Married by Mistake Page 12

  He pushed his chair back and stood, then walked around to her side of the table, his tread deliberate, intent. Casey was forced to lean back in her seat to meet his gaze. He loomed over her, searching her face with smoldering eyes, and the masculine heat that emanated from him scorched Casey’s nerve endings. He hadn’t touched her yet.

  He rectified that by pulling her from her seat. Leaning against the edge of the table, he stationed her between his legs, facing him, his hard thighs around hers to keep her in place. His hands clasped her waist, not tightly, but with enough possessiveness to tell her he wouldn’t readily let her go.

  “I don’t know if it’s a good idea for us to stay married,” he said, “but I do know this is a good idea.”

  He dipped his head, took her mouth with certitude. Beguiled by his tongue’s provocative exploration, Casey lost the thread of her argument. She opened to his moist caress, felt a thick warmth spread through her, deadening any senses that weren’t employed in touching and tasting Adam.

  He flicked the buttons of her shirt undone, parted it to reveal her breasts, full and aching in her lacy bra. His eyes darkened, and when he lowered his mouth there, she thought her legs might collapse from under her. She leaned into him, felt his unmistakable hardness, and clutched at his hair.

  “Sweetheart,” he breathed, as his hands moved to the zipper of her skirt.

  For the briefest instant, she reveled in the endearment. Then the voice of reason whispered, He doesn’t mean it.

  Casey wanted to scream, to drown out the thought. But she couldn’t ignore it. She tugged on Adam’s hair, lifting his head so she could see his eyes. “Stop,” she said.

  To her surprise, the word came out with sufficient authority that Adam did stop. He straightened, put some space between them as Casey did up the buttons of her blouse, trying to ignore the scrape of her fingers against the oversensitized skin of her breasts.

  “I’m not going to make love to you,” she said. “It’ll complicate everything and I won’t be able to decide what I want. You know that, and you’re using sex to manipulate me.”

  His eyes darkened again, this time with anger. “I’m not like your family or your boyfriend. I want you, you want me—it can be that simple, if you’ll let it.”

  She folded her arms. “I’m not a pushover anymore.”

  For a long moment, he stared at her. Then he grasped her by the shoulders, planted a swift, hard kiss on her mouth. “I’ll wait.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “YOU KNOW, MY DEAR, I had quite given up on Adam marrying until you came along.” Eloise stirred sugar into her coffee, then tossed the spoon with practiced ease across the kitchen to land in the sink.

  When she’d first tried that maneuver a couple of weeks earlier, the spoon had hit the window behind the sink and cracked it. Since then, she’d taken to calling in on Casey most days, and now, by the start of the fourth week of their friendship, her aim had improved remarkably.

  Casey smiled, managing not to cringe at the reference to marriage, and continued preparing the seafood salad. It was the housekeeper’s day off. Adam had suggested they dine out, but Casey had declined. He hadn’t called it a date, but she suspected it was part of his campaign to get her into bed. As far as she was concerned, all dates were off. As extra insurance against temptation, she’d invited Eloise for dinner on several occasions, tonight included.

  “Now, Eloise,” she chided the older woman. “You hadn’t given up at all. I know all about your bridefest.”

  Eloise chortled. “Adam used that awful word just to annoy me.”

  “Are you saying you weren’t trying to find him a wife?”

  Eloise almost succeeded in looking insulted. “Not at all.” At Casey’s snort she added, “All right, I introduced him to various young women I thought I could tolerate as a daughter-in-law. I just wanted him to know the happiness I once did. But I knew it would take a miracle.” Her eyes misted. “And then you came along.”

  Uncomfortable, Casey turned the conversation back to Eloise. “Were you very much in love with Adam’s father?”

  The older woman’s face lit up. “Oh, yes. I miss James every day, but I thank God for the time we had. We’d only been married six years when he had that heart attack, and then a stroke right after.” She shuddered. “We were in bed—just reading, my dear,” she assured Casey, who really didn’t want to know.

  “Next minute, I was dialing 911, and the ambulance crew was saying I was lucky I hadn’t lost him already.”

  “So he died that night?” Casey asked.

  Eloise shook her head. “He recovered, quite well. The stroke slowed his speech, and he couldn’t move his right side much, but they ran all kinds of scans and tests, which showed no damage to anything that mattered. I thought I’d be taking him home with me in a few days’ time.”

  “Then what?” Casey asked, though the weight of grief in Eloise’s voice gave her the answer.

  “A week later, he had another heart attack.” Eloise dabbed a handkerchief to her eyes. “We only had those few years together, but, my, they were wonderful. Every one of them was worth a decade with an ordinary man.”

  “Do you think you’ll ever marry again?” Casey asked. If Sam could only stop making a fool of himself every time he got near Eloise, he might be a good match for her, with his old-world manners and his obvious desire to cherish her.

  Eloise shook her head. “I was forty-two when I married James, a spinster and perfectly happy that way. I don’t believe the man exists who could measure up to him, and I’m not prepared to settle for less.”

  “Good for you.” Casey meant it. She could learn something from Eloise about not settling. Still, she decided to have one last try at advancing Sam’s cause. “Eloise, I know you have lots of friends and you’re busy. But sometimes I catch something in your face.... You look lonely.”

  Eloise read Casey’s concern, and it warmed her. Her daughter-in-law was such a sweet thing—Eloise hoped Adam knew how lucky he was. She suspected he didn’t. Not yet. Whatever the truth behind Casey’s and Adam’s marriage, it wasn’t what the world saw. But a boy as smart as Adam would eventually realize he’d chosen the right bride, and would do what he needed to make the marriage work.

  “I won’t say I don’t get lonely,” she told Casey. “Of course I do. But what I had with James... I can’t replace that.”

  “Was he the possessive type?”

  Eloise shook her head. “He didn’t need to be. I never had eyes for anyone else.”

  “I wondered,” Casey said, “if you thought maybe he wouldn’t want you to find someone else.”

  “My dear, it’s not him, it’s me,” Eloise said, hastening to quash any implication that James might have been less than the generous, loving man he was. “I’m just...better on my own.”

  Though if that was so, why on earth had that stuffy Sam been occupying her thoughts to such an alarming extent, ever since she’d taken a look at him last week and realized Casey was right? The man was handsome. Very handsome. She should have noticed that before. Then it wouldn’t be bothering her the way it did now.

  Eloise fanned her face against a sudden heat that had nothing to do with the late afternoon sun streaming into the kitchen. She was behaving like a silly girl whose head had been turned by a dash of male attention. So what if Sam liked her, in a way that was annoyingly, yet quite endearingly, inept? He wasn’t James.

  James isn’t here.

  Eloise tamped down the traitorous thought. She loved James and always would.

  “The thing about Sam,” she said to Casey, “is he acts as if I do everything wrong. If I ever wanted another man, which I don’t, I’d want someone who wants to love me, not to improve me or organize me. Someone who wants what I have to offer. Which is love. Only love.” She smiled at her daughter-in-law. “Really, what could be better than that?”

  Casey didn’t know how to answer. In her experience, few people wanted only love. They wanted love plus housekeep
ing. Love plus babysitting.

  Never just love.

  Sometimes not even love.

  Eloise’s face softened. “I do wish we’d had longer, so James and Adam could have reconciled. Adam blamed James for his mother’s death, you know.”

  Casey tipped the tomato she’d just chopped into the salad bowl. “He says his father changed when he met you.”

  Eloise nodded. “After I met him, James was ashamed of the way he’d behaved toward his family. His own parents were cold and distant, and he married Adam’s mother for the worst of reasons—her family’s money—and made no secret of it. By his own admission, he was a lousy husband, and a poor father to Adam.”

  “It must have been hard for Adam, to see his father so loving toward you.”

  “So you’ve noticed I’m not Adam’s favorite person?” Eloise laughed at Casey’s stricken expression. “My dear, you can understand where he’s coming from. I didn’t find out about the financial mess James was in until he died, so Adam must have thought me utterly profligate. He was probably right. He wouldn’t touch a penny of his father’s life insurance to rebuild the business. He said I’d need that for myself. There I was, living the life I’d always lived, while that boy worked like a dog to rescue Carmichael Broadcasting from a disaster he blames me for.”

  “It wasn’t your fault.” Casey whisked balsamic vinegar in a jug, together with some olive oil.

  “Adam felt betrayed,” Eloise said gently. She slid the salt and pepper across the island to Casey. “James taught him that the business came first, that family was a distant second. Then, just as Adam finally had the chance to get close to his father at work, James changed the rules on him.

  “Then he made that foolish will, which meant Adam ended up more annoyed than grieved when his dad died. I tried to convince James to change the will after his stroke, but he refused.

  “But then you came along,” Eloise said briskly. She drank the last of her coffee. “And dear Adam will have the happiness he deserves.”

  “Adam and I... It’s early days. We’re still getting to know each other.” Maybe Casey could prepare Eloise for the blow she would suffer when the annulment came through.

  “Of course you are, my dear. It must be so exciting. But one only has to look at the two of you together to see how right you are.” Tears glistened in her eyes, and she blew her nose delicately. “I’ll just wash my hands, dear.”

  When Casey heard the kitchen door open a minute later, she assumed Eloise had returned. Without turning around, she said, “How do you know when two people are right together?”

  “When wanting the other person keeps you awake at night,” Adam said.

  Casey squawked and spun around. “When did you come in?”

  “Just now.” He walked up to her, so close he could kiss her, but he didn’t. “How long have you been talking to yourself? You know that’s a sign you’re not getting enough sleep.”

  “Wanting you does not keep me awake at night,” she said, as crushingly as she could.

  “You mean you’ve been stockpiling sleep?” he asked. “In that case, why not spend tonight with me? We can stay awake all night long.”

  He put his hands on her waist, closed the gap between them. His eyes blazed down at her.

  “I won’t be in your bed,” she said. “Other than in your dreams.”

  “Hmm, let me show you how my dreams start.” He kissed her, long and hard, until she opened her mouth to him. He walked her to the counter, deepening the kiss so that her head dropped back, revealing her throat. With a murmur of appreciation he left her mouth and started kissing her neck.

  “Ahem,” Eloise said from the doorway.

  Adam cursed and sprang away from Casey. “What’s she doing here?” He obviously realized that sounded rude even for him, and said, “Sorry, Eloise, you startled me.”

  “Evidently,” she told him serenely. “Casey invited me to stay for dinner. But if you two would rather be alone...”

  “No,” Casey said quickly. “We want you to stay. I thought after dinner we could...play Monopoly.”

  “If that’s what you’d like, dear,” Eloise said. “Though Monopoly does take rather a long time.”

  “Does it?” Casey asked.

  “Enthralling though that sounds,” Adam said, “I need to go back to the office after dinner.”

  “I’ll stay and keep you company then,” Eloise offered happily. She reached for Casey’s hand, squeezed it. “Truly, dear, getting to know you has been a wonderful treat. It seems odd to say this when I’ve known you such a short time, but already I love you like a daughter.”

  Casey returned Eloise’s impulsive hug, because she couldn’t look her in the eye.

  Eloise was offering the no-strings love Casey had always wanted. A gift she couldn’t accept, because she was an impostor.

  Behind Eloise, Casey saw Adam’s startled recognition of what his stepmother was offering...and something that looked very much like envy.

  * * *

  ADAM COULDN’T EXPLAIN his somber mood next morning. All he knew was that touching scene between Casey and Eloise had left him feeling as if he was missing out on something. He didn’t want to think about what that was.

  “Is anything wrong?” he asked Casey, in an attempt to get out of his own head. She looked about as cheerful as he felt.

  She put down her cup of tea. “Adam, I don’t know how to tell you this.”

  For one awful moment he feared something might have happened to Eloise. “What is it?”

  “Sue—the housekeeper. She called last night after you went back to work. She quit.”

  Relief washed over him. He looked at Casey, rubbed his chin.

  “Say something,” she demanded.

  “You must be doing something right.”

  “Right? How do you mean?”

  “As I recall, Mrs. Lowe lasted approximately forty-eight hours after you moved in. Sue lasted, what—two weeks? That’s a huge improvement.”

  Casey smiled reluctantly. “It’s not funny, Adam. I have no idea why she left. I’m starting to think it’s me.”

  “No way, darling,” he teased her. “I distinctly recall you telling me you’ve never upset anyone in your life. Right before Mrs. Lowe left, I think it was.”

  She huffed in protest, and suddenly he was smiling again. It felt good to have a problem as trivial as who would take care of the house.

  * * *

  THURSDAY HAD A RED CIRCLE around it on the calendar in Adam’s kitchen. It was the first round of the court battle with Anna May and Henry. Today, Anna May hoped to convince a judge that enough evidence of James Carmichael’s mental incompetence existed that the case deserved a full hearing.

  Casey cooked eggs and bacon for Adam’s breakfast, wishing there was something she could do to ensure that Anna May’s farcical motion never got beyond today’s preliminary hearing. Eloise was dreading the media coverage, and Adam didn’t need this on top of everything else.

  He ate his breakfast in silence, then gathered up his briefcase and cell phone. “I’ll call and let you know how it goes.”

  Casey stood. “Good luck.” And before she could question the wisdom of it—before Adam could back away—she grabbed hold of his lapels and leaned in to kiss him.

  It was meant to be a brief peck. But she ought to know by now that a quick taste of Adam’s mouth was never enough. She moved closer, all but plastered herself to the length of him, and parted her lips.

  Adam got the hint. His tongue claimed hers and he dragged her close, and Casey relished the weight of him pressing against her.

  When he broke away, he kept ahold of her shoulders. “Thanks. I feel a lot better.”

  The intense heat in his eyes unnerved her. “That was for luck,” she joked. “They call me Lucky Lips.”

  With his thumb, he traced the outline of her mouth, sending an erotic message straight to her core.

  “Whoever ‘they’ are,” he said, “I hope they know I’m
the only man entitled to these lips.”

  For now.

  He didn’t say those words and neither did Casey. But they hung between them like neon lights, illuminating the tenderness of the moment and revealing it to be false.

  Casey stepped out of his embrace. “I’ll go see Eloise while you’re in court.” Adam had asked his stepmother not to attend the hearing, and she’d gladly agreed. Casey wouldn’t go either, since, as Adam’s bride, she was a sore reminder to Anna May that Adam had fulfilled the will’s conditions.

  As she drove to Eloise’s, Casey fretted over how the older woman must feel. She’d been through so much. To finally meet her soul mate, then to have him suffer a heart attack and a stroke just a few years later... And just when Eloise had thought James might recover, he’d—

  “That’s it!” Casey thumped her car’s ancient steering wheel in excitement. Eloise had mentioned all those tests James had undergone after his stroke. They must have included tests on his brain.

  Casey pulled out her cell phone and called her stepmother-in-law. A car honked behind her—not because the driver thought she was sexy, but because she’d strayed into the next lane. Casey got the Fiesta under control while she waited for Eloise to answer.

  Eloise caught on fast to her garbled questioning. She promised to have the information Casey needed by the time she arrived. Next, Casey phoned Adam. But his cell phone was switched off. So was Sam’s. She would have to go to the courthouse.

  Fifteen minutes later, Eloise had made two calls to the hospital that had treated James, and one to her late husband’s lawyer. The news was all good. She insisted on coming with Casey to the courthouse. “I’ll park the car, dear, while you run in.”

  The hearing was scheduled for ten o’clock. Technically, it wouldn’t matter if they were late, but Casey wanted to stop it before it even started. She wanted there to be no public mention of James Carmichael being unhinged.

  They made it with ten minutes to spare. Eloise gamely took over the controls of the Fiesta, while Casey raced inside. She found Adam with Sam Magill outside courtroom number one. Across the hall, Anna May and Henry waited with all three of their lawyers.