Susan Mallery - Under Her Skin

“What do you think?” he asked, still holding her.

She absorbed the warmth from his body. “I think I’m totally confused. Garth is a formidable opponent. He’s already done damage. Jed lost a deal with the Chinese because of the horse doping. That should totally have pissed him off. But he seems almost calm. It’s not as if he expected this, exactly. It’s more…”

“Pride?”

She stepped back. “Maybe. I don’t like it, but maybe.”

“Garth is his son.”

“Great. The son he never had?”

Cruz shrugged. “It’s a guy thing. Especially for a man like Jed. To see himself moving forward into a new generation.”

“His sperm at work? He must be so proud. That’s primitive and misogynistic. Because it only works with a son.”

“I’m not saying it’s right.”

“Is that your excuse for not connecting with Kendra? Would it be different if she were a boy?”

His expression tightened. “No. It’s not about her being a girl.”

While she believed him, there were a fair number of similarities in the two situations. Cruz also hadn’t wanted to marry the girl he got pregnant. He and Jed had been looking for a wife who could elevate their situations. Someone with a history…the right bloodline.

Cruz gave Kendra’s mother money. Jed had offered a settlement. In theory, both children were well taken care of. The basics were provided, but Kendra wanted more. She wanted a relationship with her dad. Had Garth wanted the same? Had childish longing turned into something big and ugly as he grew up?

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

“That you and my father are too much alike. It’s scary.”

“I’m nothing like Jed Titan.”

“You want connections. In the past couple of months I’ve introduced you to both senators, several congressmen, local officials and the presidents of the three largest oil companies in the world, including a Saudi prince.”

“That’s our deal.”

It was a whole lot more than that. “You’re looking to marry the right sort of woman. Someone with breeding. You might want to consider how well that worked out for Jed.”

“I’ll make a better choice than he did.” He held up both hands before she could say anything. “Nothing against your mother. I’m speaking more of temperament and the ability for the women in question to get along with me.”

“Right. Because it’s not about you getting along with her.”

“Lexi, you know what I mean.”

“I’m very clear on that.” She walked to the far end of the kitchen, then turned to face him. “I’ve been avoiding the truth for a while now, but it’s all there. You both abandoned children. You just have the one, while Jed’s done it four times. Sure, he kept me and Skye and Izzy around, but he wasn’t there for us. He didn’t love us. Even now that we’re grown, he tries to set us against each other.”

“I’m not like Jed,” Cruz repeated. “You’ve got to let the Kendra thing go.”

“The Kendra thing? You’re the one who brought her into my life. She lived here, Cruz. I saw her every day for over two weeks. I got to know her. She’s a fifteen-year-old girl who needs to know her father loves her. Why is that so hard?”

“She doesn’t need me,” he told her, his voice low and cold. “She’s better off without me.”

Because he’d been better off without his father?

Although she hadn’t been in the room, the image of his father beating his mother until Juanita declared her love was firmly etched in her brain.

“It doesn’t have to be like that,” she whispered. “Kendra isn’t your dad and neither are you.”

Cruz didn’t say anything.

“Besides,” she continued. “It’s total crap. You love your mother. I’ve seen you with her and it’s obvious how much you care. You and Manny are like brothers and you adore Manny’s family. Those people are important to you. You would do anything for them. What about that kid? The one you gave the chance to. I’m not saying you love him, but you were excited to change his life.”

“That’s business.”

It wasn’t something Jed would have done, she thought, relieved to find a difference.

“Why is it so difficult to admit you might just be a decent guy? What is it about Kendra that makes you hold back?”

He walked toward her. “Stay the fuck out of my business,” he growled, and then he left.

CRUZ TOOK OFF in his Bugatti because he wanted the speed. The car ate up the road with a power that usually pleased him, but not tonight.

He took a corner at sixty and was doing nearly a hundred when he blew through a stop sign. When he saw a kid up ahead on a bike, peddling earnestly but wobbling, he slammed on the brakes until he was well within the thirty-mile-an-hour speed limit, then pulled over until the kid had ridden past him.

When he was alone again, Cruz looked at the street in front of him and realized he had nowhere he wanted to go and no one he wanted to be with…except Lexi. Only she was pissed at him. Seriously pissed. Not because he’d treated her badly or hurt her feelings. Her annoyance had nothing to do with her. It was about Kendra.

Why couldn’t she be like the other women in his life and be satisfied with great sex and jewelry? But no. She wanted to talk about things. She wanted to discuss feelings.

“Damn woman,” he muttered.

She wanted more than was reasonable. More than he could give. She expected too much. She wasn’t worth it.

Except he knew that she was.

LEXI STOOD IN THE master bedroom and debated packing a suitcase. Maybe she should just go back to her own place. While she and Cruz were supposed to have a business deal, everything had twisted. Despite what he thought, it was personal. They were intertwined, and right now that didn’t feel very safe.

Her cell phone rang. “Hello?”

“Martin dumped Dana, if you can believe it. I’m over at her place with Skye. We’re trying to make her feel better. Want to help?”

“Sure.” It was exactly the distraction she needed. “I’ll be right there.”

Twenty minutes later she walked into Dana’s small house. A pitcher of margaritas stood on the coffee table. There were also open cartons of ice cream, bags of every flavor of M &Ms and the soundtrack to The Way We Were was playing.

“Any guy looking for a sex change operation just needs to walk in here,” Dana grumbled from her place on the sofa. “We’re going to overdose on estrogen.”

Skye topped off Dana’s glass and then offered the pitcher to Lexi. “We’re getting drunk, which means we have to stay the night. Erin’s at a friend’s house. Do you need to call Cruz?”

“No. We’re fine.”

Actually she wasn’t sure he would notice she was gone, which was borderline pathetic, but true. She waved away the offer of a margarita. “My stomach’s not happy right now.” Too much stress. “I’ll catch up later.”

She sat next to her friend. “How are you feeling?” she asked Dana.

“Stupid. Incredibly stupid. Martin dumped me. He said I was too controlling, if you can believe it. He wants to be with someone more delicate. I should have broken his legs.”

Perhaps proving his point, Lexi thought, although she was smart enough not to speak the words.

“How did this happen?” Dana demanded. “Guys don’t leave me. I leave them. Especially guys like Martin.”

“They’re all like Martin,” Izzy said from the club chair. She was using nail polish to paint daisies on her already pink toes. “You need a new type. You don’t find him interesting or challenging. I’m betting he wasn’t even that good in bed. Come on. Admit it. You were done with him weeks ago.”

“I don’t want anyone exciting. I’m very comfortable with a safe, easy relationship.”

“The code words for boring,” Izzy said in a singsong voice. “Very, very boring.”

“Can I kill her?” Dana asked, looking at Lexi. “It would be quick.”

“You know you can’t do that.”

“Oh, but I can.”

“You know you shouldn’t.”

Dana slumped back on the sofa. “You’re right. But she’s annoying me.”

“Maybe because she’s right. Everyone hates to hear the truth. Especially you.”

Dana closed her eyes. “What the hell does that mean?”

Lexi looked at Skye who nodded.

“You know we love you,” Skye began.

Dana groaned. “Which is just a way to make yourself feel better about telling me a bunch of stuff you know I don’t want to hear.”

“You keep picking the wrong guy,” Skye went on. “They’re all Martin.”

“Go away,” Dana said, her eyes still closed. “I’m sorry I asked you over.”

“No, you’re not,” Lexi said, patting her friend’s arm. “You love us and we love you, but Skye’s right. You’ve got to stop dating the same tedious little men.”

Dana opened her eyes. “Did I mention I was in the mood to kill someone? You are so getting on my last nerve.”

“You should come with me to Mexico this summer,” Izzy said. “I’m going to do some cave diving.”

Skye shuddered. “Are you insane? You’ll not only be in a small, dark space, but hey, you could drown at the same time. What a thrill.”

Izzy grinned. “I like the thrills.”

“Why do they all have to be deadly?” Lexi asked. “Can’t you just ride a roller coaster or something?”

Izzy wrinkled her nose. “I want the rush.”

“How can you paint daisies on your toenails and then want to go cave diving?” Dana asked.

“I have unexplored depths.”

“Like cave diving,” Lexi muttered, thinking there wasn’t enough money on the planet to get her to do something like that. Just thinking about being underwater in a cave was enough to send her screaming into the night.

At least it was a distraction that kept her from wondering about the woman who was suing her, and her recent conversation with her father. While she planned to tell her sisters what was going on, this wasn’t the time or place.