Read Online Double Standards by Judith McNaught - Free Book Online
Authors: Judith McNaught
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herself," he said imperturbably as he pushed his chair back and stood up.
Nick said he had to make a phone call, and while he did so, Lauren walked down the hall to the ladies' room. When she emerged, she recognized his broad shoulders and tapered back at a phone in the entranceway. His deep baritone voice was lowered, but one word drifted to her as clear as a bell: "Ericka."
What an odd time for him to be calling another woman, Lauren thought. Or was it? He had said that their hosts were expecting him to bring a friend, and he would have undoubtedly arranged to take someone with him long before today. He was breaking a date!
Nick slid into her sporty Pontiac Trans Am, turned on the ignition, then frowned at the generator warning light that glowed red on the dashboard. "I don't think there's anything wrong with the generator," Lauren hastily explained. "On the way up here I stopped and had a mechanic check it. He couldn't find anything wrong, so it's possible it's just a short in the warning light itself. The car is only six months old."
"Why don't we take it up north and see how it runs," Nick said after a brief pause. "That way you won't be alone on the highway en route to
Missouri
if the generator
does
go out."
"Wonderful," she readily agreed.
"Tell me more about your family and you," he said as they pulled out of the parking lot.
Lauren turned her face to the front, trying not to show her tension. The little web of deceit she'd woven was already growing larger and more entangled. Since Nick knew people at Sinco, and she'd deliberately omitted mentioning her college degree on her application, she was hesitant about telling him she'd been at college for the last five years. Staring out the window at the splendid glass
Renaissance
Center
, she sighed. A person who was innately honest, she'd already lied to him about her age, because she wouldn't really be twenty-three for another three weeks. And she'd told Tony in front of him that she had no friends or relatives in Detroit . Now she was going to carefully "forget" the last five years of her life.
"Was that a tough question?" Nick joked.
His smile did crazy things to her heartbeat. She wanted to lift her hand and lay it against his hard jaw and to trace the line of those sensual lips. His shirt collar was open at the throat, and she wanted to touch the dark hairs that curled crisply just above the deep V of the third button. Even the scent of his spicy cologne was teasing her senses, inviting her closer. "There isn't much more to tell you. My stepbrother, Lenny, is twenty-four now, and he's married and starting his own family. My stepsister, Melissa, is twenty-five, and she got married in April. Her husband is a mechanic who works for the Pontiac dealer where I bought this car."
"What about your father and stepmother?"
"My father is a teacher. He's brilliant and wise. My stepmother is very sweet and completely devoted to him."
"If your father's a teacher, I'm amazed that he didn't urge you to go on to college, rather than letting you work as a secretary."
"He did," Lauren replied obliquely, vastly relieved when Nick was obliged to direct his attention to the intricacies of changing lanes and negotiating the wide curve that brought them down the entrance ramp onto Interstate 75. The expressway took them through the inner city before the scenery changed from urban factories and housing to small suburban homes, followed by a huge shopping center and far more opulent suburbs. "What about your extra clothes?" she asked suddenly. "Won't you need to pack a suitcase?"
"No. I keep some clothes at another house in Harbor Springs."
The breeze through the open car window lightly teased his thick, coffee-brown hair. Although it was cut and styled to lie flat at the sides, it was just long enough at the nape to brush his shirt collar—just long enough, Lauren reflected wistfully, for a woman's fingers to slide through it. Her fingers. Tearing her eyes from his profile,
Nick said he had to make a phone call, and while he did so, Lauren walked down the hall to the ladies' room. When she emerged, she recognized his broad shoulders and tapered back at a phone in the entranceway. His deep baritone voice was lowered, but one word drifted to her as clear as a bell: "Ericka."
What an odd time for him to be calling another woman, Lauren thought. Or was it? He had said that their hosts were expecting him to bring a friend, and he would have undoubtedly arranged to take someone with him long before today. He was breaking a date!
Nick slid into her sporty Pontiac Trans Am, turned on the ignition, then frowned at the generator warning light that glowed red on the dashboard. "I don't think there's anything wrong with the generator," Lauren hastily explained. "On the way up here I stopped and had a mechanic check it. He couldn't find anything wrong, so it's possible it's just a short in the warning light itself. The car is only six months old."
"Why don't we take it up north and see how it runs," Nick said after a brief pause. "That way you won't be alone on the highway en route to
Missouri
if the generator
does
go out."
"Wonderful," she readily agreed.
"Tell me more about your family and you," he said as they pulled out of the parking lot.
Lauren turned her face to the front, trying not to show her tension. The little web of deceit she'd woven was already growing larger and more entangled. Since Nick knew people at Sinco, and she'd deliberately omitted mentioning her college degree on her application, she was hesitant about telling him she'd been at college for the last five years. Staring out the window at the splendid glass
Renaissance
Center
, she sighed. A person who was innately honest, she'd already lied to him about her age, because she wouldn't really be twenty-three for another three weeks. And she'd told Tony in front of him that she had no friends or relatives in Detroit . Now she was going to carefully "forget" the last five years of her life.
"Was that a tough question?" Nick joked.
His smile did crazy things to her heartbeat. She wanted to lift her hand and lay it against his hard jaw and to trace the line of those sensual lips. His shirt collar was open at the throat, and she wanted to touch the dark hairs that curled crisply just above the deep V of the third button. Even the scent of his spicy cologne was teasing her senses, inviting her closer. "There isn't much more to tell you. My stepbrother, Lenny, is twenty-four now, and he's married and starting his own family. My stepsister, Melissa, is twenty-five, and she got married in April. Her husband is a mechanic who works for the Pontiac dealer where I bought this car."
"What about your father and stepmother?"
"My father is a teacher. He's brilliant and wise. My stepmother is very sweet and completely devoted to him."
"If your father's a teacher, I'm amazed that he didn't urge you to go on to college, rather than letting you work as a secretary."
"He did," Lauren replied obliquely, vastly relieved when Nick was obliged to direct his attention to the intricacies of changing lanes and negotiating the wide curve that brought them down the entrance ramp onto Interstate 75. The expressway took them through the inner city before the scenery changed from urban factories and housing to small suburban homes, followed by a huge shopping center and far more opulent suburbs. "What about your extra clothes?" she asked suddenly. "Won't you need to pack a suitcase?"
"No. I keep some clothes at another house in Harbor Springs."
The breeze through the open car window lightly teased his thick, coffee-brown hair. Although it was cut and styled to lie flat at the sides, it was just long enough at the nape to brush his shirt collar—just long enough, Lauren reflected wistfully, for a woman's fingers to slide through it. Her fingers. Tearing her eyes from his profile,
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