A Date on Cloud Nine (8 page)

“How about you go do whatever magic you do in the computer lab and
I’ll
show Lilly around.” It wasn’t a question, and Ollie took Lilly by the elbow and ushered her out the door.

“Computers are all fine,” Jake said, tagging along.

“You haven’t even checked.”

“I can check from home.”

“Talk about Big Brother. Hey, you’d better not be able to tap into the confidential files.”

“Not to worry.”

“He says that, but I don’t believe him,” Ollie murmured to Lilly. “He was like that in college, too. Hands in
everything. Have you seen his house? He makes inanimate objects do things that inanimate objects shouldn’t do.” He shuddered, but she could tell Ollie’d been the class clown.

A dozen boys and girls greeted Jake by name as Ollie led Lilly on a tour of the facility, which could only rightfully be called a complex, and explained how much good they did in the community, keeping kids off the streets, teaching them character, leadership, and skills everyone needed.

Ollie introduced her to several of the children, and she carefully considered each boy’s name as a possibility for her son. The weird, artistic names were just out, period; if her child was destined to do something great, he could use a strong name for starters. She was looking for something powerful, yet distinctive. Names were supposed to be important in one’s destiny.

“Who’s the little guy following us?” Lilly whispered, as they finished up an hour later.

The small boy had been trailing them for fifteen minutes, ten paces back, stopping when they stopped, peeking around corners and doors to make sure they didn’t get too far away.

Ollie knew who Lilly meant without looking. “Reggie’s kind of shy, doesn’t talk much,” he said softly. “We try to get him involved a little more every day, but then he backs off. He prefers just to hang out until his grandmother picks him up.”

Her heart went out to Reggie, whose shyness got in the way of his obvious need to connect.

Reggie
.
Reginald
. Nope, way too different.

“He talks to Mooch,” Jake said.

“He’ll come around. Some of these kids don’t get much interaction at home. Single parents, two jobs, that kind of thing.”

“I’d better explain why Mooch isn’t here today.” As they passed through a community area, Jake took a chair and waited for Reggie to inch by. Lilly knew instinctively that Jake sat so he wouldn’t loom over the child.

“He does seem to like Jake’s cat,” Ollie admitted.

“You two known each other long?”

“Since college. We were on the same floor in the dorm.”

“It’s nice you’ve stayed in touch.”

“Well, that’s mostly Jake’s doing,” Ollie admitted. “But then, that’s Jake. He’s real close to his family, and that spills over into his friendships. You okay?”

“Oh.” She’d been watching Reggie. “He reminds me of myself at that age. I want to just go up and hug him—”

Ollie cleared his throat, ready to issue a warning.

“—but I know he wouldn’t welcome it.” She’d been stuck in a boarding school twenty-four/seven, no one to go home to at night. Sad thing was, she missed her nanny the most because she’d been closest to her.

They returned to the office, where Lilly got down to the business of a charitable donation.

“You’ve seen everything,” Ollie said. “Is there one particular area you’d like this to go to?”

Well, that was a nice change, unlike the usual obsequious handshake and “I look forward to seeing you again next year.”

“Can I get back to you on that?” Out the window, she watched Jake and Reggie at the car, the back door standing open.

“Sure, stop by anytime. If you want, we can always use volunteers.”

One thing she’d learned from her many stops—volunteers were the backbone of charities. She wondered if they were ever given their due.

She strolled outside and huddled alone on a nearby bench to give Reggie extra time with Jake and Mooch. After asking Jake a myriad of questions about Mooch’s surgery and what it was for and if it hurt, Reggie gave the cat a gentle pat and sauntered away.

Lilly headed for the warmth of the car. She was in her seat, rubbing her hands together in front of the vent when she noticed Jake sitting sideways, studying her.

“What?”

“Nothing. I just noticed you freezing over there on the bench, that’s all.”

“I didn’t want to scare Reggie off.”

“Huh.”

“What?”

“Just surprised, that’s all.”

The next day, Lilly set about concentrating on the other half of her mission—getting past Jake’s defenses. From here on in, she could ovulate at any time. She could track her temperature, of course, but what was the point if she couldn’t even
kiss
him?

Betsy was sitting at the tile-topped table in Lilly’s atrium, having rushed over in response to a plea for help. And she had a whole different objective. “Tell me again why you’re giving money away.”

“I saw the light.”

“At the end of the tunnel,” Betsy repeated.

“Yes!” Lilly said, with all the exasperation that had built up over the last half hour of repeatedly explaining the concept, all the while puttering about her plants and feeding healthy treats to the bonded pair of lovebirds who ruled the atrium during daylight hours.

Jake, too, had asked one day why she was suddenly so benevolent and did it have anything to do with nearly dying. She’d started to explain about the angels, and he’d said, “Fine, if you don’t want to tell me, don’t,” and that was the last she’d heard about it from him.

Betsy should be so easy.

It was time to move upstairs and find something to wear. Either Betsy would get this or she wouldn’t, but there was nothing else Lilly could tell her to make it happen.

“He’s going to be here in a few minutes, and I’d really rather discuss how to get him into bed—
soon
—if you don’t mind.”

“What makes you think I’d know?”

“Exactly how many hours did it take you to get that cute paramedic into bed?”

“He went back to work first. Do I have to count that?”

“I rest my case.”

Upstairs, Betsy sat on the bed while Lilly dug deep in her closet, searching for more red.

“Tell me again how you looked back on your life and saw you hadn’t been generous enough.”

“No.” Lilly poked through a lot of stuff she hadn’t seen, much less worn, in years. She really should start boxing some of it up for the women’s shelter.

“But, Lill, you’ve been doing this all week, and you’re selling your house and your airplane. I’m worried about
you. I mean, this is a complete turnaround. It’s not like you at all, and I think you should talk to someone.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. You’re giving away money as an excuse to ride around every day with Jake.”

“That’s not why—”

“Stop right there.”

Maybe if she retreated far enough into the back of the closet, she wouldn’t have to listen.

“Now, I’m not criticizing you—”

Nope, wasn’t working.

“I’m telling you it’s okay to chase the man. You can tie him to the bed and tear his clothes off and have your way with him for all I care—”

When Betsy paused, Lilly figured she was dabbing off a little drool at the corner of her mouth, because that’s exactly the effect the image was having on her. Especially after that kiss. Oh my God, what had she been thinking? That kissing Jake for the first time would be like kissing a husband for the thousandth time when he came home from work? Although—whew!—wouldn’t that be the kind of husband to have.

Shoot, Brady’d never kissed her like that. She hadn’t known
any
one kissed the way Jake did. It just reinforced her belief that there was definitely more out there that she’d never experienced, that she should’ve experienced at least once a week in years and years of making love.

Hm, she was going to have to downgrade that from lovemaking to sex. Ho-hum sex, she was pretty sure now.

Betsy was still talking. Lilly had no idea how much she’d missed, but unless it was a detailed, itemized list of
what she had to do to get Jake into bed, it probably wasn’t all that important.

“It’s not okay to feel so guilty about it that you have to rationalize a cockamamie reason like giving away a whole bunch of money just to be with him. And another thing…”

Blah blah blah…

Lilly found herself measuring time not by the amount of dollars flowing out of her accounts, not by how much slower Mooch vacated his favorite seat every morning, but by the number of red items she’d gone through in her quest to get Jake’s attention. Blouses, sweaters, jackets—she had run out of solids within days and started dredging up anything with any little spot of red in it. At the end of a week, the pickings were mighty slim.

She held up a black dress and red belt, interrupting Betsy in midsentence to ask her opinion. “Will this get him hot?”

“Black? Lill, if the man has any sense of decency, it’ll just make him think you’re still mourning his best friend.”

“Oh my gosh! I wore a black skirt with my red jacket yesterday. And black pants the day before that.
That
’s why I’m not getting anywhere with him?”

“Du-uh.”

She’d been in an increasingly uncomfortable state of carnal desire all week, with no end in sight. How dumb could she be? Brady’d been Jake’s best friend. Of course he respected her grief. Shoot, how was she supposed to get around that before she ran out of time?

“Darn it, Betsy, it would’ve been nice if you’d mentioned that instead of telling me I couldn’t fail in red, so I would’ve known there’s nothing wrong with
me
.”

“That remains to be seen.”

Laughing with relief, Lilly tore through her closet for anything not black, selecting a royal blue dress instead. It’d been tight across her breasts last time she wore it, but that would only help her quest, not hurt it.

Maybe once she slept with Jake, the dreams would stop. They were driving her crazy, replaying each unproductive day with him over and over, each version a little different, so that by the time she woke up, she wasn’t clear on exactly where or why she’d struck out.

They also hit her right in her conscience, plaguing her with feelings of guilt that she sublimated during waking hours. It boiled down to pursuing Jake for procreation purposes without cluing him in to the outcome. Awake, she could rationalize it, having a baby at last, the gift of life, for the greater good and all that. Asleep, she couldn’t.

“Really, Lill, I’m worried about you.”

Lilly slipped into the dress and twirled for inspection. “Good?”

“You need more red than just a belt. Got anything else? A scarf maybe?”

“Tights?”

“Oh, please no. I’d say throw them out, but,” Betsy suggested with a wicked smile, “they make great ropes.”

“Ooh, you’re making me hot.” Lilly fanned herself theatrically and tucked the tights under her pillow just in case. “See, that’s the kind of stuff I need to know. What else?”

“Earrings.”

“No, not earrings,” she whined. “Can you not
focus
on what I need?”

“Sure. And your red shoes.”

Lilly gave up. Maybe it was time for stage two.

The doorbell rang. “If I don’t make serious lip contact with Jake by the end of the day, I’ll try your bedpost thing.”

“Girl, if you don’t make serious lip contact, I doubt you’ll be able to tie him to the bed. It’s kind of a prerequisite.”

Betsy held a red purse out like a flag. Lilly nabbed it on her way out the bedroom door, checking to make sure her checkbook was in it on her way down the stairs. The darned thing was never where it was supposed to be, slowing her down like a series of speed bumps in her path to the poorhouse. Once she’d even found it under Mooch; you’d think it was his the way he’d hissed at her for taking it back.

Minutes later, she slid into the front of Jake’s taxi, nudging Mooch over toward the center. He gave a mournful, threatening moan or yowl or whatever the heck you called that terrible sound that droned on and on until he felt he’d said enough and hopped disdainfully into the back.

She said, “Morning,” in a voice that she meant to be provocative, but it just sounded chipper to her.

Her straight hem rode up on her thighs, though, exposing enough skin to get any man’s engine revved. She didn’t tug it down. In fact she wiggled her butt on the seat, as innocently as if she were trying to get comfortable, purposely letting it ride higher.

Surprisingly enough, the inexpensive jewelry she was wearing didn’t detract from the whole picture. These days, she left the gold and the diamonds at home. Day before yesterday, when she’d written her net worth down to
seventeen million, the “18” charm fell off Elizabeth’s bracelet. It bounced off the desk in a local bird sanctuary, hit the floor, and vanished. Since it wasn’t real gold, Lilly didn’t search very hard for it. Too bad it didn’t have monetary value, because then by not searching endlessly, she’d be offering proof that she wasn’t so accumulation-oriented anymore. She needed the extra proof, because the rate she kept mislaying her checkbook surely made her life-altering transformation appear less than complete to Elizabeth.

Besides, she thought, glancing over at Jake behind the wheel, she had some
one
a whole lot more interesting to pursue. Should she scoot over there and lay one on him now, or wait a little while?

Jake twisted in his seat, stretching out nicely, reaching into the back, scratching Mooch behind the ears, giving Lilly a nice hint of how he’d look stretched out on her bed—with or without ropes. He didn’t have bandages on his hands anymore, so she didn’t have to worry about hurting him. As he settled back in place, he tossed an unwrapped package onto the seat between them.

Well, looky there.
A vibrator.

“I thought we’d try something different today.”

He must like her in blue.

No, that couldn’t be. He’d already had the package in the car before she came outside. Maybe seven days of red had finally screamed
Sex here! Get some sex here!
loud enough to reach him. Maybe he’d made peace with the idea of sleeping with his best friend’s widow.