With the Father (12 page)

No matter what he’d done wrong to me, I’d never questioned his devotion
to Isabelle and Trey. As I laid on the bed obsessing over the insurance
policies, I vowed that no matter what I found out about him, I would never
forget that.
 

KATE

I
hung up the phone and sifted through the file marked ‘INSURANCE’. Unbelievably,
it was possibly the only file in the bastard’s office that was actually
organized.

I picked it up and carried it with me to the other
end of the long hall and knocked on the door.
 

“Come in,” Maddox answered.

I stepped into the office and looked around at the
space that couldn’t have been more different from Jonathan’s. Sleek and modern,
Maddox had clearly chosen the furniture himself. Having been to his apartment
on the one occasion, I knew that his tastes ran to the contemporary.

In contrast to Jonathan’s office, nothing was out
of place. There were no piles of paper strewn haphazardly around the office.
Every surface gleamed. The papers directly in front of him were the only
evidence that work was done in the office at all. It was also cold and sterile,
and I involuntarily shivered.

“Cold?” he asked. “I can turn down the air. I tend to keep my office
like an ice box.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “Hey do you have a minute?”

“Of course,” he said with a smile much warmer than
the room.

Honestly, after dinner last night, I didn’t expect Maddox to enlighten
me about Jonathan’s strange behavior. Their relationship had a longer shelf
life than any feelings he had for me. But, just like the night before, I felt
like I needed to try.
I wasn’t getting very far on my own.

I sat down across from him with the file in my
lap. “I’m finishing up in there. Almost everything is boxed up, but I had some
questions about this file. Did Jonathan ever talk to you about insurance?”

“For the company? Briefly. But that really wasn’t
the type of thing that I handled.” He looked down, and I knew he wanted to add
‘before now’ to the end of the sentence. We were all handling things that we
hadn’t handled before.

I looked down at the file and smoothed my hand
across the top of it. “No. Personal.”

Maddox seriously considered the question. “No, I
don’t think so. Why?”

“Well, I found
copies of some insurance policies, and some of it is strange.”

“Like what?” he asked.

I spent several minutes explaining everything I’d learned that morning.
“A few months before he died, he cancelled his policy,” I finished.

“But kept hers?”

“Yeah.” I shook my head. “Doesn’t that seem weird?”

“A little,” he finally said. “Jonathan was always
very savvy financially, though. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to work with
him. His mind just worked that way and everything he touched seemed to turn to
gold, even in college. While I was out getting drunk and laid, he was starting
this company.”

“I know. That’s exactly why this feels so odd to
me.”

Maddox shrugged as if it was no big deal. “He
juggled things around when he thought it made sense. Maybe he was switching to
a different company and just never got around to it.”

I pressed him some more. “Maybe, but you’d think
he’d move everyone if that was his plan.”

His forehead wrinkled. “I’m sure he had a good
reason,” he said, dismissing the conversation for a second time. “How much more
do you have to do in there?”

“I’m almost done, actually. I think I’ll have it
all boxed, filed, or trashed in a day or two. I need to stay home for a while
anyway. They need me more there than you need me here. I have to admit that
it’s been nice to get away though.” I was going to miss coming in to the
office. Sometimes I needed to escape.

He looked disappointed.
“It’s kind of hard for me to argue with that, but can I try?” I shrugged. I
wasn’t sure what kind of argument he could present for keeping me around.
“Well, I was thinking that you could set up an office here. It’s not like we
don’t have the space.”

I laughed at the absurdity of his plan. “For
what?”

“To write.”

“I’m not that kind of writer, Maddox.” He leveled
serious eyes on me, and the crystal blueness reminded me of my former life
– the one that had inspired my ‘stories.’ “I’m a travel writer. Guess
what’s necessary to do that?
 
Traveling. That’s out of the question right now.”

“No,” he said, his voice earnest. “You’re a
writer. Just because you’ve spent your career writing about exotic places like
Malta, Thailand, and Little Corn Island doesn’t mean you can’t write about
something else.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. They were all places
I’d actually gone, making me wonder if Maddox had been checking up on me.

“What? I did my research,” he said, confirming my
suspicions.

I thought about what he was suggesting. I’d been
doing my job for so long that I didn’t know if I had any other writing voice.
“What would I write about?
Life in Small Town, U.S.A.?
Maybe get a job with the
Merriville
Monitor?” The
local newspaper was a joke. The high school English teachers used it for
lessons in how not to write rather than for lessons on how to do so.

“No. I was thinking,” he paused and shifted in his
chair as if he was nervous to say it, “that you’re sitting on a great story
right now.”

“What story is that?”

“Your sister’s, of course.”

“No.” I wasn’t going to write about that.

“Think about it, Kate. It’s got everything.
Lies
, mystery, tragedy. Why not put your own spin on it and
turn it into a bestseller?”

“Because I’m not a fictional writer, Maddox.
 
I don’t know the first thing about
writing a novel.” While that was true, I also wasn’t sure that I could ever
exploit my sister that way.

“You’ve never written fiction? Never written a
short story? Are you honestly telling me that you don’t have a pile of stories
hidden somewhere because you’re too afraid to try and get them published? I
don’t believe that.” He eyed me speculatively.

I could feel my face heating up.
 
I did, in fact, have a pile of stories
hidden. I had a few piles, actually. There was one under my bed in my New York
apartment. There was another in my closet.
 
There was also a pile in a storage box somewhere in my dad’s house.

“I knew it,” he said, pointing at my hot cheeks. A
sly grin appeared on his face, and his eyes gleamed in triumph.

“There’s a reason that all of those stories are
hidden in boxes where no one can read them.”

“Bullshit. I’ve read your articles. Your writing
is funny and gripping and compelling. I can’t tell you how many vacations I’ve
almost booked after reading one.”

He had been reading my articles. The thought
flabbergasted me. He would have had to search them out. It wasn’t like you
could pick up a copy of International Traveler at the mini-mart on the edge of
Merriville
. Most of the people in our town had never even
made it past the mini-mart.

Undeterred by my silence, he continued, “I’m just
saying that you’re a good writer. You’ve pigeon-holed yourself into believing
that you can only write about one thing, but I know better and your sister has
a story is worth telling.”

“I don’t even have her story figured out yet.”

“But you will, and if you don’t, so what? Make up
the rest. It doesn’t have to be a biography. Give her the ending you want for
her, instead of the one she got.”

“I’ll think about it.” I was still skeptical, but
I was already thinking about it. It was possible that Maddox had given me a new
purpose.

“While you’re thinking,” Maddox started, “it’s
Friday? Do you have plans? I thought maybe we could get dinner and catch a
movie.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I just made plans.”

His eyes narrowed. “With whom?”

“I’m going to Fredericksburg with Paul Sullivan.”

“Hanging with the priest again, huh?”

“He’s a nice guy.”

“Seems weird to me. Him wanting to hang with you.”

“Geez, Maddox. Thanks.” I said, standing to leave.

He hopped to his feet. “That’s not what I meant.
I’m sorry, Kate.”

“Really? Because it sounds like you’re saying that
I’m not good enough to spend time with a priest.”

Maddox sighed and rolled his eyes. “That’s not
what I was saying at all. I just spent the last five minutes telling you how
wonderful you are. I just meant, why would he want to spend time with a woman
he can’t have.”

“Not everything is about sex, Maddox. Why do
you
want to spend time with a woman you can’t have?” I asked hotly, turning toward
the door again. I made it almost there when he caught me.

With one hand he slid the door shut in front of
me, shutting us in his office. His other arm curled around my waist, pulling me
in close. My heart beat erratically in my chest, maybe because it was Maddox
or
maybe because he’d surprised me.

He shook his head slowly and peered at me through
hooded eyes. His breath was warm on my cheek. “That’s where you’re wrong, Kate.
I
can
have you.”

He towered over me, taller by a head or more. My
pulse raced. I wanted to argue with him, but I wasn’t sure I could. “I
will
have
you.” It was a declaration with no room for negotiation.

My resolve crumbled. I wanted to feel something.
For
him
.
I wanted him to help me forget the man who’d
been lingering uninvited in my thoughts. Because, in my heart, I knew that
Maddox was right. Paul shouldn’t be hanging out with me. He wasn’t the one for
me, and he never would be. He loved Grace first, and she was a tough act to
follow. I needed to get my head out of the clouds.

In an effort to ground myself, I looked into
Maddox’ Caribbean blue eyes and wished to be swept away.
Away
from my silly crush on Paul.
Away from the grief that
had been pulling me down.
Away from the responsibilities
that had been thrown on me.
I wanted him to make me forget the carefree
life I’d left behind because, though I loved taking care of her, parts of me
still wanted to be able to do something rash and reckless.

His lips hit mine without any of the hesitance I
was feeling and momentarily stole my breath. The comfort I’d been expecting was
absent. Instead, pure desire, unanticipated and welcome, bloomed and spiraled
through me.

I stepped toward him, pushing him against the
closed door, and his deep laugh reverberated around us. I heard the click of
the lock, and then I was lifted off the ground. He strode across the room with
me in his arms as if I weighed no more than a feather
and
 
tossed
me playfully on the cool
surface of the sleek black leather couch. Goosebumps sprang up along my bare
arms and legs again, but the chill was short-lived. Lust-filled eyes looked
down at me, and I watched him work off his tie. The heat between us warmed me
from the inside out.

He sat down next to me with more reservation than
I was expecting after his previous demands and continued working over my mouth.
He nipped at my upper lip, and our kiss deepened. I opened for him so our
tongues could do their familiar dance. It didn’t feel like five years had
passed. His mouth was as delicious as I remembered. For a moment, I couldn’t
recall why I’d refused to try a long-distance relationship with him all those
years ago.

“You think you don’t want this, Kate. You’re
afraid to settle down in this town. You’re afraid that being with me will kill
the adventurer in you. But you’re wrong. I am an adventure.”

Wanting to believe it, I began unbuttoning his
shirt, starting near the top where he’d left off after tossing his tie. My
intentions were understood and reflected in his eyes. I pushed the shirt off
his shoulders to expose his broad, lightly defined chest with its light dusting
of hair. I ran my hands over it, remembering the reasons why I still had a soft
spot for Texas boys who didn’t feel the need to trim and buff themselves into
some sort of man-sized version of a woman.

There was nothing feminine about Maddox. I could
practically taste the testosterone rolling off of him. Without pause, he
continued his assault on my mouth, while his hand pulled the edge of my skirt over
my hips. He pushed my panties to the side and a finger expertly worked me over.
The pad of his thumb rubbed mercilessly against me, causing my hips to buck and
my fingers to dig into his back. “I want inside of you, Kate. I have to be
inside you,” he mumbled as his lips trailed down my neck toward the scooped
neckline of my shirt.

In complete and utter agreement, I reached for his
belt buckle. Pulling away, he stood next to the couch and piece-by-piece
removed his clothing, never taking his gaze off of me. I pulled my shirt over
my head and started to kick off my heels.

“Leave them on,” he growled, stopping me. I’d
forgotten how demanding Maddox was. He strode to his desk and opened a drawer.
In seconds, he was back at my side, locked and loaded, wrapped and ready.
 
He crawled over me, nestling against my
opening. He didn’t push inside. Instead, he teased me, smiling devilishly as he
did.

I pulled a leg up and wrapped a stiletto-heeled
foot over his shoulder. “Good God, woman. How do you even bend like that?”

“Yoga,” I muttered into his chest.

He threw his head back and groaned. “I’ve wanted
to do this since you came back. In my mind, I’ve had you spread across that
desk over there.
 
I’ve had you bent
over the table in the break room. I can’t stop thinking about you. I’m going to
have you in every corner of this office, in every corner of my house.”

His words caused a shift within me, but I bucked
my hips to push myself against him in spite of it. I ignored the nagging voice
in my head, telling me this was wrong. “Then do it, Maddox. Claim me.” With
another growl, he pushed into me until he could go no further, and I was filled
to the hilt with Maddox Grayson.