A Mother's Wish: Wanted: Perfect Partner / Father's Day

“Exactly. We can’t allow them to force us into a relationship.”

He nodded. But if that was the case, he wondered, why did he experience the almost overwhelming desire to kiss her? All of a sudden, it bothered him that they were discussing strategies that would ensure the end of any contact between them.

He imagined leaning toward her, touching his lips to hers ….

There’s something wrong with this picture, Conlan, he said to himself, but he couldn’t keep from studying her—and picturing their kiss.

He’d been wrong about her face, he decided. She was beautiful, with classic features, large eyes, a full mouth. He’d trailed his finger down the curve of her cheek the first time they’d met, and now he did so a second time, mentally.

She knew what he was thinking. Steve swore she did. The pulse in her throat hammered wildly and she looked away.

Steve did, too. He didn’t know what was happening, didn’t want to know. He reached for his beer and gulped down two deep swallows.

What on earth was he doing? Rubbing her feet, thinking about kissing her. He didn’t need a woman messing up his life!

Especially a woman like Meg Remington.

“So you met Steve again,” Laura said. They sat on a bench in Lincoln Park enjoying huge ice-cream cones. A ferry eased toward the dock at Fauntleroy.

“Who told you that?” Meg answered, deciding to play dumb.

“Lindsey, who else? You really didn’t think you fooled her, did you?”

“No.” Clearly she had no talent for subterfuge.

“So tell me how your meeting went.”

Meg didn’t answer. She couldn’t. She wasn’t sure what, if anything, she and Steve had accomplished during their meeting at the bar. They’d come up with a plan to dissuade his sister and her daughter, but the more hours that passed, the more ridiculous it seemed. And Meg’s willingness, indeed her eagerness, to see Steve again was disturbing.

In retrospect she saw that it’d been a mistake for them to get together. All she could think about was how he’d lifted her legs onto his lap and rubbed the tired achiness away. There’d been a sudden explosion of awareness between them. A living, breathing, throbbing awareness.

Rarely had Meg wanted a man to kiss her more. Right in the middle of a sports bar, for heaven’s sake! It was the craziest thing to happen to her in years. That of itself was distressing, but what happened afterward baffled her even more.

Melting ice cream dripped onto her hand and Meg hurriedly licked it away.

“Meg?” Laura said, studying her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said, laughing off her friend’s concern. “What could possibly be wrong?”

“You haven’t been yourself the last couple of days.”

“Sure I have,” she said, then deciding it was pointless to go on lying, she blurted out the truth. “I’m afraid I could really fall for this guy.”

Laura laughed. “What’s so awful about that?”

“For one thing, he isn’t interested in me.”

This time Laura eyed her suspiciously. “What makes you think that?”

“Several things.”

Laura bit into her waffle cone. “Name one.”

“Well, he wanted to meet so we could figure out a way to keep the kids from manipulating our lives.”

“That sounds suspiciously like an excuse to see you again,” Laura murmured.

“Trust me, it wasn’t. Steve did everything but come right out and say he’s not interested in me.”

“You’re sure about this?”

“Of course I am! There was ample opportunity for him to suggest we get to know each other better, and he didn’t.” She’d assumed Steve had experienced the same physical attraction she had, but maybe she’d been wrong.

Lindsey and Brenda had insisted she still had it. All Meg could say was that recent experience had proven otherwise. Whatever it was had long since deserted her.

“Did it occur to you that he might’ve been waiting for you to suggest something?” Laura asked.

“No,” Meg told her frankly. Steve wasn’t a man who took his cues from a woman. If he wanted something or someone, he’d make it known. If he wanted to continue to see her, he would’ve said so.

“There’s got to be more than that.”

“There is.” Meg took a deep breath. “I was just getting ready to tell you. Steve came up with the idea originally, but I agreed.”

“To what?”

Meg stood and found the closest garbage receptacle to dump what remained of her ice cream. “Before I tell you, remember I’d been drinking beer on an empty stomach.” Okay, she’d had the pretzels.

“This doesn’t sound promising,” Laura said.

“It isn’t.” Drawing in another deep breath, she sat down on the park bench again. “We realized that the louder we protested and the more often we said we weren’t attracted to each other, the less likely either Lindsey or Nancy will believe us.”

“There’s a problem with this scenario,” Laura muttered.

“There is?”

“Yes. You are interested in Steve. Very interested.” Laura gave her a look that said Meg hadn’t fooled her.

Meg glanced away. “I don’t want to confuse the issue with that.”

“All right, go on,” Laura said with a wave of her hand.

“Steve thinks the only possible way we have of convincing Lindsey that he’s not the right person for me is if he starts dating me and—”

“See?” Laura said triumphantly. “He’s interested. Don’t you get it? This idea of his is just an excuse.”

“I doubt it.” Meg could see no reason for him to play games if he truly wanted a relationship with her. “You can come over this evening if you want and see for yourself.”

“See what?”