Blame It On Paris

sight.'

He'd never heard such bullshit. He'd never said anything of the kind. But Aaron was beaming-of course. His father had always been putty in the hands of a female.

Whatever seating Aaron had planned, Kelly chose the chair between Will and his father. Drink orders were taken. Kelly said she was having whatever his mom was having but, on discovering that was a martini, blushed like a bride and said maybe she'd better stick with wine.

'So how did you two meet?' Barbara asked.

Will braced. The grilling had begun. But Kelly seemed primed for it.

'Will saved me. I'd just gotten into Paris, hadn't even recovered from jet lag, when this mugger grabbed me. He took my purse, every valuable thing I had, scared the wits out of me. Will could have walked on by, but thank heavens he stepped in. I had no passport, no money, no way to even call home, and I was scared…'

Aaron shot him the first look of approval that Will had seen in, well, somewhere in the vicinity of twenty-five years.

'Where do you work, dear? Do you live with your family?'

Kelly named her firm. 'I'm a forensic accountant. I love it. Some days I think somebody created the job just for me. And no, I don't live with my mom. although we're really close-and I never knew my dad. For a while, I had a stepdad, a really super guy, but most of the time when I was growing up, there was just my mom and me. I moved out on my own after school. It seemed time for my mom to have her own life, without feeling she had to take care of someone else all the time.'

Will caught his father and mother sharing a half dozen glances. They approved. In fact, by the time their meals were served, Will wondered if he could just put his chin in a palm and nap. He'd known Kelly was sneaky before this, of course, but he'd never dreamed her skill level was this high. Somehow everything she said made his parents believe she was God's gift to their son's life.

Actually, she was God's gift to his life. He'd just never seen that sneaky streak of hers show up in his favor before.

Somewhere between the after-dinner brandy and the French pastry choice of desserts, his mom laughed softly, and charmingly went straight for the throat. 'So…are you and Will serious?'

'Now, honey, you've been hounding the girl with questions all through dinner. Let her be,' Aaron said, shooting Kelly an I'll-help-you-out-here-darling expression.

'It's all right. I don't mind answering anything,' Kelly said disarmingly. 'The truth is, Will and I have only known each other for a short time. Neither of us wants to rush into anything impulsively. He flew home especially for your birthday, Mrs. Maguire, not for me. But yes, we've been seeing each other. And even though that's going great, there's nothing to guess at yet.'

'I love how you handle yourself, dear.' Barbara said warmly.

'I'm a big believer in honesty.' Kelly said as she slid her bare toe up his pant leg under the table. It was an acrobatically challenging thing to do when she was sitting next to him. Normally he wouldn't have thought her toes could bend at that angle. 'Really, though. I'd much rather hear more about your family. And your business, Mr. Maguire. Everyone knows about Maguire's in South Bend, but I have no idea how your family got into it, how it all happened, if you are from here generations back and all…'

That was it. His dad was happily occupied for dessert, coffee and two brandies, while Kelly sat, looking rapt and enthralled.

His mom didn't want to leave. His dad didn't want to leave. Kelly didn't seem to want to leave.

'Well,' Will said heartily, 'I'm afraid it's past ten, and an early workday tomorrow for Kelly-'

'Oh, that's all right, Will. I'm having a great time.' But Kelly suddenly shot a charmingly stricken look at his parents. 'Although I know how long we've been sitting here. If I'm monopolizing your evening-'

'You have to be kidding, honey.' Aaron said warmly.

Past eleven, the three of them were still merrily chatting and laughing and sharing stories in the parking lot. Will had had his keys out for ten minutes, Aaron for about the same time. Starlight sparkled in Kelly's hair, on her animated smile when she hugged his mom, his dad.

Everybody had a hugfest.

Aaron hugged him, as well, and vice versa. Will knew damn well the other night's harsh words had not been forgotten, but he'd been raised a certain way. No personal problems showed up in public. The Maguires were a united family.

By the time he climbed into the car and turned the key, he was more wiped out than if he'd climbed Everest and K2. Five straight hours of racquetball couldn't be this tiring.

Kelly nestled in, and although she pulled on her seat belt, she managed to curl in the seat with her legs drawn up like a tired puppy's. The brilliantly happy smile she'd had all evening suddenly disappeared in a long, lazy sigh.

'Okay,' she said, 'I've got a better picture of the whole situation now.'

'Huh?' She went from the dazzling, sweet, shy, guileless charmer of a new girlfriend to businesslike in two seconds flat. Except for the curled-up legs. That was pure Kel. 'They loved you. Not that that's a surprise.'

'They didn't love me. They'd have adored any woman you brought home. They'd have groveled at my feet, even if I showed up in a rhinestone cowboy hat and hooker heels and had kin in jail.'

'Say what?' He couldn't imagine where she was getting this.

'Will. If you fall in love with someone from here, they think you'll be motivated to stay in South Bend. They'd do cartwheels and handsprings, anything, everything, to get you to stay.'

Okay. He got that. 'They still loved you.'

'I liked them, too.'

'You didn't see my dad's manipulative side, though. Don't be thinking all the arguing is my fault.' When she didn't immediately respond, he glanced at her. 'What?'

'I was just thinking…'

'Why does your 'just thinking' strike terror in my heart?'

She grinned, but the humor faded quickly. 'Do you know why it's tough for you to communicate with your dad?' She answered her own question before he could have a chance. 'You're so much alike.'

'Not in this universe.'

'You're both ambitious, driven. Both very bright. Both the kind of man who has to work for himself, because neither of you could take orders from anyone else. You both take terrific care of those around you but don't let others take care of you. You've both got a charming, public side. You both treat women and men differently. You're Galahads with women, but with men in business, I'm guessing you're both cutthroat.'

'This is all fascinating. You got all that from one filet mignon and two brandies?' He added. 'I'm not remotely driven. I could sit around and do nothing forever and be perfectly happy. Quit it,' he said sharply.

But she didn't. She started laughing and wouldn't stop. Worse, it was damn clear that she was laughing at him. 'Will,' she gasped, 'you're a born business tiger. I'm sorry you don't realize it, but c'mon. Get a grip. Anything you do, you put out five hundred percent.'

'I do not!' Where did she get this crap?

'It's really no wonder your dad wants to turn over the business to you. And yes, of course, I can see why that's a problem for you. Hard to imagine how you could work for your dad. It'd be like putting two tigers in the same cage. A major uh-uh. But the thing is…he knows how good you are. He knows that you could run a business, any business, and be fabulous at it. So it's totally natural that he wants you to follow in his footsteps. You're a natural-'

'The one thing in the entire universe I don't want to do-the only thing-is run his business. Much less be manipulated or tricked into doing it. I won't,' he said.

She didn't hear a word he said. In fact, she was still laughing when they got to her place. And yeah, of course he walked her to the door and stood there until she was safely inside, but for the first time since knowing her, he didn't kiss her. Or even want to.

When she closed the door, he sighed and told himself it was a relief-to be so damned mad he didn't want to jump her.

She'd gotten everything wrong, misunderstood everything. For some stupid reason-even though he'd never wanted or allowed sympathy from anyone in his life-he'd just wanted a little taste of it from her. Some compassion.