Mission: Marriage

“Thank you, Beth.” Blue Eyes kissed the blonde on the cheek. “Thank you for being so understanding.”

Lea sneaked a peek at James. She imagined he wouldn’t be quite so understanding. More likely that he was on the verge of another tantrum.

James’s jaw was working, his face flushed in anger, but he seemed to be working on a way to save his wounded pride. He stared at Beth for a while and took a deep breath, collecting his dignity. Then he stood up, gave a small bow and gestured toward Lea’s abandoned chair, ignoring Lea and Blue Eyes completely. “Why don’t you join me?” he offered. “It looks like we’re both getting dumped, so we might as well finish our meals together, don’t you think?”

Beth’s cherubic face lit up and she wasted no time in claiming her seat. “Absolutely. Thank you!”

Lea stuttered some hurried goodbyes as her savior insisting on leaving money on the table to pay for all four meals, then put his arm over her shoulder and pulled her toward the exit. She made a mental note of remembering to pay him back, but then everything was drowned in cheerful applause from every corner of the restaurant. Blue Eyes turned around and bowed, his arm still tight around her. Lea felt her face catch fire. She glanced up at him, and he grinned back. Was this something he did every day? All in a dating day’s work?

She waved weakly to their audience, shrugged his arm from her shoulder and grabbed his hand. She’d do the leading. She wanted out of here. Now.

Her motives for the sudden escape got the predictable interpretation, and laughter and a few wolf whistles slid through the door as it closed behind them.

What an evening.

This was it. Hand kisses from hunky strangers or not—dating was definitely not for her. Too risky. Too dangerous. Too unsettling.

She glanced sideways to the man holding her hand.

Too…exciting?

“Wow,” she breathed as soon as they had turned the corner and were out of sight of the restaurant windows. She stopped, almost stumbling on her heels, and glanced back toward the restaurant, relieved despite everything. She wouldn’t have to go through the rest of the evening. The kissing dilemma had mercifully vanished. “Did that really happen, or am I having a very surreal dream?”

“It happened, believe it or not.” The stranger grinned as he released her hand. “We’re off the hook. Thank you for the rescue.”

“Thank you.” She shuddered. “What was happening to me was infinitely worse than green bubble gum.”

He nodded. “Yeah. I noticed the cat and mouse game under the table. Not exactly a gentleman, is he?”

Lea shrugged. “You tell me. That’s not a part of the regular dating ritual?”

The man frowned in confusion. “Ritual? Uh, no. Not that I know of, anyway.”

“I don’t do this a lot, you see. It’s good to hear that’s not the standard. He…Oh! Poor Beth!” Lea groaned. “No, we can’t do this. We can’t leave her like this.”

“Don’t worry about Beth. She’s a bit of a man-eater. A sentimental, cries at the drop of a hat, man-eater. If that guy goes out of line, he’s likely to find himself with a lapful of gravy.” He held out a hand. “I’m Thomas Carlisle.”

“Lea Rhodes.”

Thomas smiled. “Nice to meet you. Can I call you a taxi? Walk you to your car? Give you a ride home?”

“Taxi would be good. I just want to get home, curl up with my cat and cry my mascara off.”

“Was it that bad?”

“I believe I’ve got the imprint of his toes on my ankle.”

He winced. “Ouch. My sympathies. Some guys have no class.”

“Dating sucks,” she muttered. “And I’m no good at it.”

“It’s an art form,” he agreed. “An acquired skill, definitely. Acquired taste, too. Not for everybody.”

“You sound like an expert.”

He grinned. “Yeah, well, when you’re not interested in wedding bells and not looking to settle down, you get an extended run at the dating part. As they say, practice makes perfect, doesn’t it?”

“Practice makes perfect?” She stared at him, wheels struggling to churn in her head. She wasn’t drunk yet,—but after a cocktail and two glasses of Chardonnay on an empty stomach she was damn close.

Practice? Hmm…Here she had run into someone not interested in commitment, just in casual dating. A serial dater. Someone with plenty of experience in this, someone who knew all about what, when and how when it came to the dating game.

He was right. He was perfect.

CHAPTER TWO

HE’D rescued the cutest damsel in distress from her own dragon’s claws—a creep who thought he could grope his way to a woman’s heart. He wasn’t sure why his intervention had been needed—why the lady hadn’t simply thrown her drink in the guy’s face and fled the restaurant.

He wasn’t sure either what had possessed him to stage such an elaborate play to rescue her. That hadn’t been a part of the deal. He was just supposed to call Anne on his cell phone and she’d handle the rest—probably phone Lea and stage a fake emergency to get her out of there.

But something—he wasn’t sure if it was the tediousness of his own blind date, or the fascinating twinkle in Lea’s eyes when they’d communicated silently across the room in their parallel dilemmas—had compelled him to intervene.

And here they were, and he wasn’t sure what to do now. Anne had threatened bodily harm if he let Lea know she’d gotten a stranger to chaperone her date. Observe, she’d instructed him. Lea’s not used to dating, and you know what blind dates can be like. If she runs into trouble, call me, and I’ll take it from there.

She’d left out the fact that her “spinster” friend was someone she really should have introduced him to a long time ago. Lovely dark hair and expressive green eyes that he’d seen radiate all sorts of emotion in the half-hour he’d been watching her at the restaurant. Maybe he could turn this around to his advantage, he mused.

Yeah. Why not? He’d see if they could continue this date somewhere else.

He’d opened his mouth to say something when the look in Lea’s eyes stopped him. The gratitude in her eyes didn’t really surprise him, considering the action he’d witnessed under their table, but it had quickly been replaced with another expression. He tried smiling at her, and her eyes narrowed in a calculating look.

He forgot all about his plans for an impromptu date, and found himself wanting to take a step back.

Why was she all of a sudden looking at him much like he imagined the big bad wolf had looked at Little Red Riding Hood?

“Practice makes perfect, you say?” she said slowly, her cheeks still red from the excitement of the last few minutes—and perhaps from one drink too many. Then her voice rose in exhilaration. “This is terrific. You’re just what I need. Finally fate decides to be on my side. It’s about time, too.”

“I’m just what you need?” Thomas asked.

“Yes!”

“And what is it that you need?” Judging by the wild look in her eyes, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know, but it was probably safer to ask, before she went right ahead and helped herself to…whatever she needed.

“A guy like you. You know. A serial dater. A playboy.”

“A playboy?” Thomas gave in to his instincts and took that cautious step back. Magical green eyes or not, had he rescued a slightly nuts—as well as tipsy—damsel in distress? “I’m definitely not a ‘playboy.’ I’m not even sure they make those outside of Hollywood.”

She shrugged. “Okay, a playboy probably isn’t the right word. I don’t have the terminology quite straight. I took a crash course online last night. Amazing, the things you’ll learn if you type ‘dating’ into a search engine. A player, that’s what you’re called, isn’t it?”

“Huh?”

“Players,” she repeated patiently. “Single men, playing the field for all it’s worth, you’re called players, aren’t you?”

“Uh…I don’t know. We are? They are?”

She didn’t seem to have heard him, and she still had the big bad wolf look on her face. “Listen…” she said slowly. “We missed out on the main course and I don’t think either of us ate much of our appetizer. I’m sure you’re as hungry as I am. Can I buy you dinner somewhere? There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.” She hesitated. “I’m sorry—I’m sounding a bit crazy, aren’t I?”

Thomas laughed, feeling a bit relieved. Nuts usually didn’t realize they were sounding nuts. There might be an explanation for her weird ramblings. She might even be okay after all, which would be a definite plus to the evening since the damsel intrigued him a whole lot more than Beth had. “I won’t deny that the thought crossed my mind.”

“Sorry. But I have a problem, and I think you could help me solve it…” She paused and looked around. “There is a point to this, I promise. But it’s a bit of a long story. What do you say about dinner? We need to eat anyway.”

“Sounds great,” he said. “And I really am starving. You don’t stick gum on your plate, do you?”

She had a great smile, one that hadn’t been much in evidence during her date with the footsie guy, except in her silent exchanges with him. “I promise. My chewing gum doesn’t come in that shade of green, either.” She glanced around again. “Where can we eat? Do you know this neighborhood?”

“Not really. But I think I know of a place that might have tables available. My car is here, we could drive there. It’s maybe fifteen minutes away.” He hesitated, realizing they were complete strangers. “On second thoughts, you probably prefer that we take a taxi, don’t you?”

“Your car is fine,” she said, which annoyed him. She should know better than to get into a car with someone she’d never met before, and here she was, walking with him toward the darkened parking lot without any qualms at all. He wasn’t a psycho, but she didn’t know that, did she? She shouldn’t trust him at all.

But it was none of his business, was it? Wouldn’t hurt to mention it to her later tonight, though. Or tell Anne to warn her friend not to be so trusting of strangers.

“You’re sure Beth will be okay?” she asked, while fastening her seat belt. “I’m still feeling guilty about leaving them together.”

“I’m positive. I never met her before tonight, but I’ve heard stories about her for a while. She won’t take any crap from him. She might even teach him a thing or two on how to treat ladies.”

“You didn’t seem too happy on your date with her.”

He chuckled. “Beth is okay. She’s a sweet kid, really. Just young. Very young.” He grimaced as he twisted the key in the ignition. “Or maybe it’s just that I’m getting old. She made me feel every one of my thirty-two years. All she talked about were celebrities, and I’d never even heard of half these people.”

“How come you were out with her in the first place if you’re so mismatched?”

“Same as you, blind date. My stepsister set us up. I never go on blind dates anymore, but she whined until I gave in.” It was as much truth as he could tell her right now. He’d promised Anne, but the fact remained that he was feeling rather guilty.

“And Beth is a friend of hers?”

“Not quite—little sister of her husband’s friend, I believe. Something like that. She exhausted all the friends a long time ago.”

“I see,” Lea said thoughtfully. “So…You’re a confirmed bachelor, are you, resisting all attempts at matchmaking?”

“Not really…” A playboy, a player and a confirmed bachelor. She had a lot of neat little boxes for him, didn’t she? He shrugged. “My only crime is being single and happy to stay that way. That seems to make me fair game for anyone’s matchmaking hobby.”

“And why is it that you want to stay single?” She canceled the question with a gesture. “Sorry, none of my business.”

“It’s fine.” He didn’t mind giving out his standard response. “I simply like my life the way it is. Of course, if you ask my stepsister or the other match-making experts, they’d tell you it’s just that I haven’t met the right woman yet.”

Lea was staring out into the night when he glanced toward her. “That’s not a valid reason for being single, when you think about it,” she finally said. “At our age, most people seem to have settled down with someone, even if they haven’t met anyone right.”

“That’s a rather cynical thing to say, isn’t it?”

“It’s true.”

“Yeah, I suppose it is. And some of those people have been divorced once or twice too. You know what they say about marrying in haste.”

“Repent at leisure,” she murmured. “Or in today’s world: Divorce in equal haste, isn’t it?”

There was a pause in the conversation as they parked outside a restaurant and were seated, but once they were there, Lea picked up where they’d left off, propping her chin on her hands and targeting him with a laser-sharp look. Her eyes were very green, he noticed again. Turning darker when she was excited about something. He liked them that shadowy shade of emerald.

“So,” she said. “Are you saying that you think one should hold out for the perfect partner, rather than settling for someone—less perfect?”

“I don’t know if I would put it like that…” Thomas grinned at her. “That would make me a soppy romantic, wouldn’t it? Not exactly macho.”

She smiled back. “On the contrary. I’m pretty sure romantic men are every woman’s fantasy.” Despite the words, there wasn’t anything flirty in her voice, which was slightly confusing. Then her smile vanished and she lowered her head to stare down at the menu. “Well, it’s mine, anyway. But it’s tricky, isn’t it? Knowing what’s right. I bet a lot of those divorced people thought they’d be together forever.”

“Well. People change. Life happens.”

“Then there are people like my friend Anne and her husband. I don’t think even continental rift could tear those two apart, ever.”

“Some people are lucky.”

“And some aren’t.” She took a deep breath and let it out in an even bigger sigh. “That’s just life too, isn’t it? Luck of the draw.”

Thomas shifted in his chair and tried to read her face. What was behind that depressed expression and those strange questions? “I get the feeling there’s a story behind that sigh. Is that the long one you were going to tell me?”

She nodded. “The short version: I thought someone was it. But it turned out he wasn’t.”

“I’m sorry.”

She shrugged. “We broke up a while ago. I took a year out to get over him, and now he’s in the past. So, now I’m trying to figure out how to date for the first time in my life.” She grimaced. “Based on tonight, it’s not fun.”

He chuckled. “It can be fun. A lot of fun. It can also be dreadful—very dreadful. The good thing is that the dreadful bits make for excellent stories later on.”

For some reason, this news seem to be music to Lea’s ears. She perked up and gestured randomly, her cheeks flushed as her voice rose in excitement. “See? This is exactly why I need you!”

“Huh?” It seemed he was being unusually dense tonight. Maybe it was malnourishment. She’d drunk too much and he hadn’t eaten enough. All in all, not a good basis for lucid communication. They needed food. Now. “You need me to tell you my dating horror stories?”

“Not quite—” She stopped talking when the waiter approached their table, and took their order.

Once the waiter had walked away, Lea took a deep breath and glanced around. They’d gotten a semiprivate table, and didn’t have to worry much about other people overhearing their conversation, but she still leaned toward him and lowered her voice. “This is going to sound pretty strange, I guess I better tell you that up front.”

Thomas grinned, feeling more and more intrigued by the minute. What was she up to? “Don’t worry. I’m used to strange females.”

“Good.”

She put her hands on the table, palms up and stared down at them as if trying to read her story from there. “I’ll be honest.” She looked up. “Essentially, what all this is about, is that I’d like to hire you for a job, Thomas.”

“A job?” he asked cautiously. “What do you mean, a job?”

“A confidential job. Very confidential. That’s an additional reason why you’re perfect for it. We’re complete strangers. We don’t know any of the same people, which makes everything a whole lot easier.”

Guilt tapped him on the shoulder again. So did apprehension. He should tell her about Anne now, before this went any further.

“You see, my friends don’t really understand. They want to set me up, send me on blind dates, introduce me to friends of their friends’ friends—that was how I ended up with James in the first place. I know they mean well, but I’m getting so tired of their interference, well-meaning though it is.”

Damn it. He couldn’t tell her, not without Anne’s permission. Anne had said Lea would be furious to find out she’d been chaperoned. He could damage the friendship between the two women—and he had a feeling that would mean his head on a stake in Anne’s front yard.

Yep, he had a problem.

Oblivious to his inner tug of war, Lea continued. “They’d probably think I was nuts for suggesting this—but I don’t see another way.”

Whoa. Earth to Thomas. Just what was he about to be drafted into here? She had paused and was looking at him as if waiting for something. He nodded. “I’m listening.”

Lea took a deep breath and held it for the longest time. “Do you promise not to breathe a word of this to anyone?”

Thomas nodded. “I promise.” Her gaze searched his face, anxious, worried. It made him even more curious.

“Maybe this wasn’t a good idea,” she said after a while. There was hopelessness in her voice that all of a sudden made it imperative for him to let her know she could trust him. Why, he didn’t know. She was a stranger.

A stranger who all of a sudden was pillaging her purse, for a tissue to hide her tears in. She was crying?

Cripes. What was a gentleman to do?

“Lea…” For just a second, he put his hand on hers as she nervously fiddled with the candle at the center of the table while blotting tears from her eyes with her other hand. “I know you don’t know me, but if it’s worth anything to you, I’m good at keeping secrets. Are you in some sort of trouble?”

“I’m sorry,” she said after a while, having gained control of herself. She stuffed the tissue pack back into her purse and her smile was wavering, but brave. Her eyes were very dark now. “This is absurd. I’m a bit emotional these days. It’s probably hormonal.”

Emotional. Hormonal.

“I see,” he said, leaning back in sudden shock. Of course. She was pregnant. Why hadn’t Anne mentioned that little detail? Perhaps she didn’t know. Maybe that was the big secret. He glance around the room, trying to temper his disappointment with philosophy. He’d just met the woman, for heaven’s sake. Plenty more fish in the sea. But she’d been on a first date, so obviously she wasn’t with the father of her child. Maybe this job Lea wanted him to do had something to do with getting the father of her baby back.

Lea’s laugh was low and embarrassed. “This isn’t like me. I probably shouldn’t have gulped down all that wine with the appetizer. I’m afraid I’ve almost crossed the line between tipsy and drunk.”

Wine? No, she shouldn’t have. Thomas took her wine glass and moved it to the side. “You’re right. You shouldn’t be drinking at all. What would you like? Mineral water? Soda?”

She was looking at him strangely. “I’m not that drunk,” she protested. “I just meant that I might be a bit more than just tipsy, or I wouldn’t have been quite so…forward.” She reached for her glass, but he was faster and moved it out of her reach.

“No more. Alcohol isn’t good for your baby,” he said firmly.

“My baby?”

“Even in small doses, it can be risky. No need to tempt fate. It’s only for nine months, not a great sacrifice when everything’s taken into account.”

Green eyes turned darker. Dangerously darker. “What are you talking about, Thomas?”

“Your baby…” He hesitated, and wondered if he should be sliding under the table in utter embarrassment. One of her eyebrows rose, and his suspicions were confirmed. “Oh.”

“Oh, indeed.”

“You’re not pregnant at all, are you?”

Lea glanced down at herself and put her hand against her stomach. “I knew I’d gained weight. I haven’t had time to go to the gym lately. But I didn’t realize it was that bad.”

“No! You’re not…I’m sorry. When you said you were hormonal…” Thomas groaned. “I’m sorry. But you said you were emotional and it was probably hormonal, so I assumed you had to be pregnant.”

“I’m not. I’m just hormonal. Women are. All the time. Always. As a player, you should know that.”

“Okay.” He pushed the wine glass her way. “Sorry. If we hadn’t already attracted our share of attention for today, I’d go down on my knees and grovel. But have a drink.” He pushed his own glass over to her side of the table. “In fact, have mine too. I’ll just go straight to the strong stuff.”

She grinned at last, her eyes brightening. He had the feeling his own mortification was what had cheered her up. “Don’t worry, Thomas. I suppose it was a natural assumption from what I said.” She shook her head. “But this isn’t like me at all. Not crying in public, and not attacking strange men with weird propositions.”

Finally they were back to the weird proposition. About time—and a chance to get the conversation away from his blunder. “You were going to ask me something,” he said. “We’ve come this far—why don’t you go ahead?”

“You’ve got a point,” she said with a sigh. “I’ve already made a fool of myself.” She sent him another slow grin. “And so have you. I suppose we might as well go all the way.”

Thomas waited for her to continue. Her gaze searched his face for the longest time, as if trying to determine how trustworthy he was.

“I don’t know you, do I?” she said at last, in a low voice. “The idea of putting my entire future in your hands is a bit…risky. I don’t think this was a good idea.”

“Your entire future?” What on earth could she have in mind? Thomas leaned toward her again, intrigued—and a bit nervous. “I’m becoming really curious here. What are you talking about?”

“Promise not to laugh?”

The request was childish enough to pull a smile out of him. “Yeah, I promise.”

“I want a baby,” she stated, and he nearly fell off his chair in shock. She didn’t elaborate, just looked at him steadily.

Maybe he hadn’t heard right. “You want what?”

She didn’t answer, just stared at him with the look that reminded him of the big bad wolf.

He’d heard right the first time, hadn’t he?

“You want a baby,” he said, fighting back an impulse to check if the path to the exit was clear. This couldn’t be what he thought it was. She couldn’t be approaching a stranger, asking him to father her child. Women didn’t do that, even after too many drinks. It was impossible. So impossible that there was no need for him to panic. “Okay.” He nodded at her. “You want a baby. I’m with you so far.”

And he wasn’t laughing. This wasn’t a laughing matter at all. If he did anything at all, it would be hyper-ventilating.

“I want a baby so bad,” she blurted out. “It’s crazy. I don’t know where this came from, it must be biological, but it’s about all I can think about. And you see, I’ve finally grown up. I no longer believe in romance, in Mr. Right. If he exists at all, he obviously gave up waiting and settled down with Ms. Wrong a long time ago. He’s not showing. I need to be practical about this. If I want children, a family, I can’t afford to wait much longer.”

“I see.”

“I’m thirty. Almost thirty,” she amended. “Last year I ended a relationship, the only real relationship I’ve ever been in. Since then, my entire track record consists of the date you just witnessed.”

Thomas nodded. “What have I got to do with this?” He’d just say no. She couldn’t force him to…donate sperm, or whatever it was she had in mind. No problem. He’d just hear her question and say a polite no thank you. No big deal.

He leaned back and crossed his arms, waiting for the ax to fall. The things he got himself involved in.

His fear was obviously written all over him, as Lea’s worried face turned surprised for a moment, and then she started laughing. “Oh, no,” she said, shaking her head so hard that her dark hair swirled around her face. “Absolutely not. That’s not it.”