and he made her angry. One thing he didn’t do was bore her. Only a week ago she never wanted to see him again, and now all she wanted was for him to walk through the door. It might not give her the answers she was seeking, but she knew it would make her happy.

“Hello, whoever this is. Let’s make it quick,” Trevor snapped into the phone. He’d been back in town for two hours and was just on his way out the back door to see Jessie before he reported to work. Nothing else was important. He should have left the answering machine on.

“Glad to have you back,” Logan murmured dryly. “Have a nice trip?”

“Sorry, I’m a little preoccupied right now.” He knew he was behaving like an adolescent, but he’d just had a miserable four days. He wanted to see Jessie in person after dreaming about her night after night.

“How many days has it been since you’ve seen Jessie?”

“Four days, twelve hours, and some odd minutes. Why, what’s wrong?”

“Don’t panic. I was just curious,” Logan returned affably, his amusement clear over the phone line. “Got it really bad, haven’t you?”

“Damn straight, so be careful of what you say,” Trevor practically growled. Now he knew he had gone over the edge. He had panicked for a moment, thinking Logan was going to tell him that Jessie had gotten engaged or married while he was away. He was one huge mass of insecurity with a short fuse. “Did you want something, or did you just call to harass me now that your life is settled?”

“A little of both, but mostly it has to do with my happily settled life.”

“Do you have to be so damn smug?”

“Probably. I called to ask you a favor, but now I’ve undoubtedly stuck my foot in it.”

“It depends on the favor,” Trevor replied, feeling a little more like himself as he taunted his sister’s fiancé. “I’d be glad to run you over in the T-bird any time you’d like.”

“You are in a good mood. Does that mean you won’t be my best man at your sister’s wedding?”

“Can I bring my shotgun?”

“I think your father’s taking care of that,” Logan stated with another chuckle. “He’s threatened your rather frazzled sister with wearing his Confederate uniform to the wedding.”

“Does he have one?” Trevor realized that he needed this nonsense to help him settle down. If he’d gone barreling into Jessie’s office in the crazed condition he’d been in a few minutes ago, she would have thrown him out on his ear.

“I’m not sure if he has a uniform or not. We’re not taking any chances, though. Arnette is checking all his closets,” Logan explained quickly and earned a short laugh from Trevor. “By the way, the rehearsal dinner is tonight and the wedding is Saturday.”

“What!?” Trevor slumped against the kitchen cabinets, trying not to swear. After all, it was his little sister’s wedding, but why now?

“You can bring a date, you know. It would be a good chance to introduce her to the rest of the family and get it over with. She should know what she’s getting into by tangling with the Planchet clan.”

“Hey, you’re right. You certainly don’t waste any time, do you?” He felt much better. Jessie couldn’t object to going to a wedding. As he considered the matter, he decided it was ideal.

“It made sense to get married while I was still here on my assignment. Tory will have a chance to get her stores off the ground before our honeymoon and heading for Boston. Mother is already here, and considering Uncle Pres’s illness, we thought we’d have the wedding while he could still enjoy the festivities. He and Babs flew in yesterday.”

“I’ll bet he and T.L. have been making your lives miserable for the last twenty-four hours,” Trevor chimed in as he remembered the two old friends together on a number of occasions over the years.

“Damn straight. According to them, they engineered the whole romance. Tory says you’re to wear a dark suit and meet us at the house after your early broadcast, about seven-thirty. And to say hello to Jessie for her, too.”

Trevor hung up without saying good-bye. His sister was getting cute just because T.L. was on her case. Right now he had more important things to think about than sibling harassment. He’d take care of that later with Curtiss when they decorated the bride and groom’s car tomorrow night.

“What, no baseball bunny?” Gina asked him as soon as he walked through the door of Aesthetics, Ltd. twenty minutes later. She was in the reception area gathering up tea cups and crumpled napkins. “I suppose those roses will do just as well.”

“Hi, yourself,” he answered, unsure of his welcome from her greeting. Jessie wasn’t in sight, and he suddenly felt self-conscious with the flowers he clutched in his hand. It was a first for him, he decided, never having experienced the emotion before.

“You got me in trouble, you know. Jessie wasn’t terribly pleased that I gave you the list,” she stated heatedly, placing one hand on her hip as if waiting for his explanation. “Couldn’t you have kept it to yourself? It could have been our little secret.”

“Sorry, it sort of slipped out in the heat of the moment,” he admitted, remembering his stupidity that afternoon at his house. He became irrational when Jessie was in his arms.

“That sounds more promising than anything that she’s been telling me.” The brunette seemed to perk up at his admission.

“Nope, you’re not getting anything out of me, either.” He held up his free hand in the semblance of a pledge.

“If I’m not going to get any good gossip out of you, I guess I might as well let you talk to Jessie.”

“You mean she’s here?”

“She is now,” Gina announced as he spun around in time to see Jessie walk through the door. “She went downstairs to get some copies made.”

Trevor almost threw all caution to the wind at the sight of her. Her silky black hair was down around her shoulders, windswept and beautiful. The filmy dress she wore was a riot of colors and clung to every sweet curve. But it was her smile that was almost his undoing. Her delicate features lit up with pleasure at the sight of him.

“Hi.” That was all he could manage around the constriction in his throat. His dreams had been accurate. How could he forget how beautiful she was in only four days?

“Trevor.” She stopped just inside the door, as if she wasn’t sure he was real.

“You two need some serious help,” Gina said dryly. Walking to Trevor’s side, she grabbed his arm and shook it. “Are you going to give her the flowers, or what?”

“Gina!” Jessie came out of her trance to chastise her friend.

“Hey, it’s a dirty job, but somebody had to do it,” the brunette returned, giving a careless shrug. “Since I think this is going to be too painful to watch, I’m going to be in the storeroom until he leaves.”

“I may not tell you,” Jessie called after her.

“I’ll take that chance,” Gina remarked as she walked out of sight.

“I’m not sure she likes me anymore.” Trevor looked over his shoulder toward the back of the office.

“The trouble all along has been that she likes you just fine,” Jessie answered, but her gentle smile took any sting out of the words.

“These are for you, in case you were wondering.” He felt like a kid on prom night giving out his first corsage.

“Thank you, they’re beautiful.” She took the bouquet from him and gathered it to her face to inhale the fragrance of the twelve blooms.

“Gina thought maybe you’d rather have another rabbit,” Trevor commented as she placed the roses carefully in the cut-glass vase on the coffee table.

“And she thinks I’m the crazy one,” Jessie murmured, turning quickly to face him again. She clasped her hands in front of her like a little girl waiting for a special treat. “When did you get back?”

“Just over two hours ago.” He didn’t mind telling her that he’d made her his first priority. “I have to check in at work soon, but I wanted to ask you something first. I know it’s short notice—” He broke off, wondering how he was going to phrase this. Logan said taking Jessie to the rehearsal dinner and wedding was a good idea, but now he wasn’t so sure.

“Trevor?”

He knew it was now or never. If she didn’t want to have anything to do with him, she would refuse. “Would you like to go to dinner tonight?”

“What time?” Her smile was back in place, but maybe she was just being polite.

“I’ll pick you up a little after seven, when I get done at the station.” He held his breath, anticipating and dreading her answer at the same time.

“That sounds fine. I have a meeting at five-thirty, but it shouldn’t be too long,” she replied in a rush of words, almost as if she’d been holding her breath until that moment. “What should I wear?”

“Something dressy, I guess. I don’t know much about these things, but that sounds safe,” he said, wondering offhand if there was a standard dress for rehearsal dinners. He glanced at his watch and realized that he had to leave. “Look I’ve got to get to work, so I’ll see you around seven.”

“Fine.”

For a moment he simply stood drinking in the sight of her. That would have to last him over the next six hours. There was something else he wanted to do and wondered if he dared. In a split second, he threw all caution to the wind and took a step forward. The moment he touched her he knew that he wasn’t going to make a fool out of himself. Jessie came willingly into his arms.

She tasted as sweet and intoxicating as he had remembered. Like a potent wine, her kisses went quickly to his head. He didn’t dare deepen the kiss. The feel of Jessie’s hands gliding over his shirt was hazardous enough to his self-control. Drawing away reluctantly, he looked down into her luminous blue eyes.

“See you tonight, sweetheart,” he managed, then turned away before he forgot his job, his family, and the rest of the world except Jessica DeLord.

Chapter Ten

As they drove through the Heights, Jessie began to wonder where they were going to dinner. There were dozens of restaurants in the commercial districts along the bluffs that rose above the Arkansas River, but she didn’t know of any in the residential area where Trevor had turned off a few minutes before.

“When are you going to tell me where we’re going?” she asked finally, completely lost from the twists and turns he’d been making. He’d been remarkably subdued since he’d picked her up fifteen minutes earlier. In the fading light of dusk, she wondered if she was imagining his uncertain attitude. “Trevor?”

“Will you promise to go out with me tomorrow if I tell you where we’re going?”

She gave him a curious look, trying to figure out why he would sound nervous. When he pulled the car to the side of the road, she was more than curious. “Are you resorting to blackmail now?”

“Will it work?” He hooked his arm along the back of the seat, heightening her awareness of the close confines of the small two-seater car.

“I’m not sure. If today were my birthday, I might be suspicious about all this mysterious behavior. But my birthday isn’t until September, so you and Gina couldn’t’ve hatched some crazy plot.” She searched his face for some sign of humor. Trevor was still looking uneasy. “Is it really that bad?”

“You’ll have to tell me after you meet the rest of my family,” he answered slowly, his fingers reaching up to play with the strands of hair that fell to the shoulder of her burgundy silk dress. “Of course, you’ve met Sanders, so his wife, Curtiss, Leeanne, and all the kids shouldn’t be too much of a shock.”

“We’re going to have dinner with your family?” She measured every word, almost giving in to the temptation of jumping out of the car. It certainly wasn’t what she had expected.