Gwynne Forster - Fools Rush In

She hung a long rope of silver beads around her neck, setting off the deep red silk jumpsuit and silver hoops. She had always regarded that jump suit as casual wear, something in which she lounged in her room. But if he wanted her to wear it, she would. She didn’t like high heels, but wore them anyway as she tripped down the stairs and nearly stumbled when she reached the bottom. Duncan stood nearby, tall and handsome in a dark business suit, talking heatedly with a tall woman whose flawless skin had the color of fresh pecans. She raised her head and started past them.

His arm lightly on her shoulder brought her to a quick halt “Justine, this is my sister, Leah.”

Leah’s knowing look told Justine that Duncan’s sister had noticed her relief that she was his sister and not his date. “Hello, Justine. I’ve been anxious to meet you. Duncan talks about you a lot.”

He looked down at his feet and then toward the living room. “Leah lets anything that comes to her mind drop out of her mouth.”

Leah shrugged a shoulder. “I’m blunt. And nobody calls me Leah. I hate the name. Call me Banks if you want me to answer.”

Justine extended her hand. “I’m happy to meet you, Banks. Duncan hasn’t mentioned having a sister.”

Banks let a rueful smile linger on her face. “I embarrass him, Justine. He’d love to have a dainty, ultra feminine little sister who’s brainless.”

Both of Justine’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you sure? He’s been acting like an egalitarian with me.”

“I’ve known him longer. He thinks I need a total makeover.”

The grin that settled around Duncan’s mouth assured Justine that she shouldn’t take the conversation seriously. Duncan and his sister adored each other.

“I’d be satisfied if she’d quit walking around like a chimney belching bituminous smoke.”

“Grant me my one vice, Duncan. I don’t interfere with yours.” She turned to Justine. “You’d think he’d introduce me to his boss. I’ve been trying for six months to meet that man on square ground when I have the advantage, and my own beloved brother has access to him every day, and won’t get us together. I was just telling him what I thought of him when—”

So that had been their argument! “If he won’t do it, ask somebody else.”

“I asked my girlfriend, Melissa Grant Roundtree, to introduce us, but the opportunity just won’t come.”

“Excuse me while I answer the door,” Duncan said, looking down at Justine’s face. “Be right back.”

Chills snaked down her back. What would she do if he walked back to them with a woman on his arm?

“Wipe the worry off your face, Justine. Duncan doesn’t have a woman. He’s sworn off them for life.”

“Wh…What?”

“Sorry, but I saw right away that you like him. Just be careful. He’s a great guy, but he goes by the title of man, if you know what I mean. And I don’t expect he’s going to expose himself to what he just got out of any time soon.”

“Leah. I mean, Banks, what are you talking about? I’m Tonya’s nanny.”

“Come on back in the kitchen. Duncan won’t let me smoke anywhere else in the house, and Mattie doesn’t mind.” They walked down the long brown and beige tiled hallway to the modern brick-floored kitchen. Banks kissed Mattie on the cheek and lit a cigarette. “I know you’re her nanny,” Banks said softly so that Mattie couldn’t hear, “and we don’t want to get into that yet. If you’re a nanny, Wayne Roundtree’s in love with me, and as far as I know, he’s never met me. Did you answer the ad for nanny or the one for wife?”

I need my wits with this woman, Justine cautioned herself. “Nanny. Is he looking for a wife?”

Banks blew a few smoke rings. “Yeah. For a strictly business deal. Now who’s crazy? Him or me?”

“There you are,” Duncan’s voice boomed. “Wayne, I want you to meet my sister, Leah—the one who’s blowing smoke. And this is Justine Taylor.” Banks quickly rubbed the cigarette against the sole of her left shoe and put it out.

“I’m glad to meet you, Wayne,” Justine said, showing as little interest as possible in the man who was Duncan’s boss and the object of Banks’s affection.

Wayne grinned and winked at Duncan. “Not worth a backward glance, eh?” He took her extended hand. “A pleasure to meet you, Justine.”

She looked from Wayne to Banks, hoping to see a spark of desire in his face and praying that Banks would say the right words.

“Hello, Wayne. It’s a relief to see somebody from home down here among these jaded Washingtonians.”

Wayne appeared suitably impressed, and his low drawl seemed to captivate Banks, who gazed unsteadily at him. “Well, hello. Duncan didn’t tell me he had a sister. Where’ve you been?”

“Mostly in Frederick. I told Melissa I wanted to meet you, but the three of us are never in the same place.”

“Melissa? My sister-in-law? Wait ’til I see her. All she had to do was tell me she had a nice brown, long-stemmed beauty she wanted me to meet. Duncan, what’s the matter with these women?”

“Search me. Justine, you want to come with me and meet some of my buddies?”

At least he had the grace to leave them alone and give Banks a chance. Wayne seemed interested enough, but maybe his joviality was nothing more than courtesy. Duncan’s fingers at her elbow were meant to reassure her, and she didn’t attach any significance to the special attention. If only he wouldn’t watch her like an eagle about to dive for trout while he introduced her to his friends. She’d been properly brought up by aunts with strict codes of behavior, and she knew how to act with people. What did he expect? She opened her mouth to tell him he needn’t fear embarrassment, when it dawned on her that his interest was in another direction: she wasn’t behaving as a servant would, but as Dr. Justine Taylor Montgomery. Too late to repair that damage; she’d have to watch it.

“You don’t drink?” he asked after she declined all that he offered.

“I’ll drink wine with my dinner, but Tonya could wake up any minute, and I don’t want to be tipsy if she needs me.”

He searched her face as though gauging some inscrutable object or investigating the unknown. “What do you usually drink?”

“A glass of white wine.”

“Mr. B,” Mattie yelled. “It’s on.”

He continued to gaze into her eyes. “Dinner’s ready. Will you sit at my right?”

“But Duncan, that’s…I work for you. Surely, you don’t want to give the impression that I’m more than—”

His fingers tightened on her arm. “As long as I’m in my house, I can give any impression I like—provided I don’t offend you. I wouldn’t want to do that. Come with me.”

None of his friends appeared to find it unseemly that Duncan escorted his daughter’s nanny to dinner and gave her a place of honor at the table. She turned to find Duncan’s gaze on her.

Unsure as to how she should deal with his attentiveness, she tried to divert his attention by focusing the conversation on Banks and Wayne. “They seem to have hit it off. If you knew she wanted to meet him, why didn’t you arrange it before now?”

He placed his fork on his plate and leaned back in his chair. “Justine, my sister is as mercurial as a person gets. If Wayne makes one false move with her, she’ll tell him to drop dead. He’s my boss, and he’s also like a brother to me, and I’d as soon not have to tie up with him because of Leah.”

“But she’s enchanted with him and has been for a while.”

“Enchanted or not; if he doesn’t toe the line, she’ll give him the boot, and he won’t get a second chance, sure as my name is Duncan Banks.”

She didn’t like the sound of it. “Does that run in the family?”