Passionate Bid (17 page)

Sam”s pattering sandals on the floor reigned in the temptation to kiss Joanie full on the mouth. “I want to go to the woods. Midnight should see her family.”

“Later, bug. I have things to do.”

“How about we all go and have a picnic in the woods.”

“I”m staying. You two can go after breakfast.” Joanie tried to move his hand out of her way, but he didn”t budge.

“Party-pooper. Are you a party-pooper, Joanie?” he whispered in her ear.

“Mama”s a party-pooper,” Sam repeated in sing-songy voice.

“I”m not. Go find your hat, bug.” Once Sam was out of earshot, Joanie continued, “You”re here to spend time with Sam, Julian, not with me. I think you”d better spend your two weeks getting to know her.”

She was right. He was still here because of Sam. But God help him, he wanted to get to know her as well. “Please join us.”

“Why? The only reason why you”re still here is because of our condition.

Your two weeks with Sam in exchange of the one hundred thousand. You and me, we”re divorced in every sense. We”re not supposed to be having picnic or…or kissing.”

He cupped her head, forcing Joanie to look at him. “Ah, yes. I forgot about the money. Well, I am adding kissing and going on picnics to my condition.”

“You, Doctor Julian Henry Ravenwood, are nuts.”

“Please join us. I”ll wash the dishes and fold the laundry. Just come.”

“How about ironing?”

“Yes. I”ll even cook and rub your feet.”

“Dear, how can I say no to that? Fine, make your coffee. Pancakes are cold already. You can microwave them. Let me make a phone call and I”ll join you two. Sam, come in the kitchen please.”

The afternoon sun was high in the sky when the three of them trekked in the woods. Julian watched Sam run ahead of them with her net waving in the air.

Her feet left small prints on the ground still soggy from last night”s rain.

He grew up in Seattle where trees were abundant. On many occasions, he had hiked up Mount Rainier and Wallace Falls. There was something about the green environment that helped soothed a weary spirit. A walk in the woods was far better than a stroll in Manhattan Park. And the best part was walking with Sam and Joanie. Yeah, also with Joanie.

He glanced at his wife. The strong urge to wrap his arm around her and wrestle with her on the soft grass—to once again feel her soft curves and sun kissed skin—struck him. Every minute he spent with Joanie increased his unexpected infatuation with her. Man, he couldn”t imagine what would happen during the remainder of his stay. Fall in love with her? Nah. That would be crazy.

“You sounded happy when you were talking on the phone.”

“Yeah. I was talking to Carmen Smith. She”s a Windermere agent.”

“You”re selling something?”

She shifted the old quilt tucked underneath her arm. “How much do you want to bet she”ll ask you to wash her feet again?” Joanie inclined her head toward Sam.

Joanie, he thought, would changed topics to avoid answering questions she didn”t like answering. “I like washing her feet, but if she wears boots instead of sandals we could keep her clean—maybe.”

“Her last pair finally quit on her. I haven”t got a chance to buy her a new pair.”

Julian made a mental note of taking Sam to the mall tomorrow. “What does she want for her birthday—aside from butterfly wings? Do they sell those?”

“Amazon, Sears, Costume Store. But you don”t have to buy the wings. She wants everything that has wings, pink. Anything about butterflies is fine.”

“How about you, Joanie. Do you need anything?”

“No. I have Sam.”

He gently touched her elbow. Joanie stopped walking and faced him with her brows arched high. “You can also have me—as a friend. We didn”t get a chance to be husband and wife. How about we try to be friends.”

“You”re not trying to trick me into signing your papers for free, are you?” She gave him a smile that took his breath away. Damn, if he weren”t careful he might find himself in love with Joanie. “No. We made a deal.”

“Good. Sam, bug. We can stop here now.”

Joanie stepped away from him. She spread the old quilt on the pine needle covered grass and placed the pink bag in the corner. “Are you guys hungry?”

“Me!” Sam answered. She kneeled on the blanket and watched Joanie open the basket.

“I forgot how nice it is to be in the woods.”

“You live in the city now.” Joanie handed Sam a sandwich, then gave him one.

“Yeah. In the middle of Manhattan. My office is only a few blocks away from my apartment. I walk every day, but the walk isn”t as nice as our walk here in the woods.”

“My woods,” Sam said while chewing.

“Sam, remember. No talking while you”re chewing.”

Sam smiled, showing her little teeth. “Oohh, butterfly.” Sam dropped her sandwich on the quilt and took off running.

“Who”s running your business while you”re here?” Joanie wrapped Sam”s sandwich again.

“My business partner. Warren is probably digging himself out of the fur balls now because I left without waiting for my sub.”

“Business is good?”

“Business is good. I noticed your paintings. They”re wonderful. Bet each one could fetch for a good amount.”

“Not with the economy down.”

“Yeah, true. The way you have them around your house looks like you just moved in or something.”

“I don”t have room for them. That”s all.”

“Would you sell some of them to me?”

“Why? You think shelters in Manhattan need paintings to decorate their walls?”

“No. But my apartment is dreary. I need something to remind me of this place.”

“Of course. I”d be glad to rid some of them. Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I”m sure. Also I am thinking maybe I should buy a house here, and I could—”

“Wait. When we made the deal, you didn”t say anything about buying a house here. You said you”ll send Sam occasional cards or see her online.”

“I know.”

“Julian…”

“Yes?”

“If you feel guilty about us, don”t. Just, just give me the money and I”ll sign the papers and we”ll go our separate ways. Someday, like you said, Sam can decide if she wants you in her life or not. For now, we”ll stick to our conditions.” Julian should thank her for her condition. Most men seeking a divorce would jump at the opportunity she was offering him. Give her money, she”d sign the papers and that would be the end of them. He”d go home a single man. Simple.

Painless. But damn it, he felt the opposite. He didn”t want to leave, didn”t want to talk about the damn divorce papers again. And Joanie pushing him away hurt like hell. Why?

He leaned forward to touch her cheek. Her skin was soft like Sam”s and smelled like Sam”s, too. “What will you do when I leave?” Joanie closed her eyes and leaned on his hand. When she looked at him again, her eyes were void of shine and laughter. “Go back to living without you in our lives again. Find another job, raise Sam. Maybe ask Dana to hook me up again with another one of Mark”s pilot friends. What will you do when you leave here? Aside from working. ”

First, kill whomever that pilot you hook up with before I leave then make love with you so you won’t forget me. “I don”t know.” And it was the truth. Freedom. Yes, that was what he wanted. To be free of her, but now the idea certainly didn”t make him happy. “I shouldn”t have left you. I should have stayed and tried to make our marriage work.”

“We had a horrible start. You couldn”t stand being in the same room with me. Hate, regret, guilt. Those were our marriage”s foundation. A marriage like ours would have never worked.”

“But you would have given us a try, right Joanie?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Joanie picked up the pine needles off the blanket and tossed them in the air.

He”d be here only for two weeks so might as well talk to her now. There were so many questions begging to be answered between them. Questions such as why she let him take her that night. “Joanie, answer me.”

“Why not try us, Julian? Every marriage deserves a chance to grow including ours.”

“I was nothing but mean to you. I hated the wedding, the idea of getting married, of marrying you. I don”t remember anything about our wedding but curiosity from the attendees.”

“I do…remember everything about it. It was a beautiful wedding. The sun was shining, the chapel smelled like incense and candles. You stood by the altar wearing the nicest tuxedo I had ever seen. I thought at the time I was only dreaming because I was marrying the man I loved since I—it was a beautiful wedding,” she said the last words in a hurry, but he heard her. Heard what she said clearly.

“You loved me?”

“I would have picked a different song though.” Joanie avoided looking at him. “The music was so old fashioned. Jason Mraz”s I’m Yours would have been nice or In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel.

“Joanie, you loved me since what?”

“The flowers were orchids—all white. I was so nervous walking I couldn”t even hold my bouquet.”

“Joanie…”

“Father Keeley did a great job. I loved everything about that wedding except…I wished that day never happened.”

“What? Why?”

“Because it wasn”t what you wanted. I told Dad to stop the wedding, but he wouldn”t hear me out. He said you must make a decent woman out of me. And you did. You showed up at the church looking so handsome. That was all Dad wanted. For you to be there.”

“And he was most likely happy when I disappeared.”

“I cannot say that he was happy. But he wasn”t surprised.”

“How come he didn”t come after me? Especially when you found out you were pregnant with Sam.”

“In the beginning, he felt victorious. He said with you running away from me, you missed something so wonderful. But months before he passed away, he started talking about you. Why we should let you in on Sam. I said no. Not because I didn”t want to share Sam with you. Believe me, all I dreamed about during her first years were for you to see her, hear her say strings of words and watch her play.”

“Then why didn”t you inform me?”

“Because I didn”t think you”d like to know. That you would be happy.

Marrying me was hard enough for you to take. To know you had gotten me pregnant, I thought, would be too much. I didn”t want to give you more grief, more responsibilities.”

“So you decided to keep Sam from me.”

“Yes.”

“You could have done that if you filed for a divorce, Joanie. I wouldn”t have come back here to see you. Why didn”t you?”

Joanie looked at him, frowning deeply. “I did.”

“What?”

“Yes. When you came here, I thought you brought the papers I sent to you.

But then you started spouting about your papers that I returned and didn”t say anything about mine. So I figured you didn”t get the papers?”

“No, I didn”t.”

Joanie shook her head. “Dad. He must have kept the papers instead of taking it to the post office.”

“Did you wonder why I didn”t reply?”

“I did. Dad said your silence was your way of getting even with me. To delay whatever plan I have.”

“And what was your plan for filing for a divorce?”

“Aside from I got tired of waiting?” Joanie laughed but it lacked mirth. She picked a crumb off the blanket and threw it on the grass. “A day after our supposedly first wedding anniversary, I thought it was time that I should do something about our situation. Give you your freedom back. Unfortunately Dad, for some reason, decided to go against my will. He”s old school. Anyway, you will be free soon.”

He cupped her face and looked at her flushed face. Joanie looked at him with her sad eyes brimming with unshed tears. He remembered seeing her sad—during their wedding day. God, he wished he knew how to take her sadness away.

Her tears began to fall. Wiping her tears with the pads of his thumb, he kissed her forehead. “I”m sorry, baby. I really am. I think we were both victims of circumstances. But you, you faced the brunt alone.” He pulled her against him and hugged her tight.

“No. Not alone. Dad was with me. He moved me out of Seattle to spare me from…Well, we survived and everything turned out to be okay.” Unable to stop himself, he kissed her cheeks, nose, and mouth. She tasted sweet and salty from her tears. Joanie sighed in his mouth and wrapped her arms around his neck. Julian lowered her on the quilt. His body followed and partly covered her smaller and supple length. Now he knew why she reacted the way she did when whenever he saw her reading to his grandma. “You loved me. But you love the blind guy now.”

“The blind guy?”

“The one who is yet to find you.”

“Ah, yeah. I love the blind guy.”

“Lucky for him. If he isn”t blind, I might have killed him for ignoring you.

Where is he?”

“Around,” she replied with a shrug. “He”s a knuckle-butt.”

“A knuckle-butt?”

Joanie laughed.

The man, he thought, wasn”t only blind but also stupid. Definitely blind and it was a good thing. With his free hand, he kneaded her hip, waist, and the flesh underneath her breast. Joanie returned his kisses with an equal eagerness. Her fingers raked his scalp as she arched her body to press against him. God, he wanted her so badly. He cupped her breast.

“Whatcha doing?”

Joanie stilled beneath him. He moved his head a bit to look at Joanie. Her lips were red and puffy from his kisses.

“What”re you doing?” Sam asked again.

“Kissing Mama, Sam,” he answered without moving from his position.

“Why are you kissing my mama?”

“Because she”s beautiful and she”s my wife.” He could feel Joanie”s heart beating hard against his chest. She didn”t say anything. Her tears flowed like rain on a glass window. He kissed her again before he rolled off Joanie and lay on his back.

“Why is Mama your wife?”

“Because we”re married.”

“Marcus said he”s gonna marry me.”

“Really. What did you say?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“”Cause Mark and Dana always kiss. And they”re Marcus”s mom and dad. I don”t have a dad.”

“Do you want me to be your daddy?”

“Uh-huh. Do you want me to be your Sam?”

A simple, innocent question, but enough to crumble every bit of his being.