The Kincaids: Southern Seduction

“I really hadn’t thought much about it,” she said, closing her eyes as she savored the combined flavors of vanilla, cinnamon and apple.

As Daniel watched, her expression changed to one of pure pleasure and he couldn’t help but remember the times he had seen a similar look come over her as he made love to her. A spark ignited in his lower belly at the thought of how responsive she had been, how passionate.

He swallowed hard and tried to think of something innocuous. He might have succeeded had it not been for Lily slowly licking a drop of melted ice cream from her lips. The action reminded him of other talents she had with that perfect little tongue and had him shifting to relieve the mounting pressure of his suddenly too-tight trousers.

When had the simple act of eating a piece of pie become so damn erotic?

“Don’t you want yours?” she asked, unaware of his wayward thoughts.

Daniel stared down at the dessert in front of him. Oh, he wanted, all right, but it wasn’t pie that he was craving. It was the memory of her delicious body pressed to his that fueled his hunger and caused his mouth to feel as if it had been stuffed with cotton.

Taking a gulp of his wine, he forced his body to relax. He had no doubt that at any other time, he would find Miss Pauline’s pie quite tasty. At the moment, it might as well have been a piece of rubber on his plate.

“Are you okay?” Lily asked, reaching over to steal a spoonful of his ice cream.

Nodding, he did his best to focus on Lily and her seemingly insatiable appetite. She had finished her pie and ice cream and now it appeared she was starting on his.

“I’m not all that hungry, why don’t we share?” he said, picking up his spoon. He dipped it into the melting ice cream, then held it to her lips.

Her eyes met his as she opened her mouth and he immediately knew he had made a huge error in judgment. In all of his thirty-eight years, he didn’t think he had experienced anything more provocative than having her gaze locked with his as her lips slowly closed around the bite of ice cream. His libido kicked into overdrive, reminding him that it had been the better part of three weeks since they had made love.

“I really hate to cut the evening short,” he said suddenly, making a show of glancing at his watch. “But I just remembered I have to make an overseas call as soon as the Japanese markets open.”

Lily had been on an emotional roller coaster for the past several days, and taking advantage of a woman’s vulnerability to seduce her had never been his style. But if he didn’t get out of there and damn quick, that was exactly what was going to happen.

“Thank you for bringing supper,” she said, placing her napkin on the table beside her plate. “It really was delicious.”

“It looked as if you might have been happy with my choices,” he said dryly.

Confident that he had his body back under control, Daniel rose to his feet, quickly helped Lily clear the table, then walked into the living room to find his coat. “I’ll come by tomorrow to see how you’re doing.”

Lily followed him to the door. “Thank you for your concern, Daniel. I do appreciate it. But it really isn’t necessary. It may take some time, but I’m going to be fine. Really.”

It appeared she was back to giving him the brush-off and that didn’t sit well with him one bit. Turning back, he didn’t think twice about reaching up to run the back of his hand along her smooth cheek. As he searched her upturned face for what she might be thinking, Lily swayed ever so slightly and leaned into his touch. He could tell it wasn’t a conscious action on her part, but it was all the indication he needed that she still desired him. Taking her into his arms, he gathered her to him.

“Daniel, don’t—”

“Hush, sweetheart,” he said, brushing her mouth with his. He intended to remind her of how responsive she had always been to his touch.

Teasing her with feathery kisses, he nibbled at her perfect lips to test her willingness to allow him to continue. When she moaned softly and brought her hands up to his chest to grasp the fabric of his shirt as if to steady herself, elated satisfaction coursed through him. Whatever her reason had been for trying to distance herself from him the past few weeks, it wasn’t because she no longer wanted him.

As difficult as it was, Daniel fought the urge to deepen the kiss. He had proven his point and although he fully intended for them to become lovers once again, he wanted to build her frustration to the degree that she could no longer deny her need for him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Lily,” he said, untangling her fingers from his shirt to take a step back.

The confusion on her pretty face and the disappointment she couldn’t quite hide caused him to smile and, before she had the chance to find her voice and protest, he opened the door and stepped out into the cool January night. His body throbbed with longing and Daniel knew as surely as he knew his own name, he was in for a miserable, sleepless night. But in the long run, it was going to be well worth whatever hell he had to go through to have Lily back in his life and in his bed.

He just hoped he didn’t go completely insane before that happened.

Staring at the closed door, Lily couldn’t believe the myriad of emotions roiling inside her. She had wanted Daniel to actually kiss her, not just tease her to the point of utter frustration. But that was exactly what had happened and her disappointment that he hadn’t kissed her senseless led to a deep annoyance with herself for wishing that he had.

She shook her head as she turned to walk into the kitchen to load the dishwasher. She couldn’t believe how easy it would have been for her to throw common sense out the window and lose herself in Daniel’s arms. Thank heavens he had backed off and hadn’t taken things any further. She wouldn’t have been able to resist him and that was something she had to do at all costs. Calling a halt to their seeing each other had been one of the hardest things she had ever done, but it was the only way to ensure she didn’t suffer more hurt when he found out about the baby and walked away. They wanted different things in life, and it was best to stop now before she lost her heart completely.

But that didn’t explain why she had failed to let him know about the baby when he noticed her voracious appetite. It had been the perfect opportunity to explain why she ate more than usual and that she fully expected to gain weight as her pregnancy progressed.

Her pregnancy hormones had to be responsible for her mixed emotions as well as her reluctance to let him know he was going to be a father. Either that or it was the dread of telling him and knowing for certain that his interest in her would come to a swift and permanent end.

Sighing, Lily started the dishwasher and wandered into the living room. She supposed she should work on the new children’s book she had been commissioned to illustrate. But when the family had been informed that her father had died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at his TKG office, she had put work on hold and hadn’t been able to concentrate on it since.

She still couldn’t believe all that had happened over the past several days—especially what had taken place during the reading of her father’s will just that morning. But as she thought about her father’s betrayal of his legitimate family, she remembered the letters Mr. Parsons had given to them. She had forgotten about them after running into Daniel at the law office.

Lily stared at her purse, which was lying on the end table, and her hand shook when she finally worked up the courage to reach for it. She wasn’t at all certain she was prepared to read her father’s last thoughts to her. But then, she didn’t think she would ever be ready for what was probably his final goodbye.

For several long moments after retrieving the envelope from her bag, she simply sat there holding it while she stared at her name in her father’s handwriting on the front. Given all that she had learned about him in the past several days, could she even believe what he had to say to her?

Finally, she decided that whether she believed what he had written or not, the only way to know would be to open the envelope. Taking a deep breath, she turned it over and, using her fingernail, lifted the sealed flap. When she pulled out the letter and unfolded it, her breath caught on a sob when she noticed the date. It was only a few days before he died.

My dearest Lily,

One of the greatest joys in my life has always been that you thought of me as your knight in shining armor. Whether it was chasing away the monsters from your closet when you were three, kissing a skinned elbow to make the hurt go away when you were eight or listening to your hopes and dreams as you got ready to go off to college, every second of the time we spent together has been very special and I never wanted you to see me as anything but your hero. Unfortunately, Lily-girl, I’m just a man with a man’s faults.

By now you’ve discovered that your dear old dad had feet of clay and wasn’t quite the champion you thought me to be. I never meant to disappoint you and I hope one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me for my weaknesses. No matter what you hear about me and my transgressions, please know that the bond between us was not only real, but very precious to me.

One of the many things that you and I shared together was a love of the historic district of Charleston. That’s why I’m leaving you the Colonel Samuel Beauchamp House in the Battery. It’s one of the city’s finest examples of Southern architecture and I know from the Saturday afternoons we spent in White Point Gardens when you were a child that it’s your favorite. You may meet with a bit of resistance from the former owner, Charlotte Addison, but stand your ground, Lily. You’re a strong, capable young woman and whatever decision you make concerning the property, I know it will be the right one for you.

I love you, Lily, and I have no doubt that without me you’ll find the strength to weather whatever challenges life brings your way. From the moment you were born, you have been my little princess—the ray of sunshine that brightened my life and I feel very blessed that you are my daughter.

With love,

Daddy

Tears streamed down Lily’s face as she slowly folded the letter and returned it to the envelope. Deep down she had known that the closeness between her and her father couldn’t have been a lie, but the hurt and disillusionment of the past few days had overshadowed their relationship and caused her to question what she knew in her heart to be true. No matter what he had done, her father had loved her.

Unfortunately, it was going to take her some time to get past his handing over controlling interest in TKG to Jack Sinclair, while more or less cutting his legitimate children out of the picture. Lily sighed heavily. Then there was his betrayal of her mother, even though Elizabeth Kincaid didn’t seem to be nearly as upset about the disturbing revelations as Lily would have thought.

“What were you thinking, Daddy?” she murmured aloud.

As she sat there wondering what her father could have possibly thought to accomplish by what she could only describe as inexcusable choices, something she had read in the letter caused her to catch her breath.

Quickly removing the letter from the envelope, she reread what her father had left her and the name of the Beauchamp mansion’s former owner—Daniel’s unpleasant, ill-tempered mother. Dear heavens, what had he gotten her into?

Three

After a miserable couple of hours waiting for her morning sickness to subside, Lily sat with her elbow propped on her art table, her chin cupped in her palm. She wasn’t accomplishing anything by staring off into space, but she couldn’t seem to settle down to work. All she had been able to think about since reading her father’s letter the night before was what she was going to do with the Beauchamp property.

She had never been inside the structure, but from the outside the beautiful four-story antebellum mansion had always captured her eye. With three levels of piazzas overlooking White Point Gardens and Charleston Harbor beyond, she was almost certain that the Sullivan’s Island Lighthouse and Fort Sumter could be seen in the distance.

She smiled wistfully. As a child, whenever she had passed by the stately double house, she had imagined how wonderful it would be to stand in the cupola on top of the tall roof and pretend to be a princess, surveying her kingdom below. And now the home she had thought to be as grand as any castle was actually hers.

What on earth was she going to do with it? It was such a big house and she didn’t need all that space. Of course, when the baby came there would be the two of them, but it was still going to be much more room than they would need.

As she pondered what to do with the mansion, she was reminded of her father’s warning. What had he meant when he told her that she would meet with opposition from Charlotte Addison? What was that all about?

Deciding she wasn’t getting anything done anyway, Lily left her art table and walked over to the laptop on her desk. With everything being accessible online these days, she should be able to find out some of the mansion’s history and the connection that Daniel’s mother had with the place. A few of the homes in the Battery had been passed from one generation to the next, never being occupied by anyone outside of the family who built them. A sense of dread began to settle in the pit of Lily’s stomach.

Her suspicions were confirmed when the first link she clicked on was a twenty-year-old article on homes in the Battery. According to the reporter from the Post and Courier, Charleston’s newspaper, the mansion had been in Colonel Samuel Beauchamp’s family since it was built in the late 1700s. It went on to read that the home had been passed down to his descendants and, at the time the article was written, belonged to Mrs. Charlotte Beauchamp-Addison, who anticipated keeping it in the family when she eventually passed it on to her son, Daniel.

A chill traveled the length of Lily’s spine. No wonder Charlotte Addison had treated her so poorly when she had shown up with Daniel at the dinner party. She obviously resented the fact that Reginald Kincaid, one of the nouveau riche, as the woman had called him, had purchased her ancestral home. Lily had been condemned simply because she was his daughter. If the mansion had meant so much to her, what could have possibly caused Charlotte to sell it to him?

Lily suddenly caught her breath. Did Daniel know about all this? Was he aware that her father had bought the home he was supposed to own one day and could that be the reason he had become interested in her to begin with? Had he hoped to somehow use his association with her to get the Beauchamp mansion back into his family?

Frowning, she nibbled on her lower lip. She didn’t think that was the case. He had told her on more than one occasion that he loved the new condo he’d bought after his divorce. It was close to the Addison Industries office building and within walking distance of Charleston’s French Quarter.

Trying to unravel her tangled thoughts, Lily jumped when the phone rang. “Hello Matt,” she said, recognizing her brother’s office number on the caller ID.

“Lily, could you do me a favor and watch Flynn one night a week for the next several weeks?” Her brother sounded rushed and she could only imagine the tremendous amount of stress he was under after hearing that Jack Sinclair was going to be in control of The Kincaid Group.

“Of course,” she said, smiling. “You know how much I love my nephew.”

“Great. RJ and I are going to be working late for who knows how long and I’m trying to line up babysitters,” Matt explained.

“What nights do you need me?” Lily asked. She loved spending time with Flynn and found that playing with him had inspired some of her best illustrations.

“Are you free Thursday evenings?” he asked. “Laurel is watching him Mondays and Kara has Tuesdays and Wednesdays covered.”

“That’s fine. What about the weekends?”

“He’s going to spend Friday nights and all day on Saturdays with Mom.” Lily heard him shuffle papers and realized Matt was trying to work and arrange child care at the same time. “I’ve already told RJ that Jack Sinclair can wait on the reports he wants until hell freezes over if need be, but Sundays are mine with Flynn and I’m not going to give that up for Sinclair or anyone else.”

“Good for you,” Lily said, meaning it. “Is there anything else I can do to help?”

She heard her brother sigh heavily. “Not unless you can figure out a way to add several more hours to the day.”

“Sorry, Matt, but I don’t think anyone has figured out how to do that just yet. What time do you need me on Thursday evenings?” When he named a time, she added, “Please take care of yourself. Whatever is going to happen, it’s not worth sacrificing your health.”

“Thanks, sis,” he said, sounding tired. “I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

After ending the call, Lily started to return to her worktable to try to get something done, when the phone rang again.

“Good afternoon, sweetheart,” Daniel said cheerfully. “I’m about five minutes away. Would you like to start setting the table for lunch?”

“Daniel, I’m not sure—”

“Have you eaten yet?”

“No, but—”

“Then set the table,” he said, breaking the connection.

Lily stared at the phone in her hand for several seconds before placing it on the desk to go set the table. She thought about calling Daniel back and insisting that he respect her wishes to be left alone. But she did need to talk to him and try to find out how much he knew about the sale of the Beauchamp mansion to her father as well as try to find a way to tell him about the baby.

Maybe then she would know more about what kind of battle her father had gotten her into with the Addisons. And how Daniel was going to react when he learned about the baby.

As Daniel steered his Mercedes around the Kincaid mansion to the carriage house in the back, he couldn’t help but smile. After having lunch with Lily, she had asked him to stay for a bit so they could talk, but he’d had to decline because of an afternoon meeting with the president of the dockworkers’ union. He had, however, managed to convince her to let him pick her up after the meeting for a trip to check out the most recently renovated exhibit at the aquarium, then have an early dinner at the little bistro she loved in the French Quarter. As far as he was concerned, that was progress in getting things back to the way they had been before his mother’s dinner party.

Parking the car, he hesitated before opening the driver’s door. Everything had been going great between them until the night of the party. But immediately afterward, Lily had decided to be conveniently busy whenever he asked her out. Could his mother have possibly said something to Lily that evening, causing her to have a sudden change of heart about seeing him? Or had the thirteen-year difference in their ages suddenly become a problem for her?

He dismissed the latter thought outright. Surely he would have had an indication if age had become an issue. They both enjoyed most of the same things and there had never been any sort of gap in conversation when they discussed the kind of music they liked to listen to, the books they had read or type of movies they preferred. No, the problem had to have been generated by his mother. He narrowed his eyes. It wouldn’t surprise him if she had said something to insult or hurt Lily. In the past, when Charlotte Addison felt that someone was beneath her, she had never hesitated to let that person know all about just who she was in the pecking order of society. On more than one occasion, he had witnessed her boasting about her family pedigree and the fact that the Beauchamps were considered to be in the highest echelon of Charleston’s social order.

But when could she have had the chance that evening to talk to Lily alone? He had purposely tried to keep Lily at his side throughout the evening, anticipating that his mother might say something insulting. And he had been certain that given the chance, she would. Not only was The Kincaid Group the chief rival of Addison Industries, his mother seemed to have a huge problem with Reginald Kincaid in particular.

As he got out of the car and walked toward Lily’s door, Daniel decided that by dinner he fully intended to have his questions answered and things straightened out between them. Then at his earliest possible convenience, he would confront his mother and firmly suggest that she mind her own business and stop meddling in his social life.

“I see you’re ready to go,” Daniel said when Lily stepped out of the carriage house before he reached the door.

“Actually, I had just returned from checking on my mother to see how she’s doing when I heard you arrive,” Lily said as she walked toward his car.

“How is your mother faring?” he asked, knowing the entire family had been dealing with one shock after another since their ordeal began.

“Momma is holding up surprisingly well,” Lily said, frowning. “It makes me wonder if she might not be in a state of shock and everything that’s happened will come crashing down on top of her later.”

Opening the passenger door, Daniel helped her into the car, then walked around to slide into the driver’s seat. “Sometimes grief brings out a strength in people they never knew they had,” he suggested, suspecting that might be the case. With a quiet grace about her, Elizabeth Kincaid had always impressed him as having the heart and soul of a steel magnolia lying just beneath the surface of her soft-spoken, genteel exterior.

“I think you might be right,” Lily said. “It’s like she’s become the rock that the rest of us are leaning on.”

Reaching over, he covered her hand with his. “And don’t forget. I’m here for you too, sweetheart.”

Lily gave him an odd look before she finally nodded. “Thank you, Daniel. I appreciate your compassion, but as I’ve told you, I’m going to be fine.”

Neither had a lot to say on the drive to the aquarium and Daniel hoped that the exhibit he wanted to show her would help relieve some of her tension and stress. “When I heard the plans for renovating this area of the aquarium, I knew it was something you would enjoy,” he said as he bought two cups of shrimp from Gilligan’s Shrimp Shack not far from the entrance to the exhibit.

Lily eyed the two plastic feeding sticks the attendant handed him as they walked toward the Saltmarsh Aviary. “What are we supposed to do with those?”

“We’re going to feed the stingrays,” he said, anticipating her reaction. He wasn’t disappointed when her eyes brightened with almost childlike excitement.

“I’ve always thought stingrays look so graceful as they swim,” Lily said as they walked up to the enormous tank.

He placed a shrimp on the end of one of the sticks, and handed it to her. “Just stick it down into the water and wait.”

As he watched, Lily did as he instructed and in no time a large ray glided up to the stick and ate the shrimp. “Oh, Daniel, this is definitely my new favorite thing about the aquarium.”

Her enthusiasm was infectious and by the time both shrimp cups were empty, Daniel felt as if he were a good ten years younger. It was always this way when he was with Lily. Her zest for life never failed to improve his mood and he found that his outlook wasn’t nearly as jaded and cynical as it had been just a few hours ago.

“Thank you for bringing me,” Lily said as they walked on to view the puffer fish and diamondback terrapins in the mock saltmarsh tidal creek.

He shook his head. “No, I’m the one who should be thanking you.” Reaching down, he took her hand in his and brought it to his lips to kiss the back. “Seeing all this wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun without you.”

By the time they left the aquarium, Lily looked more relaxed and he gave himself a mental pat on the back for thinking to bring her to the exhibit. “What do you have planned for after dinner?” he asked on the short drive to her favorite bistro.