Doorstep daddy (8 page)

_{She turned to him. "Richard, I can't be any more than a friend to you."}

_{He paused. "What?"}

_{"I can't be any more than a friend to you," she repeated, knowing she couldn't let things go on as they had. "I've got my life in order finally. I'm going in the direction I've needed to go in for a long long time. You're looking for more than I can give right now. I think you should know that."}

_{There, she thought. She had said what needed to be said, and now he knew things would never work between them. So why did it hurt the way it did?}

_{"What are you talking about?"}

_{Richard knew his demand sounded harsh. Suddenly he felt harsh. He felt sucker-punched, too.}

_{Callie's blue eyes grew wide. "I...maybe I'm confused."}

_{"I hope so." Richard felt confused, damn confused. He'd been having a great evening, making a lot of progress with her, despite the kids' interruptions. She had kissed like the sultry angel she was. Her kisses had promised even more. He was no fool.}

_{"I'm sorry. You...you kissed me earlier and then started talking about how important I am to you. I thought you were talking about us being like, well,}

_{Amanda and Joey. Emotionally and physically interested in each other."}

_{"I was." He hated the comparison to the kids - he still had trouble thinking of Amanda in terms of being physically attracted to anyone - but he let it slide. The more important thing was Callie's reaction. It wasn't what he thought it should be.}

_{"I can't, Richard."}

_{"You sure
seemed
interested. I don't understand," he confessed in frustration. "You kissed me like you were
very
interested. Why not just say you faked it to be polite and I don't turn your key?"}

_{"Jeez!" Callie grimaced.}

_{"I'm a big guy. I can take it. But I'll tell you that if you say it, then you are the greatest actress since Garbo. And about as flaky."}

_{"It isn't that." She looked away. "The opposite is the problem. I'm attracted."}

_{Richard frowned. "I'm attracted and you're attracted. What am I missing here?"}

_{"I'm just getting my life together. For me." She paused. "I'm not explaining it well. I've given over my life for family ever since I can remember. It was expected of me. It was necessary. I understood all that. But my hopes and dreams had to wait. Now I'm going back to school. I'll have the career I want. But if I get involved with you ...well, who knows where it might lead. I can't take the chance that I'll have to sacrifice again for family. It's selfish. I know it is. I hear it, and I'm ashamed. But I can only be your friend."}

_{Richard stared at her. He'd expected to hear all kinds of nonsense about a relationship. This, however, wasn't nonsense. His own experience with his niece and nephews gave him a small glimpse into the all-consuming
demands of child care. She had done it for five brothers and sisters all
her
childhood, when she should have been dreaming of college - and boys. She must have only had her dreams in snatches at best. Now she was on the verge of her own fulfillment and here comes a guy, with kids, who wants her, maybe to drag her back into that again. He couldn't fault her in the least and said so.}

_{"Callie, you are the least selfish person I've ever met," he told her. "You deserve to not be fettered to something that will hold you back again. I can't say a relationship with me will be light. That's not what I want anymore."}

_{She swallowed visibly. "Maybe it's why you're attracted to me, Richard. But it's not really me. It's just your need to settle down. I'm the first available woman to come your way after you've decided that."}

_{"Now you're going to tick me off again," he complained. "I didn't pick on the first available woman, believe me."}

_{"Maybe you won't admit it, but most likely you did." She grinned wryly. "I've got a psych class this semester. It's amazing what people unconsciously do when motivated."}

_{"I'm quite conscious of why I feel like I do about you, believe me." "Okay."}

_{She agreed too quickly, obviously not agreeing at all. That really ticked him off. He leaned across the dishwasher's open door and kissed her before she could stop him. He made sure it was a blistering kiss, tongue thrusting and demanding until she responded enthusiastically. She moaned in clear pleasure, and he knew he could give no better message that he was the most wnconfused
man on the planet. He based his interest on more than her being a convenient female. "Oh!"}

_{Richard let go of Callie at the stunned voice behind them. Amanda and Joey stood in the kitchen doorway. Their faces held shock and their mouths formed perfect circles of astonishment. He cursed himself for not having heard their approach. Both kids' cheeks flamed red at the same time.}

_{"Callie and I were having a discussion," he said finally. He resisted the urge to be flip and say,
span>
was examining her tonsils with my tongue and can pronounce them healthy.
Now was not the time. "Actually I was kissing Callie because I like her a lot. For herself. She doesn't believe me."}

_{"And it's time for me to go," Callie said, stepping away from him and the dishwasher. "Come on, Joey. I'll drive you up the street. I need to see your mother, anyway."}

_{"But I thought I was staying..." Joey began, glancing at Amanda.}

_{"Not now," Callie answered. "Always retire from the field when you're ahead. You're ahead." Callie took her nephew by the shoulders and turned him toward the hall and the front door. "Thanks for dinner, Richard and Amanda."}

_{"Thanks," Joey said helplessly.}

_{Richard wanted to ask what she meant by her comment about retiring while you're ahead, but Callie was gone and he had to deal with Amanda, who gazed at him as if he'd grown another head.}

_{"That was
disgusting"
Amanda said after the outside door opened and closed. "How could you do that with Joey's aunt and embarrass me like that!"}

_{She ran from the room. Richard ran after her, catching her as she started up the stairs.}

_{"That's enough, young lady," he said, holding her arm. "I'm your uncle, but I'm also a man. A single man. Callie is a very attractive woman and I like her a lot. I will express that on occasion if she allows me. And you will never say a word again about it. Do you understand?" He didn't wait for an answer. "I will be discreet, because I remember how embarrassed I felt when I was your age and adults kissed in front of me. But when two people care about each other, they express that. So you will respect that and make no comment during or after."}

_{"Can I go?" she asked sullenly.}

_{Richard wanted to shake her, but knew he would never raise a hand to the child. "When you start acting more mature than Mark. Right now you're not, and everyone knows it."}

_{She rounded on him. "What?"}

_{"I'm sure Joey's not treating his aunt Callie like a pariah because she kissed me. Amanda, it's not the end of the world because you saw me kissing Callie."}

_{Tears filled Amanda's eyes. "I... I..."}

_{Richard put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her. "I know. Hey, it was a shock to see your old fogy uncle like that."}

_{She wrapped her thin arms around his waist and cried into his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"}

_{"It's okay." She was standing on the step, which made her nearly even with him in height. The lack of difference gave the teenager a womanly aura - a frightening thought. But she was just a kid, and she needed love and caring from a parental figure. That was him. He regretted being so woefully below standards.}

_{A movement at the top of the stairs caught his eye. Jason stood there, his gaze round with anxiety.}

_{"How'd the game go, Jay?" Richard asked calmly over Amanda's hiccuping tears.}

_{"I won."}

_"Good."

_{"What's wrong with my sister?"}

_{Richard smothered a smile at Jason's tone, all masculine and protective of the female member of the family. "Amanda just needed a cry, that's all."}

_{Amanda sniffled, raised her head and wiped at her wet cheeks. "I'm okay now."}

_{Richard patted her on the back one more time.}
¹
_{'Good. I'm glad. Jason, it's time for bed."}

_{The boy glanced between them one more time. "Okay."}

_{Wow, Richard thought. With Jason, bedtime was usually a fight. "I'll be up in a minute to say good-night."}

_{After Jason disappeared, he said, "I hope you really are okay with it, Amanda."}

_{"I guess." But she managed a smile that took any sting out of her dubious words.}

_{"It probably doesn't matter, anyway," he admitted. "Callie told me she only wants to be a friend."}

_{"Oh, no!"}

_{Richard had to grin at her sympathy. Kids were all over the place emotionally. Still, he felt he'd reached a new threshold of understanding with Amanda, a much needed one. "We all need a friend like Callie, so I'll live."}

_{"I guess," Amanda agreed, then burst out, "but she's crazy if she doesn't like you!"}

_{A suspicious lump of emotion clogged Richard's throat. It looked like the family protectiveness didn't
stop with the males. He kissed his niece on the forehead in thanks.}

_{Amanda giggled, although she looked ready to cry again.}

_{"You've had a big day," he said. "Why don't you go up to bed, too?" "Okay."}

_{She moved lightly up the stairs. When she was halfway up, he added, "And if you ever kiss Joey or any other boy like I kissed Callie, you'll be grounded for a month."}

_{She whirled around, all sweeping brown hair and coltish figure. "Uncle Richard!"}

_{God help him, he thought, thinking she would break hearts without a backward look. He grinned. "Hey, I'm just being a good uncle."}

_{Amanda snorted in disgust, then smiled and went to her room.}

_{He might have told his niece it was a moot point about Callie, but he knew it wasn't from his end. He intended to make sure Callie eventually knew it, too. When she was ready for him.}

_Friends.

_{He snorted in as much disgust as Amanda had.}

_{She had done
the right thing and nipped the relationship with Richard in the proverbial bud.}

_{"Hey, girly. Am I gonna get any service here?"}

_{Callie glanced up from her computer screen. A man, at least eighty and as feisty-looking as he sounded, glared at her.}

_{"I'm sorry," she said sweetly, refusing to be anything else in the face of rudeness. "I didn't realize you were standing there."}

_{He had just walked over to her, and she knew it. So did he.}

_{"'Course you didn't realize it. You got your nose buried in that thing." He sniffed, nodding at the monitor. "Damn things are a menace. Evil to the core. It says I'm dead."}

_{"I beg your pardon?"}

_{"Those things. Ask it. It'll say I'm dead."}

_{"Not mine," Callie said firmly. Boy, was it ever Monday morning!}

_{"You just go look up my name on that inter-ether thing inside it. Lester Jones. It'll say I died. It's cut off my social security and my pension and my bank!" The man's gaze blazed with righteous anger. "I don't mind being dead, girly, but I really would like to
be
dead before I'm declared that way."}

_{No wonder he was so bitter, Callie thought sympathetically. Heck, she wouldn't want to be dead until the real thing, either.}