“You weren’t making love that first night,” Val retorted. “You were striking a bargain.”
Slade felt as if she’d punched him in the gut. “That’s what this was about? Some sort of payback? A signal, maybe, that you’re willing to play the game my way?”
“Exactly.” Her chin wobbled, but her eyes flashed fire.
“Well, I’m not,” he said dully. “The next time you and I make love, it will be on our wedding night.”
“And what if I won’t marry you?”
“Then this will have to hold us both till hell freezes over,” he said, yanking on his clothes.
When he was dressed, he tossed her red silk dress at her. “I think it’s time to go home.”
Only then did he dare to look at her. A huge tear was rolling down her cheek.
“Don’t do that,” he said sharply.
“What?”
“Don’t cry. Don’t act as if I’ve hurt your feelings. You were the one who wanted to turn this into something cold and impersonal.”
“You’re wrong,” she whispered. “That’s not what I wanted at all.”
“What then?”
She sighed heavily and began to get dressed.
Slade grabbed her arm and held her still, then waited until she finally gazed into his eyes. “What did you want?”
“I wanted you to admit how you really felt about me,” she said. “I guess I know now, don’t I?”
“And what do you think you know?”
“That you want me.”
“And?”
“That’s it,” she insisted.
Slade muttered an expletive under his breath, then dragged her back into his arms. Only after he’d kissed her thoroughly did he step back. “Next time think harder.”
Fifteen
Nothing about the date had gone the way Val envisioned. She’d wanted to tempt Slade, wanted to drive him a little crazy, but she hadn’t meant to lure him straight to a hotel room.
Nor had she intended to insinuate that their relationship was about nothing more than sex. She’d insulted him and cheapened herself.
“Why, why, why?” she moaned as she sipped her first cup of coffee the next morning.
“Why what?” Laurie asked, joining her at the kitchen table.
“Why did you let me wear that red dress?”
“Let you?” Laurie echoed. “Could I have stopped you?”
Val heaved a sigh. “No. I suppose not,” she conceded.
“Did it work?”
“In a manner of speaking. He couldn’t wait to get me out of it.”
“And your problem with that is?”
Before Val could answer, Laurie glanced up and immediately got to her feet. “Don’t mind me,” she said with obviously forced cheer. “I think I’ll take my decaf into the music room. Lots to do. See you.”
Listening to the suddenly inane chattering of her friend, Val followed the direction of Laurie’s gaze and found Slade standing on the doorstep, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. She should have guessed, should have been prepared for what the sight of him would do to her. She wanted him every bit as badly now as she had the night before when she’d let her hormones drive reason from her mind.
“Mind if I come in?” he asked, when Laurie had gone.
Val shrugged, feigning an indifference she was far from feeling. “Suit yourself.”
Rotating his hat in his hands, he sat down across from her and peered at her earnestly. “Look, I don’t know exactly what happened last night.”
“Oh, really?”
He scowled at her, then at the hat, finally tossing it aside as if it were a distraction. “You know what I mean. It was like we took a giant leap from the first date to the fifth with no stops in between. I want you to know that wasn’t what I had in mind when I asked you out.”
“What did you have in mind?” she asked, curious about what might have happened if that red dress had stayed in the closet.
“Starting over, just you and me, trying to find out if what we’re feeling is just plain crazy or something real.”
As if the explanation made him uncomfortable, he got back to his feet and busied himself pouring a cup of coffee before rejoining her.
“Look, you know I made a lot of mistakes with Annie’s mom,” he began again, that earnest look back in his eyes. “I never intended to get caught up in something like that again. And you and me, well, there are a lot of strikes against us. We’re not exactly from the same world.”
He was so serious, so determined to set things right, that she couldn’t help leaning forward to confide, “I’ve gotta tell you, if your world contains escargots, we really don’t have a lot to talk about.”
A half smile came and went at her teasing. “I was trying to impress you, prove I could be the kind of man you’re used to. It’s not my fault you wore a dress that could make a man forget his own name, much less his intentions.”
Val sighed. “That dress was probably a mistake. It was supposed to get your attention, but it was definitely a fifth-date dress.”
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since last night. I’d like to try this again,” Slade said, studying her worriedly. “Unless you figure we don’t stand a chance.”
“I’ve never thought that.”
“Good.” He rose, grabbed his hat from the chair where it had landed, shoved it onto his head and moved toward the door. He had it open and one foot out, when he turned back. “By the way, have your reached your own conclusions about what happened in that room last night?”
Val held back a grin. “I’m still thinking about it. Could be you’ll have to refresh my memory.”
He laughed at the taunt. “Fifth date, darlin’, and not a minute before.”
Val figured they’d better cram dates two, three and four into a very tight timetable, beginning with a picnic by the creek tonight. Just to be sure they didn’t skip ahead, maybe she’d invite Annie along.
Of course, that would defeat the purpose of the two of them spending time alone to discover just how suited they might be. She was still debating with herself when Annie inadvertently solved the problem by announcing she was going to watch a swimming and diving meet with her diving instructor and some of the other students.
“We won’t be back till real late,” she told Val pointedly. “In case you and Daddy want to go somewhere.”
Val grinned at the lack of subtlety. “Thank you for letting me know.”
“You weren’t out very late last night,” Annie said, her expression troubled. “How come?”
“We decided to have an early evening. Your dad has to get up before dawn.”
“But he doesn’t need much sleep. You can stay out as late as you want next time,” Annie advised her.
“I’m sure your dad will be pleased to know he doesn’t have a curfew,” Val said. “Now why don’t you get your things together and I’ll take you into town, so your instructor doesn’t have to drive all the way out here?”
“She won’t mind. You should probably take a bubble bath or something.”
A few minutes later, as she was sitting in a steaming bath filled with fragrant bubbles, Val concluded that she was in serious trouble if she’d started taking courting advice from a kid.
Still, she felt especially feminine in her sundress and sandals as she waited on Slade’s porch with a picnic hamper. It was almost dusk when he finally came dragging up the path, looking beat. His expression brightened ever so slightly at the sight of her.
“What are you doing here?”
“We have a second date tonight,” she told him, gesturing toward the hamper. “Nothing fancy. Just a picnic by the creek.”
He regarded her with a puzzled expression. “Did we make these plans this morning?”
“Not exactly. I just seized th
e moment,” she admitted. “Annie’s gone off for the evening. She informed me she won’t be home till late. Real late.”
A grin tugged at his lips. “Is that so?”
“Do you think a shower will revive you or would you rather do this another night?”
“Let me try the shower and see how it goes.”
When he returned, his hair was still damp, but he was freshly shaved and smelled of soap. “If you have fried chicken in that basket, you will make me a happy man.”
“With coleslaw and potato salad,” she said. “And a couple of cold beers.”
“Ah, perfect. Now I’m ecstatic.” He held out his hand. “Shall we?”
Gestures like that still surprised her. A few days ago she would have judged it to be totally out of character. Now she sensed that he was literally and figuratively reaching out to her. She hesitated, then tucked her hand in his.
It was cooler down by the creek. Val spread out the blanket she’d brought, then took out their supper. Slade leaned back against the trunk of a tree and accepted a plate. They ate in silence, but Val concluded it was the kind of companionable silence that fell between friends. Used to nonstop conversation, she realized that the quiet had its own rewards, especially when Slade’s gaze caught hers and held until her breath clogged in her throat.
There was a dusting of stars across the sky by the time they’d finished eating. A sliver of moon hung in the velvety darkness. Slade stretched out on the blanket and sighed with contentment.
“Never thought much of picnics before now,” he said.
“Why?”
“Seemed like a lot of trouble to go to, when you could eat the same food sitting at the kitchen table.”
“Has tonight changed your mind?”
“Just about.” He gave her a lazy once-over. “I have a hunch if you were to stretch out here beside me and tuck your head on my shoulder, I’d reach a whole different conclusion.”
Val leaned down to stare into his eyes. “Second date, remember?”
“Got it,” he said, laughter in his eyes. “But don’t be surprised if I try to steal a third-date kind of kiss.”
She sighed as she settled against him. “I think I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.”
She felt the soft brush of his lips against her forehead and closed her eyes. Desire spiraled through her, but so did that same sense of peace she’d felt a few nights ago. She was beginning to see that her instincts all those months ago had been right. Slade really was the right man for her.
* * *
Val was making him jump through hoops, but Slade supposed he deserved it. First he’d tried to get her to marry him just so Annie would have a mom again. Then he’d dragged her up to a hotel room on their first real date. He hadn’t even let her start her dinner, much less finish it. Not that she’d complained. In fact, she’d been as eager as he’d been, but it had been the wrong way to go about getting reacquainted. Now he’d established some weird dating timetable that required him to keep his hands off of her for two more dates.
He supposed they’d go by quickly enough. Val seemed almost as anxious as he was to get them behind her. In the past few days she’d dreamed up a million things she’d always wanted to do, dropping hints the way a bee buzzed around spreading pollen. Then she waited to see if he picked up on them.
She wanted to go dancing again, despite the way the last time had turned out.
“I haven’t really gotten the hang of the two-step yet,” she said, making it clear that she had an entirely different sort of evening in mind. She didn’t seem to care that he had a bum leg, that he was as clumsy as a man could be and still stay on two feet. But he did it, just to get the third date out of the way, or so he told himself. The truth was he had a good time once he got the hang of holding her in his arms and swaying to the music, instead of trying to move around the dance floor. She didn’t seem to mind so much that she still didn’t know the two-step by the end of the evening.
When Val wasn’t dreaming up tortures for him, she was planning little outings for all three of them. There were more picnics, mostly with Annie along, which meant they weren’t considered part of their dating schedule. That could have been irksome, but it wasn’t once he got the hang of sneaking a kiss whenever Annie wasn’t looking. They went to diving meets with Annie and her friends. They took in several movies and ate enough pizza to qualify as honorary Italians.
One night as they finished their meal, several of Annie’s friends came into the restaurant. She ran off to talk to them. Slade watched her laughing and felt something deep inside him shift.
“She seems happy,” he said cautiously, not quite ready to believe his eyes.
Val regarded him with surprise. “Of course she’s happy. Why wouldn’t she be?”
“She wasn’t when she came to live with me.”
“She was scared, Slade. She’d felt abandoned. She didn’t believe you wanted her here with you. That’s all changed the past couple of months. You’re a good father.”
He dismissed the praise. “What kind of father abandons his kid in the first place?”
“The kind who’s going through a tough time. It’s not as if you left her with strangers. She was with her grandparents. They gave her plenty of love and attention.”
“But it wasn’t the same,” he insisted, echoing what Annie had told him on more than one occasion.
“Not the same, but the best you could do for her at the time. Someday she’ll understand that. She’s already forgiven you. Isn’t it time you forgave yourself?”
He was stunned by her words. “Is that what you think I’ve been doing? Blaming myself? Paying penance?”
Val nodded. “That’s certainly the way it looks from here. I even think that’s why you asked me to marry you, out of guilt over having failed Annie once before. You decided to give her the one thing you thought she really needed—a mom.”
He supposed there was more than a little truth in that. “No wonder you turned me down.”
“It was the gesture of a loving father, albeit a misguided one. All Annie really needed was to have her dad back in her life. Look how she’s blossomed.”
“You’re as responsible for that as I am,” he insisted.
She grinned. “Okay, we’ll share the credit.”
He reached for her hand. “You’re an incredible woman, Val Harding.”
Color flared in her cheeks at the compliment. “Thank you,” she whispered in a choked voice.
“Don’t you dare cry,” he commanded, alarmed by her reaction. “I’ll never be able to say anything nice again, if all it does is make you weepy.”
“Weepy’s not a bad thing.”
“Maybe from where you’re sitting,” he grumbled. “It makes me crazy. I keep thinking I’ve gone and ruined things again.”
“Hasn’t anyone ever explained the difference between happy tears and sad ones?”
“Doesn’t matter. They all make me crazy,” he repeated. “Suzanne used to turn on the waterworks at the drop of a hat, because she knew she’d get her way.”
“Manipulative tears are a whole other ball game,” Val said. “It’s not a technique I’m fond of.”
He studied her intently, then nodded. “No, I don’t imagine you’ve ever had to resort to tears to get what you wanted. You’re probably the most direct woman I’ve ever known.”
“Is that good or bad?”
He shrugged. “I haven’t decided yet. I always know where I stand, that’s for sure.”
“And you always will,” she assured him. “I can’t hide what I’m feeling, Slade. I won’t do it, even for you, even if it makes you uncomfortable. That’s why I didn’t even try to hide my interest in you from the day we met.”
Slade thought maybe just this once he could use that disconcerting directness of hers to his advantage, maybe get a reading on
just what she was thinking about the two of them these days. He was running out of courting ideas. They’d long since skipped past the fifth date, even if he hadn’t tried to get her into his bed again. He was just about ready to pop the big marriage question again, but he didn’t want to risk another rejection.
“So,” he said, casually. “How do you think this dating thing is going?”
Amusement spread across her face. “Just fine from my perspective. How about yours?”
“Can I be honest?”
“Of course.”
“To tell you the truth, it’s getting on my nerves.”
She went absolutely still. “Oh?”
He recognized that deadly tone with its undercurrent of hurt. “I want more, Val. I’m not a kid. I’m way past dating.”
“Maybe I’m not understanding you. What is it you want?”
“I want to take it to the next level.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Which is?”
He was about to say marriage, but at the last second his courage failed him. “A relationship,” he declared. “I want us to have a relationship.”
To his astonishment, she began to laugh.
“What?” he demanded indignantly.
“Oh, Slade, you wonderful, sweet man.”
“What?” he repeated.
“What exactly do you think we’ve been having all these weeks?”
He struggled to find a word, but got lost somewhere between friendship and sex. He figured neither description would earn him any points.
“A relationship?” he suggested cautiously.
“Exactly,” she said.
Well, damn, he was better at it than he’d thought. And it wasn’t nearly as terrifying as he’d imagined it would be. Maybe he was ready to take that leap to the next level—the highest level—after all.
Just not tonight.
Sixteen
Val had been all but certain that Slade was going to propose the night before. An Italian restaurant wasn’t the place she would have chosen for such a momentous occasion, nor would she have had Annie nearby. But that hadn’t mattered when she’d seen the glint in his eye and heard him fumbling for words. She’d been sure she knew what was coming.
West Texas Nights Page 36
