Impossible Dreams (25 page)

They’d been married for almost three weeks but they
still lived together as they had before — Axell as the man in charge and she as
his hapless female boarder — with a few exceptions. She now had a checkbook and
credit card in her new name and drove a BMW that terrified her. While
Cleo’s shop was closed, Maya had her teenage clerk polishing the car
after school every day as part of her store duties. She didn’t dare do so
much as chew a piece of gum in its spotless leather interior.

Maya tried scanning the sheets of legalese crossing the
desk. Axell had discussed these things with her in their hurried conversations
over breakfast or dinner, and they’d all made sense at the time.
She’d rather trust him than argue. Taking a deep breath, she started
signing where he indicated.

“You really ought to read those things before you sign
them,” he admonished.

“I could read them until I’m blue in the face
and still not know what they say,” she admitted. “Since I
don’t possess anything anyone could possibly want, I figure I’m
pretty safe unless one of these is titled ‘Articles of
Indenture.’”

He smiled wryly as he arranged the sheets in their proper
order and inserted them in their respective envelopes as she returned them to
him. “I think that was part of the marriage contract. Didn’t you
read it?”

Axell so seldom smiled, Maya sat back in his fancy office
chair and basked in the moment

“Was that the part that came after ‘love, honor,
and accept kitten litters’? I didn’t get beyond that.”
Constance and Matty had just adopted a mama cat and her litter, insisting on
bringing them home where they’d be more “comfortable.”

“You wouldn’t,” he agreed dryly, pushing
back his chair. “I’m thinking of holding a contest at the bar and
the winners get free cats. I almost walked on one when I got home the other
night.”

He walked around the desk and offered a hand to help her
from the chair. Axell’s thumb brushed her palm as she accepted his offer,
and just that caress of sensitive nerve endings reminded her that this
“business arrangement” between them had other aspects. It was just
a matter of time before he claimed them. She glanced up to the smoky gray of his
eyes and tried to envision his broad shoulders naked and looming over her. She
didn’t know if it was fear or excitement clutching her insides at the
thought.

She’d never so coldly entered into any kind of a
relationship with a man. She lacked the innate practicality necessary to look
at sex as a physical exercise one did for the sake of good health. She rather
suspected that was exactly how Axell looked at it.

That realization always had her backing off whenever the
electric jolt shocked her. Axell’s smile slipped away as she pulled free
and started for the door, but he acknowledged her reaction in no other way.
She’d almost rather he had a tantrum when he walked on stray cats at
midnight or found purple blotches on his walls. She feared that going to bed
with him would be like going to bed with their friendly neighborhood banker.

“Alexa and Matty both have doctor’s appointments
this afternoon, so supper will be late and probably out of the freezer,”
she warned, choosing not to respond to Axell’s earlier banter. It was
easier to play the role of teacher than to deal with her conflicting emotions.

“I have to go into Charlotte to talk with the lawyers,
so I’ll be running late too. Want me to eat at the bar?”

He didn’t have to be so damned
understanding
.
Maya brushed his cheek with a kiss and opened the office door. “Just let
me know so I won’t worry. See you later.”

She breezed out as if she hadn’t a care in the
world — she
shouldn’t
have a care in the world. For the first time
in her life she had a substantial roof over her head, money in her pocket, and
copious amounts of food on the table, and all she had to do in return was love
a child she would have loved anyway, and eventually, go to bed with a powerful
man she would have only admired from a distance under other circumstances. Why
did she feel as if disaster would strike at any minute?

Probably because Cleo hadn’t returned her letters, the
state had inspectors crawling all over the school, Matty’s social worker
had it in for Axell, Selene wasn’t having any luck pulling strings at DOT
to have their access road repaired, and she had an automaton husband who would
be expecting sex on demand in a few short weeks. At least Constance’s
grandmother had gone back to Texas — for the time being.

Besides, she’d never known a day in her life when
disaster wasn’t imminent. She’d learned to roll with the punches.
She’d be getting soft if she didn’t watch out.

She’d left Matty playing and Alexa sleeping in the new
shop with Teresa while she ran next door to sign Axell’s papers. She
needed to pick up Constance at school and transport the kids to the Impossible
Dream for afternoon classes. The BMW sedan would have more miles on it in a few
weeks than Axell had put on it in a year.

She’d parked it in the alley beside the collapsed
building so it wouldn’t be in the way of the work crew at the new shop.
Knowing it was easier to load up Alexa and Matty if she pulled the car around,
she hurried down the street, resisting checking on Alexa and the progress of
the cleaning people. Cleo wouldn’t recognize her inventory when she
returned. If she returned. Would Cleo just walk out of prison and disappear?

Trying not to think about that, Maya focused on a man in a
ponytail standing in front of the falling down building, staring up at
Cleo’s old apartment windows. He seemed vaguely familiar, but from a
block away, and in this blinding sunlight, she couldn’t discern his
features. Why on earth would anyone be studying a condemned building? Was this
Cleo’s erstwhile landlord? She’d thought the old building belonged
to some real estate conglomeration.

Something about the way he held himself made her nervous.
Preferring not to find out why, she didn’t reach for her sunglasses but
aimed for the alley. Before she could escape, however, the man turned in her
direction, and the bottom dropped out of her stomach.

Stephen.

Fate had a really cruel sense of humor when it chose
disasters for her.

Maybe she should learn Axell’s narrow path of duty and
responsibility and give up the emotional relationships that made her life hell.
Maybe she could grow wings and fly.

“Maya!” Stephen hurried across the broken
pavement and past the wilting yellow police tape to greet her. “Damn, you
look gorgeous! This is the only address I have for you. Surely you’re not
living here?”

Before she could manage a sensible thought, he’d
crushed her in an exuberant hug.

Why had she once thought Stephen sexy? Only a few inches
taller than she, he lacked Axell’s strength and breadth and probably
couldn’t lift her if he tried — not that he’d ever tried anything so
romantic. He would probably have written a song about the tribulations of
fatherhood while she labored giving birth to Alexa. He had a boyish smile and a
lovely voice and no character whatsoever. She smacked his T-shirted chest with
both hands and shoved away.

“Swell of you to stop by, Stevie,” she mocked,
swinging on her heel and heading down the alley for the car. “Give me a
call sometime and we’ll do lunch.”

He hurried after her and grabbing her elbow, jerked her to a
halt. Maya shot his encroaching hand a withering look, and he hastily released
his grip.

“Look, Maya, I’m sorry, all right? Life’s
a bitch sometimes, you know that. But I’ve got that recording
contract,” he continued excitedly. “I can take you and the baby
back to L.A. Where is she? Does she look like me? Where are you staying?”

Maya stared at him as if he were Peter Pan offering to fly
her to Never-Never Land. How had she ever thought this irresponsible idiot was
the man of her dreams?

She hadn’t, she realized. Stephen was fun, energetic,
and talented. She’d once had hopes they could eventually make something
of their relationship, but Cleo’s arrest had prematurely ended any chance
of that. Her pregnancy had just been an unexpected result.

She could blame him for his shameless irresponsibility, but
the truth was, she hadn’t been much better.

With a sigh, she released her temper. “You’ll
have to overcome one or two preconceived notions, Stephen,” she said
dryly. “One being that you ever have a remote chance of imitating
fatherhood.”

“C’mon, Maya! I’ve been busy. How can I
support a baby unless I’m making money? I’m on the brink now. The
studio’s talking multi-albums, my agent’s lined up a tour, and
we’re getting a percentage of gate. I can do it.”

She really didn’t want to take him to Alexa, but what
choice did she have? She’d never lied to him. It was a little late to
start now. She fought back a familiar bubble of panic. “Look, I’ve
got people waiting for me. Why don’t you go back to your hotel and new
girlfriend and I’ll call you later, all right?”

“Zita? Is that what this is all about? Don’t
worry about her. She’s just some jealous bitch who hung around the band
and screwed things up a lot. I flew into Charlotte from Nashville and hitched a
ride from the airport. I figured I could bunk with you until you packed things
up. C’mon, let’s go to your place and I’ll baby-sit.
How’s that?” He steered her eagerly from the alley toward the
glass-plated storefronts lining the main street.

This was going to look real good. Word would be all over
town in hours. Axell was probably watching from his office windows. What the
hell
was she supposed to do?

“I don’t expect you to remember these little
details, Stevie,” she replied acidly, pulling out of his grasp again.
Giving up on the car, she hurried toward the new shop. “But my sister got
herself locked up, remember? And I flew out here because she has a little boy?
None of that has changed.”

“I’ll ask my agent if he knows a good lawyer. We
can make it work. C’mon, Maya...” He halted in front of her,
forcing her to look at him. “What are you telling me? You picked up a new
boyfriend while toting around my baby in your belly?”

He seemed to find the idea so ludicrous she briefly
considered punching him for the insult. But remembering how ridiculous the idea
really was, she let him off with a smirk and a verbal punch. “No, I
picked up a husband, a word with which you’re not familiar.”
Swinging around, she crossed the street and continued her progress toward the
haven of company in the new store.

“A husband!” he screamed as he raced up behind
her. “You’re insane! You can’t do that. That’s my kid.
I’ve got my rights!”

“We’ll see about that, I guess. As far as
I’m concerned, a minute’s worth of genetic material does not make
you a father.” This was getting entirely out of hand. She hadn’t
meant to expel all this bile in public, alienate Stephen, or create a scene of
any sort. She’d hoped to have a reasonable conversation and settle
matters quietly. She should have known she was incapable of any such rational behavior.

Stephen grabbed her elbow again. Beyond reason now, Maya
swung around and slammed her fist into his belly. He had a damned hard belly
and didn’t flinch an inch.

“Maya, dammit...”

“Having trouble, love? Next time, I’ll get you a
pager with an alarm so you don’t have to break your fingers.” Axell
strolled down the street in their direction, no hurry in his stride, but his
eyes were that steely gray Maya recognized instantly.

Stephen dropped her arm and swung to confront the man in
business suit and tie. Not completely unintelligent, Stephen relaxed his
belligerent stance and stuck out his hand.

“I’m Stephen James, an old friend of
Maya’s.” He said that with enough emphasis even a fool could take
his meaning.

Axell was no fool. He didn’t take the extended hand.
“I’m Axell Holm, Maya’s husband.” He turned to Maya and
gently examined her bare elbow where Stephen had gripped it. “You bruise
easily,” he commented without inflection.

She didn’t need auras or tarot or astrology to
recognize the intense vibrations ricocheting between the two men. She’d
suffer from testosterone inhalation if she stood between them too long.

“Redheads have thin skin,” she responded
ambiguously. “I’m taking Stephen to see Alexa, but I really need to
go pick up Constance and get over to the school. I don’t have time for
discussions.”

“Arguments,” Axell corrected. “And
you’re very good at weaseling out of them. I’ll get Constance and
come back for you.” He nodded at Stephen. “We’ll talk
later.”

Axell didn’t raise his voice, but the warning was
clear. He might as well have posted a sign reading “Private Property. No
Trespassing.” Maya bit back an inappropriate urge to giggle. Grown women
didn’t giggle.

She stood on her toes and kissed Axell’s cheek, just
to watch both men flinch. “Don’t slay any dragons on the way. You
know how the scales litter the road.”

She thought he almost grinned. Instead, he caught her waist,
planted a much sounder kiss on her lips, and when she almost went limp, he set
her back down again. “I’ll just rip out his tongue and you can
serve it for dinner. Don’t tell Matty, though, or he’ll turn
vegetarian.”

“That’ll be the day.” Last night, Matty
had managed to pick every pea out of the casserole she’d disguised them
in.

As Axell calmly walked, Stephen growled in disgust.
“You couldn’t wait, could you? You had to go for the money.”

Maya fisted her fingers and waved them in his face.
“He doesn’t like me to break my fingers, Stevie. Do you want to see
Alexa or take me to the hospital?”

“You’re a ditz, you know? A first class ditz.
You’ve probably got the kid singing
Aquarius
.” As she swung
open the door to the new shop, he caught and held it for her.

“No, I’m into country now. We sing in the
sunshine.” Grateful for the wispy dress Axell had bought for her, Maya
flaunted her newly slender figure past Stephen and into the chaos of the
cleaning and unpacking of Cleo’s stock. They were immediately swamped
with a thousand questions, but she was determined to get through this as
quickly and painlessly as possible. With a wave of her hand, she walked past
the crew and headed for the stairs and the kids.