The Summer Proposal. Judith McWilliams
of her being enfolded in his arms filled her mind. Appalled, Julie shoved it aside. What was the matter with her? she wondered uneasily. Why did her attention keep drifting from what Caleb wanted to the man himself? She didn’t have an answer and that bothered her almost as much as her unprecedented physical reaction to him. She wasn’t used to her emotions going off on their own agenda. Usually they did exactly as they were told. Which was to stay firmly out of sight.
“It isn’t a question of payment,” she finally said. “It’s a question of time. I really do have a lot planned this summer.”
Caleb shoved his fingers through his dark hair in frustrated desperation.
“Please.” He gritted the word out as if it were one he didn’t use very often. “At least come and meet Will before you refuse to help. See what the situation is. Tell me what he needs.”
Julie stared into the swirling depths of Caleb’s blue eyes and was lost. His appeal, combined with the child’s obvious need, made her retreat from a flat refusal.
“All right, I’ll meet Will and assess his skill levels. But that’s all I’m promising,” she hurriedly added at his suddenly hopeful expression.
“Now?” Caleb asked eagerly, afraid to let her out of his sight for fear she’d change her mind.
Julie grinned at him. “You did meet Miss Boulton on the way in, didn’t you? The only way I’d get past her without having turned in my end-of-year reports is on a stretcher.”
“Tomorrow morning?” Caleb persisted. “Say, ten?”
“Okay,” Julie agreed, and then swallowed uneasily as her stomach suddenly lurched, giving her the oddest feeling that she’d just stepped off a stair that wasn’t there. She wasn’t actually getting involved with Caleb Tarrington, she assured herself. Not really. All she had promised was to meet his son. She’d do that and then recommend someone else to tutor Will.
“Thanks.” Caleb gave her a relieved grin that lit diamond sparkles in the depths of his blue eyes. Sparkles that momentarily seemed far more interesting than her carefully planned future.
Chapter Two
“Julie, any chance of you having lunch with me?”
Julie looked up, smiling at the unexpected sight of her older sister, Darcie, standing in the classroom doorway.
“I’d love to. Miss Boulton signed off on my materials list ten minutes ago, so I’m free. And starved. Let’s get out of here before the woman finds something else for me to do.”
“Why are you covered with glitter?” Darcie asked. “Are you starting a new trend?”
“Only for being caught in embarrassing situations,” Julie said. “The stuff fell on me earlier while I had a visitor. I felt like a perfect fool.”
“Nobody’s perfect.” Darcie grinned at her. “Although I will admit, you’ve improved enormously since you were a pesky little kid.”
Julie grinned back. “I could say the same about you, but I’m much too polite. Although…”
She paused as it suddenly occurred to her that Darcie, with her active social life as well as her extensive contacts in the business world, might know Caleb Tarrington.
“What?” Darcie prompted as they left the classroom.
“What do you know about Caleb Tarrington?” Julie asked.
Darcie’s green eyes widened slightly. “I know he’s outside your league, Julie. Don’t try to cut your teeth on him. You’ll wind up breaking them.”
“I cut my teeth, as you so inelegantly put it, years ago. And I have a perfectly valid reason for asking that has nothing whatsoever to do with what you are obviously thinking. Now, tell me what you know.”
“Well, there’s the obvious. That he looks like the answer to every woman’s romantic fantasies.”
The memory of Caleb’s head tilted to one side, a lopsided smile softening his dark features, and his eyes gleaming with humor as he’d brushed the glitter from her hair popped into Julie’s mind. She shivered slightly as she savored the image. No doubt about it. Caleb Tarrington was most definitely qualified to star in a romantic fantasy. Just not hers. She had better sense.
“True, but looks can be deceptive,” Julie said. “Take me, for example. I may look like the proverbial girl-next-door, but beneath my prosaic exterior beats the heart of a dedicated career woman.”
“Where are you parked, dedicated career woman?” Darcie shoved open the building’s outside door, which led to the school’s parking lot.
“I’m not. My car wouldn’t start this morning, so I took the bus.”
“No problem. I’ll drive, and drop you off at home afterward.”
Darcie unlocked the door to her sleek black luxury car.
“So what else do you know about Caleb Tarrington?” Julie asked once Darcie had pulled onto the road.
“I know that he inherited more money than he could ever spend. That he’s an extremely successful architect. That he very quietly supports quite a few charities. But I don’t know much about his personal life.”
“Anything else?” Julie persisted.
Darcie grimaced. “I know blondes don’t turn him on. At least, this blonde didn’t.”
Julie blinked. “You tried to…”
“Attract his interest is as good a euphemism as any. And, of course, I did. Any normal, red-blooded woman is going to have a go at Caleb Tarrington. It was at a Christmas party last year we both attended. I gave him my best sultry look.”
“And?”
“And I could have been ninety years old for all the response I got.”
“I find it hard to believe that someone as beautiful as you didn’t get some reaction from him,” Julie said slowly.
“Actually, I was rather surprised, too,” Darcie agreed with her usual candor. “I guess it comes under the heading of you can’t win them all.
“So tell me why you want to know about Caleb Tarrington,” Darcie demanded.
“He came to see me today about his son,” Julie said.
“His son!” Darcie yelped, and the car suddenly shot forward as her foot inadvertently depressed the gas pedal. “I didn’t know he had a kid.”
“He’s six years old. Will has come to live with him, and Caleb wants to make sure the child has covered everything we teach in the first grade here,” Julie said, reluctant to tell even her sister the personal details Caleb had given her about his marriage.
“And Caleb wants you to tutor the kid this summer?” Darcie immediately made the connection.
“Got it in one.”
“Don’t do it,” Darcie said.
“Why not? Don’t you think I’m a match for Caleb Tarrington?” Julie demanded, her pride stung.
“No,” Darcie said succinctly. “Hell, I’m not a match for him, and I’m a hundred times more knowledgeable about men than you’ll ever be.”
“Not about six-year-old men,” Julie said smugly. “And it’s the six-year-old I’d be dealing with.”
Darcie took her eyes off the road long enough to give Julie a rueful grin.
“I hate to be the one to break it to you, but most men are six-year-olds at heart. Besides, I won’t be here to give you any sage advice if you do accidentally get in over your head.”
“Where are you going?”