glanced at Natalie. “Thanks for the help.”
“You’re welcome.” Natalie could tell he’d relaxed some, because as tightly as he was wedged in next to her, she could feel his tense muscles loosen as he leaned back in the chair. He had the most muscled body she’d been wedged against in some time, and to her surprise she liked it. She hadn’t thought muscles mattered to her, but Jonah’s physique was a definite turn-on.
Her mother should make sure to describe his muscles in the book, Natalie thought. In fact, she wondered if her mother had enough experience to imagine a love scene with a guy like this. Natalie’s father had looked more like Woody Allen than Arnold Schwarzenegger. Natalie had been reading a few of the romances Heart Books published, and the men weren’t built like Woody Allen. They were built like…Jonah.
“Is that guy really Elvis and Marilyn’s kid?” asked one of the women at the table.
Jonah’s expression remained serious. “You never know.”
“You were just trying to get rid of the reporter, weren’t you?” asked another. “I’ve been watching you. You don’t like the spotlight, do you?”
“Not much.”
“That’s why you’d be so perfect for my Janice.” A third woman whipped a picture out of her wallet and shoved it across the table. “Her phone number’s on the back. She’s a wonderful—”
“You know,” Barb said, “I’ll bet Natalie and Jonah need to get a few things settled. Why don’t we excuse them a moment so they can do that?”
“Well, of course.” The woman edged the picture closer to Jonah. “But if you’d just take that with you.”
“I’ll be glad to. You must be very proud of her.” Jonah took the picture and put it in his pocket.
“Oh, I am.”
“We’ll just slip out to the lobby for a minute.” Jonah extricated himself from the close quarters and helped Natalie with her chair.
“You won’t be back,” said the woman who’d given him the picture. “I saw the way you skedaddled out of the park when they tried to interview you after the puppy rescue. I admire modesty in a man. Just don’t lose that picture.”
“I won’t.”
Natalie was beginning to understand what a huge problem she’d created for this guy when she lost her grip on Bobo’s leash. He might not be inclined to do her or her mother any favors, and she wouldn’t blame him. But she had to give it the old college try. She leaned down as she passed Barb’s chair. “Thanks for being my buddy tonight.”
Barb glanced up at her. “Got cab fare, toots?”
Natalie grinned. “Yeah, but I might have to start taking the bus. See you tomorrow at the office.”
Once out of the ballroom, Jonah made a beeline for the coat check. “We can talk this out in a cab, and if you want to come back, I’ll have the cab drop you. But I’m outta here.”
“I understand.” She hurried to keep up with his long strides.
“Oh, I doubt it, Natalie.”
Maybe she didn’t, Natalie thought as even the coat-check attendant fussed over Jonah. Finally they made it to the street and into a cab.
Jonah turned to her. “Where to?”
“Your place is fine.”
“Whoa. My place is not fine. You get me for the weekend of your choice, but between now and then we won’t be seeing each other socially.”
She bristled. “That isn’t what I meant. I only meant we can take the cab to your place, talk on the way, and then I’ll take the same cab to my place after I drop you off.”
“And what if I don’t want you to know where I live?”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake! What do you think I’m going to do, stalk you?”
He turned to face her. “I haven’t the foggiest idea what you’re going to do. I can’t even comprehend a woman plunking down thirty-three thousand dollars to spend the weekend with Mel Gibson, let alone yours truly. Therefore I have to figure that you’re a few bricks short of a load. No telling what’s up with you.”
“I wasn’t the only one! Someone bid thirty-two thousand, and before that someone bid thirty-one, and before that…well, that was me at thirty thousand, but what about the others? Are they all crazy, too?”
“Totally. And it seems to be going around. I saved a puppy, for God’s sake! You’d think I’d just deflected a comet that would have wiped out all of civilization. It’s insane the way women have reacted.”
She gazed at him in astonishment. He truly didn’t know how appealing he’d looked staggering out of the lake with Bobo in his arms. He didn’t understand that a single act had branded him as selfless, brave, sensitive and strong, besides being easy on the eyes. Maybe he didn’t realize how women everywhere longed for that combination in a man and went a little berserk when they found it.
From his perspective, she was a weirdo with far too much money for her own good. If she put herself in his place, she might have had the same thoughts. If a guy had this much attention lavished on him and hadn’t started believing his own press, he had to be something special. He might be exactly what she needed for her mother. But first she had to get him to trust her.
“Okay,” she said. “I was only trying to save you cab fare by paying for the entire ride myself. If you would rather, we can go to my place first and then you can take the cab to wherever you live. I’ll pay for my leg, but you’ll have to pay for yours.”
“You’ve already paid thousands of dollars to be with me. You don’t have to pick up my cab fare.” He gave her a wry grin. “At least let a guy hang on to his pride.”
Oh, you’ve hung on to more than your pride, Jonah, she thought. But she didn’t speak the compliment aloud. Thinking that she was a predatory female, he would only misinterpret it. Instead she gave the driver her address and the cab pulled into traffic.
2
JONAH THOUGHT the guys at the station would get a laugh out of this one. A beautiful, rich woman had just paid thirty-three thousand dollars for the pleasure of his company and had even hinted that she’d be willing to go up to his apartment tonight. And he, being such a genius, had rejected her subtle suggestion.
The guys already thought he was nuts for turning aside all the offers that had come his way since the puppy episode, but they might look at things differently if they were walking in his size twelves. Having one or two women flirt with you was one thing. Being mobbed was something else completely.
In the past few weeks he’d become gun-shy. He expected every woman he met to make a move on him. Yet Natalie sat on her side of the cab and there was nothing predatory in her expression at all. She looked just the way he remembered her from the park, except fancier with her white fur coat, which made her look like a princess in a winter carnival.
He
