Wrongfully Accused

by Ana Barrons

  “No sense horning in on Ben’s glory,” Gabe said, and took another pull on his beer. It tasted flat and went down bitter. Because her hair was up in a high ponytail, he saw the flush that stained the tips of Kate’s ears. He couldn’t remember the last time Joy had shown up at one of Jeremy’s birthday parties. Why this year? And why was she going out of her way to be a first-class bitch?

  Carolyn, God bless her, glared at Joy, then came and stood beside Kate. “I’m sorry I missed the memorial service,” she said quietly. “How are you doing?”

  Kate let out a long breath and Gabe felt his gut uncoil a bit. “Okay,” she said. “Thank you for asking.”

  The doorbell rang, and Carolyn went to answer it, leaving Kate standing there in her white linen capris and navy T-shirt looking impossibly young and out of place, lost in enemy territory. When no one else spoke, she pasted on a smile. “I guess I’ll go out back and say hello to Ben,” she said, and walked past the kitchen, heading for a side door that also led outside.

  Richard threw an arm around his wife’s shoulders and addressed Joy. “Hey, congratulations on getting that bill through committee.”

  Joy ran her fingers through her hair, dipping her chin in that way she had of pretending to be humble. “Thanks, Richard.”

  “Sounds like it’s going to breeze through the House.”

  Joy chuckled. “Nothing breezes through a minority House, but I’m optimistic that it will pass. The president is pushing hard.”

  Lindsay splayed a hand over her chest. “Isn’t it awful about that senator who was murdered inside her house last night?”

  “And right on the heels of the plane explosion,” Richard added.

  “It really is horrifying,” Joy said. “Almost too much to bear.”

  Horrifying didn’t begin to cover it, and the MPD was looking real hard for some connection between Senator D’Argento’s murder and a plane full of congressmen blowing up. But Gabe didn’t think Joy was having such a terrible time bearing it, probably because—

  “At least she was a Democrat.”

  Everyone turned and stared at Richard as though he’d grown another head. The thought had flitted through Gabe’s mind that Joy was rid of an opponent to her bill, but jeez, who would be dumb enough to say it out loud? A glance at his ex-wife told him she was biting her tongue, probably because she didn’t want to chew out her husband with Gabe there.

  “Well, you know, no one wants to say it,” Richard said, “but—”

  “Then don’t say it,” Gabe cut in.

  Richard ignored him. “Who’s not going to vote for the Global Intelligence and Security bill after some bastard blew Drew Franklin out of the sky? Al Qaeda or no al Qaeda?”

  Joy turned pale, then excused herself and went back into the kitchen.

  Richard turned to Lindsay. “What? He wasn’t her husband.”

  Lindsay glanced at Gabe and once again he could see her biting back the caustic retort her moron of a husband had coming. “They were cosponsors of the bill, for God’s sake,” she said in a low voice. “They were close.”

  “Have you actually read the bill, Richard?” Carolyn asked. “The director of Global Intelligence and Security’s going to have so much more power than any one person ever has had, except the dictators, for God’s sake. It’s everything the liberals have been warning us about all these years. One thing I have to say for Kate, at least she wasn’t brainwashed by that—”

  Squeals and shouts from the foyer announced the arrival of Jeremy’s friends and drowned out what promised to be the beginning of a prolonged political battle. Lindsay detached from Richard and started ordering the other adults around, Gabe excluded. According to the unspoken tradition, he would wait until he figured out where Kate was going to be and then be somewhere else.

  He wiped a hand over his face and allowed himself to wonder how Kate had the courage to come to these parties year after year, no doubt feeling like a pariah, putting up with these people’s bad manners. And his.

  Jeremy zoomed around the corner and called to him. “Dad, come on outside.”

  “I’m coming.” He set down his empty beer bottle and went to him, expecting Jeremy to turn and run ahead. But Jeremy’s expression looked pained. “What’s the matter?”

  “How come everybody’s so mean to Aunt Kate?” He pinned Gabe with green eyes shaped so like Steve’s. Gabe wished he could disappear, escape the accusation he saw there. “Why can’t you ever be nice to her?”

  There were few people in Gabe’s life whose respect was important enough to swallow his pride for. His son was at the top of the list. He laid a hand on Jeremy’s shoulder.

  “I’ll go talk to her,” he said.

  Chapter Nine

  As soon as Kate started down the back steps into the yard, Ben put down the long fork he was using to spear hot dogs on to the grill and went to greet her. She was so grateful, tears prickled.

  “Kate.” Ben embraced her. “How are you?”

  “Oh, getting by.”

  He stepped back and studied her. “Doesn’t look like you’re getting enough sleep.”

  She smiled weakly. “I sleep, but it isn’t restful.”

  “The press still camped out on your lawn?”

  She sighed. “Not this morning, but I took two different taxis and went a roundabout way to get here, in case someone was following me.”

  “It’s nice that you came.”

  “You’re probably the only adult who thinks so. I wasn’t going to stay but Jeremy begged me to, so here I am.”

  “I’m glad you’re here too,” Ben said, smiling, then spotted something over her shoulder and frowned.

  Kate turned and saw Gabe approaching, and he wasn’t scowling for once. She was so stunned she didn’t know what to say. He normally stayed as far away from her as humanly possible. Well, except for the times recently when he’d been too close. Too intimate.

  Her heart started pounding as her body remembered. She wouldn’t be that stupid again.

  “Is this a private conversation?” Gabe asked when he reached her side.

  “Why don’t you give her a break?” Ben said.

  “Ben, it’s fine,” Kate said. “I’m sure he’s not going to make a scene at his son’s birthday party.”

  Gabe held her gaze. “No, I’m not. And I think those hot dogs are on fire.”

  “Shit,” Ben muttered and turned to the flaming grill.

  Gabe took her arm and gently pulled her away from the grill. “How about a soda or a bottle of water from the cooler? It’s about a thousand degrees out here and you’re already sweating.”

  Okay, this was too much. Gabe, playing the considerate host? He had to be up to something. She swiped a hand over her upper lip and pulled it away damp. “A bottle of water would be nice.”

  He went to get it and she followed him with her eyes. Dressed in faded jeans that hugged his ass and a black T-shirt that stretched over broad shoulders and muscular arms, Gabe looked little different than he had all those years ago, when Steve was still alive. Back when she and Gabe used to horse around and goof on one another. Back when she’d catch him watching her when he thought she couldn’t see him. Like she had watched him. Still watched him.

  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

  Jeremy ran over to her, a smile lighting up his face. “Is my dad talking to you?” he asked.

  Aha, so that was why he was being nice all of a sudden. To please Jeremy. “Yeah, he’s bringing me some water,” she said, hoping her smile covered her disappointment. That embrace in her kitchen the other day had obviously messed with her head.

  “We’re gonna play badminton, Aunt Kate. You want to play?”

  “Maybe in a little while,” she said. “I’m going to cool off with some water first, I think.”

  “Okay, but watch me!”

  “Of course I’ll watch you, dopey. I can hardly take my eyes off you.” She ran a hand through his hair.

  “Is that ’cause I look like Uncle Stev
e?”

  His question caught her off guard. “No, it’s because you look like such a badass,” she said, and winked. “Now go kick some butt.”

  “I’m gonna kick Jacob Wilson’s butt!”

  “And don’t forget about Owen Grant and Sammy F.”

  “Them too,” he said, and ran off. This was his day. All his friends were here, running around the big backyard, raising hell and having a blast. That he took the time to come over and talk to her at all just made her love him more.

  “He sure is glad you came,” Gabe said as he came closer, a bottle of water in each hand. He handed her one.

  “Thanks.” The cap was already off, and she wondered briefly if he’d poisoned hers. Not likely at his son’s birthday party.

  She took a long swallow, and then pressed the bottle to her forehead. “You don’t have to stand next to me,” she said, looking straight ahead to the far side of the lawn where twenty kids were frantically trying to hit the birdie over the net. “Jeremy won’t notice if you slip away now.”

  Gabe was silent for a long moment, then, “You know the kids in his class.”

  Okay, he wasn’t going to accuse her of anything today. She let out a long sigh. “He tells me about them in his emails, and when I get to see him, which is less and less often.”

  Gabe nodded. “He said that’s because his mom wants him to bond with his stepsiblings.”

  “So I gather.” Wow. They were having a regular conversation. She turned to him, but the sight of him was so appealing she couldn’t focus and talk at the same time, so she looked away. She reached into herself to pull out some of the anger she’d stoked since he was at her house last.

  Be cool to him, Kate. Don’t be drawn into his nice-guy act.

  “Aren’t you going to play badminton?” she asked.

  “Nah.”

  “But you play every year.”

  He shrugged. “This is a year for firsts.”

  “Like talking to me.”

  “I talk to you,” he said.

  “Not at these parties. You don’t even acknowledge me at these parties.”

  “Are you trying to pick a fight?” he asked.

  She whirled on him, ready for battle. “Am I—” she began, but Gabe was grinning at her. Like he used to. An honest to God, handsome-as-the-day-is-long grin. And she couldn’t help it. She laughed. It started as a small chuckle and grew into an all-out belly laugh that made her stomach ache. She wrapped her arm around her middle to ease the pain.

  And the earth shifted beneath her feet as she looked at him. Just like it used to.

  One minute she was laughing and the next she was crying.

  Ben rushed over. “What the hell happened?” he asked. “Goddamn it, Gabe, what did you say to her?”

  “I didn’t—”

  Miriam must have been watching from the window, because the back door slammed shut and she half ran down the steps. “Gabe? What did you do?”

  “Nothing,” he said, exasperated. She felt his big, warm hand on her arm. “Jesus, Kate, are you laughing or crying?”

  She was trying to stop, she really was, but the tears kept coming, along with the laughter. Everybody naturally assumed Gabe had insulted her and made her cry, and for some reason that struck her as hysterical. Her head hurt. Her stomach hurt. Her whole body hurt, but she couldn’t stop.

  Gabe’s arm came around her shoulders. “Everyone out of the way so I can get her inside. Okay? Back off.”

  He helped her into the house, his arm around her the whole time, then sat her down at the kitchen table and straddled the chair beside hers. Her cheeks were wet with tears and she was gulping in breaths. She had to stop this. Had to pull it together.

  “S-sorry,” she managed. She dropped her face into her hands and tried to focus on her breathing, but it wasn’t working. The heat from Gabe’s body seared every inch of exposed skin like she was one of those burning hot dogs he’d pulled her away from.

  Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

  The thought turned her sobs into giggles, and she really felt like a lunatic. Maybe she shouldn’t have popped that tranquilizer her doctor had suggested to help her through the early weeks of mourning. It must be making her loopy.

  “What’s going on with you?” Gabe asked. He was so close she felt his breath on her cheek and neck, which made her breasts tingle. “I don’t smell any alcohol on you.”

  That snapped her out of it. “I wasn’t drinking, you idiot.” She plucked a paper napkin from a ceramic holder to blow her nose on. “I’ll never drink anywhere near you again.”

  He was silent, and her cheeks heated, wondering if the same memories that were running through her head were running through his. Or had he wiped the memory of their passionate kiss out of his big fat head?

  “It’s you, if you must know,” she said, sniffling and wiping at her cheeks. She took a deep calming breath and let it out. “You make me crazy.”

  “Ditto,” he said quietly.

  She looked at him then, and felt the dizzying power of his gaze. His eyes strayed to her lips and held a second too long, and when he looked back into her eyes his lids were lower and his irises darker.

  Oh, shit. She was in trouble.

  * * *

  Loud laughter rose from the living room, breaking the spell, and Gabe tuned in to the conversation between Lindsay and Bonnie.

  “All she has going for her are her looks and her money,” Bonnie said.

  “Oh, that’s all?” Lindsay shot back. They both laughed.

  Gabe took Kate’s arm and pulled her up from the chair. “Let’s get out of here,” he said, leading her toward the front door.

  She pulled her arm back. “It’s okay,” she said. “I’ll watch Jeremy play for a few more minutes and then grab a cab.” Another burst of laughter from the living room turned her head, but she quickly straightened her shoulders and started to walk around him toward the back door. How like her to put Jeremy first, even though she had to be desperate to get out of there.

  He should let her go. He knew it. Knew what touching her did to him. He grabbed her arm, holding her back. “Wait.”

  “Let go, Gabe,” she said, not looking at him.

  He led her across the kitchen and down a corridor to his mother’s little sewing room, then shut and locked the door. The scent of fresh flowers was strong, but not strong enough to block out the scent of Kate. Jesus, he was a fool.

  “Don’t do this,” she said.

  He lifted her chin with one finger and ran his thumb over her lips. They were moist and warm, and he wanted to taste them. No, he needed to taste them. Now.

  “Why are you doing this?” she whispered. “You hate me, remember?”

  He shook his head slowly. “I haven’t been able to get the taste of you out of my mind.” He lowered his mouth to hers. Fuck foreplay. He latched on to her lips and assaulted her mouth with his tongue, desperate for the high he only got from this. Only from her. He pulled her into his arms, loving the feel of her breasts pressed against his chest, thrilling at the sensation of her hands sliding up his back, her slim arms tightening around him.

  He lifted his mouth from hers just long enough to slant it the other way and devour her lips as though they were two halves of a sweet, ripe plum. One hand slid to her bottom and lifted her so that his erection pressed between her legs. Her low moan and galloping heartbeat told him she wanted more. And God knew, he wanted it all.

  Gabe pushed her up against the door and ran his hands over her breasts, squeezing, kneading while their tongues tangled in a frenzy of desire. He felt drugged, out of control. Had to get her clothes off. Had to touch her skin, taste every part of her.

  Had to get inside her.

  “Gabe.” It was a whispered confession of the same desperation he felt.

  His cell phone buzzed in his pocket. He ignored it and pulled her closer, kissing her long and deep, knowing as soon as he sobered from this intoxication he would kick himself for letting this h
appen again. For being unable to keep his hands and mouth off this woman.

  The phone buzzed again and he silently cursed as he eased away from Kate and reached into his pocket. The LED said Scott Bailey. Police business. Shit. He closed his eyes and willed his throbbing cock to go down

  “Take it.” Kate’s voice was breathy, sexy. So fucking sexy. When she tried to step around him Gabe pulled her under one arm and planted a gentle kiss on her lips. And then another. And another. By the time she managed to wiggle out of his embrace they were both panting.

  “We’re not finished,” he said, holding her arm, unwilling to let her go. “Not by a long shot.”

  She shook her head. Seeing how red and swollen her lips were only made him want her more. “This was a mistake,” she said. “We’ll both regret it as soon as we walk out that door.”

  He didn’t answer, just stepped into the corridor, closed the door behind him and headed out to the side yard, away from the birthday chaos. He flipped open the phone.

  “Your hot little sister-in-law?” Scott said by way of greeting.

  Gabe looked back toward the house. “Who, Kate?”

  “You have another one?”

  “What about her?”

  “You mighta been right about her.”

  Gabe’s shoulders tightened. “What are you talking about?”

  “Looks like she really is a black widow.”

  Chapter Ten

  “Why in God’s name did you insist on driving me home if you’re going to act like this?”

  Gabe stared straight ahead at the road, both hands gripping the steering wheel, his jaw clenched tight. Scott’s phone call had left him furious, and not only because the FBI had evidence possibly linking Kate to the explosion. He was furious at himself for letting down his guard. If it were lust alone that had driven him to try to jump her bones he could deal with it. But it had always been more than lust with Kate. He’d let the old feelings resurface—for a short time, true—but it had been enough to show him they were still there.