Secret Desire. Gwynne Forster

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      Luke gazed at the food spread out on Kate’s dining-room table—plenty of everything the Yankees crammed into their stomachs, but not a biscuit in sight.

      “Kate, do you know how to make biscuits?”

      “Of course I do.”

      “And grits and sage sausage and scrambled eggs?”

      “Sure.”

      “Then—”

      “When I start eating that stuff, especially biscuits, I can’t stop, and all of it’s fattening. And don’t tell me I don’t have to start, because I can’t pass up a biscuit. I’ll make some at your place and leave while they’re baking, but not here.”

      Her lashes flew up and a soft gasp escaped her when he pulled her nose and winked at her. “I’ll buy that.”

      “Where’re we going, Captain Luke?” Randy asked when they’d finished breakfast.

      “Wherever your mother wants to go. Hop in the kitchen and help. If she cooks, you help her clean. I’d help, too, but she asked me to repair this table lamp.”

      “You’re always telling me what to do.”

      Luke put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “If you behave the way you’re supposed to, the only words you’ll hear from me will be praise. Now, into the kitchen.”

      Randy dashed toward the kitchen, and he put his attention on the lamp. Not a second alone with her, and how he itched and ached to get his hands on her. Twenty minutes later she reappeared in a red blazer, navy blue miniskirt, and a pair of sandals laced to midcalf. Her hair fell loose and sexily around her shoulders. He crossed his thighs. She had to know what she did to him. He took a pad and pen from his jacket. “What’s the name of that perfume?”

      “Fendi.”

      He wrote it down. “It’s worth whatever it costs. Ready?”

      She nodded. “Could we go look at the boats?”

      “You bet. Ever been to the naval base? It’s the biggest in the country.”

      He loved to see her smile, her face sparkling, and the eyes that reminded him of a lover’s moon in spring. “I haven’t been there yet, but I’d been planning to take Randy.”

      “Can we get on a boat, Captain Luke?”

      It surprised him that Randy took his hand as they boarded The Carrie B, a paddlewheel riverboat, for a harbor tour. He pointed out the gray ladies of the United States Atlantic Fleet—nuclear-powered submarines, destroyers and aircraft carriers, great hulking figures that seemed out of place against the bright modern buildings that graced the shoreline.

      “What’s on your mind, Kate?” he whispered while Randy gaped at a mammoth aircraft carrier, lost in the wonder of it.

      When she didn’t respond, he realized that she, too, was caught up in the magic of the setting as the sun’s rays bounced off the green, gray and black-shaded skyscraper windows and danced in rainbow like colors against the fleet of ships.

      He took her hand and relaxed when she let him hold it, but he didn’t consider that cause for overconfidence. This wasn’t a woman who allowed her libido to dictate the terms of her life; she was as capable as he of turning her back on something she wanted. With gentle pressure, he squeezed her fingers until she looked into his eyes and smiled, and he thought he’d die from the furious pounding of his runaway heart. Her unsuccessful attempt to shift her gaze from his fueled his need, and when she parted her lips and her breathing accelerated, frissons of heat shot through him. She must have seen the signs of his rising passion, for she dropped his hand, rushed to Randy, and put an arm around the boy’s shoulders.

      “Look, Captain Luke, a submarine’s coming up out of the water.”

      He joined them at the railing as the huge, gray vessel broke through the water. Again, Randy took his hand, and he wondered at the child’s impulse. Kate wouldn’t look at him, and the scene gave him an uneasy feeling, a portent of things to come. The Carrie B eased back to shore, but Randy didn’t want to get off.

      “You must learn to obey your mother and stop giving her a hard time,” Luke told him. “She’s trying to take care of you, so you cooperate with her.”

      Randy whirled around and glared at him. “My daddy never talked to me like that. I don’t like for you to tell me what to do.”

      “Mind your manners, Randy,” Kate said.

      If she wants to raise that boy to be a respectable man, Luke thought, she wouldn’t do it that way.

      He looked at Kate. “I’d wanted us to spend the day together. But I’m not taking another ride on this boat, and I don’t allow children to sass me with impunity, so I’ll see you another time.”

      “We’re getting off this boat now,” she said through clenched teeth, “and Randy is going to apologize to you.”

      “Aw, Mom.”

      “This minute, Randy, or my hand is going to your behind.”

      “I’m s-sorry, Captain Luke.”

      He could hardly believe it when Randy’s hand grasped his again. “Apology accepted, Randy.” He’d like to know Randy’s method of controlling his father, because if that was what he’d done. Well, it wouldn’t work with him.