Can't Help Falling In Love (11 page)

Tony reversed out of the parking spot and then headed back out into Memphis rush hour
traffic before he answered. “Not now.”

Randa bit her lip and watched the cars in front of them jockey for position while
she tried to decide whether she was going to push the issue. One glance at his face,
which showed absolutely nothing of what he thought about that kiss, convinced her
to wait.

She opened the plastic bag and pulled out three sets of flip-flops. “Look. Three dollars
each. Aren’t they cute?” She waved them and when they stopped at a stoplight, she
held up the black pair that had glittery silver sparkles glued along the sides. “These
are for formal occasions.” She waved a green pair with plastic seahorses on the straps.
“And for the pool.” She kicked off her heels and pointed to the final pair, which
were blazing orange with giant hot pink silk gerbera daisies attached to the straps.
“And these are just for fun.” She slid them on her feet and wiggled them around to
watch the flower petals move. They looked especially amazing against the pedicure
she’d gotten just before she came. The red on her toes clashed spectacularly with
the orange and pink. And she loved them all the more for it.

Just before the light turned green, she glanced over at Tony. He was watching her
feet but when he looked up at her face, she felt her smile slip. He still looked so
. . . hungry. Only multiple honks drew Tony’s attention back to the road.

He waved a hand in the rear view mirror and accelerated. Randa looked out the window
and tried to imagine a better date. She just couldn’t.

“So, what else did you buy? Magazine? Candy? More unicorn blood?” Tony didn’t look
at her as he made his way onto the interstate but she could see the hint of a smile
on his face.

“Can you believe it? They were all out of unicorn blood.” She rattled around in the
bag. “I did by myself some more glasses. They had these bright green ones. And I just
love green.”

Tony glanced over at her quickly. “Glasses? You wear glasses?” He frowned. “You wear
glasses without diamond chips on platinum frames and some designer’s name on the side?”

Randa wrinkled her nose. “Only when I’m reading. And you tell anybody else that and
I’ll have to find someplace to dispose of your body, got it?”

“Think you can take a Marine, do you?” His voice was rough but she was happy to see
a real smile on his face.

“I have my ways.” She rummaged around in the first bag of books she picked up. “Hm,
fantasy… mystery… fantasy… science fiction and…” She stacked up
the books and turned the last one over to read the back copy. After she slid on the
green-framed glasses. She’d gone from sex on a stick to someone’s kooky grandma in
two easy, neon-bright steps, but she had to make sure that her somewhat nearsighted
eyes weren’t deceiving her. “Um, Tony, did you know you got a romance?”

Tony took the exit marked “Graceland” and slowed to a stop behind a long line of traffic.
“Um, yes. Did you know those were
my
books?” He glanced over at her and tweaked her glasses. “Those are hot, Randa.”

She snorted. “Uh-huh. Haven’t you ever heard that guys don’t make passes at girls
who wear acid-green glasses?” She dropped his books back in the bag and then picked
hers up. “If you haven’t, my mother has a lecture all prepared. I can probably recite
pieces of it for you, if you like.”

Randa rolled her eyes at herself. She was doing it again. Poor little rich girl complaining
to the foster kid about her mean parents who’d bought her whatever it took to keep
her quiet. He ought to push her out on the curb and let her walk home. She wiggled
her toes in her cheap flip-flops. At least she’d be more comfortable. And possibly
safer in traffic wearing colors like these.

“No offense to your mother, but she’s got no idea what she’s talking about.”

Randa studied her stack of books. Seven adventures just waiting for her. She owed
Tony big for that.

She opened the first cover. “Yeah, well, if you knew her, you might reconsider. Miss
Illinois, second runner-up in the Miss USA pageant of 1968, knows a thing or three
about men and their passes, buddy. Along with swimsuits, talent competitions, and
world peace. Imagine her disappointment that the best I ever managed was Miss Congeniality.”

Tony shook his head as he turned into the parking lot of the Rock’n’Rolla. “Your mom’s
a pageant queen. I sorta get the…”

“Vanity? Yeah. She was a model. My dad’s got money. All of my brothers graduated from
Harvard at the top of their classes, one was a Rhodes Scholar, and another modeled
for Ralph Lauren.” She appreciated his look of complete amazement. “I know. It’s like
I’m the black sheep of the family, never won a single pageant or contest, but wrinkles
. . . that might be the very last straw. My mother might disown me. The very least
I can do is wear a hat to the pool, you know?”

She unbuckled her seat belt and picked up her bags. Tony stopped her from sliding
out with one hand on her arm.

“What’s your list of accomplishments look like, black sheep?” He rubbed his thumb
up and down her arm and she lost track of what they were talking about.

She looked down at his hand and then blinked up at him. “What?”

Tony laughed. “I know you’ve got a list. Hit me with it.”

Randa took a deep breath. “Tried pageants. Never placed in the top five. No talent.
Graduated valedictorian from high school, basically just completing the run my oldest
brother started and meeting expectations. Graduated with honors from Harvard, just
like the second brother. Never got a modeling contract, although I totally could have
for my best friend’s dad. He owned a grocery store and needed someone for the circular.
My mother would have died, come back to life, murdered me, and then died again in
righteous grief. So I didn’t do that. And I started in the business the Monday after
I graduated where I was buried in accounting until…”

Tony tangled his fingers with hers and squeezed her hand. “Go ahead. Hit me with it.
I can handle the cold, hard truth, even if it means you were late to work three days
in a row.”

Randa laughed and shook her head. “I know. It’s ridiculous, right?”

Tony just waited for her answer.

“Until I broke an engagement my father had set up with a business crony. Then I ended
up in Fargo. And I did such a good job at that project, I got more.”

“So I’m glad you’re the black sheep. I don’t think I could like you otherwise.”

Randa shrugged a shoulder. “I guess I have all these unreasonable expectations.”

“Like love?” Tony said.

Randa had to think about the answer. If he was asking about her parents, she had no
answer. Maybe those expectations kept her on the road, doing her best to excel at
her job and earn their respect. Surely they loved her, but she was a lot clearer about
what she expected from a fiancé. “No, like… basic respect or loyalty or maybe
just… I don’t know, expecting a man to try not to have sex with other women while
he’s engaged to me.” Randa sighed. “And then I did it again. Broke another engagement
and here I am…” She wanted to tell him all of it. “You know, for a little vacation
time at Graceland.”

Tony didn’t answer but she didn’t see pity in his face either, so that was something.

She needed to see the rest of the rooms, get an idea of the square footage, finish
her report, and then… she had no idea. Maybe she needed to take a look at her
options. She had no doubt that her father was on the hunt for the next future Mr.
Randa Whitmore. Eventually she’d have to either find her own husband, one chosen on
suitable criteria, or marry her father’s choice.

Tony’s question about whether her expectations included love made her think. Shouldn’t
she expect love? And if she didn’t really hold out much hope of getting what she wanted
from her parents, why not make a change, and go for what
she
wanted? She could take a risk, rely on herself and the background her father’s money
had given her, and do what she really wanted to do. Whatever that was. She could find
another job. The idea of having no family to fall back on, even one that made her
feel like the screw-up, that was harder.

She looked at Tony and tried to imagine coming from nothing like he had.

“Don’t encourage me.” Randa was sorry she’d let him start this. She was hovering on
the edge of confessing too much. Tony was dangerous. He made her think about what
she really wanted and who she wanted to be. Worse, he made her wonder if she could
actually take a chance on herself, try standing on her own, no matter how scary it
was. She had to make a quick escape. Her commitment to her father’s plan was wavering.
And this feeling of confidence and hope was seductive. If she spent too much time
with Tony, she might never recover.

Tony frowned at her. “Encourage you?”

The only way to get this back on track was to return to character. Randa batted her
eyelashes at him and licked her lips. “To be bad.”

He pursed his lips. “Well, back to my original point… bad girls in glasses are
the best kind.” He ticked off points on his fingers. “Sexy librarian. Hot for teacher.
Boss and the secretary. Dirty doctor… I mean, the list of possibilities for girls
in glasses is pretty solid.”

Randa felt the heat rush into her cheeks and wanted desperately to say something flirty.
This was the persona she wanted: sexy, confident, quick with encouragement or denial
as required. But those words, coming from Tony, had short-circuited her brain. This
was her game. And she was losing. Worse, he could tell. And even if he wasn’t laughing
out loud, she could read the amusement on his face.

“On the right woman, glasses just make her that much hotter,” Tony said with a small
smile. He grabbed all the bags before he slid out of the truck. Before she could do
the same, he was opening her door. If Randa had to guess, she’d say he was muttering
curse words all the way around.

“Are you mad?” Randa had no idea why she cared, but Tony didn’t look like a guy thinking
seduction now.

“Only at myself.” He shook his head. “You’re too tempting. I say mean things to push
you away, but before I know it, it’s all I can do to keep from kissing you again.”
He looked down at the ground and mumbled, “I’m sorry for hurting your feelings earlier,
with the comment about living on your own money.”

Randa had to squash down the crazy happiness that made her want to fling herself at
him. An apology? From a man? That never happened in her world. More than anything
she wanted to kiss his frown away. “Then why don’t you kiss me again?”

“It’s not a good idea.” And the look on his face as he said it was serious. Determined.

He waited for her to slide out then slammed the door. Randa savored the feeling of
plastic, cushioned flip-flops and carried her outrageously expensive heels in her
hands while she tried to figure out how to get happy, teasing Tony back. He had as
good a bullshit meter as she did apparently. Honest Randa was pulling heartstrings
with the world’s worst poor-me story. Flirty Randa got quiet curses and the cold shoulder.
It wasn’t hard to figure out which way to go, even if honesty was dangerous.

Tony waved at Michelle and the young man behind the front desk and followed Randa
down the hall to pause in front of her room. Randa fumbled in her tiny pocket and
managed to pull out her room key. When she got the door open and flipped on the light,
Tony held out her bags.

She took them and set them on the table beside the door before she said, “So, I should
say again how much I appreciate you showing me your place. It’s a wonderful store
and I had a great time.” She pointed down at her feet and wiggled her toes. “You’ll
be seeing a lot of these over the next few days.” And then she’d have to get rid of
them. Her mother would not be amused. As she watched the flower petals shake, she
decided she didn’t even care what her mother thought. She liked them. Her mother’s
face might freeze in a permanent pucker the first time she wore them to breakfast,
but that’s what they made Botox for. As of today Randa didn’t care anymore.

The idea of pitching a battle over discount-store shoes was ridiculous. But freeing
too.

Tony clenched his own book bag in his hand. The crinkle and crunch of plastic was
loud in the quiet hallway. “Glad you enjoyed it.” He glanced down the hall at Viva
Las Vegas. “Should have asked if you’d like to pick something up while we were out.
The restaurant’s great but every day’s a bit much.”

Randa shifted her weight from one foot to the other. If she was as smart as she’d
always believed, she’d take full advantage of this opportunity to pick his brain.
Except when she started to push, he pulled. And it was dangerous to spend any more
time with him. But the way she felt about him was barely under control at this point.
Finding out one more thing, whatever it might be, that made her melty inside would
be all it took. She’d trick, entice, coerce, or beg him to kiss her again and that
would be the beginning of the end. Because she’d be lying to him. And that felt wrong.

But then again, she’d had a better time with him than she could ever remember having
with a man so she said, “Are you kidding me? I skipped lunch just so I could have
one of those burgers again tonight. Besides, I promised you dinner, right? Join me
or don’t, but my next stop is the bar.”

She took his bag and set it down on the table. As she joined him in the hallway and
pulled the door closed, he said, “You do realize you’re still wearing the green glasses,
don’t you?”

“Ack!” Randa shoved open the door. She nearly tripped over her cheery flip-flops before
she dropped her glasses on the table. She smoothed down her short skirt and smiled
as she listened to his rusty laughter in the hallway.

T
ONY HAD NO
idea how he’d wound up sitting next to her at the bar again. He’d had every intention
of doing his good deed for a fellow reader, a guest at the hotel no matter her ulterior
motives, and dropping her back at her room before he nuked a frozen dinner and got
ready for his shift. He’d rested and he was feeling pretty upbeat about a quiet night
running the front desk. He’d knock out some paperwork, make sure the new guy got a
good, solid idea of the boredom that came with running the desk at night, and brainstorm
some staffing ideas. They only had to survive one more day without Willodean. And
it wasn’t that he doubted his own capabilities. The staff missed her. Guests missed
her even if they’d never met her because she gave the hotel an entirely different
feeling when she was around. The place felt warmer, more comfortable, and there was
always the sizzle of positive expectations. He didn’t really understand how she did
it—how she made people feel like something great was about to happen—but he’d watched
it for a while. He’d thought himself immune to it, but now… well, he missed her.
He’d be glad when she got back home even if he would miss Misty’s twenty-four-hours-a-day
shadow. When he’d first kept Misty, he’d done his best not to get attached. Losing
her was inevitable. But the truth was, she’d made his life so much better it had been
impossible not to fall in love with the floppy eared bath rug.