Beverly Barton - Her Secret Weapon

“Then if he isn’t married, why haven’t you demanded that he take responsibility for his son? No man should father a child and then abandon him.”

Callie understood Burke’s vehement reaction because she knew his history with his biological father. Burke Lonigan was the type of man who would take responsibility. But she had never given him the opportunity. Dear God, how would he feel and what would he think of her when she told him. No, not when, if. If she told him.

“I’m not sure that my son’s father is someone I want to be a part of his life. I’m uncertain about his ability to be a suitable father.”

“You didn’t tell this man about his child?” Burke’s eyes narrowed into slits, his expression accusatory.

“As I said before, it’s an awkward situation and rather complicated. I’d prefer not to discuss it anymore.”

Burke grasped her shoulder. “Is this man the reason you’re reluctant to have an affair with me? Did you love him? Did he hurt you terribly?”

How could she answer his questions? she wondered. Not with the complete truth. With lies, perhaps. Or maybe with half-truths. She wasn’t ready to be totally honest with Burke Lonigan. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

“I can’t talk about this with you.”

Burke glared at her speculatively. “Are you still in love with your child’s father? Is that the problem? You’re sexually attracted to me, but you love another man?”

Callie couldn’t restrain the bubble of laughter that formed in her throat and escaped from her lips. “I’m sorry.”

“What’s so funny?” he asked. “I fail to find any humor in what I asked you.”

“Do you always find it so difficult to accept a refusal from a woman? Do you always cross-examine her and try to find hidden motives for her rejection?”

“A refusal?” His eyebrows lifted in mock surprise. “I don’t think I heard you refuse.”

“Burke, I like you. I like working with you. And yes, I’m very attracted to you. But I can’t just have an affair with you. I’m not, as my father would say, footloose and fancy-free. I’m a mother and my first responsibility is to my child.”

“Then you’re saying that you don’t want us to become lovers?”

We’ve already been lovers, she wanted to shout. For one glorious, wildly passionate night, we were lovers. “I’m saying that I do not want to rush into a relationship that might end up hurting me and creating problems in my life.”

“Fair enough,” he said. “You take all the time you need, but you won’t fault me if I do everything in my power to persuade you.”

“You really don’t know how to take no for an answer, do you? What have you done in the past when a lady refused you?”

With a cocky grin, Burke shrugged. “It’s never happened. Would you believe me if I told you that you’re the first?”

Callie’s giggle turned into amused laughter. She nodded. “Yes, I’d believe you. You’re quite an irresistible man.”

He tugged her against him. With his lips only a hairbreadth away from hers, he said, “But you’re resisting me and you know that I find that resistance challenging. You want me to work for my reward, don’t you? That’s what this is all about.”

Callie pulled away from him, walked past him and halted at the door. “Maybe you’re right. The worthwhile things in life are usually more difficult to acquire.”

When Callie opened the door, Burke called after her, “Wait!”

She glanced over her shoulder. “Yes?”

“This isn’t over. Not by a long shot.”

After a short walk from the High Street Kensington subway station, Callie rummaged in the side pocket of her shoulder bag to find her key. Her home was located on a quiet street with little traffic. After Seamus was born, Enid had insisted that they needed a larger place to live and had promptly acquired a three-bedroom town house in central London. Callie wasn’t sure what she would have done without her cousin, who was not only her dearest friend, but also Seamus’s godmother. During the months she hadn’t worked after Seamus’s birth, Enid had generously supported them.

“What’s the good of having a sizable trust fund if I can’t spend it on something as worthwhile as a new mother and her baby?” Enid had asked.

Just as Callie started to unlock the latch, the door swung open. Enid stood there with a screaming Seamus on her hip.

“Thank God, you didn’t work late tonight.” Enid thrust Seamus into Callie’s arms. “He must be teething or something. He’s been wailing like that for half an hour. I rubbed that nasty-tasting gel on his gums, but that didn’t seem to help.”

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” Callie dropped her bag onto the floor in the living room, which, along with the dining room and kitchen, comprised the ground floor of the three-story house. “Have you been a bad boy for Aunt Enid?”

“Oh, he’s never a bad boy,” Enid said. “He’s just very loud when he’s in a bad mood.”

Holding Seamus on her hip, Callie eased one arm through the sleeve of her coat, switched her baby to the other hip and finished removing it. After draping the tan wool coat on the back of the sofa, she sat in the rocking chair by the door that opened onto the courtyard their home shared with four other houses. A fish pond and fountain decorated the terrace.

As Callie rocked, talking nonsensical words to Seamus, he quieted and cuddled against her. She smoothed the damp strands of his curly black hair, as silky and dark as his father’s. When he gazed at her with Burke’s brilliant blue eyes and said, “Hi, Mama,” she kissed both of his cheeks and hugged him to her.

“I fed Seamus about an hour ago,” Enid said. “He seemed hungry and ate quite well.”

“Thank you.” Callie glanced at her cousin and realized she was dressed for the evening. “Are you going out?”

“Some of us are going on a pub crawl,” Enid said. “We’re meeting at Riki Tik in about an hour. If the night turns out as I hope, I won’t be home till morning.” Enid’s little-girl giggle was in direct contrast to her very adult body. “Some night you should ask Mrs. Goodhope to stay so you can go with us. It’s time you—”

“Burke asked me to have an affair with him.”

“What!”

“Today. He kissed me, told me that he wanted us to become lovers and—”

“Did he say that he remembers you?” With her eyes wide and her hands waving excitedly, Enid rushed toward Callie. “Does he or does he not admit that he remembers the night you two first met?”

Callie shook her head. “He doesn’t remember. And I’ve told you that I truly believe he has no recollection of it. For some reason he has blotted out that night. Maybe because of the association with his father’s death. Or maybe because he allowed a woman to see him weak and vulnerable.”

“I have my doubts about his convenient loss of memory,” Enid said. “If he was so plastered that he has no memory of that night, I don’t see how he was able to perform. Heavy drinking usually leaves a man not fully charged.”

“Maybe other men.”

“Oh, please! You act as if no man on earth could compare to Burke Lonigan as a lover.” Enid huffed. “And what did you have to compare him to anyway? Laurence Wynthrope! That nancy boy!”

“Laurence might not have been the most masculine man in the world, but he wasn’t—”

“Admit it—he was a lousy lover and a real bastard. But at least he didn’t leave you pregnant. Which is exactly what Burke Lonigan did.”

Seamus let out a loud yelp. Callie soothed him with a few silly words that soon had him laughing. She cast a sharp glance at her cousin.

“We’ve discussed this a hundred times and I’ve told you repeatedly that what happened wasn’t Burke’s fault. It was mine. I was sober and—”