Kyle scooped up Nina’s plastic teething toy from the floor and lifted Nina from Bianca’s awkward hold. “Phoebe and I are married.”
Bianca blinked fast, speechless for once.
His daughter secured against his chest, Kyle waved the tiny panda bear in front of Nina’s face, soothing her into precious baby giggles. “She came to tell me about Nina, and we found we had a connection.”
“You expect me to believe you two fell in love? You’re kidding, right? Phoebe’s totally locked in the past with Roger.” Her painted lips curved with a hint of condescension as she turned to Phoebe. “And let’s be honest, girlfriend, you’re not exactly Kyle’s type.”
Phoebe rocked back a step at the blatant cruelty of her so-called friend’s words. She’d maintained the friendship with Bianca because she was outgoing and vivacious, a force that had pulled Phoebe out into the world when she’d felt isolated by grief. And yes, maybe she’d had blinders on where Bianca was concerned because she’d been part of happier times in Phoebe’s life. But the blinders were off now.
Bianca winked. “Maybe you can get something in the divorce settlement. You married him to help his daughter, after all. What?” She blinked with overplayed innocence. “That’s why you married him, isn’t it? It’s not like the two of you knew each other.”
A brief flash of anger iced Kyle’s eyes before he smoothed his features into a neutral mask. Phoebe admired his calm, his skill in putting feelings in the background to remain focused on solving the problem. She could see well what had made him such an effective warrior.
Kyle’s gaze pinpointed on Bianca. “What do you really want?”
“My baby.”
Cold fear sprinkled goose bumps over Phoebe’s arms. “The courts have given Kyle temporary custody. You left her. We’ll need to go back to court to settle that.”
“That’s really upsetting.” Her look went calculating. “You actually care about her already? She is a pretty kid.”
Her worst nightmare was unfolding. Again, she was losing someone she loved, and while she tried to console herself that at least Nina was alive, Phoebe still couldn’t erase an image of the baby crying out for her at night and wondering…The pain went deeper than tears.
Bianca, however, blinked big, fat tears down her face. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been so stupid, but I really thought I could make a better life for Nina. I’m not good enough for her, not like you and your family.”
Was Bianca acting or had Phoebe grown more cynical?
If only she didn’t know what a damn fine actress Bianca could be. Had she been using those acting skills on Phoebe all this time, too? Had the entire friendship been a lie? Perhaps Kyle was right that she’d clung to Bianca out of a need to hang on to the past with Roger. She’d allowed herself to be blinded.
Phoebe gathered her shaky poise. “Where are your bags? I’ll show you to your room.”
Bianca shook her finger. “No, no, no. I’m not staying here under your judgmental eyes, with you recording every misstep I make. I’m staying in a hotel and Kyle’s paying.” She passed Kyle a card. “Here’s the number so you can call with the specifics.”
She hitched her bag higher on her shoulder and twitched toward the door. The closing door echoed in the silence.
Swaying, Phoebe could have sworn all her bravado melted from her. She grabbed the wingback chair behind her and sat heavily.
Kyle paced around the living room with Nina, still waving her panda toy in front of her face. “Phoebe, I don’t want you to worry. We’ll play this out in the legal system. The judge isn’t going to reverse the custody arrangement on a whim, and I doubt Bianca has the staying power to hold out long-term.”
Phoebe wasn’t so sure. The cynic inside shouted Bianca was ready to dig her spiked heels in deep. But she let Kyle continue to spell out his plans, realizing that taking charge seemed to keep him calm.
She watched him stride back and forth across the room, Nina cradled confidently against his chest. When had he grown so comfortable with her? There was no mistaking the connection as Nina stared up at him with adoring blue Landis eyes. He waved her favorite panda-toy teether in front of her face, joggling the beads in the panda’s clear belly around in a gumball-like display. Nina loved that toy.
And Phoebe couldn’t deny the truth any longer. She’d fallen in love with Kyle.
Ten
He’d never felt so out of control.An hour after completing their meeting with the judge, Kyle clenched the steering wheel, driving the Mercedes along the dark shoreline with Phoebe beside him. The car seat in the back was empty.
The judge had awarded Bianca one-night-a-week temporary visitation with Nina, starting today. The judge had given them the next month to gather information or work out an agreement before he revisited the case.
Thank God for Sebastian’s artful negotiations or things might have played out so much worse. He’d managed to wedge in a provision. Kyle would pay Bianca’s expenses and hire a nanny to stay with Bianca and Nina during the twenty-four-hour visitations. At least they had the reassurance the baby would be cared for, and Bianca couldn’t skip town with Nina. They’d all stayed at the courthouse until arrangements had been made with the sitter they’d used during their D.C. trip.
He’d done everything possible for now. And still, it didn’t quiet the roaring inside him. The sun sank as hard and fast as his gut. What if they still lost Nina? The love he felt for his daughter slammed through him all the more once he had to watch Bianca walk away with his little girl. Seeing the devastated expression on Phoebe’s pale face at the loss had only hammered home his failure.
His headlights swept around the next curve, sharper than he’d expected, and he forced himself to slow down. He wouldn’t be any good to Nina or Phoebe if he totaled the car. His hands shook so hard he decided to pull off the deserted road until he regained control of the fears broadsiding him.
Kyle guided the sedan onto a secluded parking area sandwiched between dunes with towering sea oats. The wind tore in off the ocean, bits of spray pinging on the windshield.
His hands fisted against his knees, tighter, tighter again as if he could somehow hold back the swelling frustration inside him. Muscles tensed and bunched up his arm until he slammed his fist against the dashboard with a curse.
He welcomed the bolt of pain that shot up his arm. He considered giving the leather a second go…until he saw the tears streaking down Phoebe’s face.
Ah, hell. Those tears hurt him far more than if he’d broken his hand. “I’m sorry, Phoebe, so damn sorry.”
Sorry for more things than he could even put into words right now. He gathered her against his chest, and she didn’t even protest, just sagged against him. A choking sob caught in her throat. She gripped his suit coat until her fingers dug into his shoulders, the same fears and frenzy radiating from her that he felt inside himself. He thumbed away two tears streaking down her cheek, rested his head against her brow, murmuring whatever consoling words he could scavenge out of his own stark arsenal.
Phoebe burrowed closer, turning her face toward his caress, toward him. “Touch me,” she whispered, her voice hoarse and agonized, “hold me, make the emptiness go away.”
Kyle stilled. She couldn’t possibly be suggesting they…
But then she pressed a kiss into his palm, her lips moving against him as she spoke, “I can’t stand one more moment thinking about what happened. I need you to give me something else, something wonderful, to think about.”
All his frustration gathered force with a purpose—giving Phoebe the distraction, the outlet, even a momentary relief from the pain. He guided her face up to his. Their mouths brushed. Held.
Phoebe’s fists unfurled from his suit coat and her fingers crawled across his back to clamp him closer. Passion exploded inside him, feeding off all the frustrated emotions that had stockpiled within him since Bianca’s out-of-the-blue call. Hell, since Phoebe had shut him down after sex in the airplane.
Kyle slid his hands up to cup her face, to fit their lips more surely against each other, to deepen the kiss and contact and connection. All the frenzy of the day channeled into the moment, seeking an outlet.
He grazed his fingers down her back to cradle her hips, guiding her onto his lap the way he’d fantasized about doing when they’d made out by the shore in the Aston. But, where that night had been about seduction, this moment was about release.
She slid over his legs, her pink-cotton wraparound dress bunching up around her hips. The fabric parted along the side at the wrap, exposing her rose-colored panties. He slipped his fingers along both hips, twisting the silky fabric until the underwear…snapped. He brushed aside the scraps until she pressed against him, moist and hot.
She sprinkled desperate kisses along his mouth, his jaw, nipping and tempting with her tongue and teeth. The last rays of sun faded. The dusk of night sealing them in darkness, heightening his other senses as he inhaled her vanilla scent mixed with the musk of sexy want.
Her panting breath synced up with his. Phoebe tore at his belt, making fast work of his fly and freeing him from his boxers. She stroked him, already throbbing and hard in her hand. The touch of her cool fingers spiked his need. He clenched his teeth, scavenging for bits of his shredded control long enough to fish his wallet from his back pocket. His eyes adjusting to the dark, he plucked out a condom.
She rocked her h*ps against him, her body bare and welcoming. His jaw flexed, his throat moving in a slow swallow as his lashes went heavy for an instant and he fought the urge to close his eyes.
He tore open the packet. “Wait.”
“No patience tonight.” She snatched the birth control from his hand.
“I agree.”
“Now shh…” She rolled the condom along the length of him, urgently, efficiently.
Phoebe straddled his lap, kneeling over him as she positioned herself. He cupped her buttocks and guided her down on him until they sat together, connected. Cradling her in his palms, he thrust and she writhed and they moved in tandem, knowing each other’s bodies and needs better this time.
She squeezed her arms tighter around him, echoing the clasp inside as well that urged him closer and closer to completion as surely as her breathy moans and sighs and demands for more, harder, faster. Now.
Wind rolled in off the ocean, carrying salt and sea spray through the vents. Their mating was raw and sweaty and intensely consuming. It went beyond sex. It was different being with Phoebe, and that scared the crap out of him, because if she left, nothing would be the same, nothing would be as good.
Her moans grew louder, louder till the sound of pleasure filled the car. She clawed at his shoulders, anchoring herself deeper as he watched the shadows play across her face, watched her come apart. Her br**sts thrust forward with the powerful arch of her spine again and again, her neck exposed in a graceful arch. He felt the damp strength of her release. She contracted around him, massaging him…over…the edge.
His head dropped against the seat rest. He rode the surging release rolling in wave after wave of expanding explosions. He wasn’t even sure anymore if the roaring in his ears came from the ocean or his own body.