The Parent Pact (Book Three of The Return to Redemption Series)

by Laurie Kellogg

  “Well, of course she won’t. Just because Caitlin is a special-needs baby is no reason for Mandy not to love her. If, God forbid, you someday have a granddaughter born with only one arm, will you want your daughter to trade her in for a new child?”

  Tyler stared at her for several heartbeats and frowned. “And you think you’re dumb? I’m the one who has a lot to learn. I’m ashamed to say, all I ever saw when I looked at Caitlin was a broken toy.”

  A broken toy that was obviously an embarrassment to the prosperous Mr. Fitzpatrick, who could afford to provide all the best for his child.

  “Do you still have Caitlin’s arm? Maybe I could figure out a way to reattach it.”

  “Not likely. I’m sure Erica threw it out as soon as it fell off. She wasn’t the type to try to fix things.” Tyler sank down on the bed next to his daughter and hugged her. “I’m sure we could look into getting Caitlin an arm transplant. And maybe even a beautiful new dress to match those gorgeous bows you put in her hair.”

  His devotion to his daughter reminded Annie of how her father had doted on her. It broke her heart that her son didn’t have a dad to care about him that way.

  “Speaking of new clothes....it’s starting to get pretty cool out, and most of Mandy’s outfits are summer clothes. Would you mind buying her some new things for school tomorrow? She probably needs underwear and socks, too. Charge it all to the credit card I left you.”

  Would she mind? That was like asking a starving woman if she objected to filling in as a restaurant critic. “I’d love to.” Annie glanced at her watch. “I guess I’d better go drag Noah away from whatever he’s doing and take him home. He still needs a shower, too.”

  “Why don’t you bring his pajamas and let him bathe here from now on? Then you could plop him in bed when you get home.”

  “That’s not a bad idea.” She hugged Mandy. “Sweet dreams, Cookie.”

  Tyler prodded his daughter toward the bathroom. “Brush your teeth while I walk Annie out. I’ll be right back to read your story.”

  He escorted Noah and Annie out to the driveway. “There’s a remote for my garage door in the glove compartment. Park the Navigator in there from now on so you don’t have to carry groceries and packages all the way from the driveway.”

  “Thanks.”

  After opening the rear door for Noah, Tyler tweaked his nose. “Goodnight, Buddy. Don’t worry, with a little practice, before you know it, you’ll be stomping me in those games.” As Noah climbed into the vehicle, he beamed up at Tyler. In only two short evenings, her son had developed a full-fledged case of hero-worship.

  Tyler and she both reached for her door handle at the same time. As his hand brushed hers, she yanked her arm back as if his fingers were the flame on an acetylene torch. He stepped closer, leaving no room for her to maneuver between his body and the SUV.

  “Goodnight, Annie,” he whispered, pressing his soft lips to her forehead. Despite the chasteness of his kiss, it seemed anything but platonic—particularly when he buried his nose in her hair and inhaled long and deep as if he were memorizing her smell.

  When he slowly drew back, she could still feel the tingle of his moist mouth and the scrape of his five-o’clock shadow on her brow. The tenderness and the desire in his gaze made his proper peck seem as intimate as if he’d given her a tonsil-swabbing kiss.

  “Goodnight,” she rasped and scrambled into the driver’s seat, trembling. How was she going to do this night after night? Tyler had done nothing that could even be remotely construed as stepping over the line, yet her senses were as heightened as if he’d been coming on to her for hours.

  “I like Tyler lots,” Noah announced from the back seat as she drove to their cottage.

  “It’s Mr. Fitzpatrick.”

  “But he told me to call him that.”

  “If that’s the case, you should call him Mr. Tyler.”

  “Can’t you marry him, so we can live at his house?”

  Annie gripped the steering wheel as if it were a lifeline to her sanity. “No, Noah, I can’t. If you start hoping for that to happen, I won’t be able to work for Mr. Tyler anymore. The two of you can be good friends but that’s all. All right, Pumpkin?”

  When she glanced back at him in the rearview mirror, his eyes flooded with regret. “Okay. Don’t worry, Mommy, I don’t really want a dad, anyway.”

  Right—especially not a father who could give him his every heart’s desire. She might be able to convince herself she didn’t want Tyler either—if only she could forget how sweet and generous he was to her and her son.

  ~*~

  Tyler rolled onto his stomach and pulled the pillow over his aching head. He’d wrestled with the blankets half the night, unable to chase Annie’s scent from his mind. She’d smelled like a summer garden and....coffee?

  Rubbing his eyes, he yawned. No, the coffee wasn’t part of his dream. If the aroma had reached the second floor, it must be well after seven-thirty, which was the time he’d set on the coffeemaker when he’d taught Annie how to program the ornery appliance’s timer the evening before.

  Unfortunately, he’d then forgotten to set his alarm clock. He might not have time for breakfast, but at least he’d have coffee.

  Once he raced through shaving and dressing, he grabbed the file he’d reviewed in bed the night before and headed for the stairs. Two steps down, he snapped his fingers. “Aspirin.”

  Spinning on his heels, he returned to the master bathroom and washed down two tablets, hoping they’d silence the thunder in his head. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear the electrical storm he’d heard during the night was still raging.

  By the time he reached the kitchen, Mandy was already dressed and stuffing her mouth full of pancakes with Noah. Tyler smiled at Annie and sipped the orange juice she’d put at his place setting. “Sorry I overslept.”

  “It’s okay.” Her half-smile affected him like a starter pistol signaling his heart to break into a full gallop. “How many pancakes would you like?”

  If he stuck around for breakfast, he wouldn’t get to the office any earlier than if he dropped Mandy off at school himself. But Annie’s hotcakes smelled fantastic. Almost as good as she did. “I really don’t have time. How about I take a couple to eat on the way?”

  While he poured steaming coffee into a travel mug, Annie buttered two pancakes, drizzled on a little syrup, and rolled them up inside a napkin.

  He grabbed his briefcase and kissed Mandy good-bye. He squeezed Noah’s shoulder. “Have your mom bring your bike to the house this afternoon. I’ll try to get home early tonight so we can go for a ride before dinner.”

  The little boy’s smile evaporated. “I don’t like riding bikes.”

  Tyler frowned. Why wouldn’t a kid like....He glanced at Annie. Did the child even have a bicycle?

  “Noah still only has a tricycle,” she explained.

  “Oh. We’ll have to do something about fixing that.”

  “I’ve been searching the local yard sales for a used two-wheeler.”

  As a kid, Tyler’s bicycle had been one he’d saved from the trash. “We’ll talk about it some more tonight. I really have to go.”

  Once he backed his car out of the garage, he took a bite of the pancakes and groaned. They tasted almost as good as the chicken dinner the night before.

  When he reached his office building, his headache had nearly disappeared. Pulling into the parking lot, he mentally prioritized what he had to accomplish that morning. He picked up his mug to swallow the last of his coffee and realized he’d forgotten to put the folder he needed into his briefcase. He slammed on the brakes, spilling what was left down his light blue dress shirt.

  Great. Not only had he forgotten the file, he now needed a clean shirt, too. He usually kept one at the office for these kinds of emergencies, but in his struggle to care for Mandy last week, he’d neglected to replace the spare he’d used. He couldn’t go to his lunch meeting that afternoon with coffee stains and without that folde
r.

  He picked up his cell phone and froze. Annie would probably be busy cleaning another client’s house, and he’d asked her to shop for Mandy’s clothes that afternoon. The hours between nine and three were Annie’s personal time. He had no right to expect her to jump to his bidding. It wasn’t as if she was his wife or even his girlfriend. She was merely an employee. Nothing more.

  So then why were you dreaming about her all night?

  Releasing a weary huff, he spun the car around, pulled out of the lot, and returned to the interstate. As he crossed the bridge back into Pennsylvania, the sun glinted off the Delaware River and reminded him of all the fishing he and his buddy Luke had done as kids to help their mothers stretch their food budget. The last time he’d spent an afternoon relaxing with a fishing pole had been....so long he couldn’t remember.

  He definitely needed to change something—and not just his shirt.

  ~*~

  The thunderstorm the evening before had broken the recent heat wave and left the morning crisp and clear. Since it was so gorgeous, Annie walked Noah and Mandy to school. Once she hugged them goodbye, she joined Jenn watching the kids chase each other around the playground.

  “Well?” The other woman glanced over at her after several silent moments. “Don’t keep me in suspense. How’s your new job? Is Tyler just as gorgeous at home?”

  “Unfortunately, even more so.” Annie sighed. “I’m not sure how long I can do this. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear Noah’s been watching Brady Bunch reruns. He’s already fantasizing about me marrying Tyler.”

  “Who knows? Maybe you will someday.”

  “Come on, Jenn, I’m not living in a sitcom. Why would a man who belongs to a country club choose to spend his life with a woman who changes her own motor oil? You should’ve seen his face when he drove up to my house on Saturday and found me lying under the car covered in grease.”

  Jenn looked pointedly toward Paula Larson. “Speaking of the country club set, rumor has it Paula has her sights set on Mandy’s daddy.”

  “Exactly. Do you honestly think he’d prefer me over someone who could fill Erica’s shoes? I understand she was the daughter of a U.S. senator.”

  His marriage might not have been perfect, but at least his late wife had been smart, beautiful, and sophisticated—everything Annie wasn’t.

  She shook her head. “Picking me over Paula, would be like choosing a dandelion over a rose.”

  “Roses have thorns,” Jenn said, no doubt believing she was being encouraging. “And dandelion greens make quite a nutritious salad.”

  Annie turned to head home and said over her shoulder. “That may be, but if you were a successful lawyer, you’d never stick a dandelion in your lapel.”

  Even knowing how self-destructive it was to fantasize about happily-ever-after endings, she couldn’t help imagining what it would be like to be Tyler’s wife. Halfway back to his house, a pick-up truck whizzed through a giant puddle and drenched her with muddy water.

  Perfect. Nothing like a little filth to reaffirm her place in the world.

  No. Annie shoved her soaked hair away from her dirt-splattered face. She refused to wallow in self-pity. There was no question that if she hadn’t attended that blasted party her life would have been very different. However, she also wouldn’t have Noah, who, despite being a huge responsibility and challenge, had become a very big blessing.

  If altering her past meant she’d never have had her son, she’d rather stick with her mistakes. The only changes she had any intention of making were for their future.

  ~*~

  At nine forty-five, Tyler pulled back into his circular driveway and parked at the front door. After letting himself into the foyer, he punched in the security code to disarm the alarm.

  Now, where the hell had he left that file this morning? He wrinkled his brow, and retraced his steps in his head. He’d had the manila folder in his hand when he left the bedroom.

  Wait—he’d gone back for some aspirin.

  Bounding up the winding steps to the master suite, he reminded himself to take Mandy’s doll, which he’d also forgotten. He pushed his bathroom door open and found the file on the vanity precisely where he’d left it. Scooping up the folder, he stalled in his tracks.

  Originally, he’d planned to head right back down the steps with the file—just as he’d intended that morning. Except, the difference between then and now was, earlier that day, Annie hadn’t been floating stark naked in his bathtub with her ears submerged and her dark lashes fanned out over her rosy cheeks.

  Her tongue flicked out to moisten her lips, and every drop of blood rushed from his brain to his lower half.

  He unconsciously licked his own lips while he watched her milky breasts bob just above the water line like two little buoys.

  Her plump nipples jutted out like fat pink gumdrops that sent his tongue racing around his mouth, begging for a taste. Damn, he wanted her.

  A gentleman would take the file and leave before she realized he was there, but it seemed as if the soles of his shoes had glued themselves to the marble floor.

  He bit back a soft groan, watching Annie feel for the bar of soap in its dish. As she lathered her breasts, her fingers lingered sensually over her nipples for several pounding heartbeats. He nearly lost it as an erotic little moan escaped her.

  If he couldn’t force himself to leave, at the very least, he had to let her know he was enjoying watching her steamy bath.

  And he would....in just a moment. A second or two more wouldn’t make him any more guilty of voyeurism than he already was.

  ~*~

  She’d died and gone to heaven. Nothing had ever felt as good as lying in this giant tub with the hot water lapping at her breasts. While she soaped herself, she imagined Tyler kissing her and running his hands over her body....lower and lower.

  A muffled sound reverberated through the water.

  She popped her eyes open. Seeing a tall figure looming over her, she bolted upright and curled her body into itself, crossing her arms over her breasts. She shrieked before it registered it was Tyler’s deep emerald eyes that had watched her soap her privates. His gaze darkened with desire. She opened her mouth again to yell at him, and before she could utter a sound, she clamped it shut.

  Who was she to order him out of his own bathroom? After all, she was the one trespassing. “Tyler, I’m sorry. I hope you don’t m-mind me using your tub. On the way home a truck splashed me and—”

  “Shhh....” He pressed his fingers over her lips and sank onto the tub’s edge. “You’re something else, Annie. You should be outraged about me standing here ogling you and, instead, you’re apologizing to me.”

  “Well, it’s your bathroom.”

  “And you think that entitles me to invade your privacy?”

  “If you don’t think so, what’re you doing here?”

  “I came back to get that file.” He nodded toward the folder on the vanity and rolled up the sleeves on his pale blue dress shirt. “I thought you had a house to clean today.”

  “Tuesday is when I used to clean for the Coopers.”

  “Well, I didn’t realize you were in here.”

  “You could’ve left when you did.”

  I’m only human, Annie. You look so beautiful, all flushed from the hot water, I-I couldn’t make myself leave.”

  Flames leapt into her cheeks. How long had he been watching her? She slapped her hands over her face and pressed her breasts into her knees. “I can’t believe you saw me—”

  “Please don’t be embarrassed. You’re breathtaking.” He pulled her hands away from her. “As I was saying when I so rudely interrupted your bath, you’d enjoy it a lot more with the jets turned on.” He reached over and spun a dial on the wall.

  Suddenly the water began bubbling and churning, caressing every inch of her already sensitized body.

  “Pretty great, huh?”

  Great was putting it mildly.

  “It’s incredible.” She
leaned back and slid deeper into the foaming water, starring up at him

  “There’s nothing like it for soothing aching muscles....or other parts. He slid off the tub’s edge and knelt next to it. “I know we agreed to be just friends, but you’re looking at me right now as if you’d like me pick up where you left off.”

  Oh, yes.

  “If you don’t want me finish washing you, you need to speak up.”

  She struggled to form the word no, but excitement tightened her throat, trapping her half-hearted protest.

  He worked up a handful of lather, waiting for a response. When she said nothing, his eyebrows lifted. “Annie?”

  “I-I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want you to,” she whispered. “But my voice of reason says I shouldn’t let you.”

  One corner of his mouth twitched, betraying his amusement. “Do you always do what that voice says you should?”

  “No,” she rasped. If she did, she wouldn’t be in his bathtub longing for him to touch her.

  “I’m guessing this is one of those occasions you’d like that annoying little voice to develop a nasty case of laryngitis.” He slowly slid a soapy hand over her breasts and cupped one in his palm.

  A long moan escaped her followed by a breathy sigh. “Oh, Tyler. Why am I letting you do this?”

  He teased her nipple between his fingers and murmured, “Because it feels a helluva lot better than washing yourself. Doesn’t it?”

  She simply nodded, unable to speak, lost in the indescribable sensation of his slick hands sliding over her shoulders and breasts and down her stomach. So much for listening to her better judgment.

  “Lift your foot up, sweetheart, so I can scrub it.”

  Her foot? That wasn’t where she wanted him to wash her.

  When she raised her leg, he grabbed her ankle and spun her body sideways in the tub. A gasp leapt from her throat as he pulled her calf over the side. When a rush of water from one of the jets pulsated between her thighs and throbbed against her excited flesh, a high-pitched sound escaped her.

  She clutched at the bathtub behind her to keep from slipping underwater.