Lady Be Good (Wynette, Texas #2)(100)

He shifted the baby in his arms and disappeared, leaving Kenny with the feeling that he’d left something important undone.

Emma spent a lonely, unhappy night in the guest room. She missed the solid feel of Kenny’s body next to hers, the way he hogged the covers when he turned over, and reached out in his sleep for her. As she made her way to the bathroom the next morning, she glanced out the window and saw him swimming laps, but instead of his customary slow crawl, he was churning through the water as if he wanted to conquer it.

She rested her cheek against the window frame and watched him reach one end of the pool and immediately race back toward the other. As he attacked the water, she considered the way everyone would react when they learned this marriage wasn’t going to last.

Kenny screwed up again. I always knew it wouldn’t work. The only thing he’s ever been good at is playing golf.

The legend of lazy, spoiled Kenny Traveler would only grow larger.

She told herself that wasn’t her problem, but she felt dismal. She showered and dressed, then headed down to the kitchen. Patrick had left a note on the counter directing her toward a bowl of fresh fruit in the refrigerator. He also suggested she not answer the phone. As she retrieved the fruit, she heard the front door open, then the sound of Torie’s voice, with Dexter’s quieter response.

Torie sailed in wearing a cropped blue and purple batik-print top and shorts, along with chunky leather sandals. “I guess I should ring the bell now that this isn’t bachelor’s quarters anymore. Sorry, Lady E.”

“That’s all right.” Emma smiled at Dexter. “Have some coffee.”

“Thank you.” He moved toward the kitchen, then looked up as Kenny came in from outside. A gray T-shirt clung to his damp chest, and water dripped from the curly ends of his hair, while his bare feet left damp tracks on the terra-cotta floor.

“Hey, bubba.”

Kenny managed a smile for his sister, then spotted Dexter and glowered. “What are you doing here?”

“I invited him.”

Kenny gave his sister a dark look. “Why’d you do that? I thought you wanted to get rid of him.”

“Yeah, well, it’s a lot harder than I figured.”

He frowned, then looked at her more closely. In three strides, he crossed the room, shot out his hand, and cupped her chin to tilt it toward the light. “Did he do that? Did he put that sucker bite on you?”

“He might have.” She shrugged off his hand. “By the way, you must have had about fifty messages yesterday on the answering machine at your condo. Everybody in the world is trying to get hold of you. Your fight with Hugh’s got you on the front page of the sports section all over again.”

Kenny whipped off the towel draped around his neck and spun on Dex. “You got her drunk, didn’t you? Last night. You weren’t having any luck seducing her when she was sober, so you got her drunk.”

Torie sank back on a counter stool and smiled. “He did worse than that. A lot worse. Didn’t you, Dex?”

Emma felt a prickle of alarm as Kenny grew very still. He dropped the towel, and the muscles beneath his damp gray T-shirt tensed. “What are you talking about? What did he do?”

Her eyes sparkled. “He beat me.”

“He what?”

Emma immediately stepped between the two men and rested her hand on Kenny’s chest. “Your sister is deliberately baiting you. Torie, stop it at once.”

Torie tried to look cowed. “Yes, ma’am.”

Kenny turned to Dex, his expression threatening. “Maybe you’d better tell me exactly what you did.”

Dexter filled the mug Emma had given him with coffee. “Torie’s a much bigger threat to herself than I am.”

But Torie wasn’t done having her fun. She hooked one heel of her sandal over the rung of the stool and looked injured. “He spanked me, Kenny. He overpowered me, threw me right over his knees, and spanked me. Bare butt. Or closest thing to.”

Kenny went completely still. He stared at Dexter. “Is that true?”

Dex stirred a teaspoon of sugar into his coffee and gave an absentminded nod.

To Emma’s astonishment, all the tension seemed to trickle out of Kenny, and, for the first time, he regarded Dexter with interest instead of suspicion. “No kidding. Even I wouldn’t have the nerve to do something like that.”

His reaction upset Torie. “You should beat him up, Kenny! Although maybe I’d better warn you that he’s stronger than he looks. Still, he’s not exactly Hercules, and you’ll be able to take him without too much trouble.”

Dexter sipped from his mug and nodded at Emma. “Excellent coffee.”

Emma suppressed a smile. “I’ll pass on your compliments to Patrick.”

Kenny looked from his sister to Dexter, then walked over to pour a mug for himself. He leaned back against the counter and studied the other man. “So, Dex, how’s come you’re still alive to tell the tale?”

Dexter wiped up a small coffee spill, then sat on the stool next to Torie. “All I’m prepared to say is that your sister and I slept together, and, since I compromised her, I intend to marry her.”

Torie dropped her forehead and banged it three times against the countertop. “You are such a geek.”

“Doesn’t sound like she’s too enthusiastic about it,” Kenny said.