Frank nodded. “You’re right.” He carried a less-than-happy Andrew over to the bathroom sink filled with lukewarm bathwater, then shifted his son around in his arms several times. Once again he looked at Leenie. “Maybe you’d better show me how to do this.”
Not budging an inch, Leenie said, “Use your arm to support him, then ease him down into the water. The liquid soap and washcloth are right there on the vanity. And so is the shampoo. I usually wash his hair first, but if you prefer to leave that until last, it’s okay.”
“No, we’ll do this the way you always do it.”
Going by Leenie’s instructions, Frank eased his son into the sink. Andrew quieted, but continued sniffing tiny sobs while Frank talked to him. Nonsensical words. Baby talk. It was all Leenie could do not to burst out laughing. If only the other Dundee agents could see him now, trying to support a baby in his bathwater with one arm while struggling with his other hand to open a bottle of shampoo. Finally after several attempts Frank managed to squirt a generous amount of shampoo into his hand.
“You know a guy needs at least four hands to do this.” Frank wiped half the shampoo off on the vanity counter, then rubbed the rest into Andrew’s hair.
Leenie watched while Frank scrubbed Andrew from top to bottom. And he was doing a pretty good job, too. Andrew cooperated fully, enjoying his bath—until Frank started to rinse the shampoo from his hair. The minute several drops of soapy water trickled down on his face, Andrew started screaming and thrashing. Water splashed everywhere. All over the vanity. Across the mirror behind the sink. And onto Frank, drenching his shirt and dampening his jeans.
“Help!” Frank called out. “I need reinforcements.”
Chuckling softly, Leenie rushed in to assist him. “Here, let me take over.”
The minute Leenie eased her arm around Andrew, Frank pulled back and moved out of her way. “Mommy to the rescue,” Frank said to his son. “It’s a good thing we’ve got her, isn’t it?”
With practiced ease, Leenie soothed Andrew, then rinsed his hair and body thoroughly before lifting him up and out of the sink. Holding him with one hand, she picked up the hooded towel and wrapped him in it, covering his head with the hood. She turned to show Frank how easily the job had been accomplished, but instead stopped dead still and sucked in her breath.
Oh, jeez! Frank had stripped out of his shirt, leaving him bare to the waist. It just wasn’t fair that he looked so damned appealing. Some men looked better with their clothes on. Not Frank Latimer. He definitely looked better without clothes. As a matter of fact, he was downright irresistible.
When he caught her ogling his muscular chest, he grinned. An electrified awareness passed between them. Leenie forced her gaze from his chest to his face.
“He’s probably gotten you wet to the skin, too,” Frank said, pointedly staring at her shirt, his gaze quickly zeroing in on the exposed right side of the damp cloth sticking to her breast. Andrew lay pressed to the left side, effectively concealing the other breast.
She swallowed. Her nipples tightened. “Why don’t you put on a dry shirt while I get Andrew dressed.” That said, she hurried out of the bathroom and straight to Andrew’s nursery.
Escape! her mind screamed. Get the hell away from Frank before he figures out how much you want him. It was ridiculous the way her body reacted to him, to nothing more than him staring at her breast. If she gave in to her desires, she’d jump Frank the minute Andrew went down for a nap.
So, would that be so bad? she asked herself. Yes, the logical part of her brain responded, you’d be a fool to fall into the sack with him. The guy’s leaving in a week, running off to God knows where on his next assignment. If she was smart, she’d keep Frank out of her bed and find a way to rip him out of her heart. When he left Maysville, he’d return to his life back in Atlanta. And that meant he’d be dating other women.
Gritting her teeth, Leenie growled inwardly, with only a murmured whine audible. She hugged her baby before laying him in the middle of his crib.
By the time Frank joined them in their son’s room a few minutes later, she had dressed Andrew for the day in navy blue corduroy overalls and a light blue cotton knit shirt. Just as she pulled on his light blue socks and white booties, Frank came up behind her and looked over her shoulder. She felt the heat from his body as he stood there so very close, his chest brushing against her back. When she glanced over her shoulder to speak to him, she gasped when she realized he’d lowered his head so that they were nose to nose, only inches separating them. She sucked in her breath. They stared at each other, both momentarily transfixed. And then he gave her a quick kiss, a kiss that was over before she had a chance to react. Frank slipped his arm around her waist, then looked down in the crib at Andrew. Using his free hand, he reached out and tickled Andrew’s belly.
“I hope you’ll give your dad another chance,” Frank said. “If Mommy will let me, I want to try giving you a bath tomorrow.”
Clearing her throat, Leenie responded. “Of course you can try again tomorrow. You can do anything you want for and with Andrew while you’re here. You can bathe him and give him his bottle. You can rock him, sing to him, walk the floor with him. And change his diapers. Both the wet ones and the dirty ones.”
Frank groaned. “I’m not sure about the dirty ones. I might leave those to you.”
“Ah, don’t be a chicken. You want to teach your son to be brave, don’t you? How’s it going to look to him if years from now he finds out you were afraid of a dirty diaper?”
“Being a man himself, I figure he’ll understand.”
“Andrew will not be a chauvinist. He’s going to be the type of man who shares all the responsibilities for childcare with his wife.” The moment she made the statement, she wished back the words. She couldn’t retract what she’d said, no matter how much she’d like to. Had Frank misconstrued her perfectly innocent comment? Would he think she was hinting for a marriage proposal?
When Frank didn’t say anything, was in fact extremely quiet, Leenie took a deep breath and said, “That’s a generalization, of course. I’m assuming Andrew will be married before he becomes a father.”
Frank cleared his throat. “Yeah. We—er—it’ll be a case of do as I say, not do as I did.”
Leenie groaned. “Look, let’s just lay our cards on the table, okay?” She reached up and wound the Noah’s Ark musical mobile hanging above the crib. “We’ve been dancing around each other, around the subject of marriage and sharing custody of Andrew and his future…our futures.”
“I didn’t want to rush you into making decisions right away.” Frank stepped back, putting some distance between their bodies. “I thought I was doing the right thing by not pushing you, by giving you time to recover from everything you’ve gone through lately.”
With Andrew contentedly gurgling and cooing as he watched the colorful animals circling above him and listening to the soft lullaby the mobile’s music box played, Leenie turned to Frank. “Let’s step out in the hall.”
Frank stared at her with a puzzled expression on his face.
“Babies pick up on the moods of the adults in their life, especially their mother’s mood. In case either of us gets upset or talks a little too loud or—”
“Are we going to have an argument?”
“No, of course not. It’s just…well, we might not agree on everything. And I’d rather Andrew not be exposed to our differences of opinion. Not now. And not in the future.”
Frank nodded. “I agree.”
When Leenie walked out of the nursery and down the hall, Frank followed her. After pausing a few feet shy of her bedroom door, she confronted Frank.
“I don’t want you to get the wrong impression,” she told him. “Or read anything into the comment I made.”
“What wrong impression?”
“About marriage.”
“I didn’t read anything into your comment,” he said. “I hope Andrew is married when he becomes a father. It’ll make his life and
his child’s much easier.” Frank’s gaze met hers. “Not to mention his child’s mother.”
“Hmm-mmm.” Leenie blew out a long, huffing sigh. “Let me be honest with you.” Yeah, sure, you’re going to be honest with him. Her conscience laughed at her lie. Okay, so she’d be honest with him, up to a point.
“By all means.” Frank leaned closer, placed his open palm on the wall behind Leenie’s head and looked directly into her eyes. “Be honest with me.”
Leenie’s knees went weak. Her heartbeat accelerated. “I’m very fond of you. And I like you.” Oh, get real, Leenie. You’re fond of him? You like him? You’re not being exactly honest are you? Okay, so I’m hog-wild crazy about him. I love the big lug so much it hurts.
“I’m very fond of you, too.” He didn’t take his eyes off her. “And I’ve been surprised by the fact that I like you so much. Really like you. More than any woman…” He cleared his throat. “Let’s just say I admire you.”
He admired her? Well, at least that was something. “Ideally, I’d like to be married to my son’s father, but—”
“That would be ideal for Andrew, for any kid, to have his parents married to each other. But having parents who are not married is much better than having married parents who fight all the time. Believe me, I know. My parents hated each other and my sister and I paid the price for every one of their battles.”
“You’re right, of course. Parents who don’t love each other shouldn’t be married.”
“Sometimes even love isn’t enough to keep people together. I loved Rita, but—”
“It usually is when both of them are in love.”
Frank removed his hand from the wall and stood up straight. “Yeah, I suppose that’s true.”
The rather sad look on Frank’s face touched her heart. She wanted to hug him to her and tell him that she’d never betray him the way Rita had, that he could trust her with his love.
“We don’t have to rehash any of your bad memories. Your parent’s horrible marriage. Your breakup with Rita. And I won’t bore you with how many years I looked for Mr. Right and kept finding one Mr. Wrong after another. Nor will I go to great lengths to make you understand how important a family is to me since I grew up without a real family. But you do need to know that Andrew is the most important thing in my life and although I’m willing for you to be a part of his life—”
“But since we aren’t married, I’ll never be a full-time dad. You’ll be his primary caretaker and someday if…when you marry, your husband will be a full-time dad to my son.”
She stared at Frank, her mind trying to understand his reasoning. “You’ve given this quite a bit of thought, haven’t you?”
Frank stuck his hands in his pockets as if he needed to do something with them. “Since we’re being honest with each other…” He grimaced, as if what he had to say pained him. “The truth of the matter is that I hate the idea of Andrew having a stepfather.”
Leenie nodded. “I understand. Believe me, I’d hate him having a stepmother.”
Frank grabbed her by the shoulders, his big, long fingers holding her firmly. “I hate the idea of you with another man.”
Her eyes rounded in surprise. Her stomach muscles tightened. “Frank?”
His mouth came down on hers possessively, claiming her completely. She responded immediately, returning his passion. When she lifted her arms to encircle his neck, his hands skimmed either side of her waist and moved downward, settling on her hips. He pressed her against him. She gasped when she felt his erection.
Stop this while you still can, the sensible part of her mind told her. But it felt so good to be in Frank’s arms, to have his mouth devouring hers, to know that he wanted her as desperately as she wanted him. However, just because he didn’t want another man to have her didn’t mean he loved her. Remember that, she told herself.
If she succumbed to Frank every time he came back to Maysville to visit Andrew, she’d wind up living in limbo, always waiting for Frank, accepting him on his terms, taking whatever he was willing to give her. She simply couldn’t live that way. She wanted more. Hell, she deserved better.
Ending the kiss, she shoved against his chest. He didn’t stop immediately, but when she gave him a second and much harder shove, he halted, pulled back and glared at her.
“I can’t,” she told him.
“Leenie…”
She held both hands up between them, warning him off. “It’s not that I don’t want you. God knows I do. I want you so much. But even though you’re Andrew’s father and have every right to come in and out of his life from now on, I can’t put my life on hold waiting for your visits, no matter how frequent they might be. I want more than a part-time lover, more than an on-again-off-again affair.”
The vein in Frank’s neck throbbed. His gaze narrowed as he studied her face intently. “Do you think holding out on me will make me propose? Is that it? You want me to marry you and you think I want to have sex with you so much that I’ll—”
How dare he! To think he’d judge her so harshly, that he’d believe her capable of doing such a despicable thing. Leenie saw red. “Why you egotistical bastard, you!” She flung back her hand, instinctively preparing to attack.
Catching her by the wrist, Frank aborted the slap midair. “I won’t be manipulated, honey. I’ve played the puppet fool for women more masterful at the art than you. My mother led my father around by the nose for years and she used me and my sister to torment the hell out of him. And Rita—”
“Rita, Rita, Rita!” Leenie jerked free of his hold. “God, Frank, grow up, will you? Do you think you’re the only person who had a rotten childhood? Do you think you’re the only man who’s ever let a woman make a fool of him? I made a mistake thinking you were strong and brave and fearless. Under that Dundee agent guise of yours, you’re a coward. You’re scared of me. You don’t have the guts to love me, let alone marry me.”
Frank opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, she tapped her finger on his chest repeatedly and shouted, “I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last man on earth. Do you hear me, Frank Latimer? You’re lousy husband material.” She whirled around and ran to her bedroom.
Frank stood in the hallway, so stunned that he couldn’t move or speak for several minutes. By the time he recovered, Leenie had slammed her bedroom door in his face and Andrew was crying at the top of his lungs.
Frank cursed softly under his breath as he stared at the closed door. Women! Hadn’t she said she wanted them to be honest with each other? Apparently she hadn’t meant what she’d said. Leenie wasn’t any different from other women. All that mattered to her was what she wanted, what she needed. Well, he didn’t want to get married and he sure as hell didn’t need her. He didn’t need any woman.
Andrew’s cries grew louder. Frank banged on Leenie’s bedroom door. “Andrew’s crying.”
“I’m not deaf,” she shouted through the closed door.
“Aren’t you going check on him?”
“You’re his father, aren’t you? You go see why he’s crying.”
“All right, I will.”
Frank stomped off down the hallway, went into the nursery, marched over to his son’s crib and looked down at the red-faced infant. “What’s the matter? Did you hear your mother screaming at me?” Frank leaned over the crib, then reached down and lifted Andrew up and into his arms. He laid his son on his shoulder and patted his back lovingly. “It’s all right. Don’t cry. I think I just made a big mistake and I don’t know how I’m going to fix it.”
After several minutes of being petted and soothed, Andrew stopped crying and lay peacefully against his father.
“You might as well know it now, son—you’ll never understand women.”
After sulking in her room for a good fifteen minutes, Leenie eased open the door and peeked outside, making sure Frank wasn’t waiting around for her. Since Andrew had stopped crying, she assumed Frank had managed to soothe their son.
Their son.
Frank was right about one thing—about the way squabbling parents had an adverse effect on kids. If they were going to work out an arrangement to share Andrew—and whether she wanted to or not, she knew it was the right thing to do—they had to find a way to be friends. Just not friends and lovers. She could not deal with an on-again-off-again affair.
Could she?
No! Absolutely positively not!
Opening the door wide, she scanned the hallway and saw no sign of Frank. She walked quietly down the hall to the nursery. The door was open, the room empty. Frank must have taken Andrew downstairs, she thought. He’d probably realized Andrew was hungry and he’d taken him to the kitchen to prepare a bottle.
Do what you have to do, she told herself. Go find Frank and settle things with him. Convince him that you don’t expect him to marry you, that it’s not what you want. Lie to him? Yes, lie to him, if that’s what it takes to make peace. For Andrew’s sake.
Leenie went to the living room, through the dining room and into the kitchen, but saw no sign of Frank and Andrew. Where were they? Surely Frank hadn’t gone outside with Andrew, not in this freezing weather.
“Frank?” she called.
No response.
She rushed from room to room, searching the entire house, calling out Frank’s name repeatedly. Realizing they weren’t anywhere inside, Leenie grabbed her coat off the rack and rushed into the backyard. Empty. A few birds searched the frozen ground for food. A lone squirrel scurried across the fence and onto a low hanging limb.
“Frank Latimer, where are you?” she cried.
Silence.
She raced to the front yard. No sign of them. Then she opened the garage and stopped dead still when she saw her SUV was missing. Frank had taken Andrew! He’d put her baby in his car seat inside the Envoy and driven off with him. Without saying one word to her. Where the hell had Frank gone? How dare he run off with Andrew!
Calm down, Leenie, she told herself. Frank has not kidnapped Andrew. You’re overreacting. Take some deep breaths. Andrew is safe. He’s with his father.
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