Buchanan: Delicious Part 36

She smiled. "I never had to work with her before. I'll admit that when we were first married I thought you exaggerated her personality. I've had a few recent encounters with her that have changed my mind. She's the most controlling person I've ever met."

"Tell me about it."

"Speaking of telling, have you thought any more about telling Dani the truth about her father? I know it would hurt her initially, but I suspect that after a while she'd find the information very freeing."

"I don't know what to do," he admitted. "I've always looked out for Dani. I always wanted to protect her from the world. Now she's all grown up and I still find myself wanting to s.h.i.+eld her from things."

He kept talking, but suddenly Penny couldn't hear him. There was an ache deep inside that told her his words confirmed what she'd always believed: Cal would have been a terrific father.

He instinctively took care of those who weren't as strong. Those in need. She could imagine him adoring a toddler while teaching him or her how to go forward in the world.

Why had he changed his mind? Why hadn't he wanted children with her?

She opened her mouth, then closed it. The evening was going too well. She didn't want to spoil the mood by fighting-and discussions about children and babies always led to fights.

He picked up his margarita. "I've been thinking about what you said," he told her. "Better the information come from me than from Gloria. I just have to figure out the best time."

Penny wasn't sure there was a good time to shatter someone's view of their world, but she trusted Cal to be sensitive about the whole thing.

"She'll want to leave Burger Heaven," Penny said.

"I know. Maybe I could offer her a job at The Daily Grind. We're always looking for good managers. I've tried to hire her before but she claimed one incident of nepotism in her life was enough. I told her I would have hired her even if we weren't family, but she didn't believe me."

Penny had a feeling Dani would want to escape family-owned businesses for a while, but she didn't say that.

"You've done well for yourself," she said instead. "The company is really growing."

He grinned. "It's even more impressive when you consider we're in the city where Starbucks started. Talk about compet.i.tion."

"Good point. Obviously you've filled a niche and we're a society of obsessive coffee drinkers." She sighed. "I miss coffee. And before you remind me I can have decaf, I'll tell you that it's just not the same."

"I know. Only a few more months." He eyed her stomach. "Is your mom going to come out and stay with you when you have the baby?"

"Yes. She says she was there with all her other grandchildren. She'll be here for the birth of this one." Penny rested her hand on her belly. "I can't help thinking she's disappointed."

Cal frowned. "At having another grandchild? Not possible."

"Oh, I know she'll be happy about the baby. It's me being pregnant this way. My two sisters did everything exactly right. I bounced around for nearly five years before I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. I flunked out of college twice, worked at dozens of jobs. I know my parents were frustrated. Now I'm pregnant by a man they'll never meet and about whom we know nothing. I have a list of characteristics and a brief medical history."

Cal leaned close and took her other hand. "You waited to find out what made you happy instead of settling for a career you'd hate. How many people have the courage to do that? You weren't willing to compromise. That's a good thing."

"Don't be nice to me. I'll start to cry."

"Anything but that," he teased. "Guys hate tears. It's too much like blackmail."

She smiled. "I was always very good about that."

"Yes, you were. You played it straight."

Except for changing his mind about having children, Cal had played it straight, too. They'd been good people who had been in love. So what had gone so wrong in their marriage?

"Why didn't we make it?" she asked quietly.

"h.e.l.l if I know."

"It seemed as if everything was fine one day and the next there were cracks everywhere. They had to have started sometime. They didn't just appear."

"Maybe we were too young," he said.

"We were both in our twenties. Hardly kids. But maybe you're right. Maybe we weren't ready for the stresses of marriage." She stared into his dark eyes. "I never hated you."

"I'm glad. I didn't hate you, either."

Was it her, or had it just gotten hot in here?

"At least we can be friends now," she said, knowing she should pull her hand free of his. There was something intimate about sitting next to each other, staring into each other's eyes and holding hands. Way too intimate. And s.e.xual. Because she was suddenly aware of his body-the hard planes, his broad shoulders. She knew exactly what he looked like naked. How to touch him to make him stiffen with pleasure.

"Wow, look at the time," she said, drawing back and tugging her hand free. "Where did the time go?"

He glanced at his watch. "It's eight-thirty."

"I know, but I'm tired and, you know, tomorrow's a work day. Friday, even. A busy work day. And I should call Naomi and check on things. Just to be sure."

"What's wrong?" he asked. "What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid." She stood and looked at the mess on the table. "I should help you clean up."

"Screw that. Why are you running away?"

"Do I look like I'm running? I'm standing in place." She raised one foot to show him. "See?"

He rose and moved close. "Did I say something to upset you?"

Nope. Not a word. She'd upset herself without any help at all. And upset wasn't even the right word. She was...uncomfortable. And s.e.xually aware. And seriously pregnant. Hardly circ.u.mstances to turn Cal on.

"Okay, this was great," she told him as she backed toward the door. "The dinner. The conversation. All of it. Really, really great. Thanks. I appreciate it."

She grabbed her coat and purse, then opened the door and ducked outside. Thirty seconds later she'd started her car and was zooming out of his driveway.

Free at last, she thought, unable to slow the pounding of her heart.

The worst part of it was she couldn't explain what had just happened. She'd become aware of Cal on a s.e.xual level and she'd been afraid she would act on it. Frankly, doing without was a whole lot better than getting rejected. Still, running felt wrong. Maybe she should have explained.

"Oh, yeah. There's a conversation I'm dying to have with my ex-husband and boss."

She drove across Seattle until she reached her own small rental house. After she inched her way inside the single-car garage, she turned off the engine. It was only then she noticed a car pulling in behind her. A familiar, small, two-seater sports car.

She walked out of the garage just as Cal climbed out of his Z4.