The Family Plan (The McClouds of Mississippi 1)

Caitlin curled her lip. “How honest of her to admit her shallowness.”

Lindsey sipped her wine, then asked over the rim, “How do you feel about runny noses?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Lindsey waited until the waiter had replaced the appetizers with their main courses before explaining. “I was just wondering if Nathan’s responsibility for his little sister makes him any less attractive to you.”

Caitlin stabbed her fork into her entree. “Don’t start that again.”

“You’re going to deny it again?” Smiling smugly, Lindsey took a bite of her salmon.

Caitlin set her fork down with a thump. “How many times do I have to tell you that Nathan is my business partner and nothing more? I don’t think of him the way you’re implying. I never have.”

Lindsey rolled her eyes. “Oh, sure. You spend eight hours a day with a guy who’s certifiably drop-dead gorgeous, and I’m supposed to believe you’ve never even noticed? And then I suppose you have some land you want to sell me?”

Feeling a bit grumpy now, Caitlin picked up her fork again. “Well, obviously, he’s a good-looking man. I’m not blind.”

Lindsey made a show of wiping her brow. “I’m glad you admitted that. I was beginning to worry about your eyesight.”

“Still, my relationship with Nathan is strictly professional.”

“Hmm. I heard you were spotted grocery shopping with him and his little girl.”

Caitlin’s fork hit the plate again. “Where did you hear that?”

“Oh, around.”

Shaking her head in disbelief, Caitlin murmured, “This is unbelievable.”

“Frankly, that’s what I thought. I know you’re not all that fond of shopping. At least that’s what I always believed. And then I heard you spent most of Saturday picking out sheets and curtains.”

“Is there no privacy in this town?”

“I had to stop by the cleaners on the way home from the health club. Mrs. Albertson, who owns the cleaners, was shopping in the same department store as you were on Saturday. She was very intrigued that you were taking care of Nathan’s little sister that morning. Mrs. Albertson thinks Nathan’s going to be looking for a wife to help him raise that little girl. And she thinks you two make a lovely couple.”

“I’m losing my appetite.”

“Sorry. Just thought you would want to know what’s being said around town.”

It was probably the re

ason her friend was such a successful sales rep, Caitlin mused. Lindsey could walk into a roomful of strangers and know everyone’s story within the first fifteen minutes. She was the sort of person other people simply enjoyed talking to.

Caitlin usually did, too—until tonight, when the subject was a bit too close to home.

“I’m not romantically involved with Nathan McCloud,” she said distinctively, keeping her voice low so she wouldn’t be overheard. “We’re simply business partners. And friends, of course, in a casual way.”

Lindsey smiled in surrender. “Okay, I know there’s nothing really going on. Even though I think you’re crazy not to make a move on the guy. If I’d thought I had half a chance with him I’d have gone after him, myself, a long time ago.”

Caitlin found the mental picture of Lindsey and Nathan together unexpectedly disturbing. It was only because she didn’t think they would make a very good match personalitywise, she assured herself, though she couldn’t think of any specific reason why they wouldn’t get along.

She tried to keep those thoughts hidden when she said, “So, why didn’t you?”

“Well, he did flirt with me,” Lindsey acknowledged. “But no more than he does any other woman within range of his lethal smile.”

Lethal was an apt description of Nathan’s smile, Caitlin mused, especially when he turned on the high voltage. She was no more immune to it than any other woman, though she prided herself on keeping her reactions well suppressed. Most of the time, at least.

“Besides,” Lindsey continued, peering at Caitlin through her lashes as she toyed with what was left of her dinner. “Seemed to me the only woman Nathan’s really interested in is his business partner.”