by Helen Lacey
“Jerk,” she muttered and slid off the bed. She grabbed her sandals and glared at him. “Can you help me down?”
He laughed, scooped her up effortlessly and within a minute she was trudging her way back up to the house. He wasn’t far behind and by the time she’d slammed a couple of doors he was laughing again.
“You know,” he said when she was back in her bedroom and ditching her shoes, “you shouldn’t ask a question if you don’t want to hear the answer.”
He was by the door, arms crossed, looking way too self-satisfied. Well, she’d practically jumped his bones with a little encouragement, so the look on his face wasn’t unexpected. If she’d had something to throw at him, she would have! Smug, condescending, ass.
“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” she said tartly.
He laughed and gave her a look that was scorching hot. “I gotta say,” he said and took a few steps across the room, “that I’m really turned on right now.”
Kayla grabbed a slipper from the end of the bed and tossed it in his direction. But his reflexes were so acute he caught it midair. “You don’t get to tell me I’m a lousy wife in one sentence and then look at me all sexy with those blue eyes of yours.”
“Actually,” he said and walked around the huge bed, “I’m pretty sure I do.”
He caught up with her in two strides and then she was in his arms. He kissed her, harder than usual, more demanding, and without any resistance, she kissed him back, matching every slant, every slide of his tongue in her mouth. Within a minute their clothes were off again and they were on the bed, making love in a kind of frenzied haze. No words. No foreplay. Just possession. Just flesh to flesh, skin to skin. Just Liam’s strong body over her, around her and inside her, taking and giving, arousing her more with each erotic stroke. Release was powerful and quick, shuttling them both up and over into a vortex of pleasure that was mind-blowingly intense.
Afterward, they lay on their sides, breathing hard, their limbs tangled up with rumpled bedsheets. She heard him chuckle, but was too weary to raise her head from his chest.
“So much for finesse,” he said. “You turn my good intentions to mush, Mrs. O’Sullivan.”
Kayla stiffened immediately. It was the first time he’d called her that. The first time anyone had called her that. Shame licked at her heels. She really was a rotten wife. She hoped she’d be a better mother. The thought rolled around in her head. So much had happened in the last few days that she’d spent very little time thinking about her baby, she acknowledged shamefully. My baby. Her hand dropped to her belly and she felt a deep, abiding love for the child she carried that was so intense it was almost painful.
“I’m going to be a mom,” she said quietly.
Liam rolled, reaching out to cover her hand with his own. “You’ll be amazing.”
Her chest tightened. “You, too. Do you have a preference? I mean, a boy or a girl?”
“Nope,” he replied and spread his hand wider, smoothing it across her skin. “I’m happy either way.”
They chatted about the baby and laughed over possible names. It was the first real conversation they’d had about their child and she felt the connection between them through to her bones. They’d spent so much time arguing about everything else, they hadn’t spent any time thinking about what was really important. Their baby.
“You’re really happy about this? About the baby, I mean?” she asked and rolled onto her side.
Liam did the same and then gently cradled her head in one hand. “Absolutely.”
“Even though everything else is—”
“Yes,” he said and pressed a finger to her lips. “Even then. There is something we need to do, though. Something important.”
“What’s that?”
“Go and see you parents again. Together.”
“No, I—”
“You’re unhappy,” he said, cutting her off. “And that’s not acceptable to me. We need to sort this out. You need to make peace with them, or with yourself over this. Pretending there isn’t a problem won’t help.”
“I’m not,” she said defiantly as opposition surged through her. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I need to talk with them alone first. My dad—”
“Your dad needs to see that we are unified in this, Kayla. How do you expect them to respect our relationship if you don’t?”
It was a direct hit. And a painful one. “You don’t understand.”
She pulled away and sat up, grabbing the robe on the end of the bed. She slipped it on and belted her waist, very aware that Liam had hardly moved. She glanced over her shoulder, saw the heat in his gaze and got to her feet.
“I understand perfectly,” he said and sprang off the bed and quickly pulled his jeans on, leaving the snap undone. “You don’t wear my ring, you don’t have my name...the message isn’t subliminal, is it?”
Annoyance seeped through her blood. His ring. His name. His words had arrogance written all over them. “If this about your ego being somehow deflated because I haven’t—”
“A bomb wouldn’t deflate my ego,” he said roughly. “This isn’t about ego. It’s about you and me...about the vows we took. Love, honor and cherish, remember? Those words meant something to me, Kayla. So, maybe there was too much champagne that weekend and maybe the preacher was dressed like Elvis...but it was still real.”
The frustration in his voice was unmistakable. “It was real to me, too.”
“Then prove it.”
“I shouldn’t have to,” she shot back, tugging at the belt around her waist. “If you love me you’ll—”
“If?” he echoed, cutting her off. “If I love you?” He ran an exasperated hand through his hair, staring at her, his blue eyes dark and intense. His next words were ragged and raspy. “Sometimes...sometimes you say the most damnable things. You’re killing me here, you know that?”
Then he strode from the room without saying anything else.
Kayla slumped back onto the bed, hurting all over. Their fledgling marriage was in crisis and she knew she needed to do something about it. Only she had no idea what that was.
Chapter Nine
“So, she’s serious about the divorce?”
Liam focussed his attention on his brother. Kieran had flown into Rapid City airport that morning and hired a rental car for the forty-minute drive to Cedar River. Now they were sitting in Liam’s office at the hotel and drinking coffee.
“So it would seem,” he replied, fighting the twitch in his gut and the pain at his temple. It seemed as though he’d had a headache for days. But not one that painkillers would ease. It was only one o’clock on Wednesday afternoon, but he felt like downing a few belts of scotch to numb his senses.
His brother shook his head. “Have you tried talking with her?”
“Mom’s not listening to me,” he said flatly. “Maybe you’ll have more luck.”
“I’ll go and see her this afternoon,” Kieran said and shrugged. “Once I hear about this mess direct from the old man.”
“He’s not denying it,” Liam flipped back. “Not anymore. And I think he’s accepted the inevitable.”
Kieran shook his head. “Damn. So, how are things with you and Kayla?”
I have no idea...
Which wasn’t exactly true. The last four days had been tense. Oh, they went through the motions—breakfast conversation, a cursory kiss on the cheek before they went to sleep at night and a brief call during the day to see how she was. But that was it. The tension between them was acute and palpable. Since their argument after those incredibly passionate couple of hours on Saturday afternoon, they were more like barely tolerated roommates than husband and wife. She made sure she was in bed well before he turned in and was up before his alarm buzzed at six. There was no companionship, no affe
ction and definitely no making love. Having her so close, but feeling the distance between them getting wider and wider every day, was the worst kind of torture.
“Fine,” he said, answering his brother’s question. “How about you?”
Kieran looked less than his usual positive self. His brother had been through his own brand of marital crap over a year ago, when his wife had announced that the son he believed was his, was in fact the child of his best friend. He’d raised the boy as his own for eighteen months and Liam couldn’t even begin to comprehend the kind of hurt his younger brother must have felt by such an unforgivable betrayal.
“Same,” he said and shrugged. “Work and more work.”
“Dating?”
“Hell, no,” Kieran said quickly. “I’m off that merry-go-round for a while.”
“You know, Nicola Radici has moved back to town,” he said and smiled. “She’s taken over JoJo’s since her brother and his wife were killed in that plane crash last year.” Nicola was Kieran’s high school girlfriend, the one he’d left behind. “She’s also caring for her two young nephews now.”
Kieran’s expression was like granite. “Nic and I were over a long time ago.”
Liam shrugged. “Worth a thought.”
“No chance. Nicola hates me. You do remember how badly I screwed up with her?”
“You were young. When we’re young we do stupid things.”
“Except for you,” Kieran said and grinned. “You never wavered back then. Looks like you saved your stupid thing for now.”
“Are you trying to make a point?” he asked, irritated, frustrated and already tired of the conversation. “If so, get to it.”
“All I’m saying is that this thing with you and Kayla kind of came out of left field. Was it the hands-off instruction from the old man when we were growing up that made you do it? I mean, she’s beautiful and smart and sexy and—”
“And my wife, remember?” he said roughly. “So enough with the compliments, okay?”
Kieran’s eyes bulged and then he chuckled. “Well, I’ll be damned...you really love her. Congratulations, by the way...about the baby.”
He was about to thank his brother when their father walked into the office. He hugged Kieran, gave Liam a nod and then dropped into one of the chairs. He’d spoken to his father only once during the past couple of days and that conversation had been curt. He certainly didn’t want to be at war with his parent, but loyalty toward his mother kept him guarded.
They talked for a while, about their mom, about Sean, about Liz and her three little girls. They reminisced about their childhood and some of Sean’s antics when he was a teenager, and not once did they mention their now not-so-secret half brother, even though he suspected the usually curious Kieran was itching to know more about the man who shared their blood, but was a stranger to them.
“I’m going to go and see Mom,” Kieran said a while later and got to his feet. “I’ll catch you both later.”
Once his brother left the room, Liam put in a call to Connie and gave her a short list of things he needed done that afternoon. When he was done with the call he looked up and noticed his father hadn’t moved.
“Are we gonna have this out?” J.D. asked, both brows up.
“Is there any point?”
“You’ve got questions...only natural.”
“Kieran’s the curious one, not me,” Liam supplied and flicked on his laptop.
“I’m not saying this to Kieran. I’m saying it to you. Tell me what you want to know.”
Liam almost got to his feet and left the room. Almost. He took a deep breath and met his father’s gaze. “Okay...just one question...why did you do it?”
“Why did I fall in love with Kathleen Rickard?” he shot back. “Why did I fall for the one woman I knew I shouldn’t want? You tell me,” he said and laughed humorlessly. “It looks like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Liam scowled. “It’s not the same thing,” he said. “You cheated on your wife with a younger woman. You got her pregnant and then ran her out of town so you wouldn’t get caught.”
“I didn’t...” His father’s voice trailed off. “It was a long time ago. Can’t we just leave it to rest?”
“You have a son with this woman,” Liam reminded him.
“A son who hates me,” his father said, clearly pained by the reality. “A son who doesn’t want to see me. Who’s never wanted to see me. A son who has spent his entire life pushing me away and refuses to acknowledge that I’m his father. A son who I have to let hate me, because as his father, it’s the only thing I can actually do for him.”
His father’s eyes were shining, and it reminded Liam that the only time he’d ever witnessed real emotion from the man was when Liz had died. And right now, in this moment.
“Did you ever love Mom?” Liam asked quietly.
J.D. sighed heavily. “She was a good wife to me. What I needed back then. I’d just taken over the business from your grandfather. I was busy and your mom understood that. She understood me.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
“I love that we’ve had a long marriage. I love that she gifted me with four incredible children. But...no, I was never in love with her like I should have been. Like she deserved.”
“Like you were with Kathleen?”
“Yes,” his father admitted. “And I know you probably don’t believe me and it doesn’t really matter now, but my relationship with Kathleen ended the day she left town. And yes, I supported her and Jonah and I would visit so I could see my son, but the affair ended thirty years ago and I have been faithful to your mother ever since.”
“Mom’s going to divorce you...you know that, right?”
His father nodded slowly. “What about you, Liam? Are you going to stay angry with me? You’re my eldest son and more than that...we’ve always been friends, you and I. More so than with your brothers. I hope you can learn to forgive me.”
“Me, too, Dad,” he said and let out a heavy sigh. “Me, too.”
* * *
Kayla wasn’t sure what kind of reception she’d get when she tapped on her parents’ door on Wednesday afternoon. Icy, she suspected. She’d called an hour earlier and left a message, saying she was dropping by. Her mother answered the door and guilt almost stripped her bare when she noticed how tired and unwell she seemed. There were dark circles beneath her mother’s eyes and her complexion was pale and tight.
She walked down the hall and into the living room. Her grandmother, Joyce, was sitting by the window in her favorite chair and Kayla immediately moved forward and gave her a loving hug.
“Hi, Grams.”
“You look tired,” her grandmother said. “Not sleeping well?”
No. Because I spend most of the night trying desperately not to roll over to Liam’s side of the bed in case I ended up cradled in his arms. Even though that’s the one place I want to be.
It had been a long and difficult few days. They lived together, but were as far apart as two people could be. They had hardly spoken for days; instead they passed each other in the morning and evening, barely acknowledging that they were in the middle of a crisis. Other than a perfunctory kiss good-night, he didn’t touch her and she didn’t invite him to. They talked about the weather, the upcoming benefit and the baby and everything else was ignored.
“I’m fine, Grams. You?”
“Old,” she replied and grinned a little. “Tired.”
“I’m sorry I haven’t been to see you sooner,” she said and hugged her grandmother again. “I miss you.”
“Kayla?”
Her father’s voice made her swivel around. He stood near the door, arms crossed, his glasses perched on the edge of his nose in a way that was familiar and endearing. “Hi, Dad.”
; “Are you here to tell us you’ve come to your senses?”
Okay, first hurdle. “I wanted to talk with you and Mom.”
“About O’Sullivan?” he asked and scowled. “Because I’m not interested in hearing about him.”
“I’m not here to talk about Liam,” she said and saw her father wince at the mention of his name. “I want to talk about you. About you and me and Mom and Grams. And about how we used to be a family and now we’re—”
“Your doing,” he said harshly, cutting her off. “You chose him. Over us. Over your family that has always loved you.”
It sounded so final. So...absolute.
Kayla’s eyes burned. “Are you never going to make peace with this, Dad?”
His expression softened for a moment and she saw him swallow hard. “You broke my heart. You broke your mother’s heart. And your grandmother...” His words trailed off. “I lost my sister because of those people...because J.D. couldn’t stay faithful to his wife. He took my sister from her family. And now his son has done the same thing with my daughter.”
“But I’m still here, Dad. I’m still your daughter. My marriage to Liam doesn’t have to change that. And once you get to know him, you’ll see that he’s—”
“I don’t want any O’Sullivans in my house!”
Her father’s harsh tone made her cringe. And when she noticed her grandmother was crying, Kayla’s heart constricted in her chest. Her mother moved across the room to comfort the older woman, and Kayla remained where she was, heartsick.
She touched her abdomen. “What about your grandchild? This baby is half O’Sullivan... I can’t change that. And I want my child to have you in their life. I want my child to be a part of this family.”
“One day you’ll understand the hurt I feel,” her father said in a raspy voice. “You’ll understand this betrayal when your child does something so callous to you. You’re my beautiful and smart daughter and we’ve always been proud of you...and you could have had any man you wanted. Why him? Why O’Sullivan’s son? When you knew what it would do to us.”