Just Plain Lucky

by Tesa Devlyn

  “Probably one of the kids. I don’t bring the old girl out much. Not like I’d like to. Have you ever used a stick shift?”

  Liana adjusted her seat forward to reach the pedals. “Of course. As a teenager, my brother, Tim, had a ’69 Mustang. He let me drive it a few times.”

  Michael explained the gear-shift pattern and the idiosyncrasies of the car. “Just take it easy and you’ll be okay.”

  Liana took a deep breath to calm her nerves and her excitement. She pushed in the clutch and turned the key. The engine roared to life and then settled into a purr. So did she. “Wow.” She glanced around before she shifted into reverse and backed out of the parking spot. She crept toward the highway and stopped. “Okay, which way?”

  “How about the open highway?”

  “Sounds good.” Waiting for a car to pass, she turned onto the highway and accelerated, listening for the engine to signal when to shift gears just as her brother taught her.

  “Very good,” Michael said when she reached forth gear. “I’m impressed.” He settled back in the seat, looking every bit like a man who didn’t have a care in the world.

  “Did you doubt me?” Liana couldn’t help but tease. She spared him a quick glance. What a rush. A hot man in a hot car.

  “Not at all. I figured you could manage, but you exceed my expectations—as usual.”

  “Hmm.” Liana’s body went into a slow burn. Driving his car was like foreplay. Michael’s cologne and magnetic male energy wrapped around her. Her sensitive fingers luxuriated over the burl wood steering wheel, every nerve in her body aware of the power of the car and the man.

  “You’re full of surprises too, Michael.”

  “What do you mean? I’m an open book.”

  “Ha! You’ve more than exceeded my first impression of you as just another handsome face.” She giggled at her own wit, the exhilaration of driving the open road pushed away every bit of tension. “You turned out to be a man’s man, driving a truck, building houses. Kind of a, shucks ma’am, kind of guy.”

  Michael hooted with laughter. “Oh really? That’s how you see me?”

  Liana shrugged. “Kind of. Don’t get me wrong, I’m madly attracted to you. Learning you have a wild side makes me crazy.”

  He shook with laughter. “You think I’m wild, huh? Turn at the next road. Yeah, that one to your left. It’ll take us to the lakeshore.”

  Liana reluctantly geared down and hit the blinker. Confirming the car behind her slowed, she turned off the highway and crept down the gravel road to park where several trucks with empty boat trailers rimmed the lakeshore.

  She cut the engine and glanced around to see what made Michael want to come here. “It’s beautiful, b—”

  Her seat belt released. He lifted her over the console and planted her in his lap before she could object. His lips claimed hers, turning her body into a million sensitized nerve endings. She wrapped her arms around his neck, wiggling to get even closer. Michael slid his hands under her sweater and cupped her breasts.

  “I don’t know how I walked out of your hotel room that night, Liana, but I’m ready to make love right now.”

  “Here?” She wanted him to quit talking and keep kissing.

  He chuckled. “I don’t think it’s possible right here. I reserved a room at the inn. Let’s go back and check in.”

  “Michael, I have a houseful of company and so do you. I didn’t intend to be gone that long.”

  His cupped his hand over her aching female core. She moaned and rubbed against his amazing fingers.

  “Baby, I’ve backed off to give us room to think—to do the right thing. I’ve gone crazy without you this past week.” He plied his agile fingers to the best advantage. She moaned louder.

  “I’ve ached for you too, but remember, we haven’t made love because of our differences.”

  “I’ve thought about our differences. We have more going for us than most couples, and we’re just getting started. Come with me.”

  The play on words sent her over the edge and into a sparkling world she hadn’t visited in so long. “Oh, my, my.” She covered his face and neck with kisses.

  Michael’s chuckle rumbled through his chest. “Like that?”

  “Like it? If we go to the inn, can we make ourselves leave in an hour? I can’t be gone too long. Who knows what Frank will pull.”

  Michael pulled back and looked at her with narrowed eyes. “He’s not staying at your house, is he? You did say his girlfriend came with him, didn’t you?”

  Liana sighed and snuggled against his lap, a little guilty over her release when he was still rock hard and wound up. “Yes, Molly’s there, thank goodness. Can we talk about them later?”

  She kissed his full firm lips one more time and shuffled across the console into the driver’s seat. Her body and mind glowed with satisfaction and the anticipation of being alone with him in the privacy of a room. Something about the time crunch heightened the excitement of their rendezvous.

  Michael settled back into the seat, maneuvering until he was halfway comfortable. Being with Liana would fulfill his every fantasy, but he wished she’d open up completely about her past with Frank. What finally ended the marriage. He wanted more than a physical relationship, as mind blowing as that would be.

  Despite her recent bout of inattentive driving, she was a good driver. The corvette purred at her every command, just like the car’s owner. “I hope Meredith isn’t giving the kids too bad of a time.” Maybe if he talked about his ex, she would reciprocate.

  Liana glanced at him, taking her eyes off the road for a split second. “Should we postpone this until our families are back to normal?”

  Michael hooted with laughter. “There is no normal when it comes to Meredith.” He sighed and reached across the seat to play with her hair. “Damn, why did my mind have to go there? I guess you have a point. We should be happy with the time we had today and rescue our children.”

  Liana nodded and flipped on the blinker to turn onto the gravel parking lot in front of the inn. “Can you get your money back?”

  “Maybe not, but that’s okay.” He wanted to toss responsibility to the wind for once and act on his emotions, but when he made love to Liana, he wanted to take his time and do it right. He wanted her to open up and tell him what bothered her. He was prepared to answer any question she had for him.

  Liana slid out of the car and shut the door. With reluctance, she handed Michael the keys. “Thank you for an unbelievable ride.”

  Michael’s impulses took over for a moment. “Not the ride I had in mind, but I enjoyed it too.”

  Liana’s delicious mouth tilted in a private smile and a thrill shot through him. “We have something to look forward to. That is if you still want to go out with me.”

  “If I still want to?” Michael pointed at his chest. “Uh, yeah, slightly.”

  “Okay, so when?”

  “Okay, let’s set a date.”

  “What works for you?”

  “I’m not the one with the tight schedule.”

  “Don’t go there. I can’t work less until this alimony thing is revoked.”

  Michael rubbed his bristly face with one hand and pursed his lips. Shoot, he’d been so excited about meeting Liana he’d forgotten to shave. “How about next Friday night?”

  Liana pulled her smart phone from her purse. She looked at the screen and frowned. “Brittany called me and I didn’t hear the beep. Excuse me a moment.” She punched a key, and turned away.

  Michael waited for her to listen to the message. He pulled his cell phone out of the holder on his belt and flipped open the cover. Damn, he’d had a call too. The call log showed his house number, but no voice mail. Hmm, not good.

  Liana turned toward him. “I have to get back. Brittany called. Her father won’t leave until I return. Why, I have no idea when my parents and brothers are there.” She shrugged and shook her head. “I’m sure Frank has figured out my friend in crisis might be a man.”

&nbs
p; Michael chuckled. “You told them you had a friend in crisis?” He stepped closer and pulled her against him. Her eyes widened. He smiled. “You weren’t far off the mark. The way I see it, I’m still in a crisis. Maybe more than before you got here.”

  Liana chuckled. “I would have to agree.” She puckered and batted her lashes at him. “I wish I could stay. Call me tomorrow?”

  “You can bet on it.” Michael escorted her to the SUV and helped her behind the wheel before pressing a kiss to the side of her neck. “Um, you smell so good. I’m going to have one hell of a night.”

  “You’re not alone.” She turned her head and pressed her lips to his, giving him a kiss to ensure a restless night. “Think about that, Cowboy.”

  Michael groaned under his breath and stepped away to close the door. He waited until her vehicle disappeared around the corner before he went inside to cancel his room. Maybe they’d give him a gift certificate to use next time.

  Because there would be a next time.

  Chapter Ten

  Liana moved through the rest of Thanksgiving Day like a robot, her senses on overload. Over the past twelve hours, she’d learned the truth about her parent’s divorce, unwillingly shared dinner with her ex and his girlfriend, and steamed up Michael’s corvette windows in the hottest intimate moment she’d experienced to date.

  Back at her house, she was dismayed to discover Frank waiting at the door. He questioned her about her “friend in need” until an embarrassed Molly insisted they check into the hotel room they’d reserved. They’d get some rest and be fresh for spending time with Brittany the next day.

  Liana’s stomach twisted into a knot. She should pull him aside and ask him about the settlement papers. They’d been delivered over two weeks ago, so why hadn’t he brought them up? Fear flashed through her. Maybe he came to kidnap Brittany?

  In a daze, she shut the door and turned to her family. Oh. my God, how could she handle one more thing? She’d already set up a family meeting for tomorrow morning. Her brothers would never let her cancel, or pass it off as just a time to spend core family time together. Tim was too sharp and in tune with her distress.

  She had to continue with her decision to tell them everything; things no one wanted to confess to their parents and siblings. But this wasn’t about just her. If Frank fed an exaggerated version of Liana’s indiscretion to Brittany, her future with her daughter could be in jeopardy. Brittany might choose to live with Frank and he wasn’t mentally stable enough to be the kind of father Brittany needed.

  By the time everyone started to yawn and her brothers and their families left for the hotel, Liana teetered on the edge of hysteria. To top it off, her father followed her mother into her bedroom, his bags in tow.

  Brittany glanced at her with raised brows.

  “I’ll explain later.” Liana kissed her daughter and wished her a goodnight before escaping to her room. She went through her nighttime routine; washing her face, brushing her teeth, taking her vitamins. Out of things to do, she sat on the bed, rocked back and forth and rehearsed what she’d say to her family at the meeting.

  At two o’clock in the morning, she crawled under the covers and fell into an exhausted sleep.

  ****

  Liana glanced at her brothers and parents. “I can’t express how much it means to have you here.” Her throat tightened and her eyes burned with tears she couldn’t stem. “You didn’t come to Kalispell to listen to me wade through my past, but because of some current events, it’s time I brought you up to date. I so appreciate Dottie and Laurie for taking the kids to the skating rink so we won’t be interrupted.”

  “All right, sis. This looks serious, what’s happened?” Tim shifted in the burgundy leather chair.

  She twisted her hands together. “Um...I don’t know where to begin.”

  “How about admit Brittany is Jack’s daughter.” Tim drilled her with the older brother stare she’d grown up dreading.

  “Okay, let’s start there. For those of you who haven’t known or suspected, I was pregnant with Brittany when Jack’s plane crashed. I could have been his wife, but I was scared. Too scared to marry a man who planned to fly all over the world for the next twenty years.”

  Her father looked away and rolled his lips, his jaw set against the emotions she’d dredged up.

  “Daddy, I don’t mean to hurt you.” She sighed. “I’ve hurt you enough over the past twenty plus years. I think it was because I-I loved you so much.” Her voice choked on cleansing tears.

  Duncan came out of his chair and closed the distance between them. He folded his daughter in his arms. “Don’t cry, darling girl. You’re right. I wasn’t home like I should have been. I chose your mom and a family, but I gave more precedence to my Naval career.”

  Liana buried her face against her father’s still firm shoulder. “You were gone a lot, Daddy, but I blamed you for things you were never guilty of. Can you forgive me?”

  “Of course.” Duncan bracketed her face in his large hands, his green eyes, so like her own, soft with love for his only daughter. “I never blamed you for turning away from me. I made the decision to be the bad guy.” He glanced over his shoulder toward her mother.

  Liana wished she could see his full expression, but she saw her mom’s. Cathy’s was a classic reflection of regret, pain and deep love for the man she’d been unfaithful to.

  “I should never have agreed to your plan, Duncan.” Cathy stood and moved to wrap her arms around her ex-husband and Liana. “You’ve always been the stronger one.”

  “Uh, what’s happening here?” Mark shot out of his chair and began to pace. “I have a feeling I’ve been left out of some vital pieces of information.”

  Duncan and Cathy stepped back to face their sons. Liana pressed her hands against her chest. “I thought I was the only one who didn’t know. You did, didn’t you, Tim?”

  Tim nodded. “Sit down Mark. I only knew what happened because I’m the oldest and probably paid more attention to adult things. Mom had the affair, not Dad.”

  Mark sank into his chair. His mouth open, he darted a puzzled look between his mom and dad. “What? Why did we understand Dad ended your marriage?”

  Tim leaned forward and rested his elbows on his thighs. “If we’d tuned in instead of acting like self-absorbed teenagers, we would have noticed Mom started dating Gary right away. Mom didn’t tell me—we didn’t have this conversation—I just had the feeling.”

  Liana shook her head. “I’m sorry, Mom and Dad. I didn’t call this meeting to air your business.”

  “It’s okay, honey.” Cathy squeezed Liana’s hand. “It’s time we all start fresh. You know from our conversation yesterday, but your brothers don’t. Your father and I are dating, and plan to remarry.”

  “Woo-hoo!” Tim sprang from his chair and gave his dad a bear hug before he scooped his mom into his arms and kissed both her cheeks. “I’m so glad.” He turned to Mark. “Come on, bro. This is great news, you can feel slighted later.”

  Mark inflated his cheeks and let the air slowly escape before he joined his family in front of the wall of bookcases. “All right, I am happy about this reunion, but it’ll take me awhile to reconcile with what happened.”

  “As it should.” Duncan hugged his younger son. “But think about this, do your children know everything that happens between you and Dottie?”

  “Of course not.” Mark had the grace to look sheepish at his father’s point. “Okay, I hate to admit it, but Tim’s right. I’ll comb through all of this later. Right now, Liana has something to tell us so we should move on.”

  “I do have something to tell you, and it’s not pretty.” Liana waited until her family settled back in their chairs. “I have to just say it and get it over with. I never loved Frank.”

  “That’s not news to any of us. We all wondered when you’d get enough courage and leave him.” Tim crossed one leg over the other and leaned back.

  “I wanted to end the marriage countless times. There were
days, weeks, years when things weren’t that bad between us. Times when I thought if we built a friendship, we could stay together for Brittany, but a friendship would never happen. Frank wouldn’t let it. He wanted me to love him like I’d loved Jack. When I didn’t reciprocate his passion, he became very bitter and belittled me. He hurt my feelings to make me feel worse about not loving him. After nearly ten years of marriage, I went off the deep end and almost had an affair with a client.”

  Silence.

  “Wow.” Mark stood and began to pace again. “What do you mean, almost? What happened?”

  “Mark, sit down.” Tim played the older brother. “Liana, go on.”

  She fought against extreme embarrassment and wished she didn’t have to air this particular piece of history. “I’m not proud of how I handled myself. I met Ryan through a client. At first, we met for drinks and dinner to discuss the sale of a downtown office building. By our third meeting, I became swept up in the attentions of a handsome, charming man who seemed to want me. All I could think of was my self-esteem—more exact, my ego. After dinner, I went to his room. The moment I stepped into his room, reality hit and sanity returned. I could never have forgiven myself if I’d gone all the way. I apologized and left.”

  Silence pervaded the room. Liana wanted to crawl away and hide, but she had to finish what she’d begun. “Frank played so many games to make me stay with him, the worst of which, threats to take Brittany away if I left him. So what did I do? I handed him the perfect trump card. He saw me leave the hotel. Brittany was with him, but she was so excited about the ballet they’d just attended, she didn’t see me. If Frank has his way, he’ll tell Brittany I had an affair—I was at fault for the divorce and ruined his life. She’ll hate me.”

  Tim folded his arms over his chest. “It won’t happen, sis. Brittany will not hate you. She’s nearly sixteen years old, old enough to know a little about the world. Kids these days are far more sophisticated than we were.”