Magnificent Folly (5 page)

Lily tried to laugh. “I’m not one of the coeds you probably had panting after you. I’m a mother who has responsibilities and who—”

“Put her sexual feelings in the deep freeze before Cassie was born,” Andrew finished her sentence. “Well, it’s time somebody pushed the defrost button, Lily.”

“You?” Lily deliberately injected a note of scorn in her voice. “Hardly.”

“Me.” For the first time she detected a steely determination in the softness of his voice. “Definitely me. Did you call Henry last night?”

“Yes.”

“Then you know I’m not someone who’s going to hurt you. What did he say?”

“That you were probably the most remarkable man he’d ever met and that I should trust you.”

“And were you going to trust me before you found out I wanted you?”

She was silent a moment before admitting reluctantly, “Yes.”

“Then nothing is changed.”

“Everything is changed.”

“What? I’m going to seduce you, not rape you. I understand the word
no.”
His eyes twinkled with sudden mischief. “I just want you to learn how to say yes. Since we’re going to have Cassie for a chaperone most of the time, it’s going to be difficult as hell for me even to get the chance to teach you.”

“You’re treating me as if I’m some kind of emotional retard,” Lily said. “I assure you I’m perfectly normal and far from frigid.”

Andrew shook his head. “I know, love. You’re very passionate, and that’s the problem. You’re afraid of losing control again with any man, after
what Baldor did to you.” He smiled coaxingly as his gaze moved over her face caressingly. “But you’re safe with me. You’ll always be safe with me.”

Incredibly, she found herself wanting to believe him. His expression was loving, his eyes clear and free from lies. She tore her gaze from his own to speak haltingly. “I think you’d better go away. Perhaps you’ve concocted some kind of idiotic scenario where you and I and Cassie live happily ever after, but when you grow up you’ll find there aren’t any fairy tales in this day and age. What happened nine years ago was both clinical and final and has nothing to do with the present or the future.”

He chuckled. “I wish you’d stop referring to me as if I were Joe College—and slightly immature, at that. You’d be surprised how long ago I received my degree.” He sobered. “When we grow older, Lily, we have to create our own fairy tales out of the materials at hand.”

She shook her head. “Life isn’t like that.”

“It can be.” He held out his hand. “Sit beside me”

Exasperated, she stood looking down at him. “Why won’t you go away? I’ve told you it’s no good.”

“And I’ve told you I’ll be patient and not rush you. I won’t even touch you unless you say it’s okay. I just want to be with you and talk to you. You’ve never had anyone with whom to share Cassie, and I think you’re going to like having someone to talk to who is as interested in her as you. You’re a very giving woman, Lily.” He held her gaze. “Children grow up so soon, and shared experiences are richer. Sit down, love.”

She found herself dropping down beside him on the sand and then wondered why on earth she had given in to his plea. She hadn’t intended to stay. She had intended to call Cassie and return to the house. She could still do it, she assured herself. She’d just stay a few minutes and then get up and leave Andrew. “Who’s Gunner?”

Andrew looked at her with sudden wariness.

“The man who said you were transparent.”

“Gunner Nilsen, an old friend. He and his wife and I are sharing a cabin about a half mile from the crest of that cliff.”

“Oh, then Cassie was right.”

Andrew looked at her inquiringly.

“She didn’t know how she knew your name was Andrew. She thought she must have heard someone call you.”

Andrew’s lids lowered to veil his eyes. “That sounds reasonable.”

“I’m glad you’re not claiming it was daughterly instinct,” Lily said drily. “That would be carrying it a bit far.”

“No, I’m not claiming daughterly instinct.” His gaze shifted to Cassie. “She’s really beautiful, isn’t she?” The expression on Andrew’s face was also beautiful, Lily thought in bemusement. “Has she always liked the water?”

“No, she was actually afraid of it before we took lessons together at the YWCA last year.”

“Tell me about it.” Andrew settled back on one elbow. “Tell me all about her. I’ve missed a hell of a lot, haven’t I?”

For an instant Lily thought he was trying to lull her into a sense of security, but there was no mistaking the wistfulness of Andrew’s expression. He
had
missed a lot, she thought suddenly. All of those precious years when Cassie was a baby and then a toddler, the moment when she had discovered her music, the laughter at her second birthday party when she’d plunged both chubby hands into the icing of the chocolate cake. Lily had all those memories, but he had nothing.

She was silent for a long moment, and then, slowly, she began to tell him about Cassie.

“H
OW’S
C
ASSIE’S CONCERTO
coming?” Andrew asked as he wadded up the tinfoil wrapper from his ham sandwich and threw it into the surf.

“Very well.” She frowned. “You shouldn’t throw refuse into the ocean. It’s polluted enough.”

“Sorry, you’re right. I didn’t think.” He bit into his sandwich before looking up with a grin. “Shall I swim out and get it?”

Lily tilted her head quizzically. “What would you do if I said yes?”

“I’d swim out and get it.”

Lily threw back her head and laughed. “You
probably would do it. You’re completely impossible, do you know that?”

“I’ve been accused of it before.” He took another bite. “But there’s a method to my madness. Ladies are said to like flamboyant, romantic gestures.”

“Really?”

“You needn’t raise your eyebrows at me. It’s true. I’d also get soaked to the skin, and you’re so softhearted you’d feel obliged to take me home and dry me off. It would actually be a very clever move on my part.”

“And completely calculated.”

The smile left his lips. “No,” he said quietly. “I was joking. I’d do it because you wanted me to do it. I’ll always give you what you want, if it’s within my power, Lily.”

She had known he was joking. In the past two weeks she had discovered there was nothing calculating about Andrew. She looked quickly away down the beach at Cassie, who was putting the finishing touches on an enormous sand castle. “Impossible. Utterly impossible.”

Impossibly quixotic, impossibly honest, impossibly stubborn, impossibly lovable. She carefully shifted her thoughts from the dangerous path where they were wandering. “You make me feel a hundred years old and positively maternal.”

“No, I don’t.” He finished the sandwich and reached for the Styrofoam cup of coffee beside him on the beach rug. “Oh, sometimes, maybe.” He lifted the cup to his lips and looked at her over the rim. “But most of the time I turn you on.”

Her gaze flew back to his face in surprise. It was the first time he had said anything in the least sexually oriented since that day on the beach almost fourteen days before. He had been stimulating, companionable, entertaining, and she had gradually allowed herself to relax in his company. “I’ve changed my mind. Not utterly impossible—you’re utterly egotistical.”

“Nope.” He set the cup down before stretching out full length and closing his eyes. “You’ve been fighting against it, but I’ve been growing on you.”

“And how do you deduce that?”

“Instinct. I have infallible instincts, remember?”

“I’m getting very tired of hearing about your instincts.”

“But you’re not getting tired of me.” He half opened his eyes and gazed up at her. “You like me, don’t you?”

“You’re … amusing.”

“And you’d miss me if I went away?”

“Maybe.”

“And you think I’m sexy?”

She made a face at him. “I’m not about to touch that question.”

“Touching is good. I wish you’d touch me.” He closed his eyes again. His voice was so soft, she had to strain to hear it. “I think about touching you all the time.”

Dear heavens, he was beautiful. The faded jeans clung to his long, powerful thighs and rode low on his slim hips. He had taken off his shirt to get some sun when he’d first sat down beside her that afternoon, and now his reclining position pulled the muscles of his stomach taut as they
flowed into the corded strength of his chest and shoulders. She had a sudden urge to put her hand on that flat stomach and feel the muscles contract. Warmth stung her cheeks as she looked quickly back at Cassie. “Then you should think about something more productive.”

“I’m hoping it will be
very
productive. What are you thinking about?”

She had been thinking how gorgeously tough he looked and wondering how many women had thought the same thing. “Don’t your damned instincts tell you?”

“Let me see.” His lids lifted to reveal brown eyes sparkling with humor. “You’re lusting after me again. Why don’t you give in to it, Lily? I guarantee I’ll be a pushover.”

“I was not lusting after you. I was just wondering where you got the great tan.”

“The Clanad is based in Sedikhan. It’s principally desert country.”

“You work for a foreign corporation?”

“International.”

“What does the Clanad produce?”

“Lots of things,” Andrew said vaguely. “It’s sort of hard to explain. Why do you want to know?”

“You never talk about your work. What do you do for this Clanad corporation?”

“It’s kind of difficult to describe. I guess you could say I fix things when they break down.”

“Computers?”

He shook his head. “I told you it was a difficult job to describe.”

“Well, they seem to give you plenty of time off. Corporations don’t usually give such long vacations to new employees, even if—”

“But I’m not new.” He sat up and reached for his cream-colored shirt. “I’m an old and trusted employee. They want to keep me happy.”

“Old?” she asked drily. “Then you must have started working for them when you were in high school.”

“Something like that.” He started to button his shirt. “You seem to have a hang-up because I’m younger than you. Four years shouldn’t make a
difference.” He grinned impishly. “Particularly as I’m such a jaded man of the world these days.”

No one could be less jaded than Andrew, Lily thought with sudden aching tenderness. He lived each moment with the same zest and curiosity Cassie did. “No way. Sometimes I think I should send you out to play in the sand, the way I do Cassie.”

His smile faded. “There you go again. I’m not a kid, Lily. If you want to build defenses, you can’t base them on those four years. I’m no inexperienced boy who has a fixation on an older woman. I think sex is great and I have strong appetites, but that isn’t what this is all about. I want much more from you.” His lips tightened. “And, by God, I’ll have it.”

“Andrew …” She gazed at him helplessly. “Go away. I’ll hurt you. I don’t have anything left to give. He drained me.”

“Baldor? He may have almost destroyed you, but you were too strong for him. You just needed time to recover and heal.” He was suddenly on his
knees beside her. “You’re ready to come alive again, Lily. Don’t be afraid. Let me help.”

He was burning, blazing, with nearly irresistible intensity. She found herself swaying toward him as if drawn into the center of a tornado. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she whispered.

“Yes, I do.” He framed her cheeks with his hands and gazed down into her eyes. “Do you like me?”

She didn’t answer.

“Don’t hide it. Tell me.”

“Yes.”

“Do you think I want to hurt you?”

“No, but—”

“Shhh. We’re making progress.” He smiled down at her with radiant sweetness. “Now the big one. Do you want me?”

“I told you I didn’t.” She moistened her lips with her tongue and, since he continued to stare down at her, finally burst out, “Yes, dammit, but it doesn’t mean anything.”

He laughed joyously as he gave her a quick, exuberant kiss. “The hell it doesn’t.”

His lips were hard, firm, and warm, and she had wanted them to linger. She unconsciously tilted her head back, seeking more. He smelled of clean soap and fresh sea air as the warmth of his body reached out to enfold her.

“When?” he asked softly. “Tell me when, love.”

“We can’t. Cassie—”

“Tonight. After Cassie goes to sleep. I’ll be here on the beach. Will you come?” He drew a shaky breath. “Lord, I want you to come. There are so many things I want to do with you. I want my hands on your breasts. I want to come into you and hear you cry out when I please you. I want to—”

“No … I don’t want to hear it.” His words were a heady aphrodisiac. She could feel the cotton of her shirt tauten as her breasts swelled.

“Just once,” he said coaxingly. “Just come to me once, and if you’re disappointed I’ll never ask
you to come again. Just once, Lily. You’re a passionate woman, and you need this. You need
me.”

A liquid burning tingled between her thighs, causing her muscles to clench. “It’s not so simple.”

“It can be. If you change your mind after you come to me, I’m not going to force you. Come tonight, and if you decide you’d like it, then let me love you.”