“I hope Patty and Trent are home by now.” Lanie looked at Garrett, and it suddenly occurred to her that he was going to be driving home soon, too. And he had a lot farther to go than Patty and Trent. As much as she needed him to leave, the thought of him on a dark highway in this downpour disturbed her.
“Maybe you should stay until this lets up,” she said, and then there was a pop and the electricity went off. The TV screen receded to a tiny dot of light then disappeared completely.
“So much for the game,” Garrett said lightly.
“I think I’ve got some candles and matches in the kitchen.” She got up and started moving blindly through the familiar layout of the house.
Somebody had left one of the kitchen chairs pulled out, and Lanie learned about it the hard way when she nearly half fell over it. “Ouch!”
“Lanie?” Garrett called from the other room.
“I’m okay,” she called back.
She made her way by touch to the top drawer by the refrigerator and located the necessary items. The scratch of the match was barely audible over successive booms of thunder.
Candleholder in hand, she turned and had a head-on collision with Garrett. She gasped and jumped back from the accidental contact.
“I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said. “I just came to make sure you were all right.”
The candle spread a surreal haze of golden light over the room, softening Garrett’s hard features. Softening more than that, too—she felt weak with a heat that came out of nowhere.
“I’m okay, I told you. I just stumbled over one of the kitchen chairs.”
“Are you sure you’re not hurt?” he asked. “You’re trembling.”
She looked down at her hands. She was trembling. The candle shook visibly.
“I’m not hurt,” she said.
“Are you nervous?” His voice sounded husky and strange to her ears. Different.
Was his heart beating as fast as hers?
“Storms make me nervous,” she said.
“Really?” He moved incrementally nearer. “It’s the storm, not me?”
His eyes roamed her face. Her heart palpitated irregularly in response.
For a wild instant she wondered if he was going to kiss her. Her traitorous heart sang and danced at the thought. She wanted him to kiss her.
She wanted—needed—to touch him, taste him. It was a lilting, heady, mind-blowing need.
“I should check on Dalton,” she said breathlessly, skirting around him. “I’m afraid the storm will have woken him.” She needed to bring down the crackling heat between them, and she hoped desperately that the baby was awake to do the job.
Garrett sat down at the kitchen table. “Wasn’t that a baby monitor you brought down with you?”
“Oh.” So much for that escape plan. “Good point.”
She went to the den to fetch it.
“He’s not making a peep, if you can believe that,” she reported as she arrived back in the kitchen with the monitor in one hand, the candle in the other. “If I so much as breathe sometimes, I wake him up. But he sleeps through all this.” She sat across the table from Garrett, placing the candle and monitor between them. “I can get the radio if you want to listen to the game, keep up with the score. I haven’t used it on battery power since last summer, but the batteries should still be good.”
She was babbling and she knew it, but the combination of candlelight and Garrett was really a little too much. Spring storms usually passed quickly, and she could only hope this one would run true to form.
“Do you want to keep up with the game?” he asked.
“Uh, well, no. Actually I don’t like listening to sports that much,” she admitted.
“What do you like?”
She liked the way his mouth curved in that sexy, sardonic way when he spoke. She liked the way he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, watching her as if she were the most fascinating person in the world.
“Gardening and baking,” she said slowly, working to jerk herself out of the hypnotic power of his nearness. “Soap operas and country music. Am I boring you yet?”
Maybe she could convince him that she was the dullest creature on Earth, and then he would stop looking at her in that way that made her feel boneless.
“No.” Garrett didn’t find anything about Lanie boring. He could see the tiredness in her eyes. Her hair looked messy, and her makeup was nonexistent. But she was beautiful. She was natural and real, and he’d never been so attracted to a woman in his life. The innocent way she’d teased him earlier had driven him crazy. “I think you’re very interesting.”
“You do spend too much time at the office, don’t you?” she joked.
She changed the subject then, and started talking about the weather. She told him about a storm the year before that had knocked down her favorite pecan tree in the backyard. There was a thread of nervousness in her voice that made him think she wasn’t comfortable sitting in the candlelight with a man.
It was more of that elusive innocence he sensed in her—elusive because it wasn’t based on anything factual, just on feeling.
When she paused, he asked her bluntly, “Are you seeing anyone?”
She looked confused at the subject switch. “Seeing anyone?”
“Dating anyone?”
“Oh, sure.” Her gaze was wary. “You’ve seen the men lining up at the door, right? Babies are such a turn-on.” She shrugged. “I’m not looking for a relationship, anyway. Dalton is the number-one man in my life now. His needs come first. I have to be very careful about bringing someone into our lives.”
“Careful?”
“I would never want to be with someone who couldn’t care for Dalton as his own,” she said plainly. “That’s more important than anything else. I want Dalton to feel loved, always.”
“What about you?” he couldn’t resist asking, tantalized by the ever-present curiosity he felt about her. “Is that what you want?”
She tilted her head. “Isn’t that what everyone wants, to be loved?”
He stared at her. For a full minute there was nothing but the sounds of rain lashing down outside and the sudden heavy beating of his heart.
“It’s a pretty intangible emotion, don’t you think?” he asked finally. “It’s fine for stories and songs, but it’s not reality.”
“I don’t agree,” she argued. “Love is tangible. It’s support and faith, comfort and encouragement. It’s the small acts that make up everyday life. It’s very real. Haven’t you ever been in love?”
“I’ve been married.”
“That’s not necessarily the same thing.”
“That, I can agree with,” he said dryly.
“Was your marriage that bad?”
He didn’t mince words. “I came home early one day and found her in bed with somebody else.”
Compassion filled her sweet blue eyes. “That’s terrible.”
“That’s life,” he countered. Her sympathy made him uncomfortable. “Love, trust—that’s the stuff of fairy tales.” He sounded cynical even to himself. “It ends badly more than half the time. Don’t you watch the news?”
Thunder rumbled, this time from farther away. He realized the rain was slackening, and he was sorry, because he would have no more excuse to stay. He didn’t want to leave. But he had to, before he did something stupid. Like start believing in fairy tales.
The electricity snapped back on. The refrigerator hummed to life, and sound and light from the den spilled into the kitchen.
“The electricity’s back on,” Lanie said, completely unnecessarily. She felt inexplicably depressed. “The storm’s letting up,” she added.
Garrett was silent for a moment. “I should go,” he said. “I’m sure you want to get some sleep before the baby wakes.”
She rose, leaving the candle on the table. “Thanks for all your help today,” she said stiffly. She led the way to the front door, letting the faint glow from the den illuminate the
ir path.
She stopped at the door and turned, stared at him in the shadows.
He was right behind her.
“Drive carefully,” she said.
He didn’t move for long seconds. His dark eyes searched hers. Then he touched her face, drew the back of his knuckles along her cheekbone, and brushed her lips with his thumb. The contact was firm but gentle, and it sent a flood of erotic messages through her treacherously responsive body.
“Maybe I’m the one who’s wrong,” he said softly, sliding his hand to her neck, into her hair. Tingles of sensual anticipation lit up her nerve ends. “Maybe I’m just jaded. You deserve your fairy tales.”
She stared at him. His mouth came closer, and her insides started liquifying at an alarming rate. “Love isn’t a fairy tale,” she whispered, desperate for a foothold in sanity. He moved an increment nearer. It wasn’t fair that she wanted him this much, that he could make her feel this way. Where was the justice in the world?
“You make me want to believe that,” he said. “You make me want—” And then he didn’t finish because he was kissing her.
Chapter Ten
She tasted like lemonade and hope. Soft and warm, she fit perfectly in his arms. Garrett felt Lanie’s hesitation, then her surrender—and it intoxicated him, dissolving him into fiery heat and need that made no excuses, asked for no explanations. She relaxed against him, her arms slipping around his neck. She met the teasing, demanding exploration of his tongue as he immediately deepened the kiss.
Desire streaked through his body, stronger and more powerful than he’d ever known. The tiniest thread of control held him back from scooping her into his arms and carrying her upstairs to any one of the big, soft beds he knew were up there.
He felt like the young man he’d once been, full of optimism and a belief that anything was possible. His mouth wandered from the sweetness of her lips to the silky line of her jaw, to her neck. With his tongue, he drew a line up to her ear and elicited a low moan from her throat that drove him wild. He groaned in response, buried his fingers in her hair, holding her even closer.
He wanted more, much more. And if he wasn’t mistaken, so did she. He wanted to bury himself in the reckless physical need he felt for her—bury himself so deep, the emotional need he was fast developing for her would be engulfed.
“Lanie,” he whispered raspily against her ear. “I can’t believe how much I want you.”
Lanie drew back and stared at Garrett. Her breaths came in quick little gasps. Electric desire was buzzing to every nerve end of her body. He felt so good, so right, and his words were like magic.
He wanted her.
She wanted him, too—so much that she couldn’t even think. And that scared her.
“Lanie, I—”
“No. Stop.” She wrenched out of his arms and stood cold and shuddering before him.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
Everything, she wanted to shout.
“We shouldn’t be doing this.”
“Why not? You told me you aren’t seeing anyone. We’re two unattached adults—”
“That doesn’t make it right. Do you go around kissing every unattached adult you come across?” She tried to make her words sound light, but her lips felt swollen and she ached to be back in his arms.
Garrett stared at her. “No, of course I don’t go around kissing every unattached adult I come across.” His mouth quirked. “Only the women.”
She crossed her arms tightly, protectively. “Okay, laugh all you want.”
He grew serious immediately. “I’m not laughing at you.” He touched her chin, gently forcing her gaze to lock with his. “I’m sorry, Lanie. I was sure you wanted that kiss as much as I did. I would never have done it otherwise.”
She shivered beneath his scrutiny, his touch. How could she deny it? Her response to him had been easily evident.
“I thought you were here to see Dalton,” she said weakly, struggling to find something coherent to say as she backed away from his touch. “I just don’t think it would be a good idea if we—”
She broke off, still struggling. “We’ve both had difficult experiences in the past,” she went on. “Probably neither one of us is ready for a relationship right now.” She was afraid Garrett would never be ready for a relationship. And she wasn’t ready for heartbreak. “I don’t think it would be a good idea for us to get involved...physically. This situation is complicated enough, don’t you think?”
He was silent for a long moment, then he nodded. “You’re right. We shouldn’t get involved. Dalton comes first.” He took a deep breath, studied her. “I apologize for kissing you. It was a presumptuous and irresponsible thing to do.”
He sounded very formal suddenly, his eyes had gone cold, shuttered, desolate. She wanted to cry for no sensible reason.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “It was—”
Nothing. She’d been going to say his kiss was nothing. But she couldn’t get the word out.
“About Dalton.” he said stiffly. “He’s only a baby now, but I want him to know who I am, be familiar with me. I want to see him on a regular basis.”
Lanie nodded. Her throat felt too full to try to speak.
“I’d like to come back next Saturday afternoon, if that’s okay. The weather’s been nice. I’m not sure what you do with babies, but I noticed a park a couple blocks from here. Maybe I could take him for a walk. Does he have a stroller?”
“Yes. That would be fine.”
He watched her. “I don’t think I’m ready to be alone with him yet I’m not used to being around babies. If you could come with us, it would make me feel a lot better. I’ll stop by the deli and pick up a picnic basket, if that sounds all right.”
He let his words hang there.
“Oh.” Comprehension dawned. “All right.” But it wasn’t all right. How was she going to spend time with Garrett when she was crazy with desire for him? She needed to get away from Garrett, far away.
But at the same time, she knew that this was what she’d wanted when she’d initially contacted Walter. She’d wanted a relationship for Dalton with his father’s family. The important thing for herself to remember was to not inject too much meaning into Garrett’s interest. It didn’t mean he trusted her, that he absolutely believed Dalton was Ben’s baby. It just meant he wanted to spend time with Dalton, that was all.
She knew the issue of the testing was still out there, waiting. And for all she knew, Garrett’s interest in spending time with Dalton was but a ruse to pressure her into the testing—and then pressure her into who knew what afterward. She could be giving Walter—through Garrett—a dangerous foothold in Dalton’s life. She was afraid, but what choice did she have? She would just take things one step at a time, make careful decisions and see what happened. It was all she could do.
If only she could be certain that Walter wouldn’t make undue demands on her, on Dalton, she would have gone ahead and gotten the testing over with by now—just to eliminate the irritation of Walter’s demands. But while the initial shock and offense of the request had worn off, her wariness had not. She felt vulnerable, one woman against a powerful man like Walter Blakemore with all his money and his legion of attorneys. It was important to establish that she was going to be in charge of Dalton, not Walter.
She watched Garrett drive away, her fingers pressed to her still-trembling lips. She was doing the right thing. The right thing for Dalton, taking one tiny, careful step toward a relationship with his father’s family.
And if it took every ounce of strength inside her spirit, she was going to make sure it didn’t turn out to be the wrong thing for her.
He called midweek.
“Dalton has his first cold,” she told him. “I took him to church on Sunday, and everyone wanted to coo over him. Now he’s sniffling and feverish.” She rushed on with the rest of it, her speech well rehearsed. “He’ll probably be better by the weekend, but I don’t think I’d feel right about taking him o
ut again—even just to the park.”
She refused to think about the fact that she was just scared because she wanted Garrett so much, and that she was making too much of Dalton’s cold—latching on to it like a lifeboat.
Wasn’t it a mother’s prerogative to fuss over her baby’s first illness, no matter how minor?
Delaying seeing Garrett again only delayed the inevitable. But she was delaying, anyway.
“Is he all right?” he asked, concern infused in his voice. “Have you taken him to the doctor?”
“I called his pediatrician. I don’t need to take him in unless his fever goes up. It’s just one of those things—it’ll take a few days to run its course and then he’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
He asked a few more questions, then he hung up without making alternative plans. She wondered if he was losing interest already. How serious was his commitment to Dalton? Garrett was a busy man.
It was for the best, she told herself. So why was she so disappointed?
Garrett put down the phone, stared out the wide windows of his Austin office. The Blakemore Corporation was located in a prestigious downtown business district. He enjoyed the view and the energy of the city around him. He enjoyed his work, too. The aggressive business of acquisitions and mergers had fueled him for so long he couldn’t remember when it hadn’t.
It was his whole life. The challenge kindled his blood.
Lanie’s beautiful face hovered in his mind. Was that what drove his hunger for her? Challenge? The need to possess what was not yet in his grasp?
Or was it...something else? Could he be failing in love with her?
How could he fall in love when he didn’t believe in it? Much less with a woman he wasn’t even sure he could trust?
He was supposed to be focusing on Dalton. He’d almost lost control when he’d kissed Lanie, and that would have been a mistake.
Since he’d turned over the issue of Dalton’s testing to Walter’s attorney, he’d tried to shove it from his mind. But he couldn’t help wondering...
Was he setting himself up to be made a fool of...yet again? Lanie tempted him, lured him.
The Billionaire and the Bassinet Page 9