CHAPTER 13
Dan was relieved to see Kelly’s car in her driveway. He parked haphazardly on the lawn, slammed his door and hurried up the walk, only to discover the front door opening as he reached it.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
He hadn’t meant to shut, but it had taken him aback to see that she was going out. She was wearing a fawn skirt with a slit in the back, a soft-beige blouse, a tweed jacket, stockings and heels. High heels, the kind she never failed to wear when she wanted to feel mature—and tall.
She was also wearing a little hat, and though she quickly cast him a gaze of dismay, when she lowered her head, he could no longer see her eyes, no longer read the emotion within them.
“Kelly, where do you think you’re going?”
It was more of a growl this time, but he hadn’t meant that, either.
“Dan!” she murmured, looking up again. Dan smiled a little grimly, because he was certain that she was trying to determine whether or not he knew—whether Jarod had betrayed her to him.
“One more time, Kelly.” He blocked the doorway, hands on his hips. “Where are you going?”
“Out,” she told him boldly.
“Get back in the house.”
When she didn’t move, he glared at her and asked, “Where do you think you’re going?”
“The grocery store.”
“The hell you are!”
“I am!”
“We’re going to talk about it.”
Her blue eyes widened incredulously. “We’re going to talk about the grocery store?”
“You’re not headed for any grocery store! Not dressed like that!” He took her shoulders and steered her back into the house, following closely in her wake, then closing the door behind them with his foot.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded heatedly,
“You’re not leaving! We’re going to talk!”
She was silent for a minute, then said coldly, “Do you know, that’s one of your major problems.”
“What’s one of my major problems?”
“That temper of yours! It’s awful. It’s ridiculous that you think you can just boss everyone around. Every time you get mad, you get abusive—”
“I’m never abusive!”
“The first time I met you, you were yelling. And the next thing I knew, you were yelling at me again, because my son and your daughter chose my cabin in which to…to…”
“Damn it, Kelly, I’m sorry! I know I had no right to lay that one on you, and I apologize.”
“Then you nearly attacked my son!” Kelly said, outraged.
“The hell I did!” Dan protested furiously. “I didn’t touch the little brat—and he was being a brat, Kelly. You know,” he said thoughtfully, “that’s part of your problem.”
“My problem?”
“That’s right, lady. Princess of Fantasy. Jarod was wrong, and you knew it. But you had to protect your child, protect him all the way. Well, Kelly, he isn’t a kid anymore, and you’d better realize that. He has to be responsible for his own actions.”
Her fingers twisted around the strap of her purse. “Jarod is a good human being. Dan Marquette, and don’t you dare try to tell me differently—”
“I’m extremely fond of Jarod. He’s a good kid, and so’s Sandy. But I can’t see rewarding either one of them for misbehaving.”
“No, you would just go into one of your famous Dan Marquette tempers!”
“Kelly—”
“Dan, let me by!”
“Not on your life, Kelly.”
“You can’t do this! Get out of my way!”
“Kelly, we’ve got to talk.”
“We just did.”
“About us, not the kids.”
She stared at him, then sighed with a great display of patience.
“Where were you going?” he asked calmly.
“To the grocery store! Oh, excuse me. If it’s any of your business, I was also going to the art shop!”
Kelly, don’t! he prayed silently. You talked about my temper and my tantrums and me thinking that I can bulldoze people into doing things my way. But don’t you see, Kelly? You have all the power.
She smiled at him suddenly.
“Excuse me, Dan, will you? I’ll be right back.”
She headed for the kitchen, and, like a total dunce, he watched her go. It wasn’t until he heard the door slam that he realized she intended to leave him standing there all the damn day—or at least until he got smart enough to realize that she had left by the back.
“Kelly!”
In a fury he went racing after her. She had already reached the lawn.
He didn’t handle things very well then.
But he couldn’t think very clearly. Damn her! She hadn’t even told him! Hadn’t even seen fit to tell him the truth!
He went flying out to the lawn after her.
Flying right into her.
He tackled her, and they lay on the lawn together. For a minute she just stared up at him in dismay and surprise, and then she brought her fists crashing against him.
“Dan Marquette, get off me! Of all the nerve—”
“Kelly, we’ve got to talk.”
“Dan, someone could see!”
“I don’t give a damn, Kelly.”
“They’ll arrest you!” she warned him fiercely.
When he didn’t answer, her fists started flying again. He caught her wrists and smiled. Of all the absurd times to see how beautiful she was! How small and fine and delicate and beautifully blond, with those immense eyes…
Those eyes were the killers. One look, and a man was lost. Forever.
“Dan, damn you—”
“I love you, Kelly!”
“Dan!”
She started to struggle again, and he stretched her hands high over her head, then leaned down and kissed her.
He held her there, loving her lips, thrusting his tongue deep into her mouth, feeling a rush of emotion wash through him, sweeping them both away.
They could have been on a deserted beach. On a mountain blanketed with spring greenery and soft flowers. They could have been anywhere, and it wouldn’t have mattered.
She ceased to struggle, and her lips softened.
He told himself that she was in love with him. That she just didn’t want to see it at the moment because she was afraid. Afraid to start over. Afraid to repeat what had happened before.
He drew away from her. She wasn’t struggling anymore. She was panting slightly, her breasts rising and falling with the exertion. He was dying to touch the, except that he wasn’t sure he wanted to go quite that far right there on her lawn. Her eyes were slightly glazed, her lips were still parted and damp, and she was staring at him, completely confused.
“I love you, Kelly,” he said again.
“Dan, let me up—” she began, attempting to dislodge him.
“I want to marry you.”
“Dan, what—”
“Don’t do it, Kelly! I’m begging you!”
“Don’t do what?”
“I love you. I love you so much. I want us to spend our lives together. Just—please—don’t do it.”
“Dan! What are you talking about?”
“Kelly…” He looked at her sadly. She was convinced that he had finally snapped.
“Dan…?”
He stood, taking her tenderly but forcefully into his arms. Then he walked back toward the house still carrying her.
“Dan!”
He opened the door, then slammed it behind them.
“Dan?”
“I love you, Kelly.”
“What’s going on, Dan?”
“Shut up, Kelly.”
He was on the stairways by then.
“Jarod!” she exclaimed suddenly. “Why, that little brat!”
“Don’t do it, Kelly, please don’t.”
“Okay, Dan. If it means that much to you, I won’t go to the grocery store. Or to the art shop, either.”
“Kelly, damn it! I’m talking about—”
“Dan! Stop!” She couldn’t help smiling, even if a little sadly. “Dan, I don’t know what Jarod said to you, but what you’re thinking just isn’t true.”
He swallowed. “Kelly, he saw—”
“He saw a test, Dan. I—I was frightened. In fact, I was a little panicky. But I’m not pregnant. Honest.”
“Oh.”
He sat down, right on the stairway, with her in his arms.
“You—you wouldn’t lie to me?”
“No.” She smiled again and touched his lips with a light kiss. She really did adore him. Despite all the awful fights they managed to get into, she adored him. “Dan?”
“Hmm?”
“Dan, you seem…”
He kissed her back and looked at her sheepishly. “I—I’m disappointed.”
“What?”
He nodded sheepishly. Then he held her close, rubbing his chin across her head gently. “I wanted it to be true. I wanted us to have a child. I want to marry you, Kelly. I want to live together, to be man and wife. I want all of it.”
“Dan, that’s lovely.”
“It’s what I feel. Kelly…?”
She stroked his cheek a little wonderingly, then rested her head against his shoulder. “Dan, I’m glad the kids love each other. And I’m happy for the years that I had with Jarod’s father, but…sometime, sometime in my life, I wanted to fall in love, get married, and then have a child? Do you understand?”
He kissed her fingers. “But…”
“But what?”
“Kelly, I love you.” He paused. “Did you think about it at all?”
She didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “Okay, I did spend just a little bit of time thinking that we would have a beautiful baby.”
“We could do it the way you want, you know.”
“We could?”
“I’m in love with you.”
“I love you, too.”
“So marry me—and then we’ll have a baby.”
“Dan…maybe we should take more time.”
“Maybe we should seize every moment that we can.”
His arms tightened around her, and he stood, then started up the stairs.
“Dan…”
He laughed, plucked the little hat off her head and sent it flying. Her hair fell over his arms, all gold and soft and rich and lustrous.
“Dan, if you think that we’re going to—”
“Make love,” he said, smiling.
“We weren’t speaking an hour ago.”
They were at the door to her room by then.
“Dan!” Kelly protested. She was laughing, but she was serious even so. “You can’t do this. Not now. The kids will be worried about us!”
“Let them worry!” He was grinning. Diabolical, devilish, rakish. Sensual and sexy, and she felt as if he was on fire. He laid her on the bed, then stripped off his shirt and kicked off his shoes. She was still staring at him.
“Dan…”
She started to rise, but he made a dive for the bed, pinned her to the mattress and kissed her.
The kiss seared through her. His kisses always had that power she thought. Hot and wet, his lips touched hers, making her feel electrical, magical. The kiss made her feel that she was on fire, too.
“Marry me, Kelly. Fly away with me.”
“Dan…”
“Let me talk you into it.”
He drew away from her. She didn’t know that she was staring at him again, mesmerized, ridiculously hypnotized by his touch, until she realized that he was methodically taking off her shoes and dropping them to the floor. Then he slid his fingers along her thighs to find the tops of her stockings. Slowly, slowly, he slipped them from her legs, his kiss burning against her thigh where the material disappeared.
“Dan…you’re not talking.”
“I’m trying to be exceptionally eloquent.”
Her jacket joined her shoes on the floor.
How could a man with such large hands manipulate tiny pearl buttons so easily? she wondered. Oh, he was good, he really was good.
She gasped sharply as sensations shot through her, warm and stirring and exciting. Those same agile fingers had found the hook of her bra and released it.
Then his mouth fastened over her breast, over her nipple, maneuvering, manipulating, teeth grazing, sucking in…
It hurt. The pleasure was so great that it actually hurt. Heat poured through her body and gathered between her legs, and she was suddenly forced to cry out his name and wrap her arms around him. Her skirt had somehow gotten hiked up around her hips, and his fingers suddenly lost their agility when they reached her panties. She heard them rip, but she didn’t care. She remembered that they were supposed to be discussing something, and her fingers wound tightly into his hair, and she dragged him up, forcing him to look at her.
“Oh, Dan, I want you. So much.”
“Good,” he murmured grimly. “Now all I have to do is make you want me forever and ever.” He caught her hand and brought it against him. Against his belt and his jeans. She instinctively knew what he wanted, and she complied. She felt a wonderful shiver and then a cascade of desire and longing as he moved, hard and strong and demanding, at her touch.
A ragged sound escaped him, and he buried his head against her throat, his fingers moving tenderly, achingly into her hair.
“Kelly…marry me.”
“Are you bribing me, or threatening me?”
“Begging, at this point! Well…?”
His whisper hung in the air, heavy with emotion and need, tense and heated and sweet.
She whispered his name. His weight shifted as he moved her, and once again she looked up at him. She smiled suddenly and locked her fingers around his neck, then pulled herself up to him and pressed her lips against his.
And then she did everything else she had been longing to do. Stroked the length of his back. Stroked his chest and his hips. She whispered, and she listened to his whispers, and she gave soft cries of delight each time he touched her.
She felt him become one with her, and she ached for their loving to come to an end, because it felt so wonderful that it was close to pain. And then she prayed that it would never end, because nothing had ever been so good. She rose and she fell, and she rose again….
And when the end really came, it was explosive and volatile and wonderful, and even when she reached the crest she was in awe, disbelieving, afraid to believe….
Afraid to believe that it could really be for a lifetime. That love as well as children could be real. Forever.
But she couldn’t let herself drift along; she couldn’t just savor the day and the afterglow and the damp heat of his body, so protectively and tenderly stretched beside her.
She ran her fingers through the mat of hair on his chest, keeping her head lowered against his collarbone.
He shifted, forcing her beneath him, and stared deeply into her eyes. “Kelly, I love you. I want to marry you.”
She looked at him, gnawing her lower lip. “Dan, I swear to you—I am not pregnant.”
“I believe you. The point is that I love you. And you love me. I want to get married—and I do want a baby. If you want one, too, that is. Whenever you want.”
“Soon. I’m not getting any younger.”
“Then…”
He clutched her hand and kissed it. The back, and then the palm—and then her fingers, one by one. “Does that mean you’ll marry me?”
“Oh. Oh, Dan!”
He was suddenly the one on the bottom; she was straddled on top of him, planting delighted kisses all over his face.
“Kelly—”
“Dan, I love you. I do. Your temper is obnoxious, of course, but I do love you!”
He struggled and managed to rise up on his elbows to challenge her eyes. “Does that mean that you’ll marry me?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Yes! Yes!”
“Kelly!”
They changed positions again. “Kelly, I love you. I love you. I love you….”
“What’s wrong?” she asked when he paused.
“Listen!”
And then she heard it, too. A car pulling into the driveway.
Kelly stared at Dan in alarm, then pushed him away with a tremendous shove and raced to the window.
“It’s them!”
“The kids?”
“Yes! Get dressed!”
“I will.”
“Now! Hurry!”
Kelly was already struggling back into her clothes, but Dan simply refused to be rushed. He buttoned his shirt slowly while Kelly cast him a scathing look.
“Dan, they’ll know what we’ve been up to!”
“Maybe.”
“Then—”
“Don’t worry, Kelly. I’ve had it with interference. I’ll handle this. I promise.”
“What am I worried about?” she murmured suddenly. “That little rat of a son of mine went crawling over to your house to tell tales that weren’t even true!”
“Hey! That little rat and his misconstrued information got us speaking again.”
He was only half-dressed, but he took the time to drag Kelly back to him, kissing her quickly. “I’ll handle them,” he promised.
She was doubtful, but she bit back a reply, because she was convinced that the more she said, the slower he would be.
She raced for the door, then raced back to brush her hair. There was nothing like totally messed-up hair for a dead giveaway.
She shot Dan one more quick glance and started for the stairway. The kids weren’t in the living room. She could have sworn that she smelled something cooking in the kitchen, so she headed that way.
Sandy was standing at the stove, while Jarod was setting the table, for four. He glanced up at her. “Drink, Mom?”
Sandy gazed at him quickly. “She really shouldn’t, Jarod.”
“One beer will be okay.”
Kelly crossed her arms over her chest, watching the two of them. “Oh, really…son?”
He grinned and brought her a beer. “One.” He kept smiling, looking behind her, and she realized that Dan was standing there. “Beer, sir?”
“Sure,” Dan drawled easily. Kelly was aware that he was watching Jarod with both suspicion and fond amusement.
“We’re having Sandy’s special fried shrimp and a big salad for dinner,” Jarod said. “It was the best we could do so quickly. Sit down, please.”
Dan and Kelly exchanged glances and shrugged, then obediently slid into seats across from each other.
Sandy turned around holding a big plate of shrimp. “Now the first thing is that the two of you have to realize that you have options. Kelly, I love you to death, and you know that.”
“And she wants you to have the baby, Mom. She really does.”
“Of course,” Sandy agreed. “It’s just that it is your life. You have to live it, not Jarod or me.”
“We’ll help you, of course,” Jarod said barely suppressing a smile. “We’ll do everything we can for you.”
“That’s very nice of you,” Dan said dryly. Then he looked at Kelly, and they both burst into laughter. Kelly sat back and took a bite of Sandy’s shrimp. It was delicious. Jarod was going to eat well, she decided—probably better than Dan!
She walked around the table and kissed Sandy, then hugged and kissed Jarod. Then she went over to stand behind Dan.
“Thank you. Both of you,” she said. “You darling little wiseacres. But we’re not having a baby.”
“Mother, you didn’t—”
“No, I didn’t. I never was. I told you that.”
“But—but—you acted so suspiciously!”
“You really shouldn’t spread tales.”
Dan stood beside Kelly. He slipped his hands around her waist, and she laced her fingers through his as he spoke. “We’ve decided, though, that we are going to make a baby. Or spend some time trying,” he said conversationally.
“Dad!” Sandy gasped.
“You see, I love Kelly, and she loves me.”
“Very much,” Kelly tossed in.
“And we’re going to get married.”
“Oh!” Sandy cried. Then she burst into tears and raced around the table to hug Kelly, and then her father.
Jarod didn’t cry, but he did lift his mother off the ground and whirl her around. He started to give Dan a manly handshake, but then he gave his almost-father-in-law a big hug, too.
Finally Sandy said, “Oh! Dinner is going to be ice-cold.”
Dan glanced at his watch and shrugged, then smiled pleasantly at Kelly. “I guess we have time.”
She didn’t have the faintest idea what he was talking about, but she decided to take her cue from him. She sat down and, with a very straight face, began to eat her salad.
Sandy and Jarod stared at them in obvious confusion.
“Time?” Jarod asked.
“Kelly and I kind of have a date,” Dan said idly, tasting a shrimp. “Sandy, this really is delicious. Wonderful. Jarod, did you finally decide on Georgetown? You two have to get all the paperwork in, you know.”
“Yes, Dad,” Sandy answered for Jarod. “We both decided on Georgetown. For now. I’m not going to start until January—”
“Sandy…” Dan frowned.
“I promise! I really will start in January.”
“She will, sir, I guarantee it. It’s just that the baby will be so small that first semester.”
Dan gazed at Kelly, who shrugged. “It seems like a sound plan to me. Jarod will have to start in the fall, or he’ll lose his athletic scholarship.”
Dan nodded. “Are you about done, Kelly?”
“Yes.” She still didn’t have the faintest idea what he was up to.
“Where are you going?” Jarod demanded.
“Off to the islands,” Dan said. He winked at Kelly and finished his beer in a quick swallow. He grinned at the kids. “We’re flying down to the Bahamas to get married. We’ll be gone for a week.”
“What?”
Kelly gasped the question along with her son, who was on his feet, staring at them with amazement.
“Now? Right away?” Kelly asked, dazed.
Dan pulled her close and smiled. “I think it’s a wonderful idea, don’t you?”
She smiled slowly in return. Marvelous. They’d be married. Man and wife. Living together. “I think it’s divine.”
“Oh, wow, maybe Sandy and I should come, too.”
“Not on your life!” Dan told him.
“But—”
“Sorry, Jarod. You and Sandy are getting married in church in June, just like we planned, with a reception and a guest list and a nine-yard-long train.”
“But—”
“You see, Kelly and I are older than you two.” He arched a brow at Kelly, and his smile was the most diabolical she had seen yet. “We can do things like just run off to the Bahamas if we want. We’ve already graduated from high school.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Sorry, Jarod. Really. The two of you are just going to have to wait.”
“Wait—and behave!” Kelly added sternly.
“Oh, they’ll behave.”
Kelly grinned. Jarod and Sandy had just exchanged very open glances. Glances that said, while the cats were away, the mice could play.
“Reeves will be expecting you both in about…” Dan paused to glance at his watch again. “In about thirty minutes.”
Kelly gazed skeptically at Dan, who leaned down to whisper to her. “I called from your bedroom phone. He knows exactly what we’re doing, and he’ll keep his eye on them.”
Kelly couldn’t help but grin in return. “I’ll just run up and pack a few things.”
“Not too many! We can buy whatever we need. Ah, yes!” He sat down again and settled back in his chair, smiling at the kids. “Sun, sand, tennis, sailing…”
“Not fair!” Sandy pouted.
Dan just laughed. But then he stood again and kissed his daughter warmly on the cheek.
“Your time will come, baby. Honest. And you’ll have a beautiful wedding to remember all your lives.”
A few minutes later Kelly was back downstairs. Kisses and hugs flowed between the four of them again. Kisses and hugs—and reminders that homework had to be done.
And then they were outside and headed for the airport, and Kelly wasn’t terribly sure that she could believe the whole thing.
“Was—was Reeves upset?” she asked Dan.
“Oh, no. Nothing really surprises or upsets Reeves. He’s a little…confused, though.”
“Oh? Why?”
“He says that he was used to being a gentleman’s gentleman, and that it’s bad enough that he’s going to be a nanny, but on top of that, he’s not quite sure whose nanny he’s supposed to be!”
Kelly started to laugh. “Well, since we don’t have a baby yet…” She reached over and entwined her fingers with Dan’s, then leaned happily against his shoulder.
“We will,” he promised her.
“I love you so much.”
“Mrs. Kelly Marquette. I love the sound of it.”
“Umm. I adore it.”
She closed her eyes happily. She had been given a real second chance at happiness. It didn’t happen often, not even in fantasy.
“We’ll just have to loan him to the kids, that’s all,” she said with a sigh.
“What?”
“Reeves. We will need him! Hey, I didn’t get to be old and mature for nothing! If and when we have our baby, I want to enjoy it. I want Reeves to help with the house and the food and—life! So that I can really enjoy this baby while it’s little. But…” She smiled sheepishly at Dan, then leaned contentedly against his shoulder once again. “I love our big babies, too. When Sandy has her baby, I’m sure Reeves won’t mind staying with them for a while.”
“Sounds generous,” Dan teased.
“Oh, not really.” Kelly kissed his fingers. “Because I’ll have you, Mr. Marquette.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Marquette.”
“All alone.”
“Together.”