Kate Hoffmann - Paris or Bust!

Callum and Jody exchanged glances. The rules of the game must have escaped Jeremy. It was understandable, at his age.

“Let’s see.” Callum examined the boy’s hand. Sure enough, he didn’t have any kings. “I’m sorry, son. You have to have a card before you can ask for the ones that match.”

“I want the kings! The kings are best.” Storm clouds gathered in his son’s blue eyes, darkening them to a smoky gray.

Is that how I look when I get angry? Callum wondered, but brushed the thought aside. “Aces are the high cards, Jerry.”

“I want the daddies!”

“The daddies?” Callum asked.

“That’s the kings.” Ben was in agreement with his brother for once. “The queens are the mommies.”

“You mean the mommies are second best?” Jody asked with feigned hurt. Or maybe it wasn’t entirely feigned.

“They’re the best cards, too,” Ben said diplomatically. Jerry nodded.

“If kings are daddies and queens are mommies, what are the jacks?” Callum asked.

“They’re us,” Jeremy said. “You know, boys.”

Jody spread her hands in amazement. “I have no idea where they got this notion.”

“The tens are girls,” Ben added.

“Hold on.” Jody folded her arms and glowered. “The tens are below the jacks. This is a sexist hierarchy.”

“What’s that?” Ben asked.

“Your mom’s right,” Callum said. “Kings and queens are equal in this house and so are jacks and tens.” After a moment’s thought, he added, “Just not in card games.”

“I want the kings,” Jerry said doggedly.

“I had them first!” His brother stuck out his tongue.

The next minute, cards tumbled to the carpet as Jeremy lunged at Benjamin. It took both adults to untangle them.

“Now what?” Callum asked as he threw Jerry over his shoulder.

“They both get time-outs,” Jody said. “Jeremy for attacking his brother, and Benjamin for sticking out his tongue and provoking him. You go that way and I’ll go this way.” Holding Ben’s hand, she marched him toward her bedroom.

“Well, big guy, I guess it’s you and me,” Callum said.

“You’re hurting my tummy.” When this didn’t bring an immediate response, Jerry added, “I might throw up.”

“Down my back?”

“And into your pants. I did it to Mommy.”

“I’ll bet she loved that.” Callum set the boy on his feet. “Okay, kid, march!”

The little guy’s stubborn expression hadn’t softened by the time they reached the boys’ room. “How do these time-outs work?” Callum asked.

“You have to go away.” Jerry’s mouth quivered.

“Is there any rule that says the daddy can’t stay here with you and have a time-out, too?” Callum asked.

Jeremy shook his blond head. As the boy plopped onto his bed, a slow smile warmed his features. “I guess I won.”

“How’s that?”

“You’re the king and I got you.”

Callum lowered himself beside his son, bending so as not to bump his head on the upper bunk. “What was this fight really about?”

“Ben says you like him better than me.” Jerry wiggled around on the quilt as if unable to hold still. It might, Callum suspected, be a condition endemic to four-year-old boys.

“Where did he get that idea?”

“You let him play with your ’puter.”

“Only because he invited himself into my room.”

“Can I play on it?”

On the point of agreeing, Callum remembered that this was supposed to be a punishment. “Not until you’ve served your time. You attacked your brother, remember?”

“Can I play later?” Jeremy asked.

“You bet.” He supposed he ought to leave now. The last thing he wanted was to interfere with Jody’s discipline program. “I don’t know about this household, but where I grew up, the rule was that time-outs also included a hug. Is that true here?”

“Yes. Unless I’m mad,” his son said.

“Can I have my hug now, in case you get mad later?”

The boy considered the question solemnly. “Okay.” He threw his arms around his father’s neck.

Drawing Jerry onto his lap, Callum hugged and rocked him. It took a moment before he realized that this rush of tenderness was love, a different kind of love than he’d ever experienced before. He wanted to protect this little boy so fiercely that he would do anything, give anything, sacrifice anything for his sake.

When the boy started wiggling again, Callum released him. “I’ll see you later.”

“Okay.” Jeremy beamed.

In the front room, Jody said, “You’d better go see Ben. He feels neglected because you went with his brother.”

“They’re amazing.”

“I’m a little jealous,” Jody admitted. “Although I know that’s ridiculous.”

“I’m the new toy. Of course they find me more interesting, temporarily,” Callum said. “But they’d be lost without their mom. So would I.”

The words slipped out before he had a chance to reconsider. Well, so what? He’d meant it.

Ben kept him entertained with tales of adventures at the Wiltons’ ranch. Later, after the twins apologized to each other, they took turns at the computer and Jody then read them all a storybook. Her animated face and voice cast a spell over Callum.

When the twins were asleep, he went to his room to work on the laptop. It was rare for him to spend a whole day, even a Sunday, without accessing the Web site and reading his e-mail. Tonight, however, he couldn’t concentrate.

Hoping another cookie would help, he wandered into the kitchen. Music reached him from Jody’s room. Oh, to heck with work, anyway, he thought, and went to pay her a visit.

She lay on the king-size bed where he’d hugged Ben earlier, reading a novel while country music played on the radio. Beside her on an end table lay a monitor, which he realized must be tuned to the boys’ room.

With her hair spread across the pillow and her inviting curves outlined by a silky nightgown, Jody might have been a seductress from an exotic tale. His own private Scheherazade.

“Hi,” she said, bookmarking her place.

“Want company?” Callum sat on the edge of the bed. “If you’re not too tired, maybe we could…”

“Shut up and kiss me,” said the most enchanting woman in the world, and she pulled him down beside her.

This time, there was less urgency to their lovemaking and more sweetness. They amused each other slowly, teasing and talking. Callum wished he could extend this intimacy forever, but at last passion overcame his resistance.

When they’d finished, it was a luxury to sleep beside her all night, to listen to her breathing and feel the subtle electricity of her skin. He wanted to spend every night this way.

Toward morning, Callum dreamed that he was riding home after a long day on the range. Jody emerged from the barn to greet him, a little girl clinging to her skirt. The boys, grown into pre-teenagers, waved from a corral where they were training horses. He drifted awake with a profound sense of yearning.

He glanced toward the other side of the bed. Empty. Jody must have arisen early to start her chores. She couldn’t afford to linger in bed on a Monday morning.

Monday! Callum sat up straight. He was missing the weekly staff meeting, and he’d promised to call his secretary about rescheduling his appointments. With April almost here, the copy was due for the July issue and the Web master would be changing the site soon.

Of course, Tisa could run the operation for a while. She did her job efficiently and with flair. No one had Callum’s gift for the stylish and the eye-catching, though. When celebrities called, they asked for him personally. Some of the major advertisers did, too.

Enthusiasm powered Callum through his morning routine. When he’d showered and changed, he was relieved to find Gladys’s daughter, Louise, ready to take the boys to town for their half day of preschool.