All They Ever Wanted (26 page)

“Hey, Ian. How are the kittens doing?” One of the barn cats had just had a litter and Bruce tasked Ian with checking on them throughout the day. Her stepfather had been incredibly
empathetic to the boy, finding things at the inn to keep Ian engaged and happy.

“The black one with the three white feet scratched the gray one,” Ian said. “But the momma cat swatted the black one with the three white feet. Then she licked the gray one all better. She's a good momma.”

Lori's throat grew tight. She wasn't sure how Ian could differentiate between a good mother and the one he had, but somehow he did. “Most mommas are good, sweetie.” She kissed the top of his head. “It's a Wednesday night, you know what that means?”

“Family dinner!”

The inn was typically closed in the middle of the week during the winter months and Lori's mother had always insisted on a family dinner out that night, just so they could reconnect. She was glad her mother had thought to continue the practice for Ian.

Ian's smile suddenly fell. “Can he come, too?”

Perplexed, Lori stared at the boy. “Can who come?” She hoped he wasn't asking about one of the kittens.

“Your friend Miles.”

Lori's stomach dropped to her feet. “How do you know about Miles?” she croaked.

“He's here,” Ian answered earnestly. “He's in the barn. He likes kittens, too. I told him I was coming to get you.”

Miles is here? In the barn? With the kittens?

Lori glanced into one of the small antique mirrors her mother had scattered about the walls as part of the décor. She anxiously smoothed back a strand of hair, now back to its natural fiery red color and cut into waves. Running a hand over her cashmere sweater and black denim jeans, she followed Ian out to the barn, her Steve Madden boots loud on the slate walkway.

“I found her,” Ian called as he ran into the barn.

Lori's stomach took another nosedive while her eyes took a moment to adjust from the afternoon sunlight to the dark confines of the barn. When finally she could see, her breath halted in her lungs, forcing a gasp past her lips. Sure enough, Miles
McAlister was in the barn looking sexy as ever. He was sitting on the straw as a trio of kittens crawled over his legs. His blue eyes met hers and Lori thought her knees would surely buckle at the impact of his slow, appreciative smile.

“These little buggers have sharp claws,” he said as he lifted the black one with three white legs by the scruff of the neck so it couldn't do further damage to the leather bomber jacket Miles was wearing. Lori licked her lips. Miles looked nothing like a newly elected Congressman. Dressed in worn jeans, dark Sorel boots, and a light chambray shirt, he looked like he belonged on the small farm rather than the marble halls of Washington, D.C.

“That's Chester,” Ian was saying as he took the kitten from Miles. “He can be a bit precocious.”

Miles arched an eyebrow at Ian. “Can he now? I bet you can handle him, though.”

Ian's chest puffed out, making Lori's own heart swell.

“I'm good with animals,” Ian said proudly, parroting a phrase he'd heard often throughout his lifetime.

As if to validate Ian's comment, Tessa wandered into the barn. She gave an excited yip at the sight of Miles, before brushing up against Ian's leg.

“Good to see you again, too, Tessa,” Miles said as he got to his feet, wiping straw off his jeans. Tessa gave a contented groan when Miles scratched her behind an ear. “Midas says hello, by the way,” he murmured. When he looked up, his eyes came to rest on Lori. Her stomach fluttered again.

“Hello, Lori.”

“Miles. Wh-what are you doing here?” she stammered.

“He came to see you,” Ian answered for him. “Didn't you, Miles?”

“I did.” Miles shoved his hands in his pockets.

His easy grin was doing things to her body. Lori wiped her damp palms on her jeans.

“I don't understand. You just won your election. Don't you have things to do? Important things?” She was babbling like an idiot when all she wanted to do was throw her arms around his neck and kiss him before she woke up from the wonderful dream she apparently was having.

“Actually, it's pretty anticlimactic after all the votes are counted. There's a bit of a lull before I take office in January.”

“Oh.”

Ian looked back and forth at Miles and Lori. “So you came to visit Sissy.”

Miles' grin grew broader at Ian's pet name for her, and Lori rocked back on her heels. Had he come just to see her?

“I did,” he repeated as if to answer her silent question. Even in the fading light in the barn, she thought she detected a flash of something familiar in his eyes.

“Um, do you need a room? We're usually closed at midweek during the off-season, but I'm sure my mother wouldn't mind.”

There was definitely a spark in his blue eyes when she mentioned a room. Lori huffed out a breath. Had he come to see her? Or to see her naked? Even more frustrating: Would she be able to resist him if that was his plan? Somehow she didn't think so.

Miles' chin went to his chest before he jerked it back up again. “Honestly, I hadn't thought that far ahead.”

His admission caught her off guard. Miles was not one to go off script. Ever.

“Oh.” Miles wasn't the only one repeating himself. Lori gestured toward the B and B. “Well, why don't we go inside and we can figure it out,” she suggested. She'd be able to handle the situation much better if they were on her home turf of the kitchen. Lori felt off-kilter staring at a dressed-down Miles covered in kittens.

Ian put the kittens in an empty stall with their mother and the three of them headed toward the back door of the B and B. Miles' hand swung loosely at his side, unnerving her with its proximity to her body.

“Miles!” her mother exclaimed when they entered the house. “What a nice surprise.”

Except her mother looked anything but surprised. Instead, she looked guilty. And excited. Lori stomped into the kitchen. Bruce was making himself a cup of coffee in the Keurig. He didn't look any more surprised at the sight of Miles than her mother did. Lori pulled a bottle of Riesling out of the fridge,
uncorked it, and poured herself some. Taking a healthy swallow, she then surveyed the scene over the rim of the glass.

Her mother was handing Miles a set of keys to the Bordeaux Suite, one she traditionally reserved for honeymoons and anniversaries because of its double soaking tub and private balcony.

“I promised Ian a trip to the library if he finished all his schoolwork,” her mother was saying as Bruce quickly tied the laces on his sneakers. “We'll probably grab a pizza afterwards. I'll text you when we get to the pizza place in case you two want to join us.” With Tessa at their heels, they were out the door faster than if they were practicing for a fire drill.

Lori felt Miles' stare bore into her as she sipped her wine, but she refused to meet his eyes. Not when she doubted her own body's reaction to him. “Of all the places you could go to rest up after the campaign, I'm surprised you would pick the Oregon coast in November.”

She watched out of the corner of her eye as Miles pulled off his jacket and draped it over the back of a chair. “Actually, did you know that as Gavin's best man, I'm responsible for the groom's cake?”

Once again, he'd surprised her and Lori coughed as she choked a little on her wine. Miles reached for her glass, taking a sip for himself, his blue eyes dancing.

“I had no idea,” she said as she pulled another glass out of the cabinet and poured wine into it before refilling her own. Something told her she might need the fortification.

Miles leaned his elbows on the other side of the island. “Yep. And apparently, my brother has been spoiled for any other woman's baked goods.”

She coughed to cover the laughter that bubbled up inside her at the absurdity of his statement. Her giddiness was followed quickly by a burst of anger.
Damn him for making me fall more in love with him.
She'd patched up her broken heart just fine these past few months. But seeing him again was chiseling it back into shards. Miles wouldn't understand the concept because he kept his own heart under lock and key.

“You didn't have to come all this way to ask me to make
a cake for your brother,” she snapped. “An e-mail or a phone call would have sufficed.”

He walked around the island and leaned a hip against the counter next to her. Her nostrils breathed in the achingly familiar scent of him, making her feel a little light-headed. She closed her eyes to steady her nerves, all the while willing her hand not to reach out to touch him.

“That's not the real reason I came,” he said softly.

Slowly, she raised her eyelids. Miles pulled something out of his shirt pocket and began twirling it on his finger.

“My grandmother's ring!” she shrieked.

“You sure?” He held it up to the light. “Although it does match the description you gave Lamar.”

Her anger evaporated and joy filled the space it left behind. Lori never thought she'd see her talisman again. “It is! Oh Miles, where did you find it?”

“Apparently, Emily has a penchant for sparkly things.”

Understanding dawned on Lori. “Her sparkly box!” Lori laughed incredulously. “Emily couldn't resist anything that glittered. She was always digging through the drawers.” Her hand shot to her mouth. “Oh my gosh, she used to play with Tessa in my room! The lure of a packed duffel bag had to be too much for an inquisitive six-year-old.”

“Mmm. It seems my adorable niece might be leaning toward a life of crime.” He laughed and the sound of it scraped against her lower belly, making her muscles clench. “My sister Kate is in for a rude awakening.”

“Your poor mother, having to explain that to her guests.”

“Nah.” He winked at her. “I'm pretty sure she blamed the whole thing on Midas.”

She didn't bother choking back the laugh this time. Lori was so delighted to see her grandmother's ring again. When she reached for it, however, Miles closed his fingers around it.

“Hey, do I get it back or not?”

Miles returned the ring to his front pocket. His face was enigmatic. “That depends on the answer to a question. You said you wouldn't leave Chances Inlet without this ring, but you did anyway. Why?”

Lori's cheeks burned and her chest grew tight. She felt like she was on the upslope of a roller coaster. Was he really here to rehash her embarrassing declaration of unrequited love? “I left to protect you from the scandal that surrounded me. But you know that already. Why are you here, Miles?” Her voice sounded hoarse as she pushed the words through her throat, now raw with emotion.

Miles placed a hand on the counter on either side of her, pinning her in. “Because I can't
not
be here.” He took a step closer so his body was pressed up against hers.

She soaked in the warmth of him, trembling when his hard muscles came in contact with her traitorous body.

“A hundred and seven days ago you gave me the greatest gift one person can give another: unconditional love. And I didn't know what to do with it, so like a fool, I let you slip away.”

She slid her palms up over his chest. “You counted the days?”

“And the hours, but I had to stop because that only made me more insane.”

Wrapping her hands around his waist, she pulled him in closer. “This isn't just a Dudley Do-Right thing, is it? Because I understand why you can't love me back.”

He lowered his forehead to her shoulder. “Yesterday was supposed to be a dream come true. To win an election was all I ever wanted. Except it wasn't. I kept thinking something was missing. And something was. It was you.”

Lori didn't dare breathe.

“When Justine died, it was easy to wall up my heart because she was gone and she wasn't coming back. But you're still here, living and breathing, walking around this earth without me. It was making me crazy.” He skimmed his lips along her neckline and Lori shivered. “I thought it was just because I didn't want you with someone else, but it really was because I can't live without you.” Those gorgeous blue eyes she adored stared into hers. “I love you, Lori. I don't care who your father is or what he did. And I don't care what any voters might think. All I know is that I don't want to spend another hundred and seven
seconds
apart from you.”

Lori's face hurt, she was smiling so broadly. She was glad
her body was pressed against the cabinet because her limbs had turned to jelly with his words. “That, Congressman McAlister, is the most beautiful speech you'll ever make.” She reached up and pulled his mouth down to hers. Their kiss was raw and hot, and the room began a lazy spin as his hands roamed over the parts of her that had missed him the most. Tears leaked out of her eyes, but Miles kissed them away.

“I don't want this to be an intersection of our lives, Lori,” he whispered. “I want our paths to merge forever. You and me. With kids and grandkids. Maybe even a dog or two. I know I'm asking a lot for you to throw yourself into the fishbowl that is politics, but together, we can make it work. I know we can. I love you so much.”

She smiled at him through her tears. “I love you, too, Miles McAlister.” Lori kissed a corner of his mouth. “I really don't feel like meeting my family for pizza. Do you?”

“Why, Lori, are you asking if you can have dessert before your dinner?” he teased.

“Well, it has been a hundred and seven days.”

His smile was wicked as he carried her up to the Bordeaux Suite, where he proceeded to give her more than one helping of dessert.

M
iles charged up the steps to his Capitol Hill townhouse, eager to share the events of the meeting with Lori. His progress was halted in the narrow foyer by a traffic jam made up of the crew from the television cooking show that had been filming in the kitchen all morning. The audio technician gave him a wave as he maneuvered the big boom microphone out to the production van.

Rounding the corner into the bright sunny room that took up nearly the entire first floor of their century-old row house, Miles stopped short as he caught sight of his wife laughing with one of the producers. Dressed in a form-fitting purple sweater that would make most of her male viewers drool before she even started cooking, she boxed up the remains of a lemon tart for the crew, grinning as she teased the director about sharing it with everyone else.

Lori's smile still had the power to make him weak at the knees. She'd been stingy with it when he'd first met her, and now, he considered each one a gift. Her grin deepened when she caught sight of him leaning against the doorframe.

“Miles!” She hurried over, wrapping her arms around his neck. “How was your meeting with the president?”

The rest of the crew murmured their good-byes as they slipped out of the kitchen, leaving the two of them locked in an embrace. “It went well. Your cupcakes were quite a hit. She was wondering if perhaps you'd consider taking over the job as White House pastry chef.” He nuzzled her neck.

“Mmm, I'm kind of busy with the gig I've got going as your wife,” she teased. “But if she backs you in your Senate race, I might consider a guest appearance or two.”

His wife of three years had become quite a celebrity in the cooking world with her weekly cable network show. Miles marveled at how the woman who used to hide in the shadows was now comfortable in front of a worldwide television audience. Lori was also the successful author of three bestselling cookbooks. The fact that she'd donated all her profits to a charity helping victims of her father's Ponzi scheme further endeared her to her legions of fans.

“I told the president that you'd just as soon wait until we're living there to take over the kitchen,” he said.

“Astute answer, Congressman.” She kissed him soundly, loosening his tie as she did so.

“We still have some time before we have to catch our flight to Chances Inlet,” he murmured as he snaked a hand beneath her sweater. “How about you and I enjoy a little dessert to celebrate my successful meeting with our commander in chief?”

The sound of the back door opening stilled his roaming fingers. Lori laughed as she slapped his hands away. “That's going to have to wait until tonight.”

“Dada,” their son shrieked from his perch in the stroller.

“Hold on there, Donnie.” Lori reached around the toddler's flailing hands and kicking feet to unfasten him from the stroller. Donnie's blue eyes sparkled as he stretched his arms up at Miles. Lifting his son to his chest, he breathed in the scent of baby shampoo and apples the boy had been munching while on his walk.

“I tried to tire him out,” Cassidy said. “But now I think I'm the one who needs a nap.”

“You're a trooper, Cass,” Lori said as Miles snuggled their son. “Most college kids go to Florida on their spring break. You come to D.C. and get stuck babysitting.”

“Spring break in Florida is overrated.” Cassidy grinned. “Besides, I'd never get to see my little godson otherwise.” She tickled the boy's thigh, making him giggle. “I'll take him upstairs and get him cleaned up. Ginger has texted me three times to make sure we don't miss our flight. My guess is she has a major announcement to make at Patricia's birthday dinner tonight.”

Miles handed his son off to Cassidy, who had the boy chortling with glee by the time they reached the nursery upstairs.

Lori smiled slyly at him. “It'll be great having everyone together again for the weekend. I'm so glad your mother always includes my mom, Bruce, and Ian in the festivities as well.”

“Yeah, but leave it to Gavin to upstage everyone.” He pulled his wife back into his arms. “Something tells me my mother will be more delighted with the gift of another grandchild than the lace shawl we got her in Scotland.”

“Actually, that's not the only gift we got her.” Taking his hand in hers, she placed it on her belly.

A lump formed in Miles' throat as he looked down at his wife's midsection before meeting her eyes again. “Really?” He lifted his hand to brush the hair back off her face. “That explains the gorgeous glow.” He pulled her in for a slow, deep kiss.

“Remember that when we're on the airplane later,” she said.

“Have I told you lately how much I love you?”

Lori kissed his jaw. “Every day. But I never get tired of hearing it.”

Donnie began wailing and Lori sighed as she headed for the back stairs. She stopped at the base of the steps and looked over her shoulder at him. “All those years I spent dreaming of something better—wanting more—I never imagined a life as good as this one with you, Miles. I love you.”

As he watched his beautiful wife climb the stairs, Miles
thought back to that list of goals he'd written when he was ten years old. How naïve he'd been thinking ticking off items on a list would make him happy. All he ever wanted was right here in this house or waiting for him at his mother's inn in Chances Inlet. Lori's gentle lullaby drifted down the stairs. Miles grinned like a fool as he made his way to the nursery and the family that made his list—and his life—complete.