Clearly, she wanted to be done with this conversation, so it took him off guard when she suddenly stopped and whirled around. “Yes,” she said in exasperation. “I am. Especially now that I’m getting paid not to have sex for the next two years.”
He put a hand to his chest as if she’d just wounded him. “Who’s paying you not to have sex?”
“Our marriage will fall apart the second we cross that line, and you know it.”
The stubborn glint in her eyes offered an irresistible challenge. Gail was so…normal. That was one of the things he liked most about her. She kept problems in perspective and demanded he do the same. Since she’d taken charge, his life had begun to make sense again.
But she was also a bit starchy, and that made her fun to bait. “I’m willing to compromise in that area,” he said. “I’ll give you a night off from our deal if you’ll give me one.” He adopted a sultry tone. “Think about it…all that pent-up desire could be unleashed on your old crush.”
Oddly enough, he didn’t want her to accept, but he was curious whether or not she’d be tempted by the offer. That alone would tell him how important this Matt the Football Player was.
She didn’t take the bait. Grabbing his shirtfront, she tried to yank him toward her. When she couldn’t budge him, and he started chuckling at her efforts, she stood on her tiptoes so she could come nose to nose with him instead. “Don’t mistake the tranquil setting here in Whiskey Creek for privacy or anonymity. Everyone’s watching. You do one thing wrong in this town and you can say goodbye to making yourself remotely respectable.” She let go and brushed the wrinkles out of his shirt. “And I’d rather you didn’t make a fool of me in front of the home crowd, if you get my meaning.”
He lowered his gaze to her lips. She was so close he could smell the mint of her chewing gum. If he kissed her, he’d probably taste it, too. “I guess that leaves us with only one alternative.”
“And that is?”
Tilting her chin up, he brought his mouth within a hairbreadth of hers. “You can’t guess?”
“Sure I can.” Shoving his good hand up against his crotch, she said, “Have fun,” and walked away.
Apparently she’d had enough of his teasing. But something about her reaction to her old flame triggered an unpleasant response in him.
It couldn’t be jealousy, he told himself. It had to be wounded pride. He wasn’t used to being upstaged.
Unwilling to let her have the last word, he called after her, “You’re supposed to want me. I’m the movie star!” as if he was the egotistical ass so many of the tabloids described.
“Some women prefer professional athletes to self-absorbed movie stars,” she retorted, and when she reached the stoop, she tossed a taunting smile over her shoulder. “You should see how big Matt is.”
Simon felt his eyebrows jerk together. “You’re talking about height, aren’t you?”
No answer. She was trying to unlock the door.
He strode over to the porch. “You can’t compare what you haven’t seen. To be fair we should go into the bedroom and check it out. I’m not afraid of a little competition.”
“I want a divorce,” she grumbled as she finally got the door open.
Trying not to laugh, he swatted her bottom. “I seem to have that effect on women.”
* * *
Bringing a movie star home to Whiskey Creek wasn’t turning out like Gail had imagined. Her father and brother had reacted as defensively as she’d thought they would but, except for Callie, her friends had not. Probably because she and Simon were already married. Considering that, there wasn’t much anyone could do to warn her away.
Still, she’d anticipated a bit more…concern.
At breakfast, her old school chums had looked as if they couldn’t believe her situation had changed so drastically, but she’d talked about the people on her client roster enough in the past that they associated her with a lot of big names. They were more surprised to have Simon O’Neal sitting at coffee with them. She’d never brought anyone home before, let alone an actor of his stature, and they were understandably flustered.
But, interestingly enough, they didn’t seem to blame her for marrying him. The guys took it for granted that Simon would be able to have anyone he wanted, even her, regardless of what he’d done. And her girlfriends harbored no illusions that they would’ve refused him had he shown interest in any of them. So there’d been no frowns, no head shaking, no “what the hell were you thinking?” when they got together this morning. Everyone had been too busy trying to acclimate to having Simon around. Gail had almost laughed out loud as all but Callie succumbed easily to his potent charm.
That grin of his was like a slow-acting poison, she decided. It wasn’t lethal but it could certainly incapacitate a woman. It entered at the eyes and jammed up certain frequencies of the brain, making the victim susceptible to almost any suggestion Simon made. That had to be the reason she’d been stupid enough to flash him this morning, even though she didn’t want to be compared to his many other women, didn’t want to become his temporary antidote to grief, didn’t want to be just another meaningless lay. She already knew her self-esteem couldn’t take it.
He’d win Callie over eventually, too. Callie was only holding out because she’d cautioned Gail not to get involved with him, and had been ignored. Callie couldn’t swoon at his feet the second he walked into town or she’d look ridiculous.
“Hey, what’s taking so long?” Simon called up.
Apparently he was off the phone with Ian, who’d been expounding on the difficulties of getting Simon out of his next movie. She could hear the TV but Simon’s conversation seemed to have ended several minutes ago, probably around the time she’d finished reading all the blogs and articles posted about them on the web.
“Just handling a few details,” she called back.
“How are we looking? Am I coming off as innocent? Reformed?”
“America hasn’t gotten that far yet. Everyone’s in shock.”
“I still have the ability to shock people?”
She couldn’t help laughing, despite the fact that she was wounded by so many of the comments she’d read. Being realistic about her own limitations was one thing. Reading so many snarky reasons he should’ve chosen someone better was another.