Forget his kiss? Like hell she would. He wouldn’t let her.
Mitch charged downstairs Saturday morning determined to stick to Carly like barnacles on a ship’s bottom. If she refused his company, he’d simply insist on spending time with the kid. Where Rhett went, Carly followed.
The sounds of laughter and high-pitched childish gibberish reached him as he neared the kitchen. It had been three and a half years since he’d said goodbye to Travis and Ashley. Would the haunting memories of what he’d lost ever go away? He stopped on the threshold.
The kid spotted him and smiled around a mouthful of food. “Mitt.”
A pain clutched Mitch’s stomach. A hunger pain. He entered the room and paused behind Carly’s chair. “Hello, squirt. Mrs. Duncan. Carly.”
He rested a hand on Carly’s shoulder. She stiffened and her silky ponytail twitched and swished across his knuckles, but she kept her eyes on her oatmeal. “Morning, Mitch.”
“Good morning, sir. I’ll have your breakfast in a jiffy.”
“Thank you.” He circled the table, entering Carly’s field of vision and catching a glimpse of desire in her chocolate eyes before she quickly averted her face. His pulse revved in response. “Sleep well?”
Her throat worked as she swallowed. “Yes. Thank you.”
“Liar.” He lowered his voice so Mrs. Duncan couldn’t hear him and earned himself a scowl. The faint circles under Carly’s eyes told the truth.
At least he wasn’t the only one who’d been miserable. He was still kicking himself for almost losing control last night. He’d never had a problem reining in his hunger before. No meant no. The fact that he’d come so close to overriding Carly’s objections and taking what he wanted—what he’d made her want—right there on the patio alarmed him.
Bulldozing over others had been his father’s MO. Not Mitch’s. Everett Kincaid may have been a brilliant businessman, but he’d been a hurricane in his personal life, leaving a trail of destruction wherever he passed. The Kincaid money broom had always managed to sweep up the debris.
Until Marlene Corbin had come along. And now Mitch had to deal with her twin. Identical DNA. Identical risk.
Still, there was a fine line between seduction and coercion—a line Mitch had no intention of crossing. Morning-after regrets and recriminations were hell to deal with. He’d leave Carly no recourse to cry foul. When she came to him she would do so willingly, and not in a passing bout of insane passion. He’d keep this affair, their marriage and their eventual divorce strictly legal.
His father hadn’t always cared on which side of the law he walked, but Mitch cared.
“I didn’t hear Rhett get up last night,” he said to force her to look at him, but paused before adding, “Despite the fireworks.”
The flush on her cheeks told him she hadn’t missed the double entendre. They’d definitely set off their own personal pyrotechnics. She blinked, hiked her chin and took in his casual clothing. “He slept through the night. You’re not going to the office today?”
“I’m spending the entire day with my brother.” He lowered himself into the chair directly across from her.
“Will he be around later? I’d like for Rhett to meet Rand.”
“I meant Rhett.”
Her lips parted and her breasts lifted when she inhaled. Her expression turned guarded. “Rhett and I have plans.”
He wouldn’t let her shake him off that easily. “Change them.”
“I can’t.”
“Then you’ll have company.”
“I don’t think—”
“To borrow your phrase, Carly, this one’s nonnegotiable. You haven’t been reticent about your desire for me to spend time with Rhett. I’ve cleared my schedule for the weekend. He’s my priority.”
A mix of emotions crossed her face, but the last one, a mischievous twitch of her delectable lips, made him uneasy.
“Okay. We’re leaving at eight-thirty.” She rose to refill the kid’s sippy cup, giving Mitch an opportunity to appreciate the shape of her breasts in a red tank top and her incredible legs below the hem of her blue running shorts.
“You’ve already had your run?”
“Yes.”
“Tomorrow I’ll join you.”
“We go at six.” Her tone implied she hoped that was too early for him.
“I’ll be ready.”
Mrs. Duncan set his breakfast in front of him. He nodded his thanks, then checked his watch and refocused on Carly. “If you’re going to take a shower before we leave, you’d better get started.”
“Rhett hasn’t finished eating.”
“We’ll feed the rug rat.”
She looked from him to Mrs. Duncan. “You’re sure?”
“Got it covered,” Mitch replied before the housekeeper could respond.
Carly looked ready to argue, but instead shrugged. “I won’t be long.”
She left the kitchen. Mitch looked at Mrs. Duncan. “Do you have a spare apron?”
If his question surprised her, she hid it well. “Yes, sir. I’ll get it.”
The kid had been fed and hosed off by the time Carly returned with the diaper bag on her shoulder twenty-five minutes later. Her hair draped her shoulders like damp sun-streaked silk, and makeup covered the evidence of her lack of sleep. She’d changed into a lemon-yellow T-shirt and a midthigh-length khaki skirt and white sandals. She looked good. Damned good.
She scooped up Rhett from the living-room floor where Mitch had parked him with a toy truck. “Let me change him and then we can go.”
“Done.” Mitch never went into any battle without a winning strategy. Diaper duty always scored big points with women.
She stopped in her tracks. “Della changed him?”
“I did. We’ll take my car.” He led the way to the foyer.
“How old were your fiancée’s children?”
Not a conversation he wanted to pursue. “One and four when we moved in together. What’s on the agenda for today?”
“And what age when you split?” She ignored his question.
“Two and a half years older. Where are we headed?” He opened the front door and changed the subject.
“Hialeah. Wow. That must have been hard. What were their names?”
He gritted his teeth. “Travis and Ashley. What’s in Hialeah?”
“Tina, one of my coworkers, lives there.”
The sun shone in a cloudless blue sky. It was early, but the day promised to be a July scorcher. He opened the front and back passenger-side doors and then circled to the driver’s side to prevent more questions. By the time Carly strapped Rhett into his new car seat and joined Mitch up front, he had the radio on and the sunroof open. The combination of music and wind noise guaranteed to make conversation difficult.
“Address?”
She recited the info. He typed it into his GPS, which eliminated the need for directions, and set the car in motion. Sure, he’d have to endure a visit with one of Carly’s coworkers, but then he’d have her to himself for the rest of the day.
His confidence lasted until he saw half-dozen minivans lining the street and the Mylar balloons attached to the mailbox bearing the street address she’d given him.
“It’s a birthday party,” he said flatly.
The mischievous twinkle returned to Carly’s eyes and the corners of her lips curled up, revealing her enjoyment of his predicament. Her smile had the usual effect of hitting him in the solar plexus.
“For Tina’s five-year-old twin sons. Don’t say I didn’t try to warn you.”
Damn. Not the day of seduction he had in mind, but he could roll with the change in plans. The party would last an hour or two, and then he’d be back on schedule. He parked his SUV between two mom-mobiles and tried to conceal his lack of enthusiasm. He’d endured kids’ parties before. Hell, he’d planned them. The only guarantees were noise and mess.
Carly ignored the concrete walk leading to the front door of the modest two-story structure and carried Rhett around the side of the house. She pushed open a tall wooden gate, revealing a backyard filled with a couple dozen kids of various ages and half as many moms and set the boy on his feet. Rhett toddled into the melee full steam ahead. Not a shy bone in that boy’s stubby body.
Balls of every size, shape and color dotted the patchy lawn and kids raced and swarmed like insects. A wooden swing set with a tree house on one end took up one back corner of the lot. An inflatable bounce castle had been set up in another. Mitch scanned the area for a father, but there wasn’t a single male over seven in sight.
“Hey, mister, catch.” A football came hurtling toward his head from the left. He caught it one-handed and passed it back.
The gathering of women on the back deck turned in unison. Eyebrows rose, mouths dropped open. Mitch followed Carly across the grass and forced a smile to his lips.
Carly would soon discover that, compliments of his father, Mitch detested being set up to fail.
But he’d have his revenge.
Carly’s plan had backfired.
She’d allowed Mitch to horn in on her outing to teach him a lesson. Instead, she’d been the one who’d learned something. For someone she’d believed didn’t like children, he’d handled himself and the rambunctious boys very well.
Oh sure, the look of horror on his face when he’d realized they were attending a children’s birthday party had been priceless. But his dismay hadn’t lasted long.
Within minutes Mitch had charmed the mothers in the group, and then he’d gone to work on the younger set. He’d taken charge of the older boys and organized them into one game right after another for the past ninety minutes, earning him a never-ending stream of accolades from the other women present.
Carly just wanted to go home and get away from the sight of Mitch having fun and the rumble of his voice and his laughter. The combination was doing a number on her concentration. A fact her hostess hadn’t missed, if the curious glances were any indication.
Speak of the devil…
Tina plopped down on the picnic bench beside Carly. “You should have told me you were dating again. I would have quit throwing men at you.”
Carly looked up from the small pop-up tent where Rhett played beside Tina’s two-year-old daughter. Carly had known Tina for six years, and if there was anyone she could trust with the story of Rhett’s parentage, it was the coworker who’d taken Carly under her wing on Carly’s first day on the job at the sports medicine practice. Tina was ten years older but a hundred years wiser.
“I’m not dating. Mitch is Rhett’s half brother.”
Tina’s blue eyes went wide.
“But keep their relationship to yourself, okay? The press would make a big deal of it. I’m sorry for springing him on you, but he wanted to spend the day with Rhett, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer. I tried to call—”
“But one of the twins knocked the phone off the hook and I wasn’t carrying my cell phone. It’s okay, Carly. Mitch is dessert for those of us who can’t have cake and ice cream.” Tina glanced over her shoulders to make sure none of the other mothers were within hearing range. “I can’t believe it. Rhett’s one of the more-money-than-God Kincaids?”
Carly nodded. “I didn’t tell you because Marlene asked me to keep it quiet until after Rhett was born and she’d worked things out with Everett. But she died before she and Everett could come to an agreement, and then three months later Everett died. I’ve been a little crazy trying to sort out everything.”
“But you did, right? Renting your house isn’t an attempt to clear up a financial mess Marlene left behind, is it? I mean, it was one thing when she moved in and started mooching off you, but—”
“She didn’t mooch off me,” Carly defended her twin automatically and out of habit. She had to turn away from Tina’s give-me-a-break expression. Carly’s gaze found Mitch on the far side of the yard. He had the twins and their friends involved in a game of touch football. The man was a work of art, all ropey muscles and athletic grace. A spurt of something wild pulsed through her. She ignored the unwanted feeling and returned her attention to her friend.
“There is no financial mess.” Well, other than that missing hundred thousand Mitch claimed he’d given Marlene, but her attorney was looking into that. “The terms of Everett Kincaid’s will require Rhett to live in Kincaid Manor for a year if he’s to inherit his share of the estate.”
“So that’s why you were so stingy with your new address.”
Carly shrugged. “I don’t think I’ll be hosting any mothers’ mornings out while I live there.”
“Mitch invited you to stay?”
Carly grimaced. “Not exactly. He just wanted Rhett.”
“Without you? Carly, we both know you’d never give up Rhett. How did Mitch expect to pull that off?”
She hesitated, but after last night’s kiss she needed to say the words out loud to remind herself of how low Mitch would go. And Tina knew the truth—the whole ugly truth—of Carly’s past. “He offered me money—a lot of money—to relinquish guardianship of Rhett.”
“The bastard.” Tina slapped her fingers over her mouth and glanced at the toddlers in the tent. “He didn’t?”
Carly nodded. “Between that and what Marlene told me about him trying to break up her and Everett, I’m afraid to trust him. No matter how charming and sexy he might be.”
“He’s being charming and sexy?”
“He is now, but in the beginning…” She shook her head and shuddered.
Tina tapped her chin and then a wily smile slid over her lips. “First, remember your sister tended to be a drama queen. She might have—probably—exaggerated. And second, Mitch might be Rhett’s kin, but he looks at you like you’re the corner piece of cake and he can’t wait to dive into all that rich, creamy icing.”
Carly jerked around and her gaze slammed into Mitch’s. She sucked a sharp breath at the hunger he telecast over the five-year-olds’ heads.
“Oh, baby, I want some of that,” Tina whimpered.
Cheeks hot, Carly whirled back to her friend. “Stop it.”
“Admit it, you want some, too. And when we close up shop in ten minutes you can go home and get some while Rhett naps.”
“Didn’t you hear a word I said? Besides, even if Marlene exaggerated—and I don’t think she did—the last thing I need is a rebound romance. Even if I am tempted.” She muttered the last under her breath.
“Honey, you’d have to be dead not to be tempted. And nobody says you have to take an affair seriously.” Tina studied her nails with faked nonchalance. “I’d do him just for the memories.”
Carly’s skin burned like a blowtorch. “Your husband should hear you talk.”
“Hey, my husband loves it when I talk dirty.” Tina winked and then turned pensive. “Maybe Mitch wants more than just Rhett. Maybe you could have your cake and eat it, too.”
“You have got to stop dieting. I can’t follow your starvation logic.”
“All I’m saying is, why can’t you have a few nibbles of Rhett’s big brother while you’re sharing his house? At the end of the year you’ll return to your home and your real life…unless you land yourself a shipping tycoon in the meantime.”
“Remind me why we’re friends again? Because you’re encouraging me to embark on certain disaster.”
Tina grasped Carly’s hands and squeezed. “No, honey, I’m trying to bring you back to the land of the living. Sam’s gone. Good riddance, I might add. And Marlene’s gone. Until today, I thought you had, too. This is the first time in months I’ve seen you excited about anything or anyone besides Rhett. Go for it.”
Carly planted her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. “Tina, that is so not the advice I needed to hear.”
“You handled the children well today,” Carly said as she joined Mitch in the living room just before noon.
“I spent every summer since high school working on Kincaid cruise ships. Corralling and controlling kids was part of the job.” He waggled his water glass and raised a dark eyebrow, silently asking if she’d like a drink.
“A glass of Della’s lemonade would be great.”
He turned to the wet bar to fulfill her request.
“What kinds of jobs?” She placed the baby monitor on the coffee table and sank into the overstuffed sofa cushions. Her sleepless night was catching up with her. She probably should have requested something with caffeine.
“Have you ever been on a cruise?” He passed her the glass, and their fingers touched.
She fought a shiver and shook her head. “Thanks.”
Instead of taking the high-backed wing chair he’d been using since she moved in, Mitch sat beside her. His weight tipped the cushion and Carly toward him, and even though their bodies didn’t touch, he settled near enough that she could feel the heat radiating off him and smell the potent combination of his cologne mixed with fresh sweat and grass from running around Tina’s yard with the boys. Heady stuff. The subsequent squeezing of her stomach had nothing to do with hunger due to the approaching lunch hour.
Her gaze fixed on his muscular legs below the hem of his shorts. A spattering of dark curls covered his tanned skin. She yearned to test the texture, but tightened her grip on her cold glass instead and gulped her drink, hoping the bite of the tart lemonade would shock her hormones back into line.
“There are a variety of activities on board, from day-care-type settings to swimming and rock climbing lessons. When we dock at Crescent Key, KCL’s private island, there are scuba lessons, parasailing, kayaking, wind surfing, Jet Ski rentals and an inflatable kids’ water park.”
“The Kincaids own an island?”
“The company does.”
She digested that and the slight chill in his voice, and then backtracked to the rest of what he’d said. “So you don’t hate children?”
He frowned, leaned back against the cushions and stretched an arm along the sofa behind her. The shift of his body caused his knee to nudge hers. Atoms of awareness coalesced at the contact point. She inched her leg back, but he moved to fill the tiny gap she’d created. Her pulse sped up. “What gave you the impression I did?”
“Besides the snowman act?”
He lifted his water glass and took a sip. “I don’t get attached to the ones who are only passing through. I’ve done that before and I didn’t enjoy the aftermath.”
“Your fiancée’s children?”
If she hadn’t been only inches from him, she would have missed his slight flinch. He nodded. Once.
Her heart ached for him. “Do you keep in touch with Travis and Ashley?”
He sat forward, braced his elbows on his knees and studied the contents of his glass. “I tried at first. But it confused them. So I stopped.”
He wasn’t a heartless bastard after all. He’d done what he thought best for the children. The stiffness of his shoulders and the rigid line of his jaw revealed more than words about the pain he’d suffered. No wonder he’d tried to keep his distance from Rhett.
The fragile shell of her resistance cracked and the need to reach out and offer comfort almost overwhelmed her. “Then you understand why I’ll never willingly walk away from Rhett. He wouldn’t understand how both his mother and I could leave him.”
“He’s young. He probably won’t remember…her.”
Did she imagine that pause? Did Mitch understand how much it still hurt to say her sister’s name?
“I hope you’re wrong. I hope a child never forgets feeling loved and wanted, even if the ones who loved them are only a part of their lives for a brief time.”
She prayed that was the case and that one day her daughter would understand how much love it had taken to make the painful, unselfish decision to relinquish. Because Carly had so desperately wanted to be selfish and keep her. But she’d been sixteen and her baby’s father had wanted nothing to do with her or their child. What kind of mother could she have been? She’d had no job and no high-school diploma. What kind of future could she have given her daughter? All the love in the world wasn’t enough to put food on the table.
Mitch’s green gaze probed hers. He had a way of looking at her that made her feel as if he could see her secrets. She struggled to camouflage her pain.
“What happens when you fall in love again and your future husband, like your ex, doesn’t want to raise someone else’s kid?”
“Then he won’t be my husband. Loving means accepting the entirety of a person. The good and the bad.” The men in her life hadn’t been able to do that.
“You’ll have to find someone who shares your interest in Rhett’s future.” He paused for several heavy heartbeats. “Someone like me.”
Everything inside her went still, but the sudden tinkling of the ice cubes in her glass revealed her hands weren’t as steady. “Wh-what are you saying, Mitch?”
He set his glass on the coffee table and then took hers and did the same. “Perhaps we should explore this attraction between us. For Rhett’s sake as well as our own. We could have something here, Carly.”
He lifted his hand and dragged the back of his knuckles along her cheek. Her reaction to the gentle caress mushroomed through her like an atomic blast.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She dampened her lips, and his eyes tracked the movement.
“Why?”
“Because you tried to persuade my sister not to have Rhett.”
His long fingers curved over her shoulder. “As my father’s right-hand man, it was my job to carry out his wishes. He asked me to make sure Marlene understood he was too old to raise another child—especially with a woman he didn’t love.”
Carly winced. “Marlene loved him.”
Or at least she’d told Carly she did. And she’d been very convincing.
But what about Marlene’s notebook? What about her plan to force Everett to marry her?
“Then I’m sorry for her. His not wanting to share his life or parenthood with her must have hurt.” His thumb circled with mesmerizing, breath-snatching effect beneath her clavicle. “Is Rhett down for the count?”
“Yes. I’m glad you were driving so I could keep him awake on the ride home. If he takes a five-minute nap in the car then he won’t go back to sleep when we get to his crib, and he’d be seriously cranky by dinnertime.” She was babbling, but that was because if she quit talking she’d start moaning.
She couldn’t do this again. Another one of his kisses and she’d be a goner.
Get up. Get out of here. At least until you’re certain Marlene fibbed about him being a jerk.
Mitch’s other hand settled on her opposite shoulder. His long fingers dug into the tense muscles in the back of her neck and massaged with mind-and willpower-melting results. By the time his thumbs traced the sensitive underside of her jaw, her reasons for resisting the intense attraction between them were getting pretty darn fuzzy. Her head and eyelids grew heavy.
“Give us a chance, Carly.”
Before she could dredge up an answer from the sludge he’d made of her brain, he leaned forward and kissed her.