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He winked at her. “Get used to it, Lynn. You’re supposed to be loving comments like that, remember? Looks like I’ll have to coach the witness on the plane ride.” He gave her a shallow bow. “After you.”
3
WHEN THEY REACHED their seats, Lynn started to put her suitcase in the overhead bin, as she always did.
“Not while I’m around, sugarcakes.” Tony took hold of the suitcase.
“I can do it.” She hated helpless females, and she continued with the task.
“Don’t make me get rough, woman.” Still holding on to the suitcase, Tony loomed over her. Incoming passengers pressed from behind, plastering them together. “Women’s lib detoured right around this boy.”
Her body reacted to the close quarters by becoming aroused. Great. “What are you talking about? You’re very liberated!”
He leaned down and murmured in her ear. “For the next four days, I’m a chauvinist pig, remember? Now give me that suitcase and go sit down.”
“And which seat did you want me to take, darling?” she asked with exaggerated humility.
He smiled. “Much better, except for the teensy bit of sarcasm. You can have the window.”
She batted her eyelashes. “But that would put you in the middle seat, and I can’t believe you’d be happy there, sweetheart.”
“That depends. Maybe somebody as hot as you will take the aisle seat, and I can be the filling in a babe sandwich.”
Lynn groaned and edged into the far seat as Tony hoisted her suitcase into the overhead bin with an admirable display of biceps and triceps. He heaved his duffel in after it.
She noticed the gaze of many female passengers avidly following Tony’s moves. Their attention would return briefly to Lynn, then swing back to Tony, and the speculation was obvious in their expressions. She’d worn her normal traveling outfit—silk blouse, tailored shorts and jacket, nylons and designer shoes. The contrast with Tony’s more casual clothes made him seem younger, somehow. In fact, he looked exactly like what she’d intended for her parents to see—her boy toy.
When he sat down beside her, she leaned toward him and lowered her voice. “Thanks, but I really think you’re laying it on a little thick.”
“According to you, that’s not possible. You want your parents frothing at the mouth, right?”
“Well…yes, but—”
“And from your reaction to my act, you need a lot of practice being my main squeeze.”
She gazed at him and shook her head in wonder. “I can’t believe I’m sitting next to Anthony J. Russo, attorney-at-law.”
“You’re not. You’re sitting next to Tony The Tomcat.” His dark eyes twinkled. “Around Midvale High, they used to say I was born to prowl.”
“Oh, please.” She struggled to hang on to a more comfortable reality. “You know, I could really screw up your image around the office with that information.”
“I know. I’m trusting you not to.”
“Of course I won’t. But honestly, Tony, this is an incredible transformation.”
He smiled. “Oh, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet, sweetface.”
“My God, I’ve created a monster.”
“The better to freak out your old man and old lady, hot pants.”
Lynn rolled her eyes. “We may not even get to Sedona. At this rate we’ll accomplish the mission thirty seconds from the time we meet them at the Phoenix airport.” She glanced beyond him as a young man in a ponytail consulted his ticket and sat down next to Tony. “Too bad, lover boy. No babe sandwich,” she murmured.
“Well, damn.” He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “Guess I’ll have to make do with you.”
“Tony!” Her cheeks burning, she pulled back, but she was limited in how much distance she could put between them. She pretended that she didn’t like his outrageous advances, but the problem was she liked them too much. Her lips tingled and she wished he’d kiss her again…and stay a while next time.
He shook his head and clucked his tongue at her. “You’ve got to quit shying away or your parents will never believe this stunt. I suggest we draw up ground rules and a plan of action.”
“A plan. That’s a good idea.” She couldn’t possibly talk about it now without hyperventilating. She grabbed the airline magazine out of the seat pocket in front of her. “Maybe during lunch.” She started rapidly flipping the pages.
“I’ll be damned. Lynn Morgan, attorney-at-law, is flustered.”
She glanced up at him. “No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.” He gazed at her, a smile on his face. “Ever since I appeared in the terminal you’ve been a basket case. I never thought I’d see the day that you’d totally lose your cool, Counselor.”
“This is an unusual situation.” She looked at the magazine, desperate for a way out of the conversation. “Oh, look. An article about forcing tulip bulbs. I’ve always wondered how they do that.” She pretended great interest in the first few paragraphs.
“From what I hear, if you know how to stroke a tulip, no force is necessary.”
Zip, a surge of desire dived straight down to the tender spot where it would do the most damage. “You’re incorrigible,” she muttered, trying to sound nonchalant and failing miserably.
“That’s the idea.” He leaned back in his chair. “Okay, I’ll leave you alone to read about the mating habits of flowers.”
As if she could concentrate on anything but keeping her breathing steady. She abandoned the armrest between them because using it meant he might rest his arm there, too, and she wasn’t up to that much contact at the moment. Still, there was no avoiding this potent male by her side whose knee brushed against hers occasionally and whose shoulder touched her shoulder whenever he shifted in his seat. And there was no turning back. The plane roared to the end of the runway and lifted into the sky.
TONY WAS SURPRISED and secretly delighted that his behavior had Lynn so shook up. In her logical way, she might have thought they could pretend to be lovers to fool her parents and keep their emotions strictly out of it. He’d acted on impulse, kissing her like that when he met her at the terminal, but boy, had he enjoyed it. And he’d be allowed—required, in fact—to kiss her a lot more. If this morning was any indication of how she’d react, this should be a very interesting trip.
Glancing at the magazine in her hand, he concluded that either she was a very slow reader, which wasn’t likely, or she was staring at the page without seeing it. She was probably contemplating what she’d let herself in for with her clever little scheme.
He decided to let her muse on that for a while and struck up a conversation with the man seated next to him. The guy was a psychologist named Jeff, and he became increasingly friendly as Tony revealed himself to be more educated than his manner of dress would have suggested. They exchanged cards with promises that Tony would contact Jeff if he ever needed counseling and Jeff would contact Tony if he ever needed legal advice.
“Which I very well might, one of these days,” Jeff said as lunch arrived.
“Give me a call,” Tony said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a strategy session scheduled with my…traveling companion.”
“Sure.” Jeff looked openly curious, but he didn’t ask any questions.
Tony unwrapped his silverware and glanced at Lynn. “We need to talk. We’ll be in Phoenix before you know it.”
She concentrated very hard on sprinkling pepper on her salad. “Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m nervous.”
“We could land in Phoenix, tell them we had a terrible argument on the plane and catch the next flight home.”
She put down the pepper package and looked at him. “No, we can’t. I know the strategy will work, and it’s all set up, but I—” She glanced away and took a deep breath. “I’m afraid your original assessment might be right. I’m not used to lying, and I may be too…too inhibited to pull this off.”
His heart went out to her. She wanted so much to help her parents, but it went against her natural truthfulness and modesty. He liked those traits in her, but they would ruin her plan unless she overrode them for a few days.
He searched for a way to put her more at ease. “Maybe if you direct things, instead of me just foisting myself on you, it won’t seem so invasive. We could have signals, like in baseball.”
A tiny smile appeared on her sweet mouth. “Signals?”
“Yeah, like clearing your throat means I stick my tongue in your ear, scratching your nose means a French kiss, and brushing your shoulder means I grab your—”
“Forget it,” she said quickly, the color rising in her cheeks.
“The signals? Or grabbing?”
“Both.”
“We can think of a better idea than the signals, but if we’re going to put on a completely nauseating show, I should probably do a little grabbing. In fact, you should, too. Parents hate that, but it will be very convincing. I’ll grab easy, I promise.”
“Where…where would you…?”
“The standard places.”
“I don’t have any standard places.”
He laughed and gulped some water, suddenly needing a drink. “Sorry. I absolutely agree. Your places are way above average.”
She gazed at him for a long moment, her expression revealing her turmoil.
“It was a joke,” he said.
“I know.” She sighed and leaned back against the seat.
“Maybe this is hopeless. I’m probably not up to it.”
“Hey, that doesn’t sound like the Lynn Morgan I know.” He studied her tense profile. There was character in that face, and although she wasn’t a blond bombshell like Michelle, she had an elegant beauty that appealed to him. Appealed to him a lot. “The Lynn Morgan I work with every day doesn’t give up before she’s even started.”
She turned her head to look at him. “It’s a tougher job than I imagined, Tony. How in the world am I going to manage?”
“By relaxing, and thinking of it as play instead of serious stuff.” He smiled. “If we’re going to make fools of ourselves this weekend, we might as well enjoy it. Loosen up and have fun with this crazy scheme of yours.”
She held his gaze, and gradually the tense lines around her eyes and mouth eased, and mischief began to dance in her brown eyes. “Okay. Just what do you have in mind, big boy?”
Whoa. He hadn’t expected her to pack such a wallop.
He wasn’t going to have to fake this attraction. “Just keep looking at me like that, and we’ll have it made,” he said.
“I thought you wanted to plan our moves.”
He swallowed. He’d like to make one on her right here, right now. Planning ahead might be overkill. “I think when the time comes, we’ll know what to do.”
“You’re sure?”
Oh, yes. “Just keep in mind that we’re supposed to be so filled with love and lust that we can’t keep our hands off each other.” He took another drink of water. Surely his hand wasn’t trembling. Nothing bothered Tony The Tomcat.
“Excuse me,” Jeff said, putting his hand on Tony’s arm.
“But I couldn’t help overhearing some of your conversation. I have some knowledge in this area, and I think you’re both making a big mistake.”
Tony glanced at him in amazement. “Look, Jeff, with all due respect, I don’t think we need your—”
“You should see the color of your aura right now. And hers. You’re both troubled.” Jeff smiled. “Let me help. No charge.”
Lynn leaned forward and gave him a puzzled glance. “I must be missing something.”
Jeff faced her, his expression earnest. “Take pride in who you are! If society makes you ashamed, just surround yourself with white light, stand up and say, ‘This is me. I may be different from you, but that doesn’t make me less valuable, or less moral.’”
Tony had thought the guy was fairly rational, but he was reassessing that conclusion. “Listen, Jeff, are you overdue for some medication, or something? I’ll be glad to call the flight attendant and get you a—”
“I’m having a little trouble with my sun center these days, but meditation and color therapy seems to be taking care of it. In fact, I should be wearing my chakra glasses right this minute. Thanks for reminding me.” He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a pair of canary-tinted wraparound sunglasses and put them on.
Tony stared at him.
“That’s better,” Jeff said, as if it was perfectly normal to wear yellow sunglasses inside an airplane. He patted Tony’s knee. “My practice is filled with people of your persuasion, my friend. I advise you both to confess the truth to your parents. I promise you’ll be cleansed by the experience, and so will they. After all, everybody’s coming out these days.”
“What?” Tony instinctively rose out of his seat and bumped into the lap tray, upsetting his water glass into his lunch. Beside him, he could hear Lynn’s muffled laughter.
“Look, Jeff, I’m not—”
“Oh, Tony, of course you are. Why else would a lawyer feel it necessary to dress like that? You’re trying to project some macho image to throw people off the track, but it’s not working, and you know it.”
“I am not gay.” Tony realized he’d said that a little loud, and people were turning in their seats to check out the conversation.
Lynn cleared her throat and leaned over Tony’s destroyed lunch to gaze at Jeff. “He’s really not,” she said. Her lips were twitching, as if she was having a hell of a time keeping a straight face. “Dressing that way was my idea.”
“I’m not surprised.” Jeff looked knowing. “You’re projecting your own desire to act that role onto Tony. Be courageous! Wear the tight jeans and T-shirt yourself! Go for the motorcycle boots and the tattoo! Believe me, you’ll feel so much better.”
“Okay, here’s the deal,” Lynn said. “My parents are having some problems, and so—”
“There you go. I’ll bet they’re struggling with sexual issues, themselves. Clear the air for all of you, and you might have more in common than you think.”
Tony spoke through clenched teeth. “We…are…straight. All of us. Straight as a board.”
Jeff smiled and settled back against his seat. “You are so typical of my other clients. So defensive. You have my card. When you’re ready to honor that side of yourself, give me a call. I know a great sweat lodge.” He put on a pair of earphones and switched on a small tape recorder he had in his shirt pocket.
Tony had stuck Jeff’s business card in his wallet, and now it seemed to burn a hole in his butt. He longed to get it out and tear it into little pieces, but that would give Jeff more evidence that he was being defensive.
So he turned to look at Lynn instead. Yes, he was definitely heterosexual. He wanted to wring her neck for helping him get into such a ridiculous conversation, but even more he wanted to plant kisses on that neck.
She pressed her lips together and her eyes brimmed with laughter.
He lowered his voice. “You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”
She nodded.
