Bernice laughed until Genna thought she was going to choke. She slapped her knee as tears streamed down her flushed face. Finally her guffaws were reduced to gasps by lack of oxygen. "Oh-oh-that"s a-a-good one! Boy, have you got it bad, toots!"
Genna scowled, seeing no humor in the situation at all. "Great."
SIX.
THE L L WORD WORD. How had she let it happen? Had Had she let it happen? Maybe Bernice was wrong. Genna had been trying to convince herself of that for two days. Once again she tried telling herself it was just infatuation. She waited. Nothing. No sense of calm came over her. She didn"t feel rea.s.sured in the least. In fact, she felt vaguely nauseated. she let it happen? Maybe Bernice was wrong. Genna had been trying to convince herself of that for two days. Once again she tried telling herself it was just infatuation. She waited. Nothing. No sense of calm came over her. She didn"t feel rea.s.sured in the least. In fact, she felt vaguely nauseated. Oh, Lord, I am in ... the L word Oh, Lord, I am in ... the L word.
How? How had she let herself fall in ...L ... with a man like Jared Hennessy? Only a few days before she would have sworn on a stack of Bibles she couldn"t stand the sight of him. Now she was in ... L ... with him.
Disastrous, she thought as she went through a rack of little girls" jumpers. They were shopping for clothes for Alyssa because Jared had "sort of ruined" a lot of her things in the wash a few days before he had hired Bernice.
Nothing good can come from this, she told herself. In a few weeks her job would be over, Jared would head for training camp, and she"d be back teaching school. She would have spent the whole summer in ... L ... with the wrong man. She was always off balance with Jared. He made her feel as if she were stuck in a pair of haywire inversion boots. And it was a cinch he wasn"t in ... L ... with her. Jared was just having fun.
She"d gone and done it again, gotten in over her head with a man who wasn"t interested in a future with her. Not only that, he wasn"t even her type. He was unconventional, impetuous, outrageous. She was looking for solid, dependable ... boring.
Jared studied the determined frown on Genna"s face and smiled to himself. She"s coming around, I can feel it She"s coming around, I can feel it. Bernice had said so, and he was starting to believe it. That Genna wasn"t very happy about it didn"t faze Jared. He was finally winning her over. Her defenses were wearing down and momentum was on his side. Genna was a woman with a good head on her shoulders; sooner or later she"d admit she"d been wrong about him and give in to his charm. He hoped.
She needed time to get used to the idea. If he pushed her, she"d probably tell him to take a hike. He"d promised her a no-strings romance. He wasn"t sure that was what he wanted anymore, but he would have to pretend it was true for a while.
Alyssa singled out a red corduroy jumper and insisted she"d wear it every day forever and ever. After she and Genna returned from the fitting room, and Jared paid for the dress, it was added to the bunch of packages in their shopping bag.
"Can I get a new nightie to wear to Courtney"s house tonight, Daddy?" she asked as they came to a row of nightgowns.
A worried frown tugged at Jared"s features. He stooped down by his daughter and brushed at her black bangs. "Are you sure you want to stay overnight at Courtney"s house, Lyss?"
Alyssa"s blue eyes begged as eloquently as her voice. "Yes, Daddy, please please let me stay. I"m a big girl!" let me stay. I"m a big girl!"
"I know you are, sweetheart." Jared sighed.
Genna watched the exchange, wondering what the problem was, but not wanting to interfere. Amy had arranged to pick Alyssa up at the shopping mall and then treat the girls to pizza, ending the evening with a sleepover at the Dennisons. The girls had talked of little else for two days.
Finally Jared capitulated, against his better judgment. A white eyelet nightgown with blue satin ribbons was bought and went into the shopping bag.
They started down the wide hall of the shopping center, heading for the fountain where they were to meet Amy. As they strolled past the various shops, Jared casually snuck Genna"s hand into his. He smiled at her look of surprise, but held her hand firmly. It just seemed right. Genna held Alyssa"s hand on one side and his on the other. The word "family" kept strolling through his head. Good word. He liked it.
After her first nervous glance at Jared, Genna trained her gaze on the stores they pa.s.sed. This wasn"t the first time he"d held her hand, but it was the first time since she"d discovered she was in ... L ... with him. A strange, intoxicating excitement began to build inside her. A part of her wanted to bolt while another part wanted to do something entirely different. Tingles raced up her arm.
Memories of the way his hand had felt on her bare breast rushed back to Genna with a reality that almost made her gasp. Inside the lacy confines of her bra her nipples hardened and suddenly became hypersensitive to the fabric rubbing over them, rubbing over them as Jared"s calloused thumb had that night in her kitchen. A wave of heat spread through her body.
For heaven"s sake, Genna, you"re in a shopping mall. Knock it off.
She pushed the erotic thoughts from her mind as they came to a store where she always loved to browse but could never afford to buy. A sultry brunette mannequin in the window wore a gorgeous purple taffeta halter-top dress with a double-tiered skirt and a big candy-box bow at her waist in back. It was the most elegant, extravagant thing Genna had ever seen. Her step faltered over so slightly.
"See something you like?" Jared questioned, bringing them all to a halt.
"Huh? Er-no," she stammered, feeling silly for even looking at such a dress.
A smile played at Jared"s mouth and his eyes crinkled at the corners. "Come on, Gen, fess up. You"ve got your eye on that dress."
"No." She shook her head, blushing.
His smile widened. "Genna."
"Okay," she admitted, raising her hands in a gesture of defeat. "It"s pretty."
"Try it on."
"Don"t be silly."
"Try it on."
"No. What would I do with a dress like that?"
"Wear it to school!" he said with a grin.
She gave him a look. "If teachers dressed like that, there would be riots in the streets."
"So buy it for fun."
"There"s nothing fun in spending two hundred dollars on a dress I"ll never wear," she pointed out.
Paying no attention to her logical argument, Jared dragged them all into the store. "Try it on."
"Try it on, Genna," Alyssa chimed in.
J.J. caught the eye of a clerk hovering nearby. He smiled using the full force of his magnetism, and Genna thought the woman was going to swoon. "Don"t you think she should try it on?"
"Yes. Definitely," the clerk said breathlessly, her eyes glazing over.
"See?" Jared turned back to Genna.
Genna sent the clerk an anemic smile and whispered to J.J. under her breath, "I think she would have said that no matter what you asked her. Ask her if she"d move to Guam with you."
"Not a chance, honey. If she said yes, you"d hold me to it."
All the women in the store were gravitating toward Jared like flowers to the sun. They all beamed and nodded when he gave them his intimate, teasing little smile and asked if they thought Genna should try on the purple dress. It was positively disgusting. Even a blue-haired old lady was bowled over by his charm. She touched Genna"s arm and beamed a smile up at her. "Try it on, honey. It"s you."
"See?" Jared said innocently. "It"s you."
"It"s you." you." Genna scowled. He pretended not to understand. Genna scowled. He pretended not to understand.
Feeling outnumbered, Genna gave in. She took the dress into the fitting room. When she emerged, everyone in the store burst into applause.
Jared"s breath caught in his throat. His eyes darkened to pewter as he took in the sight of his adorable, curvy little Genna in the s.e.xy dress. He"d known all along she was a doll, but holy cow! he thought. The taffeta cupped her full b.r.e.a.s.t.s lovingly and swirled around the feminine swell of her hips. The bow at the waist called attention to the supple lines of her bare back. It"d be worth every penny if she never wore the dress for anyone but him.
Like a man in a trance, Jared handed his gold credit card to the clerk, never taking his eyes off Genna. His voice was a hoa.r.s.e, gravely whisper as he said, "Wrap it up."
Genna was still blushing, as they wandered around browsing at whatever took their fancy, after delivering Alyssa to Amy.
"I can"t believe you bought that dress."
"Believe it."
"You"re going to look pretty silly wearing it."
"I bought it for you."
She ignored that the same way she had tried to ignore the hot look in his eyes when she"d come out of the fitting room. "I suppose Candy the mannequin can wear it."
"I bought it for you."
"I won"t wear it."
"You"ll wear it." When he turned to grin at her, Genna stopped dead in her tracks and every ounce of color drained from her face until her face was somewhere between pasty and ashen. "Genna? What is it?"
She stared at the man standing not twenty feet in front of them looking at neckties, feeling her insides freeze-dry and shatter into a million pieces. Allan.
"Genna?"
Jared"s anxious voice jolted her. "Nothing. It"s nothing," she managed, trying to turn him down the underwear aisle. "Can we go this way?"
But Jared didn"t budge, and Allan Corrigan turned and looked right at her.
Suddenly there was a beefy arm drawing her against a beefier body, and Jared pressed a kiss to her forehead and said for her ears only, "Introduce me, Gen."
Bewildered, she looked up at him to find azure eyes filled with gentle understanding, and a satin-soft smile. He kissed the tip of her nose. She knew that to anyone watching they appeared like a pair of lovers totally absorbed in each other.
He nudged her forward, saying through his teeth, "Look happy, darling."
She plastered on an enormous smile as they approached the last man on earth she ever wanted to see. "Why, Allan! Is that you?" she said brightly, gagging on the words.
"Genna." He straightened, still holding a maroon paisley tie. He wasn"t as tall as Jared, and his pinstripe suit emphasized his slender build. Everything about Allan was neat and businesslike, from his carefully combed but thinning blond hair, right down to his Lloyd and Haig shoes. He was undeniably handsome in a pale, thin sort of way. "How are you?"
I want to vomit. "Fine. Wonderful." She smiled wider, wondering if her face would break. Then she"d feel really stupid, standing in the middle of a big department store with no face.
Jared pinched her, a phony smile in place and murder in his eyes. "Introduce me to your ... friend, honey."
"What? Oh! Yes! Jared, this is Allan Corrigan, an old ... person ... I used to know," she said lamely. "Allan, this is Jared Hennessy."
"The quarterback?" Allan blurted out in obvious surprise.
Jared gave him an unpleasant, unamused twitch of the lips. "That"s right," he drawled, the words clearly translating into of course, you stupid jerk of course, you stupid jerk.
Genna wanted to laugh hysterically. Allan was always so smug. Nothing ever impressed him. And he never never blurted. Now he appeared to shrink in embarra.s.sment. blurted. Now he appeared to shrink in embarra.s.sment.
Jared, on the other hand, appeared positively intimidating. He had the look of a possessive male whose territory was being threatened. His narrowed gaze pinned Allan with an icy stare. "Just how well do you know my Genna?"
The subtle emphasis on "my" was perfect, Genna thought, giving rein to a mischievous streak. Allan took an involuntary step back. She patted Jared"s stomach rea.s.suringly. "Now, J.J., don"t go getting nasty. This is a public place."
Allan"s Adam"s apple bobbed nervously in his throat. His hand crushed the silk tie he"d been considering buying. "Oh-really-Mr. Hennessy, there"s no reason-I mean, Genna and I-there"s nothing-"
Jared"s nostrils flared, his chest puffed up. "She was nothing nothing to you?" to you?"
He charged two steps before Genna dropped her bags, got him by the waistband of his jeans, and threw her weight back, swinging them both around in a circle. Allan had the paisley necktie by both ends, holding it horizontally in front of him as if the thin silk would provide him some sort of protection.
"That"s not what I meant!" he squealed.
"Honestly, Jared," Genna scolded, letting go of him. She stooped to pick up her bags. "I"m going to have to put you on a leash if you"re going to act this way."
Barely taking his eyes off Allan, Jared leaned down and pressed a quick kiss on her lips. "Come on, honey," he said with a growl. "Let"s go home."
Genna shot a glance at Allan and choked back a giggle. He looked like a man who had just narrowly escaped a close encounter with a grizzly bear. His hair was practically standing on end. "Nice to see you, Allan," she said as Jared"s arm went possessively around her waist and he started to herd her away.
"See you around, Corrigan." J.J. bared his teeth in a parody of a smile. "By the way, that"s a bad-looking tie. You ought to buy it, it goes with your suit."
On their way across the windy parking lot, Genna, on the verge of nervous hysteria, began to giggle. The giggles built into uncontrollable laughter, and she had to stop and lean against Jared"s car, holding her stomach. Jared dug into his pocket and produced a mangled package of M&M"s. He munched on the candy while he watched Genna be hysterical.
"Oh-oh!" she gasped for breath. "Poor Allan! He looked like he"d just come out of electroshock therapy! He thought you were going to tear him apart right there in public! What a wonderful act!"
Jared managed to twitch up the corners of his mouth. He wondered what Genna would do if she knew how little of it had been an act. He"d never been jealous or possessive in his life, but, Lord, he"d wanted wanted to take Corrigan apart just for knowing Genna. It seemed she brought out the primitive in him. She"d probably set a new women"s track record by running away from him if she found that out. to take Corrigan apart just for knowing Genna. It seemed she brought out the primitive in him. She"d probably set a new women"s track record by running away from him if she found that out.
The air coming into and out of her lungs was more regular now, and Genna straightened and wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand. With the initial giddiness out of her system she was able to think about what had happened. Jared had pushed her into a situation she"d been dreading for nearly a year, and he"d brought her out of it without a scratch.
"Why did you do that for me?" she asked with wonder.
Jared reached around her and unlocked the door of the Mercedes, then stood back and gave her a long, considering look. He reached out and tenderly brushed a lock of wavy hair from her face. "We"re a team, Genna. Team players stick up for each other."
Genna knew that had she been alone, she would have ducked down that underwear aisle to avoid Allan, and she would have spent the next month and a half branding herself a coward. Jared had not only spared her that, but he had also won back a little of the self-esteem she had lost when Allan had ended their relationship. Allan had left her feeling inadequate as a woman. Jared had erased that feeling.
I do ... L ... love him, she thought. She raised a hand and tenderly brushed the back of her fingers down the lean plane of his cheek. Magic skittered down her arm. Awareness of him trembled through her. She wondered idly in the back of her mind what the school board would have to say if she were arrested for attacking the man in a parking lot.
Jared broke the sudden s.e.xual tension, his wicked grin slashing across his face. "Let"s go for ice cream, Teach."
Genna didn"t say five words all the way home to Jared"s. He didn"t try to break the silence, leaving her to her thoughts, but he studied her as he drove toward Tory Hills. What had this Corrigan guy been to her? A lover? More? What had the b.a.s.t.a.r.d done to her to make her bolt at the sight of him?
She just sat there staring out the window, one foot out of its loafer rubbing absently against her sore ankle. d.a.m.n it, she shouldn"t have given up her crutches so soon, he thought. He"d said as much, but there was no telling her anything; she had a stubborn streak a mile wide. Of course he loved her for it.
Loved her. The thought hit him with all the finesse of a linebacker. No wonder he"d wanted to dismember Genna"s old flame. He was in love with her-as in head over heels. He"d set out to win her interest because she was a challenge to him. Now he realized he had to win her love or he"d lose his heart.
I will will do it, he told himself with fierce determination. do it, he told himself with fierce determination.
If she wasn"t still in love with that puny jerk, Corrigan.