Nerd in Shining Armor (The Nerd Series Book 1) Read online

  “No, you weren’t. Maybe you were a little too romantic, but that’s no crime. You were looking for the best in him, just like you look for the best in everyone, including me. That’s what I want to tell you, that I’ve appreciated the way you’ve always tried to be friendly, and polite, and give me good advice. You’re a very caring person.”

  “Thank you, Jack. That’s a nice thing to say.” She gazed up at him. His eyes were getting all smoky again, like they had right before he’d kissed her the last time. She was not about to let that happen again. “Come on,” she said. “I think I see a guava tree growing down by that crevice in the rocks. And I’m starving.”

  Chapter Six

  Every time the phone rang in the beauty salon, Annabelle stopped what she was doing and listened to see if it was for her. She was in the middle of a pedicure when the phone rang again, and she was so sure that it had to be Genevieve that she lifted her client’s foot from her lap and started to get up.

  But it wasn’t Genevieve, obviously, because Elena, the receptionist, didn’t come to get her. She settled back down and reached for a bottle of burgundy polish.

  “Are you expecting a call?” asked her client. Judi was tall, tanned, and covered in gold jewelry. She tipped very well.

  Annabelle liked her. She liked most of her clients, and she’d learned not to envy them their privileged lifestyle. “Genevieve flew over to Maui today,” she said, trying to make that seem like an ordinary occurrence. “She usually calls.”

  “Oh, she probably got busy.” Judi was at least ten years older than Annabelle, but she’d taken great care of herself, so she didn’t look fifty. She had two grown sons living on the mainland. “You know how kids are. They never realize how we worry.”

  Genevieve realizes. But Annabelle smiled, as if she understood these things as well as Judi. But she didn’t. She had a different relationship with Genevieve than Judi had with her Ivy League-educated sons. Annabelle and Genevieve had been through a lot together. Genevieve would remember to call. She might have been rushed tight into a meeting, though, so Annabelle told herself to be patient.

  “I’m surprised Genevieve hasn’t talked about going back to the mainland,” Judi said. “That’s all Curt and Eric could think about while they were in high school. Isn’t it funny that Hawaii is supposed to be paradise, but kids seem just as eager to leave here as they would if we raised them in some dinky little town in Iowa?”

  “I guess they have to spread their wings,” Annabelle said. She felt guilty that she hadn’t been able to let Genevieve do that, but she needed the money her daughter brought in, at least for another couple of years. She hoped money wasn’t behind Genevieve’s interest in this Nick person. The girl hadn’t been raised to covet wealth, but maybe she was tired of working so hard to make ends meet. Nick wasn’t the answer, though. Annabelle could tell that the minute she’d met him.

  “How’s Lincoln doing these days?” Judy asked. “Still with the wild hair?”

  “Still,” Annabelle said. “He’s gone patriotic for the summer. Red, white, and blue.”

  “Oh, my God.” Judi rolled her eyes. “You’re very understanding. I’m not sure I would have been able to deal with Curt and Eric dyeing their hair. And their father would have hit the roof.” She paused. “Brad and I are getting along better these days, Annabelle. He’s mellowed a lot. We’re even enjoying sex more.”

  “That’s wonderful.” Annabelle smiled again. It always amazed her how much her clients would reveal about themselves. She knew nearly everything about them, and they knew almost nothing about her, except that she was single and had a daughter working for Rainbow Systems and a son in high school who loved to dye his hair crazy colors. They’d never heard about the Hollow, and they never would. She didn’t want them to think of her as a hillbilly.

  “The menopausal years are tough, you know?” Judi shook her head. “Although you seem to be doing fine. I swear you don’t look a day over forty, Annabelle. Maybe more like thirty-five or six.”

  “You don’t look your age, either,” Annabelle said, knowing it was expected. “Nobody does these days.” She’d always let Judi assume she was older to cover up the fact she’d been pregnant at fifteen. “Are we doing anything special for these toes besides the burgundy polish?”

  “What do you suggest?”

  “Tiny white orchids might be nice.”

  “Perfect. You’re such an artist, Annabelle. I have a friend from California visiting next week, and I’ve already told her she has to come in and get a manicure and pedicure while she’s here.”

  “That would be great. I’d love to meet her.” Annabelle had learned to say that instead of I appreciate the business. She did appreciate the business, but it was better to act as if meeting Judi’s friend were far more important than taking her money. In a way, that was true, but she needed the money, too. Lincoln’s shoes alone cost an arm and a leg.

  “You know, that’s one thing about living in Hawaii—the kids decide to leave, but the friends and relatives show up regularly. I don’t really mind, but sometimes I feel like I’m running a B&B.”

  “I’ll bet you do.”

  “You probably find that, too. Do you have a lot of relatives coming over?”

  “Not so much,” Annabelle said. Try never. That part of her plan had worked out perfectly. Every once in a while she missed Maizie and Rufus, but she could bear it, just knowing that Genevieve and Lincoln were headed for a better life.

  After she painted tiny orchids on Judi’s toes, she did her fingernails and created a conch shell pattern on those. By the time she was finished, it was nearly noon and still no call from Genevieve. She tried not to be nervous, but she had a gut feeling something was wrong.

  She had a half hour for lunch, which wasn’t enough time to do what she had in mind. She walked up to the reception desk and spoke with Elena. “I’m feeling a little sick to my stomach,” she said. She hated lying, but she couldn’t very well say she needed the time to drive to Rainbow Systems and check up on her daughter.

  “Cramps?” Elena asked, sympathy in her almond-shaped eyes.

  “Guess so.” She’d never had cramps in her life. She was from backwoods people who didn’t believe in such nonsense, and any minor cramps she’d had as a girl had been cured with a nip of Rufus’s moonshine. “Would you reschedule my afternoon appointments? Please tell them I’m sorry.”

  “Sure,” Elena said. “Go on home and take some Midol.” She winked. “And I’ve heard that a good session with a vibrator helps, too.”

  “Really? I didn’t know that.” She did, however, know about vibrators. After Lincoln’s daddy had left and she’d sworn off men forever, she’d become intimately acquainted with them. She’d discovered that a woman could exist just fine if she had a good mechanic for her car and a vibrator tucked in her bureau drawer.

  “See you in the morning,” Elena said.

  “Sure thing.” Annabelle walked out into the summer heat. She could hardly wait for tomorrow morning to come, because by then she should know exactly where her daughter was.

  Matt had forgotten what good sex with a willing partner could do to cure depression. After a night spent with Celeste, he felt like a new man. He tackled paperwork that had been sitting on his desk for weeks, and more than once he caught himself whistling. His secretary, Kendra, kept giving him funny looks, and he wondered if she suspected that he’d gotten laid last night. She might. Women were smart about things like that.

  Frankly, he didn’t care if she suspected. He’d been an object of pity long enough. But nobody needed to pity a guy who had managed to attract a twenty-three-year-old cutie like Celeste into his bed. He still wasn’t sure why she’d suggested it, but they’d had a terrific time. She’d had him doing maneuvers he’d only read about in Playboy.

  Yeah, he was kind of stiff this morning, but it was a good kind of muscle pain. Still, he’d decided not to take Celeste up on another round tonight. He wanted to maintain his image as a s
tud, and for that he needed at least eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. Tomorrow evening, though, they’d try a few more combinations. He thought the anticipation would do him good. He was a little short of events to anticipate these days.

  When lunchtime arrived he’d about decided to go out for a change. Normally he ate at his desk, but the day was gorgeous and he felt like a drive and a shrimp salad someplace where he could look at the ocean while he ate. Before he could act on that plan, Kendra buzzed him.

  “Annabelle Terrence is here to see you, Mr. Murphy. She says it’s urgent.”

  Terrence. She had to be Genevieve’s mother, and he wondered if she was here to question him about the behavior of his partner. He hoped not. Genevieve and Nick were both consenting adults, and although he didn’t approve of Nick’s little trips with female employees, he wasn’t the guy’s keeper. Or Genevieve’s, come to think of it.

  But he might as well see what the woman wanted. Maybe she was no relation to Genevieve. “Send her in.”

  The minute Annabelle Terrence walked into his office, he knew she was related to Genevieve, but he assumed she was an older sister. Her hairstyle, facial features, even her curvy figure reminded him of Genevieve. In her flowered sundress that bared toned arms and a graceful neck, she looked like she might be mid-to-late thirties. He noticed she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.

  Now this was more like the type of woman he should be taking to bed, he thought as he came around the desk. Then he silently reprimanded himself for such a boorish concept. He was supposed to be beyond the stage of seeing every woman in sexual terms. His night with Celeste must have set him back a few years and made him think like a crass young man again.

  “I’m Genevieve’s mother, Mr. Murphy,” she said.

  His eyes widened. Either she’d had cosmetic surgery or she’d had Genevieve when she was about twelve. Recovering himself, he extended his hand. “Nice to meet you.” He registered warmth and firmness in her handshake. “Have a seat,” he said, waving her into the chair in front of the desk. “And please call me Matt. We’re not formal in this company.”

  She smiled, which made her look younger still. “So Genevieve has told me. She feels very lucky to be working here.” She sat in the chair and put her little shoulder purse in her lap.

  “She’s an excellent employee.” Leaning his hips against the desk, he found himself holding her gaze a little longer than he should. He liked her eyes, wide-set and a velvety gray. Celeste must have really flipped a switch somewhere deep inside him. Yesterday he hadn’t thought that he’d ever be attracted to a woman again. Today he was ready to hit on Genevieve’s mother. “What can I do for you?”

  “It’s about that trip she went on.”

  Damn, here it came. All thoughts of asking her out disappeared as he prepared to defend his partner’s sleazy motives. He hated being put in this position, and he’d have a little talk with Nick when he got back.

  “What about the trip?” he asked, realizing for the first time that she was agitated. She hid it well, but he’d become aware of the way she was folding the strap of her shoulder purse into tight little accordion pleats.

  “She promised to call me when she got to Maui, and she didn’t call.”

  This was getting weird. Most twenty-six-year-old women he knew didn’t call their mothers a few hours after leaving the house. “She probably got busy.”

  “I thought that, too, but when noon came and she still hadn’t called, I decided something had happened.”

  Wow. This woman was terminally overprotective. And of all things, she seemed to be concerned about the flight itself. In his opinion she should be less concerned about that and more upset about whether Nick pulled his usual trick of dumping his conquest once he brought her home again. “Mrs. Terrence, I’m sure—”

  “Annabelle. You said you’re not formal here.”

  That had been when he’d thought this was a social visit. “Sorry. I’m sure Genevieve is fine, Annabelle. My partner is an excellent pilot.” Not such a great guy, but an excellent pilot.

  “Matt, I’m here to beg you to call wherever they were supposed to go on Maui and find out if they arrived.”

  He swallowed. “Look, I’m sure she’ll contact you this afternoon, or maybe tonight, after the day’s meetings are over. I—”

  “Please.” She was actually quivering now.

  And here he’d thought Genevieve had a fairly normal home life. Instead she lived with a paranoid mother. Poor Genevieve. From the terrified expression on Annabelle’s face, he had the feeling that she’d break down if he didn’t do as she asked. A sobbing woman wasn’t going to improve the quality of his day.

  With a sigh he moved around to his desk and picked up the phone. “Kendra, would you get me the Maui branch office, please?”

  “Right away, Matt.”

  While he waited until she patched him through, he looked everywhere but at Annabelle Terrence. This was one of the stupidest things he’d had to do in a long while. He should have refused her, but she’d looked so desperate. He was also irritated with her for missing the obvious danger to her daughter. It had nothing to do with Nick’s flying. Maybe Annabelle wasn’t all that bright.

  Finally Ed Modene from the Maui office came on the line to ask what he needed.

  “I just thought I’d see how the meeting with Nick was going so far,” Matt said, feeling more foolish than ever.

  There was a pause. “Nick didn’t make it over here.”

  Matt felt a little queasy. If Nick was using the company plane to conduct his brief affairs without even making a pretense of doing business at the same time, they had a real problem. “I thought he was planning to be there this morning, but maybe I misunderstood.”

  “We had a tentative meeting scheduled, but he said if he hadn’t shown up by nine that would mean he wasn’t able to make it, and we’d reschedule for next week. He didn’t show, so we canceled the meeting.”

  “Guess I didn’t get the word,” Matt said.

  Ed chuckled. “Nick’s tough to pin down sometimes. Say, when are you coming over for another round of golf?”

  “When my game’s in better shape,” Matt said, trying to sound jovial. “I can’t take the humiliation.”

  “Come over anyway. You can play from the women’s tees.”

  “Thanks a whole hell of a lot. Listen, I have to run. I’ll check with Nick and make sure he gets back to you.”

  “Fine. See ya.”

  “Right.” Matt hung up the phone and stood staring at it while he tried to think what he was going to say to Annabelle.

  She beat him to it. “They didn’t ever get there, did they?”

  He looked up. Her eyes shone huge and bright in a face gone deathly pale.

  “I’m sure they’re there,” he said.

  “But—”

  “For some reason he didn’t go to the meeting, that’s all.” He didn’t want to discuss the reason unless she was sharp enough to pick up on it.

  “Call the Maui airport.”

  He ran a hand over his face. And the day had started out so well, too. “Look, I don’t think that’s necessary.” He could also imagine why Genevieve hadn’t called. Nick had been keeping her too busy.

  “Then I will.” She was on her feet before he knew it and reaching for his desk phone.

  “The plane flight isn’t the problem, damn it!”

  She hesitated, her hand hovering over the phone, and stared at him.

  He sighed. Might as well get it out in the open. “The reason you haven’t heard from your daughter is that Nick flew them to Maui, checked them into a hotel room, and…well, you should be able to figure out the rest.”

  “Tarnation! Do you think I have feathers for brains? I know good and well she went over there to have sex with that rooster!”

  His jaw dropped. The cultured tone was gone, and in its place was something right out of The Dukes of Hazzard.

  “I know perfectly well what that scalawag was up to, him
and his fancy little black car,” she barreled on. “But no matter what they’ve been doing all morning, she would have figured out some way to call me.”

  What little patience he had left evaporated. “For God’s sake, wake up and smell the coffee! Your daughter, devoted though she may be, is not going to call you in the middle of a passionate rendezvous with a guy like Nick! Maybe things are different where you come from, but in this day and age, girls don’t call their mothers during such events!” And if he was a little more outspoken than usual, it might be because he’d been uncomfortably reminded of what Celeste’s mother would have thought of his own behavior last night.

  “I’m wasting time.” She turned and started out of the office. “I’ll use somebody else’s phone to call the Maui airport. They should be able to tell me if the Rainbow Systems plane landed there this morning or not.”

  “Annabelle, wait.” Remorse hit him as he hurried after her and caught her arm before she reached the door. How could he relate to what a mother might feel at times like this? He didn’t even have a father’s insight. Damn, but Annabelle’s skin was soft. “If I call the airport and the plane landed, will you let it go?”

  She turned, her gaze stormy. “Yes.”

  “I know this doesn’t look good, that Nick would behave this way, and I’ll handle that situation when they get back.”

  She faced him, shaking off his grip as she did so. “Genevieve is a grown woman. Her sexual decisions are her own now. I didn’t like your partner when I met him this morning, but if Genevieve has to have him, that’s up to her. I’m the last person who should preach to her about her choices in men. But planes scare the stuffing out of me, and I need to know she’s safe.”

  He felt like the worst heel in the world. Most everybody had something they were afraid of. He got kind of loony about snakes. With some people it was heights, with others it was spiders. Annabelle happened to be spooked by planes. No matter what was going on between Genevieve and Nick, Genevieve should have called, knowing how her mother felt.

  “I’ll call right now,” he said quietly.