Opposites Attract by Nora Roberts Page A

the lids closed over those dramatic eyes, he reminded her of an exhausted little boy. It was the only time the frenetic energy stilled. Something stirred in her. If the child had lived . . . Hurriedly she censored the thought.
    “Hey, isn’t that Ty’s sister?”
    Asher turned her head to see Jess and Mac crossing the lobby. “Yes.” Their eyes met, leaving no choice. Gripping her husband’s hand, Jess walked across the white marble.
    “Hello, Asher.”
    “Jess.”
    A quick moistening of lips betrayed nerves. “I don’t think you know my husband. Mackenzie Derick, Lady Wickerton.”
    “Asher Wolfe,” she replied smoothly, taking Mac’s hand. “Are you related to Martin?”
    “My uncle,” Mac informed her. “Do you know him?”
    The smile brought warmth to her eyes. “Very well.” She made the rest of the introductions with a natural poise Mac approved of. Cool, yes, he mused, remembering his wife’s description. But with an underlying vibrancy perhaps a man would discern more quickly than another woman. He began to wonder if Jess’s opinion of Ty’s feelings was accurate.
    “Are you a tennis fan, Mr. Derick?” Asher asked him.
    “Mac,” he supplied. “Only by marriage. And no, I don’t play, much to Uncle Martin’s disgust.”
    Asher laughed, appreciating the humor in his eyes. A strong man, she thought instantly. His own man. He wouldn’t take second place to Ty in his wife’s life. “Martin should be satisfied having cultivated one champion.” Her eyes drifted to Jess, who was sitting straight and tense beside Madge. “Is your mother well?”
    “Yes, yes, Mom’s fine.” Though she met the cool, clear gaze, her fingers began to pleat the material of her skirt. “She’s at home with Pete.”
    “Pete?”
    “Our son.”
    Asher’s throat constricted. Mac noticed with some surprise that her knuckles whitened briefly on the arm of her chair. “I didn’t know you’d had a baby. Ada must be thrilled to have a grandchild.” The pressure on her heart was unbearable. Her smile was casual. “How old is he?” she made herself ask.
    “Fourteen months.” As the tension built in one woman, it flowed out of the other. Jess was already reaching into her purse for her wallet. “I swear he never walked, he started out running. Mom says he’s like Ty. He has his coloring too.” She was offering a picture. Asher had no choice but to accept it.
    There was some of his father in him—the shape of the face. But the Starbuck genes were strong. The baby’s hair was dark and thick, like his mother’s. Like Ty’s. The eyes were large and gray. Asher wondered if she could actually feel the air of perpetual motion around the child, or if she imagined it. Another baby would have had dark hair and gray eyes. Hadn’t she pictured the face countless times?
    “He’s beautiful,” she heard herself say in a calm voice. “You must be very proud of him.” When she handed the snapshot back her hands were perfectly steady.
    “Jess thinks he should wait until he’s twelve before he runs for president.”
    Asher smiled, but this time Mac didn’t find the reflected warmth in her eyes. “Has Ty bought him a racket yet?”
    “You know him very well,” Mac observed.
    “Yes.” She looked back at Jess steadily. “Tennis and his family come first, always.”
    “I hate to admit it,” Madge put in with a sigh, “but I can remember a dozen years ago when this one was a skinny teenager, chewing her fingernails at every one of Ty’s matches. Now you’re a mother.”
    Jess grinned, holding out her hands for inspection. “And I still bite my nails at Ty’s matches.”
    It was Asher who saw him first. But then, her senses were tuned for him. Ty stepped off the elevator dressed in slim black slacks and a smoke-gray shirt. He wouldn’t have chosen the shirt because it matched his eyes so perfectly. Asher knew he wore it because it would have been the first thing his hand had grabbed from the closet. He