Satellite of Love (5 page)

Then again, maybe she was and he’d just been steeped in wacko, weird girls for too long. To flat out announce she wasn’t having sex with him couldn’t be what regular girls did. He hadn’t even thought that far ahead.

That was a lie. He’d been thinking about it since the moment he’d glanced over his shoulder and seen her leaning against the Satellite, her dress accenting her trim little waist and the swell of her breasts. A lotta dreams last night had his greasy handprints all over that dress. And her creamy flesh.

Yeah, that would be the woman holding his hand in a natural history museum, wearing jeans and a turtleneck, who had announced on the way here she wasn’t having sex with him. He studied her profile as she read the plaque. No way he was getting any of that unless he played the fame card. Which might only get him a slap in the face. That would suck.

No matter what he did, this experiment was going to be a failure. Sure, he had a couple of days when he got to pretend to be a guy with a girl, but he wasn’t going to get the girl in any way. He got to enjoy the illusion without anything else.

“The kids’ll love this.” Maureen sighed. “They are going to go bonkers.”

Bear admired the glow to her face. She was already excited for the kids. Once upon a time, he’d had that glow about his shows. When he knew how excited the fans would be to see them and he’d been excited for them in advance. Someday, he hoped to get that back.

“So, do you want to see the rest of the exhibits?” Maureen asked. “There’s a really cool fish.”

“Well, if there’s a really cool fish.” Bear draped his arm around her shoulders. “Are you wearing perfume?”

“No.”

“What is that sweet scent?”

“Probably shampoo. What does it smell like?”

“Lemons.”

“That’s the body wash.” She guided him out of the special exhibit and past the planetarium.

“Lemon scented body wash?” Why was it perfect that Maureen would use lemon scented body wash? He brushed his nose across her velvet cheek. Yep, lemons.

“I have one or two indulgences.”

“Really?” Really? Beater car, cheap lunch, tiny house. What could she be indulging in? Better question. What did she consider an indulgence? And how difficult would it be to fulfill those indulgences? “Like what?”

“Why?” She stopped in the middle of a display of volcanoes and looked at him. Her eyes sparkled. “Do you plan on bribing me for some reason?”

Busted. “Maybe I’m just trying to learn what makes women tick.”

“I don’t know that I’m the best one to study for that.”

“Why?”

She quirked one corner of her lips. “Don’t you think I’m special?”

“Of course.”

“Then why are you using me to figure out what women in general are like?”

“Got me. Maybe I am trying to bribe you.”

“Now I have to wonder what for.”

He hooked his finger under her chin. “Life is better with mystery.”

“Is it?”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something glittering. “What’s in there?”

“That’s the gem room.”

“Let’s look.” He towed her into the gem room. Hundreds of stones sparkled under pinpoint spotlights. Several cases held semiprecious stones the size and shape of eggs. Bear leaned over a case full of different colored diamonds. This was more his element. “This is pretty cool.”

“They’re neat.” Maureen stood beside him with her head cocked.

“Which one would you want?”

“I’m not much of a jewelry person.”

“You’re not?” His eyes went out of focus for a second. A woman who didn’t like jewelry? When he could see straight again, he turned to her and realized that, other than a watch, she wasn’t wearing a single link, stone, or bead. “You don’t wear jewelry at all?”

“I used to, but when I was student teaching I leaned over a kid to help her with something and my necklace got caught in her hair. After that I stopped.”

“But nothing at all? I can’t imagine a woman who doesn’t love jewelry.”

Maureen shrugged. “Has nothing to do with loving or not loving, it’s just not practical. Necklaces and bracelets catch, rings scratch, earrings get lost, but I have a lot of barrettes.” She reached back and touched her hair, which she hadn’t pulled back today.

“So barrettes are one of your indulgences?” The gems lost interest for him. The woman in front of his was too much of a gem for them to compete.

“No, I get most of them from the kids. Early in my career I was warned that if I didn’t plant an idea for Christmas presents, I was doomed to get half a dozen coffee cups every year. Instead I get a half dozen barrettes every year.”

Damn, jewelry was his best girlfriend gift. He knew how to shop for it, how to give it and how it would be appreciated.

Of course, it was meant for a girlfriend. Maureen wasn’t a girlfriend. She didn’t know who he was and was willing to let him take her out a few times while he was in town. Bear kissed her cheek. “At least they’re something you can use.”

“That’s what I figured.”

Bear guided her out of the room. “So what are these indulgences of yours?”

“Why are you so interested?”

“Because you’re not telling me.”

“That makes sense,” she muttered.

“Of course it does.” He’d ignore her sarcasm. “Why don’t we just end the run around? Tell me what these indulgences are.”

“You’re not letting this go.”

“No, I’m not.”

She giggled. “Well, that might make me happy this is going to be a short lived relationship.”

“Since it’s going to be short lived you have every reason to be completely honest with me.” God, he was a hypocrite.

“Don’t you think it’s a better reason to be dishonest?” she asked. “Then for the rest of our lives we can be the perfect one who got away.”

“Hmm. Do I want knowledge or mystery? I’ve decided. I want knowledge. Tell me.”

“Here’s the fish.”

They were standing in front of a huge case filled by a petrified fish. It looked like a piranha, but six feet long. “That is cool.”

“It’s my favorite thing in this museum.”

“It’s not going to get you out of answering my question.” Bear turned away from the giant fish so he could study her. As much as he enjoyed this little game, he wanted answers.

She stared into his eyes for a long time. Hers were dark, the look in them almost challenging and a little smile flickered around her mouth. In the accent lights, her lips shone too temptingly. He tried to consider the consequences for kissing her here, right in front of the fish, but thoughts of what her lips would feel and taste like kept getting in the way. Then there was what her body would feel like when he wrapped his arms around her.

“Lemon Sugar body wash, Godiva chocolates and
The X-Files
.”

3

“What?” Bear tried to pull himself back into focus. Twice she’d done that in the last five minutes.

“My indulgences. You wanted to know. Fresh Lemon Sugar body wash, Godiva chocolates and
The X-Files
.” She cocked her head and smiled up at him. “Happy?”

No. He kinda wished he’d skipped the answers and gone for the kiss. Even with the fish watching.

“Miss Donnelly! Miss Donnelly!” A little girl with long blond hair ran over and grabbed Maureen’s hand. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see the dinosaurs. What are you doing here?”

“I’m with Daddy this weekend.” The girl turned in the direction of a medium sized guy walking toward them. “Daddy, look, it’s Miss Donnelly. I told you she was pretty.”

“Yes, honey, you did.” The guy held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Miss Donnelly. Lindsey talks about you all the time.”

“She’s an excellent student. I graded the math tests this morning and you did very well.”

“She likes being in your class,” Lindsey’s dad said. While the man kept his gaze on Maureen, his focus on Bear was so tight it felt like a smothering pillow.

“I like having her in my class. Lindsey, are you studying for your Monday spelling quiz? You have an unbroken streak to protect.”

“I know.” Lindsey pulled a scrap of paper out of her pocket and waved it around. “I look at it all the time.”

“Unbroken streak?” Lindsey’s father asked.

“I give the kids their spelling words on Friday and we have a quiz on Monday. If they get them all right Monday, they get free reading time on Friday when the other kids take the spelling test. Lindsey hasn’t had to take the Friday spelling test since Thanksgiving.”

The proud father beamed. “Really? Lindsey, you didn’t tell me that.”

The way this guy was eyeing Maureen, he was going to be taking a much bigger interest in his daughter’s school career.

Lindsey’s father turned to him in obvious appraisal. The expression on his face reminded Bear of beta fish glaring through their little glass windows at any other fish around, except this guy wasn’t flashy enough to be beta fish material. He was more of a plain lake trout. A nice local lake trout who wasn’t going to be going on tour for the next nine or ten months or how ever long this fucking tour was supposed to last.

“You haven’t introduced us to your date,” he said.

“This is my friend Michael. Michael, this is Lindsey Conner and her dad, Mr. Conner.”

“Hi.” Bear held out his hand. Conner had an I-can-take-him gleam in his eye that made him want to turn this handshake into arm wrestling. Right. Conner had no clue what he was dealing with. Not only could he not take Bear, he wouldn’t be able to handle a woman as hot as Maureen. Of course, Conner was also part of her realistic dating pool and it wouldn’t be fair to scare off the competition before she had a chance to size him up.

Conner had no such qualms and gripped him like his hand was a boa constrictor and he was fighting for his life. Bear started to squeeze back, but the other man yanked his hand away before he could get a serious grip going.

“Nice to meet you,” Conner said, backing up a step, proving himself to be more of a guppy than a beta fish. “We should leave you alone.”

“Aw, Daddy,” Lindsey whined.

“Honey, it’s Miss Donnelly’s day off. We should leave her alone with her boyfriend.” Conner put his hand on his daughter’s shoulder and pulled her away. “It was nice meeting you, Miss Donnelly.”

“’Bye, Miss Donnelly,” Lindsey said over her shoulder as her father beat a hasty retreat.

“Well, that was a little weird,” Maureen said, after father and daughter had disappeared around another display. “For a minute there I thought we were going to end up on a double date. I wonder why Lindsey’s father suddenly got the attack of manners.”

Bear shrugged. The whole pissing contest had only taken about two and a half seconds. Not long enough for her to even notice. He hadn’t been the one to start it either. His conscience was clean. Conner wanted the battle. He’d also realized he was in over his head and retreated before it got obvious.

Conner was also going to be here in two weeks and had a good reason to visit Maureen. He’d lost the battle, but he had a better chance of winning the war.

“Cool dinosaurs,” Bear said, pulling Maureen toward the T. Rex skeleton looming over the next room.

* * * *

At her house, Maureen found herself contemplating coffee again. He’d indulged her for hours at the museum, wandering around, looking at everything with more than polite interest. While she wasn’t paying attention, he’d gotten a restaurant recommendation from a staffer. Not the kind of place she frequented. Cloth napkins, crystal stemware, multiple utensils. The last time a date tried to impress her, he’d taken her to Red Lobster—and she’d been impressed.

It made her wonder what he expected.

And, if she wouldn’t give it. The way she’d been tingling in front of the bonefish, he didn’t have to try so hard. If Lindsey and her dad had shown up five minutes later, they might have rushed away a lot faster. Her resistance only lasted so long.