Responsibilities. A responsible man didn’t maul his fiancée in public. He pulled back, keeping his hands on her upper arms. With breathing space between them—and crisp autumn air—he could think again. “That was not good.”
Her forehead puckered. “It wasn’t?”
“No. It felt good, but it wasn’t smart. We’re not sixteen. We don’t need to neck in public. We have homes. As of tomorrow, a home. And two kids.”
She nodded. But her lips were tender and soft, and they showed the effect of his kiss. He pulled her close again and gently brushed his lips across hers by way of apology. “That got a little crazy. Who knew we could still ignite that kind of fire?”
“Sparks,” she said with a satisfied sigh. She smiled as he applied butterfly kisses to her cheekbones, her eyes and her nose. “I’ve heard the body remembers long after the brain forgets.”
In the distance, there was the sound of a car door opening and closing, but Donnie ignored it now that they had their emotions under control. This was friendly playful kissing. Nothing to get worked up about.
“Mom?”
Unless you were Zach.
Kris pulled away and tried to step out of his reach, but Donnie caught her hand and refused to let go. “Zach,” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here? I thought you and your dad were going to the mountains.”
“Been there, done that,” another voice said.
A man joined them. Tyler Harrison. He’d apparently been walking toward them but Donnie had missed his approach since he was torn between his concern for Kristin and dealing with Zach’s scowl.
“Zach wanted to take Sarge for a run,” Tyler added. “I suggested the park.”
It was almost dark, and Donnie couldn’t see the man clearly. The shadows suggested that he was gaunt but still formidable. The kind of person who came prepared for a fight and never gave an inch. The same way he’d been in high school.
Only now, Donnie had a better understanding of cause and effect. “Tyler Harrison’s father was known as the town crook. Try carrying that load when you’re a kid, and see how you turn out,” Donnie’s anger management counselor had suggested.
Kris’s hand clutched Donnie’s. He felt her shiver of apprehension, but to his surprise she faced Tyler and said, “Did Zach tell you that Donnie and I are getting married tomorrow?”
“Zach mentioned it. Yes.” His tone seemed tinged with sarcasm. “I assumed it was a desperate ploy to thwart my custody suit.”
Donnie didn’t care for the man’s attitude, but he couldn’t blame him. Not only did Tyler and Kris have issues, but the hard feelings between Donnie and Tyler had never been resolved. Even now, nearly a dozen years later, Donnie could recall the words that had brought them to blows.
Kristin had remained in the car that night, getting dressed. Donnie and Ty were well out of earshot when they’d fought. Even barefoot and in his skivvies, Tyler had challenged Donnie. He’d called him a bootlicking fascist. That, Donnie could have taken, but when Ty bragged about how easy it had been to seduce Kristin, Donnie had lost it. He might have killed the man if his friends hadn’t intervened.
Kristin glanced at him with concern—no doubt also recalling the last time the three of them met. Donnie was determined to keep things civil. He wasn’t a jealous kid with an ego problem anymore. He was an officer of the law. And a father. His main concern at the moment was Zach.
“Zach, how about we take Sarge to the dog run? Your mother and Tyler could probably use a minute or two.”
The boy hesitated, but Kristin gave him a nod. He turned around, dog at his heels. Donnie doubted that Zach wanted to talk to him, but he followed, anyway.
When they reached the opposite side of the park where wild grasses remained unmowed and wild-flowers blossomed each spring, Sarge took off. Donnie looked at Zach and said, “What you saw was a friendly kiss, Zach, nothing more.”
Thank goodness the boy hadn’t shown up five minutes earlier. “Does it bother you to see us kiss?”
“Nah. She’s had dates before. She’s very pretty.”
“Yes, she is.” Donnie looked at the boy thoughtfully. “You know, it used to bother me when my mom began dating after my dad died. But then I realized she needed to be more than a mom sometimes.”
Sarge suddenly materialized at Donnie’s side. He smelled like tarweed—a pungent, low-growing brush that was starting to bloom. “Do you think you’ll have time to give him a bath in the morning?” Donnie asked. “That is, if the wedding is still on.”
It was darker in this part of the park, and while Donnie couldn’t swear to it, he thought he saw Zach smile. “It’s what my mom wants. Are you still going to teach me new chords?”
Donnie smiled. “Sure.”
“My dad told me he’s going to move here next month.”
The thought made Donnie uneasy, but he could see that Zach was happy about it. “Good. I bet he’s eager to spend time with you and get to know you better.”
“I guess.”
Donnie hoped Ty’s motivation was to be near his son and not to build a shopping mall with a bypass around the town. There were aspects of Gold Creek that needed changing, but thoughtless commercial development wasn’t one of them. Donnie had his own plans for Gold Creek—and they didn’t involve a bulldozer.
“ARE WE GOING to keep things civil?” Kristin asked Tyler.
“I will if you will, but if Zach and I hadn’t shown up when we did, you would have been lying down,” he said. Although the words were snide, his tone was something else. Bittersweet? Resigned?
And he was right. There’d been a moment when she’d been on the verge of losing control. “Then it’s a good thing you showed up. You know how much I hate being the focus of gossip.”
Her wry tone must have connected because he smiled. Briefly. Then his look turned serious.
“I have an investigator checking into your past.”
Kris wondered what he’d find. She’d been very careful about dating when Zach was growing up. She seldom let a man close enough to become a friend to Zach and no man spent the night if Zach was home.
“You can hire a dozen,” she said, faking a confidence she didn’t feel. “They’ll confirm that I’ve always tried my best to be a good mother.”
He reclined against the plank picnic table, crossing one ankle over the other. She felt a shiver pass through her.
“What if I find a couple of guys who are willing to testify that you gave them more than a massage? What will that say about your fitness to be a parent?”
Kristin’s stomach flip-flopped. “I’ve never been anything but professional with my clients. Massage is about healing, Tyler. Anyone who’s ever been a client of mine knows that.”
His light chuckle had an ominous ring to it. “I didn’t say they were clients of yours. But for the right price, you can find somebody who will say whatever you tell them to say.”
Suddenly, her fear eased. If he really planned to do this, she thought, he probably wouldn’t tell her about it ahead of time. Curious, she asked, “Zach said you might be moving to Gold Creek?” She looked over her shoulder to see where Donnie and Zach were. “I heard you got married.”
“And divorced.”
“Was she the woman your mother told Ida Jane about? The socialite from back East?”
His left eyebrow arched in question—just the way Zach’s did. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“When I first moved back to the States with my cousins, I called Ida Jane and asked her to talk to your mother. To get your address or phone number. I was going to tell you about your son.”
He looked skeptical. “When was this?”
She told him the date. She could picture it clearly.
“Ida told me that according to Gloria, you were doing great. You were in college and engaged to a woman with a pedigree a mile long.” She looked at her hands. “She said you were happy.”
He didn’t say anything.
“I told myself
I was doing you a favor. That I’d already screwed up your life, so by not contacting you I was doing the right thing.”
“Bullsh—”
She touched his arm. “I knew it was wrong. Even then. But I was afraid, Tyler. If you married some rich, influential woman, you’d be the perfect family. You’d be able to take Zach away from me. I was struggling to keep food on the table, but—” She looked him in the eye. “Nobody could have loved Zach more than I did. Not even you.”
He broke contact with her by standing. “For what it’s worth, my ex was no socialite. She’s a lawyer who tried to sue me. We were married only two years. And after I left Gold Creek, I didn’t contact Mother—or anyone else from this town—for six years.”
Kristin looked up in surprise. “But your mother wrote all sorts of stuff about you in her column. Your business success. Your travels. Ida sent me the clippings.”
He made an off-hand motion. “We create the fantasy we need to get by. Gloria needed to pretend that she had the perfect son. You let yourself believe that I wouldn’t care that you kept our son a secret.”
“That was wrong, Tyler. But you don’t know what I was going through at the time. I’d let down my family, my town. Still, you have every right to be bitter, but—”
He cut her off. “Bitter? The word doesn’t come close to describing how I feel.” He stared at her, eyes narrowed. “You can marry the pope, but it won’t help.”
He laughed at his inadvertent joke. The sound was as unnerving as the whine of a dentist’s drill.
Her heart beat frantically as she watched him walk to his Mercedes. Zach and Sarge met him there; Donnie kept walking without saying a word to Tyler. His pace increased the closer he came to Kristin.
“The bastard,” he hissed when he saw her face. “What did he say?”
Kris shook her head. “Nothing I didn’t deserve.”
Donnie took her hand and led her toward the steps. “Let’s go. We have a big day tomorrow.”
Tomorrow. My wedding day. Suddenly, the enormity of what she was about to do hit her.
She looked at the man who would be her husband within twenty-four hours. “If I’m getting married tomorrow, Donnie, I need to know the truth.”
“What truth?”
“About why we’re doing this. At the moment, I feel as if my whole life has been built on lies. It has to stop here. I can’t go into this marriage just to help you win an election or to protect myself from the courts. If you love me, prove it. Make love to me. Lucas is spending the night with Sandy. We could go to your place.”
When Donnie opened his mouth, she braced to hear the word no, but suddenly he smiled and said, “Well…if you insist.”
CHAPTER TEN
HE’D LEFT the exterior porch light on and was pleased by the homey glow it gave the place, but instead of taking Kristin through the front door as he would a guest, Donnie made a conscious choice to pull into the garage.
“I’d better remember to give you the opener,” he said, pressing the plastic remote on his visor. “Mom left hers.”
Kristin hadn’t said much since her request to go home with him; Donnie wondered if she was having second thoughts.
“What did Maureen say when you told her about the wedding?”
Kris’s voice was soft and a little tentative, but he gave her credit for trying to maintain a cool front. “She said it broke her heart not to be here, but she wished us good luck and much happiness.
“What does Ida Jane think about our plan?” Donnie asked. For a man who’d been offered his favorite sexual fantasy on a plate, he sure was having a difficult time bringing himself to act on it. “Your sisters are pitching in to help, but does your aunt think we’re crazy?”
He turned off the engine and let his hand fall to the back of the seat so he could touch her hair. One curl wrapped around his finger as if she’d lassoed him.
“She’s very excited. She thinks we should have done it a long time ago.”
She moved back slightly. “Why do you ask? Are you having second thoughts?”
“Not about marrying you.” He rubbed his forehead. “I just regret that you’re being shortchanged by my agenda. Maybe we should wait till after the election. I probably won’t win the dang thing anyway.”
“Donnie, what’s really going on here?”
“I resigned today, Kris. And I guess the reality is hitting me now.”
She unsnapped her seat belt and shifted sideways to face him. “We ate dinner together, took a walk, made out, and now you mention, ‘Oh, by the way, I quit my job today’? Why didn’t you say something earlier?”
“I didn’t want you to feel obligated.”
Her eyes went big and she blinked several times then broke out laughing. “Donavon Grimaldo, you’re too much. You take the word gentleman to new extremes.”
He couldn’t decide if that was meant as a compliment or not, but when she reached out and cupped his jaw, she said, “Let’s go inside. Ty is bringing Zach home around midnight, so we don’t have much time.”
Donnie leaned into her touch. “Do you want me to carry you across the threshold?” he said, nipping her fingers playfully.
For the briefest moment, he thought she might cry, but then a smile lit up her face and she said, “Sure, if your back is up to the task.”
KRISTIN EXITED the car and stood for a moment, looking around. Donnie’s garage was neater and cleaner than her house.
“Coming?” he asked, joining her.
There’s still time to back out. They weren’t touching, but she could feel him. Big, strong, reliable—everything she wasn’t. And a longing so intense it erased her fears and made her reach out to put her arms around him.
He might have settled for a friendly hug, but Kristin rose to her tiptoes and plastered her front to his—her bosom to his chest, bellies touching. His surprised gasp turned to a smile of pleasure, and he dipped his head to kiss her.
Nobody had ever kissed her like Donnie Grimaldo. When she sighed with pleasure, he moved against her and she could feel his desire. He linked his hands at her waist then rocked back enough to look into her eyes. “I do not have a bad back. Mind if I prove it to you?”
Kris nodded; she didn’t trust her vocal cords. He bent and hooked his left arm beneath her knees then straightened. The look in his eyes made her feel desirable and sexy. “I always thought this was a silly ritual, but now I can see its attraction.”
His eyes sparkled with laughter. She reached out to open the door. He hefted her up a little more snugly then walked through sideways. The door closed behind them.
Donnie didn’t bother with lights. He headed straight toward his bedroom.
Feeling oddly emboldened, Kristin asked, “I don’t suppose you’d consider fulfilling one other fantasy of mine, would you?”
He stopped in the middle of the hallway. “What is it?”
A blush heated her cheeks. It was silly, so teenage girlish, but she couldn’t pass up the chance. “Sing to me.”
“I haven’t sung in years.”
“Well, I haven’t made love in years, so we’re even,” she said, then immediately wished she hadn’t.
He started walking again.
“When you left for Ireland, I was obsessed by the image of you making love to dozens of sexy foreign men.”
Kris chuckled. “At one time or individually?”
“Singularly, but in quick succession.” His tone was light, but she knew he was serious.
“Well, there was this guy. A cute young English lad who was sitting next to me on the plane to London. He seemed pretty interested until I threw up in a bag and accidentally got a little on him. He didn’t say another word the whole trip.”
He rubbed his chin against the top of her head. “Poor Kris.”
They’d reached his room. The door was open and all the curtains were as well. A silvery light filled the room. The bed was huge, and a moonlit rectangle of gray highlighted a two-foot by three-foot section in the cent
er.
“I didn’t notice the skylight the other day.”
“Sandy’s obsession. She wanted one in every room, but I was reluctant to put more money into the house. Thank goodness our contractor agreed that the roofline of the house wouldn’t accommodate any others economically.”
“It’s cool. Aren’t you tempted to stay awake all night following the stars?”
“Not lately. Maybe it will be different having you here.”
She knew what he meant, but that kind of domestic bliss was almost too scary to think about.
She wiggled for him to let her down.
Once she was standing, he closed and locked the door. “I don’t expect Lucas to come home, but I didn’t expect Zach and Tyler to show up at the park, either,” he said, dropping his keys on the dresser just inside the door.
Kristin moved away. “Wasn’t that unbelievable? You don’t think Ty’s private investigator is following me, do you?”
Donnie put his hand at the small of her back and ushered her forward. “I didn’t know Harrison had hired a P.I.”
“He said he needed to look into my past.”
“Well, rest easy. I’m sure you don’t have anything to hide. And the last time I checked with Ed, there hadn’t been any strangers asking questions about you.”
“Did you find out whether or not your co-workers are coming to the wedding?”
Her obvious stall apparently didn’t fool Donnie, who caught the loose end of her shawl and reeled her to him, inch by inch. “Forget about tomorrow. Tonight we make up for lost time.”
His arms were warm and comforting, but his kiss was demanding. He wanted her, and it felt good.
Kristin looped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Memories of their first kiss—so many years ago—flooded her senses.
“I feel like I’ve come home,” she said, more to herself than Donnie.
The Comeback Girl Page 15
