LovePlay by Diana Palmer Page A

in.”
    “I almost blew it when I tripped, though.” She groaned. “That stupid long gown does it to me every time. Thanks for catching me.”
    “My pleasure. I suppose they thought it was part of the act,” he added dryly. “Nobody laughed.”
    “It isn’t that kind of play.” She sipped her coffee and her eyes were bitter. “I suppose Cul’s gone back down to the Bahamas to see his playmate. Did you notice her at opening night? A knockout. Very uptown.”
    “No. I was too busy with my own few admirers,” he replied. He leaned forward, pinning her with a dark, steady gaze. “Marry me, Bett,” he said unexpectedly. “We’ll raise the baby together.”
    She drew in a steadying breath and put down her fork slowly. “David, I can’t,” she told him sadly. “You’re my friend, and I’m very fond of you. But I don’t feel that way. I’m a one-man woman, despite the fact that the man in question is a solid-gold jackass who’s totally blind.”
    “I won’t ask for much,” he persisted.
    “You wouldn’t get much, is the thing.” She traced patterns in the icy fog on her glass of Coca-Cola. “No. Thank you, but no. It’s my problem.”
    “It’s everybody’s problem,” he argued. “Janet is worried about you, too. She’s afraid for you, being in that apartment alone.”
    “Why?” she laughed. “I have good neighbors.”
    “You don’t even know their names!”
    “I know Mr. Bartholomew,” she argued. “He’s the gentleman who sings off-key. He looks like that big opera star, but he’s not quite so generously proportioned.”
    “Or so talented,” he mused.
    “Anyway, he’s always around, watching, when I come in at night. He said I needed a papa, and since I didn’t have one of my own, he’d have to do.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Honest to goodness, David, people have been so kind to me….”
    “Don’t.” He touched her hand lightly with his. “Bett, don’t. Look, suppose I go and talk to him? Tell him how it is with us?”
    “Do you think he’d believe you?” she asked bitterly. “He said he loved me, David, but he doesn’t think the baby is his. That’s his misfortune, because of all the things he’s ever wanted in his life, a baby was first priority.”
    “Then why didn’t he get married and have one?” David asked simply.
    She couldn’t tell him that. She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t like the idea of being obligated to stay with one woman.” Her eyes clouded. “Heaven knows, he got tired of me pretty quick, didn’t he?”
    “Bett,” he groaned. His fingers tightened.
    “It’s all right,” she said tautly. “We live and learn. I just feel so stupid. So cheap.”
    “You’re not cheap.”
    “Yes, I am,” she moaned. “I didn’t even put up a fight. Oh, David, my parents tried so hard to give me the kind of values that would last me all my life. I always thought I’d get married and have children, I never dreamed I’d throw it all away on an illusion. Look at me now. Pregnant and alone…and how am I going to tell my mother and father? They live in a small suburb of Atlanta, they’re respected in the community, they’re good church-going people.” She hid her face in her hands. “How can I expect them to live with the disgrace?”
    “Bett, listen to me,” he said quickly. “We can get married. They’ll never have to know. I can give the baby a name, at least.”
    “But it wouldn’t be fair to you, can’t you see that?” she asked miserably. “David, I don’t love you! And committing two wrongs won’t make a right!”
    He sighed angrily. “God, are you stubborn!”
    “No, I’m stupid,” she returned, drying her eyes. “And this is no time for self-pity. I’ve got to pull myself together.”
    He watched her impatiently. “How will you manage by yourself?” he grumbled.
    “I’m not by myself,” she replied. “I have you and Janet to cry on.”
    He smiled gently. “Yes, I suppose so. How long have you