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Authors: Jo Leigh

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BOOK: Daddy 101 (American Romance)

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“Yes. I do understand.”

“I could make you very happy, Dani. It would be a good life. One filled with love. I mean that. I’d never do anything to hurt you. It would almost be like we were married, except—”

“Except for your wife.”

He opened his mouth, then shut it again. “It doesn’t sound so good when you say it.”

“Do you honestly expect me to say yes? To willingly go to New York knowing I’ll always be the other woman? To watch you find a wife? To sit back while you share her bed night after night?”

“No. No, of course not.”

“Then what are you asking me?”

He paused for a long time. “I don’t know anymore.”

She studied him. His brow was creased and his gaze was centered somewhere in his past.

“Didn’t you ever consider that your father could have been wrong?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “The day I met you.”

“But?”

He looked at her again. The confusion in his eyes was almost painful to see. “It’s not easy to change a lifetime of rules.”

“I know that. I’ve got some rules of my own that I’m not willing to change. One of them is that I won’t be your mistress.”

“What if I did ask you to be my wife?”

She shook her head. “No. I’d fail you, and that wouldn’t be fair. You know that as well as I do. I can’t be a decoration. Or the kind of hostess you want. If I get married, it’s got to be a fifty-fifty proposition.”

“And love has nothing to do with it?”

“Love has everything to do with it.”

“Don’t you believe me? Don’t you understand that I love you more than I can ever say?”

“I know you care for me. But I also know a lot more. You’re out of your natural habitat, Alex. You’re in a kind of limbo, I think. It’s exciting and different, but you can’t take this place and magically transport it to New York. It doesn’t work that way.”

“I don’t want the place. I don’t give a damn about the place. I want you.”

“I’m part of this place. This is my home. My values come from being here, among these people. My values insist that when I love, it’s one hundred percent. No holding back. For a lifetime. As an equal partner.”

“Will you do something for me?”

“If I can.”

“Will you think about it? Don’t just dismiss it because it’s not what you imagined.”

“Okay. But I don’t see how we’re ever going to agree on this.”

“I can’t let this go.”

“You can. So can I. But not tonight. Tonight, we can have exactly what we want.” She turned to her side, and kissed him gently on the mouth. “Even if we can’t have forever, I’m very grateful for right now.”

He pulled her tight against him once more. “You confuse the hell out of me, you know that? You’re what my father used to call a fly in the ointment.”

“Sometimes,” she said, rubbing her cheek on his chest, “you need a fly to remind you that the ointment needs changing.”

Chapter Fifteen

T
he night was another restless one for Dani. Having Alex next to her in bed was more of a distraction than she’d have ever guessed. She kept wanting to touch him. To feel his skin and his hair. To press her body to his. Which of course led to things. Things that made her want to throw her values to the wind and go with him as his mistress, as his concubine, anything, as long as she was his woman.

Then they’d rest again and he’d fall asleep in her arms. She’d think about what it would be like to be Alex Bradley’s mistress. The longer she thought about it, the more uncertain she became. Were her old-fashioned morals standing in the way of her one true chance at happiness?

If she let him go, would she regret it the rest of her life? So what if it wasn’t traditional. She’d never let that stop her before. Hadn’t she raised a child all on her own, with no help from Randy? Hadn’t she gone back to school when everyone told her it was crazy? That she’d never graduate?

At about two in the morning she finally was so tired she couldn’t keep from looking at the real problem. It wasn’t about tradition. Or about what anyone would say. Plain and simple, she wasn’t willing to share. She didn’t give a damn if he’d love his wife or not. Knowing there was another woman, sleeping in his home, eating at his table, sitting on his couch, was utterly unacceptable. In Alex’s world, that might seem naive and pedestrian, but she didn’t care about that, either. Alex would be hers completely, or not at all. Which meant, of course, that it was not at all.

How cruel Fate was. To give her this taste of happiness, only to yank it out of her reach. But then, what had she expected? Her luck had never been good when it came to love. Alex just proved the point. There were no surprises here. Only, why the hell did he have to stop in her town? And why did making love with him feel like the best thing she’d ever done, or would ever do?

Now, with the coming of the light and the start of a new day she felt tired and sad and angry. It wasn’t fair. But then, fair had never played a major role in her life. This thing between them would never work. Period. End of story. Imagining, even for a moment, that it might would only hurt her more. It was time to end the fantasy, and get back to reality.

“Morning.”

She looked at Alex lying next to her. He still had a dreamy look in his eyes that told her he wasn’t really up yet, but still in twilight sleep. His smile was slow and sexy, and her insides just melted. She rose quickly and grabbed her bathrobe from the bottom of the bed. Being naked with Alex was not in her best interests.

“I caught you,” he said, his voice all raspy.

“What do you mean?” she said, tying the belt snugly at her waist.

“Last night. Well, maybe it was this morning. I caught you looking at me.”

“Yeah?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And?”

“You wanted me,” he said as he sat up. The sheet fell to his waist. Her gaze lingered on that chest of his.

“I did not,” she said, forcing herself to look away. He was just too beautiful. It played havoc with her determination to put an end to this... this farce right now.

“Oh, yes, you did. It was right there, in your eyes. But there was something else, too.”

“Oh?”

“Yep. Which wasn’t so nice.” He ran his fingers through his tousled hair, then looked at her intently. “You looked sad,” he said. “Sad and confused. I didn’t mean to do that to you. I wanted to make you happy.”

“I know,” she said, wanting to reassure him even while she knew that would be the worst thing she could do. “But you can’t always get what you want. Not even you.”

“You think I might get what I need?”

“Mick Jagger might not be the sage of the ages, you know?”

Alex didn’t respond. His sexy smile was gone now. “I need you,” he whispered.

“No,” she said. “You want me. There’s a difference.”

“I’m not the same man with you, Dani. I’ll never be that man again. You woke me up. Made me feel. How can I go back to business deals and stock exchanges without you? I never realized how empty it was. Honestly. I figured all I needed was a change of scenery. But that wasn’t it at all. It’s you.”

She tried to smile, even though his words were tearing her up. “Nonsense,” she said, struggling to keep her voice teasing. “You’ll meet Miss New York and forget all about me.”

.“Don’t say that.”

“Why not? It’s true. Face it, Alex. I’m a quick fling, that’s all. A little detour on the great highway of your life. We shouldn’t make more of it. It just complicates things.”

“No. It’s not like that. You know it isn’t.”

Dani shifted her gaze so that she wasn’t looking him in the eye. She had to say the next words, even though she knew they were all lies. And she had to make him believe her. “It’s true for me, Alex.”

His stillness told her she’d been convincing. She had to move now, get away from him before he said something that would make her crumple. She headed for the bathroom. “I think you’d better get up and get changed,” she said. “I’d rather Chloe didn’t see you in here.”

She didn’t wait for an answer. She just ducked inside her bathroom and closed the door. Her forehead came to rest on the cool wood. Dammit, why did this have to be so hard? If she’d been asked a few days ago if love at first sight was possible, she’d have laughed. Now, she knew that all the fairy tales about instant romance were true, except, of course, for the happy endings. She’d fallen, all right. Hard. Alex had breezed into her life and messed her up for good. Now how was she supposed to find someone who really could be part of her life? There wasn’t a man alive who could compare to him. Certainly not in Carlson’s Gap.

All she had to do was get through today. They’d be at the street festival, and Alex would be the center of attention. She’d be thrust into the background while the town fell at his feet. That would be a good thing. A taste of what life would be like with the Sexiest Man in the World. Today would make saying goodbye easier. At least, she hoped so.

ALEX DIDN’T WANT TO SIGN autographs. He didn’t want to smile politely, answer questions or have his picture taken. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was helping raise money for Dani’s clinic, he would have turned around and walked away.

But this was for Dani. Maybe the only thing he could give her. So he let Brenda, in her rhinestone-studded jacket and skintight jeans, lead him through the already swelling crowd to a booth set up dead center in the middle of Main Street. His pictures, blown up from the
World
magazine, loomed all around him on shop windows, banners and even on balloons.

“You’ll stand here, Alex,” Brenda said. “And people will line up in back. The photographer will take one photo each. No more.”

She had him standing in front of the booth. From here, he could see the local radio station remote truck, the NBC affiliate truck and a whole slew of other booths lining the street. Vendors were setting up arts and crafts, snacks and games. The morning sun was warm, yet a cool breeze kept things brisk. It looked to him as if the entire population of Carlson’s Gap was out here doing something. Except for Dani. He knew she was out there somewhere. They’d walked here together, listening to Chloe’s excited chatter the whole way. Each of them had carried a cake, and surprisingly, all three confections had made it to the school booth without mishap. He’d been embarrassed to see that their cakes were priced way above the others, just because he’d helped bake them. But it made Chloe feel important and happy, so he’d let it go.

Dani hadn’t said a word about it. But then, she’d been quiet all morning. Of course he knew why. He’d pretty much made a mess of things last night. How could he have been such an ass? Asking Dani to be his mistress while he married another woman? The idea was ludicrous. Insane. Yet, that’s what he’d proposed.

It was a mystery to him that he could have accepted his father’s notions for all these years without question. Maybe he hadn’t wanted to think about it too much. It had always been the excuse he used not to get too close. But now that he did want to get close, he didn’t know how.

“Can I get you something? Coffee?”

He’d forgotten about Brenda. He smiled at her briefly, then went back to looking for Dani. “No, that’s okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, thanks,” he said, concentrating on her for the moment. She still seemed as nervous as when she’d first approached him. “Hey, it’s going to work out fine,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll raise lots of money.”

“Oh, yes. I think so, too. Especially after Mr. Chesterton gets here.”

“Pardon me?”

“Your Mr. Chesterton. He should be arriving soon, don’t you think? I’m so excited. Did you see that NBC is here? ‘Entertainment Tonight’ is supposed to be coming, too. And maybe someone from ‘E!.’”

“Ted is coming here?”

Brenda’s expression turned puzzled. “Yes, of course. I thought...”

“What is he going to be doing here, exactly?”

She stepped back a little, clearly in reaction to his tone, but he didn’t care. “He’s bringing Carley Ann Foxmoor. For publicity pictures. He said—”

“I can imagine what he said.” Alex tried to gain control of his anger. He knew just what Ted was trying to do. Bringing Carley was a sneaky damn thing to pull. He’d dated Miss California for several months, and everyone had assumed that something more would come of it. But he’d never made any pretense of the fact that it was just dating. Nothing else. Nothing more. Ted was bringing her here so that he would see Dani next to Carley. So that he would come to his senses.

“I think that’s him now,” Brenda said, her voice quivery. He must have really frightened her. “I’m sorry. It’s not your fault,” he said as he followed her gaze down the street to his left. A black limo approached. That was Ted all right.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Bradley. I thought for sure you knew. It was such a good idea.”

“It’s Alex, and don’t worry. Your fund-raising will go on as planned. Will you excuse me, please?”

He didn’t wait for her answer. He walked toward the limo, forcing himself to keep his hands from turning into fists. Ted was a good assistant, the best he’d ever had, but this was going too far. They were going to have a little talk.

Just as the limo pulled to the side of the road and stopped, Alex spotted a familiar blond head in the crowd by the registration booth. Dani. What was she going to think when she saw Carley get out of that car? He didn’t need this. Not after his own blunders last night.

The limo driver stepped out and went to the passenger door just as Dani caught sight of him. She was heading his way, Chloe in tow. There was no way to stop her, short of a running tackle. Damn.

“WHOSE CAR IS THAT?” Chloe asked.

“I don’t know. It’s big, though, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. It’s like the one Alex’s friend had. Think that’s him again?”

“Maybe,” Dani said. Alex hadn’t mentioned Ted coming back to town. But who else in Carlson’s Gap would have access to a limo?

She waved at Alex, but he didn’t wave back. Even from across the street she could see something was wrong. Her stomach muscles tightened and she felt a lump in her throat. This wasn’t good. She wasn’t sure why or how, but she knew. Something bad was afoot.

She slowed her pace, but Chloe pulled her along. Dani wanted to tell Chloe to stop. To turn around and run the other way, but she didn’t. She just kept walking. It felt strangely like a procession to the gallows.

They reached Alex as the door to the limo opened. Instead of Ted, a woman stepped out. Not just a woman—an extraordinarily beautiful woman. The most gorgeous woman Dani had ever seen in her life. In a dress that showed off every curve of her very curvy body. Tall, long blond hair, perfect makeup, big breasts. A centerfold come to life.

“Alex!”

Dani watched the woman beam at Alex, rush toward him as if in slow motion and fling herself into his arms. Then her lips were on his, and Dani couldn’t watch anymore. She felt the crowd around her, felt Chloe’s hand in hers, tugging her closer to the car, but none of it really registered.

She was too busy trying to keep herself together. The pain she felt caught her off guard. It was too sharp, too debilitating. It was a struggle not to fall. How stupid she was! How could she have thought, even for one minute that Alex could be hers? It was clear he belonged with the tall blonde, not plain old her.

When she opened her eyes, the kiss had ended, but not the embrace. The woman’s arms were around his neck, and Alex’s hands were on her waist. They were talking. No, Alex was talking.

“That’s Miss California.”

“Carley someone, right?”

“God, she’s gorgeous. I heard they were getting married. I think it was in the
Enquirer.”

Dani listened to the two women next to her. She felt hot tears in her eyes, and blinked them back. She couldn’t stay. She couldn’t.

“Come on, Chloe.”

BOOK: Daddy 101 (American Romance)

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