Tempting

by Susan Mallery

  "Your young man is here," Bernie told Dani the following day shortly after two. "Go on. I'll finish up here."

  Dani's stomach tightened with dread. "No, it's okay. I'll tell him I can't see him now. I want to work my whole shift."

  Bernie grinned. "I just said 'your young man.' Now I'm talking like my mother. I need work to distract me. Go. It's fine."

  Trapped by a kind man with good intentions, Dani nodded, then walked through the main dining room of Bella Roma.

  The lunch crowd had faded to only a few diners. She easily saw Alex standing by the front door. He didn't look happy.

  "You've been avoiding me," he said as she approached.

  She hadn't seen him in nearly a week. Despite everything, she found herself wanting to step close and have him hold her. She wanted to feel his arms around her and breathe in the scent of his body. She wanted to kiss and be kissed and have all the bad stuff go away. Which only showed that she was spineless, weak and in need of a feminist intervention.

  "I haven't known what to say," she admitted, then nodded toward the back. "We can talk in my office."

  He frowned. "So there's a problem."

  "Let's talk in private."

  He followed her into the small, crowded space. There was a desk, a file cabinet and not much extra room. Especially with them both standing.

  "What's going on?" he asked. "You haven't returned any of my calls. I went by your grandmother's place this weekend and she said you were out of town."

  She'd hated to ask Gloria to lie for her, but she hadn't been ready to face Alex yet. She still wasn't

  "I'm not ready to deal with this," she admitted.

  "Deal with what? What are you talking about? Dammit, Dani, why are you avoiding me?"

  "Because I don't want to see you," she snapped back. "Can I make it more plain than that? I don't want to see you."

  He stiffened as if she'd slapped him. "All right. You going to tell me why?"

  She couldn't. She couldn't say the words without crying and she refused to break down in front of him. She turned away.

  "Just go," she said softly. "It will be easier that way."

  He grabbed her by the arm and turned her to face him. "Maybe I'm not interested in easy. Maybe I want the truth."

  "You want bullshit, because that's where you live," she snapped.

  "What the hell are you talking about?"

  His eyes were the color of a midnight sky. She hated that she could be angry and hurt and still notice that.

  He swore then and crossed his arms over his chest. "I can't believe it," he said. "I expected better of you."

  "What?"

  "You saw the shows on Sunday. You've been reading the papers. You know the numbers are falling and you're running away, just like you said you would. You're taking the easy way out. I never thought you'd get political so fast."

  She went from sad to furious in two nanoseconds. "Welcome to my world of disappointment. That's what I've been thinking about you. For starters, I haven't gone political, but how kind of you to judge me. As for why I've been avoiding you, here's the reason. I'm tired of lying, cheating, rat bastard men in my life, of which you are apparently the latest in a long chain. You talk a great game. You played me like a pro. Congrats on that, by the way. You make Ryan look like an amateur."

  He dropped his arms to his side. “I have no idea what you're talking about."

  "Drop the act. I've talked to Fiona. I know the truth."

  "What truth? There's no truth."

  "Right. You're a lawyer. Everything is relative. If that works for you, great. But it doesn't work for me. How incredibly pedestrian of me to expect the man I'm sleeping with to sleep with only me. I suppose you can get out of it on a technicality. We never had the 'it's exclusive' conversation. My bad. No, wait. Your bad. You're a disgusting person. I'm sorry I got to know you, I'm sorry I slept with you and I can't tell you how much I regret that because Mark's my father, I can't just walk away from you and never see you again."

  He took a step toward her. "You think I’m seeing someone else?"

  "I know you are. Fiona. She told me. Are you excited about the baby?"

  He stiffened and looked stunned. "She's pregnant?"

  Dani stared at him. "She didn't tell you? Gee, I spoiled the surprise. Yes, Alex. You're going to be a daddy. In the end you get everything."

  “I’m not sleeping with Fiona," he said, but he sounded distracted.

  “That's convincing. Look, you don't have to play the game. She told me everything. It's obvious she's been in your house and in your bed. I'm too tired to keep fighting this battle. I give up. I'm so over men. I thought you were special. Better… But you're not."

  "I don't deserve that. I haven't done anything."

  "Let me guess. You're sorry I had to find out this way."

  His gaze narrowed. "If that's really what you think of me, then we have nothing to talk about."

  "Didn't I tell you that when you first walked in?"

  He stared at her for a long time. She braced herself for the apologies, the explanations. She desperately wanted him to prove her wrong. That's how gone on him she was. She wanted him not to have cheated so they could be together again. Talk about sad.

  But in the end he didn't say anything else. He walked away and never looked back.

  ***

  It was the worst possible time to be practicing a speech she didn't want to give, but Dani couldn't come up with a good excuse for changing her appointment with Katherine. It was only after she'd parked and walked to the front of the house that she realized she could have simply phoned and said she wasn't feeling well.

  Apparently, along with her heart, she'd also lost her brain.

  The thought flashed in and out of her head so quickly that it took her a second to understand its meaning. When that sank in, she slowed, then stopped, right in the middle of the walkway.

  She'd lost her heart? Was that possible? Did she love Alex?

  She stood there, waiting for the answer to the question, then realized she already knew the truth. Of course she loved Alex. Not loving him would have made what he'd done so much easier to take.

  "The hits just keep on coming," she murmured to herself, then continued up the wide path to the front door.

  All she'd ever wanted was to find where she belonged. Instead she'd made a mess of everything.

  As she knocked, she did her best to clear her head. She had to focus on her meeting with Katherine. She would deal with Alex-pain when she got home.

  "Dani!" Katherine opened the door and smiled. "Come in, come in. Are you nervous yet? I hope not. You're going to do great and I'm going to be able to say I knew you when."

  Dani stepped into the large house and instantly felt the welcoming warmth reaching out to comfort her. Katherine was lovely and gracious as always.

  "I'm trying not to think about the speech," she admitted as she followed Katherine into her office. "When I let myself go there, I feel like I'm going to throw up. It's not pretty."

  "Vomiting rarely is. Can I get you something? Coffee? Soda? Water?"

  "I'll take a water."

  Katherine walked to an antique chest which opened up to reveal a small refrigerator. "One of my indulgences," she admitted as she removed two bottles of water. "When I get working on a project, I hate to break my concentration. I'm terribly spoiled."

  "You're great," Dani said and instantly felt stupid. As if she was babbling around someone she admired. Which she kind of was.

  "Thank you," Katherine said.."You're very kind." She pointed to the folder on the coffee table. "There it is. The infamous speech."

  Dani held in a groan. She picked up the folder and flipped through the pages. There were only five of them, double-spaced. The opening told a story of a working single mother who found out she had stage four breast cancer and her quest to find the right family to take her children.

  Maybe it was the placement of the moon or the fact that she was due to get her
period in three days or the hellish trauma she'd been suffering, but Dani found herself suddenly fighting the need to cry.

  She sank onto the sofa as she struggled to keep from bursting into tears. Breathing slowly didn't help, nor did swallowing or thinking about something else.

  Katherine moved closer. "Dani? Are you all right?"

  "I'm fine. It's just stress." She blinked several times and tried to smile. "Sorry. I won't be like this when I give the speech. I'll be too frightened."

  Katherine handed her a box of tissues. "Don't apologize. You feel what you feel. Is there anything I can do?"

  It was a simple question, but the kindness in the other woman's voice was too much. One tear escaped, then another. Dani did her best to hang on to the little dignity she had left.

  "I'm sorry," she repeated. "I'm, ah, dealing with a lot right now. Not that I need to tell you. You have your own issues. I've made things worse. I know that. I didn't mean to. I really admire you and I'm so sorry I've screwed up your life."

  Katherine sat down next to her. "You haven't screwed up my life."

  "How about challenges?" Dani asked with a sniff. "I've brought those along. You don't deserve that."

  "You haven't done anything. We're all fine."

  "I never wanted to hurt you."

  Katherine's mouth tightened. "I'm not hurt."

  She was lying, but Dani understood that. Under the circumstances, why would Katherine trust her with the truth?

  "I've made a mess of everything," Dani said. "Without even trying. Imagine what I could have done if I’d been working at it."

  "What mess?" Katherine asked.

  "The poll numbers. I was watching one of those political shows on Sunday and they said the poll numbers were down because of me and Alex. They said the Canfield campaign was already over."

  Katherine patted her arm. "You can't believe everything you hear. Of course the campaign is going forward. If this is the worst of it, then Mark will win by a three-quarter majority. Poll numbers go down, then they go up. This week it's you. Next week it will be something else."

  She sounded so calm. So confident. Was it really that simple?

  "I haven't damaged Mark's chances?"

  "Never."

  "Okay." Dani wiped her face. "That's good." She straightened and patted her cheeks. "I'm healed. At least for now. Do I look scary?"

  "You look fine."

  "Thanks. I want you to know I didn't mean for any of this to upset you. For what it's worth, I won't be seeing Alex anymore."

  Katherine tried not to react to the news. Despite everything, she'd found herself liking Dani. The young woman seemed sincere and Katherine had always been a sucker for anyone suffering.

  As for Dani and Alex not seeing each other, she tried not to be happy about it, but relief flooded her. If they weren't together then maybe Katherine wouldn't get so many questions about them all the time. She was tired of the questions and the humiliation those questions brought.

  There was a knock at the door.

  "Come in," Katherine called.

  Bailey walked into the room. "Dani! I heard you were here."

  Dani smiled at the teenager. "I am. How are you? Do you still love your shoes?"

  "More than anything."

  Katherine drank her water and tried to be mature. It didn't matter that Dani had taken Bailey shopping for high heels. Honestly, she, Katherine, had never thought to make the offer. It was good for Bailey to get out with other people-people who weren't family-and experience the world. She was fine with it.

  Okay, maybe there had been a tiny twinge that she hadn't been the one to share that experience with her daughter, but she would get over it.

  "I have a dance," Bailey said. "For school. It's the night of my birthday and I get to wear a beautiful dress."

  "Lucky you," Dani said. "I'll want to see pictures."

  Bailey sank onto the floor and grabbed Dani's hands. "Will you please take me shopping for my dress? I want you to help me find it. Please?"

  The words cut through Katherine like a laser.

  She 'd wanted to be the one to go shopping with Bailey. She'd wanted to be the one making those memories. Although she and her daughter had never talked specifics, she'd assumed she would be the one going with her.

  Jealousy burned hot and bright, making her want to attack the woman responsible for this situation.

  "Bailey, I'd really like that" Dani said, sounding as if she meant it. Which she probably did. "Katherine, would that be all right with you?"

  Katherine knew her jealousy was misplaced and that she was acting like a child. The lessons she'd learned from her mother came back to her. Always be calm, no matter what she was feeling inside. Always do the right thing, the proper thing.

  "Of course. You're so sweet to take her. I know Bailey will have a wonderful time."

  It hurt to speak the words. It hurt to smile. She wanted to hiss and scratch like a cornered cat.

  Bailey sprang to her feet, then hugged them both. "I can't wait! I can't wait!" She spun in a circle, her hands in the air, her face bright with pleasure.

  Katherine looked at her daughter and tried to find happiness in the moment. She just couldn't. She wasn't that big of a person.

  When Bailey left, Dani sighed. "She's so great. I adore her."

  "Me, too," Katherine said, doing her best to keep the sharpness out of her voice.

  "Thanks for letting me take her shopping."

  "It's not a problem. Now what were we talking about?"

  Dani's face shifted until she looked as if she'd lost everything. "Alex," she murmured. "That we won't be seeing each other anymore."

  "I see," Katherine said. "What changed your mind? The poll numbers?"

  She should point out to Dani that she couldn't let other people's opinions run her life. That was the right thing to do. But before she could decide if she was that mature or not, Dani said, "No, it's not the poll numbers. Alex accused me of that, too."

  "Really?"

  Dani nodded. Her eyes were dark and filled with pain. “I’m sorry about the numbers, but that's not the reason. He thought I was running away. To make things easier."

  "You're not?"

  "No." Dani swallowed. "I think…I think he might still be seeing Fiona. She came to talk to me and she made a really good case for that."

  Katherine could feel Dani's pain. The other woman looked at her.

  "You know them both. Is it possible? Could Alex still be seeing Fiona?"

  It was like an out-of-body experience, Katherine thought as she seemed to stare down at the room. She could see herself sitting on the sofa. So perfect, she thought, taking in the cashmere sweater, the pearls. She was a cliché. A cliché whose life had been turned upside down by the proof that her husband could father children when she couldn't have them herself.

  She argued that it wasn't Dani's fault. That she hadn't knowingly brought this humiliation to Katherine. That the fact that she and Bailey got along was a good thing. She could hear her mother's voice telling her to always be a lady.

  Screw that, she thought bitterly. For once she was going to do exactly what she wanted to do. What felt right and would make her hurt a little less.

  She looked at Dani and lied. "I don't want to hurt you, but I do think it's very possible Alex and Fiona are seeing each other."

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Alex walked into his father's office at campaign headquarters. He knew Mark was in a meeting and that Katherine had come in for a photo shoot. She stood in front of the wall map of the country.

  "Do you have a minute?" he asked.

  She turned and smiled at him. "Of course. I'm stuck standing until the photographer is ready. I can't muss or wrinkle. I can barely make an expression at all, so don't be funny or all this makeup will crack."

  He grinned. "Makes me want to ruffle your hair."

  "Naturally. Why is it that the small boy always lives inside the man?"

  "One of my gender's many c
harms."

  "Yes, it is." She tilted her head. "What's going on? What do you want to talk about?"

  His humor faded. He closed the door for privacy and moved toward her. "What would you say if I told you I wanted to leave the campaign?"

  Her blue eyes widened. "Alex, no." She reached out and put her hand on his arm. "Seriously? You hate it that much?"

  "Yeah. This isn't me or what I want. I'm not a political animal. But I said I'd help and he's my father.”

  She nodded. "Right. Loyalty to family. Doing the right thing." She dropped her hand. "I'm the wrong person to ask about this."

  "Because you're too close to what's going on?"

  "That, and…" She drew in a breath. "I know about doing what's expected. Sometimes when we go the other way we feel free and sometimes we just feel like crap. Do you know which it's going to be for you?"

  "I'm not sure it matters," he told her, "I never thought I'd get caught in the middle of something like this. I know where my loyalties lie and I still can't make myself want to stay."

  "This campaign is a complication in all our lives," she said. "Especially now."

  He looked at her. "You mean because of Dani?"

  "She keeps things interesting. Not that it's her fault. It's just uncomfortable timing."

  "She's hurt you, hasn't she?"

  Katherine turned back to the map and touched the center of Texas. "Not really. She isn't responsible for what people say or how I react to it."

  "She'll be less of an issue now. We're not seeing each other."

  His mother tensed slightly. "What happened?"

  "I don't know. That's the thing of it. I really thought she was someone I could care about. After Fiona I didn't want to get involved again. I didn't want to trust anyone like that. But Dani was different."

  More than different. There'd been something about her. He'd wanted to spend every moment with her. He wanted to know everything about her. He could see a future with her.

  "And now?" his mother asked.

  "She got upset about the poll numbers, which I get, but then she accused me of still seeing Fiona." The accusation burned. Dani knew what he thought of his ex-wife's betrayal. She knew loyalty was everything to him and yet she'd still claimed to believe he was screwing around. With Fiona of all people. What the hell was up with that?