Kate Hoffmann - Paris or Bust!

“What?” Renee shouted.

“He said he loved me. At least, I think he did. I could have imagined it. Or maybe he said something else and I misunderstood.” Roxanne rubbed her temples, trying to calm her confusion.

“What could he have said that sounded like ‘I love you’?”

“I don’t know. Isle of doom? Eye glob do? I’ve been trying to come up with something all morning. If he really loved me, then why did he run out on the only chance we had to…you know.”

“You can say the words, Rox. Have sex. Do the deed. Get nasty.”

“Shh! The kids are upstairs.”

“So what are you going to do?” Renee whispered.

Roxanne sighed. “I don’t know if there’s anything I can do. He walked out on me. He said he couldn’t make love to me.”

“You have a man who loves you, but who can’t make love to you. That’s a real bummer.”

Roxanne sighed. “I guess that’s better than a man who makes love to other women. At least I’d know he wasn’t cheating on me.”

Renee nodded her head. “He’s not going to run off with the Velvet Hammer.”

“I suppose I’m going to have to talk to him,” Roxanne said, getting up to pour herself another cup of coffee.

Renee stood and slipped her arm around Roxanne’s shoulders. “Talk to him. Maybe he just got scared off.”

“I’m going to wait until he calls me.”

Roxanne walked her sister to the front door, then waved at her as she walked down the front steps. She turned around and went back inside, drawing a deep breath as she closed the door behind her. It was odd not having something to look forward to. For the past month, she’d lived her life in anticipation of the next time she’d see Kit. Was that all over now?

She glanced up as footsteps sounded on the stairs overhead. Danny raced down, his new remote-controlled car tucked under his arm. “Mom, can we go over to Kit’s tonight to swim?”

Roxanne forced a smile. “Honey, we weren’t invited.”

“Sure we were. I asked Kit and he said I had to ask you.”

“When did you ask Kit?”

“I called him to thank him for the car. Rachel talked to him, too.”

“You called Kit?”

Danny nodded. “He gave me his number and he said I could call anytime. So can we?”

Roxanne bit her bottom lip. She had to straighten this mess up. Their lives had become so tangled with Kit’s it was impossible to know what to say. “I’ll think about it,” she said.

Danny started back up the stairs, then stopped and came back down again. “Are you going to marry Kit?”

She laughed, a high-pitched, slightly hysterical giggle. “I don’t know, Danny. We haven’t known each other very long.”

“But he makes you happy, right?”

Roxanne climbed up the stairs and gave him a long, hard hug. “Why don’t you go upstairs and get your brother and sisters? It’s a nice day. We’ll drive over to the park. And after we play, we’ll go out for some dinner.”

“And then we’ll go swimming?”

“No, sweetie, not tonight.” Maybe not ever, she mused. She climbed the stairs and walked into her bedroom, then flopped down on the bed. The remnants of the night before lay scattered on the floor-her little black dress, the sexy underwear. She reached up and skimmed her fingers over the pearls.

With a soft oath, she rolled over on the bed and grabbed the phone. Renee answered her car phone after just one ring. From the background noise, it was clear she was still in her car. “Hi, it’s me,” Roxanne said. “Can you come back and get the kids? I’ve got to find Kit and talk to him.”

“Four and a half minutes,” Renee said.

“What?”

“That’s how much time it took. Four and a half minutes. I was giving you five before I went home. I’m still parked out front.”

“OUR FIRST QUARTER ad revenue was up five percent from last year. And we’ve had a nice ratings bump in our early-afternoon programming. Some of Roxanne’s listeners are tuning in on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.”

Kit took the report from his father and set it on the kitchen table, then went over to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water. He took a long drink, then leaned back against the edge of the counter. “So what is this leading up to?”

“I want to offer her a contract for five afternoons a week.”

“She has kids,” Kit warned. “She probably won’t take it.”

“We won’t know until I offer,” Carl said. “With the increased ad revenue, we’ll more than pay for her salary. And it’s building our core demographic.”

“And what if I ask her to marry me?”

“I’ve been thinking about that since we talked last night. And I don’t think it will make a difference. She’s still a mother of four and she’s still a solid on-air talent. And if I make the offer attractive enough, she’ll take it.”

“That means I’ll be seeing a lot more of her around WBAM,” Kit murmured.

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“Only if she refuses my proposal of marriage.”

“Do you want me to wait?” Carl asked.

Kit shook his head. “No. I’m going to go over there this afternoon to talk to her. I don’t like living in limbo.”

“Good,” Carl said.

The doorbell rang and Kit started toward the door. “That’s the messenger with the bids for the studio renovations in Raleigh.”

Carl held up his hand. “I’ll get them,” he said. “I’ve got to get back to the station. Thanks for breakfast.”

“Just leave the envelope on the hall table,” Kit said. “I’m going for a swim. It’ll give me time to think.”

Kit watched his father walk out, then took another long sip of his water before starting toward the pool house. He didn’t bother going upstairs for his trunks. He was alone in the house so he stripped off his clothes, walked around to the deep end and dove in.

Swimming always gave him a good opportunity to think. The repetitive movement, the sound of the water rushing past his ears, the feel of his body skimming over the surface.

He came to the end of the pool and flipped, but caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. Kit kicked his feet beneath him to tread water, then shook his head. Roxanne stood at the shallow end of the pool, watching him. A surge of desire raced through his body as he thought about what had happened last night. It was quickly followed by guilt. He never should have walked out.

“Hi.”

“Hi,” she said. “Your dad let me in. He said you’d be back here.”

“I was just taking a swim,” Kit said.

“I can see that,” Roxanne replied, her gaze fixed below the surface of the water.

He smiled. “I was planning to call you when I finished. We need to talk.”

“I want you to know that I understand about last night,” Roxanne said, her words coming out in a rush.

“I shouldn’t have walked out,” Kit said. “Fear of commitment might scare a lot of men, but it doesn’t scare me. At least, not anymore.”

“I was putting too much pressure on you. I know.”

“No, it wasn’t your fault,” Kit said. “It’s just that I wasn’t really sure that we should be making love. I left because I didn’t want you to regret what we were about to do.” Kit raked his hand through his wet hair. “I left because I had to find out how my father felt about you. I left because you deserve more from me than one night of lust and passion.”

She pressed her palms to her cheeks. “I’m sorry.”

Kit swam over to the side of the pool, then pulled himself up and out of the water. He stood in front of her, naked and dripping wet. Then he took her face in his hands and kissed her, slowly and deeply. “I meant what I said last night. I love you. And I’m not afraid of what that means.”