An Engagement Of Convenience

An Engagement Of Convenience Mollie Molay Employer, Enemy–Or Fiance?As a single mother of two, Lili Soule will do everything she can to save the day-care center in the building where she works, even if it means challenging Tom Eldridge, her handsome boss. She can't really afford to put her job on the line, but she also can't afford to find other arrangements for the twins.Tom Eldridge is in a bind–stuck between building management, a demanding father who wants Tom to settle down right now, and the irksome Ms. Soule. Then a chance encounter with Lili and her two children gives him an idea that will solve all his problems in one fell swoop….So just when Lili thinks she's going to have to put up the fight of her life, Tom offers her a proposal she's having trouble refusing! Tom wandered over to the fireplace mantel, where a photograph of a smiling man in uniform held a place of honor Alongside it was a wedding picture of a smiling bride and groom, as well as small snapshots of the twins as babies, held by their smiling father. Since there were no later pictures of the family together, he guessed that Paul Sr. had died soon after the twins’ birth. In spite of his earlier determination not to become emotionally involved with Lili, her past, present or future, Tom felt a tug at his heart. So much for being all business. Dear Reader, My three-book series SULLIVAN’S RULES features stories of three women who work for a magazine in Chicago, Illinois. The first release, Marriage in Six Easy Lessons (AR #1023), was the story of April Morgan and Lucas Sullivan, the man who created six rules about what a woman must be to participate in the mating game. April, his editor, sets Lucas straight. To their surprise, the lessons lead to marriage. The second book, How To Marry the Boy Next Door (AR #1048), was the story of Rita Rosales. Rita has her own ideas about love and marriage. Physical attraction aside, she feels that a man has to have strong genes to pass on to her children. To Rita’s surprise, the man who qualifies is Texas Ranger Colby Callahan, the boy who lived next door in Texas. This final book in the series, An Engagement of Convenience, is the story of Lili Soul?, a single mother and a graphic artist for the magazine. Taken with the editor, Tom Eldridge, Lili yearns for him to notice her. What she does to draw his attention motivates Tom to suggest an engagement of convenience so that he can keep an eye on Lili before she brings the magazine down around his ears. I think there’s a little of April, Rita and Lili in all of us. Enjoy. Mollie Molay An Engagement of Convenience Mollie Molay www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk) To Child Care Centers everywhere and to the loving and caring people who run them. Books by Mollie Molay HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE 938—THE DUCHESS AND HER BODYGUARD * (#litres_trial_promo) 947—SECRET SERVICE DAD * (#litres_trial_promo) 954—COMMANDER’S LITTLE SURPRISE * (#litres_trial_promo) 987—MY BIG FAKE GREEN-CARD WEDDING 1023—MARRIAGE IN SIX EASY LESSONS † (#litres_trial_promo) 1048—HOW TO MARRY THE BOY NEXT DOOR † (#litres_trial_promo) 1071—AN ENGAGEMENT OF CONVENIENCE † (#litres_trial_promo) Sullivan’s Rules 1 A happy relationship requires that a woman make her man feel masculine. 2 While a man is not monogamous by nature, he is more likely to see a woman as a potential girlfriend or mate if sexual intimacy doesn’t occur too soon. 3 A woman must rein in her own desires to promote the health of a relationship. 4 A woman must strive for compatibility, rather than try to be sexy. 5 A woman must show her man how much she likes and appreciates him. She must shower him with affection and sublimate her own daily frustrations. 6 A woman must be supportive, fun loving, easygoing and generous in her praise of a man’s achievements. Contents Chapter One (#uc80373be-cdce-5ce3-b516-9a80cbfc9fda) Chapter Two (#u4f25532d-3b1e-5ae2-8a58-376d68933f72) Chapter Three (#u7de5b301-3a7b-5064-b588-8af6d1d21dd5) Chapter Four (#u36d5a8d9-478b-5aa5-8c8f-97ce2833c75b) Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo) Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo) Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo) Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo) Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo) Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo) Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo) Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo) Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo) Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo) Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo) Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo) Chapter One “So, you’re the one!” At the sound of her boss’s angry voice, Lili Soul? tried to cover the papers on her drafting table, but it was too late. The flier demanding that the management of the Riverview Building keep its child care center open was in full view—along with a charcoal sketch of Tom Eldridge, publisher of Today’s World magazine and Lili’s boss. For a man who took great pains to avoid associating with employees, Eldridge sounded friendly enough at weekly staff meetings. But he sure didn’t sound friendly now. Lili’s heart raced. She’d been working as a graphic artist at the magazine for two years, and her crush on the publisher was as strong as ever. Tom Eldridge was six feet of rugged masculinity, with a square jaw and chocolate-brown eyes—eyes that were unmistakably angry as he regarded the damning evidence. The frown that creased his forehead did nothing to calm her racing heart, but now that her identity as the child care center’s staunchest advocate was out in the open, she intended to defend herself. She nodded cautiously. “So you’re the person who’s been circulating fliers and a petition to keep the day care center open?” he asked. Lili tried to hide her discomfort as she looked up at him. “Someone has to do it.” His scowl made her toes curl. “And that someone had to be you?” Lili couldn’t deny his accusation, not with the evidence right in front of her. The damage was done. Still, if ever there was a time to assert herself and her right to free speech, this was it. After all, she reminded herself, her cause was just. “Yes. I have twins in the after-school program. Once I heard that Riverview’s management might close the center, I felt I should do something before it was too late.” Her defiant reply seemed to surprise both of them. Raised in a small town in the south of France by grandparents who had taught her to treat everyone with respect no matter how she felt about them, Lili seldom raised her voice. Especially not around the office. Until today. Eldridge’s eyes narrowed. He pointed to the assignment sheet pinned to the corner of her drawing board. “With a family to support, I would have thought you’d be spending your time designing the magazine rather than causing trouble.” Lili swallowed hard. “Actually, I was working on the magazine, but other things got in the way.” “Yeah,” he agreed, glancing down at the betraying evidence. “It sure looks as if they did, and they’re causing problems for everyone, including me.” This time, Lili’s heart plunged to her toes, but she didn’t intend to back off. The center had provided day care for her children for the past two years. Now that the twins were in public school, she still needed after-school care. Besides, no matter how Eldridge felt about her underground activities, a lot of parents depended on her campaign. She wasn’t in this just for herself. “I heard that the building’s management has called a meeting of the tenants in two weeks to vote on the center’s closure,” she said when she realized that if she didn’t speak up, Eldridge might fire her. “I’m not the only parent in the building involved, but since I am the only artist, I felt it was up to me to create this flier.” “You might be an artist, but I’m sure you can still do the math, Lili,” Eldridge said. “Anyone who reads the newspapers has to be aware that insurance liability rates have gone up every year and are still climbing. So are the wages for well-trained caretakers and everything else that goes into a quality day care center like ours.” At his use of the word quality, Lili perked up. At least Eldridge recognized the center’s worth. “Yes,” she agreed. “But for the employees, it is both more convenient and less expensive than hiring baby-sitters.” “Perhaps,” he agreed, “but for tenants like this magazine, the costs of operating the center keep rising. I realize children’s welfare is involved here, but to the management, business is business.” “I know,” Lili agreed, wishing she weren’t so distracted by the sound of Tom’s voice, even when he was angry with her. “That is why the next thing I am going to do is start a fund-raising campaign.” Too late, she realized that by advertising her future plans, she was adding fuel to a burning fire. “You haven’t heard a word I’ve said, have you?” Eldridge muttered grimly. “But of course I have,” she retorted. “It is just that we do not seem to agree.” “There’s nothing personal in this, Lili.” He gave a slight shrug. “I’ve been trying to tell you that while I understand the problem, I don’t own the building. Any decision the management may come to will be based strictly on financial considerations.” Lili saw red. “Ensuring the proper care of an employee’s children should be just as much a part of running a business as making a profit,” she argued. “As long as the children are taken care of, absentee rates will stay down!” Tom shook his head. “It’s not only me, you know. Even if I sympathize with you, in the long run I don’t matter. Some of the building’s tenants are not too happy with those petitions and fliers you’ve been circulating. They’ve complained that employees are being distracted from their work. Riverview’s management has no choice. The word is out to find and stop the culprit.” He gestured to the drafting table. “The flier you’re working on is only going to stir things up again.” He turned to leave. “I’d advise you to tear it up and go back to work.” Lili impulsively reached out to stop him. His tense arm muscles told her he was still angry. “Not if you help us to buy time. You can ask for a postponement of the meeting. That would give me time to find a way to keep the center open.” “I only have one vote, Lili,” Eldridge said, glancing down at her hand. “What I think isn’t worth much. Not in tight financial times like these. As I just said, from the management’s viewpoint, business comes first.” “And from yours?” Eldridge hesitated, then took a step closer to her drawing board. “I might sympathize with your problem, but I don’t have a great deal of influence.” To Lili’s dismay, he reached over, picked up the charcoal drawing she’d been working on and held it up to the light. “What’s this supposed to be? A wall target for you to pitch darts at?” That’s not what Lili had intended when she’d started the sketch of his face. Rather, she’d been wistfully wondering what it would be like to kiss him. That was ridiculous, she knew. After all, she was a mature woman, a single mother, not an infatuated teenager. “No,” she said softly. “I heard the sound of your voice and somehow started drawing your face….” It was not a very convincing explanation, but it would have to do. Tom put the sketch back on the drawing board, reached for the piece of charcoal and filled in the eyebrows. “As long as you’ve gone this far, it might as well look more like me.” He handed the drawing back to Lili and, in a voice that set the hair at the back of her neck tingling, warned, “Let’s just say that if I were you, I’d stop causing any more trouble around the building. I’m willing to forget I found the flier this time, but I might not be able to the next.” Lili silently stared after Eldridge as he left the studio. Whatever fantasies she’d had about getting to know him on a personal level had just been destroyed. She turned back to her work. No matter what he said about not circulating petitions or handing out fliers, she was determined to find some way to keep the center open. TOM MADE HIS WAY back to his office, wondering how he could have been so off the mark when it came to Lili Soul?. Could this be the same ethereal woman who had floated in and out of the art studio for the past two years? There obviously lurked a will of steel under that shy smile. Lili was the last person he would have expected to be the mastermind behind the fliers and petitions circulating through the buildings. A red-blooded man, he couldn’t help noticing Lili’s sapphire-blue eyes and blond tousled hair whenever he wandered into the art studio or attended staff meetings. But that was where his interest ended. He had a Business Only policy when it came to his employees and he didn’t intend to change now. As far as delaying Riverview’s monthly meeting or voting to keep the center open, hell, he was as sympathetic as the next guy, but it was his job to keep Today’s World out of the red and his lease out of trouble. Since it had been a dire complaint from the building’s management that had brought him to the art studio this morning in the first place, he didn’t know why he hadn’t fired Lili on the spot when he’d discovered that flier. There was a clause in his lease that stated Today’s World’s rental agreement could be canceled if an employee undertook any activity that could be construed as defaming management. Maybe it had been the scent of her perfume, or perhaps her quaint French accent that had distracted him. Either way, he was beginning to feel as if he’d been seeing Lili for the first time. And he had to admit he liked what he saw—a mixture of an old-fashioned woman and a tantalizing modern one. Too bad she was off-limits. The way Riverview’s manager had put it, one-half of the business owners were in favor of closing the center. Another third were for keeping it open, and the rest appeared to be undecided. Lili obviously was out to get that minority on her side, and the process was turning Riverview’s tenants into warring camps. All things considered, he was actually proud of the way he’d kept his cool with Lili instead of firing her. LILI HEADED STRAIGHT for a heart-to-heart with her close friends April Morgan Sullivan, one of the magazine’s editors, and Rita Rosales Callahan, the magazine’s research librarian, who had just returned from her honeymoon. Confessing her undercover activities and her disastrous meeting with Tom Eldridge might not be wise, Lili realized, but if she couldn’t ask her two closest friends for advice, whom else could she appeal to? Lili found the two women at the watercooler. “No way!” Rita said when Lili finished telling the story of how Tom had caught her planning another flier and sketching his likeness! Rita’s dark eyes lit up with interest. “I know I advised you to try to get Tom’s attention, but that sure was one heck of a way to go about it! What happened after he caught you?” Lili shivered as she mentally revisited the scene in the art studio. “For a minute I thought he was angry enough about the flier to fire me. Instead, when he noticed the sketch of him I was making, something about him seemed to change.” Rita grinned. “What did he say?” “Not much,” Lili confessed, “although I knew he was still upset. For that matter, so was I.” She frowned. “Until today, whenever he visited the studio, I was sure he was trying to satisfy his artistic side.” “Tom, an artist? No way,” Rita scoffed. “All the man seems interested in is the way the magazine’s circulation is going through the roof after he published those rules of Lucas’s.” Rita was right, Lili thought. Not that she blamed Tom. Lucas Sullivan was a sociologist and Tom’s long-time friend. After his six recommendations to guarantee a happy marriage—Sullivan’s Rules—were published in Today’s World, the magazine sold more copies than in its entire history. But there had been an even more delightful result as well—Lucas had fallen in love and married Lili’s friend April, his editor. “I would love to have seen the expression on his face when he caught you working on another one of those fliers,” April said. “He didn’t look happy. He warned me to stop, but not before he practically took the piece of charcoal out of my hand and filled in the eyebrows on my sketch.” “Get outta here!” Rita exclaimed. “I didn’t think the man had a sense of humor. But if you really are interested in him, I hope you took the time to talk about something besides work.” “No.” Lili doubted Tom had been interested in a personal conversation. “I’m afraid it was all business.” Rita tossed her empty paper cup into a wastebasket. “All this time I thought you wanted him to notice you…to get to know you.” “Well, he did notice me, but not in the way I would have wished,” Lili admitted. Rita threw up her hands. “I can’t believe you wasted such a great opportunity to get personal. Now, if it had been me and I hadn’t already met my Colby, I would have…” She stopped and grinned happily. “What happened then?” “Not much. He told me I should stick to business during working hours.” “Well, I suppose any conversation is a start. Although I think you could at least have cracked a joke or two about having been caught.” “A joke?” Lili said doubtfully. “Mr. Eldridge is always so serious, I’m not sure he has a sense of humor.” “Sure he does.” April broke in with a laugh. “He managed to bring Lucas and me together when I was Lucas’s editor. Considering the way Lucas and I disagreed about those rules of his, only Tom could have thought the two of us belonged together.” Rita sniffed. “From what I’ve seen, Tom’s a man without a romantic bone in his body. Just what is it that attracts you to him anyway, Lili?” “Well, to begin with, his eyes.” Lili smiled as she also remembered Tom’s deep, husky voice—even if he had been telling her off. “I know neither of you thinks Mr. Eldridge is sexy, but I do.” “Ha!” Rita scoffed. “Don’t get me wrong, Lili. I’m the first to respect Tom for the way he’s brought the magazine’s circulation around. But if the man’s sexy, then I’m the tooth fairy.” April waved her hand in warning as other members of the staff began to drift back from lunch. “Don’t worry, Lili. Knowing how decent a man Tom really is, I’m convinced he won’t stay angry with you for long. If you want us to help, I’m sure we can figure out a way to keep the center open without causing a riot.” “I agree,” Rita said airily. “I might need to use the center myself someday.” Lili gaped at her. “You are expecting a baby already?” Unabashed, Rita grinned. “You might say I’m working on it.” She turned to April. “What about you?” April laughed and shook her head. “Not for a while. Lucas and I are busy researching a new slant on his old study about the mating game.” “It’s about time,” Rita said. “Anyone who believes in his rules about the subservient way a woman ought to behave toward a man in the twenty-first century should have their head examined. As for you, Lili, I actually think Tom has more ‘Sullivan’ traits in him than most men do. Maybe what he needs is someone like you to show him what women really want.” “Just look at Colby and you, Rita,” April teased. “The poor man had to get himself shot before he realized he loves you just the way you are—the way you’ve been ever since you were kids back in Texas. Still—” April winked at Lili “—maybe it’s too much to expect you to take Rita’s advice about Tom.” “Sheesh,” Rita grumbled. “I didn’t tell her to…well, not exactly. I just told her to do something to try to get Tom’s attention.” “Yeah, I remember that conversation,” April said dryly. “But it’s what you suggested Lili do that was the problem. No matter how you put it, your advice boiled down to sex, sex and more sex!” Instead of denying April’s accusation, Rita looked pleased with herself. “It was all talk, I swear, but the truth is,” she added with a wicked grin, “making love with Colby instead of talking was what finally worked for me. You have to remember, Lili, you’re never going to really get Tom’s attention if you keep calling him Mr. Eldridge instead of just Tom, the way the rest of us do.” “I know,” Lili said wistfully. “I find it difficult to be familiar with him without an invitation. After all, he is my boss.” “And he’s all business when he’s at work,” Rita added. “If you’re ever going to catch his interest, you’ll have to spread a little honey instead of making fliers.” “Maybe the problem is that you actually believe in Sullivan’s Rules, Lili,” April interjected. “You’ve already told us you were brought up to believe that a woman’s role in a relationship is actually a lot like Lucas’s rules for marriage.” “It is true,” Lili agreed. “The women in my family were taught from childhood to defer to their father, then their husband. I know it sounds very old-fashioned compared to the way women here in the United States think, but it is different in my country. Especially for a girl like myself, who was raised by her grandmother.” “Then you and Tom ought to get along just fine,” Rita said soothingly. “I think he actually believes in Sullivan’s Rules. Provided you get over your shyness, and if you can do something to get him to see you’re a mixture of the woman in Lucas’s article and today’s woman, you’ll be okay.” “Rita’s right,” April agreed. “All Tom needs is to realize you’re almost as old-fashioned about men as he is about women.” She paused to look critically at Lili. “Or are you really an old-fashioned woman? Sometimes when I see the look in your eyes, I think there are hidden depths within you.” Lili blushed as she recalled her physical reaction to Tom whenever he was near. “Maybe so.” “Yeah.” Rita grinned. “Personally, I believe that most rules are made to be broken—including Sullivan’s.” Wide-eyed, Lili shook her head. “I do not want to do anything to make Mr. Eldridge more angry. I need his help to postpone the management meeting.” “Actually, you don’t have to break Sullivan’s Rules,” Rita said. “All you have to do is bend them a little to make them work for you. Heck, if I hadn’t bent a couple, I wouldn’t be with Colby now.” “There are so many rules to remember,” Lili said as Arthur, the office gofer, came around the corner pushing his refreshment cart. The last thing she wanted was for her situation to become office gossip. “Which of Sullivan’s Rules are you talking about?” she whispered. “Rule number five, or for that matter, all of them,” Rita replied, carefully eyeing Arthur’s progress down the hall. “They all seem to advise a woman to try to make a man feel masculine.” Lili’s eyes widened. “How?” “By showing him how much you like and appreciate him,” April said. Rita leaned closer to Lili. “Of course, it’s only part of rule five you need to think about. I’m sure you realize from your own experience that if you sublimate your own desires and allow things to happen naturally, you’re never going to get anywhere with a man like Tom.” As Lili nodded solemnly, the subject of their conversation approached them. The three women froze. “Good morning, ladies,” Tom said amiably as he eyed Lili. “I hope this is a business meeting.” With that not-so-subtle warning, and without waiting for an answer, he raised an eyebrow and walked away. TOM FELT THREE PAIRS of disapproving eyes boring into his back as he walked down the hall. If not for Lili’s crusade, he wouldn’t have thought about the survival of the day care center. He actually felt sorry about the situation, but it was out of his hands. Besides, beyond polite conversation, or, he admitted reluctantly, sometimes not so polite conversation, fraternizing with his staff outside office hours had been a no-no ever since he’d taken over as publisher. His father may have considered all his employees as one big happy family, but not him. It only led to trouble. Lili was a case in point. Besides, managing the magazine took most of his waking hours. The last thing he needed was to have Riverview’s management raise the figures on his lease agreement or, perish the thought, cancel the lease when it came up for renewal next month. If only the magazine’s annual employee picnic wasn’t coming up next Sunday, he would have felt easier about the future. If he’d read Lili’s determined body language correctly, he was going to have to listen to a hell of a lot of arguments from her about keeping the day care open, and the picnic would provide her with the perfect opportunity to corner him. TOM PASTED A SMILE on his face as he politely greeted employees arriving for Today’s World’s annual picnic. In no time, the magazine’s staff, their families and friends were scattered over the lush green meadow in Lincoln Park, enjoying games and each other’s company. Overhead, the sky was cloudless, and the temperature had climbed into the seventies. Just his luck, Tom thought as he shook another hand and acknowledged another greeting. He might have wished for a late spring rain to break up the picnic early, but the sun was shining brightly, the flowers were blooming and the trees were sprouting buds. Since Lili and her friends were undoubtedly out there formenting trouble, he intended to keep a close eye on the day’s activities. At the moment, things were going so well, he found himself waiting uneasily for the first sign of a problem. Sure enough, it came with a bang, but not in the way he’d expected. “Look out!” At the frantic shout, Tom ducked instinctively. Considering there were at least three different ball games going on in front of him, he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to watch out for. A baseball? A soccer ball? A volley ball? He found out the hard way when he was hit squarely in the groin by a black-and-white soccer ball apparently hurled into space by an energetic player. With a muffled curse, he caught the ball before it had a chance to roll away. To his mortification, the private part of him he preferred to keep private hurt like hell. Tom glanced down at the wet ball he held and noticed the large glob of brown mud smeared across the fly of his shorts. If he’d hoped to keep the point of contact a secret, he was out of luck. A little girl, cheeks flushed with sun and excitement, her blond ponytail flying out behind her, skidded to a stop in front of him. “Sorry mister. The ball was going too fast. I couldn’t kick it the other way!” Tom took a series of deep breaths until the red haze in front of his eyes cleared. The blow might have been an accident, but the region south of his belt hurt like hell. The rest of him, including his head, was pounding in sympathy. Still, he tried to keep his cool. He surveyed the apologetic half-pint in front of him. There was no use being angry. He could recognize innocence when he saw it. Besides, with so many games going on, he should have been more alert. If he’d been hit in the head with the same force, he would have been knocked out like a light. Fortunately, the pain in his groin was dulling to a steady throb. He moved gingerly to test the results of his injury and sighed with relief. He might not be home free, but everything seemed to be in working order. Before he had a chance to tell the kid not to worry, that he was sure he’d live, a young woman came charging across the field toward him. Lili Soul?. How much worse could the day get? Tom wondered bleakly. Chapter Two “I am so sorry, Mr. Eldridge—er, Tom,” Lili said distractedly, remembering Rita’s instructions to call him by his first name. “I am sure my daughter didn’t mean for the ball to hit you. Paulette, apologize to Mr. Eldridge this minute!” Tom took another deep breath to control what was left of the pain. “No problem, she’s already apologized.” For a moment, the thought crossed his mind that Lili might have deliberately set him up to teach him a lesson in humility. He eyed her cautiously. “I’m sure it was an accident. I suppose I could say it was my fault—I should have kept well away from the playing field.” “Oh no,” Lili said worriedly. “Paulette has to learn to be more careful when she’s playing ball. Unfortunately, this has happened before,” she added with a stern look at her daughter. “I’ll live.” Tom cautiously shifted from one foot to another, trying to find the most comfortable position. To his chagrin, the muddy spot on his shorts shifted with him. How in the hell would he be able to look her in the eyes at the office tomorrow? “If I continue to hang around here, I have a feeling this isn’t going to be the only time I’ll get in the way of a bouncing ball,” Tom added, hoping to displace Lili’s horrified gaze. The pain was bad enough that he could have cursed a blue streak, but he realized a child was present. “Nice day for a picnic, isn’t it?” he said inanely. Lili blinked and the kid grinned, but her humor was short-lived as her mother turned to lecture her about paying attention to what she was doing. Tom listened to Lili read her daughter the riot act, wondering as he did how he could ever have thought of this lovely woman as serene. He watched the way the afternoon breeze was sending wisps of her silky blond hair across her sapphire eyes. And wondered at her tender smile, even as she continued to warn her daughter about the safety aspects of playing soccer. The more he studied Lili, the more fascinating he found her to be. How could he ever have thought her fragile and uninteresting? He glanced at her left hand—no wedding ring. Just as he’d thought. It would be dangerous for a man like him to become involved with a single mother with small children. Uneasy at the direction of his thoughts, he began to wonder if fate in the shape of a bouncing soccer ball had deliberately set him up. “Sorry, mister,” the kid finally said. “I gotta go now. My friends want the ball!” She grabbed the soccer ball out of his hands and, before her mother could stop her, took off at a run. Lili blew her daughter a kiss, then turned back to Tom. “I’m afraid there is no way for me to contain my daughter’s enthusiasm for sports. She has been a tomboy from the time she learned to walk.” “Like I said before, I’m okay,” Tom answered her, even though shafts of pain coursed through him every time he took a deep breath. If he hadn’t already known from the days he’d played football that getting hit in the groin was as bad as it could get, he sure knew it now. Lili frowned as she glanced at the beads of moisture that had gathered on Tom’s forehead. “I knew you were hurt. I have an idea. Wait here and don’t move,” she ordered when he tried to interrupt. “I’ll be back in a minute with something to help you.” Her eye-catching yellow sundress flashed brightly as she made for an ice cream truck parked on the asphalt a few yards away. Ice cream? Tom frowned. What made her think an ice cream treat would do anything for the pain running through him? As if nearly being gelded in the prime of life wasn’t enough, he still had the problem of what to do about this woman and her crusade. Tom turned as he heard a familiar voice shout at him from across the playing field, and saw his father heading in his direction. Apparently fate was further intent on complicating his life. Judging by his dad’s determined body language as he made his way through the crowd, Tom was afraid he was going to have to listen to another of his lectures. Seeing Tom in the company of a woman like Lili and her small daughter was bound to have drawn his dad’s attention. Tom prepared himself for a speech on the joys of marriage and fatherhood. Not that it would be the first time his father had sounded off about Tom’s single state. Homer Eldridge made no secret that he wanted grandchildren before it was too late for him to enjoy them. Even if they came readymade. Tom’s younger sister, Megan, bless her cowardly heart, was still single, too, but as a travel writer, she made a point of touching home base as seldom as possible. At the moment, she was busy flying around the world researching articles for a local newspaper. A side benefit was that her work kept her as far away from their father’s matchmaking activities as possible. The last time Tom had heard from Megan, she’d been somewhere in Bali, sunning herself and admiring the local males from a safe distance. To further rile him, she’d congratulated herself on having no dependents the last time she’d called. He should have insisted Megan return home and at least help run the letters-to-the-editor pages of the magazine. So much mail had come in since they’d published Lucas Sullivan’s controversial article. And maybe if Megan were around, their father’s attention would turn from Tom to his sister. Still, Tom counted himself lucky. If Megan, a well-intentioned do-gooder, had been living in Chicago, even without children of her own, she would have been all over him, insisting he help Lili keep the day care open. It was bad enough the management was up in arms because of Lili’s escapades; the last thing Tom needed was having Megan on his back. Maybe he hadn’t made himself clear the last time he’d told his father he wasn’t cut out for the marriage game, and even less for fatherhood. If he hadn’t already been convinced that he was a contented bachelor, Tom had become a true believer when he’d commissioned Lucas, his fraternity brother, to write “Sullivan’s Rules.” The article had convinced Tom he was right: a strong woman was to be avoided at all costs. He thought of Sullivan’s Rule number five, which called for a woman to “show her man how much she likes and appreciates him.” It was right on the mark. He gazed after Lili. Number six, on second thought, wasn’t bad, either. He would have been happy with a woman who was “supportive, fun-loving, easygoing, and generous in her praise of a man’s achievements.” Just not today. He wasn’t the only one uninterested in fatherhood, he told himself righteously. Not one of Sullivan’s Rules mentioned children. Tom cautiously eyed the way Lili and the ice cream vendor were deep in conversation. Injured or not, his body still stirred at the sight of Lili’s shapely bare legs. The hem of her short dress rose even higher as she gestured to the vendor, leaning over the counter in the side of his truck. It would have taken a man of iron not to admire Lili’s exquisite knees and the glimpse of golden thighs. Thank God, Tom thought as he felt his body stir. His vital parts were still working. On the other hand, something had to be wrong for him to be reacting this way. Now that he knew Lili was leading the crusade to keep the center open, how could he possibly be lusting after her? And then there was his policy of no fraternizing with members of his staff. If he was suffering a severe case of spring fever, he’d have to do something to take his mind off Lili. He also had to do something fast to get rid of her before his dad made it all the way across the playing field. But parts of Tom still hurt too much to hurry, and a quick mental calculation told him he would never make it to the ice cream truck and back before his father arrived. Besides, how could he reject the woman’s efforts to help him? Another problem was the way she’d taken to calling him Tom instead of her usual “Mr. Eldridge” in that intriguing accent. Intriguing enough to send his thoughts down paths he’d deliberately managed to avoid until now. He turned back to check on his father’s progress, but Homer had stopped to admire a baby. Tom noticed Paulette streaking after another soccer ball and desperately looked around for some shrub where he could hide. Before he could take refuge, Lili came hurrying up to him. “Now,” she said briskly as she glanced around the grassy area, “all we need to do is find a place for you to lie down.” Lying down sounded like a good idea, Tom thought wryly as he put his weight on both legs. The problem was that he would be in plain sight for his father to spot him. The bigger problem was the brown paper bag Lili carried. “Why?” he asked warily, even though he admitted that under difference circumstances, lying down with Lili might have been an idea worth considering. “So that I can help you!” To his dismay, she was gazing quizzically at his shorts. “Help me?” Tom eyed the leaking brown bag. “If that’s what I think it is, I have to tell you I’m not in the mood for ice cream just now. Thanks, anyway.” “No.” Lili smiled at what she obviously thought was his attempt at a joke. If she only knew he wasn’t trying to be funny. “When I told the ice cream vendor what had happened, he was kind enough to give me some ice cubes to ease your pain. I didn’t have any way to carry them, so he gave me this bag. Now, come with me,” she added. “As soon as we can find a place away from the ball field, I will apply the ice to your injury.” Tom shivered at the thought of having Lili anywhere near his aching groin. He tried putting his weight on his right foot. A sharp pain shot down his legs. “I’m sure I’ll be fine without the ice. Just give me another minute.” “You are sure?” Lili eyed him dubiously. “Ice always helps Paulette when she scrapes her knee.” “If it were my knee, Lili, I’d let you apply the ice cubes,” Tom said fervently. “As it is…” He hesitated at her blush. There was no way he could come up with a creative way to describe his injury without embarrassing them both. It was time to compromise. He glanced around the surrounding area. Letting Lili help him hide from his father sounded like a good idea, but that was as far as he was willing to go. Unfortunately, the only place to lie down, short of staggering back to his car, appeared to be on the other side of a grassy knoll a few yards away. He took a deep breath. “Toss the ice cubes and follow me.” To his dismay, after Lili tossed the bag of ice cubes behind a tree, she hurried to put her arm around his waist as he slowly made his way up and over the small embankment. He tried leaning away from her, but it wasn’t working. Even the lingering pain that ran through him couldn’t distract him from her sweet scent, earnest blue eyes and the determined set of her lips. Tom swallowed a groan. The last thing he needed was Lili’s close proximity to remind him that while he might be mentally ready and willing, he wasn’t able. “There.” Lili stopped and admired a lush patch of grass. “Now, stretch out, please.” Tom still wasn’t convinced it was the brightest idea he’d ever had, but he let her help him sink to the ground. Once on his back, he closed his eyes and tried to relax, but nothing short of a tornado could have kept him from being aware of Lili. “Just let me rest for a few minutes.” He threw an arm over his eyes to block out the strong sun shining down on him, and the look of concern in Lili’s eyes. The last time he’d experienced such tender loving care had been as a kid at his late mother’s knee, he thought fleetingly. But he was sure as hell a long way from thinking of Lili as his mother. “You are certain you are going to be okay without the ice cubes?” Lili asked when she saw him wince. “I can always go back and get more.” Between Lili’s attempt to help him and his father’s determination to see him married, Tom was beginning to feel like a goose being fattened up for dinner. A child’s voice broke into his reverie. “Mama? Is the man going to be okay?” Tom opened his eyes to see two wide hazel eyes gazing down at him with sympathy. Recognizing the kid’s shorts and shirt, he mustered a smile. “Don’t worry. I’m okay, Paulette.” The kid frowned. “I’m not Paulette.” Beside him, Lili giggled, a happy, tinkling laugh that, if he hadn’t felt like a fool, would have brought a smile to Tom’s face. “This isn’t Paulette.” “No?” He shaded his eyes against the blinding sunlight. A closer look revealed a small boy with short blond hair instead of a golden ponytail. “Don’t tell me there are two of you!” Tom groaned, then remembered Lili had mentioned twins. The thought that not one but two small children came with Lili was overwhelming. For a man who’d had almost nothing to do with kids for most of his adult life, he wasn’t sure how to apologize to the boy. “Yes,” Lili replied, smiling fondly at the newcomer. “This is Paul, Paulette’s twin brother.” “You don’t happen to have a soccer ball on you, do you?” Tom asked eying the boy warily. Paul shook his head. “My sister plays soccer. I like action figures. I’m going to be an artist like my mother when I grow up.” Tom smothered a sigh of relief, closed his eyes again and tried to pretend he was somewhere else. Somewhere nice and quiet where there were no soccer balls to dodge and no need for ice cubes to cool his overheated, aching body. And no children. He must have fallen asleep for a few minutes, because the last thing he remembered was Lili leaning over him. The spaghetti straps holding up her body-hugging sundress drooped over creamy shoulders. In the hollow between her breasts, a single gold chain nestled, and wisps of blond hair fell over her forehead and tickled his nose. The next time he opened his eyes, Lili was sitting cross-legged at his side and eating an ice cream cone. A few feet away, Paul was on his hands and knees investigating a gopher hole. To Tom’s amusement, the gopher turned out to be as curious about Paul as Paul was about him, and they almost bumped noses. Tom wasn’t sure who was the more surprised, the gopher or Paul. Tom found himself laughing. By his side, Lili laughed, too. Judging from her loving glance, it was obvious she felt that children were a joy and a blessing, not a nuisance. Tom realized that to strangers passing by, they must look like a normal family enjoying a picnic in the park. Lili’s twins were cute, and he had a feeling that all it would take was a few more moments like this to make him forget Sullivan’s Rules calling for caution in male-female relationships. Maybe the attraction was simply because he was vulnerable. “Ah, so there you are!” Homer Eldridge beamed as he made his way over the grassy rise. “I lost sight of you for a while, but I knew that if I looked hard enough I’d find you.” Tom smothered a groan. Trouble had a way of following him, he mused as he tried to sit up. The picture of Lili, little Paul and him sitting together had apparently been enough to bring a smile to his father’s face. Tom hadn’t seen Homer so happy in years. Happy was good, Tom thought with compassion as he gazed at his dad. Homer had been in the dumps ever since he’d talked himself into retiring from Today’s World, ostensibly to give Tom the opportunity to make his mark on the magazine. More likely, Tom suspected, his father had wanted to encourage him to settle down—in both his professional and personal life. “Married with children” had become a broken record. “Sorry I didn’t get up, Dad.” Tom explained to his father about the errant soccer ball. “I feel a little better now. “By the way,” he added, remembering he wasn’t alone. “I guess I should introduce you to Lili Soul?. Lili is the magazine’s graphic artist. Lili, this is my dad, Homer Eldridge.” “I remember seeing you around the magazine once or twice before I retired, Ms. Soul?,” his father said, smiling as he reached to take Lili’s offered hand. “Glad to meet you. You don’t mind my calling you Lili, do you? Especially seeing that you and Tom are friends?” Lili blushed. “I am pleased to meet you, too, Mr. Eldridge. You may call me Lili if you wish.” Tom’s father gestured to Paul. “Your son?” “Yes,” Lili said proudly. “Paul is a twin. His sister is out there somewhere playing soccer. I’m afraid it was Paulette who kicked the ball that hit Tom.” Homer glanced over his shoulder at the soccer field, which was rimmed by shouting children and cheering parents. “And the children’s father? Is he here today?” Lili’s smile faded. “I lost my husband, Paul, four years ago in an accident,” she said softly. “Little Paul here is now the man of the family.” Tom’s father murmured in sympathy. “And a fine young man he is. How old is he?” “He is six,” Lili replied. Obviously wondering at the senior Eldridge’s sudden interest in her son, she glanced at Tom with a raised eyebrow. Hoping he was wrong about his father’s interest, Tom managed a shrug. “Ah, yes,” Homer replied with a fond smile. “Still, every boy needs a father to help him along the road to manhood. Don’t you agree?” Even as Tom shook his head, Lili nodded. Judging from his father’s benevolent smile, Tom had a sinking feeling his dad had decided Lili and her twins would not only make a perfect family, but provide him with instant grandchildren. In a way, Homer was right, Tom mused as a becoming flush pinkened Lili’s cheeks. Tom was a red-blooded man and Lili was definitely all woman. If only she hadn’t displayed such a will of steel and relentless determination. He knew from experience that a strong woman spelled trouble. He was also old-fashioned enough to believe that his frat brother, Lucas Sullivan, had been right in his article on the mating game. A woman had to let a man set the pace in their relationship, or at least allow him to be a partner. Since he’d discovered the real Lili, Tom wasn’t sure she was ready to do either. He intended to get around to marriage someday, maybe, but not yet. If his father was so set on being a grandfather, maybe there was still a chance that his sister would develop a nesting instinct, marry and provide the grandchildren. Impatiently, he listened while his father and Lili exchanged pleasantries. The longer the two spoke, the broader the smile on his father’s face became. Not a good sign. “Tom,” Homer finally suggested, “why don’t you bring Lili and the children over to my place for dinner next Friday?” Tom was about to say he had another engagement when the activity on the ball fields stopped and picnicgoers broke into whistles and shouts. Slowly, he swiveled to see what had prompted the outburst. It seemed as if everyone was looking skyward, pointing and cheering. To Tom’s dismay, a small plane flew overhead, trailing a large yellow banner: HELP KEEP RIVERVIEW CHILD CARE CENTER OPEN! A deep foreboding washed over Tom. He knew, as sure as he knew his own name, that his life was about to become even more complicated. Chapter Three This had to be Lili’s doing. Today’s stunt with the plane had to be just another way to rev up her crusade to save the center. But this time she’d gone too far. It was beginning to look as if her wide-ranging imagination greatly exceeded her charm. Gritting his teeth to hide his frustration, Tom turned to a wide-eyed Lili and gestured to the banner. “You?” “Mais non!” To Lili’s chagrin, whenever she became agitated, she reverted to her native language. How could Tom think she’d hired the airplane? He had to know she couldn’t have afforded to do that even if she’d wanted to. “You’re sure about that?” Lili nodded. To her dismay, what had begun as a campaign intended solely for the Riverview Building’s tenants must surely be known to most of Chicago by now. The realization that the local papers and television stations were bound to pick up on the flyover made her knees grow weak. Judging from the look on Tom’s face, it would be a miracle if she wasn’t fired. “Any idea who is behind it?” Tom demanded between clenched teeth. “If I do find out who did it…” He left the sentence unfinished, but his threat was clear. Lili’s blood ran cold as the airplane flew out of sight. She was innocent, but she had the feeling that the brains behind this caper belonged to one or both of her friends, Rita and April. And it was only a matter of time before Tom found the culprit. Her lips were sealed. She sensed Tom’s frustration in the rigid way he held himself. Whatever he was thinking couldn’t be good. It wasn’t only her own job on the line, she realized as she gazed up, to discover the plane had reappeared. Her campaign might come back to bite her friends, as well. “What’s all the shouting about?” Tom’s father asked. Wordlessly, Tom pointed skyward. Homer Eldridge shaded his eyes and gazed upward to the accompaniment of hoots, whistles and shouts from everyone on the playing field. “Who’s trying to close our day care center?” Homer demanded. “Better yet, who’s behind that stunt? I’d like to have a few words with them!” Lili was afraid from the thunderous look on his face that the senior Eldridge intended to give any perpetrators hell. Well, for that matter, so did Tom if he found them. And from the way he was glaring at the airplane, it was going to be soon. “In answer to your first question, Dad,” Tom began with a scowl at Lili, “I’m damn sure that the reason for the plane is that Jules Kagan has called a meeting to discuss closing the center. If you ask me, it’s already a done deal—” he shot a telling look at Lili “—even if some people don’t want to believe it. “As for the person behind that misguided stunt up there,” Tom added, “I’m not sure who it is, but I have a good idea.” Homer Eldridge’s face grew mottled with anger as he stared at the banner flying overhead. “You have it all wrong, Son. I’m not angry at whoever hired the plane. Considering I was one of the tenants that started the day care, I should have been told Jules wants to close the place down. If I’d known, I would have tried to stop that fool exhibition up there before it got started. No matter how well intentioned the perpetrator might be, I’m afraid there’s going to be hell to pay when Kagan finds out!” “Don’t worry, Dad.” Tom sent another pointed look at Lili. “I’m pretty sure I know who’s behind the stunt. I plan on taking care of it the first thing in the morning.” “Hell, you’re not listening!” his father retorted. “That’s not what I meant. If it weren’t for Jules’s reaction, I’d be tempted to give whoever’s behind the stunt a medal. As it is, this will only make matters worse.” Gazing at Tom, Lili saw the warm, velvety brown eyes that she considered so sensuous grow cool. Another bad sign. “You know as well as I do, Dad, that our lease renewal is coming up soon,” Tom continued. “If we do anything else to antagonize Kagan, it’s only going to cost us.” His father snorted and loosened the collar of his shirt from around his burly neck. “It’s getting too damn hot out here and I have a strong feeling it’s going to get a lot hotter before this mess is over. Things have already gone too far.” He glanced over at Paul, who was busy poking a twig down the gopher hole. “I take it your boy attends the day care center, Lili?” Lili ignored Tom’s warning look. She could use all the help she could get. “Yes, he does,” she said proudly. “Paul and his sister were in Riverview’s day care until they started public school. They are in afternoon care there now.” Homer’s frown grew deeper for a moment, then he smiled. “The fact you have children there makes the problem more personal. Don’t you worry, my dear, you can leave everything to me. I’ll take care of this.” “Come on, Dad.” Tom broke in, concerned about the subtext in his father’s satisfied smile. The man was obviously taken by Lili, but the less he became involved with her and her children, the better. “You’re retired now, Dad. You ought to be enjoying yourself instead of working yourself into a heart attack over this. Like I said, just leave the details to me.” “Some details,” Homer muttered as the plane circled the park one last time, dipped its wings in a salute to the watchers below, and in a sputter of staccato sound disappeared from view. “I said I’ll take care of this and I will. Where’s your cell phone?” Tom sighed, dug in his pocket and handed over his phone. “It’s Sunday. I don’t think you’ll be able to reach anyone today.” “We’ll see about that!” his father retorted. “Hell, Jules Kagan had better talk to me! We go back too far for him to ignore me now. If I have to, I’ll remind him that I was one of the first businesses to sign a lease when he became owner of the Riverview. I even brought a couple of other prospective tenants with me to raise the occupancy rate so he could impress the bankers when he applied for a loan.” Homer stopped to gaze reassuringly at Lili. “Now, excuse me while I take this conversation somewhere private. I wouldn’t want to offend your ears.” He stomped across the grass and over the slight rise, then disappeared from sight. Since she was one of the prime movers in the campaign to save the center, Lili felt guiltier than ever. She’d asked her friends for help, but she’d never expected them to hire an airplane to advertise her crusade. Knowing the way Rita’s mind worked, maybe Lili should have taken the time to make them promise to keep her in the loop before they went this far. The way Tom looked, she knew he didn’t believe she’d had nothing to do with hiring the airplane. But she had to try again. “I am so sorry, Tom. No matter how I feel, I never intended for something like this to happen. Or,” she added as the annoyed look Homer had shot Tom flashed through her mind, “to cause a problem between you and your father.” “Yeah, sure,” Tom replied, trying to focus on his anger instead of the way Lili’s sundress hugged her lush curves. He might be frustrated with the woman, but he was also fully aware of her charms. There was something special about Lili he couldn’t ignore. “If you weren’t the one who cooked up that stunt,” he said, forcing himself back to the issue at hand, “how about telling me whose bird-brained idea it was?” Homer Eldridge stormed back into view before Lili could answer. “That damn fool won’t give me the time of day! Says he saw the plane fly over his penthouse on the other side of the park! He sounded mad as hell!” “Will he close the center over this?” Dismayed, Lili couldn’t hide her anguish. Now that the Riverview’s owner was directly involved, things had gone too far. From what Tom’s father was saying, the chances of reversing the man’s mind didn’t appear any more likely than finding some way to placate Tom himself. “The damn fool threatened to close it, but don’t worry, Lili,” Eldridge said soothingly. “I’ll get to Jules sooner or later and make him see the light or my name isn’t Homer Eldridge! As a matter of fact,” he added with a glare at the high-rise building that towered above the trees, “I’m going over and make him talk to me right now or I’ll break down his door trying. As for you, Son,” Eldridge said before he stomped away, “don’t forget you’re going to bring Lili and her children to dinner on Friday. I’m expecting you.” Troubled at the reason for the invitation, Tom waited until his father was out of sight to tackle Lili. “We have to talk.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. The moment she’d feared had obviously arrived. She’d wanted Tom to notice her the way a man notices a woman, not the way he was looking at her now. “Talk about what?” “Us,” Tom answered succinctly. “And now, before the situation goes too far.” “There is an us?” Confused by the intimacy the word implied, she locked her gaze with Tom’s. How could there be an “us” when it was clear he was angry with her? “Yeah, us,” Tom said. “But before we get started, I have a question. You don’t really want to go to my father’s for dinner Friday, do you?” “I am a little surprised at his invitation,” Lili confessed warily. She didn’t want to be responsible for creating any more friction between Tom and his father. The threat of the day care closing had fired up both Eldridges enough. Still, no matter what other reasons Homer had for inviting her and the children, Lili had too much at stake surrounding the center to ignore his offer of help. If the center closed, she might have to consider returning to her family in France. But in her heart she knew she could never do that. She’d promised her late husband to raise their children as Americans when he was critically injured in an automobile accident. “I will not accept your father’s invitation if it will cause trouble between the two of you,” she finally answered. “But first we need to talk about my trying to keep the day care open. I must be honest with you. I appreciate your concern, but I cannot stop my campaign.” “Maybe so, but we still have to talk.” “About the center?” Tom nodded. “Yeah, but that can wait for later. Right now, I think we have a bigger problem to take care of.” Puzzled, Lili clasped her hands to keep them from trembling. What was more important than saving the day care? Sensing Tom’s obvious reluctance to go on, she finally spoke up. “If this is not about the center, then it has to be about me. If you wish to fire me now, you may go ahead. But I hope you will reconsider.” Tom’s expression grew grim. “Like I said, that’s not what I want to talk about. What I have to say concerns a personal matter.” “Say what you feel you must,” she said bravely, knowing that whether the problem was personal or professional, it would still affect her job. Tom took a deep breath and looked around to make sure his father was safely out of sight. “Well, if you’re sure…I suppose I might as well be frank with you. The problem between my dad and me concerns wedding bells. And now that he’s seen you, I’m afraid you’re part of it.” “I do not understand this wedding bells,” Lili said with a puzzled frown, her head cocked to one side. “I think it refers to marriage, but what does it have to do with me? I am not about to get married.” Tom raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. He was too old to be asking a woman for a date, even if he didn’t intend it to be a real one. Hell, as his father kept reminding him, most men his age were already married with children. “You’re right. The problem is more about me than it is about you.” Relieved, but still puzzled, Lili nodded cautiously. “You might not believe this,” Tom began, “but the invitation is actually about my father wanting me to marry and start a family. Grandchildren are all he talks about whenever we’re together. Now that he’s seen us and your son together, I’m afraid he’s gotten the wrong idea. I have a gut feeling he sees a chance for the family he wants me to have.” Relieved at the mention of grandchildren, Lili nodded in understanding. “Of course. Every parent wishes this for their children—a happy family. I cannot imagine life without my little ones. My younger brother, who lives in France, married young and is the father of five children. If my own Paul had survived,” she added with a shy smile, “perhaps I would have matched Christopher’s record by now.” She couldn’t bring herself to ask Tom how old he was or why he hadn’t married. In spite of what Rita had said about him being interested only in the magazine, Lili remembered the light in his eyes when he’d looked at her. And besides, Tom was a very sexy man. It was a wonder some woman hadn’t managed to lead him to the altar by now. “I am sorry, but I still do not see where I enter into this problem of wedding bells,” she said. “You are my employer, but we know very little about each other. We are still almost strangers.” “Right,” Tom agreed with a cautious glance at the playing field, where the children had gone back to their soccer game. “It’s just that I noticed my father’s reaction after he met you and saw Paul.” He took a deep breath. “I know this may sound strange to you, but I’m afraid Dad sees you as a likely marriage prospect for me.” Lili blinked. Being the target of the senior Eldridge’s matchmaking plans for Tom was surprising, and yet it touched her, too. Homer Eldridge must be a very caring father to be so concerned about his son’s happiness. The realization that Tom was actually afraid she was being considered as a suitable marriage partner for him brought a pang of regret to her heart. If only she hadn’t been so foolish as to have the same impossible dream, she would have been able to laugh off the senior Eldridge’s interest in her as merely an amusing idea. What wasn’t amusing was Tom’s reaction to his father’s dinner invitation. She might wish to be in Tom’s arms, making love with him, but it was crystal clear that he did not share such a dream. She tried to smile away the growing tension she felt between them. “I am sure your father is only trying to be kind. If you wish, I will call and give him my regrets.” Tom shook his head. “If you knew my father as well as I do, you’d know it’s not that easy. I know I have a reputation around the magazine for being stubborn,” he added with a wry smile, “but my father has me beat. Dad’s a pro at getting his way.” “But he’s never met me before today,” Lili protested. “I am not the easygoing woman I appear to be. If I were, I would never have managed to take care of myself and the children these past four years.” Tom studied Lili. He, too, had underestimated her. Strong when he’d thought her mild mannered, wise when he’d thought her merely opinionated, Lili was not only beautiful and intelligent but self-reliant and capable. And, judging from the fire in her exquisite eyes, sensually exciting. He couldn’t understand his muddled thinking. A month ago, he’d hardly noticed her. Well, maybe a little on his occasional visits to the art department. But he sure noticed her now. A week ago, he’d actually warned her to stop causing trouble. Now, in spite of the ache in his groin that should have turned him off even thinking sexually about Lili, he was still physically attracted to her. Go figure. He was sure of one thing. He had to put this attraction to her out of his mind. She was his employee. He had to remember he had a magazine to publish, a magazine his father had, with his easygoing management style, left hanging over a cliff marked Bankruptcy. Even though publishing “Sullivan’s Rules” had turned the magazine around, this was no time to be thinking of a real relationship. Now that he had Sullivan’s Rules to guide him, if and when he became ready for a lasting relationship, Tom would know better than to fall for a five-foot-three, fiercely independent female. The problem was he couldn’t ignore Lili’s sparkling eyes, her silky golden hair or those lips surely meant for kissing. “I’m afraid it’s not going to be easy to turn down Dad’s invitation,” Tom finally said in answer to her questioning gaze. “Especially since it appears he shares your concern for the center. Now that Dad’s involved himself in the problem, he’ll think it strange if you don’t accept his invitation to dinner.” “Is that all you wished to tell me?” Lili asked, on edge and anxious to leave before Tom remembered why he’d been angry with her. “I must go. The children are hungry. I have to give them their lunch.” “Wait a minute, please,” he said, anxious to discuss the sensitive issue while he still had the nerve. He touched Lili’s elbow. A big mistake. Touching her warm skin only made him more aware of her than ever. “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 fianc?e, 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. Lili wasn’t fooled. Rita might have been at home yesterday, but it didn’t require a genius to know that all it would have taken to finance the stunt was a telephone call and a credit card number. Furthermore, knowing Rita’s carefree approach to life—“why not?” instead of “why?”—she was the perfect candidate to have come up with the attention-getting idea. The unlikely marriage between Rita, a breezy research librarian, and Colby, a serious former Texas Ranger, proved that opposites attract, Lili thought wistfully. It should have been a source of comfort to herself. As it was, Tom had hardly noticed her until the other day at the picnic. If Paulette hadn’t wildly kicked that soccer ball, with unfortunate results, he might not have noticed her at all. Tom was likely upstairs in his office right now, trying to find out who had paid for yesterday’s protest. He was probably planning on giving two weeks’ notice and a severance check as soon as he found the person. April was waltzing across the crowded lunchroom. “Sorry I’m late, Lili,” she said breathlessly as she approached their table and sat down. “I only have a few minutes—I can’t stay for lunch. But you sounded so serious when you called that I had to come down and find out what’s up. Something happen?” “Plenty,” Lili answered. “I’m sure you’ve heard about the airplane flyover yesterday?” April nodded. “Tom is not only angry over what happened yesterday at the picnic, I think he’s ready to fire whoever planned it.” Out of the corner of her eye, Lili saw Rita blanch at the word fire and put down her sandwich. If Lili hadn’t been sure Rita was behind the stunt, she was now. Rita might be a wild card, but at least she was an honest one. April shook her head. “Sorry, Lili. I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, but it wasn’t me. How about telling me what happened yesterday in one simple sentence before I have to get back upstairs? Did someone get hurt at the picnic?” “Yes and no,” Lili answered. She decided to keep Tom’s injury to herself, in case Rita came up with one of her X-rated remarks. She rubbed her aching forehead and told April about the airplane towing a banner protesting the closure of the day care center. “I know I asked you two for help,” she added with a pointed look at Rita, “but the results were amazing.” “Cool!” April grinned wickedly. “Knowing how Tom reacts when he thinks he’s lost control, I wish I’d been there to see him in action. But it wasn’t me, Lili, I swear. Lucas and I were at the university lab going over the results of his new questionnaires on the mating game. By the way,” she chirped happily, “now that I’ve shown Lucas that all women aren’t alike, you’ll be glad to know he’s going to revise those six rules of his.” Even as Lili nodded, her gaze swung back to Rita. After a pregnant moment, her friend shoved her sandwich away and nodded reluctantly. “Yeah, I guess it’s time for the truth. I was only trying to help.” April shook her head. “Some help you were. From what I’ve heard, it sounds as if you’ve managed to turn the Riverview into a war zone. If you don’t get us all fired, it’s going to be a miracle.” Rita looked alarmed. “Heck, I was only trying to help. I thought a banner flying over the park would reach a lot more people than any fliers would. I didn’t have a clue anyone would get their shorts tied in a knot over it.” “Unfortunately, someone has,” Lili informed her. “How could you afford to pay for the airplane, anyway? And what did Colby say when he heard what you planned?” Rita grinned smuggly. “He thought it was a great idea. As for how much it cost, the pilot is a friend of Colby’s. All I had to pay for was the banner—fifty bucks. I figured it was a lot cheaper than having fliers made up, and a lot more fun.” Rita paused. “Are you going to tell Tom? Do you really think he’ll fire me if he finds out I was the one who arranged for the plane?” Lili reached into her purse and took out a bottle of pain relievers to soften the throbbing headache she’d had all day. Popping two tablets into her mouth, she reached for Rita’s lemonade and took a sip. “No, I’m not going to tell him it was you. And yes, he’ll probably fire you if he finds out for sure you did it. But only because the building’s owner happened to see the banner.” “No way,” April interjected. “I’ve known Tom for years. He’s too loyal to his employees to want to fire anyone. I’m sure he’ll think of some way to get around it.” Rita muttered into her sandwich. “Well, as my grandmother used to say, ‘what is done is done,’” Lili said at last. “Now we must try to find a way to take care of the other problems before it is too late.” Rita blinked. “Other problems? What other problems? Besides my getting fired for trying to do something constructive, what other problems can there be?” “Tom told me the building’s owner will have to eventually raise the tenants’ rents when the leases come due if he has to keep the center open. From what Tom said, some tenants might have to relocate in that case.” “Then it’s up to us to come up with an idea to help Tom change the owner’s mind.” April jumped to her feet. “I have to get back to work, but give me a day or two. I’ll talk it over with Lucas. Maybe he can come up with something.” “I’m really sorry,” Rita said contritely after April left. “I had no idea the management would become so angry.” “Neither did I.” Lili sighed. “I’m not sure Tom will be happy if we try to help him, but April is right. We have to find another way to save the center.” Rita’s eyes lit up. “I know! We can sell cookies! You know, like the Girl Scout cookie drive!” “That would take too many cookies!” Lili put her fingers to her lips and motioned toward a neighboring table, where a woman had just bet fifty dollars that the person behind the airplane flyover would be found and fired before the week was out. “Oh, I don’t know,” Rita answered. “We sold cookies to raise funds in high school, and my folks used to say they practically paid for the lights in the football stadium with all the boxes they helped me sell. If that’s not good enough,” she added when Lili didn’t look amused, “I’ll talk it over with Colby. He knows a lot of well-placed people here in Chicago. Maybe he has an idea where we can find a fairy godfather.” “Not before you tell me what you’re planning before you do it,” Lili said, almost afraid to encourage Rita. Heaven only knew what she might come up with. Lili rose to leave. “Hey, wait a minute. You haven’t had any lunch!” “No, I wasn’t hungry.” Lili rubbed her aching forehead. “I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich upstairs in the studio waiting for me.” She wasn’t going to tell her friend she was on a strict budget so she could keep the twins in the center. She blew Rita an air kiss and hurried to the elevators. She’d planned on telling her friends about pretending to be Tom’s date at dinner on Friday, but had changed her mind. Recalling the way Rita’s eyes lit up whenever Lili mentioned Tom, she was afraid that any date with him, real or not, might wind up another fiasco. Besides, she thought as she made her way to Tom’s office, a woman like herself didn’t need any advice about men. Knowing how to handle a man was every Frenchwoman’s birthright. Lili knocked on his open office door. “Is this a good time to talk to you?” When Tom frowned, she turned to leave. “Perhaps later?” “No, wait.” Tom eyed Lili. Gone was the minuscule yellow sundress that had caught his interest at yesterday’s picnic. Today, she was dressed in beige linen slacks and a soft sapphire blouse that matched her almond shaped eyes. A narrow brown leather belt encircled her tiny waist. Around her neck, she wore a simple gold chain, and at her ears, gold studs. If he’d had any doubt that he’d been head over heels in lust with Lili yesterday, even in the midst of a highly sensitive personal problem, those doubts were gone today. Until he’d caught her drawing up those damn fliers, he’d thought of Lili as a “Sullivan woman,” demure and retiring. He knew better now. “What is it?” “I came to see if you feel a little better after what happened yesterday,” she replied with a charming blush that sent Tom’s libido stirring. Not for the first time, he wondered how he could be so attracted to a woman who had created so much turmoil in his life. Tom waved Lili into the office. “If you mean the soccer ball, yeah. If you’re talking about the airplane stunt with the banner, the answer is no. In fact, I’ve just been on the phone with the company that owns the plane. No matter what I say, they claim customer privacy.” Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес». Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию (https://www.litres.ru/mollie-molay/an-engagement-of-convenience/?lfrom=688855901) на ЛитРес. Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.