An Engagement Of Convenience

“Has it occurred to you that maybe my father’s scheme to involve me with you and your kids could turn out to benefit both of us?”

Wide-eyed, Lili stared at him. “Your father’s interest in me as your future wife is a good thing?”

“Yes.” Tom flushed at the skepticism in her voice, but hurried on. “I know it sounds crazy, but try to see things my way. If I bring you to dinner Friday and give the impression we’re an item, he’ll lay off needling me to get married. He’s bound to let nature take its course. And he’ll do everything he can to support your case to keep the center open.”

Aware that Tom’s interest in her wasn’t the kind she’d wished for, Lili still found herself considering his strange proposal.

How could she turn her back on a man who had every right to fire her for causing him problems, but had not?

How could she turn her back on the man her heart and soul had yearned for these past two years, even though she now knew her feelings were not reciprocated?

“I will have to think about this,” she finally replied, her mind whirling at Tom’s proposal. “But not about this talk of engagements and wedding bells,” she added firmly. “If I decide to go to dinner with you, it will only be as your date for the evening, nothing more.”

Tom was disappointed. Being seen with Lili for only one night wasn’t going to cut it. His father would need more than that to stop pressuring Tom. “You’re sure about that?”

“Yes. I must make certain your father realizes I have too many responsibilities to even consider such a commitment. I will bring the twins to prove the point. Agreed?”

What she didn’t add was that even if he did reciprocate her feelings, she would never consider marrying a man who seemed so uncomfortable with children.

“You’d bring the twins?”

Lili nodded. “Your father did invite them.”

Tom swallowed a groan. Children creating bedlam in a park were harmless—if you didn’t count his encounter with the soccer ball, that is. The thought of little Paul investigating Homer’s precious collection of Mayan artifacts was actually frightening. As for the athletic Paulette, heaven only knew what havoc she might create in his father’s penthouse before the evening was through.

“Are you really sure you’d want to bring the twins?” he asked, glancing at the lively soccer game still going on. “Kids don’t seem to sit still for very long.”

Once again Lili realized how very limited Tom’s experience with children was. No wonder he couldn’t relate to her fight to try to keep the center open.

“That’s true,” she agreed with a smile. “I’m sure your father will change his mind about wanting readymade grandchildren when he sees how active my twins are.”

Even active children wouldn’t change his father’s mind, Tom thought, but he said nothing. Homer had been too busy to share Tom’s interest in baseball when Tom was growing up, but it looked as if his father was determined to have grandchildren while he was still spry enough to enjoy them. Even lively stepgrandchildren would make him deliriously happy.

Tom had no choice. He had to tell Lili he was willing to go along with her plan to bring her children to dinner Friday night, and let the future take care of itself. And while the twins made his father happy, he would have a chance to get to know Lili outside working hours.

That included finding out how to keep her out of trouble while trying to think of a way to help in her crusade.

No sooner had Lili started to answer than Paul gave up his pursuit of the gopher and ran back to his mother. “Mama, I’m hungry.”

“Yes, of course.” She ruffled her son’s hair with a fond smile. “Find your sister and tell her we are about to have lunch. I will meet you by our blanket in a few minutes.” She held out her hand to Tom. “I am truly sorry for your accident,” she said somberly. “I hope you will feel better before Friday.”

“Actually, I feel great now that I’ve laid out the problem with my father.” Tom took Lili’s extended hand—another big mistake. Her warm, satiny skin sent his thoughts down roads he hadn’t intended to travel anytime soon, and especially not with a woman who seemed determined to go her own way. “I’ll see you back at the office in the morning. Then,” he added in a much more somber tone, “we’ll talk about finding who hired the airplane.”

Lili hid her uneasiness with a smile. She was sure Tom would track down the person who’d hired the airplane, and read her the riot act, but not if Lili found her first.

“About dinner,” Tom continued. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Pretending to be Tom’s date might fulfill a fantasy of hers, Lili thought, but how could she hide her true feelings for him in the process?

“If the idea of pretending to be my date bothers you, then forget it, Lili,” Tom said when she remained silent. “I just thought I could make my father happy, and we’d both get what we wanted out of this.”

“What we both wanted?” For a moment Lili forgot about the day care and feared Tom must know how she felt about him. She began to regret her impulsive response to the dinner invitation.

“Sure,” Tom said. “I’d have a pretend fiancée, and you’d have my protection if Riverview’s management found out you were the brains behind the protest.” He studied her closely. “That is, if you stayed out of trouble.”

Lili swallowed the lump in her throat at the veiled threat. As far as she could tell, she needed protection from Tom rather than from the building’s management. Well, she thought with a determined smile, two could play this game.

She met his questioning gaze with a direct look of her own and wondered how she could set matters straight with him and still go on with her crusade. Maybe he thought she was naive about male-female relationships. What he didn’t realize was that French-women knew all there was to know about the mating game. They’d invented it.

“I will think more about this bargain you speak of,” she told Tom, trying to ignore the hollow feeling in her middle. “I will give you my answer tomorrow at work.”

“Is that a yes?”

“No.” Lili returned her son’s wave. “It is a maybe.”

Chapter Four

The Riverview’s cafeteria was humming at noon on Monday. Not with the usual office gossip, but with a spirited debate on who could have initiated yesterday’s sensational plane flyover at Lincoln Park. Some people thought it was intended to be a joke, others a conspiracy. But apparently everyone agreed the stunt had been the highlight of the employees’ annual picnic.

Lili was pleased to hear that the debate wasn’t limited to Today’s World staff. There was some conjecture about possible consequences if the culprit was found, but the general feeling seemed to be that more people would be joining in the effort to keep the center open. There was even talk that if the management didn’t see the light, some kind of strike should be organized!

She made her way to a table in the far corner where she, April and Rita usually met for lunch. Lili was pretty sure Rita was the person who had hired the plane, and she was planning to confront her in their secluded niche.

As she took her seat, Lili studied the initials on a heart someone had carved into the wooden tabletop—the same table where she and her friends had at one time plotted April’s successful conquest of Lucas Sullivan. Ditto for Rita’s unexpected marriage to former Texas Ranger Colby Callahan, which had been followed by a honeymoon in Bermuda.

If only the corner didn’t carry so many romantic memories, Lili thought wistfully. For her, it was a constant reminder of her unrealistic attraction to Tom Eldridge.

Asking her friends’ advice about Tom’s proposal would have to wait. Today, she had a more important mission.

The excited buzz of conversation around her was growing, and Lili wondered if the situation was getting out of hand. The last thing she wanted was for the building’s management to close the door to any type of negotiation.

“Hi, Lili!” Rita walked up with her lunch tray. “Your message sounded important. What’s up?”

“Several things,” Lili said, trying to ignore the raised voices around her. To add to her unease, someone at a nearby table was taking bets as to what would happen when the culprit was found. Another voice proposed taking up a collection in support of that person. If she hadn’t already known she had to do something to calm the situation, Lili knew it now.

She also had to do something about Rita.

“First of all,” Lili stated in an undertone, “I know I asked you and April to help me try to keep the center open. It’s just that one or both of you went too far.”

Rita, by now having caught the drift of the conversations around them, nodded cautiously as she picked up her sandwich. “Yeah, I heard something about the plane. So?”

“Well,” Lili continued, glancing around to make sure they weren’t being overheard, “I think the person who hired the plane had to be you.”

Rita paused in midbite. “Say again?”

Lili wasn’t going to take that as a denial, no matter how innocent her friend tried to look. “If you’d been at the picnic yesterday, you’d know what I’m talking about.”

“Sounds cool. Sorry I missed it. Actually, I was home enjoying being a new bride. Colby and I are still honeymooning.” Rita grinned and went back to her lunch.