The One-Week Wife

by Hayley Gardner

  “Just for the next hour or so.” Hesitating, Matt knew it was important for her to understand the truth about him. “I like you a lot, Gina, but 1 don’t have what you need in me. I’ll only make you unhappy if I stay and we try for anything but a one-night stand. I won’t risk that.”

  “Just so we understand each other.” She blinked and smiled. What he had said was nothing less than she’d expected, but that still didn’t mean she couldn’t be disappointed. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she had started to hope…“But you don’t know what you’re missing.”

  Yes, he did, Matt thought. “At least you’re mine for the next hour,” he said, but his heart wasn’t in the grin he gave her. Reaching down, he pushed the ring on her finger. They both stared at their hands for a long minute.

  He should have kept searching another couple of days and taken his chances on a stranger, Matt thought. No matter how badly he felt about his father, he was wrong to have dragged Gina into this.

  But on the other hand, he could tell Gina cared about him and would do her utmost to make certain his father was left with the impression that he was a happy man. That was what he wanted, no matter what.

  So until it was over, he would have to fight his desire for her. The last thing he wanted to do was compound the mistake of using her with another mistake of taking her to bed without having real love for her in his heart. One was bad enough, but he would hate himself for the other.

  Gina waved her hand. “Go. The sooner we get there, Matt, the sooner we can leave. Then you can come back here, pack your bags and get out of my neighborhood.”

  “It isn’t big enough for both of us?”

  As tense as Gina felt, her lips twitched upward at his quip. She didn’t want to laugh. Everything was wrong at that moment. It was wrong that she desired Matt so desperately; it was wrong that he was doing this to his father and to himself; and, finally, it was wrong that lightning never struck twice when it came to love for her.

  She couldn’t do much about her desire for him, and she couldn’t make him fall in love with her. Butshe had the knowledge, and experience, to do something about his relationship with his father. Somehow, she was going to find a way to help Matt, whether he wanted it or not.

  7

  Ten minutes into their visit with Luke Gallagher, Gina felt a pang of pity for the man. Matt’s father was so eager to please his son. The house was spotless, and Luke had brewed a pot of tea for her and coffee for Matt and even served slices of her lemon cake on paper plates for them. But the harder Luke tried, the more closed off his son became, giving onesyllable answers to Luke’s questions and not volunteering anything.

  The only thing Gina could say for her “husband” was that he couldn’t have been more attentive to her. Matt sat next to her on the couch, his arm resting on the cushions behind her. His fingers kept reaching around and trailing paths along her neck—never lewdly, but that didn’t matter. The intimacy of his touch made her insides quiver. She crossed her arms. Matt began to play with her earlobe, and her breath caught. His attention should be on his father, not on playing with her. She needed to do something.

  “Do you have any lemon?” she asked Luke to get a few seconds alone with Matt.

  As it happened, Luke did. As soon as he left the room, she turned to Matt.

  “Please don’t touch me like that. You’re making me nervous,” she whispered.

  “Nervous?” he asked. He met her eyes and asked, “Or hot?”

  “You should concentrate on your father,” she advised.

  His eyes shaded over and his face took on an unreadable expression. “I’d prefer to keep my mind on you.”

  “You’re asking for it,” she whispered.

  “Will I like it when I get it?” he asked.

  To her irritation, her mouth twisted of its own accord in suppressed mirth. Before she could think of a suitable retort, Luke was back with a small sandwich plate filled with slices of lemon. Its tangy scent filled the air as he handed it to her.

  “Thank you,” Gina said, giving Matt’s father a sincere smile as she took the plate.

  “Pucker power,” Matt whispered in her ear.

  “Behave yourself,” Gina said aloud.

  Matt grinned.

  Luke frowned at them in confusion, and Gina leaned forward to put a slice of lemon in her tea. “You’ll have to forgive your son. He’s acting a little frisky this evening. So tell me, Mr. Gallagher, do you like Bedley Hills?” She supposed she ought to worry about eventually running into Luke at some point in the future, but he’d lived in her town for a while now and they hadn’t met yet.

  “I don’t get around much, but it seems like a pleasant town,” Luke said. “Of course, when Matt showed up, it knocked me for a loop.”

  “I must admit, I felt exactly the same way,” Gina said without thinking. Matt’s thigh hit hers, and she glanced up at Luke. “Uh, that is, Matt never told me his mother had written him where you were until just recently. I didn’t know for a long time what he had planned to do here in Bedley Hills.” At least she was telling the truth, Gina thought triumphantly. She thought she heard Matt sigh.

  “And you’ll be going back to Germany after Matt’s leave is up?” Luke asked.

  Gina didn’t know. She sipped her tea, hoping that Matt would tell Luke what he wanted his father to know, but he didn’t say anything. Luke’s face fell, and as another minute passed silently, he looked anguished.

  Gina jutted out her jaw. This was ridiculous. Putting down her tea, she reached over, put her hand on Matt’s thigh high enough so that he would notice, and squeezed gently. Sure enough, his face looked like he’d been jolted by electricity, and he sat straight up. Not surveying to see what else might have registered her touch, she just smiled at him and said, “Your father asked you a question, dear. You aren’t asleep, are you?” She squeezed his leg again.

  “I’m awake.” He reached down and grabbed her wrist, giving her a warning look. “Every inch of me is awake.”

  She turned to Luke and said with a straight face, “Matt suffers from that condition known as somnambulism—you know, walking in his sleep? Sometimes he’s snoozing and no one knows. That’s why he never says anything even though his eyes are open. All it takes is a single touch from me to bring his body to attention, though.”

  “Ain’t that the truth,” Matt muttered, still frowning. Gina glanced at him, wondering why his comment sounded so very sincere. Maybe he was a better actor than she thought.

  Looking grateful for the intervention, Luke was on the verge of laughing, but then he caught Matt’s scowl.

  “Oh, go ahead and laugh,” Gina encouraged. “Matt’s learned to live with his condition, although it does get a bit edgy when he’s in the cockpit. I keep telling him he’d be safer and better off if he went ahead and trained to be an aircraft mechanic instead of a pilot. He could stay on the ground, and everyone knows that aircraft mechanics are the real strength behind the air force, anyway.”

  “Gina.” There was a definite warning in Matt’s voice that said she might just be going too far.

  She shook her head, trying her best to look sad. “But Matt insists on maintaining his rank and his pilot’s status. Every time he flies there’s the chance that he might fall asleep and I’ll lose him, but I keep his life insurance paid up, and the military really does have wonderful widow’s benefits.”

  Luke started laughing, and even Matt’s lips twisted upward at the edges. “You wait till I get you home, lady,” he said in a half growl, but he grinned wider.

  “I’m looking forward to it.” Leaning over, she kissed his cheek and then patted his knee. “Taking himself too seriously has been Matt’s problem since I met him, Luke, but don’t worry. I’m working on his attitude problem.”

  “I think you’re probably the best thing that ever happened to Matt,” Luke said softly.

  “She is.”

  Matt’s unexpected reply was so forceful Gina’s heart skipped a beat and she blushed
. Then, fearful she was reading too much into his reaction because she wanted to, she turned back to Luke. “Now, you asked Matt where he was going next, right?”

  “He?” Luke frowned.

  Another slip. Oh, boy. Posing as a wife wasn’t as easy as she’d imagined.

  “Yes, he. It’s a military thing—a mission,” she improvised, hoping she was somewhere near what could be considered the truth. For some reason, Matt didn’t want to tell his father where he’d be living next, and she didn’t know, so she had to do the best she could. “Matt isn’t allowed to say where he’s going next. But I can tell you I like this area a lot, and until he’s back from the upcoming mission, I might stay exactly where I am in Bedley Hills for a little while.” She turned to Matt, whose look was unreadable. “Is that all right with you, dear?”

  Matt reached over and pulled her close, giving her a long kiss on the lips and kneading his fingertips into her shoulders. Desire melted Gina, and she had to fight to remember where she was, what she was doing, and why.

  Clearing his throat, Luke excused himself for a minute. It was exactly what Matt had been waiting for.

  “A secret mission?” he whispered. “What the hell are you talking about? If I want him to know where I’m going next, I’ll tell him. I didn’t ask you to make up stories like that to make Luke feel better. You’re just supposed to act like a wife who’s in love with me.”

  “Pardon me,” she said, shivering inside at how abruptly he had dropped his hands away from her. “But you forgot to give me a copy of the script.” Her eyes collided with his. “You might have a point to prove, Matt, but Luke is still a human being.”

  “Just play the sweet wife, would you?”

  “Then just play the happy man you’re supposed to be.”

  That, Matt knew, had been the trouble. He’d been sitting there, sullen, because none of this act they were putting on could ever be true. He wasn’t happy, and Gina wasn’t his wife. He had to get out of there.

  Gina sat, stunned, as Matt rose and walked out the front door. Just then, Luke entered the room, saw his son leave and sank down on his chair, burying his face in his hands.

  “I’d so hoped that somehow Matt could come to terms with what I did,” Luke said, his voice weak. “He isn’t happy, is he. Even with you, even with a career he loves, what I did still hounds him.”

  Guilt surged through Gina at the lie she and Matt had just acted out. She wanted to confess, but Matt might never come to see his father again, and at least Luke would have the small comfort of believing that his son had a good wife who would take care of him. She couldn’t take that away from Luke—he had little enough as it was.

  Lord, she felt for Matt’s father, who seemed only to want his son back, and for Matt, who was unable to deal with the past that still haunted him.

  Wanting to do something, Gina rose. Walking over to Luke, she leaned over and patted his hand. Luke immediately responded by straightening in his chair and regaining his self-control. Reading his body language, Gina saw the older man could deal with this. However weak Luke Gallagher might have been in the past, he had changed.

  “Is your life better now, Luke? Under control?”

  Luke nodded.

  “Then between us, maybe we can help Matt—but only if he wants it badly enough.” She had no idea if that were true, since Matt would probably leave town in the morning, but she knew she wanted to try. These two men needed her. “Just please don’t give up what you’ve achieved for yourself because of the way Matt’s acting toward you.”

  Luke nodded again, slowly, thoughtfully. “I won’t.”

  “You have no idea where Matt’s brother is?”

  “No.” A hopeful look crossed his wrinkled features. “I’ve been looking—but don’t tell Matt that.”

  “I won’t.”

  “If I find West, maybe it will help Matt.”

  “And then again, maybe it won’t,” she said softly. West would not be the same person Matt knew years before. The two brothers might not have anything in common except blood ties and bad memories. “Matt needs to heal himself, Luke. No one else can do it for him.”

  “You’re good for him.”

  “For all the good it does.” Tears stung Gina’s eyes, and she bit down on her lip to regain her control. “Matt is going away soon, for the military. I can’t go with him. I’m hoping that he makes his peace with you, and himself, before he leaves.” She glanced at the door. “I’d better get out to the car.”

  “He’s waiting for you, isn’t he?” Luke asked, standing and, just like Matt did so often, pushing his hand back through his graying dark hair. “If he isn’t, I’ll drive you home.”

  “I’m sure he waited.” Gina was positive Matt wouldn’t abandon her to walk home alone. He just wasn’t that type. Once again, she took Luke’s hand and squeezed it gently. “I’ll do my best to get him to visit you again.”

  “Thank you.”

  Nodding, she headed out the door. Matt was sitting in the car waiting for her, and Gina turned to wave at Luke to let him know she’d be okay.

  “I’m sorry,” Matt said immediately when she joined him. “I guess I blew that, didn’t I?”

  “Why did you walk out?”

  He turned the key in the ignition and half grinned without looking at her. “Somnambulism?”

  “I know, I know,” she said, waving her hand. “Bad joke. But you laughed.” He seemed determined to ignore his feelings about the meeting that had just ended, to keep their current conversation light. Well, she could do that—for now. She watched the lights on the houses as they drove and she thought.

  “What I should have told your father when you didn’t answer his questions,” she said after a while, “was that you learned to nap quickly when you were in prison. You know, it was safer if you hardly ever slept.”

  Matt shook his head, grinning as he made a right turn onto their street. “Having you as a wife was more than I anticipated.”

  “I know I made a couple of slipups, but I think I handled myself well,” she said.

  Matt didn’t answer at first. His face thoughtful, he pulled into his driveway, turned off the headlights and killed the motor. He got out and Gina had no choice but to follow suit. But she didn’t want to leave him like this. By the time she got up in the morning, Matt might well have packed and left town, and she would never see him again.

  Rounding the car, she faced him, ready to ask him not to go yet, wanting to implore him to straighten out his life. Damning the feelings within her that made her feel for people in trouble, she ignored the inner voice that told her to just walk away.

  She couldn’t. He needed her too much, and she’d gotten too damned involved to pull away now. If she did, she would feel as though she’d failed somehow. She didn’t understand it, but at the moment, that didn’t matter. Matt was the important one right now.

  “What happened tonight, Matt? Why did you walk out?”

  “You did a wonderful job, Gina,” he said quietly. “I was the one who wasn’t convincing, so I left before I said something to him I’d regret later.” He reached up and put his hands on her shoulders. “We’ll need to pay my father another visit, and this time, I’ll have my act together. I promise.”

  Gina’s mouth dropped open. He couldn’t really be planning on carrying on his charade after the way he’d acted that evening. “I can’t play your wife any longer,” she said. “Nothing on earth could convince me to continue to lie to your father.”

  “Nothing?”

  She shook her head resolutely. Explaining the anguish on his father’s face when Matt had walked out wouldn’t faze the man, so she didn’t tell him why she couldn’t lie again. Instead she repeated, “Nothing.”

  “I need you, Gina,” he said quietly.

  She took a deep breath, and her heart began to pound. “Matt, don’t do this,” she said, feeling herself weaken.

  “I wasn’t lying at Luke’s house,” he said, stepping forward until her back wa
s against the car, and their bodies touched, her breasts pressing against his chest, aching with a sudden surge of need. “You are the best thing that ever came into my life.”

  With a gasp of breath, her mind heady with desire, she stared up at him.

  “So what will it be?” he asked, his voice thick.

  Her eyelids fluttered as she tried to collect thoughts that were in turmoil. Sighing, she finally was forced to admit the truth.

  “Umm, Matt? I think I forgot the question.”

  “The question was,” Matt said thickly, “can I make love to you?”

  Even though every inch of Gina felt tight with wanting him, and she felt almost drunk with passion, she had to smile at him. “That wasn’t the question.”

  “I thought you didn’t remember it,” he said, laughing. He was determined to ignore what had just happened, Gina realized. She’d been wrong. She wasn’t the one currently in denial—he was.

  But then again, tired of dealing with so many problems when her desire was overruling her common sense and her body was literally throbbing with need, Gina thought denial sounded damned good to her, too.

  “You want to make love?” She tilted her head from side to side, pretending to ponder the question. “Out here, where the neighbors can see?”

  “I’ve got nothing to hide,” he said.

  “Am I speaking to the same man who put up the Do Not Disturb sign? You have nothing to hide?”

  “You’ve seen one body, you’ve seen them all.”

  “I’ll bet that’s not what Babs Tywall would say if she saw your body naked.”

  He moved his thumb along her chin. “Hmm. What would she say?”

  “I don’t know. Why don’t you show me what you have, and then I’ll be better able to speculate,” she suggested, lowering her mouth and brushing her lips across his thumb.

  Taking her hand in his, Matt pulled her along with him until they were inside his screened back porch. There he gave her a kiss that made her toes curl.

  “No lights?” she teased breathlessly. “I thought you had nothing to hide.”