Whispered Promises (15 page)

While his uncle continued to sit around pondering what to do, he would have already finished the job.

“How was your afternoon in the park?”

Caitlin smiled as she loaded the last plate in the dishwasher. “It was nice. Jordan got plenty of playtime, and I got to do some reading. How was your meeting with Trevor?”

“Okay.”

Caitlin sat down at the kitchen table across from Dex, “I'm sorry that I've placed you in an awkward position with your friends, Dex, with you having to explain our marriage and all.”

Dex leaned back in his chair. “Don't worry about it.”

Caitlin cleared her throat before continuing. “I know Clayton knows, but have you told the rest of your family yet?”

“No.”

“I see,” she said quietly.

A shadow of something Dex couldn't quite put a name to flickered across Caitlin's face, then was gone. It had happened so quickly, he wondered if he'd imagined it. “My parents are vacationing in the Bahamas. And I haven't gotten the chance to talk to Justin or my sisters.”

Dex paused for a moment, then went on. “My family will be happy about Jordan. And I have a feeling they'll be even happier to know that we've gotten back together.”

Caitlin picked up an empty coffee cup off the table and slid her chair back to stand up. “What makes you think that?”

“Because I know them.”

“But they won't know the truth, Dex. The truth that we really haven't gotten back together at all. The real truth is that we're farther apart than before.”

Dex stared at Caitlin for a moment. “I disagree. We're getting along just fine.”

“That's your opinion.”

“And what's yours?”

“There's no love in our marriage, Dex.” Caitlin regretted saying the words the moment they had left her lips. He was looking at her, fixing her with an angry stare.

“Aren't you forgetting something, Caitlin?” he said finally in a deceptively calm voice. “You're the one who took my love and threw it back in my face. I can't believe you have the nerve to even talk about love.”

“Because of what you consider as my one big mistake?”

“No. Because of mine,” Dex answered. “I should never have fallen in love with you. I should've known better.”

“Why?” Caitlin was baffled by his bizarre statement.

“My best friend killed himself over a woman while we were in college.”

She heard the pain in Dex's voice. It filled the hushed quiet of the room. “But what does that have to do with us?”

“After seeing how Greg suffered over a woman, I vowed never to fall in love. Then I met you and did the one thing I vowed never to do.”

Caitlin shook her head. “You never gave us a chance, did you?”

His gaze narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Because of what happened to your friend, we were doomed from the start. You took a chance and fell in love but you never actually believed in what we shared. A part of you had expected to get hurt. That's why you gave up on me so easily.”

Rage swept through Dex. He stood. “What do you mean, I gave up on you? Have you forgotten it was the other way around? You're the one who called it quits, Caitlin. You're the one who wanted out.”

“Yes, but you never should have given up on me.”

Fingers of steel closed around Caitlin's arm as Dex pulled her to him. “What did you expect me to do?”

“You should have come for me,” she said softly. “I was your wife.”

“A wife who didn't want me,” he grounded out through clenched teeth.

“But I did want you, Dex. Had you gotten that letter I sent telling you about Jordan, you would have known that.”

“What are you talking about?”

Caitlin sighed. It wouldn't do any good to tell him that once she'd discovered she was pregnant, she had wanted to come to him and hoped he would take her back. She had written him telling him about her pregnancy and asking if he was willing to give their marriage another try. When she didn't get a reply to her letter, she had assumed he hadn't wanted her or his baby.

“It doesn't matter now, Dex. It's all in the past.”

“Daddy! Daddy! See my picture!”

Dex released Caitlin's arm when Jordan raced into the room with a piece of paper in her hand. He caught Jordan up in his arms, taking the paper from her. “What's this?”

“It's a picture of me. Isn't it pretty, Daddy? The nice man also drew a picture of Mommy, but he kept it.”

Dex lifted a brow. “What nice man?”

“The one in the park today, Daddy.”

He frowned as he placed Jordan down out of his arms, and watched as she raced back out of the room to finish watching her Disney video.

Dex turned to Caitlin. She was wiping off the kitchen table. “Who was the man in the park?”

She shrugged her shoulders and continued with her task. Her earlier conversation with Dex had taken a toll on her. “Some guy. I think he did a real good job, don't you?”

“Why didn't he give you the one he did of you?”

“He was kind of rushed for time and left before thinking about it.”

Dex shook his head. “Caitlin, has anyone ever told you never to talk to strangers?”

She stopped wiping the table. Her gaze shot sparks at him. “I'm not some little child. The park was crowded and there was no other place for the man to sit except next to me. There's nothing wrong with me being friendly.”

“Look, all I'm saying is—”

The sound of Jordan calling for her daddy to come and watch the video with her interrupted what Dex was saying. “We'll finish this conversation later.”

He turned to leave, paused and turned back around. “Going back to our earlier conversation, Caitlin, just for the record, when you began avoiding my calls from Australia, I figured out what your father was probably trying to do. I put in for an emergency leave with my job to come back to the States to get you. I was walking out the door on my way to the airport when the postman arrived with the divorce papers and your ring.”

He turned and walked out of the kitchen.

D
ex had been coming back for her…

Caitlin leaned back in the kitchen chair as thoughts of what Dex had said ran through her mind. She closed her eyes and remembered when she had begun avoiding his nightly calls from Australia. At the time, she'd been filled with so much doubt and uncertainty, that she couldn't think straight. Instead of telling him over the phone of her decision regarding their marriage, she had taken the coward's way out and had sent him a letter; a letter that had accompanied divorce papers and her wedding ring.

And he had received them on the same day that he had been coming back for her.

Caitlin reopened her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks. What she had done had hurt him deeply. But there was one thing she hadn't realized until this afternoon. Her actions had also trampled his pride.

She rose out of the chair and went to stand before the window. She could smell the fragrance of the bluebonnets that grew around the back porch. But even that didn't have her full concentration. Her thoughts were on the man she had met in a café four years ago; a very proud Texan whom she had fallen deeply in love with. Of all of the things she had doubted and been unsure of, it had never been about her love for him. There had never been any question in her mind that she loved him. But in the end, her love for him hadn't been strong enough. And because of that, she had let him down.

“Caitlin?”

She shivered upon hearing her name from Dex's lips. She hadn't heard him reenter the kitchen. Turning around, she looked at him. Intense dark eyes held hers. “Yes?”

“I told Jordan that I'd come ask if you wanted to watch the next video with us.”

Caitlin swallowed. “I'd love to.”

He turned around to leave.

“Dex?”

He turned back around. “Yes?”

There was a moment of charged silence. “Dex. I…”

He took a hesitant step toward her. “Don't, Caitlin. It's in the past. Just let it go.” He turned and walked out of the room.

Caitlin took a deep breath. She wondered if he would ever realize that he had just asked her to do the one thing that she couldn't do.

“We hope your stay at our hotel is a pleasant one, Mr. Madaris.”

Trevor was about to tell the hotel clerk he wasn't Dex then quickly changed his mind. If he told them he was not Dex, there would probably be some paperwork required for the change, and he was too tired to deal with any type of hassle now. Because of thunderstorms, his flight into Austin had been delayed an hour. All he wanted to do was to go to his room, take a shower and go to bed. He needed to be well rested for his meeting with Remington Oil tomorrow.

“Thanks. I'm sure it will be,” he replied to the perky hotel clerk.

Upon reaching his room, Trevor was pleased to see that Remington Oil had reserved Dex a suite. He immediately went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He came back out and noticed the message light flashing on the telephone. Picking up the phone, he dialed the hotel operator. A message had been left for Dex from Corinthians Avery telling him she'd be joining him for dinner at eight.

Trevor frowned, glancing at his watch. It was a little past six now. Dex hadn't mentioned anything about having a dinner date with Ms. Avery. Undressing, Trevor went into the bathroom to take his shower, closing the door behind him.

“This is Ms. Avery. I'd like to know whether or not Dex Madaris has checked in yet. Yes, I'll hold.”

Butterflies floated around in Corinthians's stomach and had been ever since she thought she had heard movement in the room adjacent to hers. “Yes? Oh, he has? Thanks for taking the time to check.”

Corinthians smiled nervously. Dex had arrived.

When she'd made plans for the evening, everything had seemed simple. Now she was becoming a nervous wreck and was having second thoughts about pulling off what she'd planned. When she'd made reservations for Dex, she'd also reserved the suite next to his. And since Remington Oil was picking up the tab, she had been given access to both. Her plans were for them to have dinner together. But what Dex didn't know was that she intended on being the appetizer.

She took a deep breath, deciding to make a move before she lost her nerve. Her breath caught in her throat when her ears picked up the sound of the shower running in Dex's room.

Corinthians opened her robe and looked at herself in the mirror. Her outfit looked more scanty on her than it had on the mannequin yesterday. She felt awkward wearing it, having never dared pulling such a stunt like this in her life.

She touched the silk material of the outfit, liking the way it felt against her skin. How would Dex handle seeing her in something so outlandish? There had never been anything romantic between them before. Would he want to begin a different sort of relationship with her? Or would she scare him away as Brenna had suggested?

A number of uncertainties crept into her head. Quickly closing her robe, she walked to the connecting door. Before opening it, she checked the pocket of her robe for the packs of condoms she'd purchased earlier that day. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked into Dex's room.

Trevor stepped into the shower. The warm water felt good against his skin and soaked his aching muscles. He inhaled deeply, feeling somewhat revamped. He began to relax, not feeling as tired as he'd been just moments earlier. There was nothing like a good shower to get a person stimulated again.

He raised a brow, thinking he'd heard a sound coming from the bedroom. With the shower going full blast, he could have been mistaken. But he'd always been credited with having good ears.

He shrugged. Maybe it was housekeeping delivering more towels or something. But still, he didn't like the idea of some stranger in his room. He left the shower running and quickly stepped out.

Good. Dex was still in the shower, Corinthians thought, still hearing the sound of the shower going. She quickly moved around the room, dimming the lights before taking off her robe and neatly placing it across a chair. She tried quenching her nervousness by studying the picture on the wall.

“Who the hell are you?”

The sound of the unfamiliar voice made Corinthians turn around quickly. Her eyes locked first on the stranger's dark handsome face, then drifted down to his bare wet chest, before moving downward to the white towel covering his middle…barely. Her gaze flew back up to his.

Her throat suddenly became dry but somehow she was able to conjure up a voice. She cleared her throat. “You're not Dex.” She quickly snatched her robe off the chair, shielding herself from him.

The man merely stared at her without comment. The only sign he gave that he'd heard her was the sudden lift of his brow. When seconds ticked by he finally spoke. “I know who I am, but who the hell are you?”

The man's rudeness, as far as Corinthians was concerned, was totally uncalled for. And it didn't help matters that he'd seen her outfit. How embarrassing! Could she have made a mistake and entered the wrong room? No! She'd made the reservations with the hotel herself. She and Dex were to have connecting rooms. So who was this man?

“I'm a friend of Dex's. Where is he?” she asked, suddenly feeling light-headed.

Trevor's gaze took in the woman standing before him who'd been dressed in what he thought was the sexiest getup he'd ever seen on a woman before. Too bad she had put her robe on. She had to be the most gorgeous woman he'd ever laid eyes on. He couldn't help wondering who she was. Was this some sort of joke Clayton was playing on Dex? It wouldn't have been the first time Clayton had gone a little overboard by sending one of his numerous female friends to liven up what he considered as Dex's dull and boring life.

“Did Clayton put you up to this?”

Corinthians frowned. “What?”

“I asked if Dex's brother, Clayton, put you up to this. If he did, you're out of luck. He forgot to cancel you out.”

“What are you talking about?” Corinthians straightened her shoulders and met the stranger's gaze head-on. She tried putting out of her mind just how handsome he looked.

“You're looking for Dex, right?”

She nodded. “Yes. Where is he?”

The man continued to stare at her, seemingly totally nonchalant with
his
state of half-nakedness, but definitely not with hers. His gaze moved over her from head to toe, occasionally lingering in certain places. He acted as if he had X-ray vision and could actually see through her robe. “Dex's home with his wife,” he said bluntly.

His statement came as such a shock that Corinthians had to lean against the bedpost. “You're lying. Dex isn't married.”

Trevor frowned. Not too many people called him a liar and got away with it. “Look. I don't know who you are or what you're doing in my room, but you're going to tell me, or you'll have a lot of explaining to do to security. You have no right to be in my room.”

Corinthians could feel her head spinning. This couldn't be happening to her. Everything was going wrong, and this man claimed Dex was married.

“I know Dex got married a few years ago. But he got a divorce a short while later. Are you saying he got married again?” she asked him dazedly.

Trevor saw the bleakness in her face. It was obvious that whoever she was, she wasn't taking the news of Dex's marriage very well. He began having doubts she was someone Clayton had sent, but was someone who knew Dex personally. He came to stand before her.

“Dex got married, but he never got divorced. He and his wife were separated. Now they're back together. All three of them,” he said.

“All three of them?” she asked softly.

“Yes, all three of them. Dex, his wife and daughter.”

The next thing Trevor knew, the woman had fallen in dead faint at his feet.

“What happened?”

“You fainted.”

Corinthians looked up at the man towering over her. He was still dressed in that darn towel. It took only a few seconds to realize she'd been placed on his bed. She made a move to get up.

“Lie still.”

Ignoring his command, she sat up. This evening had become a nightmare, and it would be even more of one if what this man had told her about Dex was true. She suddenly noticed she wasn't wearing her robe and quickly jumped under the covers. “Where's my robe? Why did you take it off?”

“It's over there,” he said, indicating the back of the chair. “I took it off after picking you up off the floor. I was concerned and thought that perhaps you had some sort of identification in your pockets. Instead all I found were these.”

Corinthians tinted when he held up the packs of condoms. She wished there was a way for her to crawl out of the bed and under it. This was getting more embarrassing by the minute. “Please hand me my robe. I want to leave.”

“Lady, you're not going anywhere until I get some answers. Now who are you and what are you doing in my room?”

Corinthians closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She reopened them. “I've told you. I thought this was Dex's room. I'd planned to spend an evening with him.”

“Sounds kind of cozy for you and a
married
man.”

Her eyes flashed fire. “I didn't know he was married. I talked to Dex a few days ago, and he didn't mention a thing about being married and having a child.”

“And the two of you made plans to spend an evening together?” Trevor asked with disbelief in his voice.

“No. Dex didn't know anything about this evening. It was going to be a surprise.”

“Aha! Clayton Madaris
did
put you up to this.”

Corinthians became so mad she forgot just how skimpy her outfit was and angrily got out of bed. The next thing she knew, she was facing him, fuming. Her scantily clad body nearly touched his. All she could think about was the outrage she felt. This man was deliberately making things difficult for her. He had to be the most despicable man she'd ever met.

“I don't know what you're talking about. Clayton Madaris didn't put me up to anything. I don't even know Dex's brother that well. I only met him once.”

“Then you have a lot of explaining to do. I want a name.”

Corinthians's anger reached boiling point. “Why should I give you my name when you haven't given me yours?”

Trevor was stunned by her statement. “I don't have to tell you who I am. This is my room, not yours. You're the one who shouldn't be here.”

Corinthians took a step forward, bringing her even closer to Trevor. The anger in her eyes grew. “Wrong, brother. My room is right through that door. We have connecting rooms and my company is paying for both. This room was strictly reserved for Dex Madaris and you aren't him. So you're the one out of place.”

“I'm Dex's replacement.”

“What?”