Harlequin Superromance February 2014 - Bundle 1 of 2: His Forever GirlMoonlight in ParisWife by Design

by Liz Talley

  “He’s asleep. He won’t see us together.” Garrett’s lips on hers made acquiescence much easier. With a hand at the small of her back, he guided her to the bench beside his door.

  She helped him clear away the balls and gloves that littered the seat. “What if he wakes up?”

  “He won’t. He never does. The kid’s always been a sound sleeper.”

  As soon as they sat, Garrett’s arm went around her shoulder and pulled her close. She relaxed against him, his solidness and the wine making whatever was going on at home seem very far away. “I like Henri.”

  She felt the vibration of Garrett’s chuckle against her shoulder blade. “He likes you, too, but he had a hard time understanding what you were saying.”

  She laughed. “Nobody’s ever had to translate my English into regular English before. My kids at school are going to love this story.”

  “Henri’s been a good friend. He took a liking to me as soon as we met, and he adores Dylan. I’m anxious to hear what he has to say about you tomorrow.” He let loose with a growl, and his best Henri imitation. “Mon Dieu, Garrett, theese Tara, she has the voice of the angel but the look that ees hot as hell.”

  Tara giggled and pressed her palm to her hot face. “He’s quite the lady’s man, huh?”

  “If you made that plural, you got it right. Henri can charm the clothes off a woman with the raise of an eyebrow.”

  She gave him a sidelong glance. “You don’t do so bad yourself with that lazy, one-sided grin.”

  “Is that right?” Garrett sounded genuinely surprised. He leaned forward and looked her in the face. “Like this?” He did an exaggerated lift to the right side of his mouth that left a goofy expression on his face.

  Tara tried to stifle her laugh, but it burst out, along with some wine-colored spit that landed on Garrett’s nose. “Ack! I’m sorry!” The apology would’ve been more effective if she’d been able to control her laughter, which she couldn’t.

  Garrett closed his eyes and wiped his sleeve down his face, and his lips relaxed into a yummy, genuine smile. “It’s okay. We’ve exchanged spit, as I recall. Along with other bodily fluids.”

  There it was. One side of his mouth dropped, leaving the other raised in that look that made her insides squirm.

  His eyes locked with hers and darkened. “It didn’t work.”

  She cocked her head, holding his stare. “What didn’t work?”

  “Your clothes are still on.” He leaned forward, touching his lips to hers. She opened her mouth to him, tasting the wine that seemed to have grown sweeter on his tongue. He followed as she leaned back into the bench. They both found the side table and managed to set their glasses on it without ever breaking contact with their mouths.

  The kiss intensified when she ran her hands through his hair, pressing him close, inviting his tongue deeper. His arms encircled her with heat, on her neck, shoulder, breast. Reflexively, the small of her back came off the bench as she arched against him. He wasted no time accepting the offer, running his hand under her T-shirt and her bra, brushing her nipple with his thumb.

  She came up for air, reluctantly pulling her mouth away. He continued to kiss the side of her lips, her cheek, her jaw line, and down to her neck, still brushing her nipple, driving her insane with the light touch. She needed more. So much more.

  “We have to stop now,” she warned, “if we’re going to stop at all.”

  Garrett leaned his head back to look at her. His hand dropped from her breast, but the back of his fingers kept contact along her rib cage and stomach. “Why would we stop?”

  “Dylan.” The word came out on a gasp as he caught her other nipple between his fingers. “We don’t want him to get...oh! To get...the wrong idea.”

  “He’s sound asleep.” He kissed her eyelids tenderly. “And we could be, too, in a couple of hours.”

  Tara raised her lips to his. “Are you asking me to spend the night?”

  Garrett kissed her gently, and then backed his face away until they could actually focus on each other. His hand brushed her cheek. “I want you so badly. We can make love in my bed, and go to sleep in each other’s arms. I’ll set the alarm to wake us up and you can go back to your place before Dylan gets up. He won’t even know you stayed the night.”

  The child would be in her charge all day tomorrow. If she was going to be on her best game, she needed a good rest tonight—and that wasn’t going to happen if she and Garrett stopped now. She would spend the rest of the night in turmoil, aching to have him inside her.

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  He stopped to check on his son on their way to his bedroom.

  She went on ahead and was waiting, naked and more than ready, when he met up with her two minutes later.

  * * *

  “I CAN’T KEEP AVOIDING her calls, Mama. She’s going to figure out something’s up.”

  Faith had known that Thea would have the hardest time with the lie they were perpetrating on Tara. The two girls had always been close, had always shared everything. But she’d thought she could count on Trenton—Mr. I-can-keep-my-cool-in-all-situations. Apparently, he’d blown it, too—a fact that Thea had started their phone conversation with.

  “She might suspect, Thea, but she can’t know unless somebody tells her. I told her Sawyer was still having a hard time with things. Can’t you just reiterate that?” Faith rubbed her throbbing temple, certain that any more pressure in her life would cause it to rupture. She’d talked to far too many people today, trying to explain the separation Sawyer had announced from the pulpit without giving away intimate details. She didn’t need things with Tara to go awry now, too.

  Her younger daughter sounded close to tears. “I can try. But you know how she always finagles secrets out of me.”

  Faith knew all too well. Christmas presents. Surprise parties. No secret was safe if Thea got hold of it. If her oldest child had any inkling something was up, she could easily get the youngest to sing like a canary, without even having to bribe her with seed.

  “Can’t you just be too busy to talk to her?” Faith suggested.

  “And miss all the good stuff about the new guy?” Incredulity oozed over the line. “Not a chance.”

  “What new guy?” It was Faith’s turn to be incredulous. “Has Tara met somebody in Paris?”

  “Um...no. Of course not. I mean, they’re just neighbors.”

  Faith knew that once Thea started crawdadding, you were mere seconds away from getting the lowdown. She pressed in quickly, overwhelming her younger daughter with questions. “Tara’s involved with her neighbor? Dylan’s father? What’s his name? How do you know?”

  “His name’s Garrett, and, for one thing, you told me they went out.”

  Okay, she had her on that one. But Faith wasn’t about to let this go. Tara was her firstborn, and it sounded as if she was going to need some direction from Mama. “But, I thought it was just an innocent date. That he was showing her the sights. Is there more to it than that?”

  “No, no, of course not. All they did was visit some historic sites.” Thea would be twirling her hair around her finger about now. She claimed it helped her concentrate, but it mostly let her family know she was withholding information.

  “I thought they went to dinner, too.”

  “Well, yeah. That’s what I meant. All they did was see sights and go to dinner. Emma just said that she really liked him.”

  Faith’s head spun with that news. If Understatement Emma said “really liked,” that meant Tara might be shopping for an engagement ring as they spoke. “Really likes him as in doing things she shouldn’t even be thinking about doing because she doesn’t know him well enough to be doing those things? Or thinking about them?”

  “Uhh, geez, Mama, I’ve got to go. I totally forgot that I told my friend, uh, Melody th
at I’d help her, uh, move some furniture around today. I’d better get over there. Love you. Bye!”

  Faith closed her eyes and groaned. Tara was sleeping with some Garrett guy in Paris. Her baby. Involved with somebody she hadn’t known long enough to barely be friends with, much less lovers. Getting serious with someone she had no chance at a relationship with because everybody knew that long-distance relationships didn’t work. Surely, she knew by now that “absence makes the heart grow fonder” was a fallacy. “Out of sight, out of mind” was the truth.

  Or maybe Tara wasn’t getting serious. Maybe this was just a fun fling. A month of sex and then head home without a backward glance. That was even worse.

  Faith twirled her wedding band, which had grown loose on her finger. She and Sawyer had tried to instill a belief in their children that physical intimacy was the highest means of showing love, and sex was not something to be taken lightly.

  Like I did.

  Her past hadn’t just come back to haunt her, it was claiming squatters rights smack-dab in the center of her life.

  Well, she may not have been the perfect role model, but that wouldn’t keep her from being the best mother she knew how to be. “But I did it” was an excuse parents used way too often. She’d done a lot of things she didn’t want her kids to do, and she hoped they learned from her mistakes.

  She picked up her phone and touched Tara’s number.

  Her daughter answered immediately. “Mama?”

  Faith saw no use easing into this. Tara’s frankness came straight from her own gene pool. “Thea tells me you’re sleeping with your neighbor.”

  “She what?”

  Anger and horror, but no denial. “Okay, she didn’t come right out and tell me, but you know how she loses her composure and can’t think of what to say? Well, she just did that, and we were talking about you and your neighbor, so I’m pretty sure I’ve jumped to the right conclusion.”

  “I don’t think this is something I want to talk about.”

  “Of course you don’t. I knew you wouldn’t. So don’t talk. Just listen. You need to think about the consequences of what you’re doing. You’re setting yourself up for heartbreak because you’re going to lose either way.”

  A noisy sigh came from the other end of the line, but Faith wouldn’t relinquish the floor. At least Tara hadn’t hung up on her. “If you fall in love with him, you’re going to be leaving in two weeks, and everybody knows long-distance relationships don’t work. And, if you’re not in love and just doing this for fun, then you’re following in my footsteps. And look where they led me.”

  “Mama...”

  “I just don’t want you to make the same mistakes I made, and I’ll go to any lengths to keep that from happening.”

  “Like calling me in the middle of the night?”

  Faith looked at her watch. Six-twenty. Which meant it was after one in the morning in Paris. The tide turned, and guilt swept over her. She’d disturbed her daughter’s sleep and probably scared the wadding out of her, too. “Oh, sweetpea, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even consider the time difference! Go back to sleep. I hope you’re alone. I love you.”

  “Love you, too. Bye.”

  Faith dropped the phone on the table and picked up the photo that sat on one of Lacy’s hand-crocheted doilies. Her family smiled back at her—her family as it used to be a couple of years ago. The family she wanted back. Smiling. Hugging. United.

  With the first utterance of Jacques Martin’s name, that family had vanished, and Tara had started looking for something to hold on to to keep her world upright.

  Maybe that’s what she was doing with this Garrett person. Perhaps he was giving her something in Paris to hold on to while the world shifted beneath her feet.

  But, if Tara found her father, she might not need the other man to hold on to.

  A flash of inspiration lifted Faith’s spirit.

  All this time, she’d been hoping Tara wouldn’t find Jacques Martin. She’d been afraid of what it would do to Sawyer and the family.

  But fear of the unknown was a crippling kind of fear. The kind that held you back when destiny was calling your name. It took faith to step out into the darkness, as her mama always told her. That’s why she named Faith what she did.

  Tomorrow, she would start with calls to Murray State University. Somewhere, someone would know something about Jacques Martin.

  If Tara was determined to find her birth father, and if finding him would fill the void and keep her from making a huge mistake, then her mother would help her find him.

  Faith would lead the way.

  * * *

  “SORRY ABOUT THAT.” Tara shot Garrett an apologetic look and set the phone back on the bedside table.

  He gave her a sleepy grin and reached up to brush her hair from her face. “It’s okay. My mom does weird things like that, too.”

  Tara covered her eyes, hoping by some feat of magic the gesture would make her invisible. “No chance you didn’t hear what she was saying, is there?”

  It didn’t work because Garrett found her hand with no trouble and pulled it away from her face. He faked a sorrowful expression, but the twinkle in his eye gave him away. “Nope.”

  She groaned her exasperation, sinking back down into the pillow.

  He sat up enough to lean on an elbow. “But maybe she’s right.”

  His voice was quiet, and it made Tara’s heart thud in her chest. “You mean, you think we’re making a mistake by having sex?”

  His expression became somber, and the mirth left his eyes. But heat replaced it, along with a look the depth of which thrilled her and terrified her at the same time. “I mean, I think we’re making a mistake if we believe we can walk away from this in thirteen days and treat it as if it meant nothing.”

  Thirteen days. He’d used the exact number rather than the more arbitrary two weeks. He was counting them, just like she was. A knot formed in her stomach, hearing him verbalize the same agitation she’d dealt with all afternoon. “What do we do about it, though?”

  “I think the first thing to do is to be honest about what’s really going on, so we know where we actually stand without any pretense. I’ll go first.” He rubbed his hand up and down her arm a few times, and she sensed he was trying to work up his courage. “I’m falling for you, Tara.” She watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard. “My connection with you has been so swift and hard, it scares me. I’ve wanted to ignore it. Act like it wasn’t there. But you’ve been on my mind for two weeks now, and, after that first touch Saturday night, I don’t want to think about not touching you. I already know you. I think I’ve always known you. I’ve just been waiting for you to show up in my life. Does that make sense?”

  She placed her hand against his chest, could feel his heart pounding at the sincerity of his words. “You said it prettier than I could, but I feel the same way. It depresses me to think about going home and leaving you and Dylan. I know that’s crazy—I have to go home. But...” Emotion clogged her voice, and she cleared her throat. “What if the reason I’m here isn’t to find my birth father? What if I’m here to find you and Dylan?”

  He brushed a tear from her face that she hadn’t realized was there. “I love that idea, and I love that it’s in your mind. It tells me this isn’t one-sided on my part.”

  She shook her head. “It’s not one-sided on your part.”

  He touched his lips to hers. “But don’t give up on finding your father yet. He may still be out there.”

  She felt her chin quiver, and she pressed her lips together to hold it still. “I’m not giving up, but I get my hopes up a little higher each time, and that makes me fall harder when it doesn’t pan out.”

  “I wish I could snap my fingers and deliver the right Jacques Martin to you.”

  Garrett lay back an
d pulled her close against him in a hold that made her feel protected from any hurt the outside world might throw at her.

  “So what do we do now?” she whispered.

  “About Jacques Martin?”

  “About us.”

  He kissed her forehead and her eyelids. “We handle it the same as the search for your father. We keep our hearts open to any possibility, and we believe that, if we’re meant to be together, love will find a way.”

  Tara raised herself up this time, needing to see his eyes. “Love?”

  He shrugged. “We can break out all the moves to dance around it, or we can call it what it is.”

  She cocked her head and smiled at his straightforwardness. “Love.” She laughed. “Mama would be so horrified if she knew.”

  He gave her a tender smile. “You have good parents. Weird, but good.”

  “I know.” She lay down, her head on his chest listening to his heart. It was a sweet sound, a gentle sound that would lull her to sleep very quickly. “If I were smart, I’d get up and go home right now so the alarm wouldn’t have to wake us up so early.”

  “Mmm,” he answered and she couldn’t tell if the sound was affirmative or negative.

  “But I’ve never been accused of being a brainiac.”

  “You couldn’t be too smart, or you wouldn’t have stayed a virgin until you were twenty-something. What a waste of talent.”

  She smiled and continued smiling until his breath slowed to the deep sounds of slumber.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “TARA, SHE IS LOVELY, Garrett.”

  Waiting in Garrett’s office for him when he arrived, Henri was obviously anxious to talk. He had his cup of espresso in hand and one for Garrett, covered to keep it hot.

  “Bon matin, Henri. It’s good to see you, too.” He gave his friend a smile. “I knew you’d like her.”

  “Her hair is very wild and crazy.” Henri’s hands flew above his head, gesticulating to make his point. “Mais, ils sont fabuleux!”

  Henri never had a hair out of place, so it was interesting that he’d find Tara’s wild curls fabulous.