Tempting Mr. Wrong (Wrong Man) (9 page)

“You’re not sad?”

She shook her head and offered a bright smile. Then she kissed the tip of Mya’s nose. “I am never sad when I’m with you.”

Mya grinned and Carly could see the anxiety draining out of her.

“Did you know that this cake is my favorite? Is that why you made it for me?” Without looking, she could feel Lance’s gaze on her.

“Nope. We made it because of the picture.”

“What picture?” Carly asked.

Lance piped up. “Mya found a picture of Chris and Gretchen with a sprinkle cake.”

Ah, it all came together. She tickled Mya. “Your daddy made this cake for me all the time. He even taught me how to make it. It’s a very, very special cake.”

Lance relaxed and dropped into a chair, understanding crossing his face.

“But you know what?” she asked Mya. “This cake looks even better than your daddy’s.”

“It does?” Delight poured out of her.

Nodding, Carly gave Mya another kiss. “I say we cut into this bad boy.”

“Yay!” Happy again, Mya climbed down off Carly’s lap and giggled. Then she ran to Lance. “See,” she whispered in a rather loud, non-whispery voice. “I told you she would love it.”

“You did.” He ruffled her hair. “Now I say we start the party and hear about Aunt Carly’s day.”

…

The impromptu party for Carly turned out to be a little more eventful than he’d planned. When Carly burst into tears at the cake, Lance had frozen, and then Mya had started crying. None of his extensive military training covered tears. Weapon dismantling? Sure. Pure and justified emotion? Not so much.

The drama hadn’t ended there, though. While they enjoyed the dessert, Mya had a little mishap and Princess Magnolia bore the brunt of it, ending up covered in sprinkle cake and milk. Carly and Lance had to jump into trauma mode and rush the doll into the hospital, aka the laundry room, where they’d had her fixed up in no time.

Finally, they got to finish their cake while Carly told them all about the new job until Mya decided to color a picture for her healing doll. Jumping up, she ran into the other room to start on that project. Lance looked from Carly to Mya and back again. The two redheads were running him ragged.

Carly leaned across the table and met his eyes. “Lance, would you help me with something real quick?” He nodded slowly. To Mya, she called, “We’ll be right in the other room, sweetie.”

But Mya was already preoccupied with her drawing. She was biting one lip as she concentrated. Carly led him into the back hallway, close enough that she would be able to hear Mya, but far enough that they had a bit of privacy. Almost immediately, he started apologizing. “Oh God, Carly, I’m so sorry. I had no idea about that cake.”

“I know,” she said and waved a hand in the air flippantly.

“Are you okay? Really?” he added quickly when he saw Carly prepare to brush off the question.

She appeared thoughtful, looking at a spot right over his shoulder. Then she inhaled a long, deep breath and let it out slowly. “It’s not a surprise. I miss my brother. I was thinking about him earlier today, which is probably why I lost it.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry again.”

She offered a smile and that one simple movement had a complicated effect on him. Seeing her face light up had his insides feeling…hell, he didn’t know. Gooey? Twisted up? Definitely not the norm, which for Lance was all about staying grounded and in control.

“Lance, stop apologizing. How could you know? How could anyone but Chris and me? It’s okay. I had no idea I would react like that, either. I certainly didn’t mean to. Do you think Mya’s okay?”

“She’s fine, Carly. I think she bought the happy tears cover-up.” He ran a hand over his face. “We were so excited and wanted to do something nice. It was Mya’s idea to—”

And then her lips were on his, and those earlier feelings started rattling around again. She started to pull back. Maybe she’d meant the kiss to be quick and light, a thank-you for today, but he couldn’t let it go because her lips tasted so damn good, he had to have more.

He drew her back to him and pressed his lips to hers, reveling in the taste of sweet frosting mixed with her own unique flavor. Brushing his mouth over hers, once, twice, she parted her lips, and he went in for more, meeting her tongue and taking the kiss even deeper.

When they pulled apart, they were both breathing hard. Lance began to say something, but she put a finger to his lips.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“For what?” He was shocked to hear his breathing sounded so labored.

“For giving me the afternoon off. For making that cake. For helping with Mya when I botched everything. It’s a lot easier with you here.” She blushed. “A couple days ago, I would have never thought I’d say that.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “Yeah, you didn’t seem too thrilled to see me.”

“No, I was…okay.” She laughed. “I wasn’t. To be honest, I was still thinking about my brother’s wedding. I’d never understood why you’d left me so abruptly back then.”

Warning bells sounded in the back of his mind at the mention of her brother. His best friend. It felt like a broken record was playing on repeat in his brain. And that record was titled
Off-Limits, Off-Limits, Off-Limits
.

Carly must have picked up on his thoughts. She took a small step back. “I know, you don’t want to kiss me. You don’t see me that way.”

He took her in from her swollen lips to the sexy business suit she still wore, to all of that amazing hair. Her eyes were practically twinkling, lighting up her fair, flawless skin. Did she have any idea how gorgeous she was? How appealing she was?

He shook his head. “That’s the problem, Carly,” he began, his voice coming out in gruff spurts. “I do see you like that. I’ve been fighting it since I got here.” He ran a hand through his short hair. “Hell, probably since Chris and Gretchen said
I do
.”

Her mouth fell open.

“I tell myself over and over that it’s wrong to think about you the way I do.”

A small smile played over her lips. “How do you think about me?”

He swallowed hard. “In a way that would definitely make your brother sucker-punch me in the face. Multiple times.”

She stepped toward him again. But he held a hand up. “Carly, Chris didn’t just ask me to check on the house and Mya in that letter. He also asked me to watch out for you.”

“He did? Why?”

“Apparently he didn’t like the guys you were dating. Called them losers.”

Her breath came out on a laugh. “You’re not a loser.”

“No, I’m not. But your brother—”

“Was overprotective. I loved him for it. But this is my life. And even if Chris were here, it wouldn’t be up to him. It’s my decision.” She bit her lip and took a moment to collect herself. “Listen, Lance, I can’t just turn off the feelings I have for you. And I do have feelings for you.”

He nodded. “I may know what you mean.”

“You may, huh?”

He’d been fighting this, fighting her, fighting these feelings every second of every day he’d been around her. Quite frankly, he was exhausted.

“I understand it might be weird for you, Lance.”

“I don’t even know how long I’m going to be in town, but we both know it’s not forever.”

She frowned. “I understand that, too. But the thing is, you’re here now. And I can’t keep ignoring this.” She gestured back and forth between them. “Whatever this is.”

Lance glanced into her deep green eyes, so full of passion and honesty. He could get lost in there. And then it was like a dam broke and suddenly he was powerless to hold anything back.

“I don’t think I can fight it anymore, either.”

With that he grabbed her shoulders and spun them around, pinning her to the wall. Her mouth assaulted his, and he was helpless to do anything but match her level of passion.

Carly reached for his hand and moved it to the edge of her top. Then she dragged it up higher so his fingers danced along her smooth, enticing skin until he felt the bottom of her bra, giving him a hint of lace and a full cup.

This woman was going to kill him. She was going to have her way with him and leave him for dead. Time to get some control back, because if this kept up, he would have her right here, right now, in the hallway while Mya colored in the next room.

She moaned against his lips, and his traitorous hands bunched into her hair and pulled her even closer. Lance rubbed the erection that was straining against his jeans against her even as his tongue plunged into her mouth. With one hand, he curled his fingers into her hair, anchoring her head just where he wanted it. The other hand moved down to cup her breast, feel the weight of it.

Oh yes, sex between them would be amazing. He was finding it harder and harder to remember his stance, to remember that she was Chris’s little sister, to recall that he was here to help out. And most importantly, to keep in mind that he had his own bucket list and wouldn’t be sticking around.

And yet…he’d do whatever it took to taste her. Whatever it took to have her. While his hips took on their own rhythm, his tongue pushed in and out. A crash came from the living room, and they jumped apart. Lance was happy to see that he wasn’t the only one panting.

“Aunt Carly,” Mya called. “I need help with my crayons.”

She put a hand to her chest, close to where his hand had been moments before. “Be right there, peanut.” Her voice was beyond breathy. He felt a swell of pride at the fact that he’d taken her breath away.

She began to walk away but stopped suddenly, turning back to face him. “Are we good here?”

He knew what she was asking. Understood the implication of her question. “We’re good.”

She smiled and continued into the other room.

It took him another couple minutes to calm his rapidly beating heart. The other night he’d been trying to comfort Carly and ended up kissing her. He’d felt regret at that.

The problem tonight was that he’d once again kissed Carly. Only, regret was the last thing on his mind.

Chapter Eight

Home repairs were hard work.

At least, Carly would imagine they were if she ever did any. They seemed pretty exhausting from the sidelines, though, which was as far as Lance would let her get.

He’d spent the last couple of days engrossed in having the back fence rebuilt, installing motion detector lights around the house, and doing a number of other fixes that he deemed both necessary and vital to her and Mya’s safety.

She had a feeling that he’d thrown himself into the repairs so heartily as a means of avoidance. He didn’t want to talk about their make-out session the night she’d been offered her new job. Apparently, he also didn’t want to talk about the times it had happened again since.

Fine with her. She didn’t need to discuss every kiss and touch and caress. Why overanalyze the fact that he was an amazing kisser and each time he took her in his arms she wanted to stay that way all night.

But she never got to stay there all night. They were doing a delicate dance around a spontaneous four-year-old whose needs superseded their own. Besides, who could deny Mya another glass of water before bed, or a second viewing of
Frozen
, or a must-have tea party with her dolls?

That’s why Carly had been trying to take an interest in his work around the house. Unfortunately, when Lance was in work mode, he was not easily distracted. No matter how many cute tank tops or form-fitting jeans she wore. All she got for her efforts were grunts and short sentences.

“This alarm system is going to be epic.”

“Double-paned windows increase the value of a house.”

“Hold my hammer, Carly.”

Yeah, she’d like to hold his hammer
, she thought with a coy smile. But her smile didn’t stay long. As it faded, she took in the job she was attempting to do and realized she had no idea how or where to start.

Lance had bought new French doors for the patio. He said these particular doors were sturdy and secure, and the locks were much better. So she thought she would take an interest in his “hobby” and try to install it for him while he was out with Mya. Only, she had no idea how to do that.

She didn’t start her new job for another two weeks, so she’d been spending her days helping Lance with the various home improvement projects while Mya was in school. And by “helping” she meant that she pretended to study whatever the hell he was fixing when she was really staring at his butt. Who could blame her? The man had a quality behind. Sadly, his ass wasn’t going to help her figure out how to get this door on its hinges.

She sighed and studied the door again.

“I hate you, door,” she said defiantly.

“Hey, what did that door ever do to you?”

Carly dropped her screwdriver at the sound of a strange voice in her backyard. Whirling around, she saw a large man standing near the fence that separated the backyard from the side of the house.
He must be really tall to peer so easily over the brand-new fence
, Carly thought.

“Sorry,” he called out. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Squinting, she took in the top portion of this man. Dark hair, dark beard covering his chin and neck, dark eyes, with even darker circles under them. Still, there was something familiar…

Then it dawned on her. “Adam, ohmigod, I barely recognized you.” She walked toward the gate to unlock it for her sister-in-law’s brother.

“No worries,” he said. “I should have called. I knocked.” He gestured toward the front of the house. “I saw a car out in the driveway so I figured I would try back here. Is this fence new?”

“Yeah. There was a rickety one here before and we just installed this new one.”

She’d met Adam a handful of times. The first time had been when her brother first started getting serious with Gretchen. Then they’d danced together at the wedding, and finally, she’d seen him one last time when Mya had been born.

Adam was elusive, even before he’d been deployed. Unlike Lance and Chris, Adam was a Marine, a Marine who was involved in some kind of special ops because he didn’t follow the normal pattern of deployment. Carly didn’t know much, but she knew he’d seen a lot. Gretchen had constantly worried about him. When Chris and Gretch had died, Adam hadn’t even been able to come back for the funeral. She’d been so angry at that. At least, until she found out he’d been stuck in some hospital in Germany.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as she held open the door to the fence and let him inside the backyard.

“I just got back to the States. I came as soon as I could. I…” He ran a hand through his too-long hair before scrubbing it over his beard. “I don’t even know what to say, Carly. Gretchen… I mean, I can’t believe… How are you? My God, how is Mya?”

He folded her into a long, strong hug.

“Adam,” she began when she pulled back. But Carly didn’t know what to say, either. She turned, trying to collect herself.

In spite of everything else, she thought about Mya. Obviously, she wouldn’t remember her uncle. She’d only been a couple months old the last time Adam had visited. “Mya’s fine. She’s great, actually.”

Adam’s face relaxed an inch. “Good. That’s really good.”

Appearing to mull over that news, Adam paced to the fence and then back to her. That’s when she noticed his limp. Not just an ordinary small hobble, either. A very pronounced limp. He completely favored his right side.

She’d assumed something really bad had happened to Adam for him to be in a military hospital, but she’d been so preoccupied with Mya and planning the funeral that she’d never actually found out what. Judging by the way he was half-walking, half-limping, it hadn’t been some small injury.

“Adam.”

Tired, wary eyes met hers. Not only were there shadows under those eyes, but also deep lines surrounded them. “Medically discharged from the military.”

“What…what happened?”

He shrugged and his gaze didn’t meet hers. Instead, it fixated on a point right over her shoulder. “There was an incident during an operation. My leg and torso are…”

“Scarred?”

He offered a small smile. A smile that didn’t reach his eyes. A smile that did nothing to lighten up the dark shadows hanging over his face, over his body.

“Let’s just say I won’t be winning any swimsuit competitions anytime soon.”

Despite the joke, his words were weighed down with emotion. So it had been really bad. She opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say. Gretchen had told her that Adam had wanted to be a Marine from the time he was a young boy. It was his lifelong dream. He proudly served his country, and now he’d been injured and could no longer perform his duty. How devastating.

“Well, that’s too bad,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to see you in a teeny-tiny bikini.” She gestured toward one of the lawn chairs and she couldn’t miss the way he gingerly lowered himself down. Relief washed over his face as he stretched out his left leg.

“I’m sorry, Adam.”

He held up a hand. “Don’t. I mean, thanks, but I don’t really want to talk about it. Besides, I’m here for you and Mya. I’m so sorry I couldn’t be here sooner, Carly.”

He was sorry for her?

“Tell me, what do you need? What can I do?” he asked, and she could tell he meant it.

“Just being here is amazing. Really,” she said at his pointed stare. “It’s been tough, but we’re doing okay.”

“Where’s Mya?” he asked, looking around. “I’m dying to see my niece. It’s been way too long.”

“She’ll love meeting you, trust me. She’s not home at the moment.”

“Poor kid. Jesus.” He looked back toward the house. “And you’ve been left with all of this by yourself.” Again, he ran a hand through his hair. “Last time I talked to Gretch, she told me Chris was planning some renovations.”

“He did a ton to the inside of the house. It’s like night and day from the last time you were here and they just bought the place.”

He glanced back at the fence. “That looks brand-spanking new. Don’t tell me you did that. I never would have taken you for the Bob Vila type.”

“That’s because you are astute. I don’t know a Phillips head from a, well, from some other tool.”

Adam chuckled but he was also rubbing his leg as he glanced around the backyard. “So who helped you with this?”

“Lance Townsend is staying here for a couple weeks and working on the house. You know, making sure everything is safe and secure. He was one of Chris’s army friends.” Obviously she wasn’t going to mention that Lance had become more than just Chris’s friend.

“Lance, sure. Chris used to talk about him a lot. There was another guy they hung around with, right? Jack? Jason?”

“John,” she said. “He lives up in Virginia now. Just got married.”

Adam’s gaze swept over the back of the house and he gave a satisfied nod. “I remember when they bought this place. I love old houses like this. Mind if I take a look? I’d love to see all the changes.”

“Sure.” She smiled and led him into the house.

An hour later they’d gone through every room. Adam seemed to know about renovations as well, and surprisingly, he agreed with most of Lance’s assessments. Ending in the kitchen, Carly was fixing them some sweet tea as she filled him in on Mya.

“So half-day nursery school this year, ballet classes, playgroups,” Adam recounted.

Carly slid a cold glass in front of him. “That about sums it up. Oh, she wants to start tap lessons, too. I figured we’d wait a little for that. She’s good at coloring and drawing, too. I wonder if I should enroll her in some kind of art class.” She began to chew on a fingernail. “Or maybe I should get her involved with youth soccer or something. Then again, I don’t want her schedule to be too packed.”

Adam placed a hand over hers. “Carly, breathe. You’re doing an amazing job.”

Relieved, she met his eyes. “Thanks.”

“I think Chris and Gretch would be really proud.” His voice hitched when he said Gretchen’s name.

Looking over her shoulder, his eyes narrowed. Carly turned to realize that he saw one of Chris and Gretchen’s wedding photos framed on a shelf behind her. Understanding dawned, and it was her turn to cover his hand. But Adam’s shoulders buckled, and he dropped his head to his hands.

“I can’t believe she’s gone. Dammit, she’s gone.”

“I know, I know.” And she did. Carly held the tears back. Barely.

“I’m sitting here waiting for her to waltz into the room. You know how she always did that?” He looked to Carly. “Like every room was her ballroom and in she would glide. Then she’d ask something completely ordinary, like who wants cookies?” He blew out a long, deep breath. “I was a full-fledged Marine who had traveled the world, and she was still asking me if I wanted a cookie.”

Carly chuckled at that. It sounded like Gretchen. It was probably one of the reasons she’d decided to take Gretchen and Chris up on their offer to live here while she went through grad school. Gretchen spoiled her with home-cooked meals and freshly laundered clothes. Who would have guessed that two years later she’d be the one in charge?

Adam slammed his fist onto the counter, rattling their glasses and startling Carly. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize. Certainly not to me.” After all, she understood what he was going through better than anyone.

Adam got up, and Carly noticed the effort he had to put into the movement. Then he walked slowly to the fridge and studied a picture of Mya in her ballet tutu. He tapped a finger against it. “And now there’s just this little girl. They’re gone, and all we have is Mya.”

Again, Carly understood completely. They both had very limited extended family that lived elsewhere. They had both been incredibly close to their siblings. Mya really was all the two of them had left.

“So I noticed you were yelling at a door out there?” Adam pointed toward the backyard, interrupting her thoughts. “Need help installing it? Since I’m here, I’d love to help in some way.”

“Actually that would be great.” Lance said he would do that when he returned home from his errands. But she was sure he’d love some help. Who wouldn’t?

Smiling, she led Adam out to the back. He had surprised her with a sprinkle cake the other day. This time she would surprise him with a little renovation help. “Looks good.”

Carly stood back a few feet with Adam and studied their work. The doors were installed and functional again. She had to admit it definitely seemed sturdier than the last one.

Lance would be so excited when he came home. She eyed the clock in the hallway. He should be back any minute.

“Got any more of that sweet tea?” Adam asked.

“Absolutely. Come on.” They walked back into the kitchen and she poured two large glasses. As she took her first sip, she saw that Adam quickly slipped a pill in his mouth.

At her look, he explained, “For the pain. Doctor prescribed. Don’t worry.”

“How much pain are you in?”

He shrugged. “A bit. It gets easier each day. They said my limp would get better as well. Hopefully with some time it will be almost undetectable.”

She nodded and wanted to say more, but she didn’t know what. Instead, she did the only thing she could think of. She walked to Adam and engulfed him in a hug. It only took him a couple of moments to relax and wrap his arms around her, too.

“Thank you,” he whispered so softly she barely heard him.

She also didn’t hear Lance, who had apparently come in during their hug. He cleared his throat and she and Adam looked up.

“Am I interrupting something?” Lance asked, his voice laced with caution. His gaze darted between the two of them.

The usual butterflies at seeing him began their happy dance in her stomach. “Lance,” she said on a breathy note.

Adam studied him. “Ah, Lance,” he said.

Lance folded his arms across his chest. “We’ve established that I’m Lance. And you are?”

“OMG, sorry. This is Adam Stone, Gretchen’s brother.” She noticed Lance relaxed his stance. “Adam, this is Lance Townsend, Chris’s best friend, Mya’s godfather, and the guy who’s been making all of these upgrades and renovations.”

The two men shook hands, even as they assessed each other.