Marriage In Six Easy Lessons

OVER RITA’S OBJECTIONS, April led the way past the sign on the door that announced the Rocking Eagles were appearing that night. She claimed a small table in the far corner. The room was dark, except for the flashes of color coming from roaming klieg lights. A billboard by the door announced Sullivan’s band—suddenly the other patrons began to cheer and called for the band to begin.

The stage darkened. The slow, sensuous beat of a drum sounded. A bass guitar joined in, then a keyboard. An unseen voice began to sing. Pandemonium broke out. The small dance floor in front of the bandstand became a sea of swaying bodies.

“Where’s Sullivan?” Rita shouted above the noise.

April’s eyes were riveted to the stage. “I don’t see him. Maybe this isn’t his band, after all.”

April climbed onto her chair to get a better look at the musicians on the stage. The drummer wore black slacks and a black T-shirt. A red bandanna held back his long hair. The bass player wore black jeans and a red T-shirt with Rocking Eagles emblazoned across the front. The keyboard player was also in red and black, clearly the band’s colors.

But where was Sullivan?

Suddenly the drummer beat a sort of drumroll, and another band member, this one in black leather pants and an open black shirt and wielding a red guitar, leaped onto the stage. He grabbed the microphone and began to sing a song about the train being late at the station. Dazed, April took the words to mean that he’d been too late to tell his girl he loved her in time to claim her for his own.

She took a closer look. Sullivan?

April climbed down from her chair and sat. Either the man was Sullivan’s identical twin or she’d been had. How else could the man have come up with an article like his with a straight face?

“What a hottie!” Rita exclaimed admiringly. “If that’s the guy you were talking about, April, you’ve got yourself a real man!”

April’s head swam. “Save your breath, the man’s not mine. After tonight, I’m not even sure what I’d do with him if he were!”

She grabbed Rita by the wrist. “I’ve got to get out of here before the lights come on and Sullivan sees me.”

Rita hung back. “We just got here! I’m having a great time!”

“I’m not, and we’re leaving,” April said with a nervous glance at the stage. Sullivan had turned his back on the audience and was sliding sensually across the stage, his leather-clad behind eliciting cheers from female fans. She gulped. “Hurry! I’ll make it up to you, I swear. I’ll even take you out for a hamburger on the way home.”

“A hamburger isn’t going to make up for missing Sullivan move that tush of his,” Rita said with a longing look at the stage. “Who would have thought it?”

“Not me,” April said as she realized she would never be able to look Lucas straight in the eyes again without seeing his swaying hips and naked chest.

Chapter Three

The next morning, April made a point to be in her office early. A rock musician might be unpredictable, but the man who wrote “The Mating Game” was bound to be on time.

As she settled down at her desk, she thought about the rule “A woman must strive for compatibility, rather than try to be sexy.”

Compatibility was okay with her, she told herself. The sexy part was definitely out.

Until she glanced down at her new sea-green linen suit and the form-fitting silk blouse. Then there was her perfume, a scent that had cost her a bundle and she almost never wore. The glimpse of Sullivan performing on stage last night must have muddled her thinking. Why else would she have gone to such lengths to look so feminine today? So sexy.

Was it because she believed in the popular scientific theory that the basis for the mating game was a search for someone with the right stuff? And that she’d found it in Sullivan?

Was it because, in defiance of his conclusions in his article, she was out to show him the attraction between the sexes was more important than rational thinking?

Or because Sullivan’s sexuality had gotten to her?

Impossible!

To her dismay, Sullivan found her in the midst of her mental debate.

“Good morning,” he said cheerfully.

“Good morning.” April caught herself before something about his performance last night escaped her lips. She didn’t want him to know she’d been there. “How was last night?”

“Great!” He yawned before he sat down. “Sorry, I was up late. Couldn’t sleep. How about you?”

“I slept like a baby, thank you.” The truth was, she hadn’t slept much last night, either. “So I took a closer look at the article, and as I was saying yesterday…” Her voice trailed off. How could she focus on business when the vision of a pair of perfect buns encased in black leather kept getting in the way?

She studied Sullivan. His eyes were half closed. He didn’t appear any more interested in the business at hand than she was. “Lucas?”

He took a deep breath and sat up straighter. “Yes?”

“You’re not paying attention to what I’m saying.”

“Sorry. I’m afraid I’m a little groggy after last night.” Lucas knew the lack of sleep wasn’t the only thing wrong with him today. It was April Morgan’s scent, her enchanting feminine appearance.

The lush auburn hair that fell softly around her face and the lips that begged to be kissed.

He forced himself to focus on business. “I was hoping you’ve reconsidered asking me to make changes.”

“No, actually there are still a few. That is, if you want me to take your article seriously.” She settled her glasses on her nose and picked up a red pencil. “Perhaps—”

Before she could go on, a young woman with a glint in her eye came into the office. “Is there anything I can do for you, April?”

April smothered a groan. Judging from the avid interest in the intruder’s wide blue eyes as she gazed at Sullivan, an introduction was expected.

“Lucas, this is Tiffany Waters. She’s our college intern and works for us in the summers. Tiffany, this is Lucas Sullivan. We were discussing an article Mr. Sullivan submitted for publication.”

Sullivan stood politely. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Waters.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” a breathless Tiffany said as she held out her hand for Sullivan to take. She gazed soulfully into his eyes. “Really, really nice.”

Obviously Tiffany, too, had managed to see beneath the man’s academic exterior. A man who not only was the target of a blatant sexual invitation but was returning it, if April were to judge by the way he held Tiffany’s hand a little too long and returned her gaze.

Was this the same man who, only yesterday, had appeared uncomfortable around women? Or had she been the only woman he was uncomfortable with?

“Thank you, Tiffany, but we have everything we need.” April escorted the mesmerized intern to the door. “Before you try to seduce the man,” she told her under her breath, “let me tell you that Mr. Sullivan is an academic more accustomed to books than people. Even if you were able to lure him into bed, I’m not sure he would know what to do with you.”

Doubtful, Tiffany glanced back over her shoulder. “You think, April? Gee, what a waste of good material!”

“I think,” April said as she moved Tiffany closer to the door. “Trust me, he’s definitely not the type a vibrant young woman like yourself should become involved with.”

With April occupied persuading a reluctant Tiffany to move on, Lucas turned away to look out the window at the clusters of cumulus clouds floating across Chicago’s skyline. April had a lot to learn about him, namely that there was nothing wrong with his hearing, nor with his manhood and skills in the bedroom.

He wouldn’t know what to do with a woman like Tiffany? When hell froze over!

As for April, if he read the sparks in her eyes correctly, and he was damn sure he did, there was a banked fire burning inside her waiting to be ignited. Why a man hadn’t already staked out his territory was a puzzle. It just wasn’t going to be him.