While she got out of her dress and into a comfortable pair of cotton shorts and a tank top, Dylan headed into the living room. He slipped out of his jacket and reached for the phone to place the order for food.
Ten minutes later they met back up in the kitchen.
“Food’ll be here any minute. How about a glass of wine?” He knew she was nursing Sarah, and even though he hadn’t seen her take a drink of anything alcoholic since he’d known her, tonight she looked like she could use something stronger than tea or juice.
Baylee took down plates, started setting the table. “Actually, I wouldn’t mind a beer.”
A little surprised, Dylan moved to the fridge, twisted off the cap, and handed her the bottle, turning back to open one for himself.
She took a seat at the table, studying her hands. “I’m so sorry about the restaurant.”
“Hey, don’t be. My sister says it’s hard to go out to eat with a kid. And Sarah’s just a baby. Who knows what set her off?” He took a seat at the table. When he glanced at her and saw her chin trembling, he laid his hand over both of hers. “Baylee.”
“I’m a mess, Dylan. My life’s a mess. I shouldn’t be here. I should call my friend in Denver.” She certainly didn’t want to move again. But this arrangement wasn’t working. The two of them living here together was awkward. It was obvious she was getting in the way of his social life. This was never going to work. Any other Saturday night, Melissa would be here instead of her.
“You’re just tired. I know you haven’t been sleeping. New mother, new baby doesn’t sleep through the night. That’s all it is, fatigue. You’re worn out.”
“I never should have tried to do this by myself, raise Sarah by myself. I thought I could do it. I was so sure, but I’m so tired.” She leaned her head down on the table. The waterworks began in earnest.
Dylan swallowed hard. He moved to put his arms around her. “Cry it out. You’ll feel better.” He got up to get her a paper towel. When she took it out of his hand, he noticed both of her hands were shaking.
“When I first found out I was pregnant, I was about six weeks along. I was pretty sure of the timing because I hadn’t been with anyone else. I haven’t been on a damned date in almost two years. Anyway, when I found out I was pregnant; I knew it had to be from that night with Connor, after the charity event. There was no other explanation. So I made an appointment at a clinic, sat there in my car for about half an hour in the parking lot; I even opened the car door and got out once. But then, I decided I wanted this baby.
“My own mother didn’t want me, Dylan. I had this chance to be a mom. It might be the only one I ever got. I so needed to confide in Kit and Quinn about all of it, but I just couldn’t. Connor was calling me every day, threatening me, reminding me I better not tell anyone about what had happened. How could I remain here in L.A. and not be able to explain how I got pregnant without telling Kit and Quinn what really happened?” She sobbed harder. “I had to leave, don’t you see?”
That son of a bitch, thought Dylan. Fury raged through him as he realized Connor had manipulated Baylee by using how close she was to her friends, using it as the hammer. He’d known exactly what to say to make his threat carry more weight.
“He put you in a tough spot. But from what I’ve seen Kit and Quinn would have been there for you through your pregnancy. He knew how close you were to your friends and used that, forced you into a corner.”
“They would have too. I knew that. But I let him run me off. I was scared.”
“Anyone would have been.”
“Once I decided to have the baby, I went to Denver. I told Kit and Quinn I was heading to Europe to try and find my mother. Despite everything, I had a good pregnancy, a little morning sickness through the fourth month, but I was happy. My friend, Blair Rafferty, managed a temp office. She got me a job at a travel agency answering phones. I worked there up to three days before Sarah was born. I was so sure I could do this. But now…”
“Why are you questioning yourself now, Baylee? Just because she cried at the restaurant, kicked up a fuss? She was tired, keyed up. You both were, still are. That isn’t your fault.”
“We made a scene. Everyone was staring at us. You could tell they wanted us out of there. You were embarrassed. Don’t deny it, Dylan. I could tell.”
“Maybe, a little.” He chuckled. “It was a new experience for me. And apparently it was for you, too. I’ve learned that when taking a baby anywhere you should expect anything. I won’t deny I was embarrassed. I kept thinking they were looking at us like we were the ones causing her to cry like that.”
“I couldn’t get her to stop crying. I just wanted to go out to dinner. Was that so wrong?”
The doorbell rang.
Dylan brightened, relieved to be back on track. “Dinner’s here. Let’s eat outside, listen to the surf. I’ll grab the food and the baby monitor.”
Baylee sniffed. “Okay. I’ll take the plates outside.”
On the deck, they watched the waves, and ate Kung Pao chicken and Moo Goo Gai Pan. Baylee’s mood lifted. How could it not? Looking out into the remnants of the sinking sun, they actually had a conversation without her breaking down and weeping all over him.
He learned she was a sports fanatic, like Kit and Quinn. She liked hockey, but was crazy about football, specifically the Oakland Raiders.
“No way. Bay area native here. The Raiders are my favorite team.”
“Dad had season tickets to the Raiders when they were here in L.A. Before the team moved back to Oakland, we went to a few home games at the Coliseum. And Kit and I were at the Super Bowl in San Diego when they got blown out by Tampa Bay, lost 48 to 21. They embarrassed themselves. The only reason Quinn didn’t make the trip was because she stayed behind to cram for a major exam.”
“You’re kidding? I was at that game with Jake and Reese.”
“You were at Qualcomm Stadium for the 2003 Super Bowl? Where were you sitting?”
“Between the forty and fifty yard line, South side, up a few rows. What about you?”
“South side. Between the forty and fifty yard line, midway up. We must have used the same ticket agent.”
“That’s incredible. We were at the same Raider game. Not many women enjoy watching football.” He remembered it hadn’t been all that difficult to get a date for the game, but it had been damned near impossible to find a woman who would watch the action with him for the full four quarters.
“Hey, all of us love watching football, UCLA games, of course. We try to get tickets when the Bruins play Cal every year. But I never miss a Raider game on TV. I keep thinking one day we’ll get another NFL franchise in the L.A. market, but it doesn’t mean I’d stop rooting for the Raiders.”
“Cal graduate just like Jake and Reese. I can see rough times ahead whenever Cal plays the Bruins.”
“I know. I saw the pictures on your desk in Sarah’s room.”
“Interested enough for a little wager when the season starts this fall?”
“Absolutely.”
They tidied up after eating, and moved into the house, settling into the living room on the sofa. Dylan automatically turned on the TV. “How about a movie?”
She wasn’t sure she could keep her eyes open. But after he had stood up good old Melissa this evening, she felt like she should at least try to make an effort to be sociable. This was his house after all. And he’d been a good sport during her meltdown. Two, actually.
“Sure. What have you got?”
He pointed to a cabinet where he kept a collection of DVDs. “Ladies’ choice.”
She went over and started thumbing through the titles until she came to the original 1968 Night of the Living Dead. “How about this?” It was the Thirtieth Anniversary Edition. How cool was that?
He’d been ready for her to pull out the only chick flick he owned, Sleepless in Seattle, which women seemed unable to pass up while he found it boring as hell. But she surprised him. “Are you sure you want to watch s
ci-fi, bloodthirsty zombies?”
Taking a seat on the couch, she kicked off her shoes and got comfortable. “Technically, I consider this horror, not sci-fi, and it’s a classic. But yeah, I like cheesy horror, like Shaun of the Dead. Priceless.”
Was she putting him on? “I loved that movie. How about a double feature, what say, we make it zombie night?” The woman watched football, liked cheesy horror flicks, looked like a swimsuit model in a mismatched bikini, and filled out a pair of jeans in a way that made a man weep. How lucky could a guy get?
Dylan found that watching a movie with a true film buff, a movie he’d seen twenty times previously, brought a new dimension to it because Baylee knew all the cool trivia. “A lot of people don’t know that since it was filmed in black and white the director used chocolate sauce for the blood. The actors playing the zombies had to eat so much of the stuff they got sick from all the chocolate. And the scene where the undead eat the burning flesh, they were actually gnawing on ham.”
Dylan laughed at the details she provided; he couldn’t help it. Nothing like behind the scenes trivia to spice up a true film buff’s enjoyment.
During the break between movies, despite the baby monitor, Baylee went in and physically checked on Sarah just for her own peace of mind. When she came back, she got comfortable on the couch again and announced, “I have to do something about my hair.”
As he loaded the second feature into the DVD player, he absently asked, “What’s wrong with your hair?”
“It’s brown.”
Baffled as to what the color of her hair had to do with anything, he turned to stare at the hair in question. It looked just as good down around her shoulders as it had when she’d had it up at the restaurant. Rubbing his chin, he pondered the dicey path before him. Women were indeed strange creatures, information from the data bank that came from sharing a bathroom for so many years with his older sister. And his mother had her own little nuances that a sensible son never questioned. Carefully, he tested the waters. “So?”
“I have to bleach it back. I’m a blonde, as blonde as you are, or was.”
“Blonde?” He tilted his head to give her a long once-over. “You dyed your hair?” And then the tumblers clicked into place. Since her hair was no longer up in that twisted knot she’d worn earlier, he picked up a few loose strands, ran them through his fingers. “This was your version of a disguise.”
“Obviously, it didn’t work.”
When she yawned his eyes remained on her mouth. She felt his gaze. Her eyes locked on his. Her pulse bumped up. Baylee felt the tug of warmth, the pull of heat move through her like an electric current. Before she knew what was happening, he had her drawn into his chest.
Need kicked in. She responded in an instant, clinging to his shirt.
His teeth nipped, tugged on her mouth, urging her to open. He was practiced, skilled. When he moved from her mouth to nibble that sensitive part just below her ear, he felt her body tremble. It was his undoing. Her little panting breaths sent him further down that measured slide toward a burning inferno.
The pull in her lower belly had her thinking how long it had been. His hands roamed over her back, her rear. They fell back against the couch cushions. He found her mouth again. With his tongue he began to explore the textures within.
They came up for air. “Baylee.”
“Dylan. What was that?”
“Heat.” But he tried to make a joke. “Has it really been so long you don’t recognize a kiss?” He had no choice, but to make light of it. The kiss had been electric. Better than he thought. And he had thought about it in detail. When she started to speak, he put a finger to her mouth. “Don’t say anything. We’re just gonna sit here and watch another movie, that’s all. Take it nice and slow.” He tried to convince himself as much as her. For several long seconds, he repeated this mantra over and over to himself. He could just as easily have led her to the bedroom now. But she was a guest in his house. And he was lusting after a mother of a little baby sleeping just down the hall.
“I’d forgotten what it was like.” Had a kiss ever punched through her libido like that one?
When he pushed the button on the remote, starting the DVD player, he tried to sound casual and act like it was no big deal. “Anytime you need a reminder, just let me know.”
“Are you just feeling sorry for me, Dylan?”
“That’s unlikely. There’s the fact that I’m attracted to you first of all. But, I think you’re the strongest woman I’ve ever known.”
“Is that why you offered me a place to stay? Because you’re attracted to me?”
“A little. Maybe. I want to get to know you. I want you to know me. I don’t want Connor to find you. Any man, who did what he did, is perverse, twisted.” And the thought that Connor had probably done it to countless other women several times before Baylee nagged at him. “You needed a place he didn’t know about. Now what I don’t understand is why you’d think I’d feel sorry for you?”
“Because I was a blubbering idiot earlier. Because I’ve got Sarah. Because I’m a…”
“Mess,” he finished for her. “I know. And Sarah is the reason we’re going to take it nice and slow.” And he’d do it if he had to cool this need inside him several times a day.
When the movie credits rolled, they turned their attention to the screen, but they remained locked together in an embrace.
It felt good to have his arms wrapped around her, she thought, as she tried not to drift into that fantasy-land where this man would actually love and care for her and Sarah. Even though she had no business going there, she floated along on gossamer wings toward a world that didn’t really exist―and never had, at least, not for her.
Across town, the tremor went virtually unnoticed, mainly because Trevor focused on the new game in town. His name was Uri Jankovic, a hit man the Serbian mob favored. It wasn’t the first time Trevor had crossed paths with this particular hired gun. Ten years earlier he’d shown up in Moscow when they’d both been after the same target. Trevor took some comfort knowing Jankovic was a shoddy hack who made frequent mistakes and had over the years been known to inflate his skills to land a job.
Just before midnight, Trevor watched from a distance as a rented, big-ass Chrysler 300 sedan pulled up in front of the gates at The Enclave. Once past the security guard, the Chrysler crawled along the path to Connor Boyd’s place. When Jankovic finally emerged from the car, Trevor noted the man looked like he’d gained at least forty pounds. He’d been a sloppy mess before, but now the man was overweight and out of shape, not exactly a sterling opponent. But there was no mistaking this was the same man he’d seen bumble so many jobs around the globe.
Knowing Geller had hired an incompetent like Jankovic told Trevor everything he needed to know. Frank Geller was either desperate or had taken the cheap route. Jankovic was far from the best. In Trevor’s world, the man was known to have bungled more jobs than he’d completed. Obviously, Geller hadn’t asked for references.
The listening device told Trevor they were indeed panicking. It didn’t take long for their byplay to annoy him. Did these people ever take responsibility for their own behavior? He doubted any of them ever had. But at least he didn’t have to guess what they were planning. What a bunch of clowns!
There was no doubt in Trevor’s mind who would win this round.
And it wouldn’t be Jankovic.
CHAPTER 10 Book 2
Through a haze of sleep, Dylan thought he heard baby babble. But his focus, without opening his eyes, was on the sinuous female body nestled on top of his from chin to toe.
He smelled her hair, moved his head slightly to nestle further in its softness as each strand fanned out over his chest. He felt the curvy shape of breasts and nipples as the points touched his belly through his shirt. Hard as iron, all he had to do was…
He felt something damp on his stomach. He blinked awake about the same time Baylee’s head popped up. They were still on the living room sofa, stret
ched out lengthwise. Baylee’s body rested atop his. The last thing he remembered from last night was looking down at Baylee and realizing she’d fallen asleep. They had cuddled together and now…
Mussed from sleep, he watched as she touched her hand to her tank top.
“Oh my God, what time is it?”
He saw distinct wet spots on the top where her nipples sat erect. He was suddenly aware that her breasts had leaked through her shirt and onto his stomach. As her face turned several shades of pink, she too, was aware of that fact. Lifting his arm so he could read his watch, he struggled to zone in on the time. “Six-thirty. I think.”
Her embarrassment turned to joy as she pushed her hair off her face and leaned up at him. Her lips curved. “She didn’t wake up. Sarah finally slept through the night.”
In this split second, her joy suddenly became his. He grinned. “I guess she was as worn out as we were.”
As she shifted to crawl off him, Baylee felt the evident bulge in his jeans. Without meaning to, her eyes drifted downward, stayed there as desire warmed her from the inside out until deeper color flushed her cheeks. Her breasts dripped even more.
Then more baby babble filled the air.
Baylee pushed the rest of the way off, trying to get her mind off that bulge. “I…I have to go feed…Sarah.”
He lifted his head in time to see her bolt down the hallway. Through the baby monitor, he heard her go through the motions of tending to the baby, changing her diaper, getting her dressed, settling her to her breast.
Maybe the monitors positioned all over the house were a bad idea, a really bad idea. He could still feel Baylee’s small, delectable body on top of his. He sucked in a breath.
Lying there, he knew one thing.
He was a man who’d traveled all over the world. After college he’d taken off across Europe before settling into his job as Jake’s lead programmer. Over the years, the success of Billing-Pro Software had allowed him to explore a number of exotic destinations in places like Wales and Japan in pursuit of both business and pleasure. He’d bedded dozens of women, all shapes, all kinds. He’d enjoyed every one of them. But he’d never wanted a woman more than he did the one down the hall with the baby—the one living in his house.
Evil Secrets Trilogy Boxed Set Page 51
