Daddy 101 (American Romance) (5 page)

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Authors: Jo Leigh

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“Why can’t you watch
‘
MTV’ like every other eight-year-old?”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Like I could stand that junk.”
Dani reached over and grabbed her girl by the cheeks and brought her close for a smooch. “That’s the only kissing I’m going to be doing.”
“I don’t know. Maybe you
ought
to kiss him.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I’ve just never seen you flirt before. Desmond Morris, the guy from the show, he says it’s a natural biological function. He’s studied this stuff. He says we’re supposed to have all these urges to mate and everything. That it’s what makes us part of the cycle of life.”
Dani released her daughter’s face and stood up. “Desmond Morris has never studied my love life. So you know, Chloe, just because a woman finds a man attractive, doesn’t mean she wants him for a mate.”
“Why not?”
“Because there are a lot more important things that go into the process than physical attraction.”
“Like what?”
Dani sighed. She’d hoped to avoid this sort of conversation—at least for a few years. It wasn’t always easy having a daughter who was eight going on thirty. “Personality, mostly. Common interest and goals. Values. Honesty. Kindness. And many more.”
Chloe nodded slowly. “He likes Monet.”
Dani smiled. “That’s not enough, kiddo. Now if I’m not back by eight-thirty, I don’t want you to give Mimi any trouble about going to bed. All right?”
Chloe nodded again. Dani leaned down and kissed her once more, then walked toward the door.
“Mom?”
She stopped. “Yes?”
“I think he’s nice.”
“He is nice. But he’s just going to be here a day or so.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll try to get back to tuck you in.”
Dani closed the door behind her. She didn’t rush right to the kitchen, though. Her thoughts were on Desmond Morris and biology. She’d already determined that the thing that was happening to her was simple chemistry. Pheromones at work. What she didn’t know was just how strong this chemistry business was. It wouldn’t do to underestimate this kind of thing. She’d done that once, and she didn’t want to be a fool again.
The best course of action was to stay as far away from Alex as she could. Scent distance away.
She heard a loud crash and the splintering of broken glass. Now she hurried.
Alex was standing in the middle of the kitchen, staring at the broken water glass on the floor. When he saw her, he looked up. “Oops.”
She smiled. He sounded so young, so embarrassed. It was tempting to tease him, but she held back. “It’s okay. No harm done.”
“I’ll be happy to replace it.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be possible.”
“Is it a family heirloom or something?”
“No. But I don’t think Kmart is giving these away anymore.”
He looked at her quizzically. Damn, he probably didn’t even know what Kmart was. “It’s a chain of discount stores. Sometimes they give premiums, like glasses, or free boxes of detergents.”
His mouth formed a thin line, and his face turned just the slightest shade of pink. “I’ve heard of Kmart.”
“But you’ve never been to one, right?”
“Snob,” he said.
“Me?”
He nodded. “Yeah, you. Now where’s the dustpan?”
She walked to the utility closet and got out the broom. “You know, maybe it wouldn’t do you any harm to stop by our local Kmart tomorrow. It just might broaden your horizons.”
She went to sweep up the glass, but he took the broom and dustpan from her hand. When he bent, she caught a glimpse of his back, the muscles bunching beneath his white shirt. Wow.
“I’m not so terrible,” he said as he swept. “It’s not like I don’t know any poor people.”
“Some of your best friends are poor, right?”
He stood, and she pointed him to the trash. Once he’d dumped the mess, he turned to her again. “I like to think that I value people for who they are, not their gross income.”
She took in a deep breath. “Okay, uncle. I’m not being fair, am I?”
He shook his head. “Not all rich folks are slime. Some of us are even pretty decent.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Okay then.”
She could tell he wasn’t really upset, although she was. It wasn’t like her to stereotype people. But with Alex it was difficult. He just exemplified so much of what she’d learned to distrust and dislike. But she didn’t dislike him, did she? He was much nicer than she’d ever anticipated. Which didn’t mean she was going to let down her guard. Randy had been nice at first, too.
She remembered the scent distance edict, and moved toward the open dishwasher. Alex had loaded the dishes in somewhat proper order, but he’d also put them in just as they’d come off the tables. He hadn’t rinsed them at all. There were even two napkins in the lower shelf. “Do many dishes at your place, Alex?”
“Why? Did I do something wrong?”
“Well, yes and no. You got everything in the right place, but you left the food on them.”
“What do you mean?”
“You have to rinse the dishes, first,” she said, turning on the water in the sink.
“That doesn’t seem right. It’s a dishwasher. Why should you have to wash the dishes before you put them in?”
“I don’t know why. I just know that this way, they won’t end up clean.”
“Seems a waste of time.”
“So much of life is.”
“Is that another shot at me?”
She turned to him as she started to unload the plates. “No. Just commentary. For someone like me, there’s a lot of little things to do. Make beds. Do laundry. Shop for food. Cook dinner. With the clinic, and with Chloe, it doesn’t leave much time for the rest of life.”
“I could help. While I’m here, I mean.”
She laughed. “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t think you’d make a very good maid.”
“Hey, I’m a quick study. And I’m not helpless. As long as I’m here, I see no reason not to pitch in. I know this isn’t a hotel. I’d like to do my share.”
Her first instinct was to say no. She couldn’t for the life of her imagine Alex Bradley doing a load of laundry. But she hesitated. Maybe the best thing for the Sexiest Man in the World to do was exactly that. He wanted real life? She’d give him real life.
She turned to him and stuck out a wet hand. “Okay. I accept your offer.”
He grasped her palm, and the jolt came back. Uh-oh. It wasn’t enough to keep scent distance apart. She must remember not to touch.
“Just tell me what to do.”
The doorbell rang then. “Let Mimi in for starters,” she said.
Alex nodded, but he didn’t drop her hand just yet. He held it gently. Carefully. Then she felt his thumb move over her skin. It was a delicate move, almost imperceptible. Yet she felt herself go all goose bumps.
She pulled away. Funny, though. It didn’t help much. She could still feel his touch even as he walked out of the room.
Chapter Five
A
lex closed the door behind Dani, and walked with her down the path to the sidewalk. The night air felt great. Just chilly enough for the light jackets they both wore. Dani walked a little ahead of him, and he took a moment to appreciate the fact that her black jacket came only to her waist, leaving her very inviting denim-clad derrière uncovered. While he wasn’t ordinarily a butt man, he realized she might be able to swing the vote.
Instead of heading to her car, she led him down the sidewalk. He joined her quickly and soon they were striding next to each other on the well-lit street. His hands were in his pockets, as were hers. They were just far enough apart so that a random brush of the shoulder was unlikely.
He thought about moving closer to her, but he didn’t. His reactions to this virtual stranger were strong. Strong enough to make him concerned. He didn’t like the feeling that he wasn’t completely in control of his emotions. One thing Alex had learned from his father: It’s a fool who lets his gonads do his thinking for him.
But damn; his gonads felt awfully determined this time. Lust was something he respected, and when appropriate, he liked to respond. With Dani, it wasn’t appropriate. End of story. Best to concentrate on his surroundings, and get his mind away from thoughts of derrières and gonads.
“So you’ve always lived here, have you?” he said, hoping his impromptu opening line didn’t sound as lame to her as it did to him.
“Yes.”
They continued walking. Silently. The street itself held little out of the ordinary. Just a quiet block of family homes. Some folks had left the drapes open so he could see tiny snippets of domestic life as they walked by. A family of five at dinner. “Wheel of Fortune” playing on a couple of TVs. Some kid practicing the piano. It was ordinary, all right, and completely unfamiliar to him. He’d never spent any time in suburbia. The homes he visited usually had long driveways, butlers or maids to open the doors. Foyers big enough to fit two cars comfortably. He was a stranger here. As out of place as a bug on a cream puff. Yet he found himself interested in this world of Dani’s.
“Have any desire to live anywhere else?” he said. This time, the question wasn’t just intended to break the silence. He wanted to know what it was about this town that kept her here. That made her work so hard to succeed in it.
“Not really,” she said. “This is my home. It’s got its problems, but basically it’s a good place to live. A good place for Chloe.”
“They have special programs for her?”
“Yes, Mr. Bradley. Even here in Mayberry we’ve heard of accelerated programs for exceptional children.”
“I got that, you know. Mayberry. Andy Griffith. Opie. Aunt Bea.”
She slowed and looked up at him. The angle was just perfect, too. Her face was lit by a street lamp, the color of a soft tan. Her skin seemed to glow. Her teeth, when she smiled, were as white as new snow.
“Very good. I’m surprised they let you watch what the common folks watched.”
“Tell me something, Dani. Did a gang of rich people come and beat you up when you were a kid? Steal your dog? Take away the homestead?”
She coughed, and looked away. She started walking again, more quickly this time.
“Uh-uh,” he said, reaching out and grabbing her by the arm. She stopped, but she didn’t turn to him.
“Come on, Doc. Tell me why you hate my kind so much. I’m a big boy. I can take it.”
“I don’t hate your kind,” she said, but she didn’t try to break free of his hold.
“So it’s me personally? Right? I said something wrong? I wore the wrong shoes?”
She didn’t move for a long while. He wasn’t sure what she was looking at, only that she wasn’t looking at him. He wanted to prod her into her explanation, but he forced himself to wait. He didn’t want a smart-ass answer. He wanted the truth.
Finally she did look at him again. He let her arm go, knowing she wasn’t going to run away.
“I’m sorry. I’ve really been out of line. It’s not you. It has nothing to do with you.”
“Who then?”
“Someone I used to like very much.”
“He was rich, I assume?”
She smiled in a way that made him clench his teeth. “No, but he wanted to be. Very, very badly.”
He waited a moment to see if she was going to say more, and when she didn’t, he began to walk again. He didn’t even look back to see if she followed, but in a few steps he felt her next to him.
It wasn’t easy to keep his questions to himself, but he wasn’t going to press. He wasn’t even sure why he wanted to. But for some reason, he was upset by her very small revelation, and found himself wanting to fix it.
“I’ll bet it’s made your life pretty easy,” she said quietly, as they crossed the street that bordered the commercial section of town. There were other people walking now, strolling, as they were. Funny to see no cars moving, and folks out and about. It happened in Los Angeles, of course. People still did use their legs on occasion, but the feel was different here. The pace was what he wasn’t used to. The folks he saw might be headed somewhere specific, but then again, they might not.
“Some things were easier, I guess,” he said. “But I think it’s all relative. There were expectations, demands. My choices were pretty limited.”
“Limited? I would think the world would be at your feet.”
He shook his head. “Only in the sense that I could get from here to there. No, I knew who and what I was supposed to be from the moment I was born. Everything was geared in that direction. My education, my friends, my social life.”
“What, you’re going to tell me that you really wanted to be a circus clown or something?”
He laughed. “No. It didn’t work that way. I just did what I was supposed to, and made myself want it.”
They passed a brightly lit ice-cream parlor where an older couple sat at a small table sipping sodas. Alex saw that they were holding hands under the table. It was almost too much. Too Stepfon. But then he saw, right in back of the old couple, a little kid pull a wad of gum from underneath a table and stick it in his sister’s hair. As they reached the post office next door, he heard the wail of the girl, who’d clearly discovered the bit of mischief.
“Do you still want it?” Dani asked.
“Yes,” he said, quickly. “Well, a lot of it. Things have changed in the last couple of years, though.”
“Like what?”
He saw her office just down the block. He was anxious to see Pete. The old pooch usually slept in his bedroom, and he was probably wondering what the heck was going on. “I’ve met the expectations,” he said. “And I guess I’m just wondering what’s next.”
“What new mountain to climb?”
“Something like that. Maybe wondering if I want to climb at all. That’s why I’m out here. I’ve never driven cross-country before. Never felt I had the time. I think that’s the thing money really does for you, if you let it.”
“What?”
“Give you some time.”
They were at the clinic, and Dani brought out her key to open the door. Once they were inside the dark office, he heard the sounds of the pets in the back. A little yappy dog set the pace, and then a couple of other, bigger dogs joined in. He didn’t hear Pete, though.
She turned on the light and led him into the inner sanctum. Her unhurried pace from just a moment ago was gone, and in its place was purpose. She moved quickly and easily, in command of her space. He’d been right to leave Pete in her care.
They got to the back room, and she switched on the light. Pete was on his feet in the big cage. Alex could already see that the old guy was a little better. Pete’s whole body wagged, not quite as enthusiastically as normal, but still pretty good. Alex smiled as he heard the familiar greeting whine, and he went over and put his hand through the wide cage and grabbed the old boy.
 
DANI WATCHED ALEX greet his pet. He crouched down, and let Pete lick his face. Pete looked better. The liquids and the medication were working, although he wasn’t ready to leave yet. She’d still have to keep her eyes on him for a couple of days. A dog his age was liable to take a sudden turn.
But for now, Pete looked comfortable. Before they left, she would give him a brief exam and listen to his lungs. Now, though, she would leave the man and his pet alone for their moment, and take a look at her other patients.
She went first to the bulldog with the broken leg. As she comforted the big guy she heard Pete’s cage door open. Glancing back, she watched as Alex crawled inside. He sat Indian-style on the big pillow, and Pete curled up in his lap like a pup.
She felt a lump rise in her throat and turned away. What a ridiculous response. But then, her responses to Alex Bradley had all been pretty ridiculous.
She’d known him for only a few hours. Yet he’d made her think of things she had no business thinking. Brought up memories best left undisturbed. She had treated him unfairly, and it rankled that she could be so petty. Especially when he’d been so open with his own story.
The bulldog was doing well, and after a few minutes of petting him, listening to the soft, unintelligible conversation Alex was having with Pete, she turned to a young tabby kitten who’d been caught in some barbed wire. The little one mewled at her pitifully, but Dani saw that she’d eaten her food and had plenty of water. Her wounds were on the mend. The cat really just needed attention. All of the creatures she cared for did. No matter what medicines and surgical techniques she used to heal the wounded pets, the one thing she believed in most was a loving hand. A gentle touch.
She lifted the cat to her chest, and turned to watch Alex. He had quieted, and now she saw why. He was still petting Pete, but his gaze was on her. He looked at her the way she knew she looked at her charges. With concern, with patience, with care. Why? She’d been nothing but snarly with him. Yet his look was genuine.
He really did care. About her. A stranger, not someone in her huge ever-expanding family, or the town that had helped raise her. This was a sophisticated, intelligent man. Someone who owed her nothing, needed nothing back.
“He’s better,” Alex said.
“I can see that. I’d like to check him out before we go.”
“You want me to come out?”
She shook her bead. “I have a few more patients to tend to first.”
He smiled. “I don’t think that one’s going to let you.”
She looked down at the kitten. Her small gray head was burrowed against her chin, and the little claws were kneading her chest in a rhythmic motion that all children, no matter what species, seemed to know. Her purr was loud for such a teeny thing. “You’re right.”
“Is that one a stray?”
“No. She’s got a home. A good one. She’s just used to a lot of attention.”
“Yeah, that’s how it is, I guess. You get spoiled.” He turned to the third cage down from Pete’s. Inside was a white mutt, the only dog who hadn’t moved or barked since they’d arrived. “What’s his story?”
“The other side of the coin,” Dani said. “He’s not had it very easy, from what I could see. He’d been beaten up pretty badly. Lost a lot of blood.”
“A stray?”
“Worse. We took him from his owner. The jerk had mistreated him for years. The poor thing doesn’t know what a loving touch is.”
She looked at the dog, alone, scared, wounded. When Alex spoke, it took her a minute to register his words.
“Do you?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, although she knew.
“I keep thinking you want to be like that kitten, but you’re afraid, like that white dog.”
“Bold assessment for a man I’ve known only a few hours.”
“I haven’t known the critters here for five minutes, but it’s not hard to tell who’s who and what’s what.”
She put the kitten back in the small cage, cringing at the distressed sounds the little one made. Walking slowly, carefully, she approached the wounded dog. As she neared he stood up on shaky legs, his hackles rose and he bared his teeth. She waited patiently, letting the dog get her scent. She’d avoided a muzzle this morning, and she wanted to again now. While she gave the dog time to calm down, she thought about Alex’s comment. Was it true?
“Hey, Dani?”
She nodded.
“Forget it. I’m sorry. I don’t know you well enough to be spouting off like that.”
“No, you don’t. But it’s okay. Who knows. Maybe there’s even some truth to it.”
“Aw, what do I know?”
She turned to meet his gaze. “Too much, I think.”
He looked at her for a long while. “I know one other thing.”
“What’s that?”
“It would be a damn shame.”
“What?”
“For you to stay in that cage.”
 
DANI LOCKED THE DOOR behind them. She’d finished checking all the animals, including Pete, who was indeed doing a lot better, and now she wanted to get home. Things had certainly shifted on this innocent little trip. Suddenly Alex wasn’t just some rich stranger she felt vaguely annoyed about. And vaguely turned on by. Now he was a person, flesh and blood and three dimensional, which was a much more serious problem.

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