Plain Jane's Plan

She laughed, relieved he was no longer angry. “The heels make good toast. It’s wasteful to toss them.”

“I’ll save all my heels for you. Okay, Miss Conservation?”

“Then you’ll have to toast them for me for breakfast.” Oh, stop it. She was flirting with him. What if he got completely turned off? What if he said, Allison, there’s no need to play the part of my lover when we’re alone. It weirds me out.

But he didn’t say anything. In fact, he didn’t appear to even realize she’d dropped a provocative line.

While Jeff unpacked, she ogled the blindingly white-tiled bathroom with its Jacuzzi tub. She heard him opening and closing drawers in the living room. She’d decided not to argue further about his choice of bed. After all, if things worked out as she hoped, they’d get to share the big bed.

“We have just enough time to grab lunch before registration,” he said after they’d both hung up their clothes and stashed toiletries in the bathroom. “There’s a good sandwich place up the block.”

Allison remembered the place. They served sandwiches as big as her head, along with piles of greasy potato chips and chocolate brownies to die for. Since she wouldn’t be bicycling during the convention, she couldn’t afford all those fat grams. “I think I’ll check out the health club instead.”

He looked at her curiously. He was probably remembering the old Allison, who never turned down a meal and thought walking to the refrigerator was plenty of exercise. Then he shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’ll wait for you at registration.”

He took off without much fanfare, and Allison slumped with disappointment. She’d been hoping Jeff would want to work out with her. There was no way he could fail to notice her newly sculpted body if she was wearing her skimpy new exercise clothes. Or maybe he could. Sometimes she thought she must be invisible to Jeff.

Allison spent forty-five minutes on the exercise bike, another fifteen with free weights, then bought a strawberry-banana concoction and a cucumber sandwich at the juice bar. That would hold her to dinner. She showered, changed clothes, went to registration and signed up as a walk-in. She didn’t see Jeff anywhere. So much for his promise to behave like a devoted fiancé.

Unfortunately, she did see Sherry. Or, more to the point, Sherry saw her. The buxom nurse, with her cloud of blond curls and black-lined eyes, marched up to Allison and hugged her as if they were long-lost friends.

“Allison, right?”

“Yes,” Allison said, straightening the jacket Sherry’s hug had knocked askew. “And you’re Sherry.”

“You remembered! Of course, everybody remembers me. I seem to make an impression, for better or worse.” She gave Allison a once-over. “New…hair?”

“New everything.”

“You’re a friend of Jeff Hardison’s, right?” Sherry scanned the crowd, looking for her quarry.

Uh-oh. Allison was either going to have to lie, or mess up Jeff’s carefully planned strategy. “Yes, we came together.” There. That wasn’t a lie, but it implied something more personal than “just friends.”

“Well, wasn’t that nice of him to let you tag along,” Sherry said with an uncertain smile.

Allison silently critiqued Sherry’s caps. She couldn’t help it; professional hazard. Hers were good.

Sherry reapplied her coral lipstick. “Does he still have that Jaguar?”

“No, he has a Porsche.”

Sherry’s eyes sparkled. Ka-ching! “Well, where is he? I’m just dying to give him a big ol’ long-time-no-see kiss. He’s such a doll.”

Allison knew she had to say something. No self-respecting fiancée would allow this woman to kiss her future husband without protest.

“Um, maybe you better re-think your strategy,” Allison said. “Jeff is spoken for these days.”

Sherry looked horrified. “No, say it isn’t true. He’s not married, is he?” She said the word married as though it had four letters.

“Engaged,” Allison said.

Sherry relaxed. “Oh, is that all? Then he’s still a free man in my book.”

“Well, he’s not in mine,” Allison said sharply.

Sherry’s face fell. “You? He’s marrying you?”

“Incredible as it may seem.”

“Oh. Gosh, I’m just mortified. Talk about making a fool—Well. I see. I hope it…works out. You’re not one of those clinging vines who tries to keep her man from having female friends, I hope. Because Jeff and I have known each other for years.”

“I have no control over Jeff’s friends.” Unfortunately. Because if she did, she’d stuff Miss D Cups into a taxi and send her back to whatever slime pit she crawled out of.

The strength of Allison’s jealous reaction startled her. She’d always been a bit wistful over the Sherrys of the world, confident of their sexuality and bold. She’d never felt the green-eyed monster’s claws dig in like this before.

Sherry flashed another broad smile. “Good. Because it’s hard to keep a man if you put too many restrictions on him.”

“I’ll remember that.”

Allison barely restrained herself from kicking Sherry in her swaying butt as she walked away.

JEFF WAS LATE getting back to the hotel for registration. He’d run into an old friend in the lobby and lost track of the time. He looked around for Allison, but realized she must have come and gone already. She was planning to attend some seminars this afternoon, so she’d probably already gone to get a seat.

As he waited for the woman behind the registration desk to check him in, he heard a familiar laugh, and a cold chill washed over him. Sherry. He hadn’t wanted to run into her without Allison on his arm, ready to back up his engagement story.

The registration woman seemed to be moving in slow motion. Finally she handed him his badge and packet. He grabbed them and turned, intending to hightail it to the elevator. Instead he ran smack into Sherry.

“Jeffy! I knew you were lurking around here somewhere.” She grabbed on to him and put a lip lock on him that would have done a vacuum cleaner proud. He pushed her away so forcefully she almost fell off her spike heels.

“Sherry. It’s nice to see you, too, but there’s something I have to tell you.”

“Is it about your fiancée?”

That threw him. “You…know?”

“I ran into Allison a few minutes ago. She’s…sweet. But you could have knocked me over with a feather when she said you two were getting married. I always got the feeling you weren’t the marrying kind.”

“Well, people change.” Jeff wondered how much of Sherry’s orange lipstick was smeared all over his face.

“She just doesn’t seem your type,” Sherry persisted.

“Why is that?”

“Well, she’s so…sweet. I can’t picture her being able to handle a tiger like you.” Sherry made a noise, a sort of combination meow-purr.

“Believe me, I’m thoroughly tamed.”

“A tiger can never be tamed. You can put a collar on him and make him jump through hoops, but the minute the trainer drops her guard…” She swiped the air with her hand, her coral talons curling like claws.