Temporary Dad

by Laura Marie Altom

  At this time of day, on a weekend, the spot would be covered with sightseers, but on a Wednesday, Annie and Jed had it all to themselves.

  He wanted to lace his fingers with hers and draw her into a kiss, but things were almost comfortable between them again. Why risk doing anything that might harm their fragile new bond?

  As good as their relationship currently felt, he couldn’t help wondering if they’d somehow gotten it backward by sleeping together so soon. Their making love had been great, but at the same time, it was probably a mistake.

  Did Annie feel the same way? Was that part of the underlying tension between them?

  Jed had never been the type to casually sleep around. Making love implied a certain level of commitment. He and Annie were practically strangers, yet on a soul-deep level, he’d never felt closer to a woman.

  “Thank you for bringing me here,” she said.

  “Thanks for coming.”

  “Are you okay?” she asked, nudging his arm.

  “Sure. Why? Do I look sick?”

  “No. You’re just awfully quiet. In fact, you’ve been quiet ever since I thought we patched things up.”

  A gust of wind took her OU ball cap.

  She shrieked and laughed as she tried to catch it, but the wind sent it skittering across the rocks.

  Jed chased it down, then perched it back on her curls. “I forgot to tell you back at the cabin, but you look cute in that.”

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Well?” she asked, not looking at the view but at him. “Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”

  “For starters—” he tugged on the bill of her cap “—I bring you all the way up here and all you want to do is analyze me.”

  “I’m not analyzing you, Jed. I’m showing an interest in your thoughts and feelings. There’s a difference, you know.” Her kissable lips frowned.

  Jed frowned right back. All the signs were there—he was in deep trouble.

  “Are you ticked that I ate the last doughnut for breakfast?”

  He rolled his eyes.

  “Did I snore or hog the covers?”

  “What’s the matter with you? Why do you have to keep harping at me when we’re in this beautiful setting?” Why can’t you just step into my arms and let me hold you while we take in the view?

  “I’m not harping.”

  “Then what do you call it?”

  Annie looked away from him to hide her irrational tears.

  What she called it was frustration!

  Honestly, how many hints did she have to give the guy before he’d hold her hand or kiss her? Ever since they’d made love, it was as if he’d adopted a hands-off policy, and it was driving her completely nuts.

  “Why won’t you kiss me?” she finally blurted.

  “W-what?”

  “You heard me.”

  “Okay, I haven’t kissed you because I thought we weren’t going to do that anymore.”

  “Says who?” She stubbornly raised her chin.

  “Me.” Jed turned his back on her, mounting a steep dirt trail.

  “Oh, so Mr. Control has the final say on everything—including matters of the heart?” Annie chased after him, one hand on her hat, the other holding the flapping halves of her open jacket.

  “I didn’t hear mention of any hearts.” He kept right on walking.

  She kept right on chasing. “Yeah, well, if you’d been listening, you’d know I didn’t imply any specific hearts, just the general premise.”

  He stopped and turned to face her. “And if you’d been listening, you’d see that I want to kiss you—a lot. But I’m no fool, Annie. Your body language says it loud and clear—hands off.”

  She laughed. “Really?”

  “Yes, really.”

  “Sorry to bust your ego there, fella, but you might want a refresher course in Body Language One-Oh-One, because ever since you were so honest with me yesterday—not to mention your patience at all of those outlet malls—I’ve thought of nothing but doing this…”

  On tiptoe, Annie seized initial control of their kiss, but then Jed swept his strong fingers under the fall of her hair, cupping her head, tilting it to get their lips at a better angle. He urged her mouth open, caressing her tongue with his. Waves of hunger and need shimmered through her.

  She crept her hands up under his T-shirt, gliding her fingertips along the warm, smooth skin of his back.

  “Woman,” he said on the heels of a groan. “You make me crazy.”

  “Ditto,” she said before he started to kiss her all over again.

  Next intermission, he asked, “Why are we always fighting when this is so much more fun?”

  “New pact,” she said.

  “Let’s hear it.”

  “Kiss first. Bicker later.”

  “Why do we have to bicker at all?”

  “Good question. Let’s kiss some more. Maybe that’ll help us figure it out.”

  “YOU’RE LATE,” King Murray said the instant he jerked open his door. He sat in an antique wicker wheelchair with a red flannel blanket across his lap. His white hair, beard and bushy eyebrows would have made him look like a cross between Santa and Colonel Sanders—but King didn’t sport the requisite smile. “And from the whisker burn around that poor girl’s lips, you should’ve shaved before mugging her in broad daylight.”

  “Nice to see you, too.” Jed gave his old eccentric friend a hug and made formal introductions before asking, “How do you know I kissed Annie today and not last night?” He slipped his hand reassuringly around her waist.

  “What kind of fool do you take me for?” King slammed the door to his sweltering tin shack. He clicked five dead bolts into place. Great. Nothing like spending an afternoon locked in a sauna that reeked of wet newspapers and pipe tobacco. The guy could afford better, but he’d get all cantankerous when pressed to make improvements to his abode. He said he liked it just the way it was. Jed figured who was he to tell the old coot any different?

  Jed smiled. “Expecting silver bandits?”

  “You can never be too safe,” the old man said, jerking his head toward the curtained-off entrance to his mine. “Doc says I’ll be out of this chair soon. Come October, I aim to have a whole new shaft open. Once news hits town of the vein I’m gonna find, folks’ll be linin’ up to be my new best friend.”

  “Yeah, well, until then, how about a game of Scrabble?”

  King snorted. “I’ve already beat you five ways to Sunday. What’s the matter, need a little more stomping on your pride?”

  Jed rubbed his palms together. “You’re playing Annie, not me.”

  The old man roared with raspy laughter. “Me play that stick with curls? Not worth my time. Go on, both of you get lost. I’ve got plannin’ to do on where to sink my next shaft.”

  “Not so fast there, Mr. Murray.” Still ticked by his whisker-burn comment, Annie reached into her purse, grabbed her wallet, then slapped a twenty onto the nearest table. “Care to take me up on a friendly wager?” While the old man gawked at the money, Annie winked at Jed, who seemed equally surprised to find a preschool teacher placing bets.

  King cleared his throat. “Take a seat at the kitchen table. I’ll get the board. Oh—do you like polka?”

  FOUR HOURS and four Scrabble games later, Annie was up by eighty bucks—despite the accordions blaring from hidden stereo speakers. While King took a bathroom break, she whispered to Jed, “I feel awful taking his money. Is he on a fixed income?”

  Jed chuckled. “The old coot’s a millionaire ten times over. He was a Wall Street bigwig before he took up mining.”

  “For real?”

  “Have you had a good look at the mantel?”

  Annie looked in that direction and saw what she’d assumed was a Van Gogh print. “No way,” she said, marching over for a better look. Up close, the painting’s colors glowed.

  “He’s got a Monet over the john,” Jed said. “I don’t know if you
noticed while answering my phone, but that Gauguin over my bed is the real deal. Marthe and King had this big art discussion one day, and she mentioned I liked that painting. My next birthday, it came to my place via FedEx. Marthe said he bought it from some museum. Off part of the mine is a wine cellar where he stores vintage champagne. Come New Year’s, he’s a real popular guy. Throws one great party.”

  “Sounds like fun,” Annie said. “I’d love to go if—well, you know what I mean.” She tucked her hands in her pockets for the short walk back to the table.

  “If we’re still together?” Jed asked.

  She shrugged.

  “Do you want to be?”

  “How should I know?” she said, playing it cool despite her racing pulse and the knot in her stomach that felt as if she’d driven her car down a steep hill at sixty miles per hour. “We’re practically strangers.”

  He took a step toward Annie, blasting her with his charming grin. “We didn’t feel like strangers the other night.”

  With him so close, so handsome, so charming, so flirty and fun, she wasn’t sure how to reply. Luckily, she didn’t have to.

  King rolled back into the room. “One more game, Curl Girl. Double or nothing. What do you say?”

  From what she’d learned about the guy, Annie suspected he might be setting her up. One-hundred-and-sixty bucks bought a lot of paint. “I don’t know,” she said. “That’s a great deal of money.”

  “Chicken?”

  “No, but come on—I’m a preschool teacher. My job’s rewarding, but not exactly lucrative.”

  He grunted, then wheeled over to a cheap metal filing cabinet and pulled open the creaky bottom drawer. He fished something out, shut the drawer, then wheeled back. “How about this to sweeten the pot?” From out of a velvet pouch he withdrew a bejeweled egg.

  Faberge?

  She gulped. “Is that what I think it is?”

  “Bah.” He waved his hand in dismissal. “Got three more stashed around here somewhere. Wife liked ’em real well.”

  “Did she die?”

  Jed coughed. “I’ve heard the Broncos are going to have a great season.”

  King glared at Annie. “The no-good wench said I spent too much time underground and not enough with her. She left me. Married some fool nightclub singer down in Phoenix.” To Jed, he muttered, “If you ever tell anyone I said this, I’ll flat out deny it, but son, once you two hitch up, make sure you don’t spend too much time on the job. Work enough to pay the bills, but remember—you’ve got to tend your flowers.”

  “My flowers, huh?” Jed shot a wink Annie’s way. “Does that mean I get more than one?”

  BACK AT THE CABIN, over a dinner of deli sandwiches, chips and giant dill pickles, Annie eyed her Faberge egg. “I still can’t believe he just gave this to me. The thing’s got to be worth a fortune.”

  Jed shrugged. “It’s only money. King was crazy for his wife, he just didn’t always show it. She was a blonde. I suspect you remind him of her, otherwise he’d have whomped you five out of five games instead of letting you win.”

  “Oh—you think he let me win?”

  “That’s what I said, isn’t it?” He dabbed the corners of his smile with a yellow paper napkin. “Because what Marthe and I failed to tell you, is that while you’re good, he’s nationally ranked good.”

  “So the whole day was a setup?”

  “It was supposed to be,” he said, before taking a bite of ham sandwich. “Who could’ve guessed King would actually take a liking to you? He hates everyone.”

  Reaching across the table, Jed laced his fingers with Annie’s. “You wanna be in my garden? I’m going to take old King’s advice and tend my flowers well.” He waggled his eyebrows.

  “Beast.”

  “Your beast if you’ll have me.”

  “Yeah, but for how long?” she whispered, shocked that she’d asked the question, dizzy from the pace of her heart.

  “How long do you want?”

  “You’re talking in circles.”

  “So are you.” He raised her hand to his lips.

  Closing her eyes, Annie willed her pulse to slow. How many sides did the man have? Here was yet another. A soft, romantically teasing side that she adored every bit as much as his many others.

  “Do you think you could stand being mine for a month?”

  Unable to speak, she nodded.

  “How about two?”

  She nodded again.

  “Want to be my date for King’s New Year’s party? We could head out right after Christmas. Ski Copper Mountain and Breckenridge, then—” He stopped himself. “Listen to me. Taking over your holidays when I know you’ve got family obligations.”

  “Yes. My grandmother.”

  “So you probably don’t want to do anything for New Year’s?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I’m thinking we might want to work on our communication skills.”

  “That’s a given, but you still haven’t told me if you’re penciling me in for the holidays.”

  Slipping her arms around his neck, she pressed her lips to his, telling him in the plainest way she knew…

  Yes—to skiing and New Year’s and most anything else he might want to offer.

  Chapter Fourteen

  There, beside the small oak table where their meals sat, half-eaten, Jed drew Annie to her feet, sliding his hands to the small of her back, deepening their kiss with bold strokes of his tongue.

  “I’m not even sure how it happened,” he said, “but I love you, Annie Harnesberry. We’ve both had some tough times, but somehow this—us—feels right.”

  Her cheek against his chest, she nodded, surrendering herself to the feel of his heartbeat, so steady and sure.

  Yes, a tiny voice inside still warned her to be careful—not to jump into something she wasn’t ready for. But then the voice of reason kicked in, reminding her that Jed was nothing like either of the men who’d hurt her so badly before.

  Like Troy, Jed wanted to be in control, but he proved every day that he didn’t have to be. He never hit when he didn’t get his way. He didn’t even yell.

  And when she’d asked Jed if he only wanted her around as a sitter for his niece and nephews, his answer was all she could ever hope for and more.

  So as she watched him unfasten the buttons of her denim jacket, did she feel ready to make an unofficial commitment to Jed even though she barely knew him?

  Yes, because she did know him.

  In her soul.

  Where it truly counted.

  He eased her jacket off her shoulders and arms, draping it over the back of her chair.

  She shivered, and he ran his large, warm hands up and down her shoulders. “Cold?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Nervous?”

  “How did you know?”

  “Your lower lip quivers.”

  “It does?”

  He nodded, outlining her mouth with the tip of his index finger. “And your pupils widen.”

  “Sorry,” she wasn’t sure what else to say.

  “I don’t want you to be sorry,” he said. “I love that about you. That I know what you’re thinking.”

  I love that about you, too.

  “Do you want to know what I’m thinking?” he asked.

  She nodded, and he skimmed his finger lower, down her chin and throat. Making a sharp right at her collarbone, he etched a new path under her thin cotton T-shirt to the strap of her bra. Slipping his finger underneath, he said, “With your consent, I’d like to take you to bed, then just hold you all night long. Does that sound okay?”

  “More than okay…Perfect.”

  NEVER HAD ANNIE awakened happier or more content, as if all was right with her world.

  Jed lay on his back beside her, broad chest bare. His hair was always spiked and messy, but this morning especially so. Was he one of those who moved around a lot in their sleep? She’d slept so soundly beside him, she didn’t have a clue.

  She curved her h
and over his shoulder, grinning when it didn’t reach even halfway around.

  At the time she’d left him, Troy’s size had frightened her. Jed’s size had always made her feel more secure.

  She closed her eyes and sighed, reflecting on how much her life had changed in less than a week’s time.

  In a roundabout way, Jed had proposed, and she’d accepted.

  “What’s got you so deep in thought?” he asked, startling her.

  Hand to her chest, she said, “Jeez. You scared me to death.”

  “Sorry.” He drew her into his arms. After kissing her forehead, he moved on to her lips.

  “Mmm…you’re forgiven.”

  “Thanks.” After a few minutes of holding her, he asked, “Hungry?”

  “Not really. You?”

  He shook his head. “I’m actually not feeling so hot.”

  “You don’t think you’re coming down with something, do you?”

  “Nah. Just nerves.”

  She scooted up in the bed to see his face better. “About what?” Not us, I hope.

  “There goes that quivering lip of yours,” he said with the slow, sexy grin she’d come to love. “Trust me, this has nothing to do with you, okay? I’m wondering what I’m going to say when I see Patti.”

  “What do you mean? Won’t you simply be happy to see her?”

  Bunching a pillow under his head, he shrugged. “Of course, I’ll be glad she’s home safe, but it’s more complicated than that.”

  “How so?”

  “It just is. But it shouldn’t be, so I’ll shut up.”

  “You don’t have to on my account. Go ahead, explain how you feel.”

  “That’s the thing,” he said, drawing her against him, playing with one of her curls. “I don’t even know myself—except when it comes to how I feel about you.”

  “Which is?” she teased.

  “Good.” He kissed the crown of her head. “Very, very good.”

  “I’M GOING to miss you,” Marthe said, practically suffocating Jed with the strength of her hug. Ditch helped Annie gather and load the last of the baby gear.

  “You’ve hardly seen me,” he said, hugging Marthe back.

  “I know, but somehow just having you here feels like old times. Like back when we were kids, hanging out all summer. No responsibilities, just fun.” She swiped at a few fat tears.