Don't Break My Heart (Return to Redemption, Book 6) (15 page)

 Read more of
Laurie’s romances that are
Steamy, Heartwarming Fun
:

The Memory of You
(prequel to the Return to Redemption Series)

A Little Bit of Déjà Vu
(Book One of the Return to Redemption
series)

Baby, I’m Back
(Book Two of
the Return to Redemption series)

The Parent Pact
(Book Three of the Return to Redemption series)

No Exchanges, No Returns
(Book Four of the Return to Redemption series)

A Heart Decision
(Book Five of the Return to Redemption series)

Don’t Break My
Heart
(Book Six of the Return to Redemption series)

Or try her L.L. Kellogg
romances that are
A Little Naughty and a lot of Fun

Hypnotic Seduction
(Book One of the Seduction Series)

Captive Seduction
(Book Two of the Seduction Series)

Sin City Seduction
(Book Three of the
Seduction Series)

Laurie Kellogg is a two-time winner and
seven-time nominee for the
Romance Writers of America
^®
Golden
Heart
^®
award, the winner of
Pacific Northwest Writers
Association
^®
Zola
award, and a
Romantic Times
^®
American Title I
finalist. She began writing to avoid housework and has
since resorted to naming the dust-bunnies multiplying as fast as real rabbits
while she plots love stories that are Steamy, Heartwarming, Romantic Fun

Laurie also writes red-hot romantic comedies
under L.L. Kellogg which she’s branded as
A
Little Naughty and a lot of Fun!
If you would like to know more about
Laurie and her books visit
http://www.LaurieKellogg.com

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(Originally published as The Great Bedroom
War)

The
Return to Redemption Series—Book Two

Romance Writers of America® Golden
Heart
®
Finalist

by

Laurie Kellogg

She’s trying to forget the pleasure in
her ex’s arms

He’s doing his damnedest to remind her

Fledgling
entrepreneur Samantha Riverà
is in charge of her own life for the first
time and determined to keep it that way. She’s
attempting to banish her call-all-the-shots ex-husband  from her dreams,
but it’s kind of tough forgetting the Zorro look-alike who’s willing to do
anything for her, except give her the only two things she wants—another baby
and his love. When their 14-year-old daughter Dani—who’s maintaining a shaky
remission from leukemia—rebels, Sam foolishly seeks advice from her Don Juan
ex, who, incidentally, could charm the knickers off a nun.

When corporate vice
president Nicolàs Riverà returns to Redemption, PA, to help control his defiant
daughter, he discovers he not only has serious competition for Sam’s affection,
but Dani has a crush on a boy who is the last kid Nick wants her interested in.
The boy is a horn-dog rebel who reminds Nick way to much of his teen-aged self.

Sam never
understood that to a Latino man familial responsibility is
número uno—
regardless of whether he was born and raised
in America
. She also has no concept of how terrified this reformed
bad-boy is of losing her to another high-risk pregnancy. The death of their
premature son devastated Nick, and his refusal to sire another child incited
The Great Bedroom War that ultimately destroyed his marriage. Now, he’ll stop
at nothing to get his family back—even if it means blackmailing his way back
into his ex-wife’s home to become a greater presence in his sick child’s
life—and, with any luck, Samantha’s bed and heart. 

CHAPTER 1

Every red-blooded American male has one of
two things on his mind at the end of a romantic evening. Samantha Riverá prayed
her date was wondering if the Phillies had won.

She slanted an uncertain smile at Adam Chase
as he walked her to the wraparound porch that hugged one corner of her home in
Redemption, Pennsylvania. “A penny for your thoughts?”

“That’s all?” His chuckle warped into a soft
snort. “Considering the rate of inflation, what I’m thinking is worth at least
a buck. Although it would probably get my face slapped.”

Her stomach lurched. Okay, scratch baseball....unless
he was considering sliding into a metaphorical home plate.

“Ahhh.” Sam gave a slow, perceptive nod
worthy of a carnival psychic. “S-E-X.”

“Hey, I admit it’s been a while, but I still
remember how to spell it,” he said, laughing. “I was actually wondering if you
have any idea how long it’s been since—”

“Is this the third Tuesday in September?”
she teased, trying not to recall the last incredible night she’d spent in her
ex-husband’s arms.

“I meant for me.” Adam turned serious,
ignoring her attempt to be funny. “This is our sixth date, Sam. Do you realize
how hard it is—”

Oh, jeez. She smothered a smile over his
choice of words. Evidently she was the one with sex on the brain. Except,
despite how much her body had hungered to be touched since her divorce,
emotionally she wasn’t ready.

Not even for second base.

“—I mean, what I’m trying to ask, not very
successfully,” he began again. “Are you interested in me as more than a friend,
or not?”

“Of course.” A woman would have to be lying
on a mortician’s slab not to be attracted to a golden hunk like Adam. His
sun-streaked hair, bronzed face, and broad shoulders made him look more like a
California surfer than a prominent doctor.

“Then quit trying to laugh your way out of
asking me in for coffee.”

She froze in her tracks, sucking in a deep
breath and inhaling the cloying scent of the petunias she’d planted along the
walkway. “I-I’m sorry, Adam. I can’t yet. I have a teenage daughter to set an
example for, and I need to feel a lot more than physical attraction to sleep—”

“You’re not over Nick, are you?”

She swallowed her reflexive denial. The
shame and resentment that Adam’s astute diagnosis ignited became a
fire-breathing dragon puffing from her neckline and singeing her cheeks.
Instead of answering, she gazed up at the Queen Anne Victorian farmhouse her
ex-husband had surprised her with seven years ago for her twenty-fifth
birthday. Admitting the truth was bittersweet—like swallowing a piece of
jagged, hard candy whole.

She wanted to be over Nicolás Riverá. Except
in the thirteen years she’d been married to the second-generation
Mexican-American, he’d become ingrained in her life—and psyche.

“It’s been over a year since he left you and
Dani,” Adam pointed out, no doubt interpreting her silence as ambivalence.

“That’s not entirely accurate.” She could
imagine the way Nick would bristle at Adam’s words. All Nick would hear was an
implication that he was an irresponsible lout who’d abandoned the mother of his
child the way his biological father had left Nick’s mom. “
I
deserted
Nick
when I
refused to move to Los Angeles with him. After growing up in Philly, I thought
he’d had enough of living in the city, too.”

“I can understand you not wanting to leave
the slower pace of a small town. But divorcing him—”

“My reasons weren’t just about leaving the
life I’ve made here.” Although, it truly would’ve broken her heart to say
good-bye to her friends, not to mention the covered bridges and country charm
surrounding Redemption. Samantha shook her head and heaved a regret-filled
sigh. “That was the tip of the iceberg. Our marriage was in trouble long before
that.” Ever since she’d lost their son.

“So what’s the problem?” Adam wound a blond
tendril of her shoulder-length hair around his index finger. “Forget him and
move on.”

“Right. It’s kind of tough to forget the
father of my child when he calls every few days and is still paying most of my
bills, even though, legally, he doesn’t have to.”

And how could she
not
remember a guy who’d washed and refueled her car every week and
always saved her the last peanut butter cup?

Despite Nick’s self-imposed commitment, he’d
never fallen in love with her the way she’d prayed. Instead, his perfunctory
devotion became a sharp wedge between them, chipping away at their relationship
like one of Michelangelo’s chisels.

“I don’t get you, Sam. If your ex is so
great, why the hell did you divorce him?”

“Because he’s a total control freak who has
to call all the shots. For example—did he discuss his transfer to L.A. with me?
No. He simply came home one afternoon and told me we were moving.” She waved
toward the house. “Not only did he buy our home—which I admit I love—without
consulting me, he also contacted a realtor to sell it before I could even
object to moving three thousand miles away from you, our sick daughter’s
doctor.”

“It’s nice to know you think I’m that
indispensable.” Adam chuckled, making light of her concern the same way Nick
had.

She fired a withering look at Adam. “I
realize some of the most prominent specialists are in Los Angeles. But Dani and
I trust
you
.”

“Sorry for laughing. You’re right. He was a
high-handed jerk.”

“I was also sick of feeling like an
obligation. Nick only married me because I was pregnant.”

All her life she’d been a burden to
someone—first to her great aunt for accepting custody of Sam after her parents
were killed and then to Nick. But unlike her begrudging relative, there wasn’t
much her ex-husband hadn’t insisted on doing for her. Except give her the only
things she really wanted—his love, his trust....and another baby.

“What you have to understand is Nick has an
overdeveloped sense of responsibility,” she explained. “He acted as if, in
fulfilling his duty, he earned the right to make every doggone decision in our
marriage.” She glanced at her watch, surprised to see how late it had gotten.
“Look, it’s almost eleven-thirty.” She dug her keys out of her purse. “I have
to be up at six for work.”

The defeat in Adam’s eyes was a first-class
ticket to Guiltsville. She had no respect for women who led men on. She squeezed
his arm and smiled. “I’m sorry. I won’t blame you if you don’t call again. But
I really enjoy your company, so I hope you’ll be patient with me a little
longer.”

He shook his head, wearing an understanding
smile. “I’m not about to give up, yet.”

His obliging attitude was one reason she
liked him so much. Nick would’ve kissed her senseless, trying to change her
mind. But disturbingly enough, Adam’s accommodating nature was also one of the
things that tended to irk her. How pathetic was that?

His longing gaze dropped to her silk
camisole, making her regret wearing something so clingy. “I’ve been hooked on
you since you first brought Dani to me.”

The dragon’s flames licked their way up to
her forehead. How many times had she accused Nick of having a jealous
imagination when it came to their daughter’s doctor?

A flash of lightning lit the sky, and a gust
of wind skimmed her bare shoulders, making her shiver. When several cold
raindrops splattered her face, Adam gently brushed her lips with his. “You’d
better go inside before you get soaked. Sweet dreams.”

Not likely. Fantasies, maybe. However, she
hadn’t slept soundly enough to dream since Nick moved out.

“Thanks for a wonderful evening.” She
sprinted up the four porch steps, and the sky released a deluge as if it had
been waiting for her to get under cover. She unlocked the new deadbolt Nick
recently asked his brother, Justin, to install. Turning, she waved to Adam, who
still stood next to his BMW, disappointment etched on his drenched face.

Remorse squeezed her throat as she closed
the oak and leaded-glass door, locked it, and hung her handbag on the coat tree
gracing the large foyer. A light blinked from the antique telephone table
beside the staircase.

Why hadn’t Dani answered the phone?

Sam crossed the hardwood floor and accessed
the voicemail.

“Hi, Sammy-Bee,” Nick said, using the
nickname he’d given her the day they’d met. He’d teased her about the girlie
dresses her maiden aunt had forced her to wear, even to play outdoors, and
she’d kicked him in the shin.

“She’s another Mohammad Ali,”
fourteen-year-old Nick had warned the neighborhood boys who’d hassled him when
he refused to retaliate against a puny eleven-year-old girl. “She may look like
a butterfly, but she stings like a friggin’ bee.” Then he’d invited her to join
their game of manhunt.

“I guess you two must’ve gone out tonight.”
His husky voice reminded her that over twenty years had come and gone.

She snorted softly, recalling Adam’s
suggestion to forget her ex. Hearing his deep voice sent shivers up and down
her back, making it hard to put the infuriating man out of her mind. Especially
when every time she looked at their daughter, a feminine version of him stared
back.

Sure, their child had inherited Sam’s smile,
fairer complexion, and gender. However, from the tip of Dani’s nose to the ends
of her midnight waves, her genetic code came from her dad.

“Our daughter’s been dodging my calls,” he
continued.

Ahh, that explained why Dani hadn’t answered
the phone earlier.

“I wanted to find out how she’s feeling and
if she needs anything.”

The only thing the child needed was an
attitude adjustment. Although, Sam didn’t suppose Dani would be a normal
teenager if she weren’t a little belligerent.

“I also wanted to tell you I mailed her a
check for some new school clothes, so don’t let her con you into buying them
for her.”

Idiot. Would the man ever stop? Why did he
think he was paying child support? And did he honestly think she would wait
until the end of September to do their child’s school shopping?

“Anyway,” he said, regret in his voice, “I
hope the two of you are doing something fun.”

No way would she tell him she’d been on a
date and give him the chance to say I told you so about their daughter’s
doctor.

“Tell Dani I love her, and if she doesn’t
stop dodging my calls, I’ll assume she doesn’t need her cell phone and cancel
it. Give me a ring when you get back. I really want to talk to you,
Abejita
.” His endearment—which he’d told
her meant ‘little bee’—evoked too many sultry memories of him whispering passionately
in her ear.

After a full day of chasing toddlers as a
preschool aide and dodging Adam’s advances all evening, she was too exhausted
to deal with Nick. He would have to wait until tomorrow.

A crash of thunder rattled the windows.
Samantha cringed, thanking God she was home. After miraculously surviving the
car accident that killed both of her parents during a downpour, she couldn’t
help becoming anxious during storms.

She checked the front door’s lock again,
dashed up the wide, curved staircase, and followed the long hallway to the back
of the house. She peeked into her daughter’s room and smiled. At fourteen, the
child had yet to give up the nightlight casting a glow on her bed. The iPod
docked in her combo alarm clock/stereo playing softly on the night table was a
new habit she’d developed, along with a passion for anything purple.

Dani slept wound up in the sheets with only
a few dark curls sticking out of her bright violet cocoon. The sight of her
baby safe and snug—and healthy for the moment—chased away the bone-deep chill
the rain had given Sam, leaving a warm fuzzy feeling in its place.

Smiling, she closed the door and tiptoed to
her room in the house’s turreted front corner that she adored.

When they’d bought the pale yellow farmhouse
on the outskirts of Redemption, they’d done extensive renovating—adding a
family room and study off the kitchen downstairs and a large bedroom above it
for Dani. The second floor’s overhaul, which included central air, a master
bath, and sitting area, gave them three bedrooms with twenty-first century
dimensions and a lot more closets and modern amenities than most
hundred-plus-year-old homes could claim.

The wind whistled outside, and the five huge
windows circling the turret’s alcove flashed intermittently like a row of
strobe lights. While she changed into a cotton nightshirt and brushed her
teeth, rain pelted the glass and tree branches brushed the house’s clapboards.

Before her divorce, she’d never given a
second thought to the spooky sounds the old building made. Even when Nick
worked late, she’d been reassured by the knowledge he’d soon be home. Now,
however, if she didn’t distract herself from analyzing every creak, rattle, and
groan tonight, she’d never get to sleep.

She fisted her hands to stop their trembling
and turned down the bedspread. After sliding between the sheets, she used the
remote to turn on the TV and grabbed one of the half-finished ultra-plush
animals she made and sold on consignment to supplement her meager income. The
only way she could fill the orders piling up was to use the time in bed, while
she flipped between Leno and Letterman, to stuff a few floppy cats and dogs.