Bundle of Joy Read Online Free Page B

along his back and biceps.
    Come to think of it, Donohue was behaving awfully well, considering the circumstances under which they'd found themselves. Another man might have taken advantage of the situation, dousing the overhead light and turning the storage room into a wolf's lair with Caroline as the lamb on her way to the slaughter. There were advantages to being trapped with a man who didn't find you the least bit attractive, even if that fact stung her ego.
    Donohue, through pacing for the moment, sat down on a crate near a collection of beaded Arnold Scaasi gowns and broke the silence. "I'd kill for a burger and fries," he said.
    Caroline, stomach rumbling at the thought, sighed. "One of Sam's Torta Rusticas."
    "Torta Rustica?" asked Donohue. "What's that?"
    "Meat loaf," she mumbled.
    "You're kidding."
    "A very fancy meat loaf," she said, trying not to smile. "Not the usual fare by any means."
    "Meat loaf is meat loaf."
    "That's like saying wine is wine."
    "You took the words right out of my mouth." He looked as if he were holding back a grin and not altogether succeeding at it.
    "There's a world of difference between Thunderbird and Pouilly-Fuisse."
    "Like the difference between the two of us," he observed.
    Ah, there it was: the killer grin a weaker woman would gladly die for. Caroline was glad she was above such obvious temptations. "Exactly," she said coolly. "Like the two of us."
    "I'd still kill for a burger."
    Suddenly Caroline leaped to her feet. "It's not a burger with fries, but I have something that'll do in a pinch." She hurried to the far corner of the room, pushed aside two fur coats and uncovered a grocery bag from Food Town. "Cheese, stone wheat crackers, and champagne." She raised the bottle in a gesture of triumph. "And what do you think of that, Charles?"
    He hadn't been called Charles since before he joined the navy, but the name sounded kind of nice rolling off her elegant and eminently kissable lips. "Better than C rations," he said with the right note of casual interest. "You make a habit of storing midnight snacks in here?"
    "I had to pick up a few things at Foodtown this afternoon," she said with a self-conscious laugh. "This seemed as good a place as any to stash them."
    A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Your date must be wondering where you are."
    Was it her imagination or did she detect more than a slight note of curiosity in his voice? "I don't have a date tonight, Charles."
    He looked at the Brie, the fancy crackers, and the champagne. "You bought all this stuff just for you?"
    She nodded, busying herself with opening the package of crackers. "I believe in surrounding myself with the finer things in life." She paused, then looked up at him. "Go ahead. You're about to laugh at me, aren't you?"
    He filched a cracker and made short work of it. "Why do you say that?"
    "Because men like you usually think the finer things in life are an extra six-pack and the Super Bowl."
    "Nothing wrong with that."
    "Nothing particularly right about it, either."
    "You really are a snob, aren't you, Bradley?"
    "The name's Caroline and yes, I suppose I am." She'd worked hard to acquire the accoutrements of the "good life" and wasn't about to make light of any of them. Especially not to a man like Donohue.
    "Some women would take a burger and a ballgame over dinner at the Ritz any day."
    "And they're welcome to both," said Caroline magnanimously. "I, however, shall stick with the Ritz."
    Donohue took the bottle of champagne and wedged it between his knees. "Bet they don't do it like this at the Ritz," he said, proceeding to pop the cork.
    "I wager you're right," she said, wishing they had some glasses. It was hard to imagine an elegant maitre d' with a bottle between his knees.
    Her mouth dropped open in amazement as Donohue took a swig right from the bottle. "Good stuff."
    She was speechless as he handed her the champagne.
    "Try it," he said.
    Gingerly she wiped the mouth with the back of her hand,