Marriage In Six Easy Lessons

Too bad, he mused as he watched April at the door with Tiffany. April might not know it, but she was all woman, the type who got under a man’s skin faster than the Tiffanys of the world.

She was tall enough to fit comfortably under his chin, he mused as he made an inventory of her shapely figure. Just the right size to cradle in his arms and to explore her chameleon eyes. Even if she didn’t fit the description of what made women desirable in his article, he was attracted to her.

After all, his article merely recapped his thesis that sexual attraction wasn’t of primary importance. His underlying thesis was that the domestic and companionship qualities of a relationship were. Was it his fault that his conclusions were being interpreted as a series of rules for a woman to get her man?

That brought him back to April.

Lucas sighed as his thoughts drifted down sensual paths he’d been too busy to visit before he’d met April. It seemed he wasn’t that busy now.

“Are you with me, Lucas?”

April’s question caught his attention. With her? Definitely, for all the good it would do him. “Sorry, why don’t you run whatever it was you said by me one more time?”

She was back at her desk, peering over her reading glasses. “I said it might be a good idea to rename your article in order to catch the attention of our readers. What do you think of calling it ‘Sullivan’s Rules’?”

Lucas thought for a moment. “Okay,” he agreed reluctantly, “but please remember these aren’t really rules. What you see there are conclusions based on an empirical study.”

“So you’ve said,” April agreed with a tight smile.

“Anything else?” Lucas idly wondered if April was aware of how attractive she looked with her reading glasses slipping lower on her adorable nose. Or if she realized how charming she looked when her single dimple betrayed her inner thoughts by dancing across her right cheek?

Was she laughing at him again?

“Frankly,” April continued, “I do have a few other minor comments.”

Lucas caught himself admiring the graceful curve of her neck. “Okay. Say, how about I call you April, instead of Ms. Morgan?”

Taken by surprise, April took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “If it will make you feel more comfortable.” She pointed to a paragraph and read aloud. “‘A woman must rein in her own desires to promote the health of a relationship.’” She paused for effect. “Sounds like Victorian thinking, don’t you agree?”

“For today’s marriage, yes,” Lucas agreed. “For companionship, no. A number of my friends have live-in companions and seem happy enough. However, I’ve found that most men still prefer to take the lead in a permanent relationship.”

“Before or after the woman tries to make her man feel masculine? Or before she makes an effort not to influence him by being sexy?”

“Well, when you put it that way…” He tried not to dwell on the way the color of her eyes deepened when she was disturbed.

“Exactly,” she agreed, and put her glasses back on. “Let’s move on. How about women showering their men with affection? Shouldn’t that be left out, too? Or haven’t you considered that the close physical proximity that showering affection might entail would break your rules for a premarital relationship?”

“Not if the parties set the ground rules before they enter the relationship.” Lucas tried to ignore an inner warning voice reminding him he was letting his testosterone get in the way of rational thinking. “Intelligent people shouldn’t allow their bodies to rule their minds.”

April smothered a comment. If he actually believed that garbage, where was the man in the black leather pants? The tight black leather pants. “Mind over matter—right. An interesting theory, but you seem to have forgotten the most important factors in the search for a lasting relationship.”

Lucas shifted uneasily in his chair and glanced at the door. Things were getting a little too warm for comfort. He would have given a bundle for another interruption. “And what factors are they?”

“There’s that popular scientific theory about the subconscious instinctive desire to find a mate with strong genes.”

“Of course.” Lucas shrugged. “However, it was my intention to show the sociological aspect of the mating game, not to dwell on what amounts to little more than what I call biolust.”

Biolust! April bit her lower lip to keep from bursting into laughter. “Interesting theory. So tell me—how have your rules worked for you?”

“I wasn’t looking for a mate,” he answered. “I was merely making important sociological observations.”

“While we’re at it,” April continued with a hopeless glance at his article, “how about love? Or isn’t falling in love supposed to enter the picture?”

Lucas thought of haunting memories of his warring parents, their sorry relationship, a divorce, remarriage and the subsequent death of his mother.

“Love is a transitory emotion and can be controlled,” he said. “Especially since it’s what gets in the way of an intelligent choice for a marital partner. At best, love only exists in novels and movies.”

Lucas paused to admire the fascinating golden sparks in April’s eyes.

“Lucas? You’ve gone somewhere else again!”

“Sorry,” he said. “Look, you’re quarreling over a serious study, April. Tom didn’t seem to think I was off base when he called me and asked me to write the article you have there.”

“That’s because he’s a man.” Or a true chauvinist like Sullivan himself. “However, since our magazine has more female than male readers, I honestly think you should try to lighten it up before it gets published.”

He looked incredulous. “The article was drawn from an empirical study. How the hell can it be lightened up?”

“Well, maybe you need to use a tongue-in-cheek approach. Or if you don’t like that, maybe a few female opinions are needed to sway you.”

Lucas straightened. “Are you’re going to offer me yours?”

The flame in April’s eyes grew brighter. “Are you asking?”

“Sure,” Lucas said, confident that April wouldn’t be able to come up with any valid reasons to change his article. Hell, if he began to doubt his research methods or his conclusions, he might as well admit to doubting himself. “I’m game. Go ahead.”

As far as he was concerned, the gauntlet had been thrown down and he was man enough to pick it up. Between Tom Eldridge’s remark about setting the magazine’s readership on fire with the article and April’s challenge to lighten it up, he could hardly sit by and just become an amusing topic of dinner conversation.

April considered giving him the whole nine yards of her opinion. If only the mental picture of the man as he’d appeared last night on stage didn’t keep getting in the way.

On the other hand, the idea of giving Sullivan a few lessons on what went on in the real world, instead of in books, became more enticing by the minute.

Of course, educating him wasn’t going to be easy. Like most of the men she’d already dubbed a “Sullivan,” he seemed to have the ability to compartmentalize the various areas of his life. As far as she was concerned, it was nothing more than tunnel vision.

She took off her glasses again. “To tell you the truth, I’ve decided not to waste time telling you what I think. I intend to take you out and show you. Humanize you a little.”

“I’m all yours,” he replied casually. “When do we begin?”

“Hot coffee, tea or…” To April’s dismay, the young office gofer, Arthur Putnam, cheerfully rolled a refreshment cart to the office door.

“Not now, Arthur, but thanks for the offer,” April said with a careful eye on Lucas. “We’re really busy here.”

Lucas held up his hand. “Just a minute, please. I don’t know about you, April, but after last night I could use a cup of strong, black coffee.”

Arthur’s eyes lit up at the mention of last night. “It’s not what you’re thinking, Arthur,” April said hastily. “Mr. Sullivan performed in a rock and roll band last night.”

Arthur closed his mouth. After a dubious glance at Lucas, he shrugged. “If you say so.”

Lucas reached into his jacket pocket, extracted a card and wrote on the back of it. “Drop in anytime—as my guest.”