Читать книгу The Trouble With Twins - Jo Leigh - Страница 11

SHELBY TURNED THE PAGE and put the edge of her dinner plate on the bottom of the book to hold it open. She hardly looked at her grilled salmon or the baby red potatoes, even though they were quite good. She’d been captured by a quiet cowboy on a mountain in Wyoming. Her eyes skimmed the pages hungrily, looking for the moment when he realized he was in love.

She was the heroine. Just like always.

Someone came into her peripheral vision, and she fought the urge to shoo them away with her hand. It was the waitress. Bella, her name tag read. A nice older woman, and Shelby smiled at her.

“Would you like a refill on your iced tea?”

“Please.”

Bella nodded, but Shelby could see her strain to read the title of the book. She flipped it closed, showing the woman the cover.

“Ah, that’s a good one,” she said. “I wish I could read it again for the first time.”

“I know just what you mean.”

“You let me know when you want me.”

“Thank you.” Shelby watched until Bella stopped at another table, then she opened her book once more. She found where she’d left off, and with each line, more of the restaurant disappeared. She could picture the mountain, the sky, the lightning. Mostly she could picture the hero. His gray eyes. His dark, thick hair. His angular nose and chin. His butt made for jeans.

She sighed as she turned another page. A child’s giggle, high-pitched, broke into her space, but Shelby pushed it away. She didn’t want to listen to children. Not tonight. Focusing more fully, she went back to the book and reread the last line. Once more, the giggle slipped in.

If it was going to be like that, she was going to finish her dinner quickly and get back to her room. It had been ages since she’d stayed up late to finish a book. Too much to do at Austin Eats. But tonight, she was going to indulge herself. A hot bath, a cold drink and her cowboy all night long.

The giggle came again, closer this time. She shoved the bookmark in place and closed the novel. She’d finished over half her meal, which was somewhat surprising. Now to finish the other half and leave.

The laughter commenced at her first bite, and Shelby couldn’t stand it any longer. She was going to find the child’s mother and give her a stern look. Which wasn’t fair. Kids had to eat, too. Hadn’t she been concerned about just that a few hours ago? Well, the look wouldn’t be that stern.

She scanned the tables to her right, but there were no children at any of them. There were three other booths like hers, and she could see two of them. No kids.

The giggle came again. No, wait. It wasn’t one giggle. It was two.

She turned slowly until she could see the booth directly behind hers.

Scout and Jem stared over the banquette, grins as wide as the Missouri.

“What on earth?”

“We came to get you,” Scout said.

Jem gave her an angry scowl. “You’re not supposed to say that.”

“I know.”

“You do not!”

“Kids,” Shelby said, “It’s okay.” She couldn’t see beyond them, but she knew Gray had to be on the opposite side of the booth. She wasn’t at all sure how to feel about this. Did he come here out of guilt? Out of pity?

“I’m getting pisgetti,” Scout announced, “and Jem’s getting a hamburger.”

“They both sound delicious.” Her neck wasn’t going to last much longer in this position. She could turn and pretend to ignore them, but that felt silly. Asking them to join her didn’t mean anything. It was only one meal, after all. “Why don’t you come here to this table? And you can bring your uncle with you.”

The twins scrambled out of the booth and scooted into hers before Gray stood up. He came to her side wearing a sheepish smile. “I know we’re intruding.”

“It’s all right.”

“Is it?”

She nodded. It was all right. At least, she hoped it would be. The urge to check her T-shirt, to make sure she was completely covered, was more than she could withstand, and her hand went to her waist. Gray caught the action, but he didn’t comment. Instead, he scooted in next to Jem.

“How’s the salmon?”

“Good.”

“It’s a pretty nice place.”

“Yes.”

“The kids haven’t been here in a long time, so I thought…”

“It’s all right.”

He sighed as he shook his head. “I’m sorry. It was a stupid thing to do. I just hated that—” He stopped midsentence.

She had to give it to him, though. Usually when people found themselves in this position, their eyes got all panicky and their cheeks burned with embarrassment. Gray seemed only mildly uncomfortable.

“I hated the way you left,” he said finally.

“I didn’t mean to upset you. It wasn’t personal. I knew you could handle everything and…” She was the one who stopped this time. She couldn’t lie. She didn’t think he could handle the children all that well, and she wasn’t anxious to get on with her vacation. “I left because I was embarrassed,” she admitted, utterly shocked at her own honesty.

Gray leaned forward, his hand halfway across the table. “I do understand. You don’t know me. But I hope you can believe I wasn’t upset. I mean, I was upset because it’s clear you were hurt, but I didn’t mind.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m saying this badly.”

“No, you’re not. It’s a difficult thing to talk about.”

“Uncle Gray, can I have a Coke?”

He nodded without looking at Jem.

“Can I have one, too?” Scout asked.

He nodded once more, but his attention never really shifted from Shelby. “Is it uncomfortable for you to tell me what happened?”

“No.” She cleared her throat, then shifted on the banquette. “I was nine. It was Halloween, and I was trick-or-treating with my brothers and sister. I was Pocahontas, complete with fringed dress. At Mrs. Winston’s house, I stood too close to the jack-o’-lantern, and the fringe caught fire. It happened very quickly. By the time my father raced up and got me on the ground, my back had third-degree burns. I was in the hospital for months. What you saw were skin grafts. All together, I had five operations.”

Gray didn’t say anything for a long moment. His gaze didn’t waver at all. “I’m sorry.”

“Me, too.”

“I can’t imagine it. Literally. I can’t conceive of going through something like that and coming out whole on the other end.”

Whole? Was she? “You do what you have to do.”

The waitress came back, and for the next few minutes, everyone concentrated on dinner. Shelby used the opportunity to audit herself. She wasn’t upset. She wasn’t even uncomfortable. In a strange way, telling him the story had made her more relaxed. He was so physically perfect she never would have guessed she’d react this way. Usually, when she was around that kind of beauty, she pretended she didn’t have a body at all. But with Gray she was incredibly aware of her body and his.

He got to her. He made her fluttery inside, anxious, but not in a bad way. If she was going to be completely honest, she’d have to admit that he turned her on like a radio. None of it made any sense. She’d run from him because he’d seen her scars, so why, just a few hours later, did she feel this intense sexual heat? She wasn’t going to sleep with him. She knew, despite his kind eyes, that he would never want her. Evidently, her body didn’t care. It was tingling in the most intriguing way.

“So,” Gray said the moment Bella left. “I don’t want to dwell on this, but I do want to ask you one more thing.”

“Go on,” she said, her voice uninflected but her insides doing back flips.

“Will you come back? Not forever, but just for tonight? I know you’ve paid for the room, but I’ll take care of that.”

She laughed, more with surprise than anything else. “Are you kidding?”

“No.” He leaned forward and reached out. “Shelby, please. Look, I know I have no business asking you, but I need your help.” He checked Scout and Jem, and they were occupied with the salt and pepper shakers. He lowered his voice so that only she could hear. “I’m horribly inept, and to add insult to injury, scared to death.”

“I know you can get through tonight, and by tomorrow, I’m sure you can find someone to help you.”

He nodded slowly. “Fair enough. It was a long shot.”

She felt badly, especially when he gave her an obviously fake smile.

“So what are you reading?” he asked, his cheery tone as phony as his grin.

She turned the book in his direction.

“Romance?”

She nodded.

“I don’t read much of that.”

“Really?” she said, moving toward playful, trying to make the dinner as pleasant as possible.

“I should. Probably would explain a lot about women.”

“I agree. Frankly, they should be required reading for all men over the age of seventeen.”

Little fingers tugged Gray’s attention away. “Uncle Gray?”

“Yes, Scout?”

“Can Shelby read us our story tonight?”

He glanced at her, then at Scout. “Shelby won’t be there, honey.”

“But, you said.”

“I know. But she has other things she needs to do.”

Scout looked at her. “Do you have other children to take care of?”

The arrow went right into the center of her back. “No, Scout. It’s just that… I just…”

“It’s okay,” Scout said.

Her little face looked genuinely disheartened. Could she really say no to that? Could she be comfortable tonight, knowing Gray was struggling with the kids?

“I want my Coke.” Jem stood on the banquette, searching for the waitress.

“Sit down, Jem.” She said the words at the same time Gray said them.

Jem sat.

Shelby smiled at Gray.

Gray smiled back.

“Oh, what the heck.” She shook her head at her own foolishness. “I’ll come. But just for one night.”

Gray’s smile lit up his face and did something awfully peculiar to her insides. What had she done?

He ended up paying for her dinner. They all went to her room, and Jem and Scout watched TV while she packed again. Gray offered to help, but she didn’t need any. He just kept smiling at her, and frankly, she was a bit disconcerted by the whole thing. Finally, he carried her bags down, insisted on paying for her room, and then walked her to her car. The kids wanted to ride with her, and she let them.

The whole way home, they chattered like monkeys while she kept her eyes on Gray’s car in front of her. What on earth was she doing? Driving straight into trouble, that’s what.

HE LISTENED to her read the story, although he couldn’t have repeated a word. He was struck by the timbre of her voice, the way her whole face got involved in the telling. He wanted her to go on forever, even though the kids were mostly asleep. Jem fought it, but even he couldn’t defend himself against her mesmerizing lilt.

Going after her had been the right thing. He hadn’t been sure up until he’d seen her face when it was so clear the children wanted her back. Of the three of them, though, he was the one who’d been most eager.

Besides, she was on vacation, right? It wasn’t as if he was taking her away from a job or her family. He’d pay her, too, in addition to taking care of her hotel bill.

Was it his fault she’d turned out to be a good cook and great baby-sitter? Or that she was so easy on the eyes? He was just lucky, that’s all. Luckiest man in Blue Point.

He stood, and she stopped speaking. The quiet moved in to fill the space, and for a moment he thought about asking her to finish the story in his bedroom.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice a low whisper now that the children were finally asleep.

“Nothing,” he whispered back. “Why?”

“You looked as if you’d smelled something terrible.”

“Nope. Just thinking.”

“While you’re thinking, come hold Scout while I sneak out.”

He went to the bed and scooped a limp Scout into his arms and lifted her off Shelby’s lap. It only took a second for Shelby to extricate herself, then push a pillow in her place.

As Gray lowered the little one, he felt a stirring the likes of which scared him half to death.

Longing. Longing for a child. For a baby girl just like Scout. Or a boy. It didn’t matter. The longing was there and it was real and he had to get the hell out of the room. If he were smart, he’d get out of the state. Because it wasn’t the first time this had happened.

He wasn’t ready for children. He wasn’t responsible enough to be a father. Hell, he couldn’t even feed them lunch. Any kids he had would be ruined for life, destined to spend hundreds of hours on a psychiatrist’s couch.

He backed away from Scout’s bed as if the proximity to the child was the reason behind this sudden madness.

His elbow hit Shelby, and he jumped, then turned to face her.

Big mistake. She had great eyes. Even better lips. The sudden desire to explore her mouth, her body, jolted him.

No, no. This was not why he’d asked her back. In fact, if she even guessed at his thoughts, she’d be out of here so fast she’d leave skid marks.

“Is there something else?”

“Hmm?”

She smiled, a little indulgently, he thought. “Is there a reason we’re standing here staring at each other?”

“Staring?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“No, we’re not staring?”

“No, we’re not staring for a reason.”

She arched her right brow. “Okay. I’m leaving now. You can do whatever you like.”

No, he couldn’t. ’Cause what he’d like to do was kiss her. Right here. Right this minute.

Shelby headed toward the door, and before he’d moved a muscle to stop her, she was gone.

He sank down on the edge of Jem’s bed. What in hell was going on? This wasn’t like him. Wanting an attractive woman was pretty much s.o.p. And he did find her attractive. The scars didn’t bother him, which actually was something of a surprise. He’d have figured he was too much of a jerk for that. Wonders never ceased.