The Man With The Money

“You were a big help to your mom out there today.”

“Absolutely,” Charly agreed, squeezing the boy’s shoulders. “And speaking of help, could you grab the ball and the cups for me, honey?”

Ponce nodded and moved away with a glance in Darren’s direction. Darren hoped he wasn’t going to have trouble from that quarter. The kid was giving off hostile vibes. Probably wanted his parents back together. Darren put aside that issue and said, “I’m afraid you’re going to need more help than the boy can give you, however.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I’ll speak to the soccer commissioner about it tonight.”

Something told him to tread softly, so he said only, “Well, if you can’t get anyone else, I might be able to give you an evening or two a week.”

She gaped at him. “Really?”

“If you can’t get anyone else,” he said, shrugging. She smiled, and her whole face lit up. She wasn’t beautiful, even now, but she was dazzling. He gulped and played his next card. “I, um, can see that the five hundred isn’t going to take care of all the team needs.”

“The fees took most of it,” she admitted with a grimace, “but we’ll make do.”

“I don’t see the point in that,” he said lightly. “Tell you what, why don’t we do a little shopping, figure out how much more is needed?”

She considered briefly, then nodded. “Okay, I’ll check around and let you know.”

He smiled and suggested mildly, “It’ll go faster if we just take care of it together. When can you go?”

She looked off into the distance, and he knew that she was considering the wisdom of spending time with him. He let her consider, and finally she said, “I’ll have to let you know.”

“How about tomorrow?” he pressed gently. “You busy tomorrow afternoon? I’ll meet you at Sports World. I hear they have the best prices.” He fished a piece of paper from his polo shirt pocket and added, “I got the kids’ shoe sizes as they came off the field, all but Ponce’s.”

She was staring at him now. “Shoe sizes?”

“They can’t play in what they’ve got,” he pointed out. “One little girl was out there in sandals.”

Charly pushed a hand through her hair, leaving it in wild disarray, and his heart literally thumped. What was it? “I know,” she said, “but sponsors usually just provide jerseys and a few balls.”

“You want them to be able to compete, don’t you? The other teams will have cleats and real uniforms. As they are representatives of RuCom, we want them to look as good as everyone else.”

She stared at him a little longer, and then those unusual golden eyes warmed. “That’s wonderful!”

Pure satisfaction flashed over him, but he shrugged it aside, saying, “It’s just good business, really.”

“I don’t care what it is,” she told him bluntly. “All I care about is what it’ll do for those kids.”

“So are you free tomorrow afternoon or not?”

She bit her lip and then nodded. “I’ll arrange for my grandmother to pick up Ponce from day school. How’s four?”

It was early, actually, but he nodded, already planning how he could stretch shopping into dinner. “I’ll be waiting out in front of the store. You do know where it is, don’t you?”

“Behind the mall,” she said, naming a popular shopping spot in Plano.

“That’s the one. You can give me Ponce’s shoe size then.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary,” she said. “I’ll take care of Ponce. You just worry about the rest of the team.”

He just smiled and tucked the list back into his pocket. They’d see about that. He wanted her obligated to him, but his every instinct warned him to go easy. Unlike most of the women he knew, Charly Bellamy was not looking for a man. Well, she’d found one, anyway. All that remained to be seen was what she was going to do with him. He had some very definite ideas about that, but Charly would have to think they were her ideas first. He could wait. Then, when the moment came, he’d make his move. Something told him it would be worth it. What he didn’t truly understand then was that Charly was going to define a whole new category in his catalog of conquests.

Chapter Three

Charly depressed the lock and slammed the car door, mentally girding herself for her next encounter with Darren Rudd, who, true to his word, was waiting even now on the sidewalk in front of the Sports World megastore. Tucking her handbag beneath her arm, she turned and strode smartly toward him, every step testing the narrow width of her coral-pink, knee-length skirt. The matching short, boxy, collarless jacket, which she wore open over a simple white, square-necked shell, made the outfit suitable for both the office and early spring, but she was well aware that it was also one of her more flattering suits, and she chided herself now for having chosen it.

Attractive as Darren Rudd was, she had no business getting involved in romantic entanglements, especially not now. With her application to adopt Ponce at a sensitive place in the process, she wanted nothing to detract or even seem to detract from her commitment as a mother. Mostly, however, it was Ponce’s antipathy toward men in general. No, the last thing she needed just now was a man in her life. While a husband would have been a definite aid, a boyfriend would not. Besides, she was no good at the romantic stuff. Other things always seemed to get in the way. David had proved that.

Still, if she was going to get involved again, she could do worse than a man like Darren Rudd. He seemed to have a genuine heart for those less privileged than himself, and that, in Charly’s experience, was extremely rare. It was just a shame they hadn’t met at another time. On the other hand, maybe not. Without Ponce and his future to worry about, she knew that she’d have taken a stab at a relationship with Darren Rudd—and likely have gotten her heart broken in the process.

Smiling because he was smiling at her, she stepped up onto the sidewalk and offered him her hand from sheer force of habit. Instead of shaking it, he clasped it and pulled her toward the building, saying, “Right on time. Can’t remember the last woman I knew who got where she was going when she said she was going to.”

“You’re hanging with the wrong crowd then,” she told him coolly, reclaiming her hand. “All the women I know are as punctual and professional as any man.”

He slid her a sharp glance and stepped aside as the door swung open. “What is it exactly that you do, Charly?”

“I’m an attorney,” she said crisply, and left him standing with his mouth ajar. Satisfaction curved her lips into a tight smile. He was back beside her within steps.

“I think you’re right,” he said. “Definitely the wrong crowd.”

Charly laughed. She couldn’t help it. “Where do you want to start?”

“Let’s start at the top and work our way down,” he suggested, leading the way toward the jerseys.

It was not the simple shopping expedition that Charly had expected. For one thing, he seemed determined to spend a lot more money than she thought necessary. He insisted on choosing practice uniforms as well as game uniforms in the previously chosen colors of yellow and blue: jerseys, shorts, socks, elbow and shin guards, even shoes. They argued over whether or not she was going to pay for Ponce’s gear.

“It’s not fair for Ponce to pay when the other kids are getting a free ride,” he pointed out.

“The other kids can’t afford to pay.”

“That’s beside the point. You’re doing enough by volunteering your time.”

“I don’t see it that way.”

He smiled and tapped her on the end of the nose with the tip of his forefinger. “I don’t think that argument would hold up in a court of law, and it certainly doesn’t with me. Now give over. Coach.”

She sighed, knowing when she was beaten. “Are you sure you’re not an attorney?”

“Not even close.”

“What is it that you do for RuCom, anyway?”

He seemed to pause, but then he smiled and quipped, “Not nearly enough according to some. Actually, I’m overseeing an educational program at the moment. Few of these corporate types possess any inkling what the average sales clerk does. They see the whole business from the paper and report end. No practical knowledge at all. I’ve made it my mission to change that.”

“So Sales Staff Appreciation Day was your brainchild,” she guessed.

“Guilty as charged.”

“Is it working?”

“We’ll see. We’re rotating corporate staff in and out of the various stores around the country. So far the reports have been mixed, but all in all, I think we’ll gain a new appreciation for what our front line is actually doing.”

“I think it’s brilliant,” she told him baldly, and watched in surprise as his eyes darkened almost to black.

“Do you?” he murmured, stepping closer. “That’s nice.” He lifted a hand and very lightly ran the tip of a finger along the arch of her cheekbone. “Thanks.”

She found it very difficult to breathe. Until that moment she had half believed that it was her imagination, but now she knew without doubt that he was coming on to her. The pleasure of it swept over her in a glad rush, but the next instant she thought of Ponce and automatically stepped back.

“We, uh, we still have to pick up some equipment,” she muttered.

The brilliance of his smile, the confident, predatory gleam of it, filled her with dismaying delight. Her heart pounded, and the tiny, sparse hairs on her arms lifted as her skin came alive. Appalled, she turned on her heel and walked off in the direction of a display of soccer balls, firmly controlling the insane urge to run.

Darren watched Charly walk away, noting with extreme interest that her hips swayed in a much more seductive manner than before. She was embarrassed about it, but he was, without doubt, getting to her. This was working out even better than he’d hoped.

Following at a short distance, he walked toward the equipment section of the store, but he did not, as she obviously expected, go to the big wire bin of soccer balls offered at a special price. He knew perfectly well that the balls were probably two or three years old, the last of an unsold lot from a previous batch, which the manufacturer undoubtedly dumped on the discounter for free, or very nearly so, in exchange for a sizable order of new balls to be sold at a good price. Such sale balls were fine for use by individuals, neighborhood play, that sort of thing. Getting booted around by sixteen kids in an hour was another matter entirely. Better to buy good game balls. Charly disagreed.

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