Authors: Leanne Banks
“She's not reallyâ”
“Yes, she is. You married Jade. You were husband and wife. Tina looked to you as her father. You played catch with her. You even drove her to school functions and played board games with her. You became her stepfather during her important years. Certainly you can forget about the possibility of a new wife while you think about that.”
Adam's father gave a harrumph, said, “It's a shame I taught you to speak your mind,” and picked up his suit coat lying over the sofa. “You get the impression I don't care about Tina. That's not true because I do. If you need anything, anything at all besides a P.I. to help find her, just let me know and I'll cover the cost.”
“I don't think money is going to do it this time, Dad.”
“And just what will?”
“Tina knowing that the people she loves will love her back. She ran because we weren't here for her.”
“I was in Europe. I wasâ”
“Those are excuses and I can make the same ones. My job was important. The work I do is important. But more important than my sister? Somehow we got this all wrong, Dad. We're not all separate people, just flying off in a different direction, never connecting again. That's not what family is.”
“And what is family, son?” His father suddenly looked as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Adam's answer came easily. “It's looking into each other's eyes and knowing the other person. It's having memories of them and appreciating them. It's keeping in touch and most of all, keeping tuned in. I wasn't in touch with Tina enough. Yes, she's a big girl, but big girls have bigger problems than little girls. When they have no one to turn to, they get in trouble. She probably didn't even love Erica's father. She probably was lonely and had no one to turn to. Don't you see that's the pattern, Dad? Don't you see that that's what
you
do?”
Instead of the fury Adam expected to see, his father went pensive. “I don't know how to change my ways, Adam, but maybe you're still young enough to change yours. What do you suggest I do about Tina?”
“Call her. Leave a voice mail telling her you love her. Most of all tell her whether you get married again or not, you'll be glad to spend some time with her and your grandchild when she returns home.”
“Adam, you were the last baby I spent any time with. The noise will drive me crazy.”
“So get earplugs. I don't care what you do to make this work, Dad, but somehow you have to reassure Tina. You have to show her you haven't forgotten Jade any more than she has.”
“You think she misses Jade?”
“Yes, she misses her mother, and I think she misses the backup she always had and doesn't have now. I have a friend who called to assure her that The Mommy Club is here for her. If Tina decides not to come home, then I'll have to make the hard decisions. But not until then. My first goal is to get her home.”
“You've changed.”
“I had no choice.”
But now he saw he had lots of choices, and he wondered which one of those could include Kaitlyn.
Chapter Eleven
I
t was well after noon on Saturday when Adam stopped at the community center where the free clinic was being held. After his father's visit and especially with the bad taste it had left in his mouth, Adam considered staying away from Kaitlyn. After all, wouldn't that be better for both of them?
On the other hand, his father's visit also prodded him to see Kaitlyn more. Totally crazy. He'd realized his father's way of life wasn't the life he wanted. But what he did wantâ That was up in the air.
Oh, yes, he wanted Kaitlyn, physically anyway. But then what? Maybe that's what he was trying to figure out.
There were long tables set up for patients' paperwork and screening information. Kaitlyn had told him a few nurses she knew were giving their time, too, today, to help the doctors and make everything go more smoothly. Two pediatricians were participating, as well as two general practitioners. There were four stations set up, one for each doctor. But as Adam looked around, he couldn't find Kaitlyn.
He stopped at one of the reception tables and asked where he might find her.
The middle-aged brunette said, “We made her take her lunch break. She's been seeing patients since 7:00 a.m. All the doctors are taking turns and she was the last one to hold out. We said if she didn't go eat lunch, she couldn't come back in and help anybody. She's in the kitchen area in the back. At least she'd better be,” the woman said with a wink.
Adam knew how dedicated Kaitlyn was, and when she saw a need, she wanted to help. Sometimes, maybe, to her own detriment. Trying to make up for losing a child? Possibly. He wished she would stop blaming herself. He wished she could get the old feelings resolved.
Just like you have?
a little devil voice inside of him asked.
Right. It was so-o-o easy.
He found Kaitlyn wearing a smock covered with cartoon characters, sitting at a counter, looking through paperwork while she nibbled on a wrap of some kind. Probably something healthy.
But that's why he brought her something
not
quite so healthy. He was hoping he could get her to take a break with him.
Dropping the waxy bag onto a table without making any noise, he came up behind her and suddenly covered her eyes with his hands. “I understand you're supposed to be taking a break.”
“Adam!” She turned around right away. “What are you doing here?”
“I figured you'd be having a long day and you'd need some sugar to help you get through it. Actually, there's some protein in it, too.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, I could have brought Chinese, or Thai, or Italian, but I figured you'd get some kind of lunch here. So instead, I brought these absolutely delicious, sort of like profiteroles. It's a pastry stuffed with mascarpone and peanut butter cream covered in chocolate. Jase and Sara swear by them. A chef they know makes them, and I was able to confiscate a dozen.”
He picked up the waxy bag, opened it and set it under her nose. “Take a whiff.”
“Adamâ”
He gave her a pretend scowl. “The woman out front told me you couldn't practice until you took a break. This is a break. Some kind of healthy chicken wrap isn't. Take a whiff.”
Kaitlyn finally smiled. “You can be very convincing.”
“
Convincing
is my middle name.”
With an askance look at him, she took the bag and inhaled deeply. “They smell divine.”
“That's the word Sara usedâ
divine.
I thought it was a little over-the-top, but what do I know. And, along with this wonderful dessert, I brought you the best hazelnut coffee The Coffee Hut makes. Black, right?”
“Yes, black, and how did you know I liked Coffee Hut coffee?”
“A little bird. Actually, lots of little birds know you like black coffee from The Coffee Hut.”
“Everybody in my practice with me, as well as Marissa, Sara, probably Jase and Liam to name just a few. But my big question to you is, why did you go to all this trouble?”
He was beside her at the counter and they were leaning close together. “I didn't like the way we left things the other night.”
“Neither did I,” she admitted.
“And when I went back to my condo with Erica...”
“Where is Erica?”
“She's with Mary. When I went to the new-parent workshop, she said whenever I need her, I should call her. Serendipitous, don't you think?”
“So we could have this talk?”
“So I could bring you a treat. So I could tell you that I know we both have remnants of the past to clean up.” He unfolded the bag, dipped his hand inside, and brought out two of the tasty desserts.
“How hungry are you?” she asked.
For the dessert or for you?
that little devil in his head asked him. “I'll tell you what. You take a bite then let me know if you want a whole one, or two or three.”
She laughed. “We're not solving anything by eating dessert,” she warned him.
“No, we're not. But we're having a damn good time, and since you don't have a whole lot of it, this seemed like a good idea.”
He offered her a bite of the chocolate-covered delicacy. She bit into the peanut butter and cheese filling, savoring the chocolate on the outside and getting some on her upper lip. Her tongue came out to swipe it away.
“Oh, my gosh, Adam,” she said as she bit in. “I can probably eat a dozen of them and still want more.”
He chuckled. “That's what I thought.”
Taking a napkin from the bag, he dumped a few onto the napkin and set it in front of her. Then he set her coffee beside it.
“I'm not even going to think about how many calories are in one of these.”
“Good. Don't. You don't have to worry about it anyway.”
She looked at him as if he'd said something very important. As beautiful as she was, he guessed she might not get many compliments like that. She didn't let herself open to them. Maybe if
he
opened up a little...
“When I got back to my condo Thursday evening, my father was there.”
Her eyes widened. “He flew in from England?”
“Apparently. Now don't get the wrong idea. This isn't all about Tina. He brought what could be wife number fiveâIris. She's twenty years younger, and he thought maybe I'd like to meet her.”
Kaitlyn cautiously took a sip of her coffee. “And what did you say to that?”
“I said I would, but I also told him he'd better be here to let Tina know she still had a dad. He promised to call and leave her a message. Do you think we're bombarding her with too many messages?”
“Not if she needs to know people think about her and care about her.”
“Hmm, I thought the same thing. I don't want to push her further into hiding. The P.I. hasn't come up with anything because he thinks she's using cash.”
“She has cash?”
“My father sends her checks. I don't think she spends them. She dumps them into a savings account. Just like I did, she has something to prove. She wanted to make it on her own.”
“You wanted to do more than make it on your own. You wanted to prove to your father once and for all you didn't need him, and you could become a better man than you thought he was.”
She hit
that
on the nose, and he didn't know if he liked it. He let silence invade a conversation that up to now had flowed quite freely.
But after the coffee cups were drained, he asked her, “Have you talked to your ex again?”
“I called him. We're going to have dinner tomorrow to clear the air. I think we both need it.”
So she
had
talked to him. So she
had
thought more about what they did and didn't need. Maybe he and Kaitlyn needed to explore what they did and didn't need. There was only one way to find out, one way to nudge them both toward the future.
“What time do you think you'll be finished here?”
“I don't know. It could go late. We don't want to turn any children away.”
He wouldn't expect them to. “I keep late hours. When you're finished here, why don't you come over? I'll get some Chinese and we can warm it up.”
She was obviously hesitating, and he knew why. A makeshift dinner could lead to a lot more.
“Think about it,” he said, rising to his feet. “You can just show up, no call necessary.”
“Adamâ”
“No pressure, Kaitlyn. No strings on either of us. If you come, you come. If you don't, that's fine, too.” But as he said it, he knew that wouldn't be fine at all.
Because he wanted Kaitlyn in his bed, even if he wasn't sure about anything else.
* * *
Finished at free clinic for the day, Kaitlyn headed to the parking lot. She drove to her town house, parked, went inside and heard the emptiness. She filled her life, oh yes she did, but not with the kind of chemistry she felt with Adam, not with the kind of love she was beginning to feel for him, not with the personal connection so deep it could shake her soul.
She didn't think too long about what she was about to do. Rather, she just did it.
She went upstairs and showered with her favorite body wash. After she dried and curled her hair, she let it fall down her shoulders. No tying it back tonight. In the bottom of her underwear drawer, she found the lace undergarments in pale peach but then changed her mind and left them there. She put on a silky shirt dress she used for lounging around the house. With a pair of flats, she was all set.
Adam said she didn't have to call, so she didn't. She found a cream-colored poncho in the closet, swished it on over the dress and drove to his condo.
* * *
As she stood at Adam's door and rang his bell, she realized how he could go with the flow, how sometimes he seemed to like surprises. Had he expected her to show up tonight? And if she did, what did he expect to happen?
When Adam opened his door, she could decipher nothing from his expression. All he said was, “Glad you could come. I'll warm up the Chinese.”
As she followed him through the living room, she realized she hadn't come here for a Chinese dinner.
“Is Erica asleep?” Her voice must have sounded just a tad shaky.
He studied her judiciously then responded, “She is. I put her down about a half hour ago. She should sleep a good three hours about now. At least that's the schedule she's been keeping.”
Adam looked freshly showered. His gray T-shirt had a couple of dryer wrinkles. His black jeans fit him like jeans should. Was she really going to go through with this?
Through with what?
Through with letting desire win?
She dropped her purse onto a chair, then she slipped off her poncho and laid it across the back. “I'm not really hungry,” she said. “At least not for Chinese.”
Up until now his eyes had been an opaque green. The green deepened. Now there was male appreciation in his gaze as it drifted over her shirtdress. “You weren't wearing that at the community center.”
No, she hadn't been. She had worn a button-down blouse and navy slacks under her cartoon lab coat.
“I stopped home to change,” she said offhandedly.
“You don't usually wear your hair like that, either.”
So he'd noticed. “It gets in the way like this when I'm working. That's why I tie it back.”
He approached her slowly. “I like it like this. I like
you
like this.” He swept his hand down the silky dress.
Silence invaded their space for a few moments. “I don't know how to do this, Adam.”
He wasn't helping her out. “Do what?”
“Maybe we should just eat some Chinese,” she said a bit defiantly.
With a deep chuckle, he came close enough to touch her. Then he did. Slipping his hand under her hair, he sifted his fingers through it, nudged her close, a few seconds later even closer.
When his lips pressed against hers, she expected coaxing. Everything about Adam always shouted finesse. This time there wasn't any finesse. It was only hunger and need. As his lips took hers, she knew this was what she'd wanted from that night at the winery. She'd been a coward that night. She'd been afraid of Adam's finesse and the fact that he probably knew too well how to turn a woman on. But now she knew who he was. Tonight she wanted what he offered, even if there was no future in it.
Her body heated up the longer he kissed her. A need grew inside her so big and great, no one could satisfy it but Adam. Their rocket-propelled passion had been gaining heat and velocity ever since the night they'd met.
Her arms went around his neck, and she could feel the beat of his heart as well as hers. The thumping primal beat urged her to savor the strength of his arms, the pads of his fingertips under her hair, the exciting matching of their bodies as they pressed together. When Adam rocked his hips against hers, she pushed back. She gave as good as she got. She was sure that's what he wanted, and it was what she wanted, too.
But then Adam did something that was totally Adam. He slowed it all down. He caressed her face. He held her cheeks in his hands.
“Is this what you want? Is this what you came here for tonight?” he asked, his voice husky and low.
“I want
you.
I want to touch and I want to be touched. For just once in my life, I want to live in the moment.”
“This could be the second time in your life you did that.” There was amusement in his voice, and she knew he was thinking about the first time they'd made love.
“For the second time, then, and who knows, maybe there will be a third.”
He groaned. “You're killing me.”
“That's not my intention.”
“Show me your intention.”
Sliding her fingers up his nape into this thick hair, she stood on tiptoe. But she didn't kiss him. Not exactly. She nibbled his upper lip and she ran her tongue over his lower lip. When she leaned her breasts into his chest, his control seemed to snap. His kiss was wild and so was her response. She wound her arms around his neck, wanting all of her doubts to go away by being totally invested in his kiss, totally invested in the moment. She almost forgot who she was. She forgot everything but passion.