“‘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?”