His Best Mistake

by Kristi Gold

  “I always cry when I’m chopping onions.”

  “You’re cutting up a tomato.”

  She waved him away. “You need to go see about your daughter, unless you want her first word to be an Irish insult.”

  She had a point, and he had one small way to make it up to her. “Set a place for me. I’ll stay for dinner.”

  She attempted a slight smile. “Good. Now hurry along so I can finish up.”

  Kevin returned to the den, only to find it deserted. He couldn’t imagine where his father had gone with his daughter, until he glanced at the sliding glass doors and found the pair seated on the covered patio. Carly looked content in her grandfather’s lap, waving her arms like an orchestra conductor.

  Kevin walked outside, pulled up a lawn chair and joined them. “It’s kind of hot out here. I think I should take her back inside before she gets overheated.” And now he sounded just like his mother.

  “There’s plenty of shade,” Dermot said. “And this little lassie is made of solid Irish stock, although I’m thinkin’ your mother’s Armenian roots overtook the Irish. She’s not the least bit fair of skin.”

  His dad had always put a lot of importance on cultural lineage, particularly the Irish part. “Leah’s great-grandfather was Venezuelan, so that accounts for some of her darker coloring.”

  Dermot bounced the baby a couple of times. “Then she is a little melting pot, she is.” He took his attention from the baby and gave Kevin a curious look. “Did your ma give you a hard time, son?”

  “Not too bad. She’d be happier if I told her I was going to marry Leah.”

  His father sat silent for a moment. “Did you tell her that you’re livin’ with the lass?”

  Kevin swallowed hard around his shock. “How did you know about that?”

  “I spoke with Kieran not long ago. We both decided it would be best if you told your ma yourself.”

  Great. His brother had ratted on him, just like in the old days. And his father had basically decided to keep the news to himself, in turn forcing Kevin to face the proverbial music alone. “At least that explains your initial reaction when I delivered the news. You didn’t blink an eye.”

  “Your old da can keep a secret. And now I have a secret for you.”

  Kevin wasn’t sure he could handle any more secrets. But out of respect, he said, “Go ahead.”

  Dermot’s expression turned suddenly somber. “One night, when you were in the hospital and they were feeding you that poison before you had the blood transplant, your ma had gone out for some coffee. She left me to sit with you, and you were so bloody sick it made my old heart hurt.”

  Kevin didn’t care to relive the chemo process, although he still had occasional nightmares about being surrounded by masked faces while he was shackled to a bed with no means of escape. “I’m okay now, Dad.”

  “I know that, son. Now let me finish.”

  Kevin sat back and accepted his fate—more fatherly commentary. “All right.”

  “You were blatherin’ words I couldn’t understand,” Dermot continued. “Then you opened your eyes and clear as a summer morn, you said, ‘I’m sorry, Leah. I love you.’ I knew right then you’d made a hames out of a relationship with some woman.”

  Yeah, he’d definitely made a mess out of the relationship. But he had to question the truth in his father’s claim about the sick-bed confession. Not once had he told Leah he loved her, even though sometimes he thought he did feel that way about her. Correction. He was fairly sure he had. “I was talking out of my head, Dad.”

  “You were pining for her, son. I saw it in your eyes.” His dad shifted Carly around to where she was facing Kevin. “Do you still have more than a fondness for this baby’s mother?”

  If he issued a denial, he’d be handing his father one major lie. “Yes, but—”

  “Is she promised in marriage to the man she is seeing?”

  Apparently his father knew the entire story, thanks to Kieran. “Not that I’m aware of.”

  “Then it’s not too late for you to win back her heart, laddie.”

  At one time, Kevin might have considered doing that very thing, boyfriend or no boyfriend. That was before he’d made a concerted effort to change his ways instead of disregarding other people’s feelings. “I’m surprised at you, Dad, suggesting I try to steal another man’s woman.”

  Dermot raised an eyebrow. “Where is this man, Kevin? If your ma told me she was going to move in with some ape, there’d be wigs on the green. I’d be poundin’ on his door, demanding my love leave his house. Then I would cold-cock him, I would.”

  “I’m not sure Leah’s told her boyfriend about the living arrangement.” In fact, the guy had never even called the house, which meant he was probably calling her cell phone. Or not calling at all. Purely wishful thinking on his part.

  Dermot handed Carly over to Kevin, stretched his legs out before him and clasped his hands atop his belly. “If she has told the man, then he’s a bollocks for not doin’ a thing about it. And you would be a fool not to woo her. If her heart isn’t ripe for the pickin’, you will not be able to steal it. But if it is, you will know soon enough.”

  “I appreciate the suggestion, Dad.” Even if he had no immediate goal that entailed putting any moves on Leah. At least that’s what he’d planned.

  “Just one more bit of advice, son.” Dermot leaned over and covered Carly’s ears. “Keep your langer in your cacks and let the lass take the lead. She just might surprise you.”

  Kevin had to admit his father’s advice was dead-on. He wasn’t going to do anything to compromise his arrangement with Leah. But he greatly doubted she was going to surprise him, either.

  LEAH ARRIVED HOME four hours late, completely exhausted, with aching feet and the beginnings of a headache. But her spirits lifted when she walked into the great room to discover Kevin lying on his back, eyes closed, with Carly resting atop his chest, her legs bunched beneath her and bottom sticking up in the air. She couldn’t decide which sight was more endearing—this portrait of father and daughter sleeping, or coming upon Kevin reading the paper to Carly that morning.

  As badly as she hated to disturb them, Leah needed to put the baby to bed. But before she disrupted the scene, she retrieved her cell phone and snapped a photo to capture the moment.

  After dropping her phone back into her lab-coat pocket, Leah lifted the baby and carried her into the nursery. She carefully put her in the crib and halfway expected Carly to wake up bright-eyed and bushytailed from her late nap. Yet she didn’t move an inch, or really stir, for that matter. It appeared the afternoon meeting with her grandparents had worn her out. Worn them both out, she decided when she returned to the great room to find Kevin still sleeping. His slack features and steady respiration indicated he might be there for a while, if not all night. Unless she woke him.

  Nope. She’d let him sleep. And while he slept, she would take the opportunity to steal a good look at him. She took a visual journey over the white muscle shirt showcasing his toned arms and from there she moved on to the blue pajama bottoms covering his slender hips, thinking it best not to linger there too long. She even studied his bare feet that quite honestly were nicer than most male feet, despite his slightly crooked toes.

  She centered her gaze on his hand now resting on his abdomen. Leah absolutely loved his hands. Several times she’d been content just sitting and watching those long, masculine fingers play over the computer keyboard while he worked on an article for the magazine. She also remembered being completely hypnotized when he used those very skilled hands on her.

  Leah blamed the full-body shiver on the air-conditioning vent blowing cold air down from above her. She considered covering Kevin with the throw draped over the sofa’s arm, but then again, he’d always been hot-blooded. So hot-blooded that he refused to sleep beneath the covers when they’d been in bed. In fact, he refused to sleep in anything at all. And that was one image she needed to exile from her mind.

  As Le
ah reached for the near-empty baby bottle on the coffee table, the same hand she’d been admiring only moments before snaked out and grabbed her wrist, followed by a blatantly sensual voice declaring, “Hey, I’m not done with that yet.”

  Leah inadvertently tipped over the bottle and caught it before it rolled to the floor, in turn dislodging Kevin’s grasp.

  “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “Well, you did.” She held up the bottle and inspected it. “Funny, this looks like formula, not beer.”

  Kevin draped his long legs over the sofa and sat up. “I don’t touch the stuff anymore. Beer or formula.”

  Leah had never considered Kevin a hard-core drinker, but he had liked his ale. “Sure. And you don’t watch baseball anymore, either.”

  “I’m serious. I’ve laid off the beer since I started working out more frequently.”

  She’d noticed the rewards from his new fitness regimen. “But you still drink wine.”

  He rose from the sofa and rubbed a hand over his nape. “That wine we had last night was the first alcohol I’ve had in months.”

  Leah admittedly had a difficult time believing he’d given up partying hearty in her absence. But she was too tired to challenge him. “If you say so.”

  “It’s true.” Kevin looked around the room then back down on the couch. “By the way, where’s the kid? Did she run off in the car again? I swear I hid my keys.”

  Leah couldn’t suppress her smile. “I put her to bed, which is exactly where I intend to go.”

  “I’m going to work out for a while.”

  “You’re going to the gym this late?”

  “No. I’m going outside to the cabana. I have some cardio equipment and weights out there. Kieran set everything up for me as a housewarming gift.”

  “Very nice. I wouldn’t mind using the equipment.”

  Kevin stretched his arms high above his head, causing the shirt to part from the band of his pajamas, and exposing his navel along with a glimpse of the path below that Leah used to trace with a fingertip, just so she could watch him writhe in anticipation. To hear him beg. To make him sweat. “My equipment is your equipment,” he said as he dropped his arms. “Feel free to use it any time.”

  That conjured up all sorts of dubious thoughts in Leah’s randy brain. “Thanks, but I’ll have to pass tonight. I do need to make up a few more bottles before I go to bed.”

  “I’ve already done that,” he said. “I also gave Carly her bath without fumbling her. Do I get a prize?”

  Rewarding him in unconventional yet sexy ways momentarily entered Leah’s mind. Instead, she handed him the bottle. “You could try washing this without fumbling it.”

  When he took the bottle from her, Leah could have sworn he brushed a fingertip across her wrist. Or maybe she’d just imagined it. Wished for it, even. “You must be starving,” Kevin said.

  Was she that obvious? “Why would you think that?”

  “Because knowing you, you didn’t stop long enough to have dinner. But that’s okay. My mom sent a plate of food home with me. You’re welcome to it.”

  Normally she wouldn’t consider putting something in her stomach so late, but Kevin had been correct in his assumptions. She hadn’t had a thing since lunch. She was also curious to learn about his parents’ reaction to the baby. “I could eat a little something.”

  “Great.”

  Leah followed Kevin into the kitchen and stood by while he pulled a plastic-covered paper plate from the refrigerator and popped it into the microwave. He turned and leaned back against the counter. “How was your day?”

  “Okay. And I’m sorry I’m so late. I had to admit two infants to the hospital because of some rampant summer virus going around.”

  “Will they be all right?” he asked with sincere concern.

  Leah took a seat on a stool set out at the kitchen island. “They should both make a full recovery, barring any complications.”

  “Good.” He pulled a fork and knife out of a drawer and laid them, along with a napkin, before her. “I have another question. What have you been doing with Carly when you’ve had to work late?”

  “Fortunately, the day care’s geared for medical personnel, so they run two shifts of workers, one for the day and another at night. I do have to pay extra for the nightly service if I need it.”

  “At least that’s one less thing you have to worry about,” he said. “As long as you’re living here, I’m available 24/7.”

  “I really appreciate that. Now it’s your turn to tell me how it went with your folks.”

  He grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and handed it to Leah. “Better than I expected. My dad took the news in stride, but as I predicted, my mom was disappointed I hadn’t told her sooner. She also wasn’t too pleased when I refused her offer of help. I told her taking care of Carly was something I wanted to do myself.”

  Leah understood his attitude completely. Kevin had always been sensitive when it came to his mother’s penchant for being overly helpful where he was concerned. “Did you make it clear that our living arrangement is only temporary?”

  He studied the tiled floor. “I didn’t exactly cover that subject.”

  A case of supreme avoidance. “She has no idea I’m living with you?”

  “I decided I need to ease her into the idea. Learning about the baby was enough for one day.” When the microwave dinged, Kevin opened the door, retrieved the plate and slid it in front of her. “Here’s your dinner, Dr. Cordero. Enjoy.”

  She surveyed the pile of food. “I need to let it cool off a bit, but it looks good.”

  “Believe me, it is.”

  She picked up the fork and knife and cut a few pieces of chicken. “I’ve always envied people who have a way with food. Cooking isn’t exactly my forte, either.”

  Kevin moved beside her and leaned a hip against the island. “You could say that. I’ve never known anyone who could burn a pot of fettuccine.”

  Leah spun the stool to face him. “Hey, that’s not fair. That was your fault.”

  He shrugged. “I didn’t leave the pasta on the stove until all the water boiled out of it.”

  “No, but if I recall correctly, you distracted me. You’d just returned from a trip to New York, you stormed into my apartment and said, ‘Step away from the stove, woman, and take off your clothes. Your daddy’s back in town.’”

  “That’s not what I said.”

  “Maybe not verbatim, but—”

  “Not even close.” When he leaned toward her, Leah held her breath as he rested his lips against her ear and whispered, “I said ‘I’ve missed you, baby, and I want to show you how much. Dinner can wait.’”

  He moved back, but still remained very close. If Leah owned even a wisp of wisdom, she would avoid looking at his eyes, but she didn’t. If she knew what was best, she wouldn’t dare stand up and get closer to him, which she did. If she had any regard for self-preservation, she’d be crazy to even consider what she was tempted to do next.

  But she was considering it. More than that, she was going to do it, shirk all her good sense for one moment of pleasure. A moment when she could take the memories and turn them into reality.

  She needed the intimacy, regardless of the consequences, and it was going to happen. She couldn’t stop it. She didn’t want to.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  HE COULD HANDLE a simple kiss. A closed-mouth, chaste, hey-we’re-friends kiss. But an open-mouth, wicked, down-and-dirty kiss was just about more than Kevin could take.

  If he didn’t bring this mouth action to an end right away, he was in danger of carrying Leah straight into his bedroom without a second thought. If he didn’t control his hands, which had somehow traveled to her butt, he might only manage to make it to the den. And if she didn’t stop pressing her sweet little body against him, they just might have to get reacquainted on the kitchen island.

  But he wasn’t going to take her anywhere, and not because he didn’t
want to. If he made a wrong move, he’d be compromising good intentions, as well as his newfound honor. And yeah, it sucked. In a massive way.

  With what little resistance he had left, Kevin broke all contact and took a much-needed step back. And while Leah stood in stunned silence, he rounded the island, putting a solid mass of granite and wood between them, in turn concealing the effect that incendiary kiss had had on his body.

  He could barely catch a breath, but at least he’d kept his langer in his cacks. His dad would be so proud.

  Leah braced her elbows on the island and momentarily covered her face before staring up at him. “I can’t believe that just happened.”

  Kevin raised both of his hands, palms forward. “I didn’t do it.” He sounded like a college kid who’d been caught plagiarizing his mid-term paper.

  “You should have said something to stop me.”

  “Kind of hard to talk when you have your tongue in my mouth. And it’s real hard to think when you have your hands all over me.”

  “I know, I know.” She slapped her palms on the counter and straightened. “I’ve done it twice now.”

  Twice? Had he missed something? “Unless we made out when I was in a coma, it’s only happened once.”

  “I meant I’ve broken the rules twice. The kiss and talking about the past, which led to the kiss. If you hadn’t started with that ‘I’ve missed you, baby’ story, then it wouldn’t have happened.”

  “Oh, so now it’s my fault.”

  “It’s both our faults, and it won’t happen again.”

  If Kevin had his way, it would happen again. Several times. A day. And night. “Remember, I’m the one who stopped it before it went any further. And you and I both know it would have gone further if I hadn’t stopped.”

  She frowned. “The Kevin O’Brien I knew before wouldn’t have stopped it. So why did you?”

  “First of all, I’m not the same man you knew a year ago. Secondly, you didn’t have a boyfriend back then.” And that led to a question he’d wanted to ask for some time now. “That reminds me, why hasn’t he called you?”