The Bargain (7 page)

Now where had that come from? she wondered, carefully refocusing her attention on the fries. Since when did she care if Michael Kingston felt bad about something? It must be basic human decency, she told herself. Or maybe she was going soft.

In any case, he let it go unaddressed, for which she was grateful. “So, ten years … That would take it all the way back to high school, wouldn’t it?”

She nodded, still very deliberately working on getting just the right amount of ketchup on her fry so she wouldn’t have to look at him.

“Wait — were you and Drew in the same graduating class?”

“Yeah.”

“Then that would mean … so you and I were actually in school together?”

“For a year, yes.”

He gave her a very thorough once-over as if trying to place her. “You and I — we never hooked up in high school, did we?”

Shannon’s mouth fell open. “No, we certainly did not!”

“So is that why you were really so mad at me the other day?”

“What?” she sputtered hotly. “You are unbelievable!”

“Oh, so we
did
hook up.”

“You — ”

A slow grin spread across his face, and she realized he was playing with her.

Taking a deep breath, she bit back a name she had been about to call him. “You get a perverse pleasure out of yanking my chain, don’t you?”

“Kind of, yes.”

“Aren’t you afraid I might back out of the deal?”

“No, I think you realize it’s in Drew’s best interest. Besides,” he added with a knowing gleam in his eye, “I think
you
get a perverse pleasure out of putting me back in my place, so we’re developing a great little symbiotic relationship here. Don’t you agree?”

“What? Oh, I’m sorry. I’m still recovering from the shock of hearing such big words come out of your mouth.”

Michael started to laugh, and Shannon felt a kind of rush go through her. He might be right when he said she enjoyed taking him down a peg. There was something exhilarating about feeling so free to speak her mind to somebody the way she did with him.

“I definitely would have remembered you if we ever did cross paths in school,” Michael said finally.

“Drew doesn’t,” she admitted ruefully.

“Drew doesn’t know you went to McKinley High?”

“Doesn’t seem to, no.”

He frowned, looking confused. “I thought you said — ”

“I knew who
he
was, but we didn’t exactly run in the same circles. I think he spoke to me a sum total of three times during our four years there. And then after that I didn’t see him again until he became a city councilman.”

“So you’ve been carrying a torch for him based on a few sentences in high school? Don’t you think you may have built your feelings for him up a little too much?”

“No! And quit making me sound like a stalker. I didn’t follow him around or anything. He was class president, for Pete’s sake. Quarterback on the football team. Prom King. He was out front and center for everyone to see along with the type of person he was. Drew never picked on any of the other kids, never cheated on a test — ”

“Sure, that you
know
of.”

She ignored him. “A lot of girls liked him. Then when he became a councilman and my boss, I just … well, I just realized that old feelings die hard, okay?”

“Okay, but why haven’t you ever mentioned to him that you went to school together? Seems like it would be a natural opener.”

“I wasn’t exactly the most popular person in high school, all right? In fact, it was kind of a nightmare for me, and one I’d just as soon not relive. If he doesn’t remember the geek I used to be, why remind him?”

“That bad?”

“Girls can be catty. Let’s just leave it at that.”

He looked like he wanted to ask her something more, but he let it drop. “High school is hell for everybody,” he said instead.

Shannon raised her eyebrows. “Yeah, right. Not for you.”

Michael looked out the window again. “You’d be surprised.”

• • •

Lunch was over. There were no more French fries to eat, and no reason to linger any longer. Still, Michael wasn’t in as big a hurry to leave as he thought he would be. “So you’ll talk to Drew this week?” he asked as Shannon started to get up from the table to leave.

“I’ll try.”

“He doesn’t have a ton of time left to reconsider things.” Even he could hear the undercurrent of tension he had tried to keep out of his voice. He made an effort to keep his expression neutral. Easier said than done, judging by the slight softening he saw in Shannon’s face as she looked at him.

“I understand.” She hesitated and then added, “I mean it. Okay?”

He believed her. “Sorry. Just anxious, I guess.”

She nodded, not with a lot of warmth maybe but without any perceivable traces of antagonism either.

“Call me after?” he asked as she headed for the door. If he weren’t careful, he was going to make a real pest of himself. He bit his tongue to keep from blurting anything else out.

“I will.” She let the door swing shut behind her.

Michael watched her walk a short way down the street before crossing it. All in all, he thought things had gone well. She was going to help him, and he realized he actually wanted to help her. Startling though it may be, Shannon Mahoney was growing on him. He might even go so far as to say he was starting to like her. The mouth on her …

He tried hard to picture her in high school but couldn’t. It was highly unlikely they had ever crossed paths at McKinley, but he wondered what would have happened if they had. He almost wished they did.

He saw her start to pull open the door of her truck and then pause. Something had caught her attention, but he couldn’t tell what. Curious, he leaned closer to the coffee shop window to see better.

She was looking at a window display in a women’s clothing store. There was a dress of some kind. It might have been green, but the sun’s glare off the glass made it difficult to see much. It was definitely short, though.

A smile made his lips curve. “Do it,” he urged beneath his breath. “Take a walk on the wild side, Shannon.”

Almost as if she could hear him, she shook her head and pulled the truck door open all the way.

“Do it,” he whispered.

She paused again, and then Michael’s grin got wider as she slammed the door shut and walked toward the store.

“That’s my girl.”

• • •

This was a mistake, Shannon thought, standing in the middle of the boutique surrounded by rack after rack of clothes she would never have the nerve to wear in public and almost certainly couldn’t afford. What had possessed her to come in here?

She turned around to leave but stopped with her hand on the door.

Confidence. A woman of confidence would not let tiny things like shopping or dressing room lighting intimidate her. A woman of confidence would take a chance on something new, especially when the old had not been working out so well for her. And she most certainly wouldn’t have a panic attack at the thought of showing off a little skin. Would she?

Then clearly she was not a woman of confidence yet. Baby steps, she told herself and peeled her fingers off the door handle.

Forcing herself to take slow, deep breaths, Shannon put one foot in front of the other until she was standing before a saleswoman who was putting together a trendy ensemble for a mannequin.

The woman, chic from the cutting edge style of her bobbed hairdo to the tips of her stiletto heels, looked up with a practiced smile pasted to her face. “Hello. Welcome to Martinique’s.”

“Help me,” Shannon said.

The saleswoman’s eyes widened as she took in Shannon’s jeans and t-shirt, but then she laid a well-manicured and comforting hand on Shannon’s shoulder. “Girlfriend, you’ve come to the right place.” She smiled, a gleam of anticipation in her eyes. This is going to be fun.”

“Why would any woman want to torture herself like this?”

Oh, sure, the spiky heels looked cute and sexy when she wasn’t actually trying to walk in them. Any sophistication they lent her was ruined the moment Shannon tried to take a step.

She stumbled around her bedroom, practicing, hoping she would get the hang of them before she left for work in five minutes. At this point, she was not very optimistic about reaching that goal.

Bo whined anxiously and watched her progress, or lack of it.

“Don’t worry, Mommy’s fine,” Shannon assured him, and then nearly proved herself a liar by pitching forward and catching herself at the last minute on the bedpost.

At least at work she would be sitting most of the time. That is, if this skinny little pencil skirt would allow it. Choosing to take the stairs in her stocking feet to be on the safe side, she carried the new shoes in one hand.

Twenty minutes later, walking up the steps at the entrance to her workplace went a little more smoothly than her attempts at home. As long as she held on to the railing and took small steps, she moved with halfway decent grace. Small steps to the door, small steps over the threshold —

A woman’s shriek startled her into nearly losing her balance again. Shannon quickly clutched at the doorframe for support as she started to wobble. “What the — ”

Clarissa came running to greet her, her hands on her cheeks and her mouth hanging open. “Oh my stars! Who are you, and what have you done with Shannon Mahoney?” She put her hands on Shannon’s shoulders and looked her over from head to toe, eyes shining with undisguised delight. “Eeek! I love it!”

“Clarissa, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“Me? What about you? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a skirt before. You’ve got legs! It’s like invasion of the body snatchers or something.”

“Yeah, well, I’d better not drop anything today, because in these heels and this skirt — ” She tried unsuccessfully to inhale deeply and failed as the waistband refused to let her. “I don’t think I could bend over and make it back up again.”

“Maybe not, but you’d look great trying. Oh, Shannon, what came over you?”

She knew she radiated anything but confidence. “Temporary insanity?”

“Then you should go crazy more often. And, honey, that shade of blue looks beautiful on you.”

Glancing down a little shyly, Shannon smoothed out nonexistent wrinkles in the silky top. “I don’t know. It’s a little too … something.”

“Non-beige? That’s its nicest feature, dear. Trust me, you look wonderful.” Clarissa took a step back to review her one more time, then frowned at Shannon’s hair. “But, honey, why don’t you let your hair out of that braid for once? As long as you’re trying a new look and all.”

“No, I think it’s better the way it is. Really.” She had briefly considered cutting it or getting someone to change the color for her, but then lost her nerve. She had tried that once before, years ago, and wound up slinking out of the salon with green hair. It was not an experience she was in a hurry to repeat.

Apparently Clarissa was satisfied with her answer, because she didn’t press the matter. Instead, she gave Shannon a quick hug. “Well, you look lovely, my dear.”

“Thank you.”

“I mean it. Oh, look! Doesn’t Shannon look wonderful today?” she said to someone behind Shannon.

Self-conscious, Shannon turned around to see Drew walking through the open doorway, briefcase in one hand and cup of coffee in the other. Confidence, she reminded herself and forced her shoulders back. “Good morning.”

The double take Drew did was probably the loveliest thing she had ever seen in her life. “Good morning. You do look … wow. Special occasion today?”

“I … I’m, uh — ” Her mind drew a blank, and she blurted out the first thing that popped into her head. “Well, I’m meeting someone after work.” Great. Were confident women liars, too? “I mean, I might be. You know, later.” Oh, just stop talking, she thought harshly at herself.

“You have a date?” Clarissa squealed happily. “Who’s the guy?”

See, this was why it was a bad idea to lie, Shannon thought with growing tension. Besides the guilt it induced, it tended to snowball. “Um, well, I don’t … ”

Clarissa looked suddenly wary. “It’s a blind date, isn’t it? Be careful there, honey. In this day and age you never know who might wind up sitting across the table from you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Shannon agreed, and she hurried away from the blonde and her questions as fast as her new shoes would allow her. “Excuse me.”

“I expect to hear all the juicy details tomorrow,” Clarissa called after her.

Well, she would just have to worry about that tomorrow, she thought as she opened the door to her desk and Drew’s office.

“You’re not going to call in sick tomorrow just to avoid her, are you?”

Drew’s voice right behind her made her jump slightly. “What? Oh.” She smiled nervously. “Don’t tempt me.”

He grinned back. “Because I have a feeling she would only track you down.”

“You could be right.”

He continued past her to his office door. “Well, whoever the guy is, he’s going to be very impressed when he sees you walk in tonight.”

“Thank you.” She sat down at her desk as he disappeared into his office, and then she let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. Worth every penny, she decided, fingering her new clothes as she turned on her computer.

She was not quite so enthusiastic about them a couple of hours later when she grew tired of breathing shallowly to accommodate the skirt. Her balance in heels was improving a little, but her poor pinched toes protested every time she got up to move around. Whenever possible, she slipped the shoes off her feet and let them recuperate in hiding underneath her desk. It was just the first day of wearing them, she reminded herself. Surely it would get easier.

In any case, it was probably time to start tackling her end of the bargain with Michael. She waited hopefully for the perfect opportunity to present itself to broach the subject of the youth center with Drew, but nothing seemed quite right. She was honest enough to admit to herself it was probably because her nervousness made her reluctant to recognize such an opportunity.

All right, fine. She was chicken. Maybe pretending she wasn’t was the best substitution she could conjure up right now. Michael seemed to think she had moxie. Maybe she really did, buried inside herself somewhere. So what would a gutsy woman do in this situation?