New and…Improved? & Andrew in Excess

6

RETURNING FROM WORK the next day, Andrew knelt to greet the ball of fur that barreled toward him. He assured himself it was merely in the best interest of his pant leg that he allowed Toto to slop wet doggie kisses on his hand. He’d never gotten around to quizzing Kat on Toto’s incontinence. This seemed the safest way to avoid another episode.

Such enthusiasm on the little dog’s part dictated some return of affection, he further reasoned. Andrew scratched behind the scruffy ears, reluctant to admit to himself he looked forward to Toto’s welcome. He chuckled as he remembered Kat’s assurance that Toto had guarded the house on their wedding day. Had it only been four days? In some ways it felt as if Kat and Toto had been a part of his life much longer.

“So, hound, you kept the castle safe in my absence today? How many warring enemies did you keep at bay?”

Toto rolled over and presented his stomach by way of answer. Andrew chuckled at Toto’s forwardness.

“Aye, milord, and it’s a relief to have you home,” Kat retorted from the kitchen doorway, hands planted on her rounded hips. Sunlight danced behind her, turning her hair into a fiery halo, outlining her shapely thighs through her thin cotton dress.

An increasingly familiar stab of lust besieged him. For a tempting second he fantasized tossing the wench over his shoulder and having his way with her.

Sanity prevailed. Ovulation had come and gone, just in the nick of time. Yesterday at work the memory of their gardening exploits had proved a terrible distraction. And last night’s less exotic but equally satisfying lovemaking actually had him doodling on a brief today. He never doodled and certainly never on a brief. Now the only reason to make love to his wife was desire and that wasn’t part of the deal.

He rose to his feet, annoyed by his lasciviousness and at being caught in a conversation with a dog.

“Hi. Let me change clothes before dinner, okay?”

Laughter sparkled in her blue eyes. “Take your time. Dinner’ll keep. Just don’t let Toto tie you up in anything too philosophical.”

Andrew smiled at her wit and then sobered at a jolting thought. “I’m not sure exactly what you two discuss, but you don’t need to mention this to Bitsy.” He shuddered to think of her merciless teasing.

“What? That you change clothes before dinner?”

“The dog.”

A smile quirked at her delectable mouth. “Oh, you mean that you talk to my dog. Don’t worry. I wouldn’t dream of telephoning Bitsy with it.”

“Thanks.” He started down the hall to the bedroom.

“Then I wouldn’t have anything to talk about at the reception on Saturday.”

He stopped and turned slowly to face her, aware of the stiffness in his neck that had plagued him all day. “What color’s your dress for the party?”

“Royal blue with jewel tones.” She answered without hesitation, then paused, suspicion narrowing her eyes. “Why?” Before he could say anything, she answered for him, her expression clearing. “You want to get a corsage for me?”

He paused for effect. “No. So, I’ll know what color muzzle to order.”

Kat sputtered behind him as he continued to the bedroom. Andrew unknotted his tie, pleased at having one-upped his impudent wife.

He dropped his briefcase onto the worn rocker resting in a corner of the bedroom. Mark Antony, his decorator, had designated the house’s interior scheme minimalist tranquility. Now, with Kat’s things tucked into corners and nooks, he realized that translated to stark.

Since Kat’s arrival, his house felt like a home. The room across the hall with his exercise equipment could easily be turned into a nursery. His house was fast becoming cozy and warm.

Andrew scowled at the thought and at the little dog that had followed him. Toto hopped up beside him as he sat on the bed and unbuttoned his shirt.

“Dammit, I don’t want warm and cozy.”

In the distance, Kat banged around in the kitchen, for all the world as if she belonged there. As if she belonged here.

The thought further tightened his already tense neck muscles.

He’d seen it time and time again among his peers and his parents. Warm and cozy didn’t last. He doubted if his parents had ever had warm and cozy between them. Perhaps in the beginning? Certainly he’d never seen a vestige of it in their relationship. With painful clarity he remembered a nanny who’d showered him with affection. At eight, he’d soaked it up like a dry sponge. He’d been devastated when she had to leave to take care of an ailing mother. Oh yes, he’d learned early on to maintain a distance.

Adulthood had merely reinforced his stance. How many colleagues had he seen marry with enthusiasm only to end up in divorce court a few years later? Bitsy and Edward seemed the exception. But they were exceptional. And the loneliness was all the more painful when it was over.

Toto cozied up to him and rolled over, offering up his warm belly for scratching, and without thought Andrew immediately complied.

If he grew fond of Kat’s dog so easily, how would he respond to his and Kat’s baby?

SIPPING A GINGER ALE-her wine cooler days were over until she knew for sure if she was pregnant-Kat lounged on the patio and tried to finalize her curriculum for her summer art students. Or at least she intended to think of curriculum. Despite a valiant effort to concentrate, visions of Andrew danced through her head. Andrew tickling Toto and chatting nonsense. The sparkle in his eyes when he’d threatened her with a muzzle. Andrew’s naked, hair-roughened chest and tight buns…

She shook her head. She’d better concentrate on her job. If everything went according to plan, she’d have another person to support in the not-too-distant future. She patted her tummy, torn over the desire to already be carrying their child yet hating the thought that if she was pregnant there’d be no more lovemaking.

She’d already listened to one motivational tape earlier today. She’d better dig out another before bedtime, as well.

Andrew joined her on the patio and eased into his chair. He leaned his head against its back and heaved a sigh into the quiet of the evening.

Kat eyed him sympathetically. “Rough day?”

“Yeah. I went up against Jackson today. He’s good and he’s tough.”

Kat had known the time would come when her husband would go head-to-head with either her brother or father. She loved Jackson dearly, but oddly felt a shifting of allegiance to the man who would father her child. Only because Andrew would contribute genetically, she assured herself.

“Who won?”

“I was better today.” Arrogance, pride and a touch of humor shaped his grin. “But he’s a helluva lawyer. Next time, who knows?”

“Congratulations. For today at least.”

“Thanks.” He winced as he looked toward her.

“What’s the matter?”

“I slept wrong last night. My neck’s hurt all day.” He admitted.

Kat remembered Andrew rubbing her back until she drifted off to sleep on their wedding night. Placing her ginger ale on the table, she moved to stand behind his chair.

Andrew glanced up at her, or at least as far as his impaired neck allowed. “What’re you doing?”

“My mother used to get a stiff neck when she’d spent too much time at her easel. I could always make her feel better.” She positioned her hands on the corded muscles of his neck.

He stilled her by placing his hands over hers. “Thanks, but that’s not necessary. I was out of the office today, but Gloria can help me out tomorrow. She’s taken care of this for me before.”

Kat’s instinctive response rang in her head: It’d be a cold day in hell before she gave the Valkyrie-as she’d come to think of the paragon Gloria-a reason to put her hands on her husband. Even if he was only temporary. And it had nothing to do with jealousy, she reasoned. It simply wasn’t circumspect for her husband’s secretary to rub his neck. And she’d just discovered a newfound regard for circumspect.

She shook off his hands and slid her palms inside his shirt and over the rigid lines of his shoulders. “There’s certainly no need for you to suffer through the night,” she admonished, beginning a rhythmic massage. Oh no, she’d be the one to suffer through the night. Ovulation was over and hence the excuse…uh, reason…to make love with her husband. Anything now would just be gratuitous indulgence, leading her close to that precipice of excess for which she was renowned.

Slick, heated satin came to mind as she kneaded and molded his knotted neck and shoulders. The feel of him beneath her fingertips stoked the smoldering fire inside her.

His head lolled forward. “Oh, God. That feels so good.”

His voice poured over her like warm whiskey on a cold night. Kat desperately sought a diversion. Anything to distract her from fantasizing about nibbling those edible briefs right off her husband’s gorgeous body.

“Andrew?”

“Yes?”

“We’re going to pretend to be married in front of a slew of people.”

“Kat.”

“What?”

“We’re not pretending. We are married.”

“You know what I mean. The majority of the people at this reception know more about us than we know about each other.”

“So, what do you want to know?”

“Why’d you become an attorney?” she questioned. She was curious. Not to mention desperate to concentrate on something other than mussing the neat edge of his straight, dark hair.

“Just lucky, I guess.” He laughed, a low throaty chuckle. “Some people spend their whole lives trying to decide what they want to be when they grow up. I knew before I graduated from kindergarten.”

Even though they dined together every night, their conversation was never this personal. Other than the mind-boggling lovemaking each night and the goodbye kiss each morning for Mrs. Fitzwillie’s benefit, they’d carefully avoided physical contact. In fading twilight, she breathed in the scent of him, a mixture of expensive cologne and pure, unadulterated Andrew. Kat slid her fingers along his spine, careful not to cross the line from stress-relieving massage to caress, tempting as it might be. She was an adult in control. She could do this.

While he relaxed she was in serious danger of turning to Jell-O.

“Go on,” she said. Andrew as a little boy intrigued her.

“Hmm. I must’ve been about five and a half when my mother took me to my father’s office. She had an appointment with her masseuse or something equally pressing. My latest nanny had just walked off the job, so she dumped me on A.W.’s secretary. The poor woman didn’t know what to do with me. She stuck me in the boardroom since it was empty at the time. Portraits lined the walls. Every Winthrop who’d practiced law for almost a hundred years.”

Kat shuddered, envisioning somber-faced men staring down at a small boy. “How awful for you.” She kneaded his shoulder with an extra dose of sympathy.

“Are you kidding? It was great. I knew then that one day my portrait would hang beside theirs.”

His words hammered home how much his partnership meant to him. How steeped in tradition. She rested her hands against the velvet warmth of his skin. “You’d do almost anything for this partnership. It’s that important to you, isn’t it?”

“It’s who I am. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.” His cool voice seemed at odds with the warm flesh-and-blood man beneath her palms. “And, yes, I believe I’ve proved I’d do almost anything for that partnership.”

Kat inwardly squirmed at her role in “almost anything.” He had power, position, wealth and good looks to boot. Why then did she suddenly feel as if she’d taken advantage of him? As if she’d discovered and exploited his vulnerability? She hastened to reassure herself she’d saved him from Claudia van Dierling.

Andrew pulled away from her touch. “Thanks.” He twisted his head from side to side. “That’s much better now.”

She sank into her seat on slightly unsteady legs. “Don’t mention it.”

“What about you? How’d you wind up teaching art?”

Kat didn’t care whether his question stemmed from genuine interest or if it was merely a polite shift of conversation. She welcomed the change.

“I suppose I inherited it, much the same as you. My mother’s a landscape artist. From the time I can remember, she was always working on a canvas.”

“I think I’ve seen one or two of her paintings. She’s very good.”

“Yes, she is.”

“So, why did you decide to teach instead of paint?”

“I love art-it’s exhilarating. The colors. The textures. But I also love kids. Watching them learn about themselves through art is an incredible experience.”

Kat peeled the label off her bottle. “I’ve always wanted children of my own-or at least one child. And I want to be there for them. I don’t want to skip dinner because the evening light is just right for painting. Or miss a school play because it coincides with a gallery opening.”

Dusk veiled the day, casting private shadows between them.

“I take it your mother had a different slant on things.”

“Don’t get me wrong. Mom’s great. And she’s always supported Jackson and me in whatever we undertook. But we knew her painting came first.” Kat shrugged. “I happen to think people are more important than careers. If great art comes at the expense of a personal life-which seems to be the consensus among most artists-I’ll pass on the great art.”

Andrew acknowledged her viewpoint with a slight nod. He snapped a leaf off the hibiscus beside his chair and toyed with it between his long fingers. It almost qualified as fidgeting.

“If children have always been a part of your plan-and it sounds as if they have-why didn’t you and Devereaux start a family?” Curiosity marked his question.

She’d discussed her and Nick’s relationship with a number of friends after he’d left. It had never felt as intimate as discussing him with her current husband. She’d once married a man she thought she loved, only to discover he was a stranger. Now she’d married a stranger she thought she couldn’t love… She slammed the brakes on that particular train of thought.

“Before we married, Nick said he wanted a family. But once we were married, he changed his mind.” In an instant, all their old arguments crowded in. “He said he wasn’t father material, that he’d make a lousy father. It was one of the few times he bothered with the truth.”

Andrew remained silent. Except for his continued creasing of the hibiscus leaf, he could have been asleep. Kat knew she’d opened this Pandora’s box with her career question, but Andrew had taken it one step further. Now it was her turn. The dark invited confidences.

“Why haven’t you ever married?” He was married. To her. She needed to remember that. “Before now?”

His fingers stilled. The leaf fluttered to the ground. “Because, much like your first husband, I’m neither husband nor father material.”

His cold words shattered the soft warmth of the night that cocooned them. An instantaneous denial sprang from her core at Andrew comparing himself to Nick. Until she reminded herself that bedtime back rubs, nighttime confidences, great procreational sex and a purple Volvo did not a marriage make.

“TOTO, I’VE GOT TO TELL YOU, I’m not looking forward to tonight.”

The little dog cocked his head toward Andrew questioningly.

Waiting for Kat to finish dressing, Andrew and Toto watched fish dart about in the aquarium. They hadn’t even left for the reception yet and Andrew already wished it was over.

“Well, let’s look at the guest list. My father-in-law despises me as a professional rival. Then there are my parents who despise each other. As a rule of thumb, I generally avoid spending time with them, especially when they’re together.”

Toto whimpered his sympathy.

“Kat’s father and my father despise each other. And Gloria, who knows more gossip than flies on the wall do, told me Claudia wangled a date with Trent Braxton.”

Toto performed his dead dog routine, rolling onto his back with all four paws sticking up in the air.

“Yeah, that’s what I say.”

And his delectable wife was driving him mad. More than once this week, thoughts of Kat and their baby had disrupted his concentration. He’d found himself considering the reality of being a real, long-term husband and dad. Nothing had ever interfered with his work before.

And then there were the endless nights with her curled up beside him, when she would slide a silky leg between his in her sleep. But there was no need to share that with Toto.

“Sorry I took so long. I’m ready.” The cause of his insanity, or at the least, his insomnia, glided down the hall. Exotic. Elegant. Maddening.

Her dress, patterned in vibrant colors, clung and flowed in the appropriate places. He cleared the knot of desire wedged in his throat.

“This is for you. I hope you like it.” He thrust a small bouquet of flowers toward her, feeling-and sounding- as gauche as a teenager on his first prom date. “They’re for your hair.”

“What, no muzzle?” Her sapphire eyes sparkled.

“It wouldn’t be fair to deprive our guests of your delightful wit. It’s half your charm.”

Her eyebrows skewed a question. “And the other half?”

Unbidden, a list formed in his head. Her sunny smile, her enthusiasm for her work, her loyalty-that wreck she called a car was parked in the garage because she refused to consign it to a scrap yard-her fierce independence, the feel of her hips beneath his… Andrew shook his head in mock disapproval. “A lady never digs for a compliment.”

“And a gentleman never makes her.” She dropped her head forward to admire the bouquet, revealing a freckled expanse of neck that tempted him to trail kisses along its satin smoothness. “But thanks for these. How’d you know they’re my favorites?”

He shrugged off her thanks and thrust his hands into his pockets. “I’ve seen them around the house.”

Kat arched a brow. “And you knew the name of them?”

Dammit. Why couldn’t she just leave well enough alone?

“No. I picked them out at the florist.”

“You actually picked out flowers that’re just going to die?” A cheeky grin relieved her comment of any sting.

“They’re only required on a temporary basis, as long as they last through the evening. I thought tonight might be difficult for you, and knowing how you feel about flowers, I thought you’d enjoy them, that’s all.”

As Kat smelled the bouquet, Andrew inhaled her uniquely sweet scent. She eyed him over the flowers. “Why’d you think tonight would be a problem?”

Did she have to examine everything under a microscope and then discuss it?

“I didn’t say ‘problem.’ I said ‘difficult.’ You once mentioned boycotting cocktail parties.” He wasn’t deaf to vicious society gossip, and he knew she’d borne the brunt of many wagging tongues with Nick’s desertion. He’d just wanted to make tonight a little easier for her.

“It’s true, I’d prefer a quick and tidy flogging.” She stepped over to the mirror hanging in the hallway and clipped the flowers in her hair. “But then I wouldn’t have gotten these, and they’re beautiful.”

“No. You’re beautiful.” Just where in the hell had that come from?

“Thanks. We both know I’m not.” She tugged a curl into submission. “But thanks anyway.” Kat eyed him from his combed hair to the tips of his polished shoes, her blatant approval tightening his groin. “You don’t clean up too badly, yourself.”

Her flippancy about her appearance annoyed him. Facing the crowd at the reception tonight would be tough for her-hell, his parents alone would be enough to send anyone running. She needed every ounce of available self-confidence.

Besides, he spoke the truth. She was beautiful.

“Stop it, Kat.”

She halted in the middle of putting on her earrings, eyeing him as if he’d suggested they dance naked in the street. “What? It’s just an earring.”

He waved a hand. “I couldn’t give a damn about the earring. Don’t tell me you’re not beautiful.”

A hint of vulnerability shadowed her blue eyes before she masked it. “There’s no audience here. Save it for the party, Andrew. You don’t need the practice.” Kat turned away from him. “I’ll be in the car.”

Andrew watched the play of silk fabric over her hips and rounded behind in bemused fascination. He’d always considered himself fairly adept with women.

Until his wife.