Lee Mckenzie - Daddy, Unexpectedly

“Does he make a habit of showing up like he did tonight?”

“No, he usually phones. His lawyer sent divorce papers to my lawyer this afternoon. He expects me to agree to whatever is in them.”

“What do you want?”

“I guess I still want what I thought I was getting when we got married. To put down roots, have a home and a family.”

“Sounds like a wonderful life.” The bitter edge to his voice had a bite to it.

She knew he hadn’t had the greatest home life growing up, but back in college he had never talked about it. He’d been too busy partying and playing the field. Apparently the partying had stopped, but it was too soon to tell if he’d moved past the seemingly endless string of girlfriends.

“It would be wonderful.”

He didn’t agree or disagree. “Do you still want that? With him?” he asked instead.

“God, no. But someday, with someone, definitely. But you don’t think it’s possible.”

He shrugged. “I’m not saying it’s impossible, just that I’ve never seen it happen.”

“Seriously? You don’t know anyone who’s happily married?” She prided herself in being a realist, but even after her experience with Donald she still believed she had a chance at a long and happy marriage. Without that dream, the future looked awfully grim.

“Well, let’s see. My parents have been married for almost forty years. I’m not sure either of them has ever been happy.”

Forty years of unhappy would be grimmer than grim. Maybe that’s why Luke tended to play the field rather than make a commitment.

“They’re still married,” she said. “That has to mean something.”

Luke shrugged. “Convenience, maybe. My dad can string along his various girlfriends by telling them his wife won’t give him a divorce. And I think my mom is so afraid of being on her own that she puts up with all his crap.”

Claire thought of her two business partners, Sam and Kristi, who’d both grown up with loser dads and then found men who were loving husbands and devoted fathers. By comparison, she had been raised by parents who were still crazy about each other, even after all these years, yet she had ended up marrying the wrong man. Now she was staring a bleak future square in the eye.

“I’m sorry to hear your mom’s had such a rough go of it. Have you talked to her about it?”

Luke pushed his empty plate away, picked up his coffee cup and leaned back in his chair. “Devlin men don’t tend to be talkers.”

“You’re talking to me.” She wondered if he would open up about his ex-girlfriend, tell her what happened there. Someday, maybe, but she sensed this wasn’t the time to ask.

“True. You always were a good listener. What about your family?”

Was he asking because he was interested, or because he wanted to change the subject? Not that it mattered. She loved to talk about her family.

“My parents are in a retirement community in Arizona. You might remember that my dad spent his entire career in the military so we moved a lot. Now they have a motor home so they’re still on the go.”

“But that doesn’t appeal to you?”

“Not in the least,” she said, laughing. “Every time we moved, they did their best to make the new place feel like home for me and my sister. Carmen always fit in right away. It took me longer, and by the time I made friends and started to feel settled, my dad was transferred.”

“How did you end up in Seattle?”

“I fell in love with the Pacific Northwest when we were stationed at Whidbey Island, and I decided then that when I grew up, this is where I wanted to live. Now here I am.”

“And all grown-up.” His voice, deep and quiet all of a sudden, like the thrum of a bass, reverberated through her.

“All grown-up,” she agreed, almost breathless. And she was having some very grown-up thoughts about the man sitting across the table.

Don’t be an idiot. Luke Devlin was a man who lived in the moment, always had been and always would be. She was all about the long-term, the white picket fence, the happy ever after.

And how’s that working for you? It wasn’t. After months of being alone, she was lonely. Would it be so wrong to not be lonely for a change? Even just for one night? To wake up in the morning with a hot guy in her bed and a smug smile of satisfaction on her lips? Heat crept up her neck and she tried to cool her cheeks with her palms.

No, it wouldn’t be wrong and she would be tempted, but she still couldn’t do it. She couldn’t be that woman. Could she?

Chapter Three

Luke waited for her to climb off the bike, then joined her on the sidewalk.

“I’ll walk you up.”

He’d had to park nearly a block away, it was dark and there was no way he could let her walk on her own. Another man might be tempted to, but not a cop. Never. Besides, he was hoping to be invited in. For the obvious reasons, of course, but also because he welcomed the chance to check out the place from the inside.

“Thank you.” She sounded relieved.

On her own she would most likely come and go via the secure underground parking garage, especially at night. Not that anything was ever completely secure, especially given what he knew about the activities of some of the lowlifes who lived here. Tonight he would see her to the front door, maybe farther if he was lucky.

They’d covered about half the distance when prickles of unease shivered up his neck. He knew better than to be obvious, but a couple of casual over-the-shoulder glances revealed nothing. Someone was watching them, most likely just him, and he saw no advantage to tipping off whomever that might be. Had the operation been compromised? His gut told him no. This was about something else.

He sought out the pistol tucked in an inside jacket pocket, curled his fingers reassuringly around the grip as his other arm went out instinctively to draw Claire closer. She glanced up, the obvious question in her eyes.

“Thought you might be cold.” It sounded lame, even to him, but she didn’t pull away.

“Would you like to come up for coffee?” she asked as she unlocked the front door of her building.

“Sure.” Hell, yes. He was glad she’d asked. It saved him the trouble of trying to invite himself in.

Earlier she’d been on edge, possibly due to her ex showing up and giving her a hard time, and he’d thought the evening was headed for disaster. Eventually she had relaxed, and after they got their current relationship status out of the way, they had talked about work, recent movies they’d seen, what some of their old college friends were doing now and even pets. He’d adopted a German shepherd named Rex after the dog failed to meet the K-9 unit’s requirements. Claire had a Siamese cat named Cleo. Cleo didn’t like dogs, and Rex was afraid of cats. As they left the restaurant and walked to where he’d parked the bike, he’d been hoping that wasn’t a metaphor for him and Claire. And then he’d realized that he hadn’t used a word like metaphor since she’d been his study partner.

Not until they were stepping into the elevator did the hair on the back of his neck fall back into place. Who the hell was out there?

Claire pushed the button for the top floor. Huh. That would put her in one of the penthouses. If hers looked across to the other tower, to the penthouse his team had under surveillance, this evening might hold even more possibilities than he’d hoped it would.

They didn’t speak as the numbers ticked by, and then the elevator glided to a stop and the door opened with hardly a whisper. He followed Claire into a spacious and elegantly appointed foyer with a door at either end. His luck held. Keys in hand, she walked foward and opened the door he was hoping was hers.