Leenie sat down on the front step, pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged her arm around her legs as she rocked back and forth. How could you do this to me, Frank? she asked silently. What were you thinking, taking Andrew without asking me?
Andrew is all right. Frank will bring him back. Andrew is all right. Frank will bring him back. As she sat there, the frigid winter wind chilling her to the bone, Leenie kept reassuring herself. But deep down inside fear ate away at her, gradually eroding her belief that Frank would never actually take Andrew away from her.
The minute he turned the SUV into the driveway, Frank saw Leenie sitting on the steps and wondered why she was there instead of inside. It couldn’t be much more than thirty-nine or forty degrees, with a wind chill factor of well below freezing. So what was she doing outside? Was something wrong? When she saw him, she jumped up and came running toward the Envoy, waving her arms and screaming something. Good God, what had happened? Instead of pulling into the garage as he’d planned, he stopped the vehicle in the driveway and rolled down his window.
“Where is Andrew?” Leenie cried.”
“Shh.” Frank put his index finger to his lips to indicate silence, then nodded to the back seat where a sleeping Andrew rested comfortably in his car seat. “Don’t wake him.”
“Don’t you dare tell me what to do!” she screeched at Frank as she jerked on the backdoor handle. “Open this damn door. I want my son!”
“What the hell’s the matter with you?” Frank hit the button to unlock the doors, then opened his door and got out just as Leenie flung open the back door. He grabbed her half a second before she dove inside the SUV.
When he hauled her out of the Envoy, she fought him like a wild woman for a couple of seconds. He yanked her to him, then reached around her and closed the door quietly before her tirade woke Andrew.
“Tell me what’s wrong?” he asked when she glared at him.
“You took Andrew away and I had no idea where you’d gone or if…if you’d bring him back. How dare you—”
Frank grasped her shoulders and shook her gently. “Calm down. You’re nearly hysterical.”
“I am not hysterical. How dare you take Andrew without telling me. You should have—”
“I left a note on the refrigerator. Didn’t you see it? God, Slim, you’re overreacting a bit, aren’t you?”
“Overreacting my ass, you unfeeling, uncaring bastard! My son was kidnapped and for days I had no idea if he was dead or alive. And you just take him with you, without telling me. What was I supposed to think?”
Ah, hell. When she put it that way, she made sense. Frank hadn’t given it a thought, taking Andrew with him to pick up lunch. He’d hoped that the meal could be a peace offering, had believed she’d see him providing lunch as a caring thing to do. The last thing he’d intended was to frighten Leenie. No wonder she was so upset.
He loosened his tight grip on her shoulders and looked into her teary eyes. “I’m sorry. God, honey, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think. You have a right to call me every name in the book. I went to pick up lunch for us and since Andrew was a little fussy, I just took him and a bottle with me. I knew if I knocked on your bedroom door, you’d just holler at me again, so—”
“I panicked when I realized you’d taken Andrew. I didn’t see the note you’d left.”
“What I did was thoughtless. It was stupid.”
“I—I did overreact.”
He pulled her into his arms, then kissed her temple. “I’m sorry about all the things I said to you earlier. I know you’d never do what I accused you of doing. You’re nothing like my mother or my ex-wife. Let’s face it, I’m an idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot. You want us to be lovers and when I said no, you went with your gut reaction and thought I was trying to pull a fast one on you. I wasn’t. I’d never do that.”
“Yeah, I know. And you’re right. I have a major problem with trusting a woman. And you’re right about my wanting us to be lovers. But I’ll settle for our being friends.”
“Oh, Frank, don’t you see—we can’t be just friends. The sexual chemistry between us is too strong. We’re already using Andrew as an excuse to bicker, when what we should do is—”
“Get married?”
“What? No, I mean—”
“Are you saying that if I asked you to marry me, you’d say no?”
“Yes. No. Oh, damn it, Frank, don’t do this. You don’t want to get married. Not to me. Not to anyone.”
“I want to be a full-time father to Andrew. I want to be a full-time lover to you. Do you have another solution, other than marriage?”
Eleven
“Let’s postpone this talk until later,” Leenie had told Frank. “Right now, all I want is to take Andrew inside and put him in his bed. I need to see him safe and sound in his own room, with me watching over him.”
Frank had opened the door, removed Andrew from his car seat and handed him to her. “I’m sorry I upset you. I swear it’ll never happen again. I won’t even take Andrew from one room to another without asking you, if that’s what you want.”
How could she stay angry with Frank when he was so apologetic? And sincerely so. If she had trusted him, the thought that he might have taken Andrew away from her would never have entered her mind. But that was one of the problems between them—she and Frank didn’t trust each other. He didn’t trust women in general, and understandably so, after the numbers his mother and Rita had done on him. And trust was an issue with her, too. She didn’t trust Frank not to hurt her, and he would, even though it really wouldn’t be his fault. He couldn’t help it if he didn’t love her.
They spent the rest of the day together as a family. She and Frank had shared the chicken salads and freshly baked croissants he’d gone to the deli and bought for their lunch. And they’d talked about the future, about the pros and cons of marriage versus finding a way to share joint custody of Andrew. But they hadn’t reached a decision, hadn’t agreed on a solution to their problem. They both wanted what was best for Andrew, but couldn’t decide exactly what that was.
When Andrew woke from his nap, Frank had changed his diaper and given him a bottle while she telephoned Debra to check on her progress.
“I should be able to leave the hospital the day after tomorrow,” Debra had said. “Are you sure my coming to your house won’t be a problem since Frank’s still there?”
“Frank and I can sort through our problems just as easily with you here as we can alone.”
“What’s wrong? I hear something in your voice.”
“Frank thinks maybe we should get married.”
“That’s wonderful,” Debra had said.
“He thinks we should get married for Andrew’s sake.”
“That’s not so wonderful.”
No, that wasn’t so wonderful. She loved Frank and wanted to be his wife. She’d like nothing better than to have him around all the time, for him to be a full-time father to his son. But what sort of life would it be for them? How long would it take before Frank started feeling trapped? And how long would it be before he realized she was madly in love with him? Sooner or later, she’d want more than great sex and his admiration. And eventually her neediness would push him further and further away from her.
The sun set early in December, making the days short. Darkness descended somewhere around five o’clock. While Frank sat on the floor beside Andrew, who lay on a quilt staring up at his infant jungle gym, and watching as his father played with the toy, Leenie went around closing all the blinds and turning on lamps throughout the house.
“Are you hungry?” she asked, standing across the room watching Frank entertaining his son. “Want me to open some cans and put together a bite of supper?”
“Yeah, I’m getting hungry, but why don’t we just order pizza?”
“Okay. What do you like on yours?”
“The works. Everything but anchovies.”
“All right.”
When Frank s
miled at her, she returned his smile. Suddenly the telephone rang. Leenie jumped.
“Want me to get it?” he asked.
“No, I’ll get it. I’m just jittery from days of hoping and praying the phone would ring and we’d hear good news.” She went over to the portable phone resting on the desk near the windows, picked up the receiver and said, “Hello, Patton residence.”
“Leenie?”
“Haley?”
“Hey, girl. When can I come over and see my godson?”
“Anytime you’d like. I was wondering why you hadn’t already dropped by.”
“I thought you and Frank might need some time alone with Andrew,” Haley said. “Besides, I’m having some problems here at the station and I’ll be stuck here until I can find a replacement for your replacement on tonight’s show.”
“What happened to Dr. Bryant?”
“An emergency appendectomy around two this afternoon.”
“What about Megan Vickers?”
“Called her office. She’s out of town.”
“You know, Haley, I could come in just for tonight.”
“Could you? No. Forget it. You’re not ready to come back to work.”
Frank eased Andrew out from under the plastic jungle gym and lifted him into his arms.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Wait just a minute, will you, Haley?” She placed her hand over the mouthpiece and looked at Frank. “Dr. Bryant had an emergency appendectomy this afternoon and Haley can’t find someone to do my talk show tonight. Do you think you can handle Andrew alone for about three hours so I could—”
“Do you trust me to look after him?”
Their gazes met and locked. Good question. Did she trust Frank? Did she trust him to take care of Andrew? Did she trust him to not run off with their son?
“Yes, I trust you,” she told him.
For a fraction of a second she noticed something in Frank’s eyes, in his expression, something that made her heart flutter and her stomach do flip-flops. The smile playing at the corners of his mouth widened into an ear-to-ear grin.
“If you’d rather, Andrew and I can come to the station with you.”
“Oh, that would be— No, that’s unnecessary. It’s freezing cold outside and Andrew will be asleep by eight and…no, you keep him here.”
“All right. Tell Haley you’ll do the show tonight.”
She removed her hand from the mouthpiece. “Haley, I’ll be at the station by eleven-thirty.”
Andrew went to sleep early. At seven-twenty. Odd, she thought, since her son was a little creature of habit and took his naps at regular times, ate on schedule and went to sleep for the night between eight and eight-fifteen every evening. He’d been doing this for weeks before the kidnapping. There’s nothing to worry about, she told herself. Being stolen from Debra’s car and taken care of by strangers for days on end was the probable cause in his change of habit.
Frank, who’d been holding Andrew when he fell asleep, laid their baby down in his crib, then turned to Leenie. “If there’s anything you need to do to get ready for tonight’s broadcast, go ahead. I’ll listen for Andrew in case he wakes up.”
“Thanks. I’d like a long, hot soak in the bathtub. I need to come up with a topic to present tonight. Although it’s been only a week since I did my last show, it feels as if it’s been months.”
“Go take your bath,” he told her. “I’m going to watch a little TV. But I’ll keep the baby monitor with me so I can hear Andrew if he so much as whimpers.”
“You know what I wish you’d do before you settle down in front of the TV?”
“What? Just name it.”
“Call Kate.”
“She said she’d call us if…when she found out something.”
“I know, but I just want to hear from her. And I want her to know that we’re thinking positive thoughts for her.”
“Okay, I’ll see if I can get in touch with her.”
Leenie slipped into her gold silk robe and matching house slippers after drying off and wrapped a towel around her wet hair. She’d decided that her topic for tonight’s radio show would be “Dealing with Issues of Trust.” She’d present a list of facts stated by other professionals from their various published works and then she’d give the listeners a chance to call in. It was during those discussions with her audience that the programs came alive. And in all honesty, it was when she came alive, too. God, she loved her job.
After towel drying her hair, she tossed the towel into the hamper and exited the bathroom. The house was quiet, almost too quiet. When she opened her bedroom door, she heard humming, then singing. A deep baritone voice crooning softly. Had Andrew awakened and Frank was trying to get him back to sleep? Leenie walked down the hall until she reached the open nursery door.
Shirtless and shoeless, Frank stood in the middle of the room, a half-awake Andrew pressed against his naked chest. Leenie stood there, spellbound, her gaze glued to Frank’s face. He was looking at his son with such overwhelming love. And fascination. It was so obvious that he was in awe of the child they had created together.
Leenie’s heart caught in her throat.
Frank kept humming and kept staring adoringly at Andrew, completely unaware that Leenie was watching him. After a good four or five minutes, Andrew’s eyes closed completely and Frank laid him down in his crib. He leaned over and kissed Andrew. And tears lodged in Leenie’s throat.
Frank turned around, then halted abruptly when he saw Leenie standing in the doorway. “He woke up and fretted a little bit, so I gave him a bottle and tried rocking him. But he kept fighting going back to sleep. When I started walking around with him and singing to him, he quieted down.”
“You’re spoiling him.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“No, it most certainly isn’t. I think a little spoiling is essential for every child, don’t you?”
“Absolutely.”
Frank kept his gaze linked with hers as he walked toward her. “We created something pretty great when we made that little boy.”
“Yes, we did. He’s the best of both of us, isn’t he?”
Frank reached out and caressed her cheek. “Leenie, I—”
It was happening again, just like it did every time he touched her. All that wild and crazy magic between them couldn’t be controlled. But she had to control it or she’d wind up giving in to him, and not just for tonight. If she wasn’t careful, she’d wind up agreeing to marry him and then where would they be? She’d be deliriously happy for a while and maybe Frank would be, too. But he’d be marrying her for the wrong reason and eventually he’d want out. Wasn’t it better to end things now than later, after she and Andrew had grown accustomed to having Frank in their lives all the time?
“Did you call Kate?” Leenie asked, determined to ease the sexual tension sizzling between them.
“Uh, yeah, I called. She said to tell you hi and to give Andrew a hug from her.”
“Has she found out anything?”
“Nope. She told me that Moran has promised he’ll share any information he finds that might be linked to Mary Kate, but it could take weeks to find anything. And there’s always the chance that Kate’s daughter wasn’t taken by the infant abduction ring.”
“Poor Kate. When I think about what she’s gone through—”
Frank cupped Leenie’s face with his hands. “Don’t think about it. Just be grateful that we got Andrew back so quickly, that he’s safe here with us. With his mother and father.”
Don’t look at me that way, she wanted to shout at him. His gaze devoured her hungrily, as if he was starving and she was a bountiful feast laid out before him. Every feminine instinct within her cried out for him to take her, to make her his. But logic dictated the exact opposite. If she wanted to save herself, she needed to get away from him. Now!
“Go back to watching TV,” she told him as she turned away and headed down the hall. “I have things to do—”
He caught up with her, grabbed her arm and whirled her around to face him. “I know all the reasons why we shouldn’t, but I don’t give a damn. I want you, Slim. And I know you want me.”
“Oh, Frank. Of course I want you, but—”
He placed his index finger over her lips to silence her.
She looked pleadingly into his eyes.
His broad shoulders lifted and fell. He nodded, then released her and turned away, without saying a word. She stood there and watched him leave her. And that’s what it felt like—it felt like he was leaving her, not just at this moment, but forever.
“Frank!”
He halted, but didn’t turn around, simply standing at the end of the hallway.
She blurted out, “I know I’ll regret it later, but…”
He turned to face her, a hopeful expression on his face.
She ran toward him. He caught her in his arms and lifted her off her feet. She flung her arms around his neck and held on as he lowered his head to kiss her. Maybe she was a fool—a fool in love—but she didn’t care. Don’t think about tomorrow, she told herself. Don’t worry about the future. You have this precious moment. Don’t waste it.
Frank carried her into her bedroom, slid her down his body and onto her feet. With nervous need, she touched his chest. Kissed him. Tasted him. Smelled him. When she reached his jeans, she popped the snap and lowered the zipper, then slid her hand inside to fondle his sex. He was hard. Ready for her. He helped her get rid of his jeans and briefs, then stood very still when she ran her hands over him from hips to knees and slowly made her way back up. Leenie dropped to her knees in front of him. He held his breath when she touched him intimately. When her tongue replaced her fingertips, he groaned with pleasure. She laved him from root to tip, then took him into her mouth. Frank speared his big fingers through her hair and held her head in place while she titillated him.
And when he was on the verge, he yanked her to her feet, ripped open her robe and gazed at her breasts, at her flat belly and at the thatch of golden hair between her thighs. Her body tingled, her nerves zinging with anticipation. Her femininity clenched and unclenched as moisture gathered in preparation. He slid the robe off her shoulders. The gold silk pooled at her feet.
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