Momentary Marriage (31 page)

“We are?” she said faintly, relief and shock making her want to cry.
Loved each other? She and Jared?
She loved him, she knew, but his feelings had never been clear to her. In between hating and missing Jared, she’d wondered if she was going to make it through each day.

Doug smiled ruefully. “Jared can match wits with you better than anyone you’ve been with. Certainly better than I ever could. He can keep up with you.”

“Yes,” she admitted, a welter of emotion tugging at her throat. Damn, she couldn’t cry anymore. Surely, it was physically impossible.

“Hell, I don’t even want to keep up with you,” Doug said with sudden, startling frankness.

“You don’t?” His repudiation was so complete, she started laughing. The sound left her mouth and, to her horror, she felt tears rushing behind her eyes. The emotional roller coaster of loving and losing, she thought, trying to keep her smile pinned in place.

“Listen,” Doug said, reaching out to take her hand. “I can’t stay long. Amy’s meeting one of her friends from work for coffee and I’m going to try and catch her when she comes out of the restaurant. As you noticed, I’m reduced to stalking her. But I had to stop by here. You’re my best friend and I wanted to know if you’re okay.”

“I’m okay,” she said, her voice husky. “It’s…hard, but I think I’m surviving.”

“Good,” Doug said, dubiously as he got to his feet. “I have to run, but I’ll call you.”

“Sounds good,” Kelsey agreed, new tears prickling at her eyes.

She shut the door behind him moments later and leaned back on the wood panel with a sense of consolation. Her life might have gone to hell and her marriage was now in shambles, but at least Doug appeared to be over his infatuation.

Now if only he could convince her sister of the fact.

*
**

As Doug stood in the shadowed darkness, Amy walked out of the restaurant, her friend at her side. The foot traffic on the sidewalk was consistent, but he could see her clearly from where he waited.

The two weeks away from her seemed like an eon and he couldn’t keep from staring at her hungrily, his body tense as she came through the doorway.

Her shiny dark hair cascaded over her shoulders, curling in a casual abandon that pierced him. All those wonderful nights, he’d had her head on the pillow next to his.

She had to listen to him. He’d make her listen.

Standing beside Amy, Janelle, his information source, adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder. As they stood in the exit, the other woman cast him a surreptitious glance.

“I’m so glad you could join me tonight,” he heard Amy say, her smile warm despite the tiredness around her eyes. Had she been sleeping badly, he wondered. Missing him at all?

“It was a terrific meal,” Janelle agreed, turning to head off down the street with a final look in his direction. “Well, I gotta go. I’ll see you at work, Amy.”

Dodging a woman and a stroller, he stepped forward out of the shadows and into the light cast by the street lamp. Doug said, “Amy!”

She turned then, her eyes widening as she saw him standing next to her—and then hardening. Without a word, she turned and walked away toward the street corner, the line of her body stiff with anger.

Moving between on-coming pedestrians, Doug followed her, pleading, “Will you give me a chance to explain? At least, listen a minute?”

“No,” she said, continuing to walk briskly along the sidewalk, threading her way between elderly women with shopping backs and businessmen toting their briefcases.

“Amy, I’m an idiot and a fool, but I love you,” he said, not caring if he was overheard. If she wouldn’t stop, he’d make his plea this way.

But a sound of disgust in her throat was his only response.

“Amy! Please listen to me!” He walked next to her, shifting around the toddler who’d strayed from his father.

Amy came to the corner and joined the crowd standing there, her face cold as she waited for the light to change. “Get lost. I’ve already wasted too much time on you. Go talk to Kelsey.”

Doug grimaced, following her out into the crosswalk when the group of people moved. “I know I’ve been a fool. I don’t deserve you.”

“No, you don’t,” she agreed immediately. “Stop following me!”

“But I love you,” he said, matching his steps to her fast walk. “I’ve realized my mistakes.”

“Whatever. I don’t care.” She quickened her step as they came to a construction zone with scaffolding over the sidewalk. The poles of the overhead maze created lanes for foot traffic with only the occasional cross-through. Moving to one side as pedestrians streamed from the opposite direction, Amy kept walking.

“Will you stop and listen to me?” he asked when he’d fought his way through the shifting pack of people.

“No.” She didn’t pause. “I’ve listened to your lies too many times and if you don’t leave me alone and stop following me, I’ll get a restraining order.”

“Amy!” he said sharply as they stepped out from under the scaffolding, coming to another street corner.

But she didn’t turn, forging ahead as the light changed.

“Amy,” Doug called out loudly, following her to the opposite curb. “Your sister asked me to marry her.”

Ten feet ahead of him, in the stream of pedestrians, Amy stopped. She turned and looked at him then—the first time she’d looked him in the face since he’d surprised her outside the restaurant. Looking into her beautiful eyes, he saw raw pain and cursed himself for causing it, while rejoicing that she still cared.

“I hope you’ll both be very happy,” she told him and then turned as if to disappear into the flow of humanity streaming around them.

“I turned her down, Amy,” he said, his voice raised to reach her. “I turned Kelsey down.”

He saw her stopped on the pavement ahead of him, still turned away. Hurrying forward, Doug stepped around in front of her, saying urgently, “I turned her down because I realized I never loved her as more than a sister.”

Puzzlement and disbelief filled Amy’s face.

Doug took a step closer, reaching out for her hand. “I’ve never loved her.”

She didn’t resist him, didn’t pull her hand out of his, but only searched his face with eyes now fearful and confused.

“I’ve never loved anyone but you,” Doug said fervently, drawing her closer by the expedient of tugging on her hand. “I love you.”

Shocked silence was his answer, her gaze searching his, a tremulous smile beginning to quiver on her mouth.

In a rush of love and relief, he fought back the choked feeling in his throat and dropped to one knee on the pavement in front of her.

“Amy, I love you. Will you marry me?”

“Doug!” she said, a stunned note in her voice, her gaze bouncing from his face to the flood of people walking by them, back to his face.

“Will you?” he asked again, unconcerned about the amused looks they were drawing.

“I don’t understand,” she gasped, half tearfully.

“It’s a simple question,” he replied, his laughter soft and full of love.

Amy shook her head as if to clear it. “But Kelsey isn’t living with Jared now. There’s no reason to think they’ll stay married—“

“I know and I’m sorry for them,” he said without hesitation. “But as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter. I’m not in love with Kelsey. I love you.”

“My God,” she breathed, her face growing pink under the glare of the streetlight. “My God.”

“This is a proposal, you know,” Doug said humorously, gesturing to his kneeling position. “I don’t have a ring in my hand, but you still have to answer.”

“Omigod,” she said slowly. “Omigod.”

Doug got up, took her into his arms and lowered his mouth to hers, so soft and warm. A quiver ran through her and the feel of her response sent hunger and need and relief raging in him.

Completely disregarding the curious stares and snickers, he held her tight in his arms and kissed her for all he was worth. His woman. His own, perfect woman.

At last he had his head screwed on right. With Amy in his arms, all the craziness of the past two weeks evaporated and his world righted itself.
She
was what he needed, the woman he needed for a lifetime.

His infatuation with Kelsey had only been a projection of his own self-image. But he didn’t need it anymore.

Lifting his head, he asked in a husky voice, “So will you marry me?”

“Yes.” Amy started to cry, her smile more beautiful than he’d ever seen.

“Right away?” he asked, his arms tightening around her.

“Yes.” She nodded and cried more.

“I’ve wasted so much time,” Doug said, bending to kiss her again.

*
**

“No, Brinkman,” Jared said sharply, “I do not want you to fire my wife.”

“I had no idea you two were—“ the head of the advertising agency broke off, starting again. “Marriage can be difficult. Ask any of my three ex-wives. I just didn’t know that you and Kelsey were having trouble.”

The older man looked harassed. “We don’t want you to feel uncomfortable here.”

“My relationship with my wife,” Jared said, emphasizing the last word, “is not your concern and in no way effects my doing business here.”

Brinkman cast him a doubtful glance, the worried furrow between his brows not lessening. “Kelsey has always been an excellent art director, but your account here—“

“Is not affected,” Jared repeated, feeling the tension coursing through him just knowing Kelsey sat only a few feet away from him. God, how he missed her.

“Well, if you’re sure,” Brinkman murmured, glancing anxiously through the open doorway to the conference room where the Meriton team waited. Kelsey sat to the side of the table, the smooth bell of her dark hair hiding most of her face.

Just seeing her here like this brought hunger clamoring inside him—hunger for her smile, her touch, the silver note of her laughter.

“Don’t fire her,” Jared repeated. “Our relationship is our own concern.”

“I just thought it might be uncomfortable,” the other man said, obviously uncomfortable himself.

“Let’s go in.” Jared turned, entering the conference room. All eyes turned toward him, except hers. Making his way to the seat reserved for him, he was deeply conscious of Kelsey keeping her gaze averted, the beautiful curve of her mouth in a tense line.

Brinkman started the meeting. “Well, boys and girls, what have we come up with for the Meriton’s new campaign….”

Not anxious to display his marital difficulties for Kelsey’s entire office to observe, Jared sat casually in his chair, careful to respond when addressed. His mind, however, couldn’t care less about the advertising for one of his damned hotels.

How had he gone wrong, he wondered, fiercely aware of her sitting just across the smooth, polished surface of the conference table. Somehow, he’d failed miserable. Failed her, failed himself.

For a time, he’d believe he was breaking through her barriers, building trust with her. But that illusion had been shattered when he’d come home to her note. He hadn’t managed to break through crap with her, obviously. She’d come to a vulnerable point and run like a coward. Run like a woman who feared for her life.

“…this graph shows the sector we’re reaching….”

Forcing himself to keep his hands still, Jared resisted the urge to drum his fingers on his knee. This damned charade was killing him. All he wanted to do was leap across the table, take her by the shoulders and shake her till she admitted she loved him.

Of all the people in the world, Kelsey had the biggest, bravest heart. Why didn’t she trust herself, trust her heart?

Not for a moment did he believe her supposed pregnancy had driven her from him. It was something else, something that eluded him. If he could discern the problem, he could fix it. But his lonely, sleepless nights, spent prowling the apartment while going over every step of his failed campaign in his head, yielded no answers.

He’d have been more angry with her if he thought she even knew the question to be answered. In truth, his beautiful wife seemed even more miserable than he felt.

Throughout the meeting, she’d been sitting silent, her tense, somber gaze on the blank notepad in her hands or fixed glassily on Brinkman. Since Brinkman wasn’t a riveting kind of guy, Jared concluded she must think the man at the head of the table was the safest place to train her gaze.

Following her example, Jared brooded on Brinkman’s tie and wondered again what his next step should be. Giving up on her had never occurred to him. He was just so miserable he couldn’t concentrate enough to find the right angle, the optimal way to overcome Kelsey’s issues.

Hell, he didn’t even know why she thought she’d had to leave. That bullshit about Doug and Amy was a screen.

His stare still fixed on Brinkman’s silly cartoon tie, Jared felt her gaze touch him like the warm stroke of her hand. He sat there a moment, assessing the sensation, knowing she’d lifted her gaze to him. From the corner of his eye, he saw the strained expression on her face.

Deliberately, Jared looked her full in the face, catching her startled glance and holding it for a long moment. In that one look, he poured everything—his understanding of her anxieties, his determination to win her over.