Cynthia Rutledge - Rich, Rugged...Royal

Lauren offered a noncommittal smile. Alex’s appearance had effectively ensured that her night of passion in Chicago would remain her secret.

Unless Alex decided to talk….

Lauren waited until her friend was out the door before she turned back to Alex. “What is going on here?”

Alex stared unblinkingly, the anger in her voice taking him by surprise. He’d gotten the impression she’d been glad to see him. Now he wasn’t sure. “What do you mean?”

“You told me you were unemployed.”

“I also told you I was interviewing for jobs,” he said.

“You could have told me you knew Sara.”

“I had no idea you two were friends,” he said. “I was as shocked as you when I walked in and saw the two of you together.”

Actually, shocked didn’t begin to describe how he’d felt when he’d glanced across the crowded coffee shop and saw Lauren sitting at the table with his new boss. For one crazy second, he’d wondered if his job was over before it had begun. Sara was a devout Christian and even though Alex believed he had in no way taken advantage of Lauren, he knew Sara might not see it that way.

“I take it you didn’t tell her about us?” Though Sara’s comments had led him to believe that was the case, Alex had to know for sure.

For a second she hesitated. His heart dropped until she rolled her eyes.

“Get real. What was I going to say? Hey, Sara, I know how you feel about sex before marriage. Want to hear about the one-night stand I had last weekend?”

He chuckled but quickly sobered at the warning look in her eyes.

“No one knows about that night,” Lauren said. “I want it to stay that way.”

“I understand,” Alex said.

“I don’t think you do.” Lauren leaned forward and lowered her voice, resting her elbows on the table. “My friends have high moral standards. The school where I teach is very conservative. This can’t get out.”

“You’re right. Teachers don’t have sex.” Alex tried not to smile, but he couldn’t quite pull it off.

Her lips pressed together. “Be serious.”

She looked so cute with her emerald eyes blazing and a rush of pink staining her cheeks that he was tempted to tease her some more. But the lines of worry edging her eyes stopped him.

He met her gaze. “No one will hear about it from me.”

“Thank you.” Her sigh was clearly audible.

“But if your friends are as conservative as you say,” Alex said. “What are they going to think about us living together?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Lauren said. “I’ve decided it’s not a good idea for us to be under the same roof.”

The same thought had crossed his mind. Alex needed this job and he couldn’t afford to get on Sara’s bad side. Living in the same house with her friend would be just asking for trouble.

A sensible man would drop the subject and go back to reading the want ads. But Alex had never been particularly sensible and he’d never liked the idea of living with a stranger.

Lauren wouldn’t be a stranger….

She’d remained in his thoughts since that night in the hotel. Alex had cursed himself for failing to get a phone number or address. He’d thought it would be so easy. When he arrived in St. Louis he’d look up her name in the phone book and give her a call. The only problem was there had been no listing for a Lauren Carlyle. Just when he’d reconciled himself to the fact that he’d never see her again, their paths had crossed. It seemed like fate.

“I don’t see the problem,” Alex said in his most conciliatory tone. “It will be strictly a business arrangement. You need the money. I need a place to live.”

“I know this may be hard for you to believe—especially after how I behaved the other night but I usually don’t have trouble keeping men at arm’s length,” she said. “It’s different with you.”

He could sense her cryptic comment was significant, so he pondered the words for a moment before speaking. “So you’re saying you think you could be under the same roof with another man and it’d be okay? But not with me?”

Her blush deepened. “We’ve been intimate.”

“I realize that.” Alex met her gaze. “But we’re also adults with free will.”

Lauren leaned back in the chair. “It happened once. I don’t want it to happen again.”

Actually, he wanted to remind her, it had happened twice, not once. And the problem seemed to be that she did want it to happen again.

He smiled reassuringly. “I’ve already promised that when I move in, I’ll keep my distance.”

Though Alex truly meant the words, he wondered how long he’d be able to keep that promise. Even now, keeping his distance wasn’t that easy. She was so pretty with her dark hair brushing her shoulders and her large almond-shaped green eyes. Her ivory skin was smooth and clear and if she had any flaw at all, it was her charming tendency to blush at the slightest provocation.

Spending the next six months with her would be a pleasure. Even though he’d have to pay for the privilege, Alex thought with a wry smile.

“Why don’t you give me the grand tour?” Alex asked. “If it’s acceptable, we’ll talk money.”

Up until this year he’d never had to give a thought to what things cost. Now he did nothing but think about it. It seemed so gauche; such bad form to talk dollars and cents. But he had no choice.

“That’s not going to work,” Lauren said.

Alex frowned. “What’s not going to work? Giving the tour today? Or waiting to discuss money?”

“Both,” Lauren said. “I’m telling you for the last time. There’s no way you’re moving in.”

After leaving Alex at the coffee shop, Lauren returned home to find a stack of bills in her mailbox. For a moment she was tempted to subscribe to her mother’s out-of-sight, out-of-mind philosophy and toss ’em into the trash. Instead she put them on the desk, where they joined all the other statements waiting to be paid.

A sick feeling washed over her. Broadview Academy only paid their teachers monthly and the check she’d just gotten was already gone.

If she let Alex move in, she’d have all sorts of money. Maybe even enough left after paying bills for that cashmere sweater at Nordstrom…

She shoved the crazy thought aside and reminded herself that Alex wasn’t her only option. St. Louis was a big city. There had to be any number of respectable men and women looking for a place to live. All she had to do was find one.

Two hours later, Lauren was less optimistic but not dissuaded. She’d called every person she could think of asking if they knew of a potential roommate for her. Her gaze drifted back to the stack of bills. The problem was she couldn’t really afford to wait around hoping one of the “possibilities” that had been mentioned would pan out.

The shrill ring of the phone kicked her heart into overdrive and renewed her hope. She snatched the phone from the cradle and prayed it was one of her friends calling back to say they’d found someone who was interested in the room.

The credit-card companies would be happy and she could almost feel soft cashmere against her skin. “Hello.”

“Lauren.” Surprise echoed in her mother’s voice. “I didn’t think I’d catch you at home.”

Lauren stifled a groan. She’d have preferred a telemarketer.

“I was prepared to leave a message.”

“I could hang up and let it go to voice mail,” Lauren offered.

Her mother laughed, apparently not realizing Lauren was serious. “Your father and I want you to come to the house for dinner tonight.”

Lauren paused, instantly suspicious. Her parents always entertained their friends on the weekend. Not to mention she’d just been there for dinner.