Natural Born Trouble (5 page)

“Who?” she inquired.

He returned her gaze with a sharp look. “Don't play that game with me, gal. You know perfectly well who I mean. Saw you looking at them just a minute ago.”

“I was just curious about what they were doing here,” she insisted. “Usually it's just family here for the Fourth of July picnic.”

“Can't tell around here anymore who's family and who's not,” Grandpa Harlan grumbled. “Besides, your daddy's right fond of the boy. Thought I ought to take a look for myself. I have a lot of respect for a man who's all alone and trying to do right by his kids.”

So did Dani. She just didn't want to be any part of the equation. As if he'd read her mind again, her grandfather squeezed her hand, then took off as if someone had lit a fire under him. When she caught
sight of Duke heading her way, a can of her favorite soft drink in hand, she understood why.

He offered her the chilled can without explaining how he'd known it was the drink she preferred, then took a sip of his own beer. “I counted four cats in the barn when I was out there. How many more have you hidden around the place?” he inquired.

“Oh, I lost count ages ago,” she said, even though she knew precisely. “How are the three I left with you?”

“Still alive, which is something to be grateful for, if you ask me.”

“I knew the boys would take good care of them.”

“The boys? Are you kidding? All three of those blasted kittens have taken up residence in my study. When they're hungry, they chase after me. I can't move from one place to another without tripping over one of them.”

There was too much affection laced in with the grumbling for Dani to take his complaints too seriously. “Won your heart, did they?”

Duke scowled. “Even if they had, do you think I'd dare tell you?”

There was a teasing glint in his eyes that Dani found just a little too attractive. She opted for a quick change of subject. “I saw you talking to Jenny when I got here,” she began.

“Keeping an eye on me, were you?”

“In your dreams, Mr. Jenkins.”

“It's Duke, darlin'. Once you've given a man kittens, you need to be on a first-name basis.”

“Okay,
Duke,
” she said with deliberate emphasis. “Isn't Jenny remarkable? Most men fall all over themselves when they meet her.”

“Really?” He sounded genuinely surprised. “Guess I'm not most men. I prefer prim little blondes myself.”

Dani felt her cheeks burning. “Even when they're unavailable?” she said tightly.

“Especially when they claim they're unavailable,” he said. “Makes me wonder why they're hiding from life.”

“I am not hiding from life,” Dani protested instinctively.

Duke grinned. “Oh, did you think I was referring to you?”

“Go to hell, Mr. Jenkins,” she snapped and turned her back on him. Infuriating, insufferable tease, she thought as she marched off, spine straight. She could hear his soft chuckle as she went.

The rest of the afternoon she did everything in her power to avoid him, but no matter where she went, no matter what she did, she could feel his speculative gaze on her.

“Don't look now, but you've made a conquest,” her cousin Angela said when she found Dani sitting all alone in a swing on the front porch.

“If discussing Duke Jenkins is the only thing on your mind, go away,” Dani retorted.

“Ah, so he's made one, too.”

“Angela, I am warning you. If you say one more word about Duke Jenkins, at least in any connection whatsoever with me, I will leave this party right now.”

Her cousin's gaze narrowed worriedly. “Are you okay?”

Dani forced a smile. “Just feeling a little pressured, that's all. Don't worry about it. Tell me about you instead. How's life in Montana? Are you happy?”

Angela sat beside her and set the swing into a lazy motion. “Deliriously happy,” she confessed, beaming. “Clint's the most wonderful, sexiest, kindest man on earth. He's the best husband and father a woman could ask for.”

Dani chuckled at the exuberant praise. “I seem to recall a time when you thought he was a sneaky, low-down, conniving son of a gun. Are we talking about the same man?”

Angela grinned. “You bet.” She regarded Dani slyly. “Which just proves how quickly attitudes change. Never say never, when it comes to a man.”

Dani stood up abruptly. “I have to go.”

Her cousin nabbed her hand and held it tightly, preventing the escape. “Dani, I'm sorry. I was just teasing. You know how I am. I didn't realize it would upset you so.”

“Never mind.” She squeezed Angela's hand reassuringly. “It's okay. I'm too sensitive.”

“Maybe if you or somebody would tell me what happened, I wouldn't be sticking my foot in my mouth every time I turn around. My mother, your father, Jenny, practically everyone has told me to leave it alone, but I can't. I care too much about you.”

Dani sighed and sat back down in the swing, idly setting it into motion again. “It's not as if it's a big secret,” she said finally. “Everyone in the family knows.”

“And everyone tries to protect you by being tight-lipped about it, giving you your space,” Angela
guessed. “Maybe what you really need is to talk about it, scream, rant and rave, get it out of your system.”

Dani grinned at the image of herself screaming, ranting and raving. It just wasn't the way she handled things. She kept her emotions all bottled up inside, unlike the rest of her far more demonstrative relatives. She had envied Angela for some of the shouting matches she and Clint had had. Blowing off steam had seemed to pave the way to healing. Maybe her way just allowed the wound to fester.

She'd said absolutely nothing about the broken relationship and shattered dreams when she'd come home to Los Pinos, after leaving Rob. Her family had seen her with him and the girls often enough to know exactly how much she had loved them all. They had come to adore Robin and Amy as well, though her father especially had always seemed to have reservations about Rob. At any rate, they had been able to guess the depth of her anguish and had left her alone to deal with it in her own way.

She glanced at Angela, saw the sympathy and concern in her cousin's expression and decided it wouldn't hurt to just tell her what had happened. Maybe it would put an end to these awkward moments that kept cropping up between them after so many years of being as close as sisters. She would keep the telling simple and dispassionate.

Once she began, though, the words began to pour out, words filled with far more rage than she imagined she had ever held inside.

“That beast, that terrible, awful beast,” Angela said fiercely when Dani was done. “How could he do that to you, to them?”

“Relationships don't always work out,” Dani said objectively. “I mean now that I think about it, I can see how wrong we were for each other. Marriage would have been a disaster.”

“But what about those girls of his? Didn't he take their feelings into account at all?”

Dani found herself trying to defend Rob's decision to go along with Tiffany's demand for a clean break, but she simply couldn't muster any conviction.

“The man was a bastard,” Angela said. “Admit it.”

“Yes,” Dani said softly. “Yes, he was.”

“A little louder. I didn't quite hear that.”

“He was a lousy, good-for-nothing, son of a bitch.”

Angela grinned. “Better. Want to try one more time?”

Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she shouted the words at full volume, adding a few more derogatory remarks for good measure. It was surprisingly cathartic, she concluded, laughing.

“I hope you weren't talking about me,” Duke said, appearing out of nowhere at the end of the porch.

Dani couldn't seem to find her tongue, but Angela grinned at him.

“Is that how people usually refer to you, Duke?”

“Some do,” he admitted.

“Well, you can rest easy. In this case, we were talking about someone else.”

His gaze settled on Dani, his expression thoughtful. “I see.”

Angela looked from Dani to Duke and back again. “I think I'll run along now. Clint's probably wondering where I disappeared to. He gets panicky when he thinks he's going to have to change a diaper.”

Something that felt a whole lot like panic settled in the pit of Dani's stomach as well as she watched her cousin disappear and saw Duke striding up onto the porch. She hadn't realized she was holding her breath until she felt it slowly expel when he settled against the railing opposite her, rather than in the swing beside her.

“I've been looking for you,” he said.

“Why?”

“Just looking for a friendly face.”

“And you came looking for me?” she asked skeptically.

“Darlin', you're too polite not to manage a friendly face for a business associate of your father's. Besides, you want me to keep those kittens, don't you? You're not going to risk offending me.”

“I'm sure Jenny—”

“I've talked to Jenny. I've talked to everyone here. I'd rather just hang out here with you for a while, if you don't mind.”

“And if I do?”

“Then I'll leave.”

Her gaze narrowed. “Would you really?”

“Absolutely.” He grinned. “But I'd be back.”

Dani sighed wearily. “Don't tell me you're the kind of man who only wants what he can't have.”

“Are you saying you're not interested?”

“I believe I told you once today that I'm not available.”

“Because of that jerk you were cussing out when I turned up?”

Oh, God, he had heard. “How much did you hear?” she asked, flushed with embarrassment.

“Enough to know you've been badly burned, that you're gun-shy.”

She forced herself to meet his gaze evenly. “I've been around guns all my life. They don't scare me.”

“Was that meant to be a warning?”

“Just stating a fact.”

“Duly noted, then. Which brings us back to you and me.”

“There is no you and me,” she said impatiently. “Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.”

He didn't seem impressed by her declaration. “Bet I could change your mind,” he said.

“You'd lose.”

His gaze locked with hers and made her tremble, proving his point. Hopefully, though, he hadn't noticed.

“Wanna bet?” he said softly.

Before she could guess what he intended, he'd clasped her hands and pulled her to her feet. In less time than it took to blink, she was in his arms and his lips were seeking hers.

When his mouth settled gently over hers, she thought briefly about struggling, about directing a well-aimed blow into someplace that would prove just how serious she was about being left alone. The thought vanished before she could act on it, lost to a sea of sensations so sweet, so wildly erotic that her knees went weak and all she could do was cling.

An aching need began to build inside her. Slowly she slid her hands into his thick, silky hair and opened her mouth to the endless, provocative kiss.

It might have gone on forever. She certainly wanted it to and Duke showed no signs of relaxing his embrace. It was the sound of voices nearby that
forced them apart, both of them breathing hard and looking dazed. She was pleased to see that he looked at least as shell-shocked as she felt.

That was her ego talking, of course. When she managed to get her brain functioning again, she realized that she didn't want him getting any crazy ideas from that kiss. One kiss, well, that was just a kiss. It didn't have to lead to anything more. It couldn't lead to anything more.

If she'd doubted that for an instant, the sight of his sons barreling around the corner of the house at full throttle, shouting for him at the top of their lungs would have convinced her. They were cute kids, wonderful, exuberant kids. Duke was quite obviously a great father. There was no room for her in that mix. She wouldn't risk it for the boys. She didn't dare risk it for her own peace of mind, either.

“Dad, we've been looking everywhere for you,” Zack shouted.

“And why is that?” Duke asked, his hand discreetly but possessively resting on her waist.

“It's time for the fireworks,” Joshua explained, excitement sparkling in his eyes. “Can you believe it? They're going to have their own show right here. Grandpa Harlan—he said we could call him that—he said we could sit with him and the guy who sets them off and see how they work. Come with us, okay?”

“You run along,” Duke said. “I'll be there in a minute. If they start before I get there, do not touch anything. Understood?”

“Okay,” they chorused. The two boys regarded him worriedly. “You will be there in just a minute, right? Promise? I don't think they'll wait forever. It's almost dark now.”

“I promise.”

When they'd gone, Duke drew Dani back around to face him. “Come with me.”

She shook her head. “No, you go. Share this with your boys. Obviously, they can't wait to see the fireworks with you.”

“I don't think they'd mind sharing them with you, too. In fact, once the show begins, I doubt they'll even know I'm around.”

“Please,” she said. “Just go.”

He regarded her with concern. “Dani, do we need to talk about what just happened here?”

“Nothing happened,” she insisted.

“If you believe that, we don't need to talk, we need another demonstration.”

She held him off this time, just as she should have done the first time he bent toward her. To her relief, he didn't argue. He released her slowly, then trailed his knuckles gently down her cheek.

“Later, then,” he said, proving that it was only a temporary reprieve from the storm of emotions he'd set off inside her. He tucked a finger under her chin and lifted it until their gazes were even. “No fireworks could possibly match the sparkle in your eyes, darlin'. Remember that, okay? Remember, too, that I'm the one who put it there.”