Extreme Measures

by Brenda Harlen

  Carly latched on to Arden's hand, tugging her toward the backyard.

  Shaun took the cooler from Nikki as she followed him into the house and began transferring items into the fridge.

  "Have you seen Colin lately?"

  Not since the night she'd almost made love with him—which wasn't a detail she planned to share with his brother. "No," she said instead.

  "Are you still mad that he canceled his plans to see Carly last weekend?"

  "No." She closed the refrigerator door. "I know why he had to go back to Texas. I just wish…"

  "That he'd stayed in Texas?" Shaun prompted.

  She smiled ruefully. "Yeah."

  "I never thought you were a coward, Nic."

  "I never had so much to lose." And although Colin hadn't said anything else about taking her to court, she couldn't forget the veiled threat. Forced to acknowledge the possibility that he could sue for custody, that she could lose her daughter, she thought she finally understood how Colin must have felt to have missed out on the first five years of her life.

  "Talk to him," Shaun suggested. "Work something out—for Carly's sake, if not for your own."

  She knew he was right, she just didn't know if she could see Colin again without thinking about what had almost happened in his hotel room. Without wishing that things had ended differently.

  "Nic?" Shaun prompted.

  She felt her cheeks flush. "I'll talk to him."

  He smiled as a car door slammed. "There's no time like the present."

  Nikki stiffened.

  Arden and Carly came into the kitchen through the patio doors off the deck just as Colin entered from the front hallway.

  "I need my floaties…" Carly's words trailed off when she spotted Colin. Her little brow furrowed as she tilted her head to study him.

  Nikki chanced a quick look at Colin, noted the tension in the set of his shoulders, the muscle that flexed in his jaw, the mixture of uncertainty and hesitant joy in his eyes as he looked at the child he now knew was his daughter.

  Then Carly smiled. "You're Uncle Colin."

  Colin's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, then he crouched down so that he was at eye level with her. "You can call me Uncle Colin," he agreed.

  Nikki exhaled slowly. She didn't know why she'd been granted this reprieve, but she was too grateful to question it.

  "Okay," Carly replied, accepting this new member into her family without further question. "Are you going to come swimming with me, Uncle Colin?"

  "I'm sure he'll come out in a little while," Arden said. "He has some things to talk about with your mom first."

  "I'll go to the pool with you," Shaun offered.

  "'Kay," Carly agreed readily. Then, remembering why she'd come into the house in the first place, she said, "I need my floaties, Mommy."

  "They're right here." Nikki pulled the inflatable armbands out of the large canvas bag she'd tossed onto the counter.

  "They need to be blowed up," Carly told her.

  "I'll blow them up," Arden offered. "Outside."

  Nikki smiled her thanks. She could barely force the oxygen in and out of her lungs, never mind fill Carly's floaties with air.

  Then Carly and Arden and Shaun were gone, leaving Nikki in the kitchen with Colin and a whole lot of tension.

  "I didn't know you were going to be here today," she said, after a long moment of awkward silence.

  "I asked Shaun not to tell you," he admitted.

  "Why?"

  "Because after the other night, I didn't think you'd come if you knew."

  She wasn't sure how to respond to his statement, this direct reference to the encounter she'd been trying so hard to forget.

  "I tried calling you yesterday," he said.

  "I was out."

  "Obviously." He went to the refrigerator and grabbed a can of soda. "Do you want one?"

  She shook her head.

  "You didn't return my call."

  "It was late by the time I got in and—"

  "And you were avoiding me."

  "Maybe." Damn, she was going to have to talk about it. If she wanted them to get past it, she had to deal with it. She huffed out a breath. "I know that what happened the other night is a separate issue from your relationship with Carly. It's a non-issue, really, but—"

  "Nic?" he interrupted.

  "What?"

  "You're babbling again."

  She looked away. "I'm sorry. I should have returned your call, and I am willing to discuss visitation with you—if that's what you still want."

  "I have a better idea," Colin said abruptly.

  Nikki leaned her back against the counter and folded her arms across her chest. "What is it?"

  He was silent for a long moment, as if already having second thoughts about his better idea.

  "I understand you have a downstairs apartment at your house that you were renting to a college student."

  "Yes," Nikki agreed hesitantly, suspecting that she wouldn't like what he was going to say.

  "And it's vacant now," he continued.

  "No," she said quickly.

  He frowned. "Arden told me it was."

  "It is," she admitted. The student who'd rented the space for the past four years had recently graduated and moved back to her hometown. The rental income from the basement had gone a long way to helping pay the mortgage, but Nikki was undecided about whether she wanted another tenant in her home. She definitely did not want her ex-husband living there. "But you can't stay there."

  "Why not?"

  "Why would you want to?" she countered. "It's a tiny apartment with the barest essentials. No room service or maid service. It's nothing like a Courtland Hotel."

  "But if I stayed there, I'd be able to spend time with Carly. I could get to know her, give her a chance to get to know me."

  "On Monday Carly will be starting day camp for the summer," Nikki told him.

  "Cancel it," Colin said simply.

  "I'm not going to cancel it. She's been going to camp for the past two years. It's a good program, and Carly loves it."

  "Do you understand the meaning of the word 'compromise', Nicole?"

  She flushed.

  "Those are my terms," he told her. "I think they're infinitely reasonable. I'll pay rent for the apartment and save you the cost of camp. All you have to do is let me spend time with my daughter."

  Nikki blew out an impatient breath. Of course it sounded reasonable, but it was patently ««reasonable. How could Colin expect her to let him take up residence in her house—never mind that it was the basement? How could he expect her to hand over her daughter into his care when he had absolutely no experience with children?

  Okay, so maybe that wasn't fair. After all, she'd had no experience with children prior to becoming a mother, and she didn't pretend giving birth to Carly had somehow made her an expert. But she wasn't concerned about being fair. She was concerned about Carly.

  "It's really not much of an apartment," she said.

  "I don't need much," Colin told her. "I'll even agree to remain 'Uncle Colin' for now."

  "Why?"

  He shrugged. "Because I've done a lot of thinking about what you said, and I agree that it might be confusing to Carly to suddenly be confronted by the father she never knew."

  She exhaled a silent sigh of relief.

  "I'm trying to do what's best for Carly," Colin said. "I don't want my presence to upset her life, but I'm going to be part of it. Whether you like it or not, you're going to have to get used to it."

  "I want you and Carly to spend time together," Nikki said. "I just don't think you need to live at my house to do it."

  "I want her to get used to having me around."

  Nikki bit back a sigh. She couldn't dispute his point, but she didn't want Carly to start expecting him to be around. She didn't want her daughter's heart to be broken when he went back to Texas. But she didn't share these feelings. She already felt as though she'd said too much. Revealed too much. Not jus
t about her concerns about their daughter, but about her own feelings.

  He closed the distance between them. "Why are you opposed to the idea?"

  "Maybe I'm concerned about your reasons for coming back to Fairweather in the first place—about that fact that someone was trying to kill you."

  "Detective Brock has assured me that I'm safe here."

  "And I'm just supposed to accept that? I'm supposed to ignore the potential danger to Carly and—"

  "Dammit, Nicole. Do you think I would have suggested this arrangement if there was even a possibility it would put you and Carly at risk?"

  "I don't know," she said.

  "Well, I wouldn't."

  "Maybe not intentionally," she allowed. "But—"

  "Not at all," he interrupted.

  Nikki sighed. She knew in her heart that he spoke the truth. Just as she knew that she was only looking for excuses to keep him at a distance.

  "So what are you really afraid of, Nicole?"

  "I don't know," she admitted. But she was afraid. And Shaun's spacious kitchen suddenly seemed much too small for both of them. She took a half step to the side, and he took half a step closer.

  "Maybe you're wondering if living in such close proximity will rekindle the passion between us."

  She gave a shaky laugh. "I don't think that's something we need to worry about."

  "Have you already forgotten what happened in my room Thursday night?"

  "What almost happened," Nikki said, wishing she could forget about it. Wishing the memory didn't keep her awake at night. "And it was a mistake."

  "Maybe it was," he allowed. "But I still want you."

  She hated that his words caused a tingle of pleasure to dance along her spine. It was ridiculous, this attraction between them. How could she even contemplate the pleasures of physical union with this man when her daughter's future was at stake? "You can't…"

  He smiled thinly. "Oh, believe me, I can. And I do. Whether or not I'm willing to do anything about those feelings has yet to be decided."

  The cocky self-assurance in his tone was enough to put her back up. "Whether or not you're willing, if you think I'm going to fall into bed with you again, you can forget it."

  "I think the physical side of our relationship is the most honest thing we have between us. Regardless of how we might feel about each other, the attraction is real. Undeniable."

  She lifted her chin a notch, prepared to deny it. But the banked heat in the depths of his green eyes made her falter.

  "Go ahead," Colin said silkily. "Tell me it's not true. Give me a reason to prove you wrong."

  She was trapped. Saying nothing would be a silent affirmation of his statement; a denial was pretty much an invitation for his kiss.

  "I—"

  That was as far as she got before his mouth covered hers. She put her hands against his chest, intending to push him away. Instead her fingers curled into the soft fabric of his shirt, holding on, as she kissed him back.

  She felt his arms wrap around her, holding her close to the heat of his body. His lips were hard, punishing. But Nikki understood. There was a lot of emotion between them: hurt, anger, resentment. And floating just beneath the surface: passion.

  About that, Colin was right. There had always been passion between them.

  Her hands slid over his shoulders to clasp behind his neck. Her fingers tangled in the silky strands of his hair.

  This was the passion he'd talked about. Real and undeniable. But passion without affection was cold, empty, Mid Nikki's heart balked even as her body embraced him.

  Suddenly the tenor of the kiss changed. The bruising pressure of his mouth lessened, the tension in his body eased, and she realized there was tenderness underlying the passion. Sweet and gently persuasive.

  Her heart sighed. This was the man she remembered. The man she'd fallen in love with so many years ago.

  The man she wished she could hold on to forever.

  Or at least for a few more minutes.

  It was Colin who ended the kiss, easing his lips from hers slowly. Her eyelids flickered open, and her gaze locked with his. It wasn't until he brushed his thumbs over the trails of tears on her cheeks that she realized she was crying.

  "There's something about you," Colin said hoarsely. "Even when I know I'm going to regret it, I can't stop myself from wanting to be near you, wanting to be with you. Wanting you."

  She wasn't sure what, if any, response she was supposed to make to that kind of blunt statement. She wasn't sure how she felt to hear that he regretted kissing her while her lips still tingled from his touch.

  "I'm already starting to think that moving in to your house will be a mistake," he admitted, "but it's the best solution I can think of right now."

  Even as she nodded her reluctant acceptance of his terms, Nikki knew in her heart that it was a very bad idea.

  Chapter 6

  "I still think this is a bad idea," Nikki said, standing at the window as Colin unloaded his suitcases from the trunk of his rental car. "A very bad idea."

  "It's a compromise," Arden reminded her. "A necessary one."

  Nikki sighed. "I know, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

  "Well, if you're right, he'll last about two weeks in the downstairs apartment. If you're wrong—"

  "I'm not wrong," Nikki interrupted.

  But, oh, how she wished she was. Carly had taken to Colin immediately, not even batting an eye when her mother told her that she wouldn't be going to day camp this summer but would be staying home with 'Uncle Colin.' In fact, Carly had been thrilled.

  Which only worried Nikki more. She didn't believe Colin would be content to spend his days as a baby-sitter. Soon he'd move on, and it would be better if Carly never knew that he was her father.

  "Then just hold tight for a couple of weeks," Arden said. "Besides, he might surprise you."

  "Maybe." But Nikki doubted it. "I just hope I'll be able to get Carly into day camp when he bails out."

  "I don't want to go to day camp," Carly protested loudly. "I want to stay with Uncle Colin."

  Nikki started, wondering how much of the conversation her daughter had overhead. She'd thought Carly was upstairs playing. "What are you doing down here?" she asked.

  "It was time for Emma's nap," Carly told her, referring to her newest favorite doll—a gift from "Uncle Colin."

  "How about you?" Nikki asked. "Is it time for your nap, too?"

  "I'm too big for a nap," Carly said.

  "Usually that's true," her mother allowed. "But you were up early this morning."

  "'Cause I was 'cited 'bout Uncle Colin moving in."

  Nikki, too, had been awake early. Because she was apprehensive about the same thing.

  "Can Uncle Shaun move in, too?" Carly asked.

  Nikki smiled. "I don't think so. Uncle Shaun has his own house."

  "Why doesn't Uncle Colin have a house?"

  "He did have a house in Texas," Nikki explained. Well, he had an apartment, but she figured the distinction was irrelevant to Carly. "Because that's where he used to live."

  "Like my daddy," Carly said.

  Nikki had forgotten that she'd shared this information with her daughter, but Carly was always surprising her with the tiniest details she retained about her father. Nikki couldn't help feeling guilty for her continued deception regarding Colin's relationship to Carly. Even though she believed it was for the best, at least for now.

  "Can I go see if Uncle Colin needs any help?" Carly asked.

  "It's probably better if you stay out of the way until he's had a chance to unpack and get settled."

  "Please, Mommy."

  Nikki sighed. This was one of the reasons she hadn't wanted Colin living downstairs. But since that decision had been taken out of her hands, all she could do was adjust. Or pretend to adjust, anyway.

  "Okay," she agreed. "We'll go outside and see if Uncle Colin needs any help."

  Colin was just closing the trunk of his car when sh
e and Carly stepped onto the porch. He smiled warmly at his daughter. "Hey, Squirt. Whatcha up to?"

  Carly giggled at the nickname. "I wanna help you move in."

  "I don't have a lot of stuff," he told her.

  "That's good," Nikki said dryly. "Because there's not a lot of room."

  "I'm sure it's more than adequate," he said, before turning his attention back to Carly. "Have you seen my place?"

  She nodded. "Becca—the lady who lived there before—used to baby-sit me sometimes."

  "Then maybe you can show me around," Colin said. "Make sure I don't get lost."

  Carly giggled again. "You won't get lost." But she looked to her mother for permission.

  Nikki hesitated a fraction of a second, wrestling with the urge to sweep her daughter into her arms to protect her forever and knowing in her heart that it wasn't possible. She nodded. "You can go with Uncle Colin."

  Carly didn't even cast a backward glance at her mother as she placed her small hand in Colin's much larger one. Nikki felt a pang in her heart as she watched them stroll around to the back of the house together.

  Did it bother her, she wondered, that Carly had taken to Colin so quickly? Or was it that there seemed to be no place in their cozy little circle for her?

  There was enough room, Colin decided, looking around the apartment that would be his home for the immediate future. What there wasn't a lot of was stuff. The rooms were sparsely furnished: a single bed, tall dresser and night table in the bedroom; a sofa, television set, desk and chair in the living area; a small table and two chairs in the kitchen. Still, the apartment had a comfortable, cozy feel to it.

  "Do you like it, Uncle Colin?" Carly looked up at him worriedly.

  He'd stayed in his share of five-star hotels and ocean-view resorts, but no luxury accommodation in the tropics could compete with the presence of his little girl. "It's perfect."

  She grinned. "Can I watch TV?"

  He started to nod automatically, then wondered if Nikki was one of those parents who disapproved of television. "Does your mom let you watch TV?"

  She nodded, her wide-eyed solemnity tugging at his heart even as his brain warned that he was being scammed.

  "All the time," she told him.

  Colin chuckled. "Okay," he said, making a mental note to verify Nikki's television policy later.