He studied her eyes. When a man had been in love, passionately, with the same woman for most of his life, he recognized the signs. It was time to accept that he had seen those signs on his daughter’s face the moment she had walked in the door.
“And?”
“And what?” she countered.
“What are you going to do about it?”
“I’m going to marry him.” The statement surprised her enough to make her laugh. “He doesn’t know it yet, because I just figured it out myself. When he goes back east, I’m going with him.”
“And if he objects?”
Her chin came up. “He’ll have to learn to live with it.”
“I guess the problem is you’re too much like me.”
She put her arms around his neck to hug him close. “I won’t like being so far away. But he’s what I want.”
“If he makes you happy.” William drew her away. “He damn well better make you happy.”
“I don’t intend to give him a choice.”
Chapter 10
“It’ll be fun.” Sunny navigated into a narrow parking space under a brightly lit sign that aggressively flashed Club Rendezvous. Jacob studied the winking colored lights with some doubt, and she patted his hand. “Trust me, pal, we need this.”
“If you say so.”
“I do. Besides, if I find out you can’t dance, I want to be able to dump you now and save time.” She just laughed when he twisted her ear. “And you owe me.”
“Why is that?”
She flipped down the visor and gave what she could see of her face a quick check in the mirror. On impulse she pulled out a lipstick and painted her mouth a vivid red. “Because if I hadn’t been so quick with the excuses you’d be eating dinner at my parents’.”
“I liked your parents.”
Touched, she leaned over to kiss his cheek. Seeing she’d left the imprint of her lips there, she rubbed at it with her thumb.
“Damn it.”
“Hold still a minute,” she complained when he backed away. “I’ve just about got it.” Satisfied, she dropped the tube of lipstick back in her bag. “I know you like my parents. So do I. But you’d never have gotten nachos and margaritas at Will and Caro’s.” She lowered her voice. “My mother cooks.”
Taking no chances, he rubbed at his cheek himself. “Is that a crime in this state?”
“She cooks things like alfalfa fondue.”
“Oh.” Once he’d managed to imagine it he’d decided he much preferred the spicy Mexican meal they had shared a short time before. “I guess I do owe you.”
“Your very life,” she agreed. Opening her door, she squeezed herself through the narrow opening between it and the neighboring car. The flashing lights danced over her, making her look exactly as she was—exciting and exotic. “And after a couple of weeks in nature’s bosom I figure we could both use some live music—the louder the better—a rowdy crowd and some air clogged with cigarette smoke.”
“Sounds like paradise.” He managed, with some effort, to push himself out the other door. “Sunny, I don’t feel right about you exchanging all your currency.”
She lifted both brows, half-amused, half-puzzled, by his phrasing. “You exchange currency when you go into a foreign country. What I’ve been doing is called spending money.”
“Whatever. I don’t have any with me to spend.”
She thought it was a pity that a man so obviously intelligent and dedicated should earn a small salary. “Don’t worry about it.” She’d only started counting pennies herself since she’d become self-supporting. So far, she hadn’t shown much of a knack for it. “If I get to Philadelphia, you can pick up the tab.”
“We’ll talk about it later.” He needed to change the subject, and he found the answer close at hand. “I wanted to ask you what you call that outfit you’re wearing.”