The Cinderella Deal - Jennifer Crusie [62]
Daisy put Christmas rock on the stereo and watched while everyone found his or her ornament, and the room became warm with laughter. Such nice people.
“Tell me what to do about Evan,” Julia whispered in her ear. “I can’t get him to make a pass.”
“You’re asking me? I’m living with a man who won’t make a pass.” Daisy watched her big, handsome husband talk to Evan and sighed. Then he looked up at her and smiled, and she felt heat all through her.
“Still?” Julia sounded drunkenly sympathetic. “What a waste. Now help me with Evan.”
“I think you’re just going to have to invite yourself home with him.”
“What if he says no?”
Daisy snorted. “Evan is gloomy not insane. Besides, he’s crazy about you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Daisy grinned at her. “Go get him.”
“Right.” Julia squared her shoulders and marched across the room to her prey.
NINE
“WHAT AM I going to do about Julia?” Evan asked.
Linc looked around the room until he found Daisy. She was talking to Julia. Good. That meant she wasn’t with the wife-stealing vet. He smiled at her and she smiled back, and he felt heat all through him. Evan was saying something.
“What?”
“Julia.” Evan looked at Daisy’s painting gloomily. “What do I do?”
“Ask her to come home with you. Offer to show her your etchings.”
“I don’t have any etchings.”
Linc nodded. “Good. Julia probably hates etchings.”
“Then why would she come?”
Linc couldn’t help it; he started to laugh. “Because she wants you.”
“Really?” Evan’s face almost brightened. “How do you know?”
Linc thought about telling him how he knew when Julia was in the mood to go home with someone but decided not to. “Daisy told me. Daisy knows everything.”
“This is true.” Evan’s eggnog was making him philosophical. “Sometimes I think that Julia and I could never be happy, and then I think of you and Daisy. If Daisy can make you warm, Julia can make me happy.”
“I don’t think anybody can make anybody else anything.” Linc tried to be careful so he didn’t get lost in his anys. “Daisy didn’t make me warm.”
Evan looked at him owlishly.
“What are you talking about?” Linc asked, irritated, and then Julia was beside them.
“I should probably start back to the inn.” She looked at Evan and batted her eyes.
Here’s your chance, old buddy, Linc thought, and nudged Evan.
Evan looked startled. “Oh?”
Linc closed his eyes and sighed. He liked Evan a lot, but sometimes—
“Is it dangerous to walk back to the inn alone?” Julia asked, still looking at Evan.
“Well—” Evan stopped, helpless.
Linc looked around for Daisy. This was obviously her kind of problem, getting two people together. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find her. That bothered him. She was supposed to be there with him. He was going to have to find her and explain that to her, but first he had to take care of Julia and Evan.
“Yes, it’s dangerous to walk back alone.” Linc stopped to think. Just getting Evan to walk Julia home wasn’t going to do it; he was going to have to actually get her into his apartment for the night. “But it’s more dangerous at the inn,” he said carefully. “You really shouldn’t be staying there, Julia. The doors don’t lock.”
Julia looked at him with hopeless contempt. Well, he deserved it, that last bit had been feeble. He had to do better, but the eggnog was fogging his brain. What would Daisy say?
“They have rats,” he said suddenly. “Big suckers. They’ve been known to carry off small children. You’re small, Julia. An especially big rat might grab you. And there you’d be.” He stopped. Where would she be? “Rat snacks.”
“Rat snacks?” Julia looked incredulous.
Linc shook his head. “It would be terrible, just terrible.” He drank some more eggnog.
They were looking at him as if he were insane. He’d seen the look before when Daisy had gone into one of her narrative fits in front of strangers. “So,” he said, winding his story up in a hurry. “You really shouldn’t be staying there. We’d let you stay here, but we don’t have any room. So maybe you should stay somewhere else.” He looked at Evan, who was looking like a bemused codfish. Julia, on the other