“What could be taking so long?” she asked.
“He’s just being thorough. It doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Watching for him won’t bring him back here any faster. Pick up your cards. Otherwise, I’m going to win by default, and I have some fascinating ideas about what my prize should be.”
That caught her attention. “Oh, really?” she said, snatching up her hand and studying it with fierce concentration. “You haven’t got a chance, buster.”
He grinned. “Is that so?”
As he’d anticipated, within minutes, she was thoroughly caught up in the game and happily taking him to the cleaners. When she’d slapped down another winning hand, she regarded him with a triumphant expression.
“Any questions about who’s the grand champion?” she asked.
“Maybe I’m just letting you win to keep your mind off of Justin,” he suggested.
“Letting me win?” she retorted indignantly. “I don’t think so.”
“You’ll never know for sure, will you?”
She picked up the cards and shuffled. “Okay, that’s it. This is war.” She placed the cards down on the table with a snap. “Winner take all.”
“An interesting bet,” he agreed. “Since we’re not playing for money, what does it mean exactly?”
Her expression turned thoughtful. “Okay, here it is. It means that if I win this hand, you will agree to one whole month of working nine to five, Monday to Friday, and no more. And just so you know, the month doesn’t begin until you are actually back in Houston and back at work.”
He started to protest that he didn’t have a nine-to-five job, but that was her point, of course. She wanted to see if he could do it, if he’d learned anything at all about putting his priorities in order. He vowed to prove he could, even if he won the hand.
“Agreed,” he said, clearly startling her with his ready acceptance of the terms. “And if I win—”
“You won’t.”
He scowled at her with mock ferocity. “When I win, you and Josh and Jamie will let me court you.”
Color flared in her cheeks at the suggestion. “Excuse me? You plan to court all three of us?”
“After this is settled, you’ll be a package deal, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Then me courting you will also affect them.”
“I suppose,” she said as if she suspected there were a trick in there she hadn’t quite discerned.
“Agreed?”
She nodded finally. “Agreed.”
Michael looked at his cards then and had to bite back the urge to utter a whoop of triumph. She had dealt him a near-perfect hand. One card was all he needed for victory. He drew his first card, stared at it, then snuggled it into place in his hand.
He glanced across the table, caught the wary expression in her eyes and was about to place the winning hand down on the table, when Justin stepped into the room.
“Okay,” he said, his expression grim. “Here’s the deal.”
Grace was immediately on her feet, all thoughts of the card game clearly abandoned. “Tell me.”
“Sit, sweetheart,” Michael urged, drawing her back to the table. “Give the man a chance.”
Justin pulled up a chair and sat opposite her. “After some grumbling about people taking the law into their own hands, obstructing justice, etcetera, the authorities are willing to overlook all of that and leave Jamie and Josh in your care until a hearing can be set.”
Grace uttered a sigh of relief.
“Hang on. That’s only the beginning,” Justin warned. “In the meantime, if you want to become their foster parent, you have to take the appropriate steps, file all the paperwork, go through the clearances. I’m sure you know the drill.”
“Not a problem,” Grace said. “I’ll get started this afternoon.”
He slid a piece of paper toward her. “Here’s the fax number. I left the papers they’ve already faxed here for your signature on the desk in Trish’s office. Fill everything out and get it back to them before they close for the day. Otherwise, they’re likely to be camping on the doorstep over here first thing in the morning.”
“Is there any chance she won’t be approved?” Michael asked.
She frowned at the question. “Why would you even suggest that they might turn me down?”
“Because I’m trying to be realistic here. I think we need to know if our failure to turn those kids in right away could affect the outcome of this.”
“He’s right,” Justin said. “The social services worker on the case is just relieved that the boys are okay. So are the previous foster parents. Neither of those families has any intention of fighting to get Jamie or Josh back. But there’s a supervisor in the office over there who’s mad as hell. He likes to have all the i’s dotted and all the t’s crossed before the fact, not after. He won’t cut you any slack, Grace.”
“Name?” Michael asked.
Justin glanced at his notes. “Franklin Oakley. He’s been around a long time. Runs a tight ship. The caseworker says he’s the kind to hold a grudge. Worse, he really hates lawyers. Thinks they’re the scourge of the system. ‘Bunch of damn bleeding hearts’ is the exact quote.”
Grace looked shaken. “Terrific.”
“Don’t panic. We’ll take care of Mr. Oakley,” Michael said quietly.
“How?”
“There are ways.”
“Delacourt or Adams influence won’t cut it,” Justin warned. “If anything, it’ll just infuriate him. You know the type. They hate anything that smacks of undue influence, and they especially hate the wealthy and powerful.”
“That won’t matter if he’s no longer in a position to do any harm,” Michael retorted.
Grace regarded him with a shocked expression. “Michael, you can’t get the man fired.”
“I can, if that’s what it takes,” he said coldly.
“Let’s not resort to that just yet,” she pleaded. “Let’s just play by the rules.”
He wanted to warn her that playing by the rules might cost her Jamie and Josh, but this was her call. He had to do it her way. “Okay,” he said at last. “We’ll try it your way. If things start turning sour, though, we do it mine. If Mr. Oakley had been doing his job right from the beginning, those boys would still be together somewhere. They wouldn’t have had to run away in the first place.”
Grace still looked troubled, but she nodded. She faced Justin. “Thank you. I know if I had made these calls myself, we wouldn’t be where we are. I would probably have told Mr. Oakley some of the same things Michael just said. I owe you.”
“You don’t owe me,” Justin said. “Just try not to break any more laws while you’re in my jurisdiction.”
“Not a one,” Grace vowed. “We’ll be model citizens.”
“Scout’s honor,” Michael said.
Grace stared at him. “When were you a Scout?”
“Never. It just seemed like the thing to say.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ll keep him in line,” she promised Justin.
He chuckled. “That ought to be interesting to see. Sorry I can’t stick around.”
After he’d gone, Michael caught Grace’s gaze. “So, you’re going to keep me in line, are you? Just how do you intend to do that?”
“I have my ways,” she said airily.
“Sounds promising. I’ll be fascinated to see them in action.”
She kept her gaze level for a moment, but then her glance fell. She caught sight of the cards lying on the table.
“Want to finish our game before I fill out this paperwork?” she asked.
“No need,” he told her, spreading out his winning hand. “It’s already over.”
She stared at the cards in shock. “How can that be?”
“Just lucky, I guess.”
“You cheated. You must have.”
“No need, darlin’. You dealt the cards. I won. It’s as si
mple as that. I think you wanted me to win.”
“I most certainly did not.”
“Well, the cards don’t lie. I won, and now I aim to collect on my bet.”
“How?” she asked warily.
“Don’t look so terrified. If I do it right, courting’s practically painless. You just have to get used to bouquets of flowers, the occasional box of candy, a little fine dining, maybe a kiss now and then.”
“The boys will love that,” she noted wryly.
“They can share in some of it, but the kisses are all yours,” he clarified. “In fact, now might be a good time to collect on the first one. We’re all alone. You’re already looking a little flushed.”
She waved the faxes at him. “I have forms to fill out.”
“It’s just one kiss, a sample of things to come.”
“Oh, all right,” she said with an exaggerated sigh of resignation. She puckered her lips and waited, eyes closed.
Michael regarded her with amusement, then gave her a gentle peck on the cheek that had her eyes snapping open.
“That’s it?” she demanded.
“You wanted something more?”
“Of course not.”
He chuckled. “Liar.”
As she opened her mouth to tell yet another fib, he angled his head, swooped in and stole another kiss, this one packing the kind of wallop that left them both breathless.
“Now there’s an incentive,” he murmured.
“An incentive for what?”
“Who knows?” he teased. “A few more of those and I might get home from work every day for lunch.”
Chapter Twelve
The reality of what she was doing slammed into Grace as she was filling out the stack of papers Justin had received by fax. She had closeted herself in Trish’s office, partly to get the necessary paperwork done, but just as much to get out of the path of Michael’s devastating kisses. They left her confused and shaken and right now she definitely needed all her wits about her.
A tiny voice in her head shouted that she was making a totally impulsive decision, a decision driven by emotion. Grace Foster, tough, single-focus attorney, didn’t do things like that. In fact, her clear-headedness was one of her most prized assets. So why this decision?
Because Jamie and Josh needed to be together. They needed stability and love and she could give them both. Simple as that.
And twice as complicated, she thought ruefully. She was charging into this because she didn’t see an alternative. And—she realized with sudden insight—because she needed them almost as much as they needed her. They filled a void in her life, an empty place in her heart. They promised something she hadn’t had since she’d split up with Michael: love.
“It’s the right thing to do,” she murmured, trying to reassure herself. “Definitely the right thing.”
She bent over the papers once more. A few minutes later she was just finishing the last form when she heard the thunder of feet hitting the porch. Shouts echoed through the house as Josh and Jamie came bolting inside, obviously exuberant after their trip into town. Their happiness reassured her. Hearing it, she was able to push aside the last, lingering doubts. She put the papers into the fax and sent them. Now all they had to do was wait.
And pray, she thought as she went to find the boys.
She found them in the kitchen raiding the refrigerator as if they were starved. Michael was observing the scene with apparent astonishment.
“Ty, I thought you were going to feed them in town,” Michael said, watching them snatch up cheese and lunch meats for sandwiches.
“They’re as voracious as a horde of locusts,” Tyler declared. “I swear to you I bought them pizza—a large one with everything on it—and sundaes with the works, including double hot fudge. I don’t understand where they put it.”
Grace chuckled at his incredulous expression. “You don’t remember being that age?”
“Of course I do, but we had our limits.” He glanced at Michael. “Didn’t we?”
“I certainly did,” Michael retorted with a pious expression. “You, however, ate everything in sight, now that I think about it. No freshly baked cookie was safe with you in the house. We lost three housekeepers because they couldn’t keep up with you.”
Tyler shot him an exasperated look. “We did not. The only housekeeper who ever quit did so because you put a frog in her bed.”
Josh and Jamie looked up at that, clearly fascinated.
“Cool,” Jamie declared.
“Did you get punished?” Josh asked.
“Michael never got punished,” Tyler said. “He was mother’s favorite.” He grinned. “Till Trish came along, anyway.”
Michael groaned. “You are such a liar.”
“Am not. You got away with murder, while the rest of us had to pay a heavy price for every little misdeed.”
“What kind of price?” Josh asked, clearly fascinated.
“We were grounded, lost our TV privileges, had to clean our rooms. I’m telling you, our folks were tough.”
“Get out the violins,” Michael muttered.
Grace laughed. “Something tells me you are making every word of this up, Tyler Delacourt.”
“He is,” Michael assured her. “Except for his inability to get our father to leave him out in the oil fields, Tyler has gotten his way his entire life. The man was spoiled rotten. He was a skinny little thing, so the housekeepers always gave him the choicest food, the biggest servings of pie and cake. Every time I turned around Mother was bringing him another toy. He was the first one in the family to get his own computer.”
“Which you stole so you could run profit and loss statements on Delacourt Oil before you turned ten,” Tyler countered.
“It must have been really cool living at your house,” Jamie said quietly.
The observation brought a sudden halt to the teasing as the men clearly realized what a contrast their upbringing had been to Josh and Jamie’s experiences. Not only had they been together, they had been surrounded by love and material things that Josh and Jamie could only dream about.
“It was cool,” Michael told them. “And once you’re with Grace, it’s going to be just as cool for you.”
Grace was startled that he would dangle that possibility out to them before it was a done deal. The less said about it until then, the better. “Michael—”
“No, Grace, don’t start doubting it. This is going to happen.”
“Things went okay with Justin, then?” Tyler asked.
“Well enough,” Grace conceded carefully.
Jamie’s eyes registered concern. “There’s something you’re not saying, isn’t there?”
Grace shot an I-told-you-so look at Michael. “They’ve agreed to let you stay with me for now.”
“All right!” Josh shouted.
“She said for now, dope. That’s not forever,” Jamie said.
“No, it’s not forever,” Grace admitted. “But it’s a good start. We’ve got the ball rolling. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
“How long do we have to wait?” Jamie asked.
“It’s hard to tell. They’ll set a hearing date, probably in a few days.”
“But you’re not giving up, right? Will we get to tell somebody what we want?”
“Maybe, down the road,” she told him. “In the meantime, let’s try not to worry about it.”
“In fact, let’s focus on something else,” Michael told them. “I think I hear Slade. Are you guys ready for another riding lesson? I talked to him earlier, and I think he’s going to take you on a real ride today.”
“You mean, like, out of the corral?” Josh asked, eyes wide.
“Yep,” Michael said. “He says you’re ready and the horses are definitely eager for the exercise.”
“Are you coming?” Jamie asked Michael. He was already heading for the door, sandwich in hand.
“Nope. I’ll be out later to watch you guys. I want to talk to Grace for a bit.�
��
“About us?”
Michael grinned at him. “Not everything is about you. In fact, if I could get my brother out of here, I might snatch a little time alone with Grace.”
“So you can kiss her?” Josh wanted to know.
Grace felt the color rise in her cheeks. “There will be no kissing,” she said in her haughtiest tone, but Michael only winked.
“Bet I can change her mind,” he said.
Tyler dutifully stood up and followed Josh and Jamie to the door. He paused before leaving, though, and directed his own wink at Grace before facing his brother.
“Bet you can’t.”
“You’re on,” Michael responded at once.
As soon as they were alone, Grace scowled at Michael. “Hell will freeze over before you get another kiss from me, Michael Delacourt.”
He merely grinned. “I love it when you get all huffy.”
Exasperated, she started to leave the kitchen, but he snagged her hand. Despite herself, she felt a wave of anticipation wash over her.
“Michael—”
“Yes, Grace.”
“I…will…not…kiss…you,” she said emphatically. “Especially not so you can win some bet with your brother.”
His gaze locked with hers. “How about because it’s been a couple of hours since the last one and I don’t think I can last another minute?”
Unfortunately, that echoed her own longing. “Maybe,” she said. “Keep talking.”
“How about because you drive me wild?”
“Better.”
“How about because kissing you is the best thing that’s happened to me in six years?”
She sighed and stepped closer, tilting her face up. “Me, too,” she whispered, slowly opening her mouth to the tantalizing invasion of his tongue.
“Oh, yes,” she murmured sometime later. “Definitely, me, too.”
When Michael eventually went outside in search of the boys, Grace headed straight for the sink and a splash of cold water to cool off her suddenly over-active hormones. She was still standing there wondering how her life had taken this unexpected twist in such a short time when the doorbell rang.
Wondering who on earth it could be, she opened it to find a distinguished-looking white-haired gentleman on the porch. Even though he was dressed in the worn jeans and chambray shirt of a rancher, there was no mistaking that this was no ordinary rancher. She guessed at once that this was the indomitable Harlan Adams. Who else would have the audacity to drop in on strangers out of the blue?
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