Baily's Irish Dream: Baily's Irish Dream / Czech Mate

5

“ARE YOU ASLEEP?” The soft question filled the dark room. Even Miss Roosevelt, who was sleeping soundly on Daniel’s chest, pricked up her ears.

“No,” he replied with resignation. How the hell was he supposed to sleep with a cat on his chest and a woman’s soft lips on his mind? He told himself a hundred times that he could have taken her, should have taken her. She wanted him as badly as he wanted her. Her lips said as much even if her words did not. But he had done the right thing. He’d let her go and denied both of them what could have been the sexual experience of their lives. Why had he done that?

“You were a real gentlemen earlier,” she said somewhat forlornly.

“Thanks.”

It wasn’t necessarily a compliment. She had rather hoped that he would have proven to be an absolute cad. She would have been seduced against her will, forced to make love with the man, and it would have been beyond her control. No guilt. All pleasure.

Instead he’d gone and ruined everything by listening to her.

Baily smiled at her own silly thoughts. Daniel wasn’t to blame; she was. She was the one who put up the hands-off sign. At the time, she had meant every word of it. It was only when he’d started kissing her that things had gotten a little hazy. Fortunately, he’d had the willpower to break away before things had gotten out of hand. And it was fortunate, she told herself firmly. She was too close to reaching her goal and fulfilling her dream of creating a family to be thwarted by something as trivial and transient as desire.

Oh, yeah, he had all the willpower. Baily, however, had needed a good five minutes to recover before she could even walk through the door. Daniel, already out of the bathroom, had snuggled into bed. Miss Roosevelt, evidently having forgiven him for his previous attack on her mistress, had huddled into a ball on top of him. Traitor.

It was the first time Baily could ever remember being jealous of a cat. And what made it worse was that Miss Roosevelt had gaped at her mistress as if she were crazy to pass up the opportunity to snuggle with Daniel. Evidently, he was a very good snuggler.

Now in the wee hours of the morning, Baily was feeling restless and very unsnuggled. It was only right that Daniel share in her insomnia. “So you can’t sleep, either,” she said, stating the obvious.

As if he could have slept with her only one foot and eleven inches away from him. Did she think he was made of stone? He hadn’t been able to close his eyes let alone sleep. Every time he did, he saw flaming red hair. Red hair spread out against a white pillow. Red hair clutched between his fingers. The only way he knew to prevent the erotic, ungentleman-like dreams that would surely come if he slept, was to stay awake.

Awake was no picnic, either. Awake, he heard her soft breathing, imagined the rise and fall of her chest, imagined her soft, full, and well-kissed lips parted ever so slightly. No, awake wasn’t any easier than asleep was, and now Red had just made it harder by informing him that she was having as much difficulty sleeping as he was.

“I see you’re having the same problem,” Daniel noted with a hint of smugness. The way he saw it, her suffering was of her own making. She was the one who’d established the rules.

“Yes, and it’s all your fault,” Baily snipped. She was tired and frustrated, feeling lustful and guilty all at the same time. If he hadn’t kissed her, she’d be snoozing sounder than Theodora right now. It was definitely all his fault.

“My fault! The way I see it, Red, this is all your fault,” he informed her, amazed at her audacity to blame him.

“My fault!” she exclaimed. “You’re the one who kissed me.”

“And you’re the one who said I couldn’t do anything more than kiss you. That’s why we’re both frustrated. I’m a gentleman, remember.” Daniel taunted her with her own words.

“I said you couldn’t do any kissing before you kissed me,” she retorted. “Then you kissed me, anyway. That’s why we’re both frustrated. Now that I think of it, you’re about as far away from a gentleman as as…Miss Roosevelt.”

“Meow!” Theodora wailed from her perch, apparently not pleased with the analogy.

“Honey, you may have said no kissing, but your whole being cried out to be kissed. I was simply…helping you fulfill your needs.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Daniel had the distinct impression that he’d said the wrong thing.

“What in the hell is that supposed to mean?” Baily fairly shrieked with rage. Fury vaulted her into a sitting position. “Are you saying that was a pity kiss?”

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was a pity kiss,” Daniel said, attempting to retreat. But he had a feeling that one false move and she would be feeding him his other foot.

“Theodora! Get off him,” Baily ordered. The cat, despite her contended position, knew where her kitty kibble came from. She immediately jumped off Daniel and off the bed to seek a safer bed.

Daniel should have seen it coming. Without the cat in the way to prevent a full frontal assault he was left vulnerable to whatever revenge Baily had in mind. The pillow that hit him squarely in the face wasn’t a surprise. Nor was the second one. He thought she overdid it when she threw the third pillow, and he laughed out loud when she threw the fourth pillow.

“Why are you laughing?” Baily screamed. Her temper still flared, only now she was weaponless.

“Typical redhead. You got yourself in a snit and now you’ve just thrown all your pillows away. Looks like you’ll be resting your head on the mattress tonight.” Daniel chuckled. He had to admit she was entertaining.

After a few deep breaths Baily managed to calm herself. Fighting with a man she had no intention of remembering five days hence was pointless. So she decided to forget her temper, put him completely out of her mind, and drift off into a peaceful slumber. Which was exactly what she would have done if she had a pillow.

“Give me my pillows back,” she ordered.

“No,” Daniel answered smugly.

“Come on, just one pillow.”

“No.” Who had the last word this time? Him. Heh, heh, heh.

“If you don’t give them back I’m just going to come over there and get them,” Baily explained logically. Then she saw the form beneath the sheets move. Suddenly his eyes gleamed at her through the dark, cat’s eyes that seemed to see right through her despite the lack of light.

“If you come over here, I can guarantee you won’t make it back to your bed tonight. Have I made myself clear?”

The husky timbre of his voice, the gleam in his eyes…yes, his point had been made, and his threat was unmistakable. Baily shut her mouth and laid her head down on the mattress. It wasn’t so bad.

“THIS IS HORRIBLE!” The morning sun was harsh on eyes that hadn’t been closed for more than a few hours off and on throughout the night. Baily felt as if her whole body was about to burst with annoyance as she stared down at her car. The one with two flat tires. Two. How could anyone get two flat tires at the same time?

“What the hell did you park it on? Glass?” Daniel had exited the room with the cat under one arm and their overnight bags under the other.

“Me?” Baily still hadn’t recovered from being furious with him the night before. So it wouldn’t have taken more than a sneeze for Daniel to irritate her all over again this morning. He had just given her more than a sneeze. “If I recall correctly, you were the one who parked the car when we drove up to the motel. So what the hell did you park it on?”

“It’s pointless to stand around here arguing about how it happened. What we need to do is get it fixed. Then we can find the Western Union office. I can’t waste a whole day in Jackson Hole, or I’ll never make it to Philly in time to stop the wedding.”

Baily mumbled something about men never being able to admit when they were wrong, but she let it go at that. He was right. This was more than two flat tires. This was his sister’s future. “I spotted a gas station when we pulled into town. Maybe they have a tow truck.”

“They’d better.”

He turned his back on her then and returned to the room to get the rest of their belongings. As if Baily had any say in whether the gas station had a tow truck or not. She took the opportunity to stick her tongue out at him again. The effect was ruined with the sight of Theodora’s tail swishing about from under his arm. Baily was forced to smile and that only irritated her more because the last thing she wanted to do was to dwell on how cute he looked holding her cat.

Better to think of him as a tyrant. Much better. It wasn’t as if she wanted to be stuck in Wyoming with two flat tires. She had places to go, people to see, a man to become engaged to. Okay, so maybe there were worse things in this world than being stuck in Wyoming. Still, she hadn’t popped the tires herself. Not only that, but if they didn’t manage to find two new tires they were going to have to spend another night together in that tiny motel room. She simply didn’t have the willpower.

After a short search in the small town, Daniel and Baily first located the Western Union office, then the service station. Luckily, the attendant had two tires available for them and Daniel was able to pay cash as an incentive to speed the process along. The attendant promised to tow the car and change the tires. They could return in a few hours for the car. Baily balked at Daniel’s highhandedness for paying for the damage, but he considered it his way of paying for his trip across country. Since Baily secretly believed that the tires were his fault anyway, she accepted.

“We’ve got some time to kill, what do you say we hunt something down to eat?” Baily suggested. Daniel agreed, and the two took an idle walk about the town until they found a small nook of a restaurant that served breakfast.

Seated in the small diner off the main street, they ate bagels and drank coffee.

“Are you sure Miss Roosevelt is okay in that motel room by herself?” Baily asked the question for the third time that morning.

“Yes,” he said for the third time since they had left her. “I don’t get it. We left her alone in the room last night when we went to dinner. What’s the problem this morning?”

“That was before the slashed tires,” Baily told him worriedly. “What if someone is stalking you and the tires were just a warning?”

He hated to admit it, but she wasn’t completely out of line this time. A stolen wallet was one thing, but two flat tires were something else. No one had this kind of luck. Not ready to voice his thoughts on the subject and frighten her quite yet, he turned the question back on her. “How do you know our stalker is after me? Maybe he’s after you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Who would want to stalk me? You, on other hand, I can see ticking off a lot of people. And you know what deranged psychos do to poor helpless pets, don’t you? Bad things, that’s what. Not that Theodora wouldn’t put up a good fight considering who she is. So you really think she’s okay?”

“Yes.”

“That’s what I thought you’d say,” she mumbled under her breath.

With a sigh, Daniel put down his coffee. “You know, Red, I’m going to tell you something, and I want you to listen. Your pet, Theodora Roosevelt, is a cat. A cat with ears and a tail. She is not a child.” He only meant to tease her. But he saw an expression cross her face that wasn’t funny at all. Her eyes were serious and sad, and a bit stubborn.

Knowing that her eyes would betray too much of her emotions, Baily turned her head away from him and pursed her lips. She didn’t trust her voice not to crack with emotion if she told him what she thought of him at this moment.

Daniel was shocked by the reaction. He expected a stinging retort, a sour look, maybe even a gentle kick under the table just to let him know she didn’t care for his remark. Instead, silence. Something he could never have anticipated from Red. Reaching his hand across the small table, Daniel placed his fingertips under her chin and turned her face to his. The impact of her moist eyes slammed into his gut with the power of a sledgehammer.

“What did I say?” Daniel asked, not in a defensive tone, but as a legitimate question so he would know never to repeat his mistake again.

Baily shook off her sudden sadness like a dog shaking off water after a bath. To break the contact of his hand she lifted her chin even higher. Then she took a deep breath to calm her emotions. It was ridiculous. Daniel hadn’t said anything that anyone who has ever known her and her cat for a length of time hadn’t also said. Theodora was a cat. Baily knew that, of course.

Only there were days. Days in Seattle when she felt alone, detached somehow because there was no recipient for all the love she had to give. She didn’t have a husband to pamper, or children to watch over and protect, but she did have Madam President. So maybe her treatment of Theodora was questionable. It stemmed from a fear that Theodora would be the closest thing she’d ever have to actually having a baby of her own. That was why she had to marry Harry. Maybe it was wrong to use him for her own ends, but she would make Harry a good wife and she would be an even better mother for his children.

“I’m sorry. You didn’t say anything. I was just being a ninny.” Baily smiled to back up her words. Her sadness, as always, was a momentary aberration. Life was too short to brood. As a result she limited all brooding episodes to only one minute apiece. Two minutes, max.

He should have just smiled and changed the topic, but he wasn’t satisfied with her answer. “No way.”

“No way I’m not a ninny?” Baily asked, thinking what a sensitive guy he was to understand that everyone is entitled to an occasional moment of sadness.

“Oh, no, you are a ninny,” Daniel clarified.

So much for him being a sensitive guy.

“Tell me why you looked so hurt a minute ago. Surely you know that your cat is a cat. I mean, I’m not driving all the way to Philadelphia with a delusional wacko…am I?”

Baily was about to start shooting fireworks when she caught a glimpse of his lopsided smile. He was attempting to be funny. He wasn’t. But the attempt was sweet nonetheless.

“Not a delusional wacko,” she returned with a wry grin. “Theodora is special to me, that’s all. Of course she’s not a child. But she’s the only one I have to give all my love to. I have this deep endless well of maternal mushy feelings. Sometimes they bubble up on me and if I don’t use them I know I’ll burst. So maybe Theodora is spoiled more than your average cat. She’s my family, and I love her accordingly.”

“Family,” Daniel repeated derisively. What was so wonderful about a family? Families were nothing more than groups of people depending on each other and needing each other. When one person in the family failed to live up to all that responsibility, everyone suffered. It was far more advantageous to be independent and free of familial burdens. No letdown. No pain.

“Why do you say ‘family’ like it’s a bad word?” Baily asked.

“Do I? I didn’t notice,” he said dismissively.

With a shrug and a small chuckle to break the tension that seemed to have formed around the table, Baily concluded, “Theodora won’t be so spoiled once I have my children. That’s why I’m going home to marry Harry.”

The image that suddenly formed in Daniel’s mind wasn’t a pleasant one. Baily was pregnant with another man’s child and that man wasn’t worthy. “Harry,” he muttered as if the word was a curse.

“Harry,” Baily repeated as if it were final.

Silence hung over their heads. They shared a private look, almost as if Harry was at the table sitting next to them and they couldn’t voice their thoughts in front of him. One was a look of longing, the other of regret.

“You think the car is ready?” Baily offered.

“Let’s check.”

Both knew that the car wasn’t ready. However their discussion had come to an end, and to prolong it any further would more than likely result in an argument.

Together, but separated by a new tension that flowed between them, the two meandered down the main street of Jackson Hole. Baily let her eyes wander so that she saw everything except Daniel.

Studying the people around her, she noted the obvious tourist wearing the wrong kind of shoes, experienced hikers who looked as if they were off to the mountains never to return, and a familiar face. She couldn’t say why the gentleman looked familiar to her. He wore casual brown Dockers and a beige shirt. She wanted to tell him that his color sequencing needed a bit of work. Especially considering that he wore a brown baseball hat to top off the ensemble. He was across the street and a few paces back, so she didn’t bother.

A brown hat! She’d seen one like it the other day on their walk to the car rental place. Of course, that could mean nothing. He could be just another tourist taking in the sites as they were. Jackson Hole wasn’t so big that it was inconceivable she would run into someone she’d seen last night. Yet something nagged at her. Baily was about to catch up to Daniel to ask him if he recognized the man in the hat, but he was three feet away and walking as if his life depended on getting away from her.

She wasn’t sure why he bothered. They were both headed to the garage. Taking her own sweet time, she arrived several steps behind him.

“It wasn’t a race, you know.”

Coolly, Daniel turned toward her. “I’m sorry. Weren’t you able to keep up with me?”

He knew just the right words to irk her. And the thing that galled her most was that he had done it on purpose. It was obvious that anytime Harry’s name was brought up in the conversation, Daniel immediately turned nasty afterward.

“Look, I apologize for mentioning Harry,” she apologized. “Clearly, talk of my engagement distresses you. I’ll make an effort to avoid further conversations about my future bliss.”

“Your engagement does not distress me.”

His teeth were clenched, his jaw muscles were flexing, and the veins were bulging in his neck. Nah, he wasn’t distressed at all. “Yes, it does.”

Astounded at her cheek to even suggest such a thing, Daniel discovered a new muscle in his jaw to clench. “I’ve only known you the sum total of a day and a half. And from all that I know I haven’t even decided if I like you yet. Please don’t think I’ve forgotten how you practically forced me off the road and are the absolute cause of my being stuck in Wyoming, relying on a car with two flat tires, a car that shouldn’t even be driven to the market yet alone cross-country. So there is no reason under the sky that I would have any reason to be distressed about you and some wimpy sensitive man named Herman getting married!”

“It’s Harry. But you’re right. How could I have been so blind?” In the face of his tirade, she had made her point.

Good, Daniel had made his point. “Now that all that nonsense is settled. Why don’t we get the car?”

“My car?” Baily asked innocently.

Not in the mood to be toyed with, Daniel simply nodded.

“You mean, the car that isn’t fit to drive to the market? The car that so far has taken me across this county once already? The car that has driven over mountains, never not started when I really needed it to, and has already taken us through two states, unlike a certain Mercedes that I know of? That car? Huh?”

Daniel watched her eyes flare and her red curls bounce around her head in absolute fury. She was beautiful at rest. She was breathtaking on fire. A fist of desire slammed him hard in his lower gut. Normally, Daniel didn’t consider himself the wildly romantic passionate sort of man. When the need warranted, he could be creative in bed, but for the most part he’d never felt comfortable enough with a woman to completely lose control when having sex. More often than not he watched himself, as if from above, giving his body directions to follow.

Do this now. Do that now. Okay it’s your turn. Take your pleasure then let’s get out of here. We’ve got an early meeting in the morning.

Baily, however, was someone who would demand total attention. She was someone you slammed against a dirty wall behind a greasy service station, ripped her clothes to shreds, and took hard and long standing until she was screaming with pleasure and raking her nails deep into your buttocks. She was someone you made love to all night long, waking her up time and time again to sink your body deep within hers because at that moment, when she was lying under you, taking you deep into her womb, she was truly yours.

He had to have her. It really wasn’t an option anymore. In his mind he’d crossed some invisible threshold and now he knew that he couldn’t leave this woman until she screamed out his name in mindless earth-shattering pleasure. Just once. Maybe twice.

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