A Daddy for Her Daughter (8 page)

Why couldn't he dream about that? About laying her softly down on his bed and...

Dammit. This was no better than his nightmares. Yes, actually it was. Because at least this was something he could comprehend. The man-wants-woman thing was much easier to understand and accept.

All of a sudden, being a winner didn't sound like such a great idea.

He pushed the kite a little to the left on the table. Maybe he should purposely sabotage the design and lose. Handing Maddy a promise that they could win the prize wasn't one of his brighter decisions. Because if they won, Kaleb would not get to walk away as he'd told himself a few minutes ago. Winning had consequences. Like the trip up the Space Needle. He could tell Maddy to give his ticket to someone else. But then he'd have to explain why he didn't want to go. A talk he didn't want to have. Not with her. Not with anyone on the committee who might also wonder.

And Roxy, Maddy's sister, who'd asked him to figure out if she could add fur to a kite and still get lift off, or if it would be too heavy to move.

Kind of like Kaleb's life nowadays.

He sighed and pushed back from the table.

Maybe he was going about this all wrong. Maybe he shouldn't be trying to avoid the inevitable. He was attracted to Maddy, and he was pretty sure from that kiss that the attraction was mutual. If he couldn't get her out of his head one way, maybe he should go at it from a completely different angle. How about if he approached it as he did any other woman? Spend a quick night together at his place. Maybe then he could walk away from that night the way he always did. No strings. No promises. Just a single night of pleasure.

His gut churned at the thought. Maddy wasn't like all those other women. And for years, he'd avoided being with women who had children.

Could it be that that tactic had backfired, though? Had made him dig a rut that just got deeper and deeper with each new person?

He had no idea. But maybe it was time to test that theory. And working together with Maddy gave him the perfect opportunity to do just that: see if he could get past this particular roadblock. And he could think of no person he'd rather experiment with than her.

Kaleb yawned, the muscles in his body finally relaxing, probably wondering what had taken him so long to figure this whole thing out.

Well, tough luck, buddy. You wanted to wake me up, well, now you can just stay awake. Because we have a kite-making contest to enter. And to win.

* * *

Chloe pasted the last of the glittery claw stickers onto the body of the kite. Maddy had to admit her sister had done a great job painting the kite, solid black with various areas of shadow and light. Kaleb had warned them against adding too many layers of color to the kite, saying it would make it too heavy. She was amazed. He'd calculated the weight down to the gram, had even weighed the faux claws and the two custom eye stickers—one green and one amber—that Roxy had designed herself. They'd made the smaller demo model that would hang over their table look identical. Only it wouldn't need to fly.

This one did.

They wouldn't get a chance to test it, as they had its prototype. She would have to trust that Kaleb had got it right. Besides, if they tried and it crashed and burned as the last one had, they wouldn't have time to start over.

That disastrous flight hadn't been Kaleb's fault. It had been hers for letting go of the string.

But the result of her goof up? Well, that had been pretty spectacular. She could only thank her lucky stars that a police officer had retrieved the string and set her and Kaleb back on their feet.

But watching him as he painstakingly checked the new kite after each addition, she had to admit he was pretty damned hot. And not just in the looks department. He'd been kind to Chloe, even as he looked uncomfortable whenever he had to work directly with her.

Some men just didn't like children.

But he'd been married. So what had happened between him and his wife? Had they disagreed over whether or not to have kids?

Or maybe they'd had some and Kaleb, for whatever reason, hadn't got visitation rights. He'd never mentioned having children, though.

Kaleb picked up a foam roller and went over each of the claw stickers one by one, making sure they were tightly adhered to the body of the kite.

“Did you really make the last one purr?” Roxy asked.

He sent her a quick grin. “I know right where the purr buttons are, so yes.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her sister's eyebrows shoot up. Roxy jabbed a thumb toward Chloe. “Little pitchers, big ears.”

“I'm talking about the kite, Roxy. Those cutouts you grumbled about earlier? They'll vibrate in the wind and make a kind of purring sound.”

When she looked skeptical, Maddy pointed out one of the gill-like slits that lined the cat's torso. “It works. I heard it when we flew the unpainted version.”

Kaleb nodded. “It's one of the reasons the paint had to be lighter in those areas. The plastic has to be able to flutter in order to make the sound.”

“Well, I'll be.” Her sister looked at the kite again.

Chloe's feet got dangerously close to the edge of the chair as she tried to see what they were talking about. Kaleb scooped her up, one arm under the backs of her legs, making her squeal with laughter before he turned her so she had a clear view of Jetta's twin. “Pretty, pretty kitty!” she declared.

Maybe the purring was overkill. Chloe seemed more taken with the way the kite looked than with its functionality. Maybe if it survived its maiden flight, Maddy could buy it off Kaleb and put it on her daughter's wall. A sweet memory of a fun event.

These were the kinds of memories normal fathers made with their children.

Maddy gritted her teeth. Kaleb was not Chloe's father, and he never would be. She needed to get that notion out of her head immediately. Not that it had ever been there in the first place, but she needed to be careful. Chloe had taken a liking to this man. So had Roxy.

So had she. It was time to dial back on the Dr. McBride fan club. She held out her arms for her daughter, only to have Chloe nestle closer to Kaleb's chest, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck.

Maybe he sensed her unease, because he knelt on the floor next to the table. “What do you say we go to work on Roxy's kite next? We still have some more fur to glue to it.”

This time her daughter willingly let go of him. “Can I help glue?”

Roxy stepped forward and took Chloe by the hand. “Oh, most definitely. We're about to make ourselves a flying unicorn. How does that sound?”

“Not too much glue,” Kaleb warned. But when he acted as if he was going to follow them, Maddy touched his arm.

“Hey. Can I talk to you for a minute?”

He tucked his fingers into the pockets of his jeans, hooking his thumbs over the tops of them. “Sure. What's up?”

Now that she had made her mind up to say something, she wondered if she was doing the right thing. She glanced over to where her daughter and Roxy were busy working. “Chloe is young...and...” Taking a deep breath, she tossed the rest of the sentence out before she could back out. “She seems to be developing a tiny bit of a crush on you. If you could keep that in mind when you're around her, I would appreciate it.”

His eyes narrowed slightly. “As in you want me to watch my p's and q's.”

“Or maybe maintain a little distance between you and her.”

“Between me and her.” His head tilted. “And what about you? Should I keep my distance there as well?”

Maddy's mouth watered. That hadn't been exactly what she'd been trying to say. “I'm a big girl. I think I can handle myself.”

“Can you?”

Okay, the man was playing word games, and she had no idea what he meant by that. But if he wanted to lob a few serves her way, she could match him stroke for stroke. “You can bet on it.”

“I might like to take you up on that wager.” Rubbing his chin with his thumb, he paused, something dark flashing in his eyes. But before she could look closer, it winked back out.

“Don't worry, Maddy. I'll keep my distance from your daughter.” He took a step closer, reaching out to take a strand of her hair and sliding it over her temple. “But I have no intention of keeping my distance from you.”

CHAPTER SIX

F
OUNTAIN
P
ARK
WAS
awash with people on the big day. There were kites of every shape and size imaginable.

Kites weren't the only things being celebrated today, it would seem.

“Why didn't you tell me it's your birthday?”

Kaleb had overheard Roxy offer to take Chloe off her hands, so she could go home and celebrate by soaking in a hot tub.

“I'm trying to forget I'm another year older.”

Older? The woman was stunning. And right now, he was trying to keep his eyes on Maddy's sister, as she tugged the string to her kite, and off the birthday girl and the image of her naked in a sea of frothy white bubbles.

Roxy's kite made it off the ground and hung suspended for a minute or two. Suddenly, it began to spiral out of control, plummeting to the ground in the strong wind.

“I warned her about that glue and using too much fur,” he muttered as it crashed and burned—the first casualty of the day. Luckily for Roxy, though, all the kites' prototypes were on display in the gathering tent, including her furry unicorn. It made sense, because once the kites were sent into the air, anything could happen. Including smashing into dozens of pieces. And since Roxy's looked as if it had exploded on contact, it was a good thing.

“I can't believe it crashed so soon. Is ours going to do that?”

“It shouldn't.” He said it with as much conviction as he could muster, but kite-flying was more an art than a science. There could be a defect that avoided detection, even in the most flawlessly executed design. Even in the most beautiful creation.

Like the human body. His daughter had been a prime example of that.

“Oh, well.” Maddy settled into a lawn chair on the grassy area surrounding them. “Roxy said she handed out most of her business cards to people who came by to look at the kites. She said even if hers didn't make it into the air, the effort had been well worth it. And at least she got it up.”

He brought his mind back to the present. “Are you doing anything special for your birthday? Other than a night at home alone?”

“Alone?” She glanced at him with a tilt of her head. “You make it sound like a bad thing. It's not, you know. Sometimes it's a luxury.”

Not always. Not when you'd gone from having a healthy, active daughter and a happy marriage to being alone. Every day. Every night.

Roxy came over moaning in despair, her poor tattered kite wilting in her hands. “It's definitely ruined. Maybe you two will have better luck.”

The kites were sent into the air according to assigned numbers. It didn't matter if the entrant's kite stayed up for hours and hours, but it had to go up and be stable for at least five minutes to be considered in the running for the grand prize. They still had another ten minutes before they were set to launch their cat. Chloe was bursting with excitement, jumping up and down.

Roxy held out her hand. “Let's go get a snow cone and burn off some of that energy until it's time.”

“Jetta isn't going up without us, is he?” Chloe gave her aunt a dubious glance.

“We'll be back in plenty of time.” She shot Maddy a look. “You don't mind, do you?”

“Mind?” She settled deeper into her chair. “I'll just sit here and figure out what the city looks like from the Space Needle. Because we're going to... Go! Fight! Win!”

Kaleb couldn't hold back a chuckle at the impromptu cheer. He had to admit, he liked seeing Maddy and her daughter this enthusiastic about the kite. He hadn't felt this amalgamation of anticipation and dread in a long time. Probably not since Janice had left him.

No. It would have been before Grace died. Because since then his life had been consumed with more dread than anticipation. Dreading sleep. Dreading wandering into the pediatric oncology wing—even when Brenda Marlin had spotted him in the hallway as he was coming out from the meeting and hugged him last week. He'd thought of transferring hospitals to get away from those memories, but by staying here, he felt he still had some type of connection with his daughter. His ex-wife, on the other hand, had wanted to move away immediately after Grace's death. One of the things they'd clashed about during that last year. And then she'd cheated, and he'd been left totally alone.

“We've got about five minutes left. Is there anything we need to do to get ready?” Maddy's voice forced him from his thoughts.

He focused on her bright, shining face. This was the example Kaleb should follow. Despite everything that had happened with her ex-husband and that vicious attack, she'd maintained an inner glow that was undimmed.

Then again, she hadn't lost a child.

He stopped himself right there. She'd lost a husband. But from what he'd seen, the man had been a bastard.

How could anyone have wanted to hurt this woman?

Not him. In fact, he was enjoying being here with her today. Maybe a little too much.

And when the day was over?

Kaleb didn't want it to end. A thought came to him. It was her birthday. The perfect opportunity to prolong their time together. Not a wise choice, maybe, but it seemed a shame to let her go home to an empty house, despite her earlier words. It could be wishful thinking, but surely as a single parent she looked forward to indulging in adult conversation from time to time?

His mind put a subtle emphasis on the word
adult
. An emphasis he carefully ignored. He focused on her question instead.

“We should be good to go.” He checked the rope sitting in its holder. “Do you want to let your sister know we're just about ready?”

“I just did.” She held up her phone, and even now Roxy and Chloe were waving in the distance, snow cones in hand.

He was going to take her words about keeping his distance from Chloe to heart. But he'd also told her he had no intention of keeping his distance from her. With her hair pulled back from her face with a headband, snug jeans and a shoulder-baring tank top, he could barely keep his eyes off her. They kept taking little sips of the view and coming back for more. It went to his head as surely as a fifth of whiskey. Smooth to the senses. But like whiskey, it could trap him in its grip almost before he realized what was happening. Which was probably why the next words came out.

“Why don't you let me take you out for your birthday? We can get something to eat.”

Before she could reply, Roxy—who'd lifted Chloe onto her hip at some point—reached them.

Maddy shook her head. “She's too heavy to be carried like that.”

Roxy put the girl down, wagging her finger at the child. “I told you you'd get me in trouble.”

“I did not. You said you wanted to carry me. Said it was safer if you did.” She took a loud slurp of the icy liquid in her snow cone, her grin infectious.

Roxy's face colored, and she blinked as if her persona of carefree hipster had just been single-handedly obliterated. “Well, it's true, you little stinker. Safer for
me
.” She tickled the girl's ribs until she squealed.

A man with a clipboard stopped in front of them, glancing at the tag at the kite on the ground and writing something down. “You folks ready for the big send-off?”

“Yippee!” Chloe punched her small fist into the air. “Are we ever! We're going to win. Right, Kaleb?”

Maddy frowned. “Dr. McBride, Chloe.”

He started to say it was okay for her to call him by his first name, but there was a slight tightening of Maddy's lips that warned him not to contradict her. She was right. Chloe was her daughter. Not his. He had no right to give his opinion one way or the other. About anything.

Except maybe this kite, which the judge was waiting for them to launch.

He started to take Chloe's hand and then had second thoughts. Glancing at Maddy, he asked, “Can she help me?”

Her teeth came down on her lower lip for a second before she gave a quick nod.

Chloe gave a couple of sideways hops, clapping her hands. “Yes!”

The judge gave a few last-minute instructions. Kaleb was allowed to take a running start to get the kite up, letting out the string as he went. But the kite had to stay in the air for five minutes, while the judge watched. If it passed the test, the kite was entered into the final drawing. Unfortunately, Roxy's unicorn hadn't made the cut. But he had high hopes for this one.

Several bystanders came over to watch.

Kaleb turned to Chloe. “You wait here for me. I'm going down the hill, and then I'll run back toward you. When I get here, I'll hand you the string and you can help me keep it up.”

“Are you sure that's wise?” Maddy still seemed a little agitated. He wasn't sure if she was regretting letting Chloe help him or if she was worried about the kite falling from the sky prematurely. Maybe it had to do with that whole attachment thing she'd mentioned earlier.

Well, since he wasn't planning on being a permanent fixture in their lives, it didn't really matter. There was no way Chloe could actually get attached to him since she wouldn't be seeing much of him after today.

Unless the kite won. But even then, he could give his ticket to them and let them choose someone else to go with them to the Space Needle. Probably not a hard prospect. Both Maddy and her sister were beautiful. Although the man in him recognized Roxy's charm and good looks, she didn't send his blood pressure skyrocketing as Maddy did. Probably not a good thing for him to admit.

Ignoring those thoughts, he glanced at the woman herself. She crossed her fingers, gave the digits a quick kiss and held them up. Wishing him luck.

He was going to need it. Because his heart had almost convinced his head to re-ask the question about having dinner with him once this whole thing was over.

But for now, down the hill he went, checking the kite as he went. The girls had done a wonderful job decorating it. The black paint even had little brushstrokes that made it look like fur. And those mismatched eyes Roxy had glued gave the illusion of following you.

He reached the spot he'd chosen, holding the kite right next to his body. He checked the tail—black, of course—which was made to resemble the puffed-up tail of an agitated cat. Then he double-checked the structure itself. Remembering Maddy's good-luck gesture, he tossed the kite into the stiff breeze and began jogging up the hill, letting the string out as he went.

The kite caught the wind perfectly, just as he'd hoped it would do, edging higher and higher, those glittery black claws catching the sun and reflecting back at him.

It was going to work. He could tell by the way it swayed gently back and forth as it ascended. It wasn't the jerky sawing motions of an unbalanced kite. It was almost going up too well.

He had a little girl to impress, so he crossed his own fingers, trying not to think of his daughter, as he scaled back his jog and then finally slowed to a walk. He reached the gathering crowd, which clapped to encourage them. You would have thought this was their kite and not his, Maddy's and Chloe's.

The judge glanced down at his watch. “You've just passed the one-minute mark. Four more to go.”

The kite dipped for a second, but Kaleb gave it a couple of quick tugs, keeping some play in the rope as he tried to find the perfect altitude.

“Can I hold the string?” Chloe's question was a reminder that this was not just about him.

Maddy, now out of her chair, took hold of Chloe's hand. “Let him get it where he wants it first, okay?”

He was still busy trying to make sure they didn't lose before they even got started. Yes, the kite was judged by looks primarily, but the ease of getting it in the air and keeping it there was bound to have some influence over the voting members of the crowd. Someone pointed up at the kite. “It looks great. Almost real.”

Oh, but they hadn't seen the best part. And they wouldn't unless he could get it facing the wind in just the right way. He was aware of Chloe's impatience as he edged the kite one way and then the other. If he could just get it to...

There.

He saw it before he heard it, those slits catching the wind and beginning to flutter.

It took a minute. Then someone said, “What's that? I hear something.”

Maddy picked up Chloe, putting paid to the idea that she wasn't supposed to be carried. Then the little girl sent up a whoop that took him by surprise. “He's doing it, Mama! Jetta is purring!”

A young man standing close enough to hear Chloe's words jerked his head around to look up at the kite. “I thought I recognized that sound. Awesome!”

The words spread through the group and phones came out to take pictures and videos of the kite. More people gathered.

“Two minutes.”

Time was dragging. But that was okay. Chloe was staring up in rapt silence, probably unable to believe that their creation was in the air. And purring. She probably wasn't even aware of the reaction of the people around them. Kaleb didn't much care either. What he did care about were the mother and daughter gazing toward the heavens. He'd made this happen. And suddenly, Kaleb was damned glad he'd put the time and effort into that kite. Those endless hours of calculations and planning now seemed worth it.

Grace would have loved this.

“Four minutes.”

Only one minute left. And Jetta the cat was still holding his own, his tail swishing back and forth in the sky. Who said black cats brought bad luck? This looked like one lucky feline.

“Five minutes.” The judge reached out and shook Kaleb's hand and then held it out to Chloe. “Did you help decorate that cat, young lady?”

The little girl nodded.

“Well, you've done an excellent job. Congratulations.”

“Thank you, sir.” You would have thought the judge had already awarded her the prize from Chloe's expression. She was in awe of the official and just as in awe of the kite they'd put in the air.