Victoria Pade – A Baby in the Bargain (страница 8)

“Family was important to my great-grandfather,” she said, purposely misinterpreting Gideon’s words and ignoring what he’d actually meant. “And having a family is really, really important to me, too. That’s why I’m not going to wait or leave it to chance anymore.”

“I can’t say that leaving things to chance has worked out for me,” he said. Then he shrugged. “Well, good luck with that, I guess.”

“Thank you,” she answered as if his wishes had been more heartfelt.

He asked if she wanted a second latte but when Jani declined he said, “I should probably get going. I have paperwork to do yet tonight.”

Why did it sound as if he might be reluctant to end this? Jani wondered. It certainly didn’t seem as if he were having a good time with her.

Maybe he just wanted to put off working more tonight.

He stood up and took their empty cups to throw in the trash, leaving Jani with confirmation that he did, indeed, have manners.

And an incredibly good rear end that came into view when he bent over to pick up a package of napkins one of the teenage employees dropped when he walked by carrying more of them than he could balance.

But admiring Gideon Thatcher’s derriere was totally uncalled for and when Jani realized that was what she was doing, she stood, too, and began to put on her coat.

Her gaze remained on Gideon, though, even after he was standing straight and tall again. As she admired the drape of his suit coat from those expansive shoulders to his narrow waist and hips, she somehow kept missing the opening of her second coat sleeve.

She was still fumbling with it as he got back to the table and he gave her an assist, holding her coat up to make the armhole more accessible.

“Thanks,” she said for the second time, ultra-aware of his arm stretched across her back.

It wasn’t as if he were putting his arm around her, she told herself.

It just sort of felt that way.

And sent a little tingle through her that she had no control over. That was silly. And uncalled for.

And still somehow made her feel all warm inside…

Which was just plain crazy.

Then he took his arm away and it was even crazier that she was sorry it was gone.

“So, looking at the building for the community center,” she said to put things squarely back into the dominion of business.

“Right…” Gideon said, giving no indication that being near her had affected him the way it had affected her. “I’ll be in Lakeview all day tomorrow. I could meet you at the building I have in mind at…maybe, let’s say, four-thirty? Any earlier and I’m afraid I might keep you waiting again.”

“My schedule is light tomorrow. I can leave work early enough to get to Lakeview by four-thirty. Just send me the address.”

“I’ll do that,” he agreed as they headed for the coffee shop exit.

“Thanks for the latte,” Jani said, passing in front of him as he held the door open for her. “And I’m glad you decided to let us do this for Lakeview and for your great-grandfather.”

The frown that skittered across his handsome face made her wonder if, for just a few minutes, he’d forgotten who she was. And she was sorry she’d brought it back to mind.

His only acknowledgment of what she’d said was to raise that dented chin of his as he followed her outside.

She had the sense that he was tempted to walk her to the driver’s side of her car when he hesitated to go to his own. But apparently he resisted the urge because as Jani went to her sedan, he walked in front of it to his own vehicle.

While Jani unlocked her door he stood with his back to his, watching her.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she called across to him.

“Right. Tomorrow,” he confirmed, waiting for her to get in before he turned to his own car.

Sitting in her driver’s seat, Jani got her second glimpse of his rear end through her passenger window as he leaned over to unlock his door.

But she quickly turned her head to face forward when he got in so he wouldn’t catch her ogling him.

As she started her engine and pulled out of the parking spot, she angled her eyes in the direction of her rearview mirror so he wouldn’t know she was look-ing—even though she was. She just couldn’t stop herself from getting every last glimpse of him.

The thought of seeing him again the next day excited her a little.

Maybe even more than a little.

In fact, she was already looking forward to it as if it were the highlight of the day to come.

And wondering if she should wear the formfitting fuchsia dress that she usually considered too tight and way, way too short for the office…

Chapter Four

The site Gideon had in mind for the community center was Lakeview’s old city and county building. It was a plain, three-story yellow-brick structure with boards over several windows, grounds that were all weeds and a cracked and pitted parking lot.

Jani didn’t have any trouble finding it on Wednesday afternoon—it was on the same road that led to the Cam-den warehouses and factories. She must have driven past it on the few occasions she’d been to the facilities in Lakeview. She just hadn’t taken any notice.

As she drove up, what initially struck her was that Gideon hadn’t been kidding about it needing a lot of work. But then she spotted the parking lot, Gideon’s sports car and Gideon himself, and everything else flew out of her mind.

Wearing tan slacks and a short leather jacket over a cocoa-colored shirt, he was half sitting, half leaning on the hood of his car. His long legs were stretched far out in front of him and crossed at the ankles. His arms were locked over his chest, his hair was slightly windblown. And had the backdrop been more scenic, it could have been an ad in GQ for the car or the clothes. Or the man himself. He looked dashing with just a hint of bad boy thrown in to make it interesting.

That’s the picture that should be on his website, Jani thought as she parked alongside of him and tried to get her pulse to stop racing. She reminded herself that this was not a social visit, that Gideon Thatcher reviled her and her family and that she had way too much on her own personal agenda to be distracted by him. Gideon Thatcher was just one little compartment that she had to deal with in the whole spectrum of things.

But that first glimpse of him made it difficult to recall that anything else existed. In her life, on her agenda or in any other way.

Especially when her heart was beating at such an accelerated pace.

She took a deep breath as she turned off the ignition and ordered herself to just calm down.

“Am I late?” she asked when she got out of her car, quickly slipping on the hip-length jacket she hadn’t wanted to wear while she was driving.

Gideon shoved off his hood. “No, I wanted to get here ahead of you to turn on some power, maybe get a little heat going in there so it wouldn’t be too miserable to walk around.” His eyes dropped to where her legs were generously displayed below the short hem of her fuchsia dress. “Looks like it’s a good thing I did or you might have frozen to death.”

It sounded as if he were trying to be critical but somehow missed the boat. Maybe because his gaze lingered on her legs and Jani recognized appreciation when she saw it.

Then he raised his green eyes to her face and said, “Be warned, it isn’t a pretty sight inside. Looks like kids have broken in and partied, and there’s been some wildlife activity, too—mice, a raccoon, maybe, and I found a dead squirrel on the third floor. I threw an old newspaper over it, but in case you’re inclined to touch anything, my advice is not to.”

Jani held up her hands, palms out, then made a show of putting them in the pockets of her jacket. “Noted,” she announced.

He nodded in the direction of her three-inch heels. “And watch your step in those things—there are cracks in the cement all around here.”

Again the words were purely precautionary but a split-second lingering of his gaze told her that he wasn’t otherwise opposed to the black suede shoes that accentuated her ankles and calves.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m so used to heels I could climb Mount Kilimanjaro in them,” she assured him.

Just then her heel caught in a crumbling spot in the parking lot, and she would have gone down had Gideon not grabbed her arm in the steadying grip of one big hand.

“Okay, maybe not,” she said with an embarrassed laugh, hating that she seemed to be such a klutz around this man.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Fine,” she said, trying to ignore how much she liked having his hand on her arm. And how much she didn’t like it when he took it away. “I’ll just be more careful.” Maybe by watching where she was going instead of looking at him…

He must not have trusted her, though, because he stayed close, walking beside and slightly behind her as they went up to the old building, as if he were there to catch her should she lose her footing again.

He really does think I’m clumsy….

It wasn’t an image she wanted to project so she was extra cautious climbing the steps to the building.

When they reached the wide double doors, Gideon opened one of them and waited for her to go in before following. It was warmer inside than out but not by much, and there was only the dim glow of light shining through aged and dusty globes. But one quick glance around made Jani think that was a blessing—she didn’t really want to be able to see too many details.