“Did you ever have trouble on a date? One you needed help handling?” he murmured.
“Me? Not a chance. I take care of myself.”
Something flashed through Shannon’s eyes so quickly, it was gone almost before it registered.
She was lying.
Not in a bad way. Just covering up something she didn’t like remembering, or didn’t want to confess.
It bothered him that Shannon might not be as tough as she appeared—maybe because her brothers were still protecting her, while he’d seen Gail just once in the past three years. Gail was tough, too; you didn’t grow up in the McKenzie household without developing a protective shell. But what if his sister wasn’t as tough as he thought?
Because it raised a confusing array of emotions that Alex didn’t want to feel, he sat next to Jeremy, who was playing once again with Shannon’s Christmas train set.
“Choo, choo,” Jeremy chanted. Mr. Tibbles had been leaned up against one of the miniature Victorian houses, and he looked decidedly tipsy with one of his long ears flopped over a black button eye.
Sometimes Alex hated that rabbit.
It represented the dark days, the loss his little boy never should have suffered. Only the introduction of Shannon into their lives had lessened his fierce attachment to Mr. Tibbles.
Shannon…
Sighing to himself, Alex glanced across the room. She’d knelt by the fireplace and was lighting a neatly laid stack of logs. The sway of her hips beneath her formfitting jeans made him uncomfortably warm. Her impact on his senses was the most likely explanation for his agreeing to dinner, but knowing that didn’t make him happy.
He cleared his throat. “I’m surprised you don’t have a gas fire. It’s more convenient.”
She turned and smiled. “I prefer the light and warmth of a real fire.”
“Gas puts off heat and light.”
“Not like this.” Shannon gazed into the new flames licking across the wood, a dreamy expression on her face. “Every year I visit Ireland with my mother. The cottage she grew up in has a fireplace that fills most of a wall in the kitchen. The light bounces off the polished copper pots and kettles, and it feels so safe and secure, as if nothing will ever change.”
“Everything changes.” The words came out sharper than Alex had intended, but it was the truth. Things changed, no matter how much he disliked the process.
The corners of Shannon’s mouth turned down, and the soft light of memory faded from her eyes. “I know. That’s a lesson I received when I wasn’t many years older than Jeremy. Anyway, my grandparents still live in the cottage, though Kane wants to build them a modern house with modern conveniences, either in Ireland or here in Washington.”
Alex found himself moving closer, drawn partly by the warmth in his lower extremities, and partly by the unguarded emotions he’d seen in her face. “They refused?”
“Yes. Generations of Scanlons have grown up there, and they’re not ones to be goin’ anywhere that God didn’t put them.” She said the last in a distinct brogue, and he knew she was repeating something she must have heard often from her faraway grandparents.
“I take it your grandparents didn’t approve of your mother going to America.”
“It was my father they didn’t approve of. That is…” Her voice trailed, and to Alex’s surprise, Shannon looked shy, as if she’d revealed something she thought should have stayed private. “They’re good people, but my father was wild before he married my mother, and then he took her thousands of miles away.”
Wild?
“You take after your father, don’t you?” he asked before he could think better of the question. He didn’t need to know those kinds of things about Shannon; they weren’t even friends, much less lovers.
“Yes, though my third-oldest brother is the most like Dad. Of course, Patrick is settling down now, too. He got married a couple of months after Kane.”
“Is marriage the answer for your family? Like a ship’s anchor for all that wildness?”
“Maybe.” Shannon flipped a curling lock of auburn hair away from her face, and shrugged. “But probably not for me.”
Once again there was a confusing emotion in her green eyes, quickly concealed. A man could get whiplash trying to figure her out, and for the hundredth time Alex’s head warned him to get out, now, before he got involved. Women like Shannon might be fascinating, but they were also too disturbing.
Despite the warning, he leaned forward. “Why not you?”
“Lots of reasons,” she said lightly. “I’m too independent and want things my own way. I enjoy working and keeping my own hours, that sort of stuff.”
Once again he had the oddest sensation, as though she’d told him something that wasn’t entirely true.
“Seeing how good you are with kids, I’d think you’d want a family of your own.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “How do you know I’m good with kids? Maybe it’s just a fluke with Jeremy.”
Alex laughed. “I don’t believe that. Why else would he respond to you?”
“It’s…complicated.” Shannon’s smile trembled and she looked at Jeremy playing with the train set. Her voice lowered. “I think it’s because I understand what he’s going through. You see, my father died in an accident when I was eight. One minute I was a happy, carefree little girl, and the next…”
Her eyes blinked rapidly, unnaturally bright, and he winced. “Don’t, Shannon.”
She shook her head. “No, I want you to understand, because if there’s anything I can do to help Jeremy, I want to do it. I know how it feels to be young and have your world fall apart, and to hurt so much you want to crawl in a hole and hide,” she said, sounding as if the words had been dragged from a deep place in her soul, a place she didn’t usually reveal.
Alex felt like a heel for causing her to speak about something so painful. Maybe it wasn’t such a terrible thing to ask for her phone number to give the day-care center. Jeremy came first, and Shannon obviously wanted to help.
He raked a hand through his hair, his need to stay uninvolved battling with the seductive desire to be close to a woman as tempting as Shannon. And right in the middle of the battle were his son’s needs, more important than anything else.
“Actually, there is something…well, there’s a favor you could do for us,” he said slowly.
Shannon raised one eyebrow when he fell silent. “Yes?” she prompted.
“The day-care center has been asking for an emergency contact in case they can’t reach me. I know it’s a lot to ask, but they’re right about needing someone local. I understand if you don’t want to. It’s really all right if you say no.”
Alex sent up a prayer she would say no, or seem reluctant, or say something else that would get him off the hook. Then he could honestly stall the day-care center again.
“Of course,” Shannon said, reaching for her purse and taking out a business card. She scribbled something on the back and handed it to him. “This has my office number, and I put down my home and cell, along with my executive assistant’s phone. She can always reach me. Really, if there’s anything you need, just call.”
God in heaven…
She was so generous, and Alex gazed into her green eyes for an endless moment, then down at the curves of her mouth. Panic lapped at the edge of his consciousness; he didn’t want to be attracted to Shannon or be pulled into her world. He wanted things to be calm and sane, with everything in its proper place. He needed things to be that way.
The doorbell rang before Alex could sort through the emotional minefield he’d stumbled into, and he let out an unconscious sigh of relief. “That must be dinner.”
He pulled out his wallet, but Shannon shook her head.
“It’s my treat, remember?”
Letting a woman pay for dinner went against the grain. “But—”
“No ‘buts.’” Shannon got to her feet. It had been years since she’d had so much trouble keeping herself from blushing, yet some
thing about Alex was making her say things she never planned on saying.
And those eyes of his…they were too darned intent. She’d bet anything that he wasn’t thinking about her the way she kept thinking about him, but that was the story of her love life. Men always had a different agenda, and how was she supposed to figure out a man who’d lost his wife and was worried about his son?
“So, how is everything going with your classes?” she asked after they’d settled at the dining-room table and spooned various portions onto their plates, the food steaming and spicing the air with the pungent fragrances of lemongrass and other herbs.
Alex groaned. “Okay, but I didn’t have any idea how tough it was teaching basic engineering principles to undergrads.”
“I thought you’d been teaching for a long time.”
“No, this is my first year. I used to work on engineering projects all over the world. But now that it’s just me and Jeremy, I realized that moving every few months for a job wasn’t the right life for him.”
“It must have been easier to manage a nomadic life-style with three of you.”
He glanced at Jeremy and looked uncomfortable. “It wasn’t like that. I enjoy spending time in remote, primitive locations, but Kim didn’t feel that way, so she stayed in our house back in Minnesota. I’d fly home as often as possible, but she wanted to have a stable base, especially after Jeremy came. It was for the best.”
The best for who?
It wasn’t Shannon’s business, but it sounded awful. Families belonged together. Her mother had picked up the family and moved with Keenan O’Rourke whenever necessary. They’d lived all over the Seattle region when Shannon was a kid, though mostly in small towns, rather than the city.
“Maybe you should consider working with graduate students,” she murmured instead of speaking her mind the way she wanted. Alex’s wife had made her decisions; there wasn’t any point in criticizing them. “You might enjoy it more.”
“They’re assigning me a group of graduates after the first of the year. And I guess it isn’t that bad,” he said thoughtfully. “I miss the work more than the travel, but it’s an interesting challenge to mold future engineers.”
“How about doing consulting on the side?”
“I’ve thought about that, but it’s taken longer than I expected to get settled.”
Shannon made a mental note to talk to Kane. Her brother hired the brightest and best for his company, and she didn’t doubt that Alex McKenzie fell into that category. Of course, if she said anything to Kane about Alex, he’d ask questions she didn’t want to answer.
Jeremy sat watching them and she noticed a frown growing on his small face. She hadn’t said anything more about him eating some of the Thai food, not wanting him to dig his heels in and refuse. She’d simply put the hamburger and fries in front of him, and waited.
“You said I could try some,” he announced abruptly.
“That’s right. What do you want to try first?”
He pointed to her plate.
“Mmm, yummy choice. That’s the peanut chicken I told you about. It’s sweet, with ground peanuts and coconut milk.” Shannon served some onto his plate, holding back on the fresh spinach that came with the chicken—there was no sense in pushing her luck. “There you go.”
Jeremy regarded the food with the expression of a mouse confronting a lion, but he slowly picked up a fork. His smile brightened as he chewed, then quickly finished the sample she’d given him. “Can I have some more?”
On the other side of the table Alex stared in wonder. “May I have some more,” he automatically corrected.
“Okay. Can Daddy have more, too?” Jeremy asked.
Shannon choked and Alex spotted the smile she was trying to hide. “Yes,” she said, “your daddy may have more, too. You both can have anything you want.”
Alex doubted that.
What he wanted, and what he should have, were two entirely different things. His attraction to Shannon was inappropriate, ill-timed and utterly impossible. For Jeremy’s sake, as well as his own, he had to keep it hidden.
Just then she flicked a small amount of sauce from her lip with her tongue and his body hardened.
Keeping his response to Shannon hidden might not be easy, he thought with resignation.
Much later, after tucking Jeremy into bed, Alex stared into his own dark fireplace and brooded.
He liked sex.
Always had.
After getting married, he’d had opportunities to go to bed with other women, but the idea of being unfaithful to his wife was repugnant. Lack of fidelity, among other things, had cursed his parents’ relationship.
What would Kim say if she knew he was having sensual thoughts about Shannon O’Rourke? He shook his head at the question. Kim would probably say something reasonable and measured like…those feelings are normal…don’t beat yourself up over it…it’s all right. Her Zenlike calm had irritated him sometimes, but he reminded himself it was what he’d wanted. His wife had rarely raised her voice, much less become angry.
He was back to square one, not knowing what to do about Shannon. She might be able to help Jeremy, but what if his son got more ideas about her becoming his new mommy?
And what if he got more ideas about taking her to bed?
Alex couldn’t have a no-strings affair with his next-door neighbor. Besides, for all of Shannon’s modern sophistication, he didn’t think she was a “no-strings” type of woman.
He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ease his tight muscles, but it was useless.
When had life gotten so damned complicated?
Chapter Four
Shannon sipped her cup of tea and glanced around the crowded coffee shop.
The Seattle area was a coffee lover’s mecca, and cheerful Christmas shoppers filled the store to capacity. Couples seemed to be in force today, replete with loving looks and affectionate gestures toward one another. For some inexplicable reason the scene made her think about Alex McKenzie. On the other hand, maybe it wasn’t inexplicable. Everything made her think about Alex.
Sighing, Shannon put her cup on a collection tray and slipped from the store.
Small leaves, scattered by a cold breeze, danced across the sidewalk and into the street. Another sigh escaped as her cell phone rang.
“Hello,” she answered.
“Shannon, it’s Alex.”
She stopped dead in her tracks. “Alex. Hello.”
“Are you in the middle of something?” His voice sounded oddly stressed and she frowned.
“I was doing some Christmas shopping, but I’m done now. Is something wrong?”
“No. That is, nothing serious. But I’m involved in something urgent, and Jeremy is at the day-care center. He says he isn’t feeling well. I doubt it’s anything, and I hate to ask, but I’m really—”
“I’d be happy to pick him up,” Shannon said instantly. “He can stay with me until you get home.” There was a long silence and she bit her lip. “Alex, are you there?”
“Yes. I appreciate the offer. I shouldn’t be too late, I hope no later than mid afternoon.” He gave her directions to the day-care center, then rang off.
Shannon stood stock-still for a minute, filled with both shock and alarm. She knew even less about sick children than she did about children in general.
“This isn’t about you,” she muttered, annoyed with herself. “It’s about Jeremy.”
It was also about Alex, and the confusing way he seemed to blow hot and cold. She’d hoped they could be friends after their second dinner together, but he’d sounded so uneasy telling her about Jeremy.
She shook her head.
Men were stubborn about asking for help. It seemed to wound their pride to think they couldn’t handle everything themselves. Or maybe Alex’s problem was something else—something even more incomprehensible than the male ego.
“And men claim women are unpredictable,” Shannon muttered as she unlocked her car and jumped behind
the wheel. Handling a sick little boy would probably be a piece of cake compared to dealing with a grown-up Alex.
At the day-care center an older woman met Shannon at the door. “Miss O’Rourke? Hello, I’m Helen Davis. Please come inside. I’m afraid Jeremy is upset.”
“What happened?”
“We told him you were coming and he seemed pleased. Then one of our aides offered to mend his stuffed rabbit while he waited, and things went down from there.”
Shannon’s eyebrows shot upward. “She didn’t try to take Mr. Tibbles away from Jeremy, did she?”
“Not…exactly.”
“Shannon,” yelped a small voice, and Jeremy raced forward, practically leaping into her arms. He clutched her neck with surprising strength.
“Hey, kiddo. It’s okay.”
He looked at her, his blue eyes brimming with tears. “The lady wanted to poke Mr. Tibbles with a needle.” He scowled at Mrs. Davis as if she’d sprouted horns and a tail.
“That’s too bad. Do you want to come home with me?”
“Uh-huh. Mr. Tibbles wants a nap.”
Poor little guy. He couldn’t admit he wanted to sleep, so Mr. Tibbles was taking the blame. Shannon stroked the dark hair away from Jeremy’s forehead. He felt warm, but kids always felt warm to her.
“Let’s go,” she said quietly, carrying him out to the car.
When they arrived home, Shannon settled Jeremy in the living room. He quickly curled up on the floor with a pillow and blanket, Mr. Tibbles clutched to his chest. Sucking his thumb, he watched the cheerful village beneath the Christmas tree until he fell asleep.
Alex raced down the freeway, pushing the speed limit, a thousand things on his mind, including the frightened student he’d just left at the University Health Center.
Rita Sawyer, a brilliant sixteen-year-old prodigy, had come to him with a problem.
A big problem.
Big enough to make him call Shannon and ask for a favor he would have given almost anything not to ask.
Alex flexed his hands on the steering wheel, angry all over again. If he ever found out which football player had thought it was fun to seduce an underage girl, the slithering little snake would stop laughing in a hurry. Unfortunately, Rita had been too upset and scared to tell him who was responsible.
Meet Me Under The Mistletoe (O'Rourke Family 5) Page 4