Instant Family (19 page)

"Yes," she might have murmured, but the word was smothered by
his mouth on hers, and all sound and awareness of the outside world
ceased. Her arms stole around his neck; his wrapped themselves
around her slender body. Nirvana.

Chloe floated. She hadn't been kissed before. Not like this. All other
kisses became instantly invalid. This kiss exploded in her body like
fireworks, cascading through the nerve endings, flowing through her
veins, flooding her organs and her heart, filling her mind and her body
to overflowing. Luckily his arms supported her, or she would have
sunk to the floor, a boneless doll.

His lips eased away from hers, and her eyes flickered open in startled dismay. He smiled, and she saw her own smile mirrored in his
eyes. The arms holding her remained firmly in position.

"Is that a yes?" he whispered, and he kissed her again so she
couldn't reply except in kind. Kiss for kiss, lips for lips, caress for
caress.

"Yes," she gasped when next he released her.

"Good," he murmured. Another kiss, another hiatus in the time/
space continuum. Eons later she opened her eyes again to find those
gentle blue seas smiling into hers, soft and loving now, not harsh, not
piercing. How could she have thought him fierce and arrogant? He
squeezed her tightly before lifting her off the floor and swinging her
around.

"Alex!" Chloe squeaked as the breath was forced from her lungs
and her feet left solid ground. But his arms supported her, and his body was firm beneath her clinging hands. He set her down and
pulled her closer for another kiss.

"This is going to be difficult, you know," she said, placing her fingers as a barrier against his lips.

"Why?" He nibbled her fingertips, and she giggled.

"Children."

"They're no problem," he murmured as he explored her throat
and neck. "They're great kids. They like me. I like them."

"But yours doesn't like me." Chloe steeled herself against the desire rushing through her body. Every inch of skin his lips caressed
tingled and burned with an exhilarating fire, but she had to keep her
head. She couldn't abandon herself to his touch the way she longed
to. There was too much at stake and too much to consider.

Alex raised his head. He studied her face. "You hardly know
each other." He kissed her nose, kept his tone light. "You didn't give
her much of a chance, you know, Chloe." She stiffened in his embrace. "That was one of the things I really did want to talk to you
about"

"To give me a dressing-down for the way I treated your daughter?" She raised an eyebrow, and her voice was dangerously cool all
of a sudden. She slipped from between his arms like an ice cube and
sat on the couch, bottom perched on the edge, spine straight. "Go
ahead."

He ran a hand through his hair, still damp from the sprint between
car and house. This would be easier if she was in his arms. Everything would be easier if she was in his arms. "Steffie behaved badly,
I know. I apologize. But you must understand, she's going through a
tough time at the moment. Lucy thinks she's jealous of the new
baby-which is understandable."

Chloe nodded. "Having been number one all her life." The way
she said it didn't bode well, but she offered no further comment.

"Yes, plus the fact that she's been teased at school."

Chloe's expression changed instantly. "Oh, poor little girl. How
horrible."

Encouraged by the sympathy in her face, Alex sat beside her and
took her hand in his. "It started late last year at kindergarten, and this
year the same nasty little pieces have been at it again. She doesn't say much to me, but Lucy said it's getting to the point where she doesn't
want to go to school at all."

"I thought the schools dealt with that sort of thing. Katy's does."

"They do have a system, but little girls can be very cunning in
their nastiness, apparently."

"Have you thought of moving her?"

"Lucy and Derek think she should ride it out. I tend to agree, to a
point. Quite honestly I think they're more interested in the baby.
Lucy's gone back to work full-time, and her life is jam-packed. She
doesn't need, or won't acknowledge, any extra stresses."

"Poor Stephanie."

He squeezed her hand and brought her fingers to his mouth to kiss
one by one. "Sheltering her from these things isn't going to prepare
her for life."

"But she's only six." Chloe frowned uneasily. "Can't you do
something about it?"

"She wants to live with me, but it can't happen. Not yet anyway.
Maybe when she's older."

"I'm sorry, Alex. I had no idea she had those problems."

"Perhaps I should have told you, but-"

"You didn't."

He slipped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her hard against
his chest. "I was hoping you'd see what a sweet child she really is."
He was gazing so earnestly into her eyes as he spoke, Chloe could do
nothing other than nod and murmur, "I see," before his lips landed on
hers once again. Rational thought ceased for long minutes.

Eventually Chloe pried herself away from the magnet that was
his body and the delights his mouth bestowed.

"I should go home."

This time he didn't argue. He released her reluctantly, trailing his
hands down her arms to her fingertips.

"You'd probably better. If you stay any longer, you'll never get
away."

"I don't think I'd want to." Chloe stood up on legs wobbly with
desire and happiness and, as near as possible, requited passion. He
stood and threw an arm around her shoulders to escort her to the
door.

"You haven't even gone, and I miss you already."

They stopped in the foyer for another kiss. Alex opened the door.
"Rain's stopped."

Hand in hand they walked to her car. A gust of wind shook the
branches of the birches by the path, showering them with chill drops
of water.

"Yikes." Chloe laughed. "That's cold."

Alex scanned the sky. "Seems to be clearing. Pity."

Chloe said slowly, the idea only half-formed in her mind, "Maybe
we should do something all together when Stephanie visits you next."
For Alex's sake she should give the girl another chance. "A picnic
next Sunday?"

"Good idea. We could meet you somewhere-we won't all fit in
one car." He smiled with such pleasure, she stretched up to kiss his
cheek.

"How about Pine Island? The kids can swim in the river."

"We could swing by your place and go in convoy. Seb might like
to come in my car."

"Probably."

"See, Chloe?" he said. "This will work just fine."

He spoke so confidently, she believed him. Anything seemed
possible when Alex was involved. Even making peace with the Red
Terror.

Of course, he couldn't wait a whole week to hear her voice. He
could barely wait a decent interval-like overnight. He wanted to
run inside, give her time to drive home, and phone her right away.
He didn't. Instead, he discovered the cleaning gear he'd discarded
in the bathroom that morning and threw himself into scrubbing the
loo. Amazing how the whole world could turn inside out in such a
short space of time.

Cleaning the bathroom was a chore, but now he didn't care because he wasn't with Chloe, and if he wasn't with Chloe, it didn't
matter what he did. He had to be somewhere, and if he couldn't be
with her, what did it matter where that somewhere was? He laughed
out loud at the crazy delight of falling in love and being loved in return, and the sound of his laughter bounced off the smooth white
and blue tiles of the bathroom.

Then he remembered he'd completely forgotten the phone calls
he'd meant to make at lunchtime. Too late now. The client would be
out. And probably cross. He called and left a message. The tradesmen would have stopped work when it stormed. More delays to the
town houses. Alex made himself sit at his drafting table and work.

The next day Alex called Chloe midmorning after forcing himself
to wait that long.

Katy answered the phone. "Simba came home," she said after he'd
said who was calling and before he could ask for Chloe.

"The cat?"

"Yes, this morning. She was soaking wet and starving."

"But she's all right?"

"Yes." The word rode on a childish laugh of delight.

"That's wonderful news"

"I knew she'd come home, and you said she would too, didn't
you? Chloe said."

He smiled, pleased out of all proportion she'd registered that attempt at reassurance. "I've heard of it happening."

"I have to go and look after her. I'll get Seb."

She dropped the phone without giving him a chance to explain. A
couple of minutes later Seb said, "Hi, Alex."

"G'day. I hear the cat came back."

"Yeah. Looks a bit rough, though. They haven't stopped fussing
over it."

"Can I have a word with Chloe, mate, please?"

"Didn't you want to talk to me?"

"Well, actually, no. Katy assumed-I wanted Chloe."

"Okay. Hang on."

Was that a touch of coolness in the boy's voice? Alex said quickly,
"Seb? Want to go down to the nets this afternoon?"

"Sure. I'll get Chloe."

Dismissed. Alex sighed.

"Hello." One word of that voice and his senses were on overload.

"Hi." He pressed the phone tighter against his ear, as if that would
close the distance between them. Her breath rustled against the
receiver. "How are you?" he blurted. Dumb, dumb, dumb. The conversational gambit of a tongue-tied teenager.

"Fine. The cat came home. She was sitting on the kitchen window
ledge the way she always used to. I couldn't believe it when I
saw her. She needs feeding. Katy's warming milk for her, and we
even went to the shops for a special treat-liver. Yucko, but she
loves it."

Was she babbling from nervousness, or was she simply as excited
as Katy? He interrupted the barrage of information. "Chloe?"

"Yes." Breathless now, the torrent of words screeched to a halt.

"When can I see you?"

"Next week?" It sounded tentative and very unsure.

"I need to see you before then!"

"I-I don't know. It's difficult."

"Do you have any free time tomorrow?"

"Not a lot."

"Can I see you? Even for a few minutes?"

"I suppose."

"Do you want to see me?"

The silence stretched for long seconds, almost hours. He could
hear her breathing. A cold, hard lump began to form in his stomach.
She didn't want to. He'd only imagined that the passion was twoway. She'd had second thoughts, and they weren't good ones.

"Chloe?" He barely breathed the word, the fear clutched so tightly
at his throat.

"Of course I do, but I don't see how or when before Sunday."

"We'll find time somewhere, Chloe. Just tell me you feel the same
way I do."

"I can't just walk out, Alex," she said. "It's easy for you."

"Chloe! Answer my question. Do you feel the same as I do? The
rest we can sort out later."

"Yes," she whispered.

"That's all I wanted to hear."

"I have to go."

The line buzzed in his ear. He disconnected slowly. It wasn't easy
for him. It wasn't easy at all. That assumption he'd made in the car
on the way to the supermarket-that this passion was a crush, fleeting at best, unrequited and doomed to secrecy at worst-was ridiculous. Utter rubbish. His feeling for Chloe Gardiner had snowballed
into a passion, monstrous and unstoppable.

Kissing her had become imperative. Now that he'd tasted her lips
and her own desire, the monkey was on his back. He'd succumbed
to the worst kind of addiction-he was enslaved to a woman.

Never again, he'd said to himself after Lucy. The occasional
date-fine. Commitment? No way. Now, with Chloe's perfume in his
nostrils, Chloe's voice in his ears, and Chloe's body imprinting itself
on his, that position seemed inflexible, unnecessary, and downright
stupid. When fate threw someone as wonderful as this woman into
his path, what right had he to ignore it? He deserved another chance
at happiness. Chloe certainly did, and he could give her such happiness as she'd never known. He could.

He thumped his fist into his open palm. With Chloe and Katy
around, dealing with a six-year-old girl would be that much easier.

"What did Alex want?" Seb asked.

His expression bordered on jealousy. What could she say to a resentful teenager? It was none of his business.

"It was about next Sunday."

That was true-it was about how he couldn't wait until next Sunday to see her. Chloe grinned at Seb's glowering face and went to
see how Katy and Simba were doing.

But Steffie had a party invitation for Sunday lunch. Typically, Lucy
informed Alex when he picked her up that Friday evening. Frazzled
and with a crying baby Mark on her hip, she glared at him when he
remonstrated about how he'd made other plans for the weekend.

"Too bad. I did tell you," she snapped. "Steffie doesn't get many
invites, so you'll have to put your social life on hold for your
daughter."