Читать книгу Dad In Demand - Metsy Hingle - Страница 9

“Hey, Bro,” Michael said, replacing the telephone receiver on its cradle as Sean marched into his office. “I was just getting ready to buzz you with the good news. We got the Stevens’ contract.”

Sean slammed the door shut and stormed over to Michael’s desk. Planting his palms on the polished mahogany surface, he leaned over and glared at his brother. “I ought to take your head off.”

Michael arched his brow, sat back in his chair and gave him that cool, calm, lawyer look that drove Sean nuts. “You’re welcome to try, little brother. But before I wipe up the floor with you, you want to tell me what you’re so all fired up about?”

The anger that had been churning inside him since Katie had dropped her little bombshell about her and Michael the previous night kicked up another notch. “Where in the hell do you get off hitting on Katie?”

“Katie?”

“Yeah. Katie Malloy,” Sean told him through gritted teeth. “You know, the skinny redhead with the smart mouth that we’ve known since we were kids?”

“Ah…that Katie.”

At the smile spreading across his brother’s mouth, Sean had to check the urge to grab him by his designer shirtfront and wrap the fancy tie around his throat.

“I’m not sure if I’d call a handful of dates ‘hitting’ on her, but Katie and I have gone out together a few times. What about it?”

“You think just because you buy her a couple of meals that gives you the right to jump her bones?”

The smile on Michael’s lips died faster than a snap. “Who said I jumped her bones?” Michael demanded, fists ready. “All I did was kiss her a few times.”

Discovering that there had been more than one kiss did nothing to cool Sean’s already-hot temper. “So you admit it. You’ve been putting the moves on her.”

“I’m not admitting anything.” Eyes narrowed, Michael eased back into his seat. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I hardly think that sharing a few kisses-in which, I might add, Katie was a willing participant—constitutes my ‘putting the moves’ on her. At least not in my book, it doesn’t.”

Sean hadn’t wanted to believe it, that Katie really was involved with his brother. After she’d all but thrown him out last night, he’d spent most of it lying awake, chewing on what she’d told him. He’d decided to have it out with her first thing this morning. Only it had been after four when he’d finally dozed off, and by the time he’d awakened with a splitting headache, Katie had already left for work. To make matters worse, he’d had a full hour to let the steam build while he’d waited for Michael to arrive at the office. His brother’s confirmation that he and Katie did indeed have a more personal relationship left a bitter taste in his mouth. “What’s the matter? Aren’t there enough other women in this city for you to hit on without going after Katie?”

Michael clenched his jaw. “Listen, pal. Who I go out with is none of your business. You don’t see me giving you grief about the women who parade in and out of your apartment, do you?”

“None of those women is Katie.”

Fingers steepled, Michael gave him a considering look. “Is that the problem? Katie turn you down?”

Sean made a suggestion as to what his brother could do with himself.

“Hit a nerve, did I?” Michael taunted.

Sean swore and cast aspersions on the nature of his brother’s parentage.

“Before you go through your limited vocabulary, you might want to remember that the two of us are brothers—which means we share the same parents.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“So, you going to tell me why my going out with Katie has steam coming out of your ears? Or you want me to guess?”

“You know what you can do with your guesses,” Sean told him.

“Could it be that after all these years, you’ve developed a case of the hots for Katie yourself?”

“Katie and I are friends,” Sean snapped, clenching his hands into fists at his side. But the memory of the kiss they’d shared yesterday loomed before him. It was a fluke, Sean told himself, brought on by a bout of celibacy and the fact that Heather had been playing games with him, putting him off. He and Katie were just friends. “I’m angry because Katie’s.she’s practically family, and you putting the moves on her isn’t right.”

“Now that is dumb. Katie may seem like family because we’ve all known her a long time, but there’s no blood tie to prevent either of us from becoming involved if we want to.”

Involved. The word gnawed at him. “Just cut all the BS and tell me, are you serious about her?”

“Why? You worried about competition?”

Sean snorted. “You really are full of it, Bro. Believe me, if I were interested in Katie, you wouldn’t be any competition. I already told you, she and I are friends. That’s all.”

“Uh-huh.”

Michael’s smug expression only infuriated him more. “I don’t want to see her get hurt. All right?”

“And what makes you think I’m going to hurt her?”

“Because.because she’s not your type.”

“I don’t have a type,” Michael informed him. “And if I did, why not Katie? She’s an interesting woman, fun to be with, and she makes me laugh.”

Katie was all those things, but hearing Michael say it sent uneasiness clawing down his spine. “So, you saying you are serious about her?”

The lengthy silence caused a tight, funny feeling in Sean’s chest. “I thought about it,” Michael admitted. “And I suspect Katie did, too. But whatever it is that makes two people want to share their lives together, wasn’t there for us. Katie and I pretty much agreed we’d just stay friends.”

Relief flooded through Sean. His heart made its way back down his throat. But when he glanced at Michael, saw his grin, temper pricked at him. “Why you son of a—” He bit off the rest. “Why didn’t you just say so to begin with?”

“Because it was a lot more fun watching you tie yourself up in knots over the idea of me being with Katie.”

“Go to hell,” Sean told him. “I’ve got work to do.” Whirling around, he stomped out of Michael’s office and headed for his own.

Ten minutes later Sean studied the information he had gathered on an investigation he was working that involved a child kidnapping. As he studied a picture of the mother and daughter, images of Katie sneaked into his thoughts. Katie telling him she wanted a baby, that she planned to get pregnant. Katie with her face flushed, her lips swollen, those whisky-colored eyes of hers filled with yearning and need. The kiss yesterday had been a fluke, Sean told himself again. He wanted, needed, desperately to believe that—for his sake and Katie’s.

The intercom buzzed. “Heather Harrison is on line three.”

He grabbed the phone, eager to chase these crazy thoughts about Katie from his mind. “Heather, darling,” he said, crooking the phone between his shoulder and ear. For the next few minutes he listened to the shapely blonde he’d lusted after for the past three months. But when he hung up the phone with a promise to get back to her later, it wasn’t the voluptuous blonde with the sexy blue eyes whose face kept stealing into his thoughts. It was a skinny redhead with vulnerable, whisky-colored eyes.

That same skinny redhead was still in his thoughts that evening when Sean heard the knock at his door. “Door’s open,” he called out from the back deck where he’d set up the grill for barbecuing. Once he’d called and apologized to Katie for overreacting the previous night, he’d spent the better part of the day trying to make sense out of his sudden and unwise attraction to her. He’d come to the same conclusion each time. The kiss and his reaction to Katie had been a fluke. Having her over for a belated birthday dinner would prove it to himself and to her.

So much for his fluke theory, Sean decided when he glanced up and spotted Katie standing in the doorway. His senses went on full alert, like a fox scenting prey. The “friends only” mantra he’d been practicing all afternoon bit the dust the moment he saw her. Wearing a pink top tied beneath her small breasts and white cutoffs, she was not dressed to inspire lust. But one look at those Rockette legs, with the tips of her toes painted the same shade of pink as her worrisome mouth, and he was in trouble. The fact that she was looking at him—as if she’d just as soon skip dinner and have him for dessert—had his blood pressure hiking up, right along with another part of his anatomy. How in the devil was he supposed to think of Katie as his pal when his blasted hormones kept ambushing him?

She walked over to him—no sauntering, no slow swaying of her hips to entice—just a graceful, fluid stride that was all the more enticing because it wasn’t meant to be.

“Hi.” As always, she gave him a quick smack on the lips in greeting as though she didn’t even remember that yesterday those same lips had rubbed against his, opened and tasted him like a welcoming lover. The friendly kiss was over in an instant, but it had been long enough for him to catch the scent of her perfume. Since when had the scent of honeysuckle become such an aphrodisiac?

“I wasn’t sure what you were serving, so I brought red and white,” she said, indicating the bottles of wine in her hands.

Sean wrapped his fists around the wine to keep himself from reaching for her. He checked out the labels. “Hey, these are both good. Your taste in wine is improving, Malloy.”

“Gee. You have such a way with compliments, Fitzpatrick. If a girl isn’t careful, you’ll just turn her head.”

Sean chuckled as he was meant to do, and the tension in him eased a notch. “We’re having steaks. So, I’ll open the red and let it breathe. Have a seat. I’ll be right back.”

“Need any help?”

“Are you kidding? You think I’d let you come near my kitchen again? It took me a week to rid the place of the stench of burned pasta.” At her scowl, he laughed. “Go ahead, kick your feet back and relax. I’ve got everything under control.”

And he did have everything under control, Sean told himself, as he poured more wine into their glasses. Claiming the chair opposite the old-fashioned porch swing where Katie sat, he congratulated himself. Everything had gone like clockwork—right down to the antique music box he’d given her as a gift.

It had been just like old times—comfortable, enjoyable. So what if he couldn’t help noticing how soft her skin looked in the moonlight? Or the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed?

She looked up at him over the lid of the music box. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered in that throaty whisper that sparked visions of her lying on satin sheets. Quickly, ruthlessly, he deep-sixed the dangerous image.

“I’m sorry it’s late,” he told her.

“Don’t be silly. You were out of town for my birthday. I know that. And you really didn’t have to buy me anything. I got the most gorgeous bouquet of flowers from all the Fitzpatricks.”

Sean shrugged, his gaze riveted to the fingers lazily stroking the silver latch on the music box. “The flowers were from my family,” he said dragging his eyes up to her face. “I wanted to give you something from me.”

“I…thank you.”

The friendly sass that had been in her eyes all evening gave way to a soft yearning that made his blood heat. Desire, tucked safely away throughout dinner, sneaked out, tempting him. Sean tightened his grip on the glass in his hand and stood. “How about some more wine?”

“No, thanks,” Katie told him, and carefully placed the music box on the table amid the nest of wrappings. Then she stood and went to him. Reaching out, she stroked his cheek. “Thank you, Sean,” she whispered, then pressed her mouth to his. It was a simple kiss, over almost before it began, but it sent desire shooting through him like heat lightning. “I’ll treasure it always.”

She backed away, retreating until she came up against the swing and sat down. Not until she’d pushed off on her back foot and set the swing to swaying was he finally able to untangle his tongue.

The silence stretched between them for several awkward moments, then Katie cut him a narrow-eyed glance. “You know, Fitzpatrick, it just occurred to me that this dinner and that music box might actually be a bribe.”

“A bribe, huh?” he said, welcoming the teasing and the break in tension that came with it. “And just what would I be bribing you for, Malloy?”

“Well, knowing what a sneaky man you are, maybe you thought that if you plied me with a great dinner, let me stuff myself with that sinful cake and gave me such a fabulous gift, that maybe I’d let you off the hook about doing the investigations for me like you promised.”

“The thought never crossed my mind.”

“That’s good. Because I’m not letting you off the hook, pal.”

Try as he might, he couldn’t sustain the light humor. “Katie, about this baby business—”

“Tonight when you lit the candles on the cake and told me to make a wish, do you know what I wished for? I wished that by this time next year, I’d have a baby. I know you don’t agree with this, Sean, but as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted that package. You know—husband, wife, babies—a family. A psychologist would probably say it’s because I didn’t have the family I wanted as a child with my parents divorcing, my stepfather cutting out on us and stuff. And they’d probably be right. But I always knew that someday I would have a family like…well, like yours.”

She tore at the napkin in her fingers. “Well, it hasn’t happened, and it isn’t going to—at least not the husband part of it. But I still want the babies, Sean. Sometimes I think it was because I wanted to have children so much that I talked myself into thinking I was in love and getting engaged twice. I think I wanted to get married so I could become a mother.”

It broke his heart to hear the sadness in her voice, to see it in her eyes. Family was something that he’d always taken for granted, and it was something that Katie had never really had. Sean put down his wineglass. “Honey, I understand what you’re saying. But—”

“You don’t agree with me on this. I know that, and I understand. Really, I do. But I know what I’m doing, Sean.”

Frustration knotted like a fist in his stomach. “You’re a young woman, Katie. You deserve more than stud service from some guy who’ll be happy to get you pregnant and then more than likely split on you. You deserve the whole shebang—love, marriage, babies, white picket fences.”

“You’re talking about fairy tales. I stopped believing in them and in Prince Charming a long time ago.”

“Maybe you just haven’t found your prince yet.”

She gave him a smile that was meant to be cocky, but came across as impossibly sad. “Believe me, I’ve kissed my share of frogs, even got engaged to two of them, remember? But not one of them ever turned into a prince. I don’t want—no, I refuse to put my life on hold and wait for someone who probably doesn’t exist.”

There was an aching loneliness in her voice that ripped at him. “Whatever happened to that little girl? The one who believed in knights and fairy tales and magic?”

“She grew up.”

And because she had grown up, she knew not to read anything into the sexual voltage that kept zinging between her and Sean. Oh, it had always been there on her part. It was pretty hard not to have fantasies about a man like Sean. But fantasies were all that they were. She’d gotten used to feeling that heat suck low in her belly every time he was near her, and she’d gotten good at hiding it from him. So what if he seriously kissed her a time or two—she was too smart to let that romantic heart of hers start spinning fairy tales again. Sean wasn’t interested in her in that way. He was simply being a good friend.

And it was out of friendship, she knew, that he was still trying to talk her out of her plans to have a baby thirty minutes later.

“I don’t like it, Katie,” Sean told her as he paced to the end of the deck. “Not one bit.”

“You’ve made that pretty clear—more than once already.” Katie released a weary sigh. “But whether you like it or not doesn’t matter. I’m going to do this-with or without your help. Just tell me whether I need to find someone else to handle the investigations or not.”

“I said I’d do it, didn’t I?” he snapped, coming to a halt in front of her. “Where’s the list?”

She retrieved the slip of paper from the pocket of her shorts, unfolded it and handed it to him. He glared at the names a moment, then straddled the chair next to her. “All right. Tell me everything you can about each of these guys.”

A glass of wine later, Katie leaned back against the patio chair. “That’s about it. At least, it’s everything I know.”

Sean scowled at the notes he’d made next to the names on her list, then glanced up and fixed her with stormy blue eyes. “It’s not a hell of a lot—especially considering what you’re planning. The longest you’ve known any of these guys is six months.”

“Sean,” she said, a warning in her voice.

“All right. All right.”

“Is it enough for you to work with?”

“I guess it’ll have to be, won’t it?”

She refused to justify her decision to him again. Besides, even if she were to try to explain, she doubted Sean would understand. She didn’t want to be disappointed again or to be the one to disappoint. So, why couldn’t Sean accept that? “Can you do the investigations with the information I’ve given you? Or do I need to try to get social security or driver’s license numbers?”

“And suppose I do need those things, how did you plan to get them? By swiping wallets like you threatened?”

Katie flinched at the derision in his tone. Hurt, angry, she snatched the list from him and stood. “Just forget it. I was right yesterday. I never should have asked you to help me in the first place.”

“Aw, hell!” He caught her by the wrist before she’d taken two steps. “I’m sorry,” he told her.

When she didn’t reply, he sighed. “Give me back the list,” he urged, holding out his hand. When she didn’t respond, he plucked the sheet of paper from her fingers. But instead of releasing her, he led her over to the swing and sat down. When she remained stiff and unyielding, he said, “Come on. Sit with me. Just for a minute.”

She continued to stand. So he tugged, pulling her down beside him. Then he set the swing in motion. “A lot of the stuff in an investigation like this is basic, and I’ll be able to get a good part of what I need from public records,” he explained. “I’ll access most of the data with my computer. The internet is amazing. I’ve also got some contacts with the DMV and the police department that I can use to check for driving violations, complaints, outstanding arrest warrants, and stuff like that.”

Hearing him talk about arrest warrants and police records sent a chill of uneasiness down Katie’s spine. She brought her free hand to her throat. She couldn’t imagine any of the men she was considering as a father for her child or for that matter any man she even dated, being a criminal. True, she hadn’t known them long and only dated them casually. But each man had been a gentleman with a responsible job and had been a pleasant and companionable date. Each claimed to like children, and from the talks and discussions that they had shared, she’d learned that each man shared her views about raising a child. In short, on the surface each candidate appeared to be ideal daddy material.

Sean jammed the slip of paper into his shirt pocket. “I’ve got enough here to get started, so I don’t want you to even think about playing Mata Hari. Okay?”

“All right.”

Shoving off with his foot, he gave the swing another push and sent them swaying in a slow, languid motion. Still holding her wrist, his thumb moved in small, lazy circles over the inside of her wrist, causing her pulse to scatter. The sun had long since slid from the sky. Stars dotted the heavens, creating thousands of pinpoints of light. Moonlight spilled over the deck, enveloping them in its soft glow.

“H-how long will it take you to run the background checks?” she asked, and nearly cringed at how husky her voice sounded.

“The basics won’t take long at all. But making inquiries about a man’s character, especially discreet ones, isn’t always easy or fast.”

“I know what I’m asking isn’t easy,” she said, turning her head to look at him.

“But not too hard.” His lips curved into a slow smile that made her ache. “I guess it would have been a lot simpler for both of us if you’d just left my name on the list, huh? At least you already know all the secrets in my closet.”

He dropped his gaze to her mouth, and butterflies started a dance in her stomach.

Maybe the sparks flowing between them all evening hadn’t been exactly one-sided. And maybe she hadn’t imagined the leap of desire in his eyes when he watched her. And maybe she had better just put a lid on these fantasies. Somehow Katie managed to laugh. “If that’s your not-so-subtle way of offering yourself so that you can get out of doing the investigations, you can forget it, pal. I’m not buying it.”

“No?” He released her hand and eased his arm around her shoulders in a move so smooth she barely noticed it until his fingers began to stroke her bare arm.

“No,” she whispered.

The swing slowed to a stop. The fingers on her arm had somehow managed to find their way to the back of her neck, where they were working their way up her nape. “Why not?”

“Because. because we’re friends.”

Sean’s fingers sieved through her hair, urging her closer. Katie’s breath hitched. She pressed a hand against his chest, where his heart beat beneath her fingers faster than a stockbroker’s tape. “Sean, I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“You’re right. It’s a lousy idea,” he told her, his breath a whisper against her lips. “In fact, it’s a flat-out crazy idea. No way should we do this.”

“I agree,” she murmured.

But knowing they shouldn’t do this didn’t seem quite enough. Katie didn’t know which of them moved first, but suddenly Sean’s mouth was on hers—touching, tasting, taking. All the warnings she had been repeating to herself since he had kissed her the last time simply flew out the window-along with her common sense.

When that first soft kiss deepened, then slid into another kiss and deepened yet again, the blood fired in her veins, and Katie could have sworn she heard bells ringing. Sean wrapped his arms around her while his tongue tempted and teased her to open the seam of her lips, dared her to taste him.

She took the dare. He moaned, a hungry sound of need that sent ripples of pleasure sluicing through her bloodstream. She clung to him as he dove deeper for another taste. Her tongue tangled, danced with his. He tasted like wine, sharp and earthy, like chocolate, smooth and sweet. He tasted like danger and sin. He tasted like magic and dreams. He tasted like Sean. No one could taste like him. No one else could make her feel as he did.

She heard the bells ringing again and reminded herself that she’d given up on wedding dreams. This was Sean—not some prince or white knight come to rescue her from loneliness. She was his friend—not some beautiful princess or damsel in distress who needed rescuing. It was hormones, the moonlight, the wine that had him kissing her like he wanted her, like he needed her, like there was no one else in the world for him but her. She wasn’t Sean’s type, never had been, never would be. She was a smart woman, too smart to believe that any of those things had changed, too smart to let this go on any longer.

But then his hands ran up and down her spine, sending delicious sensations climbing through her, and her traitorous body refused to listen to her at all. Instead she moved closer, asked for more.

He gave her more, kissing her deeper still. When he crushed her to him, pressed his hardness against her, she heard the blasted bells ringing again.

Sean lifted his head, said her name on a groan. Her body was vibrating with desire. She felt like she’d just weathered a tornado and was willing to try it again. Her eyes still closed, she simply held on to him. Thank heavens the ringing bells had stopped, she thought, as she opened her eyes and looked at him.

He cradled her face in his hands, and in the moonlight his eyes were black with need. “Katie,” he whispered against her mouth.

“Sean?”

Katie’s heart slammed to a stop at the sound of a female voice calling his name.

“Sean, honey? It’s Heather.”