“Oh, Dylan, knowing his real dad loves him isn’t going to turn his world upside down. It’s just going to bring more love into his life. Steve and his boys taught me that when they accepted Shane and me right from the beginning. You’re the one who was so certain Shane would be better off without you. I never thought it. Not really. Neither did Steve, though he was grateful to you for wanting him to be a real dad to Shane. I always hoped you’d realize one day what you’d given up.”
He stared at her in amazement. He could tell that she honestly meant what she’d said, that whatever ill will had been between them was in the past. “You’re a remarkable woman, Kit. Why didn’t I know that?”
“Maybe I did my best to see that you never saw it,” she said wryly. She glanced at the clock. “Shane will be home soon. Want to stick around?”
“More than anything,” Dylan admitted, then felt panic clawing at his insides. What if he’d waited too long? What if Shane didn’t even know who he was? Would he be able to bear it? “Maybe we should do this another day. Shouldn’t you talk to Steve first? Maybe a lawyer?”
“This is between you and me and Shane,” she said. “The legalities can be worked out later. As for Steve, we agreed from the beginning that if you ever changed your mind, we’d amend the agreement. Frankly, what surprised us both—especially after those surreptitious little visits of yours—was that it took you so long.”
He shook his head at her ability to read him so well. “Why didn’t you just knock me upside the head back then and tell me what a mistake I was making?”
“Would you have listened?”
“Probably not,” he admitted.
“Which is exactly why it seemed like such a waste of time. Besides, I’ll admit to being selfish enough back then to want Shane all to myself. I figured you didn’t deserve him.”
Just then Dylan heard the rumble of what was most likely a school bus outside. His pulse accelerated.
“Is that him?”
Kit nodded. “Prepare to be caught up in a tornado.”
Less than a minute later, the front door opened, then slammed shut.
“Mommy!” The excited shout just about raised the rafters. “I’m home!”
“In the kitchen, Shane.”
“Baking cookies?” he asked hopefully as he ran into the room, then skidded to a stop at the sight of Dylan. He inched closer to his mother, eyeing Dylan warily. Kit kept a light hand resting on his shoulder, but said nothing. Dylan was at a loss for words.
“I know you,” Shane said after what seemed like an eternity. He looked up at Kit. “Don’t I?”
She nodded.
“You’re the man in the picture.”
Dylan felt as if his heart had stopped. “What picture is that?”
“In my room. Mommy told me it was my dad, my real dad. She said Steve adopted me, so he’s a real dad, too. She said I’m really lucky to have two dads.”
Dylan felt the sharp sting of tears in his eyes and blinked them away. If he and Kit had been alone at that moment, he might have bawled like a baby, he was so grateful to her for keeping him alive in Shane’s mind. He glanced up at her and mouthed silently, “Thank you.”
Shane tilted his head in a way that was pure Delacourt and studied Dylan. “Am I right? Are you my dad?”
Dylan nodded. “I am.” He hesitated, then asked, “Would you mind if I gave you a hug? I’ve really, really missed you.”
“I guess.”
Shane said it with the obvious reluctance and distaste of a typical boy his age. It was such a normal reaction, Dylan almost laughed. He knelt down, opened his arms and waited until Shane came to him. If it had been up to him, the hug would have lasted forever, but he knew Shane couldn’t possibly understand why such a simple gesture meant so much to him that he wanted it to go on and on.
The instant Dylan released him, Shane turned to his mother. “So, did you bake cookies today or not?”
“Chocolate chip,” Kit said, sounding as emotional as Dylan felt. “They’re in the cookie jar. Take two.”
Shane darted to the counter, climbed up on a step stool and reached for the cookie jar. He came out with a handful of cookies. Grinning, he held them toward Dylan. “You want some? Mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies in the world.”
“I remember.” He accepted the cookies, then asked, “Are these your favorites?”
“Pretty much. How about you?”
“Definitely.” There were a thousand other things he wanted to know, a thousand questions to be asked, but he knew he’d have to ease into this new relationship, give all of them time to adjust.
With Kit staying in the background, they munched their cookies in companionable silence. Dylan felt the situation called for something momentous, but maybe sharing chocolate chip cookies with his son was exactly right. He figured a fireworks display and whoops of joy would have put the boy off. This was—he searched for the right word—this was a beginning, he concluded. He knew, too, that he couldn’t have asked for—much less deserved—anything more.
“Mommy, can I go outside now?” Shane asked, already anticipating a positive response and heading toward the back door.
Kit nodded. “In the yard or, if you want to ride your bike, on the sidewalk out front. Nowhere else, okay?”
“Got it,” Shane said. At the door, he glanced back at Dylan. “Are you gonna be my dad for real from now on?”
“I’d like that very much.”
“Do I have to go away with you?”
“No,” Dylan said, thinking of another little boy who’d been taken from his home all too recently. “I’ll come here, if it’s okay with you and your mom and dad.”
“Will you bring me stuff sometimes?”
“Shane!” Kit protested.
“Well, Jimmy’s real dad brings him presents all the time.”
Dylan winked at him. “Oh, I think you can count on me bringing you things from time to time, if your mom says it’s okay.”
A smile spread across Shane’s face. “Two dads. This is so cool.”
And then he bounded out the door, letting it slam behind him.
Just like that, as if in answer to a prayer, Dylan had his son back. And it was all because of Kelsey and another little boy who’d come into his life and made him see what he’d given up.
He knew then that he didn’t want to wait, couldn’t wait to bring the two of them into his life forever. Waiting could cost a man everything that really mattered. He would never risk that kind of loss again.
Dylan impulsively stopped and bought the biggest diamond in the jewelry store on the way back to Los Pin˜os. Kelsey was probably figuring he’d start out slow, maybe ask for a date. He intended to go for the gold right from the start.
He found her at the clinic, surrounded by kids getting preschool physicals. He shuddered at the number already clutching lollipops as proof that they’d bravely withstood their shots. Kelsey caught sight of him in the waiting room and stumbled over whatever she’d been about to say to the mother standing with her. Then she deliberately glanced down at the chart in her hand, gathered her composure and went on as if he weren’t there. As soon as mother and child were on their way, she beckoned to him.
“Mr. Delacourt, come on into my office.” She smiled at the remaining patients. “This won’t take long.”
Dylan followed her into her office, then shut the door. He studied her in her crisp white lab coat and decided she looked just as sexy in that as she did in those shorts she’d worn around the house. Apparently he was going to get turned on no matter what she wore. Good thing, too, given what he was planning for their future.
“You’re back sooner than I expected,” she said, moving behind her desk as if to keep a safe distance between them.
“I couldn’t stay away.”
“How did things go with Kit?”
“I’ll tell you about it later. Have dinner with me.”
“I can’t,” she said too quickly. “I shouldn’t leave
Bobby again tonight.”
Dylan regarded her intently. “You’re not getting nervous about being alone with me, are you?”
“Of course not,” she retorted indignantly, but there were bright patches of color on her cheeks.
“Tsk, tsk, doc. Fibbing doesn’t suit you.”
“You come to dinner at my house tonight,” she countered as if that would prove her bravery.
“With Bobby as chaperone? How convenient,” he taunted.
Her chin rose at that. “He has a very early bedtime.”
Dylan grinned. “Things are looking up. How about you, darlin’? Do you have an early bedtime?”
She stared at him. “What has gotten into you?”
“I’m a man on a mission.”
The statement clearly disconcerted her. “What sort of a mission?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Tell me now. I’m an impatient woman.”
“Here? You want me to tell you here, in your office, with all those people just outside?” He followed her behind her desk, leaned down until his mouth hovered over hers.
“Mmm-hmm,” she murmured.
“I was thinking more along the lines of something with moonlight and roses, but if you say so…”
She swallowed hard. “Dylan, what…this isn’t about…you’re not going to…”
He touched a finger to her lips. “Hush. Let me say it.”
“I don’t think—”
“It’s not the time or the place,” he agreed. “But what the heck? We’re an unconventional pair. We do things our own way. Why not ask you to marry me in your office, especially now that I’ve seen just how cute you are in that lab coat?”
“Marry you?” she echoed, clearly stunned. “You’re asking me to marry you? Are you serious?”
He waved the jewelry box under her nose, then gestured for her to take it. “See for yourself.”
She put her hands behind her back as if she didn’t dare. Dylan opened the box instead. Kelsey gasped. Her eyes widened in wonder.
“You are serious.”
“Every bit as serious as one of those needles you’ve been poking around with today.”
“Why? What?” Her gaze searched his face. “Dylan, are you sure?”
“That I love you? Yes. Absolutely. Seeing Shane again also made me see that I don’t want to waste any more of my life being separated from the people I love. You’re one of those people. You and Bobby.”
“Just like that?” she asked incredulously.
He nodded. “Just like that.”
She shook her head as if to clear it. “Dylan, I can’t think.”
“Don’t think. Feel. What do you feel right now?”
“Overwhelmed,” she said at once. “Dizzy.”
He tucked a finger under her chin, waited for her to meet his gaze. “And?”
“In love,” she whispered. “I don’t understand why or how it happened so fast, but it’s true. I love you.”
“Then can you think of a single reason to wait?”
“I can think of a million reasons to wait,” she said, regarding him with mock severity. Then a smile spread across her face. “But not a one of them really matters.”
“Then we’re on? You’ll marry me?”
“Yes,” she sighed against his lips. “Oh, yes.”
“If there weren’t a whole waiting room full of people out there, I would make love to you right here and now,” he told her.
“I could get rid of them,” she offered.
“But you won’t. You’re entirely too responsible. I admire that, usually. I can wait until later.”
“Tonight?”
“Or our wedding night,” he suggested. “Maybe that should be the one traditional thing we do.”
“Tonight,” she repeated very firmly.
Dylan laughed at the prospect of two control freaks butting heads from now through eternity. “If you say so, darlin’,” he said, proving that he’d very recently learned the art of compromise.
“I say so,” she said, seizing the last word.
He figured he’d let her get away with it…this time.
Epilogue
Impulsiveness could only go so far. Kelsey made Dylan wait for two months before walking down the aisle. She insisted there were too many things to be settled, such as whether he was going to accept Justin’s offer to work as a deputy sheriff and which brand of toothpaste they were going to use. She wanted all of those pesky little details ironed out before the ceremony. She intended to start their married life in blissful unanimity.
Of course, things got a little crazy when it came time to decide on how big a wedding to have. Harlan Adams won out with his bid for a lavish affair, held in the same church where all of the Adamses had been wed. There were two ring bearers—Bobby and Shane—two maids of honor—Lizzy and Trish—and a whole slew of ushers. Jeb was the best man.
As for the honeymoon, with Bobby staying safely at Lizzy’s Dylan had refused to tell her a single thing. He’d swept her away from the ceremony, escorted her to the Delacourt Oil corporate jet, and for most of the trip he’d plied her with champagne and kisses to keep her questions to a minimum. After a while she hadn’t much cared if they wound up on a beach in Hawaii or in a snow-bank in Alaska. Or stayed at thirty thousand feet.
“We are not making love for the first time in a jet,” Dylan declared eventually, drawing away with obvious reluctance.
“Why not? The idea of flying high on love doesn’t suit such a staid individual as yourself?”
“Staid? Me?” He regarded her indignantly.
She reached for the top button on his shirt and slowly undid it. “Prove me wrong,” she challenged. She leaned forward and ran the tip of her tongue over his lower lip. He shuddered.
“Kelsey.”
His protest sounded a lot like a moan, so she decided to put a little more effort into getting him to loosen up. She worked the next button loose and caressed his upper lip with her tongue, then dipped inside his mouth until they were both gasping for breath.
There was a lot to be said for surprising Dylan with her inventiveness. It was having a very provocative effect on her own libido, too. She’d never had the time or the lighthearted daring to experiment with her own sexuality with Paul. Dylan seemed to welcome it, even if he was somewhat bemused by it. In fact, he was beginning to look downright dazed.
“Doesn’t this fancy jet have a bed?” she inquired, gazing around at the luxurious interior and concluding that this was a life-style she could get used to.
“I doubt there’s been much need for one before now,” Dylan said dryly. “It’s mostly used for business trips.”
“Don’t the Delacourt men ever rest?”
“Not so you’d notice.”
“Too bad,” she said, then tried a release button to see just how far the seat would go back. “Not bad,” she observed when Dylan was all but prone. His eyes widened as she inched over to join him.
“Kelsey, I really don’t think…”
“Ssh.” She touched a finger to his lips. “This isn’t about thinking. It’s about discovery and exploration. Since you’re part of an oil family, those terms should be familiar.”
“I’m a private investigator,” he reminded her, though a smile was building at the corners of his mouth.
“Then investigate,” she said boldly, sitting up so she was straddling him.
“Oh, baby,” he murmured, but his hands fumbled with the buttons on her blouse, then made short work of her bra.
His heated gaze settled on her breasts with such longing that she could feel the nipples tighten into hard little buds. When his mouth closed over one, she sucked in a shocked breath, then moaned with pure pleasure. “Oh, Dylan,” she said with a sigh. “I want you so much.”
“Since I could never deny you anything, I guess that means we make love here and now,” he said with feigned resignation. “Are you really sure you don’t want to wait for fancy sheets and buck
ets of champagne?”
She picked up her glass and dribbled a few drops of champagne on his chest, then leaned down and slowly licked them up. “There’s more than enough champagne right here to make things interesting.”
“Kelsey, I’ve gotta admit this is a side of you I never imagined.”
She laughed at his perplexed expression. “Hey, I grew up playing doctor, remember? How about you?”
“Not once,” he admitted.
“Then now’s your chance. I’ll let you know if you’re getting it right.”
“I’m so glad I have an expert on hand to advise me.”
“Something tells me you’ll be a very apt pupil,” she said as his hands moved from her breasts to her hips, then began working on the snap of her slacks. Desire took away the last of her breath as she gave in to sensation—heating skin, slick caresses, intimate kisses.
She murmured praise and yearning in a mix that quickly turned to almost incoherent pleas as the coil of tension inside her spiraled tighter and tighter. Only when she was at the very edge did Dylan lift her hips, then settle her over him until he was deep inside.
Complete, she thought with amazement. This was what it felt like to be whole, to know the wonder of being one with another person. How had she not known about this in all the years she and Paul had rushed through sex, fitting it into a schedule already filled to bursting with other commitments? That was why, of course. They had had no leisure, no time or inclination for the pure enjoyment of each other’s bodies. How terribly sad, she thought right before she gave herself completely to wicked sensation.
Yet how right that she was discovering this now with the man who was her future, the man who had given her back her son, then blessed her with a stepson she was rapidly coming to love.
Dylan looked deep into her eyes and seemed to understand what was going on in her head, seemed to know that she’d been thinking too much about the past. He intensified his movements, made the thrusts deeper and longer until she could no longer think of anything except him and this burning need to reach some elusive goal.
Then suddenly she was there, her whole body quaking with a climax that drove everything else from her head. Dylan was right with her, too, his timing as impeccable as ever.
Dylan and the Baby Doctor Page 18
