“What?”
Her father looked at her. “She’s beautiful. She’s pure energy. She’s … charming.”
“Oh, God!” Katie leaned back against the seat.
But lunch wasn’t horrible at all. In fact … if Drew still didn’t have gold daggers in his eyes every time he stared at her, she would have had a nice time. The twins behaved very well, and they were just as cute as could be. Jordan amused them and seemed to take great pleasure every time he had them laughing.
The restaurant was blessedly cool. The electricity had come back on; the staff was enthused, and the customers were all delighted. It was loud inside, but the decor—checked tablecloths and white napkins and wicker-strung wine bottles—was pleasant and laid-back.
Ron sat next to Tina. Their silver heads were often close. They laughed constantly.
Katie was next to Reva and across the circular table from Drew. She felt his stare often, but he seemed quiet.
Reva did most of the talking. She knew about Katie’s photographs and seemed very intrigued. Then she began to explain her involvement in Hunnicunn. “We really had no choice but to know a great deal about building.” Her voice grew a bit husky. “My dad was a great guy. He was in the construction field, and Drew and I used to tag alongside him when we were kids. I’m one of the few wives who really knows a good dovetail roof when she sees one! I married right out of college, and we traveled a great deal—my husband was military—and when we came back, we knew we wanted to start a family. But I really love architecture, and I’m incredibly lucky that Drew has his own corporation, so I get to design houses and sometimes he uses them and sometimes we modify them.” She looked at Drew. “Have you found anything out yet?” she asked him.
“No,” he said flatly, firmly.
Reva shrugged. “I’ve been trying to figure it out. Giles would never have done a roof so cheaply. Do you know Giles?” she asked Katie.
“Yes, I’ve met him.”
“Well, sometimes, of course, we have to subcontract. But I still can’t figure out such a work order. I’ve been trying to think about who in the corporation has the kind of power to change what’s already on paper. Mom’s signature would never be questioned, but then, she has never touched a single design of ours and why would she do so? Then there’s Andrea, of course. She’s not much on actual work, but she is the only Hunnington left in Hunnicunn.”
“Andrea?” Katie heard herself say.
“The blonde at the office,” Reva said.
“Oh,” Katie murmured. She found herself staring at Drew again. He was staring back at her.
“Me, Mom, Drew. Then there’s Sam, sweet old Sam, and Harry—who’s even older and sweeter. They both worked with Dad, and they were very good, so they’re still with Drew. I just can’t begin to figure—”
“Reva,” Drew said, stepping firmly into the conversation. “I spoke with Giles—he checked the records. It’s my signature on the work order,”
“But, Drew—”
“Reva, it’s my problem, and I’m going to deal with it.”
“Well, of course,” Reva told Katie, “the Hunnicunn offer remains out on all our homes. We pay back the price of them and the owners pocket their insurance, as well. You could double your investment on your house. Of course, you never get back the sentimental things that are lost, but then—”
“Thousands of people don’t even have clothing!” Ron Wheeler said, suddenly speaking up from his end of the table. “Katie and Jordan came out of it okay.”
“How did you get out when your house collapsed?” Reva asked, shivering.
“We—ran,” Katie said.
“Yeah, it was terrible!” Jordan said, passing the catsup to one of the twins. “Mom tripped over a banyan. We wouldn’t have made it if Drew hadn’t come along.”
Katie clenched her teeth. Drew let out an exclamation of impatience.
“I was lucky,” Katie admitted, “that your brother came out when he did.”
“Thank God all around!” Tina said. “And you just wait. Things will come back around again.”
“Mom, you haven’t seen Cutler Ridge. Or Homestead,” Drew said quietly.
“I saw a T-shirt the other day,” Tina said, smiling. “It read, We Will Rebuild. And people will. Don’t forget, they pulled this area out of the swamps and marshes from the very beginning. Killer storms have come and gone before. Some people will leave, sure. But some will rebuild. It’s just part of the human spirit. We learn. We grow.”
“I learned I sure do miss Nintendo,” Jordan said, and they all laughed. Even Drew and Katie smiled.
Until they looked at one another. And she couldn’t help but think that Andrea Hunnington might be another factor in Drew’s life that he had forgotten to mention.
Lunch finally came to an end. Jordan sighed, eating a last french fry. “Boy, that was good!”
“I have to get back,” Drew said, looking at his watch after he and Ron had argued over the check and Drew had managed to take it.
“Well, then, I owe you one,” Ron told him.
“I don’t think Katie feels much in debt, sir,” Drew said lightly, but he paused to ruffle Jordan’s soft blond hair. “Bye, Jordan. I’ll miss you. I’m sorry you didn’t get a chance to use the setup in your room. Maybe another time.”
Jordan didn’t speak. He swallowed hard.
“Thank you again,” Katie managed to say. She had wanted to sound more sincere. Her voice was cold. Was he right? Was she too insecure to believe in herself?
Suddenly, it didn’t seem to matter. Her chances were over.
They were out of the restaurant, and she found herself shaking hands with Drew, politely, courteously saying goodbye. To a stranger.
In their separate cars, they drove in opposite directions. Andrew heading south. Katie, her father and her son heading north.
And two hundred miles later, surrounded by air-conditioning, staring at the crystal-clear water in Ron’s pool, she felt hot tears prick against her eyes.
She had just driven hundreds of miles away from the first real happiness she had known in years. And now…
Now it was lost, as so much else that had been lost in the tempest of Andrew.
We Will Rebuild…
It was a motto for a devastated county. And she knew she would go back, that she would rebuild. It was home; she loved it.
She only hoped she could rebuild what she had begun with Drew the same way as she would her home, step by step…
Chapter 9
A week passed easily enough at her father’s house-naturally, everything was normal here, and there were numerous things to do to keep herself and Jordan busy.
Jordan didn’t have to be back to school until the following Monday, since half the schools couldn’t open. He wound up with a very special extended vacation as they toured the Orlando sights, going from Disney World to Universal Studios, Typhoon Lagoon and Sea World.
Katie tried to beg out of the excursions; her heart just wasn’t in them. But her father and her son plagued her into coming, and Ron constantly put in a few little digs referring to her relationship—or lack of one—with Drew.
If she hadn’t felt so mercilessly tormented, she would have had a good time. She loved her father and his home. He had bought it with her and Jordan in mind, and she had a beautiful room with clothes in the closet and a supply of shoes. She sent Midge’s shoes back to her, and with a gift certificate and a thank-you note as well.
She swam, she grew tan. She took very hot showers, and luxuriated in air-conditioning that was on full blast.
She spent hours wondering about Drew, about what had happened. She remembered listening to Reva and counting the people in Drew’s office who might have the power to change plans and orders.
But his signature had been on the work order. So no one would have questioned it. So…
Ah, well. There were two mystery men, the older men who had worked with the father. There was Drew himself. There was Reva and thei
r mother. And then there was Andrea…
Katie wanted Andrea to have done something very slimy and underhanded. But why? She obviously had plenty of money, why try to get more?
Why, indeed. Many people wanted more and more, Katie reflected. Greed was a human emotion. And, of course, Katie wanted Andrea to be very greedy.
Evil, even!
She wondered what Andrea had said to Drew when he had returned from lunch. Katie tortured herself with pictures of the blonde in Drew’s bedroom, in the guest room, waiting for Drew as he opened the hidden door between the rooms…
I’ve walked out! she reminded herself. She’d told him what she thought of him, and she’d walked out. Then she’d tried to apologize, and he hadn’t listened.
Maybe she hadn’t apologized with tremendous sincerity, but she’d had the right to doubt him!
On the eighth day of her visit, Katie awoke to find the house silent. She showered, threw on a robe and entered the kitchen to find a note from her father. “Katie, gone out, will be back late, have Jordan, Love, Dad.”
“Well, that’s lovely. Where did you go?” she murmured, reaching for the coffeepot. She poured herself a cup and turned to walk to the living room.
She nearly screamed aloud. She went dead still, barely keeping the coffee cup from crashing to the floor.
Drew was here. He was seated in her father’s easy chair reading the Orlando Sentinel. He set it down and stood, hands clasped behind his back. He was in blue jeans that hugged his hard thighs and long legs and a red knit shirt that enhanced the muscle structure of his arms and chest. His hair was neatly combed back, and his face was bronze, as if he’d spent a great deal of time outdoors since she had seen him.
Her heart flip-flopped and the wildest dance of fire seemed to snake down her spine. She was amazed by the sensations that swept through her.
Where on earth was something within her that resembled pride?
“What—are you doing here?” she asked him. “In the house. How did you get in?”
He arched a brow. “You didn’t know that your father asked my mother to visit?”
“What?”
He shrugged. “Your father asked my mother up for a few days.”
“And you—you’re staying, too?” she asked, a strange panic seizing her.
He didn’t answer. He kept staring at her, gold eyes hard, unforgiving. She longed to have her father in front of her then. She’d like to shake him like a rag doll. What did he think he was doing to her? Drew had people like Andrea in his life—perfect people.
And here was Katie, clean but sodden.
Sodden seemed to be the way he saw her most often.
No makeup. Her hair was still damp from her shower, curling around her squeaky-clean face. And she was well-dressed again, as well. This time, a worn velvet robe.
Maybe she hadn’t spoken loudly enough.
“Are you—are you staying, too?”
“No, I have to go back. I won’t be able to leave home for at least a month. I’m a builder—in case you forgot, which I’m sure you didn’t.”
There was bitterness in his tone.
She inhaled. Maybe she should try apologizing again. Maybe she was a fool. Maybe he had said good riddance to her and rushed back to receive another kiss from his partner’s daughter.
“Why—are you here?” she asked.
“To see you.”
“If you’re going to try to explain—” she began, but she broke off. He was striding across the room to her, and she found she couldn’t speak. Her coffee mug was plucked from her fingers and set down.
“I didn’t come to explain anything,” he told her.
“Then—”
Her voice was cut off as he roughly took her into his arms.
“Drew—” she began, but his mouth crushed down on hers with amazing force and coercion. Her lips parted beneath the power, and a rush of heat seemed to come with the liquid fire of his kiss and sweep its way through her. She struggled against him only briefly, then forgot why she might protest. His hands were suddenly within her robe, on her naked flesh, rising and falling along her rib cage, rising to caress her breasts, falling to stroke her abdomen while he pressed her against the wall. His mouth remained passionately on hers, kissing her until her knees grew weak. His lips parted from hers as he inhaled deeply, and Katie managed to murmur, “I still don’t understand what—what you’re doing here. If you have to leave—”
“I’d thought I’d stay to remind you of what you were missing,” he said huskily, his lips a breath away from her own.
“Of all the conceited—”
“I’m the best thing you’ve had in a long, long time,” he told her, eyes blazing, body pressing hers hard against the wall. She could feel all the searing heat within him, the fullness of his arousal, the excitement he sent burning into her wherever he touched.
“Of course,” he added softly, “I’m the only thing you’ve had for a long, long time, but still the best.”
“Drew—” Too late. His lips were on hers, sweeping away words and thoughts. She found herself in his arms, and he was moving down the hallway, his eyes pinioning hers.
“Which door?” he demanded. “Here?”
“No.” She shouldn’t be telling him, she thought vaguely. He thought he could just walk right in here and…
“Next door,” she murmured.
In a matter of seconds they were in her room in her father’s house, the velvet robe on the floor along with his shirt. The air-conditioning seemed cool against the simmering heat of their bodies, against his touch, against the fevered kisses he rained down on her body. She kissed his shoulders, teased his earlobe, stroked her fingers down the length of his back…
Drawing them around to his front.
He rose, shedding sneakers, socks and jeans, and when she was in his arms again, she found herself being laid back into the pillows and hearing his whisper in her ear.
“I’m here to remind you of what you’re missing,” he told her again. Then she felt his lips on her throat, her breasts, her lips again. His hands were magic, moving over her with a fiery, caressing touch that tantalized.
His lips followed every touch. His wet, heated kisses touched her flesh. The air cooled them. She felt his fingers, teasing, sliding within her, and she tried to crawl against him, to touch him in return. He rose above her briefly.
“I want you to remember what you’re missing,” he said huskily, and no matter how she writhed, she found herself beneath him again, found his kisses following his most intimate touch, sending her into an absolute frenzy.
The sweet agony of longing he so intimately created was almost more than she could bear when he rose once again, staring at her long and hard as he drove himself deeply within her.
“Remember?” he asked softly.
Her fingers laced around his neck and her head tossed on the pillow as he began to move and she moved with him. Sun streamed in from the floor-length windows bathing them both in its golden light. She closed her eyes, desperately feeling the sweet buildup of excitement within her, holding him, clinging to him…
Remembering. His lips found hers. His tongue gently savaged her mouth while his body demanded everything from hers. She felt the sudden, wild tension of his body, the spill of liquid fire from within him, and that sent her spiraling to her own sweet pinnacle, trembling, falling then, falling ever so slowly while the pleasure stayed and simmered within her, remaining as a golden glow even when the last of her tremors had faded away. She felt his fingers, tenderly caressing her nape, pulling her against him.
“I’ve really missed you,” he said softly.
“I’ve missed you,” she admitted. “But then I’ve been here with Dad and Jordan, and you’ve been dealing in company business with your—partner.”
He frowned, moving away from her, staring into her eyes. “Andrea?” he said.
“Miss Hunnington.”
He smiled. Pleased. “You were jealous of Andrea?”
/>
“Not jealous—merely aware.”
He shrugged. “Well, she’s the last person you should be jealous of.”
“Why?”
“I don’t like her. I never have.”
“But she’s very attractive.”
“But I don’t like her.”
Katie felt her lashes fall, and a little thrill she couldn’t resist fluttered in her stomach. He was telling the truth.
Yet just when she was feeling that secret happiness, he rose, walked to the windows and looked out at the beautiful yard with its turquoise pool and private shrubbery.
Then he stepped into his briefs and jeans and pulled his shirt over his head.
He walked to the bed, stooped and kissed her forehead.
“Were you glad to see me?” he asked, a wicked tone in his voice.
“Perhaps,” she said warily.
“Good.”
“Perhaps not,” she warned.
He straightened, arching a brow. “Well, you’ll have to decide on that. Because I really have to go. If you want more of this morning—of me, to be precise—you’ll just have to come home.”
“Why, you—!” Katie gasped, inching up on the bed to stare at him incredulously. “Conceited butthead!” she charged him, borrowing one of Jordan’s words since she couldn’t seem to find her own.
He smiled, then sobered. “I never meant any ill to you, Katie. I never meant to use or betray you in any way. And if you were outraged that I might be angry with you, remember this. You didn’t trust me. You didn’t give me a chance.”
“Wait! You have no right—”
“I’ve got to go. It’s a long ride back. When you can’t stand it anymore, come home.”
He turned and left the room. He didn’t intend to wait for her—he didn’t intend to give her a chance to say anything to him.
“It will be a cold day in hell!” she yelled after him.
She was surprised when his head popped in the doorway.
“It might be, at that. The heat down there is murder. Electricity is starting to come back on. See you, Katie.”
And then he was gone. By the time she’d managed to tie her robe around her body, he had slipped out the front door, entered his Probe—and was driving down the street.
The Trouble with Andrew Page 14