Ulterior Motives (26 page)

Shelley, Wayne, and Francesca went out to dinner that night, all feeling quite pleased with themselves. Shelley wondered why she had fretted so long over her responsibilities to Babel. The first time something went wrong, they’d been eager enough to forget about their commitment to
her
. And she was good—God, she was good! She had matched Ross Tanner, for goodness sake, so they could just go eat crow!

The phone wouldn’t stop ringing the next morning. Keene phoned a dozen times. Having delayed their decision for so long, they were now eager to get things under way. Jerome phoned to tell Shelley she had the surprise of her life coming to her; headquarters would call her in a few minutes. When the call came, Francesca and Wayne sat in Shelley’s office, unblinkingly watching every expression on her face, straining to catch the voice of the national director of Babel in the US.

Shelley put down the receiver after only a few moments, a stunned look on her face.

“Well?” Wayne prodded. “Will we be hung or guillotined?”

“Neither. We’re both being promoted.”

“What?”

“They’re... a little worried about my impetuousness, but just as pleased as punch that we took the contract right out from under Ross’ nose.”

Wayne digested this in silence for a while before saying, “What are we being promoted to?”

“You’re to become assistant to the regional accountant in Chicago.”

“Wow! I’m on my way! And you?”

“I’m to consolidate our position here until we know Ross’ plans for Elite, and then I’m taking over a school twice this size in San Diego.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe them.”

“When do I leave? When do you get your raise? Who’ll take over the books here?”

“I don’t know. He just broke the news and said we’d receive everything in writing on Monday.”

“Wow!” Wayne said again.

Things didn’t slow down after that. New York called her little Cincinnati school more times that day than in the whole of her career there. They were full of questions, recommendations, and comments and, above all, congratulations. Shelley smiled wryly and took it all with a grain of salt. The sudden approbation of people who had condemned her only a few days ago left her unimpressed.

Ross was right. The worst thing that could happen was that she could let a bunch of men in New York who didn’t care about her choose her friends. She was a good employee, but her first commitment had to be to her heart. And her heart was with Ross.

The phone rang. Francesca was making coffee for the afternoon students, so Shelley answered it. “Babel Language Center, can I help you?”

“Shelley, this is Ross. I’m at your place. I let myself in with the key you gave me. Any chance of your getting away early so we can talk? I have so much to tell you. And ask you.”

“Ross...” She was so glad to hear his voice! “Ross. I’m furious with you! But that’s okay, because I’m pretty sure you’re going to be furious with me.”

“What?”

“I’ll be there in about a half hour, if I can catch the next bus.” She hung up on him before he had a chance to say more.

Shelley told Wayne and Francesca they could tell anyone who called that she was going home early. If headquarters didn’t like it, tough. She finally had her priorities in order.

As soon as she walked through the front door of her apartment, Ross seized her in a crushing embrace. “Let’s be furious in a minute,” he muttered. “Right now, I just need you to hold me.”

He kissed her with hot longing, with rough passion, with unending need. A man of great needs, she thought fleetingly, before desire engulfed her. It would always be like this between them, she thought. He could deny it all he wanted, but he needed her. On a roll, feeling everything was possible for her today, she pulled her mouth away from his and said, “I love you.”

“Je t’aime,”
he answered, lowering his head to kiss her again.

“What?” she said in a high-pitched voice.

“I love you,” he repeated, kissing her neck while she squirmed in his arms. “Stop squirming.”

“Ross... I...” She was beside herself. Only one thought came to mind, and it probably wasn’t the most appropriate one. “Yesterday afternoon I signed a contract with Keene International.”

“You what?” He looked dumbfounded.

“I knew they wanted to sign with you, and I couldn’t let you ruin my career like that. But then I talked to Francesca, and she made me realize, though she maybe didn’t know it, that what I really wanted was to be as good as you. Not because I really wanted to be as good as you so much, but because I wanted you to respect me so you could love me. Which I guess you do anyhow, and I see it was silly now, but I still feel that it’s important, and, oh, Ross, you wouldn’t believe the things—Mmm-mmm—”

Her words were stifled by the pressure of his hand over her mouth. “Have you lost your mind?” Shelley shook her head. Then she shrugged. “Let me get this straight. You found out I’d clinched Keene’s contract on Monday, so you went there and actually got them to sign a contract with you?”

“That’s right. And I know you’re probably furious, but if you’ll just consider—”

“Oh, Shelley, Shelley,” he sighed. “You’ve ruined everything.”

“I have?” she asked in a small voice.

“Well, ‘ruined’ is a little strong,” he admitted. “But you’ve certainly postponed everything. No wonder Elite brought me here! We turn our backs for four days, and you muck up the works.”

She bristled. “If you can forget your professional problems for a moment, I want to talk about us.”

“I
am
talking about us!” He made a visible effort to calm himself. “Oh, Shelley, why do you think I was in such a rush to finalize that deal? So I could get out of here and take you with me. This situation is impossible for us. We can’t keep sleeping together every night and working against each other every day. I’m in love with you, and that’s just not good enough anymore.”

“Funny, that’s what I was going to say.”

“Good, at least we’re on the right track. You were so certain that, if I got that contract, you’d lose your job. Since you’re too unreasonable to quit, I figured the only way to free you was to get you fired.”

“You actually had the nerve, the unmitigated
gall
... Where were you going to take me?” she asked, forgetting her outrage at his presumptuousness for a moment.

“That’s what we have to discuss. That’s where I’ve been all week. I was sure they’d have requested your resignation by now.”

“They’re promoting me.”

“Oh, great,” he said in disgust. “This is all we need!”

She threw her arms up in exasperation. “Can’t you be supportive for even a minute? A woman’s lover isn’t supposed to be sorry she wasn’t fired!”

“And what are they promoting you to? Where are they sending you?”

“California,” she informed him angrily.

“California? And how do you expect
me
to feel about that?”

“You needn’t get so hostile. I’m not going!”

“What do you mean you’re not going?”

“I’m quitting!” She enjoyed the reaction she got to that.

“You’re quitting?”

“Yes. Ross, you couldn’t look more astonished if I told you I was a Soviet agent.”

He stumbled over to the couch and fell onto it without his usual grace. He lay back and flung an arm over his eyes. “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe it. I’ve done everything I could to get you to quit. When it was obvious, beyond the shadow of a doubt that you
wouldn’t
quit, I actually looked forward to seeing you get fired, because I thought it was the only way we could get married. You were so uptight about your commitment to them—”

“Get married?”

He was practically mumbling to himself now. “It seemed the only way. I’d put Elite on top with one bold move and resign. You’d get fired. Off we’d go, happily ever after.” He glared at her. “I had thought of everything. Now, thanks to you, I’ll be here for months working on a new strategy, since I promised Henri I wouldn’t leave him in the lurch. And you will be in California. Unless you quit, which is what I’ve been asking you to do all along. How can I keep up with this inconsistency? How can you be so unreasonable?” he demanded.

She jumped on top of him. “Slow down! Wait a minute!”

“You’re a fine one to say that,” he said irritably. “Four days in France,
four days,
and you manage to ruin everything.”

“You were in Paris telling Henri you’re going to resign because of me? So we could get married?”

“That was yesterday. The rest of the time I was checking out a language school that’s for sale in Nice.”

“Why?”

“Because it looked like the best prospect of all the ones that are for sale right now, and it’s got the advantage of being near the house I own. Of course, thanks to you, we can’t go there for
months
now—”

“Don’t you think you should have asked me first, Ross, before you got me fired, married me, and transported me to work in France and live in your house there?”

“Of course I do. That’s why I asked you to come home to talk to me today. I had a million questions to ask you. Like, will you marry me? Do you want to work with me? Does a school in Nice sound good to you? Would you like to live in my farmhouse there? And if not, then what would you like to do that includes me—because nothing,
nothing
is going to keep me from marrying you. Unless you say no. Which, of course, I’ll talk you out of.”

Shelley sat up and looked at him in silence for a long time, taking it all in. “Well, gosh,” she said inanely.

“Thanks for that positive reinforcement, darling.”

“When did you plan all this?”

“Sunday, I guess.”

“Sunday! You move awfully fast, don’t you?”

“So I’ve been told.”

“Well... tell me about this school in Nice.”

“Will you marry me?”

“Well, yes, I guess I’ll have to after all the trouble you’ve gone to.”

“
Shelley,
” he said in exasperation.

She smiled and threw herself back on top of him. She kissed him long and affectionately, adoring him, loving him. “I love you. Of course I’ll marry you. I would love to work with you, especially now that I’ve beaten you at least once. You’ll have to respect me now.”

“I’ve always—”

“I like Nice, and I’m sure your house is beautiful. But I can’t agree to going until you tell me more,” she said reasonably.

“It’s an independent operation, losing money because it’s badly managed. It’s in a good location, and the competition isn’t that overwhelming. I’ve got the capital we’ll need for the first couple of years.”

“My mom told me to marry rich,” Shelley said with a smile.

“Yeah, and my mom told me to marry a good cook. But then, I never listened to her, anyhow.”

“I want to see this school before I agree to anything.”

“You’ll have to go alone, then. I can’t go anywhere till I sort out the mess you’ve created for me.”

“You’ll think of something.”
 

He kissed her. “It’s no use trying to stay mad at you,” he whispered. “Tell me when you can go, and I’ll set it up.”

“Next month would be good, I guess. I’m going to resign on Monday, and I’ll give just two weeks’ notice. It’s all they deserve. Then, as soon as you wrap things up here, we can get on with our lives.”

“Hmm, good.” He started kissing her.

“Oh, by the way, Wayne wanted a job with Elite, although now that he’s been promoted, too, he may have changed his mind. Francesca wants one, too.”

“Definite possibilities for Francesca,” Ross said, thinking of the secretary he didn’t trust, “but Wayne is just too uncouth. He belongs with an outfit like Babel.”

“Hey! I worked for them for two years.”

“Ah, but you’re a peacock among pigeons.”

“Oh. Well, when you put it that way...”

“We’re going to be unbeatable. And inseparable,” he said with satisfaction.

“Sure, but if our kids are as incorrigible as you, we’re in for trouble.”

He sighed wearily. “Let’s just hope they’re not. Besides, you’ll keep them in line. See what a good job you’re doing with me?”

“Are you sure you’re really ready to settle down this time?” Shelley asked, nuzzling his neck and unbuttoning his shirt.

“Absolutely. I’ve figured out what was missing the last time I tried it. You.” His hands slid under her blouse, sure and knowing.

Shelley swallowed, feeling passion flood through her. “Oh, Ross, I’m so glad you came to town.”

“So am I. Though if I’d known what it would be like sometimes, I might have run the other way in terror.”

“Not you. That would have been the safe way out.” She kissed him. “I love you.”

“I love you,” he breathed against her lips.

“Let’s go to bed. It’s been five whole days. It’s like starving.”

“Yes, it is,” he agreed. “I’m so hungry for you...” He pulled her to her feet and led her into the bedroom.