When Jayne Met Erik. Elizabeth Bevarly

      He nodded once more.

      “You expect to find a woman who’ll marry you in two weeks’ time?”

      He eyed her with much concern. “Do you think that’s unreasonable?”

      Jayne couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He honestly seemed to think he could just waltz right in off the street and ask a woman to marry him, just because he would be coming into $60 million as a result. Then again, she thought, there were probably lots of women out there who would do just that. Especially once they got a look at Erik Randolph in his expertly tailored dark suit, with his silky, dark-brown hair and puppy dog brown eyes and full mouth that was just made for kissing and—

      Well, suffice it to say that there were probably plenty of women who would take him up on his offer. Women other than Jayne Pembroke, anyway.

      “Um, look,” she said, striving for a polite way to tell him he was nuts. “I’m really flattered,” she said again, “and I wish you well in your search, and I hope you enjoy your…” she swallowed with some difficulty before finally getting out “—$60 million. But I’m not the woman you need, truly.”

      He eyed her intently for a moment, saying nothing. Then he asked, “Would you at least let me take you to dinner tonight?”

      Jayne shook her head. But she was surprised at how reluctant she felt when she told him, “No, I’m afraid not. Thank you.”

      “Oh, please,” he said. “I can explain things better, and you might change your mind. Plus, it would give you hours to get to know me.”

      She couldn’t quite prevent the smile that curled her lips in response to both his cajoling and his own earnest grin. “No, really,” she told him. But she could feel her conviction slipping, and she was certain that Erik detected it, too, because his smile grew broader still.

      “And once you get to know me,” he added, “you’ll discover just how charming and irresistible—not to mention what a great catch—I am.”

      Jayne had no idea why, but she found herself wanting to say yes to his offer. Not the marriage offer, of course—that would be silly—but the dinner offer. Had he been another man who had wandered in off the street and flirted with her, one who wasn’t rumored to be eccentric, and one who hadn’t just proposed marriage to a total stranger, she might very well have given his invitation serious consideration. He was kind of charming and irresistible, after all. Not to mention cute. And he was seeming less and less like a psychotic, crazed homicidal maniac with every passing moment.

      So that was a definite plus.

      “I’m not sure it would be a good idea,” she said halfheartedly. She told herself she was trying to let him down easily. But she knew she was really only stalling for time, because she discovered then that—surprise, surprise—she really wanted to accept his invitation.

      Erik, however, still clearly picking up on her uncertainty, pressed, “Look, if you’re worried about my intentions, you don’t have to tell me where you live. You can meet me somewhere.”

      “Gee, I don’t know…”

      “And I’ll let you pick the restaurant.”

      “But…”

      “And choose the time.”

      “It’s just that…”

      “Please, Jayne,” he said. “You may well be my only hope. And once I explain the situation to you, you might change your mind.”

      She wasn’t sure how she should take that first part of his statement, whether being his only hope was a good thing or a bad thing. But she was absolutely certain about the last part of his statement—there was no way she would change her mind, no matter how well she understood what he termed “the situation.”

      Still, what would it hurt to have dinner with him? she thought. It wasn’t as though she planned to do anything else this evening. Oh, wait a minute. Yes, she did have plans, she suddenly remembered. She planned to do laundry.

      Dinner with Erik was definitely looking better now.

      “It will all make sense to you when I explain,” he promised, swaying her further.

      Jayne gazed into his eyes, nearly losing herself in their dark-brown depths. He was allowing her to call all the shots, letting her set up their date—or whatever it was—in any way that would make her feel safe and comfortable. Just because he had a reputation for being eccentric, that was no reason to say no, was it? she asked herself. Were he any other charming, irresistible and cute—did she mention cute?—man asking her out to dinner under the same circumstances, she’d probably say yes.

      And he was awfully cute.

      “Look, I’ll tell you what,” Erik said when she still didn’t reply one way or the other to his invitation. “J.J.’s Deli is right up the street. What time do you get off from work?”

      “Five,” Jayne said before she could stop herself.

      He smiled. “Fine. I’ll be at J.J.’s Deli at seven o’clock tonight. If you decide to come, wonderful. If you decide not to…”

      His voice trailed off, and she was surprised at the depth of disappointment she heard in it.

      “If you decide not to,” he said again, sighing heavily, “well, I guess I’ll survive. Somehow.”

      She smiled back at him, but still couldn’t quite bring herself to accept.

      “But I think, Jayne, that if you do decide to come, we could have a very nice time, and a very interesting conversation. Seven o’clock,” he repeated. “J.J.’s Deli. I hope you’ll come.”

      And then Erik Randolph, eccentric, cute guy, potential multimillionaire, spun around and exited Colette without a backward glance.

      And all Jayne could do was shake her head in mystification, and wonder what on earth had just happened.