by Sarah Morgan
“That’s right. I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to convince you this is the right thing to do, and I thought we might need sustenance as I lay siege to you.”
“Sun Tzu didn’t believe in sieges.”
He was impressed. “You looked him up.”
“I was trying to understand you. And I don’t. I can only assume that you’re here because you don’t believe me. You think I’m exaggerating.”
“I don’t think you’re exaggerating. And I’m here because I do believe you. I like you, Molly. You’re sexy as hell and you’re not going to fall in love. For me, that’s not a problem. In fact it’s a prerequisite for a relationship in my book.”
“I once hurt a man so badly he told me I’d ruined his life and he’d never recover.” The anguish in her eyes tore at him.
He knew that however badly the guy had been hurt, she’d been hurt, too. For different reasons, maybe, but it didn’t take much to see that hurting people didn’t come naturally to Molly.
“I’ve never been in love either, Molly. No time. No inclination. You can relax.”
Still she looked unhappy. “I’m bad news, Daniel.”
“You’re the best news I’ve had in a long time. Think about it—for the first time ever, neither of us needs to worry about being in a relationship because we’re both immune. We’ve been inoculated by life. Now can we stop talking? The pizza will be here in a minute.” There was more he wanted to say, more he wanted to know about her, but he told himself that it could wait. Small steps. He turned to put his glass down and noticed the flowers. “Someone bought you flowers? I have a rival for your lack of affection?”
That made her laugh. “Are you jealous?”
“I think I might be. If you’re going to be bad, I want you to be exclusively bad with me.”
“Don’t you think you’re moving ahead a little fast?”
“I carried your sick dog and let you stay in my apartment without laying a finger on you. That qualifies as foreplay.”
She opened her mouth to say something but then her phone rang. She checked the number. “It’s the vet—”
“Take it.” He picked up his glass again and while she answered the call, he strolled to her bookshelves.
He’d once dated a woman who had books on her shelves designed to make a statement about her, and an entirely different set of books on her Kindle. He’d been fascinated that she felt she had to hide what she was really reading.
Molly’s selection was eclectic. There were a few biographies, cookbooks, a smattering of literature, crime and romance. Nothing that told him much.
One book caught his eye. Mate for Life.
Why did that title sound familiar?
He checked the author and saw the name Aggie, and then remembered Marsha talking about her book being a bestseller. Irritation rose inside him. The woman was everywhere. He couldn’t get away from her.
Presumably Molly had consulted it when she was trying to find the perfect guy, but why would a psychologist need help from an advice columnist? What could Aggie possibly teach her that she didn’t already know?
It was another indication of how desperate Molly must have felt and he didn’t understand it.
Who cared that she couldn’t fall in love? There were plenty of people who had fallen in love who would think she was lucky.
Molly ended the call. “I’m picking up Valentine tomorrow morning.”
“That’s good.” Daniel decided not to embarrass her by mentioning the book. “Is that the door? Sounds like our pizza.”
He paid and carried the box to the table.
“It smells good.” She pulled out a chair and sat down. “This is why I don’t often eat pizza. I find it hard to stop at just one slice.”
“So you’re a bad girl with self-control issues and a big appetite. The news gets better all the time. This is turning out to be the best first date I’ve ever had.”
“I bet you were the kind of kid who played with knives and climbed trees.”
“And fire.” He flipped open the box. “Don’t forget fire. Mostly caused by my sister who is a terrible cook. I loved doing anything that might risk injury.”
“Seems to me that you haven’t changed much.”
“Is that another subtle warning? You’re not going to injure me. So anytime you want to give in to the chemistry, lose control, rip my clothes off and use my body for your own gratification, go right ahead.” Pleased to see her smile, he chose a slice of pizza. “So I have a question. And it’s personal.”
She stopped smiling. “How personal? You want to know if I like olives on my pizza?”
“No. I want to know when you last had sex.”
“What?” She gave a shocked laugh. “Did you seriously just ask me that?”
“I seriously did. And the answer is…?”
She reached for a slice of pizza, avoiding his gaze. “Let’s just say it’s been a while.”
“How long is a while?”
“I think I can probably remember how it’s done, but it’s possible my memory has faded with time.” Her cheeks were pink but her eyes were bright with challenge. “Are you scared?”
“I’m carbo-loading as we speak.” He took another large slice of pizza. “So why so long? Because the last guy made you feel guilty, you stopped having sex?”
“He didn’t ‘make’ me feel guilty. I produced that emotion by myself.”
“Spoken like a psychologist.”
“Which I am.”
“Which you are, but not falling in love with someone isn’t a crime, Molly. People fall in and out of love all the time. I see it every day in my work. It’s not something you can control. We all want things in life we can’t have. Happens all the time. Jobs we don’t get, houses we don’t live in, health issues we sure as hell don’t want—people we love who don’t love us back. Not feeling the way someone wants you to feel doesn’t make you a bad person.” There was more to it. He could tell from looking at her face. And he knew she wasn’t ready to talk about it. “And now you can tell me your other innermost secrets. Like whether you like olives on your pizza.”
“I love olives. Did you want a plate or something? You’re wearing a suit and you don’t strike me as a pizza-out-of-the-box kind of guy.”
“I’m wearing a suit because I’ve been in court, and you’re judging again—” He pushed the box toward her.
“My judgments are usually correct. I didn’t think you were a dog kind of guy to begin with, and it turned out I was right.” She took a slice and bit into it with a moan of pleasure. “This is good.”
Daniel stared at the movement of her throat. He never thought watching someone eat pizza could be sexy. “Just because I don’t own a dog doesn’t mean I’m not a dog kind of guy, but I’m flattered to know you were paying me that much attention.”
“It’s what I do. Study people.” She chewed slowly, savoring every mouthful.
“Admit it, you studied me longer than the average person.”
She stopped chewing. “Your ego is bigger than this pizza.”
“I feed it well. And I know you were studying me, because I was studying you, too.” Daniel glanced at the bookshelves. “You read a lot?”
“Yes. You?”
“Yes. Mostly crime and thrillers.”
“Written by your neighbor Lucas Blade. He does get into the mind of his characters. His books are as much about the person as the actual murder.”
“He has a psychology background. Next time he and Eva take pity on me and invite me over for a meal, I’ll take you with me. He’s an interesting guy.” He waited for her to protest, but she didn’t.
“So what else do you read?”
“Apart from fiction?” He took another slice of pizza. “I read biographies, some history, art catalogs.”
“Art catalogs?”
“Catalogs of exhibitions I’m too busy to enjoy in person. There are too many of those. I need to carve out more time.”
“Y
ou work long hours.”
“But I enjoy what I do.” He stretched out his legs. “I wouldn’t do something I didn’t enjoy. How about you? Do you love what you do?”
“Yes.” She stood up and cleared up the pizza box. “That was delicious, thank you. Coffee?” She strolled to the kitchen area and he watched as she ground beans and made it fresh.
She poured it into two cups and then turned. He smoothed her hair away from her face and she planted her hand in the middle of his chest.
“You said you weren’t going to kiss me.”
“That was last night. Tonight all bets are off.”
“Sun Tzu?”
“No. Me.” And he lowered his mouth to hers. Her body melted into the heat of his, her softness curving around his hardness. He tasted her on his lips, felt her scent tease his senses.
By the time he pulled away he was ready to have sex on a kitchen countertop, something he’d never done in his life before.
She staggered slightly, her hand locked in the front of his shirt. “That was—”
“Yes, it was. Which is why I’ve decided to leave.” He dropped another lingering kiss on her mouth and unpeeled her fingers from his shirt before easing away from her. It was the hardest thing he’d ever done.
“You’re leaving?” Her voice sounded husky. “I thought you were carbo-loading.”
“I was.” He caught her face in his hands and trapped her gaze with his. “But you’re still not ready to do this. You’re a little wary, a little suspicious and afraid you’re going to hurt me. And you’re afraid you’re going to hurt yourself again, by being forced to reexamine the possible reasons you can’t fall in love. But I’m going to make that part easy for you. No woman in her right mind would fall in love with me so don’t even waste energy asking yourself that question.”
She looked a little dazed, a little vulnerable. “You really are leaving?”
“Yes, because when we have sex, there are going to be no doubts. No holding back.”
“So what was the kiss for?” The note of wistful disappointment in her voice almost made him change his mind.
Almost.
He smiled. “It was a taste of things to come.”
Twelve
Molly picked up Valentine the following morning and was relieved to see him back to his normal self. He greeted her as if they’d been parted for a century and she wrapped her arms around him, feeling his whole body moving as he wagged his tail.
“Thank you,” she muttered to the vet, her face in his fur. “Thank you for everything you did.” Her heart was so full she could hardly speak.
If something had happened to Valentine. If she had lost him—
“You’re welcome. He’s a beautiful dog.” Steven gave Valentine a pat and then returned to his surgery.
There was no sign of Seth.
Realizing that Daniel still hadn’t told her how he knew him, Molly clipped on Valentine’s lead. “From now on I’m not taking my eyes off you for a single second. Anything you’re planning on eating, I need to see it first.”
She’d had a text from Daniel, inviting her to his apartment for dinner. The fact that he’d also invited Valentine sealed it for her.
“You’re invited to dinner. What do you think?” It was a perfect New York day. The rain had given way to perfect blue skies. Sunlight glinted off glass towers and the streets were clogged with traffic and people. “Do you think we should go?”
Valentine wagged his tail enthusiastically.
“Before you make your decision, you should probably know that Brutus won’t be there. He doesn’t actually live with Daniel. And you’d have to behave. He has a very expensive apartment. Chew anything and you’re out.”
Valentine gave a single bark.
“Right, then. I’ll take that as a yes.” She stroked his head. “If we’re going out tonight, we’d better go home and get some work done.”
* * *
A few blocks away in his office, Daniel had started his day early.
He had the place to himself, which suited him perfectly because having been in court for the previous two days he had a mountain of work.
He glanced out of the window and imagined Molly and Valentine enjoying the park. Maybe he should ask his sisters if they needed him to walk Brutus occasionally. Not that he was particularly attached to the dog, but they were busy. Overstretched. It would be a way of helping.
According to Fliss, two families had come to see the dog. The first had said that he was a lot bigger than they’d thought and decided they didn’t want a German shepherd, which Daniel found unfathomable given that they knew the dog’s breed before they’d visited. The second had been worried Brutus would be a risk to their two very boisterous children.
Daniel was outraged that anyone would imply Brutus was aggressive. He’d never met a better-natured animal.
Not that he was an expert on dogs, but he’d indulged in some pretty rough play with Brutus when no one was looking and both had emerged without a bruise or a scratch. And he had the funniest face Daniel had ever seen. He’d never thought a dog could look guilty until he’d met Brutus.
If the family hadn’t immediately fallen for him, then in his opinion Brutus had had a narrow escape.
The sun rose, people started arriving at the office and by eight o’clock the phones started ringing and Marsha appeared with coffee. “Have you been here all night?”
“Feels that way.” The aroma of coffee wove itself into his brain. He reached for it, allowing himself to savor the smell before taking a mouthful. The caffeine delivered a much-needed electric shock to his system. “You’re a lifesaver.”
“That bad?”
“People keep trying to sell me malpractice insurance. I hope they don’t know something I don’t. You’re hovering. Something wrong?”
“Elisa Sutton is on her way up and this time she has the children with her. She turned up at reception, very upset.”
“If she’s upset, we should refer her to a therapist. My expertise ends at legal advice. And I’m more expensive than a therapist.”
“She trusts you. She knows you’re not one of those lawyers who would take advantage and let a client run up a huge bill because they’re always on the phone moaning.”
“My job is to come up with a winning divorce strategy. That’s it.”
“Judging from how upset she is, that might be what she’s about to ask you to do.”
Hearing bawling coming from outside his office, Daniel stood up. “Do we know what has happened?”
“No, but I’m willing to bet Henry hasn’t delivered on his promises.”
“Now, isn’t that a surprise.” Daniel walked out of his office into Marsha’s. Elisa was jiggling the toddler and Kristy was crying so hard she was almost choking.
Daniel made a rapid assessment and decided to start with the older child.
“Hey, Kristy.” He dropped into a crouch in front of the little girl. “What’s wrong?”
Kristy sucked in a juddering breath. “Lost—R-Rosie.”
“We bought a new doll from the toy shop on Broadway and she dropped it somewhere.” Elisa shifted the howling baby onto the other shoulder as she explained. She looked exhausted. “My fault. I was rushing. She probably dropped it on the sidewalk. I don’t know. We’ll look again when we leave here.”
Seeing Kristy’s face crumple again, Daniel intervened swiftly. “What does Rosie look like?”
“B-black hair,” Kristy hiccupped. “R-red skirt. Why?”
“Because if we’re looking for a missing person, we need a name and description. That’s how it works.” Remembering the time Harriet had lost her favorite doll only to discover their father had tossed it in the trash, Daniel stood up, reached for the phone and hit the button for reception. “This is Daniel Knight. Contact security and tell them we have a missing person. Black hair. Red dress. Name of Rosie. She’s a doll… Yes, that’s right, you heard me correctly. Have them send someone to take a look outside th
e building… Yes, it’s a priority.” He put the phone down and turned back in time to see Marsha hide a smile. “Kristy, I have my best team dealing with it. We’re sending out a search party.”
Kristy stopped sobbing and stared at him, wide-eyed with wonder.
Elisa’s eyes filled. “That’s kind of you. I’m sorry to show up like this without calling you, but—”
“Let’s take this into my office.” Realizing that if he didn’t deal with this quickly there would be more crying, he held out his hand to Kristy. “I have something to show you.” Daniel led her toward a cupboard at the far end of Marsha’s office. “Marsha keeps a secret box in here. But she only shows it to very special people.”
Kristy studied the cupboard. “What’s in the secret box?”
“I don’t know. I’m not special enough, so she won’t show me. You’ll have to ask Marsha.”
Marsha picked up the cue. “Shall we take a look together?”
While Kristy opened the door and peered inside, Daniel turned to Marsha and spoke in a low voice. “If they don’t find the doll, call the store and have them send another one over.”
She nodded, and Daniel reflected that one of the many reasons he loved working with Marsha was that nothing threw her. Leaving the problem in her capable hands, he walked into his office and left the door slightly ajar. “Kristy will be fine with Marsha.”
“You’re brilliant.” Elisa blew her nose. “There are days when I wish I was married to you. You’re better with my kids than Henry.”
Daniel kept his expression neutral. “If you need to talk to a therapist, Elisa, then Marsha can—”
“It’s not that. I know you’re not here to listen to my problems, but sometimes it’s not so easy to detach the emotional stuff from the practical stuff. I don’t know what to do, Mr. Knight. He yelled at Kristy this morning. That’s why I bought her the doll. I can’t believe I’m turning into that person who thinks buying stuff compensates for bad parenting.” Her eyes filled again and she took a deep breath. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but could you hold Oliver while I go to the bathroom? I’ve been trying to stay calm because when I’m tense it makes his asthma worse—”
Daniel took the wriggling toddler and held him firmly. The child grabbed a handful of his hair and stared at him, intrigued.