Unwrapping the Playboy

by Marie Ferrarella

  “You don’t owe me anything,” he told her seriously. Taking her into his arms, he began to dance. It was a slow dance and he hoped it would go on forever.

  “Oh, but I do,” she protested, trying to fill her brain with rhetoric and not think about how well they fit together. How much she wished that they could go on fit ting together until the world ran out of time. “And I always pay my debts.”

  He nodded, letting the light perfume she wore fill his head. It turned out to be a tactical mistake since the scent filled the rest of him, nudging desire awake in his belly.

  “Good to know,” he murmured against her hair.

  Lilli tried not to shiver, tried not to behave like some adolescent who was hopelessly enamored for the very first time in her life. But that was exactly what she was. She’d never really been in love, other than falling for Kullen—twice. Once when she’d finally managed to block out the effects and repercussions of what Dalton had done to her—just before she found out she was pregnant. And now, here she was again, loving the same man.

  Except that this time she knew she was living in a fool’s paradise. That happily-ever-after was an unattainable state because she’d treated Kullen so badly the first time around.

  And she really couldn’t blame him. In his place, she would probably react the same way. Happy about getting together again but nonetheless waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting for history to repeat itself. Anything she might say in the way of protest or in her own defense would have the feel of “the lady doth protest too much.”

  You can’t expect the dog that bit you to live up to his word that he won’t bite you again, she thought ruefully.

  And, in this case, she was the dog.

  They danced by the head table, where Nikki Connors, now Nikki Connors-Wingate, sat with her brand-new husband, Lucas.

  Lilli couldn’t remember when she’d seen a bride look so happy. She found herself envying Nikki.

  “She’s a beautiful bride,” Lilli commented to Kullen.

  Kullen laughed softly. “Haven’t you heard? All brides are beautiful,” he informed her. “It’s an unwritten law somewhere.”

  She looked at him in surprise. And then she smiled in appreciation. “I had no idea you were such a sentimentalist, Kullen.”

  He watched her for a long moment. “There are a lot of things about me that you don’t know,” he told her gently.

  The softly spoken words flowed along her skin, warming her. Making her yearn. With all her heart, Lilli wished that she would be given the opportunity to uncover all those secrets he carried around with him. Slowly, over a lifetime together.

  But she knew better than that. Some things, no matter how much she wanted them, just weren’t destined to happen.

  Chapter Fifteen

  As it turned out, Kullen and Lilli were among the last guests to leave the wedding reception.

  He had it bad. It warmed him simply to watch her. Lilli was having such a good time socializing with his sister and her friends, he didn’t have the heart to cut it short. But eventually, his sister caught the bouquet, the bride and groom left for their honeymoon, the band packed away their instruments and it was time for even those who were lingering to go. He and Lilli collected a sleepy-eyed Jonathan from Theresa, said their good-byes to Maizie and the father of the groom, who had been extremely attentive to Maizie throughout the evening, and left.

  One mile into the trip back home, Jonathan fell asleep in the backseat.

  “Looks like we finally found a way to tire Jonathan out,” Lilli commented, turning around in her seat and looking at her son as Kullen pulled into her driveway.

  Getting out of the car, Lilli opened the rear door and undid her son’s seat belt. She was about to pick the boy up when Kullen gently nudged her out of the way.

  “I’ve got him,” he told her, scooping the boy up into his arms. He nodded toward the house. “You just unlock the front door.”

  “Okay.” Tired, she flashed him a grateful smile and hurried up the driveway.

  Lilli disarmed the security system so that the three of them could go inside without setting off any alarms. Turning, she watched Kullen come up the walk, Jonathan safely tucked against him.

  Her heart fluttered, moved, as she stood there, committing the scene to memory. It would be something for her to remember when life got to be a little too much for her.

  This was the way it was supposed to be, in a perfect world.

  Jonathan continued sleeping even as Kullen carried him upstairs and laid him down on the bed. Lilli decided to forgo changing the boy out of his clothes and into his pajamas. Sleep was more important than wrinkles in a miniature tuxedo, she reasoned.

  Stepping back from her son, she felt Kullen taking her hand. They silently slipped out of Jonathan’s room together, taking care to leave the night-light on and ease the door shut.

  Once in the hall, she turned to him. “Thank you for talking me into going. I had a wonderful time. It was so great to forget about everything for a while,” she said with feeling. “To just enjoy myself, watching Jonathan play with kids his own age.” She smiled up into Kullen’s eyes. “Dancing with you.”

  “Is that so?” he deadpanned. “I don’t remember dancing with Jonathan.”

  “Idiot,” she laughed, taking a swat at his shoulder. “I meant my dancing with you.”

  He surprised her by suddenly twirling her around and pressing her up against the wall, his body invading her space.

  “The evening’s not over,” he reminded her. Bracketing her face by placing his hands against the wall on either side of her, he then leaned in for a sensuous, soul-draining kiss that left her all but gasping for air. And relishing the fact that he sounded a bit breathless as well.

  “Love evenings that aren’t over,” she managed to whisper, her head spinning.

  It would always be this way, she thought. For whatever time she was with him, Kullen would make her feel this way. He would make her pulse race and her head swirl about, make excitement roar inside her body.

  “Glad to hear it,” he murmured just as his mouth came down on hers.

  And he was right, she thought, as he swept her into his arms. The evening was gloriously far from over.

  Morning arrived all too soon.

  The only saving grace was that this was Sunday morning. Sunday meant she didn’t have to go in to work because the shop was closed. Sunday meant being able to curl up a little longer beside this man whose presence she didn’t remotely take for granted, not for a moment. Each time she and Kullen made love, she was even more acutely aware of how tentative this all really was.

  And how special.

  Stretching languidly in bed like a waking feline, she was about to get up and see about making breakfast for the three of them when Kullen abruptly pulled her back into bed. Surprised, she felt her back hit the mattress, and the next moment his body tantalizingly covered hers. He was careful to distribute his weight across his elbows. The light contact created a need for more within her. She looked up at him quizzically.

  “Where are you going?” Kullen asked, teasingly skimming his fingers along her body. “It’s early.”

  “I was going to get dressed and go down to the kitchen to make breakfast for all of us.” He was still strumming along her skin, driving her crazy. Rendering rational thought impossible. “You know, food.”

  “I’m more interested in food for the soul than for my belly,” he murmured, lightly kissing the side of her face, working his way down to her neck.

  He was weaving his magic again, casting his spell over her. Making her want more. She knew she should behave responsibly and insist on getting up. But she didn’t hear Jonathan stirring, and who knew how much longer she would be allowed to remain a visitor in this paradise Kullen had created for her?

  She was all too aware that this could all change. To night, tomorrow, a week from now, she had no idea how much longer she would be allowed to enjoy being with Kullen like this. There was
absolutely no reason for her to suppose that once the case was over—and God willing Kullen would secure sole custody for her—he would still be coming around.

  It was more likely that he wouldn’t. That didn’t mean that he was taking advantage of her now—if anything, she was taking advantage of him. What it did mean was that once the case was over, Kullen would be moving on to another case. A case that would require all his attention.

  And there would be none left over for her.

  Even thinking about it created a sharp pain in her gut.

  So she put breakfast and the rest of her life on hold and lost herself in the fiery world that Kullen could create for her with just the touch of his hand, the feel of his lips on hers.

  “Food for the soul it is,” she declared softly, entwining her arms around his neck and pulling him even closer to her than he already was.

  They made love with the excitement of two people on the threshold of a brand new world, not like two people who had just ventured into this same territory a few short hours ago.

  It was the same.

  It was different.

  All she knew was that it was wonderful and she would miss it desperately when she went back to being the only one sleeping in her queen-size bed.

  Spent, with the delicious feel of euphoria still holding her in its warm embrace, Lilli thought she heard music playing.

  Drawing herself up on her elbow, she looked at Kullen. “Do you hear something?”

  That was when he suddenly jackknifed into a sitting position and reached across her body to get to her nightstand. As his body touched hers, a tantalizing shiver danced up her spine.

  Was she ever going to get enough of him?

  She knew the answer to that. It was no.

  “It’s my phone,” Kullen told her as he moved back to his side of the bed, the cell in his hand. He flipped it open and put it to his ear. “Hello?”

  Her body tingled all over again from the short, intense contact and she took a breath to steady her erratic pulse.

  “Who’s calling you at this hour on a Sunday?” she heard herself asking.

  But even now he was holding up his hand for her to hang on to her questions until he finished talking—or listening—to the person on the other end of the call.

  The ensuing silence made Lilli uneasy.

  Who was on the other end and what were they saying? Instinct—or maybe it was paranoia—told her it had to do with her. With Jonathan and her. She felt certain she was right. Kullen’s back was rigid.

  Sitting up, she tried to peer around his side to catch a glimpse of his face.

  Before she could, she heard him say, “You sure about that, Jewel?”

  Okay, so it was Jewel calling him. She assumed that the woman had something to report about the case, although it amazed her that the private investigator was working this early. Jewel had stayed at Nikki and Lucas’s wedding reception nearly as long as she and Kullen had. What could she have found out between last night and this morning?

  But then again, maybe Jewel had been working an angle all along and it had just panned out now. Kullen had told her that Jewel was one of the best at what she did and didn’t stop until she got what she was after.

  “Okay, thanks. Great work,” Kullen said with enthusiasm. “I’ll pick them up later today if it’s all right with you. All right. Noon it is. I owe you. Beyond the fee,” he insisted, obviously answering a disclaimer Jewel must have made.

  Lilli could hardly contain herself, waiting for Kullen to finish his call. When he did, she immediately pounced on him.

  “What was that all about?”

  Twisting around, he grinned at her. “Information,” he said evasively. “I gathered that,” Lilli countered, trying to keep her impatience under wraps. “What kind of information?” she pressed.

  For the second time this morning, Kullen caught her off guard and pulled her to him. He kissed her long and hard before finally answering.

  They were officially in the home stretch, and he had no idea how things would play out once the case was over. He knew what his hopes were, but he’d had those same hopes before and it had gotten him a boatload of heartache.

  “Okay,” he said, moving her back a couple inches. “I’ve got some good news and some bad news.”

  She needed good news desperately, but ending on a down note, especially right now, might just be more than she could handle, so she opted to hear the bad first, hoping that the good news would more than balance it out.

  “Okay,” she said, bracing herself, “what’s the bad news?”

  “Elizabeth Dalton wants another meeting with me.” He’d known that Friday evening, but there had been no way he was going to spoil the wedding for Lilli, by telling her. She would have been second-guessing why the woman wanted to see him until the face-to-face meeting finally came about.

  The meeting was set for Monday and now, thanks to his hunch and to Jewel’s diligent investigation, he was going to be far from empty-handed when he met with Mrs. Dalton.

  “Why’s that bad?” She had her own sinking suspicions, but she wanted to hear it from him.

  “Because Mrs. Dalton is certain that she has information that will guarantee her getting custody of Jonathan.”

  Lilli’s breath backed up in her chest. So much so that it took effort to get her words out. “And what’s the good news?”

  He didn’t want to go into details just yet. “I think we’ve got something that’ll trump that.”

  God, she hoped so. But from everything she’d read about Elizabeth Dalton, she never went into a fight unless she was armed to the teeth. What if what they had turned out to be a shield made out of tissue paper? “What does she have?”

  He thought of saying that it was best for now if she didn’t know, but he had a feeling she would wheedle it out of him. Kullen decided to spare them both this process of bobbing and weaving like two prizefighters.

  “Pictures,” he told her simply.

  She cocked her head, confused. “Pictures?”

  “Of us,” he added.

  Was she missing something? “Why’s that a problem? You’re my lawyer.” She pointed out.

  He looked at her pointedly. “Pictures of us,” he repeated, adding the proper emphasis on the last word.

  Us.

  And then it dawned on her. He had to be referring to pictures that were a huge, embarrassing invasion of their most private moments together. Her hands flew to her mouth. She couldn’t be right. He had to be talking about something else. Oh, please let him be talking about something else.

  “Oh, my God, are you saying—”

  He saw she understood and nodded slowly. “Yes, I am. Apparently the man in the tree that Jonathan told us he saw really wasn’t a dream. What he saw was one of Mrs. Dalton’s flunkies, taking pictures of us—not Jonathan—with a telephoto lens.”

  Lilli wanted to cry. She felt numb—and violated at the same time.

  The rest wasn’t hard to guess. “And she intends to have her lawyers say that I’m an unfit mother because I’m having an affair with my lawyer.”

  Kullen nodded. “That is undoubtedly her game plan,” he agreed.

  Lilli leaped out of bed in a heartbeat. She was so agitated, she didn’t seem to realize—or care—that she didn’t have on a stitch of clothing. She had to get Jonathan and herself out of here.

  Who knew how much time she had left before someone from social services was knocking on her door? She wouldn’t put it past Mrs. Dalton to pull the rug out from under her in the cruelest fashion imaginable. And losing her child to the massive tangle of red tape that social services embodied would definitely be it.

  When Kullen caught her by the wrist a second time, she tugged, this time with a great deal of urgency. She could have saved herself the trouble. His grip was incredibly strong. He wasn’t about to let her go running off.

  “Let me go, Kullen,” she pleaded. “I’ve got to pack our things. Who knows how much time Jonathan and I ha
ve before the roof caves in.”

  “You’re getting carried away,” he told her in a steady, low-key voice.

  “No, I’m not.”

  Didn’t he understand? Or was it that he didn’t really care? He was doing this as a favor to her. If it didn’t pan out, oh, well, he’d tried. Was that how he felt about it? She didn’t want to think about that. There wasn’t time enough for that, or hurt feelings. She had to save her baby.

  “I won’t let that woman get her hands on Jonathan,” she cried fiercely. “I’ll kill her first.”

  He wondered if, at bottom, she was capable of that. When pushed to the wall, a lot of people reacted atypically compared to their normal behavior. Lilli might be no different, although he would have liked to believe that she was.

  “I wouldn’t go advertising that if I were you.”

  “Why are you so calm?” she demanded, frustrated. He should be helping her, not holding her back.

  Unless—

  “Wait,” she cried, staring at him. “Does how calm you’re being have anything to do with that call you just took from Jewel?”

  He smiled at her. “It has everything to do with that call I just took from Jewel,” he told her. And then, maddeningly, he gave her a platitude. “Have a little faith, Lilli.” He kissed her forehead as if to brand her with the philosophy. “Now, if you really want to make breakfast, I suggest you put something on because if you keep standing like that in front of me, I really am going to wind up having something else to eat for breakfast,” he told her with a wicked grin.

  She was too nervous to dally with him again, no matter how tempting the idea might be. Her heart wouldn’t be in it.

  Because her heart was severely worried.

  “I’ll get dressed,” she told him, extracting her wrist from his grip.

  As she hurried off to the closet, she felt just the tiniest bit better. Kullen wouldn’t be teasing her like this if she was about to lose custody of Jonathan.