He reached out, the back of his wrist brushing against her breast, but all he did was flip over the cameo pendant she was wearing.
“The backside was showing,” he said, his grin reminding her of the way she’d straightened his tie.
“I’m in a bind myself.” He sighed. “You can see how busy I am, but my mother has involved me in a big charity event to raise money for pet adoptions. Of course, she had an ulterior motive. She’s hoping I’ll meet the future mother of her grandchildren among the single women working in the event. She put me on the committee and expects me to help bring the thing together, thinking I’d be thrilled to get involved. Party planning isn’t my forte even if I had time to kill. But you’re a professional organizer…”
“It’s what I do for a living,” she said cautiously.
“I don’t want to let Mom down in front of her friends, but my idea of organizing is putting everything in a pile to worry about later.”
“What’s your deal?” she asked.
Once, as a kid back home in Pennsylvania, she’d been sliding down a snow-covered hill on a plastic sled when she hit a bump and headed straight for a tree. This felt the same way, but she didn’t have the option of wiping out on purpose and landing on soft snow.
“I’ll play Dr. Boyfriend if you’ll help me out on Mom’s charity event. Quietly. She doesn’t need to know you’re involved. I’ll go to the committee meetings and volunteer for as little as possible. Naturally most of the planning was done months ago. I call my mom’s group the committee for last-minute disasters. It doesn’t matter how far in advance they plan, something inevitably goes wrong. You handle what I’m supposed to be doing, and in exchange, your dad and I will be best buddies. He’ll go home sure you’re in good hands.”
There was nothing wrong with Eric’s proposal, but she couldn’t believe two competent adults were scheming to hoodwink their parents.
“Maybe we should both fess up instead,” she suggested.
“Take our medicine, get the spanking over with?” he asked.
“At least insist we’re mature adults who want to run our own lives.”
“Well spoken,” he said solemnly, “but I can’t do it without hurting Mom’s feelings, a lot. That’s just the way she is.”
“I can’t, either,” she admitted. “Dad misses Mom so much, he doesn’t want me to end up lonely and alone. It’s just that he’s so—so insistent.”
“So do we have a deal?” Eric asked.
She knew it was the answer to both their problems, at least temporarily, but it was only a little over six weeks until Christmas. She had parties to plan, people to consult, lists to cross off….
On the other hand, she hadn’t seen her father so happy and animated in a long time, even with his bum ankle keeping him housebound.
“Okay.” She said it with deep reluctance, but he smiled broadly.
“Shake.”
She lifted her hand to meet his. Strong fingers pressed against hers, and his firm palm felt wonderful. When his fingers brushed against her wrist, she felt ripples of pleasure course up her arm. One part of this charade would be a snap. She wouldn’t have any trouble pretending Eric was sexy and appealing.
He dropped her hand, and she had a terrible thought.
“You’re not involved…that is, seeing anyone else, are you? I wouldn’t want to interfere….”
“They’re lined up ten-deep to be with me,” he said with a grin, “but they’re all four-footed and furry.”
“Oh, my gosh, I forgot all those people in your waiting room. They must be ready to lynch me by now.”
“I’ll see you safely out.”
He opened the door, let her step through, and put his arm around her shoulders.
“Glad you stopped by, sweetheart,” he said for the benefit of his crowded waiting room.
He walked her to the outer door, opened it for her and gave her shoulder a squeeze.
She could feel the hostility in the waiting room turn to curiosity. They forgave her line-jumping because they thought she was Dr. Eric’s love interest—or at least one of them.
“See you later,” he said.
He grinned broadly as a finale to his act just as she stepped outside. She stared after him as he walked back to the examining room. How sincere was he about this deal? Was it just a ploy to get rid of her? She’d hate the additional stress so much she’d bail? She couldn’t resist the sudden urge to test him.
“Eric!”
She held the door open as he turned to face her again.
“Dinner tonight at my house, seven o’clock?” she asked in an expectant tone.
He hesitated for an instant, then agreed. “Fine. I’ll be there.”
Whatever the cost, she had a boyfriend, at least for the duration of her dad’s visit.
There had to be a better word than boyfriend. Lover, partner, significant other? Nothing quite described their nonrelationship.
She drove away, behind schedule and seriously short of time, and wondered if she’d ever before seen eyes as blue as his.
ERIC RAN a couple of extra miles after work, but still felt as though his brain were full of cobwebs. He wanted to sidestep any little committee chores his mother had lined up for him, but was the price of Mindy’s help too high?
He wasn’t ready for a new relationship, but keeping Mindy at arm’s length was harder every time he saw her. The impulse to take her in his arms and let nature take its course got stronger all the time. But he’d felt that way about Cass not very long ago, and he’d been as wrong about her as a man could be.
Sure, sometimes bachelor life was lonely after working hours, but he had friends and interests to keep him occupied. He didn’t need a new best buddy who expected him to become a son-in-law.
If he’d been free earlier in his office when Mindy had called, he would’ve cheerfully helped her orchestrate a breakup her father would believe. But when she walked into his examining room, he hadn’t wanted an abrupt end to their tentative relationship. He’d had a flash of inspiration. They could trade favors and make both parents happy. It was a spur-of-the-moment idea but seemed reasonable. An “I help you, and you help me” kind of thing.
After the run he scrubbed himself hard under a tepid spray. He hadn’t moved away from frigid Iowa winters to shiver in a cold shower, but his body chemistry had a way of reacting to Mindy that was totally at odds with his intentions. He was usually indifferent to women whose pets he treated, but he’d gone beyond his normal professionalism with Mindy. She turned him on, and the lukewarm water didn’t do much to cool down his involuntary interest in her.
She’d already put him off his stride. After her un-scheduled appearance at his office, he’d called Mrs. O’Brien’s St. Bernard Bozo instead of Beau Geste. He’d forgotten what a foul disposition Sugar Baby had until the cat punctured his latex glove with her needle-sharp teeth.
He never gave more than ten seconds thought to what he wore, but this evening he stood in his walk-in closet in white briefs and couldn’t make up his mind. If he really were courting a woman—what a corny, old-fashioned word—he’d wear his navy blue blazer and gray dress slacks. That outfit was sure to be a father-pleaser, especially to a man who probably slept in his wing tips,