Natural Born Trouble (15 page)

Duke regarded her with amusement. “Darlin', lighten up. This isn't about walking hand in hand to the gallows.”

“Yeah, go tell that to someone who'll buy it,” she muttered under her breath even as she led the way inside.

She flipped on every single light in the house as she passed through on her way to the kitchen. Forget
cozy and romantic. She wanted illumination. She wanted it so bright, he would never mistake the ambience for an invitation. In fact, it wouldn't be bad if the lighting brought to mind a police interrogation room. Not that she'd ever been in one personally, but maybe Duke had.

She put the coffee on to brew, found a couple of old mugs so he would understand that this wasn't a special occasion, poured some fresh sugar in the sugar bowl even though it was already half-f and put milk into a cream pitcher, despite the fact that they both drank their coffee black. When there was absolutely nothing else left to do, she finally sat down opposite him.

“Finished?” he inquired, not bothering to hide a smile.

She scowled, annoyed by his amusement. “Yes.”

“Are you sure you don't want to dash off and check the mail or dust the living room?”

“Duke, will you just spit out whatever's on your mind and go? I have a splitting headache, and I have an early day tomorrow.”

He was on his feet in a flash and moving behind her. She twisted to see what he was up to, but he rested his hands on her shoulders until she sighed and faced forward again.

“Duke! What do you think you're doing?”

“You said you have a headache,” he explained patiently as he began to massage her temples.

Dani would have protested, but it felt too good. She could feel the tension beginning to ease even before his fingers began kneading the hard knots in her shoulders.

“No wonder your head's pounding,” he observed. “You're tense.”

“Well, of course, I'm tense. You've been dropping little hints all evening that you have something important to discuss. My imagination is running wild.”

“Really? I'm fascinated. Just what sort of images have you managed to conjure up?”

“Never mind.”

He chuckled. “Whoops, here come those knots again. They'd probably go away if you'd tell me what you've been thinking.”

“They would go away if you would just say what's on your mind and get out of here,” she countered.

“Tsk, tsk, that's not a very auspicious beginning,” he taunted. “Maybe I'd better get into this another time, when you're not so cranky.”

“Get into what, dammit? And I am not cranky.”

He chuckled. “Yes, indeed, another time would be best. It'll keep.”

Before she knew what he intended, he leaned down, brushed a brotherly peck across her cheek and headed for the door.

“Duke!”

“Night, darlin'. It's been fun.”

“Duke Jenkins, if you walk out that door without explaining yourself, don't come back.”

The threat was wasted. He was already halfway to the car by the time she finished. Since he gave her a jaunty wave as he pulled out of the driveway, she could only assume he wasn't feeling the least bit threatened.

“Well, damn,” she muttered, staring after him.

* * *

As he drove home, Duke whistled cheerfully and congratulated himself on an evening well spent. He'd proved to himself once again that Dani wasn't nearly as immune to him as she wanted to be.

He could guess precisely which path her imagination had led her down. In fact, he had deliberately chosen his words just to point her in the right direction. Yes and no were answers to a whole lot of questions, most of them innocuous enough. But spoken with a little hint of seductiveness, they clearly hinted at very provocative queries to come.

After planting that particular seed in her mind, he'd been somewhat surprised that she'd allowed him in the house at all, given her avowed aversion to any kind of future with another single dad.

He had also been careful the past few weeks to stay away from White Pines or any other place where she was likely to be. Since any invitation always included Joshua and Zachary, he'd turned them all down. He'd wanted Dani wondering what he was up to, not remembering that he had two sons underfoot.

In the long run, he figured his strategy would pay off. In the short run, he was very close to losing his mind. How had he missed the fact that rearing two boys could be so incredibly challenging? Maybe not as challenging as exploring for oil, but a darned close second.

Maybe it was because they were twins, but Josh and Zack seemed to think as a single unit, conspiring to get into the most amazing amount of mischief just when he thought he had everything under control. Thankfully, they hadn't scared off Paolina, but he knew with every fiber of his being that the
housekeeper was no substitute for a real mom. He intended to give them one or die trying.

It would have been a heck of a lot simpler, of course, if he'd picked one who was a little more amenable to the idea. Then again, courting Dani Adams was just about fascinating enough to take his mind off the tedium of all that paperwork her daddy piled on his desk.

A
fter a restless night Dani stepped outside at midmorning on Saturday to get the paper and discovered two little boys sitting on the front steps. She stared at Josh and Zack, then automatically looked around for some sign of their father.

“Dad's not with us,” Josh said as if he, like his father, was capable of reading her mind.

“So I see. How did you get here?”

“Paolina brought us,” Zack said.

Dani fought the panicky feeling that had been automatic from the moment she met these two wonderful, emotionally scary kids. “She just left you on my doorstep?”

“We came to buy cat food,” Zack said. “Paolina said she'd get it at the grocery store, but the cats like the kind you have better.”

Dani nodded as if the explanation made perfect sense, which it obviously did to them. “Well, then, I guess you'd better come in and choose the flavors you want.”

“Anything but liver,” Josh told her. “That smells yucky.”

“Not to a cat,” Dani pointed out.

Both boys looked startled.

“I guess you're right,” Josh said. “And it's their dinner.”

Dani grinned at him. “Exactly.” She led the way into her pet supply room and pointed to the rows of gourmet cat food in cans and bags. “Can you two pick what you want on your own?” she inquired hopefully.

Zack gave her a shy look and, to her astonishment, slipped his hand into hers. “No, we want you to help. Okay?”

The warmth of that little hand tucked trustingly into her own brought on a flood of bittersweet memories. Every bit of instinct for self-preservation protested that she should make up a plausible excuse, walk away and leave the two boys to their shopping. One look into two pairs of hopeful eyes told her she couldn't do it.

“I'll help,” she said grimly.

The process of choosing took far longer than it should have. They claimed they wanted to learn about every single ingredient in every single brand she carried. She distrusted their enthusiasm, but their sweet little expressions were so innocent she chided herself for being overly suspicious.

When they had filled a shopping bag with their selections and had added toys for each cat, they stood back and admired their purchases.

“I think you two have made excellent choices,” she told them. “You've picked a good variety of very healthy cat food. Did you want me to send the bill to your dad?”

The two exchanged guilty looks.

“That's okay,” Josh said. “We'll pay for it. I mean, not right this second, but soon.”

Dani's suspicions stirred again. “Is this coming out of your allowances?”

“Heck, no,” Zack said. “Dad's coming to get us when he gets finished at the office. He'll pay you.”

Dani stared at them in astonishment. “Your father is coming here?”

Two heads bobbed.

“When?”

“After he gets done at work.”

“Did he happen to mention when that would be?”

“Before lunchtime, I guess. He said we could all go out to eat together.”

Why that sneaky, low-down, devious snake. Obviously, Duke had plotted to leave the boys with her for an entire morning. How could he? What if she'd been called away on an emergency? What if she'd simply been too busy to look after them? She regarded the two boys, who were waiting quietly for her response, and sighed. There was no emergency, and she wasn't too busy.

“Why don't we take the shopping bag into the kitchen, and I'll make us all some hot chocolate.”

“All right!” Josh said.

“And cookies?” Zack asked, only to be shushed by his brother with a warning that he wasn't being polite.

“You're s'pposed to wait till you're invited,” Josh said.

“That's okay,” Dani told them. “Actually, I was just thinking about baking some cookies.”

“Really?” Zack asked. “Chocolate chip?”

“Zack!” Josh protested.

Dani chuckled. “It's okay. Chocolate chip are my favorite, too. I always keep a package of the slice-and-bake kind in the refrigerator.”

“We know how to do those kind,” Zack said proudly. “Paolina lets us.”

“Good, then you can help me,” Dani said, taking the package out and searching for a cookie sheet and a knife that would do the job without being too dangerous for clumsy little hands.

The morning passed in a blur of hot chocolate, cookies, laughter and talk of dinosaurs and spaceships. She hadn't had so much fun since…

No, she told herself sternly. She wasn't going to go there. Not today. Today she was simply going to enjoy the fact that two little boys with incredible imaginations and their daddy's charm were sharing their lives with her.

Later she would try very hard not to let her heart break.

* * *

Duke surveyed the scene in Dani's kitchen and smiled. His little plot was working out very nicely. Left to their own devices, he'd known that Josh and Zack could climb over any wall Dani tried to erect between them.

He'd given Paolina very explicit instructions to make sure that everything went off without a hitch. She was to leave the boys at Dani's, then drive by twice over the next half hour to make sure they were inside. She had called him at the office to report that everything was
muy bueno,
very good.

Now that he had Dani guessing about his intentions, Duke had concluded that it was time to switch tactics once again. He intended to pester her
like ants at a picnic. She'd been so sure she was in charge, that he'd accepted her terms for their relationship. He wanted to make certain she realized now that she'd been mistaken.

Today's unscheduled visit from Josh and Zack was just the start.

“Having fun?” he inquired as he knocked on the screen door and entered the kitchen.

Dani had a streak of chocolate on her cheek, marshmallow on her lips and fire flashing in her eyes. Her laughter faded at the sight of him.

“You and I need to talk,” she said quietly. “Boys, can you put the rest of the cookies in the cookie jar for me?”

“Sure,” they said at once, far more eagerly than they'd ever responded to one of Duke's directives.

As soon as she saw that they were doing as she'd asked, she walked into the living room. Duke followed, preparing himself for the barrage of questions he knew was coming.

“What on earth were you thinking?” she demanded the instant they were out of earshot of the boys.

“Excuse me?”

“I am not your baby-sitter.”

“Of course not.”

“I could have been out on a call.”

“That was a possibility,” Duke agreed. “Paolina was supposed to check to make sure you were here.”

“I never spoke to Paolina. I found your sons sitting on my doorstep, looking for all the world as if they'd been abandoned there.”

“Naturally, you took them in.”

“Well, of course I did. What was I supposed to do?”

“You could have called me to come and get them,” he said mildly.

Dani stared at him silently, then some of the fight seemed to drain out of her. “Yes, you're right. I suppose I could have done that.”

“Any idea why you didn't? I mean especially if having them here was a bother.”

“It wasn't a bother, not like you mean.”

He nodded at that. “Good. I'm glad.”

“They're terrific boys. You know that.”

“I think so.” He shrugged. “Well, if that's all, I guess we'll be on our way. I promised to take them to lunch.”

She actually grinned sheepishly at that. “I doubt they're all that hungry. We've eaten a lot of cookies. It probably spoiled their appetite.”

“I don't suppose missing lunch will kill them.” He paused and deliberately brushed a brotherly kiss across her cheek. “Thanks, again. How much do I owe you for the cat food?”

She stared at him, clearly flustered. Finally, she distractedly named an amount and accepted the cash. When he walked out the door, the boys in tow, she still looked as if she wasn't quite certain what had happened. Duke grinned all the way home.

Over the next few weeks he could see that the new approach was working better and better. Dani brightened perceptibly at the sight of him, then turned right around and pretended she couldn't stand to be near him. He knew it was pretense, because he made a point of using any legitimate excuse at all to touch her.

A quick kiss of a greeting, a seemingly inadvertent brushing of their knees when they were cleverly and
deliberately seated next to each other at the Adams gatherings he'd started attending again, a lightning-fast caress of her cheek as he said good-night. She trembled visibly at each fleeting contact. Color bloomed in her cheeks. Exasperation and yearning warred in her eyes.