“No.” Autumn shook her head emphatically. “He’s all wrong for me. Exactly the opposite of the kind of man I usually date.”
“That’s what I meant. He’s good for you.” With that smug comment Emily turned toward the living room. “Jeremy Kane’s about to come on. We don’t want to miss his opening illusion.”
Pulling two canned soft drinks out of the refrigerator, Autumn followed her friend, knowing as she did so that it was going to be hard to lose herself in the performer’s illusions when her mind would be so fully filled with memories of Jeff. She was beginning to believe that Jeff Bradford possessed a few magic powers of his own. She could only assume that she had been bewitched.
AUTUMN SPENT quite a bit less time worrying about clothes for her second date with Jeff than she had for her first. After all, if “that gold thing”—the most powerful weapon in her wardrobe arsenal—hadn’t overcome Jeff’s strong willpower, no garment would. Still, she took pains to look her best in a vividly patterned, short-sleeved camp shirt and pleated khaki slacks, her thick, curling hair confined at the back of her head with a banana clip. Bold plastic earrings, a heavy matching bracelet and bright green flats completed her colorful outfit. She had just finished applying her makeup when her doorbell rang, some fifteen minutes before seven. Either Jeff was early or…
“Webb.” She sighed as she opened her door. “What are you doing here?”
He grinned in pure enjoyment. “Making trouble.”
“So what else is new? Go away, Webb.”
“Nope.” Looking as attractive as always in a fashionably casual shirt and slacks, he strolled past her and dropped onto her couch, draping himself comfortably across the pillows as if he were prepared to stay for a while. Absently patting Babs when she jumped up to greet him, he looked at Autumn. “What time’s Bradford supposed to be here?”
“How do you know I’ve got a date with Jeff?” Autumn demanded in frustration.
“Call it a lucky guess. I was right, wasn’t I?”
“Yes, you were right. Now will you go away? He’s supposed to be here in fifteen minutes.”
“I thought I’d say hello. I haven’t seen him in a while. Got a beer?”
Autumn started to tell him exactly what he could do with himself—an anatomical impossibility—but then she paused as a mischievous thought crossed her mind. She’d teach Webb not to play games with her, she decided abruptly. He deserved to find himself waiting at the altar. But not with her. “Sure, I’ve got a beer. I’ll get you one,” she told him, smiling sweetly as she headed for the kitchen.
Webb straightened on the couch, watching her leave with a frown at her suspicious acquiescence. “What are you planning, Autumn?”
“I’m not planning anything, Webb,” she assured him over her shoulder. “I just know when to accept the inevitable. You’re not going to disappear until Jeff gets here, are you?”
“Nope.”
“So I won’t waste my time pleading with you. Don’t you have a date tonight?” she asked, raising her voice to be heard in the other room as she rummaged in the refrigerator for a beer.
“Not tonight,” Webb called back. “Thought I’d head over to Charlie’s later and check out the scenery.” Charlie’s was a popular singles’ bar that Webb liked to frequent. Autumn hated the place she always called the “meat market.”
She picked up the phone and quickly punched in her neighbor’s number. “Emily? Hi, it’s Autumn. Can you come over for a minute? Yeah, right now. Make up an excuse, will you? Webb’s here, and Jeff’s supposed to arrive any minute. If you’re here, too, Webb just might behave himself.” The conversation was brief and low-voiced. Autumn was smiling when she hung up.
Webb had barely popped the top of his beer when the doorbell rang. He lifted his eyebrows in a devilish expression. “Lover-boy’s here.”
“Webb, why do you find it so amusing that I’m going out with Jeff?” Autumn asked curiously, knowing who was at the door.
He lifted one shoulder, grinning unrepentantly. “Maybe it’s because I didn’t think there was anyone who could rattle that tough, cool exterior of yours. I’m pleased to know that Ms Autumn Reed has a few insecurities like the rest of us mere mortals.”
Shaking her head in exasperation, Autumn opened the door, winking at Emily. “Hello, Emily. Hi, Ryan,” she said clearly, amused as Webb coughed on a sip of beer behind her. “Come in.”
“Thanks. I brought the sweater you wanted to borrow.” Her blue eyes twinkling with suppressed laughter, Emily held out a thin red oversized sweater that Autumn had once admired.
Grateful that the sweater just happened to match the outfit she’d chosen to wear, Autumn draped it over her arm. “Thanks, Emily. I’d heard a cold front was supposed to come through later and I didn’t have a thing to wear with this blouse. You remember Webb, don’t you?”
Autumn hadn’t realized that her neighbor had any talent in the dramatic arts, but Emily’s look of pleased surprise was superb. “Of course I do. Hello, Webb. How nice to see you again.”
Immediately on his feet, Webb managed a smile, trying very hard to keep his eyes on Emily’s lovely face instead of the creamy cleavage revealed by her scoop-necked ice-blue sweater. He wasn’t entirely successful, Autumn noted with malicious pleasure. “Hello, Emily,” he said faintly.
From his usual position on his mother’s hip, Ryan smiled happily at Webb and held out his chubby hands, babbling a welcome in his mostly incomprehensible toddler dialect. “I think he remembers you,” Emily remarked, giving Webb one of her guaranteed-to-daze-any-red-blooded-male smiles.
Predictably dazed, Webb lifted Ryan into his arms and grinned besottedly down at the sandy-haired imp. “Yeah, I think he does. How’s it going, buddy?”
“He’s been active lately,” Emily told him with a smile. “He’s practicing his climbing. He’s made it to the top of the bookcase twice now.”