“Worried I’ll be underfoot all the time tempting you to do wild, irresponsible things?”
Katie’s pulse skipped a beat at the deliberate innuendo and its matching glint in Luke’s eyes. “Hardly,” she said.
Luke laughed, probably at her dead-giveaway, breathless tone. “Katie, stop worrying. Give them a week or two to get used to my presence and they’ll be right back to relying on you for everything.” He stopped under a streetlight and grinned at her.
“What?” she demanded.
“I just never noticed before how much you hate change. You’re a control freak.”
This from a man who’d manipulated her into marrying him, Katie thought. “I am not.”
“You are. You’re even more scared about tomorrow than I am, because you can’t predict what will happen next.”
His observation about her fears barely registered. She was too intrigued by the revelation he’d made about himself. “You’re scared?” she asked doubtfully.
He didn’t look frightened. He looked like a man with the confidence to take over the whole damned town of Clover if he had a mind to. For all she knew that was his devious intention. Maybe he’d just started with the boarding house, because he knew she’d be an easy mark.
Before she could work herself into a frenzy over what Luke might or might not be truly up to, he caught her off guard again by admitting to his fears straight out.
“Sure, I’m scared,” he said. “It’s not like I go around making deals like this all the time. It’s a first for me, too.”
Katie regarded him thoughtfully. “I guess I hadn’t thought of it that way.” She lifted her gaze to his and studied him intently, trying to assure herself that he was being totally truthful.
As if he’d guessed her intention, he smiled. “Swear to God, Katie.”
Finally convinced, she grinned back at him. “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“For knowing the right thing to say...again.”
“I hope I always will.”
He suddenly looked so sad, so filled with his own doubts that Katie very nearly stood on tiptoe to kiss him. She knew, though, that a quick, consoling brush of her lips across his would never satisfy her. It would be like playing with matches. And she had vowed that she would not risk the pain that was sure to follow.
“We’d better be getting back,” she said instead, starting away from him.
“Katie?”
She turned back.
“There’s something we should talk about,” he began.
His tone sounded so ominous that Katie promptly decided she didn’t want to hear whatever he was about to say. “Can’t it wait?”
Luke looked torn. Clearly the idea of putting off whatever he’d been about to say was a relief, yet he seemed to be struggling with his conscience.
“It really shouldn’t.”
Now she knew for certain she didn’t want to hear it. “Please, Luke. Can’t we just enjoy the night, pretend we’re any other couple about to get married in the morning, and put off all the problems until after the ceremony? Please?”
“I suppose that’s not too much to ask,” he agreed, that same mix of relief and reluctance in his voice.
He held out a hand and Katie slipped hers into it, letting his warmth and strength wash through her. They walked back to the boarding house hand in hand and for those few minutes, anyway, Katie forced away all of the doubts. If she closed her eyes, she could almost pretend that tomorrow was going to be the happiest day of her life.
* * *
“It’s not going to work, big brother!”
Luke’s fingers tightened around the phone. Just the sound of his brother’s voice these days was enough to make his blood run cold. Tommy was the last person he’d wanted to hear from on his wedding day.
“What’s not going to work?” he asked, even though he knew he wasn’t going to like the answer.
“This farce of a marriage. You’re only doing it to keep me from getting custody of Robby, aren’t you? It’s just another one of your cold-blooded plots to have everything your own way.”
Despite Luke’s automatic inclination to dismiss anything Tommy had to say, he couldn’t deny that the accusation hurt. When had he become so cold-blooded and calculating? Luke had a feeling it went back to the day he had made his bargain with Robby’s mother six years ago. From that moment on, knowing that he’d have to give up Katie to do what was right, his own soul had been in jeopardy. He would never give Tommy the satisfaction of admitting that, though.
“Whether I’m married or not, you don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting custody of my son,” Luke said icily. “Why don’t you save yourself the cost of this suit?”
“Because Robby’s mine, dammit.”
“You abandoned him,” Luke reminded him. “The minute Betty Sue Wilder told you she was pregnant, you took off. You never accepted responsibility for her or your baby. I did. I married Betty Sue so that Robby would have the Cassidy name, for whatever the hell it’s worth.”
“Noble Saint Luke,” Tommy said derisively. “Always ready to jump in and clean up my messes, isn’t that right? The truth was you were glad to marry Betty Sue. She was a hell of a lot hotter than any of the girls in your life.”
Luke thought of the one night he’d had with Katie, the night he’d never been able to put from his mind no matter how hard he’d tried. That night had overshadowed any experience he and Betty Sue had ever shared. Even now the memory made his blood turn hot. “Shut up, Tommy.”
“You know it’s true. That’s why she left you, isn’t it? Because you couldn’t keep up with her.”
Luke kept a tight rein on his temper, but it was a costly effort. He could feel his pulse throbbing dully. “Why don’t you repeat some of your ugly opinions in court?” he suggested. “Let the judge see for himself exactly the kind of man you’ve turned out to be. The bottom line here isn’t Robby. Not where you’re concerned. You don’t give a hoot about your son or what’s best for
