A Family For Ronnie (Harlequin Treasury 1990's)

by Julie Caille

Ronnie hung on his uncle’s arm. “She thought you wore your bathing suit to bed,” he said with a giggle. “Isn’t that silly?”

  “Very silly,” Luke agreed. He turned back to Alicia and extended his hand. “It really is comfortable,” he added. His expression was as indecipherable as water, yet she knew darn well that he was thinking what she was thinking.

  Alicia could feel a blush creeping up her neck. “Yes, I’m sure it is,” she muttered. She shoved herself up and straightened her tank top, but a streak of self-preservation prevented her from accepting his help.

  Luke’s arm fell to his side. “Go get in bed,” he told Ronnie. “We’ll be there in a minute to tuck you in.”

  “Oh, okay.” Ronnie shuffled from the room.

  Reluctant to remain with Luke in the intimate confines of his bedroom, Alicia started to follow, but Luke’s voice stopped her as effectively as a hand on her arm.

  “So what do you think?”

  She swung around to face him. “About what?”

  “This.” He made a sweeping gesture. “My humble domain.”

  “I think it’s lovely, Luke. I told you that. It wasn’t quite what I expected—”

  “You thought I’d live in a dump,” he cut in. “You’re surprised, aren’t you?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Don’t pretend.” His eyes bored into her, yet his voice remained bland, even indifferent. “No doubt it’s not what you’re used to. I’m sure the dentist gave you a big, fancy house.”

  She planted her hands on her hips. “No, Kenny didn’t give me a fancy house. We lived in a condo. And it was my earnings that paid the mortgage, at least in the beginning while he was setting up his practice. Does that satisfy your curiosity?”

  He ignored her question and moved closer, so close she could feel the warmth of his body. “Sounds like you picked a real loser, Alicia. I heard he cheated on you.”

  Alicia flinched. His words hurt, largely because she had heard something similar—though more elegantly phrased—from her parents. Really, Alicia, where men are concerned, your judgment appears to be remarkably faulty. Caroline found a nice young man. Why can’t you?

  “Attracting losers seems to be a habit of mine, doesn’t it?” she said with bitterness. “But you can bet I won’t make the same mistake again.”

  “Are you putting me in the same class as Farrell?” Luke’s tone lacked any hint of real interest, as though he was merely asking an academic question.

  Unable to believe they were discussing this, she struggled to formulate a reply. Somehow she’d thought they’d maintain a facade, tiptoe civilly around the subject of their failed romance for the entire length of her visit. On the other hand, maybe she should have known better. Luke could be evasive at times, but he could also be direct.

  “No,” she said, forcing the word out. “But you were another of my mistakes, weren’t you?”

  As Luke stared down at her, the planes and angles of his face seemed to change, grow harsher and more unyielding. “We were the mismatch of the century,” he said in a clipped tone. “Like oil and water. No wonder your parents disapproved.”

  For some odd reason, these words hurt even more. Pain lanced through her, as fresh as the day she had returned his ring, as lacerating as the moment he had shoved it into his pocket and walked out of her life. Yet somehow she managed to school her features into an uncaring mask.

  “Well, it was all so long ago, wasn’t it? I can’t even remember what brought us together in the first place.”

  “Can’t you?” He gave a short laugh. “What brought us together was simple, doll. It was this.” And he bent down and kissed her.

  Shocked, she simply stood there, utterly frozen as his lips traced the stiff contours of her mouth—stroking, rocking, caressing as though he really cared whether or not she enjoyed the experience. When his hand pressed at the back of her neck, exerting a firm pressure, the familiarity of it flung her back to another time and place. Old emotions raged alongside current sensations; snatches of the past swirled in her brain. Yet she forbade herself to respond, to part her lips and encourage him, because then he might know how much he still affected her. He might realize that she had never forgotten him. He might even guess that her marriage to Kenny had never stood a fair chance because of her memories of Luke. And that was something she couldn’t bear for him to know.

  What brought us together was simple, doll.

  As the outrageous statement rebounded in her mind, she tore her mouth free. “Don’t call me doll!” she said fiercely. She rammed her fists against his chest, her breasts heaving beneath the thin cotton top. “I’m not a doll, Luke Garrick. I’m a woman—an intelligent, capable human being. And this woman has had it up to here—” her hand slashed across her neck “—with men like you.” She started toward the door, then wheeled around once more. “I’m going to kiss Ronnie good-night,” she informed him in as steady and cool a tone as she could muster. “Please allow us a few minutes alone.”

  Luke watched her stalk from the room, his body rigid as a fence post. So what the heck had he accomplished? Not a damned thing. Fury swept through him, but his surge of self-loathing chased it away. He’d acted like a real jerk and he knew it. Yet he’d learned the only thing that mattered.

  She still saw him as a loser.

  Chapter Three

  She was dialing her parents’ telephone number, but she’d made a mistake. She tried again, missed the seven, hung up, started again, missed the five, tried again, got a busy signal, wanted to cry. She had to get through, had to tell them something important, but she couldn’t get through, couldn’t get it right.

  Someone screamed.

  Alicia jolted upright in the strange bed, the sheet bunched in her sweaty hands, her heart flipping back and forth in an erratic pattern. It took a moment to get oriented, to remember that she was in Texas, not in Massachusetts or at her parents’ home in New Jersey.

  Then Alicia heard the sobbing. Muted by walls, it held a childlike terror that sent her sprinting across the floor. Alicia yanked open her door just as Luke disappeared into Ronnie’s room. Without hesitation she followed, her hand thrown up to shield her eyes as he switched on a light.

  In the doorway, she stopped short, for Luke wore nothing but a pair of briefs. The sight reminded her of her own state of dishabille, and for a handful of seconds, she considered a swift retreat. Then she straightened her shoulders. Damn it, what was wrong with her?

  “Easy there, pal.” Luke sat down beside the whimpering child. “It’s only a dream, Ron. Everything’s okay. We’re right here with you.”

  Alicia moved to the foot of the bed. “Was it the dinosaur dream, Ronnie?” she asked softly. “Is that what scared you?”

  A small, frightened face peeked out from beneath the sheets. “Rex,” Ronnie whispered. Eyes brimming with tears, he crawled out and onto Luke’s lap.

  As the child huddled against his chest, Luke looked up. Until this moment, he had paid Alicia no heed, but now his eyes flicked over her, paused, then moved over her again with a thoroughness that brought heat rushing to her cheeks.

  She folded her arms over her chest, then immediately felt ridiculous. “Uh, is there anything I can do?”

  “How about getting him a drink of water?” Luke suggested.

  “Sure.” Alicia hurried into the bathroom, chancing a peek in the mirror as she reached for a paper cup. Filling it with water, she made a slight grimace. The two thin layers of her aqua chiffon nightgown revealed more than she’d realized.

  Pushing her embarrassment aside, she returned to Ronnie’s room with her chin raised high, wrapped in dignity if not in the concealing folds of the bathrobe she had forgotten to pack. But this time, Luke barely glanced at her.

  “Thanks,” he said. He took the cup from her hand and held it for Ronnie. “I’ll keep him with me for the rest of the night.”

  Alicia nodded, a tiny lump in her throat. She ached to hold the little boy, to whisk him into her be
d so she could kiss and cuddle his fears away. But she hadn’t earned the right yet. To Ronnie, she was still a stranger.

  She returned to her room and lay in the dark, Luke’s near-naked image floating in her mind. It was idiotic, of course, but the memory of all that bronzed male skin did queer things to her stomach. Sexual need curled inside her, as real as her frustrated desire to nurture and love.

  Okay, so she was still attracted to Luke, but it meant no more than that outrageous kiss. It was just that she had been lonely for so long. It had been two years since her divorce, and two years before that since she’d let Kenny touch her. The physical side of their marriage had ceased the moment she’d found out about his affair with Tracy, his red-haired hygienist.

  Even so, it had been months before she’d been ready to admit that divorce was necessary. For as long as possible, she’d pretended her marriage was as happy as Caroline and Richard’s. She hadn’t wanted her parents to know that Kenny had used her, chosen her for her high salary and susceptibility to his charm. That in misguided gratitude, she had paid off his student loans and supported him while he set up his dental practice. That he had probably never loved her at all.

  Depressed, she glanced over at the glowing digital numbers of her travel alarm clock. Wonderful. Here it was two o’clock in the morning and she felt wider awake than ever. She might as well give up and get up.

  After pulling on a pair of jogging shorts and a Save The Whales T-shirt, she padded quietly downstairs and headed for the kitchen. She flipped the light switch and waited for her eyes to adjust, reflecting that she might as well find something useful to do. Unfortunately, the only thing that seemed to need attention was the floor.

  She soon located a pail and detergent, but decided against using the mop. Working on her hands and knees would take longer, fill more of her night. With luck, it would also make her tired enough to sleep.

  She swept the floor first, her thoughts wandering to the photo she’d seen on Luke’s dresser. Though she’d caught no more than a quick glimpse, the image had frozen into her brain.

  The woman in the picture had been quite beautiful. Alicia recalled every detail—the ebony hair, the perfect nose, the smiling violet-blue eyes.

  All right, so Luke was having a relationship with someone. Someone gorgeous. So what? She didn’t care. It was none of her business. She was having a relationship, too, if her friendship with Nick Easton qualified for the term.

  Two pails of water later, her knees throbbed and her shoulders ached. As she refilled the bucket for the last time, she wondered if Luke would notice the difference in his floor. Reflecting that Kenny had only noticed the things she had left undone, she shut off the tap and lifted the pail.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  Alicia started so violently that water sloshed over the edge and down her leg. “Damn it, Luke, are you trying to give me heart failure? What does it look like I’m doing?”

  “Sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry.

  Flustered, she set down the pail and reached for the dish towel, shooting him a look as she swabbed at her leg. At least this time he was decent, if wearing a pair of short, very frayed cutoffs rated that description. One thumb hooked into a belt loop, he leaned against the doorjamb, his frowning gaze following her movements.

  She tossed the towel aside, complaining, “This is the third time in twelve hours you’ve sneaked up on me.”

  “You want me to wear a bell?” he asked dryly.

  I want you to wear more clothes, she almost snapped. Instead she gave him a look of lofty dignity and hefted the bucket over to the last dirty section of floor.

  As she recommenced work, Luke came over and hunkered down beside her, perfectly balanced on the balls of his feet. “Alicia, when I said you could make yourself useful, I didn’t mean this.” Now his voice held an irritating trace of amusement.

  “Don’t expect me to make a habit of it. I just couldn’t sleep.”

  “Me, neither.” He paused, still watching her. “I wondered what you were doing down here.”

  “Well, now you know.” Without conscious intent, her eyes zeroed in on the curly dark hair of his chest. Below, his midsection was hairless and ridged with muscles, but another thin line of hair began at his navel, arrowing straight down into his shorts. Unsettled, she looked away. “You left Ronnie alone? What if he wakes up?”

  “He won’t. Listen, I appreciate what you’re doing, but it’s not necessary. I’ve got a woman who cleans for me. She comes in every other week.”

  Alicia sat back on her heels. “That’s all right. I needed something to make me tired.”

  “Forget the rest of it. Go back to bed.”

  “It won’t take long. Besides, I don’t like to leave things unfinished.”

  As he rose to his feet, she rinsed the sponge, not daring to look up. The silence lengthened, heightening the tension between them.

  “I’m sorry about your marriage,” Luke said suddenly.

  Alicia stiffened. For a split second, she’d thought he was apologizing for kissing her, so this caught her unawares. “It doesn’t matter now,” she said with a shrug. “It’s over, and I’m doing just fine on my own.”

  “Are you?”

  Partly because he sounded skeptical and partly because of the picture she’d seen on his dresser, Alicia found herself elaborating. “That’s right. In fact, I’ve met someone else. His name’s Nick.” She scrubbed hard at something sticky, keeping her tone bright and cheerful. “Nick Easton. I gave him your number, by the way. I hope you don’t mind if he calls.”

  Luke didn’t answer.

  “Mother and Daddy adore him,” she went on in a rush. “He’s the director of marketing at Crandon Industries.”

  “A man with big bucks.” Sarcasm tinged the remark, but she ignored it.

  “I guess you could say that. He’s very successful.” She gave the last tile a final swipe. “Did you know I was made a manager? It happened last year. I’m the manager of business systems development now. I have fifteen people working for me, most of them men.”

  “Congratulations. Sounds like you enjoy being the boss.”

  She carried the pail over to the sink and dumped the water down the drain. “I do, actually. I’ve worked hard. I deserved the promotion.” She paused, then answered what she sensed was his unspoken question. “As for Kenny, I don’t miss him. It was just one of those things.”

  Several seconds passed, then she felt Luke move nearer, his presence a quiet and solid warmth. “It’s late,” he said. “You’d better get some sleep.”

  Alicia nodded and turned to face him. The top of her head just reached his chin, and for an insane moment, she yearned to lean on him, to twine her arms around him and draw upon his strength. “Look,” she said awkwardly, “I hope I didn’t offend you by washing the floor. I guess if someone walked into my house and started cleaning...” Her voice trailed off as his gaze settled on her mouth.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not offended,” he said slowly. With unexpected gentleness, his hand brushed down her arm.

  Alicia’s knees turned to pudding. If he kissed her now, she wouldn’t be able to push him away. A part of her wanted him to do it. Her clenched fingers trembled with the need to touch him, to slide up the textured surface of his arms, to explore the hard male muscle beneath the skin. Knowing she was crazy, too tired to care, she waited for him to make his move.

  But nothing happened. Nothing.

  “Good night, Alicia” was all he said.

  She stared in stupefaction as he turned and walked away from her. It was as though nothing had passed between them, as though the yearning had all been one-sided. With a stab of sick jealousy, she remembered the woman with the violet-blue eyes. Of course it had all been one-sided—that was her specialty, wasn’t it? Loving and not being loved in return? Wanting and not being wanted?

  At the door to the kitchen, Luke paused. He didn’t turn, didn’t speak, but she saw his hand tense on the door frame.
And then, like an echo from the past, he was gone. Only emptiness and silence remained.

  * * *

  Alicia stared out the window of Luke’s truck as it bowled along the highway, thanking every saint she had ever heard of that the morning’s light had brought a return of her sanity. Last night’s hunger for Luke’s touch had been but a passing weakness, fostered by stress, exacerbated by fatigue. With any luck, her face hadn’t betrayed her and he hadn’t known.

  She glanced down at Ronnie, who sat wedged between them, his face pale and remote. She could scarcely believe this was the same child who had taken such delight in the rocking of a water bed. Remembering his exuberance, her eyes stung with unshed tears.

  She’d thought a great deal about Ronnie during the days before she had come to Houston. She’d visited schools, both private and public. She’d made arrangements for after-school child care with Gail White, a trusted friend and neighbor with two children of her own. She had even cleared out her spare room in the expectation that it would soon have a little blond-haired occupant. Yes, Ronnie needed a mother, just as Alicia needed someone to love. Someone who would return her love and fill the gaping void in her life.

  “Here we are.” Luke pulled the truck into a strip shopping mall and eased into a parking space. “You’d better come in,” he added impassively. “I’ll be a while.”

  Alicia studied the front of Luke’s store as she and Ronnie climbed out. The words Factory Authorized Service had been inscribed across its plate-glass windows, which, like the door, were reinforced with steel bars.

  Ronnie slipped by her and went inside, but Luke waited and held the door just as he’d always done in the past. As she stepped past him, she caught a faint whiff of his after-shave. The scent evoked unwanted memories, fragments of the past that tumbled through her head in an instant.

  Thrusting them aside, she took a deep breath and looked around. Televisions, stereos and VCRs were shelved from floor to ceiling everywhere she could see.

  “Luke, it’s wonderful,” she said. “My goodness, I’m impressed.” Her voice sounded queer to her own ears, as though it were someone else speaking. As though she were standing at a distance, watching herself play a role.