Heartbreaker

by Laurie Paige

  “And you look handsome enough to be a prince,” she told Archy.

  He did look nice in his tux, the silver of his hair shining like treasure. Her green eyes, as well as Justin’s, came from him while Rose had her mother’s violet-blue eyes. Love rushed over her all at once, and she gave him a fierce hug, feeling the loneliness in him.

  “Are you picking up Mother?” she asked.

  “No. I offered, but she had to go in early. She’s on the decorating committee.”

  The doorbell rang.

  Taking a deep breath, Susan opened the door to Michael…and caught her breath.

  “Wow,” she murmured. “I’m not sure my heart can handle the two handsomest men in the world at the same time.”

  “Flattery will get you anywhere you want to go,” Michael said with a sexy laugh.

  “Good to see you, Michael,” Archy greeted him and shook hands with him.

  “Would you like a lift to the club?” Michael asked. “My niece is with me, but we have room for one more.”

  “No, no. You young people run along. I’ll be there soon.”

  After they were out the door, Susan said softly, “I think he’s lonely. I wish he and Mother…”

  “Would get back together?” Michael finished for her.

  “Yes.” She sighed. “I’m in an odd mood, nostalgic and wishful and happy and sad. Does that make sense?”

  “It doesn’t have to,” he assured her, opening the door and helping her into the seat.

  She said hello to Janis, sitting in the back.

  “You look gorgeous,” the younger woman said. “Uncle Michael took me shopping this afternoon. I found a nice dress, but nothing as lovely as yours.”

  Susan still found it difficult to be the center of hero worship. “The black outfit goes beautifully with your hair. Your eyes are a knockout.”

  “I’m a lucky man,” Michael boasted. “Two beautiful women and both with me.”

  “We’re lucky too,” Janis added. “The tux makes you look older and very distinguished.”

  “Older, huh?” Michael winked at Susan. “I don’t know whether I’ve been insulted or not.”

  “Not at all. Your arrogance would never allow it.”

  “Now I know I’ve been insulted.”

  Susan smiled while uncle and niece continued their raillery. The odd mixture of emotion rolled over her again. Tonight she wanted something different. She glanced at her escort. Him. She wanted him.

  “Who is that?” Janis demanded when they arrived at the country club entrance.

  The doorman helped the ladies out while Michael gave the keys to the valet. Susan followed Janis’s wide-eyed gaze. She studied the unsmiling man who, while dressed formally, looked as untamed as a wolf.

  “Hawk Wainwright,” she said.

  “He’s kin to you? Can you introduce us?” Janis asked.

  Susan looked at Michael, who shrugged. She wasn’t sure if she should put an innocent like Janis in the company of a loner like Hawk. “Yes,” she finally said, “but a prima doesn’t have time for relationships, not while she’s getting established.”

  Janis sighed. “I know, but he’s so gorgeous. Oh, he’s looking this way. Maybe he’ll ask me to dance later.”

  Susan smiled at Hawk, a man she thought was her half brother, although her father had never admitted it.

  He nodded politely, but without smiling back, although he didn’t frown, either. The man would be great at playing poker, she thought.

  Once inside, they went up the elevator to the ballroom and through the receiving line, which was headed by Susan’s mother, then they joined Rose and Matt, Josie and Flynt at a table. Susan was surprised at how natural it felt to be with the Carson brothers. She even smiled at Fiona and Cara Carson, who were at a nearby table, although a tiny flash of something like jealousy did dart through her. The twins were lovely.

  Glancing at Michael, she experienced an increasing glow inside. Tonight, she promised her buoyant spirits, tonight she was going to be with him.

  “Hey, I’m glad I caught you guys,” a man she didn’t know said, coming to their table.

  Flynt jumped to his feet. “Ben, good to see you. Join us. We have an extra chair.”

  “I’m circulating,” the other man said.

  Flynt introduced the stranger. “This is Ben Ashton. He’s investigating Lena’s background for us. Have you found out anything about her parents?”

  The private investigator grimaced. “I know Tyler isn’t the father. His DNA doesn’t come close to the baby’s.”

  “That leaves Luke,” Flynt said with a frown. “Where the heck is he?”

  The other two golfing buddies arrived and heard this last remark. “Probably some tropical island with his latest conquest,” Tyler suggested irritably.

  Spence spoke up. “This time ol’ Luke must be smitten. He’s been gone for months.”

  “And probably has had a different girl for each one of them,” Tyler added.

  Flynt laughed. “Tyler’s jealous. He was in love with Haley Mercado when we were kids. She only had eyes for Luke.”

  Tyler was good-natured about the teasing. “Yeah, but you were half in love with her, too.”

  “A mere boyhood crush,” Flynt assured his friend.

  Susan, watching the play among the men, thought Flynt Carson had never looked more relaxed. There was a quiet happiness about him and Josie, also between Rose and Matt, that spoke of promises made and kept.

  Emotion grabbed at her heart and wouldn’t let go. She wanted what they had.

  “Shall we dance?” Michael asked.

  She realized the music had started. But no one was on the dance floor yet, which sent a nervous tremor through her.

  “Come,” he urged, standing and holding out his hand.

  She was aware of other eyes on her. Reluctantly she let herself be escorted to the center of the ballroom floor. Her breath keep snagging in her throat, filling it with a lump of dread. She hadn’t danced in front of anyone since her collapse onstage. She wasn’t sure she could.

  Michael took her hand. She laid the other on his shoulder. As he moved, she felt the strength in him. His warmth surrounded her in a net of safety.

  Looking into his eyes, she found she could breathe after all. And dance.

  They swayed and dipped to the beautiful strains of the waltz, their steps perfectly matched. The room faded, and they were alone, surrounded by the glow of a thousand candles and a magical enchantment all their own.

  Tonight, her heart sang. She would share passion with him tonight and not worry about what tomorrow would bring.

  She gazed into his eyes and couldn’t look away. When the dance ended, silence surrounded them, then sound reached her ears, soft at first, then louder and louder.

  Startled, Susan peered around the huge room. School chums, friends, people she’d known all her life stood and applauded, their faces wreathed in smiles. She saw her father pull his handkerchief from his pocket and hand it to her mother, who hastily wiped her eyes.

  “Take a bow, vixen,” Michael said softly.

  Her own eyes filling with tears, Susan dropped into a deep curtsy, her hand still securely in his. With her other hand, she blew kisses to each corner of the ballroom, feeling the love and wealth of good wishes that accompanied the salute. Then Michael escorted her to the table.

  “You two were magnificent!” Janis exclaimed. “You could make it on the ballroom dancing professional circuit.”

  “No, thanks. Dancing is harder than heart surgery,” Michael said with obvious sincerity.

  That drew a laugh from the others and started tales among the men of their first terrifying dancing experiences.

  At the side of the room, Susan spied Hawk standing in solitary splendor, his eyes taking in everything, giving away nothing. She couldn’t bear for anyone to be left out tonight. “Go ask him to dance,” she whispered to Janis.

  Janis bit her lip as she stared at the dark, silent outsider. “Do
I dare?”

  Susan nodded. “A flirtation only,” she warned. “No serious involvement for five years. Invite him to join us. He can have the extra chair.”

  Michael raised his eyebrows at this suggestion, but kept silent. His eyes conveyed his trust in Susan’s judgment.

  “He must always feel left out,” Janis murmured.

  “Be careful that he doesn’t see your pity. He wouldn’t like it,” Michael whispered back, then watched his niece thread her way across the room.

  Susan held her breath as Janis stopped in front of Hawk and hoped he wouldn’t hurt the young woman’s feelings. However, he appeared to be listening in his grave way, then he shook hands with her. Janis glanced toward the dance floor, then back to Hawk.

  Susan clutched Michael’s hand.

  Hawk took Janis’s elbow and led the way to the dance floor. They joined the other couples who swayed to a slow, dreamy love song.

  Susan sighed in relief.

  “Tender heart,” Michael accused.

  “Hey, there’s Frank Del Brio,” Matt said, nodding toward the door.

  “Johnny and Ricky Mercado are with him. Who’s the woman with Ricky?” Flynt wanted to know.

  “I don’t know her,” Susan said. She watched the foursome join two other couples at a table. “They don’t like each other, Ricky and Frank. They’re as stiff as two cats about to have a fight.”

  “One of them will take Carmine’s place,” Michael observed. “Which one?”

  “My bet’s on Frank,” Flynt said, laying a five on the table.

  “You’re covered,” Matt declared, taking a five out of his wallet. “Ricky won’t take orders from a punk like Frank. He’s too independent.”

  Michael laid his money on the table. “My bet is on Spence. He’ll shut down their operations within the year.”

  Flynt swept up the three bills. “Here, Josie, hold the bets. At the New Year’s ball, we’ll see who wins.”

  “And who loses,” Michael said.

  All eyes were on the three men who were now the tentative leaders of the Texas Mafia: Johnny Mercado, eldest and brother to the late don; Ricky Mercado, nephew and chosen heir; Frank Del Brio, rumored to be ruthless and powerful and determined to be the new don.

  Susan shivered as a sense of evil wafted around her. Michael, sensitive to her moods, laid an arm around her shoulders as if to protect her.

  “Tonight,” she murmured, basking in his strong presence that drove out all other thought.

  He gave her a startled glance, then his eyes warmed as flames leaped in them. “Tonight,” he echoed.

  She didn’t know what they had agreed to, but she was going to take whatever fate offered.

  Tonight, tonight, her heart sang in its own rendition of West Side Story.

  When Hawk brought the beaming Janis back to the table, Susan asked him to join them. Rose gave her a startled glance, then seconded the invitation.

  Hawk looked them over gravely, smiled, then took the empty chair next to Janis. “It looks as if everyone in the county is here tonight, doesn’t it?”

  Susan followed his glance to where her father stood, talking to the mayor and Spence Harrison. A bit farther along the room, her mother was chatting to another member of the committee who had planned the ball and its elaborate display of fall flowers. Pity ate at her. She wanted everyone to share the magic tonight.

  “It isn’t your fault,” Michael said for her ears only.

  “I know, but—”

  “Come on,” he said suddenly. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Too startled to protest, she rose when he did.

  “Would you see Janis home?” he asked Hawk.

  The man nodded. Janis pressed a hand to her chest. The two married couples looked on without a word.

  “Good. Susan has had enough tonight. She’s not supposed to be in crowds at all for another two months,” he said sternly, then spoiled it by smiling indulgently.

  Susan bid them all good-night and silently followed Michael from the room. When the valet brought the car around and they were off, her new heart skipped an alarming number of beats. She went weak and dizzy, but there was no pain, no pain at all. Only the most intense excitement she’d ever known.

  “Tonight,” she said.

  “Yes.”

  At Michael’s home on Mission Ridge, Susan took his hand and let him help her out of the sports car and into the house. She expected an offer of champagne or wine or at least his favorite tipple—raspberry iced tea.

  Instead she was enfolded in strong arms the moment they entered the dim foyer. “Mmm-hmm,” she said, clutching his strong shoulders and giving herself to the kiss.

  Rockets blazed inside her. They roared in her ears so that all she could hear over the sound was the fast beating of her heart. His lips roamed hers in tender forays, then became more demanding. She opened to his bidding and played a lover’s eternal game of touch and retreat.

  “I want you,” she told him, pushing the tux jacket off and down his arms. “Now. Oh, Michael, now.”

  He lifted his head and stared into her eyes, the look in his causing her knees to go weak.

  “Not yet,” he said in a ragged voice.

  Releasing his hold, he turned them toward the living room and flicked on soft lamplight before seating her on the sofa. She gazed at him, questions in her eyes and uncertainty in her soul, while he sat on the edge of the chair, his knees an inch from hers. He leaned forward, an intensity in him she’d seen just before her surgery.

  “We need to talk,” he continued.

  “Why?” she asked softly, teasing him with a deliberate, flirty under-the-lashes look.

  He sucked in a deep breath. “Vixen. Don’t distract me. Tell me what you want.”

  She almost laughed. “You.”

  But Michael was serious, dead serious. He knew what he wanted from her and wouldn’t settle for less. “You got me, lady, lock, stock, and barrel.”

  Her eyes glowed, drowning him in their brilliance and the simmering sexuality in her glance. He forced himself to think instead of only feel.

  “It has to be forever,” he added, making his position clear. He’d come to that realization weeks ago. Observing the wariness enter her eyes now, he was sure she hadn’t thought that far ahead.

  “Forever is a long time,” she said, not meeting his eyes. “We might not have that long.”

  “True, but whatever time there is, I want it.”

  She smiled again. “Me, too. Can we start now?”

  He shook his head in frustration. He was sure they weren’t on the same wavelength. “I’m talking about marriage, Susan,” he said bluntly, putting his heart on the line. “I want that kind of forever.”

  Susan’s mood changed at once. She rose and paced to the broad expanse of windows. She could see the harvest moon shining on the lake, a huge golden pumpkin that could turn into a coach with the wave of a magic wand.

  Only it wouldn’t. Not for her.

  “Don’t spoil things,” she pleaded.

  He came to her and laid his wonderful hands on her shoulders, his chest against her back, creating a blanket of warmth around her. She refrained from leaning into him.

  “How would marriage do that? I’m in love with you. That’s a forever kind of thing as far as I’m concerned.”

  Tears pressed in harsh waves against her control. She sought and found the anger. Spinning away from him, she said in a low, fierce tone, “There’s no such thing as forever for us. I have tonight. That’s all I can guarantee.”

  He studied her through narrowed eyes, his handsome face set in hard lines. She fought the hateful tears.

  “I’ll take tonight,” he said.

  She crossed her arms over her chest, fighting the sweet caress of his voice, so deep and midnight dark and enticing.

  “But I’m a selfish bastard. I want all your nights and your days. I’m talking about commitment. Can you give me that?”

  Despair battled the anger. �
�No.”

  Michael started to reach for her, to shake some sense into her pretty head, but he forced his hands to his sides. It was hard, but a man had to know when he was wrong.

  “So it was gratitude,” he murmured, more to himself than her. “The doctor-patient syndrome.”

  She stared out the window, refusing to meet his gaze. Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides. “You know it was more.”

  He laughed sardonically. “Yeah, sex. That part was great, but frankly, the rest of our relationship has been hell. Come on, I’ll take you home. You look pale.”

  “Michael,” Susan whispered, and heard the agony in her voice.

  He stiffened and waited.

  “Please, don’t send me away.”

  “There’s only so much I can take, Susan. I think I’ve reached the end of my rope tonight.”

  She swallowed the knot of misery. “I know the chances of survival. This next year is critical. It could be all I’ll have. A year, a few months, maybe weeks, or only days. Who can say? I feel good now, but that could change at any time.”

  “Don’t you think I know that? I’m asked to calculate the mortality of my patients all the time. I want forever, however long that may be.”

  She shook her head. “It would hurt too much…to want so much and perhaps have so little.”

  “I have a friend from medical school,” he told her. “He had a kidney transplant when he was fifteen. He’s alive and has a busy family practice. He has a wife and kid. He takes two pills a day. That’s it.”

  She wanted to marry him, she wanted to dance again, she wanted to coach other young dancers and see them blossom, she wanted two children. Dear God, she wanted to believe it was all possible. But she didn’t.

  Her watch vibrated against her wrist. “Time for the pills,” she said dully, and reached for her purse.

  Michael brought her a glass of water. After she swallowed the dozen pills that kept her heart and body from rejecting each other, he simply watched her for a moment, then he laughed with a bitterness that shook her soul.

  “I thought you were brave,” he said. “I thought you could face the future, that you would grab it and make it your own. I thought you would share it with me.”

  “I will, but not— I don’t think it’s necessary to marry. We can date and do things together.”