Getting It Right This Time (16 page)

The sound of Jess cracking the eye of her teddy against the window of the car alerted Kate to the fact Jess was highly aggrieved at being ignored. Blinking against the burning in her eyes, Kate turned, opened the back door and lifted her out.

“Sorry, sweetheart,” she said. “So? What do you think? Big, huh?”

“I’m going to be a princess today,” said Jessica, her green eyes wide as she stared high above her at the façade of the house.

Kate squeezed her tight. “You’re a princess every day to me.”

The crunch of gravel behind her sent Kate’s heart leaping into her throat. She turned. Mark’s boyish grin was so wide it reminded her of the younger man she’d known so well. The younger man she’d wanted to be with and now was. Happiness seeped into her soul and she grinned back.

Suspended in time for a brief moment, they exchanged a silent hello before Jess stole a timid arm around Kate’s neck.

Kate immediately turned her gaze to her. “Are you okay, sweetie?”

But before she could answer, Mark stood in front of them. “My goodness. Who is this beautiful little girl?” he asked, grinning at Jess.

Jess giggled, loosened her arm slightly from Kate’s neck and met Mark’s gaze. “I’m Jessica, and this is my new dress.”

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Mark let out a low whistle. “And very beautiful it is too. My name’s Mark. Pleased to meet you.”

He held out his hand to her, and Kate’s heart turned over as she watched her baby girl’s tiny fingers disappear inside Mark’s. She could barely stand to watch.

“You live in a castle,” Jess said matter-of-factly.

“A castle with a swimming pool. Do you want to see it?”

Kate’s gaze stuck nervously to the side of Jess’s head. Both of them were yet to drop the other’s hand. Did they realize? It seemed not. Suddenly Jess turned to look at her, and Kate purposely widened her smile.

“Do you want to see the pool?”

“Can I?”

“Sure,” Kate said, squeezing her tighter. “Let’s go and see, shall we?”

She lowered her to the ground, but Jess still kept a firm grip on Mark’s hand. He winked at her above Jess’s head and Kate watched helplessly as her daughter walked off with him through an iron gate at the side of the house. Once they disappeared from view, she pressed a trembling hand to her stomach.

“Oh, Lord, give me strength to do this. Give me the strength I need to protect her.”

She reached into the car and pulled out her handbag and offering of tuna pasta before following them through the gate. The moment she stepped into the garden, Jess’s squeals of excited laughter reached her ears at full hysterical volume. Kate passed beneath a hedged archway and her breath promptly left her lungs. She barely noticed when Lucy stepped forward and took the china dish from her hands.

Lucy laughed. “Fantastic, isn’t it?”

“It’s…it’s unbelievable.”

The lush emerald grass stretched for acres and acres. Hedges shaped like every bird imaginable edged the vast pebbled walkways, which all eventually came together at a huge green-blue lake. She clutched her hand to Lucy’s elbow. “This can’t possibly be Mark’s. My brain can’t cope.”

“Sorry, every blade of grass is owned by your boyfriend. How fantastic is that?”

“I don’t know what to say. He said it would be his one day and it is. Lucy, this place is unreal.”

The two friends stood in silence. Mark had achieved everything he set out to do when he was barely out of his teens. And now he was adamant he wanted her and Jessica to be a part of it.

Was he ready for a child to cover his perfect lawn with toys, bikes and sandpits? Kids brought a different kind of commitment Mark had yet to experience.

Yes, he’d proven he could go after any career or financial goal he set his mind to, but that merely meant money was a massive motivator to him. Kids brought financial hardship for the majority of people--even if they wouldn’t swap parenthood for every last penny in the world, but
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what would that mean to him? Would he regret becoming involved? Would he pull slowly away from them, leaving Jess wondering what she’d done wrong as so many kids of broken relationships did?

No. No, she wouldn’t. Kate crossed her arms. It was her job to make sure that didn’t happen.

Their…lovemaking of the other night would not be repeated. At least not for a while. Mark did everything with all guns blazing. It would be up to her to bring the man to a screeching halt if necessary.

“Oh, look!”

Kate followed the direction of Lucy’s outstretched finger and inwardly groaned. How could she compete when the man hit so below the belt he might as well have taken her knees out with an iron bar.

“What is he doing? Never in a million years did I think…” Kate mumbled.

“Me neither.”

Despite the unfairness of the situation, Kate couldn’t suppress her smile as she watched Mark and Jessica jump up and down on a pink bouncy castle. Their hands were still firmly clasped together and their matching smiles wider than the iceberg that destroyed the
Titantic
. Kate waved.

The pair of them waved back like a couple of prized chimpanzees…Kate’s heart melted into a pulpy mess.

She turned to Lucy. “He must’ve hired it. This is madness. He doesn’t realize…”

Lucy slapped a finger to Kate’s lips. “Stop it. Now. You’re going to enjoy today, do you hear me?”

They locked eyes. Kate nodded obediently.

“Good.” Lucy dropped her finger. “Now then…” Promptly sticking two fingers inside her mouth, she let out a whistle of manic, high-pitched proportions. Kate bit down on her bottom lip when Mark and Jess came to an abrupt halt like two cadets at a drill.

“Food, Johnston,” Lucy shouted. “We’re starving.”

Kate laughed when Mark raised his hand to his head in a salute and Jess followed suit with the biggest grin on her face Kate had seen in weeks. Sliding on her sunglasses, she followed Lucy toward the veranda and made a vow to enjoy herself from here on in. Lucy was right. She would take things nice and slow with Mark but today was all about Jessica.

Two hours later, a delicious lunch of burgers, kebabs, sausages, pasta, French bread and salad was no more. Kate hummed happily to herself as she strolled around Mark’s enormous kitchen loading plates and cutlery into the dishwasher. The design of the kitchen kept in line with the rest of the house. Cream painted cupboards mounted every wall with a huge granite topped island in the center. An enormous open fireplace with logs stacked two feet high either side sat on the far end room. Kate visualized it lit and warm in cold winter months.

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The bottle green range bore the history of its use with chipped paint and scrubbed surfaces adding the perfect amount of authenticity. The copper pots and pans hanging on the rack above it were in an equal state of use. Did Mark cook as well? Kate smiled. Not if her memories were anything to go by. She would ask him where he was hiding his cook, cleaner and driver when she went back outside.

Humming to herself, she wiped down the counter tops and put sauces and condiments back into the cupboards.

“There you are!”

She spun around. Dressed in nothing but swimming shorts, Mark stood ahead of her with a towel flung carelessly over one deeply tanned shoulder. She swallowed. He looked good enough to eat. Maybe she could fling him down on the floor and climb on top…

“Hi,” she managed.

“Why are you hiding away in here? The pool is fantastic. And I know you brought a barely-there bikini for me to enjoy seeing you in.”

Her nipples immediately tingled and the hairs on her arms twitched with excitement. “I think you need to jump back in the water and cool off. Today isn’t about you or me, remember? It’s about Jess.”

He closed the space between them in two strides and Kate backed up to the counter.

Dangerous. He placed his hands on her hips. Very dangerous.

“Absolutely. But surely I can enjoy the view?”

Her lips curved into a slow smile, her gaze wandering over his handsome face. “I suppose.”

Sliding the towel off his shoulder, he wrapped it around her neck and pulled her in close.

Her gaze turned anxiously to the window. “Mark…”

“She’s in the pool with Lucy.”

His mouth encased hers and the temptation to fight evaporated. His lips, still damp from the water, tasted faintly of chlorine. Relishing the rare sensation of feeling protected within the circle of his arms, Kate melted against him, her hands reaching around to caress the hard muscles in his back. Their tongues touched, teased and excited. The feel of his hands trailing along the waistband of her shorts kick-started a pulse between her legs. She gently drew away from him before she gave into the temptation of shimmying straight out of her denim shorts.

“You’re a bad boy, Mark Johnston. Do you know that?” she whispered.

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he lifted his tender gaze to her hair and brushed some behind her ear. “We’d better get back out there before this becomes messy,” he said, his gaze dropping to her breasts and lingering there long enough for Kate to know her nipples were standing to attention.

Lifting his gaze to hers once more, he said, “Why don’t you go and change into the red bikini I caught a glimpse of earlier?”

Kate laughed. “When did you see that?”

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“When you pulled Jessica’s swimsuit from the bag, yours dropped onto the patio.”

“Only for a second! What are you? A trained SOS sniper?”

He wiggled his eyebrows. “Maybe. Go and get it on. Now.”

Smiling, Kate held up her hands in surrender. “Okay. Okay. Why don’t you give me a minute and I’ll meet you outside?”

He grimaced and cleared his throat. “Um…that might be a bit of a problem for a while.”

Kate frowned. “What? Why?”

He nodded toward his crotch, and Kate stifled a laugh when she looked down and saw exactly how big Mark’s problem had grown. “Oh, I see.” She laughed. “I guess I’ll meet you outside when you’re in a better state then.”

The afternoon passed in a summer storm of laughter, water fights, bouncy castles and girlish screams. It was the happiest time Kate could remember having for years and now, as the sun set far beyond the trees at the distance edge of Mark’s land, she didn’t want to leave.

“It’s so beautiful here, Mark.”

He squeezed her hand. “You always loved it, didn’t you?”

“Always. It’s like a dream being here. I feel…I don’t know…alive.”

He grinned. “Then stay.”

Her smile wavered. “Don’t. Let’s enjoy the rest of the day before we have to leave.”

Dropping her hand, his gaze darted over her face. “I’m joking. I’m just happy you and Jess have spent the day here. I told you, I won’t ask for anymore. You’re in charge of this.” He pressed a kiss to her palm and stood up. “The coffee should be ready now. I’ll be right back.”

Leaning further back in her chair, Kate watched him leap from the veranda and jog into the house. He was a wonderful, wonderful man. Her heart shifted inside her chest as she lifted her feet onto a chair in front of her. As much as panic struck when Mark said for her to stay, she didn’t want the day to end.

She squeezed her eyes shut and sent up a silent prayer this was it. This was the dream Mark spoke so confidently about never ending. A movement to her left made Kate turn her head toward it--and she promptly drank in every nuance of the man she loved all over again as Mark came closer.

He was beautiful, both inside and out, and the dream he might be hers stirred deep in her belly. He walked back up the steps and put the tray he carried onto the wrought iron table in front of her.

“Coffee, madam?”

She tipped her head back and smiled. “Perfect.” He pressed a kiss to her bared shoulder, and she shivered with desire. “Is Lucy still inside with Jess? Are they okay?”

He lifted the coffee pot and poured. “They’re more than okay, they’ve taken every cushion off my sofas and the last I heard, Norway was due to attack at nineteen hundred hours.”

Kate laughed. “Ah. Lucy service is in full mode then.”

He grinned and passed her a steaming white china cup. Taking it from him, she blew across its surface as she watched his profile over the rim. Nerves surged into her belly and fluttered.

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Once he’d filled his own cup, he looked up and met her gaze.

“Are you all right?”

She nodded, lifted the cup to her lips. “Thank you, Mark.”

He sat down beside her. “For today? You’re welcome.”

“For more than today. Thank you for making me see my decision to bring Jess back to Foxton was the right one. This is where she can be happy. Life will go on after James.”

He shifted in seat and put his cup down on the table. After a moment, he reached over, gently pulled one of her hands into his and brought her knuckles to his lips.

“I want you to be happy in Foxton too,” he said quietly. “I want you to want us as much as I do. I want Jess to want us to be together more than anything. But don’t ever think I’ve forgotten James, Kate, because I haven’t. I never will.”

“I wasn’t suggesting…”

He kissed her knuckles again. “I know you weren’t.” He met her eyes. “But I’d understand if James’s memory was the reason for you not letting go one hundred percent. I was stupid not to tell you how I felt before James came along and even more stupid to stand back and let things grow between you and him the way they did.”

She shook her head, gave a small smile. “I was there too. He was a massive personality when he came to Foxton. He was dynamic, full of laughter, fun and mischief. We all got caught up in his enthusiasm. He was your best friend, Lucy’s hero and my…my savior.”

His eyes widened and he dropped her hand. “What? Your savior?”

She put down her cup and touched his face. “I convinced myself I loved him. I needed to find a way to get over you. I was twenty-two years old and still in love with a man I met at seventeen.”