Mind Over Matter

easier for him. She made absolutely no demands and accepted none. In other relationships he’d insisted on the same thing. She refused to allow emotions to interfere with her business or his. In the past he’d felt precisely the same way.
    The problem was, he didn’t feel that way now.
    As the shoot ground to a halt because of two defective bulbs David reminded himself it was his problem. Once he accepted that, he could work on the solution. One was to go along with the terms. The other was to change them.
    David watched A.J. cross the room toward Alex. Her stride was brisk, her eyes were cool. In the conservative suit she looked like precisely what she was—a successful businesswoman who knew where she was going and how to get there. He remembered the way she looked when they made love—slim, glowing and as dangerous as a neutron bomb.
    David took out a cigarette then struck a match with a kind of restrained violence. He was going to have to plan out solution number two.
    “Mr. Marshall.” A.J. had her speech prepared and her determination at its peak. With a friendly enough smile, she interrupted Alex’s conversation with one of the grips. “Could I speak with you for a minute?”
    “Of course.” Because he’d been expecting it, Alex took her arm in his innate old-style manner. “Looks like we’ll have time for a cup of coffee.”
    Together they walked back to the room where A.J. had stood with David a few hours before. This time she poured the coffee and offered the cup. But before she could start the prologue for the speech she’d been rehearsing, Alex began.
    “You want to talk about Clarissa.” He pulled out one of his cigars, then held it out. “Do you mind?”
    “No, go ahead. Actually, Mr. Marshall, I would very much like to talk to you about Clarissa.”
    “She told me you were uneasy about our marriage plans.” He puffed comfortably on his cigar until he was satisfied it was well started. “I admit that puzzled me a bit, until she explained that besides being her agent, you happen to be her daughter. Shall we sit down?”
    A.J. frowned at the sofa, then at him. It wasn’t going at all according to plan. She took her place on one end, while he settled himself on the other. “I’m glad that Clarissa explained things to you. It simplifies things. You’ll understand now why I’m concerned. My mother is very important to me.”
    “And to me.” As he leaned back, A.J. studied his profile. It wasn’t difficult to see why her mother was infatuated. “You of all people can understand just how easy Clarissa is to love.”
    “Yes.” A.J. sipped at her coffee. What was it she’d planned to say? Taking a deep breath, she moved back on track. “Clarissa is a wonderfully warm and very special person. The thing is, you’ve known each other for such a short time.”
    “It only took five minutes.” He said it so simply, A.J. was left fumbling for words. “Ms. Fields,” he continued, then smiled at her. “A.J.,” he corrected. “It doesn’t seem right for me to call you ‘Ms. Fields.’ After all, I’m going to be your stepfather.”
    Stepfather? Somehow that angle had bypassed her. She sat, coffee cup halfway to her lips, and stared at him.
    “I have a son your age,” he began again. “And a daughter not far behind. I think I understand some of what you’re feeling.”
    “It’s, ah, it’s not a matter of my feelings.”
    “Of course it is. You’re as precious to Clarissa as my children are to me. Clarissa and I will be married, but she’d be happier if you were pleased about it.”
    A.J. frowned at her coffee, then set it down. “I don’t know what to say. I thought I did. Mr. Marshall, Alex, you’ve been a journalist for over a quarter of a century. You’ve traveled all over the world, seen incredible things. Clarissa, for all her abilities, all her insights, is a very simple woman.”
    “An amazingly comfortable woman, especially for a man who’s lived on the edge, perhaps too long. I had thought of retiring.” He laughed then, but comfortably, as he remembered his own shock when Clarissa had held his hand and commented on it. “That wasn’t something I’d discussed with anyone, not even my own children. I’d been looking for something more, something other than deadlines and breaking stories. In a matter of hours after being with Clarissa, I knew she was what I’d been looking for. I want to spend the rest of my life with her.”
    A.J. sat in silence,