My Nerdy Valentine (Nerds, #7)(25)
Author: Vicki Lewis Thompson

"Brilliant." Mavis took a cheese ball and rolled it between her thumb and forefinger. "Whose idea was it?"

Amanda gave up trying to chew the cheese ball to death and swallowed it whole, pretending it was an oyster. Except oysters slid down, and this cheese ball was stubbornly clinging to her esophagus. Finally she washed it down with ginger ale.

After some delicate coughing, she was able to speak again. "It was Will’s idea."

Speaking of Will, he’d also taken the cheese ball plunge, and judging from the way his jaw muscles were working, he wasn’t making much progress with it, either.

"Having a little problem with the cheese balls, are you?" Chester gave them each a sly grin.

"Not at all." Amanda grabbed another one. "These are great."

"Mm!" Will nodded enthusiastically.

"So anyway, Will and I decided he should sleep here overnight—on the couch, of course. That way he’ll look like a serious boyfriend."

"Forced together by circumstances." Mavis got all dreamy-eyed. "Just like Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night."

"But this is different. Will and I are just friends." Amanda tried to pull the cheese ball apart. It seemed like half a cheese ball should go down easier than a whole. "This is only to get rid of the valentine guy. Nothing permanent." No matter which way she tried to rip the rubbery little bastard, it refused to split.

"Makes no never mind how you arrange it." Chester took a cheese ball from the plate. "I think it’s a good idea for two people to live together, try out the deal."

Amanda’s cheeks warmed. "But that’s not what this is. It’s not an arrangement. We’re not moving in together because we’re involved. It’s all pretend." She looked to Will for backup, but he was still busy trying to chew his cheese ball.

"It’s pretend for now," Mavis said. "But you never know. Being in the same apartment all night could lead to things you can’t predict in advance."

"It won’t lead to anything." Amanda resorted to squeezing the cheese ball to try and make it thinner. "This is my senior year. I’m not taking any chances."

"I wouldn’t, either, if I was you." Chester continued to study his cheese ball. "Use protection."

Will grabbed a napkin and coughed into it.

"Chester Ambrose!" Mavis shook her cheese ball at him. "You’re embarrassing them. Now stop it."

"I am?" Chester’s eyes widened. "I thought this was the modern age. Listen, I’m not the one who came home with a red vibrator in my knapsack."

Amanda didn’t dare look at Will. Finally she thought she’d be able to reply, but she still had to clear her throat before she could do it. "Will and I are not going to become involved. That’s all I wanted you both to know."

Chester shrugged. "If you say so. In my view, there’s nothing wrong with a little fooling around. It’s a whole lot better than resorting to artificial methods, which may or may not be red, if you get my drift." He put his cheese ball on his plate. "I think I’ll run next door and get my hacksaw."

"Very funny," Mavis said. "Innovative cooking is obviously wasted on you." She glanced at her watch and pushed back her chair. "This has been fun, but I have to go. Wheel of Fortune comes on in two minutes."

Chester looked up. "You watch that?"

"Yes, I do, and don’t you dare make fun of me for it."

"Wasn’t going to." Chester stood. "I tune in once in a while, myself."

Mavis headed for the door. "Well, if you think I’m going to invite you to watch it with me, you’re sadly mistaken."

Chester picked up his cardboard heart and followed her. "Why would I want to watch it with you? I’ll bet you shout out the answers and don’t give anyone else a chance to guess."

"You’ll never know, though, will you?" Mavis opened the door. "Nice to meet you, Will."

"Same here, Mavis," Will said.

"Ditto for me," Chester said as he followed Mavis out the door and closed it behind him.

Will glanced over at Amanda. "They’re crazy about each other, aren’t they?"

"I think so. But they haven’t figured it out yet."

Will nodded. "That happens."

Amanda looked into his eyes as silence settled around them. So this was what being alone with Will was like. The air seemed to quiver and pulse as they gazed at each other. She’d made a slight tactical error. In evaluating how easily she’d be able to resist him, she’d based her conclusions on the evidence presented in more crowded conditions.

Even when he’d kissed her, they’d been in an office where anyone could walk in. The rest of the time, they’d had people around to dilute this magnetic pull. Deprived of that diluting influence, they could be in some serious trouble.

"Amanda?"

Holding his gaze, she leaned closer. Her breathing changed, and her body seemed to melt into the contours of the chair. "What?"

"Was there a message on the answering machine?" That was the end of that. She sat upright, ail the warm yummies chased away. "Yes, there was." "Then we’d better listen."

"Right." As she left the table, she told herself to be grateful that he’d remembered why he was here. Eventually she would be able to dig down and find that gratitude. For now, she hated, positively hated, that he’d ruined the mood.

That wasn’t particularly fair, considering that she was the one who kept announcing she didn’t want to become involved. But she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt that liquid sensation as her body prepared for sex. She’d forgotten how wonderful the sensation could be. Unfortunately, now she remembered only too well, and that would make the next few days … hell.

NINETEEN

Close call. Will took a deep breath before following Amanda over to the answering machine. Sitting at the table looking into each other’s eyes had been a very bad idea. He needed to keep them both moving, both thinking about the valentine guy and his shenanigans. Otherwise they’d let nature take its course, and although Amanda might want that at first, she’d hate him later.

Besides that, he’d made her a promise that he wouldn’t take advantage of this situation. No matter how she behaved or what her smoldering eyes said, he had to remember that promise. He didn’t want to be a guy who threw roadblocks in her path. She already had one of those, and he’d probably left another damn song on her answering machine. "Here goes." Amanda punched play. At first there was nothing but a few little knocks and shuffling sounds. Will allowed himself to hope that it was a wrong number and soon he’d hear the click of a disconnect. But the intro to Power Station’s "Some Like It Hot" destroyed that fantasy.

The reproduction was bad, which confirmed what she’d thought, that the guy was holding the phone up to a stereo. This particular number was far more suggestive than "Hungry Like the Wolf." The valentines had escalated in bawdiness, and now it seemed the songs would become progressively more explicit, too. Great.

"That’s enough." Amanda pushed delete and a robotic female voice with a British accent announced that the message had been erased.

"I wonder if you should be saving those."

Amanda turned to him. "Why? We both know the police aren’t going to want to investigate penny-ante things like this. I don’t know what they could figure out from this kind of message, anyway."

Will took off his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose. "I suppose you’re right."

"It’s close to Valentine’s Day. I’ll bet all kinds of people end up with secret admirers right about this time. I think the cops would laugh in my face if I complained about mine."

"I don’t think the guy’s into hearts and flowers."

"No." Lines of tension showed around her mouth and eyes.

Will longed to suggest buying two tickets to Tahiti. She needed a break from all this. The jerk wouldn’t follow them there, and by the time they came back, he might have lost interest. Of course, Amanda’s semester would be ruined along with her career plans, but a tropical vacation with her would be so incredible.

Neither of them could afford incredible right now. Someday she might be able to lounge on the beach with an umbrella drink, but not this week. "I noticed you took down the hummingbird," he said.

She nodded. Then she sighed. "This sucks."

"Yep. But we might as well get on with the routine. What’s next on the schedule?"

They looked at each other for a little longer than was wise, judging by the reaction in his groin. He’d have to work up an immunity to those big blue eyes.

"Work," she said. "I need to change."

"Then go ahead. I can change out here." He noticed her hesitation. Her apartment furniture was basic and a little worn, but the place was neat, without things scattered everywhere. He liked that. "I’ll fold my clothes so I won’t make a mess."

"You need to hang up that suit." She glanced at the duffel bag he’d brought. "Did you bring another one in there?"

"No. I took a garment bag to the office with enough stuff to last me for a few days. All I have in the duffel are casual clothes. And pajamas."

Her cheeks turned a sweet shade of pink. "This feels very weird. We don’t know each other all that well."

"Is there another guy friend you’d rather have do this?" He didn’t like the idea, but he wasn’t going to force the issue.

She shook her head. "I hate to admit it, but my current friendships are on the superficial side. Work and school have made a social life damned near impossible. I don’t know anyone well enough to make this kind of request. You offered, and after that first song on the answering machine …"

"Then we’ll just go with it."

"Yeah." She took a deep breath. "Thanks."

"No problem." She looked so vulnerable, so in need of having someone hold her. But they were alone, and that was against the rules. He could only touch her when it would make an impression on someone else, and that way he wouldn’t be tempted to take that next step and start removing clothes.

"Once you change out of the suit, I’ll hang it in my closet so you won’t have to cram it into the duffel bag." She gave him a quick smile. "See you in five minutes. Eat all the cheese balls you want while I’m gone."

He laughed, glad she hadn’t lost her sense of humor. Once she’d walked into her bedroom and closed the door, he pulled off his tie and started unbuttoning his shirt. From inside the bedroom came the sound of Madonna, turned up to blast level. He didn’t blame her. He wondered if she was in there dancing away her angst, and he hoped so.

As he was zipping his jeans, the phone rang. She wouldn’t be able to hear it with the music playing so loud, and maybe that was just as well. He should answer it, anyway, and establish his presence here.

Crossing to the phone wearing only a T-shirt, jeans, and socks, he picked up the receiver before the machine clicked on. "Hello?"

Silence.

The skin on the back of his neck prickled. "Hello?" He thought he heard someone breathing, but he couldn’t be sure. "Listen, whoever the hell you are—"

A soft click told him the caller was gone. Anger boiled in his chest, and he fought the urge to fling the phone across the room. No one had the right to harass another person like this. No one.

The music stopped and Amanda came out of the bedroom dressed for work and holding her geek glasses in her hand. "Did I hear the phone?"

He wanted to lie in the worst way. He seemed to be able to pull it off with someone like Gloria, but with Amanda, no such luck. "Hang-up."

"You mean they hung up when they got the machine?"

"They hung up when they got me."

A slight shiver passed through her. Then she pressed her lips together and fooled with the earpieces on her glasses. "I guess that’s good."

He hated the fear that she was trying so valiantly not to show. "Especially if the valentines and song messages stop." He prayed it would be that easy.

Harvey slammed his fist into the wall beside the stereo, because that seemed like the right thing to do under the circumstances. What was a guy doing in Amanda’s cute little apartment? Harvey was the only guy who was supposed to be in there, not counting the old fart who visited her sometimes. This hadn’t sounded like the old fart.

His hand hurt like hell, though, and now his knuckles were bleeding. Not only that, there was a hole in the wall the size of a Big Mac. Louise would kill him when she came home from her nail appointment and saw that.

Sucking his bleeding knuckles, he looked around for a way to disguise the damage. Then he spotted his and Louise’s framed wedding invitation hanging over by the front door. Perfect.

But the picture hanger holding it up wouldn’t come out of the wall, so he had to get the hammer and pry it out. When he finally got it loose, a chunk of plaster came with it. Hell. Now he had two holes. The one by the stereo was bigger, so he hammered the picture holder above that one. In the process he hit his thumb.

Just great. Now his knuckles were bleeding on one hand and his thumb was swelling on the other. He hoped it went down by Valentine’s night, or he’d have trouble carrying Amanda out of her apartment.

But a swollen thumb wouldn’t keep him from following Amanda tonight to find out what was up with this guy answering her telephone. If she wanted to make Harvey really jealous, she was doing a fine job of it. Or maybe this was a pushy guy, and she needed someone to move in and rescue her.

If he watched them, he’d figure out what was going on. He needed more information. But first he had to cover up the holes he’d made. The wedding invitation worked on hole number one, but now he needed something smaller to put over hole number two.

Scouring the house, he found the little plaque in the master bathroom that said LOVING YOU COMPLETES ME. Louise had bought that for him, and then he hadn’t known what to do with it. She’d finally suggested hanging it in the bathroom over the toilet, which he took to mean that loving him made her regular.

The plaque was exactly the right size to cover up the hole by the front door. But he wasn’t moving the hook it was on and risking another hole. He’d learned his lesson about that. The plaque could hang on a pushpin.