The lines around his mouth deepened. "You almost make me believe."
"Believe it. I do."
Tyler wondered if she knew how much he wanted to kiss her. Now and every time he saw her. He released her hands and used his to frame her face.
"Every day since Christmas, I've thought about you and remembered and wanted you again. And every time you called, I wanted to rip the phone out of Angie's hands so that I could hear that husky little catch you get in your voice when you start talking too fast."
"I don't!"
"Oh, yes, you do, my Cait." He tilted his head to one side, lined up his mouth with hers and kissed her with the greedy thoroughness of a man who'd denied himself for too long.
Cait's knees nearly buckled at the hot, sweet pleasure filling her. Even while her mind was exulting, however, her hands were burrowing under his sweatshirt to find the warm skin beneath.
Finding it, she ran her hands up and down the small of his back, exciting quick shuddering ripples, as though his body were a slave to hers.
"You're punishing me, is that it?" he gasped against her neck. "For not taking your calls."
"That's it," she murmured into the fleece of his faded sweatshirt. Using her fingernail, she slowly traced the bumpy line of his spine. This time the shudders shook his entire body.
"God, Cait, you don't know what you're doing to me."
"Tell me," she whispered against the unruly silver of his hair.
"Driving me damn near insane, that's what."
He loosed the top two buttons of her shirt before slipping his hand inside to cup her breast. Instantly, like a damped coal burning into flame, her nipple hardened and puckered, sending a shiver of hot pleasure through her.
"That's not fair," she cried in a breathless rush against his shoulder as she arched into his touch. His fingers lightly pinched the throbbing bud until the inner shivers became a shudder of need.
Her hands tugged at his hair, forcing his head up. At the same time her hand sought his belt buckle.
This time she loosened it quickly and was already working on the second tiny metal button of his fly when a groan exploded from him.
"No more talking," he muttered as he pulled her into his arms again. Just the touch of her kindled a heat in Tyler that approached pain. He knew what was happening. He was letting himself need her more than any man should need a woman.
But he no longer had the will to deny himself. She was with him, even when he was alone. It was she he reached for in the middle of a troubled sleep, even though he knew she wouldn't be there. And it was her face he automatically sought wherever he went.
"Then kiss me," she murmured.
"God, you're pushy," he complained hoarsely, but the sudden emotion in his eyes made her go weak inside. She offered her mouth eagerly. Just as eagerly, he took it.
His hands shook as they stripped the silk shirt from her shoulders. Her bra, a silly little thing of lace and silk, followed.
Answering her small, urgent moans, he drew back and let her push his sweatshirt over his head. Pulling back then, he shed his boots, his jeans, his briefs. Eagerly she rid herself of her slacks, her shoes, her panties. When he drew her down to the floor, she went willingly.
The rug's pile against her bare back was evocatively familiar. So, too, were the soft hiss and warm breath of the fire. The musky scent of passion.
Unwilling to wait any longer, she laced her hands through his shaggy hair and pulled his mouth down to hers. No longer content to be wooed, she moved under him, caressing him with her breasts, her cheek, her hands. He rasped out his pleasure so deeply that his neck corded.
For so long he'd been dead inside. With Cait, he was coming alive. It scared him, even as it made him want her more and more.
His skin became slick with sweat that soon coated her. Her heart raced under his hands. His beat just as furiously, pumping blood to the most sensitive part of him until his flesh was hot and distended and ready.
When he couldn't stand it another instant, he nudged her thighs aside and tested her readiness. A groan escaped his lips when he discovered just how much she wanted him.
"Yes, oh, yes," she moaned. "Now, please, now."
He sank into her slowly, letting her body stretch to accommodate the engorged length of his.
"Tyler," she whispered. "It's so good, so … so very sweet."
"Oh, yes, Cait. Move with me. Stay with me, sweetheart."
When the climax came, it shuddered through both of them, leaving them spent and sated and deeply joined.
* * *
The door to Hazel's inner office was ajar, but Cait knocked anyway.
"It's Cait," she called at the same time. "I'm early."
Kelsey's session was scheduled for six, and it wasn't yet five-thirty, but Cait had been too nervous to stay home.
Twilight was settling, throwing the Sacramento skyline into silhouette. Tyler was already in town for his regular appointment with Harvey Shuffler. When Shuffler let him go, he would be coming here. Today was the day the three of them would broach the subject of testifying with Kelsey.
"C'mon in," Hazel answered from within.
Cait pushed open the door and entered. Hazel was sitting behind her desk with her stockinged feet propped on an open drawer and a cup of tea in her hand. She frowned as she took in Cait's pink cheeks and windblown hair.
"Lord," she muttered. "You look like you just slogged through a blizzard."
Cait laughed and tugged off her furry gloves. "This is California, remember? The Golden State. Land of sunshine and prosperity. We don't allow blizzards, especially in March."
Hazel made a face. "A lot of people I know have taken to calling this the granola state. You know, the land of fruits and nuts."
Cait choked back a laugh. "Behave yourself, Dr. O'Connor."
"No way! That's not any fun."
Cait shoved her gloves into the pockets of her parka and hung it with her purse next to Hazel's ski jacket on the hall tree. Then, smoothing her mohair sweater over her hips, she crossed to the credenza and helped herself to a cup of Hazel's best tea.
"Where's Kels?" Hazel asked as Cait stirred some of the steam from the brimming teacup.
"At Sarah's." She settled into a corner of the couch, slipped out of her loafers and tucked her legs beneath her. "Petra is helping them work on their Brownie badge in embroidery. She promised to drop Kelsey off here in plenty of time for her session."
One of Hazel's strawberry eyebrows rose. "Embroidery? You've got to be kidding!"
Cait shrugged. "Her den mother swears it's a valid part of the program."
"Hmm. I thought you didn't believe in stereotypes."
"I don't." Cait tested the tea and found it drinkable. She took several sips before adding, "Next month it's my turn to teach the troop to change a tire."
"That's more like it!" Hazel exclaimed with a grin that reminded Cait of a mischievous six-year-old.
"Haven't you heard? Rampant feminism went out with maxidresses and man-tailored suits."
"There's feminism and feminism, my friend. As you well know. For example, I don't see you shucking your career to be someone's domestic servant."
Cait groaned. "Don't start. I'm too nervous to argue." She plucked a Tootsie Roll from the dish on the table and shot a questioning look at her friend.
"I shouldn't," Hazel said with a sigh. "But what the heck, throw me one. I'll swim a few extra laps tomorrow."
Cait tossed her a candy before taking another for herself. "Maybe I'll join you. I need to take off a few pounds."
"Oh, yeah?" Hazel paused in the act of unwrapping the candy to shoot Cait a disbelieving look. "Where, pray tell?"
"The usual places. Hips, thighs, you know."
Cait popped the candy into her mouth and swirled her tongue over the sweet chocolate. Suddenly another image rose to her mind. Blood surged into her face.
Her pulse sped up, gradually at first, then faster and faster, as she thought about what would h
appen tonight, after Kelsey had been tucked into bed.
It wasn't easy, but she and Tyler managed to find time to make love nearly every time he visited. The results were dramatic. She was blooming. He seemed much more content. Everything seemed better after they had been together. Even the lousy, unseasonably chilly weather didn't bother her.
A feeling like warm spring rain flowed through her, and she ran one nervous hand up and down her arm. Her sweater was soft under her palm, like the hair on Tyler's chest.
She curled her fingers to savor the warmth the way she savored the feel of Tyler's kiss. She glanced up to find Hazel watching her with worry clouding her eyes.
"It won't be long before Kelsey's ready to be released from therapy," Hazel murmured. "Since her daddy came back into her life, her progress has been exceptional."
Cait smiled. "He's wonderful with her, Hazel. It's like he's a different person than he used to be around her. When he's with her, she gets his constant attention. And she's beginning to tease him terribly, which is good for both of them."
Hazel's gaze flicked to the form on her desk. It was the weekly report she was required to file on Tyler with Teresa Grimes. As far as she had been able to observe, he had followed the requirements set down by Protective Services to the letter.
"If today goes well, it won't be too many more weeks before there will be no longer be a valid reason to keep Kelsey in therapy. As soon as I dismiss her, there will no longer be a valid reason to ask Teri Grimes to extend his temporary visitation privileges."
Cait slumped against the sofa cushions. "You could ask for an extension—just until Tyler's trial. After that, it'll be academic, I'm sure."
Hazel sighed. "Sometimes I think Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm has been reincarnated in you, Dr. Fielding."
Cait laughed, dissipating some of the tension that had suddenly filled the office. "No way. You should hear me swearing at those idiot drivers out there."
"The visitation was always meant to be temporary. The only reason we got it pushed through at all was because of Kelsey's fragile emotional state. Helping her outweighed the potential of risk in Grimes's mind."
Hazel pushed the files aside and rested her chin in her palm. "Suppose, for the sake of argument, I did ask for an extension? What grounds could I give?"
"Humanitarian reasons? Sheer kindness?" Her lips curved upward. "A favor?"
"Teri Grimes? You must be kidding," Hazel scoffed. "If her intentions weren't so admirable, I would be hard-pressed to be civil to the woman."
"I know what you mean. But then, after the hearing last month when I practically bullied her into granting Tyler access, I have a feeling she's not very disposed to be civil to me, either."
"To either of us. Don't forget, I was right in there pitching when Tyler's PO was coming on like a gold-plated idiot."
Hazel took a bottle of aspirin from the drawer and shook three into her hand. Cait watched as she washed them down with the last of her tea.
"How about for the well-being of the patient, then? You could describe how lost and even abandoned Kelsey would feel if all of a sudden Tyler stopped coming to see her. Use her marked improvement since Tyler's come back into her life to support the argument."
Hazel tossed the aspirin bottle into the open drawer and closed it with a hard shove. At the same time, impatience flashed across her normally placid countenance. "Cait, the woman has a degree in clinical social work. Even if I were inclined to try to snow her, which I'm not, she'd see right through my argument."
"How could she? It's the truth. Kels really will be terribly upset to lose her daddy again."
"Perhaps, for a while. But I'm sure we're both skilled enough to minimize the damage."
Minimize the damage? Cait thought with sudden outrage. This was her daughter's happiness Hazel was discussing so clinically. And hers, too, if she was honest with herself.
Heat rose to her face, but she forced herself to keep the hot, angry words inside. When it came to professional ethics, Hazel was as immovable as the granite hills surrounding the city. Logic was the only way to budge her.
"Okay, what if I try to convince her?"
"She'll ask my opinion. I can't lie."
"For Pete's sake!" Cait exclaimed. "I'm not asking you to lie. I'm asking you to grant me the professional courtesy of allowing me to present my opinion as a consulting therapist."
"In this case, you're the mother. Not the consulting."
"I'm both. And my opinion is as worthy of consideration as yours."
"In my opinion, your opinion is biased."
Cait's hands made small fists. "In my opinion, you're overstepping the bounds of professional courtesy."
Hazel slapped her hand against the desk. "Now just a minute, Cait—"
"Mama, are you and Auntie Hazel fighting?" It was Kelsey who spoke.
Taken by surprise, both Hazel and Cait turned startled eyes toward the door, where the bright-eyed little girl was standing hand in hand with her father.
"We met in the elevator," Tyler said quietly when Cait's gaze swung to his.
"How much did you hear?" she asked quietly.
He smiled, but his eyes remained shadowed, the way they always did after he'd spent time with Harvey Shuffler.
"Not enough to worry about."
"Are you mad at Auntie Hazel, Mama?" Kelsey asked again as she gave her mother a bear hug.
Cait kissed Kelsey's smooth cheek and discovered that it was cold against her lips. "Not mad, sweetie. Auntie Hazel and I are having a difference of opinion over something, but that doesn't mean we're mad at one another. We're still friends, just like you and Sarah are still friends when you're having a difference of opinion."
Kelsey's brow puckered. "You mean a fight, right?"
Tyler's laugh rumbled across the office. Cait scowled, and Hazel looked bemused before their eyes met.
"Told you she was bright," Hazel muttered before she burst into laughter. Cait joined her. The tension dissipated.
Kelsey's head swiveled almost comically as she looked from one to the other. "Did I say something funny?" she asked, turning to her father for the answer.
"No, baby. You said exactly the right thing. Auntie Hazel and Mama are laughing because they realize all of a sudden that they're really on the same side and shouldn't be shouting at each other."
"I don't shout," Cait muttered.
"Could'a fooled us, huh, Kels?" He winked at his daughter.
"Yeah, could'a fooled us." Grinning, she took Tyler's hand and led him toward the sofa where Cait was curled.
"You sit here, next to Mama Cait."
Tyler's gaze sought Cait's over Kelsey's head. As she smiled her forgiveness at him, he realized how much he needed this woman. Not just the intense physical pleasure she gave him, but for the stability she brought to his life.
"Okay with you if I sit here, Mama Cait?"
Cait heard a low rumble of amusement in his voice. And something more, something only she would recognize. Hunger. The same hunger tugged at her as she patted the cushion next to her. "Okay, Daddy."
The sofa springs dipped under his weight, throwing Cait's thigh a few inches closer to his. They weren't touching, but Cait knew exactly how hard and resilient his body would feel next to hers.
"And what about you, Miss Kelsey?" she asked as the little girl stood watching them, a huge smile on her face. "Where will you sit?"
"I'll sit on Daddy's lap, just like Sarah does when her daddy tells her a story."
The little girl started to plop herself onto Tyler's thighs, but he curled his arm around her waist to stop her. It was nearly killing him to have to ask permission to hold his own child, but he knew that he had no choice.
"Maybe we'd better ask Dr. O'Connor if that's where she wants you," he said with a casualness that was anything but real. "After all, it's her office."
Kelsey looked puzzled, but she obediently swung her gaze to the woman behind the desk. "Okay, Auntie Hazel?"
Hazel smile
d at her patient. "Do you like sitting on your daddy's lap?" she asked calmly.
Kelsey's mouth drooped. "I don't remember."
"You don't remember?"
"Uh-uh. I was too little when I lived with him and my first mommy, wasn't I, Daddy?"
"Yes, sweetheart," he said in a gentle voice that only his patients and Kelsey had ever heard. "You were just a very little girl then."
"And you were a doctor and very important and sometimes you were too busy. But not like now, right, Daddy? Now you're just a bartender."
"Right, sweetheart. Now I'm just a bartender and not busy at all."
Only a trained observer could have heard the bleak frustration in his voice. Only a trained observer would have seen the helpless agony that flashed for a moment in his eyes. Hazel cleared her throat and avoided Cait's gaze.
"It's fine with me, Kels, if you want to sit on Daddy's lap. In fact, it might be a good idea, because he and I and Mama Cait want to talk to you about something really serious and really important. Okay?"
Kelsey looked startled at the words "really serious," but her expression cleared as she climbed trustingly into Tyler's lap and snuggled against his wide, strong chest.
"Okay," she said with an open smile. "I'm ready."
* * *
Chapter 12
« ^ »
Tyler came awake in an instant. Someone was downstairs in the bar.
Even as he was pulling on his jeans, he was moving. After inching open the door to the stairwell, he paused to listen. The stairwell was dark. Below, on the landing, he saw a flash of light. At the same time he heard muffled footsteps.
Arms spread, he braced both hands against the dusty walls of the stairwell and took the sagging stairs one riser at a time. He was nearly to the bottom when he smelled it.
Gasoline.
He inhaled swiftly, and as he did, he heard the sound of splashing. The bastard, whoever he was, was intent on torching the Horseshoe.
Tyler moved silently on bare feet to the end of the hall, where he halted to sweep his gaze around quickly. There was very little light to aid him. What little there was came from the reflected glow of the beer signs in the window and the small light burning behind the bar.
PAROLED! Page 18