Susan Mallery - In Bed With The Devil

“What are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing. Jack and I are friends. The bigger question is, what do I want from Andrew?”

“How are you going to figure that out?”

“I haven’t got a clue.”

She followed Betina back inside, where everyone sat around on the oversize sofas. Two bowls filled with pieces of paper stood in the middle of the coffee table. They would be the “truth” and “dare” parts of the game.

Meri had learned not to mess with dare with this group. Not when they wanted things like mathematical proof that the universe existed. Answering personal, probably embarrassing questions was a whole lot easier.

As Jack was new to the game, they let him go first.

He pulled out a question and read it aloud. “Have you ever gone to a convention in any kind of costume?”

He frowned and turned to her. “This is as wild as you guys get?”

She laughed. “It’s not a big deal for you, but-trust me-there are people in this room with guilty Star Trek secrets.”

Jack put down the paper. “No.”

Colin groaned. “You weren’t supposed to get that question.”

“Which means there’s another one in the bowl about doing it with twins,” Meri told him with a grin.

She reached into the bowl and pulled out a paper. “Have you ever been stood up?”

The room seemed to tilt slightly. She remembered being eighteen, wearing her prettiest dress, although a size eighteen on her small frame was anything but elegant. She’d had her hair done, actually put on makeup and gone to the restaurant to meet a guy from her physics lab. She’d waited for two hours and he’d never shown up.

The next day he’d acted as if nothing had happened. She’d never had the courage to ask if he’d forgotten or done it on purpose or for sport.

Jack leaned over and grabbed the paper from her. “She’s not answering the question. This is a stupid game.”

“I don’t mind,” she told him.

“I do. I’ll tell them about the twins.”

All the guys leaned forward. “For real?” Robert asked. “Twins?”

She shook her head. “Jack, it’s okay.”

“It’s not. What happened is private.”

What happened? How could he know she’d been stood up? He’d been gone for months. Actually, the nondate had gotten her to think about changing. She’d joined a gym the next day.

She started to tell him that, then found she couldn’t speak. Her throat was all closed, as if she had a cold…or was going to cry. What was wrong with her?

“Excuse me,” she said and ducked out of the room. She hurried into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

It was stress, she told herself. There was too much going on.

She heard footsteps and turned to find Colin entering the room.

“You okay?” he asked. “I’m sorry about the question. It wasn’t for you. I was hoping Betina would get it.”

Something inside Meri snapped. “I’ve had it with you,” she said. “Look, you’re a grown single man interested in a woman who obviously thinks you’re hot. For heaven’s sake, do something about it.”

He opened his mouth, then closed it. “I can’t.”

“Then you don’t deserve her.”

Meri needed coffee more than she needed air. It had been another long night but not for any fun reasons. She’d tossed and turned, not sure what to do with her life-something she hadn’t wrestled with in years.

She was supposed to have things together by now. She was supposed to know her heart as well as she knew her head. Or did being so damned smart mean she was destined to be stupid in other ways?

The coffee had barely begun to pour through the filter when someone rang the doorbell. She hadn’t seen anyone else up yet so she walked to the front door and opened it.

Andrew stood on the porch. He held a single red rose in one hand and a stuffed bright-green monkey in the other.

“It’s possible I behaved badly yesterday,” he said with a shrug. “More than possible. I want things to work between us.”

She didn’t know what to say. While she was relieved to not be fighting, she wasn’t exactly in the mood to throw herself into his arms. Which meant that there was a whole lot more for them to deal with.

“Andrew, this is really confusing for me,” she said. “You’re right. We were apart too long. Things have changed.”

“Is there someone else?”

“No,” she said without thinking, then had to wonder if that was true.

Not Jack, she told herself. Okay, yes, they’d gotten intimate, but just the one time and nothing since. He was her past. The problem was Andrew might not be her future.

He handed her the monkey. “I brought you this. I thought it would make you smile.”

She took the ridiculous stuffed toy. “He’s adorable. What about the rose?”

“That’s for me. I plan to wear it in my teeth.”

He bit down on the stem, which made her laugh. Andrew always made her laugh. Wasn’t that a good thing? Shouldn’t she want to be with him?

“You want some coffee?” she asked. “I have a pot going.”

“Sure.” He took a step inside, then grimaced as his cell phone rang. “Sorry. I’m dealing with some stuff at work. Give me ten minutes?”

She nodded and stepped inside. Still carrying the monkey, she returned to the kitchen. Only this time she wasn’t alone. Colin stood pouring coffee. He wore jeans, an unbuttoned shirt and nothing else. But it wasn’t his unusual outfit that got her attention. Instead there was something about the way he stood. Something in the tilt of his head or the set of his shoulders.

“Colin?”

He turned and smiled at her. “Morning.”

A single word but in a voice she’d never heard from him. It was low and confident. He was a man at peace with himself and the universe.

She felt her mouth drop open. “You had sex with Betina.”

Colin didn’t even blush. “It wasn’t sex, Meri. It was making love. And, yes, we did. She’s amazing. She’s the woman I’ve been waiting for all my life.”

With that, he collected two cups of coffee and carried them back to his room.

Meri laughed out loud. She set the monkey on the counter, then turned to find someone to share the good news with.

But she was alone in the kitchen, so she ran upstairs, taking them two at a time, then burst into Jack’s office. He was on the phone but hung up when he saw her.

“You look happy,” he said. “So it’s not bad news.”

“I know. It’s fabulous. I saw Colin. He’s someone completely different. He and Betina slept together and I think they’re seriously in love. Isn’t that fabulous? Are you jazzed?”

One corner of Jack’s mouth turned up. “Good for Colin. I didn’t think he had it in him.”

“Oh, there was a tiger lurking behind those silly plaid shirts. And we’re a part of it. We got them together.”

Jack held up his hands in the shape of a T. “There’s no ‘we’ in all this. They got themselves together.”

“Don’t be silly. We pushed. And I mean we. You were a part of it. You acted like a matchmaker. I’m so proud.”

He groaned. “Leave me out of it.”

She crossed to the window, then turned back to face him. “This is great. They may get married. We can go hang out at the wedding and take all the credit.”

“I don’t think so.”

She wrinkled her nose. “You’re not getting in the spirit of this. It’s happy news.”

She spun in a circle, holding her arms out and tilting back her head. Soon the room was turning and turning. She lost her balance and started to fall. Which should have worried her, except Jack was there to catch her.

She collapsed against him, then smiled up into his face. He had the most amazing eyes, she thought absently, then she dropped her gaze to his mouth. That part of him wasn’t so bad either.

“You need to slow down,” he told her.

“No way. Light speed isn’t fast enough.”

“You’ll get hurt.”

What were they talking about? She found she didn’t know and she sort of didn’t care. Not as long as he held her.

“Jack,” she breathed.

He released her and stepped back. “Meri, this isn’t a good idea.”

Then it hit her. She’d run to Jack instead of Andrew. That couldn’t be good. Had Betina been right all along? Had there been more on the line that getting revenge or closure or any of the other reasons she’d given herself for wanting to sleep with Jack? Dear God, what had she done?

“I have to go,” she whispered and hurried out of the room. She ran all the way to her bedroom, then closed the door behind her and leaned against it. Where did she go from here?

Jack poured coffee. As he raised his mug, Colin walked into the kitchen.

Meri was right-there was something different about the guy. An air of confidence. He wasn’t just a nerd anymore.

The love of a good woman, Jack thought humorously. Apparently the old saying about it being able to transform a man was true. Lucky for him, he’d escaped.

“How’s it going?” Colin asked.

“Good. With you?”

“Great.”

“No one seems to be talking trash in the dining room today,” Jack said.

“Meri gave us the day off.”

Probably to ensure that Betina and Colin spent more time together. It was just like her.

“Andrew was here before,” Colin said.

“What happened?”

“Something with his office. He had to leave.”

“You sound relieved.”

Colin shrugged. “He’s not my favorite.”

“Mine either.”

They were an interesting group, these scientists, Jack thought. Brilliant and humble, funny, determined and willing to make fools of themselves on Jet Skis. They looked out for Meri. Hunter would have liked them a lot.

“What?” Colin asked. “You have a strange look on your face.”

“I was thinking about Meri’s brother. He would have liked you. All of you.”

“Meri talks about him. He sounds like a great guy.”

“He was. A group of us became friends in college. We called ourselves the Seven Samurai. It was dumb but meaningful to us. Hunter was the connection we all had with each other. He brought us together. Held us together.”