Family Man

by Jayne Ann Krentz

  “Involved? Is that what you call it? Lady, not only are we sleeping together—”

  “We’ve only done it a couple of times,” Katy interrupted. “That hardly constitutes a strong, enduring relationship.”

  “Not only are we sleeping together,” Luke repeated through clenched teeth, “but you happen to work for me. That gives me the right to ask where you’ve been all day.”

  “No, it does not.” Katy swam over to the edge of the pool and hauled herself upward onto the tile. “You are obviously spoiling for a fight tonight, and I am not in the mood to participate in any more Gilchrist dramatics today, thank you very much.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Luke got to his feet and started toward her.

  “Nothing. Just a comment.” Katy grabbed her robe and quickly belted it around herself. She glanced around hurriedly for her shoes. They were under the lounge chair. She knew she would not be able to get them on in time to make a run for it.

  Luke came to a halt and stood looming over her. “I want some answers, Katy.”

  “Well, you’re not going to get them. Not tonight, at any rate.” She ripped off her bathing cap and shook out her hair. “I don’t care what you feel like.”

  “Is that right? Well, you’d damn well better change your mind, because you’re not going home until we have a long talk.”

  Katy ran a hand through her hair. “I said I don’t feel like talking to you tonight.”

  “Too bad. I left three messages with Liz today. You didn’t respond to any of them.”

  Katy lifted her chin. “Now you know how it feels not to get a response when you want one. Remember all those messages I left on your answering machine when I was trying to get you to assume your responsibilities? Remember those Express Mail letters I sent? Remember the telegrams? I didn’t get a single damn answer from you.”

  “We are not talking ancient history here. We are talking about today.”

  “Tough. I don’t feel like discussing it. And if you don’t stop badgering me, I am going to lose my temper.”

  “Is that supposed to terrorize me? I’ve got news for you, Katy, watching a little guardian angel lose her temper is a lot like watching a sparkler on the Fourth of July. Amusing, but not exactly a real threat.”

  That did it. Katy had had enough of Gilchrists for one day. Maybe she’d just had enough of Gilchrists, period. Something inside her snapped. She raised her hands, took one step forward, and shoved hard against Luke’s chest.

  She caught him totally off guard. The pool’s unearthly glow revealed the astonishment on his face as he toppled backward into the water.

  Katy watched, equally astonished at her own aggressiveness. Luke landed in the deep end of the pool with a magnificent splash and promptly sank below the surface.

  Appalled at what she had done, Katy hurried to the edge of the pool and peered down through the water. Surely Luke could swim. Everyone learned to swim these days. She gnawed anxiously on her lower lip as she watched him uncoil underwater.

  A couple of seconds later Luke shot to the surface. His excellent white teeth flashed in a wicked grin. “Damn. We’ll make a Gilchrist out of you yet.”

  He stroked toward the edge of the pool and planted both hands on the tiled rim. Katy stepped back quickly as he surged upward and all the way out of the water. He got to his feet and started toward her. His black jacket and slacks dripped water, and his shoes made squishing sounds. There was a cheerful menace in his expression.

  Katy gasped in alarm. She turned and fled toward the exit.

  Luke caught her before she had taken more than a few steps. He was laughing softly as he swung her up into his arms.

  “Put me down,” Katy demanded imperiously.

  “You started this.” He carried her back toward the pool.

  “I did not. Luke, what are you doing?” Katy realized he was not going to halt at the edge of the water. “Stop. No, don’t. Please. For heaven’s sake.”

  She thought he was going to throw her into the pool. Instead he stepped off the edge with her in his arms. Together they hit the water, splashed heavily, and sank.

  Luke kept one arm around Katy’s waist as they surfaced. She pushed wet hair out of her face with one hand and looked up to find him watching her with sensual intent. Her eyes widened.

  “Luke, stop looking at me like that.” She flailed about in the water, trying to free herself from his grasp. “I know what you’re thinking.”

  “Do you?”

  “I most certainly do, and we can’t. Not here, for goodness’ sake.”

  Luke tightened his arm around her and brought her back against his chest. He tugged her toward shallower water and stopped when he could stand. Then he put his mouth very close to her ear. “Your brother won’t be home until midnight. We have this place to ourselves. No one ever comes in here at night. Justine and Mrs. Igorson are both in bed by now.”

  “I know, but that doesn’t mean we can do that sort of thing here, of all places.”

  “You don’t think so?” He peeled off her robe and smiled slowly when he saw the outline of her nipples thrusting against the slick fabric of her racing suit. He stroked one small, firm bud.

  All the heat and energy generated by their argument was swiftly converting itself into desire. Katy had never experienced this sort of transformation. To be spitting mad one minute and sensually aroused the next was a dizzying sensation. She looked up at Luke, wide-eyed with wonder and uncertainty.

  “Are you still angry?” she asked.

  He kissed her deeply, thoroughly, and then raised his head. “What do you think?”

  She licked her lips. “How can you change so quickly?”

  He chuckled. “I wasn’t all that furious to begin with. Just annoyed because I wasn’t able to get hold of you all day. You’re the one who set a match to the fireworks.”

  “That’s right. Blame me,” she grumbled

  “Don’t worry. I will.” His hands slid up from her waist to cup her breasts. “And I’ll thank you, too.”

  Katy shivered at his touch the way she always did. Her body seemed to be poised on the edge of surrender whenever Luke took her into his arms like this. The raw sensual and physical power in him was tantalizing enough to disturb Katy’s senses. But she knew now that the discipline and control he exerted over that power was her true undoing.

  For her, the process of taming fire would always be a matter of magic, and Luke was the sorcerer who knew the spell.

  Katy wrapped her arms around his neck and did not protest as he stripped the snug suit down her body. A moment later she floated naked in the water, her sense of freedom a hundred times more delicious than it had ever been before.

  A deep warmth spread through her. She smiled tremulously up at Luke and started to ease his suit jacket off his shoulders.

  He paid no attention as his expensive coat floated away. The full force of his unwavering gaze was on Katy as she unbuttoned his black shirt.

  When she had his shirt off Katy spread her fingers against his smoothly muscled chest. A sweet, hot longing gripped her. She floated against him, letting her breasts glide over his bare chest.

  “You burn even in water, angel.” Luke drew her against his thighs. Holding her in position, he wrapped her legs around his waist. Then he cupped her buttocks, bent his head, and took one of her nipples between his teeth.

  Katy moaned softly as she felt his fingers slip into her. She held his head between her palms and kissed him with gathering urgency.

  He eased his fingers more deeply into her, stroking gently. Katy cried out, a small sound of feminine excitement that seemed to captivate him.

  “That’s it, angel.” Luke kissed her arched throat. “Let me watch you fly.”

  She tried to pull herself back from the brink. “But you’re not ready. You’ve still got your
pants on.”

  “It’s all right. I’ll do my flying later.”

  “But Luke…”

  It was too late. His fingers moved on her again, and then Katy took off. Into a thousand shimmering pieces. Freedom had never been so sweet.

  When it was over she started to slip gently down under the water.

  “Hey, you’re not going anywhere.” Luke chuckled as he put his hands around her waist and lifted her back up against his chest. “Now that we’ve got a few of the preliminaries out of the way, we’re going to talk.”

  “If this was a setup, I’m going to strangle you.” Katy glowered at him. “I don’t want you getting the idea you can manipulate me with sex.”

  “Cut me some slack, honey. I need every break I can get. Wrestling with an angel is hard work.” Luke started toward the pool steps, floating Katy along beside him.

  “I’m serious, Luke. Sex is no way to solve problems.”

  “Looks to me like it works just fine.”

  Katy was trying to think of a response to that when a harsh gasp from the shadows stopped her. An instant later the conservatory lights came on, blinding her for a few seconds.

  “What on earth is going on down here?” Mrs. Igorson demanded in thundering tones.

  “Hell,” Luke muttered. He moved in front of Katy, blocking the housekeeper’s view of her.

  In spite of Katy’s embarrassed shock, the sight of the housekeeper’s stricken expression had a strange effect. To her horror, Katy had to stifle a giggle.

  “Turn off the lights and go back to bed, Mrs. Igorson,” Luke ordered calmly. “This doesn’t concern you.”

  “You should be ashamed of yourselves. Just look at the two of you. You’re half undressed, and Katy isn’t wearing her swimsuit.”

  “You’re very observant, Mrs. Igorson. I suggest you turn off the damned lights and get out of here.” Luke started up the steps.

  Mrs. Igorson shrieked and snapped off the lights. “I can’t believe this.”

  “Was there something you wanted, Mrs. Igorson?” Katy asked.

  “Yes. Yes, there is. Your brother’s on the phone. He says it’s very important.”

  “Matt?” The last of Katy’s embarrassment vanished. “What’s wrong? Is he all right?”

  “I assume so,” Mrs. Igorson snapped. “He’s on the phone, after all, and he sounds fine. He couldn’t reach either you or Mr. Gilchrist at your cottages, so he tried here. He asked me to see if you were swimming by any chance. Who would have dreamed that you and Mr. Gilchrist would both be in the pool, and you stark naked?”

  “Mrs. Igorson,” Luke said coldly, “if you have any sense, you will go back to bed right now and forget you ever came down here. In the morning you can pretend the whole thing was a dream.”

  “Maybe I’ll do just that.” Mrs. Igorson sniffed. “You can take the call on the extension. I’m leaving.”

  “Good idea,” Luke said. He took Katy’s hand and tugged her out of the water as the door slammed shut behind Mrs. Igorson.

  “I hope nothing’s wrong.” Katy grabbed a towel off a lounge chair and wrapped it around herself. “There are more towels in that cabinet,” she said over her shoulder to Luke as she snatched up the phone.

  “Matt? Is that you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Matt, are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. Sort of.”

  “Sort of?” Katy clutched the phone. She watched Luke shed the last of his wet clothes, take a terry-cloth robe out of the cabinet, and belt it around himself. He was listening to her as she talked to Matt, a dark frown on his face.

  “I told you I was going to a dance down at Waterfront Park, remember?” Matt said hesitantly.

  “I remember. Matt, what happened? Tell me.”

  “You’re not going to like this, Katy. There was a fight.”

  “Oh, my God. A fight? Are you hurt?”

  “Not too bad.”

  “Not too bad? How bad? Matt, how badly are you hurt?”

  “Just a few bruises. I’m okay, Katy, honest. Some guys from out of town tried to crash the dance. A couple of them were giving some of the girls a hard time, you know?”

  “Are you certain you’re all right?”

  “Yeah. The cops showed up and broke up the fight. The thing is, they hauled a bunch of us down to the station. I’m sort of in jail.”

  “Jail?” Katy went limp. Unable to stand, she dropped down onto the nearest chair. “Jail?”

  “They said we’re not exactly under arrest, but none of us can leave until a parent comes and gets us.”

  “My God.”

  “I told them I don’t have any parents. They said an adult has to pick me up.”

  “Oh, my God.” Katy stared up at Luke, who was standing in front of her.

  Luke reached down and took the phone out of her hand. “Matt?” he said calmly. “This is Luke. What’s going on?” He listened intently for a few minutes. “Right. Okay, I understand. I’ll be there in a little while. Let me speak to one of the cops.”

  Katy stood up slowly as Luke spoke briefly to a policeman. She was recovering from her initial shock. It dawned on her that Luke seemed to be taking charge. Something within her rebelled at that.

  Luke hung up the phone and turned to her. “Take it easy, Katy. This is no big deal.”

  “Are you out of your mind? Matt got into a brawl. He’s been arrested.”

  “Matt’s fine, and he’s not under arrest. The cops are just trying to throw a scare into the kids they picked up tonight. I’ll go down to the station and get Matt for you.”

  “No. I’ll go down and get him. He’s my brother.”

  Luke caught her chin on the edge of his hand and tilted her face upward. “Listen to me, honey. This is men’s business. I’ll handle it.”

  “What an idiotic thing to say,” Katy sputtered, outraged. “This is my brother we’re talking about, and he’s in trouble.”

  “Do you know anything about handling a young male who’s in this kind of trouble?”

  “No, but I’ll soon learn, won’t I?”

  “Take it from me, he needs a man, not his sister. You know as well as I do that if you go down there, you’re going to get emotional. Hell, you’ll probably start crying. Believe me, that’s the last thing Matt needs right now.”

  She knew he probably had a point, but Katy was too distraught to accept his edict without a struggle. “How do you know so damn much about this kind of thing? Just what do you think you’re going to do?”

  “I’m going to do exactly what my father did the night I wound up in jail.”

  Katy’s mouth dropped open. She closed it swiftly. “I won’t let you beat him up, do you hear me? You are not going to touch him. I won’t allow it.”

  Luke’s mouth twisted. “For Christ’s sake, Katy, I’m not going to hurt him. Use your common sense. Beating up a kid is not exactly a logical way of teaching him how to avoid getting into a fight.”

  “You beat up your cousin,” she reminded him.

  “That was a different matter altogether; Luke explained patiently. “I wasn’t trying to teach him how to avoid a fight. I was teaching him another kind of lesson.”

  “Are you actually trying to tell me that violence is a permissible approach in some instances and not in others?” Katy asked incredulously.

  Luke considered that briefly. “Yeah, I guess that about sums it up.”

  “Excuse me,” Katy said in scathing tones. “I had no idea there were so many fine nuances to this masculine mystique thing.”

  “Well, there are. And since you’re a woman, I don’t expect you to understand them all, so you will leave your brother to me tonight. Understood?”

  “Luke, I’ll go crazy worrying about what’s happening.”

  He smiled reassuringly. �
�There’s no reason to worry about your brother. He’s going to be fine. If you want to make yourself crazy, start worrying about how you’re going to deal with Mrs. Igorson the next time you see her.”

  “Oh, Lord,” Katy whispered.

  “Maybe you should fish your swimsuit out of the pool. Wouldn’t want it to clog the drain. Think what the pool man would think when he found it in the morning.”

  “Oh, Lord,” Katy said again.

  Matt wore an expression of wary, sullen defiance when Luke walked through the door of the police station. The sight of him brought back memories. Luke recalled the night he had sat waiting in jail for his father to come and collect him. A lot of weird thoughts went through a guy’s head at a time like that.

  Matt was not in a cell. He was sitting on a bench with a handful of other equally sullen young males. He leaned back against the wall, holding himself proudly aloof from the furor that was going on around him.

  Several anxious-looking mothers were fluttering around the room. Some were tight-lipped with anger, others were in tears. A few were already berating their offspring, and one or two were screaming at the two young cops who appeared to be in charge.

  Luke noticed that there were very few fathers on the scene. That annoyed him. A boy needed a man at a time like this. Where the hell were all the fathers? He supposed it was a stupid question given the current divorce rate.

  If it was his kid who was waiting here, Luke told himself, he would be damn sure he was the one who came and got him.

  On the heels of that realization came another. He would not mind having a son of his own. Or a daughter. Christ, he was thirty-six years old, and he had not yet begun a family. He had always planned on having kids someday. Where had the years gone? Luke wondered. It was as if he had been caught in some sort of limbo since Ariel’s death.

  Matt glanced toward the door at that moment. His eyes met Luke’s. Relief flared in his gaze for an instant, and then the expression of sullen wariness descended again. Luke understood. A man had to hang onto his pride at all costs.

  Luke nodded at one of the young cops, whose eyes looked far older than his years. As Luke crossed the room to speak to him the officer detached himself from a crying mother. He seemed relieved to be able to deal with another male for a few minutes. Luke introduced himself.