Tempting (26 page)

“That's a hell of a black eye,” he said as he lightly touched her cheekbone.

“You should see the other guy.”

He didn't smile. Instead he bent down and gathered her in his arms. He was strong and warm and the second he embraced her she felt totally safe.

“God damn sonofabitch,” he said, his voice muffled by her shoulder.

She clung to him. “I'm taking that as a statement against those guys and not a comment on my lack of makeup.”

He released her, then dragged a chair over to her bed. When he'd sat down, he took both her hands in his.

“I couldn't believe it when I heard,” he told her. “I want to ask if you're okay. Stupid question. How could you be?”

“I'm fine,” she said. “A little shaken, but okay. Assuming I don't fall into a coma or have a seizure or whatever else they expect when they keep you overnight for observation, I'm out of here in the morning.” She pulled one hand free and touched her face. “I'll have a great story.”

“You had to be scared.”

“More than I've ever been in my life. But mostly for Bailey. I was terrified they were really going to rape her.”

“You knocked 'em around. There are bruises.”

“You've seen them?”

“I've been off intimidating them and their parents. Those teens have a history of making trouble. Nothing this bad, but they've always gotten off with light sentences. Not this time.”

“Is Bailey okay?”

He smiled. “She's being treated like the heroine she is. She says she wasn't that scared. That she knew you'd take care of her. Then when they hurt you, she wanted payback.” He squeezed her fingers. “She even confessed that she used bad language, but she was given a free pass this one time.”

Dani chuckled. “I believe the phrase was ‘butthead.' She's such a sweetheart. I can't believe how cruel those kids were to her. The things they said.”

“There's no law against being stupid.”

“Speaking of which,” she said, staring at the blanket on her lap. “I believe I'm falling into that category.” She forced herself to look at him. “I guess Fiona sucked me in.”

He stared into her eyes. “I haven't slept with her. I'm not interested in her. I won't go so far as to say I hate her because that implies a level of energy I don't have where she's concerned. She's nothing to me, Dani. I want you to know that.”

“I do. Really. I should have thought it through. I should have asked instead of yelling.”

“No. I'm to blame for that. Your accusation caught me off guard. My pride got in the way. I thought you should have believed in me. Later I realized that given your past and how short a time we've known each other, believing what looked like real proof made sense.”

“Yeah?” Did this mean he wasn't going to let her get away?

“Yeah.” He leaned in and kissed her.

“It's just she knew stuff about the house. Like the fireplace being on a remote.”

“She'd seen the place. She was pissed I'd left her so when she found out I was interested in that house, she bid against me. The irony is that because of the divorce settlement, she was bidding against me with my own money.”

Dani sighed. “I never thought of her seeing it any way but with you. I'm sorry.”

“Don't be. I should have handled things differently. The pregnancy thing threw me. I was trying to figure out who she could have been seeing. After the fact I thought maybe you would have seen that distraction as guilt or surprise.”

“Kind of.”

He kissed her again. His mouth was warm and promising. She wanted to keep kissing him, but considering their location and how much her head hurt, it was probably not a good idea.

“I don't want her,” he said. “I want you.”

“Good answer.”

“Are we okay?”

She nodded, then touched her head. “I have to stop doing that.”

“What about the poll numbers?” he asked. “They were bothering you before.”

“I don't know. You're the expert at this—not me. Do we ignore them and hope they go away?”

“You can't run your life based on the campaign.”

Which sounded great, she thought. But was it reality? Mark was her father. What did she owe him?

“I don't want to ruin anything,” she admitted. “I don't want to be the reason he doesn't become president.”

“You'd walk away from me?” Alex asked.

She studied him, trying to figure out what he was thinking. “Are you saying you wouldn't? That if Mark asked you not to see me, you'd tell him to go to hell?” She placed her fingers on his mouth. “Be honest. He's your father. You value loyalty above everything else. This is his dream. Do either of us have the right to destroy that?”

“There will be other scandals.”

But right now she was the scandal du jour.

“We don't have to deal with this tonight,” Alex told her. “Get some rest. I'll be by to take you home in the morning.”

“I look forward to it.”

He kissed her and left.

She shifted on the bed, trying to get comfortable. Her head still pounded and that would make it difficult to sleep, although she was plenty tired. Maybe she should—

Someone knocked on her door. She looked up and saw Mark standing in the shadows.

“You're still awake,” he said.

“I am.”

“Good. Good.” He walked into the room and smiled down at her. “How are you feeling? That's quite a black eye.”

“I know. I looked in the mirror earlier and frightened myself.”

“You'll heal.”

He was alone for once. No entourage, no family or staff. Just the man. He seemed less grand by himself, she thought. Still handsome and very much a stranger. Would he always be? Was that just who he was? Someone she couldn't get close to?

He settled into the chair Alex had just left.

“Do you need anything?” he asked. “They're treating you well here?”

“They're great and I'm doing fine. I'll go home in the morning.”

“Good. Excellent.” He patted her arm. “You made the news. You and Bailey are heroes. That's what's important. We're expecting this to play favorably with the voters. Show them my family has character. The numbers will be back up, especially now that we can leak that you and Alex aren't dating anymore. Interesting about you and Alex. Not a pair I would have put together. But it's over now. All's well.”

All was not well. She and Alex were very much a couple. At least they were trying to be. The road of their relationship was rocky, to say the least.

She looked at the man who was her father. She knew in her heart he wasn't the fantasy she'd hoped for. But he was a good man who had plans. Big plans. He wanted to be president. She'd only ever wanted to run Buchanan's. Who was she to stand in the way of his future?

A
LEX SHOWED UP
at his parents' house early in the morning. Katherine was still in her robe, making coffee in the kitchen, when he walked in. She looked up and froze. Her mouth twisted, her eyes widened, but she didn't speak.

He'd been more angry with her than he'd ever been in his life. He'd known that not talking to her was punishment because she hated to be disconnected from her children in any way. He'd wanted her to suffer.

But then he'd remembered who she was. That she'd found him, a half-wild boy who had screamed most of the night as he relived the nightmare of his birth mother's murder. He remembered how she'd patiently taught him how to read, how to add and subtract, how to take a shower, to function in normal society. She'd been the one to assume he would catch up in school and go to college. He still remembered the amazement of overhearing her talking with one of her friends.

“Alex is brilliant. I can already tell. He's going to do something special with his life. I wonder which college he'll go to.”

He'd been ten at the time, still struggling to fit in. Her casual words had inspired him. She'd worked a miracle in him. He owed her everything.

But even if he didn't, he would still have come to see her this morning—because he loved her. He would always love her. Everyone was allowed to screw up—it made her human.

He held open his arms.

She rushed into them and he pulled her close. She was so small, he thought absently. He always saw her as such a powerful woman, but she was almost frail. On the outside—on the inside, she was a powerhouse.

“I'm sorry,” she began.

“No,” he told her. “You've apologized. I didn't come here to get you to say it again. I came to say I appreciate that you regret your actions and that we're okay.”

She raised her head and looked at him. “Oh, Alex, I love you so much.”

“I love you, too.”

“I can't believe you've forgiven me.”

“I'm an amazing guy. You're lucky to have me in your life.”

She smiled, then started to laugh. “I guess I am.” She stepped back. “I was making coffee. Want some?”

“Sure.” He settled on one of the stools. “I need to talk to you about a couple of things.”

“I didn't think you were here for my cooking.”

“You make a mean cinnamon roll.”

“If only. I do a fabulous job opening the package and putting the prepared rolls onto a pan. Later, I'm almost artistic with the little container of icing.”

“Still, I like them.”

“That's why I make them.”

She would always go out of her way to do something special for each of her children. She was honest to a fault, never searching for the spotlight. She pushed everyone else ahead of herself. Family was her world. A family he was about to rip apart.

“I'm resigning from the campaign,” he said.

Her breath caught. “Alex, no.”

“I have to. I'm not the right person to help him.”

“But it means so much to have you involved.”

He knew he was offering her an impossible choice—siding with the father or the son. Ultimately she would pick Mark because he was her husband, but it would devastate her to choose.

“I haven't made this decision lightly,” he told her. “He's important to me, too. I want to do the right thing, but I can't ignore the feeling in my gut. I'm not political. I don't like it and I don't do it well.”

She folded her arms across her chest and looked at him. “I know,” she whispered. “I know you were only there because he asked you. Because he wanted it to be a family affair.”

“I'll still campaign, if it comes to that. I'll show my support in other ways.”

“He's going to be disappointed.”

“He'll get over it.” Alex had a feeling Mark's biggest concern would be how it looked to the voters, which probably wasn't fair.

“This can't have been easy for you,” she said, showing the understanding that always came so natural to her. “You would have seen staying as your duty.”

He shrugged. “This way is better. Ultimately for both of us, although I'm not sure he'll see it that way.”

She nodded. “He'll understand with time. When are you telling him?”

“The end of the week.”

Even as he said the words, he felt guilty, as if he was doing the wrong thing. Everything he'd been taught, everything he owed Mark and Katherine, told him he should stay. Just suck it up and deal. But he couldn't. She'd also taught him to be his own person.

“I'm sorry,” he told her. “It's just one more thing, after the hell you dealt with yesterday.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Not me. Dani and Bailey are the ones who really suffered. I'm so glad no one was seriously injured. If those boys had hurt either one of them…”

There was a fierceness in her voice, an anger and a strength. He liked that she was protective of both of them. “They would have had to answer to us.”

She flipped on the coffeemaker, then leaned against the counter. “Are those boys going to be charged?”

“They're going to be convicted. I'll make sure of it. How's Bailey?”

Katherine relaxed. “Mostly empowered. She seems very clear that the boys were bad and what they were doing was wrong. Dani protecting her made her feel special and her being able to save Dani makes her feel tough and capable.”

“Good.”

“I know she's your favorite.”

He shifted on the stool. “I love all my brothers and sisters equally.”

“Oh, please. You have a soft spot for Bailey. You always have.”

“Maybe.”

“I'm glad. Dani really cares about her, too. Dani's very special. I like her.”

There was something in the way she said the words, as if testing the waters.

“She hasn't been easy for you,” he said. “Not because of anything she's done but because of who she is.”

“Agreed.”

“Is it okay?”

Katherine stared at the coffeemaker. “Okay is such a weasel word. What does it really mean? Do I like what's happened? Do I enjoy people talking, speculating? Of course not. Do I blame Dani? Not when I'm myself. Do I wish she'd never shown up?” She looked at him. “Never.”

“I love her.”

He hadn't meant to say the words. He'd barely recognized the truth of it himself. But last night, after he'd left her in the hospital, he'd realized how much he would have been destroyed if she'd been critically hurt. He hadn't been looking, but he'd found her all the same.

“I sort of figured that out,” his mother said with a smile.

“How?”

“There's something about your eyes when you talk about her. A light. I don't know. It's subtle, but I saw it.”

Hated it, he thought. She had hated it, then accepted it and now she would embrace it. Because of who she was.

“It's serious,” he told her.

“I figured that, too.”

“I want to marry her.”

He waited for her to react—to collapse or fall into tears. He thought she might get angry or beg him to change his mind.

Instead she poured them each a cup of coffee, handed him his, then said, “Let me be clear. This time I expect grandchildren. Lots of them.”

She smiled.

He might have known, he thought as he put his arm around her. She always took the high road. No matter what.

“Damn, you're good,” he said.

“I know. I'm a constant surprise. It's part of my charm.”

Katherine closed her eyes and knew that finding a way to welcome Dani as Alex's wife would be easier today than it would have been yesterday. Dani had more than proved herself and was exactly who Katherine would have wanted for her son.

She refused to think about the gossip or potential scandal. That would happen and she would deal with it because she was good at dealing.

“When are you going to propose?” she asked.

“Tomorrow night. I'll plan a romantic dinner. I'm picking her up at the hospital this morning. She probably still hurts from what those bastards did to her, so I'm giving her time.”

She sighed. “I raised you right. You're a good man, Alex. She's lucky to have you.”

“That's what I'm going to tell her.”

“I'll want details. I'm seeing her tomorrow at the charity luncheon. It will be hard to keep quiet. But I will.”

He stared into her eyes. “Thank you. For everything.”

All she'd ever done was love him, the way she loved all her children. She'd made mistakes, but she kept trying to do the right thing. Just as
her
mother had taught her.

Alex marrying Dani would bind the two families together. Make them both stronger.

“Don't think that's enough to get you out of the whole grandchildren thing,” she said with a laugh. “I mean it. I'm tired of waiting.”

He chuckled. “Not to worry. I'll get right on that.”

 

T
HE CHARITY LUNCHEON
in support of breast cancer was held in a downtown hotel. Dani hovered in a bathroom stall and knew that eventually she was going to have to leave the tiny space and go face the room. And she would. Just as soon as she was sure she wasn't going to throw up.

Her stomach kept flipping and spinning and trying to escape. Her chest was tight and her legs trembled. She was past nervous. She was in that fight-or-flight state. Even with the black eye, she was more than willing to fight anyone rather than speak in public.

“I'm fine,” she whispered to herself as she tried to breathe. “I'll get through this. It's only six minutes. Five if I talk fast. I can do it for five minutes.”

She didn't actually convince herself, but maybe if she kept up the cheerful talk, she would start to feel better. The speech was fine. It was charming and heartfelt. The Canfield speech writers had even given her a funny new opening that mentioned her black eye. Mostly because all the concealer in the world couldn't hide the bruise.

She clenched her hands together and sucked in another breath, then heard several women walk into the bathroom.

Dani told herself it was time to leave, so she wasn't hogging a stall for no good reason, when she heard their conversation.

“Oh my God! I can't believe Katherine went through with this,” one of the women said. “I can't decide if she's a saint or just an idiot.”

“She looks tired,” another said. “I'm sure it's the stress. Mark's child. Can you believe it? She's actually going to be seen in public with her. I wouldn't do it.”

“Your husband isn't running for president. A woman will put up with a lot to get that kind of life. She sure has. People are talking about her everywhere. It has to be killing her.”

The speaker sounded as if she was thrilled at the thought of Katherine's pain.

“Do you suppose she told him she couldn't have children before or after they got married?” another woman asked.

“I don't know,” the first one said. “Either way, he's got to be disappointed. That group she's put together. There's something wrong with all of them. It's horrible. Not that we can say that, of course. We all have to pretend she's just so wonderful.”

Dani's temper exploded. She stepped out of the stall and faced the three well-dressed women.

“Pretending isn't required,” she told them. “Katherine is an extraordinary woman. Something none of you can relate to, I'm sure.”

They stared at her. Dani calmly walked over to the sink, washed her hands, dried them and left. She was still shaking when she entered the main ballroom.

Damn those women and their petty comments. Dani didn't know who they were, but she hoped Katherine didn't consider any of them close friends. They were like snakes in couture. The only bright side was one of them had obviously had an unfortunate eye lift.

She looked around for Katherine, but instead found herself cornered by two reporters.

“Just a minute of your time,” the woman said. “Please.”

Dani tried to inch away. “This is a private event. Unless you bought a ticket, you have to leave.”

They both held up tickets. Dani stifled a groan.

“Did you stage the attack yesterday to help your father's campaign?” the man asked.

“Is it true you and Alex Canfield aren't seeing each other because of the falling poll numbers. Did you give up love for the campaign?”

Dani pushed her way past them and headed for the front of the room. She found Katherine speaking with the event coordinator.

“Standing room only,” Katherine told her as they stepped into a quiet corner. “We've sold out, thanks to you.”