Susan Mallery - Wife in Disguise

Her mouth twitched up slightly at the corners. “Well, if you were just being mercenary and looking out for your self-interest, I guess I understand. But if you were trying to be nice, I’d have to be mad.”

She was laughing at him. “Are you mad?”

“That you were nice and caring and a gentleman? Not at all. Just don’t tell me I need to lose a few pounds.”

He allowed himself to give her body the once-over, lingering a tiny bit on her breasts. “From here you look great.”

She laughed, although the sound had a slightly strangled quality. “Thank you. For the compliment and for carrying me. I don’t think we should make a habit of it, but under the circumstances, it was very nice.”

He almost added “for me, too” but caught himself at the last minute.

“I do have a question, though,” she said in her low, husky voice. The sound definitely rubbed him the right way. He could listen to her for hours.

“Shoot.”

“Would you have done it if I’d been a man?”

It took him a second to realize what she meant. Would he have carried her up the stairs if she’d been male? He hesitated, knowing the right answer and not sure he could actually say it.

“Politically correct battles with gut truth.” She leaned close. “Don’t try to pretend otherwise. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Yeah, yeah, so I wouldn’t have carried a guy up the stairs. I still would have helped.”

“Hey, boss. Where do you want these?”

Gary came up the stairs with a perfectly timed interruption. He held a couple of cans of paint in each hand and had rolls of wallpaper tucked under his left arm.

“Just leave them here,” Del said, pointing to a corner of the landing. “The rooms aren’t ready for them yet.”

Gary deposited the supplies and left.

Del crouched to check the colors of the cans. The paint was a sunny shade of yellow. There was a border print of ivory tea roses accented in green. A matching pattern of smaller flowers filled the full-size wallpaper rolls.

“Just what I thought,” he muttered. “Girl stuff.”

“These rooms are for me,” Rose said lightly. “What did you expect? Monster trucks or half-naked women?”

“I’ve never seen half-naked-woman wallpaper, but it’s a thought.”

“Yes, especially if they’re young, perfect women.”

“It’s a plus, but not necessary.”

As he spoke he wondered if she felt she wasn’t perfect anymore. Yeah, she used a cane and probably had some scars, but that didn’t really matter. At least not to him. Had some male moron hurt her by making her feel she wasn’t enough?

He didn’t know how to ask and it wasn’t his business, so instead he stood and motioned to the guest bathroom.

“Want to check out what we’ve done so far?”

“Sure.” She turned and led the way. “I’m guessing it’s gutted and not much else.”

“You have to use your imagination.”

He showed her that they were going to turn the tub/shower combination which would allow them to fit in a vanity with a double sink.

Rose nodded slowly, then looked at him. “But what about the toilet? Moving things around will be awkward to get in and out of the room.”

“Not if we move the door hinge to the other side, so it opens to the left and not the right.”

She studied the door and nodded. “Very clever. This would be one of the many reasons why I’m not trying to do this myself. I wouldn’t have thought of that.”

“It’s why we get the big bucks. Now, in the bedroom itself we’re replacing the window, doing some patching, then painting on Wednesday. That will give us forty-eight hours to clear out the paint smell.”

“Which isn’t going to happen.”

“No, but it will be better than if we painted it Friday morning. The bathroom gets patched this afternoon, painted tomorrow. Tub, sink and toilet go in on Thursday.”

“Which is a good thing. My alternative is to use the hose out back for a shower.”

“While that would entertain the neighbors, it’s still a little cool in the morning, so I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Oh, gee, thanks. And here I’d been looking forward to some al fresco bathing.”

He didn’t want to think about that. Actually he did want to think about it in great detail, but that would be a big mistake. “Are you going to be all right here by yourself? It’s a big house, and you’re not even going to have a kitchen.”

She leaned against the wall, bracing herself. He wondered if her leg was bothering her.

“I’m having a phone line run in tomorrow,” she said. “That means I won’t be cut off from the world. As for the kitchen, between the microwave and your list of takeout, I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t cook?”

She hesitated. “Not much. I didn’t used to at all, but I’ve been slowly teaching myself.”

Josie didn’t cook, either, but with her it was a matter of principle. They’d never gotten far enough past the fighting for him to know if she’d even known how. He shook his head as if to clear it. He didn’t understand his sudden obsession with his ex-wife.

She looked at him and smiled. “I don’t want to keep you, Del. Thanks for the tour. I’ll let you get back to work.”

The problem was he didn’t want to be anywhere but with her. In fact, he could think of several ways for them to spend the day together and only about half of them involved getting naked.

Instead he asked if she would be all right going down the stairs on her own.

“Down is much easier than up,” she informed him.

With no brilliant excuse suddenly presenting itself, he found himself leaving, both her presence and the house. Because he had things to do at the office, then he had to start working on her kitchen cabinets. But he found himself thinking about her throughout the day. About the way she laughed and smelled and felt in his arms. And the way he’d wanted to kiss her more than he’d wanted anything in a real long time.

Friday morning Josie sat curled up on the sheet-covered sofa in her new house. All around her the sound of construction and people made her feel that she was a part of something positive. She was probably in the way, but having to duck large sheets of lumber and listen to the whine of saws was far better than sitting alone in her hotel room. She’d hated the solitude and the impersonal decorations. Although she would still be by herself when she moved into this house, at least it would be hers. She could do what she liked in the way of decorating and make it a real home. Something she hadn’t had in a year.

She returned her attention to the wallpaper sample book in her lap and flipped the page. Her eyes widened as she stared at a horrible print of huge bright-blue roses surrounded by gold and pink birds.

“As your contractor, I’m afraid I can’t let you do that to any innocent room in this house.”

At the sound of the familiar voice a shiver rippled up her spine. The hairs at the back of her neck stood and quivered and her heartbeat jumped into overdrive. She’d been back in Beachside Bay less than two weeks, and already she was acting like a teenager with her first crush around Del. Talk about trouble.

She glanced up and over her shoulder. Her ex-husband stood behind her, leaning forward, his hands braced on the back of the sofa. He pointed at the open wallpaper sample book.

“You’re kidding right?” he said. “That one would win an ugly competition, no problem.”

She studied the offending square of paper. “You don’t like it? But the colors would give me so much to work with.” She was careful to keep any sound of teasing out of her voice.

He looked at her. She was close enough to see the flecks of gold that brightened his dark irises and the lines fanning out from the corners of his eyes. Her gaze shifted so that she was staring at his mouth, remembering what it had felt like when they’d kissed all those years ago and making her wonder if it would be different now.

He straightened and came around to stand in front of her. He planted his hands on his narrow hips. “You can’t be serious. Rose. Come on. I know I’m a guy and all my taste is in my mouth, but even I can see that’s hideous.”

She puffed out her lower lip in a slight pout. “Del, I hate to put you in your place, but you’re the contractor, not the decorator. I really like this and I’m going to order it. I thought maybe for the parlor.”

“No guy on the planet wants to live in a house with blue flowers on the wall.”

“I know, but wouldn’t cages of little white birds look charming against the blue and gold? And one of those all-white cats. The fluffy kind.”

His gaze narrowed even as the corners of his mouth turned up. “Brat. You’re teasing me.”

She held up the book. “You deserved it. I can’t believe you’d think anyone sane would buy this wallpaper.”

“Hey, they put it in the sample book for a reason. Not only is it available to order, but people have.”

“I hadn’t thought of that.” She studied the print more closely and shuddered. “Of course there is good news should I go ahead and buy this.”

“Do enlighten me.”

She grinned. “According to you, no man on the planet would want to live in a house with this on a wall. So I do one room in it and when I have a horrible date I want to get rid of, I simply put him in there and he’ll run screaming from my life.”

“You need a different plan,” he said, settling next to her on the sofa and taking the book from her lap. “If the guy’s that awful, you don’t invite him home.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

He looked at her. “How long has it been since you were on a date?”

His question made her feel self-conscious. She smoothed the skirt of her dress and cleared her throat. “Yes, well, after the accident, my social life wasn’t as full as it had been before.” Which was almost true. She’d barely dated anyone since her divorce. The accident had forced her to go from a couple of dates a year to none. Not a huge difference. But Del didn’t have to know that. “There was the male nurse who brought me ice cream that one time, but I don’t think that counts.”

He returned his attention to the sample book and began flipping pages. “Then you’re going to need a refresher course. Rule number one-no strangers in the house. Get to know the guy before you invite him over.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, figuring there was no point in telling him that the odds of her dating anytime soon were unlikely. For one thing, she was back in town because she wanted closure with Del-not because she was looking to get involved. Second, she couldn’t imagine a man being interested in her and asking her out. Not with her cane, her limp and her scars.

“What about this one?”

He pointed at a sample of ivory paper with a half-inch wide gold stripe bracketed by a burgundy pinstripe. The paper was elegant and very attractive. Josie looked at him in surprise.

“That’s nice.”

“You sound shocked.”

“Of course. You said all your taste was in your mouth.”

He surprised her even more by lightly touching her cheek.

“I lied,” he said, handing her the book and getting to his feet. “I have pretty good taste. Some of it is innate, some I learned from my mom and my ex-wife. But before you go wild on wallpaper, we need to talk about paint.”

He crossed to the far side of the room and picked up several wide rings holding dozens of paint samples. Josie was vaguely aware of the fit of his jeans, but she was also conscious of the fact that this was the first time he’d mentioned being married before. She wanted to stop him and ask him what he thought of her…of his ex-wife. Did he remember their time together with anything but annoyance? Did he have regrets, like she did?

But before she could form the question, he was back at her side, handing her several paint samples. “My suggestion is that you take advantage of the rooms that have afternoon light. Go for the warmer tones, because the sunlight has a golden cast in the afternoon. Especially during the summer. Something about being by the beach. I don’t know the physical reasons for it, but I know it exists.”

“I appreciate the input.”

They flipped through the samples together and picked out colors for the dining room and kitchen. Del was knowledgeable and easy to get along with. He made suggestions but didn’t push. Josie was surprised. What she remembered about him was that he was determined to have his way and she was just as determined to be the victor. What had changed? Had each of them grown up in their time apart or was it just her? Had she simply assumed Del wanted his way and reacted accordingly without bothering to find out the truth?

There was no way to get an answer to that question. Not without having a conversation she wasn’t ready for. Confessing the truth about herself was something she was going to have to do pretty soon, although she knew she would put it off as long as reasonably possible. She liked her new relationship with Del. It was fun and easy. He liked her. When they were married he hadn’t liked her much at all.