Learning Curves

By the time Madeline had banished every trace of her failed makeover, Rose Marie had set up a chair in front of the mirror.

“I’m taking over here, Maddy. Have a seat.” Rose Marie burrowed into the cosmetic bag. “But in exchange I want to know exactly what you’re up to tonight.”

While Rose Marie patted Madeline’s face with powder, Madeline kept her story as simple as she could. She omitted her encounter with Cal, of course. There was no sense relating that embarrassing tale.

“So you’re going out on the town tonight in pursuit of a man to flaunt around campus…preferably a guy who can’t keep his hands off you in public and who can effectively tarnish your reputation.”

Madeline squinted to see what Rose Marie did with her little makeup brush. Unfortunately, Madeline could scarcely see beyond her nose without her glasses. “Pretty much.”

“Has it occurred to you that maybe you ought to just give the committee time to adjust to the idea of your mating rituals study?” Rose Marie suggested. “Maybe you should wait a few weeks and propose it again.”

Madeline shook her head. “I can’t risk them turning it down twice. I didn’t get involved in sociology so I could study books. I want to study people.”

“Personally, I love the concept.” Rose Marie flicked a skinny brush across Madeline’s eyelid with efficient strokes. “I might be able to help find a more supportive faculty member to sit on your committee, but you know I can’t interfere with the committee’s eventual decision.”

Madeline halted Rose Marie’s hand and looked her in the eye. “I would never ask you to.”

Nodding, Rose Marie clicked one small compact closed, then opened another. “Okay. But tell me this. Just how are you going to say a graceful good-night to your male prospect tonight when he tries to take you back to his place?”

A little flutter of fear rolled through her. “I hadn’t really thought of that.” If Cal had accepted her proposal, she wouldn’t have to concern herself with fighting off a man. Instead, Cal would be stuck fending off her advances.

“The Commonwealth of Kentucky boasts some fine young men, Maddy, but you can’t count on every one of them being a gentleman. You need to be careful.” Rose Marie reached for the topknot on Madeline’s head and unfastened the scrunchy. “Wow! You look like Morticia.”

Madeline eyed her damp hair. “It’s sort of flat. I usually just leave it up.”

“When you called me for help, you were admitting I’m the expert. Now sit still while I find the blow-dryer and we’ll give you some serious glam.”

Thirty minutes later Madeline walked out of the gym in her red dress and heels, her long hair swinging a seductive rhythm against her back. Sure, she still had her glasses on, but Rose Marie had assured her she was a knock-out.

Besides, she couldn’t watch what was happening around her if she couldn’t see. How sexy would it be if she accidentally drank from a flower arrangement, mistaking it for a fruity umbrella drink? Madeline promised herself she would think about getting contacts next week.

She felt different with her hair down…more daring, maybe a little decadent. Rose Marie had ended up putting barely any makeup on her, but she’d spent half an hour blow-drying Madeline’s long hair and brushing the ends so they would curl under.

Madeline was just about ready to go out, except that she wanted to retrieve the can of Mace she kept in the desk drawer at her office. Ever since one of the teachers had been assaulted by a student, Madeline had kept the can tucked away just in case. After Rose Marie’s warning about ardent gentleman, Madeline decided to take it along for her night on the town.

Certainly her reason for going back to her office didn’t have anything to do with the fact that Cal taught a continuing education business class on Friday nights. Or that Madeline would have to walk right by his building.

Okay, maybe a little part of her wished Cal would see her the one time in her life she had ever looked marginally sexy. And it wouldn’t hurt to gauge one man’s reaction to her appearance before she subjected herself to the larger test of the popular dance club she was planning to hit tonight. Seeing Cal would be like a trial run. A scientific experiment.

Rapidly rationalizing her plan, Maddy slowed outside of Honors Hall and waited for Cal’s class to emerge. She paced in front of the stately brick building in the twilight, making sure she remained on the sidewalk so her high heels wouldn’t sink into the damp grass.

To distract herself, she thought about how different the University of Louisville looked from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the campus where her father worked which was practically her hometown. Where Rensselaer had been sleek and new, Louisville was traditional and dignified. She loved the mishmash of brick buildings, the flowering trees and the rampant cardinals the school had adopted as its mascot.

The pace was slower here and Madeline appreciated that. Even though she’d worked hard to make a place for herself in the academic world, the environment here wasn’t as cutthroat as in her father’s realm.

She pushed her glasses up on her nose, belatedly recognizing the telltale sign of nervousness carried over from her youth.

“This is silly,” she muttered, annoyed with herself for stalking a guy as if she were a lovelorn teenager.

Despite Cal’s playboy reputation, Madeline knew he was a sharp man with a successful business to run and a busy life to manage. He didn’t need her and her adolescent schemes taking up his time.

She turned on her heel to leave just as the double doors swung wide and a small troop of students emerged.

Madeline picked up her speed, not an easy task in spike heels. Now that she had talked herself out of her plan, she definitely didn’t want to be caught loitering outside Cal’s class.

“MADDY?”

Cal watched the woman in the red dress walk away, wondering if he had dreamed the resemblance to Madeline. He squinted to get a better view of her in the growing dusk.

He hardly ever took note of flashy women anymore, having outgrown that particular preference long ago. He’d worn himself out on the insubstantial type in that year of living hell after his divorce.

But something about this woman had grabbed his attention. There was a familiarity to her efficient little walk, her regal bearing, that sent a message of quiet reserve in spite of her sexy get-up.

“Maddy?” he called her name again. If it had been her, wouldn’t she have turned around?

He stepped up the pace, determined to satisfy his curiosity. He didn’t think it really could be her. After all, what would the Lady Scholar be doing garbed in come-hither shoes and a dress three inches shy of her knees?

And then he knew. It was Friday night, and Madeline Watson was putting her plan into effect.

Searching for a man to seduce.

Oh, God.

Fury kicked through him, sending his legs into a sprint. He caught her in ten strides. One firm tug on her slender arm caused her to topple off her heels and straight into his arms.

“Oh!” Her breathless gasp would have confirmed her identity, even if his gut instinct hadn’t.

For one mind-numbing moment Maddy lingered against him, imprinting her compact curves on his body. Lust mingled with the anger simmering in his veins.

She looked gorgeous. Sexy as hell in her tiny silk dress, she revealed a tantalizing glimpse of skin. She was every inch the temptress, glasses perched on her nose and all. There was something incredibly appealing about a woman in a little red dress who wore glasses.

Her hair swirled around her like a dark sea. The strands shimmered and swayed in the streetlight as she moved, robbing her of her usual reserved look.

He used both hands to steady her.

Or to feel her. He couldn’t honestly say which.

But his hands fit right into the notch of her waist as if they were meant to be there. The smooth silk of her dress seemed to beg for his touch, but he contented himself with gently smoothing the fabric over her hips.

“Cal.” She straightened and stepped away from him. “You startled me.”

He took in the dress and the expanse of long leg it revealed. Her shoulders were bared to his gaze, too, exposing golden skin and thin tan lines from a bathing suit. Looking down at her, he glimpsed a tantalizing hint of cleavage and…good Lord. Was that body glitter she had dusted in that particular curve?

The scent of raspberries seemed to emanate from her and he nearly groaned with the torment. He couldn’t have been more aroused if she’d strutted by him naked.

Then again…

“Good night, Mr. Turner!” One of his students waved as he jogged by, forcing Cal to recall where they were.

“See you next week,” he returned absently.

“I’d better go, too,” Maddy announced, spinning away from him.

“No.” He anchored her to him by the arm.

“No? What do you mean, no?” She glared up at him with the same mutinous look Allison had given him when he’d taken away her credit card yesterday.

“I mean, not yet. Not until you tell me what you’re doing traipsing around campus alone after dark in a dress like that.”

She tilted her chin toward him. “I do not traipse.”

As another evening class let out around them, Cal heard a low wolf whistle among the crowd. He didn’t have to look around him to know the target.

He hustled Madeline toward the parking lot, wishing he had a jacket to toss over her shoulders. “Well, there you have it, gorgeous. You’ve already collected your first bit of research for your dissertation.”

She stumbled along next to him, apparently forgetting to be angry when her intellectual curiosity was piqued. “I have?”

He pressed his advantage and hurried her toward his car while she was distracted. “The wolf whistle is one of the earliest possible steps in a mating process.”

“What wolf whistle?” She stopped and peered around her, wide-eyed, as if waiting for wild hounds to emerge from the trees around campus.

“Come on, honey, I’ll explain it to you once we get to my car.” He couldn’t really account for his sudden need to hide her from anyone’s eyes but his own. In fact, he wasn’t sure he cared to examine his motivation right now. But that didn’t stop him from tugging her forward once more.

Madeline withdrew her arm. “Sorry, Cal, but I need to go to my office.”

“You were planning to walk all the way to your office and back by yourself after dark?” He searched the campus with his gaze, knowing the kinds of predators that lurked at night, searching for solitary coeds—or foolish teachers.

“I frequently walk around campus after dark,” she informed him, rocking back on her tiny heels.

“Not in those shoes you don’t. You’re dangerous tonight, Maddy.”

She grinned. “That’s great, Cal. Dangerous is just the look I was going after.”

Jealousy seared his insides like a blowtorch. “Why? You got a date with some bad-ass to flaunt at university mixers?”

The Lady Scholar folded her arms across her eye-popping dress and cocked her head to one side. “The bad-ass of my choice wasn’t available.”

That soothed him somewhat…assuming she referred to him. “Then if you don’t have a date, what are you doing dressed to the nines in a piece of silk no bigger than a place mat?”

“I’m on the prowl.”

“Over my dead body, maybe.”

Her jaw dropped, and for a moment her sassy new attitude gave way to the more conservative woman he’d known the past four years. “Cal Turner, you have no right to gainsay me.”

“You’re my friend and I have every right to protect you from yourself.”

“I’m not doing anything different than the average American single woman does on any given weekend!”

“Honey, that just goes to show you how little you know about this whole process. Women don’t go out by themselves. They travel in packs for safety. Yet here you are, all alone and vulnerable as can be.”

She brightened. “I won’t be vulnerable once I go back to my office.”

“What are you hiding in there? A few members of the football team?” Maybe he didn’t want to know the answer. Maddy was full of surprises this week.

“My can of Mace.”

She was even more hell-bent for trouble than his sister. “Oh, I feel better now, Maddy. That’ll help.” Unwilling to debate a topic he wasn’t going to give an inch on, Cal placed his hands on Madeline’s shoulders.

She was normally a good five inches shorter than him, but tonight, in her heels, they were nearer to eye level. Her skin felt cool to the touch and she shivered with her whole body.

Was it the cold? Or had his touch affected her that way? Intrigued, he pulled her a little closer.

She came willingly, gazing up into his eyes as if there was nothing unusual about him brushing greedy fingers over her bare skin in the moonlight.

That fact only proved to him that she was too naive. There was no way he could let her go out alone tonight.

“Frankly, I don’t trust the Mace,” he continued. “In fact, I don’t know that I’d trust the football team with you either. Not when you look like that.”

She smiled. “I’ll be fine, Cal.”

He shared her grin and leaned in closer. The heat between them growled to life like a throaty engine. “I know you will, gorgeous, because I’m going with you.”

She started to pull away, but he halted her by sliding his fingertips over the smooth flesh of her upper arms.

Her answering shiver roused and scared him in equal measure. It amazed him that he kept her captive there with no more than his touch. How would he ever endure an evening with a woman who had more fire-power than fuel injection?

“Cal—”

“Meet your date for the night, Maddy.” He stroked a lazy finger across her collarbone. “The bad-ass of your choice is officially at your service.”

4

THE HEADY SENSATION of Cal’s thumb rolling over her shoulder distracted her, but not so much that she missed his words. “Excuse me?”

He pulled her toward the parking lot. “I said I’m coming with you, Maddy. Let’s go.”

“Wait a minute.” She dug her red suede heels into the loose gravel of the small parking lot currently under construction. She would sacrifice the shoes before she let Cal Turner lead her around by the nose. Or by her hormones. “I thought you couldn’t risk adding more scandal to your reputation?”

He gestured toward her outfit. “That was before I realized the lengths you would go to for this project of yours. I’m not about to let you risk your neck.”

Frustration simmered through her. “Thanks, Cal, but it’s my neck to risk.” She spun on her heel, determined to get to her office and leave him to his new-found morality.

Before she took two steps, she found herself plucked from the ground and cradled in his arms like a new bride about to be carried across the threshold.

“Fine. Risk your neck all you want, but I’m driving.” He crossed the gravel lot near the new construction.

“Cal!” the little squeal she made sounded nothing like her. She would be angry at his presumptuousness if she wasn’t so deliciously aware of every square inch of her body that he touched.

With one arm wrapped just below her shoulders, and one arm supporting her thighs, Cal wreaked havoc on her senses. His fingers rested on a patch of bare skin beneath the hem of her dress, and although he kept his hand very still, Madeline couldn’t help but imagine what it would feel like if he put those fingers in motion.

She’d never suspected a male body could be so hard and unrelenting, sort of like Cal’s personality. But those qualities were much more appealing in their physical manifestation than as part of his overall character. Right now, Madeline could hardly string two thoughts together with all that masculine strength surrounding her.

“Put me down!” she snapped.

He grinned, apparently less annoyed than he had been a few minutes ago. “I don’t even park my car in this dusty gravel. You think I’d let your sexy little self walk across it in new suede shoes?” He set her down when they reached the other side of the lot.

Disappointment warred with relief when Maddy’s toes hit the ground. How was it that he could have her senses singing concertos while he seemed as unaffected as if he’d done no more than change her oil?

He searched his pocket for his keys while she fumed. “I’ll only ditch you the first chance I get,” she said, folding her arms across her chest.

Finding the keys, he held them up like a prize and winked. “Honey, it won’t be easy with me glued to you.”

An unwanted shiver trembled over her. The image of them joined together was too enticing to contemplate. She knew that’s not what he meant. Knew that wasn’t what he wanted. Still…

He unlocked a car door while she chided herself. She needed to forget about Cal and his noble intentions tonight if she wanted to make any headway into her research. It wouldn’t be easy with his gorgeous body at her side, but if she wanted to get serious about changing her reputation, she needed to find a man whose thoughts weren’t so pure.

The idea seemed grossly unappealing after experiencing Cal’s touch. How could she settle for anyone else’s?

“You ready?”

Cal’s words beckoned her from her musings and she turned to join him. Only then did she realize what kind of car he’d led them to.

She stared, immobile, her gaze running over the lines of his Chevy. “Ohmigod.”

“You don’t like it?”

Like it? The car looked almost as good as the man standing next to it.

She took in the dark blue exterior and white top of the classic car. Either the paint had been kept in mint condition or Cal had repainted with the original color, because the car looked as new and authentic as if it had just rolled off the production line. Because her father had been the only family she’d ever known, Madeline had grown up talking cars and physics the way most girls talked about Barbie dolls and boys.

He jingled the keys in his pocket. “It’s a—”

“Fifty-seven. It’s gorgeous, Cal.” Madeline moved closer, brushing her fingers appreciatively along the white seat, also original. For a moment she wished she had worn saddle shoes and a poodle skirt instead of her red dress. “This is the hot-rod version, I’ll bet.”

He shrugged, but the little grin playing around his lips told her she had guessed correctly. “You know something about cars?”

She shook her head. “Not enough to change my own oil, obviously.” She’d been taking her Honda to Cal or one of his garages ever since she’d arrived in Louisville. “But my dad has a lifetime subscription to Car and Driver. I read a little here and there so I could share his interest.” She’d never acquired her father’s taste for physics, but she had soaked up his enthusiasm for vintage automobiles to have something to talk to him about.

“You must have read more than a little.” He nodded toward the car. “Hop in.”

Madeline forgot all about her reluctance to go with him. Not only was she eager for her first ride in a ’57 Chevy, she also couldn’t deny the lure of a chance to learn more about Cal. She’d bet her tenure slot this vehicle meant more to him than his successful chain of car repair shops. Why hadn’t she known that about him before?

After she took her seat, Cal closed the door behind her and went around to the driver’s side.

“Where to?” he asked, switching on the ignition. “I’m at your disposal tonight, Maddy. Use me as you wish.”

To cover her nervousness, she adjusted her glasses, a habit she’d been trying to break since adolescence. “Since we both know you’re only willing to go so far—”

“You know, I can’t wait to see if you’re still dangling that offer in front of me in two weeks after the custody hearing is all over.” His gaze held hers across the car interior, promising sweet retribution for her teasing. “Hasn’t anybody ever taught you to not play with fire?”

She shifted in her seat. “Obviously that’s a lesson I’ve practiced too well up until now, Cal. When even the university administration thinks I’m too much of a prude to research sex, it’s time to start letting myself get burned.”

He wiped a weary hand across his face and groaned. “What am I going to do with you, Maddy?”

“You can squire me around town tonight, if you want.” He hadn’t really left her much choice.

“No offense, gorgeous, but I’m trying to salvage my reputation, not add to it. I’m not about to give the social services department or Auntie Delia any chance to deny my guardianship.”

“But it’s not like we’re going to a strip bar or anything. And I’m not going to do anything outrageous.” She wouldn’t want Cal to jeopardize custody of Allison.

Slowly, Cal nodded. “We’ll go someplace tame?”

“I was thinking Coyotes might be a good place for my first foray into the mating scene.”

“A cowboy bar? The two-stepping set will be all over you before we get to the bar. I can’t take you there.”

“I thought cowboys were notorious for their gentlemanly conduct?”

Cal closed his eyes for a long minute, willing himself to get a grip. Coyotes was a reputable club, so it wasn’t as though he’d be risking custody of Allison by accompanying Maddy there for a few hours.

The dark-haired siren across from him was determined to get her way, so he would be wise to just keep his mouth shut and make sure she didn’t get into too much trouble.

He only hoped he could keep himself out of trouble. How would he go all evening without touching her and tempting himself again? He didn’t know what possessed him to tease Maddy with the idea of seducing her after the custody hearing had safely passed. Even after he proved to the social services department that Delia Heywood’s complaints about him were unfounded, he wouldn’t allow himself to get tangled up with Maddy.

Their worlds would never mesh, and he sure as hell wouldn’t subject Allison to an unstable household with his ill-fated relationships.

He just had to keep that in mind when temptation got too strong.

Finally he nodded. “I’ll take you there, Maddy, but promise me one thing.”

She blinked up at him, her big brown eyes full of an innocence completely at odds with her seductive clothing.

“If anyone asks, you’re my date for the night. You got it?”

“What about my quest for a man?”

He couldn’t help but grin. “I’m it for tonight, babe.”

“But you won’t help me convince the administration that I’m a woman of experience.” She wrinkled her nose, shifting her glasses on her face. “I need someone to work with me on that.”

He shook his head. “There will be no prowling tonight.”

She sighed a long-suffering huff that ended in mumbled concord. “Agreed.”

Cal slid the car into reverse and took a route through the city. After a quick call to check on his sister at the house, he relaxed into his escort role.

The scent of raspberries tickled his nose and beguiled his senses. When he caught himself wondering if Madeline would taste as good as she smelled, Cal knew he had to distract himself before he pulled over and kissed her senseless, or worse—turned the car around and took her back to her house.

Cal tapped out a rhythm on the steering wheel and tried to think of all the reasons he’d be an idiot to act on his attraction to Maddy. Custody of his sister aside, Cal’s poor track record with relationships kept him from showing Madeline all the nuances of seduction. Sure, he’d dated more than his share of women since his move to Louisville, but none of them had threatened his peace of mind the way Maddy did.

He’d been drawn to her the moment they’d met, but he’d only flirted with her because he’d known she’d never take him up on his outrageous proposals. She’d always been a little distant, even once they’d developed a friendship.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.