Tread softly Read online

  Then Mrs. Lacey brought a table close to the bed and set her things on that. “You mustn’t mind the morning sickness, ma’am. It will soon pass.” She smiled at them, then closed the door behind her.

  Rafe removed his robe and slipped into bed beside her. “You’re not going to eat it all. Some of it’s for me, love.” He kissed her nose, then poured her some fresh juice.

  “What about the glass there?” Cady pointed to the juice Rafe had placed on the bedside table when he had taken Cady to the bathroom.

  He shrugged. “I’ll drink it. After all, we’ll be here for a while.”

  “You have to go to your office.” Cady sipped the icy juice, grateful for her settling stomach.

  “Nope. I called and said I wouldn’t be in today.” He grinned at her and tapped his glass against hers. “Nothing so major that it couldn’t be put off.” He spread raspberry jam on a toasted muffin and fed it to her. He laughed because he had gotten jam on her nose, and leaned down to lick it off. Cady felt her heart flutter like a bird’s wings in her chest. If only they could always be so close. “If you don’t feel like going to my father’s Christmas bash, you don’t have to,” he offered.

  “I want to go. I want to be there when you expose Bruno and Greeley.” She cuddled close to her husband, savoring the feel of his arm around her shoulders as he fed her more of the muffin. “I still don’t see how you’re going to get Todd there.”

  “I had Stacy call him and say that Bruno wants him there to take pictures. Since Bruno is in New York on a job for Emmett, it was easy. If Emmett hadn’t sent Bruno on that errand, I would have dreamed up some other reason for him to be out of town until just before the party. Unless something goes radically wrong, Leacock should show up just about the time Bruno and Greeley are beginning to feel comfortable.”

  “Aren’t you afraid that Bruno will allow the pictures to be made public?” Cady shivered.

  Rafe folded her closer to his body, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “You keep forgetting to trust your husband.” He caressed her ear with his lips. “A few of my staff and I contacted some other legislators and informed them of what we’re up against. When we told them we hoped to get wives of other politicians to let us use their heads to superimpose on the body that’s under your head in the photographs Leacock sent you, we were buried in volunteers.” He looked down into her aghast face. “I’m not kidding you. We had too many women to use, so we used the most prominent. If Bruno decides to print the pictures he has, then we’ll release our pictures and prove what a fraud they are. In fact, Jack Van Orden says that his wife and some of the others feel that we should publicize ours anyway, sort of taking the steam out of any plans Bruno may have in the future. I haven’t made up my mind what I’ll do yet. I want to talk to all the wives first.”

  “I don’t believe this is happening!” Cady gulped. “You mean the nightmare is over?”

  “Almost. We deliver the coup de grace at Durra, at the Christmas party. I’m sure Emmett won’t be pleased when he discovers just how crooked his protege is,” Rafe grated, his hands clenching on her.

  “Your sisters will be furious for exposing him at Durra.” Cady shuddered.

  Rafe’s laughter rumbled under her cheek. “My sisters will be quiet—or their husbands will tell them to shut up. I’ve talked to both my brothers-in-law, and they’re cooperating with me.”

  “Oh, Rafe, I can’t believe it. I feel as though someone has lifted a cement block off my chest.” She sighed, happiness making her bold as she kissed his bare chest.

  “Cady, love, don’t do that,” he mumbled into her hair. “I can’t make love to you, so… ”

  Cady leaned back until she was looking up at him. “Who told you that fairy tale? My doctor says that all normal activity is acceptable. I don’t think I should take up sky diving, but… ” She wriggled against him, liking the feel of his taut flesh against her.

  “Am I to take it, Mrs. Densmore, that you consider Iovemaking normal activity?” Rafe’s mouth slid down her body, then up to her neck.

  “Well, it sure beats jogging,” Cady breathed in gasping amusement.

  Rafe stroked her, then leaned over to kiss her abdomen. “I should hope so.” He stared at the point where his mouth had been. “It’s going to be a little honey-haired girl with violet eyes. I know it. God, she’ll be beautiful.”

  “The doctor didn’t say anything about twins, and since I have ordered a little boy with hair the color of dark chocolate… ”

  “Girl.” Rafe fastened his mouth to her breast and her protest became a moan. “Cady, darling, did I tell you that you are more beautiful ill than any other woman in the world is at her best? I can’t wait to see you as your pregnancy progresses.”

  “You’ll hate me,” Cady wailed, feeling lightheaded at his words. “I’ll look like a balloon.”

  “You’ll be perfect.” Since Rafe proceeded to show Cady just exactly how perfect he seemed to think her, her wails turned to delighted sighs.

  Their loveplay increased until all that could be heard were the whispered sighs of satisfaction. Cady had a feeling that she had just skied down a ninety-degree incline, then floated back to the top.

  “Rafe… Rafe, does everyone feel this way?” she muttered, her fingers digging into his shoulders.

  His words were lost in her body as they rose together in a spiral of love.

  Not once but many times, Rafe brought her to that pinnacle of joy that she knew could only happen with him. He was her love, the very core of her happiness.

  “We’re lucky,” Cady murmured to her husband as she let her hands wander over his body, giggling when she felt a tautened response to her touch.

  Rafe nuzzled her abdomen, his tongue teasing her navel. “No one should have the power over another human being that you have over me,” he growled softly into her willing flesh, laughing gently when her body responded to the most intimate kiss.

  Over and over they ministered to each other with a gentle, powerful passion that swept away all the rough edges of misunderstanding.

  “Are we really going to stay in bed all day?” Cady yawned in the aftermath of their love, then poked Rafe in the ribs when he shouted with laughter.

  “I think we’d better. I’m wearing you out.”

  “Not so. I’m wearing you out.” She tried to rise.

  “We’ll get up on one condition. That we go down and swim in the pool, take a sauna, then rest again.”

  Cady stared up at his laughing face, his body resting on his elbows. “Then it will be dinnertime.” She chuckled.

  At once Rafe was serious. “That’s the most natural laugh I’ve heard from you in days.” He leaned down to run his lips along her jaw. “I love hearing you laugh, seeing you relax.” He reached for her, lifting her out of bed, then carrying her to the closet while he selected a terry-cloth robe for her. “I fully intend that you shall have the most relaxed pregnancy in the world.”

  “For our first, you mean?” Cady allowed herself to be dressed in the robe, feeling lazy as she watched him tie the belt at her waist.

  His head jerked up at her words. “Oh? Are we having more?” The gleam in his eye made her redden.

  “It seems like a good idea.” She wanted to yell at him that she wanted ten children that looked just like him, but even if they had none, she wanted to be with him.

  “I agree.” He left her for a moment, then came back with a toga around his waist.

  “You forgot our bathing suits, Rafe.” Cady grinned at him.

  “No, I didn’t.” His grin had that impish look. “We won’t be using any.”

  “We can’t!” Cady let him pull her down the hall to the back staircase. “What if Mrs. Lacey or Trock comes into the pool area?” She was whispering as they entered the large kitchen.

  “Mrs. Lacey, we don’t wish to be disturbed in the pool,” Rafe informed the housekeeper, a smile on his face. “No calls, no visitors. Save everything until I come to tell you that I’m ready
to take calls again.”

  Cady squirmed as the housekeeper nodded and smiled. “Time you two had some moments to yourselves.” Mrs. Lacey nodded once, then turned back to the silver she had spread on the table in front of her, the polishing cloth in her hand.

  The pool area had a damp, hollow-sounding atmosphere with the bubble spread over it. Cady had the feeling that she and Rafe were the only two people on earth.

  They played like children for over an hour. Then they sat in the sauna for a short time. Finally Rafe insisted on giving her a massage. Cady felt cosseted and loved.

  The word mushroomed in her mind after their shower as she watched her husband dry her with a fluffy towel. Did he love her? If he didn’t, he was giving a very good imitation of it. All that remained was for him to say the words she longed to hear: “I love you, Cady.”

  That night they dined on broiled crab. Mrs. Lacey listened patiently to Rafe as he pointed out how important it was for Cady to have nutritious meals.

  Cady looked from one to the other, bemused, as they discoursed on the efficacy of fruit with every meal and vegetables cooked al dente.

  Rafe looked over at her and clucked. “Darling, you have butter on your chin.” He dabbed at the melted butter, then kissed her in front of the indulgently smiling Mrs. Lacey.

  The days passed in a euphoric wonder that awed Cady. She didn’t seem able to stop smiling. She spent many happy hours Christmas shopping as the season advanced and the morning sickness receded.

  When the day dawned for Emmett’s Christmas party, Cady’s nervousness had been considerably mitigated by Rafe’s attentiveness and his obvious enthusiasm for the coming confrontation at Durra.

  She was deciding what she would wear when Mrs. Lacey buzzed to say that Cady’s brothers-in law were waiting for her in the library. Throwing on a pair of faded jeans and a roll-neck sweater, she strolled into the library and grinned at the twins. “So what bank did you—” Cady stopped in mid-sentence on seeing the unaccustomed sobriety on the twins’ faces. For once it wasn’t Gareth who jumped into the conversation.

  “Cady, didn’t you say that your father was coming in for Emmett’s party?” Gavin was grim-faced.

  Cady sat down and gestured to the twins to sit. Gavin did. Gareth prowled the library. “I think you’d better tell me what’s wrong and what my father has to do with it.”

  Gavin leaned forward, rubbing his hands on his knees. “Your father has nothing to do with it, Cady. We just thought he might help us.” He swallowed. “Some guy by the name of Todd Leacock says he has proof that Gareth tried to shave points in the Cornell-Notre Dame game.” Gavin watched her like a cat watching goldfish.

  “It’s a lie,” Cady said, watching as the prowling Gareth spun to stare at her, a misty look in his eyes.

  “How do you know?” Gareth’s voice was hoarse.

  “Two ways.” Cady smiled at him. “I know you. You’re a brat at times, but you’re honest.” She stopped smiling. “And I know Todd Leacock. He’s a heel who works for Bruno Trabold.” She gave them a hard look. “You must have tweaked Bruno’s tail once too often.” At the murderous expressions that came over the twins’ faces, she held up her hand palm outward. “Whoa. Don’t get up a head of steam. Rafe is taking care of it. If you behave, I’ll fill you in on the master plan. Dave and Harrison are already in on it.” She smiled, urging them to sit down again. “It looks as though this will be a family affair.”

  By the time she was finished sketching the machinations of Bruno Trabold and being firm about refusing to show the twins the pictures, it was lunchtime. Cady had no trouble persuading the boys to stay.

  As she passed them the platter of cold chicken and roast beef and the loaf-size rolls that Mrs. Lacey had made, the twins were relaxed and smiling. “Now tell me how you planned to involve my poor father in all this,” Cady requested.

  Gavin swallowed and took a drink of milk. “Well, he’s been at the university for years. He would know about these things. We thought he could give us some advice.”

  Cady laughed. “About point shaving?” She shrugged. “I’m not sure he would know much about it, but I think he’d have put you on the right track. He would probably have sent you to Rafe.”

  “Or to you.” Gareth saluted her with his glass of milk. “We knew you’d help us, Cady. You have so much courage—you’re not afraid of anything.”

  The admiring glances turned her way made Cady glow inside. “I’m no heroine.” Her smile widened. “Even though being married to Rafe has taught me what courage is.”

  “That’s what he says about you.” Gavin smiled at her.

  “He does?”

  “C’mon, Cady, you know how Rafe dotes on you,” Gareth scoffed. “When he first met you, he acted like a guy who’d just had a lobotomy.” He laughed loudly. “Remember, Gavin? He had just bought the Porsche and he would never let anyone near it. Then one day after he met Cady, you and I were over at his apartment in Georgetown admiring it. When I said—just joking, of course—that it would be nice to borrow the car for the evening, Rafe just gave me a glazed look and said, ‘Sure, go ahead.’” Gareth threw back his head and laughed harder.

  “I remember,” Gavin said. “I asked him if he had lost his mind and he mumbled, ‘No, my heart.’ Then his face turned beet red and he walked back into his apartment.”

  “Did he really do that?” Cady asked dreamily, her chin in her hands.

  Gareth scowled at her. “Damn it, Cady, don’t be such a baby doll. You led Rafe around by the nose and he loved it.”

  “No!”

  “Yes,” the twins chorused.

  Later, when they rose to go, they both kissed Cady on the cheek and told her to wear her prettiest dress that night.

  “Always dress well for a hanging, Cady.” Gareth gave her a look so much like Rafe’s mischievous expression that she caught her breath.

  That evening before Rafe arrived home, she was in the tub soaking in an exotic essence he had brought her from India, where he’d gone on a fact-finding trip. Unlike many of his political colleagues, Rafe had paid his own way and not charged the trip to the taxpayers. At the time there had been a decided coolness between him and Cady, and though he had given her a perfunctory invitation to join him, she had felt that he didn’t really want her to come.

  She stood in her terry-cloth robe, a damp towel arranged like a turban around her hair to keep it wet while the conditioner worked. Though she scrutinized each formal dress she owned, in her own mind there was no doubt what she would wear that evening—even though her prudent self told her to forget it.

  She pulled the chocolate-brown sheath from the closet and held it up in front of her. It was watered silk, strapless, with a matching stole in the same fabric. There were tiny, deep violet flowers sewn at the breast and along the top of the deep ruffle that edged the hem. Each of the small violet flowers had tiny brown hearts in the center. The dress was dramatic and had nothing to do with Christmas. But Emmett had an unwritten rule that the women who attended his Christmas soirees wear either green or red. The decorations at Durra would echo those colors.

  Cady rubbed her body with perfumed lotion prior to donning the brown bikini panties that were the only garment she would wear under the figure-hugging silk. Her hair was left bouncing clean and fresh on her bare shoulders. Deeming the dress too modern to coordinate with her antique amethysts, she decided to leave her ears bare. She chose to wear a thin gold chain around her neck as her only adornment. She would take the stole even though she knew that Emmett kept the house quite hot. Emmett thought that energy conservation was for other people to worry about.

  She was turning to look at her back in the three-way mirror when Rafe entered from the connecting bathroom, his shirt studs still undone, two boxes in his hands.

  “I called Mrs. Lacey to see what dresses you had put out to decide among for tonight.” He grinned at her. “When she mentioned that one of the dresses was neither green nor red, I took a chance you might pick
it. Rebel.” He handed her the larger of the two boxes.

  As Cady lifted the cluster of tiny purple orchids from the box, she oohed her delight.

  Rafe let his eyes rove over her in slow appreciation. “Where will you pin them, love? It seems there’s a great deal of you showing.” He let his forefinger trace the low-cut neckline, lingering with obvious pleasure on her creamy skin. “You’re so very beautiful.”

  “I’ll pin them at my waist,” Cady breathed, feeling giddy because of the look in his eyes.

  “Will you?” he drawled, his finger gentle in the valley between her breasts. “I’d rather stay home altogether and discuss where the flowers should go.”

  “You would?” Cady swayed toward him, then paused, sighing. “We can’t. Your father will be expecting us, and my father will be here soon as well.”

  Rafe snapped his fingers. “That’s what I wanted to tell you.” He leaned forward and kissed her nose. “You’re too distracting. Your father is here now. I knew what time his plane was coming in, so I picked him up on the way home. He’s changing now.”

  “Rafe,” Cady chided him as he rained butterfly kisses on her cheek, “you should have told me at once.”

  “Yes,” he muttered, his attention seeming fixed on her ear. Then he jerked back from her. “That’s the other thing I wanted to show you.” He lifted his hand to caress her hair. “I didn’t remember you having jewelry for this dress, soooo—I called Cartier’s today… ” He grinned like a boy as he popped open the other box in front of her.

  Cady stared at the drop earrings that looked like braid— braid made up of amethysts. There was also a braided necklace of the same amethysts. She reached up to remove the gold chain, but Rafe’s hands were there before hers. He fastened the necklace, then stood back to let her insert the pierced earrings. She looked at herself, then at the image of Rafe peering over her shoulder. “I love them.”

  “They match your eyes… but they aren’t as pretty.” Rafe slipped his hands around her and pressed his lips to her neck. He let out a gusty breath. “I suppose we have to go this evening, but I tell you now, love, if it weren’t for pulling the rug out from under Bruno, we’d be staying home, even with your father here and invited to his party.”