A Marriage Made in Texas (The Brothers Kincaid) (8 page)

“Why? I figured you’d be glad I was taking her off your hands. From what the kid says, you’re too busy with your new boyfriend to give her the time of day.”

Irritated, Gail propped her hands on her hips. “That’s ridiculous. I’ve been with the girls every night this week.”

“Yeah, and so has he.”

“Not every night,” she said, aware she’d been put on the defensive and hating it. “But even if he had, so what? I’m entitled to date whoever I want to.”

“Sure, if you don’t care what your daughters think. Roxy doesn’t like him.”

“Mel does.” Gail strove for patience. “Roxy is understandably jealous. I haven’t dated anyone more than once or twice before now. She likes Jay, she’s just not accustomed to my dating. She’ll get used to it, and things will be fine.” Hoping what she’d said was true, she turned her back on Barry and attempted to cool off.

“There’s an answer to this you haven’t considered,” Barry said from behind her. “Something I wish you would think about.”

Suspicious, she turned around. “What’s that?”

He smiled at her. The same smile that had once dazzled her into believing almost anything he wanted her to believe. But now it left her cold.

“You could give me another chance,” he said.

Oh, he did sincerity so well. But it wouldn’t work, not anymore. “No.” She shook her head emphatically. “No way in hell. I have to say, I think it’s a little absurd that you showed absolutely no interest in me until another man did.”

He looked hurt. “That’s not how it is. I’ve been thinking about the two of us for a long time now.”

“News flash, Barry. There is no ‘two of us.’ And there won’t be in the future. The only interest I have in you is as Mel and Roxy’s father.”

Roxy entered just then, preventing further argument. She barely allowed Gail to kiss her cheek before she was out the door.

Barry paused in the doorway. “We’ll talk more later.”

“No, we won’t,” Gail said automatically. Barry
simply smiled and waved. Gail’s stomach sank even further. What would it take to convince her ex-husband she had no intention of taking him back? Worse, what would it take to convince Roxy to give Jay a chance?

J
AY COULDN’T QUITE
figure out what was wrong with Gail, but he knew something was up. At the Kramers’, she’d seemed preoccupied, a little moody, but they hadn’t really had a chance to talk. Now, on the way home, she’d hardly spoken, even though Mel had fallen asleep the instant she crawled into the car. Jay had a gut feeling Gail’s mood had something to do with Roxy and the fact that she had gone with her father, rather than them.

“So,” he said after Gail returned from putting Mel to bed. He patted the couch beside him. “Sit down and talk to me. What’s going on?”

She sat beside him, clasped her hands together and looked straight ahead. “Oh, nothing. Besides the fact that Roxy’s trying to get me back together with her father.”

He didn’t care for the sting of jealousy that gave him. “Is that what you want?” he asked carefully.

She shot him a glance that had the tightness in his chest easing. “I wouldn’t go back to Barry if he were the last man on the planet.”

He thought he’d known her answer, but hearing it still relieved him. “Then what’s the problem?”

“I told you. Roxy. She’s not very happy about you and I dating.” She worried her lip. “I haven’t, you know. I mean, not to speak of. Until you.” She glanced at him. “What are you smiling about?”

“I don’t know. I like knowing that.”

“Do you?” She smiled, too.

“Yeah. Come here,” he said, and put his arm around her shoulders.

Gail snuggled against him, tucking her feet up beside her. “I’m sure she’ll get over it. After all, she liked you before. And she doesn’t hate you, she just—”

“Wishes you’d get back with her dad. That’s understandable. Don’t you think this will blow over?”

“Ordinarily, I’d say yes. And I’m sure it will, eventually. But it would help if Barry didn’t seem to have the same agenda in mind.”

His stomach sank. He didn’t like the sound of that. “Your ex-husband wants to get back together with you?”

Gail shrugged. “He’s made some comments to that effect. I don’t know how serious he is about it.”

Jay didn’t know why that surprised him. After all, he’d thought Barry was an idiot to leave Gail in the first place. “How long has he been hitting on you?”

“He hasn’t been hitting on me. Exactly. He’s just said things a couple of times. Don’t worry, I set him straight.”

Jay frowned. She looked a bit doubtful about her success in that area.

“What’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer.

“You’re jealous,” she said, watching him, a mischievous smile tilting her mouth.

Maybe. Okay, yes. Damn straight, he was jealous. “Do I have reason to be?”

“No.” She put her arms around his neck, leaned in and kissed him. “No reason at all.” She kissed him again, lay back on the couch, pulling him with her.

He settled between her thighs, gazing down at her. He believed her, yet he wondered if he’d have believed anything she told him with her so close and so damn tempting.
But she isn’t with Barry,
he thought.
She’s with me.

“Do you know how much I want you right now?”

Her legs tightened around him, her hips rocked up against his. “I think I’m getting the picture.”

He leaned down, murmured in her ear, so softly, so quietly, the air hardly stirred. “Do you think—” his tongue traced the rim of her ear “—if we’re very, very quiet—” he set his teeth gently on her lobe “—we could go to your bedroom and make love?” His lips trailed to her neck, to taste the pulse beating at the hollow of her throat.

“Jay.” She tugged on his hair until he looked at her. “Do you think if I sneak a man into my bedroom that makes me a bad mother?”

He smiled and kissed her mouth. “Not as long as I’m the man you sneak in.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

Her lips curved. “What are we waiting for?”

They walked hand in hand to her bedroom

O
NE EVENING
a couple of weeks later, Gail took the girls to Cameron’s restaurant to meet Jay. Very much at home, Mel and Roxy went off to the kitchen with Cam’s head waitress. “You know the cook won’t forgive you if you don’t let the girls visit,” Sally said as she followed the two.

Gail took a seat at the bar, daydreaming a little as she waited. At first, she had wondered if something so intense might not burn itself out, but that wasn’t the case with her affair with Jay. They had spent every spare minute of the past few weeks together, and neither showed any sign of being tired of the other one.

The previous weekend they’d taken the girls to the beach and built huge sandcastles. Roxy had relaxed enough to remember she really liked Jay, and it had done Gail’s heart good to see her girls laughing and dumping sand on each other, then ganging up on Jay.

And the nights. Gail closed her eyes and sighed. Once she’d weakened and let Jay stay with her, she hadn’t been able to say no again. The enforced silence only made their lovemaking more intense, more intimate, somehow.

“Yo, Gail, what is with you?”

She opened her eyes to see her brother Gabe sitting on the stool beside hers, staring at her. “Nothing.” She cleared her throat, thankful he couldn’t read her mind. “What do you mean?”

Since he ran a charter fishing service, Gabe’s face was sunburned and his dark eyes bloodshot from hours in the bright, coastal sun. That didn’t make them any less sharp, though. He hadn’t taken time to shave after coming in from a fishing trip and dark stubble lined his jaw. He looked tired, a little grumpy, and too damn curious for Gail’s comfort.

“So, I guess the word’s true.” He picked up an unshelled peanut from the dish on the bar, cracked it, and tossed it in his mouth.

“What word?”

“That you’re up to your ears in a red-hot affair. I got to wondering why I hadn’t seen you or the girls in weeks, then Cam gave me the scoop.”

She made a mental note to twist Cam’s ear off when she got the chance. “Cameron, as usual, is exaggerating. I’ve been dating someone. So what?”

“Yeah, I know.” He nodded. “Jay Kincaid. And I’d say it’s a little more than dating.” He grinned and touched a finger to her neck. “Love bite. Even if I haven’t had a date in months, I can still recognize one when I see it.”

Her face flamed. She remembered exactly when Jay had put that mark there. And remembered biting the back of her hand to keep from screaming, too. “You’re my brother. You’re not supposed to notice things like that.”

“Believe me, honey,” he said, shaking his head. “I’d a hell of a lot rather not. But I’m not blind.”

“What you are is nosy. Mind your own business, Gabe.”

“Hey, as your older brother, I’m duty bound to razz you.” He took another peanut and smirked at her.

Gail considered dumping her soft drink on his head, but she never could stay mad at Gabe for long. “Don’t you have something else to do?”

“Nope.” He took a sip of beer. “Just catching up with you. So tell me, is he treating you right?”

Her brow furrowed. With only a year between them, she’d always been close to Gabe. “Gabe, are you worried about me? You don’t need to be.”

Gabe shrugged. “Goes with the territory. You haven’t really dated anyone—not seriously—since the slime bastard.”

She couldn’t help smiling. That had been Gabe’s name for Barry ever since she’d introduced the two of them.

“You’re more naive than you think you are,” Gabe continued.

“I’m thirty-five years old, and naive is the last thing I am. Barry took care of that, a long time ago.” His indifference, his total self-absorption, his affairs. Yes, he’d destroyed her illusions about him. And perhaps herself, as well.

“I should never have let you marry that bastard. I knew what he was like. Even if I didn’t have proof on your wedding day, I knew—”

“Don’t, Gabe.” She put her hand on his arm, to stop him before he became truly worked up. “It wouldn’t have mattered. I was determined to marry him.”

“I should have pasted him on your wedding day,” Gabe mused. “On general principles.”

Gail laughed. “For the record, Jay is nothing like Barry. So you can quit worrying, okay?”

Gabe circled a finger on the rim of his glass before looking at her. “You sure about that?”

“Positive.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “But thanks for caring.”

He smiled at her, then his expression changed. “Damn, if that’s not enough to put you totally off your food. Speaking of the slime bastard…”

Gail turned around to see Barry walking toward them. “Behave,” she muttered. “Don’t forget the girls are here.”

“Hello, Gail. Gabe,” he said, nodding to him, though his eyes were on Gail. “I’m glad I ran into you. I wanted to talk to you about the girls.” He glanced around. “Are they here?”

“In the kitchen. What do you want, Barry?”

“Privately, if you don’t mind.” He spared Gabe a false smile. “I’m sure Gabriel will excuse you.”

Gail weighed her options. She could have refused to talk to him alone, but that seemed petty. Besides, he might actually have something of importance to say.

“All right.” She glanced at her watch. “But make it fast, I’m meeting Jay and he should be here any minute.”

“Of course.” He led her to a table and pulled out her chair. He hadn’t been that polite to her since before they married, she thought.

“Okay, what about the girls?”

Barry looked a little sheepish. “It’s not actually about the girls. I just said that to get you away from your brother. I know he hates me.”

“You could hardly help but know it. Gabe isn’t particularly subtle.”

Barry signaled the waitress, then ordered a scotch on the rocks after Gail declined a drink.

Exasperated, she glanced at her watch again, then over at the bar, wondering what was keeping Jay. She turned her attention back to her ex-husband. “What’s going on, Barry? Get to the point.”

His fingers tapped the table. He seemed different, more nervous than usual.

“Do you believe people can change, Gail?”

“I suppose. If they want to.”

“Even people who have done some…not very admirable things?”

Not this again.
Deliberately obtuse, she said, “Like what? Lie, cheat, steal? Or are we talking murder?”

He frowned, accepted his drink and took a healthy sip. “You’re not making this easy on me.”

Why should I?
she thought.
I don’t want to hear it anyway.
She remained silent.

He set his glass down and looked at her solemnly. “I’m trying to say I’m sorry. For the way I treated you. For the things I did.”

Stupefied, she stared at him. “You’ve never in your life apologized to me.”

“I—it’s not an easy thing for me.” He took her hand and she was so surprised, she let him. “I want
you to know that I’m truly, sincerely sorry. I know it’s a lot to ask you to forgive me but…” His voice trailed away.

On that, they were in total agreement. “Yes, it is. Why are you doing this, Barry? Groveling isn’t your style.”

Eyes soulful, he gazed at her. “I want you back, Gail. Give us another chance.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.” She tried to pull her hand away, but he held on.

“I’ve never been more serious.”

“Let go of my hand.” He released it, slowly, reluctantly. “You can’t possibly believe I’d take you back after what you did.” She glanced up and saw Jay, sitting at the bar beside Gabe. She couldn’t really read his expression, other than to note he didn’t look happy.

“I made a mistake,” Barry said. “A terrible mistake. I’ve been trying to rectify it since I came back.”

“It was a bit more than a simple mistake, Barry. Even if I could forgive the affairs, I couldn’t forget the rest of it. You deserted us for two years. Not once, in those two years, did you see the girls or talk to them, or offer a penny for their support. For two years I had to borrow money from my family and work day and night, so I could get a decent job and support my daughters. My daughters, whose father decided he had better things to do than be responsible for a family. Maybe someone else could forgive you that, but I’m sure as hell not that woman.”

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I explained what hap
pened. My God, Gail, I was married with two kids almost before I could turn around. And the offer, it seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I couldn’t turn it down.”

“Even if it meant taking all our money and losing it.”

“It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. Besides, you’re the one who pushed for the divorce.”

“Gee, imagine that,” she said, dripping sarcasm. “I divorced the man who deserted me and left me destitute with two kids. Not to mention, a man who was unfaithful, probably from the day we married.”

“Gail, that isn’t true.” At her look of patent disbelief, he added, “I stumbled. I admitted that. I thought we’d gotten past it.”

“You thought wrong.” Stumbled, had he? That’s how he described an affair that had broken her heart, and her faith. For her daughters’ sake she’d tried to forgive him. But it had happened again. Several times, she suspected. By the time Barry left, she’d been on the verge of divorcing him anyway. Only the thought of her children had made her hesitate. Then Barry took the decision out of her hands by walking out on them.

Which didn’t say a heck of a lot about her judgment.

“Can’t you consider forgiving me? Trying again? For the girls’ sake, if nothing else.”

“To tell you the truth, Barry, it’s been all I could do to let you back into their lives, period. I have no
guarantee you won’t turn around and do the same thing to them all over again.”

“I wouldn’t do that. I love my daughters.”

“That didn’t stop you the first time. You said you loved them then, too.”

“So that’s it.” He sighed heavily. “You’re never going to forgive me. No matter how many times I tell you I’ve changed, you’re just not going to believe me.”

“I’d say that sums it up real well. I don’t trust you, Barry, and I never will.” She’d made that mistake once, she would never make it again. She looked for Jay but didn’t see him. “I’ve got to go. Don’t bring this up again. I won’t change my mind.”

She stopped by the bar to talk to Gabe. “What happened to Jay? I was supposed to meet him.”