Kara Lennox - The Good Father

Max stepped to the railing and waved. “C’mon over. We can start the party any time now.” He’d hardly seen her all day. He’d been taking around his new account exec, introducing her to clients he’d assigned her to, so he was looking forward to a few relaxing hours away from phones.

Not that he could touch Jane or kiss her or do any of the things he’d been constantly thinking about. But just having her near would be better than no Jane at all.

“I can’t come,” she said.

“What?”

“I couldn’t get a babysitter.”

Sara came to the railing. “You have to come. Why don’t you bring Kaylee with you?”

Jane shook her head. “That’s not a good idea. This is a grown-up party.”

Now Allie joined the conversation. “C’mon, Jane. You know Kaylee’s welcome. If you’re worried about her safety, she’ll have several worrywarts watching over her. I even have a safety line we can attach to her life jacket-”

“No, it’s not that. I appreciate the offer, but I think we better just stay home tonight.”

Max knew why she didn’t want to bring Kaylee, so he didn’t try to cajole her into coming, though he would feel her absence every moment.

Getting together with her was going to be something of a problem, he realized. Babysitters were expensive and unreliable, and he knew Jane wanted to spend her evenings with her daughter.

Maybe later, after the party and after Kaylee went to bed, he and Jane could go up on deck…and what? Would he forever be limited to clandestine meetings in the dark, stolen kisses, an occasional lunchtime tryst? That wasn’t what he wanted.

He wanted to shout from the rooftops that Jane was his, which was ridiculous.

Now Carol joined in the conversation. “Jane, I’m coming over there to get you. You better be changed into your sailing clothes when I get there, too.”

Ten minutes later, Carol had succeeded in dragging Jane and Kaylee to the Dragonfly. Jane looked incredibly sexy in her little white shorts and flowered T-shirt, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, though Max didn’t think she had intentionally dressed to seduce him.

Kaylee made the rounds, hugging every adult who showed her any interest. Max attempted to stay in the background, which wasn’t easy on a small boat, and when she inevitably saw him she ran toward him with arms outstretched.

“Max!”

What could he do? He wasn’t going to snub the child. “Hey, Flipper.” He gave Kaylee a brief hug, which was hard to do given her bulky life jacket. So he ruffled her blond curls, too.

Max expected Kaylee to move on, but she grabbed on to his hand. “I want to sit at the front.”

Jane had joined them, looking troubled. “Kaylee, I bet Allie would let you sit up on the bridge with her.”

“No, I want to sit in the front. Max, you come with me.”

“Max has things to do, sweetie,” Jane said. “This is his party, and he has to take care of his guests.”

Kaylee pulled on Max’s hand. “Come on, Max.”

Max shrugged helplessly, and Jane looked resigned. “Fine.”

The rest of the guests arrived, and Max greeted them all and invited them to eat and drink and make themselves at home. But as the Dragonfly got underway, he took Kaylee to the bow as she wanted. He enjoyed watching the little girl stand with the wind in her face, so filled with passion for life and that live-in-the-moment joy that only kids seemed to have.

Jane was watching, too, making sure Max had a firm grip on her little girl’s life jacket. But she didn’t seem worried. Kaylee knew her way around boats and wasn’t about to do anything risky.

“I’m glad you came,” he said to Jane. “I’d have missed you.”

Jane offered a small smile. “I confess, when I thought I was staying home tonight, I felt really left out.”

“Sorry about…” He tilted his head toward Kaylee. “I know this is exactly what you don’t want to happen.”

Jane sighed. “I can’t control how she feels about you.”

“Or how I feel about her, for that matter.” At her worried look he added, “It’ll be okay, Jane.”

She nodded without much enthusiasm. “I’m sure you’re right.”

“Can I see you later?”

She shook her head. “No babysitter, remember?” She laughed. “There’s a reason you don’t date single moms.”

“You know that’s not the reason. After Kaylee goes to bed. We could sit out on the deck and just talk.”

She looked surprised. “You’d be happy with that?”

“I like talking to you. I’d be happy.” He leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Of course, the whole time I’d be thinking about making love to you. But sex is only a part of it. I’m not that shallow, despite appearances.”

Jane blushed to the roots of her hair. “I never thought you were shallow.”

Carol appeared with two pink, icy drinks. “Here you go, strawberry daiquiris. For the lovebirds,” she added in an exaggerated whisper. Then she giggled and disappeared again.

“Did you tell her?” Max asked. It wasn’t an accusation, but he’d known since yesterday that Carol somehow knew. “It’s okay if you did. I’d rather her know the situation than speculate.”

“She knew without me telling her anything. Apparently it shows on our faces.”

“Oh.” Max supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. He always felt a little out-of-control in Jane’s presence.

“We may not be able to keep it private, you know. Lots of people have office…secrets, but everybody knows. At least, that’s what Scott once told me.”

“I don’t care, Jane.” And he realized he didn’t. “If people want to criticize me for…well, you know, they can just go right ahead.”

“But what if it hurts your business?”

“How could it?”

“Mommy!” Kaylee broke in. “Look, dolphins!”

Sure enough, a pod of dolphins swam beside the boat so close he could almost reach out and touch them. They looked like they were playing tag, jumping in and out of the water, sometimes becoming completely airborne.

“Wow!” Max was almost as excited as Kaylee. He’d never seen them so close before. “I think they’re putting on a show for us, Kaylee.”

She nodded, her eyes bright, and Max felt a lump in his throat that was becoming familiar. How could Scott have just walked away from such an amazing little person? Even as he thought this, he knew it was too late to stop the bond forming between himself and Kaylee.

Not unless he kept away from Jane altogether, and how was he going to do that? He’d been with her one time, but now she felt as essential as life itself.

J ANE WAS GLADshe’d come to the party. A spectacular sunset had led into a dark, moonless night, perfect for stargazing, and Kaylee’s delight at spotting Saturn’s rings as she looked through Cooper’s big telescope had been such a pleasure to watch.

Observing her little girl interact with Max had warmed Jane’s heart, too. Although she’d been abandoned by her real father, Kaylee seemed happier than she had in months, and Max was one of the reasons.

Was it fair to keep them apart? Or would she be punishing both of them because of some nebulous fear about what might happen in the future?

She took a sip of her bottled water and gazed up at the starry sky. It was a night for lovers.

“Kaylee’s gone to sleep,” Allie said, claiming a deck chair next to Jane. “I read her a story, but she conked out after only a couple of pages. I put her in the V-berth.”

“Thanks, Allie.”

“No charge. I never realized how much I like kids until I started babysitting for Kaylee. It’s good practice for the future, too.”

Jane’s jaw dropped. “Allie, you’re not expecting, too, are you?”