Pursued by the Playboy (16 page)

She hesitated, trying to gauge his clipped tone.   “I just don’t think it’s fair to lead them on.” 

“So let me get this straight.  You want me to tell my father and Sophia that we’re what…casual acquaintances?  Colleagues, maybe?  Or—wait, what’s the new term? Friends with benefits?
”

She gulped.  His tone had turned downright
hostile
. 

Any other man would have been relieved at hearing that his vaunted freedom wasn’t being threatened.  He ought to be thanking her for the reassurance that even though they were sleeping together, she wasn’t measuring him for a wedding tuxedo or picking out patterns for bone china dinnerware.   Judging by Marc’s track record, he wasn’t any keener on settling down than she was.  After all, a man as attractive, intelligent, and financially secure as Marc was didn’t get to age thirty-six without becoming adept at maneuvering around issues of commitment, evading females intent on the ring and white-picket fence and two-point-four kids.  So why was he being so difficult now?  Maybe her radar was off again.  Maybe she’d blundered into territory that simply didn’t get discussed, was just assumed.  Had too much plain speaking ruffled his male ego? 

She tried to backtrack. “Maybe it’s best if I sat this one out.”

“Oh, no you don’t.  You’re not going to weasel out of this so easily.”

She let out a frustrated breath.  “I don’t know what you want from me.”

“No, obviously not.”  He stood, started to clear the table.  She scrambled up to help, but he waved her off.  “Leave it.”

“You cook, I clean,” she reminded him.

“Those are your damn rules, not mine.” 

She sank back into her chair.  “I’m sorry.”

That stopped him. Serving plate in hand, he turned to face her.  “What exactly are you sorry for?”

“I shouldn’t have brought the whole thing up.  I just wanted to avoid any misunderstanding.”

He looked at her, waiting.

“I’ll go with you.”  She offered a tentative smile.  “What do you give for a thirtieth anniversary anyway?”

His expression softened, but not by much.  “Don’t worry about it.  I took care of the gift.”

“I can’t come empty handed.”

He shrugged and continued toward the sink.  “They’re not expecting anything.”  He scraped the remnants of food into the garbage disposal and opened the faucet. 

Kate watched him for a few minutes, trying to read his mood from the tension in his back and shoulders.  Just then, his pager went off.   She had nearly forgotten that Marc was on call.  He turned off the water, carefully wiped his hands on a nearby towel, and crossed to the cordless phone on the wall.  All without looking at her.

She sighed and got up to finish clearing the table.   As she washed the dishes, she listened to Marc’s deep voice in the background.   Whatever she’d said that had set him off earlier was clearly pushed to the back burner, but not forgotten.  She’d have to tread carefully until he got over his pique. 

In the meantime, she needed to redouble her efforts to resolve the situation with her mother. 
She needed to get Margaret
a job
that provided sufficient income to live on independently, and
that was engaging enough
to occupy her time and attention so she would leave Kate alone
.  Then she could move out of Kate’s apartment, allowing Kate to return to her former life in peace. 

Chapter 16

After a disheartening week of filling out countless online employment applications for her mother, Kate finally got a promising job lead from an unexpected source.

Marc had offered to cook dinner for Jake and Lily, who were now dating for the unprecedented period of an entire month.  While he whipped up a citrus balsamic vinaigrette to pour over baby greens, Kate filled him in on the background.

“Jake’s women usually last only a week or two.  Enough time for drinks, dinner, a couple rolls in the hay, and then it’s been nice knowing you but don’t let the door hit you on your way out.”

Marc quirked a brow.  “Brutal.  So what changed?”

“I don’t know.”  The doorbell rang, and she abandoned her search for fresh taper candles to answer it.  “I guess we’re about to find out.”

Lily turned out to be a five-foot
-two
bundle of live wit, with a riot of flaming curls, freckles on every exposed surface, and sparkling green eyes that never strayed far from Jake.  She regaled them with stories of her childhood as an army brat, traipsing from one posting to another across Europe and the
United States
. 

“This is the first time I’m actually living in one place longer than a couple years,” she said.  “Luckily, I work at a multi-national company.  So if I do get itchy feet, it’s no problem getting transferred elsewhere.”

“But you like the
Philadelphia
area,” Jake said.

“Sure, what’s not to like?  City of
Brotherly Love
and all that.”  She grinned.  “I could write a book.”

“Lily’s a technical writer,” Jake explained.  “Does all the documentation for
R&D product development
at
the pharmaceutical company down the street.
”

“Which happens to have a collaborative agreement with Jake’s biotech,” Lily said
.
“Hopefully in the next few years we’ll have a joint product on the market.”

Marc passed a plate of grilled vegetables around the table.  “
Is that how you guys met, through work?
”

“
Not quite,” Jake said.  “It was a
t the deli, halfway between our offices
. 
Our orders got mixed up.”

Lily smiled.  “One of our administrative assistants quit that morning, so I volunteered to pick up the trays she’d already ordered for a lunch meeting.  And there was Jake, at the counter, picking up
my
order.”

“Hey, it was an honest mistake.  I thought that was
our
company lunch.”

Marc raised an eyebrow.  “The company CEO picking up deli food?”

“Please,” Kate rolled her eyes.  “You’ve seen his cowboy hat and boots.   This is not a man who stands on ceremony.”

Jake grinned.  “True.  Besides, it’s a small
biotech
.  Twenty-eight people, and that’s including the janitor.”

“But you’ve got some of the best talent in the field working for you,” Lily
said.
“And
you’ve got joint projects going with several other pharmaceuticals besides mine. 
So it’s just a matter of time before you join the big leagues.”

Jake draped an arm across her shoulders.  “You see why I’m crazy about this woman?”

A round of good-natured ribbing ensued.  Eventually Marc brought the subject back to Jake’s western attire.  “So if you don’t mind my asking, what’s up with the cowboy gear?”

“Holdover from my misspent youth.”
Jake swirled the wine in his glass and sipped.  “I used to read a lot of paperback Westerns as a kid.  You know, like Zane Grey and
Louis L'Amour
.  And anything about Wyatt Earp that I could get my hands on.  When you’re a thirteen-year-old kid, there’s nothing more inspiring that the life of a cowboy.  The adventure, the thrill, the danger.  They bring the bad guys to justice, rescue the damsel in distress, and ride
off
into the sunset.  And they get to wear these cool boots with a big old heel—which, if you’re a late bloomer like I was, is nothing to sneeze at.  Doesn’t matter if you’re five-foot-nothing and ninety pounds—if you’re wearing cowboy boots with two-inch heels and a ten-gallon hat, you can walk tall and sound pretty impressive when those boot heels strike the pavement.   Nobody messes with you.” 

“I might have to check out a pair of those boots myself,” said Lily.

“You’re perfect as you are,” Jake told her.

Lily blushed.  “Well you certainly don’t need the extra height anymore.”

“No,” he agreed.  “The growth spurt finally kicked in.   But there’s nothing like the feel of a well-made pair of Luchesse Classics.”

Marc laughed and opened another bottle of wine.  Lily covered her glass before he could top it off.  “No more for me, thanks.  I’m the designated driver.”

“Really?”  Kate turned a speculative eye on Jake.  “Don’t tell me you’ve all of a sudden become an enlightened male?”

Jake cleared his throat.  “I don’t have a problem with a woman taking the wheel.”

“Since when?”

“No offense, Kate, but this has nothing to do with sex.  Lily’s a terrific driver.  You, on the other hand…”

“I’m a perfectly good driver.  It’s the parallel parking that throws me for a loop.  But that’s what bumpers are for.  You can always get an extra foot of room on either side if you use them.”

Marc refilled her water glass.  “I can teach you to parallel park.”

Jake covered his laugh with a cough.  “You may want to rent a wreck for that.”  He captured Lily’s arm before she could elbow him in the ribs again.  “Seriously, my mom had to take Kate to the Poconos for her driver’s test, because she’d already failed it three times at the local DMV and time was running out before she headed off to
California
.”

“It was the pesky parking issue,” Kate muttered.

“And the swerving across lanes to make a turn, and the sudden braking action that nearly gave the examiner a concussion—”

“There was a black cat crossing the road that time.”

“All I’m saying is you’re brilliant, Kate, except when it comes to driving.  And personally, I don’t have a death wish.” 

Lily interrupted.  “So did you do a lot of driving in
California
?”

“Not really.
Berkeley
and the Bay area have a great public transportation system, so I
ended up not
really need
ing
a car
after all
.” 

Marc captured her hand and dropped a quick kiss on her knuckles, before looking around the table with a smile.  “OK, top ten things not to say if a cop stops you for speeding.  Sorry officer, I didn't realize my radar detector wasn't plugged in.  Or:  I can’t reach my license unless you hold my beer.  Or how about:  Aren’t you the guy from the Village People?”

By the time he got to ten, everyone was laughing.  The rest of the evening passed with great conviviality.  Lily offered to help clear the table after dessert, while the men wandered out to the terrace with snifters of brandy. 

Kate rinsed off the plates that Lily handed to her, then stacked them in the dishwasher.  “So did you ever fill that administrative assistant position at work?”

“Not yet.  We went through a couple temps, but they didn’t work out.  Why?”

“My mom’s looking for a job.”

Lily deposited another stack of dishes on the counter.  “It’s an entry-level position.”

“That’s fine.  She needs to ease back into the marketplace.”  Kate thought of all the online job-boards she had trolled in the last few weeks.  Competition was fierce for positions that required a high school education or some college but no actual post-secondary degree.  Places that provided on-the-job training were even harder to find.  She had finessed her mother’s resume to gloss over Margaret’s lack of significant work experience, and to highlight
skills she
had
acquired over the years
through
various volunteering
stint
s. 

For Kate, the process proved quite eye-opening.  She had never had to go through such a search herself.  Rather, she had been fast-tracked through academe, where positions were
obtained on
the
basis of
your
professional reputation
and letters of recommendation
,
and what mattered was the quality of your research, the number of citations your publications received,
who your mentors were
,
and what connections they were able to access on your behalf
.
Even though she
had applied through official channels, everyone knew that
hiring decisions were made behind closed doors by a committee of gray-haired academics.  There was none of this direct, even transparent, fill
ing
out
of
online application
s and
set
ting up
interview
s
with
some
human resource manager
. 

Lily wiped her hands on a paper towel.  “I can email you a link to the job announcement, if you like.  I can’t guarantee anything, but if you send me your mom’s CV, I’ll make sure it gets to the right person.”

“That would be great, thank you.”  Kate fished a business card out of her purse and scribbled her personal email address on the back.  “I really appreciate this.”