Trouble With Valentine's Day

Eighteen

Kate pulled her CRV to a stop at the only traffic light in town. On the passenger seat next to her sat a little Tiffany box with an Egg Sucking Bugger inside. For the past week, she'd worked on tying the fly for Rob's birthday. It wasn't near as good as anything he could tie. She'd worked hard on it, though, and she wondered if he'd appreciate the effort. span

She shifted in her seat, trying to find a more comfortable position. The rhinestone thong she'd ordered from Frederick's of Hollywood was uncomfortable as hell and cut into her hips, not to mention other places. It was made of hundreds of clear glass stones, all strung together to form a shiny triangle. The matching bra itched her nipples, and the center clasp dug into her left breast. She looked like an escaped showgirl from the Rio. She didn't have to wonder if he'd appreciate her underwear.

The light turned green and she took off from the intersection. She reached for the sunglasses clipped to her visor and slid them on her face. It was seven in the evening and the June sun was starting its descent. She'd never just shown up at his house unexpected before. She didn't think he'd mind.

He'd mentioned his birthday in passing a few weeks ago, but she'd avoided the subject so she could surprise him. She had plans for him that he wasn't likely to forget anytime soon.

She hadn't seen Rob all day, but it wasn't the first time. He'd gotten so busy lately that he'd hired two people to work for him in addition to the little boys he paid to clean camping gear. She figured he'd probably been at the marina.

The thin rhinestone halter dug into her shoulder, and she ran a finger beneath the collar of her wrap dress and adjusted the strap. Since the night Rob had returned from Seattle, she'd noticed a subtle change in him. His touch seemed more personal. More possessive, as if he was trying to pull her closer. He'd made her a fishing vest and given her some of his most prized flies. The day he'd given her a book on how to become an entrepreneurial genius had been the day she'd no longer been able to keep him at arm's length. She hadn't been able to tell herself that he was just her fantasy man. She'd looked up into his smiling face, and she'd done the one thing she'd told herself never to do.

She'd tried to keep her emotions at a safe distance, but her heart hadn't gone along with the plan. She'd fallen in love with Rob. Truly, madly,full tilt in love. The kind of love that snatched your breath away, and it scared the hell out of her.

She turned up his long drive and pulled to a stop in front of his garage. She grabbed the Tiffany box off the passenger seat and shut the car door behind her. The heels of her silver sling backs tapped on concrete as she made her way across the driveway. The rhinestone string of her thong pulled, and she walked very carefully up the steps to his front door. She rang the bell and had to keep her hands purposely at her side. She didn't want to get caught picking at her backside when Rob answered the door.

The door swung open, but it wasn't Rob. A short blonde in a red tube dress stood in the threshold. She had blue eyes and perfect skin, not a mole or blemish or enlarged pore to be seen on her beautiful face. An alarm bell rang in Kate's head.

"Yes?"

Kate looked beyond the blonde inside the house. "Is Rob around?"

"Yes. He's around," she answered, but she didn't move. "Maybe I can help you?" There was a slight edge of hostility to her smooth voice.

"No. I don't think you can." Kate hadn't a clue who the woman was, but she was acting like she owned the place. "Who are you?"

"I'm Louisa."

Ah. The ex. "Yes. Rob has mentioned you." He didn't, however, mention that Louisa was gorgeous.

The kind of gorgeous usually found on the arm of a very rich man. He also didn't mention that she was going to be in Gospel for his birthday. The alarm bell ringing in Kate's brain got a bit louder, but she ignored it. Rob had divorced this perfect woman, and as Kate recalled, he'd said he'd loved her but never liked her. "I'm Kate Hamilton."

"Hmm." She tilted her head to one side, exposing one ear lobe decorated with a few shining carats. "Interesting that Rob's never mentioned you." Whoa. Kate hadn't been mistaken about the hostility. And as much as she hated to admit it, Louisa's barb nicked her somewhere in the area of her heart. "Why would he mention me to his ex-wife?" But why hadn't he mentioned her?

"Because Rob and I have been talking about a reconciliation. I think if you were an important part of his life, he would have mentioned you."

Okay, she felt a little more than an alarm bell in her head and a nick that time. But she told herself that Louisa was lying. She had to be. Rob wouldn't do that to her. She opened her mouth to respond, but Rob moved into the foyer from the kitchen. He wore a white tank and blue swim trunks and carried a little girl in a pink bikini and flip-flops. The little girl had her arm around Rob's neck, and Kate recognized her from her pictures scattered around Rob's house. When he looked beyond Louisa and saw Kate, his footsteps slowed. "Kate."

"Happy birthday." She held out the Tiffany box, loving him so much that her nicked heart swelled beneath her rhinestone bra. She was going to remain optimistic or die trying.

"Thank you." He set his daughter on her feet, then took the box. "Come in."

Optimism was one thing. Sitting around with Rob and his bitchy ex while rhinestones rode Kate's crack was another. "No. I didn't know you had company. I should have called."

"That would have been nice," Louisa said.

Rob looked at his ex and frowned. "You don't have to call first. Stay for dinner. I'm just about to fire up the barbeque."

If he was planning to reconcile, would he invite her to dinner? asked her newfound optimism. "No, thanks." But optimism only went so far. It didn't mean she was suddenly blind. "Louisa was just telling me that the two of you are planning to get married again."

"That's not true," he said, and Kate felt the pain in her chest recede. A deep furrow appeared between Rob's brows, and he patted his daughter on the head. "Go get your baby. She's on the couch." When Amelia took off, he turned his attention to his former wife. "Let it go."

Louisa looked up at him. Even her profile was perfect. "You told me you'd think about it."

"I did and the answer is still no."

"You really need to think harder about whether you want to throw away a chance at being a family again."

"Louisa, for God's sake!" he exploded. "Why do you always have to keep pushing at the same thing until I get pissed off? I'm not remarrying you. I'm not marrying anyone. Ever. Once was enough."

It took several long seconds for his words seeped into Kate's brain. When they did, she felt the direct hit, and she took a step back. Oh God. The pain shot up and slapped her. It was happening again. Dйjа vu. Different guy. Different naughty underwear. Same heartbreak.

"Sorry to interrupt your birthday." She turned in a blur of pain and confusion and walked away before she did something really embarrassing like burst into tears in front of that raving hag Louisa.

Rob caught up with her at the bottom of the step. "Kate. I swear I'm not getting back with Louisa. You don't have to leave."

"Yes. I do." She kept walking. She needed to get in her car. If she could just get into her car.

"I didn't even know she and the baby were coming until she called me from the airport in Sun Valley this morning."

"It doesn't matter." She reached for the door handle.

He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. "I'll call you tomorrow."

The backs of her eyes stung and she felt as if she were about to implode. She recognized the symptoms. She was going to fall apart, but not yet. Not until she was alone. "No. Don't call. I can't do this anymore. I thought I could, but I can't."

His brows wrinkled. "Can't do what?"

"I can't tell myself that the fantasy is enough. It's a lie." Her voice wavered, and she looked down at her feet. "No matter how many times I told myself that you'd hurt me, I've fallen in love with you."

After several heartbeats, he said, "I care about you."

She'd told him she loved him, and he'd said he cared about her. She guessed it was better than a "thank you." She looked up at him and blinked back tears.

"You care about me?"

"More than any other woman."

It wasn't enough. Not this time. "For how long? What's going to happen in a year from now? Two years from now? Five years from now? How much of my life do I give up for you? How many lies do I tell myself? How much longer until you decide we should date other people or just be friends or you've found someone else?"

"I don't know! For as long as it lasts."

She took a breath and let it out slowly. "That's not enough."

"What the hell is?"

"A man who will promise to love me forever."

He squeezed her arms. "Christ, are you talking about a wedding ring?" He shook his head. "That's crazy." Crazy. Anger mixed with heartbreak. "Let go of me."

His eyes narrowed and he dropped his hands. He stepped away from the car, and she yanked the door open and climbed inside before she started to cry in front of him. She shoved her key in the ignition and drove away. She glanced in her rearview mirror one last time and caught a glimpse of him walking up the steps before her vision blurred and she turned her attention to the road.

What was the matter with her? She'd told herself to stay away from Rob. She'd come to Gospel to try and figure out what was wrong with her, not to fall in love, heart and soul, with a man who could never fully commit to loving her as much as she loved him.

She pulled onto the highway. No, there was a difference now. The difference was that she was no longer willing to settle for less than she deserved. She loved Rob. More than she could remember loving any other man, but her grandfather was right. She was worth everything a man could give her. His heart. His soul. His promise to love her forever.

Rob took Louisa and Amelia to the airport the next morning. It had cost him a lot of money to get them on another chartered flight out, but he was afraid he was going to kill his ex-wife. And he really didn't want to do that. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life in jail and have Amelia raised by relatives.

But as angry as he was with Louisa, it didn't come close to what he was feeling for Kate. What the hell was wrong with her? Why had she messed everything up with talk of wanting more from him, wanting marriage? He'd thought she was different, but she wasn't.

He should have known better than to get involved with her. He'd learned the hard way that sex was never free. There was always a price. Kate's price was a wedding ring. He'd been forced into one bad marriage. He wouldn't be coerced into a second.

It was just never going to happen. She could just sit over in her store and bake bread and grow into an old maid for all he cared. He'd liked Kate. He'd told her the truth when he'd said he cared about her. He did care about her, but he was going to try and forget her.

No way was he going to let her make him crazy.

When he pulled the HUMMER to a stop at the back of Sutter Sports, Adam Taber was waiting for him. Rob opened the doors for business, and Adam followed him inside.

"Mr. Sutter," he said. "Wally can't make it today 'cause he got the chicken pox."

"That's okay. I don't have that much for you to do." Rob looked back at Adam over his shoulder and did a double take at the bag in the boy's hand. "What is that?" he asked and pointed to what looked a lot like granola.

"Granola."

"Where'd you get it?"

"At the M&S. The lady over there is making it."

"Kate? The lady with the red hair?"

"Yep. She gave it to me free 'cause she wants me to tell people it's really good. Then they come buy it."

She'd stolen his granola idea! "Adam," he said. "You're in charge of the store until Rose gets to work. I'll be back in a few minutes." He hit the front door with the heel of his hand and shoved his sunglasses on his face, so angry he didn't care that he'd left an eleven-year-old to run his store. He couldn't recall a time when he'd been so enraged. Yes, he could—last night, when Kate had told him she loved him, then, practically in the same breath, said it was over. His anger burned a hole in his stomach, and he clenched his teeth.

"Hi, Rob. Haven't seen you for a few days," Stanley said as Rob entered the M&S.

"Hello, Stanley." Rob took a breath and forced his jaw to unlock. He didn't want to take out his anger on his soon-to-be stepfather.

"Your mother should be here in a minute to talk about flowers at the wedding. It's coming right up, you know."

"Yeah, I know. Is Kate around?" he asked and thought he'd managed to sound damn pleasant.

Stanley paused a moment then said, "She's in the back bagging up some granola she made this morning. It's been selling like crazy."

Rob thought his head just might explode. He moved around the counter to the back room.

Kate's back was to him as she took a pan from one of the ovens. She set it on the counter and looked up. She didn't even try and look guilty. "What are you doing here?"

He stopped in front of her and put his hands on his hips. "You stole my granola idea."

"Don't be absurd."

"You knew I was working on perfecting the recipe and you stole it." Never mind that he'd mostly used it as a ruse to get her out to his house so he could get her naked.

She took a spatula and stirred the granola around. Taunting him. "It wasn't a secret recipe like Colonel Sanders's seven herbs and spices."

"You knew I was working on it to sell in my store."

She shrugged. "You snooze. You lose."

"What?" He wanted to grab her and shake her and press her so tight into his chest that he just absorbed her into his body.

She took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. "Mmm. Want a bite?"

God, she had balls. He loved that about her, and he wanted his life to go back the way it had been before she'd decided he needed to make a permanent commitment. "Have you given up your crazy idea to get married?"

"To you? Yes." She folded her arms beneath her breasts and said, "Harvey Middleton's son, Brice, asked me out."

It had been less than twenty-four hours since she'd told him she loved him and she already had a date? "You can't go out with him."

"Why?" Because I said so probably wasn't a good answer. "Because he's losing his hair."

She looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. More than likely because he felt like he'd lost it. "Go out with him. It's none of my business," he said and turned away. He moved from the back room to the front of the store. If Brice Middleton put his hands on Kate, Rob was going to put him in a head lock and feed him his lunch.

Grace looked up from a conversation she was having with Stanley. She smiled. "How are you feeling, Robert?"

"Compared to what?" he snapped.

So much for not letting Kate make him crazy.