What Mattered Most (26 page)

When circumstances force kindergarten teacher Melissa Morgan to take her twin sister’s place as proprietor of a dating agency, the last thing she expects is to meet a funeral director in desperate need of lessons in what a woman wants. Despite his quirky behavior and antiquated ideas, Matthew Campbell pushes every one of Melissa’s buttons and it’s not long before the lessons become more important than finding Matthew a mate.

But how will Melissa react when she finds out Matthew is an undercover federal agent in pursuit of a blackmailer and she’s the prime suspect?

Wobbling slightly as the unfamiliar high heels caught in the thick pile of the carpet, she moved to the far end of the room, slid the video into the machine and turned on the television. Remote control in hand, she joined Matthew on the sofa and started the tape.

“This first lady’s name is Martha Frazer. She’s perhaps a little older than you specified on your application form, but she sounds very much a homebody. Anyway, I’ll let you view the tape and you can tell me what you think.”

As Matthew watched the screen, Melissa tried to find a comfortable position on the sofa. With it being so wide, she couldn’t lean back against the cushions. If she did, she’d have to sit with her legs extended out in front of her like a child. Not very professional.

Neither was the flash of garters high on her thighs as she tried to perch on the extreme edge of the sofa. She tugged at the hemline of her skirt, only to have it ride up again as soon as she released it. Hell, at this rate, she’d be forced to sit with both hands on the bottom of her skirt to keep it in place.

As the video ended, she turned to Matthew, an enquiring look on her face. “So what do you think?”

Matt tried not to grin as her skirt slid up to expose the top of her nylons and gave him a quick glimpse of naked thigh. He’d seen her efforts to tweak it down. If she didn’t want her legs on show, why wear such short skirts?

The character Joshua Cribbs had created for him foremost in his mind, Matt clasped his hands together and lowered his chin to tap at his pursed lips with pointed index fingers. “Hmm, she sounds a very nice lady,” he said.

“But?”

“I’m not certain she’s suitable. Very unfashionable and a lot older than I wanted. Probably set in her ways. Not malleable at all. I don’t think I’d be able to mold her into what I perceive as the perfect partner.”

He knew his words sounded chauvinistic, but it suited his undercover identity. With his Italian heritage, he was used to a culture where women were revered, feted and looked after. Although that in itself sounded chauvinistic, the women in his family were strong and independent, equal partners in any relationship.

Still, he had a part to play and somehow he had to get Mel Morgan to take him personally under her wing, not fob him off on one of her clients. If he took these women on a date and screwed it up, maybe they’d report back to Melissa. Then he could suggest she teach him how to romance a woman. He couldn’t think of any other way to get close enough to Miss Morgan to find out what he needed to know.

“You know, perhaps I’ve been going about this the wrong way. I think I need someone more glamorous. I’d like to lift the profile of my business, and as I’d want any prospective partner to work with me, at least until the children come, perhaps I should have someone a bit more…” His voice trailed off for a moment. “I guess sophisticated is the word I’m looking for.”

“Let’s try the next one then, shall we? This woman’s name is Janice Betonie. She certainly looks more the part.”

Melissa struggled to her feet, almost catching her heel again in the loop of the carpet. She could have sworn she felt the burn of Matthew’s gaze on her rear end as she walked over to change the tape.

It made the sway of her hips feel more exaggerated than normal. Made her aware of her body in a way she never had been before. Why this should be, she didn’t know. She certainly wasn’t comfortable with the man. Despite that, something about him made her pulse beat faster. Made the blood rush through her veins and generated a fire she hadn’t felt in a long time.

For crying out loud, the man was an undertaker of all things. How could she be turned on by someone who dealt in dead bodies?

Regardless of his job, he was as sexy as hell, even with all that grease in his hair. One thing, though, he’d have to change his chauvinistic attitudes. In this day and age no woman would put up with his comments. He was already at a disadvantage, what with his strange mannerisms and the disastrous hair oil. Although the way she felt, she’d even put up with that.

Damn, this wasn’t like her at all. She was acting completely out of character.
You’re the responsible one, remember, Melissa?
Yeah, goody-two-shoes as her sister would say. So what the hell was wrong with her?

Her brain had gone on vacation. Because right about now, she had one thought and one thought only in her mind. Throw Matthew Campbell down on his back and fuck the living daylights out of him.

Oh my gawd, she was in serious trouble here. She needed to get her mind off her body and onto the business of finding Matthew Campbell a partner.

Matt tried to keep his attention focused on the television screen, but he couldn’t help a sneaky sideway glance at the exposed length of Melissa’s legs. She’d either forgotten, or given up, trying to stretch her skirt down. One pale pink, lacy garter peeked out beneath the hemline. On the very end, in what appeared to be silky satin, was a darker pink embroidered rose.

He had a sudden urge to reach out and run his finger over it to check. It took all his self-discipline to ignore the unschooled impulse. He averted his gaze and stared at the screen.

“My name is Janice Betonie and I’m…”

The woman on the screen had a well-modulated, husky voice, but she couldn’t hold his interest. Matt tuned out the sound and allowed his attention and his gaze to slide back to the woman beside him. Her skirt had risen another inch. He caught a peek of pale skin above the rose-embossed garter.

X-rated images leapt into his brain, scrambling his thought processes. Heat slammed into him, sliding through his veins and igniting a hungry need inside him. He itched to run his fingers over that strip of skin and see if it felt as soft as it looked. He wanted to taste the creamy texture, slide his tongue across the silky softness and trace the garter up her thigh until he came to her pussy.

He imagined himself down on his knees, head buried between those creamy thighs. Tongue probing at the slick folds of her sex. Then he’d spread her lips and play with her clit until she screamed and begged him to delve deep to taste her honey.

His cock tightened, all the blood driven from his brain and collecting in that wayward piece of male equipment. A raging boner pushed at the front of his trousers. He dropped his hands over his lap to hide the telltale bulge. Thank God he’d worn a suit today and not his normal skin-tight jeans. Shit, he had to stop this, but first…

He leaned closer and dragged in a deep breath. Light, floral perfume teased at his senses. Funny, given the glossy photo back at the office, he would have staked a bet she’d use a heavy musky scent. But he liked this better. Somehow, it suited her. Made a fellow think of innocence and…

Hang on a minute, man
, he remonstrated with himself.
This woman is anything but innocent
.
She’s the subject of an undercover investigation and you’d better remember that. Get your mind out of your pants and onto your work.

As the videotape came to an end, he plastered what he hoped was an interested look on his face. He kept his gaze glued to the blank screen as if deep in thought when Melissa turned toward him.

“What do you think, Matthew? Are you interested?”

Fucked if I know
.
I didn’t take in anything but the first sentence the woman uttered.
“Hmm, it’s so hard to make a decision based on a video image.”

“Perhaps you should meet Janice, go out with her and see how you feel. I’m sure you’ll have a great time with her and once you’ve had a successful date, you’ll have much more confidence in your dating skills. You’re a good-looking man. Any woman would be happy to be seen with you. Would you like me to ring her?”

Matt stood and stepped away from the sofa. Even from here, Melissa’s perfume reached out to him and made his cock twitch in reaction. “Yes, perhaps that would be best. Meet the woman in the flesh, so to speak. Dial away, my dear lady.”

Somehow he had to get Miss Morgan to take him under her wing personally, not fob him off on some other unsuspecting female. How else was he going to find out if she was a part of this blackmailing scam? Time to turn on the pathos.

When fashion buyer Kimberly Collins and high school senior Tori Moorhead escape a burning plane, both women make radical decisions that intertwine their lives forever.

Kim’s priorities change, especially in the bedroom. She’s thankful to be taken to another world—one of love and romance, not of smoke and death. When she decides she wants another child, her husband reveals his own shocking plans for their family.

Pregnant teenager Tori is on her way to get a secret abortion when the plane crashes. The baby’s teen father wants to get married. Her dad pushes for adoption. Caught between the two men she loves, Tori struggles to make the right decisions for her baby and the future she dreamed of.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Never the Same
:

Victoria Moorhead stood in front of her full-length mirror. She looked the same. She placed her hand over her stomach. It felt the same.

But it wasn’t the same. Her baby was growing inside her. Why had she and Ryan celebrated their victories so intimately that fateful night? As co-captain of the football team, he was excited when his team won the league championship. Her soccer team had also won their league, so they’d drunk a little too much beer and lost all control.

She glanced in the mirror a last time before climbing into bed. She was wearing the University of North Carolina T-shirt her dad had bought for her on their last campus visit.

“Well, golden girl, you did it,” he’d said, using the expression he’d begun to use after the accident that killed her mother and paralyzed him. At first she’d thought he called her that because of her blonde hair. Later, she realized she was his golden girl because the accident had left her uninjured. “God has something special in mind for you,” he reminded her often.

Her cell phone rang and she answered it.

“Tori, I can’t sleep,” Ryan said. “I keep thinking about tomorrow.”

She sat on her oversized blue-and-white striped beanbag chair. “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep, either. I’m scared.”

“Does your dad suspect anything?” Ryan asked.

“No, he thinks I’m going to New York so Blair can help me find a dress for the sweetheart dance.” Her half-sister Blair worked for the airlines and she’d booked the flight for her. She felt guilty about lying to her dad, but she couldn’t tell him about the baby.

“I don’t want you to have an abortion. I’ve been thinking we can get married. I’ll still go to college, and after I graduate and get a job, I’ll pay for you to go.”

“We’re too young to get married now and…” She hesitated because what she’d just said troubled her. How could she be too young to be a wife, but old enough to kill her baby? “I can’t lose my scholarship. My dad would be heartbroken. He’s lived for the day I go to college and make something of myself.”

“I know I’m asking a lot, but please don’t go through with it.”

“If I stay pregnant, I won’t get to go to UNC.” Tori sighed. “It’s not fair. You won’t have to give up anything. Guys never suffer when they get girls pregnant.”

“Honey, I’m sorry about everything. I know how much your scholarship means to you. You did get an academic scholarship at Loyola. You could go there and live at home. We could hire a babysitter while you’re in class.”

“My dad and I always dreamed I’d play on the women’s soccer team at the Olympics someday.”

“Whatever you do, I love you.”

Her eyes teared. “I love you, too.”

“I’ll drive you to the airport.”

“Maybe the plane will crash, and I won’t survive. Everything will be out of my hands and I won’t have to go through with the abortion.”

“Don’t say that. Flying to New York is dumb anyhow. Since you’re determined to have the abortion, you should just go to a clinic in Chicago.”

“I can’t take a chance that my dad or anyone learns I’m pregnant.” A thought occurred to her. “You didn’t tell anyone, did you?”

“I promised you I wouldn’t and I didn’t. It’s been hard not telling my parents, because I think they should know.”

“I wish you could tell them, but I’m afraid if they know, they’ll try to stop me.”

“I’m not sure what they would do.”

Weighted down with adult responsibilities, they became quiet. Creating a new life when both of them were kids had been a stupid thing to do.

The only thing left to discuss was when to leave for the airport in the morning. Ryan sounded so sad, Tori was relieved to say good-bye.

After crawling into bed, she held her beige teddy bear next to her chest. She’d slept with this bear for years. Before her mother had died, they’d made a hat and dress out of blue and red material for the bear. The finishing touch was a little heart necklace.

If only she could talk to her mom. What would Mom tell her to do?

She didn’t have to think long. Her mother had often told her how thankful she’d been to have Tori. Her mother’s physician had told her she might never have a child.

Clutching her bear, she could almost hear her mother’s gentle voice saying, Victoria, having you was a miracle. A child is such a precious gift.

She would tell her to have the baby. The realization startled her and she trembled. But her mother was dead and couldn’t help. Tori didn’t have a choice but to have an abortion.

Maybe after the abortion, God would somehow see to it that her mother could welcome the baby into heaven.

Her tears fell on the bear.