Susan Mallery - Tempting

"What mess?" Katherine asked.

"The poll numbers. I was watching one of those political shows on Sunday and they said the poll numbers were down because of me and Alex. They said the Canfield campaign was already over."

Katherine patted her arm. "You can't believe everything you hear. Of course the campaign is going forward. If this is the worst of it, then Mark will win by a three-quarter majority. Poll numbers go down, then they go up. This week it's you. Next week it will be something else."

She sounded so calm. So confident. Was it really that simple?

"I haven't damaged Mark's chances?"

"Never."

"Okay." Dani wiped her face. "That's good." She straightened and patted her cheeks. "I'm healed. At least for now. Do I look scary?"

"You look fine."

"Thanks. I want you to know I didn't mean for any of this to upset you. For what it's worth, I won't be seeing Alex anymore."

Katherine tried not to react to the news. Despite everything, she'd found herself liking Dani. The young woman seemed sincere and Katherine had always been a sucker for anyone suffering.

As for Dani and Alex not seeing each other, she tried not to be happy about it, but relief flooded her. If they weren't together then maybe Katherine wouldn't get so many questions about them all the time. She was tired of the questions and the humiliation those questions brought.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Katherine called.

Bailey walked into the room. "Dani! I heard you were here."

Dani smiled at the teenager. "I am. How are you? Do you still love your shoes?"

"More than anything."

Katherine drank her water and tried to be mature. It didn't matter that Dani had taken Bailey shopping for high heels. Honestly, she, Katherine, had never thought to make the offer. It was good for Bailey to get out with other people-people who weren't family-and experience the world. She was fine with it.

Okay, maybe there had been a tiny twinge that she hadn't been the one to share that experience with her daughter, but she would get over it.

"I have a dance," Bailey said. "For school. It's the night of my birthday and I get to wear a beautiful dress."

"Lucky you," Dani said. "I'll want to see pictures."

Bailey sank onto the floor and grabbed Dani's hands. "Will you please take me shopping for my dress? I want you to help me find it. Please?"

The words cut through Katherine like a laser.

She 'd wanted to be the one to go shopping with Bailey. She'd wanted to be the one making those memories. Although she and her daughter had never talked specifics, she'd assumed she would be the one going with her.

Jealousy burned hot and bright, making her want to attack the woman responsible for this situation.

"Bailey, I'd really like that" Dani said, sounding as if she meant it. Which she probably did. "Katherine, would that be all right with you?"

Katherine knew her jealousy was misplaced and that she was acting like a child. The lessons she'd learned from her mother came back to her. Always be calm, no matter what she was feeling inside. Always do the right thing, the proper thing.

"Of course. You're so sweet to take her. I know Bailey will have a wonderful time."

It hurt to speak the words. It hurt to smile. She wanted to hiss and scratch like a cornered cat.

Bailey sprang to her feet, then hugged them both. "I can't wait! I can't wait!" She spun in a circle, her hands in the air, her face bright with pleasure.

Katherine looked at her daughter and tried to find happiness in the moment. She just couldn't. She wasn't that big of a person.

When Bailey left, Dani sighed. "She's so great. I adore her."

"Me, too," Katherine said, doing her best to keep the sharpness out of her voice.

"Thanks for letting me take her shopping."

"It's not a problem. Now what were we talking about?"

Dani's face shifted until she looked as if she'd lost everything. "Alex," she murmured. "That we won't be seeing each other anymore."

"I see," Katherine said. "What changed your mind? The poll numbers?"

She should point out to Dani that she couldn't let other people's opinions run her life. That was the right thing to do. But before she could decide if she was that mature or not, Dani said, "No, it's not the poll numbers. Alex accused me of that, too."

"Really?"

Dani nodded. Her eyes were dark and filled with pain. “I’m sorry about the numbers, but that's not the reason. He thought I was running away. To make things easier."

"You're not?"

"No." Dani swallowed. "I think…I think he might still be seeing Fiona. She came to talk to me and she made a really good case for that."

Katherine could feel Dani's pain. The other woman looked at her.

"You know them both. Is it possible? Could Alex still be seeing Fiona?"

It was like an out-of-body experience, Katherine thought as she seemed to stare down at the room. She could see herself sitting on the sofa. So perfect, she thought, taking in the cashmere sweater, the pearls. She was a cliché. A cliché whose life had been turned upside down by the proof that her husband could father children when she couldn't have them herself.

She argued that it wasn't Dani's fault. That she hadn't knowingly brought this humiliation to Katherine. That the fact that she and Bailey got along was a good thing. She could hear her mother's voice telling her to always be a lady.

Screw that, she thought bitterly. For once she was going to do exactly what she wanted to do. What felt right and would make her hurt a little less.

She looked at Dani and lied. "I don't want to hurt you, but I do think it's very possible Alex and Fiona are seeing each other."

Alex walked into his father's office at campaign headquarters. He knew Mark was in a meeting and that Katherine had come in for a photo shoot. She stood in front of the wall map of the country.

"Do you have a minute?" he asked.

She turned and smiled at him. "Of course. I'm stuck standing until the photographer is ready. I can't muss or wrinkle. I can barely make an expression at all, so don't be funny or all this makeup will crack."

He grinned. "Makes me want to ruffle your hair."

"Naturally. Why is it that the small boy always lives inside the man?"

"One of my gender's many charms."

"Yes, it is." She tilted her head. "What's going on? What do you want to talk about?"

His humor faded. He closed the door for privacy and moved toward her. "What would you say if I told you I wanted to leave the campaign?"

Her blue eyes widened. "Alex, no." She reached out and put her hand on his arm. "Seriously? You hate it that much?"

"Yeah. This isn't me or what I want. I'm not a political animal. But I said I'd help and he's my father.”

She nodded. "Right. Loyalty to family. Doing the right thing." She dropped her hand. "I'm the wrong person to ask about this."

"Because you're too close to what's going on?"

"That, and…" She drew in a breath. "I know about doing what's expected. Sometimes when we go the other way we feel free and sometimes we just feel like crap. Do you know which it's going to be for you?"

"I'm not sure it matters," he told her, "I never thought I'd get caught in the middle of something like this. I know where my loyalties lie and I still can't make myself want to stay."

"This campaign is a complication in all our lives," she said. "Especially now."

He looked at her. "You mean because of Dani?"

"She keeps things interesting. Not that it's her fault. It's just uncomfortable timing."

"She's hurt you, hasn't she?"

Katherine turned back to the map and touched the center of Texas. "Not really. She isn't responsible for what people say or how I react to it."

"She'll be less of an issue now. We're not seeing each other."

His mother tensed slightly. "What happened?"

"I don't know. That's the thing of it. I really thought she was someone I could care about. After Fiona I didn't want to get involved again. I didn't want to trust anyone like that. But Dani was different."

More than different. There'd been something about her. He'd wanted to spend every moment with her. He wanted to know everything about her. He could see a future with her.

"And now?" his mother asked.

"She got upset about the poll numbers, which I get, but then she accused me of still seeing Fiona." The accusation burned. Dani knew what he thought of his ex-wife's betrayal. She knew loyalty was everything to him and yet she'd still claimed to believe he was screwing around. With Fiona of all people. What the hell was up with that?

Katherine turned back to him. "Are you seeing her?"

"No," he said flatly. "I would never cheat, and I'll never go back to Fiona. I just don't get it. Why her? Why would Dani think I was seeing her?"

Katherine knew exactly why. Because that's what Fiona had told her.

Her stomach twisted and she fought the need to vomit. How could she have lied to Dani like that? How could she have gotten in between Dani and Alex? She loved her son and if Dani made him happy…

But the relationship was already over, she reminded herself. She hadn't really destroyed anything.

A feeble attempt to pass the blame, to not accept responsibility.

She told herself that the right thing to do was to confess her part in all this and ask for forgiveness. She opened her mouth, then closed it. Right now her world was already askew. Seeing disappointment in Alex's eyes, knowing she'd lowered herself to lying because of her own hurt feelings, was more than she could bear.

"She thinks Fiona's pregnant," he said, his voice thick with disbelief. "What kind of crap is that?"

"Maybe she is."

He looked at her, then swore. "Pregnant? Fiona? She never wanted kids."

Katherine blinked in surprise. "What are you talking about? She always said she wanted a family."

"It was just talk," Alex told her. "I bought into it, too. But when we were married, every time I pressed her to get started on our family she had a reason we should wait. She didn't want children. So if she's pregnant now, it's got to be an accident."

"Or a way to make trouble," Katherine murmured, wondering how far her former daughter-in-law would go to get Alex back. Would she get pregnant by another man and try to pass that child off as Alex's?

"You really haven't slept with her recently?" she asked, then waved her hand. "Forget I'm your mother. I'm serious, Alex. Have you been seeing her at all?"

He met her gaze. "No. The day I moved out of the house was the day I walked in on her with someone else. I didn't want you to know that- you're still friends with her. But that's what finally ended our marriage."

Her heart tightened with pain. She ached for her child and what he'd gone through. Tears filled her eyes.

"Oh, Alex."

She walked over and hugged him.

"You'll muss," he told her.

"Screw that."

He chuckled. "You're getting feisty. It's charming."

"Oh, please. Don't treat me like I'm old and infirm. I'll get there soon enough."

"You'll never be that."

She stepped back and stared into his handsome face. How she loved this man. She'd loved the boy and every day her feelings had grown. She couldn't have loved him more if she'd given birth to him herself.

That was her absolute truth, she reminded herself. That she loved her children completely. No one could take away the specialness of their bond-not without her letting them.

"I have to tell you something," she said as the I tears once again burned. "I did something awful."

He smiled at his mother. "Not you."

"I'm serious. And I'm sorry. What I'm about to tell you could damage our relationship. I can't tell you how much I regret that. I was hurt and angry and I wanted to hurt someone. I wanted to hurt Dani. That was deeply wrong of me. I know that. I'm ashamed of myself. I don't expect you to forgive me right away, but I hope that in time you won't hate me."

Alex stared back at her. She knew he'd probably never seen her like this. His face reflected his unease.

"Mom, it's okay," he told her. "Whatever it is, we'll fix it."

"I can't fix this, but maybe you can." She swallowed. "Dani came to see me a couple of days ago. We went over the speech, or we tried to. She was upset about a lot of things, but mostly you. She told me Fiona had come to her and told her were still seeing each other. Fiona had information that seemed to only come from her having been in your house."