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reference. You do know what I mean, don't you, dear?”
She walked away, smiling. Lang stared after her with murderous eyes. He hadn't dreamed that she
could be so spiteful. He'd taken her out to make Kirry jealous, but he hadn't done it in any spiteful or
obvious way. For all Lorna knew, he was simply renewing an old acquaintance. Only Lorna had taken
it seriously, and she wanted to play for keeps. Now Lang was between a rock and a hard place. Either
he had to marry Kirry immediately or give her up, because if Lorna carried through with her threat,
Kirry would literally be asked to sacrifice her career. Her job meant a lot to her. He knew too well
how much careers mattered to some women…
“You're very quiet,” Kirry remarked when they were on the way down to Bob and Connie's
house in Floresville. “What's wrong?”
He glanced at her and back at the road. “Just thinking. Have you seen anything of Erikson
today?”
She shook her head and wrapped her arms tightly around her chest, leaning back in the seat with
a shiver. “Could you turn up the heat, Lang?”
“Sure.” He frowned. “You aren't catching a cold, are you?”
She shook her head. “I'm just tired and worried. The Lancasters didn't like what Lorna said at
lunch, I know they didn't. What if they think I'm too incompetent to keep on?”
“Aren't you good at your job?”
“Well, yes, but so are a lot of other people. I'm original, at least. Which is more than I can say for
poor old Mack,” she said, grimacing. “He doesn't like Lorna and he hates high fashion. He finds it
boring. He's not going to do a job she'll like.”
“What did you have in mind?” he asked, smiling.
“A star-studded extravaganza with some socialites helping to model Lorna's clothing line,” she
said. “They'd not only love the limelight, they'd buy the clothes. It would mean quick sales and a lot
more than just surface promotion. At least one local debutante has a father who owns a network of
boutiques internationally. Even Lorna doesn't have connections like that.” She shrugged. “But she's
not interested in my ideas. I tried to show her what I had in mind, and she just ignored me. She
wouldn't even listen.”
“Pity she doesn't have any competition,” he mused. “You could put her nose in a sling.”
“She does have competition,” she remarked. “But they're represented by another company and as
far as I know, they don't have any promotions planned for the rest of the year.”
He gave her a lingering look at a traffic light. “There is such a thing as taking the bit between the
teeth. Why don't you go to the competition and outline your ideas and offer to take the thing on as an
independent promoter?”
She gasped. “That would be unethical.”
“Give your notice at Lancaster. Change jobs. Gamble.”
“Lang, I have bills to pay,” she exclaimed with a surprised laugh. “I can't take a chance like that.
I'm not a gambler.”
“I'm not, either, as a rule. But sometimes you have to take a chance.”
“You don't take chances.”
“No? I asked you to marry me.”
She averted her eyes and stared out the window with a sinking heart.
“That was badly put, wasn't it?” he asked quietly. “I'm sorry. I was trying to cheer you up.”
“Lorna saw right through you today,” she said. “She pushed you into a corner and as much as
made you admit that you didn't want to marry me.”
His hand tightened on the steering wheel as he was forced to remember the threat Lorna had
made.
“I admitted nothing.”
He winced. “Kirry…”
She turned in her seat, adjusting her seat belt, and studied his profile. “You aren't ready,” she said
simply. “To you, commitment is still the boogeyman .You think of marriage as a sort of prison, with
children as the chains that keep people there.”
She touched his sleeve, feeling the warm strength of his arm under it. “We can be engaged for a
little while, until I make up my mind what I'm going to do—stay with the agency or take that chance
and go independent. But I won't take the engagement seriously, and I don't want you to. Your
conscience may sting for a while about what we did, but you'll get over it. Nothing happened, Lang.
We just made love. People do it all the time. No big deal.”
“It was to me,” he said shortly, glowering down at her. “And if it was no big deal, why haven't
you done it before now with some other man?”
She leaned her head against the seat and looked at him quietly. “You know why. You've always
known. It's because I belong to you.”
His heart shivered in his chest. He couldn't look at her again. She was tying him in knots, but they
were of his own making.
He didn't want her to belong to him. He didn't want to be a prisoner of his conscience or even of
love.
She withdrew her hand and looked out the windshield. She'd embarrassed him. At the very least,
she'd made him uncomfortable. “Don't torture yourself,” she said quietly. “I'm not asking for
anything.”
“I know that,” he said tersely.
She closed her eyes, enjoying the company and the darkness as they sped toward Floresville. If
only they could keep driving forever, she thought. It would be lovely not to have to go back to all her
problems and the future, when Lang would be out of her life again, and forever this time.
She was dreaming. Lang had made love to her, and they were sprawled under a big oak tree by a
beautiful stream in a meadow, holding each other. He was whispering how much he loved her…
“Will you wake up?” he demanded curtly, shaking her. “We're here, and all hell has broken loose
from the sound of things!”
She sat up, her dream shattered by his harsh tone. “What?” she asked, confused.
“Listen!”
The car was sitting in the driveway of the old Victorian house where the Pattons lived. A loud
voice—Bob's—was disclaiming some accusation that came from Connie. In the background, a soft
Spanish voice was trying to assert reason.
“Housekeeper, my blue elbow! You were kissing her!” Connie was raging.
“I was holding her while she cried, because you hurt her feelings!” Bob yelled. All three of them
were outlined on the front porch. “You didn't have to accuse her of being a home-wrecker!”
“Well, she is!” Connie said. “She's even taken over Mikey! He wants Teresa to read to him, he
wants Teresa to take him to school, he wants Teresa to sit by him when we eat…he's my son!” [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]