Black Ties and Lullabies, page 28
“I hope not.”
“He’s not what I thought he was.”
“He’s not what I thought he was, either. But he still has the capacity to cause you a world of hurt.”
“You don’t have to worry about me, Max. I don’t believe in fairy tales.”
Max stared at her a long time, his eyes like a pair of lie detectors, and it was all she could do not to blink. Finally he nodded. “Just be careful, will you?”
She nodded, and Max slipped out the door.
Bernie sat down in the chair at her desk, Max’s words still haunting her. And that was because she’d thought them herself more than once in the past few weeks. But she’d told him the truth. She didn’t believe in fairy tales, and she was perfectly well aware of Jeremy’s shortcomings. But even if they ended up having no future together, she wanted as much of the present as she could possibly get.
Okay. If she was going to that event, she had three days to transform herself from a dumpy, fashion-challenged pregnant woman to a… well, she didn’t exactly know what, but definitely something more attractive than the woman she was now.
And when she got there, she was going to smile. She was going to have a good time. She was going to do her best to forget who she was and be a woman who looked as if she belonged with a man like Jeremy. She didn’t have a clue how she was going to accomplish that, but if he wanted her to come with him, she was going to stop whining and make it happen.
Later, when she got to work, she grabbed her phone and called Teresa to tell her she needed some help—clothes, makeup, whatever. Unfortunately, Bill answered and told him that Teresa had taken the kids and driven to Wichita Falls for a week to visit her mother. As Bernie hung up, she realized she had only one other friend she could impose on to get the extensive help she needed. The thought of it was just a little bit scary, but what other choice did she have?
She picked up her phone again, called Lawanda, and told her she needed her help.
“With what?” Lawanda asked.
“I have to go to a formal event. I don’t have anything to wear. I was hoping maybe you could help me find something.”
She could practically feel Lawanda grinning right through the phone. “Shopping? You want me to go shopping? As you well know, I am the queen of shopping.”
“Now, listen to me,” Bernie said. “It has to be something understated. I’d feel silly in anything else. I know you like to dress a little… extravagantly.”
“That is because I dress to match my naturally flamboyant personality,” she explained. “The clothes have to fit the woman. But no, you will not be wearing army green no matter how much you beg.”
“And there’s the small problem with me being pregnant and fat and—”
“You’re forgetting that I am a plus-sized woman. Does that stop me from having an outstanding sense of style? No, it does not.”
“Can I just go with something black?”
“You got any clothes that aren’t black?”
“Uh… I’m sure I do.” She paused. “Somewhere.”
“If he sees you in black all the time, you gotta wear something else. Shake him up a little.”
“And I need a little help with makeup, too. Understated.”
“Ah,” Lawanda said with a sly smile. “So you want the full Lawanda treatment. You’re a very smart woman. I like that about you.”
Bernie thought about Lawanda’s false eyelashes and started praying.
“Don’t worry, girl,” Lawanda said. “By the time I get through with you, you’re gonna be a knockout.”
Chapter 28
Three days later, Jeremy and Max were returning home to Dallas on a flight from Atlanta. Their flight had been delayed an hour, which frustrated Jeremy to no end. It meant he’d barely have time to get home and change into his tux before he and Bernie had to leave for the university.
When he sent her the invitation, he’d been prepared to have to talk her into coming with him, only to be pleasantly surprised when she accepted his invitation immediately.
Things are good, he thought. Very, very good.
When they reached cruising altitude, he closed his eyes, rested his head on the seat behind him, and thought back to making love to Bernie the other night. He’d been obsessed with having her again, but he’d had no idea it would be like that. It had been slow and soft and dreamy, every moment singular and intense, but it was her tiny whispers and cries and shudders of pleasure that told him how much she wanted him. He still remembered the expression on her face when she looked up at him and whispered his name, and he couldn’t wait to hear it pass her lips a thousand more times.
If he’d been obsessed before, he was a fanatic now. The moment they got home from the event tonight, he was sweeping her upstairs and straight into his bed again.
“May I get you a pillow, sir?”
Jeremy opened his eyes, irritated that his thoughts had been interrupted. Ever since he’d boarded the flight, the first-class flight attendant had been fawning over him, a stunningly beautiful blond with the most spectacular breasts money could buy. She’d gone through the entire safety recitation with her attention focused mostly on Jeremy, a subtle smile of invitation on her lips.
“No, thank you,” Jeremy said, and started to close his eyes again, only to have the flirting begin in earnest. First she asked the standard flight attendant questions, but with a sexy edge. Then she eased into more personal stuff designed to scope out where he lived, his marital status, and the approximate size of his bank account. By the time they were making their final approach into Dallas, Jeremy was surprised she hadn’t taken him by the hand and led him into the bathroom for a trip to the Mile High Club.
She rested her forearm on the top of the seat in front of Jeremy and leaned in. “I’m Jennifer,” she said, in a low, sultry voice. “If you’d like to get together, give me a call.”
She slipped him a piece of paper, then walked away to prepare for landing.
Jeremy couldn’t count the number of times this had happened to him. And most of the time, if the women were beautiful enough, he’d taken them up on their offers.
He remembered back to the time when Bernie was his bodyguard. She’d watch him collect those little pieces of paper from flight attendants, rolling her eyes the whole time, usually adding a snarky comment or two. He smiled to himself. That was what he liked about her. He never had to wonder what she was thinking, because she’d always been quick to tell him.
Without even unfolding this piece of paper, he crumpled it in his fist, then stuck it into the magazine pouch on the back of the seat in front of him.
“Better hang on to that,” Max murmured. “She was a hot one.”
“Nope. She doesn’t do a thing for me.”
“Beg to differ. She’d do all kinds of things for you.”
“You’re baiting me, Max.”
“Yes, sir, I am.”
“You appear to be gauging my interest in a completely different woman.”
“Tell me if I’m out of line.”
Oddly enough, Jeremy didn’t feel that way at all. There had been a time when Max’s comments had irritated him to no end, but now it actually made him feel good that Bernie had people in her life she could count on.
“You care a lot about her, don’t you?” Jeremy asked.
“We go way back.”
“I care a lot about her, too, Max. You have nothing to worry about.”
Max nodded, then returned to his usual comatose state, and Jeremy closed his eyes for a last-minute daydream to entertain him until he could see Bernie again. She’d told him she was going to meet him at his house and they’d go from there.
He couldn’t wait.
He got home an hour and a half later. He took a quick shower, put on his tux, and went back downstairs. When he stepped into the kitchen, he found Bernie sitting at the breakfast room table. She held a compact and was staring at herself in the mirror. She glanced up when he came into the room. Looking a little flustered, she closed the compact and tossed it into her evening bag. She stood up, fidgeting and frowning. He knew she was waiting for him to say something, but for a moment, he was speechless. She was still Bernie, but a different version of Bernie that was all soft around the edges, and he loved it.
Her hair was swept up in one of those messy-but-sexy styles anchored with a couple of rhinestone clips that he never would have imagined her wearing. She had makeup on. Very little, actually, but just enough to bring out her features, particularly those long, dark eyelashes. Her dress was made of royal blue satin that skimmed over her breasts and hips and her baby bump, then fell to her ankles in soft folds. Low neckline, but not plunging. He’d never noticed just how pretty her collarbones were, particularly with the diamond drop she wore falling perfectly between them.
“Wow,” he said.
She winced. “Is that a good wow, or a bad wow?”
“Let’s put it this way,” he said, walking toward her. “You look so incredible in that dress that all I want to do is take it off you.”
But she still looked worried. “Are you sure it’s all right?”
“Oh, I’m very sure.”
“Is the hair too weird? My friend Lawanda helped me with it. I told her it was weird, but she said it was perfect.”
“Lawanda is a very wise woman.”
Jeremy leaned in to kiss her, but she put a palm against his chest. “No. You can’t do that. You’ll smear my lipstick, and I won’t be able to fix it.”
“How about if I kiss you here instead?” he said, dipping his head and touching his lips to her neck.
“That’s fine. Even I know not to put lipstick on my neck.”
“Smart girl.”
“Are you sure I look okay?”
“Why don’t we go get a second opinion?”
They left the house and walked toward the limousine. Max was leaning against the back door. As they approached, Jeremy knew the exact moment he spotted Bernie. He pushed away from the car and reached up slowly to pull his sunglasses off, a look of utter amazement on his face.
“Holy shit,” he said. “Bernie?”
“Max,” Jeremy said. “Mustn’t ogle the boss’s date.”
“Or the boss’s date will deck you,” Bernie snapped.
“Don’t mind her,” Jeremy said. “She doesn’t know how beautiful she looks.”
“Did she bother to look in a mirror?”
Jeremy tapped his temple. “Mental block.”
“Will you two shut up?” Bernie said. “We’re going to be late.”
Max opened the door for them, and they got into the car. Max sat in the front passenger seat next to Carlos, leaving Jeremy and Bernie in the backseat alone. As they wound their way down the driveway to the front gate, Jeremy leaned in and spoke softly to Bernie.
“I sense you’re a little uptight,” he said. “There’s no reason for that.”
She took a deep, cleansing breath. “I’m just not used to being around this kind of people. Are you sure I look all right? I think you and Max are just trying to make me feel good.”
“Bernie, when Max turned around and saw you, his tongue was hanging so far out of his mouth I thought he was going to step on it. You look incredible. And I want very much for you to enjoy yourself tonight.”
She nodded, but he could tell she was still uneasy. Then she glanced at his neck, her brows drawing together with confusion.
“Wait a minute,” she said. “You tied your tie?”
“Haven’t you been telling me to for years?”
“Well… yeah.”
But she kept staring at it. Finally she reached up and tugged on it until it hung loose around his neck.
“Hey!” he said. “It took me ten minutes to get it right. I was proud of myself.”
She picked up both ends of the tie, pulled him toward her, and kissed him.
“If you wear it tied, how are people supposed to recognize you?”
Finally she smiled at him, and for a long, unguarded moment he just sat there basking in it, wondering why she’d always been so stingy with smiles when they lit up her face like Christmas. It had been so long since he’d actually looked forward to an event like this, but tonight…
Tonight was going to be magic.
Twenty minutes later, Carlos swung the limo onto the grounds of Texas Southwestern University, then pulled up in front of the building where the event was being held. He leaped out and opened the door for Bernie, giving her the kind of deferential treatment he’d never shown her before. Carlos was a little too afraid of the boss to focus too much on Bernie’s physical attributes, but Jeremy could tell that he was seeing her in an entirely new light. He only hoped Bernie was enjoying it.
They walked into the ballroom where the event was being held, and Bernie’s eyes grew wide with wonder.
“My God,” she said. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
Actually, it wasn’t much different from any other event he’d ever attended. Gauzy fabric was draped all over the room, with tiny white lights wound up in it. A string quartet was playing something soft and classical. Ice sculptures abounded. Ridiculously opulent buffets stretched from one wall to another. But judging from the look on Bernie’s face, she felt as if she’d just walked through the gates of heaven.
“You’ve been to these things with me before,” he said.
“I was on the outside looking in,” she said, her voice hushed. “This is different.”
Over the next hour, a dozen people came up to speak to Jeremy, and when he introduced Bernie, he saw more than one set of eyes travel downward. After tonight, speculation was going to run rampant about his being there with a pregnant woman, and he couldn’t have cared less.
“Everybody’s wondering about us,” Bernie said, as they eased away from the people they’d been talking to.
“Why? Because you’re pregnant?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Do you care?”
“I thought you might.”
“Think again. Let’s dance.”
She looked at him dumbly. “Do I strike you as the kind of person who knows how to dance?”
He took her by the hand. “Come on. It’s easy.”
“Jeremy—”
He ducked his head and whispered in her ear. “It’s the only way I can get my hands on you at a public event without being thrown out of the place.”
“I changed my mind,” she said. “Let’s dance.”
Once they were on the dance floor, he pulled her around to face him. He saw her glance quickly at other women, and she put her hand on his shoulder the same way they were doing with their partners. He took her other hand in his and moved to the music, and after a minute, he felt her relax.
“See?” he said. “Not so hard, is it?”
“No. Not as long as I’m following you.”
As they moved around the floor, he rubbed his hand gently up and down her back, already wondering just how quickly he could get her out of this dress once they got home. He thought it was quite possible he was going to find something under it other than white cotton undies, and he couldn’t wait to see what she’d picked out. And if it made her feel pretty, he’d buy her a whole trunkload of it.
When the song was over, there was a polite smattering of applause, and Bernie’s expression became pained.
“I have to sit down for a minute,” she said. “These shoes are killing me.”
“So why are you wearing them?”
“Because Lawanda says pain is a significant component of beauty.”
“So kick them off.”
“Nope. If I walk around in my bare feet, I’ll look like your family friend from Arkansas.”
“Let’s grab a table.”
Jeremy pulled out a chair for Bernie, and she sat down with a heavy sigh.
“Okay. That’s better. But I’m pretty sure I have blisters on top of blisters.”
“I’m going to get a drink,” Jeremy said. “Would you like me to bring you something?”
“No. I’m fine.”
“Back in a flash.”
He wound through the crowd to the bar in the corner of the room, where he asked the bartender for a Scotch and water.
“Thank God you showed up.”
Jeremy turned around to see Phil standing behind him.
“Second martini,” Phil said, holding it up, then pointing to Alexis and the group of women she was with. “Did you know that five women talking aren’t five times as loud as one woman talking? It’s more like five squared.”
“Keep drinking,” Jeremy said. “Pretty soon you’ll pass out and you won’t hear them at all.”
“I’m working on it.”
Jeremy picked up his Scotch and water from the bar, then turned back to Phil.
“So you’re here with Bernie tonight,” Phil said.
“That’s right.”
“Alexis is thrilled. She wants to meet her.”
“And I’d like her to meet Alexis.”
“So there’s still nothing going on between you two?”
Jeremy took a sip of his drink. “I wouldn’t say nothing.”
Phil got a big grin on his face. “So you’re finally seeing the light.”
Maybe he was.
Never in his life had Jeremy been so entranced with a woman that he had a hard time taking his eyes off her, but he hadn’t let Bernie out of his sight for more than a few seconds all evening.
“Doesn’t she look great tonight?” Jeremy said.
“Actually, yeah. She does. I barely recognized her. And to think she’s been under your nose all this time.”
That was a little hard for Jeremy to believe, too. But this was a different woman from the tense, unsmiling one he’d known for so many years. It was as if she’d vanished, and in her place was one who was so happy and relaxed she almost glowed with it.
“Sorry, Phil,” Jeremy said. “I need to get back.”
Phil sighed. “So I’m going to be all alone tonight listening to the chipmunks chatter?”
“I’m afraid so.”
Phil looked at Bernie with a smile. “Don’t blame you a bit, buddy.”
Jeremy wound his way back through the crowd toward their table. He was halfway there when he saw a man approach Bernie. He tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around. They talked for a bit, and then a big smile came over Bernie’s face. She stood up, and before Jeremy knew it, they were hugging each other.
