Daddy 101 (American Romance)

by Leigh, Jo

  There was no use denying the fact that just watching her, even now when she looked flustered and angry, was enough to get him half hard. Damn.

  She swung the front door open and walked in, not waiting for him to even reach the front stoop. He followed. The first thing he noticed was the artwork. Finger painting. On the wall. Directly. No canvas. It was actually pretty good.

  Dani noticed it, too. She took a deep breath, looked up the staircase and called, “Chloe Jacobson, you get your little butt down here right this minute!”

  Behind him, Alex heard a snuffle, and he turned toward the living room. There was an elderly woman stretched out on the couch, just stirring from a nap. Then he heard stomping, and he turned back to the stairs.

  He saw a perfectly beautiful little girl coming down to join them. The green paint on her face, in her hair and on her hands did little to mask her prettiness. She looked just like a younger version of Dani.

  “What’s this?” Dani said, pointing to the painting.

  “It’s a landscape,” the girl said.

  “Why is it on the wall?”

  Chloe shook her head slowly. “It’s a mural. They’re supposed to be on the wall.”

  “Don’t you think you should have asked permission before you painted a mural on my wall?”

  “You would have said no.” The girl reached the landing and stared up at Alex. He’d originally thought she was very young. Seven or eight. But after that bit of conversation, he revised his estimate. Maybe she was just little for her age.

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  “I’m Alex Bradley,” he said, a bit unnerved by her inquisitive gaze. He wasn’t used to kids.

  “He’s a guest,” Dani said. “He’ll be here for a day or so.”

  “Why?” Chloe asked.

  “Because I’m taking care of his dog.” Dani went over to the masterpiece on the wall and touched the paint. “It’s dry.”

  “Not completely,” Chloe said, dismissing him. “So be careful.”

  “It’s not going to stay here,” Dani said.

  “Why not? You’re always encouraging me to express myself.”

  “Chloe.” The word was drawn out, with a slight upturn at the end. It signaled trouble, and Alex wasn’t the only one to notice.

  “Oh, all right. But honestly, Mother. You can be so narrow-minded sometimes.”

  Alex heard a gasp from the living room. The woman on the couch was up now, and she’d seen the mural. “Oh, heavens. Chloe, what did you do?”

  Chloe looked at the woman with highly intelligent and somewhat devilish eyes. “I tried to bring a little culture into the house, that’s all.”

  “It’s all right, Mimi,” Dani said. “You can go on home. Ralph is waiting on his dinner. Thanks for watching her.”

  “But—”

  “Chloe’s going to clean it all up. Aren’t you, Chloe?”

  With a dramatic sigh, Chloe crossed her green spattered arms over her chest in a gesture that was pure Dani. Mimi collected her things and after a long look at Alex, then another long look at Dani, shook her head and left.

  Dani turned toward Chloe. “While you’re at it, clean yourself up, too. You look like a leprechaun.”

  Alex heard the little girl snort before she headed toward the back of the house.

  Dani turned to him, her exasperation evident. At least she wasn’t still angry at him. “That was my daughter.”

  “Interesting kid,” he said.

  “You have no idea.” Dani shook her head. “She’s eight. Eight. I’m just so looking forward to her teenage years!”

  “She seems awfully sophisticated,” he said.

  “That’s one way of putting it. Chloe is gifted. She’s also clever, manipulative and whatever you do, don’t play cards with her.”

  “No?”

  Dani shook her head. “The last person who played with Chloe lost a hundred and forty-two dollars.”

  “Wow.”

  “She counts cards.”

  “I see.”

  “And cheats.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “So just be careful.”

  “Okay.”

  “And quit looking at me like that.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like that. With those eyes.”

  “They’re the only eyes I have.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  He almost denied it. But he did know what she meant. What he didn’t know was if he could stop. She was just so damn...something. There was the kicker. He didn’t know what she was. Or why he couldn’t keep his equilibrium around her. “Maybe I should just go to my room.”

  She nodded. “Right. Follow me.”

  Dani led him to the staircase, and he was treated to the lovely and evocative view of her behind as she walked up. Even though she was quite petite, her derrière flared nicely from her small waist. He wanted the stairs to go on quite a bit farther than they did.

  Once they were on the second floor, she walked him past two rooms, one clearly Chloe’s bedroom, and a bathroom. Then she opened up a third door and waited for him to enter.

  The room was small, but comfortable. A queen-size bed was the centerpiece. A dresser, a night-stand and a television comprised the rest of the decor. The built-in bookcases on the right wall were full, and she had a Chagall print above the bed. Everything looked right, and neat and none of it felt like Dani.

  “There are fresh towels in the bathroom,” she said. “If you need anything else, let me know.”

  He walked to the bed and put his suitcase down. When he turned, she was still at the door. “Thank you,” he said. “I know this is inconvenient for you. I promise I’ll stay out of your hair.”

  She stared at him a minute more, then he heard her sigh. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten so bent out of shape.”

  “It’s okay. It happens.”

  “It didn’t need to happen with you,” she said. “I’ve been a little edgy lately, is all.”

  He moved toward her, and he saw her hand tighten on the doorknob. “It’s very nice of you to let me hang around. For Pete’s sake, I mean.”

  “He’s going to be fine,” she said, her gaze locked on to his.

  He took another step, watching to see if she’d back up. She didn’t.

  “You can come see him tomorrow,” she said, her voice just a tiny bit shaky.

  He was very close to her now. Close enough to take her into his arms. To kiss her. To run his hands down her back and cup her derrière. But he didn’t. At least he was sane enough to realize his thoughts were completely out of line. They’d just met. She didn’t like him very much. He was a guest in her home. But, damn, he wanted to taste that mouth. The mouth that opened slightly. The lips she moistened with the tip of her pink tongue. But he didn’t. He didn’t.

  She did.

  Chapter Three

  Dani leaned forward. It wasn’t a voluntary motion. Something pulled her from the front, pushed her from the back. If she kept going, her lips would meet his.

  Her eyes widened as she inched toward him. She could see the surprise in his gaze, the slow smile. She willed herself to stop just as she raised on tiptoes. If he leaned forward a fraction of an inch, they would kiss. If she moved even a smidgen, it would happen.

  Then the unseen hands released her. Her sanity rushed back with a thud as she quickly moved backward. Heat filled more than her cheeks. Her whole face, her neck, even her hands were infused with hot humiliation.

  “I’d better unpack,” he said, his voice low and husky.

  “Uh-huh,” she said, her eloquence only matched by her mature demeanor. She could only be grateful, immeasurably grateful, that he had the good taste not to bring up her momentary lapse.

  She stepped farther back, closing his door, wanting to get the heck away from Alex Bradley and his lips.

  “But I will want that kiss,” he said. “Later.”

  She slammed the door shut and buried her head in her hands.
What in hell had she been thinking? Was she nuts? She’d almost kissed a stranger. A rich, powerful, handsome stranger who was a guest in her home. A man she seriously disliked on general principles. A man she knew better than to talk to, let alone kiss, because she knew all too well that kind of man was nothing but trouble. She couldn’t let him think...

  She turned abruptly and opened the door once more. Alex stood by the bed, boxer shorts in one hand, a pair of socks in the other.

  “I won’t,” she said.

  “Won’t what?”

  “Kiss you.”

  “Okay.”

  She slammed the door again, and this time, she walked away. Her confusion, however, didn’t lessen. What had come over her? She wasn’t prone to flights of fancy. Or acting on whims. She was sensible...some said to a fault But her good sense and her no-nonsense approach to life were the very things that had helped her get to this point in her life. She had the career she wanted, she owned her home, and of course there was Chloe.

  Hormones. It had to be hormones running amok. He had pheromones, didn’t he? She obviously was just responding to some primitive smell. That wasn’t her fault. She couldn’t help it if some part of her brain decided to react to his scent.

  Dani hurried down the stairs and went right to her bedroom. On her dresser were several bottles of perfume and lotion. She wasn’t exactly a perfume kind of woman, but this was an emergency. She took the strongest scent she had, Opium, and put a dab behind each ear, then, just for safety’s sake, she put a small drop just below her nose. The heady aroma blocked most anything else, and she instantly felt more relaxed. Let his pheromones try to get past this!

  Feeling much more at ease, Dani left the bedroom and headed for the kitchen. Chloe was there ahead of her, sitting at the table with her pale green hands folded. Dani sighed. It wasn’t the first time her little darling had turned colors. Just the latest.

  “Who is that man, Mommy?”

  “He’s just a guest. I’m taking care of his dog at the clinic.”

  “Why is he staying here? I thought you said you weren’t going to have guests here anymore. That you didn’t have to now that the clinic was starting to pay off and that the last thing you needed was to worry about some stranger walking off with your jewelry or worse?”

  Dani got the hamburger package from the fridge and put it on the counter. “Did you clean off the wall?”

  “Mostly. When did you meet him?”

  “What do you mean, mostly?”

  “Some of it is a little hard to get off. Why are you breaking the rules?”

  Dani got a big bowl from the cupboard and started preparing the meat loaf. She broke a couple of eggs so hard, large pieces of shell fell in and she had to dig them out. “Quit changing the subject, Chloe. I expect that wall to be pristine. You know what pristine means?”

  “Clean,” Chloe said impatiently. “You’re the one changing the subject.”

  Dani turned to her with her best “Mom’s getting fed up” look. “The man’s name is Mr. Bradley. He’s only here for a couple of days, until his dog gets well. It’s not breaking any rules, and besides, they’re my rules, and if I want to break them, I can.”

  Chloe frowned. “Do I have to be nice to him?”

  “Of course you do.”

  “But he’s only going to be here a couple of days, right?”

  “Even if he was only here ten minutes, you’d have to be nice to him.”

  “Well, I don’t like him.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because.”

  “That’s no reason.”

  Chloe’s right brow lifted. “You use it all the time.”

  Once again, Dani realized that having a kid whose IQ was 180 wasn’t for sissies. Her lovely green daughter remembered everything. Every conversation. Every mistake. “That’s a mother’s prerogative,” she said.

  “But that’s not fair.”

  “We’ve talked about fair before, haven’t we?”

  Chloe stood up, and Dani saw that although she’d tried to wash the green paint from her skin, she’d only managed to spread the color to her dress, her upper arms and somehow even her legs.

  “The world isn’t a fair place,” Chloe said, repeating verbatim a conversation that had taken place over two years before. “I might as well get used to the idea.”

  “That’s right.”

  “It still sucks.”

  “Chloe!”

  “What? That’s not a curse word.”

  “It’s close enough.”

  The little girl looked at her with eyes too old and wise for one so young. “I think you asked him to stay here because he looks like a movie star.”

  “What?”

  “He looks like that guy you’re always sighing over. Harrison Ford.”

  “He does not.”

  “Yes, he does.”

  “He... It doesn’t matter,” Dani said, turning back to the meat loaf. “Now go get in the tub, and put that dress into the hamper.”

  “I thought you wanted the wall to be pristine?”

  “Chloe. Just go.”

  “Mothers,” Chloe muttered as she walked slowly out of the room. “I’ll never understand them.”

  Dani couldn’t help but smile. Despite the annoyance of having her own words come back to haunt her time and time again, she wouldn’t trade her little genius for any other kid in the world. Although it would be nice, every once in a while, to slip an easy answer into the mix. To have Chloe look at her with silent awed devotion instead of the quizzical cynicism that had been there since Chloe had learned to talk.

  Dani’s hands plunged into the gooey mess of raw beef, egg and bread crumbs. As she worked, she thought about what Chloe had said. The Harrison Ford remark. It was true Alex did have dark hair, he was tall and well built, and he had those great lines bracketing his mouth that seemed to add such character to his already handsome face. But Harrison Ford? Please. Well, okay. Maybe in Patriot Games. But certainly not Witness.

  She mixed the hamburger for a few more minutes, thinking all the while of the kiss in Witness , the one that was so desperate, so passionate that it fairly leapt off the screen. That was one of her favorite film moments and it never failed to make her squirm just a bit in her seat. Which was a very good reason not to think about it now. Not with him upstairs.

  Being the sensible woman she was, she completely stopped thinking about kisses and movie stars and the man upstairs and concentrated on finishing dinner. Well, almost completely.

  ALEX SURVEYED the small room with a critical eye. It was approximately the size of his closet back home, but it had all the necessary equipment, especially now that he’d set up his computer, fax, printer and cell phone. He could conduct business here as easily as at a hotel, if, that is, he could focus. The distraction level here in Dani’s house was high. The sounds were different from hotel sounds, the ambience less anonymous. And, of course, there was Dani.

  His thoughts hadn’t wandered far from that topic even though he’d made a conscious effort to do so. It was clear she found him somewhat appealing. Just as clear that she didn’t want to find him appealing at all. He wondered, not for the first time, if she had her own set of rules she lived by. Had her mother told her time and time again not to get involved with a man like him? Did she have a checklist, not written on paper but ingrained in her so solidly that each decision was based on a stringent code she’d memorized?

  The thought wasn’t a comfort, even though he completely understood. Certainly Dani didn’t know him well enough to dislike him based on his personality. It had to have been some outside trigger that made her so prickly around him. This wasn’t the first time a woman had given him clear signals to leave her be, but this was different. Dani wasn’t intimidated by him. On the contrary. The “almost” kiss had shown him she found something about him compelling. But it hadn’t changed the fact that she didn’t like him. No, that’s not it. That she didn’t want to like him. What did he represent to her?<
br />
  The question had been rolling around in his brain for the last hour. Somehow, he had to get the answer. Why it was so important wasn’t terribly clear. Maybe he was just bored. Or curious. Or maybe he wanted to change her mind.

  He sat down at the dresser he’d converted to a desktop. It wasn’t comfortable, no place to put his legs, but serviceable. He needed to get online to fetch his E-mail, but there was only one phone hookup in the room. He didn’t want to tie up Dani’s only line.

  He heard a soft tap at the door. “Come in.”

  The door came open slowly. Dani stepped inside. She caught sight of his impromptu desk as he stood.

  “I hope you don’t mind,” he said. “I see you only have one line and I don’t want to tie it up.”

  She shrugged. “I’ve got a private line for work calls. It’s fine.”

  “I’ll pay for any long-distance charges.”

  “I know.”

  He smiled. “Would you like that in cash, up front?”

  She smiled back at him. “I know where to find you if you try to skip town.”

  This was nice. This Dani with her easy smile and gentle humor.

  “Dinner’s ready,” she said. “Downstairs.”

  “Great.”

  “And I called the clinic. Pete’s doing fine. If you like, we can go over to see him after dinner.”

  “I’d like that a lot.”

  Her gaze finally rested on his. He wondered what had happened to change her mood. Her eyes were wide and unguarded, friendly. Something had shifted. But what?

  “Well,” she said, a slight flush coloring her cheek. “There are fresh towels in the bathroom, if you want to wash up.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I hope you like meat loaf and mashed potatoes.”

  “Love ’em.”

  “Good. Okay. Well...”

  “I’ll go get ready.”

  She looked at him for a few more seconds, then turned away abruptly. “Take your time,” she said, pulling the door closed behind her.

  Alex shook his head. He didn’t get it. He’d never had trouble talking to a woman. Not since the onset of puberty at least. But with Dani, it seemed that there were two conversations going on at once. One was mundane and a little stilted. The other was silent, and rife with tension. It was the silent communication that had him intrigued. What did she see when she looked at him that way? And why in hell did he care so much?