The Man Tamer

“I wouldn’t have any idea what was going on. I don’t know anything about the game.”

“If you’re going to be hanging out with me, it’s time you learned.”

“And am I going to be hanging out with you?”

Their eyes met and he felt again the rush of blood straight south. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that, do you?”

She looked away, but a slow smile formed on her lips. “Are you sure you’re up for it?”

“Oh yeah.” This might be one time when he really lived up to his nickname “Wild Man.”

RACHEL WAITED until the next day to return Rhonda’s call. She drummed her nails on the smooth surface of her desk and counted the rings while she waited for her sister to answer. Four…five…“Hello?”

“Finally. What took you so long?”

“I was driving and I had to find a place to pull over,” Rhonda said.

Heaven forbid big sister live dangerously. “That’s what headsets are for,” Rachel said.

“Tell that to all those headset-wearing people with banged-up cars. But I know you didn’t call me to argue about cell phones and driving. What’s up?”

“You called me,” Rachel said. “Last night?”

“Oh, yes. Why didn’t you answer then? What were you doing?”

Engaging in what amounted to verbal foreplay with a very sexy man, Rachel thought. She ought to say just that and shock her big sister, but then Rhonda would probably feel compelled to lecture her on safe sex or the evils of promiscuity or something. Not that Rachel was promiscuous, but she didn’t feel like debating the point with Rhonda. “I was busy,” she said. “What do you want?”

“I want to know if you’ve abandoned this crazy idea of going on television with this whole man-taming thing.”

Of course. Rhonda lived in fear that one of her society friends would learn she was related to the woman who wrote the Man Taming column for Belinda magazine. All that talk about sex—so tacky, don’t you know? “Why would I abandon the idea?” Rachel said. “It’s a great idea and it’s going to be very successful.”

“You could be successful in so many other ways,” Rhonda said. “You don’t have to stoop to this.”

Of course Rhonda saw all this talk about sex as beneath her or her sister. Rachel bit back an angry retort and decided to take a different approach—one that relied on one of her own positive reinforcement principles. “I saw the article about the Winter Fantasy ball,” she said. “Congratulations.”

As Rachel had hoped, her words threw Rhonda off balance. There was a long silence, then Rhonda cleared her throat. “Thank you,” she said. “I was really honored to be named official hostess.”

Rachel resisted the urge to laugh. After all the money Harrison had donated to the effort, if Rhonda hadn’t been named hostess, heads would have rolled. “I’m sure you’ll do a great job,” she said.

“Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?” Rhonda asked.

Rachel did laugh this time. “What do you mean? You’re my sister. Can’t I be nice to my sister?”

“I get it. You’re just trying to make it up to me for embarrassing me all these months with that column of yours.”

“If you’re embarrassed, that’s your problem, not mine,” Rachel said coolly. “I’m very proud of my work.”

“Oh please. Man taming?” Rhonda lowered her voice. “It sounds so…so slutty.”

Rachel laughed again. “Obviously you’ve never read my column or you’d know that it has nothing to do with sex. In fact, maybe you ought to read it. You might learn something that would help your marriage.”

“My marriage is just fine, thank you very much.” Rhonda’s voice was clipped, conveying her deep offense. Then she responded with a classic Rhonda retort. “At least I have a husband.”

“Never mind that,” Rachel snapped. “I’m sorry if it embarrasses you. You’ll just have to find a way to get over that.”

“I’m not thinking of me right now,” Rhonda said. “I’m thinking of you. No man in his right mind is going to want to be seen anywhere near a woman known as the Man Tamer. You might as well check yourself into a convent this minute.”

“A real man wouldn’t be threatened by the idea.” She tried not to sound defensive, but Rhonda must have heard something in her voice anyway.

“Tell me how many dates you’ve had since that column of yours started running?” Rhonda asked.

Rachel smiled. “I had a date just last night,” she said.

“Who with?”

“None of your business. I’m seeing him again on Friday.”

“You’d better tell me who it is.”

“Why should I?”

“If you don’t, I’ll tell Mom about the time you spent the weekend with that guitarist when you told her you were at the beach with friends.”

“That was five years ago.”

“You think Mom won’t care? She was a virgin when she married Dad, you know.” A fact both girls had heard often in their teen years, much to their deep embarrassment.

“I know.” Rachel hesitated, imagining the lectures she’d have to endure from their mother, who still clung to the fantasy that a woman who had remained single in her late twenties was as pure as a preadolescent milkmaid. “All right, it’s Garret Kelly.”

“Who?” Rhonda was no doubt searching her mental database of socially prominent eligible bachelors and coming up blank. Which meant her sister was dating a nobody. The horror!

Rachel’s smile broadened. “Garret Kelly. Star of the Dallas Devils lacrosse team.”

“Oh. An athlete.” Worse than a nobody to Rhonda’s way of thinking.

“Hey, he’s a great guy and a lot of fun.”

“Just what I want in a serious relationship,” Rhonda said dryly. “You’re almost thirty. You can’t play the party girl forever.”

“I will if it will keep me from acting like someone who sucks lemons for fun,” Rachel said. “Listen, this has been a ball, but I’ve got work to do. Goodbye.”

Before Rhonda could say anything else, Rachel hung up, then sat back and stared at the phone. The two sisters knew just what to say to push each other’s buttons, so that almost every conversation became a verbal duel.

Usually, Rachel enjoyed sparring with Rhonda. Big sister was so predictable. It was fun to poke holes in Rhonda’s inflated sense of propriety.

But today she found little joy in the aftermath of this conversation. She’d secretly hoped that by acknowledging the importance to Rhonda of chairing the Winter Fantasy ball that her sister might extend a similar olive branch and be happy—for once—that Rachel’s career was going great and that she was about to realize her dream of her own television show.

If not that, then couldn’t Rhonda have been more excited about Rachel’s date with Garret Kelly? Couldn’t they have laughed and shared confidences, the way sisters were supposed to do?