Undercover Daddy (5 page)

“I won’t give you a reason to cut me out of Christopher’s life,” she promised.

Elaina hoped it was a promise she could keep.

The doorbell rang, and that had Luke reaching for his gun again. It also had her heart racing out of control. Before Luke had stormed into her life, she’d managed to find a small sense of security.

That was all gone now.

Feeling safe might be a thing she’d never experience again. His gun and mere presence were reminders of that.

“Are you expecting anyone?” Luke asked.

She shook her head, and Luke followed her when she went to see who it was. Elaina looked out the door scope. The person on the other side certainly wasn’t the threat that her body had prepared itself for. She recognized the lanky man with the mop of unruly ginger-colored hair.

“It’s Gary Simpson. My neighbor.”

That didn’t cause Luke to relax one bit. He still kept a firm grip on his gun. “He comes by often?”

“Yes.” Elaina refrained from adding
too often.
“He probably saw my car and is checking on me because I’m not usually home this time of day. Or else he heard about the men who were arrested in front of Theresa’s house. If I don’t answer the door, he’ll get suspicious.”

Luke waited a moment, as if deciding what to do with that information, and then reholstered his gun. He tipped his head to the door, an indication for her to open it.

Elaina did, after she temporarily deactivated the security system. She wanted to do everything possible to make certain this wasn’t a long visit. Her goal was to put Gary’s concerns and questions to rest so she could get rid of him.

Gary was about to ring the bell again, but he stopped when he saw her. “Elaina.”

That was the only greeting her neighbor provided, but his cautious blue eyes immediately landed on Luke. He didn’t have to look far to see him because Luke quickly joined her. Side-by-side. He even slipped his arm around her waist, a reminder that this was showtime. He wanted them to go into their couple routine.

“It’s true then,” Gary said. “Your husband came home.”

“I did,” Luke volunteered.

And there was definitely something territorial about the way Luke said it. The embrace was territorial, as well, and he pulled her even closer to him.

Gary’s reaction wasn’t exactly passive, either. His too-full mouth tightened, and he shoved his hands into the pockets of jeans, but not before Elaina noticed that his hands had fisted.

She knew that Gary was attracted to her. After all, he’d asked her out several times. Not for real dates, he’d said, but invitations to join him for steaks that he was barbecuing. Or for a swim in his pool. Elaina had always declined and then flashed her fake wedding ring to remind him that she wasn’t available. But judging from his expression, Gary wanted to believe differently.

“Elaina, are you…okay?” Gary asked.

His hesitant question had more than a tinge of suspicion to it. Maybe because despite the embrace with Luke, she didn’t look like a loving wife whose missing husband had just returned to her.

Her lack of sincerity would no doubt rile Luke if he thought she wasn’t doing her best to play her part, so she immediately tried to do just that. Elaina looked up at Luke and hoped she had love in her eyes. Fake love, of course.

Luke looked down at her at the same moment that Elaina looked up. He was doing the fake love act, too, but he was obviously a lot better at it than she was. His eyes softened. The corner of his mouth lifted. And he smiled. He probably didn’t know that his smile was his best feature. He was handsome with the stone face, but with that smile, he was in whole different category of handsome.

Okay, he was hot.

Elaina hated that she had to admit that, especially since she was doing her best to forget anything remotely positive about him. But it didn’t matter. In the grand scheme of things, good looks meant nothing.

“Elaina?” she heard Gary say.

She forced her attention away from Luke. “I’m fine,” she answering, trying to smile. It didn’t come as easily for her as it did Luke.

“Are you sure, because you—”

“She’s fine,” Luke interrupted. He leaned in and brushed that smiling mouth over hers.

It was a simple gesture. An act. But Elaina felt herself go all tingly and warm. Heck, she even felt it all the way to her toes. Furious at her reaction, she dismissed it as fatigue and fear. Or at least that’s what she tried to do, but Luke didn’t take his mouth from hers. The tingling and warmth soon began to skyrocket.

She pinched his back and would have pinched herself if she hadn’t thought it would make Gary even more wary.

Luke reacted to the pinch. He pulled away and stared down at her. He looked stunned. Or something. And he shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what had just happened. Maybe that’s because he might have experienced it, too.

“I’m fine,” Elaina repeated to Gary. “Really. Couldn’t be better.” And she put an unspoken “goodbye” at the end of that.

“Good. That’s good.” Gary nodded awkwardly. He obviously didn’t catch the goodbye part because he continued. “I heard about the protestors. The sheriff’s holding them for questioning or something. There’s also a federal agent of some kind down at the jail, but the sheriff sure isn’t saying anything about why he’s there.”

Well, it’d taken less than an hour for that information to make it to Gary, which meant it was all over town. Hopefully, it would keep most folks from visiting because they’d probably think she wanted to spend some time alone with her
husband.
Being alone with Luke was no piece of cake. Her body couldn’t take much more of this.

Elaina decided to go for the direct approach. “I’ll see you soon,” she said to Gary. She waited until he issued an unenthusiastic goodbye before she shut the door.

Luke didn’t let go of her.

She didn’t let go of him.

They just stood there with his arm still curved around her waist.

“This is a lot harder than I thought it’d be,” Luke mumbled.

“Welcome to the club.”

She paused, trying to figure out how to say what she needed to say. Elaina finally decided to heck with it. This was something that had to be said. But Elaina didn’t continue until she stepped from his embrace and put some distance between them. “We dislike each other. But you’re still a man, and I’m a woman. Our bodies aren’t reacting as if we’re enemies.”

He nodded. “Our bodies were reacting to the adrenaline.”

Elaina toyed with that explanation and figured it was a good one. She only wished she’d thought of it first.

Even more, she wished it were totally true.

“Just in case it’s a little more than that,” she added, “I’m going to suggest no more kisses.”

His eyebrow came up. “You’re probably right. Besides, we have enough to deal with without adding adrenaline reactions to the mix.”

Elaina had no trouble agreeing with that.

Luke reached over and reactivated the security system. Since he pressed in the correct code, he must have watched her before she opened the door for Gary.

“Do you think your neighbor is suspicious that I’m not your husband?” Luke asked.

“No. He’s jealous. I don’t think anyone in town suspects that you aren’t Daniel Allen. If they did, we would have already heard about it.”

“Good. Let’s keep it that way.” He propped his hands on his hips and glanced around the room. “We need to make sure all the windows and doors are locked. And close the blinds.”

He didn’t wait for her to comply; he started the task by checking the windows in the living room. “After we’re done, stay away from the windows and don’t go back outside.”

All of his activity got her heart racing. “Wait a minute. Those men are still in jail, aren’t they?”

Luke snared her gaze, and Elaina saw it then. Not the attraction. Not the cockiness. Definitely not the “loving husband” he’d been just moments earlier.

She saw the concern.

“Those men are in jail,” Luke confirmed. He turned toward Christopher’s room and said the rest of what he had to say over his shoulder as he walked away. “But that doesn’t mean they’re working alone.”

Luke was practically soaking wet, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t about to leave his son’s bath time just so he could dry off.

Christopher was enjoying himself in what was left of the two inches of warm water inside his little yellow plastic tub. Elaina had placed that tub inside the regular porcelain one in the bathroom. At first, Luke hadn’t understood why she did that. But after watching Christopher splash water over Elaina, Luke, himself and most of the entire room, he knew this was the best place for his son.

He wondered how long it would take him to learn all the little things that made Christopher’s life happier and safer. Feeding him dinner had been an enjoyable challenge, but those challenges were just starting.

Luke smiled at that.

Then, frowned.

He’d never felt more incompetent at anything in his life. And yet, he’d never looked so forward to anything, either. Through the baths, feedings and playtimes, he’d get to know his baby, they’d form a bond, and he’d no longer be a father in name only.

“He’s a special little boy, isn’t he?” Luke heard Elaina say.

Luke turned toward her. She was watching him watch Christopher, and the pain and doubts were there all over her face. A huge contrast to the laughing, splashing baby in the tub.

“He’s usually happy like this?” he asked.

She smiled, just a brief one, before she clamped it off. “Most of the time. But he’ll get sleepy soon, and then he’s likely to be cranky.”

Luke checked his watch. It was nearly 8:00 p.m., which meant his son would soon be going to bed. That would leave Luke alone with Elaina. When he’d come up with this plan, he certainly hadn’t realized that the hardest part wouldn’t be dealing with his son, but with the woman who’d raised him.

“You won’t change his name, will you?” Elaina asked.

It seemed an odd question, but after giving it some thought, maybe it wasn’t so odd. He certainly hadn’t had any say in anything to do with Christopher—including something this important. “You named him?”

“Yes. Christopher Sean. He’s not named after anyone. It’s just something I liked. So, there’s no baggage or relatives attached to it if that’s what you thought.”

He hadn’t thought that at all. Luke had done a thorough background check on Elaina, and neither of those names had come up.

“Christopher suits him,” Luke concluded. “The only thing that’ll change is his surname.”

“That doesn’t matter,” she mumbled. “It’s fake anyway. As you pointed out, my entire life is fake.”

That wasn’t true. What his son felt for her was real, and even Luke couldn’t dismiss that.

Christopher reached for her, batting her hand with the rubber duck he was clutching. She smiled and tickled him on his belly. Christopher giggled and splashed some more.

Elaina caught the brunt of the water this time. Christopher doused the front of her clingy, garnet-red top. The water made it even more clingy, and that was Luke’s cue to get his attention off her clothes and the way they fit her body.

“Just to let you know,” Luke said, going over the ground rules. “We’ll be sleeping in the nursery tonight with Christopher.”

She froze a moment, shook her head as if ready to disagree with that, but then her eyes widened. “You mean because of the danger? Well, I’d planned on sleeping next to him anyway. I figured you’d take the sofa in the living room.”

“Not a chance of that.” He caught on to one of Christopher toes and played a silent game of Little Piggy. Christopher grinned from ear to ear.

Elaina didn’t grin. She frowned. “Then, I’ll take the sofa. You can stay with Christopher.”

She obviously didn’t understand that these were rules, not suggestions. “No one is going to take the sofa. We’re all going to sleep in the same room because it’s the only way I can make sure both of you are safe.”

That improved her posture. Her shoulders went back, and he got a better view of what the water had done to her top, the way it clung to her breasts. Man, he could see the outline of nipples.

“You think gunmen are going to storm the house?” Elaina asked.

It took a second to gather his breath. Nipples! “I think I don’t want to take a chance like that,” he countered.

She handed Christopher his toy duck when it floated out of his reach. “You’ve seen the nursery, and you know it’s not big enough for both of us.”

He wasn’t sure a shopping mall was big enough for both of them. “You’re wasting your time with this argument. We’re staying in the nursery. I’m doing this for your own good. For your
safety.
”

“But who’ll protect us from each other?” she mumbled. But then, Elaina immediately waved that off. “Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.”

Too bad. It suddenly seemed like a critical subject. Or at least an interesting one. “Maybe we should address it. The attraction,” he clarified just to make sure they were on the same page.

“The only reason to address it is to dismiss it. I’m not getting involved with another man. Especially a man who has the power to destroy me.”

He found her honesty refreshing, and his attitude had nothing to do with her top. Or her nipples. Or her snug jeans. Or her bare feet with their peach painted toenails. Or even her scent.

Okay, maybe it did have something to do with those things. But Luke vowed that he wouldn’t let his stupid male body make bad decisions for him.

“Kevin left you with a bitter taste in your mouth,” he commented to keep the conversation going. It was better than the silence. He did a second round of the Little Piggy game with Christopher.

“Oh, yes. But then, you can probably say the same thing. After all, you were separated when your wife died.”

Touché. “It’d gone beyond that,” he confessed. Why, he didn’t know. He just suddenly felt the need to spill his guts to the one woman who didn’t care one iota about what he’d been through. “Taylor had filed for a divorce.”

She studied him, and he could almost see the wheels working in her head. “Yet she didn’t tell you that she was pregnant.”

“Nope. She didn’t. But then, Taylor never wanted kids. That’s one of the reasons we decided to go our separate ways.”

Her stare softened a bit. No more visual accusations. “You wanted to have children?”

“For as long as I can remember.” For some reason, he wanted to blather on about this part, too. Maybe the bath water had soaked his brain. “My parents died in a car accident when I was three, and I was raised in foster care.
Bad
foster care,” he added. “I always wanted a chance to experience a good family life. Taylor, though, wanted the opposite. She’d had a rough childhood, too, and felt she couldn’t be a good mother.”

Elaina stayed quiet a moment. “Do you think she was planning to give up Christopher for adoption?”

He wanted to shout a resounding no, but he couldn’t. Because Luke honestly didn’t know the answer to that. “Maybe. Another of our big areas of disagreement was my job. She said it was too dangerous, but she didn’t want me to quit because she liked all the traveling I did. It gave her some space, as she used to like to say.”

“So, maybe she was planning on giving up her baby to keep that
space?
” she asked.

“Either that, or she reasoned that because of my dangerous job, I wouldn’t make a good father.” This time, Luke retrieved Christopher’s duck. “What Taylor didn’t know was that I was up for a promotion that would essentially mean a desk job. I got that promotion, but within the same hour I learned that Taylor was dead.”

Elaina made a soft sound of sympathy. “If Taylor planned to give up your baby, then the adoption might have been legal.”

Ah, so that’s where this was going. Luke didn’t let it go far. So much for pouring out his heart and spilling his guts. Elaina had taken all those bits of info so she could try to clear her conscience.

“Taylor’s intentions might have made that part of it legal, but the paperwork and the process weren’t.” He stared at her. “Do you have any doubts that your late fiancé was capable of an illegal adoption?”

“No,” she said, but the admission was laced with frustration. “In hindsight, I think Kevin was capable of just about anything.” She aimed her finger at him. “I won’t go through that again, and that’s why this attraction thing between us won’t go any further.”

Luke didn’t doubt the smoldering glances he’d been giving Elaina, but he hadn’t noticed Elaina sending any his way. Of course, he was aware of the uncomfortable tension between them.

“How do I know the attraction is real on your part?” he asked. “You could be faking it.”

She looked genuinely surprised and offended. “And why would I do that?”

“Because you think it’ll help your cause.”

“My
cause?
”

Luke figured he was about to put his foot directly into his big mouth. “You must be trying to figure a way to keep custody of Christopher.”

Yep. Definitely foot in mouth. Her eyes narrowed, and her mouth tightened. “I’m so glad you said that, because it reminds me of why I dislike you. Not everyone has ulterior motives for what they do, Luke Buchanan. Trust me, I had my fill of that kind of stuff when I was with Kevin.”

Christopher started to make fussing noises, and he rubbed his eyes. Elaina jumped to her feet, grabbed a towel and scooped him up in it. “Bed time,” she announced.

Well, there were definitely no more smoldering looks between them, and the air had chilled. She turned her back on him and went into the nursery.

“He won’t like this part,” she grumbled as she placed Christopher on the dressing table.

Learning from his mistake, Luke shut up and watched her diaper the baby. Though he considered himself a smart man, he figured that would take a while to master the technique and all the steps. Christopher wiggled, squirmed, fussed and generally did everything but cooperate. Yet, Elaina managed to get the baby dressed for bed in only a couple of minutes.

She kissed Christopher on both of his chubby cheeks and lay him in the bed. She covered him with the quilt and began to hum softly. Luke recognized the tune: “Lullaby and Goodnight.” While she hummed it, she lightly rubbed the baby’s stomach. Like the dressing routine, it only took a couple of minutes before Christopher closed his eyes.

Since there was a night light in the corner of the room, Luke turned off the overhead light. He made his way to the window to look out, to check the yard one more time. He’d lost count of just how many times he’d done that in the course of the afternoon and the evening.

He’d check many more times throughout the night.

“See anything?” Elaina whispered.

“No. It’s all clear.”

Christopher was no doubt asleep because she moved away from the crib. “I’m exhausted. I’m going to try to get some sleep.”

It was early, but Luke knew how she felt. It’d been a long day, and even with the extreme fatigue, neither of them would get much sleep.

She walked toward the hall. “I’ll get some pillows and blankets for us.”

She disappeared into her bedroom, and because that didn’t seem an appropriate place for him to be, Luke stayed put and looked down at his now sleeping son. It was hard to imagine that the little boy who’d been a ball of energy just minutes earlier was now sleeping so peacefully. Luke wanted to make sure things stayed peaceful.

Elaina returned to the nursery and deposited an armful of bedding on the carpeted floor. With her arms free, Luke could see that she’d changed her clothes. Nothing provocative. She wore cream-colored flannel pajamas. But it was still somehow intimate to be in the same room with her while she was preparing for bed.

With the uncomfortable silence, Luke had time to go over everything they’d discussed, and the one thing he kept returning to was Kevin. Was Elaina’s ex the reason those men had come to Crystal Creek? If so, what was the way to make the connection, especially if the two men weren’t in a talkative mood during the interviews?

“You said that Kevin was doing some kind of software modification,” Luke whispered. “Was it legal?”

“Probably not.” She spread out the covers and tossed him a pillow. “In fact, I’d be shocked if it was.”

Luke placed the pillow on the floor, but since the room was indeed small, his pillow was less than two feet from where Elaina’s was. “If Kevin was that bad, then why’d you get involved with him in the first place?”

“We were college sweethearts. I didn’t learn about his criminal activities until he was dead and I started going through his things.” She settled into her makeshift bed. “It was like he was two different people. Despite bouts of manic depression, he was usually kind and generous with me. But to the rest of the world, well, he was a scumbag.”

Luke made a mental note to learn just how much of a scumbag Kevin was.

“Who hired Kevin to do these software modifications?” Luke asked.

“I don’t know. He only referred to his boss as T. I don’t know if T was a man or a woman, and I certainly have no idea what the person’s real name is. But I do know that the modifications were important. Kevin spent a lot of time doing them, and he said it was a project that would make us millionaires several times over.”

Interesting. A big project worth a lot of money. “You believed him?”

“Yes. He’d never said anything like that before. And before he was killed, he made some rather large deposits into our investment accounts.”

Well, that added some credence to Kevin’s claims. “How was he doing these modifications?”

“He put everything on a miniature memory card.”

That wasn’t something Luke wanted to hear. There were memory cards half the size of a dime and just as thin. “Did you bring anything with you when you left San Antonio?”

She turned slightly to make eye contact. “Just some files, investment account statements and the adoption papers. I brought some of Christopher’s toys, of course. And his car seat. Oh, and I also brought the clothes and blanket he was wrapped in the day I first saw him.”

“That was the day Kevin brought Christopher home to you?” Luke asked.

She nodded.

And here he had been on a case while another man was essentially stealing his child. Luke knew he’d never forgive himself for that. All he could do was make the world a little safer for Christopher.