The Job Offer (8 page)

Ben also discovered that she enjoyed
football, namely the Seattle Seahawks and the University of Washington Huskies,
just as he did, and they got into a lengthy discussion about the Seahawks draft
picks and the upcoming season.  She must be a fan because she followed them
closely via satellite television and never missed a game.  He forgave her for
not liking basketball and for her take or leave attitude for baseball, and she
forgave him for not liking to read for pleasure.

He especially found her charming when
she described growing up on the island and at the inn even though he had heard
her say it all before.  She lit up from the inside when she described some of her
adventures and the many guests they had over the years.  Then he told her that
he was thinking about either buying or building a vacation home on the island
and asked her opinion about the best places to build.  Considering what he
liked to do, she recommended finding a place close to Eastsound because of its
central location on the island, although there really wasn’t a bad location.  She
also told him to talk to her parents because they would know where to look and
who to talk to about buying.

All evening long, he watched the play of
emotions across her face and how she talked with her lovely hands.  He
remembered that she was always expressive.  She could not talk without her
hands moving.  He was surprised that she never wore rings on her long fingers. 
She smiled frequently as she spoke, and he had a strong desire to taste her
lips again.  The little freckles he remembered on her nose were no longer there,
covered now with powder, and her lightly tanned skin looked soft and warm to
the touch.  She never was able to develop a deep tan, being fairly light
skinned, and always wore sunscreen to prevent burning.

The skin of her chest was slightly
lighter than her arms and shoulders, and he remembered how she looked in her
bikini.  He longed to run his fingers along her throat and down through the
deep V of her dress.  He could just see the beginning of the under curves of
her breasts and her hard nipples again.  The sight aroused him and he moved in
his chair to ease his discomfort.  She did not seem to notice.  Her hair curled
around her face, over her shoulders, and down her back in soft waves.  The dark
brown color was streaked with red highlights caused by the lighting in the
room.  The more she talked, the more he found himself wanting their meal to
continue so that he could look at her and hear more of what she had to say.

The evening was going so well, in fact,
that when the last of their food was cleared away and they were drinking
coffee, he found that he did not want the evening to end with dinner.  He could
not remember ever being with a woman whom he was so at ease with and also found
attractive.  He thought by the looks she gave him that she felt the same way
and would want to extend their evening together.  Finally, he had to ask her.  "It
looks like a nice night, and it is much too early to call it a day.  I was
thinking about going down to the dock and watching the sunset.  I know I
promised to have my evil way with you if you went down to the water with me,
but if I promise to be mostly good, would you come with me?"

"'Mostly good?  Now I'm intrigued
at how you define 'mostly good.'"  She looked at him in that quiet way
that took hold of his gut again, with a slight rise of the corners of her soft
mouth and a smile around her eyes.

"'Mostly good' means that you are
safe from total ravishment, but you can plan on more than me just walking
beside you without at least holding your hand.  So, Anne...  Do you feel brave
enough to be 'mostly good' with me and see where the evening leads us?"

"I think so, Ben.  A walk down to
the dock sounds nice."

"Good.  Then follow me."  He
stood up and pulled her chair back from the table.  Then he gave her a charming
smile at her raised eyebrows and took her hand to lead her from the dining
room.  There were two doors that led into the dining room, one from the lobby
and the other from the lounge that opened up directly to the back patio.  He
decided to go through the lounge.

They had just entered the crowded room
when he noticed someone he did not want to see sitting at the bar.  Chelsea
Riverton, an ex-girlfriend, sat at the long bar next to her parents sipping her
usual martini.  He swore under his breath and stopped walking forcing Anne to
stop beside him.  She looked at him confused by his sudden halt and scowl.  "Listen,
Anne. I need you to do something for me, will you?"  He asked in a low
serious tone.

"What is it?" She asked
imitating his tone.

"Do you see that woman with the red
hair in the white pantsuit sitting at the bar?"  Anne looked over to the
bar then back at him giving a small nod.  "She is here for the wedding.  My
family and hers have known each other for years, and a few years ago we dated
for a while.  It didn't work out, and she made things difficult.  Now every
time I see her, she comes on to me as if we are still a couple.  She does it
even if I'm with another woman.  I think she thinks that one day I'll come to
my senses and marry her.  Would you run some interference for me?"

"Say no more, Ben.  I've got you
covered."  She looked over at him in a conspiring way.

"You really do read a lot, don't
you?  Get ready.  She spotted us and is coming over."

"Ben, Darling.  Wasn't that dinner just
wonderful?  I love seafood."  Anne said with a sigh and started acting for
the benefit of the red headed woman who was now within hearing range.  "I
just love this place.  We will have to come again.  In fact, maybe we should have
our wedding here, too.  What do you think, Ben?"

Whatever Chelsea was about to say turned
into a garbled mess once she heard Anne talk about their wedding.  Ben decided
to go with it.

"I think I like that idea very
much, Sweetheart."  He leaned in to kiss Anne then stopped when he saw
Chelsea standing next to them.  "Chelsea!  What a surprise.  I didn't
expect to see you here for the wedding.  It looks like your parents came early,
too.  We weren't expecting them until tomorrow or Thursday."

Chelsea's cheeks were red and she blue
eyes bright as she looked back and forth between Anne and him and at his arm
that he held around Anne's waist.  Anne put her left arm around his waist and
her right hand on his chest when she turned into him to let a waitress loaded
down with a tray of drinks pass behind her.  Chelsea saw the move and gritted
her teeth in a phony smile.  Each time Chelsea looked at Anne, her face became
redder until Ben thought that she would go for Anne's jugular.

"Who is this, Ben?"  She
ground out between her clenched teeth and the false smile that she plastered on
her face.  Ben could see Chelsea's parents looking at them with concern from
their bar stools.

"This is my fiancée, Anne,"
Ben said innocently.

"Hello, I'm Anne Conner..."  Mary
stuck her hand out for a handshake.  "...And you are Chelsea.  Ben has
told me so much about you."

"When did the two of you get
engaged?"  Chelsea ignored Anne and ground out the next question to him
again.

"Just this evening.  Isn't it
wonderful?"  Anne went on happily as if Chelsea would be happy about the
news and congratulate them.  "Of course, we don't want to announce it just
yet, do we Ben, Honey, because we don't want to draw away from Lily's big
day?"  Ben had to admire Anne's pluck and quick thinking even if her
talking about marriage to him did raise immediate alarm bells.  He would play
his part to get rid of Chelsea, though.

"That's right, Sweetheart.  So
Chelsea, I'm sure you understand why we want to keep quiet about this for the
time being."  He kept up with their story.  "Thanks.  Good to see you
again, Chelsea."  Then taking Anne's hand again, he pulled her through the
throng of people in the lounge to the patio door leaving Chelsea standing alone
in the aisle where they left her.

Once they were on the patio, Ben kept on
walking until they had walked across the large patio filled with guests sitting
at tables, around the heated pool where people still swam, and down the path
that led down to the dock.  Spotting a small set of steps at the edge of the
dock by the water's edge, he led Anne down the steps and along the shoreline
until they were out of sight of the people who stood fishing on the dock and
the few cottages that dotted the shore.  When they were totally alone, he
stopped walking, let go of Anne’s hand and stepped over to the small rocky
shore, leaving Anne standing on the grass.  He needed to put some distance
between them.  The alarm that he felt when she told Chelsea that she was his
fiancée began to turn to anger and panic now that they were away from the
lounge.  Finally, he put his hands on his hips, and turned around to face Anne.

"Would you care to tell me what
that was about?  You were supposed to only act as my date for the evening."
 He was angry and becoming angrier.  She went above and beyond what he expected.
 She was just supposed to run interference long enough to get Chelsea to leave
him alone and for them to get out of the lounge.  All he could think about now
was that Anne was trying to maneuver herself into a real marriage, just as past
girlfriends did, only this time using a whole new tactic.

"You said you needed help to get
the woman to leave you alone," Anne said reasonably.  "As long as
Chelsea thinks there is still a chance, she'll be all over you this week unless
she thinks that you are off the market."

"But marriage?"  His anger
deflated as soon as she began using reason.  He overreacted.  He knew that, and
when he realized that she was right, he felt the tension leave his body and
tried to shake off the lingering doubts.  After his last girlfriend and some of
the stunts a few of his other past girlfriends tried, he was naturally leery.  Then
there was Chelsea and all she pulled over the years.

"For Heaven’s sake, Ben.  There is
no need to look like that.  It’s only a make believe engagement.  It will be
over on Saturday night, Sunday morning at the latest.  Relax.  I don't have any
marriage designs on you.  I'll be leaving next week anyway, and I don't believe
in long distance relationships."

He took a deep breath and forced himself
to relax.  Turning to look out at the water, he could see the outline of a
fishing boat with its trolling lights on about midway through the channel
headed southwest.  "She will say something to my family."

"Probably.  She seems like the
type."  He turned to look back at Anne.  She had taken her sandals off and
was now sitting on an overturned tree trunk that made a perfect bench.  He
could not believe how relaxed she looked.  He was finding it difficult to
maintain his anger when he looked at her.  It was really hard to stay angry
with someone who was both logical and beautiful.  Looking at her calm demeanor
and pretty smile, he considered the advantages of a fake engagement over the
next few days.  The setting sun sent fire through her curly hair, and the skin
of her chest, her shoulders, and her arms looked downy soft.  She looked sexy
as hell, and he wanted her right now.  Sighing, he walked over and sat down
beside her.

"Ok.  What do we tell our
families?"

"We tell them the truth.  We will
tell them that I'm only acting as your fiancée as a favor to you until the
wedding is over."

"It's going to be a job to pull
this one off even with the help of our families.  You don’t know Chelsea.  What
about where you sleep?" He looked over at her contemplative expression.

"I can see where you are going with
this."  Her expression turned slightly nervous.

"I didn't mean that I expected you
to sleep with me.  What kind of a jerk do you think I am, Anne?  I only meant
that, Chelsea will never believe that you don't sleep in the same room as me,
and trust me, she will check."

"She will check, huh?"  Anne
sat in silence looking out at the water.  Ben was not sure what she was
thinking.  "Which room is yours?"

He told her his suite number surprised
by the question.  What did she have planned now?

"Perfect.  Every night I'll go up
to your room with you and sneak down the back balcony fire escape.  Then, in
the mornings, I'll sneak back in the same way, and we can go down to breakfast
together.  What do you think?"  The plan did sound good.

"We will have to spend our days
together as well.  That will spoil your vacation and your time with your
parents."

"I probably would not have been
spending much time with them, anyway, with this being their busy season.  Ok,
here's the deal, Ben.  How were you planning on spending your few days up here
until Friday night's groom's dinner?"

"I had planned on doing some more kayaking
and doing some biking over the next few days in between getting some work done."

"Perfect!  So was I.  We can go
together on our outings.  When we get back, I'll swim, read, or do something
else while you are busy with work or wedding preparations.  Then when you leave
on Sunday, we can part, and that will be that.  We don’t see each other again,
and you can tell Chelsea whatever you want.  Job complete."

"Ok, fine.  That sounds pretty cut
and dried when you lay it out like that, but what about when I kiss you?  Or
you kiss me?"  He saw the look of alarm which crossed her face.