Tempting (20 page)

“You know Alex,” Katherine said with a chuckle that sounded forced. “He's always been unconventional. As they're not related by blood and we adore her, of course we're happy. It keeps things all in the family. We could be connecting our families in more ways than one.”

There was pain on Katherine's face. Her expression and her tears were in stark contrast to her words. Dani wondered who she was talking to. Obviously someone she couldn't be honest with.

Dani backed away from the room and regretted pausing to eavesdrop. It had been rude and selfish. For her lack of character, she'd learned an uncomfortable truth. That she'd deeply hurt someone she only respected and short of going away—something she wasn't prepared to do—there was no way to ease Katherine's pain.

A
LEX COULD THINK OF
several things he'd rather be doing than shopping at Bell Square, yet the thought of spending the afternoon with his favorite sister—not that he would ever admit that to anyone—and Dani, had been irresistible. If nothing else, he would be distracted from the fact that he knew he had to confront his father about what he'd done but wasn't sure what to say.

In his heart and his gut, he wanted to walk away. The political world wasn't his and he didn't belong. But he owed Mark and he'd been taught the importance of duty from the moment Katherine had adopted him. So leaving wasn't an option. Which meant he had to figure out a way to make his current situation work for him. If Mark won the nomination and subsequent election, nothing would ever be the same.

After lunch at P.F. Chang's—ordered by Dani, to keep up their strength—they headed to Nordstrom.

“The perfect place for shoes,” Dani informed him as she linked arms with Bailey and led the way. “They have a fabulous selection and the employees are always great to work with. You'll love it.”

Bailey's big smile widened. “Can I get any color I want?”

“Of course,” Dani told her. “These are your birthday shoes. They have to be special. Maybe red or purple or something with a cool pattern? I always wanted red suede pumps when I was a teenager. My grandmother said they were tacky, but I still wanted them. Maybe I should buy some now.”

Alex walked just behind the women and briefly allowed himself to enjoy the fantasy of Dani in high-heeled red suede pumps and nothing else.

It worked for him in a big way.

They entered the store and found their way to the shoe department.

Alex also shopped at Nordstrom, although usually at the downtown store. He walked into the men's department, told them what color suit he wanted, tried it on, was fitted and gone in less than thirty minutes. If he needed shirts or ties, Frank, the man he worked with, had a selection ready for his approval. For him, shopping for clothes was about as interesting as shopping for groceries. Wasn't the point to get what you needed and get out?

But women were their own country, he reminded himself, with different expectations and different customs.

“Look around,” Dani told Bailey. “I need to check on a couple of things.”

She walked toward the counter in the corner. Alex smiled at his sister. “Are you having fun?”

Bailey nodded but didn't smile. Instead she pressed her lips together, then drew in a shaky breath.

“Are you mad at me?” she asked, sounding terrified to hear the answer to her question.

“No,” he said quickly. “Why would I be mad at you?”

“Because. Before. I talked to that man and you hit him and got into trouble.”

“Honey, no.” He walked over and hugged her. “Bailey, that had nothing to do with you. You didn't do anything wrong. I love you.”

She gazed up at him, her eyes filled with tears. “You sure?”

“I promise.”

She had never been the problem and he hated thinking that she'd been worried all this time.

“I love you,” he told his sister.

She smiled. “I love you, too. But you're not my favorite brother.”

The start of their familiar game let him know she was okay now. “Sure I am. Who else could be your favorite?”

“Ian.”

“No way.”

“Way.”

“Crazy girl.”

She grinned. “That's loco to you.”

“Loco it is.”

He put his arm around her. He loved all his siblings, but he had a special place in his heart for Bailey. He had no idea why, but he welcomed his need to take care of her.

Suddenly the combination of hugging Bailey, the store setting and a sense of protecting his own caused him to remember another time in a store. He couldn't remember how long ago it had been. Two years? Three?

He'd been married to Fiona at the time and the three of them had gone to some store. Bailey had tripped and banged her arm. She'd been in tears from the pain and he'd been holding her. Fiona had offered a tissue from her purse when an older woman had stopped.

“Your daughter is lovely,” the stranger had told Fiona. “She has your hair.”

“That is not my child,” Fiona had said forcefully. “She's my husband's adopted sister.”

Later he'd wondered why Fiona had felt it so necessary to distance herself from Bailey, both by biological and familial connection. Had she been afraid someone would think she was flawed?

It had been a small thing, but it had stayed with him. Finding her on the table, having sex with another man might have been the end of their marriage, but it hadn't been the only reason he'd left her.

Dani returned with a handful of shoes. “What do you think of these?” she asked. “Now before you say anything, I want you to know that there will be much trying on of shoes. This is an important decision and not one to be made lightly.” She eyed him. “No whining from the male contingent.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“Good. Bailey, we're going to need some help.” She pointed at the two men who stood just behind her. “This is Eric and this is Cameron. They are your shoe slaves.”

Bailey covered her mouth with her hand and giggled before ducking behind Alex.

Dani reached for her and dragged her toward the leather chairs.

“Sit,” she said sternly and pointed. “You're the princess today, young lady. We're here to make you happy.”

Bailey continued to giggle. Eric winked at her, while Cameron said her hair was a beautiful color of red. Alex slid close to Dani.

“Your doing?” he asked, nodding at the two guys.

“I said today had to be exceptional. They'll flirt in a nice, safe way. I want her to feel special.”

“You've gone to a lot of trouble for a girl you barely know.”

Dani stared up at him. “I know as much as I need to. I like Bailey. I'm not a saint, Alex. Don't get any weird ideas. I'm acting selfishly because it makes me happy.”

“I get that.”

He also got that she wouldn't see her actions as anything extraordinary. But he knew better. He knew exactly what kind of person bothered and what kind didn't.

Dani collapsed next to Bailey and kicked off her shoes. “I'm thinking something flashy,” she said as Eric, or maybe Cameron, slid a pair of magenta suede pumps on her feet.

“Me, too,” Bailey said. She had on the same pair.

Dani pushed herself into a standing position. Bailey tried to do the same, wobbled, then collapsed back into her chair. Dani sighed. “I see we have some work to do. Gentlemen?”

Eric and Cameron each took a hand and drew Bailey upright. When she was balanced, Dani walked in front of her.

“The trick is to keep your weight forward and low. Those skinny heels will kill you if you let them. But you don't want to go too far forward or you'll fall on your face and that's never pretty.”

With Bailey laughing, Dani demonstrated an exaggerated walk, complete with swinging hips and fancy turns. Bailey followed her, staggering only a little. She nearly fell on the turn, but one of the guys caught her and held her arm while she straightened.

“I'm walking!” she cried as she moved through the center of the shoe department. “Look, Alex. I'm really walking in high heels.”

His baby sister was growing up, he thought as he watched Bailey get more confident with each step. She and Dani returned to their chairs and tried on another pair of shoes.

Two hours later the decision had been made. Both Bailey and Dani had purple suede pumps with impossibly high heels. They elected to wear their shoes out of the store. He trailed behind, holding their shopping bags.

He liked Dani a lot. He wouldn't have slept with her otherwise. But today he saw a side of her he hadn't expected. A side that impressed the hell out of him. She was more than a pretty face—she had a giving heart. She was smart, sexy and she cared about people. Which made her an amazing woman. Someone he shouldn't let get away.

 

“W
E REALLY SHOULDN'T
be doing this again,” Dani said as she followed Alex into his kitchen. She had the pizza they'd stopped for and he carried a six-pack of beer. “We're going to get caught.”

“We've already been caught.”

“Interesting point.” She wasn't about to challenge the Fates by saying it couldn't get worse. It certainly could and that was a place she didn't want to go. “So long as we don't get caught again.”

He put the beer on the counter. “Are you worried? Would you rather leave?”

“No, I'm good.” She liked spending time with him and the potential for another close encounter in his bed was enough to make her stroll across hot coals. “You survived our shopping expedition. You must be so proud.”

“It was easy duty,” he told her. “I like hanging out with you and Bailey.”

She was sure he meant the words casually, but they still caused her to get all squishy inside. “Your sister is a lot of fun. I hope she loves her shoes.”

“Do you have any doubts?”

Dani smiled, remembering Bailey's excitement. “Probably not. Those guys at the store were really great. I'm going to send a letter to their boss and tell her what they did.”

Something flashed in Alex's eyes.

“What?” she asked. “Are you mad I had them be extra nice to her?”

“Why would I be mad about that?”

“I don't know. What were you thinking? You looked weird.”

“How flattering.”

“You know what I mean.”

He shook his head. “It was something totally different. Something I should let go.”

She set the pizza on the counter and moved toward him. “Want to talk about it?”

He shrugged. “I'm still pissed about Mark getting those charges dropped. I have to deal with him—I just don't know what to say. I'm not willing to leave the campaign. I owe him my loyalty. But what he did was wrong.”

“Even though it helped you?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“In my book.”

She put her hands on his chest. “Maybe doing the wrong thing for the right reason is okay sometimes.”

“Do you really believe that?”

She sighed. “No, but it sounds good.” She stared into his dark blue eyes. “While we're on a vaguely uncomfortable topic, I have a subject of my own.”

He covered her hands with his. “Which is?”

“Your mother. I kind of overheard her talking to someone earlier. They were talking about me, about us. She said all the right things, but she seemed…” Dani hesitated, then decided she wasn't about to tell Alex his mother had been crying. “She was sad,” she said instead. “I'm hurting her, aren't I?”

“She's dealing with a lot. You're one more thing. But you didn't do anything wrong. You were just looking for your father. The rest of this is incidental.”

It felt like more than that to her, Dani thought. “I don't want to make her life harder. I admire everything she does. I don't want to be responsible for anything bad in her life.”

“You're not.”

Dani didn't agree with that. “But if she could have children of her own—birth children—don't you think she would have? Aren't I a reminder of what she couldn't have?”

“No more than any of us.”

Which she didn't believe. “I don't know the answer,” she admitted. “Sometimes I think about just disappearing.”

He tugged her a little closer. “Running away won't fix the problem.”

“I'd be less visible.”

“Is that really what you're going to do?”

“No,” she admitted. “I don't want to leave. I just hate that she's in pain because of me. This whole family thing is complicated.”

“Especially our family.”

She laughed. “We
are
totally twisted. If someone tried to write a movie of the week about us, all the producers would say it was too unrealistic.”

“Some of it is real enough,” he said before bending down and kissing her.

She closed her eyes in anticipation of the gentle yet firm brush of his mouth against hers. The contact was as warm and welcoming as she remembered. She raised her arms so she could wrap them around his neck and pressed her body to his.

He was hard. Hard and confident and deliciously sexy. He was everything she'd ever wanted and exactly what she needed. A strong man with a sense of right and a need to take care of what was his. Did that include her? Because she could sure use a little being taken care of.

He teased her lower lip with his tongue and rational thoughts faded away. She gave herself up to simply feeling the long, slow strokes of his hands as he moved them up and down her back. She surrendered to the wicked marauding of his tongue as he slipped it inside her mouth, moving lazily to kiss him back.