Damon, Lee (7 page)

A small frown appeared between Kitt's eyes as she watched O'Mara intently. There was something new about the way he moved, an unusual quickness in his reactions, an instinct to move in the least expected direction. It almost looked as though he had practiced and trained to react unnaturally. He's holding back, Kitt thought. If this were for real, he'd have had Ez down in the first minute.

Kitt looked over Gus's head toward Midge. "What do you think, Midge? Enough is enough? We've been left out of this reunion too long."

"How are you going to break it up?"

"Easy." Kitt threw back her head and let out a piercing rebel yell. Ez and O'Mara immediately stepped back from each other and flipped up their hands in a "draw" sign.

"You called?" O'Mara laughed as he started to walk toward Kitt.

"I just thought that since Ez wasn't getting anywhere with you, he might like to try his luck with a smaller O'Mara." Kitt stood up, pulling Gus off the desk to stand in front of her, facing Ez. "What do you think, muscleman? Would you have any better luck with this one?" She grinned understandingly at Ez's incredulous expression as his eyes darted between Gus and O'Mara.

She saw the delighted smile spreading over his face and just had time to mutter "Brace yourself in Gus's ear before Ez swooped on him and swung him high in the air over his head.

"Ah ha!" he roared. "At last! An O'Mara I can handle with one hand." He flipped the laughing boy around and brought him down to sit on his shoulders. Turning to speak to O'Mara, he caught the words back and narrowed his eyes in speculation when he saw the look on O'Mara's face as he watched Kitt.

"Tell you what, old buddy. The little one over there," said Ez, chuckling and nodding toward Midge, "is all mine, but I'll divvy up the other two with you. I'll share Kitt if you'll share this twig, here."

"Ez! You—" Kitt felt the telltale color flaming in her cheeks and hissed at her twin when he laughed and winked at O'Mara. "You two!" she sputtered, shaking her fist at them. "Twelve years, and nothing, but nothing, has changed! Get you two together and you're totally impossible."

Kitt was just beginning to consider methods of retribution when Gus brought everyone's attention back to practical matters.

"Hey, Kitt, now that I've met the crazy bear, where's your dog?"

"Who's a crazy bear?" growled Ez, reaching up to take Gus's hands and then flipping him up and over in a somersault and setting him gently on his feet.

Gus laughed up at him. "You are! My dad said you were, and you really are." He turned around as Kitt called his name and then dropped to his knees and held out his hands toward Hero, who was hovering at Kitt's feet. "Oh, wow, he's neat."

"Hero, meet Gus. New friend."

Hero trotted forward, briefly sniffed Gus's hand, took two more steps and stood on his hind legs, resting his front paws on the boy's shoulders, and licked his nose. Gus giggled and threw his arms around the dog, reaching instinctively to rub him behind the ears with one hand.

"Oh, Kitt, he's super. Is his name really Hero? Sometimes dogs have long, fancy names, but you call them by nicknames."

"You're right, and 'Hero' is sort of a nickname. His real name is Hieroglyphic."

"Hiero—who? What kind of a name is that?"

"Hieroglyphic. It's old Egyptian picture-writing. Basenjis were once the royal dogs of Egypt, so I gave him an Egyptian name. However, the crazy bear shortened it to 'Hero' because he said he felt like a fool yelling 'Here, Hieroglyphic' all over the park."

Gus twisted around and tilted his head back to look up at Ez with a grin. "I wish I'd seen that. It must have been funny."

Kitt stood transfixed, staring down at the handsome boy, and from a deep, long-buried dream a thought rose and burned across her mind.
He could have been mine. Oh, God, if only... he'd be mine now.
Her throat closed with a painful, choking emotion, and she could feel tears of regret and loss searing her eyes.

She had no idea how revealing her expression was or that O'Mara was watching her intently, his face mirroring a look of relieved satisfaction. A soft "Hmmm?" from Ez brought O'Mara's head around, and the two men exchanged a rapid series of silent questions and answers as their eyes locked for long moments. At last, Ez nodded and his mouth widened in a slow smile of approval and relief.

O'Mara's answering smile flashed whitely in the deep tan of his face as he murmured, "Some feelings never change, my boy. They just grow stronger and deeper."

Turning his attention back to Kitt, he read the imminence of tears and moved to her side, enclosing her hand in a strong, warm clasp. "Hey, there. I thought these two," motioning at the enraptured boy and dog at their feet, "were going for a walk. And we really ought to crack a bottle of wine to celebrate this extraordinary reunion."

Kitt, blinking back tears, looked up at him, somehow soothed by his nearness, and, meeting his eyes, sensed his awareness and understanding of what she was feeling. Drawing strength from his closeness and the warm clasp of his hand, she collected her frazzled emotions and turned a smiling face to Gus.

"Why don't you take Hero for his walk and get acquainted? If you'd like to, that is."

"That would be great!" exclaimed Gus, jumping excitedly to his feet. "Does he have a leash? Where should I take him?"

"We usually walk down the road toward the ocean. I don't think going the other way into Dock Square would be a good idea, or up on Maine Street. Too much traffic and too many other dogs." She bent over to rub one finger between Hero's eyes, and he arched his neck with pleasure. "I hardly ever use a leash. He's very good about staying close. If he goes exploring, just call him and say 'Heel.' Don't worry, you'll do just fine."

She started walking toward the front door with Gus, while Hero danced around them. "I'm going to lock up down here, so when you come back, come up the outside stairs. Okay? Oh, and Hero likes to run. Maybe you can both work off some energy." She laughed.

"We'll be back in a while," said Gus over his shoulder as he and Hero shot out the door and starting running across the parking lot. "Come on, Hero, race you!" floated back with the echo of thudding feet.

Kitt, smiling to herself, closed and locked the door. Turning around, she found herself blocked by an expanse of navy-blue wool stretched across a wide, solid chest. Before she could move back, a long, tanned finger tilted her chin up an inch, and warm lips brushed across hers in a feather-light kiss.

The gleam in those very blue eyes and the deep purr in his voice held Kitt immobilized. "Somehow I knew you two would take to each other. Ez isn't the only one I'm going to share him with, you know. And it's going to be a lot more than just weekends."

"O'Mara?" It was a just audible whisper.

Too soon. It's all happening much too fast. I'm not ready for this.
She was afraid to believe what she was seeing in his eyes, and her own began to show traces of the panic rising in her. She felt the gentle touch of his fingers slowly stroking her cheek and watched his thick black lashes come down to hide his expression. It only lasted for a second or two, and when he opened his eyes again, they were glinting with laughter.

"Come on, my girl. We're supposed to be having a celebration, not a postmortem. You and I will have our time later." He caught her hand and drew her along with him. "I'm beginning to see what you meant about Ez and Midge," he said softly. "A bear and a kitten. Unreal."

"Just wait until you see a full, one-act production." Kitt chuckled, her amused gaze resting on the other couple where they sat on the desk, side by side, quietly talking.

Ez looked around at the sound of voices, his easy grin dispelling the last of the tension. "Hey, you two, I thought we were going to party. Where's the wine and song?" He winked at O'Mara and whispered resonantly, "No sense in asking for any more women. They'd never let us get away with it, and I'll tell you, the little one's got some nasty moves. I think Kitt's been giving her pointers."

"No such thing," Midge declared pertly. "I don't need pointers, thank you. When you're my size, you learn how to defend yourself against overgrown lummoxes. And just you remember, Ez Tate, the bigger they are, the louder the thud when they hit the ground!"

The men roared, O'Mara clearly delighted with the small, feisty girl, while Ez eyed her fondly, as if she were a favorite pet who had done something exceptionally clever.

"Chauvinists," said Kitt as she and Midge exchanged commiserating looks.

"If your miserable brother doesn't wipe that disgustingly patronizing look off his face, I'm going to do him a mischief," Midge stated loudly.

Ez growled and lunged at her, sweeping her up in his arms and, in one smooth motion, swung around to toss her, squealing, through the air to O'Mara, who caught her easily and threw her back to Ez. He plucked her out of the air and cradled her high against his chest, laughing down into her indignant face. Before he could throw her to O'Mara again, she grabbed fistfuls of his hair and yelled, "NO!"

Fists on hips and feet slightly apart in a challenging stance, Kitt scowled at the playful men. "Big boobies. Maybe you'd like to try that with someone closer to your own size," she threatened.

Laughing and holding his hands up in surrender, O'Mara scanned her slim but athletic five-foot, nine-inch figure. "No way, love. Pick you up and carry you around, yes. Toss you through the air and catch you, no. We'd both be flat for a week with wrenched backs."

"Cowards," Kitt muttered.

"I'll wrestle with you later," said O'Mara, grinning, "if you really want to play. Right now, though," he continued, turning to Ez, "I want to talk to you for a few minutes, if you can detach yourself."

"Sure. I can use a breather." Ez dropped Midge to her feet but had to stay bent over since she still had a tight grip on his hair. Chuckling, he wrapped one hand halfway around her waist and held the other out to the side in a straight line with her small bottom. "Let go," he growled warningly.

Unafraid, Midge smiled sweetly into his face, which was just a few inches from hers, and purred, "You do and I'll bite your nose." She tugged his head down as she went up on tiptoe and kissed his nose, then let go of his hair and, with a quick twist of her agile body, she was free and racing for the back stairs, yelling over her shoulder, "Besides, I'd rather make love than war."

Ez straightened up with a baffled look on his face, which only made Kitt and O'Mara laugh harder.

O'Mara caught Kitt's eye and said, "If you'll go along and find the glasses, we'll finish locking up and fetch the wine. We'll only be a few minutes."

She looked at him questioningly but accepted his reassuring nod and followed Midge.

Chapter 5

Standing in the middle of the living room a few minutes later, Kitt ran her fingers distractedly through her hair and looked at Midge with an unconscious plea in her lovely eyes.

"Midge, do you mind? I... I've got to clean up and change. I spent most of the morning grubbing in those cabinets and... I need to be alone for a little bit. This is all... it's...." She shook her head impatiently, sending her hair flying, unable to find the right words.

"No problem, Kitt. Go along and take your time. I know where the wineglasses are, and why don't I set the table? One less thing to do when the guys get back. And shall I take the steaks out now to get the chill off?"

"Yes, fine, if you're sure you don't mind. I don't mean to stick you with all the jobs. I'll do the salad when I come back, but perhaps you could scrub some baking potatoes. They can go in when Ez starts the charcoal. He should do that as soon as he comes up."

Kitt headed down the hall toward her bedroom, calling back, "Don't forget the size of those appetites when you're counting potatoes! And Gus is a growing boy."

"Just figure what a normal person would want and multiply by four," muttered Midge, pulling over the stepstool so she could reach the wall cabinets.

Kitt closed the bedroom door and slumped back against it with her eyes closed and her arms hanging loosely at her sides. She felt as if she had just run five miles on a mud flat. "Oh, damn, damn, damn," she whispered. "One O'Mara is more than I can handle. What the hell am I going to do with two of them? And, oh, that second one. A love. An absolute love."

She pushed away from the door and walked slowly toward the low, oversized bed. Kicking off her ankle boots, she dropped across the bed on her stomach, arms flung wide, and closed her eyes. It didn't help. Pictures of O'Mara flitted across her closed lids. O'Mara looking relaxed and impossibly young as he laughed with Ez. The strong, lean body twisting and bending to dodge Ez's punches. The beige cords stretching tightly over the flexing muscles in his long legs as he balanced to catch Midge. Blue—the gleaming, darkening, shifting, flashing, incredible blue of the eyes that kept telling her things she wasn't ready to know.

"No," she moaned. "I can't."

She forced her mind to concentrate on what she could put into the salad, mentally reviewing the contents of the refrigerator, while she rolled off the bed onto her feet and started undressing. Slipping into a white, floor-length, terrycloth caftan trimmed with navy-blue piping, she headed for the bathroom and a long shower.

Taking the few steps between her bedroom and the bathroom, she noticed the quiet and realized that the men hadn't come up yet. The only sound was the clink of silverware as Midge set the table.

Standing under the cascade of warm, soothing water a few minutes later, Kitt gradually became aware of just how tense she had been when she felt her cramped muscles slowly unknot and relax. She breathed in deeply, enjoying the heather scent of her soap, and tried to stop imagining the feel of strong, sensitive hands smoothing lather over her skin. It was one thing to tell herself that even if he were sharing the shower, she wouldn't be able to let him touch her like that; it was another thing to turn off her imagination and control her wishful thinking. The miracle was that she'd even want to think about a man touching her body again. Obviously, the reentry of O'Mara into her life was not going to be conducive to a peaceful existence. She
knew,
absolutely, that he was not going to believe that she wasn't affected by him, nor was he going to accept any nonsense like "I don't want to get involved with anyone."