Marriage of Inconvenience (Those Manning Men #1)

Marriage of Inconvenience (Those Manning Men #1) Page 28

“‘Regret later,’” Rich repeated slowly. “In other words, you regret having made the offer.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.” He moved past her and out the front door, slamming it behind him. The sound reverberated like thunder, leaving Jamie alone to withstand the storm.

Rich had never met a more contrary woman in his life. It seemed that one minute she was leading him into her bedroom, and in the next she was behaving as though she couldn’t get away from him fast enough.

Rich wasn’t the one who’d announced to his family that they were moving in together. Nor had he invited himself into her home for dinner and then seduced her. It was the other way around. All right, she hadn’t exactly seduced him, but the lovemaking had been Jamie’s idea.

Then, in the light of day, she’d acted as if she’d never seen him before. As if she would’ve preferred that he disappear in the middle of the night.

Leaving before she woke was what had gotten him into trouble the first time they’d made love.

Rich was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t.

He didn’t understand it. He’d never been this confused by a woman.

Although Rich tried to work, by midafternoon he felt like calling it quits. Leaning back in his chair, he rubbed his tired eyes. Generally, when he had a problem he wanted to talk over with someone, he called Jason. The two of them had been each other’s support system for years.

This time, however, Rich decided to phone Paul instead. Paul had been married nearly five years; surely in all that time he’d gleaned some wisdom about women and marriage.

Rich stood and closed his office door before sitting back down and reaching for his phone. Paul worked for the largest of the two Seattle papers and was often out chasing down a story. But his brother answered the phone.

“Got a minute?”

“Sure,” Paul teased. “The only pressing thing I have is a three o’clock deadline.”

Since it was quarter to three, Rich figured he’d better talk fast. “Did Jason tell you about Jamie and me?”

“Not exactly,” Paul said, his amusement evident in his voice, “but I put two and two together. Jason confirmed my suspicions, although I have to admit I would never have guessed you’d agree to artificial insemination.”

“It didn’t work out that way.”

“That’s what Jason said.”

Rich could picture his brother in the middle of the newsroom, leaning back in his chair wearing that cocky know-it-all grin.

“What can I do for you?”

“Explain something to me.”

“If I can.”

“Women. And how they think.”

Paul responded with a low laugh. “You want me to explain a woman’s mind. I hope you’re kidding. No one, at least no man, will ever be able to understand the way a woman thinks. Trust me, I’ve got five years’ experience in this marriage business. If you don’t believe me, ask Dad. He’ll tell you the same thing. Take Diane. She wants another baby. Apparently she isn’t busy enough with Ryan and Ronnie. For weeks on end she’s talked about nothing else. She wants a little girl, she says. The twins run her ragged as it is. Besides, there’s no guarantee we’d have a girl. We actually had a big fight about it last week.”

“And?” Rich didn’t mean to pry, but he was curious to know how Paul and his wife settled their disagreements.

“Well, I stood my ground, if that’s what you mean. Not that it did much good,” he admitted reluctantly. “I absolutely refused to discuss having another child. I tried to appease her though, I don’t want to be dictatorial or unreasonable. I said we’d talk about it this time next year. That way the twins will be in kindergarten when the new baby’s born. Planning our family makes sense to me.”

“What did Diane say?”

“Nothing.” This was followed by a significant pause. “But I should mention that she threw out her birth-control pills.”

“Is she always this stubborn?”

“It’s not just Diane. All women are stubborn. To make matters worse, she wore this sexy little piece of black lace to bed. I tried to ignore her, pretend I didn’t see…you don’t need me to tell you what I could see.”

“No, I don’t.” Rich would rather not hear. He still didn’t know what to make of Jamie’s actions that morning. Had he frightened her, wanting her the way he did? Hell, it hadn’t seemed like it the night before, but what did he know?

Apparently very little.

“The thing is, Diane will probably get her way simply because I don’t have the strength to fight her. I could stop making love to her, but then I’d be the one losing out.”

Rich rubbed the back of his neck. “Does Diane ever say one thing when she means another?”

Paul’s laugh was abrupt. “Oh, yeah. In my experience, women are often indirect. They figure they’re being subtle or giving us hints or something like that. But they won’t come right out and say what they want. Oh, no, a man’s supposed to guess, and heaven forbid if we guess wrong.”

Rich exhaled a long, slow sigh. Paul was confirming what he already knew. “Remember, when we met with Mom and Dad, how Jamie casually said I was moving in with her?”

“Yeah.”

“It sure surprised me when she brought it up. We’d never said a word about it.”

“You mean you don’t want to move in with her?”

“Of course I do! For weeks I’ve been trying to figure out how to suggest it. Then, out of nowhere, she invites me to live with her, in front of my family. I was so excited it was all I could do not to jump up and somersault across the living room floor.”

“So what’s the problem?”

It was a logical question and one Rich couldn’t answer. “If I knew that, I wouldn’t be calling you.”

“All right,” Paul said. “Start at the beginning.”

“I drove home with Jamie last night.”

“And?” Paul prompted when Rich didn’t immediately continue.

“And I ended up staying the night.”

“Everything sounds fine to me.”

“It was—until this morning.”

“What happened then?”

Rich shrugged, although Paul couldn’t see him. “I can’t say. The alarm went off and we were cuddling like old married folks. Ten minutes later, Jamie’s out of the shower, with this towel wrapped around her middle. She wouldn’t so much as look at me. I played it cool, gave her some space. Some women are modest—I understand that—so I left her alone.

“Before I know it, she’s in the kitchen making herself lunch like it’s the most important thing she’s ever done. By accident I happened to step too close to her and she practically threw herself against the counter so we wouldn’t touch.” Rich paused to take a deep breath. “On top of that, when I said I should get a key to her place, she tells me we should reevaluate my moving in with her.”

“I see,” Paul muttered.

“What’d I do wrong?”

“Something, that’s for damn sure. Think,” Paul advised. “You must’ve made some remark that set her off.”

“Like what?” They’d done more kissing than talking.

“How should I know? I wasn’t there. Just think…review everything you said.”

“I’ve tried that, but I can’t come up with a single thing I could have done to warrant this reaction.”

“Then ask her.”

“I can do that?”

“Yeah,” Paul said, but he didn’t sound convincing. “It’s not the best procedure because…well, you’ll learn that soon enough. But if you’re honestly in the dark about what went wrong, then you might as well ask. But if you do, be prepared.”

“For what?”

“To have your ego shredded. When Diane acts like that, I know I’m in trouble. Often, and this is what’s so confusing, Diane can’t even tell me what I did. All she knows is that she’s furious with me.”

“She can’t explain why she’s mad?” Rich could hardly believe it.

“It’s true. She glares at me like I should be arrested. Then, when I can’t stand it anymore, I finally ask her what I did that was so terrible.”

“And?”

“And,” Paul added with a sigh, “she says she’s still getting in touch with her feelings. According to her, it has to do with her upbringing.”

“How?”

“Well, the way she was brought up, according to her, was all about being taught never to make a fuss or create waves. To be a ‘good girl,’ which means not to make any demands.”

“I see.”

“So what are you going to do?”

Rich hesitated. “What you suggest. Ask her.”

“You’re a good man, Rich Manning,” Paul said, as if Rich should be awarded a medal for bravery. “Let me know how it goes.”

“I will,” he promised. After thanking his oldest brother for the advice, Rich hung up, resolved to bring the situation into the open as soon as he had the chance.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur. Because they were putting the finishing touches on the defense project, Rich had to stay late that night. He wasn’t pleased about it, but he had no choice. Bill Hastings and the others were working overtime, as well. Rich couldn’t very well announce that he’d had an argument with his wife and then leave. Especially when half his colleagues didn’t even know he had a wife.

At quarter past six, there was a polite knock at his door. He glanced up and did a double take when he saw Jamie standing there.

“Can I come in?” she asked shyly.

“Of course.” He stood and gestured toward the chair on the opposite side of his desk. Once she sat down, he did, too. This was the chance he’d been hoping for, but since she was the one who’d come to see him, Rich figured he’d let her start the conversation. Trying to appear as nonchalant as possible, he leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs.

“I want to apologize for this morning,” she said in a small voice.

“Thank you.” Rich was in a generous mood. Apparently she’d seen the error of her ways and had come to make amends. He felt a surge of relief. Maybe this was going to be easier than he’d expected.

“I … I was completely unreasonable.”

“Does this mean you want me to move in with you, after all?”

“Yes, of course…that is, if you’re still willing.”

Was he ever! “It’s certainly something to think about,” he said solemnly. Then he added, “I read that women are often unreasonable during pregnancy.”

“Your book said that?” Jamie asked, frowning.

He nodded. “It’s all those hormones.”

“I bought a book, too, but I haven’t got to that chapter yet. It makes sense, though.” She opened her purse and reached for her wallet, snapping open the change compartment. “I had a key made for you during my lunch hour,” she said, handing it to him.