“I’ll have her call you.”
It was less than five minutes before his phone rang. The smoky sound of Kate’s voice made his heart leap in a way that was altogether astonishing. It seemed when she wasn’t infuriating him, she was turning him on.
“I wanted to thank you,” he said, even as he listened to the unspoken explanation for the call echoing inside him: I wanted to hear your voice.
“For what?”
“For the best night I’ve had in a long while.” For caring.
“With Davey?” she said.
“Yes.” And with you.
“I’m so glad.” There was a note of genuine happiness in her voice. “What’d you do?” she asked, as if she were eager to hear every single detail.
“Played basketball until we dropped.”
“Who won?”
“No one. I had sense enough to call the game when we were tied.”
“You mean before he beat you?” she taunted.
“That’s what he said,” he grumbled. “I think you two are in cahoots.”
“Yes, we are,” she admitted with a laugh.
David sighed. “I’m glad,” he told her. “I can’t promise things will change overnight, but I am trying, Kate.”
“That’s all I can ask.”
Suddenly there were so many things he wanted to say to her, so many things he wanted to discover about this woman who’d bulldozed her way into his life. Realizing that he was genuinely beginning to care, he waited for the onset of guilt, but it didn’t come. Once more he saw that tonight had been a real turning point in his life. He owed her for that, for opening him up to living again.
“I’ll see you soon,” he said. He kept to himself the one thing he wanted to say above all others: I can’t wait to hold you in my arms to see if there really are miracles.
“See you soon,” she echoed.
It was a full minute before either of them actually broke the connection, as if they were both reluctant to go back to their own lonely, isolated worlds again.
* * *
Even though Kate felt reassured by her meeting with David and his late-night call, she recognized that the changes she was asking for were not likely to happen overnight without a little nudge every now and then. She was very good at nudging.
She started by calling the house every morning at seven o’clock to remind David that he was supposed to stick around to have breakfast with his son. Of course, hearing David’s sleepy, sexy voice at that hour of the morning did delightfully wicked things to her frame of mind for the rest of the day, as well.
If David was bothered by her blatant interference, it never once showed in his voice. In fact, the conversations lengthened day by day, touching on their own plans for the day, exploring the latest news. Kate soon felt she knew his schedule almost as well as she knew her own. Too often she found herself glancing at the clock during the day and recalling where he’d said he’d be.
But despite the closeness she was beginning to feel, despite the unexpectedly satisfying warmth of feeling as if she was some small part of his life, neither of them made any overtures to get together. It was just as well, she told herself. Her schedule was jammed from dawn until way past dusk, just as it had always been. It seemed the advice she’d been quick to give him hadn’t affected her own behavior at all.
Then, when she’d been calling for just over a week and least expected it, David suggested she stop by and join them for breakfast. “The weather’s beautiful on the terrace in the mornings. It’s a great way to start the day,” he said, as if he’d just made the discovery and couldn’t wait to share it.
She was torn between accepting and duty. “I have to be in court at nine.”
“Tomorrow, then. It’s Saturday. No excuses. Besides, your client asks about you all the time. Could be he’s already tired of my company.”
She laughed at his deliberate sneakiness. “And I thought I was a master manipulator. Okay, I’ll be there. Just promise me that Mrs. Larsen won’t make oatmeal. Davey told me it’s like cement.”
“It could hold buildings together during an earthquake,” David agreed. “Okay. No oatmeal. We’ll see you about eight.”
“Sounds good.” She’d started to hang up when she heard his voice.
“Kate?”
“Yes.”
“Good luck in court.”
She was already feeling exceptionally lucky.
* * *
On Saturday with the weatherman calling for record heat again, Kate chose a bright yellow sundress that reflected her cheery mood when she dressed to join David and Davey for breakfast. She spent an extraordinary amount of time on her makeup, assuring herself that it looked natural. The irony of that did not escape her. She spent less time on her hair, knowing that the wind would play havoc with whatever style she attempted. She refused to put the top up on the car just to save a hairdo, especially on a day made for a convertible.
As she drove to David’s, her pace leisurely despite the deserted roads, she anticipated the changes in his rapport with his son. She could hardly wait to see how much progress they’d made. Then, uttering a little sigh, she confessed to herself that she could hardly wait to explore the changes she had sensed in her own relationship with David. Every phone call had had an increasingly provocative undercurrent, no matter how mundane the actual topic.
Mrs. Larsen greeted her at the door, her expression perfectly bland, though Kate was almost certain she caught a surprising twinkle in the housekeeper’s eyes. Perhaps Mrs. Larsen had a touch of romance in her soul after all.
“Mr. David is on the terrace,” she said. “Follow me.”
“And Davey?”
“He spent the night at a friend’s. I’m not sure exactly what time he’s expected back.”
Kate’s step faltered. Davey wasn’t here? Wasn’t the whole purpose of this visit to give her a chance to be reassured about how much better he and his father were getting along? She hadn’t realized until just that instant how much she had been counting on Davey to provide a buffer between her and his father. His presence would have guaranteed that everything would remain pleasantly impersonal, even if her own common sense had taken a nosedive.
As she followed Mrs. Larsen onto the terrace, David rose to greet her from the table that had been set beside the pool. He was wearing a bathing suit and an unbuttoned shirt. He’d obviously just been for a swim. His hair was curling damply, and droplets of water sparkled on his lightly tanned skin. She found her gaze locking on the very masculine expanse of bare chest as her pulse accelerated faster than her car ever had.
David’s gaze swept over her. The expression in his eyes was so warmly appreciative that Kate had to swallow hard against the nervousness that seemed lodged in her throat.
“You look absolutely ravishing,” he said softly.
His tone set her pulse off again. To counteract the suddenly provocative tenor the morning was taking, she lifted her chin and regarded him indignantly.
“I thought Davey was going to be here,” she said.
“He was, but a friend called last night and invited him over. He really wanted to go.”
“Why do I have the feeling you practically shoved him out the door?” she grumbled.
She noticed that he didn’t bother trying to deny it.
“Because you know that I’ve been wanting to be alone with you for quite some time now,” he said.
“I don’t know that,” she argued, futilely hoping to salvage some of the distance that she needed to keep her emotions safe.
“Liar,” he accused.
Then, as if he sensed that she might yet bolt, he relented. “Sit down, Kate. Juice and coffee are on the table. Breakfast should be out any minute. We’re having French toast stuffed with cream cheese and orange marmalade. I trust that sounds suitably decadent.”
Kate’s mouth watered. “Decadent? It sounds suicidal.”
“We’ll swim off the calories,” he promised as Mrs. Larsen placed plate
s laden with delectable-looking food in front of them.
“This many calories?” she asked skeptically.
“We have all day to work them off.”
Her gaze darted to the pool and back to him. “I didn’t bring a suit.”
“Not a problem,” he said in a way that sent her imagination running wild. Finally he grinned and added, “There are suits in the pool house, if you really insist on wearing one.”
“Oh, I really insist,” she muttered breathlessly, though she was more taken than she liked to admit with the idea of skinny-dipping under the blazing sun with this man. She was scandalized by the effect he seemed to be having on her without half trying. What on earth would happen if he ever put his mind to seducing her?
“Kate?” he said softly.
“Yes?” Her fork clattered against the plate as she met his gaze.
“Don’t be afraid of what’s happening between us.”
“Is something happening?” she asked, retrieving the fork and holding it in a deathlike grip.
“I’m not sure when or how it happened, but it is for me. I can see in your eyes that it is for you, too.”
Kate wondered just what he was feeling. Lust? He’d probably been celibate for a long time. They’d been thrown together a lot lately, shared a couple of steamy kisses. He’d probably jumped to all sorts of wicked and incorrect conclusions as a result. She tried to give herself time by taking a bite of the food. It was probably delicious. It could just as easily have been sawdust.
“David, I understand that you’ve been lonely,” she began finally.
“This has nothing to do with loneliness,” he retorted patiently.
“No. I think it does. It’s natural…”
“Yes. It is natural,” he interrupted, not allowing her to put another spin on the attraction. “Look, I’m not rushing into anything here. Lord knows, I have been lonely. But I have also fallen in love once before in my life. I know how that feels, too. We discussed this once. Those bells, remember?”
Kate shot a startled, desperate look at him. “Love,” she repeated, her voice wavering. She pushed the plate aside. All interest in food had fled. What she needed was a drink. Too bad he hadn’t served mimosas. Champagne and orange juice would have smoothed over this jagged nervousness she was feeling.
“Don’t panic,” he said, his expression amused. “I’m not jumping to any conclusions. I’ve just made a conscious decision to open myself up to the possibilities.”
“You sound like somebody contemplating having their astrological chart done for the first time, part skepticism, part hope.”
“Exactly.” His smile faded and his gaze clashed with hers. “Can’t you at least meet me halfway on this?”
“Halfway?” she repeated, as if there were a spot on the lawn he could pinpoint. She knew she was beginning to sound half-addled, but she wasn’t prepared to leap into something even halfway as an experiment. That’s how people got badly hurt.
“It’s been the obligatory half hour since we finished eating. At least, you haven’t touched a bite in that long,” he taunted. “We could make that halfway point in the pool.”
Kate wasn’t wild about getting into a bathing suit or into a pool with a man who’d declared his intention to explore the way he felt about her. But at least a trip to the pool house might give her a few minutes to gather her composure and remind herself—quite sternly, in fact—that she was not in the market for a quick tumble in anyone’s bed.
Her body, she noticed with some regret, seemed to have other ideas.
Chapter Twelve
As Kate headed for the pool house to change, David decided he definitely needed a dip in the pool to cool off. For a woman so damned determined not to be provocative, she’d had his temperature rising from the minute she’d strolled onto the terrace looking as cool and refreshing as a tall glass of lemonade.
Of course, he admitted candidly, it was entirely likely that any one of the bathing suits she chose from the supply on hand would be even more disturbing than that dress, which had simply bared her shoulders and swirled around her like a pool of sunlight. Just the anticipation stirred an arousal that not even the cool, turquoise water of the pool could counteract. Clearly it was payback time for months of celibacy. His body was reminding him with throbbing urgency that he was still very much alive.
He started to swim long, hard strokes that had his taut body slicing through the water. He completed one lap, flipped and went back the other way. He’d done nearly twenty exhausting laps, when he finally stopped. Breathless, he clung to the edge of the pool. It was a full minute before he glanced up, saw Kate standing hesitantly before him and felt every nerve ending in his body clamor for just one thing. It wasn’t a quick game of water polo.
Dear Lord, what was he about to do? he wondered desperately as his gaze locked on the unrevealing one-piece bathing suit that still managed to entice like the most daring bikini. The sedate neckline didn’t dip too low, but that didn’t matter. There was no way it could hide the lush fullness of her breasts, something her usual power suits managed to disguise. The cut of the bottom wasn’t especially high on the sides, but it still revealed long, shapely legs and hips that were meant to cradle a man. The slick black material fit like a second skin. David’s pulse took on a staccato rhythm. He was afraid if she stood there one more instant, his rampaging hormones would lead them both into more trouble than they’d bargained for.
“Dive in,” he urged. “The water’s wonderful.”
“Not too cold?”
Not that he’d noticed, he thought wryly. He shook his head. “Take the plunge.”
If she caught the unintended double entendre, she didn’t show it by so much as the flicker of an eyelash. She simply walked to the edge at the deep end, lifted her hands in a diver’s stance and cut into the water with barely a ripple to disturb the sparkling surface. Not two seconds later, she came up sputtering, goose bumps already rising on her pale-as-cream skin.
“It’s like ice, damn you!” she said and swam toward him with a gleam of mock ferocity in her eyes.
David couldn’t help laughing at her indignation. “Just the thing for a hot day, don’t you think?”
“It’s not hot yet,” she pointed out as she drew closer. “Maybe by noon this would feel terrific.” As if to emphasize how cold it was, her teeth began to chatter. “S-see what I mean?”
“What you need is a little exercise,” he announced. “It’ll warm you right up. I’ll race you to the end of the pool and back.”
“You’re on,” she agreed with that devilish glint back in her eyes.
She pushed off. The fact that her first kick landed squarely in his midsection was probably just an accident, he told himself as he took off after her.
Kate was good, he realized as he caught her, then found her matching him stroke for stroke. She was also a fighter and she didn’t necessarily play fair. More than once she managed to tangle her legs with his just enough to throw him off, while she swam confidently on. When they’d finished two laps, she grinned at him as she executed a tight flip and muttered, “Again?”
She didn’t wait for his response. She was a half lap ahead by the time he could reverse directions. He was too much a competitor to lag behind for long, though. He pushed his endurance to catch and then pass her. Several laps later, they were both clinging to the side trying to catch their breath.
He looked into her eyes and found himself mesmerized by the light shimmering in their depths. That brilliant spark lured like a lantern in the darkness. Without thinking, just reacting to a deep, yearning need, he tucked one hand around the back of her neck and drew her closer. He felt the shiver that raced over her. When his lips claimed hers, she shuddered. He felt her cool skin turn warm under the persuasive touch of his mouth, the gentle teasing of his tongue.
There was an instant as his hand settled at the curve of her hip when her body tensed as if she might push him away. David’s breath seemed to lodge in his che
st as he waited for her decision. And then, when he wasn’t sure he could bear another second of indecision, she relaxed and melted against him. Her hands slid up his chest with slow, teasing deliberation, then locked behind his neck as she turned her head to angle her mouth under his, open to the invasion of his tongue.
David groaned. Her skin was warm and cool at once, the fire inside chilled by the pool’s water. Slick with moisture, her body felt the way it might have after long, sensuous hours of lovemaking. As that thought struck him, he wondered that steam didn’t rise around them.
His hands skimmed along the material of her bathing suit, learning the shape of her, discovering that the layer of fabric tantalized, even as it thwarted flesh-on-flesh contact. He could feel the hardening of her nipples as he caressed her breasts, could feel the way she seemed to move into his touch, rather than holding back. The subtly sensuous movements almost drove him crazy.
He sensed then that Kate was a woman who would hold nothing back when it came to giving and receiving pleasure. A woman like that would be more vulnerable than most and a great tide of tenderness washed over him when he realized the rare gift she was sharing with him, the risk she appeared willing to take with her own peace of mind.
He framed her face with his hands, his gaze locked on hers, trying to see into her soul. He tried to judge one last time if he had misread things, if she truly was with him all the way on the desires that were throbbing deep inside, crowding out everything else. He saw only a need that matched his own. Whatever doubts she might have about them, about the future—and if he had dozens, she was bound to have more—she had committed herself to following his lead. She seemed more than ready to explore the sensations that were as old as time, yet as sparkling new as if this were the first time in their lives for each of them.
“Kate?” he said softly.
Those dark eyes of hers blazed back at him, filled with life, luring him into a world of powerful need and thrilling sensation, drawing him from the past into the present, into this one, single moment in time. Deep inside, something slowly shifted, eased, freeing him forever from the past, blessing his decision to move on.
Kate's Vow (Vows) Page 13
