He sat up against the pillows, then reached for Mary. Lee tangled his hand in her hair, pulling her closer to him. "Maddy remembered her manners. She had a welcoming kiss waiting for me when I opened my eyes. You didn't."
Then he was kissing her and Mary couldn't bring herself to think of any protest. She felt her knees give way. She sat down on the edge of the bed, allowing Lee to pull her even closer.
* * *
Chapter Thirteen
Mary lost herself in Lee's kiss.
She hadn't thought it was possible for a man's kiss to steal her heart and her soul, but she learned it was more than possible… it had just happened. She felt like the princess in the fairy tale, sleeping for years, waiting for her handsome prince to come along and awaken her. Lee Kincaid kissed her as if she were the most desirable woman in the world. He reawakened all the dreams and desires Mary had put aside when she realized Pelham Cosgrove III would never be able to fulfill them. Lee teased, he coaxed, he promised. He held her as if she belonged in his arms. And that was exactly where Mary wanted to be.
Within the protective circle of Lee's arms, Mary suddenly realized that the dreams she thought would never come true had. She could have the same things Faith and Tessa had. She could have a home of her own with a husband and children and family to love. She already had the house, and in Madeline, she had her first child—a daughter—to teach and to love. She had Judah to learn from, to protect, and care for, and, for the moment, she had Lee as her husband. His desire was an emotion she could build on, and with time, Mary knew she could persuade Lee to build a real marriage with her. And maybe, one day, he would learn to love her.
Mary tasted him, feeling the roughness of his tongue against hers as Lee deepened the kiss. She pressed closer, willing the kiss to go on forever.
But Madeline had suffered enough neglect. "Let go me!" she ordered, pushing against the two of them, twisting and squirming in Mary's arms. "No!" She put her hand on Lee's chin and tried to push him away from Mary and when that maneuver failed to separate her papa from Mary, Madeline reached out and pulled at the short blond hairs on one corner of Lee's mustache.
Lee ended the kiss abruptly and yelped in pain. "Yeow!"
Maddy giggled at his reaction.
And Mary opened her eyes to find Lee rubbing the corner of his mouth, and Madeline smiling triumphantly. "What happened?" she asked. "What did we do?"
"We forgot about Maddy," Lee explained, "We had her sandwiched between us and when she tired of us squashing her, she got my attention by grabbing my mustache."
Mary moved back, away from Lee, and turned her attention to Maddy. "Did you pull Papa's mustache?"
Maddy nodded enthusiastically, pleased with herself for accomplishing her goal.
"That wasn't very nice," Mary scolded. "You should apologize."
Maddy frowned, then stuck out her lower lip, threatening tears.
"Oh, no, you don't," Mary warned. "You were wrong to pull Papa's mustache. Now, tell him you're sorry for hurting him."
But Madeline ignored her. She looked at Lee instead, squeezing a couple of tears from her big blue eyes for his benefit.
"Don't worry about it." Lee rushed to console her. He pointed to the corner of his mustache, made a funny face, and said, "See, Maddy, it doesn't hurt anymore."
Maddy's smile was bright enough to light up a room.
"You're going to spoil her," Mary warned.
"So?" Lee grinned. "Little girls are meant to be spoiled."
"That's what you say now," Mary told him. "But what are you going to say when Madeline learns to cry in order to get her way?"
"She wouldn't do that."
"Are you sure?" Mary asked, convinced that Lee couldn't be unaware of Maddy's manipulations.
"She's a little girl," Lee said. "She
doesn't know about ulterior motives or using tears to get her way." He winked at Maddy. "Do you, sweetheart?"
Maddy shook her head, winked both her eyes in reply, then giggled again.
"See?"