Flirting with Disaster (15 page)

“I don't know why not. It works for me,” he said.

Truth be told, Maggie thought, it would work for her, too, which was why she forced herself to slide out of the booth and make a dash for safety. “Another time, then.”

She was halfway to the door when Josh called her name. She paused and reluctantly turned back to face him.

“Next time you want to play dangerous games, Magnolia,” he advised in a lazy drawl, “be real careful who you're playing with. Not every man understands the rules.”

She winked at him. “You do the same, sugar. Most women get the rules, but some of us just plain enjoy breaking them.”

The taunt hung in the air and had it crackling with electricity. Maggie decided this was one time when a hasty retreat, no matter how Josh interpreted it, was the wisest course of action.

The second she was out the door and out of view, she practically ran to her car and flipped on the air-conditioning. Something told her, though, that it was going to take a lot more than a blast of icy air to cool her down tonight.

J
osh dreaded going back to the motel. Something told him the days were long past when Nadine would have been so caught up in her own drama that she wouldn't care about his. For all he knew he'd find Amanda, the kids and Warren sitting there, too, awaiting details about his time alone with Maggie. He wasn't sure whether he was up to facing all their fascinated inquiries about why he was coming home alone. He wasn't very clear about why that was himself. A few weeks ago, he might have chased after Maggie and done something about all that heat sizzling between them.

Despite his lack of enthusiasm for facing anyone, he dragged himself back to his place and was startled to find the courtyard empty and the lights out in Nadine's room. He was about to count his blessings when he opened the door to his own room and found Nadine stretched out on his bed watching a pay-per-view movie. The fact that it was a romantic comedy gave him hives. It meant she was all psyched up for a happy ending.

“Is there something wrong with the TV in your room?” he grumbled, cursing the fact that the motel owner had fallen under Nadine's spell and let her in whenever she came up with a plausible excuse.

“I was waiting up for you,” she said, clearly not taking offense at his tone. Maybe she was oblivious to it. “I was afraid I wouldn't hear you come in if I waited next door.”

“Yeah, that would have been a shame, all right.”

Nadine frowned and switched off the TV. “How did things go with Maggie?”

“We talked. I think we're on the same page now.”

Nadine regarded him with dismay. “You talked? That's it? What is wrong with you?”

“Did you expect me to throw her across the table and make love to her right there?” he asked, unable to keep the impatience out of his voice.

“Given the sparks flying when we left, it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility.”

“She's a lady, Nadine,” he explained with exaggerated patience. “And, believe it or not, I'm a gentleman. I do recognize some boundaries. Besides, Maggie and I do not have that kind of relationship. In fact, we don't have any relationship at all.”

“Well, if you ask me, that's a crying shame. Both of you need to expand those boundaries to include a little more excitement.”

“You turning up here was more excitement than I've had in a long time,” Josh said wryly. “I'm still grappling with that one.”

Nadine rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, it's hardly the same thing.”

“Believe me, I'm aware of that. Now, could you skedaddle? It's been a long day and I'm beat.”

She gave him a look filled with amusement. “Frustrated, too, I imagine.”

He scowled at her. “I am not discussing this with you. You missed your chance to have the birds-and-bees talk with me twenty years ago.”

“I could help,” she persisted. “I know a lot about relationships.”

“None of it good, from what I've observed.”

“Yes, well, we learn more from the bad than we ever do from the good, which pretty much makes me an expert. You'd be wise to benefit from my mistakes,” Nadine said.

“I'll consider that,” he said, not intending to do any such thing.

She remained undaunted. “If you change your mind, I'm right next door.”

“That's not something I'm likely to forget.”

She actually looked a bit hurt, and Josh realized he'd been the cause, but before he could apologize, she pasted on a cheerful smile.

“I know you don't mean that the way it sounded,” she said, giving him a peck on the cheek. “Good night, sweetie.”

Josh sighed, swallowing his guilt. “Good night, Nadine.”

He watched her leave with her spike-heeled sandals dangling from one finger. He noticed then that her nails were short and unpainted for the first time he could ever recall. It made her seem oddly vulnerable. After her initial protests, she hadn't complained once about losing her brightly painted acrylic nails, which confused him. It wasn't like her. In fact, she was complaining about very little these days. She was doing whatever he asked of her and then some.

Was Nadine less shallow than he'd given her credit for being? Or had she matured when he wasn't around?

Then, again, maybe he was the one who was finally growing up and learning to give his mother the benefit of the doubt.

 

There had been little question when her mother called at barely 9:00 a.m. inviting Maggie to lunch that it was a command performance.

“We'll have lunch at the club,” Juliette said emphatically, not waiting for Maggie's reply. “I made a reservation for twelve sharp. Your father will be there, too, and you know how he hates to be kept waiting.”

“What's this about?” Maggie asked, instantly suspicious. Her father never left downtown on a weekday. He had his routine down pat. He'd kept the same schedule for years. He and his cronies smoked cigars and discussed their investments. It wasn't something he'd give up lightly. If he'd canceled his usual lunch to drive all the way over to the country club, then there had to be some sort of catastrophe.

“We'll discuss it when we see you,” her mother said, her tone giving away nothing.

“Is somebody dying?” Maggie asked, leaping to the only conclusion she could come up with for the unusual midday meeting. “Just tell me if you or Father are sick. Don't make me wait to hear it in a public place.”

Juliette gasped at the suggestion. “Of course not. Your father and I are in perfectly good health. Why would you even mention such a thing?”

“Because Dad's a creature of habit. He doesn't go gallivanting off to lunch with the family on a Monday unless there's a real crisis.”

Her mother sighed heavily. “Try not to let your imagination get the better of you, Magnolia. Your father can be flexible when it's required of him. We'll see you at twelve o'clock.”

She hung up before Maggie could ask anything more. Maggie frowned at the receiver, then slowly placed it back in its cradle.

Not five minutes later, it rang again. This time Dinah was on the line.

“What is your mother up to?” she demanded before Maggie could do more than mutter a greeting.

“My mother? You've talked to her this morning?” The day was getting weirder by the minute.

“Not two minutes ago,” Dinah confirmed. “She wants me to join you all for lunch today. Actually she didn't even wait for me to check my schedule. She just assumed I'd be there. Fortunately I don't have to go in to the station till three this afternoon.”

“Oh, brother,” Maggie said, beginning to get the picture. “Want to bet that Warren's invited, too?”

“Why on earth would your mother invite your ex-fiancé?”

“Because something tells me there's about to be another of those intervention things you're so fond of,” Maggie said.

“Why would your mother stage an intervention now? Seems to me you're doing great.”

Maggie laughed. “You must not know about me getting into a sparring match with George Winslow at the site day before yesterday. I'm sure he told my parents I was impertinent. In their world, that's worthy of immediate parental attention.”

“Everybody's impertinent to George. It's the only way to deal with him,” Dinah said. “I think I'll skip lunch, if you don't mind. It doesn't sound like much fun.”

“Believe me, I'd skip it, too, if there wouldn't be hell to pay later,” Maggie replied. “As for you, I need you there for moral support.”

“I have a better idea,” Dinah said.

“Oh?”

“Invite Josh. He ought to be quite a distraction. Something tells me he'll render your mother absolutely speechless.”

Maggie smiled. He certainly had that effect on her from time to time. “That
is
a thought,” she agreed. “Maybe I will.”

Of course, her motives weren't entirely pure. If she did ask him to come along and he agreed, she'd be seriously indebted to the man. After that tantalizing little game they'd played the night before, finding out how he'd exact payment could be…interesting. Then again, maybe he'd just consider it payback for the night he'd dragged her to that first awkward dinner with Warren and Nadine and call it even. Whichever way things went, she might at least gain more insight into the way the man's mind worked.

 

Josh wasn't crazy about the gleam in Maggie's eye when she showed up on his doorstep just as he climbed out of the shower. Something told him she hadn't come to make good on her recent promise of sex sometime in the future.

“I need you,” she said, trying to keep her gaze averted from his bare chest and the beads of water still trickling down his skin.

He brightened at her admission. Maybe he'd gotten it wrong after all. How convenient that he was wearing nothing more than the jeans he'd dragged on when he'd heard her knock. “Yes?” he said, determined to be sure. “For?”

“Oh, get that smirk off your face. I need you for lunch,” she said.

“You have an odd way of inviting a man out,” he said, trying to hide his disappointment. He reached for a T-shirt and dragged it over his head now that he knew sex wasn't on Maggie's agenda.

“Yes, well, I'm out of practice. Are you free or not?”

“When?”

“Now. I have my mother, my father and who knows who else waiting to ambush me at the country club.”

“And I'm supposed to do what?”

“That whole macho protective thing you're so fond of,” she said. “You should be in hog heaven.”

“Why do you need protection from your folks?”

“To be honest, I'm not entirely sure, but I suspect it has something to do with my lack of manners when speaking to George Winslow. In my world, that's cause for alarm. Now, will you come or not? Do I need to remind you that you owe me one?”

He wasn't sure whether he was intrigued by the idea of meeting people who could intimidate Maggie or just plain hungry, but he nodded. “Oh, I'll come,” he said. “It'll be fascinating to see how your world operates.”

“That's what you think,” she muttered darkly, then added more cheerfully, “don't let my mother scare you.”

“Sweetheart, there's only one woman on the planet who scares me.”

“Really? Who?”

“You.”

Maggie grinned. “Then you'll love this,” she assured him. “Some say she and I have quite a lot in common, much as she dislikes admitting it.”

“This I've got to see. Give me five minutes to change into something suitable for meeting and greeting the upper crust of Charleston society.”

Maggie surveyed his jeans and T-shirt, then shook her head. “You'll do just fine like that.”

Josh chuckled. “Going for the shock value, darlin'?”

“Exactly.”

“If this weren't promising to be so much fun, I'd be insulted.”

“Don't be. Out of all the men in Charleston, I chose you for this mission. That ought to tell you something.”

“That you were desperate?”

“Nope. That you have certain essential qualities that are perfect for the occasion.”

“Such as?”

“The only thing I've ever seen make my mother lose her train of thought,” Maggie said, “is a gorgeous man. One look at you and she'll forget why she invited me for lunch. In fact, with luck, she may not even notice I'm there.”

“What about your father? Didn't you say he'd be there, too?”

“He'll be so thrilled he can leave and go back to work that nothing else will matter.”

Josh laughed. “Then this promises to be an all-around good time.” He sobered and met her gaze. “Forget that prior debt. This is above and beyond. You're going to owe
me.
”

“I suspected you'd see it that way. Can't say I blame you.”

“Owing me doesn't scare you?”

“Not half as much as facing my mother does.”

“Then I suppose I owe your mother. Kind of rounds things out, doesn't it?”

“You have no idea.”

Josh thought maybe he did.

 

Even though Josh had backed every confrontation she and Amanda and Maggie had had with George Winslow, Nadine knew that Josh was genuinely worried that the man could stir up real trouble with the building inspector. She knew instinctively that delays would be costly and time-consuming and they all wanted Amanda to have her home by Thanksgiving. Maybe for once she could do something to make her son's life easier. Smoothing troubled waters when it came to men was one of her knacks. She picked up the phone and called Amanda at work.

“Honey, do you have any idea how I could track down George Winslow?” Nadine asked.

“Why would you want to talk to him?” Amanda asked.

“Somebody obviously needs to. This nonsense has gone on long enough.”

“Oh, Nadine, stay away from him,” Amanda pleaded. “You've seen what he's like. Nothing good will come of confronting him.”

“I have to try. I know Josh thinks I made things worse when I told the man off the other day, so it's up to me to fix it.”

“We all told George off and there's nothing you can say to fix the situation,” Amanda insisted. “George will never listen to reason, not in a million years. We just have to let this play itself out and trust that things will turn out okay.”

“That's not what you were saying to Maggie just last night. You were the very first one to say bullies needed to be taught a lesson.”

“Some bullies, Nadine. Not necessarily George Winslow and definitely not by you.”

“Are you going to tell me where I can find him or do I have to start poking around in all the restaurants and clubs in Charleston till I run across him? That could take days, and something tells me there's no time to waste. He's probably snooping around at the site again right now or down at City Hall raising a ruckus with the building inspectors.”