by Susan Meier
He combed his hand through his hair. “Not so far. She’s a great nanny. Rex loves her.”
“And you have no proof that she tricked you?”
“Just suspicions.”
“Charlotte and I both went through something like this. When you first find out you’re not who you think you are, you question everything that’s happened in your life. Plus, Mark made you attorney for his estate, as if you’d earned it, then you discovered he’s your biological dad and he was setting you up.” She shook her head and laughed. “I’d worry about you if you weren’t overly suspicious.”
He snorted. “Yeah. That’s a valid point.”
“You’re probably right on track with where Charlotte and I were when we discovered we were Hinton heirs.” The sound of Rex crying came through the monitor. “Let’s go get the baby. We’ll eat cookies and play. Forget all this.”
“We’ll spoil his dinner.”
“Okay, we’ll give him one cookie and play.” She rose from the chair. “What time is your nanny coming back?”
“She didn’t say.”
And maybe that was his real worry. That she wasn’t coming back—that their wonderful, explosive kiss had been a goodbye kiss. She’d seen her dad. The old man knew she’d gotten her degree and had plans for her future. Now she could move on.
Maybe even make a call or two to the people he’d introduced her to at Sally McMillen’s showing.
He sucked in a breath. He couldn’t figure out if he was the world’s biggest chump or the most suspicious guy on the planet.
But he did know getting involved with a woman he barely knew, someone he employed had been reckless.
“You’re a Hinton heir,” Leni continued as they walked the hall to Rex’s room. “As attorney for the estate, you warned me and Charlotte to watch ourselves. That people would befriend us because of the money. Friends would behave oddly. There’s a weird satisfaction in getting to return your warning. Watch yourself.”
He nodded, but sadness gripped him. It took a second or two of thinking, but he realized why Leni’s warning made him sad. Marnie was the nicest, sweetest woman he’d ever met. He was the one with the problem. A crazy biological father. A bunch of doubts and suspicions. The weirdness of finding out he wasn’t who he thought he was—
How could he blame Marnie, be suspicious of her, when he was the one with all the issues?
* * *
Marnie raced up the stairs to her mom’s apartment and used her key to let herself in. “Mom?”
“In here.” Her mother appeared at her bedroom door. Tall and willowy with auburn hair sprinkled with gray and wearing jeans and a loose purple top, Judy Olsen said, “What’s up?”
“Come into the living room.” Furnished with a yellow floral sofa and chair her mom had purchased secondhand, the combination living room/family room was as far away from Danny Manelli’s sleek, sophisticated main room as it could get. Windows were covered with yellow drapes and blinds—also out-of-date. But everything was clean and light, pretty and airy, like her mom.
Judy took a seat on the sofa, beside her knitting. Marnie fell into the chair. “I saw Dad.”
Her mom blinked. “Oh?”
“He must live near my employer’s penthouse, because I’ve seen him a few times at the park where I take Rex and Wiggles.”
One eyebrow rose. “Wiggles?”
“Not the important part of the story, Mom.”
“I know, but frankly I’d rather not hear about your dad.” She closed her eyes, took a breath and popped them open again. “But I promised myself that if you wanted to have a relationship with him, I wouldn’t stop you.”
Marnie shook her head. “He seems exactly as he was when he left. Miserable.”
“I always blamed myself for that. You know...having a drunk for a wife embarrassed and humiliated him, so he was grouchy.”
“Well, I think you can forgive yourself and move on. Living on Park Avenue with you being in no way involved in his life, he’s still a... I won’t say the word in polite conversation.”
Her mom laughed.
“The first time I saw him, he didn’t notice me. The second time, Wiggles was caught in a bush, and he scolded me, saying if I couldn’t handle a kid and a dog I shouldn’t go to the park.”
“He didn’t help you?”
“No. Some guy strolling by pulled Wiggles out. All Dad did was criticize.”
“Hmmm. Sounds like him.”
“Then this morning, my employer was with me and I had to tell him the story and he stormed over and told Dad never to harass his nanny again...or something.”
Judy laughed.
“But that’s not the best part. Danny told Dad I was smart and had graduated university and was planning on starting my own company and didn’t deserve his comments.”
“Wow.”
“It was like... I don’t know? Getting the chance to show him who I was, that his leaving hadn’t ruined me. All without the nasty business of fallout. He doesn’t care about some nanny in the park...but I got my say.”
“It probably did feel good.”
“It felt like closure, and I have Danny Manelli to thank.”
Her mom’s eyes narrowed, and she studied Marnie’s face. “You told your new boss a heck of a lot about yourself.”
She shrugged. “He’s easy to talk to.” And kiss. And in general, be around. But her mom didn’t need to know that.
“What else did you tell him?”
Marnie sat back. “You mean, did I tell him about Roger Martin?”
She didn’t even try to hide it. “Yes.”
“No. Because it wasn’t relevant. I told Danny about Dad because I hadn’t wanted to go to that side of the park...the side where I’d seen Dad before. I ended up having to explain.”
“I’m still not sure how telling your dad about your successes crept into defending you.”
Marnie quietly said, “It made sense at the time.”
“Oh, sweetie, don’t be angry. I’m just concerned. In a few weeks, you’ve all but told your boss your entire life story.”
“We live together, eat together, care for his son together—”
“And you’re getting close?”
She took a breath, praying for patience. “It’s hard not to.”
Judy ran her hands down her face. “Your dad showed you that there are some men who will take what they want and when things don’t go their way, they bolt. They don’t talk. They don’t try to fix things. They simply move on. That’s what privileged men do. Roger Martin, richest kid in your school, took advantage of you. I’m not saying your Danny Manelli is like that. I’m saying be careful.”
Relief fluttered through Marnie. “I’m always careful.”
Maybe too careful.
The words popped into her brain unbidden. But there was a bitter truth to them. She’d been nothing but careful since high school. Since the pictures. Since the two-year rebellion that had landed her in bed with a predator.
Wasn’t it time to forgive herself?
Wasn’t it time to step out and have a real life instead of sporadic dates with guys so safe they hadn’t made a ripple of reaction in her life?
Her mom huffed out a sigh. “Look at me. Projecting my own insecurities on you.”
“You have good reason.”
“We both have good reason.” She shook her head. “I guess maybe what I’m saying is think this through. The man is your boss. And you might be taking things out of context—”
“I’m being smart. Nothing’s really happened.” She fought the urge to squeeze her eyes shut. Danny’s kiss a few nights ago had been fraught with hunger. Her kiss that very afternoon had been the answer to it.
She wasn’t being smart or careful or wise or even prudent.
Her mom was right. She was charging forward on i
nstinct. A need she hadn’t felt in years. Which meant she might not know how to control it.
She rose from the chair. “We should make tea and play rummy.”
Her mom also stood. “Are you staying!”
“I could. But I probably shouldn’t. I have Rex on a great schedule. I’d like to keep that going.”
“Okay. We’ll play one game or two, then you can get back.”
That was the thing she liked best about her mom. She could worry and give warnings, but she trusted Marnie to make good choices and do the right thing.
After two games of rummy, Marnie took public transportation back to Danny’s, reminding herself of all the reasons her mom was right. But when she stepped off the elevator and saw Danny coming up the hall from having put Rex to bed, a towel over his shoulder, his shirt askew, his hair a mess, she pressed her lips together.
Everything she felt for him rose and bloomed. She couldn’t even look at him without her heart thundering.
What she felt for him was right. If she shoved away her fears and only examined his behavior, he was the best man she’d ever known.
And she wanted him. Wanted everything.
She didn’t want to be afraid anymore.
* * *
Danny saw Marnie step off the elevator and stopped dead in his tracks. Their eyes met and she started walking toward him. She was the most naturally beautiful woman he’d ever met. Good with his son. Good with him. Good for him.
Maybe Leni had been right? Maybe his suspicions were only his fear of making a mistake, holding him back when he longed to go forward. Alisha hadn’t been honest with him. His parents hadn’t been honest with him. Mark had made him look like an idiot, giving him the job as attorney for his estate then faking his death.
No wonder he feared. But there was no reason to doubt himself, his instincts. Everything that made him suspicious had resulted from the behavior of someone else.
Not him...
Not his choices.
Not his decisions.
And when he looked at Marnie, all his concerns melted away. He was himself again. Because she was honest. Kind. Wonderful.
He took a step, then another, then another, and before he really understood what was going on, they were running to each other. They met in a blistering kiss. Arousal poured through him like the hard rains of a hurricane. Mindless, ravenous, he reached for her top as she plucked his shirt out of his pants.
Two seconds before they would have been naked, common sense hit. “Not here.” He barely raised his lips above hers. “There are too many people the doorman is authorized to give the elevator code to.” He walked backward toward his room, kicked open the door and led her to the bed.
They fell to the mattress and he rolled her once so that he was on top and could kiss her with all his pent-up need. Their tongues dueled. She rippled her fingers over his naked chest and his muscles hardened.
The kiss turned rough, desperate. He maneuvered them until she was on top and he could run his hands along her torso, her hips, her breasts. Her sharp intake of breath had him pulling her down, giving his tongue access to her soft flesh.
Frenzied need drove him. There would be time to be gentle, patient, later. Once the hunger was assuaged. Limbs tangled. Desire spiked, compelled. Their bodies moved in unison until they finally joined.
A sense of rightness nearly overwhelmed him. The word mine whispered through his soul. The notion that he’d spent his entire life looking for her urged him on until completion took them both. Then his breath stilled. His body calmed. His mind quieted until only one thought remained.
He hoped he hadn’t made a mistake.
He rose up, caught her gaze—
She smiled. He smiled. His confusion flitted away. Looking at her, being with her, everything in his world righted.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
MARNIE COULDN’T TAKE her eyes off him. Her first sexual experience had been tainted by the pictures. Her subsequent experiences had been tame, careful. Making love with Danny had been explosive and powerful. Not just sexually, but emotionally. Everything they felt had been right there, in everything they’d done. Every move. Every taste. Every breath of longing.
Her eyes locked with his, she whispered, “That was amazing.”
“Totally.” His answering whisper, filled with the same awe, made her smile.
He rolled to his back, his arms around her waist so he could pull her with him, and she cuddled into his side. She wanted to lay her head on his chest, but despite her boldness while they were making love, she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it. She settled for letting her hands drift along the hard muscles, ease through the dark hair, luxuriate in the feel of the firm skin beneath her fingertips.
Nothing had ever felt so right. So perfect, but also so normal. As if this was where she was meant to be.
The thought should have scared her. Instead it filled her with wonderment. She hadn’t trusted anybody like this in decades.
“We should go out sometime.”
Danny’s out-of-the-blue comment made her laugh and sit up so she could see his face. “What?”
“We should go out.”
She held back a laugh. “Like on a date?”
“It is customary for people who like each other to do that.”
She swirled her index finger along his chest. “We did go out...once.”
“So now we’ll go out again. Maybe dinner.”
“Charlotte likes to babysit.”
He snickered. “No kidding. I have no idea what’s gotten into her. You know, she used to run the operations division of a development company.” He shook his head. “Money makes people do crazy things.”
“Or maybe it makes them do the things they’ve wanted all along but just never realized.”
He sniffed.
“What have you always wanted to do?”
He met her gaze. “Exactly what I’m doing now.”
Pleasure rippled through her. She couldn’t tell if he meant being a lawyer or lying here with her, but her heart had taken it that he wanted to be with her.
“I’m serious. Is there nothing you want? Nothing you’d change?”
He took a long breath. “There is one thing that was perfect but got screwed up when Mark announced I was his third kid.”
“What’s that?”
“I have no idea how to fix things with my adoptive parents. I moved to New York City to find a great job. Not just a good job, a great one.” His hand drifted up her side from hip to waist and back down again to settle on the curve. “Once I landed at Waters, Waters and Montgomery, Mark began bringing work to them until they had pretty much taken over all his legal matters.”
“What’s that have to do with your parents?”
He shook his head. “It’s just another piece of distance between us. Another way Mark edged in, taking their place.”
Pride shimmied through her and an emotion so deep and fierce she couldn’t name it. The way he trusted her with the facts of his life all but cemented their feelings for each other. The way he wanted her advice made her long to be wise enough to help him.
Finally, she said, “Leni was adopted. How did she reconcile that?”
“She and Nick live in her small town in Kansas. Mark is the visitor into her life. Her parents are still her parents. Mark is the guest.”
“So maybe you need to think of a way to do that too?”
His eyebrows angled together. “Bring my parents here?”
“Or get a house near them.”
“I’d have to commute to work.”
She laughed. “Oh, silly man. Don’t you know rich guys have weekend homes? Houses in the country?”
He frowned. “That’s true.”
“And wouldn’t you love giving Rex and Wiggles time in the small town you grew up in?”<
br />
He laughed. “Yes.”
“So the answer is easy.”
He rose up, put his hands on her shoulders and maneuvered her down to the pillow again. “Nope. I think the truth is you’re brilliant.”
Her lips lifted into a smile. “I have been told I’m smart.”
He laughed, then kissed her. The simple meeting of their mouths morphing into the scorching need that always ignited between them.
* * *
But the sound of the elevator door opening rippled down the hall. Danny had kicked open the master bedroom door and hadn’t closed it. Anybody stepping out would have an unobstructed view of the corridor, into his room.
He lifted his head, stifling a groan over being interrupted when he least wanted to be.
The list of people authorized to get that day’s code raced through his brain. He jumped off the bed and into his pants. “This could only be one of about seven people.” He smiled at her. “Let’s hope it’s Arnie, the doorman.”
She pushed herself up onto her elbows. “I’m guessing that’s best-case scenario?”
Yanking a T-shirt over his head, he said, “Yeah. You stay. I’ll be right back.” Then, unable to help himself, he bent across the bed and brushed a quick kiss across her mouth.
Everything inside him wanted to slam closed the bedroom door and crawl back into bed with her. But one or two of the people who knew the code would have come looking for him. Jace for sure. Charlotte a definite maybe. And Mark—
“Hey, Danny?”
Damn! It was Mark!
Even as he thought that, his father, Mark Hinton and Penny Fillion, his fiancée, peeked down the hall.
He hoped he didn’t look like the jumbled mess that he felt.
“Hey...”
He ambled up the corridor, picking up his discarded shirt and rolling it into a ball that he tossed into the guest bathroom, trying to look calm and composed and not like he’d just had desperate sex with a woman he might be falling in love with.
Oh, Mark would love that. He’d give him a sermon on responsibility. Or maybe safe sex—
Oh God! Acting like a real father after thirty years of nothing?