Call Me Irresistible Part 11

He smiled and gazed up at the ceiling fan. "I can't believe how hot it is in here, and it's only the first of July. Hard to imagine how much worse it'll get." He shook his head, his expression as guileless as a saint's. "I was going to put in air-conditioning for Lucy, but I'm glad now that I didn't. Adding all those fluorocarbons to the atmosphere would have kept you awake at night. Do you have any beer?"

She glowered at him. "I can barely afford milk for cereal."

"You're living here rent free," he pointed out. "The least you could do is keep beer in the refrigerator for company."

"You're not company. You're an infestation. What do you want?"

"This is my place, remember? I don't have to want anything." He pointed the toe of a scuffed, but very expensive, loafer toward the jewelry laid out on the floor. "What's all this?"

"Some costume jewelry." She knelt down and began to gather it up.

"I hope you didn't pay real money for it. Eye of the beholder, I guess."

She gazed up at him. "Does this place have a postal address?"

"Sure it has an address. Why do you want to know?"

"I want to know where I live, that's all." She also needed some things sent to her that were packed away in her closet back home. She found a sc.r.a.p of paper and wrote down the address he gave her. She nodded toward the front of the church. "As long as you're here, will you turn on the hot water? I'm getting tired of cold showers."

"Tell me about it."

She smiled. "You can't still be suffering from the effects of Lucy's three-month s.e.xual moratorium?"

"d.a.m.n, but you women sure do like to talk."

"I told her it was stupid." She wished she were evil enough to pa.s.s on the news that Lucy had already taken a lover.

"We finally agree on something," he said.

"Still ..." She returned to putting the jewelry away. "Everybody knows you can have any brainless woman in Wynette. I don't exactly see what your problem is finding s.e.xual companions.h.i.+p."

He looked at her as though she'd just joined the Idiots Club.

"Right," she said. "This is Wynette, and you're Ted Beaudine. If you do one of them, you'd have to do them all."

He grinned.

She'd intended to annoy, not to amuse, and she took another swipe. "Too bad I was wrong about you and Torie. A clandestine affair with a married woman would answer your problem. Almost as good as being married to Lucy."

"What do you mean by that?"

She extended her legs and leaned back on her hands. "No messy emotional c.r.a.p. You know. Like real love and genuine pa.s.sion."

He stared at her a moment, those tiger eyes inscrutable. "You think Lucy and I didn't have pa.s.sion?"

"Not to be insulting-okay, maybe a little insulting-but I sincerely doubt you have a pa.s.sionate bone in your body."

An ordinary mortal would have been offended, but not St. Theodore. He merely looked thoughtful. "Let me get this straight. A screwup like you is a.n.a.lyzing me?"

"Fresh viewpoint."

He nodded. Contemplated. And then he did a very unTed Beaudinelike thing. He dropped his lids and gave her a wicked eye-rake. Starting at the top of her head and sliding down her body, lingering here and there along the way. Her mouth. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. The apex of her thighs. Leaving hot little eddies of desire behind.

The absolute horror of not being immune to him hurled her into action, and she jumped up from the floor. "Waste of effort, Mr. B. Unless, of course, you're paying."

"Paying?"

"You know. A big wad of twenties on the dresser afterward. Oops... I don't have a dresser. Oh, well, there goes that idea."

She'd finally managed to annoy him. He stalked into the back room to either turn on the hot water or blow the place up. She sincerely hoped it was the former. Not long after, she heard the back door close, and a few moments later, his car pulling away. She was strangely disappointed.

The foursome teed off the next day. Ted and Torie playing Kenny and Spence.

"I had to go to Austin yesterday," Spence told Meg, "and every time I saw a beautiful woman, I thought about you."

"Jeez, why?"

Ted gave her a surrept.i.tious poke. Spence threw back his head and laughed. "You're something, Miz Meg. You know who you remind meof?"

"I'm hoping a young Julia Roberts."

"You remind me of me, that's who." He resettled his straw Panama on his head. "I had a lot of challenges in my life, but I always faced them down."

Ted whapped her on the back. "That's our Meg, all right."

By the time they reached the third green, she was wilting from the heat but still happy to be outside. She forced herself to concentrate on being the perfect caddy, along with shooting Ted adoring glances every time Spence got too cozy.

"Would you stop that!" Ted said, when they were out of earshot.

"What do you care?"

"It's unnerving, that's all," he complained. "Like being trapped in an alternate reality."

"You should be used to adoring glances."

"Not from you. you."

It was soon evident, even to Meg, that Torie was a highly compet.i.tive athlete, but on the back nine, she suddenly began missing putts. Ted never lost his easy charm, not until he was alone with Meg when he confirmed her suspicions that Torie was doing it deliberately. "That was barely a three-foot putt," he groused, "and Torie lips the cup. Spence could be around for weeks. Anybody who thinks I'm going to let him win every match is crazy."

"Which is obviously why Torie missed that putt." At least someone other than herself understood Spence's ego. She glanced around for the most recent head cover she seemed to have misplaced. "Concentrate on the big picture, Mr. Mayor. If you're determined to destroy the local environment with this project, you need to be more like Torie and work harder to make Spence happy."

He ignored her jab. "Look who's talking about making Spence happy. It wouldn't hurt you to be nicer to him. I swear I'm going to stage a public fight with you so he knows exactly how unrequited your pa.s.sion for me is."

He put a long wedge shot on the green, tossed the club at her, and stalked off.

Thanks to Torie, Spence and Kenny pulled off a one-hole victory. Afterward, Meg headed for the ladies' locker room, which, technically, employees weren't supposed to use, but since it was equipped with a vast array of personal-care products sadly missing from her own collection, she used it anyway. As she splashed her heat-flushed face with cold water, Torie joined her at the sink. Unlike Meg, the heat didn't seem to have affected Torie, who merely pulled off her visor to refasten her ponytail, then looked around to make sure the locker room was empty. "So what's really between you and Ted?"

"What do you mean? Haven't you heard the rumors about how I drove Lucy away so I could have him for myself?"

"I'm a lot brighter than I look. And you're not a woman who'd fall for a guy who basically hates your guts."

"I don't think he hates me as much as he did. Now it's more your run-of-the-mill loathing."

"Interesting." Torie shook out her long hair, then gathered it together again.

Meg grabbed a washcloth from the pile by the sink and ran it under the cold water. "You don't seem to hate me, either. Why is that? Everybody else in town does."

"I have my reasons." She snapped the elastic back into place. "Which isn't to say I wouldn't scratch your eyes out if I really believed you were a threat to Ted."

"I broke up his marriage, remember?"

Torie gave a noncommittal shrug.

Meg studied her, but Torie wasn't giving anything more away. Meg rubbed the cold washcloth over the back of her neck. "Since we're having this heart-to-heart, I'm curious how your husband would feel if he knew you were practically naked in a hotel room with Ted?"

"Oh, Dex didn't mind the naked part-I'd just come out of the shower-but he wasn't happy about Ted kissing me like that, even after I pointed out that I was an innocent bystander." She disappeared into the nearest stall, still talking. "Dex got all huffy and informed Ted that he drew the line at kissing. I told Dex I wished he'd draw it someplace else because, even though I doubted that kiss was Ted's best effort, it was still kind of fun. Then Dex said he'd show me all the fun I could handle, which, if you knew my husband, would make you laugh, but Dex was feeling crabby because, a couple of weeks ago, I'd tricked him into staying with the girls while I went with Ted to test the new GPS he made for his truck. Dex wanted to do the test run himself."

That must have been the night Meg had seen them together. She was getting more than a little curious about Dexter O'Connor. "So your husband knew you were alone in a room at the inn with Ted?" She grabbed the sunblock. "You must have a very understanding husband."

The toilet flushed. "What do you mean alone? Dex was in the shower. It was our room. Ted just stopped by."

"Your room? I thought you lived in Wynette."

Torie came out of the stall and regarded her with faint pity. "We have kids, Meg. K-i-d-s. K-i-d-s. Two fabulous little girls I love with all my heart, but they definitely take after me, which means Dex and I try to get away, just the two of us, every couple of months." She washed her hands. "Sometimes we manage a long weekend in Dallas or New Orleans. Usually, though, it's a night at the inn." Two fabulous little girls I love with all my heart, but they definitely take after me, which means Dex and I try to get away, just the two of us, every couple of months." She washed her hands. "Sometimes we manage a long weekend in Dallas or New Orleans. Usually, though, it's a night at the inn."

Meg had more questions, but she needed to put away Ted's clubs and collect her tip money.

She found him by the pro shop, talking to Kenny. He reached into his pocket as she approached. She held her breath. True, she'd lost his last two head covers, but she hadn't cost him a single hole, and if that cheapskate...

"Here you go, Meg."

The full one hundred dollars. "Wow," she whispered. "I thought I needed to buy a bedroom dresser before I could make this kind of money."

"Don't get used to it," he said. "Your days caddying for me are over."

Just then, Spence emerged from the pro shop along with a young woman dressed for business in a sleeveless black s.h.i.+ft, pearls, and a dark green Birkin bag. She was tall and full figured, although not even close to fat. She had strong features-a long face with well-defined, dark eyebrows, an important nose, and a full, sensuous mouth. Subtle highlights brightened the dark brown hair that curved in long, straight layers around her face. Although she looked to be in her late twenties, she carried herself with the confidence of an older woman combined with the s.e.xy a.s.surance of a younger one used to getting her own way.

Skipjack slipped his arm around her. "Ted, you've already met Sunny, but I don't think the rest of you know my beautiful daughter."

Sunny shook hands briskly, repeating each name and locking it in her memory, starting with Kenny, then Torie-a.s.sessing Meg-and pausing when she reached Ted. "It's great to see you again, Ted." She studied him as if he were a prized piece of horseflesh, which offendedMeg.

"You, too, Sunny."

Spence squeezed her arm. "Torie here invited us both to a little Fourth of July s.h.i.+ndig. A good chance to meet more of the locals and get the lay of the land."

Sunny smiled at Ted. "Sounds great."

"Do you want us to pick you up, Meg?" Spence asked. "Torie invited you, too. Sunny and I'll be happy to stop on our way."

Meg pulled a long face. "Sorry, I have to work."

Ted thumped her on the back. Extra hard. "I wish all the club's employees were so dedicated." He slipped his thumb under her shoulder blade, finding what just might be one of those lethal pressure points only a.s.sa.s.sins knew about. "Fortunately, Shelby's party doesn't start until late afternoon. You can come over as soon as you get off work."

She managed a weak smile, then decided that a free meal, her curiosity about Sunny Skipjack, and the opportunity to irritate Ted outweighed spending another night alone. "All right. But I'll drive myself."

Sunny, in the meantime, was having a hard time tearing her eyes away from Ted. "You're quite the public servant."

"I do my best."

Her teeth were large and perfect as she smiled. "I suppose the least I can do is put in my own bid."

Ted c.o.c.ked his head. "Beg pardon?"

"The auction," she said. "I'll definitely put in a bid."

"You've got me at a disadvantage, Sunny."

She snapped open her Birkin and extracted a bright red flyer. "I found this under the winds.h.i.+eld of my rental car after I stopped in town."

Ted glanced down at the flyer. It might have been Meg's imagination, but she thought he flinched.

Kenny, Torie, and Spence moved closer to read over his shoulder. Spence shot Meg a speculative look. Kenny shook his head. "This is Shelby's big idea. I heard her talking about it to Lady E., but I never thought it would get this far."

Torie let out a hoot. "I'm definitely bidding. I don't care what Dex says."

Kenny arched a dark brow. "Lady E. sure isn't bidding."

"That's what you think," his sister retorted. She extended the flyer toward Meg. "Take a look at this. Too bad you're poor."

The flyer was simply printed in bold black letters: WIN A WEEKEND WITH TED BEAUDINE.

Join Wynette's favorite bachelor for a romantic weekend in San Francisco.

Sightseeing, fine dining, romantic nighttime boat cruise, and more. Much more ...

Ladies, place your bids.

($100.00 minimum) Married! Single! Old! Young!

Everyone welcome.

The weekend can be as friendly (or intimate) as you like.

www.weekendwithted.com All proceeds benefit the Wynette Public Library rebuilding effort.

Ted s.n.a.t.c.hed the flyer from her, studied it, then crumpled it in his fist. "Of all the stupid, asinine ... !"

Meg tapped him on the shoulder and whispered, "I'd buy a dresser, if I were you."