“No conceit in your family, right?”
His smile disclosed white teeth, even on top, but with one slightly out of line on the bottom. It made him more real, she observed, not quite so movie-star perfect.
She gasped when he laid a hand on her wrist.
“Easy.” He proceeded to take her pulse, then looked at her gravely. “Almost a hundred beats per minute.”
Jerking away from the incredibly gentle touch that spread fire through her skin, she informed him, “It’s none of your business. You aren’t my doctor. I’m not going with you Monday—don’t expect me to be at the airport.”
“So, you like causing your family concern. Because it keeps you the center of attention?”
“Oh,” she muttered. “You…you…”
“Baboon?” he supplied, lightly tossing the word out, his ego obviously not dented in the least.
Refusing to dignify the situation with an answer, she stared out at the eighteenth green where two couples completed their game.
A mist blurred her vision for a second. She swallowed hard as agony, which she could usually hold at bay, rushed over her.
“There are other things in life besides dancing,” he said softly, his fingers gliding along her forearm as if to soothe the troubling emotion.
She recoiled from any possible pity he might feel toward her. “Not for me,” she stated, staring him straight in the eye.
He shrugged and rose. “It’s your life. But my offer still stands.” He walked off.
Two
Sunday morning, Michael arrived at the country club with fifteen minutes to spare before tee time. He grabbed his golf bag and joined Flynt Carson and Tyler Murdoch in front of the pro shop.
“Spence can’t make it,” Flynt informed the other two. “He’s tied up on a case.”
“The Carl Bridges case, I assume,” Tyler muttered.
Michael didn’t know Tyler all that well, but he liked and respected what he’d seen of him. The man was an engineer of some kind for the military. There was a darkness about him, a fierceness that could be intimidating in his hawklike glance. He played one hell of a game of golf and had the lowest handicap of any of them.
“I would guess so. Matt is going to join us,” Flynt continued. “If he can tear himself away.”
Michael grinned along with the other two men. He wondered what it was about newlywed bliss that mellowed out men. Both Flynt and Matt showed signs of going soft in the head since their marriages. It wasn’t something he and Tyler were apt to experience. They were dedicated career men.
“I heard Michael here isn’t a possible father to Lena,” Tyler continued. “I finally grabbed a minute and went over to the clinic for the test. We’ll know in a few days if I’m a match.” He snorted in obvious disbelief.
Flynt checked his watch, then peered down the road with a frown. Matt was late. Michael glanced at the clock behind the desk where the golf pro looked over some papers. They had two minutes until they were supposed to tee off.
Tyler yawned and stretched. “I’ll give you ten to one that the unknown daddy is ol’ Luke.”
“You think?” Flynt questioned affably.
“Damn right,” Tyler affirmed. “He’s probably off with some gal at a tropical island getaway right this moment. The P.I. we hired will have a time following Luke’s path among women the world over.”
“I admit Luke disappears pretty regularly. The only thing predictable about his comings and goings is that they are totally unpredictable,” Flynt explained to Michael.
Michael knew of Luke’s reputation as an international playboy. The multimillionaire could afford the lifestyle.
“Anybody going to take my bet?” Tyler demanded. “A hundred dollars on Luke is my offer.”
“Not me,” Flynt said.
“Nor me,” Michael echoed. “It’s time to go. Do we give up our slot and wait, or head out?”
“We’ll start,” Flynt decided. “Matt can catch up.”
The three claimed their golf cart and headed for the first tee. Running footsteps warned them of Matt’s arrival a few seconds later. “Sorry,” he puffed, tossing his bag into the back of the cart. “Rose was sick this morning.”
Michael nodded. “It’s common with preg—” He broke off, worried that Matt might not want to discuss his bride’s condition.
“Pregnant women,” Matt finished. “I know, but I’ve never been around one before. It’s alarming.”
While Flynt and Matt discussed pregnancy and its symptoms with great earnestness, Tyler rolled his eyes and winked at Michael, who chuckled as he walked up to the tee and hit his first ball of the day.
All in all, a satisfying game, he thought later, heading for the Yellow Rose Café and lunch after coming in second, right behind Tyler. Sunshine. Golf. Friends. The good life.
Matt called home on his cell phone once they were seated. “Rose is fine,” he reported when he hung up. “She’s having lunch with her mom and sister.”
“I met Susan Wainwright yesterday,” Michael told them. “She called me a baboon after I nearly ran her down in the street. I hope Rose is easier to deal with than her sister.”
He immediately regretted the lapse in good manners, and even a possible doctor-patient relationship, assuming the stubborn ballerina showed up tomorrow for the checkup.
Matt didn’t seem to notice the criticism of his new sister-in-law. “The sisters are diametrically opposite. Rose is gentle and kind…well, not that Susan isn’t,” he hastily amended. “She’s had a lot on her mind of late.”
“The heart condition?” Flynt asked.
“Yes. She’s been taken off the ballet roster until she has a thorough checkup and her doctor’s written okay to return. She’s pretty mad about that. Rose is worried.” Matt looked at Michael. “You know, you might talk to her and see if you can make her listen to reason.”
Michael gave his friend a skeptical smile. “I already offered my services. After our little run-in, I think it would take a major miracle before she would see me.”
Daisy, the same waitress from the previous day, came by to take their orders. The place was rapidly filling up, and she looked a bit harried. Michael wondered if she had a crush on Flynt. She was staring at him in an intense way that sent up a caution flag.
Should he warn his golfing buddy to watch out for her?
“Listen, could you come to dinner tonight at the ranch?” Matt suddenly asked, disrupting Michael’s thoughts. “Maybe you could reassure Rose, answer some questions for her about Susan’s condition.
