Operation Gigolo. Vicki Lewis Thompson
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