Shirley Jump - Diamonds are for Sharing

“Max, what is it?”

“Nothing, really, it’s just that …” He sighed. “Listen, I’m just not sure about this nanny thing. I did the regular vetting, but what the hell do I know about nannies? Or babies, for that matter. And you seem to know a lot. So I thought maybe you could come over and see if you think she knows what she’s doing.”

Wow. He needed her. That was almost enough to get those tingles started again. Everything in her wanted to say yes. She cared about the baby, but there was more. To see him again, be with him doing something important, wouldn’t that be ideal? But no, that would be wrong—on so many levels. So she didn’t say yes.

“No,” she said instead. Then she waited for the rush of self-congratulations that would surely follow. Funny, but that didn’t happen. “I’m sorry, Max,” she went on, falling back on the honest truth. “I’ve got to go to work.”

“Work? You work?”

It almost made her smile to realize how little they knew about each other. They’d shared a night of intense emotions and setbacks, more in one night than she’d had in months. She felt as if she’d glimpsed a clear picture of his character, his personality. And yet she didn’t know much about him, what he’d done with his life, what he cared about, and he didn’t know those things about her, either. But they were going to leave it that way for the most part. At least, she knew they should.

“Of course I work. What do you think I live on? Air?”

“What do you do?”

He sounded candidly surprised and interested. What the heck? Didn’t he know any women who actually had real jobs? She licked her lips and stuck to the facts.

“I’m a waitress.”

“At a supper club?”

“No. In a local coffee shop.”

There. That ought to be guaranteed to turn him off. She was just a waitress. Not one of those high-falutin’, jet-settin’ fashion models he was surely used to.

She was also the assistant manager and studying for her real estate license, but he didn’t need to know all that. After all, she wasn’t trying to impress him. She was trying to get rid of him.

“Take a day off,” he said bluntly.

“I can’t do that. People are counting on me.”

“And I’m counting on you, too.”

“Yes, but you don’t pay the bills.”

“I could do that,” he said, as though it was a new idea and he rather liked it. “That’s it. I’ll pay you a salary. I’ll hire you.”

“Nonsense.” Her voice was quivering a bit and she bit down on her lip. No! She was not going to give in to that sort of crazy temptation.

“But it would be perfect.”

“For you, not for me.”

“No?”

“No.”

“Consider it, at least.”

“No.” She was firm. And darn proud of herself, too. “You’ll be fine with this nanny person.”

He hesitated, then said skeptically, “I hope you’re right.”

There was another long pause.

“Everything is all right, then?” she prodded. “I mean, everything else?”

“Oh, yes. Going great. I had the baby checked out by a pediatrician first thing, and we’ve put in a request for a DNA test. I’ve arranged for the delivery of the relevant charts from Italy. It will all take time, but everything is moving along.”

“Good.”

Why was he still hanging on? She was torn, wanting him gone, yet enjoying this more than she ought to. “Well, have you gotten in touch with your date from last night yet?” she asked, suddenly remembering there was still that issue to be dealt with.

There was yet another hesitation, then he answered, “Not yet. How about you?”

She sighed. Apologizing to Randy wasn’t something she was looking forward to. “No, not yet. But it’s early. I wouldn’t want to wake him up.”

Something in the pause this time was electric, and finally he said softly, “Did I wake you?”

Warmth flooded her body. How did he manage to make one simple question imply a wealth of intimate contact? Something in his tone, the low, husky quality of his voice, conjured up a picture of the way he might awaken her, his hand sliding down beneath the sheets, his lips leaving a trail of hot kisses. She suppressed a gasp.

This was ridiculous. She wasn’t a schoolgirl. She was a grown woman. She’d been married, for heaven’s sake! She knew what it was like to have a man in her bed.

But not this man. Oh, my!

She wasn’t going to answer his provocative question. She had to think of something else, quick. Something to break the mood and put an end to this.

“I’ve been up for hours,” she lied shamelessly. “I’ve got a life, you know. Things to do. Places to go.”

“And you’d like to get back to it,” he said softly, taking the hint. He sighed. “All right, Cari. I’ll let you go.”

Her fingers were so tight on the receiver, they were beginning to ache. “Thanks.”

“So that’s it, then.”

She blinked, suddenly feeling almost weepy. “It seems to be.”

“It was nice knowing you, Cari.”

“Yes. Same here.” Now her eyes were definitely stinging. Ridiculous! “Goodbye.”

“Ciao.”

She hung up, said a word she hardly ever said, and threw a stuffed animal against the wall.

Cari was just finishing up a bowl of morning cereal when Mara called.

“So,” said Mara brightly. “How was it?”

“How was what?” Cari answered, her mind still stuck on mulling over her conversation with Max.

“The date with Randy.”

“Oh. Uh …” She grimaced, putting her spoon into the bowl and pushing it away across the counter. “Well, actually, we didn’t have it.”

“What do you mean you didn’t have it? Don’t tell me you chickened out?”

Mara’s voice was sharp with what was fast working into a sense of outrage. Cari tried to nip that in the bud.

“No, Mara, I did not chicken out. I was there with bells on. And I waited for quite some time. But then …” She sighed. This really wasn’t all that easy to explain. “Well, I kind of went off with the wrong man.”

“What?” There was still an edge to Mara’s voice. “How did you do that, exactly?”

“Believe me, it was not that hard. Not when he came up carrying a red rose, just like you told me to do for Randy, and he seemed to call me by my name and … and …” She sighed. “It’s kind of hard to explain. Listen, I’ve got the lunch shift. I’ll swing by on my way to work. We’ll talk.”

“I guess. Okay.”

Mara sounded grumpy. Cari knew she was disappointed. She thought she’d planned the perfect date for a good friend and it had all gone wrong. Who wouldn’t be disappointed? And Mara had been so excited. She groaned internally. But she would take care of things when she stopped by her friend’s house. Face-to-face it might actually be possible to give her a better picture of exactly what had happened.

“In the meantime, uh, do you have Randy’s number?”

She was tempted to put it off for a while, but she steeled herself and called the man. Once she had him on the phone and explained who she was, he reacted well. Instead of demanding an explanation, he was apologetic that he’d been a little late.

Which only made her feel more guilty. It was hard to explain why she’d dumped him for some suave Italian guy. There was no good excuse for it, actually. One look into Max’s deep dark eyes had mesmerized her and she’d been ready to follow him anywhere. But how could she tell Randy that?

“Well, it was certainly an interesting evening,” he said. “I haven’t had many like that.”

He sounded just as likable as Mara had said. She was impressed that he didn’t seem at all disgruntled. She had a quick flashback to how her husband, Brian, would have reacted to what had happened, and the memory of his volatile temper made her cringe.