Tell Me No Lies

“Sorry.” She could visualize her sister’s hazel eyes, just like her own, filled with sympathy. Though they were six years apart, they seemed closer in age because they looked so much alike. “You know I love Dan to pieces. It’s just that he’s so straitlaced.”

“Straitlaced is fine by me.”

“But I hate to see you both missing some spice in your life.”

“I promise, tonight there’ll be plenty of spice. Are Sara and Molly having fun?”

“Are you kidding? My boys are falling all over them. They always wanted a sister. The four of them are out in the pool as we speak.” She chuckled. “Of course, Molly’s giving her cousins a run for their money, as usual. She’s already hidden Jason’s baseball glove and checked Jim’s e-mail.”

Tessa worried about her older child. Molly never got into real trouble, but she did enough damage to keep them all hopping. She seemed to take delight in shaking things up. “Put her on. I’ll talk to her.”

“No way. Go take your bath. Use scented oil,” Janey added before she hung up.

A few minutes later Tessa climbed into the deep tub and sighed as she sank into the hot water. She lay back on the terry-cloth pillow, closed her eyes and listened to the Debussy CD she’d put on the stereo system in the bedroom. At one time she couldn’t tell Debussy from Chopin. She hadn’t known the difference between a van Gogh and a Picasso. When she’d become part of Dan’s world, however, everything had changed.

Tessa pushed away her memories. She never let herself think about how she had lived before she met Dan because it was too painful. Tessa hadn’t always been a good person. And her husband knew nothing about her past.

If Tessa had her way, he never would.

DAN LOGAN ENTERED the kitchen through the garage. He’d left work early, something he seldom did, but tonight was special, and he couldn’t wait to get home. The girls were with Janey, and he and Tessa had the whole house to themselves. Stopping to put the red roses into a vase, he caught the scent of roasting meat and got a peek at the set table in the dining room. He smiled. The home Tessa had made for him was everything he wanted—well decorated, yet not ostentatious. A calm, peaceful haven after a day in the criminal world. Leaving her favorite flowers as a surprise for her when they came down to eat, he followed the sound of music up the back stairs.

He found his wife with her eyes closed, lounging in the tub. Glad to see she was pampering herself, he stood against the doorjamb of their bathroom and watched her. Her skin was flushed from the heat of the bath; her hair was piled on her head, with a few curls escaping around her face. She didn’t take time for herself enough. She worked too hard, raising the girls and covering for him at home when his job as Orchard Place district attorney demanded late hours. She also worked part-time at the library and volunteered in the community.

“Hi, sweetheart.”

She opened her eyes. Shades of brown and green, they warmed when they focused on him. “Hi.” She lifted a leg covered with bubbles and glided a sponge-like thing over her calf. “I’m being lazy. I didn’t expect you home so soon.”

His gaze focused on the sensual gesture. Combined with the scent rising from the water, Dan was mesmerized. “I…was anxious to see you.”

She directed a flirty smile at him. “Want to join me?”

His first impulse was to say yes. But then it surfaced, that rigid control he kept over every facet in his life. By now, it had become second nature. Tessa, however, could sometimes tempt him out of the self-imposed boundaries. Once in a while, in bed, he let her do that.

Covering the space between them, he bent over and kissed her cheek. “No, thanks. You know that tub’s too small for me. I’m going to shower, though.”

Back in the bedroom, he put his pocket change and his watch in the top drawer of the dresser, hung up his suit, placed his shoes on the second shelf at the bottom of the closet and stuffed his dirty clothes in the wicker laundry hamper. He smiled again at Tessa as he entered the bathroom and crossed to the shower in the corner.

She whistled at him. “Still looking good there, Dan.”

“Nice to hear at forty,” he said, stepping inside.

As he let the water sluice over him, he took pleasure in Tessa’s compliment. Concentrating on the night ahead, he smiled as he washed. When he came out of the glass enclosure, Tessa had left her bath. Drying himself, shaving, he heard the music in the bedroom change to some Michael Bolton. The melody was romantic and…sexy. He felt his body respond. Hmm. Their habit was to make love at night, but what the hell, today was their anniversary.

Apparently, Tessa had the same thoughts, because when he entered the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, she was on the bed.

“Where did you get that?”

She fingered the black lace strap of the top. “Janey bought it for me.” Her hand slid to her thigh. “These, too,” she said of the shorts-like panties to match.

The man in him, the husband and lover, responded to her tease. But then the staid person he’d become took over.

Tessa noticed. “You’re frowning.” Her eyes widened. “I’m sorry if this is too…risquе. I just thought…it’s our anniversary.”

The stricken look on her face—he’d seen it before and it always troubled him—sent him to the bed where he sat down next to her. “Shh,” he said, kissing her tenderly. “It’s not too risquе for your husband.”

She didn’t believe him.

“Tess, love, you know me. You know how conservative I am. I like it when you coax me out of that box.”

“Do you?”

He touched the pearls around her neck. He’d given them to her on their wedding day, and he knew they’d become her most precious possession. “Of course.” His grin was meant to soothe her. “You are so beautiful, and I love how this—” now he kissed the lacy edge of the top “—shows that off.” He meant what he said, in his heart.

She relaxed. He ran his lips along the line of her collar bone and kissed his way over her body until all rational thought fled.

“WELL, I DON’T NEED to ask how your anniversary celebration was.” Dan’s brother Nick smirked at him with a cockiness left over from Nick’s street days. “It’s written all over your face.”

Picking up his fork, Dan dug into his chicken Caesar salad. “Our anniversary was terrific. And it was nice to have time alone with Tessa. I’m crazy about my girls, but with Molly and Sara always there we don’t have time to hold a decent conversation.”

“Oh, yeah, I’ll bet you talked all night long.”

“None of your business, wise guy.” Dan couldn’t contain his smile. Last night had been full of fireworks. It stunned him that he could sometimes behave with such abandon.

“Yeah, yeah.” Nick bit into his Reuben sandwich. “So what did you want to talk to me about?”

Dan’s gaze was direct. “Mom.”

Nick’s hand curled around the glass in front of him. “Off limits, Dan. You know that.”

“Her sixtieth birthday’s next month. We’re having a party, and I know she’d love it if you were there. If you’d give a little…”

“She kicked me out of the house when I was seventeen. I’ve done her a huge favor by avoiding contact since I came back. You aren’t going to change that.”

“She didn’t kick you out. You left after she said you had to abide by her rules. I remember, Nick, I was there.”

“Same thing. Anyway, Mom had you, the perfect child, in her house. I’m the disappointment.”

“You’re not a disappointment to me.” Dan hoped his tone was as sincere as he felt. “You turned your life around.”

“Yeah, I did.”

The look on Nick’s face told Dan his brother would close down if he didn’t change the subject. “How’s the job going?” His younger brother had come back to Orchard Place two years ago and now ran the town’s Center for At-Risk Teens.

“The center’s doing great, though we always need money and volunteers. Your wife’s a big hit with the kids. The book discussion group she started at the library is thriving. I can’t believe how well she relates to the girls.”

“She works too hard. I worry about her.”

“Mmm.”