ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT? (Running Wild) (12 page)

Maxine gave him a shocked look. “She didn’t want her own baby?” 

Harry shook his head. “Nope. She was totally honest with me, right from the beginning. She wanted an abortion. I bargained with her to have Sadie. She wanted to go to France and take training at some art school there, and I told her if she had the baby I’d give her the money she needed and pay for the divorce." He met Maxine’s curious gaze and shrugged. “I’d never thought much about having a family, but when I found out she was pregnant, I realized I really wanted my kid.”

Maxine nodded. Her eyes were still full of questions, and he tried his best to explain before she had to ask.

“I fell hard for Cheryl when I met her. She was a talented artist who was hired by the same ad firm I worked for.” He did his best to recall exactly the way it had been. “She was unpredictable and smart and pretty, in an offbeat way. Sadie has her hair, the shape of her face. We eloped a few weeks after we met, before I had a chance to really get to know her, or her me, for that matter. She’d been a foster kid all her life. She never wanted kids, which I didn't think to ask about.” He paused, and then added, “I wasn’t exactly thinking with my head at that point. She was a sexy lady. I just wanted to take her to bed.”

Not as much as I want to take you there, though
. He didn't say it. It wasn’t the time or place. 

Maxine was watching Sadie and Graham. Harry heaved a sigh and said, "Looking back on it, I think Cheryl was so scared, she couldn’t be a good mother that she couldn’t bring herself even to try with Sadie.”

He watched Maxine digesting what he’d said. “Did she decide not to go to France after all?” "She got a commission for a piece of art, and she was finishing it when the accident happened. She’d have left the following week.”

"Do. . .” Maxine cleared her throat and stared down at the picnic table, her cheeks pink. “Do you ever miss her, Harry?”

It was a question he’d asked himself many times over the years. He thought he had it figured out, and he did his best to put it into words. “I miss having someone to share Sadie with,” he admitted. "I miss the parts of marriage that were good.” The sex had been good, there was no doubt he missed that. "I found much to my surprise that I liked being married.”

He reached out impulsively and took her hand in his, relieved when she didn’t pull away. "But I don’t miss Cheryl,” he said in a positive tone. "We made a mistake, both of us. But out of that came my Sadie, so how could I regret it?” He spread her fingers and laced his own between them, and his treacherous mind wished it were her legs instead that he was spreading.

"Can I take Graham over to the swings?” Sadie directed her question at Maxine, but Harry answered.

“Let’s all go.” He scooped Sadie up and plopped her on his shoulders. At least it would take his mind off sex.

Sadie giggled and looped her fingers in his hair. “Give me a horsey ride, Daddy. Graham too."

Maxine had already picked Graham up, but when Harry held out his arms, the baby went readily to him, and both children giggled and squealed as Harry did his best to impersonate a spirited racehorse.

Maxine walked along behind, watching them. Harry was strong. He easily trotted along carrying both children. He lunged and bounced and had no reservations about making horse noises through his nose, rearing and snorting.

Sadie clung to his hair and his ears, laughing uncontrollably, and Graham was chortling, his chubby hands gripping Harry’s shirt.

It was the first time a man had ever really played with Graham, she reflected with a pang. In fact, the only men he came in contact with at all were his pediatrician, Dr. Hawkins, and Leonard, the lecherous produce manager at Safeway. Leonard always made a huge fuss over Graham while leering at Maxine’s breasts.

She’d thought half the night about meeting Harry, and she’d told herself that it was only for an hour, that she’d be wise to end it once and for all, that there was no future in seeing him again.

But being with him, sharing thoughts about their kids, made her think she’d be a fool to tell him she wouldn’t see him again. How many guys really liked kids?

And there was also the lust thing. Every minute she was with him, she had to really concentrate to keep from thinking about having sex with him.

The trouble was, this real Harry was dangerously close to the man she fantasized about when she couldn’t sleep at night. He was smart and funny. And hot, don’t forget hot. He was kind and generous and, from what she could see, a wonderful father to his little girl. And just looking at his hands made her want them on her.

He wasn't just pretending to like Graham, either. Harry was a man who truly enjoyed children; Maxine knew that from the way her son reacted to him. People might be able to fool adults, but no one could make kids like them.

And he had shoulders she wanted to uncover. She wanted to know how he kissed. Was he a little rough, the way she fantasized?

He’d reached the swings now, and he was carefully settling Graham in one of the buckets, then lifting Sadie into another.

Maxine heard the cell phone in her shoulder bag ringing. Her heart sank; the very last thing she wanted to do right now was her job.

She sighed and stopped and pulled it out, using her professional voice and name as she replied to the male voice on the other end.

She waved at Harry and gestured at the phone, walking away from the swings to a deserted bench under a pine tree, out of earshot of anyone, and for the next while she did what she was an expert at, leading the faceless man on the other end into a fantasy and on to gratification.

But the entire time, she watched Harry.

He swung the two swings back and forth gently, alternating between the children. He turned once and gave her a thumbs-up sign, indicating that everything was under control.

Instead of prolonging the conversation and mentally calculating the effect on her income, Maxine hurried it along. She very much wanted to get back to Harry.

He talked to the kids, the senseless patter that came automatically with little people. He tried hard not to think about what Maxine was doing, but he couldn't manage it. He could see her long, lovely legs crossed, one foot swinging, an arm draped casually across the back of the bench, and in his imagination he could hear her spinning some downright dirty sexual illusion in that thick, rich voice. 

It drove him crazy. It made him jealous. She made him horny. He didn’t want her saying those things to anyone but him. He had to stop himself from racing over, snatching the phone, tossing it as far as he could into the underbrush, and then dragging Maxine into the trees. He’d yank those bloody shorts down around her ankles—

"Daddy, push me higher.”

Harry tried his best to concentrate on the kids, but it was a tough task. He tried to take his mind off of what Maxine was doing—verbal sex, with another man—by gulping in deep breaths, and tried to figure out a long-range plan.

He had to do this carefully, gradually, so as not to spook her. He’d arrange dates that included the kids for as long as it was humanly possible, which might be a day or two, considering how aroused he got within ten feet of her. Then he’d see if she’d agree to an evening out, just the two of them.

And if she did, he’d do a total replay.

He’d redo the scenario from that fateful first meeting, including the room key, but this time he’d rewrite the ending.

If, of course, she agreed. Would she agree? Could he feel so attracted to her without any response on her part?

It was possible, but he didn’t think it was probable. If, of course, there was a merciful God.

He gave Sadie’s swing a healthy shove and Graham’s a much gentler one, swinging the two of them in tandem, listening to their laughter and hoping like hell the electricity between him and Maxine flowed both ways.

Despite her good intentions of spending only an hour with Harry, it was nearly noon by the time Maxine got home.

Polly took one look at her and shrieked, “You let him kiss you. I can tell by the slutty look in your eyes.”

Maxine opened her mouth to deny it and thought, What the hell? Good lawyer that she was, Polly had an instinct for the truth.

Besides, she hadn't been able to stop smiling all the way home. And her lips were sort of swollen. She’d noticed them in the rearview when she was checking on Graham.

"I didn’t let him; it just happened. We were in the parking lot and I was putting Graham in his car seat, and when I straightened up, Harry was right behind me.”

He'd taken her by the elbows and drawn her toward him, and the intense look in his eyes was mesmerizing. Still, it had started out as nothing more than a friendly brushing of lips. But somehow that brushing started a burning inside her, and her arms had somehow wound around him, and then he’d groaned and his head had angled differently, and his hand was stroking all down her back, and then his tongue, Oh, God, his tongue. He was definitely inventive with his tongue.

“Polly, he kisses as if it’s the last thing in this world he's gonna do before he dies.”

“Well, it’s no indication that he’d be good in bed, so don’t get your hopes up,” Polly said, reaching up and taking Graham out of Maxine’s arms and onto her lap. “I’ve kissed some guys and wanted to rape them on the spot, and then when we got down to it, they were hopeless. They’d never gotten past page one in the instruction book. You can’t go by just kisses.”

Maxine didn’t want to argue, but she’d be willing to put this month’s mortgage up against the fact that Harry wasn’t one of those inept creatures. Just thinking about his kiss made the blood pool hot and heavy in her abdomen.

“So are you going to?” Polly was playing patty-cake with Graham.

“Going to what?" 

“Go out with him again. Go to bed with him.”

Maxine was glad Polly’s attention was on the baby, because she could feel how fiery hot her face was. “We’re taking the kids to the petting zoo at Stanley Park.”

“Petting, huh? When?”

“Tomorrow.”

"The petting zoo. This guy has some warped notion of where to take a date; I’ll say that for him. Maybe you’d better bring old Harry by the house so I can meet him, this is getting serious. I want to know who Graham’s spending his time with, and I’ve got a few questions for this dude, like could I have a written outline of what his intentions are toward you and my sweetie here.”

Maxine pretended nonchalance. “He’s coming to pick us up in the morning; you can grill him then.”

“I fully intend to.”

The next morning Maxine was sorry she’d ever joked about it. She should have told Harry she’d be out on the curb, and he could just scoop her and Graham up without stopping the car.

When the doorbell rang promptly at nine- fifteen, Edna and Polly were both hovering nearby like Victorian duennas.

Edna, who’d insisted she’d stay on for the morning and take calls for Maxine, must have unplugged the business phone, because it certainly wasn’t ringing the way it usually did in the morning. Polly, who was always barking orders or advice into her cell by at least eight-thirty, must have told her secretary to hold her calls. And her laptop was nowhere in sight.

Just before she opened the door, Maxine whispered to them, “Don’t you two have something to do?”

They both gave her innocent looks and wicked grins, and shook their heads in unison. “We're on a mission,” Polly stated, adding, “Harry’s toast.”

Maxine tried to plaster on a pleasant expression as she swung the door wide, but Polly's threat made her nervous.

“Harry, hi come on in. Hello, Sadie, what a pretty sundress; I love hot pink.” God, she sounded like a simpering fool.

She made the introductions, wondering if Harry really looked as handsome as she thought, or if it was only her imagination. He was wearing khaki shorts and a white golf shirt; his jaw was clean-shaven, his thick hair neatly brushed. And when he looked at her, she saw the admiration she felt reflected back in his dark blue eyes.

“Hey, Sadie, you want to come in the kitchen and get some snacks for your picnic?" Edna made off with Sadie, and Maxine gave Polly a suspicious look.

The lawyer had schemed to get Harry alone, Maxine was sure of it. Polly knew Graham had filled his diaper two seconds before Harry arrived. She’d probably put the baby up to it, Maxine thought grimly, taking Graham and racing down the hall, leaving Harry totally at Polly’s mercy.

Maxine whipped off the soiled diaper and had a new one in place in record time. She shoved spare clothing and diapers in the bag willy-nilly, then scurried back into the living room, expecting to find Harry being flayed alive by Polly’s tongue, or worse yet, having to sign a legal declaration of his intentions.

To her amazement, he was smiling, looking relaxed and comfortable, lounging on the sofa.

“Can you believe this guy knows my brother Rob? They played rugby together," Polly announced.

"On opposing teams," Harry corrected. “I haven’t played since Sadie was born, so I haven't seen Rob for a few years. How’s he doing?”

"He married a ball breaker of a teacher from Edmonton. You can bet she keeps him in line.”

"Rob was one hell of a rugby player. He broke my arm once during a game.”

Polly beamed as if it were a compliment. “Rob was never much of a fighter at home; he burned it all off with the rugby team. I could bully him around with no trouble at all.” 

"I met Darcy a couple times, too. Where is he now?”

"He’s a firefighter in Winnipeg, he married right out of high school. He and Lucy have two kids, boys. They’re practically grownup.”

Polly actually looked mellow, and Maxine figured it was time she and Harry made their escape, before Polly’s protective instincts kicked in and she remembered to give Harry the third degree.

“I’m ready, Harry.”

He got to his feet. “Give Rob my best when you talk to him. Tell him if he’s ever in town to give me a call.”

Edna came out of the kitchen and winked at Maxine.

Harry took Graham from Polly, and Maxine grabbed Sadie and the bag of snacks. In a moment they were safely out the door and in the car, heading for the park.

“I like your friends," Harry remarked, reaching across the seat and taking Maxine’s hand. He squeezed it and then placed it deliberately on his thigh, sending shivers up her spine.

“Edna’s the lawyer, right? And Polly’s your employee. God, it’s such a coincidence, Rob’s sister working for you.”

Maxine shot him an incredulous look. “Think again. Polly works for me, but she’s my lawyer, and she’s a barracuda, a good barracuda, but not someone you ever want on your case. And Edna’s a wicked sexy genius at thinking up X-rated scenarios to keep the phone customers happy. You oughta hear her; she's fabulous.”

Harry's jaw dropped. “How wrong can a guy get?
Edna?
Edna does . .. But then, the way she is on the phone isn’t really her personality anyhow, any more than India McBride is yours.”

A short time ago, Maxine would have agreed with him that India was just a figment of her imagination.

She stole a glance over at her hand, resting on his bare, muscular leg. The thick mat of soft hair tickled her palm, and the heat of his skin seemed to radiate all the way up her arm. She could feel his muscles contract and release as he stopped at lights and accelerated again. She imagined those muscles contracting for a different reason. She envisioned what he’d look like without the shorts, and a shudder ran down her spine.

The daydream made her squirm in her seat. Her breasts ached the way they had when she was feeding Graham, but this feeling was anything but maternal. She felt swollen and hot and damp with desire. She wanted sex. She wanted sex with Harry, the sooner the better. The urge was so powerful that if it hadn’t been for the children in the backseat, she’d have made a grab at him right here on Burrard Street.

Harry was dead wrong, she thought with a secret smile, and when the time came, she’d prove it to him. There was a good deal of succulent, wild India mixed in with good old Maxine, and she couldn’t wait to show him.