Another Man's Wife

by Rebecca Winters

  “You’re right.”

  “There’s the doorbell. You know I’m wishing you all the luck in the world.” She blew her a kiss and disappeared out the door.

  Laurel stood by the crib, where she held on for dear life. Voices filtered up from the foyer, then she heard footsteps on the stairs. Her heart seemed to lose a beat when Nate appeared in the doorway.

  He’d come dressed in a tan suit and white shirt. The figured tie had some blue in it that matched his beautiful eyes.

  A stillness seemed to surround him as his gaze traveled slowly from her hair, to her body and finally to her sandaled feet.

  “Hi.” It was all she could manage to say because her trembling had grown worse. “T-there’s a chair by the window,” she stammered after a moment. “I’m still kind of sore, so I’ve decided not to go downstairs until tomorrow. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Why would I mind?” He sounded almost angry as he crossed the room to sit down. Something was wrong. His implacable expression gave nothing of his feelings away.

  “The baby’s still asleep, but it won’t be for long. When she starts to wake up, I’ll take some pictures.”

  “Do you need help walking to the bed?”

  His question brought more heat to her face. He could tell she was shaking. What he didn’t know was why.

  “I’m fine. Really.”

  She reached the side of the queen-size bed and lounged back against the pillows propped next to the headboard. “I’m afraid I can’t see you from this angle. Why don’t you sit on the end of the bed and face me.”

  His hesitation was tangible but he did as she asked. The proximity of their bodies sent her temperature soaring.

  “That’s better. You look very official. Have you been to a meeting of some kind?”

  “That’s right. Today I’ve taken steps to be recommissioned.”

  Laurel struggled not to cry out.

  “Does that mean you’ll be at the Academy for a while?”

  Please God—don’t let him leave Colorado yet.

  “No. My old commanding officer thinks he can pull a few strings. If that happens, I’ll be back in Holland sometime next week.”

  She lifted questioning eyes to him. “Is that what you really want to do?” she whispered.

  His grim expression devastated her. “My father doesn’t need me. He’s making a new life for himself in Texas. There’s no longer any reason for me to stay.”

  Laurel eased herself forward. It brought her face a little closer to his. Never in her life had she contemplated anything this daring, but she was fighting for her life. As far as she was concerned, that gave her permission.

  “What if you had a reason?” she whispered.

  “I’m not sure I understand.”

  Was he evading the issue because he didn’t want to hurt her, embarrass her with the answer?

  She tried to swallow. “Maybe your father doesn’t need you, but I do.”

  Color receded beneath his tanned complexion. “Spade and I go back a long way. You can always count on me to be your friend, Laurel, wherever I am.”

  “I’m not talking about friendship.”

  She couldn’t call back her words. She didn’t want to. For better, for worse, she’d said them. Nate couldn’t claim to misconstrue their meaning now.

  He got to his feet and stood at the window, as if he felt suffocated by the confining walls of her bedroom.

  “You miss Spade,” he said in a faraway voice. “The birth of your daughter has made you long for him. When you see me, you see your husband. It’s perfectly natural.”

  Nate was still hiding behind that forbidding veneer. She couldn’t lose courage now. “Would you answer a simple question for me?”

  A palpable silence settled in the room before he turned to her. His carefully impassive expression told her he was concealing some strong emotion. It gave her the impetus to go on.

  “When you look at me, do you see Scott?”

  She sensed him retreat although he didn’t move a muscle.

  “Let me ask it another way. Do I remind you of him?”

  “No,” he muttered. “But it’s not the same thing. Except for that one time years ago, I never saw the two of you together.”

  “It’s equally true that except for the day the three of us spent at Nellis nine years ago, I never saw you with him either. But I’m not confused, Nate.”

  Driven by overwhelming emotions, she slipped off the bed. “Since we met again in Breckenridge, have you been acting for Scott in everything?”

  His throat was working. He couldn’t meet her eyes.

  “When you kissed me after the delivery, was that for him, too?” Her heart hammered. Surely he could hear it.

  “Laurel—” He sounded like a broken man.

  She moved closer until she could put her hands on his arms. His powerful body quaked in response.

  “Let me make this clear. I couldn’t mistake you for anyone else. You’re all I’ve been able to see or think about since the moment I saw you on the dance floor at the lodge. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me not to kiss you back?”

  He shook his head. Torment flashed in his eyes. “I shouldn’t have taken that liberty. You were lying there helpless.”

  “Helpless with wanting you! Maybe this will convince you.” She started to slide her hands to his face.

  “No, Laurel. Don’t!” He grasped her wrists in a firm grip. “I can’t do this to Spade.”

  “He’s gone to a happier place, Nate. There’s only you and me. If you don’t hurry and kiss me, I—”

  “It wouldn’t be right—” he broke in. His breathing had grown shallow.

  “I’m giving you the right!” she protested.

  “For the love of heaven, Laurel—you’ve just had his baby—” He backed away, relinquishing his hold on her. “I’ve got to go.”

  Pain wracked her body. “Then I was wrong, wasn’t I?”

  Her words stopped him at the door. “What do you mean?”

  “I thought you came around because you couldn’t help yourself any more than I could. But you’ve just proved to me that everything you’ve done has been out of loyalty to Scott, nothing more.

  “No one could ever doubt what great buddies you were. Just so there won’t be any misunderstanding, I need to explain that I’ve fallen in love with you. The last thing I want is a buddy.”

  “You don’t know what you’re saying.” He sounded aghast.

  Angry tears sprang to her eyes. “That’s right. A man only says that when he doesn’t want to hear the truth. I’m sorry if I’ve repulsed you, but I had to find out what’s motivated your visits.

  “Now that I know it was all for Scott’s sake, I wish to God I’d never forced a confrontation with you. It was my mistake from start to finish.”

  She darted him a brief smile. “Consider your duty accomplished. Go back to Holland and forget what happened here, Major Hawkins. Now if you don’t mind, I’m tired and could use some rest before the baby wakes up. On your way out, will you please push in the night lock?”

  Nate, her heart cried in anguish as he disappeared from the doorway. She crumpled on the bed, her sobs reverberating in the room before she could smother them with a pillow.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  OUTSIDE HER BEDROOM, Nate lay against the wall listening to the sounds of a woman who sounded utterly grief-stricken.

  Just so there won’t be any misunderstanding, I need to explain that I’ve fallen in love with you. The last thing I want is a buddy.

  Could it possibly be true?

  He wanted to believe it so badly his entire being trembled.

  Every sob coming from the bedroom resounded deep in his soul, tearing him apart until he couldn’t take anymore. He approached the doorway again.

  Her prone body shook the mattress. That beautiful face and body, which had haunted him from the first moment he’d laid eyes on her…

  The longing to touch her drove him to the
bed. He sank down next to her. She gasped and turned on her side. When she looked up at him, her drenched eyes exploded with light.

  “Nate!”

  “God forgive me, but I couldn’t leave.”

  “There’s nothing for Him to forgive.”

  She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him toward her. “Kiss me,” she begged. “I need you so terribly, you can’t imagine.”

  How little Laurel understood of his desire for her. The fire she’d unknowingly lit inside him years ago had never been extinguished. Now she was going to discover the extent of that long-suppressed hunger.

  He stared at the exquisite mouth he’d fought not to look at after Spade had introduced them. Then he covered it with his own.

  Her first ardent response produced an ecstasy that came close to making him lose consciousness. Groaning in need, he stretched out to feel every feminine inch of her while he kissed her over and over again with slow deliberation. Long, deep kisses that would never be long enough or deep enough.

  His fingers twisted in her glistening black hair. It was like silk to the touch as he knew it would be. Her skin…pure satin. The voluptuousness of her curves…

  Nine years of dreaming could never match the reality of holding this woman in his arms. She pulsated with a desire equal to his own. He felt like he’d come home after years of wandering in a strange wilderness.

  They kissed with mindless abandon, losing track of time and place in their desperation to communicate.

  He traced the natural arch of her dark brows, marveling at every feature, pressing his lips against each one to memorize their feel and shape.

  “You’re so beautiful I can’t find the words,” he whispered into her neck.

  She kissed his temple. “The first time I saw you with the guys from the squadron, you were outside playing volleyball. None of you had shirts on. When I jokingly asked Scott who the tall blond god was, he turned to me with a smile and said, ‘That’s Hawk.’”

  She’d thought of him that way? When he lifted his head, her adoring eyes played over his features.

  “I’ve lived with that image of you for years, Nate. When I saw you on the dance floor, your back was toward me, but I knew that body could only belong to one man.

  “You really are something,” she whispered against his lips, drowning him in sensation. “I knew I was in love with you the morning you drove me to the doctor. When you helped me down from the Blazer, I wanted you to take me in your arms.

  “Nate—promise me you won’t ever let me go!” she cried urgently before covering his face with moist kisses.

  As he was coming to find out, she was a woman who loved with her emotions as well as her body. Her words only added to his euphoria. He rocked her in his arms.

  “Can you see that happening now?”

  “N-not if you take me to Holland with you.” Her voice faltered.

  Holland? He’d forgotten about that. He’d forgotten about everything in the heat of her embrace.

  “I’m sorry—I shouldn’t have said that. I had no right.” She tried to ease away from him.

  “Come back here.” He pulled her against him, then found her mouth once more. “You had every right,” he finally whispered.

  “No.” She shook her head against his shoulder. “Kissing me doesn’t constitute a commitment on your part. The one thing I couldn’t stand is dishonesty from you. The joy of knowing you feel an attraction to me will have to be enough for now.”

  “Attraction— Oh, Laurel—” He let out a deep sigh. “How little you understand.” He lay back against the mattress.

  She raised herself on one elbow to look at him. Her other hand cradled his jaw. “Then tell me.”

  He turned his head to kiss her palm. “I fell in love with you after spending ten minutes in your company back at Nellis.”

  An incredulous expression entered her eyes.

  “Spade put up pictures of you in the barracks. Every guy in the squadron fantasized over you. I had to listen to your husband go on day and night, talking about your beauty, your grace, your—”

  Laurel kissed his lips quiet.

  “It’s strange how well you can get to know a person without ever having met them. I liked everything he told me about you. If ever a woman made a man happy, you did that for him. The truth is, I envied Spade. Then I met you,” he whispered in a husky voice.

  His eyes closed as memories of that meeting overwhelmed him. “My torture began when Spade interrupted our game to introduce you to everyone. There you were at last. Laurel Pierce in the flesh. The cherished wife of my best buddy. I took one look at you and fell so hard I never recovered.”

  “Nate…”

  “My parents raised me to honor the Ten Commandments. Until I met you, I never dreamed I’d have trouble with Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Wife.

  “That night, when the three of us said goodbye, you gave me a kiss on the cheek. It burned right through me. I knew then I’d be in serious trouble if I ever spent time with you again. I had to make sure it didn’t happen.”

  “So that’s the reason we never managed to get together?” He could hear her shock. “I always wondered why.”

  “As I said, it was vital that I avoid you.”

  “I had no idea. So many times I wanted to ask Scott about it, but I sensed he wouldn’t tell me the truth even if he knew. That was because he liked you too much, respected you too much.

  “Over the years I learned to live with it. However, in my heart there’s always been this fear that you harbored something against me.”

  “I’m sorry, Laurel.” He reversed his position so he could lean over her. “But I had to shut you out or stop being Scott’s friend. I wanted to visit you after his funeral….”

  She stared at him. “You’re a noble man. No one else I’ve met even comes close.”

  “Don’t make me out to be a paragon. I was a terrified man, Laurel. So terrified, in fact, that I was cruel to you on the dance floor. Still, I couldn’t understand the pain in your eyes when you looked at me. Not until this moment did I realize that my past actions had any effect on you.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how you forgave me for that night.”

  She brushed her mouth against his. “Because I’d met you once before and I knew the man at the lodge was acting out of character for a reason.”

  He fingered her earring. “Now you know all my deep dark secrets. Every one of them had to do with forbidden thoughts of you.”

  “You did quite a job of covering up.”

  “Only my father and brother have figured it out. They understand that if I haven’t settled down yet, you’re the one to blame. Twice I came close, but in the end it was your presence lurking in my heart that stopped me.”

  “I’m so glad it did!” she cried, reaching for him with an eagerness that made him wonder how he’d existed all these years without her. After kissing her again, he said, “Your daughter’s hungry.”

  Laurel groaned. “Her timing is terrible.”

  “She’s the perfect chaperone. At this point I need one.” He got to his feet. “She doesn’t sound like she can wait for picture-taking. Why don’t we put it off until another time?”

  “You’re not going!” The alarm in her voice revealed the fragile state of her emotions. His weren’t any different.

  “You need time with Becky and I have something to do that can’t be put off.”

  “When will I see you again?”

  “When do you want to see me?”

  Her eyes were still glazed from the passion they’d shared. “I never want you to leave.”

  She slid off the bed and wound her arms around his neck. All she had to do was raise her mouth to his and all rational thought disappeared.

  By now Becky was crying loudly.

  With reluctance he wrenched his lips from hers. “How soon will I be welcome in the morning?”

  “Six.”

  If this wasn’t Brent’s home, Nate would be back to join h
er in bed, to hold her all night. “Make it ten and we’ve got a date.”

  He turned to the baby who needed some serious attention. “Be a good girl for your mommy. Tomorrow we’ll get better acquainted.” After kissing Laurel on both cheeks, he headed for the hallway without looking back.

  “Nate?”

  The longing in her voice was going to be his downfall if he didn’t get out of there right now.

  “I’ll call you tonight.”

  “I’ll be waiting.”

  That quavery sound in her voice melted his bones. It took all the self-control he could summon to leave the house and get in the car.

  Nate felt like he’d left the gravitational pull of earth and was hurtling through space toward the stars.

  He didn’t remember the drive into downtown Denver. Nothing registered until the salesman inside Cramer’s Fine Jewelry said, “A natural blue diamond is costly. I can sell you something comparable in a sapphire for two-fifths the price.”

  “The color’s not the same.”

  “That’s true. They’re very rare. I only have one to show you. It’s pear-shaped.”

  “May I see it?”

  “Of course.”

  The jeweler drew a small envelope out of a file drawer. When he returned to the counter he let the stone fall onto the velvet. He used a tool to manipulate it so Nate could see its intense color.

  He lifted his head. “How long would it take to mount it on a plain gold band like a solitaire?”

  “It can be ready tomorrow after three.”

  “Good.”

  “What size are we talking about?”

  “I don’t know, and I don’t want her to suspect anything. Pick an average ring size. If it’s not right, she can come in later to have it adjusted.”

  “I’ll need a down payment now, the rest when you pick it up.”

  Nate reached into his wallet for his credit card.

  As soon they’d transacted their business, he left the mall for home. En route he placed a call to Colonel Harker’s voice mail at the Academy. Once again, Nate’s plans had to be put on hold. He could only hope that when his old commanding officer learned the reason he might be understanding about Nate’s apparent indecisiveness….