Allison Leigh - Plain Jane and the Playboy / Valentine's Fortune - Plain Jane and the Playboy

There was silence on the other end of the line, as if Isabella were searching for an explanation. “Because maybe, just maybe, he’s growing up and he realizes that all the other women he’s been with are just bimbos. Trust me, none of them are good enough to walk on the same side of the street as you.”

She laughed softly. Isabella was very sweet. “I don’t think that walking is what Jorge had in mind with them.”

She heard Isabella sigh. “That’s just it. He’s a lover of women.” Because they were cousins, albeit distant, she tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. “I don’t want you getting charmed by him until he can prove that he’s finally matured.”

Too late, Jane thought. She’d already been charmed. Right down to her toes. And dazzled as well. The only thing she had going for her was that she knew that it was only going to last until the next beautiful woman caught his eye. She was just a filler, a way for him to kill time.

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy herself. And she’d decided right after he’d kissed her today that she fully intended to.

In a hurry because traffic had made her late getting home, Jane had just slipped one arm into her coat sleeve when her cell phone rang. Taking a second to inhale deeply—she could swear she still detected a hint of Jorge’s cologne on the wool—Jane dug into her purse to retrieve the phone.

Slipping the other sleeve on, she answered the call, interrupting the second chorus of a popular Elvis classic that was her ringtone of choice.

“Hello?”

A deep voice chuckled. “You sound breathless. Did I interrupt something?”

Jorge.

The sound of his voice brought everything to a screeching halt—except for her stomach, which was in the middle of flipping over. It took her a couple of seconds to pull herself together. He was actually calling her. When she’d given Jorge her phone number, she’d never expected him to use it.

“No, you didn’t interrupt anything.” She didn’t sound very convincing, Jane thought, not even to her own ear.

“Good. Listen, I was just in the neighborhood and wondered if you’d mind if I dropped by.”

Her pulse scrambled, even as disappointment washed over her. She would have liked nothing more than to say yes and have him come over, but there were people—children—waiting for her. And children remembered promises that were broken.

She had.

“I would really love to see you,” she said without any attempt at guile. And then regret filled her voice as she took hold of the doorknob and turned it. “But I was just on my way—”

The last word stuck in her throat. There, leaning against her doorjamb, phone pressed to his ear and a spectacular smile gracing his sensual lips, was Jorge.

“Out,” Jane said, finally managing to get the last word out.

Closing his phone, Jorge straightened as he slipped it back into the hip pocket of his jeans. It was close to six o’clock in the evening and he’d been pretty certain he’d find her home.

Just not looking like this.

His eyes swept over her, taking in her outfit and the fact that her hair was confined in two playful pigtails. Amusement played on his lips.

“And just where is it that you’re going?” he asked. “Clog-dancing?”

Her coat was hanging open. Beneath it was a wide, colorful skirt and a black vest laced up the front worn over a gleaming white peasant blouse. She had on knee-high white socks and a pair of Mary Janes.

Was she role-playing, he wondered, his interest definitely aroused. Was there a kinky side to this otherwise shy, bookish woman that he hadn’t even suspected?

Just went to show that no one was as uncomplicated as they seemed.

“No.” She looked down at her feet. “These are shoes, not clogs.” Realizing that her answer didn’t begin to address the question in his eyes and wary of where his imagination might be taking him, she hurried to explain. “I’m reading Heidi to the kids in Red Rock Memorial Hospital.” He was still looking at the outfit she had on. The interest in his eyes intensified. “Dressing up like one of the main characters makes the story more vivid for them.”

His grin went directly under her skin, raising her body temperature. “Tell me when you get around to reading them the story of Lady Godiva.”

To his further amusement and delight, he saw a blush begin to rise up her throat, coloring her cheeks. He didn’t think women blushed anymore. Certainly not the ones he typically dated.

Jane cleared her throat, looking away. “That’s not on the list.”

“Too bad.” His eyes pinned her in place. “Maybe you could give me a private reading sometime.”

C’mon, Jane, the kids are waiting. Get a grip. You can go to fantasyland some other time.

“I don’t think you really need to be stimulated or motivated,” she told him, those being just some of the reasons she volunteered her time at the children’s ward in the hospital.

Right now, Jorge thought, he was plenty stimulated. He had no idea that “cute” could be such a turn-on. “You look very Heidi-ish,” he finally said.

She’d never thought of Heidi as being sensual before. She did now. “Thank you,” Jane murmured.

Twirling one of her pigtails around his finger, he kept his eyes on her face. “Sure I can’t get you to postpone this?”

She sincerely doubted that she’d ever been so tempted to go back on her word in her life. But she had given her word and all she had to think about were all the times that her parents broke promises they had made to her, or worse, forgot that they had made them at all, and that made up her mind for her.

It killed her to do it, but Jane flashed an apologetic smile and shook her head. “I can’t. I gave my word. They’re waiting for me.”

“This is new for me,” he had to admit, “losing out to a bunch of kids.”

“Hospitalized kids,” she emphasized.

“Hospitalized kids,” he repeated dutifully. And then he really surprised her. “Mind if I tag along?”

The air was cold and she quickly secured a button, pushing it through its hole before locking the door behind her. He was kidding, right?

“You want to come to the hospital with me?” she asked incredulously.

“Yes.”

She tried to picture him in the ward, surrounded by small children. It wasn’t easy. “Why?”

He wasn’t used to being questioned as to his motives. She was definitely keeping him on his toes. “I never read Heidi as a kid.”

Now that she believed. “I’m in the middle of the book,” she warned.

If that was meant to make him change his mind about coming along, it failed. “Don’t worry, I’ll catch up,” he assured her. “I’ve been told I’m bright for my age,” he teased.

She was out of excuses and if she was being honest with herself, she liked the idea that he wanted to come with her. It made him seem more human to her.

“All right,” she agreed, “if you’re sure you want to do this. My car’s parked over here.” She nodded in the general direction of the carport and then led the way to her space.

Jorge kept pace with her and then watched the way the wind played with the ends of her hair as she unlocked her side of the car. Opening the door, she hit the lock release. His door was opened.

“Is this part of your job, too?” he asked as he got into the small, economical foreign vehicle. “Reading to kids in hospitals?”

“No.” Leaving her purse on the floor between her and the door, she put on her seat belt. “I wanted to do something meaningful and this was the only thing I could think of—entertaining the kids at the hospital by reading to them.”