“Gee. I guess that makes me about forty-three.” He tottered across the kitchen like an old man, nearly dropping a serving dish before he got it up on the top shelf.
“Laugh at me all you want,” Holly said. “But you try growing a baby and see how you feel.”
“Are you all right? I mean, is there something wrong you’re not telling me about?”
He suddenly looked worried. She put a hand on his forearm—the first time she’d touched him since he’d walked in the door—and felt the muscles tighten beneath her fingertips. She looked into his dark brown eyes and said, “My doctor says I’m fine, Jack. But I’m not a kid anymore, so I have to take better care of myself and the baby.”
“I can’t believe M.D. Anderson agreed to a nine-to-five workday interrupted by naps.”
“I told them those were the only terms I’d accept.”
He turned away to drop some serving spoons into a drawer, breaking the contact between them. “That’s going to be a real change for you.”
“Yes, it will.” In the past she’d put her work first, because it was the one thing she’d been certain she could count on. In the future she envisioned, she would be spending a lot more time with Jack and the children. From now on, they were her first priority.
It didn’t take long to finish putting everything away. When they were done, she said, “How about some iced tea and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch?”
“Sounds good,” Jack said.
“Would you help Ryan set the table?”
“No problem.”
While Ryan and Jack put out silverware and place mats on the dining room table and poured icy cups of the sun tea she’d brewed that morning, Holly made grilled cheese sandwiches and cut up some strawberries.
She felt the tension ease out of her shoulders as she and Jack and Ryan sat down to the first meal of their new life together. After they said a quick grace, she asked, “How was your meeting this morning?”
“I can’t talk about it,” Jack replied curtly.
“How was I supposed to know that?” she retorted. Holly realized she was ready to tear into Jack and brought herself up short. She made a face. There would be plenty of things to fight about that mattered. “Is there any part of what you’re working on that you can share with me?”
He chewed a bite of sandwich and swallowed it before he answered. She thought maybe he was reining in his temper in much the same way she had, which she took as a good sign.
“I’m not sure how much I should tell you,” he began tentatively.
“Is what you’re doing dangerous?” she asked.
He snorted. “You know I wouldn’t tell you that, even if it were the case.”
“I’m curious, Jack.”
“That’s nothing new.”
“I’m kind of tired, Mommy,” Ryan interjected. “Can I go play with my Wii?”
“You haven’t eaten much of your sandwich,” she noted.
“I’m not hungry. Can I go?”
Holly figured her son was too excited by Jack’s return to have much appetite and tired from all the unpacking they’d done. “Go ahead,” she said.
Ryan shoved his chair back and left the dining room on the run.
“Must be a good game,” Jack said as he watched him go.
“It’s one he learned from Lucky and Chance at Christmas.” She was watching Jack’s face, so she saw him wince at the mention of Kate Pendleton’s sons. “How are the twins?”
“Fine, the last time I saw them.”
“When was that?”
“Yesterday. But things have changed a lot since then,” he muttered.
Holly raised a questioning brow. “Has something happened?”
“You might say that.”
She made a “spill it” gesture with her free hand.
“Kate and her sons have moved in with the twins’ biological father, Wyatt Shaw.”
Holly’s jaw dropped. “Wyatt Shaw? J.D. isn’t their father?”
Jack shook his head. “Kate picked Shaw up at a crowded bar nine years ago. And got pregnant with the twins.”
“Lord have mercy. Those poor boys.”
Jack snorted. “He’s supposed to be a billionaire. There’s nothing poor about those boys now. They’re living in the lap of luxury.”
“Why did they move in with him?” Holly asked. “I thought you and Kate were practically engaged.”
“I planned to propose to her this weekend.”
Holly felt her heart contract. She’d come that close to losing Jack forever. But something had happened to throw a monkey wrench into his plans. Something dire from the look on Jack’s face. She didn’t say she was sorry, because she wasn’t. “I know you must be upset,” she said instead.
“To say the least.”
“What’s going on, Jack? Can you tell me?”
One good thing that had come of their childhood together was that she and Jack had always shared their troubles. She’d been a discreet sounding board for him when he was working cases for the Texas Rangers and sympathized when he was frustrated by his parents’ behavior. He’d held her in his arms when she cried for a dying child and sympathized when her search for a cure seemed stymied.
“I’ve missed having my best friend to talk to, Jack,” she said into the silence.
He let out a soughing breath. And began to talk. “Shaw convinced Kate the boys would be in danger the moment his father found out the truth, and that they’d be safer living behind stone walls with him.”
“Why would Dante D’Amato want to hurt his own grandsons? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“As it turns out, there’s a kernel of truth in it. You’re just missing a big piece of the puzzle.”
She lifted a brow and said, “Which is?”
“J.D. Pendleton isn’t dead.”
“Then how were you going to marry Kate?” she blurted.
“We can’t marry until he shows up, dead or alive.”
“Who all knows J.D.’s alive?” Holly asked. “I mean, we all went to his funeral at Arlington, for heaven’s sake. I cried when they played taps. They gave him a twenty-one-gun salute. They folded the flag and handed it to Kate.”
“The circle in the know is small. Kate knows, because J.D. showed up in her living room alive and well a year after he’d supposedly died. I know because she told me. D’Amato knows because J.D. double-crossed him. I don’t know how Shaw found out, but he knows, too.”
“Does Ann Wade know?”
“She knows.”
“Then why hasn’t she made it public? She’s running for president. What’s going to happen when word gets out about this?”
“I think she plans to keep it quiet.”
“Can she?”
“She can if J.D. doesn’t show up alive.”
“She hopes her own son will end up dead?” Holly said, aghast.
“He’s got a lot of bad men after him.”
Holly watched Jack stop himself from saying more. She wanted to know as much as he would tell her about his business, which was why she always listened without interrupting. But he’d apparently realized just how much he’d told her about J.D. Pendleton, because he changed the subject.
“The twins are looking forward to seeing Ryan when they can.”
“I’m sure he’ll enjoy spending time with them, too.” Holly barely managed not to grimace. She’d been focused on how great it was that Jack and Kate weren’t engaged, and the fact that Kate was living with the biological father of her sons. It hadn’t occurred to her that instead of being halfway across the state, Kate and the twins were now living in the same city.
“Did Kate have to quit her job at BAMC?”
“Yes, but she’s going to work at M.D. Anderson.”
Holly bit back a gasp. She and Kate were going to be working in the same hospital! She wasn’t sure what she would do if she encountered her nemesis face-to-face. She consoled herself with the thought that the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Ca
ncer Center was such an enormous complex, with so many buildings taking up so many acres of land, their paths might never cross.
“This is bizarre,” she murmured.
“You said it,” Jack agreed.
Holly named her greatest fear. “Since Kate’s going to be so close, are you planning to keep seeing each other?”
“I’m not sure how the situation with Kate is going to shake out,” Jack said evasively. “It might be awkward, don’t you think?”
“You mean, considering the fact that you’re living with me?”
“I mean, considering the fact that she’s sleeping with him.”
Holly couldn’t believe what Jack had just said. It was wonderful news if it was true.
He must have seen the shock on her face because he said, “Forget I said that.”
“It’s forgotten.” But she was doing a little jig in her head.
“I don’t think the living arrangements between Kate and Shaw are going to last very long.”
“Really?” Holly hoped he was wrong.
“I think D’Amato is right. I think as soon as J.D. finds out who fathered the twins, he’s going to make a move. When he does, I’ll be waiting for him. Once he’s caught, Kate and the twins can move back home.”
Holly stood and picked up Ryan’s plate and her own and headed for the kitchen, so Jack wouldn’t see her face blanch. She hoped J.D. Pendleton didn’t act as quickly as D’Amato thought or Jack hoped. Because once J.D. was out of the picture for good, Kate would be free to marry Jack.
“I’ve got some things in the back of my SUV I’d like to move in, if you can show me my bedroom,” he said, setting the rest of the dishes on the counter beside Holly.
She stopped filling the dishwasher and looked coyly up at him. “I guess this means that, even though she’s sleeping with him, you’re not going to be sleeping with me.”
Jack surprised her by chuckling. But he didn’t suggest that they share the same bed. He gave her a friendly swat on the fanny and headed out the door.
“You can have the bedroom across the hall from Ryan,” she called after him.
It was going to be a lot harder to seduce her husband if he was determined to sleep in another bedroom. Not that it couldn’t be done. And not that she didn’t intend to do it. It was just that, Kate Pendleton had set the bar very high, and with all the extra baby weight, Holly might have a little harder time getting over it.
But somehow, some way, she would.
15
“Mom! Mom!”
Kate sat bolt upright, awakened from a deep sleep. It was morning, and she was alone in Shaw’s bed. Where was he? What was going on? One of the boys was in trouble!
She leapt out of bed, stumbling on the sheet that caught her foot, started for the door—and realized she was naked. She turned and did a quick search for her nightgown but couldn’t find it. She was headed for her suitcase to get something to wear when she heard another frenzied cry for help.
“Mom! Come quick!”
She yanked the top sheet free and wrapped it around her haphazardly, tripping over the silk cloth as she stumbled from Shaw’s bedroom.
“What’s wrong!” she cried. She hit the walls on one side and the windows on the other, as she raced down the hall, her black hair and the black sheet both flying.
She lurched through the first doorway she came to and slid to a stop, her heart beating like a frightened bird in her rib cage.
“Harley’s here!” Lucky said, a wide grin on his face.
The black Lab sat in the center of Lucky’s bed, tongue lolling, Lucky’s arms slung around his neck.
“And Scratch!” Chance sat on Lucky’s bed clutching the calico cat, which was hissing and ripping at the boy’s pajama top to get free. Chance yowled as claws reached skin and let go, and the cat leapt off the bed straight for Kate.
Kate nearly dropped the sheet to catch the cat.
Fortunately, large male hands intercepted Scratch’s leap.
“Gotcha!” Shaw said.
The boys laughed.
“You should have seen your face, Mom,” Lucky said.
Kate was staring wide-eyed at Shaw, admiring the broad shoulders and six-pack abs revealed by the tight black T-shirt he wore. Her glance slid down to the Levi’s that fit him like a glove and left hardly anything to the imagination. Not that she needed help remembering exactly what was cupped so lovingly in the front of his butter-soft jeans.
“I’m sorry they woke you up,” Shaw said sympathetically. “I was going to let you sleep.”
Kate shoved a belated hand through her tangled hair and blinked eyes clumped with mascara. She tightened the silk sheet around her naked body when she recognized the avid look in Shaw’s eyes. That turned out to be a mistake. She looked down to see her nipples poking out like headlights beneath the black silk.
“I need to get dressed,” she said.
“Mom, wait!” Lucky said, clambering off the bed, Harley climbing down after him. “Shaw says Big Doc and Little Doc are here, too, and that we can all go riding to a pond where we can swim and have a picnic as soon as we get dressed. Can we?”
Kate shot a perturbed look at Shaw, who said, “I suggested it, but I told them they had to ask you.”
“Can we, Mom? Please?” Chance begged, joining his brother.
Kate could see her life spinning completely out of her control. “I thought you brought us here to keep us safe,” she said to Shaw. “How safe are we going to be riding around the countryside on horseback?”
“The trails we’ll be riding, and the pond, are on land I own surrounding my compound, all of which is fenced with barbed wire and patrolled by men with guard dogs.”
“Like a prison,” Kate muttered.
She saw Shaw’s mouth tighten.
“Mom?” Lucky said. “Please, can we?”
She felt like throwing her hands up in defeat, but considering the circumstances, that was a bad idea. Instead, she tightened her hold on the black silk sheet, put a smile on her face and said, “That sounds like a lot of fun. As soon as you make your beds and straighten up these rooms—”
“Aw, Mom.”
“Jeez, Mom.”
“I have a housekeeper—” Shaw began.
She glared Shaw into silence and turned back to her sons. “After you make your beds and straighten up these rooms and get dressed and brush your teeth and comb your hair and eat your breakfast, we can go.”
“Yippee! We’re going on a picnic!” Lucky began jumping up and down, which set the dog to leaping and barking.
The cat made a horrible snakelike spitting sound and raked Shaw’s forearm with its claws. Shaw began muttering imprecations that ended with, “A curse on all cats!”
Kate quickly transferred her two-handed grip on the sheet into one fist and rescued the cat from Shaw, who was about to squeeze the feline into submission.
The agitated cat crawled halfway up Kate’s chest until it was hanging over her shoulder like a calico fur shawl.
She scowled at Shaw, who was shaking his head at her in disbelief. “I’m going to get dressed.” She kicked the silk sheet out of her way, then turned and tripped on it.
Shaw caught her before she fell. His hands brushed across the crests of both nipples before they landed at her waist.
“Sorry,” he said as he steadied her.
She glanced at his face and saw a mischievous look that reminded her of her eight-year-old sons. She realized he wasn’t the least bit sorry! She straightened her spine, lifted her chin, kicked the sheet from around her ankles and stalked back down the hall.
When she reached Shaw’s bedroom, she discovered he was right behind her. She whirled and barred the door with her body. “If you take one step into this room before I’m dressed, I’ll sic this cat on you.”
Shaw laughed and held up both hands in surrender. “Since that truly is a fate worse than death, I think I’ll go see if I can help the twins get ready.”
“Shaw,” she s
aid.
He turned and walked the few steps back to her. “Yes, Kate?”
She felt a shiver of pleasure at the sound of his raspy voice saying her name. But she had a point to make. “You shouldn’t spoil them. They have to do their own chores. And they’re perfectly capable of dressing themselves.”
His brow furrowed. “I…”
It took her a moment to realize what he wasn’t saying. What he would never admit. He was starved for the sight of his sons. He’d missed so much, and he was afraid he’d never catch up.
The sad thing was, he could never get those years back. And spoiling her sons would only make them brats.
“I know it’s tempting to give the twins everything their hearts desire,” she said. “But they need a little adversity in their lives. It’s good for their character.”
“They need a father in their lives,” Shaw said. “Let me find my own way, Kate. If I make mistakes, I’ll learn from them.”
In other words, Back off.
“Then check and make sure Lucky brushes his teeth. He wets the toothbrush because he knows I check, but he doesn’t use toothpaste.”
Shaw smiled. “Will do.”
She shut the door and leaned back against it. Wyatt Shaw was turning out to be not at all what she’d expected.
She dropped the sheet, then crossed the room, gently lifted the cat off her shoulder and settled her on Shaw’s pillow. “Make yourself comfortable, Scratch,” she said with a grin.
With any luck, Scratch would make Shaw’s pillow her home away from home, and he would have to remove the obstreperous cat every time he wanted it back.
Kate headed for the shower, feeling achy all over. She glanced down at her body and saw a bruise on her inner thigh, one at her waist and a love bite low on her neck. She hadn’t been aware of Shaw making any of the marks, which was a sign of how passionate their two bouts of lovemaking had been.
And yes, she’d needed the extra sleep this morning, because after they’d returned to bed, Shaw had pulled her close. He hadn’t made love to her—because she hadn’t asked. He’d simply spooned her body against his and held her close.
She’d lain awake, her body tense with expectation—and aching need—waiting for him to break his promise. Waiting for him to take her to the heights of ecstasy again. And finally cursing him for having the self-control to lie with her and not take what she knew, from the press of his body against hers, he desperately wanted.
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