Drive-By Daddy & Calamity Jo

by Cheryl Anne Porter

  “I’ll never smell vanilla again without thinking of this,” he murmured against the velvety softness of her skin. “Without thinking of you. I’ll probably get turned on every time I pass a bakery.”

  She laughed, then gasped when his lips teased her breast, then eased the heat he was creating by taking it in his mouth.

  “Oh, please, Case,” she moaned, then she reached for him and surrendered her sanity.

  They touched each other and gave each other pleasure, rolling across the bed in a hot, devastating flood of desire. Within her, everything tightened so that when he slipped inside her and wrapped himself around her, her body bucked, welcoming him.

  Within moments, they reached a peak, shuddered together, then slipped down quietly, still joined.

  Case’s lips roamed her face, caressing her cheeks, her eyelids, dropping kisses in the hollow of her throat. She arched to him and was amazed to feel him stirring inside her.

  “Case?” she murmured.

  He chuckled, which made the feel of him even more exciting. “You may have to forget about lighting those candles for a while, Jo. I don’t think we’re going to get off this bed for a while.”

  “That’s okay,” she murmured back, smiling at him. “I didn’t want to go anywhere, anyway.”

  And they didn’t. The night was a long, slow loving that didn’t stop until they fell into an exhausted sleep in the smallest hours of the morning.

  JO WOKE to his kisses and reached for him. “You’re insatiable,” she mumbled. “Thank God.”

  He chuckled. “Insatiable or not, Jo, I’ve got to go.”

  “Go?” Her eyes popped wide open and she struggled to sit up. She shoved her hair out of her eyes and saw that he was fully dressed. Darn it. “Go? Go where?”

  “Home.” He sat on the side of the bed and took her hand, linking his fingers with hers. “I’ve got to make a report to Freida’s daughter in order to get paid, and there are other things pending.”

  He was leaving. Fear turned ashen in her mouth. “What’s the rush? I…I thought you were the guy who took life easy.”

  “That was before I met you,” he teased, but she saw sadness lurking in his eyes. “Jo, I’ve got to get back to my life in Phoenix, and you’ve got to get back to changing yours.”

  She was fully awake now, sitting up and facing him. “And we have to do all this today?”

  Case leaned in and kissed her. “If I don’t go today, I’ll be in your way.”

  “No, that’s not…how?” She was babbling but fear did that to her.

  “You want to write the article about Purdy, to get it published, work for a major newspaper. You’ve got a whole set of goals and dreams that don’t include me.”

  He was so kind, so understanding, so reasonable, she wanted to kick him, except that she was barefoot. She snatched her hand away from his and climbed to her knees in the center of the bed. “How do you know about my hopes and dreams? You haven’t even asked much about them, because you’ve been so sure you know exactly what it is I want. You’re such a stubborn know-it-all. Did you ever think that maybe my idea of a fast track wasn’t the same as yours?”

  His calm, composed manner disappeared in a scowl. “There’s only one track, Jo and it only goes at one pace. Sure, maybe you’ll start out slow, but the more you get involved in your career, the more other things get left behind. It’s like a treadmill that gets cranked faster and faster. I know that, Jo. I did it, remember?”

  “You don’t know beans,” she fumed.

  He shook his head, stood, and reached into his jacket pocket. “I have something for you.”

  Though she’d had no hope that he was going to pull a diamond engagement ring from his jacket, she was startled when he drew out his small blue notepad and handed it to her.

  “What’s this for?” she asked, taking it from him.

  “Research for your article. I don’t need it now.”

  He didn’t fully agree with what she planned to do, but he was making it possible for her to do it. Jo stared at the book until tears began to swim in her eyes, then she looked up at him. Tears spilled over her cheeks.

  “Case,” she whispered. “No, don’t do this. We can…”

  His face was grim, sick with distress. He leaned in and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her so that the breath was pushed from her lungs in a rush. His mouth ravaged hers, kissing her again and again. Finally, with a wrenching groan, he pulled away. “I’ve got to go, Jo.” He placed one last kiss on her cheek. “Have a good life.”

  Turning, he left her crumpled in the middle of her bed. It took her a moment to untangle herself from the sheet, grab her robe, and dash after him, landing on the front porch in a rush.

  It was too late. He was already in front of Mrs. Rios’s house, striding away as fast as he could. Mrs. Rios was sweeping her front lawn, her bright old eyes going from Case’s disappearing figure to Jo’s devastated face.

  “You wanna borrow some of my rocks, honey?” she asked sympathetically.

  With a shake of her head, Jo went back inside and shut the door. He’d left. She couldn’t believe it. He wouldn’t even listen to her. She’d never had a chance to tell him she loved him—not that he deserved to hear such words, anyway. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.

  She stomped to the phone, snatched it up, and punched out a number.

  “Perk Avenue,” Lainey sang out.

  “Lainey,” Jo said on a sob. “It happened again. I’ve been dumped twice in one week! And I re-really loved him.”

  “Steve?”

  “No,” Jo wailed. “Case Houston.” A long pause followed, punctuated only by Jo’s sobs. “You don’t have any more wine around, do you?” Lainey asked.

  HIS HOUSE WAS LOVELY, set back from a shaded street in a section of Phoenix where the houses dated from the twenties; bungalows that had seen hard times and then harder times, and were now working their way back. The entire neighborhood seemed to be under reconstruction, with scaffolding around many of the structures. Paint and construction crews swarmed over them. The whole street had an air of busyness.

  Except Case’s. It had a party atmosphere.

  Jo stood on the front walk and surveyed the place with apprehension. A fistful of helium balloons were attached to the porch posts and the front door. Was it his birthday? she wondered.

  It stunned her to realize she was in love with him and didn’t even know his birthday. She didn’t want to intrude, and yet, she’d come so far, she couldn’t turn back now.

  It had taken her a month to work up her courage to make this trip. She wasn’t going to back out.

  Tucking her purse under her arm, she made her way up the walk and onto the porch. When she neared the front door, she heard screaming. It took her a few seconds to realize it was children, and that they were also laughing.

  Now she knew she was really intruding. She decided to come back later. She was turning away when the door was thrown open and a woman came barreling out.

  She had thick black hair that curled around her face in gypsy waves and olive-dark eyes. She gave Jo a startled look and then broke into a huge smile that looked very familiar. “Hello! Oh, please tell me you’re here with the jumping castle.”

  Jo blinked. “The jumping…?”

  The woman slapped her hand to her forehead. “Oh, why today of all days would those people be late? Don’t they have any pity for a woman with a houseful of small children?” She shrugged. “Well, there’s nothing else to do but call them again and make threats.” She focused on Jo. “Sorry. Can I help you?”

  “I was looking for Case, but if this is a bad time…” Leaning in to gaze at her, the woman broke into a wide grin. “Are you the one who burned his eyebrows off?”

  Jo laughed. “No, that was Starina Simms. I’m Jo Ella Quillan.”

  “All I can say is that Calamity Falls must be a hell of a place. Case hasn’t been the same since.” She stuck out her hand. “I’m his sister Jessic
a. He’s inside with my kids and about six others. It’s my son Ryan’s birthday, and we’re having it here because Case has a backyard big enough for a jumping castle. You know, one of those huge, air-filled things where kids get in, jump around, get sick as dogs and throw up cake and ice cream all over each other.”

  Drowning in this torrent of words, Jo could only shake her head. “No, I…”

  “Wait’ll you have kids,” Jessica said, reaching out to pat her arm. “You learn all these things very quickly.” She looked up to see a truck pulling a small trailer down the street. “Oh, thank goodness. There they are. I’m going to go flag them down.” She waved toward the open doorway. “Go on in.” Before Jo could do so, she leaned in and yelled. “Case! There’s someone here to see you. She’s gorgeous and if you let her get away, you’re a sap.” She turned, gave Jo a sweet smile, and said, “Go on in.”

  With an introduction like that, Jo didn’t think she could do anything except follow the sound of the shrieking children. She took a good look at his house as she went, noticing natural woods, warm earth tones, an open, airy feeling that welcomed her.

  Butterflies churned away in her stomach. She hoped Case welcomed her.

  She found him in the dining room, down on his hands and knees, with a small boy on his back. He was making wild-bull noises while the boy clung to the neck of his shirt and shrieked with joy.

  “My turn, Uncle Case,” a tiny girl insisted. She tried to shove the boy off, but Case reached behind and rescued him.

  “It’s not your turn yet, Samantha,” he said. “Just a…”

  His gaze landed on Jo’s shoes, then traveled up her legs, over her pale yellow sheath dress, and stopped at her face.

  Joy and fear circuited through her when she saw the stunned amazement on his face. He slipped the little boy to the floor, but before the girl could climb on his back, he said, “Let’s take a break, kids. Uncle Case needs to talk to this lady.”

  Jo looked at him, and then down at the children, who were regarding her with curiosity. “The jumping castle’s here,” she said.

  That cleared the room instantly. Ten small children raced from the room leaving Case and Jo standing, facing each other.

  “You came,” he said, his voice full of wonder. Then he strode forward and grabbed her around the waist, crushing her mouth beneath his. “You came to me.”

  “We didn’t finish our last argument,” she said, holding his face in that way she loved to do and kissing him fervently. “You didn’t listen to me.”

  “I was an idiot.”

  “Yes, you were.”

  They stood in the middle of his dining room, which was scattered with confetti, balloons, and a couple of stray child-size shoes, and feasted on each other. Her breath was clogged in her throat and her knees were shaking.

  “You’ve got to listen to me, Case,” she said.

  “I read the article,” he responded, drawing her away so he could look into her eyes. “It was great. You caught the right tone for all the people involved without making it sound like a silly Calamity Falls adventure.” He paused. “I guess this puts you on the road to where you want to be.”

  “Only if it gets me here with you,” she answered. Everything rested on this. She’d rehearsed this speech for days now and it was slipping from her mind.

  “Did you get a job offer from the newspaper here in town?”

  “Yes. And I turned it down.”

  He jerked. “Turned it down. Why? I thought that was what you wanted.”

  “I thought so, too, but I realized I like being on my own.” She gulped. “I’m going to be a freelance writer. I know I can do this, and I’ll be good at it. It’ll be hard. It’ll take commitment, but I know I can do it, and…”

  “I’ve got an office here that you can use.”

  Her words stumbled over each other and died. “What?”

  “I love you, Jo.” He kissed her fervently. “I love you and I want you to marry me. Live here, work here, do whatever you want, but don’t leave me.”

  “You’re the one who left,” she pointed out, laughing. “I tried to tell you that my idea of a fast-track life didn’t mean I was going to be gone all the time, chasing stories around the world. I only wanted to use my education and experience.”

  “I was an idiot to leave,” Case said. “But I was coming back.” He dragged her to a small closet off the living room. He threw the door open. “See?”

  On the floor rested a black duffel bag. “It’s packed,” he said. “I was coming back to you right after Ryan’s party.” He wrapped his arms around her. “Have your life on whatever track you want,” he said. “Just make sure it’s with me.”

  Jo stood on tiptoe and kissed him, putting all of her love into it, filling it with promises.

  “I’ll marry you, Case, as soon as I can, but it’ll have to be in Calamity Falls.”

  He gave her a wary look. “Why is that?”

  “Stavros Pappas says he’ll make the cake just as soon as the stars tell him what kind, Cedric and Charlotte will do the flowers—they’re getting married, too, by the way—Lainey’s dying to wear a hot pink bridesmaid’s dress, and…”

  “I get the picture. We’ve got to get married there or have the whole town mad at us.”

  She leaned back and laughed into his eyes. “And if there’s one thing we don’t want, it’s to have that town mad at us. It could be a disaster.”

  “A calamity,” he added, and winced at his own corny joke. He swept her into his arms and kissed her again. “Nah. Our calamities are over with. Aren’t they, Jo?”

  She answered him with a sly smile.

  “Jo?”

  Reaching out, she took his hand and rested it low on her stomach. “Case, I don’t think Calamity Falls is where we ought to be buying condoms from now on.”

  Confused, he stared into her eyes until the impact of her words hit him. “You mean?”

  Her lips trembled. “I guess we’d better start learning about things like jumping castles, Daddy.”

  “Jo?” he gulped, then he swept her into his arms and danced her around the room.

  “You’re going to make me a father.” He stopped, swiped his hand over his face, and said, “Well, why not? You’ve already made me into a babbling fool.”

  She laughed with him, and then hugged him, secure in his love.

  “That’s the last surprise you have for me, isn’t it?” he asked.

  Her lips curved in a secretive smile.

  “Jo?”

  HARLEQUIN DUETS

  ISBN: 978-1-4603-5543-5

  DRIVE-BY DADDY

  Copyright © 2000 by Cheryl Anne Porter

  CALAMITY JO

  Copyright © 2000 by Patricia Knoll

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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