Susan Crosby - Bride Candidate #9

“It worked Rehab takes longer than you might think. It’s no big deal” He booted his computer and typed a few words.

“I was sorry to hear about your having to retire,” she said. “That must be really hard on you.”

“Not as hard for me as others, maybe. I had the company to turn to. I’ve worked for Titan since I was twenty-two, off and on. My grandfather decided it was a good time for him and my grandmother to see America, so it worked out all the way around.”

Ariel wondered if he was deluding himself that he could give up that part of his life so easily, or if he was trying to delude her. Men. Such tough guys. Can’t ever let anyone see them vulnerable.

She couldn’t sit still as he spent the next few minutes at his computer, looking at his budget—she hoped—for what he could swing for a donation.

She strolled to the window behind him. She ran a mental list of the advice that the foundation’s professional fund-raiser had given her, deciding she’d messed things up because she hadn’t factored in her own emotional response to seeing him again. Ariel had decided to meet personally with Luke, alone without the fund-raiser, since she had the advantage not only of having met him but of having spent a lot of time with him.

But Luke was right. She wasn’t any good at asking people for help. Which was why she usually just dove in and did things herself instead of begging someone else She glanced at the back of his head, wondering if she should tell him how desperate she was for his help.

“Any chance you missed me some?” he asked out of the blue, then turned and leveled a penetrating stare on her.

She cupped her mug a little tighter “A slight chance.”

“Slight, as in ‘a passin’ thought once a week’? Or slight, as in ‘way too much but I won’t let him know that’?”

“Somewhere in between.”

He tapped a pencil on his desk “Are you ever gonna cut me any slack? I didn’t do anything but admire you.”

“You monopolized my time so I couldn’t spend it with anyone else. I had lots of friends aboard the cruise. Friends who are more like family. I didn’t get to spend time with them thanks to you.”

“Family,” he repeated thoughtfully, tipping his chair back. “Now, there’s a word to consider. What defines a family to you?”

She frowned. “People you care about, of course. People you love. People you can count on.”

“So, they don’t have to be related by blood?”

“If that were the case, I’d have a family of one.” She regretted the words the minute she said them, because his gaze softened pitifully.

“Who would that be?”

“My Aunt Bonnie, the wildest, craziest woman you could ever hope to meet.”

“In what way?”

“In every way. She didn’t believe in staying put for longer than a few months, so I grew up traveling around Europe. It was quite an education” She set her mug on his desk. “What’s your answer, Lucas? Will you help or will those poor kids be at the mercy of the streets? Their futures he in your hands.”

“Oh, that’s good, Ariel. It’d be my fault if they turned into delinquents, right?”

“You could make a difference.”

A computerized female voice announced that e-mail awaited his attention. He punched a couple of keys, read the words that came up on the screen, shut it down, then moved to stand beside Ariel.

“Why did you come to me for help?” he asked

“You seem to march to your own drummer I thought if anyone could pull this off at the last minute, you could. I know that companies usually decide what and how they’re going to donate early in their fiscal year, but I was hoping you’d override your board of directors and pitch in. I also figured you’d be in town, anyway, for the game, so you might be able to drop in personally.”

“Well...you figured wrong.”

Two

“I see.” Ariel stiffened. She felt as if she’d just gained a hundred pounds, most of it in her feet, which she was afraid weren’t going to move forward on command and get her out of here before she made a bigger fool of herself. “I’m sorry to have taken up so much of your time. I can see myself out.”

“I haven’t said no. When I said you figured wrong, I meant about my coming into the city for the Super Bowl. The rest might be manageable.”

Her uncooperative feet stayed rooted. She smoothed her suit jacket down her stomach, fidgeted with the brass buttons, fussed with her purse strap. She’d counted on him—maybe for more than just his help out of a jam.

“I’ve just requested information from the comptroller regardin’ how much we could do for you, financially and with product,” he said. “He’ll bring the answers when he has them. But I’ll also need to check out the Center before we commit. We have to choose our causes carefully. Public opinion is what drives this company. And a good product, of course. We’re on our way up. We can’t afford to become involved in anything remotely questionable.”

Ah. So here was the hard-hearted businessman she hadn’t met. Good. He wasn’t merely a figurehead. She didn’t know why that pleased her so much, but it did. His image—Well, she’d been wrong about him. That’s all that mattered. “I’m sure you’ll be pleased with what you find, Lucas. But money alone can’t save this event from total devastation. It’s going to take a public show of commitment to the cause. From Titan and you. You’re the key.”

“Is your reputation on the line, too?”

“That’s the least of it.”

“Is it? Titan has credibility, enough credibility to turn things around. I need to know something, Ariel. Did you exhaust every other possibility? Was I your last resort?”

She shook her head. “You were the first person I thought of. The first person I turned to. The truth is, I’m desperate. We can’t afford the loss of publicity at this point. You’re high profile in San Francisco. You could make the difference.”

He looked away from her for a moment, then shifted his weight slightly.

“If I determine there’s no reason not to,” he said, “I’ll add the weight of Titan’s name to your cause. Now, don’t get that all-hopeful look yet. There are hurdles to jump first.”

“For me or for you?” Her heart did a little dance at his softening expression.

“Maybe both.” He brushed his fingers along her hair, a feather-light touch. “You know, I hadn’t seen you with your hair up. I kinda miss the way all that honey blond silk flows around your shoulders and down your back. I can’t remember those big brown eyes of yours bein’ so dark and mysterious either. Tell me you missed me, darlin’.”

“Like a fly misses a swatter, darlin’.”

He moved a little closer. “I wanted to kiss you that last night on the cruise. You kinda ruined the mood when I asked to see you again and you told me sure, as soon as hell froze over.”

“So you remembered. I was hoping you wouldn’t.”

He ran a finger along her jaw. “I doubt I forgot much about you.”

She listened to her heart pound. “Not too many women turn you down, I imagine.”

“Just ’cause I’m kinda well-known, doesn’t mean I’m not out there scroungin’ for dates on Friday night like every other man. I’ve had my share of turn-downs.”

“I find that a little hard to believe. One of the magazine articles I read about you called you a party animal, or something like that.”

He toyed with her earring, just barely brushing the skin below it with his thumb. “Amazin’ what a well-paid personal publicist, not to mention a team publicist can do for a man’s image, isn’t it? I might’ve kicked up my heels now and then, but I wasn’t nearly as busy as the media liked to paint me Women weren’t beatin’ down a path to my door, darlin’. Sure made for good press, though.”