by Diana Palmer
“Of course it did,” his wife replied with a sad smile. “But the world has changed. It’s so tough on one salary. When I worked, I could afford so many nice things that we could never have before. I guess I went wild.” She shrugged, glancing uncertainly at Bob. “I almost lost my family in the process. I’ve decided that I want to be a mechanic, but that I don’t want it more than I want you and Mikey.”
Bob studied the coffee cup in front of him. “I don’t want to start getting used to another person this late in my life,” he confessed.
She smiled. “I could work for someone…”
He looked up. “You could work at your own shop, in the back,” he said stiffly. “But you can close up on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and we’ll spend those days, and Sunday, as a family. Meanwhile, having someone to help keep the house clean isn’t a bad idea.” Before she could speak, he added, “I know a teenage boy who likes to cook and doesn’t mind cleaning. Mrs. Jones’s son, and he could use the money because he wants to go to one of those French cooking schools when he gets out of school.”
Connie was surprised. “But you hate my work!”
“I was jealous of it,” he confessed with a smile. He looked at his brother. “I guess Lang and I never talked enough about how we were raised. We were a dysfunctional family and never even knew it. Now we’re both having to learn that marriage is what you make of it.”
Connie’s face had brightened. She flushed when Bob smiled warmly at her, and he chuckled. “It isn’t so bad, having a mechanic in the family. Except that my car sure does run rough,” he added.
“I can fix it,” Connie mused.
“I know.”
Kirry felt Lang’s hand curving around hers where it lay on the table. She looked at him with her heart in her eyes, and his breath caught.
“Where are you going to live when you’re married?” Bob asked them, breaking the spell.
“I like the security where we are,” Lang said with a chuckle. “My apartment or hers, it doesn’t matter. I’d live with her in a mud hut,” he added solemnly.
“That goes double for me,” she said softly.
“Until the kids come along,” he added very slowly, holding her eyes. “Then I think we might want a house. One with a big yard, so we can have a dog.”
There were tears of pure joy in her eyes.
“Will you go on working for Lancaster, Inc.?” Connie asked her.
Kirry caught her breath. “Oh, that reminds me!” And she told them what she’d done, and about her new job.
Lang burst out laughing. “And I thought you weren’t listening when I suggested it.”
“I was listening. Mack says Mrs. Lancaster is going to be very sorry indeed, because Lorna is already talking about pulling the account.”
“That doesn’t surprise me in the least,” Lang ventured. “I’m sorry that Lorna gave you a hard time. I hope you believe that I was serious when I said there was nothing between us.”
“Oh, of course I do,” she assured him. It would be impossible to believe anything else, when he looked at her that way, with everything he felt naked in his face.
“What will they do to that man when they catch him?” Connie asked, concerned. “Will there be enough evidence to keep him locked up?”
Lang was remembering the times Erikson had gotten away with what he’d done, and he was worried. “I hope so.”
Kirry was thinking the same thing. She clung to Lang’s hand and tried not to brood about it. She had visions of a long, drawn-out court case and legal expenses that would bankrupt them.
“Don’t worry about it,” Lang said softly. He bent and kissed her forehead softly. “We’ll work it all out. I promise you we will.”
They stayed the night, parting reluctantly as she went to the guest room and Lang bedded down on the sofa. She didn’t want to be away from him long enough to sleep. Apparently he felt the same way, because in the early hours of the morning, he picked her up out of the bed and carried her back to the sofa, bundling her up in his arms until morning.
Connie and Bob came upon them like that, and stood looking down at them with indulgent smiles, their arms around each other.
“Remember how that felt?” Bob asked gently. “To be so much in love that you can’t bear the agony of being apart even for a few hours?”
“Oh, yes.” Connie reached up and kissed him. “I still feel like that. It’s why I came home.”
He smiled and drew her close. “So do I. I’m glad we both woke up in time, Connie.”
“Marriage has to have compromise or it can’t last. For Mikey’s sake, and our own, I’m glad we’re both reasonable people.”
He chuckled. “After last night, I’m not sure that I’m very reasonable anymore. In fact, I think I’m loopy.” He whispered in her ear, “Did you really do that, or did I dream it?”
She flushed scarlet. “Bob!”
The cry woke Lang and Kirry. They blinked and stared up at their hosts. Lang smiled sheepishly. “This isn’t quite what it looks like…”
“Looks like two people in love to me.” Bob chuckled. “Come and have breakfast, you idiots.”
Later in the day, Lang and Kirry drove back up to San Antonio. Both of them were anxious to see if any progress had been made about Erikson. What they discovered shocked them.
“It was kind of tragic, in a way,” the police lieutenant who spoke to them at the precinct said matter-of-factly. “He was going too fast and just shot right off the bridge, through the railing. We found him a few hours ago. I tried to call you both, but no one was at home.”
“We were at my brother’s house in Floresville,” Lang said. He pulled Kirry closer. “It’s been a hell of a few weeks.”
“Yes, I know. This isn’t the only stalking case we’ve ever had,” the policeman replied. “I’ve talked to one of our legislators, and he’s willing to introduce some legislation about it. He’d like to talk to you, Miss Campbell.”
“I’d like to talk to him,” she replied quietly.
“At any rate, you’re safe now,” he told her. “Try not to let it scar you. The world is full of people who enjoy hurting other people. It’s why I have a job.”
“Thanks.”
They walked out into the sunlight, and Kirry clung to Lang’s hand.
“This is why women put up with it,” she said uneasily.
“What?”
“Harassment on the job,” she said simply. “They’re afraid of something like what happened to me. They’re afraid of being the object of gossip by other employees, or being fired, or being discriminated against. Even if you keep your job, people still resent you. Even some women think it’s stupid for a woman to cause trouble because a man is vulgar in front of her, or because he makes sexist remarks.”
He turned to her. “Nobody ever promised that life was easy. Sometimes it’s dangerous to do the right thing. Sometimes it causes heartache. That doesn’t change the fact that people have a right to work unmolested.”
She hesitated. Then she nodded. “All the same, I don’t know if I’d have enough courage to do it again after what happened to me.”
He chuckled. “Really? I think you have enough courage.”
“You’re prejudiced.”
“I love you to distraction,” he said simply. “Doesn’t it show?”
Her eyes sparkled with delight as she looked at him. “Cold turkey and in broad daylight, even! You must mean it.”
“Didn’t you believe me?”
“Yes,” she said after a minute. “I didn’t really think I could care so much about you unless you cared about me, too.”
“Smart lady. When do you leave Lancaster, Inc.?”
“Monday after next. I got a raise, too, at Reflections, Inc.”
He grinned. “Even better. Will it involve as much traveling as you’re doing now?”
“No,” she replied, her face bright. “Because I told my new boss that I wanted to be home at nights, and he said that he’s got two singl
e employees who love to travel, and they’ll carry the ball in that respect. I may have to go out of town occasionally, but it won’t be every week.”
“That I can handle.” He pursed his lips. “My job will keep me in town, thank God, so if you have to be away, I can mind the kids.”
“Kids? Plural?”
His eyes slid over her with kindling desire and slow pleasure. “I thought a boy and a girl would be nice.”
“Did you, now? Boys run in your family for three generations and I’m the first girl in my family in two. The odds are against little girls.” He started to speak and she put her fingers over his mouth, smiling. “I like playing baseball, don’t you remember? And I never did play with dolls.”
He chuckled. “Okay. We’ll see what we get.”
“Why don’t we go home, since we don’t have to go in to the office today, and you can see what you get.”
He whistled softly. “My knees are going weak.”
“So are mine.” She pressed close to him as they walked toward the car. She allowed herself a little pity for Erikson. “He didn’t have a family, did he?” she asked.
He knew who she meant. “No.”
“Poor man. He was sick, Lang. Sick in the mind. I’m sorry for him.”
“So am I, in a way. But it was fate, honey. I’m glad you’re safe. I’ll take care of you.”
She liked that protectiveness in him. She nuzzled her face against his shoulder. “I’ll take care of you, too, my darling.”
He kissed her forehead. “Let’s stop by city hall and get the marriage license. Then,” he added softly, “we’ll see how wicked we can get behind closed doors.”
She didn’t have an argument with that.
They were married less than a week later, with Bob and Connie and Mikey for witnesses, and they managed a brief honeymoon trip to Jamaica. When they came back, Kirry started her new job and found it much to her liking. The Lancasters lost the Lorna McLane account in short order, along with the promise of new customers. They apologized to Kirry, once they found out just how Lorna had twisted things to make her look incompetent. Kirry accepted the apology gracefully, but wouldn’t return, even though Lang stayed with them. There were no hard feelings, and the Lancasters gave them a handsome belated wedding present of a silver service.
“That was nice of them,” Kirry remarked later as she was lying in Lang’s big arms in bed.
“I thought so, too.” He opened one eye as she propped over him. “You lost your breakfast this morning. Was it something that didn’t sit well on your stomach?”
She smiled wickedly. “It’s something that probably will sit well on my stomach until it gets too big.”
Both eyes opened, with love and soft wonder. “Are we sure yet?” he asked with a glowing smile.
She nodded. “I got one of those kits this morning, and did it twice. I’ll go to the doctor to make sure, but there won’t be any surprises.”
He pulled her down and kissed her tenderly, smiling against her mouth. “Are you sure we’re going to have a boy?”
She laughed. “There’s absolutely no chance that it will be anything else,” she said smugly, and squealed when his fingers dug gently into her ribs.
Seven months later, Lang stood in the hospital room with Cecily Maureen Patton in his arms and one eyebrow lifted with superior irony down at his pretty wife.
“Go ahead,” she challenged. “I know you’re dying to say it.”
He chuckled. Then his face sobered and he looked at Kirry with such love that she flushed. “Thank you,” he said gently. “I never knew what life was all about until they put her in my arms.”
“I know,” she replied with wonder. “Lang, I’ve never felt like this. To know that we did that, that we created something so incredible between us.”
“And had such delight from doing it,” he teased gently, loving her soft flush. He looked down at his daughter. “Isn’t she a beauty? Daddy loves little girls,” he cooed as he kissed the tiny face. “He’ll take her on picnics and buy her toys and kill boys who break her heart. Daddy will teach her to shoot guns, and do martial arts, and track spies…”
“And Mama will teach her how to promote people and write brilliant ads,” she said with twinkling eyes.
Lang grinned at her. “Guess which things she’s going to like learning best?”
Kirry pursed her lips and didn’t say another word. Their daughter was going to have a very interesting life, and their marriage got better by the day. She looked back over the rocky road they’d traveled to this day and knew that she’d do it all over again. Her whole heart was in her eyes when she smiled at her husband, and in his when he smiled back.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-4949-7
MAN OF THE HOUR
Copyright © 2008 by Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holder of the individual works as follows:
NIGHT OF LOVE
Copyright © 1993 by Diana Palmer
SECRET AGENT MAN
Copyright © 1993 by Diana Palmer
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Table of Contents
Cover
Praise
Look for Diana Palmer’s new hardcover
Title Page
CONTENTS
NIGHT OF LOVE
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
SECRET AGENT MAN
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
Copyright
