by Kate Thomas
“J-Josh?” Anxiety shadowed the green pools of her eyes; she was chewing on her lush lower lip. “Th-the saleslady said this would be appropriate....”
He made an odd sound, sort of a strangled groan.
“I’ll just stay home with Michael, then,” she said, lifting her chin to keep silly tears from falling. No sense in crying over spilled silk.
What a goose she was! Thinking a sophisticated Virginia lawyer would find her attractive. Thinking she could just trot along and have dinner with a United States senator. Her—a kid from Lufkin, Texas, whose education had been limited to learning how to face hard times and hard facts.
So. face ’em.
Keeping her head high, Dani forced out the words. “Y-you’d better go on. I’m sure Michael will be okay in his playpen while I change.”
“Change?” Josh rasped. “Change what? Your mind?” His hand went to his tie, began wrenching the knot loose. “Fine. We’ll stay home. I’d rather order pizza and have another piece of apple pie, anyway. Marlet—”
“Oh, Josh, stop it!” Dani snapped, then blinked in amazement as he froze obediently. “You, can’t stand up a senator.”
“I most certainly will if you don’t want to go.”
Her heart lurched as she gazed at his suddenly granite jaw and recognized two more facts. Two earth-shattering facts.
Unlike her immature husband, Josh Walker meant what he said. He’d really risk his chance to influence Washington’s power brokers just to keep her company if she refused to dine with Senator Perrodeaux.
And the power of dreams could not be denied. She loved Josh Walker. Maybe she had since she’d peered through his broken windshield. Love at first sight, again. But this time, this man—with his integrity, his stubbornness, his tenderness under the tough-guy image—deserved her love. Had earned her admiration and respect.
She also desperately wanted his lithe, powerful body. Wanted his gentle, rousing touches and his enchanting, melting kisses. And he’d already proven he was a great father.
Which made it simple. If she loved him—really loved him—she’d wish him happiness and let him go.
Josh needed a woman who’d be an asset to his career, who’d help him achieve the goals he’d set for himself.
The kid from Lufkin, the mother of somebody else’s kid, isn’t that woman, she told herself sharply. So, for Josh’s sake and Michael’s, she had to put a lid on her love. Otherwise her dreams and his would collide—leaving only two shattered adults and one bewildered innocent child.
“You’re invited to stay, Marietta,” Josh said as he unbuttoned his collar with a sigh.
No time like the present.
“I’m not dining with Senator Perrodeaux,” Dani stated, narrowing her eyes. Ordinary people like her, and children like Michael, needed Josh’s skill and any influence he could wield on their behalf. “But you are, mister. Just because I can’t manage to dress properly is no reason for you to miss this opportunity.”
“Dress properly?” Josh’s turquoise eyes widened, then he half turned and flapped one hand at the attractive older woman gently jiggling a satisfied Michael. “Marletta. T-tell her.”
“You look fine,” the woman said between chuckles. “Really. I think the word is stylin’. That’s why Walker’s gone catatonic.” Settling Michael securely in one arm, she grinned at Dani. “We’ve talked on the phone so much I feel I know you but, for the record, I’m Marletta Langtry.”
“It’s nice of you to volunteer tonight,” Dani said, smiling at the steely determination in the other woman’s chocolate eyes. “I see you’ve met my son.” And that you’re not going to let me weasel out of this dinner disaster.
“I’ll take good care of your precious angel.” The older woman smoothed her palm over Michael’s fuzzy head with reassuring confidence. “You go have a little fun. In fact, there’s a full moon tonight,” Marletta added with an impish twinkle in her dark eyes. “Make Mr. Suave here show you the lights along the Potomac after dinner.”
“Well...the phone num—” Dani started to say when Josh seemed to shake himself like a dog coming out of a lake.
“Right,” he said, rebuttoning his collar and jerking his tie upward. “Have fun. Perfect dress. Phone number’s on the refrigerator.”
Pulling a thick sheaf of papers from his inside breast pocket, Josh shoved them at Marletta. “Here are a few notes on Michael’s routine, habits, likes and dislikes. Dani left some formula in the fridge to supplement her, er, mother’s milk.”
After bending to kiss Michael’s cheek, he took Dani’s hand. “Come on, darlin’. Perrodeaux’s a tiger about tardiness.”
She went rigid, but he tugged her toward the door. “It’s just dinner. And a little moonlight, uh, I mean, sight-seeing. Michael will be fine. Please, Dani?”
The man of her dreams called her darlin’. If she wasn’t going to live in love ever again, couldn’t she have one special night, one special memory of this magnificent male?
“Well...” Dani handed Josh the cropped jacket that matched the dress. “Promise you’ll nudge me if I say something appalling.”
Marletta snorted as she followed them to the door. “Honey, he’s not hearing anything but bells and rockets. You’ll do fine.”
Not bells and rockets. Rustling sheets. And soft, sexy little moans. As he drove this incredible woman over the edge and went sailing off to heaven with her.
She’d knocked him for a loop tonight. Again. Every time he thought he had her figured out—angel, mother, mechanic—she’ d nonchalantly demonstrate some new talent, appear in some new guise.
“You’re sure this dress is okay?” she asked a few minutes later as they drove through the Virginia countryside, cloaked in the blue haze of twilight.
“It looks fine.”
Josh thought it would look even better sliding off her gorgeous body and hitting the floor while he wrapped her in his arms and took her down, down, down to the nearest mattress.
Where Dani, flushed with passion, would lean down and brush her long, silky hair over his—
“Really, Josh, I don’t know what to say to a U.S. senator,” she declared.
“The woman who handled Bubba before breakfast?” Josh laughed.
Twenty minutes later, he turned between two stone pillars bearing discreet bronze plaques. The old station wagon cruised majestically up the gently curving drive and floated to a halt under a white-columned porte cochere.
Josh dared the parking valet to snicker at their vehicle, but the kid just leaped forward to help Dani out.
“She’s with me, sonny,” he muttered, possessive red haze threatening again, and sprinted around the car to claim his...date.
Led her across thick Oriental rugs covering the acre of foyer, past flocked wallpaper and brooding French furniture. Down a paneled hallway until he heard generic piano music tinkling from a dark room on the right.
“In here, I imagine.” He paused at the entrance. Dani peeked past his coat sleeve, catching a whiff of his pine scent.
The place pulsed quietly with money and power. Unfortunately, the men were merely second-rate imitations of Josh. The polished women wore diamonds and dresses very much like hers. Only much more expensive.
Dani smiled triumphantly—just as Josh leaned next to her ear and murmured, “That’s him.” He nodded toward a booth at the rear of the room. “Over there.”
The man’s white hair gleamed silvery in the room’s subdued lighting. Heavily jowled and fingering a huge, unlit cigar, he exuded an aura of power that reminded Dani of Jimmy’s father—times ten. She froze in her tracks.
Then Josh’s strong hand touched her waist, his heat flowed over her chilled nerves.
She’d run once rather than challenge authority. Not this time. For Josh’s sake, Dani led the way as they wove a path through the dimly lit ocean of tiny round tables.
“There you are, Walker,” the senator boomed as they approached. “Right on time.” The two men shook hands, then the sena
tor half rose from his seat as Josh introduced Dani, who mumbled something polite.
“Sit down, sit down,” Perrodeaux boomed again, the syllables dipped deep in Dixie and Southern-fried. He raised a pudgy hand and a waiter appeared. “Thought we’d have a drink here before we adjourn to the dining room.”
Perrodeaux looked at Dani, who shook her head silently.
The waiter waited. So did Josh. The bulky, white-haired senator preferred action. “Don’t be shy, little lady,” he barked loudly enough to turn heads. “Anythin’ you want Glass o’ wine, one of those frosty drinks with an umbrella in it—”
“Uh, I’ll have a club soda, please,” Dani said finally.
“You one of those recoverin’ alcoholics, missy?”
Dani was just about to quietly slide off the seat and disappear under the table when she glanced at Josh. The clown was grinning at her. With that lopsided smile that turned her insides to mush.
“Go on,” he urged her. “Tell the senator why you’re drinking club soda.”
Her cheeks burned, but—“I’m, uh, still nursing my baby.” Although tonight’s introduction to infant formula was part of Dani’s plan to begin weaning him from breast milk, a necessity if she was going to work.
And she’d been unable to come up with any other way to provide all those silly things children needed: food, clothing, shelter....
“A baby!” The senator’s face got beet red. “Boy or girl?” he demanded, booming again. “How old? Got any pictures? M‘youngest just had her second. A girL Named her Madison, for pity’s sake. Do you kids pick these confusin’ names on purpose?”
“My son’s name is Michael, Senator,” she responded with a smile. “And he’s a month old.”
“Lord-a-mercy, child,” the senator boomed. “Call me Elliston. And tell me everything. Is he sleepin’ through the night yet?”
Dani knew her mouth was hanging open, but she couldn’t help it. She’d never in a million years imagined that the powerful senator from Louisiana would be gaga over babies.
“We’ll let Walker talk later,” Perrodeaux promised lazily, “while we’re loading up on Maryland crab cakes and the best dessert this side of Louisiana hummingbird cake.”
“Sorry, Senator,” Josh interrupted, wrapping his arm around Dani’s shoulders in a possessive move that stirred her dreams and her hormones. “But there isn’t a dessert on this earth that can match this woman’s chocolate pie with mile-high meringue.”
Perrodeaux took a sip of the bourbon and branch water the waiter had deposited in front of him. “My, my. I haven’t had a decent slice of pie since my wife died ten years ago,” he said reflectively. “My daughters are so busy between their careers and their kids, I don’t think either one of them could boil an egg, let alone manage to produce an edible pie crust.”
Dani smiled. “Surely you’re exaggerating, Elliston. They feed their families somehow.”
“Fast food, young lady,” the senator barked. “Carryout. One of ’em even signed up with some service that does the cooking for her. She picks up a week’s worth of dinners at a time, then all she does is throw something in the microwave every night.”
I could do that, Dani thought, and elation flooded through her. It’s the perfect answer. Perfect.
She beamed at Senator Perrodeaux. “Oh, Elliston, thank you! You’ve just solved—well, my future. And my son’s. I’ll be able to earn a living and raise Michael myself. Oh, you darling man, thank you!”
She leaned forward, exposing the creamy tops of her lush breasts to the entire world, and kissed the old bozo.
Josh growled.
Perrodeaux chuckled, his full cheeks flushed bright pink. “Now, honey,” he drawled in that irritating good-ol’-boy accent. Reaching in his vest pocket, he pulled out a business card, produced a pen and scribbled something on the back. Handing it to her with a flourish, he said, “Always glad to help new mamas. Now that’s my private line. You need anything—anything at all, don’t hesitate to call. I’ve even got a great cure for colic.”
Without missing a beat, the senior senator from Louisiana turned to Josh. “I hear you’re somethin’ of an expert on western range management practices. We’ve got some hearings on the subject comin’ up soon and I could use some unbiased information.”
He continued to pump Josh as they left the bar, were seated in the dining room and consumed a meal that was probably excellent by Washingtonian standards. So-so on the Caldwell scale.
Josh tried to answer the senator’s questions to the best of his ability, but his attention was elsewhere.
Glued to his Texas angel in that sinfully attractive dress.
Finally he was thanking the senator, tipping the parking valet and hustling Dani into the car. Driving off. Stopping in a secluded spot where they could watch the lights of Washington sparkle like floating diamonds on the dark waters of the Potomac.
“Josh?” Dani asked as he shut off the ignition and slid his arm slowly, casually, along the seat back. “What are we doing here?”
Getting lucky? He should be so lucky. “Just taking a few minutes to transition from politics to diapers.”
Dani giggled. “I can’t believe I was afraid to meet Senator Perrodeaux. I’m sorry if he talked more about babies than your environmental views.”
“No problem,” Josh assured her. “I just want to add my two cents to the process. Thanks to you, tonight, I have the chance.”
“I didn’t—”
He couldn’t let her discount her role in the night’s success, but he didn’t want to argue. So he kissed her.
Somewhere in the firestorm of desire, he wondered if it would always be this way between them. Thought it might be. Wanted to spend a few decades finding out.
Dani reveled in his mouth on hers. This was what she wanted more than anything. Josh holding her. Kissing her. Letting her kiss him.
She gave herself up to the sheer passion and pleasure. Just for a few moments, she’d live the dream. She’d be Josh’s woman. He’d be her man. Showing her how much he needed her.
Their mouths mated, the kisses deepened. His tongue sought entrance, driving inside, filling, tasting, exploring, tempting. Being tasted, explored, tempted.
“Oh, Dani,” Josh murmured, his breath warm against her skin, his hands and mouth everywhere, sending shivers of desire and joy tumbling through her. “You’re so beautiful. I want...” His hand curved lovingly around her breast, taking its weight in his palm. His thumb stroked the crest. He moaned. A low answering sound came from her throat.
“Stay,” he whispered, fulfilling the dream she wanted most to come true. A future with the man she’d come to love as much as she loved Michael.
“Oh, Josh,” she breathed. “I...I don’t—”
“Just for a while,” he said quickly. “Not forever. Just, uh, we could see how it goes....”
Dani’s eyes stung, but she’d be damned if she’d cry. I gave tears up years ago, she reminded herself, because they don’t change anything. They certainly can’t change a proposition into a proposal.
“Speaking of going,” she said stiffly, dragging herself from his seductive embrace. “It’s late. I think you’d better take me home.”
“But—”
“It’s past time for Michael’s feeding,” she said evenly, adopting his toneless response to unwanted emotions.
Josh didn’t start the car right away. Just sat there looking at the shimmering platinum ribbons of light on black water, his hands white-knuckled on the steering wheel. “Dani, I’m sorry,” he said through gritted teeth. “That wasn’t fair. F-forget I even brought up the subject.”
He released the steering wheel and cranked the starter.
Well, he wasn’t going to sit around and argue with her. If she didn’t want to stay forever, it was better if she left soon. Before she took his heart and his future with her....
They drove home in total silence. Until they reached the security gates.
Which were wide-open.
“What the—” Josh pulled the car slowly through, cruised down the main street, turned at their corner and drove—
Into hell. Again.
This time it had eerie, flashing lights and thick smoke. Fire trucks, police cars and emergency vehicles parked at every imaginable angle. Small clumps of spectators in nightclothes. And hose lines, like fat, gray worms, snaking every which way.
He’d slowed the car to a crawl, still trying to work out what was happening, when Dani gave a cry, then leaped from the car and sprinted away into the darkness past his headlights.
Josh braked. Craned his neck to see where she—He wrenched the key to turn off the engine. Flew out of the car. Ran full-out. Catching up with Dani, he grabbed her shoulders and hung on for support, just as they reached Marletta, who was propped against the side of a fire truck, with a blanket around her shoulders and an oxygen mask over her face.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
When she nodded wearily, Josh asked the question that Dani’s searching gaze was frantically trying to answer.
“Wh-where’s Michael?”
Chapter Eight
“Michael’s over th-there,” Marletta rasped, pointing past a clot of emergency vehicles to an ambulance unit before wiping her streaming eyes with a crumpled tissue. “He—” A bout of coughing stopped her before she could finish the sentence.
Please, Dani prayed as a firestorm of fear scorched through her. Please don’t take my son.
Yet even as she reeled under the excruciating pain of that possibility, Dani suddenly understood how Josh—and Jimmy’s parents—could react so extremely when faced with a child’s death. Losing a spouse was hard enough—even when he’d already become a stranger—but a child...
A child, no matter how old, held a parent’s heart hostage. Nothing could ever ease the sorrow of such a loss.
When this is over and Michael is fine, Dani thought, forcing herself to think positively, to breathe slowly and wait for Marletta to finish before racing off to find her baby, I’ll send Jimmy’s parents a long letter and some pictures of their grandson. Tell them I understand their grief now. Try to work out a compromise so they can be part of Michael’s life. Unless something terrible—