Читать книгу To Love, Honor And Defend - Beth Cornelison - Страница 11

Nothing had changed at Renee’s apartment since he’d been by earlier in the week. Except perhaps a few more crusty dishes were piled in the sink and on the coffee table. A stronger stench of rotten garbage permeated the air.

Cal watched Libby react to the scene. With her eyes wide and her stance rigid, she pressed a hand over her mouth and took in the chaos of clutter and filth.

“You’re early.” Renee stumbled back from the door, tripping past the spot where her boyfriend Gary—or Jerry, or whatever the creep’s name was—lay passed out on the floor. Judging from Renee’s glazed expression, she was high again. Surprise, surprise.

“Actually I’m not. It’s past nine. Where’s Ally?”

“Asleep, I guess. Try her room.” Renee rubbed her face hard and winced. Black circles ringed his ex’s eyes, and baggy clothes hung on her rail-thin frame. She’d lost too much weight in the last few months. Cal’s stomach knotted. Renee had been vibrant and beautiful when they’d first met. Her mind had been sharp. He hated seeing her like this. If Renee took such poor care of herself, what did Ally endure?

“Renee, look at this place. Don’t you understand that the authorities could take Ally away, put her in foster care, if you don’t get your act together?”

Renee scoffed. “I’m her mother. They can’t take her from me. And neither can you. I have rights.”

“They can take her away, and they will. What about Ally’s right to have a clean home? To have someone love her and take care of her?”

“I love her!” Renee wobbled, and Cal steadied her with a hand on her arm.

He mustered every ounce of his patience. “Then get clean. I’m not fighting for custody to hurt you, Renee. I’m doing it because I love Ally. I don’t want to see her suffer.”

Renee pulled free of his grip. “She’s fine.”

Grunting his disgust and frustration, Cal stalked toward the back of the tiny apartment and nearly collided with a scruffy man who came out of the bathroom, zipping his pants.

“Look where you’re going, man,” the hoodlum grumbled, bumping past Cal on his way back to the front room.

“Who the hell are you?” Cal followed the man into the living room and divided a glare between the man and Renee.

“Who’s askin’?” The stranger gave Libby, who still hovered by the door, a suspicious look. “Hey, do I know you?”

Cal tensed, ready to intervene if the scumbag took another step toward Libby.

She raised her chin and appraised the man with a honed look, one that doubtlessly brought hostile witnesses to their knees. “Not unless you’ve had a reason to appear in court recently.”

Cal felt a quick tug of pride. Libby personified strength under fire. Cool and poised. Other than two nights ago in the parking garage, when she’d been so uncharacteristically rattled, he’d only seen her experience meltdown between the sheets. During sex, she let go, burned hot and fast like a forest fire in a drought. When his libido pulsed to life, he firmly pushed thoughts of tangling limbs with Libby aside for another time.

“That’s right.” The slimeball wagged a finger toward Libby. “You’re the skirt from the D.A.’s office.” When the disheveled man stepped toward her, Cal instinctively moved to Libby’s side.

“So, you’re familiar with the prosecutor’s office, Mr.—” Libby tipped her head, tapping a finger to her lips as if trying to remember something. “I’m sorry, who did you say you were?”

The bum flashed an oily smile. “You can just call me Roach, lawyer babe.”

“Roach, huh? Interesting. Family name?” Libby parried.

Roach chortled and flopped back onto the stained cushions of Renee’s couch. On the floor, Gary/Jerry/whatever-his-name-was, stirred, coughed then lurched for an empty glass as he retched.

Cal felt Libby’s shudder only because he’d put his hand on her arm to guide her away from Roach. “Come on. Let’s find Ally and get the hell out of here,” he said under his breath.

With a nod, she followed him back to the corner bedroom, where Ally’s toys littered the floor.

The bed was empty.

Anxiety flashed through Cal with the force of a backdraft. “Ally?”

Darting forward, he ripped the covers from the bed, searching for his daughter, even though the girl clearly wasn’t there. He cut a sharp glance toward Libby, whose face reflected the same concern and confusion that knifed him.

“Renee!” He stormed out to the living room, his body tense with fury, his stomach knotted with dread. “She’s not there! Where the hell is my daughter?”

Renee clutched her head and slouched in her seat, curling into a tiny ball. “Don’t yell! Damn, my head’s gonna explode.”

“Where’s Ally? She’s not in her room!”

His ex sighed heavily. “Have you looked in her closet?”

Beside him, Libby gasped. He spared her only a brief I-told-you-so glance as he rushed back to look for Ally.

When he snatched open the closet door, the flood of light from the bedroom revealed hidden horrors in the small, dark space. Cal winced as the odor of urine hit him. A spider scurried under a box in the corner.

A raven-haired moppet raised bleary eyes to squint at him. “Mommy?”

Emotions slammed into him. A tangled mix of relief, outrage and anguish squeezed his heart and brought him to his knees. “Oh, baby girl. It’s Daddy. Why are you in here?”

Ally whimpered when he leaned down to scoop her up in his arms. “No! Leave me alone!”

“It’s all right, Ally. It’s Daddy. Remember last weekend when we went to the park, I asked if you’d like to come visit me sometime? You said you did.”

Ally nodded.

“Well, I’m here so you can visit my apartment, stay with me for the weekend. Would you like that?”

“Can we go to the park again?”

“Sure, kitten. Whatever you want.” He tucked Ally under his chin and turned to carry her out. Her clothes were damp. “Ally, what happened to your nightgown? It’s wet.”

Ally sniffed. “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to.”

“Didn’t mean to what?” Cal coaxed.

“Wet my pants,” she whispered. “That man was in the potty, and I had t’go.”

“Aw, sweetie. It’s okay. We’ll get you cleaned up. C’mon.”

Libby stood two paces from the closet door, her face white and her features a mask of horror. He’d never seen Libby cry, but tears filled her eyes now. Her whole body shook.

“Still think you can tell us no?” he rasped, wishing he could cry, too. Wishing he could throw back his head and howl for the suffering his little girl had endured without him.

Sucking in a harsh, strangled breath, Libby bolted from the room.

Libby sat inside Cal’s truck and wrapped her arms around herself. She concentrated on calming her ragged breaths and erasing the ugly memories that had chased her from Renee’s apartment. When a movement outside the pickup caught her eye, she jerked her gaze up, her pulse jumping.

Deep breaths. Don’t lose control.

Cal approached the passenger’s door, carrying his daughter on one shoulder and a duffel bag slung over the other. Libby climbed from the truck on shaky legs and pulled the seat forward so he could put Ally in the back. A biting January wind whipped around her, and she shivered.

“Thanks.” Sparing Libby a quick glance, Cal settled Ally on the back seat and gently tucked his jacket around her. “Sorry we took so long. I had to pack her things and get her changed into something clean.”

“Mmm,” she hummed in acknowledgment, certain she couldn’t speak yet without her voice cracking. Bad enough she’d lost it in the apartment and fled like a startled doe. Way to keep it together, Counselor.

Libby avoided Cal’s eyes as he lifted Ally’s small duffel into the truck bed. She’d seen his haunted despair when he’d found his daughter, and she couldn’t face his tormented gaze again. Not until she’d gotten a firmer grip on her own composure.

Ally leaned against the far side of the truck, her eyes squeezed tightly closed. Too tight to truly be asleep. Libby recognized Ally’s game of possum for what it was—avoidance. How many times had Libby pretended to be asleep to avoid facing her mother’s drinking and boyfriends?

A rock settled in Libby’s chest, choking her. An oppressive omen. The weight of dread.

She was going to tell Cal yes.

Damn it, she knew marrying him, for whatever reason, was flirting with disaster. But the ghosts that had rattled their chains in Renee’s apartment could not be ignored. The past could not be repeated. She couldn’t leave Ally to endure what she herself had barely survived.

Even if it meant putting her heart on the line with Cal.

Despite any possible threat from the stalker, first and foremost, Ally needed protection from her mother’s bad habits and neglect.

Turning from Ally, Libby fastened her seat belt as Cal climbed into the truck. She felt his gaze on her, but kept her attention focused on the apartment stairs.

Roach ambled out wearing a long trench coat and lighting a cigarette. The scruffy man, whose bleached hair spiked in all directions, seemed vaguely familiar. After a while, though, the parade of deadbeats through the court system began to blur. Still, she searched her memory for a previous run-in with Roach.

Cal touched her arm, and she flinched as if burned. Her emotions were too close to the surface. Even the comforting graze of his hand triggered an electric reaction that crackled along her raw nerves.

“You okay?”

No, she longed to wail. I’ve just revisited my childhood and really need for you to hold me for a minute. Or a week.

She gave him a curt nod. “Fine.”

“You know, Renee hasn’t always been this way. When I met her, she was perky and intelligent. She had so much potential. Seeing her like this…”

Judging from the grim set of Cal’s jaw and his white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel, he had plenty he wanted to say but couldn’t because of the four-year-old in the back seat.

As they headed out of the parking lot, Cal’s eyes shifted to Roach, and a growl rumbled from his throat. “That guy’s trouble. I don’t want Ally around creeps like him. Before Renee got involved with Gary/Jerry/what’s-his-name, before her next hit was more important than our daughter, she wouldn’t have been caught dead hanging around with a jerk like that.”

Libby cut her gaze back to the man in question. “The fact that he knew I was from the D.A.’s office tells me he’s had a few scrapes with the law. I’d be willing to bet he’s her dealer.”

Dismay filled Cal’s face then shifted to cold determination. “Great. Renee’s consorting with criminals. More ammunition for my case.”

Cal gunned the engine and peeled out of the parking lot. He drove in stony, brooding silence.

She stole glimpses of his hard jaw and the unshaven shadow of beard that gave him a dangerous look. His appearance belied the gentle soul she knew lived beneath the rough-edged exterior. Her fingers itched to comb back the black hair curling over his collar and savor the rasp of his stubble beneath her hands. Five years ago, that weekend beard had abraded the tenderest places of her body, left his brand on her skin. The way his memory left its mark upon her heart.

She swallowed hard, forcing down the knot in her throat. He’d made his choice. He’d left her, thrown away what they’d had together. Only a fool would set herself up for that kind of fall a second time.

After a few minutes, the tense quiet in the truck became almost more unbearable than the thought of rehashing what had just happened, than facing the inevitable question: What are you going to do now, Libby?

She couldn’t walk away. She never could. Not from her mother. Not from Cal. And certainly not now from Ally.

She glanced into the back seat where Ally slept. The picture of this frail angel huddled in the back of her closet amid the filth was an image burned forever in Libby’s mind.

“All right,” she said without looking at Cal. She turned to watch the stark, winter-bare trees pass outside her window and shivered. “I’ll do it. I’ll marry you.”

Cal darted an uncertain look across the front seat then gaped as if he thought he’d heard wrong. Finally, he nodded.

“Good.” He sighed wearily and rubbed the scar on his chin with his palm. “Thank you.”

“But I have conditions.”

He chuckled wryly. “Figures.”

“Our marriage will be in name only. Separate beds.”

Scoffing, Cal shook his head. “No way. The court has to believe I’ll give Ally a Leave it to Beaver home life. Ward and June didn’t keep separate quarters.”

Libby snorted. “Pal, if you’re looking for June Cleaver, you’ve come to the wrong woman.”

She turned to check on Ally again, in time to see a pair of curious blue eyes snap shut. A grin ghosted across Libby’s lips, and she faced the front again, giving Cal’s daughter the privacy she wanted and the freedom to observe her father and his friend uninterrupted.

“I’m not asking you to make meat loaf and vacuum the house in high heels and pearls,” Cal said. “But I have to show the court that Ally will have a stable, two-parent home where she’ll be safe and loved.”

“This one’s a deal breaker. You’re in the guest room, or I walk. I’m not sharing a bed with you.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched, and he sent her a hooded glance. “Good enough. For now.”

He turned back to stare out the windshield, and a strange hollowness poked at her. Irritated with her reaction, she squeezed the door handle even tighter. She was not disappointed that he’d accepted her term of celibacy so readily.

“Fine.” And she was fine, too. Getting into bed with Cal Walters again, no matter how tempting, would be the height of stupidity.

At a traffic light, Cal drummed the steering wheel with his fingers. “But you’ll need to keep up appearances in public. The world, the judge, has to believe we’re happily married…in every way.”

“Fine.” Libby pressed a hand to her stomach, hoping to calm the swirl of apprehension growing inside her.

Happily married? To Cal?

Not so many years ago, sharing her life with Cal had been her greatest hope, her dream. Now the proposition seemed more of a nightmare. A recipe for heartbreak.

“All right, then. Make time on your calendar first thing Monday to get the license.” Cal cut a sideways glance at her. “With the three-day waiting period, the soonest we can get married is Thursday.”

She shook her head. “I have a case going to trial Thursday. I’ll be in court all day.”

“All day?”

“There’ll be a recess for lunch, but—”

“Good. We’ll just grab a judge during your break and do it then.”

“Cal, I—” She stopped, unsure what her objection was. But she couldn’t shake the foreboding sense that she was making a terrible mistake.

He hoped to God he wasn’t making a terrible mistake. Having listened to his mom and stepdad bicker over everything from scrambled eggs to the electric bill, he knew what it was like to grow up in a house rife with hostility.

An all-too-familiar prick of guilt needled him. Hell, the hostility should have been a clue to what was really going on. He should have known. Should have done something sooner.

One thing was certain—Libby would never endure from him what his mother had with his stepfather. Never.

He watched from the door of his bedroom as Libby stroked a gentle hand over Ally’s cheek and tucked a teddy bear under his daughter’s arm. Libby had dived right in beside him, helping with Ally’s bath and fixing a hot brunch of pancakes and bacon before they shuffled his drowsy daughter off to nap.

Despite her kindness to Ally, the silent treatment and physical distance Libby kept from him conveyed her feelings about their relationship loud and clear. Not exactly the parental atmosphere he wanted for his daughter.

He’d hoped the warm, compassionate Libby who had stolen his heart years ago would be his wife. Every night of his incarceration, he’d dreamed of the woman who’d made him laugh, who’d kissed him in the rain and made s’mores with him over the fireplace flames. After three passionate months together, they’d been on the verge of taking their affair to a deeper, more personal level when Renee had called to say she was five months pregnant with Ally. He never got the chance to probe the deeper layers of the fun-loving and complex woman Libby was, the woman he’d started to love.

He sighed his regret. Maybe he’d never regain what he’d lost with Libby. She could resent him all she wanted as long as Ally had the love she deserved.

He stepped out of the way so Libby could back from the room and pull the door closed.

“I have to leave.”

He cocked his head. “Excuse me?”

She gave him a pointed look. “Leave. Go home. Your little field trip this morning has put me behind schedule.” She squared her shoulders and jutted out her chin. “I have things to do today.”

“Yeah, things like making plans with me about how this arrangement will work. Spending time with Ally. Getting to know her.” He hooked his thumbs in his jeans and frowned.

“No…like researching an important case at the library. And taking Jewel to the vet for her shots.” She brushed past him and began gathering her coat and purse. “I have to pick up my dry cleaning and get the oil changed on my car and—”

“I can change your oil. No point paying someone else to do it.”

She paused in the middle of pulling on her coat. “I don’t need you to change my oil. I’m perfectly happy having my mechanic take care of it.” She jabbed a finger in his direction as she slung her purse over her shoulder. “I agreed to this plan of yours, and I’ll do what I can to help you get custody of Ally. But that doesn’t mean you can come in and dictate my life.”

“I don’t intend to dictate your life, but if this marriage is going to work, if it’s going to look convincing, you’re going to have to find time for us. You can’t bury yourself in your job to hide out from us.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he wished he could reel them back. For Ally’s sake, he needed to work on smoothing the rough edges in his relationship with Libby.

She pulled herself to her full height and pressed her mouth in a taut line. “What’s wrong with working hard at a job I enjoy?”

He shrugged and stepped closer. “Nothing at all. It’s great you enjoy your work.”

Her dark eyes sparked with suppressed pain and anger. “At least I can count on my job being there when I need it. That’s more than I can say about some people.”

Her gibe sliced deep, a direct hit to ancient guilt. But she had no way of knowing about his mother. Did she? As close as they’d been, he’d never shared his darkest secret with her.

He determinedly kept his expression neutral, giving away none of his rioting emotions.

“I help get criminals off the street,” she added. “It’s satisfying.”

Moving within inches of her, he reached for the lapel of her coat and smoothed a wrinkle. Beneath his touch, she stiffened, drew herself up a notch tighter, like a coil ready to spring.

“More satisfying than your personal relationships?” Damn it, why did he keep goading her?

Despite his efforts to set his feelings aside for Ally’s sake, the hurt and anger he’d nourished through his incarceration bubbled to the surface. “I had a job I loved, too, you know.”

She stopped on her way out and cut a startled glance over her shoulder.

“I loved being a firefighter. Loved knowing I was making a difference, saving lives, helping my community the only way I knew how. But when I was convicted, I lost my firefighting credentials.”

He saw the question in her eyes and her reluctance to ask it. “No, I can’t get my old job back,” he volunteered. “But I’ve taken a job my parole officer found for me, working road construction with the highway department. I had to have some income, some employment, if I wanted to fight for Ally.”

Libby closed her eyes and turned away. “I’m sorry.”

“Are you?” He hated the resentment that slipped into his tone when he considered all he’d lost. A loss she’d played a part in.

Pivoting to face him, she straightened her spine and raised her chin. “Yes, I am sorry you lost your job. I know what it meant to you. But sometimes our actions have consequences that reach further than the here and now. If people would stop and think before they went off half-cocked, it would sure make my job simpler.”

He braced a hand on the door frame and leaned closer, breaching the breathing space she’d kept between them all morning. “Libby, you and I both know I don’t do anything half-cocked.”

Color flamed in her cheeks, and though she pursed her lips in a scowl, a flicker of desire danced through her mahogany eyes. So she did remember.

The floral scent of her shampoo tickled his senses, and he battled the urge to kiss her firmly set mouth. He could so easily shock that smugness from her expression, stoke the passion he knew lurked just below the surface.

He settled for giving her a knowing grin. He had time. Time to remind her of the heat they’d once shared. Time to smooth away her prickly edges and find the soft, willing woman he’d known.

Time to warm her back into his bed.

She took a slow, deep breath before answering, clearly composing her reply, struggling to remain calm. With her cool detachment back in place, Libby buttoned her coat. “You know how to reach me.”

By phone maybe, but how did he reach her heart again? How did he break through the stony walls of resistance to find the flesh-and-blood woman he had once loved?

When she opened the door, he caught her arm and turned her to face him. “If Ally feels up to it later, I thought we’d go to Tony’s for pizza. Go with us. I think you should spend a little time getting to know her before we get married.”

She opened her mouth, ready to protest, but finally sighed and gave a quick nod. “I’ll meet you there. Call me when you’re ready to go.”

She shrugged out of his grip and backed out the door. He told himself his disappointment in her abrupt departure had more to do with Ally’s needs than his own. Forget the fact that he’d spent the past two years in prison waiting for his chance to look Libby in the eye and ask her, Why? How did we end up like this?

They’d lost precious years together, but now he had a second chance.

This time, he wouldn’t let her get away.

She couldn’t wait to get out of there.

Libby shifted on the vinyl booth seat and cast an uneasy gaze around the pizzeria.

The atmosphere at the family-oriented restaurant was too…familial. To the casual observer, she, Cal and Ally probably looked like just another happy family enjoying a Saturday night out. Certainly that was the effect Cal was after. But Libby wore the role like outgrown shoes. Playing Cal’s wife pinched and rubbed uncomfortably.

“When you finish eating, we can play some of those video games, if you want,” Cal told Ally, who huddled in the corner of the booth clutching her teddy bear. He flashed Libby an awkward smile. “I’m glad you made it.”

Cal gave a meaningful nod in Ally’s direction.

Libby searched for some gesture to reach the shy girl, when what she wanted was to tell Cal she’d changed her mind. She couldn’t go through with his marriage plans, couldn’t pretend domestic bliss when the concept was so foreign to her. Acting the part of his partner, his friend, his lover, struck far too close to the memories she needed to keep at bay. Letting Cal anywhere near the vicinity of her heart was trouble.

But she had only to look at Ally, still silent, still withdrawn, still watching her and Cal with caution and curiosity in her cerulean eyes, and Libby knew she had no alternative. She had to help Ally.

For once she wished the choice weren’t so clear. The black-and-white of Ally’s situation only made things with Cal more gray. More confusing.

“So, Ally…” Libby studied the tiny girl and floundered for something to say.

How could she face down the most hardened criminals in the courtroom every day, pry confessions out of the most tight-lipped conspirators, yet be left tongue-tied by this wide-eyed child? “Do you think Mr. Bear is going to eat much pizza? I hear that after sleeping all winter, bears can get really hungry.”

Ally hugged her bear tighter, as if she thought Libby would try to steal her stuffed friend.

Libby glanced at Cal and immediately wished she hadn’t. The eager hopefulness in his expression, the desperation and pure love for his daughter, wrenched something deep inside her. Cal stroked Ally’s tumble of raven curls, pushing strands behind her ear with a gentle finger.

His daughter whimpered and turned her face. He backed off, pulling his hand away, palm up, in surrender. The pain that skated across his face sliced through Libby with a jagged edge.

“She barely remembers me,” he whispered darkly. Frustration corded the muscles in his shoulders and arms, and on the table, he balled his hands in tight fists. When he met Libby’s eyes, raw emotion swirled in the piercing blue depths of his gaze. “Since my visitations started, things have gone well enough. I’m trying to explain to her what’s happening, who I am, how much I love her, but she still acts like I’m a stranger to her sometimes.”

“Kids her age are often shy around adults. Give her time.”

“I don’t have time!” he grumbled under his breath. “The hearing on my custody suit comes up in a few weeks.”

“She’ll come around, Cal. Just don’t push her.”

A waitress arrived with their pizza, and Cal quickly replaced his scowl with a tight grin. “Thanks.”

The waitress looked ready to swoon at Cal’s feet. But Libby doubted the waitress saw what she did. The sparkle of his smile didn’t reach his eyes. The tension in his cheeks gave the smile a false edge. Cal at full power, his megawatt grin and laserlike eyes, had enough force to stun, to leave permanent damage.

Turning her attention to the steaming pepperoni-and-cheese concoction, Libby used the spatula to serve a gooey slice onto a plate for Ally. She inhaled the spicy scent of oregano and tomato, and her stomach growled. “Wow, Ally, this looks great. I hope you brought your appetite.”

Bright blue eyes, lit with eagerness, peered out from behind Mr. Bear and grew to the size of pepperoni slices when they landed on the pizza.

“Careful, kitten, it’s hot,” Cal warned as he slid the plate in front of Ally. The little girl cast her father a leery glance then looked longingly at the pizza.

Libby understood the girl’s wariness more than she cared to. Sympathizing with Cal’s daughter, she searched for a way to engage Cal’s attention so that Ally would have the space she needed to eat without feeling in the spotlight.

“So…tell me more about the job you have now with the road crew.”

Cal sent her a puzzled look. “Not much to tell. I help with whatever road construction or repair needs to be done.”

When he turned his attention to Ally again, Libby caught his hand and gave her head a subtle shake. “Give her space,” she mouthed. “Talk to me.”

With a nod, he leaned forward, his gaze now riveted on her. Libby shifted in her seat, bearing the brunt of his piercing gaze for Ally’s sake.

“All right, there is something I’ve been meaning to ask you. What can you tell me about David Ralston? What happened to him after I went to jail?”

It took a moment for the name to register. “Ralston? You mean the guy you—”

“Yeah, the same.” The intensity of his gaze stirred a quiver in her veins. She recalled too well the same intensity burning in his eyes when he’d made love to her.

Libby, you and I both know I don’t do anything half-cocked.

“Actually…I prosecuted his case.”

His eyes widened. “You did?”

She nodded and cleared her throat before she went on. “As soon as he recovered from the injuries you inflicted, Ralston faced charges of his own. We got him for assaulting the woman whose honor you were defending.”

Cal quirked a dark eyebrow. “I’ll be damned.”

Libby sneaked a peek toward Ally, mostly to escape the scrutiny of Cal’s unsettling stare. Free from her father’s surveillance, Ally plucked the pepperoni from her slice of pizza and jammed the pieces in her mouth as fast as she could. A fevered excitement glowed in her eyes, and tomato sauce circled her mouth. Warmth stirred in Libby’s chest.

“Was he convicted? Did he do time?”

Libby snapped her gaze back to Cal. “Yes and no.”

“Meaning?”

Libby picked up her own slice of pizza but found she no longer had an appetite. She set the food back down and met Cal’s querying gaze. Bracing herself for his reaction, she said, “Yes, he was convicted. No, he didn’t serve time. He got a hefty fine, parole and one thousand hours public service.”

Cal rocked back in the booth as if from a physical blow. He gaped at Libby, a parade of emotions—shock, disbelief, horror, and finally fury—crossing his face. Through clenched teeth, he bit out a curse. Obviously realizing his mistake, he winced and shot a glance at Ally.

“I argued for a stiffer penalty, but Ralston’s lawyer played up the guy’s own abuse as a child. Ralston swore on the stand to seek counseling. Obviously, the jury felt he deserved a second chance.” She sighed her own frustration with the verdict and turned to watch the family at the next table.

The father had his arm around his wife’s shoulders, his fingers strumming the woman’s arm in a loving caress. Libby jerked her gaze away when memories of Cal’s hands roaming her skin flashed in her mind’s eye. A tingle raced through her, and her mouth became dry. The hands she’d just envisioned stroking her body reached across the table and caught her wrists.

“Hey, what is it? You look like you just saw a ghost.”

Pulling free from the tantalizing warmth of Cal’s grasp, she tugged up a corner of her mouth in a failed grin. “I did.” She sighed. “But I’m okay now.”

Cal poked at his dinner, his somber mood reflected in the grim set of his mouth, the deep furrows in his brow. “Some justice system we have, huh?”

“It works most of the time.”

He lifted a dubious glare. “Not that I can see.”

When he sent his daughter a sideways glance, his eyebrows shot up, and the first real smile to grace his lips all night lit his face.

Libby took in Ally’s empty plate and sauce-smeared face and had to grin herself.

“Hey, kitten. Looks like you’re a member of the Clean Plate Club!” He leaned a little closer to dab a napkin at the mess on Ally’s mouth and chin. “You know that means you get a lollipop for dessert, don’t you?”

Ally arched an eyebrow in a manner so like her father, Libby’s pulse stumbled. The little girl sat an inch or two closer to the table and eyed the remaining slices on the tray. “Is there more?”

“Sure, you can have more, sweetie.” He reloaded her plate and backed off as Ally dived in, once again stripping off the pepperoni for consumption first.

Cal’s relief was palpable. His shoulders relaxed, and the tension flowed out of his jaw, allowing the radiance of his smile to shine through. He turned his dazzling grin toward Libby, and a strange warmth expanded in her chest, stealing her breath.

She’d promised to play family with Cal for as long as it took for him to secure his rights to Ally. How would she ever survive months of marriage if just one night with him and his precious daughter had her emotions twisted in knots?

The only way she saw herself getting through the next several months with her heart intact was to set limits, lay out some ground rules, enforce some safeguards. She watched Cal tuck a wisp of hair behind Ally’s ear and her own skin burned, longing for that tender touch. Libby chafed her arms and looked away.

Rule number one had to be no physical contact. Her relationship with Cal had to stay strictly hands-off.

Or she was a goner.