Start Me Up (Man of the Month 4)

"It's nothing," she assured them, leaning up against her father's broad chest and relaxing into his hug. "Just some stuff going on at work."

"Trouble?" her mother asked. "Because you need to keep in mind that corporate policy and rules are in place for a reason. Just like the rules of academia. You follow them, you climb the ladder, and once you're at the top, the view is much clearer. Right now, your view is blocked by everyone else trying to climb up with you."

"I know, Mom." She appreciated her parent's work ethic and their tenacity. But the advice really didn't apply. Not that she intended to share the real issue with her mother. Not ever. But certainly not with Alan around. "It's just a snafu with an audit," she lied. "The client didn't turn over some information and he's made his life horribly messy--and mine along with it."

That was true enough. But as she already had a plan for dealing with the Thompson audit, that wasn't what was weighing on her mind.

"You'll work it out," Alan said, tilting her chin up and stealing a kiss. "You're too good not to."

"Thanks." She relaxed against his long, lean body, breathing deep and remembering that this was exactly what she wanted. A man to support and understand her. A home where real problems were handled, not joked about, and things were discussed in private, not on the damn airwaves.

"Hey," Alan said, loosening her arms. "Love the affection, but I'm also a fan of breathing."

"Sorry," she said, forcing a smile. "I got carried away." Wasn't that the truth?

"You're sure you're not upset with me?" Alan asked, as they all made their way to the kitchen-dining area, where Shelby loaded the dishwasher as Alan cleared.

"You mean about tomorrow? Don't be silly."

Alan had learned only that morning that the department expected him to give a speech next week to visiting faculty from three foreign universities. And even though they were supposed to go to Celia's wedding together on Saturday, she'd assured him that she had no problems going alone if he needed to use that time to prepare for such a big opportunity.

"I know how tight your schedule is. And I'm more than capable of eating wedding cake and sitting with my friends all by myself."

"And you want to do your best," her father said, passing Alan a glass of port. "We're very proud of you." He gave Shelby and her mother a drink, too, and they all toasted Alan's success.

"What about you, sugar?" her dad asked. "When will we see you make partner?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I know Frank's rooting for me, but the partners won't offer me even a junior partnership until I've handled a larger corporate account." She already did consulting work for a number of small corporations, often with only one or two employees. It was great training, but if she wanted to be a partner, she needed the experience she'd get from a long-term project doing in-depth consulting with a large local or nationwide company.

Since she did want to be a partner, that was something she talked with Frank about on a regular basis. And she knew he was keeping his eyes open, watching the client list with an eye to assigning her a partnership-track project. "The company's doing a lot of outreach right now, so new clients are flooding in. I'm crossing my fingers I get a new assignment soon."

"You could always teach," Alan said later, after they'd said goodbye to her parents and were back in Shelby's living room. "We could work side by side. And someday we could host faculty parties like your parents."

She looked up at him, surprised. She'd always assumed they were on the same wavelength about the future, but just as they'd never talked about being exclusive, they'd also never talked about settling down.

"I don't think I want to teach," she said, sidestepping that particular elephant in the room. "I like getting my hands dirty."

"Do you? Well, maybe we can get dirty together." He pulled her into his arms, and she waited for a sensual tingle that flat-out didn't come. "We could sweep the kitchen. Wash the dishes. Or we could get dirty in other, more interesting ways."

He brushed a kiss over her lips, but she pulled back, smiling in a way that she hoped didn't look forced. "Could I take a rain check? I'm really tired, and my head's been hurting ever since I drank that port."

Most of all, I don't want to sleep with you.

The bare truth washed over her, both scaring and saddening her. Because this was Alan. Her perfect guy. The guy who satisfied all of her checkboxes. And he was talking sex and suggesting a home together.

She should be turning cartwheels.

But she wasn't.

Her whole life, she'd known how she wanted her future to look. So why was it that lately her vision had skewed?

Chapter Nine

"Turn on 96.3," Hannah said, shoving through Shelby's front door with both hands full of dresses on hangers and a duffel bag swung over each shoulder. "Your boyfriend's on the air."

"He does weekdays, and he's not my boyfriend," Shelby said, taking a handful of dresses and spreading them over the back of the couch. "I only need to borrow one. For that matter, I'm sure I already own something that's just fine for a wedding."

"A, I'm sure you don't. And B, he's subbing for Wayne Dorsey."