Lauren looked up at her friend, her soul in her eyes. “I was with the plumber,” she said.
Kelly slapped both hands down on the desk. “
What?”
“The plumber. I was with Caleb Cochran, the plumber.”
“The
plumber?
The plumber from up in New England? The same plumber from the erotic dream?”
Lauren nodded. “Yes.”
“Whooooooooeeeeee!” Kelly exclaimed, exhaling loudly. Then she dropped her voice. “What’s going on, Lauren?”
“I don’t know, Kelly. I can’t resist him. He says he’s in love with me. He says we’re in love. How can you be in love after just a few hours? Oh, what am I going to do?”
Kelly straightened up in the chair and folded her hands primly in her lap. “Well, I guess you
do
have friends from out of town,” she murmured. “He says you two are in love? He can’t speak for you, Lauren. How do you feel?”
“I can’t resist him. He’s like a magnet or something. I go all to pieces whenever he touches me. I get all…all
squishy
.”
“Hmm. I’d like to see that. The ice queen melts.”
“What am I going to do? It’s just a weird physical thing with Caleb. Some chemical attraction or animal instinct.”
“Magnets. Chemicals. Animal instinct. Sounds like love to me.”
“Be serious.”
“I
am!
I’m just trying to get my head around it. Does he know about Charles?”
“Yes,” said Lauren, “I told him everything right up front.”
“And he’s not letting that get in his way,” said Kelly, more to herself than to Lauren. “Sounds like a man to me.”
“I have to tell him any relationship between us is impossible. I’m marrying Charles.”
Kelly mumbled under her breath, “You keep telling yourself that.” Then, looking Lauren straight in the eye, she asked more loudly, “Then what’s the problem?”
“I’ve
never
felt like this with anyone before!”
The obvious pain in her friend’s voice softened Kelly’s attitude. She stood up, walked around the corner of the huge old desk, and hugged Lauren. “Don’t worry. Things will work themselves out. You’ll know the right thing to do.” She sat back down in the Queen Anne chair.
“He’s got all kinds of baggage, too. He was married, and his wife died. How do you compete with that? How do you lay a ghost to rest?”
Kelly answered her without joking. She met Lauren’s gaze and said, “With honesty. And love.” The two friends looked at each other for a long moment. Lauren saw the concern in Kelly’s sweet, round face, the gentle brown eyes worried now, the pink lips frowning. Kelly was the first to speak.
“Look, see him here, in your office, tonight. You’ll be on your turf. Things will be clearer to you. And it’s private. You can say what you want. Only the watchmen will be here. And they won’t say anything. And there won’t be a bed in the room to — to distract you.”
Lauren wasn’t so sure. “What if someone does see us and says something to Charles?”
“No one here likes Charles, Lauren,” said Kelly bluntly.
“Hey!” Lauren protested. “Charles has been very, very generous to this museum!”
“Oh, please, spare me,” scoffed her friend. “It’s the easiest thing in the world for Charles to write a check. It’s good for the museum, and it seems to impress you, but it doesn’t mean we have to like him. He’s a stiff.” Then Kelly waggled her hands back and forth in mid-air. “Anyway, that’s not the point. We’re getting off topic. Invite Caleb here. Tell him how you feel and that you’re engaged to Charles and you’re going through with the wedding. That’s your only option.” Kelly paused. “If that’s the way you feel about things.”
“What’s so bad about Charles, anyway?”
“Charles eats, sleeps, and breathes power. It’s not even the money that interests him. That would be understandable. No, Charles likes the power he has over people. The only people he fraternizes with are his business associates, people he pays, and you. He doesn’t have any real friends. He doesn’t hang with anyone who isn’t dependent upon him for their living.”
Lauren knew this was true. “Well, he can’t. He doesn’t have time for friends.”
“He doesn’t
want
friends. He doesn’t want people to get close to him. It compromises his power over them. I bet you’ll find out he’ll keep even you out of certain places in his life.”
“Charles tells me everything,” said Lauren, lying through her teeth. Kelly didn’t know about her conversation with Charles the night he left for London.
“That may be so, or not,” said Kelly cryptically. “Anyway, in my opinion, Charles sees himself as superior to the rest of humanity, and I think it will lead to trouble for you.” Lauren shook her head slowly until Kelly spoke again. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come in here to trash Charles. I just want to make sure you’re all right and happy with your choices.”
“You’re entitled to your opinions, Kelly. I’m not saying you’re not,” Lauren said edgily, “however, I will tell you that I am going through with my marriage to Charles. I…I love him. And we are going to have a wonderful life together. This…this infatuation is just some kind of pre-wedding jitters or something. I’m going to tell Caleb that. He’s a reasonable man, and he’ll understand. I’m just going to be honest.”
“Are you, Lauren?” asked her friend, and before Lauren could answer, Kelly left the room, shutting the door with slightly more force than necessary.
Lauren pushed away from her desk, laid her head back against the cushioning of her chair, and stared at the ceiling. There was really nothing left to do except make sure Kelly could find everything she needed when she took over the job. The day dragged on. Finally, she looked at the clock. It was four; it was time to call Caleb and tell him the change of plans. She was prepared for him to be upset, but he was perfectly calm.
“That’s fine,” he said. “Just give me the address, and I’ll be there. I’d like to see where you work, anyway.”
After he hung up, Lauren paced up and down the long room, agitated. Nearly a half-hour passed and she finally called Kelly. “Can you come in here for a moment?”
Kelly came through the door two minutes later. “What?” she said flatly.
“Are you angry with me?”
“Of course not!” said Kelly. “Just exasperated, I guess. I don’t know, Lauren. I guess I have to just tell you straight. Nothing like this would have happened if you were truly in love with Charles. Bottom line. That’s the fact.”
“That’s not true!” Lauren argued indignantly. “You can have an attraction to another person, even when you’re in love with someone else.”
“Not an attraction that’s such a
distraction
,” persisted Kelly. “And, Lauren, whatever you do with your life, I will support you and be there for you, but I’ve told you from the start, I don’t think Charles is the man for you. But I’m not marrying him; you are. You’d better search your soul, though, and make the right choice.”
There was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” Lauren called out.
The door opened, and Caleb walked in. He had the dark gray trousers on and a light blue linen shirt. The sleeves were rolled above the elbow, exposing his powerful forearms.
“Oh,” he said easily, “I didn’t mean to disturb you. I’ll wait out here.”
“Don’t, no, don’t worry,” said Lauren nervously, coming around the desk. “This is my friend and colleague, Kelly Russell. She was just leaving anyway.”
Caleb extended his hand and shook Kelly’s politely. “Pleased to meet you.”
“The pleasure is mine,” said Kelly, smiling. “Well, I’ll be going now. Oh, Lauren, could I see you in the hall a minute, please?”
Lauren followed Kelly out of her office, shutting the door behind her. Kelly’s hand snaked out, and her fingers closed around Lauren’s wrist.
“Is that him?” she hissed in a stage whisper. “Is it? Is that the plumber?”
“Yes, that’s the plumber.”
“Plumber! He’s not a plumber; he’s a goddamn movie star! What’s going on here! You are
crazy
, girl! You better think about this hard. Call me later.” She dropped Lauren’s wrist and skipped down the curved marble stairs toward the front door.
Lauren stared after her for a second, then returned to her office. Caleb was standing where she had left him, looking around the opulent room.
“Sorry about that,” she apologized.
“Oh, no problem,” he said. “Your office certainly isn’t like mine.” He laughed.
“Well, we use some of the antiques and artwork in the offices. It makes a good impression when we entertain potential supporters. We get very little government funding. We depend mostly on gifts from wealthy donors.”
“Hmm,” said Caleb. “And you’re leaving this job? Don’t you like it?”
“Oh, yes, but…Well, sit down, Caleb.” She gestured to the Queen Anne chair Kelly had vacated and went around to sit at her own chair.
Caleb remained standing, a small smile on his face. Lauren looked up, surprised. “Something wrong?”
“I’m not a patron,” he said. “I’m not going to sit across this massive desk from you to discuss our private lives. Let’s sit over here.” He pointed to an intimate grouping of a small loveseat and two overstuffed chairs against the far, book-lined wall.
Lauren stood up slowly. “Well, okay. Yes, we can sit over here.” Her heart was pounding. She was trying to keep a physical distance from him. She knew what she had to do, and she knew that any touch from him had the power to erode her convictions.
Caleb sat down on the loveseat, legs apart, leaning forward, his arms resting on his knees. Lauren sat in the big chair facing him, her shoes left on the floor as she curled her legs up under her. She pulled at the hem of her khaki skirt, trying to cover more of her shapely legs. Nervously, she fussed with the cuffs of her white blouse. Caleb spoke first.
“I came to ask you to break off your engagement, or at least postpone the wedding. Just until we can figure out what to do. I don’t think you’re ready to get married, Lauren, at least not to that guy, and I’m in love with you. I’d like to give us a chance.”
Lauren looked at him, sitting on the loveseat, the poster boy for masculine virility. She could hardly repress the temptation to reach out and touch him, just to feel those muscles rippling under her fingers whenever he moved. For a moment, her mind stuck and all she could think of was his hands on her throat, stroking her, caressing her breasts, opening all her physical and emotional floodgates. For all his animal strength, he was gentle with his touch, yet he could stir the flame in her until the resulting fire between them transported her to unexplored heights of passion.
“Lauren?” He looked at her with that dear, open and honest face. The green lights in his eyes smoldered now with emotion, with that passion she had come to know so well.
“Caleb,” she said, standing back up, “I have to say this. Please hear me out. I’ve never met anyone like you. I’m drawn to you like a moth to a flame. Everything we did together, I — I have never experienced with anyone, but I’m engaged to someone else. Someone who leads the life I do.” Lauren began to pace. Caleb remained motionless on the couch. “I intend to go through with my wedding to Charles. I intend to continue with my plans, with my goals for my life.” She turned her back to him, pretending to concentrate on the books on the shelves. She was trying to forget how safe he made her feel. Why couldn’t she just let go? She was trying to forget his charming way of speaking so honestly and openly about everything. She was trying desperately to forget what he looked like when he leaned over her in bed. She heard him stand. In a moment, she felt the heat of his body as he stood very closely behind her. His arms went around her.
“You will regret it,” he said simply. “Just postpone things. Come back to New England with me. You can stay in your grandmother’s house for a while. You said you had such good memories of your time there, that you loved that house.”
Lauren melted back into his chest. She felt her resolve weakening, and she struggled to maintain her stand. She said defiantly, “I do love the house, but that was a long time ago! That was the old Lauren. I’ve made it, Caleb. I’m where I always pictured myself. I worked to get here. Maybe if I did live there and I wasn’t engaged, then there would be something between us. I mean, there
is
something between us, but I won’t let it interfere. I won’t let it happen and spoil my plan!”
He spun her around then, and kissed her hard and long. She slumped forward into his embrace, her lips opening involuntarily, inviting his probing tongue into the warmth of her body. His hand was on the small of her back, then up under the blouse, on her bare skin. She could feel the thrill between her legs as he clasped her tightly.
“I love you, Lauren,” he whispered.
Suddenly, she pulled back and away from him. “No, no. Please! Please don’t touch me! I love you, too! I do.” Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.
He stood there, motionless, arms at his sides. Her own heart was aching. She had better get this over with. She smoothed the sides of her skirt. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you came. I wish you hadn’t. I want you to leave now. Please.” Caleb’s image blurred as those tears scalded her eyes. She blinked hard, and they spilled down her cheeks, but she stood her ground, determined.