Part 37 (2/2)
He glanced at her. ”Yes, they did. It was not kind and I will not repeat it. They're fools.”
Haley had definitely crashed. Mary Lou gently pulled her nipple free from the baby's mouth, and put her on her shoulder. The trick now was to get her to burp without waking her up. She rubbed Haley's back. Come on, baby...
”So that was this guy Bob, huh?” Ihbraham asked, clearly wanting to change the subject.
”That was Bob.” A burp. And Haley slept on. Alleluia! ”Cute, huh?”
”Cute?”
”Handsome, I mean.”
”Ah. Is that what you think?”
”Definitely. What do you think?”
”I think he's up to no good,” Ihbraham told her. ”I think you should be careful. His being here was no coincidence. I think he is... what is it called? Stalking you.”
She had to laugh. ”You know, he said the exact same thing about you. Here, would you... ?”
She held Haley out so that he could take the baby from her. It wasn't easy to do, but the alternative was to sit there with her b.o.o.b hanging out.
”How could I be stalking you when you are the one who comes outside to see me?” he asked. His hands were so dark against Haley's fair skin.
Mary Lou pulled down her bra, and then examined the damage done to the other side of her s.h.i.+rt. It looked as if she'd dipped the tip of her breast into a cup of water. So much for getting ice cream. She wasn't going anywhere looking like that.
”Maybe you're just such a good stalker that you're able to lure me to you without me knowing it,” she said.
He laughed. ”Ah. Of course.”
”Or maybe I'm stalking you.”
”Feel free to continue,” he said. ”I'm enjoying it very much.”
If anyone else had said it, it would have been creepy. Or heavy with innuendo. But combined with Ihbraham's wide smile and warm eyes, it was simply nice.
He was terribly nicea”much nicer than she was. ”I'm sorry I lied, you know, about you being my sponsor. I just... I...”
”I know why you said it,” he said quietly. ”There's no need to explain.”
”You could be, you know. My sponsor, I mean. You're already doing everything that Rene used to do. More, actually.”
But he was shaking his head. ”I can't.”
”Sure you can.” She loved the ideaa”it was brilliant. Why hadn't she thought of it earlier? ”It would be perfecta””
”No,” he said, his voice almost as sharp as it had been when he spoke to his brothers. Haley jumped and he spoke more softly so as not to wake her. ”I'm sorry. But it's not possible. Not at all.”
Embarra.s.sed, Mary Lou stood up, scooping Haley from his arms. ”Well, I have to go. I won't trouble you anymore tonight then.”
He sighed. ”You're no trouble to me, Mary Lou. I would like very much to help you but...”
She waited for him to finish, but he just shook his head.
”Just think about it, okay? Don't say no right now,” she said, stopping him from speaking. ”Sleep on it for a day or two, please?”
He was shaking his head again, but he didn't say a word.
”I do have to go. Sam'll be home soon.” Maybe. ”And I really should get Haley into bed.”
Ihbraham stood up and walked her the few feet to her car, folding the stroller as she put Haley into the car seat.
She used her new key to unlock the trunk. ”Thanks for copying this for me,” she told him, holding up the key.
”It was no trouble,” he said.
”See you tomorrow,” she said as she got into her car and headed for home.
Chapter 18.
The call on his cell phone came a fall forty minutes after Muldoon had expected it.
It was Joan. ”Are you decent?” she asked without even saying h.e.l.lo.
”Uh, yeah.” G.o.d, what did she think he was doing in here with Brooke?
”Good,” she said, ”because there are about fifteen people standing in the hallway outside the door.”
”Well, what are you waiting for? Come on in.”
”The night lock's been thrown.”
Brooke must've done that when they first came back to her room. ”Sorry,” he said. ”I'll unlock it.” He closed his phone as he pulled the door open and...
Joan hadn't been kidding. A busload of people filed past him and into the suite's sitting room.
”Where's Brooke?” Joan's boss Myra asked.
”She's in the bedroom,” he told her. ”She, uh, well, she pa.s.sed out, I guess.”
”I don't guess it, I know it.” Myra vanished into the other room.
Joan was one of the last inside, and she looked at him and laughed, shaking her head in what sure looked a h.e.l.l of a lot like derision. ”Good job keeping Brooke from drinking too much.”
”I tried to keep her away from the bar,” he said as evenly as he could, considering how angry he was. How dare she look at him like that after throwing him to the wolves the way she had? ”But she had a way of getting the bar to come to her. Besides, she was drunk before we even went downstairs. You can't even remotely blame that on me.”
<script>