The Manning Grooms: Bride on the Loose / Same Time, Next Year. Debbie MacomberЧитать онлайн книгу.
with this subject. “Oh, what’s that?”
“Tell me, all kidding aside,” he said, his blue eyes serious, “what is it women want from a man?”
Charlotte thought about that for a moment. “To be loved.”
He nodded approvingly.
“To be needed and respected.”
“Exactly.” He grinned, clearly pleased by her answer.
He was making this easy, and Charlotte warmed to her ideas. “A woman longs to be held, of course, but more than that, she wants to be treasured, appreciated.”
“Perfect,” Jason said, smiling benignly. “Now ask me what a man wants.”
“All right,” she said, crossing her legs, holding the saucer with one hand, her cup in the other. “What is it a man wants?”
“Tickets to the World Series,” Jason returned without a pause.
Charlotte nearly choked on her laughter. Fortunately she wasn’t swallowing a sip of coffee at the time. “I see what you mean,” she said after she’d composed herself. “There does seem to be a basic, shall we say, disconnect here.”
He nodded. “It was when Rich gave up two tickets for a Seahawks football game that I knew he’d fallen in love.”
“That’s sweet,” Charlotte said with a sigh, enjoying the romance of it all.
“Don’t go all soft on me. It wasn’t like it sounds. He gave the tickets to a friend as a bribe. Rich didn’t want to date Jamie himself, he wanted someone else to fall in love with her.”
“He bribed another guy to take her out?”
“Yup. He was in love with her himself, but like the rest of us, he’s useless when it comes to romance. I figured it out before he did, and I know next to nothing about that kind of stuff.” Jason grinned. “From that point on, it was all downhill for Rich. He’s married and has a couple of kids now. A girl and a boy.”
“I don’t care what you say. That’s sweet.”
“Perhaps.”
Charlotte was relaxed now. She removed her shoes and propped her feet on the coffee table, crossing her legs at the ankles. “Have you ever been in love?” At Jason’s hesitation, she hurried to add, “I shouldn’t have asked that.”
“I don’t mind, if you won’t take offense at my answer—which is, I don’t know. I thought I was once, several years back, but in retrospect I’m not sure. It hurt when we broke up, and I was sorry we hadn’t been able to work things out, but I don’t have any real regrets.”
“What was her name?”
“Julie. She’s married now.”
Charlotte didn’t understand where she found the courage, but she reached forward and brushed her index finger down the side of Jason’s face. She wanted to ease the pain she read in his expression, the pain he discounted so casually. A pain she recognized, since she’d walked through this valley herself, with the cold wind of despair howling at her back.
Jason’s gaze met hers and she felt immersed in a look so warm, so intense, that her breath caught. She couldn’t remember a man ever looking at her that way, as though he wasn’t sure she was even real. As if he was afraid she’d vanish if he touched her.
Jason removed the cup and saucer from her hands and set them on the tray next to the empty plate.
He was going to kiss her; she realized it in the same moment she owned up to how much she wanted him to. All night she’d been looking forward to having him do exactly this, only she hadn’t been willing to admit it.
His mouth was gentle and sweet with the taste of coffee and chocolate. He kissed her the way he had the night before, and Charlotte could barely take in the sensation that overwhelmed her. She’d never thought she’d feel anything so profound, so exciting, again. She hadn’t believed she was capable of such a rush of feeling….
She whimpered and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on to him in a world that had started to spin out of control. His hands framed her face and he slanted his mouth over hers, answering her need with his own.
Jason kissed her again and again.
The sound coming from the front door barely registered in her passion-drugged brain.
“Mom … Jason …” was followed by a shocked pause, then, “Wow, this is great.”
Charlotte broke away from Jason and leapt to her feet.
“Gee, Mom, there’s no need to get embarrassed. People kiss all the time.” Carrie floated across the carpet, then threw herself into a chair. “So,” she said, smiling broadly, “is there anything either of you want to tell me?”
“Like what?” Charlotte asked.
Carrie shrugged with utter nonchalance. “That you’re getting married?”
Four
On his way back to his apartment, Jason had to admit that Charlotte’s daughter possessed a knack for the unexpected. Arriving when she did was only the beginning; introducing the subject of marriage had nearly sent him into hysterics.
Him married? It was downright laughable.
Thinking about it, Jason realized Charlotte had brought up the subject herself, wanting to know why he hadn’t married, asking him if he’d ever been in love. Typical women questions.
Perhaps mother and daughter were in cahoots, plotting his downfall. No, that was equally laughable.
Jason simply wasn’t the marrying kind. Not because he was a womanizer or because he had anything against the opposite sex. He liked women … at times, enjoyed being with them … occasionally. Liked kissing them … definitely. But he relished his freedom too much to sacrifice it to commitment and responsibility.
No, he told himself resolutely, Charlotte wasn’t involved in any scheme to drag him to the altar. She’d been so embarrassed and flustered by Carrie’s suggestion, her face had gone bright red. The woman’s face was too open to hide her feelings. She had chastised Carrie, asked for and received an apology, and looked genuinely grateful when Jason said it was time he left.
Despite the episode with Carrie, Jason had thoroughly enjoyed his evening with Charlotte. He hadn’t expected to. In fact he’d originally regretted having asked her out, but in the end their date had been a pleasant success.
Once again he was bewildered by the strong desire he experienced when he kissed her. He had ordained a hands-off policy for the night, but had shelved that idea the minute she’d sat next to him, gazing up at him with those pretty eyes of hers.
Actually, he’d known he was in trouble when he accepted her invitation to come inside for coffee. He’d thought of it as a challenge; he’d wanted to see how far he could push his determination. Not far, he concluded. When she’d looked at him, her eyes soft and inviting, he was lost. His hands-off policy had quickly become a hands-on experiment.
There was something about Charlotte Weston that got to him. Really got to him.
All that outward confidence she worked so hard to display hadn’t fooled him. Beneath a paper-thin veneer, she was vulnerable. Any fool with two functional brain cells would have figured that out on the first date.
Only she didn’t date.
Carrie had told him it’d been years since her mother had even gone out with a man. Undoubtedly she’d been asked—and if she hadn’t been, why not? She was attractive, intelligent and fun. Offhand, he knew a half-dozen men who’d jump at the chance to meet a woman like Charlotte.
If she’d turned down offers, and surely she had, then there must be a reason. The question that confused Jason