“Right now, we kind of feel like we’re taking advantage of you,” Cole teased.
Nate shook his head, visibly pleased. “This is great. Thank you.”
Cole and Landry bumped fists. “It’s officially from me, but we came up with all the stuff together.”
They were so much like brothers, Brooke thought. Always giving exactly what the other needed…
“But this one is just from me,” Landry said, handing over the second present.
Nate sent him a grateful look and opened it.
Inside was a photo of Landry and Nate, taken at the amusement park. They were standing with their arms around each other, exuding happiness. The personally engraved message on the sterling silver frame said, “Happy Father’s Day, to the Best Dad Ever.”
NATE HAD NEVER BEEN the kind of guy who cried happy tears. Damned if he wasn’t tempted to change that, here and now. Deciding to put better use to the emotion, he stood, grabbed both boys and pulled them into a fierce group hug. Throat tight, he held them there, putting all the love he felt for them—and he did love both of the boys—into the single gesture. They hugged him back just as fiercely.
Brooke, overcome, started to walk away.
Not about to let her miss out on what was turning into a very satisfying exchange, Nate grabbed her, too, and pulled her into the middle. As she joined in the embrace, the sound that came out of her mouth was half laugh, half sob.
It brought the boys up short. “Mom!” Cole demanded, shocked. “Are you crying?”
“Of course not,” she fibbed tearfully.
Cole shook his head, ignoring the fact he and Landry had been all choked up just seconds earlier. “You’re not supposed to cry! This is a happy occasion!”
“I know.” Brooke patted her cheeks with her splayed fingertips. “I can’t help it!” she complained, her chin quivering. “You-all are just so sweet.”
Cole and Landry groaned as if in terrible pain.
Brooke teared up even more….
Nate wasn’t sure what this was about. More than the sentimentality of the occasion and the gifts, certainly…He touched both boys on the shoulder. “Why don’t you give your mom a moment?” he suggested.
Appearing all too glad to be away from the show of unchecked emotion before they got sucked in, too, they acquiesced. “We’ll be over at the main house, playing video games,” Landry said.
“Good idea,” Nate told him, while Brooke continued to cry.
Nate waited until the boys had crossed the lawn and disappeared into the house, then went back into the cottage and pulled Brooke into his arms. “Hey, now,” he said, patting her back. “It’s okay.”
“More than okay.” She buried her head in his shoulder. Her voice was muffled against his shirt. “That’s the problem.”
Nate led her to the kitchen and guided her into the walk-in pantry, so that even if the boys slammed back into the house unexpectantly, he and Brooke would have a chance to move apart before being seen. He steadied her with a gentle hand on her waist. “You’re going to have to explain that one.”
She stood close to him and tilted her face up to his. “Cole adores you so much.”
He pressed a tender hand to her cheek, then smoothed it through her hair. “I love him, too.”
She went very still. With a conflicted look in her eyes, she searched his face. “You do, don’t you?”
Nate wondered if she was feeling as deprived of intimacy and affection as he was. “Yes. Cole’s a great kid. He got into my heart in no time.” Same as you… But sensing she wasn’t ready to hear that just yet, he said only, “Same as Landry.”
Brooke extricated herself from his possessive grasp and stepped aside. “I worry—”
He came closer and pressed a finger to her lips. “Stop.”
Her shoulders stiff, she continued anyway “—what will happen if you and I—”
Nate wouldn’t consider the possibility that what they shared might end. He wrapped his arms around her yet again. Holding her close, he promised, “I’m going to be there for him, whenever…however he needs me, Brooke.” The raw vulnerability in her face gave him the courage to add, “I’m going to do the same thing for you. And for Landry.”
She regarded him soberly. “You mean that, don’t you?”
Hell yes. Nate nodded. “You’ve got my word.” He bent to kiss her, and she wound her arms about his neck and melted against him in sweet surrender.
Knowing it was either stop now or continue kissing her and end up making love to her under far less than ideal circumstances, he paused and drew back. That would happen soon, at the appropriate time. But for now, it was important that she had confided in him. It meant a lot that he could confide at least part of what he was thinking and feeling in turn.
Certain they could build on that foundation, he smiled and took her hand. “Let’s go find the boys.”
SUNDAY EVENING, Cole roamed the house like a prisoner in a cell. It was still Father’s Day, but the father figure most recently in his life was nowhere close. “You said we’d be happy coming back home,” he told Brooke disconsolately.
Normally, we would be, Brooke thought morosely as she sorted through two weeks’ worth of mail.
Of course, normally she wasn’t involved in an open-ended love affair where the possibility of love hadn’t even been broached…. And yet despite that, she had never felt happier than when she was with Nate.
Cole folded his arms across his chest. “Well, I’m not happy at all, Mom! I miss Nate and Landry!”
I miss them, too. More than I thought I would. But that didn’t mean she should allow herself to rely on Nate and Landry to make her and Cole happy 24/7. That was her job, Brooke reminded herself sternly.
Still scowling, her son shoved his hands through his hair. “I wish we could have just stayed there.”
Forced by circumstance to play the role of spoilsport, Brooke ignored her own yearning. “You know why we couldn’t do that.”
He snorted. “Because your job there is done, except for the dining-room mural, and we don’t need to be on-site for that to happen. You just have to be available to troubleshoot if a problem comes up.”
Brooke thought her repeated explanation had fallen on deaf ears, she’d had to say it so many times. Pleased that it hadn’t, she reminded him kindly, “You’re going to see Landry and Nate tomorrow. I’m taking both of you boys to camp in the morning, and Nate is picking you up tomorrow evening.” So it wasn’t as if they had to cut off all contact, because that would have been way too tough for both kids. And herself, if she was completely honest.
Cole perked up. “Can they stay for dinner with us tomorrow night? You know Nate can’t cook,” he cajoled.
Knowing they had to stop acting as if they were a family, and get back to the reality of leading separate lives, at least part of the time, Brooke responded, “He’s also very good at going to restaurants or picking up take-out meals.”
Cole marched over to the computer, switched it on and regarded her glumly. “It’s not the same thing as the four of us sitting down together.”
Brooke missed the camaraderie, too. That wasn’t the point. They’d had independent lives before they met; for all their sakes, they needed to set some boundaries and maintain them. “Cole, I know we felt like a family when we were there,” she started awkwardly. And that’s my fault. I fell for the fantasy, hook, line and sinker.
Hurt glimmered in Cole’s eyes. “We are a family, Mom,” he interrupted, a crestfallen expression on his face. “Or at least we could be if you weren’t so stubborn!”
Maybe someday, Brooke thought wistfully. But only if she and Nate were in love. And although they had made love, and flirted with the idea of it, neither of them had begun to make that kind of no-holds-barred commitment. Until they did, she couldn’t let Cole think more was possible. He’d already been disappointed enough in the personal realm.
Forcing herself to be practical yet again, when all she really wanted t
o do was be wildly impractical and impulsive, she counseled, “I know the last two weeks were fun, but right now we each need space to get back to our normal lives.”
Cole scowled and stormed out of the room. “I don’t want my normal life—I want a dad and a brother. I want Nate and Landry!”
HER SON’S WORDS still ringing in her ears, Brooke gave up sorting through the mail and went to take a shower. She wished she could give Cole what he wanted. But his reaction to leaving the mansion after just two weeks of interacting daily with Landry and Nate filled her with fear. She had a responsibility to prevent her son from being hurt by unrealistic expectations, as well as a duty to let Nate—who might be dealing with the same thing with Landry—know what was going on.
“I’m glad you called,” Nate told her when he showed up on her doorstep at noon the following day.
Ignoring his warm, deliberate gaze and blatantly sensual manner, she stiffened her resolve and ushered him inside. “I wanted to talk to you when the boys weren’t present.” She had promised herself she was going to get their life back on track and return everything to normal. Actively taking steps to do so already made her feel stronger. “Since they’re both at camp for the day, this was the perfect time.” Mindful of his busy schedule, she led Nate into the living room.
He took off his suit jacket, draped it over the back of a wing chair and loosened the knot on his tie. “I wanted to talk to you, too. Landry moved into the main house last night after you left.”
The announcement filled her with happiness. Brooke tore her eyes from the exposed column of Nate’s throat, aware he’d been with her for less than a minute and her pulse was already pounding at his nearness. “That’s great!” she said.
He grinned like a proud dad emerging from the delivery room. The words spilled out joyously. “I offered to move into the caretaker’s cottage with him…since Landry was already comfortable there. But he said he thought it was time he started acting like he was my son—for real—and not just some guest.”
Brooke wrapped Nate in a congratulatory hug, then stepped back, still smiling as she looked up at him. “That is big,” she said warmly. “I am so happy for you.”
He dipped his head in acknowledgment, then sobered. “The only problem is he misses you and Cole.”
Empathy united them once again. “Cole feels the same way,” she admitted.
Nate studied her through hooded eyes, leaving Brooke feeling as if they were suddenly on the verge of something even more compelling…and emotionally risky…
Her heart began to pound.
He curved a hand over her cheek and temple, and pushed away her hair. “Unless I’m wrong,” he confessed, gazing reverently into her eyes, “I think we all miss each other.”
Emotion welled inside Brooke, along with a longing unlike anything she had ever felt. Unable to help herself, she looked straight into his eyes and whispered, “You’re not wrong. You’re not wrong at all.” And then she did what she had wanted to do ever since he walked in. She put aside what she knew she should do and leaned in to kiss him.
NATE HADN’T COME OVER to make love, but now that Brooke had issued the invitation, he was all for it. Filled with longing and the primal need to possess, he gathered her close. Cupping her face in his hands, he tilted her chin for better access. One kiss melted into another. She returned his passion, straining against him, her body undulating softly. Sensations hammered him. The hot heavy pressure in his groin nestled against her closed thighs. Knowing he had to find a way to be closer to her, to find the fulfillment they both sought, Nate lifted his head. “Your bedroom okay?”
She wreathed her arms about his neck and gazed up at him. “More than okay.”
Nate needed no further persuasion. He swept her up into his arms and carried her down the hall to the master suite. He set her down next to her bed, then lowered his head to hers once again. Her lips parted and he swept his tongue inside her mouth, tasting the sweetness, and assuaging the desperate hunger inside him.
They undressed in a haze of longing. When they had finished, she looked up at him, her eyes glowing with love. And Nate knew his search was over. He had found the woman—the only woman—for him, at long last.
She guided him onto the lace-edged sheets that adorned her bed.
They kissed again, their caresses melting one into another. Brooke’s body ignited in a flame of sensation. And she knew what she had been trying to deny for days now. There was no guarantee what the future held, and there never had been. The chance to be with Nate like this might be as fleeting as she feared in the darkest recesses of her soul. But if she didn’t take advantage of it, right now, she would regret for the rest of her life not making love with him. And she didn’t want any regrets where he was concerned. She wanted only love and sweet, wonderful memories that would sustain her when life was not so great, yet again….
Nate’s hands skimmed lower, slipping between her thighs. He explored her intimately, his questing caress sending her arching up into the warmth of his fingertips. He was hard all over, and lower still, below the waist, as aroused as she. She let her palm close around him, wanting to draw out the experience as sensually as possible, knowing she had never needed or wanted him more than at that moment.
“I don’t want to be without you,” he whispered, between deep, demanding kisses.
“I don’t want to be without you, either,” she confessed, as their bodies melded in boneless pleasure. Hers felt as if it were on fire from the inside out. Unable to wait any longer, she grasped his hips and guided him, so he was positioned precisely where he should be. Surrendering with a fierce, unquenchable ache, she murmured, “I want you. Now, Nate!”
“I want you, too.” He kissed her again, commanding everything she had to give, then pushed her thighs apart with his knees. He stroked her gently and that was all it took. Brooke arched up from the bed, already falling apart, as he surged inside her. Overwhelmed with sensation, with the feelings welling in her heart, she let every part of her love every part of him, until at last they were soaring, flying free.
It was only hours later, as Nate dressed again and prepared to leave, that he noticed the message from his physician’s office on his phone, asking him to call in immediately.
Chapter Fourteen
“You found out the results of the DNA test, didn’t you?” Landry guessed, apprehension tautening the lines of his young face.
It was all Nate could do not to look at Brooke. He had asked her to be with him when he told Landry. In turn, Landry had asked that Cole be present. It seemed that everyone needed reinforcements for this “talk.” And right now, Cole looked as tense and pale and out of his mind with worry as Landry.
Nate squared his shoulders and said the words he had hoped never to utter. “Our DNA did not match. You and I are definitely not father and son.”
Landry’s gangly shoulders sagged. “So Miles Lawrence is my dad, after all.”
Although there was no way to say definitely, since Lawrence was deceased, Nate took it on faith. “It would appear so.”
“Are they sure?” Landry leaned forward urgently in his seat, clasped hands dangling in front of him. The desperation to belong gleamed in his eyes. “I mean, I’m way more like you than I am him, at least what I know of him.”
“It doesn’t matter what the genetics are.” Nate worked to quell his own disappointment. Strength and conviction were what was needed here. “I told you that before.” He looked Landry in the eye. “I still want to be your dad. I want you to be my son.”
The teen raked both his hands through his hair, despair pouring out of him. “It’s not going to be the same,” he muttered.
Nate clamped a paternal hand on his shoulder. “It’ll be exactly the same,” he assured him.
“How can you say that?” Landry demanded, jerking away.
Vaguely aware of the distraught looks on both Brooke’s and Cole’s faces, Nate followed him. “Because nothing of importance will change. The adoption is
still going to go through.”
Landry shook off both touch and reassurance once again. Refusing to look anyone in the eye, he pivoted. “I’m going outside.” He dashed away and slammed out of Brooke’s home.
Cole headed for the back door, too. “I’ll talk to him,” he threw the words over his shoulder.
Nate wasn’t sure what Cole could say. Brooke looked as if she didn’t know what to do or say, either. She was about to try when the doorbell rang. A glance through one of the transom windows beside the portal caused the color to leave her face. From where he stood, Nate couldn’t see the visitor. “Who is it?”
“Professor Rylander.”
Obviously, Nate thought, the English lit department had news, too.
Brooke looked to Nate to run interference. “The boys can’t know he’s here. I’ll talk to him outside.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Nate promised.
Trembling slightly, she opened the front door and eased out onto the porch, shutting the door behind her. While she was doing that, Nate noticed a United States Postal Service truck pull up at the curb. A mailwoman got out, clipboard in hand, and headed up the walk. The uniformed courier stopped in front of Brooke, passed her a card for signature. She waited for Brooke to comply, then handed over a letter.
Phineas Rylander seemed to be urging Brooke to open it. She did, and paled even more.
Nate was torn between his role as sentry and that of protector.
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