“Oh, really?” she commented, fascinated. “And how did that notion get planted in your mind when you went to great lengths to tell me we could never have sex again?”
“You put it there.”
Her mouth dropped open at that. “I haven’t even seen you.”
“Precisely.”
Her pulse skipped. This was very encouraging. “Did you miss me?”
“That’s one explanation,” he agreed. “At any rate, I’ve been thinking.”
“About me,” she concluded.
“About you,” he confirmed.
“So you dumped the kids on my sister and came over here for sex?”
He blinked at the blunt summation. “It wasn’t that way,” he protested. “At least, not exactly.”
Dani found she was rather enjoying this. The collapse of his resistance was definitely worth the agonizing wait. “Do you or do you not want to have sex with me?”
A spark of pure desire flared in his eyes. “Oh, yes,” he said softly, catching her in his arms. “But not until after I’ve wined you and dined you.”
“At eleven-thirty in the morning? We’d have to go to Stella’s Diner, and that’s awfully public for what you apparently have in mind.”
“Forget Stella’s, definitely. We could start with a picnic,” he suggested. “And take it from there.”
Now that he’d apparently overcome all those doubts and qualms he’d been spewing on his last visit, Dani wasn’t taking any chances that a delay would get him to thinking again. She framed his face with her hands and looked directly into his eyes. “I say we start with breakfast in bed.”
His lips curved into a smile. “Do you, now?”
“Any objections?”
“Not a one.”
She stood on tiptoe and pressed a kiss against his mouth. “Breakfast won’t take but a minute to fix.”
“A minute’s far too long to wait,” he said, and claimed her lips again with a hungry, demanding kiss that set off a swarm of butterflies in her tummy and sent all thoughts of breakfast scattering.
“It is, isn’t it?” she murmured, and headed for the stairs, Slade in tow.
She had reached the bedroom door when a thought struck her. “Damn,” she murmured.
She looked up to find Slade’s worried gaze fixed on her.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I suppose.”
“Dani, if you want to wait, it’s okay. This isn’t the way I’d planned for this to happen, anyway.”
“No, no,” she assured him. “It’s not that. It’s just that…” She hesitated. How could she tell him that the next time they slept together, she’d wanted to be wearing slinky black lace lingerie that would knock his socks off?
“What?” he prodded.
She gazed into his eyes, which had darkened with passion, and concluded that the kind of lingerie she wore didn’t matter a hoot. Slade Watkins wanted her and he’d gone to great extremes today to have her.
If she had her way and if she was reading today’s change of heart correctly, the black lace would do very nicely when they finally got around to a honeymoon.
Chapter Thirteen
Dani had absolutely no idea what had drawn Slade back into her arms after his firm declaration to stay away, but she wasn’t about to fight it. The day they shared was thoroughly romantic and filled with so much passion that every minute she was sure he was only a breath or two away from making that lifelong commitment that so terrified him.
She fought the desire to nudge him just a little, convinced that she had already done all she could to prove that they were compatible in every respect. The decision about marriage was in his hands now. He had to wrestle with whatever demons there were from his first marriage and conquer them.
She sighed and opened her eyes to find him staring at her.
“I never knew that being with a woman could be like this,” he told her, running his hand over her body, which stirred instantly. His slightest touch was proving to be pure magic. “You make me feel…”
She ended his search for the right word by suggesting lightly, “Exhausted?”
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I could never get tired of you.”
Never, she thought happily. That was forever. An eternity. Why couldn’t he get out the words that would guarantee that?
She reminded herself yet again to be patient. Everything was moving along quite nicely. Now was not the time to rock the boat. Besides, she had risked her pride once by asking him to marry her. She couldn’t do it again.
“Shall we go out to dinner?” he asked, tucking a strand of typically wayward hair behind her ear. “I made reservations at the inn just outside of town. Everyone says they have the best food around.”
Dani lifted an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”
He grinned at her testiness. “Outside of yours, of course.”
“Smart answer.”
“Shall we go and try some of their inferior food for dinner anyway?”
“We still haven’t had breakfast,” she reminded him, not bothering to hide her reluctance to leave what suddenly seemed to be a most enchanted home. As long as they remained safe, here in her bed, she was convinced nothing could tear them apart. “I promised you that hours ago.”
“All the more reason to rally and go somewhere for a quiet, romantic dinner.”
“I could fix dinner,” she countered, fighting to keep from sharing him with the outside world.
“I want your attention on me, not on all your pots and pans.”
With her gaze locked with his, she deliberately traced a finger down the center of his chest as she reminded him, “There’s no privacy in a restaurant.”
He grinned at her tactic and snagged her roving hand. “That is the trade-off.” Without looking away, he provocatively drew each finger deep into his mouth, then asked, “Just how fast can you cook?”
Even with her knees so weak they probably wouldn’t hold her, she vowed, “I can have a rejuvenating steak on the table in twenty minutes.”
“Baked potato?”
She weighed the possibilities. “If you’ll scrub them and pop them into the microwave, though I must admit I am offended by that particular shortcut. The skins wind up all wrinkly.”
He chuckled at that. “I’m surprised you even own a microwave.”
She shrugged. “It was a gift from Daddy. He thought it would get me out of the kitchen.”
“Poor deluded man.”
“He’s not nearly as wise as you are. You love my cooking.”
“Usually,” he agreed. “Right now I’m just interested in sustenance. I think I might even settle for a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”
“I can definitely do better than that, but I’d better get started,” she said, grabbing a robe off the chair beside the bed. “I’d hate to see your amazing stamina weaken.”
“Not a chance of that with you around,” he said, promising to join her downstairs in a minute.
The comment sent Dani off to the kitchen feeling very feminine and very smug. To her surprise it was still daylight outside, though evening shadows were finally beginning to stretch over the yard. The scent of her roses was drifting in the open window…along with the sound of a dog whimpering and a child’s voice trying to shush it.
Curious, she opened the back door and saw a denim-covered bottom trying to disappear behind her hedge. She was pretty sure she’d seen that backside before.
She walked out onto the porch. “Timmy?”
Timmy didn’t reply, but Pirate bounded out of the bushes at the sound of her voice. Tail wagging, he eagerly brushed up against her, covering her robe with streaks of mud. She sighed heavily and patted his head anyway.
“Timmy, I know you’re here. You might as well come out of there.”
With an obvious show of reluctance, he crawled back into view. Wide blue woebegone eyes regarded her. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“About?”
Dani fought the desire to sweep him into her arms for a comforting hug. She just nodded. “He may, at that. Why did you run away?”
The frantic words tumbled out in a rush. “Because I didn’t want to be at the ranch. I wanted to be with you, but Dad said I couldn’t and he wouldn’t tell me where he was going or anything. I don’t even know where he is or if he’s ever coming back. I’m sorry if you’re mad at me.”
Dani let her instincts take over. She opened her arms and gathered him close. “Oh, sweetie, I could never be mad at you, not for long, anyway.”
“But Dad is going to kill me, isn’t he?”
Before Dani could reply, the very man in question appeared in the doorway. His expression reflected a mix of incredulity and fury. “Timothy Watkins, what are you doing here? And why is that blasted dog getting mud all over everything? Pirate, sit!”
Pirate obediently trotted to his side and sat, panting. Slade didn’t appear mollified by the response. He was still scowling.
Timmy’s eyes were wide as saucers. “Dad, you’re here? Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be here?”
“I’m the one asking the questions,” Slade countered sternly. “I left you twenty miles away. What the devil are you doing here?”
He looked as if he might keep on going, getting himself more riled up with every word, but Dani cut him off.
“I’m just getting the details,” she said firmly enough to silence whatever explosion was on the tip of Slade’s tongue. Apparently he realized that losing his temper wouldn’t accomplish anything, because he just folded his arms across his chest and glared at his son. He didn’t look especially pleased with her, either, Dani decided.
Timmy clung to Dani even more tightly. She loosened his hold and knelt to face him. “You’re going to have to deal with what you’ve done. Jake and Sara are probably worried sick.”
He darted a quick glance at his father before admitting, “They don’t even know I’m gone. They went on a picnic hours and hours ago, but I stayed at the house with Annie. I told her I was going to watch TV in Jake’s office, but as soon as she went back to the kitchen, I ran away.”
Dani could just imagine how frantic the housekeeper would be by now. Chances were Jake and Sara were back and freaking out, as well. “Sweetie, you know what you did was wrong. You’ll have upset Annie terribly. She’ll blame herself for not watching you more closely.”
Timmy’s expression turned pleading. “But it’s not her fault,” he insisted.
“No, it’s not, but you were her responsibility. Annie takes that kind of thing very seriously. Go and call her right this second. Push number one on the speed dial,” Dani said, giving him a push toward the door. “I’ll talk to your father.”
Timmy darted a fearful look at his father’s stony expression, then regarded Dani gratefully. “Would you?”
He seemed to think that she could get him off the hook. Judging from Slade’s tight-lipped fury, Dani had her doubts about that. “Oh, you’re not going to be out of the woods, I promise you, but I think maybe I can persuade your father not to kill you.”
Timmy ran inside without waiting to find out how successful she was.
“You’re going to have to talk awfully fast,” Slade warned her. “What he did was wrong. He openly defied me.”
Dani searched for some way to mediate, but this entire episode was beyond her frame of reference. Besides, Slade was right. Running away had been wrong. And dangerous.
“Okay, let’s say for the sake of argument that you’re right,” she began.
“I am right!”
She scowled at him. “Isn’t the real issue here Timmy’s safety?”
“That’s one of them,” he agreed. “How the hell did he get here, anyway?”
“He didn’t say, but he is here and he is safe. Pirate came with him.”
“Oh, that’s reassuring,” Slade said sarcastically. “That dog would be about as much protection as a pet gerbil.” He stared at her incredulously. “Didn’t you even ask how they got here?”
“It wasn’t the first thing out of my mouth, no. I just wanted to be sure your son was okay. I figured he had to be pretty desperate to pull a stunt like this.”
Slade didn’t appear to be appeased. “Desperate? What does a ten-year-old know about desperation?”
“Enough, if he’s just lost his mother and thinks his father is about to disappear.”
“I told him–”
“You told him you wanted him to stay at the ranch. You didn’t explain anything about your plan to spend the day with me, did you?”
“No,” he said irritably. “I figured that was none of his business.”
“Maybe not the details,” Dani agreed. “But he obviously needed to know you’d still be close by, that he could reach you if he needed to.”
Slade scowled at her. “Who the hell are you to tell me how to raise my son?” he lashed out at her.
Dani reacted as if he’d slapped her. Hearing Timmy declare a few days earlier that she was not his mother had hurt, but this was worse. Timmy was a child, who had no notion that words could cut deeply. Slade was old enough to know the precise damage they could do. He had entrusted Timmy to her care because it was convenient apparently, not because he respected her or trusted her.
How could she have been so wrong? She had been so sure that Slade thought of her as a partner of sorts, at least where his sons were concerned.
“I care about them, too,” she reminded him, her voice barely above a whisper.
“That doesn’t mean you get to jump in and defend them when they’ve done something wrong.” His complexion turned ashen. “My God, Dani, he could have been killed getting here. He could have been hit by a car or kidnapped.”
She shivered at the fury in his eyes. She recognized that much of his anger stemmed from horror at what might have happened. But since nothing had happened, it seemed to her there were more important issues to be addressed.
“Isn’t why he felt the need to do something so drastic more important?” she asked quietly, trying to overcome his justifiable emotion with logic and reason.
“No,” he insisted stubbornly. “It is not. Sometimes all that matters is that he learn there are certain things he absolutely, positively cannot do.”
“What does that mean? Are you planning to beat the daylights out of him?”
He impatiently waved off the suggestion. “Of course not. I don’t beat my kids, but they do learn there are consequences when they misbehave.”
“Such as?”
“I may ground him for the rest of his life.”
“Oh, that would be productive,” she retorted.
“Well, I’m so sorry you don’t approve, but the bottom line here is that these are my kids we’re talking about and it’s up to me to do whatever the hell it takes to protect them.”
“And I have no say in this?”
“No,” he said with lethal calm. “You do not.”
Dani simply stared at him. How could she have made such a dreadful mistake? How could she have gotten the crazy idea that she would ever be anything more to Slade and his sons than a glorified baby-sitter with no real authority at all? Heck, she wasn’t even a paid baby-sitter, and she threw in sex as a bonus. How stupid did that make her?
She wrapped her arms around her middle, but that wasn’t nearly enough to ward off the sudden chill that swept over her.
“I think you’d better get Timmy and go,” she said, suddenly exhausted.
“Gladly,” he snapped back.
“And I think perhaps it’s time you made other arrangements for their care during the day,” she added impulsively. “Obviously you don’t trust my instincts where they’re concerned.”
He looked slightly guilty at that. “I never said–”
“Yes,” she said firmly. “In so many words, that is exactly what you said. Now, I would appreciate it if you would just
get the hell out of my house.”
Slade appeared stunned by the display of temper, but he stalked off to get Timmy without another word. When he exited with the boy in tow, he seemed slightly calmer, but by now Dani was so furious herself that there was no room for any sort of rational conversation.
“Dani?” Timmy whispered, his face pale. “What’s going on?”
Though his obvious dismay nearly broke her heart, she forced herself to remain impassive. “I’m sure your father will fill you in.”
“But–”
“Come on, son. Dragging your heels is only postponing the inevitable.”
The caution only seemed to make Timmy more determined to linger. “I don’t want to go with you,” he said, his chin tilted defiantly. “I want to stay here with Dani.”
“Well, you can’t, and that’s final.”
“I hate you,” Timmy shouted.
Slade flinched, but said firmly, “Get in the car.”
“Dani?” Timmy whispered plaintively.
There was nothing she could do. With tears stinging her eyes, she had to stand by and let them both leave–the boy and the man she loved. Watching Timmy’s forlorn face staring at her as they drove away was heartbreaking. Dani tried to blink back the flow of tears, but in the end they rolled down her cheeks unchecked. She forced herself not to respond to Timmy until the car was out of sight.
“Goodbye, sweetie,” she called after him softly.
* * *
Slade had never been so terrified and so furious in his entire life. Every time he considered what might have happened to Timmy when he wandered away from Three-Stars, panic turned his skin cold and clammy.
And Dani had defended the boy, mouthing a bunch of psychobabble about his motivations. Hell, Slade knew exactly what had sent Timmy off on that journey back into town. No one understood better than Slade the trauma Timmy had been through when Amanda died.
But that was beside the point. The point was Timmy could have gotten himself killed or kidnapped. There were plenty of nuts in the world today. That he had arrived at Dani’s safe and sound was pure good fortune. He now knew that a neighbor of Jake’s had spotted Timmy practically the minute he’d stepped onto the highway and had given him a lift right to Dani’s door.
The Bridal Path: Danielle Page 15