Кристин Морган – Shotgun Groom (страница 2)

The truth was, he was the only man she wanted to ask. Now that she’d come up with this plan, the idea of having his baby was... well... comforting. Somehow, it fit. He was her friend, after all. They were like two peas in a pod. But what if, like Karen, he thought she’d gone off the deep end and refused to help her, deciding, instead to have her institutional-ized for treatment. How was he ever going to get her pregnant while she was locked in a padded cell?

Realizing how weird her thoughts had become, Beth shook her head. Okay, so she was losing it, somewhat. It was her nerves, she knew. They were strung out like barbed wire, and Karen’s disapproving looks from across her kitchen certainly weren’t helping matters. “I’m going to ask him anyway,” Beth stated with renewed conviction, placing the green salad she’d just made inside the refrigerator.

“Fine. Be my guest,” Karen exclaimed. “But if you get your feelings crushed, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I consider myself warned,” Beth replied flatly.

“You’re barking up the wrong tree. Jack will never go for it,” Karen said in a singsong voice.

“He might.”

“Not our Jack. He’s the last man on earth who wants to get married—for any reason. You, of all people, should know that about him.”

“I do. I’m simply hoping I can talk him into it.”

“Well, I must admit,” Karen said nonchalantly, “if anyone can talk him into something as wild and crazy as this, no doubt about it, it’s you. He’ll listen to anything you have to say.” She paused with a smirk. “He isn’t that open-minded when it comes to listening to the rest of us.”

“You’re forgetting something important, Karen. Jack and I have been friends since we were kids. Of course he listens to what I have to say.” She smiled knowingly. “In fact, he knows he had better.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that old story before,” Karen said with a wave of her hand. “How the two of you have been friends since grade school. But in spite of what you say, I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s much more to this ‘Beth and Jack thing’ than either of you will ever admit.”

“Well, you’re wrong,” Beth said. “Jack and I both freely admit that we have a very special friendship. But that’s it—period.”

Karen rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.”

Beth frowned in frustration. She hated it when she had to defend her relationship with Jack to their friends. So it lacked any sexual undertones—why was that so difficult for everyone to understand? This was the nineties, for heaven’s sake. Surely there were plenty of other men and women who shared a special bond that had nothing whatsoever to do with their crawling into bed together. Their friends needed to wake up and smell the variety of coffee out there on the market today. Times had changed, and Beth was proud in knowing that she and Jack were an intricate part of that change. If only some of their friends were so enlightened.

“Look, Karen,” Beth said a moment later, “if what you believe about Jack and me is so true, then what about his little black book?”

Karen shrugged. “What about it?”

“Well, if what you’re trying to imply is true, why does he carry one around with him? And why doesn’t it bother me?”

Once more, Karen shrugged. “Beats me. As far as I can see, nothing’s standard procedure when it comes to the two of you.” Stopping short, she tilted her head to the side and peered thoughtfully at Beth. “By the way, since you’ve brought up the subject of Jack’s little black book...have you ever seen him actually use it?”

“Of course, I have. Lots of times,” Beth replied, without the slightest hesitation. After giving herself another moment to think about it, she pulled her eyebrows into a frown. Or had she?

Of course she had, she told herself a second later. Plenty of times. At the moment, she just couldn’t recall a particular incident where that was true. Given time, she most certainly would. It was just that Karen had her under the gun and, therefore, her brain was scrambled. “Karen, I really don’t have time right now to discuss this with you. Jack’s coming over soon. So could we please drop the subject?”

“Sure,” Karen replied coolly.

Taking a deep breath, Beth forced a smile. “Thank you.”

Hoping that the subject was now officially closed, at least for the time being, Beth began bustling around her brightly lit kitchen, mentally checking off the last-minute things she had to do before Jack would arrive for the gourmet dinner she had planned for them later that night. All the while, though, her stomach was in knots. She wanted this night to be perfect. She had bought Jack’s favorite wine... prepared his favorite foods... and had put his favorite music in the CD player.

The mood was set. No matter what anyone else thought, her plan was a good one. It could work. It would work.

It was all up to Jack now.

Everything—her hopes, her dreams—was banking on her ability to convince Jack that she needed his help. Badly. Desperately. He’d never let her down before. Never. Without question, if anyone could help her, it was Jack.

Beth set a vase of fresh spring flowers from the florist at the center of the linen-draped table she had set, then stepped back and studied it.

Standing nearby, Karen began shaking her head from side to side. “Poor guy. Jack is going to be walking head-on into a trap and he doesn’t even have the slightest clue.”

Ignoring her friend’s comment, Beth frowned thoughtfully as she stepped back a few feet more and carefully inspected the table. “Does it look to you like I’ve covered everything?”

Karen gazed at the formal setting and then shrugged. “As far as I can tell, everything but the kitchen sink.”

Deepening her frown, Beth looked up at her friend. “In all honesty, Karen, do you think there’s even the slightest chance that Jack will turn me down?”

It took Karen a moment to answer, but finally she broke into a reassuring smile. “Look, don’t mind me, honey. I was just being an old fuddy-duddy earlier. If this is what you think you need to do, then go for it.”

“Oh, Karen,” Beth said, grabbing her friend’s hands and holding onto them for a moment. “Thanks for understanding.”

Karen’s smile warmed even more. “Sometimes it’s a real challenge to keep up with you, Beth, but I’m trying. In any case, you can take what I’m about to tell you with a grain of salt, but it’s true nonetheless. When Jack arrives, if you just bat those big brown eyes of yours at him like this—” she demonstrated the technique with her own eyes “—he won’t stand a chance. I’ve seen it happen before. He’s putty in your hands when you look at him like that.”

“Really?” Beth asked, her dark eyes widening in surprise. “I never noticed.”

“Of course you haven’t. You’re too busy making sure that everyone knows that you’re simply his best buddy—and not his love interest.”

Beth gave her friend a mild glare. “Karen...”

“Okay, okay. I’m finished. In fact, now that I’ve had a moment, I think you’re right. Jack is the perfect choice to father your child.”

Beth released a deep sigh. “Well now,” she said,

“see how easy that was.”

“I’m only changing my mind because I’m hoping that this plan of yours will somehow wake up at least one of you to the truth,” Karen replied. “Otherwise, it looks to me like you two may very well end up going through life as nothing more than friends.”

“Actually that’s exactly what Jack and I plan to do,” Beth said stubbornly.

Suddenly Karen glanced down at her wristwatch and gaped. “Good grief, would you look at the time? I’ve got to scoot. Beth, don’t forget about the party tomorrow night at my house. And remind Jack of it, too, will you?”

“I will,” Beth replied.

Karen turned abruptly, like a wasp that was suddenly honed in on its prey, and headed for the door. “The dry cleaner down the street closes in fifteen minutes and I won’t have a thing to wear tomorrow if I don’t get there in time to pick up my clothes,” she said, swiping up her leather purse from the kitchen counter.

Beth followed her friend to the door, a nagging thought from their earlier discussion still on her mind. Suddenly it seemed vitally important to Beth that Karen understand her plan wasn’t going to change anything between herself and Jack. At this point, the last thing she needed was a misunderstanding with Karen. If that were to happen, undoubtedly it would quickly spread like wildfire among their friends. “Karen, listen to me,” Beth said. “I don’t want you getting ideas about me and Jack that are simply not true. Nothing has changed. Jack and I are Mends—period.

“Besides,” she quickly added, “as one of my closest friends, you know how I feel. Under no circumstance will I jeopardize the relationship that Jack and I already have, not even if I had a written guarantee of improving it. Frankly I don’t think it can be improved. It’s perfect, just as it is. Besides, in the long run we’d be taking the chance of ruining everything we have. My parents did, remember? Their marriage ruined their friendship. They became different people. Eventually they fell out of love.” Beth held her chin slightly higher. “The problem is, some people refuse to acknowledge that Jack and I will never let that happen to us. If and when I ever fall in love, it will be with someone other than Jack, of that much you can be sure. And as far as Jack is concerned, he says he is never going to fall in love. And those, Karen, are the facts.”