Paris or Bust!: Romancing Roxanne?\Daddy Come Lately\Love Is in the Air (4 page)

She blinked in surprise, a blush staining her cheeks. “Why would your father invite me to dinner at
your
house?”

“I don’t know. He does have a perverse sense of humor at times. And this house did belong to him. Technically, it still does, except that now I live here and he lives in a condo closer to the station.” Kit opened the door wide and motioned her inside. “Come in. I’m sure he’ll be along any second.”

She shook her head, her mahogany hair tumbling around her face. “I’m going to go. There must have been some misunderstanding. Or maybe he got caught at work.”

“No,” Kit insisted. “I’m sure my father is on his way. Follow me. The pool house is through the kitchen.”

He grabbed the bag she’d brought along, then turned and started through the foyer, trying to ignore the reaction he felt when he first looked into her pretty hazel eyes. The sound of little footsteps followed him and he smiled to himself, glad that she hadn’t left. The opportunity to spend a little time with her was an unexpected treat.

A tiny sliver of guilt shot through him and he made a silent vow to be civil. There was something about her that seemed to bring out the worst in him. All his charm virtually disappeared when he got within five feet of Roxanne.

Usually, he was a pretty smooth guy around the ladies. Though work didn’t allow for much time to date, he’d had his share of relationships over the years. But he’d always limited his scope of interest to single, unencumbered women, women who could meet him for dinner at a moment’s notice, women who didn’t have children sleeping in the next room.

He wanted to believe he was protecting his father. But now that she was here and he could smell her perfume and look into her eyes, Kit was forced to admit that maybe he was the one who was at risk. He ignored the tiny sliver of guilt he felt. After all, she’d insisted she wasn’t interested in a romantic relationship with Carl. Who was he to argue?

“Four kids,” he muttered as the little monsters ran ahead of him toward the pool.

“Wait!” Roxanne shouted. “Don’t you go near that water without me.”

In a few short steps, Kit caught up with the smallest child and scooped her up into his arms. She screamed in delight, giggling with glee. “Listen to your mother,” he whispered.

“Hi,” she cooed, sending him the sweetest smile.

Kit couldn’t help but chuckle. The little girl would be a heartbreaker when she grew up. “Taking after your mother, I see.” He held her out to Roxanne, who took her with a grateful smile. “What’s her name?”

“Jenna,” she said. “She’s two. Danny is six, Rachel is four and a half, and Michael is three.”

“Four children,” he said. “Under the age of six. That’s…brave?”

She shrugged. “We wanted four and they just came along one after the other. It didn’t seem like such a large family at the time. But then I always thought I’d be raising them with a partner.” Her expression shifted and for a moment, Kit could see the vulnerability in her eyes.

He opened the French doors into the pool room. The warm, damp air smelled of chlorine, and he was tempted to walk inside with her and the children. “Go ahead,” he said. “Enjoy yourself. I’ll give my father a call and find out when he plans to arrive.”

“Wait, I can’t do this myself,” Roxanne said. “Four children around a swimming pool wouldn’t be a problem if I were an octopus. I really could use your help. Danny is a good swimmer and Rachel will be fine if she stays in the shallow end.” She hesitated. “Would you mind?”

He was about to blurt out a sarcastic answer, but to his surprise he found himself smiling. “No. I just got out of the pool. I wouldn’t mind going back in.”

“This is incredible,” Roxanne said, glancing around the spacious glass house. “So nice on a cold night.”

“My parents bought the house when I was a kid. The pool house was all old and moldy, but I was a competitive swimmer. So this seemed like the perfect place.”

“Your father told me about your swimming. He said you have a room full of trophies.”

“What else did he tell you?”

“He doesn’t talk much about his personal life to me. He talks about you, though. He’s very proud of you.” She paused and drew a deep breath. “You have the wrong idea about me—about us. Your father has been very kind, but there’s nothing going on.”

“Are you sure?”

She frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“You know how you feel. Do you know how he feels?”

She opened her mouth as if to reply, then snapped it shut. Then she glanced over at the kids who were standing near the edge of the pool. “Come on, kids. Let’s get your jackets and clothes off before you fall in.”

He watched as her children gathered around her. Moments later, jackets were flying everywhere, shoes tumbled off and clothes fell in heaps on the tile floor. The children already wore their suits, so as soon as they shed their clothes, they were ready to go. But Roxanne spoke to them softly about their behavior and warned them that they were not to go into the water until she was there with them. She grabbed two tiny life vests from the bag she’d brought and put them on Michael and Jenna.

Then she slowly began to remove her own clothes. Kit tried not to stare, but she was completely oblivious to the effect that her little striptease was having on him. With each item she shed, Kit felt the anticipation growing. And when she was finished and stood in a sleek, black tank suit, he realized that he hadn’t drawn a breath since she started.

“This is going to be so fun,” Danny said, bouncing up and down with excitement.

Kit forced a smile as his gaze drifted over her slender body. “Yeah,” he murmured. “This is going to be so fun.”

R
OXANNE SNUGGLED
beneath a thick terry cloth towel, Jenna curled up in her lap, sound asleep. Michael sat beside her on the tile floor, playing with a toy boat she’d brought along in her bag. Her gaze drifted over to the pool, to Danny and Rachel, who were tossing a ball around in the shallow end with Kit.

Her gaze fixed on his naked back, on the play of muscle as he held the ball over his head. When he’d first opened the door earlier that evening, she’d had to keep herself from staring at his body, at the smooth chest and wide shoulders, at the flat belly and narrow hips. Though her ex-husband had been in shape, he hadn’t had the raw material to work with that Kit did. The tall, slender body, the long limbs and the athletic grace that made him impossible to ignore.

When she realized it was his house, she’d nearly turned around and gotten back in the car. Kit Lawrence had made his feelings for her quite clear. He didn’t approve of his father’s job offer or her presence at the station. But for some strange reason, he’d invited her inside. Then he’d tried to make the evening as comfortable as possible, ordering pizza for the kids and playing with them in the pool.

Carl had phoned just before the pizza arrived to apologize. He’d been detained at the station with some technical problem. She’d almost been happy to hear that he wouldn’t be joining them.

She glanced at the clock on the wall and noticed the late hour. “Come on, you little waterbugs,” Roxanne called. “Time to get out of the pool or you’ll start to look like prunes.”

Kit grabbed Rachel by the waist and swung her up on the edge of the pool, then did the same with Danny. They both ran over to the table and grabbed a piece of cold pizza, then sat down to munch on the leftovers. Kit strolled over to Roxanne and flopped down onto the chair next to her.

He snatched up a towel and dried his face, then glanced over at her. “I’m exhausted.”

“They take a lot of energy, don’t they?”

“I don’t know a lot about kids,” Kit admitted as he pulled a T-shirt over his head. “But they’re not so bad. In fact, they’re pretty much fun.”

“Right. Until they all have the flu at one time. Or until you’re stuck in the middle of traffic without a snack. Or until they all decide to flush their shoes down the toilet. Then call me and tell me how much fun they are,” Roxanne teased.

“You’re a good mother,” Kit said. “I can see that.”

“It feels a little strange to be competing in a contest against other mothers.” She grabbed a towel and began to dry Michael’s hair. “But the trip to Paris would be nice. And I could use the shopping spree to buy clothes for the kids.”

“I’d vote for you,” Kit murmured, his gaze locking with hers.

A tiny shiver skittered down her spine. “Well, this mother better get her kids home. Danny has school tomorrow morning and Rachel has a dentist appointment. And I’ve got to take the van in and get the muffler fixed. It’s dragging.” Roxanne tried to struggle to her feet with Jenna in her arms, but Kit reached out and gently took the little girl. “Thanks,” she said.

Roxanne quickly grabbed her jeans and tugged them over her wet suit. Then she pulled her sweater over her head and slipped her bare feet into her boots.

“There’s a changing room over there,” Kit said. “You don’t have to go away wet.”

“No, this is better. The quicker the better,” Roxanne said. “I have precisely two minutes to get my children into their clothes and shoes and jackets before they start to complain about leaving. After four minutes, the whining starts and after five there are going to be temper tantrums. So unless you want a major meltdown on your hands, I’d help me get them ready to go.”

“Tell me what to do.”

She handed him a tiny pair of blue jeans and pointed at Jenna. “I’m glad we can be friends,” she said softly.

“Is that what we are?” Kit asked.

“Well, maybe not. But at least we’re not enemies.”

“No, we aren’t,” he agreed. “And to that end, I suppose I’d better apologize for being such a jerk when we met. I’m a little overprotective when it comes to my father.”

She smiled. “Apology accepted.”

Between the two of them, they got the children dressed and packed up in about three minutes, Kit keeping them distracted with entertaining riddles so that they didn’t even realize that they were leaving. When the last boot was on and the last jacket zipped, he picked up Jenna and led them all back through the house to the front door.

They were almost out the door when Danny realized what was happening. “Why do we have to leave?” he asked. “I want to swim some more.”

“Honey, we have to get home. It’s almost bedtime.”

“It’s not my bedtime,” he said. “Why do I have to leave?”

“Because I said so,” Roxanne replied.

“Good answer,” Kit murmured. “I always liked that one.”

“But why?” Danny whined.

Roxanne grabbed her son’s hand and pulled him out to the van parked in the drive. Rachel skipped along behind her and Michael raced around to the other side, waiting for Roxanne to open the door. She got them all inside and strapped in, then took Jenna from Kit and put her in her car seat.

When she’d pulled the sliding door shut, Kit followed her around to the driver’s side. She reached for the door, but he covered her hand with his. The contact sent a flood of warmth through her body. He slowly turned her around until their eyes met. She could barely read the expression on his face beneath the feeble light from above the front door. “You—you don’t have any shoes on,” she murmured. “Aren’t your feet cold?”

He shook his head, his gaze drifting down to her mouth. When he leaned forward, she knew what was about to happen, but she couldn’t do anything to stop it. His lips met hers in a gentle kiss. At first, her impulse was to pull away, but the warmth of his mouth was so tantalizing, so surprisingly wonderful, that she stood perfectly still and allowed him to kiss her. When he drew back, she sighed softly, then opened her eyes.

A gentle snow had begun to fall and she felt the flakes melt on her cheeks. He stared down into her gaze, then reached up and smoothed his finger along her jawline. Then he touched her damp hair. “You better go,” he murmured. “You’ll catch your death out here.”

She rubbed her arms. “You’re the one without a jacket.”

“I’m not the one shivering,” he said.

A blush warmed her cheeks. “Thanks again. For dinner and for helping with the kids. You didn’t have to—”

He placed his finger on her lips and smiled. “I had fun.” He pulled the door open and helped her inside, then closed it softly behind her. As he stepped away, Roxanne turned the key in the ignition, praying that the van would start and she could drive off with him staring after her. The engine rumbled to life and she threw it into gear and steered the minivan around the circular drive.

When she reached the street, she glanced in her rearview mirror and watched him walk inside the house. Then she released a tightly held breath. A tiny smile curved her lips, still warm from his kiss.

“Mommy?”

She shifted in her seat until she could see Danny’s reflection. “Yeah, honey.”

“You kissed that man,” he said.

“Yes, I did,” she said.

“Why?”

Roxanne wasn’t sure of the answer herself. “I was just thanking him for letting us swim in his pool.”

“Why?”

“Because it was the polite thing to do.”

“Do you think if you kiss him again, he’ll invite us over again? ’Cause I really had a fun time and the pizza was good. And Mr. Lawrence is nice.”

“He is a nice man,” Roxanne said. “Mommy didn’t think so at first, but now I kind of like him.”

“Me, too.”

CHAPTER THREE

“Y
OU COULD HAVE
at least told me you’d invited her. After all, I do live there.” Kit leaned back in his leather chair, kicked his feet up on the desk, and clasped his hands behind his head.

His father looked unapologetic. “I knew you’d be home. And she’d already told her kids they were going swimming. I didn’t want to disappoint them. Hey, I remember when you were a kid and I broke a promise. I’d hear about it for days.”

“You could have told me,” Kit repeated. “And what was so important that you had to stay at the station?”

“We had problems with the transmitter. We had dead air for seventeen seconds. It was an emergency. By the time everything got fixed, it was ten. I figured she’d be home by then anyway. I sent her a dozen roses this morning.”

Kit slid his feet off the desk and leaned forward. “Roses?”

“Yeah.” Carl grinned, as if he’d suddenly discovered the secret path to a woman’s heart. “She forgave me.”

“How do you know?”

“I spoke to her on the phone a few minutes ago. She called to thank me for the roses. And she said she’d be in this afternoon to talk about next week’s show.”

Kit ground his teeth. Hell, he should have sent her roses! He had every reason—they’d had a wonderful time last night. Then maybe she would have called him. He couldn’t think of anything he wanted more than to hear her voice. Well, maybe he wanted to see her a little more than hear her. Touching her might be nice. Hell, kissing her again would be the best.

Though he ought to feel guilty about kissing Roxanne, he couldn’t. At first, he’d rationalized it as part of a plan to protect his father, to keep Roxanne away from the family fortune. But in truth, he’d kissed her because he couldn’t go another minute without tasting her mouth. “Only a dozen?” Kit asked. “Don’t you think that’s a little…cheap?”

“Cheap? Roses are three dollars apiece,” Carl said.

“But these days, a guy usually sends two dozen. Or even three dozen. It’s more impressive,” Kit said, hoping to test the depth of his father’s feelings for Roxanne.

“I figured you’d have something to say about the roses, but it wasn’t that.”

“Roxanne insists that there’s nothing going on between you two.” Kit watched his father’s reaction, but to his surprise, Carl seemed unfazed by the comment. “I figure it’s none of my business,” he added, trying to draw a comment. “The more I protest, the more determined you seem to be. But how do you feel about her?”

“A dozen roses was always good for my generation,” Carl said. He pointed to a chair and Kit nodded, a silent invitation to sit down. “You know, I can’t figure why someone hasn’t married her,” Carl continued. “She’s a beautiful woman. Don’t you think she’s beautiful?”

“Yeah, sure. She’s great.”

“She’s smart and funny and she needs someone to take care of her. I can’t understand why her husband would have walked out on her.”

Kit fiddled with some papers on his desk, trying to appear only mildly interested. “What do you know about that? Her divorce, I mean.”

“He ran off with some…” His father searched for the word.

“Bimbo?”

“No, professional wrestler. Female professional wrestler. She calls herself the Velvet Hammer. He cleaned out their savings and stock accounts and headed for Bermuda or Barbados. From what I understand, she and the family had a pretty cushy life before he left. Now she’s struggling to keep a roof over her kids’ heads.”

“So, is that why you want her to work at the station?”

Carl ignored Kit’s question. “I’d imagine she’s going to make someone a great wife.” He sighed wistfully and reached for a framed photo on Kit’s desk. “She reminds me a lot of your mom,” he said, pointing to the picture. “When we met, she was working three jobs and going to college at night. She was determined to have a career. That was when women’s lib was in full gear and your mom was right in the middle of it. Roxy has that same kind of tenacity.”

“You call her Roxy? So you two must be getting close.”

“It’s a nickname for Roxanne. It fits her, don’t you think?”

“She comes with four kids, Dad.”

“What difference does that make?”

“I’m just saying that if you take her on, you’re taking on her kids, too.”

“You don’t think I’d be a good father? Wasn’t I a good father to you?”

“You were thirty years younger at the time.”

“I suppose it would be like riding a bike. You never really forget how.” With that, Carl stood and set the photo back on Kit’s desk. “That’s a nice one of your mom. I remember when I took that.” He slowly walked out of the office, his mood suddenly pensive.

Kit groaned softly, then rubbed his temples with his fingers. “This is just great.” It was clear how his father felt about Roxanne Perry. He’d gone from interested to besotted in a matter of a few days. Though Kit could relate. Hell, he’d changed his own tune pretty drastically.

But Carl Lawrence had been out of the dating pool for nearly forty years. The pretty little goldfish Carl was used to had been replaced by sharks. Kit knew what it was like. He’d been out there and it was brutal, not exactly the kind of world his father was prepared to handle.

Back when his parents were courting, women were willing to wait for a relationship to develop slowly. Marriage was serious business. But these days, if a man wasn’t sure after a few months of dating, the relationship would end and the woman would move on, not willing to waste another day in the quest for the perfect husband.

If his father was in love with Roxanne Perry and she wasn’t in love with him, then Kit would be the one to pick up the pieces. He pressed his intercom button, buzzing the secretary that he and his father shared. “Linda, will you call the receptionist and ask her to send Roxanne Perry up to my office as soon as she arrives? And then I’d like to send her some flowers. A big bouquet. Really big.”

“Roses?” Linda asked.

“No. Spring flowers. Tulips, daffodils, those really nice-smelling ones.”

“Hyacinths?”

“Yeah. Real colorful. Cheerful flowers. Not…serious flowers.” He could imagine the smile on his secretary’s face. “You know what I mean.”

“No frowning or depressive flowers. Got it,” she said.

Kit stood up and paced the width of his office, trying to decide how to approach Roxanne. After last night, he had a serious conflict of interest. He’d kissed his father’s girlfriend. Now was the time to remain objective, to separate his feelings from his father’s feelings. Sure, he liked Roxanne, but he wasn’t in love with her. If he had to give her up to protect his father, then that was a sacrifice he was prepared to make.

The phone rang and Kit leaned over the desk to snatch it up. “Kit Lawrence.”

“Mr. Lawrence, Mrs. Perry arrived a few moments ago. I’ve sent her to your office.”

“Thanks, Melanie.”

Kit stood, nervously fiddling with his tie. A minute later, Roxanne appeared at his door, her coat thrown over her arm.

“Hi,” she murmured.

Kit’s breath caught and he wondered why she looked more beautiful every time he saw her. Was she doing something different with her hair or her makeup? Or was the anticipation of seeing her again simply causing him to imagine it? “Come in,” he said.

She glanced around, as if stepping into his office was dangerous. She was right. If he closed the door behind her, there wouldn’t be much to keep him from sweeping her into his arms and kissing her again. But before he did that, he had to get a few things clear between them. “I wanted to talk to you about my father.”

Roxanne smiled. “Oh, don’t worry. He apologized for last night. He also sent roses.” She sent him a shy smile. “And I wanted to thank you for the swimming and the pizza. We had a lot of fun.”

Her gaze met his and Kit knew she was thinking about the kiss they’d shared. He wondered how she’d react if he stepped out from behind his desk and repeated the experience. Would she melt into his arms or would she push him away? But kissing Roxanne would not solve the problems standing between them. “Please, sit down.”

She did as she was told, folding her hands on her lap and watching him expectantly.

“What are your intentions regarding my father?” he blurted out.

“My intentions?”

Kit paused, trying to frame his words as delicately as he could. “Though he won’t admit his feelings to me, I think it’s time you made your feelings clear to him. I don’t want to see him hurt. I want to know what it would take for you to walk away.”

She frowned. “I don’t understand. Walk away from what? I’m not in love with your father! He’s a nice man and he’s been very kind to me. How many times do I have to say that?”

“Don’t say it to me. Say it to my father.”

“He’s never given any indication that he has serious feelings for me. As far as I can tell, he’s still in love with your mother.”

Kit drew a deep breath, knowing that he should end the conversation. But he couldn’t help but push it. He needed to know how she really felt, and not just for his father’s sake but for his own. “I know how difficult things are for you now, financially. And this job that he’s offered you does have a small salary. I’d like to help you out if you’d agree to walk away before you hurt him.”

“Wait.” Roxanne stood up. “I don’t need to listen to any more of this. Your father offered me a chance. And I’m going to take it.”

“My father owns thirty-three percent of my company. If you think I’m going to let you—”

“Don’t even say it,” she warned, holding out her finger to silence him. “If you really cared about your father, then you’d want him to be happy. And if he had the good fortune to find happiness with me or any other woman, then you should be jumping for joy. Because real happiness…real love…is very hard to find.”

She turned on her heel and strode out of his office, slamming the door behind her. He stared after her, suddenly wondering what had possessed him to take such a tack with her. Maybe his first instinct had been right—to let his father’s infatuation run its course. But he didn’t want to watch his father fall more deeply under her spell. And he didn’t want to learn that Roxanne Perry was the kind of woman to take advantage of a vulnerable man. But even worse, he didn’t want to believe that she’d choose his father over him.

He punched at his intercom button and when Linda answered, he schooled his voice into relative calm. “Cancel those flowers,” he said. Hell, he didn’t care whether Roxanne Perry kidnapped his father and turned him into a sixty-year-old sex slave. From now on, he was staying out of it!

“A
ND THAT’S OUR SHOW FOR TODAY
. Join us next Tuesday when we’ll be talking about the perils of dating for a single mom. This is Carl Lawrence, for Roxanne Perry. Thanks for listening to
Baltimore At Home.
”

Carl flipped a switch and turned to face Roxanne. “Great show. I enjoyed our conversation about discipline. I didn’t realize how different things were in a single parent household. No good cop, bad cop.”

“Carl, I need to talk to you about something,” Roxanne murmured.

“And I need to talk to you. Let’s go to my office.”

Roxanne followed him out of the studio and when they reached his office right next door to Kit’s, he closed the door behind her. She nervously took a seat across the desk from him and tried to put order to her thoughts. She needed to tell him how she felt. Though she respected him and cared about him, there was no romantic spark. He was old enough to be her father.

“Carl, before we talk about next week’s show, I need to clear the air.”

“You can clear the air after you look at this,” Carl said. He slid a sheaf of papers across the desk and she picked them up.

“What is this?”

“It’s a contract. I’m offering you a permanent job here at the station. Twenty-five thousand a year with benefits. I know it’s not a lot, but there’s a clause in there that allows you to renegotiate after six months if the ratings increase the way I think they will.”

She stared at the paper, the words a blur. “A job? You’re offering me a real job?”

“Radio is a strange gig,” he said. “Either you’re good at it or you’re not. You’re a natural, Roxy. People listen to you. You’re compassionate and outspoken and funny and that’s a rare combination.”

“But I don’t have any professional training.”

“I didn’t either. Before I got into radio, I was selling used cars. I came into the studio to do some commercial work for my boss and they liked my voice. I did more voice-overs and they offered me a job reading the news. That’s how I got my start.”

“I don’t know what to say,” she murmured, clutching the contract in her hands as if it might suddenly disappear. She thought finding a job would be difficult, that she’d have to suffer months of rejection before someone would hire her. And now, he was handing her a career on a silver platter.

“Say yes,” Carl urged. “It would be a great job for you. You’d need to be here from about nine until three on Tuesdays and Thursdays and that’s it. You can do research for the show from home. We’ll get you a computer with Internet access. You know how to use a computer, don’t you?”

“Sure. I used to help my ex-husband with his research when he was just starting up his law practice.”

“We’ll go over the show in the morning before we go on the air. And then we’ll spend an hour afterwards brainstorming for the next week. We should—”

“Why are you doing this?” Roxanne interrupted.

“I told you,” Carl said. “Because you’re good.”

“There isn’t another reason?”

He shrugged. “Well, maybe I’d like to help you out.”

She drew a slow, even breath. “Your son says that you’re falling in love with me. Is that true?”

Carl chuckled. “That’s what he thinks?”

“He offered me money to stay out of your life.”

He didn’t seem to be surprised. “How much?” Carl asked.

Roxanne gasped. “He didn’t offer me a specific amount.” She paused. “You don’t seem surprised.”

“I’d hold out for a hundred thousand,” Carl advised in a serious voice.

“Dollars?”

“Ever since I turned the business over to Kit, we’ve switched roles. He’s been treating me like the kid and I’m supposed to treat him like the parent. He’s the one who suggested I move into the condo so I wouldn’t have to make the drive home when I worked late at the station. He’s the one who insisted on the car service after I had a few little accidents on the freeway. And now he’s trying to control who I spend my time with. Yes, Kit has this notion that I’m in love with you. And maybe I haven’t disabused him of it quite yet. I’m trying to teach him a lesson.”