Love Is in the Air (74 page)

“Enjoying Crow’s Landing?” she asked, expecting the usual polite response.

“I am now,” Quinton answered and raised his eyes to meet hers. A smile slowly spread over his face, and his head cocked slightly to the side, as if he was watching to see her reaction.

Regina’s response was to forget how to breathe. Everything about his face captivated her. His answer sounded and looked so sincere that she felt tears spring to her eyes. It really had been too long since anyone complimented her. And she could not remember a time when such a handsome man had handed her one with such an intense look attached.

“I’m glad,” she stammered out.

Oh, how flat that response sounded. Quinton looked away, breaking eye contact. Regina was disappointed but relieved—she could now take a breath. But what an inane answer she had given. He deserved better than that. Regina had to come up with a better one.

Or did she?

Who was she fooling? She was Mrs. Togglehorn, and had been since she was sixteen. That matrimonial status was not changing anytime soon, so there was no point in trying to build more rapport. No, it was best to just tuck this memory away and try to get out of the moment before she embarrassed herself any further.

“It was nice meeting you, Quinton, but I’ve got to get to a PTA function.”

The man whistled for his dog. “I’m sure I’m late for my meeting as well.” After the dogs were leashed, Quinton asked, “Need a ride?”

How Regina wished she had walked to the park, but of course she had been lazy and taken the car. “No, I’ve got mine here.”

With the dogs panting and drooling all the way to the parking lot, Regina could not think of another thing to say. Actually she did not want to spoil their time together with any more stilted conversation. It was enough to walk alongside him and fantasize about what he was thinking about her.

They both said polite good-byes as they unlocked their cars. They were almost ready to part when Quinton hesitated before he got into his car.

“Regina, I hope to see you around.”

Before she could answer, he had lowered himself into the seat and had already started up his four-by-four. Now why had he gone and said that? Damn, did he not know how difficult it was to build a perfect fantasy man if you kept meeting him in reality?

* * *

Quinton was completely oblivious to the world around him, yet strangely in tune with it. He actually whistled a bit as he hopped out of the SUV and headed into the Blue Mountain Logging Company’s building. Quinton was pretty sure he had flustered Regina in a good way. He was going to have to remember to thank Ralph, but he knew it was not necessarily his words that had gotten her to blush. Quinton was glad to know he still had the touch.

“Finally!” his assistant hissed as Quinton walked in the door. “You’re almost a half hour late!”

Not letting Ralph interfere with his good mood, he replied, “So sue me.” Quinton relished the shocked look on the younger man’s face. “Besides, they haven’t even called you in yet, have they?”

“No, but that’s not the point.” His assistant’s anger was already diluted. “You left me alone with a tough audience. These people are hard-core.”

“Mr. Spear and Mr. Parker? Foreman Greer is ready to see you now.”

Quinton gave Ralph a wink as they followed the secretary down the hallway. It wasn’t until he was halfway down that Quinton realized he had forgotten his briefcase back at the motel, but he did not really care. The only thing that mattered right now was the startled smile that he had left on Regina’s face.

“Have a seat. Bud will be in shortly,” the secretary said as she left the cramped office.

Ralph did not waste a moment before he began grilling Quinton. “What in the hell were you doing?”

“I told you. Walking the dog.”

The younger man gave Quinton a look that made it quite clear that Ralph did not believe his boss. “You are late to an appointment you’ve been frothing at the mouth to get and come in with a shit-eating grin because you were walking the dog? Please. Do me the courtesy of just telling me it’s none of my business.”

Quinton shrugged. He was actually enjoying this little game of theirs. “It’s none of your business, then.”

“I knew it!” Ralph exclaimed just as Mr. Greer walked in the door.

“You knew what?” the foreman asked, suspicion thick in his voice.

Both men squirmed under the foreman’s glare. Quinton was the one to answer. “Nothing. We were just discussing sports.”

Luckily, the man just gave a grunt and loaded reams of paper onto his desk. Quinton’s mood was slightly dampened as he watched the stacks grow taller and taller. It seemed that the Blue Mountain Logging Company was taking the “if you can’t beat them, bury them” philosophy.

But why? They had already paid them off. Was it just a power thrill to make them trudge through all this crap? It was going to take them days to sort through all these reports before they found the information that they needed for their survey.

Worse, Bud had the most droning monotone voice in the entire world. The foreman went on and on about how incredibly environmentally sensitive the company was. Yet Quinton noticed that the man simply dumped scrap paper into the wastebasket. This wood product company did not even have a recycling program of their own. That should not have really mattered to Quinton, but today it did. He was not in the mood for hypocrisy.

Bud’s boring diatribe on the company’s glowing record was interrupted by the secretary buzzing him out of the room. Quinton was relieved until Ralph seized the moment to begin interrogating him again.

“Okay, can we safely say this is about a woman?”

Quinton chuckled. “And why would you say that?”

His assistant did not even answer that question; he just went on with his snooping. “Do I know her? And what did you guys do? Jeez, I just saw you a couple of hours ago, and you were still the normal grumpy you.”

“Well, I’m going to go back to that mood if you keep pestering me.”

Ralph clapped his hands together, “Oh, you are defensive. It’s a woman. It’s gotta be. I knew it!”

Unfortunately, the foreman chose this moment to walk back into the room. “Knew what?”

The younger man simply shrugged. “Sports.”

“I’m sorry for the interruptions, but we’re having some problems with equipment out in grid 14-A.”

Quinton’s interest was piqued. “Anything we should be aware of?”

The foreman’s tone was cold. “No.”

Ralph looked like he was going to push the man, but Quinton intervened. “So, do you have the quarterly tallies in this stack?”

Bud shook his head. “No, my secretary is bringing those in.”

Good to his word, the woman brought in three more huge binders of data. This was getting ridiculous. Quinton felt like asking for just the summaries, but he knew this would create friction, and he wanted the day to be hassle free.

“I’ll be right back,” the foreman said as he followed the secretary out.

“Do I know who she is?” Ralph immediately jumped in.

Quinton was getting annoyed now. Couldn’t everyone just cooperate and leave him in his happy fog? “Neither of us knows anyone in this town.”

His assistant ignored Quinton’s rebuff and concentrated hard. “Okay, the last time you looked remotely like this was at the restaurant. Oh, my God. No, don’t tell me you hooked up with Togglehorn’s wife?”

Quinton tried to protest, but he knew it sounded lame.

Ralph could not shut up. “And you were ragging at me about flirting with the hostess. Hello! You’re seeing the boss’s wife! I don’t want to hear another word out of your mouth about my nocturnal activities!”

“You’ve got it.”

“What did you guys do? I mean this is fast even for me.”

“I’m not saying who was there, but it happened like I said. I walked the dog.”

His assistant nodded knowingly. “And she had a dog, and you two just happened to bump into each other. How convenient. What’s Regina like?”

Quinton could not help but smile and missed the trap that Ralph had set. “She’s really—”

“It
is
Mrs. Togglehorn! Damn, but I knew it.”

The foreman shook his head as he entered the room. “Let me guess. Sports?”

Both men had to laugh, even though Bud did not look too amused.

* * *

Regina rushed into the library late. She had gone home and changed before coming in. The town would have been in an uproar if Mrs. Togglehorn had come to a function, even one as silly and small as this one, without some makeup and a nice conservative dress. Her pumps dug into her heels, and her nylons itched horribly, but Regina barely noticed. She had not even gotten nervous or worried when she had found three messages from Michael’s school on the answering machine. Let them stew. Even if her son were in huge trouble, they would just put him in that holding room until she got there. He could wait. Regina did not feel like dealing with him and his ever-growing list of problems this morning.

Neither did she really want to come and help reorganize the library, but the Togglehorn Foundation had granted the funds for this renovation, and it was unspoken that she had to be here. Regina had a lot better things to do with her time. Many of them involving Mr. Spear.

“Decided to show up this morning, Mrs. Togglehorn?”

Regina cringed. She was so hoping that the brittle librarian, Mrs. Cleft, had not noticed her tardiness. Now it was certain that Wayne would know that his wife was late to the school. Add that to the fact that the ranger would also tell her husband of her morning’s exploits, and she was sure that she would get an earful tonight from Wayne.

“Sorry, I’m late. Where do you want me?”

“The romance section will do.”

Trying to hide her grin, Regina walked back to the small teen-angst-filled love section. This would do her just fine. She was feeling a bit like an adolescent today.

“Regina!” a hissed whisper came through the bookshelves. “The surveyors are here! Have you heard?” Regina rolled her eyes. It could only be Natalie Weaver.

Regina tried to act indifferently. “Heard what?”

Natalie checked to be sure that Mrs. Cleft had retreated before joining Regina. “The lead surveyor. I’ve heard he is absolutely gorgeous. Is he?”

Looking very interested in the latest Sweet Sixteen series, Regina replied, “How would I know?”

“Please. You’ve seen him. Talked to him!”

Regina fought off panic. “I’ve done no such thing!”

“You were at the Wagon Wheel last night, weren’t you? Stephanie said he walked right over to your table and brought Wayne a beer.”

Regina let herself breathe. Natalie did not know about this morning’s encounter. Thank god. “Oh, yeah. But I didn’t talk to him. He just wanted to discuss business last night.”

Natalie nudged Regina as she put the new books in order. “Bet that didn’t go over well with Mr. Togglehorn.”

“Nope.” Suddenly, Regina no longer wanted to talk about the subject. She did not want Quinton’s memory tainted with thoughts of Wayne’s asshole behavior, but Natalie was not to be stopped. The younger woman rattled on and on about everything she had heard of the stranger. Regina did not add any more detail. Even though Natalie was an airhead, she had a natural gift for sniffing out rumor and innuendo.

Regina caught a glimpse of herself and Natalie in one of the windows. The younger woman was not just dressed up for this event; she was dressed to the nines.

The younger woman’s makeup was perfect, and her accessories were beyond reproach. Natalie’s hair was up in one of those new trendy hairstyles. Regina could not figure out which way the hair was going, let alone try the style on herself. And why should she? Natalie was a new trophy wife for old man Sullivan. The owner of the only car dealer in town had married this girl just last year.

Unlike Regina, Natalie seemed to enjoy her role. The younger woman was impressed by all the baubles that Sullivan showered upon her. Regina had always felt uncomfortable with the extravagant gifts and powerful shows of affection from Wayne.

They weren’t real. Regina had understood from the get-go that those presents were not really for her—they were for the rest of the world. Natalie would figure it out someday. Or maybe she would not, which might be for the better. Regina almost envied the younger woman’s naïveté.

“Well?” Natalie asked.

Snapping out of her reverie, she asked. “Well, what?”

“Are you game?”

“Game for what?”

Natalie nudged Regina again. “To go out to dinner tonight? Wayne’s out of town, and the kids don’t have school tomorrow, right?”

Damn, Regina had forgotten about that. She would have both of the kids at home tomorrow, whining and being fussy unless she organized some outing. “Yes, but that just means that I have to—”

“Duh. Let ‘em go spend the night somewhere else. They are sure to ask. Just say yes.”

“But Michael’s in serious trouble and—”

“Like one night is going to change the course of his downward spiral? Come on, it’ll be fun.”

Regina did not have the emotional reserves to fuss with Natalie. She knew the younger woman would badger her until she gave in. “All right. I’ll go. Where do you want to eat?”

Natalie smiled brightly. “Where do you think?”

“I have no idea. You tell me.”

“The Wagon Wheel, of course!”

“What? Why?” Regina was confused. What was Natalie thinking? The younger woman never ate there. It was too far beneath her station.

“I figure they are new in town, and if they liked the food, they might go back. C’mon. Don’t you want to see the guy again?”

Natalie had no idea how much.

CHAPTER 6

Quinton rubbed his eyes yet again. Poring over Blue Mountain’s reports had been as tedious and painful as he had suspected, but they needed to get through the reams if they ever hoped to go into the field.

Not that Quinton was in such a hellfire rush to get out of town anymore, but he would like to see more of the countryside. Well, not exactly. Really he was hoping to run into Regina again.

“Hurricane, get down!” Quinton shouted as the dog tried to jump onto the bed. Ralph only smirked. His assistant had taken the small table and chair to do his research, leaving Quinton with the bed.