Love Game Read Free Page B

man to make your life complete, but surely it would be fuller with some company. A wedding ring does not spell opportunity for any man who might be interested in getting involved with you.”
    She said nothing but stared straight ahead. Before his parents peered out the window, he killed the engine and turned off the headlights.
    Chris slowly turned to him. Even more slowly she slid a finger down his gloved hand.
    “And would you be…interested?” A smile crept to the corners of her lips, then wavered. “I can’t believe I said that, Greg. Flirting, I was actually flirting with you!” She laughed self-consciously. “Trying, anyway. It’s been so long, I don’t even remember how. I’m sure your wife wouldn’t like me brushing up my skills on her husband.” She paused, waiting for confirmation. He gave her none, wanting a confirmation of his own. “You are married?”
    “In a manner of speaking.”
    “Oh.” She summoned a jaunty smile that didn’t quite make it. Giving it up, she admitted, “Wouldn’t you know, I finally hook up with someone whose company I like and—bummer, he’s taken.”
    “Yes, ma’am, he is. Worse than married, he’s sworn to a jealous mistress—the Marines.” Greg tipped his hat. “Sorry I set you up but a week’s leave doesn’t give me much slack for subtlety. I want to see you again.”
    “For old times’ sake?” Even in the dim light he could see the hint of a blush. Oh yeah, she remembered the magic they’d made. Question was, just how open was she to making some more?
    “Old times are just that. I’d rather enjoy the presentthan dwell on the past.” He caught the lapels of her coat and pulled her closer. Her willingness to let him kiss her, as he fully intended to do, didn’t mesh with the apprehension etched in her face. “I’m sorry you lost your husband but I am glad that you’re not spoken for.”
    “But I am! I mean…I have a little girl, Greg. Audrey, she’s six.”
    Hiding behind her child, was she? Chris, he decided, was actually afraid of a simple kiss. Hard to imagine that, but the last thing he wanted to do was scare her off. Besides, it wouldn’t be much of a kiss if she didn’t loosen up.
    “I’ll bet Audrey’s a cute kid,” he said, easing his grip.
    “Darling. She looks just like her dad.”
    “And every time you look at her, you see him, right?”
    “How did you know?”
    “Doesn’t take an Einstein to read between the lines.” He pried free the fingers she’d frozen over the stick shift. A soft kiss to their tips, then he urged her arm around his neck. Even through the layers of her coat, he could feel her shaking. His sympathy mingled with frustration as he watched her left thumb work that damn ring like crazy. “Are you cold?” he asked when her teeth began to chatter.
    “Freezing,” she confirmed.
    “I can’t imagine why. After all, there does seem to be four of us in here—a ghost, a daughter, you and me.” When she blanched, he paused. The most decent thing he could do would be to send her running. “Hey, what say we have a party, add in a few more guests. Think we can make room for my two ex-wives? And how about my hellion teenager? That should heat things up considerably. Warm yet?”
    He was glad her shaking stopped, but regretful he’d surely eat her dust without so much as a goodbye kiss.
    “So, you have a teenager. What’s her name?”
    Hot damn, surprise, surprise. Maybe she was staying to chat, but evenhanging out with bad news wasn’t smart for a woman as vulnerable as Chris obviously was. Greg studied her, eyes narrowed on her too-soft features.
    “Arlene. She’s fourteen.”
    “From your first marriage?”
    “If that’s what you want to call it. A paper with an unwilling signature does not a real marriage make.”
    “I see,” Chris said with an understanding he hadn’t expected. “Even if you weren’t happy about it, you did do ‘the right thing,’ which is more than a lot of boys are