Tempting (4 page)

Alex stared at his ex-wife. “Not as much as you'd think.”

Fiona seemed torn between fury and pleading. “Alex, you can't let him talk to me like that.”

“Why not? Ian has a great sense of humor.”

“Something you wouldn't understand, babe,” Ian said. “Humor is not your thing.” He turned and rolled out of the room. “Love ya,” he called over his shoulder.

Fiona drew in a breath. “I've never understood that boy.”

“You've never tried.” It had taken Alex a long time to figure out how Fiona felt about Ian, but he'd finally understood that she couldn't stand to look at the kid. It was as if the variation on normal had disgusted her. That truth was only one thing on a long list of reasons he'd walked away from her and their marriage.

“Alex, I don't want to fight.”

He crossed to the wet bar and opened a cabinet. After pouring himself some scotch, he faced her. “I'm not fighting.”

“You know what I mean.” She glided close to him and put her hand on his chest. “I miss you so much. There has to be something I can say or do to help you forgive me. It was only one mistake. Can you really be so cold and unforgiving?”

“I'm the bastard king,” he said, then took a sip. “Literally. Well, the bastard part anyway.”

She drew in a breath, as if determined to ignore his baiting of her. “Alex, I'm being serious. I'm your wife.”

“You were my wife.”

“I want to be again.”

He looked her up and down. On the surface, she was everything a man could want—beautiful, intelligent, an excellent dinner companion. She could talk to anyone, anywhere. Nearly all his friends had wondered how he had let her get away.

“Not happening,” he told her flatly.

“But I love you. Doesn't that mean anything?”

He thought about that night nearly two years ago. When he'd come home unexpectedly.

“No,” he said. “It doesn't mean a damn thing.”

D
ANI STOOD ON THE PORCH
of a large, impressive house in Bellevue and told herself that the world wouldn't end when she rang the doorbell. It might feel as if it would, but that wasn't real. Besides, just standing out here, lurking, would upset the neighbors. What if they called and told Mark's wife about a potential thief hovering? Katherine Canfield would open the front door and find her there. It was not how Dani wanted them to meet.

“I'm babbling in my head,” Dani muttered to herself. “This is bad. Seriously bad. I think I need therapy. Or at least a frontal lobe transplant.”

She forced herself to push the bell. As the soft ringing sound echoed inside the house, she felt her heart speed up until it was in danger of bursting into warp eight and zipping off to the nearby non-earth galaxy.

The door opened. Dani tried to brace herself, but there wasn't enough time. Then all the air flowed out of her lungs when she recognized the man standing there.

“Thank God,” she said before she could stop herself. “It's just you.”

Alex raised his eyebrows. “Just me? So I wasn't intimidating enough at our last meeting? None of the threats worked?”

Oops. “No, no. Of course not. You were terrifying. I won't sleep for weeks. Dragons. I'm going to have nightmares about them. Seriously. It's just compared with meeting your mother…no offense, but you're a snap.”

He didn't even crack a smile. Was it that the man didn't have a sense of humor or was it her specifically that he didn't find funny? She thought about pointing out this was actually pretty good material, but decided not to. There was a better than even chance she would be barfing from nerves shortly. Why push her luck now?

He stared at her for several seconds. She smiled tightly. “It's the whole visitor, front door thing. You're supposed to invite me in.”

“I don't want to.”

“You'll warm up to me.”

“I doubt it.”

“I'm a very nice person.”

He looked unconvinced but still he took a step back and allowed her to ease past him into the foyer.

The interior of the house was large, but homey. It was the kind of place designed to make someone feel at ease—too bad it wasn't having that effect on her at the moment.

She turned to Alex, but before she could speak a teenage boy rolled into the room. He was pale and thin, with dark hair and eyes. His right hand worked a control on his motorized wheelchair while his left hand lay bent and curled in his lap.

“Are you the stripper I ordered?” he asked as he eyed her. “I've been waiting over an hour. I was expecting better service from your company.”

Dani tilted her head slightly as she tried to figure out how to handle the outrageous question. Finally she settled on the truth.

“I'm not exactly stripper material,” she said with a grin. “I'm too short. I always picture them really tall and with those big headpieces like the Las Vegas showgirls wear.”

“They couldn't drive in one of those feather things,” he told her.

“They could if they had a sunroof and kept it open.”

“Don't encourage him,” Alex muttered. “Dani Buchanan, Ian Canfield. My brother. He can be obnoxious.”

“An ugly accusation and totally untrue.”

“Nice to meet you,” Dani said and held out her hand to Ian.

He moved his wheelchair close and shook her hand. “You could be stripper material if you wanted,” he said.

“What a lovely thing to say. It's a compliment I'll treasure always. My mother would be so proud.”

Ian laughed. “Okay, I like you. That doesn't happen often. You
should
treasure the moment.”

Dani laughed. “I will. You'll be prominently mentioned in my diary tonight.”

He sighed. “It's a problem I have all the time. Chicks dig me. It's the supersized battery. They go crazy for power.”

With that, he spun his chair and wheeled away.

When he was gone, she turned to Alex. “See. People like me.”

“He's young and he doesn't know who you are.”

“Meaning he won't like me when he finds out I'm inherently evil?”

Alex stared at her. His dark eyes gave nothing away. “Ian doesn't usually warm up to people.”

“He's a perceptive young man. I like him, too.”

“You think I'm going to be swayed by some pity banter with my crippled brother?”

Her brief good mood faded and she suddenly wished she were big and muscular so she could hit him and do some damage.

“Don't insult me and don't you dare insult him.” She moved closer and poked him in the chest. “I'll accept that I'm a complication no one expected. You can be protective of your family all you want, you can even think the worst of me. But don't you dare take what was a charming moment in an otherwise insane day and make it something disgusting.”

“Are you going to take me on?” he asked, obviously unimpressed by her temper.

“In a heartbeat.”

“Think you'll win?”

“Absolutely.”

One corner of his mouth twitched slightly. “We'll see.”

Great. She was furious and he found the situation, or possibly her, amusing. Good-looking or not, she was thinking she could seriously grow to hate this man.

He motioned for her to walk into the large living room. As she passed him, she waved her purse in front of him. “I brought a small bag so there won't be that awkward moment of you asking to search it before I leave. This will make it so much harder for me to steal the family silver, though.”

“It wouldn't have been awkward.”

“You really are a lawyer.”

“What does that mean?” he asked.

“You're not afraid to say what you think, you don't worry about insulting me and you're determined to see me as nothing more significant than lint. That takes a lot of training.”

“Or the right motivation.”

The room was done in earth tones. The comfortable furnishings had an air of grace. The paintings looked original, the carpets thick enough to sleep on, yet there were a few toys scattered around. This was not a room for show. People lived here and she liked that.

Dani turned to take it all in, then noticed a woman in a white coat perched on the edge of a sofa. She rose and walked over to them.

“Whenever you're ready,” the woman said.

Ready for what?

Oh, right. “DNA test?” Dani asked. “You're not wasting any time.”

“Do you want me to?” Alex asked.

Instead of answering, Dani turned to the woman. “Swab away.”

She opened her mouth and the lab tech stroked the inside of her cheek with a cotton swab. Seconds later she was done and on her way. Dani stared after her.

“Let me guess. You're paying extra for a speedy result?”

“It seemed the smart thing to do.”

She felt exhausted by the roller coaster of emotion she'd been through that day. There was enough stress in the situation without fighting with Alex, too.

“I want to know the truth,” she told him. “Nothing more. If Mark Canfield isn't my father, then I'll disappear and we can all pretend this didn't happen.”

Alex didn't look convinced. “You could have stayed away in the first place.”

“I want to know my father. Even you must be human enough to understand that.”

“I've already told you, I find your timing a little too convenient.”

“I just got the information recently. All I want is to figure out where I belong.”

He didn't actually say “not here,” but the words echoed in the quiet room.

Despite them, Alex motioned for her to sit on the sofa. “Do you want something to drink?”

“No, thanks.” Her stomach was too unsettled from nerves.

“They aren't telling the children. Not until the test results are back. You're going to have to go another few days before you can claim your glory.”

She'd been about to sit. Now she straightened. “Dammit, Alex, that's enough. You're pushing me for no reason. I've committed no crime. I've been totally honest and up-front. The fact that you choose not to believe me doesn't change the truth. You're going to have to back off or we're going to have a problem.”

He folded his arms across his chest. “We already do. I don't trust you. There's nothing you can say to make me want to try.”

She narrowed her gaze. Part of her respected his stubborn determination to protect what was his. Part of her wanted to back the car over him.

“Then let's try this another way. How about you let me get close to screwing up before you bite my head off?”

She had no idea if he would accept her offer. She found herself hoping he would and not just because she might be related to his father. Something inside of her wanted Alex to like her. A dangerous possibility, she thought, given her history in the romance department and her potential, non-biological family link with Alex.

“How close?” he asked finally.

“Within sight of, but not actually touching.”

“I'll think about it.”

Considering how he'd been acting, it was a major concession. Maybe he wasn't the Terminator. Maybe he could be bargained with or reasoned with. Although she had a feeling if she got in his way, he would rip out her heart without a second thought. Verbally, if not physically.

Silence descended. Awkward silence that made her squirm. She knew she was being tested, that whoever spoke first lost the game, but she couldn't stand to just sit there.

“The house is great,” she said. “I like how it feels lived-in and not showy.”

“My mother has excellent taste.” He glanced at his watch. “The senator will be down shortly.”

She tucked her hair behind her ear. “You did that before. At campaign headquarters. You call him the senator rather than Mark or my dad.”

“It makes things easier for everyone. We're in a working environment there.”

“But you're not at work right now.”

His dark gaze settled on her face. “It makes things easier,” he repeated.

How? “Are you showing respect or trying to make sure no one thinks of you as Daddy's little boy?”

One eyebrow rose, which seemed to be all the answer she was going to get.

“Did the question annoy you?” she asked. “I think it's both. The man
is
running for president.” A concept Dani doubted she would ever be able to get her mind around. “But on a personal note, you'd hate people to think you were here because of your relationship with your father rather than on your own merit.”

“You know this how?” he asked.

“I'm a good guesser. Am I wrong?”

“Would you like something to drink?”

She smiled. “You don't like questions, do you? It's that lawyer thing. You want to be doing the asking, not the answering. That's okay. So if you're working on the campaign, you're on leave or something from your law office?”

“Something like that,” he said reluctantly. “If the senator decides to run for president, I'll work for the campaign.”

“The whole political thing is new to me. I vote, but that's about it. Sometimes I watch the debates. It's not really my thing.”

“The democratic process is not for the timid,” Alex told her. “Running for president is not a decision to be made lightly. One good scandal can destroy an honest man's chance forever.”

Which meant her. “I'm not here to hurt anyone.”

“That doesn't mean it's not going to happen.”

Dani was used to being liked and disliked on her own merits. She wasn't perfect, but she wasn't channeling the devil, either.

Before she could point that out, a slim, well-dressed woman in her fifties walked into the room. Dani rose automatically as she took in the woman's classically beautiful features and sleek upswept hair.

Alex stood, as well, crossed to her and kissed her on the cheek. “This is Dani Buchanan,” he said. “Dani, my mother, Katherine Canfield.”

Katherine's dark blue eyes crinkled slightly as she smiled in welcome. “Dani. How lovely to meet you. We're delighted you could join us for dinner tonight.”

Her tone was as gracious as her words. Dani knew this had to be awkward for all of them, but Katherine's smile never wavered.

The older woman turned to her son. “No drinks? Nothing to eat? Are you planning to starve her into submission?”

“I asked,” he said, sounding slightly defensive. “She said she didn't want anything.”

Dani stared at him. Was this a crack in dragon-boy's armor? Was his need to protect his family by harassing her about to conflict with his mother's sense of good manners?