Daddy 101 (American Romance) (6 page)
Read Daddy 101 (American Romance) Online
Authors: Jo Leigh
Who would have thought this man would have been so insightful? Could have seen her so clearly? Not that he was a hundred percent accurate about her, but there was some truth to his words. He’d given her something to think about. But she wasn’t going to do that now. Not with him. He’d leave in a day or so, and then she’d take some time and think it over.
She pocketed her key and they headed home. The street was quieter now. A few places were still open. The ice-cream parlor, the drugstore. But by nine, the town would be bedded down for the night.
As they neared the ice-cream shop, she felt Alex’s hand touch her gently on the small of the back. His hand only made contact with her jacket, and still it was enough to shake her out of her reverie. This was something entirely new. Even Randy’s touch hadn’t made her so physically aware. But Alex... All he had to do was brush her gently, and sparks flew.
“How about some ice cream?” he asked.
She debated for a moment. But only a moment. “Sure, I’d like that.”
“Great.” He walked a little quicker, and his tentative touch on her back grew stronger. She felt the heat through her jacket, and wondered if he noticed it.
At the parlor, Alex took his hand away, and opened the door for her. She walked in, suddenly very thirsty for something very cold.
Janet Colby, a local high school senior, was behind the counter. Dani almost laughed at the girl’s reaction to Alex. Her face, normally very pale, got quite red. Her hand went immediately to her hair, and the little white paper hat she wore. Her gaze swung wildly, but always came back to Alex.
Dani could relate. He did have a way of flustering a person.
“Dr. Jacobson,” the girl said, finally. “Um...”
“Hi, Janet. This is Mr. Bradley. We’d like to get some ice cream.”
“Uh-huh,” Janet said, nodding, staring now.
“Nice to meet you, Janet,” Alex said.
Dani was struck by the gentleness of his tone. The interest behind it. She doubted very much that he wanted to become friends with the girl behind the counter, but he made it sound as if it was a real possibility.
“Can you excuse me for a second?” Janet said.
Before Dani could answer, the girl was gone, ducked into the back room.
“I’ll bet that happens a lot.”
Alex smiled. “More than I’d like.”
“It’s kinda sweet.”
“No, it’s kind of embarrassing. I am not cut out for this sort of thing.”
“On the contrary,” she said as she examined the flavors in the freezer case, “you are remarkably adept at it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Damn, they don’t have mint chocolate chip.”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“I meant,” she said, “that you handle yourself very well. A lot of people in your situation wouldn’t.”
“What, because I say hello to people?”
“Yes. That’s exactly right.”
“That’s nothing.”
She turned from the ice cream to face him. “No, it’s not nothing. I’ve seen people like you behave quite badly to people like her. Just because they can.”
“Well, then, some people you might think are like me, aren’t like me at all.”
Just then, before she could think how to respond to this latest little jolt to her ego, the door to the ice-cream parlor opened. A group of girls, seven of them, walked in. They all looked flushed, as if they’d been running. They probably had. Dani groaned. It was going to be another replay of this afternoon at the coffee shop. Janet hadn’t gone to compose herself in the back room; she’d gone to set the jungle drums in motion.
“I think you’re in for some company,” she whispered.
“Uh-oh.”
“Yeah. Wanna make a break for it?”
He shook his head, then looked fixedly at the Chocolate Chocolate Chip. “Not yet.”
“It’s up to you.”
The bell above the door jingled again, and Dani watched another three high school kids come in. The place wasn’t all that big, and now there were a lot of people here. Yet it was awfully quiet. No one needed to speak. They just needed to stare. At the Sexiest Man in the World.
Suddenly Dani felt sorry for Alex. She’d seen he was a person, not the picture on the magazine cover. This couldn’t be easy for him.
Janet came out from the back, and flushed again as she saw her friends lining the back wall. She tried to smile, but it wasn’t very convincing.
Dani ordered quickly, her tone a little accusatory. But when Alex asked for his double scoop of chocolate chip and jamoca, his voice held no bitterness.
Janet worked with shaky hands, and the cones were less than masterpieces. Dani was getting jumpy. More kids entered the parlor, but no one said one word. It was eerie and uncomfortable, and all she wanted to do was get out and apologize profusely to her guest. What were these kids thinking?
Alex took his cone, and grabbed a few napkins. “How much is it?” he asked.
“Four-twenty,” Janet said, her voice cracking a little at the end.
He gave her a five, and while they waited for the change, someone coughed. Not a big cough, but a “I’m going to say something” cough.
“Mr. Bradley?”
The voice came from a girl Dani didn’t know. She was the smallest one there. Cute, dark haired, wearing an “X-Files” T-shirt and very tight jeans.
Alex turned to face her. “Yes?”
“Could I have your autograph, you think?”
He nodded, smiling. “Sure. You have some paper?”
The girl shook her head. “Not on paper.” She held out her arm as she walked closer. “On here.”
Dani nearly dropped her ice cream.
Alex merely nodded. “Got a pen?”
The girl handed him a permanent marker. Blue. Dani watched in amazement as Alex put his ice cream in the holder on the counter, calmly uncapped the pen, took the teenager’s arm and wrote his name boldly.
He smiled at the girl, and she giggled. Then another girl, this one taller and blond, came to take her place. She held out her arm. “Me, too?”
Alex nodded. Smiled. Signed.
Dani licked her cone as she watched every one of the young women stand and wait their turn. He was patient, pleasant and even made some conversation with the starstruck girls.
She was truly amazed. Why anyone would want an autograph like this was beyond her, but she’d been a kid once, and remembered she’d done some crazy things. But more amazing was watching Alex. He simply couldn’t have surprised her more.
Finally the last girl stood in front of him. He reached for her arm, but she shook her head. Instead she pulled up her little crop-top T-shirt, baring a very slender, very tanned midriff.
Alex immediately turned to look at Dani, smiled and winked. It was a conspiratorial smile, meant just for her. A shared moment that sent a little shiver up her spine. It wasn’t because he was famous. It was because he was Alex.
Chapter Six
“S
o, it’s not the first time you’ve written on someone’s tummy?”
o, it’s not the first time you’ve written on someone’s tummy?”
Alex shook his head. As he and Dani crossed the last street toward home he slowed down a bit. He didn’t want this walk to end. The hell with the walk, he didn’t want Dani’s laughter to end. “No, this was my second tummy.”
“What other body parts have you written on?”
“Well,” he said, licking the ice-cream cone that had replaced the melted one. “I wrote the secret lyrics to ‘Louie, Louie’ on my hand in high school.”
“Secret lyrics?”
“Yeah, you know. The ones after ‘We gotta go now.”’
“I thought those were, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.’”
He shrugged. “I guess they weren’t so secret.”
She laughed again. God, that sound! It made his chest swell, not to mention another key appendage. She was in the light of the street lamp now so he could really see her smile. Damn, but she was appealing. It would be nice to see her face, with that smile, last thing before he went to sleep. Or the first thing when he woke up. If only...
If only, what? If she were living in New York instead of New Mexico? If he was the kind of man who could live in a place like Carlson’s Gap?
“Doesn’t it make you feel awkward, though? All the attention, I mean.”
He shook his head. “It’s temporary. I’m the flavor of the month, that’s all. Very soon, I’ll be that guy that was in the magazine, and right after that I’ll be someone who might have been someone, once. What’s the harm in playing it out?”
“The lack of privacy, for one.”
“I have the kind of privacy that matters.”
“Oh?”
“They might know the face, but they don’t know the man.”
“Pity for them.”
He stopped. “That’s quite a compliment, coming from you. I’m going to have to buy you a lot more ice cream.”
“Ice cream had nothing to do with it.”
“Then what?”
She started walking again and he fell in beside her. They were much closer than they had been on the way to the clinic. And nobody’s hands were in pockets. As a matter of fact, her hand was enticingly close to his. Close enough to hold, which is just what he did.
She looked first at their joined hands, then up at him. He wondered if she was going to pull away, but she didn’t, even though she frowned. He’d have to watch his step.
“Okay, so I jumped to some wrong conclusions before,” she said. “I’m sorry. You’re not just some pretty rich guy—” She stopped speaking, and when he looked at her, she was studying the ground.
He frowned. “Go ahead. Finish the sentence. I can take it.”
She sighed as she looked up at him. “Some pretty rich guy with an ego the size of Detroit.”
“You shouldn’t be so sure about that. I’ve got an ego all right.”
“An ego is permissible. An ego that feeds on making other people feel small, isn’t.”
“I see. And as far as the pretty and rich part?”
“Also permissible. Although it is disconcerting to realize just how much prettier you are than me.”
“Are you kidding?”
“Come on. It’s true. You know you’re gorgeous.”
He tugged her to a stop, tossed his cone into a trash barrel in the driveway and turned her so he could look right at her. “Because we’re such good friends, and because I’ve known you such a long time, I’m going to be very bold and tell you something, Dr. Jacobson.”
“I don’t think I want to hear it.”
“Too bad. You’re going to hear it anyway.”
She sighed again. “You don’t have to tell me I’m pretty. I wasn’t fishing.”
“I’m not going to tell you that.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“You’re not pretty. Well, not just pretty. You’re beautiful. And sexy. And intelligent. And desirable. But that’s not the problem.”
She didn’t respond immediately. He watched her gaze sweep over his face, study his eyes. Her mouth opened slightly, as if she needed a little more breath. He was sure, if it had been daylight, he’d have seen color tint her cheeks. “What is?” she whispered.
“You don’t know that you’re beautiful. Sexy. Intelligent. And oh, so desirable,” he whispered right back. Then he leaned down, slowly, and finally took the kiss that had been promised all those hours before.
The first touch of her lips was something he’d remember for the rest of his life. And never be able to describe. “Softness” wasn’t adequate. “Sweet” didn’t say it at all. The only thing close was heaven. His groin told him to crush her incredible lips with his, but he held back, wanting the torment to last. He tasted first, sipped. Licked her bottom lip. Teased her with the pressure, first soft, then harder, then soft again.
It was her moan that changed his mind. The dark, throaty sound made him move closer, wrap his arms around her back. Bring her tight against his body so they touched from lips to thighs. He felt the tip of her tongue on his and then there was no more teasing. He let go, letting his body lead him. His tongue met hers and his thoughts turned primitive with raw hunger.
He wanted this woman in every way. He just couldn’t get enough. His hands wanted to touch her back and her thighs and her knees, all at once. He wanted to taste her sweet breasts, but it was inconceivable to stop this kiss.
Her hands made it all worse. He felt her explorations, felt the urgency and the heat. She wanted him as he wanted her, but they were standing in the middle of the street with open windows all around them or he would have pulled her to the ground right there.
She broke the kiss and leaned her head on his shoulder for a second, breathing deeply. He closed his eyes, forcing himself to get it together. It wasn’t easy. He was hard as a rock, straining against his pants, and every time she moved it was agony.
“Holy cow,” she whispered.
“You can say that again,” he said.
“Holy cow.”
He smiled. “So, uh, isn’t your house just down the block? Shouldn’t we be heading there? Very, very quickly?”
Dani moved back, stepping out of his embrace. “I don’t think so.”
“Why?” he asked, amazed at how quickly his body reacted to the hesitant, apologetic tone in Dani’s voice. His erection wasn’t an urgent problem anymore, although one look from her and it would be a national emergency in a heartbeat.
“We shouldn’t have done that,” she said.
“Why not? It was pretty spectacular.”
She shook her head. He kept staring at her mouth, the taste of her so present it made him ache.
“It was still foolish,” she said. “It can’t go anywhere.”
“Why not, Dani? What would be the harm?”
“You’re leaving.”
“Not right now.”
“Soon.”
“Then let me leave you with a memory. A damn good memory.”
“I’ve got enough of those, thanks.”
“Not the right kind,” he said. He reached over and touched her cheek with the back of his hand. Her eyes closed and she leaned into the caress. Her skin was magically soft and fragile. His want of her so powerful he was nearly knocked senseless.
Dani knew if she didn’t do something soon, he would kiss her again. And if he kissed her again she would kiss him back. If she did that, she wouldn’t be able to stop. She’d take him to her bed, and she’d make love with him and it would be wonderful and then what? She’d have memories all right. Memories that would torment her each long night she slept alone.
“I can’t,” she said.
“Why not?” he asked as he dropped his hand to his side. His gaze never left her, though, and the question there, the confusion, made her look away.
“I take these things pretty seriously,” she said.
“You don’t think I’m serious?”
“Yes. But not in the way I mean. You want to have sex. Which is fine. But I only want to make love.”
He studied her for a long moment. She let him, wanting him to see that she wasn’t condemning him for his desires. Wanting him to see her own regret.
“Dani?”
“Yes?”
“The only thing I’d ever want to do with you is make love.”
He looked so earnest. If she hadn’t known better, if she hadn’t already learned this lesson the hard way, she would have believed him. “I’m not the kind of woman you’re used to,” she said. “I can’t love someone for one night, and forget about it the next day.”
“I know that.”
“Then you know why I can’t...” She couldn’t finish the sentence. Not with him looking at her that way. So hurt. So hungry.
He leaned forward quickly and brushed her lips with his. It was a quick kiss, almost not a kiss at all, yet she felt that spark between them. The pull to go into his arms was like a force of nature.
“Hey,” he said. “It’s all right.” He took her hand in his and started walking again, heading toward her house at a leisurely pace. “But for the record, I’m not the playboy of the Western world. I do know the difference between having sex and making love.”
“I’m sure you do.”
“Uh-uh. There’s that cynical tone again. Don’t believe everything you read in the papers, Dani.”
“You’re telling me you’ve never had sex for sex’s sake?”
“No.”
“That you’ve never had a one-night stand?”
“ No.”
“Then what?”
He pulled her to a stop. They were just a few feet from her house. As she turned to look at him, she saw that her neighbor’s window was open. She could hear the soft strains of classical music. Then she looked into Alex’s eyes, and the rest of the world disappeared.
“What I’m telling you is that I know the difference,” he said. “I know what it is to make love. To want to be close with your heart as well as your body. I know what it’s like to have a lover in my arms. To care more about her than I care about breathing. You’re not the only one with memories, kiddo.”
“Who was she?”
“Someone a lot like you. Feisty. Beautiful. Soft.”
“What happened?”
He smiled with such melancholy that it made her sorry she’d asked. “I sent her away.”
“Why?”
His eyes closed. The creases in his forehead deepened with a long remembered pain. “Because she didn’t fit in to the plan,” he said. “Loving her broke all the rules.”
“Rules?”
He opened his eyes, and looked at her once more. “Honey, you have no idea.”
“So tell me.”
“Maybe sometime. Now, I need to get you home. I think Chloe might be upset that I’ve kept you out so late.”
“If Chloe is up, she’s not the one who’s going to be upset.”
He smiled. “Come on, Doc. Let’s call it a night.”
Dani let him lead her to the door. She wondered what he’d meant when he talked about the rules. What kind of rules could a man like him have to live by? The world was his oyster. She couldn’t imagine him bending to anyone’s standards but his own.
She entered the house, and the first thing she noticed was that too many lights were on. If all was well, the hall would be the only space lit, with the possible exception of the living room, if Mimi had decided to read instead of watch TV.
Dani looked quickly at Alex, then hurried toward Chloe’s room. She never got there. Instead she stopped dead in her tracks at the entrance to the dining room. Mimi stood by the table. She was staring hard at a very large, very green iguana, who was looking right back at her from the vantage point of the center of the dining room table. The iguana had a leash, and Terry Redmond, a single mother of two who lived on the other side of town, was holding on to the other end. Dani happened to know the iguana. Better, in fact, than she knew Terry. The iguana’s name was Filbert and he belonged to Terry’s fifteen-year-old son.
But that wasn’t all. Sitting next to Terry was Maureen Westbury. Maureen was also single. She ran the aerobics studio on Fourth Street, and normally dressed in either leotard and tights or jeans and a T-shirt. Tonight, she wore a black dress so tight there wasn’t enough room for a breath of air between the dress and the woman. Maureen had a small fishbowl on her lap. With a single goldfish swimming idly in a circle.
To top off the spectacle, Keelyn Porter, a woman Dani had known all through grammar school and high school, was also sitting at the table. Keelyn, who Dani knew reasonably well, didn’t own a pet. She didn’t care for pets, and had told Dani that many times. Yet she had a cat on her lap. A live cat who didn’t seem very pleased to be on her lap.
“They decided to wait,” Mimi said, her voice sounding strained and anxious.
“I see,” Dani said. She looked at the three women, ready to tell them that she had a clinic for a reason, but they weren’t paying attention to her. Every eye was focused on Alex.
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