Tempting (3 page)

Seconds later Sasha burst into the room and flew across the hardwood floors.

“Mommy, Mommy, you're back. I missed you so much. Yvette read to me and Bailey and I watched princess videos and I had mac and cheese for lunch, then Ian read us a story and did the voices.”

Katherine straightened, hugging the little girl close. “You had a good day.”

“I did.” Sasha smiled.

She was just five, with café au lait skin and dark eyes. Her hair hung in a tangle of curls. Katherine suspected her mixed heritage and classic bone structure meant the little girl was going to grow into a real beauty. She and Mark were going to have trouble with boys far sooner than they wanted. But for the next few years, they only had to worry about their baby growing up strong.

“Do you want to say hello to Fiona?” Katherine asked.

Sasha wrinkled her nose slightly, then dutifully said, “Hello, Fiona. How are you?”

“I'm fine.” Fiona smiled at the girl. “You're getting so big.”

Sasha didn't answer. For some reason, she'd never gotten along with Alex's ex-wife, which was odd. The child was exceptionally loving.

Yvette walked into the kitchen. “I knew your mama had to be home, the way you went tearing off. Tell me I did not hear you running down the stairs.”

Sasha grinned. “You did not.”

“Good. How was the presentation?” Yvette asked Katherine.

“Exhausting, but successful. And here?”

“Wild, crazy, loud.”

“So normal?”

“You know how your children are,” Yvette told her with a grin. “They're going to make me old before my time.”

“You're younger than me,” Katherine teased. “I get to be old first.”

“We'll have to see.”

Yvette held out her arms and Sasha went willingly. The petite dark-haired woman carried her out of the kitchen.

“She's so good with the children,” Fiona said. “You were lucky to find her.”

“I know. She's the reason Mark and I could adopt so many children.”

Without help, they would have been forced to stop at three or four children. Katherine didn't even want to think about that. She loved all eight of her children and couldn't imagine her world without even one of them.

“You have a perfect life,” Fiona murmured.

Katherine thought about her aching feet and the hot flash that had kept her awake for two hours the previous night. “Not perfect, but it makes me happy.”

“Your children are such a blessing.”

Katherine glanced at Fiona and saw the pain flash in her eyes. Her chest tightened in sympathy. By now Fiona should have a child of her own. Maybe two. If all had gone well…But it hadn't. Everything had changed when Alex had announced he wanted a divorce. He'd never told Katherine why and Fiona claimed to be equally confused by his unexpected change of heart.

Katherine knew there had to be a reason. Alex was her oldest and the child of her heart. They had been through so much together. He wasn't the sort of man to simply walk away without a reason. He was far from heartless or cruel. So why had he left his wife?

Katherine wanted to say something to comfort her friend, but she couldn't think of what that would be. Fiona smiled bravely.

“Sorry. I didn't mean to get emotional. I know you're already in an awkward position and I don't want to make things worse. I just want you to know that I so appreciate you allowing me to help out with the charity work. It means everything to me. You could have easily cut me out of your life.”

“Never,” Katherine told her. “Whatever happens between you and Alex has nothing to do with our friendship.” She continued to hold out hope that her son would realize what he'd done and go back to Fiona.

Fiona drew in a breath. “I'm going to slip into your office for an hour or so, if that's all right. I want to download fashion show menus for the past ten years. The last thing we want to worry about is a repeat entrée.”

“Thanks for doing that. I'll go up and check on the kids. Come find me before you leave.”

“I will.”

Fiona left. Katherine turned toward the staircase, but before she took a step, she heard the garage door. That could only mean one thing—Mark was home.

She knew it was completely foolish, but even after twenty-seven years, her heart still beat faster whenever she thought about seeing her husband. So many of her friends talked about the spark going out of their marriage—how nothing was ever exciting or fresh. It wasn't like that for Katherine—it never had been. Her love for Mark had only grown. In the cliché of movies and TV, he was her handsome prince. While she loved her children, he was the one who truly claimed her heart.

She ran a hand over her hair, then smoothed the front of her jacket. There wasn't time to freshen her makeup, so she bit her lips to make them redder and drew in a breath. Being pretty for Mark mattered. Seconds later the utility room door opened and he stepped into the kitchen.

He looked exactly as he had the first time she'd seen him. Tall and handsome with dark blond hair and deep blue eyes. Those eyes always crinkled slightly, as if he knew a really funny secret. He still took her breath away every time she saw him.

“Hi, sweetheart,” he said as he moved toward her. “How are you?”

“Good. You're home early.”

“I wanted to see you.”

Her heart quickened at his words.

He leaned in and kissed her. The second his mouth touched hers, the familiar wanting flared to life. She hid her reaction to the casual kiss—a trick she'd learned in the first few months of her marriage. But that didn't make the need go away.

Years ago she'd read an article about relationships. The author claimed that in most marriages there was the one who adored and the one who was adored. She knew that was true for them. Mark loved her, but he didn't worship her. He didn't understand how deeply her feelings ran. She'd learned to control the wild, romantic and sexual feelings swirling inside of her whenever he was close, but she'd never been able to make them go away. He was the only man for her. At least she'd been lucky enough to marry him.

He took her hand in his and smiled. “Come on. Let's go talk.”

“Don't you want to say hi to the kids?”

“Later. I want to talk to you first.”

Mark was a typical guy. Despite his ability to chat with contributors for hours and never break a sweat, anytime
she
suggested they talk, he had a thousand other things he needed to be doing. So why the sudden change? What was there to talk about? She shivered slightly.

They went into his book-lined study. He shut the door behind them, then led her to the leather sofa. His expression was unfamiliar. Was he upset? No, that wasn't right. More resigned. About what? Cold, hard fear knotted in her belly.

Was he leaving her?

Her brain pointed out that even if he was desperate to get away, leaving his wife while exploring the possibility of running for president wasn't a good idea. Her heart whispered that of course he loved her. He'd been busier than usual lately, but that was to be expected. She should stop worrying about nothing. Still, her hands trembled slightly as she folded them in her lap and looked at him.

“What is it?” she asked.

She would guess that from the outside, she appeared totally calm and in control. That's what Mark would see. What she wanted him to see.

“A young woman came to meet me today,” Mark told her. “Or maybe not so young. She's twenty-eight. I guess that means I'm getting old. Are you still interested in being married to an old guy? After all, you're the hot one in our relationship.”

He spoke easily, smiling, holding her gaze. She should have been relaxed. But she wasn't. She was terrified and she couldn't say why.

“You're not an old guy,” she said, doing her best not to visibly tremble.

“Fifty-four.”

“I'm fifty-six,” she pointed out. “Are you going to trade me in for a younger model?”

“You're the most beautiful woman in the world,” he told her. “You're my wife.”

Soothing words that should have made her feel better. But they didn't.

“So who is this young woman?”

“Her name is Dani Buchanan. Dani for Danielle, Alex told me later.”

“Alex? What does he have to do with this?”

“Not anything, really. He was there and he met her. Tried to run her off. Your son is quite the watchdog.”

“He cares about his family.”

“I know.” Mark touched her cheek. “Katherine, do you remember when we were engaged the first time? How you ended things with me?”

She nodded slowly. She'd been an only child from an old money East Coast family. Her parents hadn't approved of her relationship with a brash young man from Seattle. Mark had charm and energy but no family to speak of and certainly no pedigree. Still, Katherine had loved him and had won her family over to her way of thinking. Mark had proposed and she had accepted. But six weeks after the engagement, she'd broken things off. She'd been unable to tell Mark the truth about herself. Rather than have him pity her, then leave her, she'd ended their engagement and he'd gone back to Seattle.

“I came home to figure out what to do with my life,” he said. “While I was here, I met someone. I didn't mean for anything to happen, but it did.”

The fear turned sharp, cutting her from the inside. She felt both cold and hot. Her whole body ached and still she sat there unmoving, determined to show nothing.

“You had a relationship with this woman?” she asked calmly.

“Yes. She was married. Neither of us meant for it to happen. No one knew, because of her husband. I didn't want to hurt anyone. One day it ended. I never thought much about it again, until today. Dani is her daughter. My daughter.”

Katherine stood. Maybe if she moved, the pain wouldn't be so bad. Maybe then she could breathe. But the white-hot pokers pricked her everywhere and the spacious study offered nowhere to hide.

“Obviously I didn't know,” he said, as if unaware that anything was wrong. “Alex suggested a DNA test so we can all be sure. It's a good idea. She seems like a great girl. She looks like Marsha mostly, but I see a little of me in her. With the campaign, we'll have to be discreet, of course.”

Mark kept talking, but Katherine couldn't hear him. He had a child. A child of his own. A child he'd met.

“I invited her to dinner,” Mark said. “I want you to meet her. We don't have to tell the kids who she is right away. But eventually we will.”

She turned to him. Her face felt frozen. She wasn't sure she could speak. “She's coming here?”

“Tonight.” He stood and crossed to her, then took her hands in his. “I know you'll like her. Didn't you say you wanted another daughter?”

He couldn't mean that. He couldn't not know what he was doing to her. And yet he kept talking as if he thought everything was fine. As if she wasn't devastated that some other woman had been able to give him something she, Katherine, never could.

 

A
LEX ARRIVED EARLY
for dinner at his parents' house. He'd thought about calling his mother, but had then decided it would be better to speak with her in person. His father might think she would take the news of Dani Buchanan in stride; Alex wasn't so sure.

Before he could head up the stairs, Fiona stepped out of his mother's study.

“Hello, Alex.”

He remembered a Discovery Channel special on spiders. Fiona reminded him of a black widow, just biding her time until she could eat her mate.

“I didn't know you'd be here,” he said.

“Meaning you wouldn't have come home if you'd known?” Her green eyes widened with emotion. “Do you hate me so much?”

“I don't hate you at all.” Hate would mean having strong emotions about her. He didn't. He could look at her and acknowledge her physical beauty, yet feel nothing. In a perfect world, she would have disappeared from his life after the divorce. Unfortunately, he had a feeling she was never going away.

“The ice queen cometh.”

Alex turned and saw his brother Ian rolling toward them. Alex grinned and stepped toward him. He bent slightly so he and Ian could perform their complicated ritualistic greeting. Alex did most of the hand slapping and turning. It was easier for him. Ian's CP limited his mobility. But what his younger brother lacked in physical prowess he more than made up for in brains and creativity.

“She's always hanging around,” Ian told Alex. “I think she has a thing for me.”

Fiona shuddered visibly. She looked over Ian's thin, twisted body as he sat in his wheelchair.

“That's disgusting,” she snapped.

Ian raised his eyebrows. “But after last night…What do you think, Alex? You're the expert on what turns Fiona on.”