A Husband She Couldn't Forget

Ever since her rude awakening in the dark hours of Sunday morning with her mind all turned around, the men of the family had repeatedly explained to her that she’d come home for one reason—to take care of her mom until after the baby was born. “Uh-uh. I’m here for you.”

Cat grunted as she shifted to her side. She pressed a kiss in the middle of Aly’s forehead and then retreated to her own pillow with a sigh. “Show me the law that says you can’t do two things at once.”

Connor spotted Alyssa as he turned into his driveway. She sat on the front step wearing a pair of those black, tight-fitting legging things that came to midthigh, silver sandals and a clingy white shirt that made her full breasts look even more spectacular than they had the day before. She was petting Maurice, who slinked in a figure eight at her side, arching his skinny back in pleasure, black tail held high.

The garage was under the house, with retaining walls on either side of the sloping driveway. When she raised her hand to him in a wave, Connor almost ran into the wall on the passenger side. At the last second, he straightened the wheel and rolled the Land Rover safely inside. The garage door glided down behind him and he let his head droop forward until his forehead met the steering wheel.

What’s she doing here? What’s going on?

He shouldn’t allow himself to be so stupidly happy at the mere sight of her beautiful, banged-up face—and none of his questions would be answered while he hid in his car.

He ran up the steps to ground level, growing breathless all out of proportion to the short climb. Dropping his briefcase on the bench in the block-glass window nook beside the door, he paused, swiped his hair back off his forehead and straightened his shoulders.

After yesterday he had figured he would never see her again—at least not on purpose, certainly not sitting on his front step waiting for him to come home.

She was standing at the threshold when he pulled the door open, Maurice at her feet. He noticed that the bandage on the side of her head was gone. She’d combed her hair over the bare spot. “I like your cat,” she said.

With a low, entitled “Reow,” Maurice strutted inside. Connor didn’t try to stop him. The cat went where he wanted to go. “Maurice belongs to my next-door neighbor. He just thinks he owns the whole block and everyone in it.”

“Maurice,” she repeated. “It suits him. He’s friendly and affectionate and he has a lot of confidence.”

“Too much confidence, if you ask me.”

And that was it. They’d run out of words. Several seconds dragged by.

Finally, she spoke again. “Is it okay if I come in, too?”

“Uh, sure. Of course.” He stepped back and she stepped forward. He shut the door.

“It’s a beautiful house,” she said. “I love the weathered gray shingles.” Her impossibly thick black eyelashes fluttered up as she glanced at the vaulted ceiling. “What kind of wood is that?”

He blinked to make himself stop staring at her. “Hemlock.”

“Gorgeous. I noticed there’s even a big porthole window upstairs.”

“Yeah.”

“Kind of beachy and nautical. The perfect house for Valentine Bay.”

He really didn’t give a damn about his house at this particular moment. “What’s going on? Is everything...? I mean, are you okay?”

“I’m fine—well, I still have the, er, major memory problem, but it’s not any worse.”

Relief made him realize he’d forgotten to breathe. He drew in air and let it out with slow care. “So...?”

She folded her pale hands together in front of her and licked those amazing, pillowy lips of hers. The sight sent a bolt of lust straight to his groin, which annoyed him no end. He tried really hard to think about unsexy things—getting his oil changed, power-washing the driveway...

Finally, she spoke again. “My mom gave me your address. Don’t freak out, but she admitted she’s kind of kept tabs on you since we split up—not in a stalkerish way, I promise.”

“Why?”

“Long story. Let’s just say she always liked you.”

A Santangelo who still liked him. Who knew?

Aly glanced away. She seemed really nervous now. And then she huffed out a breath and faced him again. “Look, Connor. Can we talk?”

He put out a hand toward the raised living area behind him. She went where he indicated, taking a seat on the gray leather sofa. Maurice jumped right up beside her and started to purr.

Connor hesitated midway to the armchair. “I can make coffee or something...”

She shook her head. As he sat down in the armchair, she asked, “You live here alone?”

“Yeah.”

“Got a girlfriend, Conn? Someone special?”

“No.” And what did it matter to her if he was seeing someone exclusively? “I’ve got a question for you, now.”

“All right.”

“Should I expect your brothers to show up any minute, eager to beat the crap out of me?”

She smiled at that. “Don’t worry. My mom will handle my brothers.” She concentrated on petting Maurice, her bruised hand moving in long, slow strokes. “Actually, I came to ask you a favor.”

Whatever it was, he would do it. Maybe he could make up at least a little for all the ways he’d messed up back when. “Name it.”

And just like that, she dropped the bombshell. “I’m on an extended family leave of fourteen weeks to take care of my mother, or so my dad and brothers have repeatedly explained to me since the accident. I want to move in here. I want to live with you until I go back to New York.”

Live with him?

Had she really just said that?

And why was his heart beating so hard against the walls of his chest? “What about your mom?”

“What do you mean?”

“You just said it. You’re here to take care of Cat until after the baby’s born.”

“I am, yeah. And I will. I’ll spend my days with her, be with her any other time she needs me, too. But if you say it’s okay with you, I would, um, have a room here, if you have an extra one. So that I could spend time with you, too.”

He was really trying to get his mind around this. “You want to live with me?”

“Isn’t that what I just said?”

“Yeah. And I don’t get it. I really don’t.”

“I, um...” She brought a hand to her head at the place where the bandage had been. Her sleek black eyebrows were all scrunched up.