Power Play (Play Makers Book 4) (23 page)

Relieved, Wyatt told him, “As long as I’m
with you, sure. Help me out with this stuff, will you?” Popping the
trunk, he handed the boy one of the trays, then paused when he saw
Gail had decided to join them. “Hey, Gail.”

“Uncle Wyatt’s gonna let me drive the Jag,”
her brother told her with a proud grin.

“Wow.”

Wyatt gave her an encouraging look. “You can
drive it too if you want.”

“Me?”

“Sure. Same rules as Danny. I have to be in
the passenger seat, and my word is law.”

To his surprise, she wrapped her arms around
his chest in an exuberant hug. “Thank you, thank you. I’m so glad
you’re here. And Grammie will be thrilled. Are you spending the
night?”

“Yeah, if it’s not too much trouble.
Here . . .” He handed her the tray of desserts. “Can
you find a spot in the kitchen for these?”

“Oh, yum.” Her eyes twinkled. “I’ll find
them a good home, I promise.”

He chuckled then turned his attention to the
house. “I’m surprised they’re not sitting outside. Bea and Tony, I
mean.”

“They went back to bed. But don’t accuse
Grammie of sleeping. She calls it resting her eyes.”

“Understood.” He grabbed his gym bag and
rolling suitcase, ignoring the ill-fated garment bag, then followed
the teenagers. “Is this normal? For Bea to sleep in the middle of
the day? She’s not sick, is she?”

“Well, you know,” Gail hedged. “She’s got
that thing with her heart. And that thing with her feet. But
otherwise she’s pretty healthy.”

“I knew about her heart. What’s wrong with
her feet?”

“She says they get stuck.”

Damn
 . . .

“I’ll put your suitcase upstairs in the old
master bedroom, Uncle Wyatt,” Danny offered. “Tony and Grammie
sleep down here in Uncle Matt’s room now.”

The offhand comment hit Wyatt hard. Did
these kids actually call Matt Bourne “Uncle Matt”? Even though they
had never met him?

Because they’ve heard the stories,
he
reasoned. Still, he was surprised he had never noticed it
before.

Meanwhile Wyatt remembered that downstairs
room wistfully. He had stayed there many times as a child, and each
time, his dad had told him the same thing: “The rest of the family
sleeps upstairs. But we stay down here. The first line of defense,
right? No one can get past us.”

As an impressionable little boy, Wyatt had
felt so proud. Even when he was older—after the divorce—he and Matt
had flown out for the Super Bowl every year until Matt left for
Afghanistan. That was the last time Wyatt had spent the night at
the ranch.

Now? It felt like a mistake to set a new
precedent, especially if Aunt Jenny heard about it.

Gail had offered him some coffee, and as
soon as they were settled at the kitchen counter, she asked in
seeming innocence, “How’s Darcie, Uncle Wyatt?”

“She’s fine. I saw her earlier today in
fact.”

“Oh, good!”

“We’re not dating anymore, but we’re still
friends.”

“Oh . . .”

Grateful for the conciliatory texts he and
Darcie had exchanged, he decided to go with it. “She’s pretty busy,
you know. New career and all.”

Gail looked ready to give him dating advice,
so he changed the subject quickly. “Are you and Danny here for the
weekend?”

“We alternate with Annie and Joe. But when
they find out you’re here for the weekend, they’ll probably come
over too.”

“My flight leaves at noon tomorrow.”

She gave a slight shrug of her shoulders,
clearly not surprised.

“Wyatt?” a soft voice asked from behind
him.

“Hey, Bea.” He gave her a gentle hug. “I
hope you don’t mind an unscheduled visit.”

“He’s spending the night, Grammie,” Gail
explained.

“What a nice surprise. Is Darcie with
you?”

“They broke up,” Gail said mournfully.

Danny walked in at the moment and demanded
with a grin, “What’d you do, Uncle Wyatt? Forget her birthday?”

“Daniel,” Bea scolded. “It’s nothing to joke
about.” To Wyatt, she added, “Just apologize and buy her flowers.
She’s very fond of you, you know. I’m sure she’ll forgive you.”

“It’s not a question of that. We just
decided to be friends.”

“Oh, well, you know best.”

Wyatt chuckled at the unmistakable putdown.
“Did you see the sports car in the driveway, Bea?”

She nodded, her eyes sparkling. “It looks
fast.”

“It
is
fast.” He took her by the arm
and urged her mischievously, “Come on, let’s go for a spin.”

• • •

The text from Wyatt had come at the perfect
time.

Simple, decent, and final.

No suggestion of a do-over, but at least if
they ran into each other at a professional event, or even a random
one, they could be “friends.” Whatever that meant. In any case, she
appreciated the way he had stepped up.

Now if only he had apologized for the right
thing. That parting shot? Where he said he didn’t want to get
someone like her pregnant? It had barely registered on the hurt
scale.

But saying he had known
from the
start
she would be a huge mistake?
That
was gonna leave
a mark.

She had spent the last two hours tidying up.
Washing the sheets. Putting the chilled champagne back in the tiny
under-the-stairs cabinet Murf had dubbed their wine cellar. She had
even moved the newly dry-cleaned embassy dress from its prominent
position in her closet to the deepest depths, and to her surprise,
it gave her new appreciation for what had almost happened.

A tingle of excitement for their ridiculous
date.

Especially because he had rented a fancy
black Jag for the occasion. And even though she knew she should
banish all thoughts of him, she kept picturing them together in
that car, headed for adventure, erotic and otherwise. In her
fantasy, he was wearing a tux. And she was wearing the hot dress,
although not for long.

She could feel the supple black leather of
the upholstery cradling their writhing bodies in the driver’s seat,
even though she had never been in a Jaguar and had no idea if a big
guy like Wyatt could recline far enough for the things she wanted
to do to him.

The things she
was
doing to him.

“You’re supposed to be pissed,” she scolded
herself before it went too far. “Or at least sad. Instead you’re
finishing the date without him?”

Chagrined, she found the still-cool
champagne in the closet, popped the cork, and poured a serving in a
pretty crystal flute. Then she took the drink and her phone onto
the front porch, sat on the top step, and called Emily.

Her friend’s tone was guarded. “I’ve been
calling you all day. To give you the G report. Then I started
picturing you playing naked football with a surgeon.
Please
tell me you didn’t lie to me about canceling those lessons.”

“I don’t want to talk about Wyatt. Or
Genevieve. Just tell me I’m not a manipulative bitch. That’s all I
ask.”

“
What?”
Emily’s fiery breath blew
through the phone. “He is sooo dead.”

“The bad news is, he might be right. Anyway,
you know I love you but I really called to talk to Smoochie. Can
you put her on?”

Emily was silent for a moment, then
murmured, “Come for a visit. I’ll even let you call her that.
Once
. Then it’s over.”

Darcie’s dejected spirit soared with relief.
Of
course
she should go to Texas. All her favorite
people—all five of them—were there. She could hug the Murphy boys
and their mother, give Murf the bad—or maybe good—news. Then bury
her face in new-baby smell for the rest of the visit.

“Come tonight. Murf will find you a flight
or arrange a charter.”

“I’ll come tomorrow morning. And I’ll get my
own flight since this is mostly personal. Of course,” she added
teasingly, “I’ve got a ton of airline mileage to burn for free
anyway, thanks to Murf.”

“Are you okay?”

“The truth?” Darcie hesitated, then
admitted, “Definitely. It was a long shot, right?”

“It was hopeless. But I guess you needed to
find out on your own. Can I tell Murf now?”

“No. He already knows a little. I swore you
both to secrecy, just on different facts. But let
me
tell
him, okay?”

“When he hears you’re coming for a visit,
he’ll know it went south. And he’ll be glad.”

Darcie knew how true that was. Murf had
worried about breaking the news to his loyal, anti-Surgeon clients.
And on a personal level, he had worried about Wyatt as an unknown
quantity. Was he good enough for Darcie? Would it cause a rift for
any of them? All of them? The worst-case scenario being a rift
between Darcie and Emily. Not that that could ever happen. But Murf
planned for all contingencies. It made him a great agent. A great
surrogate boss and brother.

And a truly awesome husband.

• • •

At four o’clock in the afternoon the next
day, Dallas time, Darcie stepped out of the baggage claim doors and
into a blast of heat, only to be instantly rescued by Murf, who
grabbed her carry-on suitcase with one hand, grabbed her body for a
hug with the other, then ushered her into his robustly
air-conditioned hybrid SUV.

“Buckle up,” he instructed her briskly.
“Then tell me the whole story.”

“There’s nothing to tell. We tried, we
failed. Which is probably for the best, right?”

His blue eyes studied her with quiet
affection. “No chance for a rematch? You seemed pretty hot for
him.”

“Surgeons and lawyers don’t mix,” she said
with a sigh. “I don’t regret it. But, oh well, life goes on.” When
he kept looking at her, she laughed. “Yes, I was crazy about him.
Because he’s a really nice guy. But we had some deal breakers, as
he calls them. I’m just glad we found out right away.”

Murf started to say something, then just
shrugged. “My wife will make you talk. She has ways, you know.”

“That’s why I’m here. So you can spend some
time with your wife and her sexy ways.”

“Huh?”

“I know Genevieve isn’t the world’s best
babysitter. But
I
am. So take Em out on the town. I’ll hold
the fort.”

She smiled at the struggle on his face. This
guy wanted time alone with his wife almost as much as Sean Decker
wanted time alone with Erica Spurling. But he didn’t want to take
advantage of, or shortchange, Darcie’s heartbreak.

So she eyed him teasingly. “When will you
get another offer like this?”

“It feels like forever,” he admitted. “I’m
selfish enough to do it, trust me. But Em wants to take care of
you,
not the other way around.”

“I want me some Smoochie, some Brian and
some Zack. Not necessarily in that order. You guys will just be in
the way. So please? Help me talk her into it?”

He gave a determined nod. “She might agree
to an hour. Hour and a half tops. Nell still nurses on demand, and
trust me, she’s demanding.”

“We’ll see. The boys always accepted bottled
breast milk from me for at least a few hours. Have you tried that
with the Smooch?”

“I’ve tried it when all else fails and Em’s
at the store, and yeah. She’s a sport for a while then the
screaming starts. So . . .” He nodded again. “That’s
our strategy, right?”

“Right.”

“Man . . .” His tone grew
hushed. “Thanks, Darce. I’m gonna owe you for a million years.”

• • •

Knowing Emily would reject the idea, Darcie
didn’t give her a chance. She just hugged her briskly, then
shouted, “Where are my babies?”

Brian and Zack came running on cue. “Aunt
Darcie!”

She dropped to one knee so they could maul
her, then she announced mischievously, “Who’s your favorite
babysitter?”

“You are,” Zack assured her. “But not
Grandma. She scares Brian.”

“Someday you’ll realize how cool your
grandma is, but tonight,
I’m
in charge. Of ice cream, that
is.”

As they shouted their approval, Emily gave
her husband an inquiring look.

“Darcie offered to sit for us.” He stepped
closer, his voice husky. “Just for a few hours.”

“Oh . . .” She ran an
apologetic finger along his jaw. “Maybe in a few more weeks when
Nell’s sleeping longer.”

“I want her to sleep
less,
not more,”
Darcie interrupted with a laugh. “You have bottled breast milk,
don’t you?”

“For emergencies,” Emily said sternly, but
Darcie noticed her fingers were still caressing Murf’s face.

Man, these two have it
bad . . .

“It’s settled, Em. Look at that adorable
face. Can you really say no to him?”

“Oh, God,” she whispered. “You’re
sure
you don’t mind? She’ll cry—”

“Go get dressed. Something hot and
revealing. You too, Em.”

Murf chuckled, then took Emily’s hand. “What
do you say?”

“For one hour. Not a minute more. Or maybe
an hour and a half, just to allow for travel time.”

“Four hours,” Darcie corrected her.
“Plus
travel time. You need to have cocktails, then the
meal, then dessert, then dancing.”

Emily blushed. “As if we’d waste this in a
public restaurant?” Her arms swept around Darcie’s neck. “You’re
the best friend in the world. I’ll just get Nell up and change
her—”

“I’ll get Nell. You get going. Please?”

To her amusement, Emily didn’t waste any
time after that. Instead, she and Murf disappeared into the master
bedroom, where suspiciously amorous sounds warned that the party
had already begun.

Laughing, Darcie said to the boys, “Let me
grab your sister. Then we’ll have a party too.”

Zack gave her an adorable scowl. “Are you
just gonna pay attention to Nell again? Like last time?”

“Good question. So let me ask you this. Can
she sing?”