Читать книгу The Millionaires' Club: David, Clint & Travis: Entangled with a Texan / Locked up with a Lawman / Remembering One Wild Night - Kathie DeNosky, Laura Wright - Страница 9

Four

He had been hot before thinking about Marissa. Now he was on fire. With her hair in a towel, Marissa stood wrapped in a large, navy bath towel, and his imagination ran rampant. The only thing beneath that towel was Marissa’s warm, luscious body.

“You said you wouldn’t be home until six,” she said, the words little more than a whisper. She gazed back wide eyed at him. Under his steady, green-eyed scrutiny, Marissa was uncomfortably conscious of her state of undress.

“I didn’t know you were in the house,” she added, realizing she should move, get some clothes, do something except what she was doing—staring at him.

“I called and knocked on your door,” he said, but she was barely aware of his words.

He was shirtless and she couldn’t keep from staring at his muscled chest, which was sprinkled with curly black hair that tapered in a line to disappear into his jeans that still had the top button unfastened. The man was all solid muscles and tanned skin and sexy, male perfection. Her mouth went dry and her heart pounded. He was sinfully appealing.

As he crossed the room to her, she looked up to meet his gaze, which had unmistakable flames dancing in it. He stopped only inches from her.

She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t swallow, couldn’t talk. Why had she taken this job? She hadn’t been here long and already she was turning to mush. Worse, he hadn’t touched her and she was melting. But the way he was looking at her would make any woman melt.

“Autumn’s asleep now,” he said in a soft, husky tone.

“Yes, she is,” Marissa whispered as his gaze dropped to her mouth. “I have to get dressed—”

“Marissa,” he interrupted, his voice dropping a notch deeper. Stepping closer, he slipped his hand behind her head, pulling away the towel that was around her hair. Thick locks of her dark blond hair spilled over her shoulders while his fingers wound in them and every touch stirred tingles.

With David’s hands on her, she couldn’t move away from him. All she could do was look into his eyes and see desire, a need for her that overwhelmed her.

“Move back, David,” she whispered finally, certain he could hear her heart drumming.

“Why? A kiss is inevitable.”

“No, it’s not,” she argued while her pulse raced. “Not while I’m standing here in a towel.”

“We could remedy that,” he said, and she clutched the towel she had knotted around her.

He hadn’t moved and stood looking at her with that hot, hungry gaze that immobilized her. He leaned down, and his lips brushed hers so lightly, a feathery touch, yet it was a flame. “David, we shouldn’t…” she whispered, trying again to find some resistance to him.

“Why the hell not?” he asked. “Don’t tell me no when you want to. I can see desire in your brown eyes. Ah, Marissa,” he drawled softly, “we’ve been headed this way since I opened my door to you.”

I’ve been headed this way since I was eleven years old, she thought, unable to put up any more argument.

He leaned close again, his mouth settling on hers, and Marissa knew she was lost. And for a few minutes she didn’t care. Stop him in a while, she thought. But for now, she was going to satisfy a lifetime of curiosity about the man. How many times she had dreamed of this moment! How many times she had imagined his kiss, fantasized that he noticed her, wanted her. This was something she had wanted too long, too badly to say no to instantly. Enjoy the moment, she told herself, and then the thought dissolved, replaced by feeling.

David slipped his arm around Marissa’s waist, moving closer, his tongue touching her lips and then sliding into her mouth, stroking her tongue. She tasted sweet, hot, a golden torment, and a satisfaction that settled in his heart in a way he could never have imagined would be possible. She was a softness in his life that had been hard and harsh and on an edge. Yet here was sunlight, warmth, a woman to savor.

He tightened his arms, his kiss trying to devour his discovery, a blinding moment that transformed and shook him to the foundation of his being. Her softness was a promise of warmth that he had searched for as far back as memory stretched.

Marissa slid her hands across his sculpted chest, which was hard with muscles, coarse chest hair tickling her palms. Her hands went over his strong shoulders, feeling the slight ridge of scar tissue along his left shoulder, and then she wrapped her arms around his neck. Her toes curled, her heart pounded and her willpower crumbled.

When she wound her arms around his neck, his arms tightened around her and his kiss deepened. She kissed him in return, the roaring of her pulse drowning out all sounds, fiery tingles spinning inside, her world and her senses turning upside down.

She stood on tiptoe, past fantasies firing her kiss. David’s kiss was all she had dreamed of and so much more! She had opened Pandora’s box today and trouble of every kind was cascading down on her, yet what delicious trouble for the moment!

Feeling his reaction to her body and her kiss, she trembled, clinging to him.

This was David Sorrenson kissing her. David—man of dreams, girlish and otherwise.

He raised his head slightly. “Marissa,” he whispered, and then he ducked down again, his mouth covering hers, his kiss as hot and passionate as the one before.

He bent over her, his fingers winding in her hair, his one arm still tightly banding her waist. She continued to return his kiss as need escalated, a sweet torment. She knew she should stop, yet she knew she couldn’t stop. She had waited a lifetime for this moment and it had been worth the wait. Dreams burst into spectacular life.

Never had a kiss been like this. Never before had a kiss made her tremble, turned her insides instantly to jelly.

He had brought her into a world of fireworks and thrills. She tangled her fingers in his thick, soft hair, felt the warm column of his neck. She wanted to run her fingers across his marvelous chest, to make him react to her the way she was reacting to him.

As she stood on tiptoe and held him, she kissed him back, putting all she could into her kiss. And then, as if coming out of a fog, she realized what she was doing. This was the rush to heartbreak, to falling for another man who didn’t take relationships seriously.

Clutching the towel around her, she pushed lightly against his chest, feeling his rock-hard muscles, wanting just the opposite of what she was doing.

Gazing intently at her, he backed away. The hunger in his green eyes made clear how much he wanted her, and his breathing was as ragged as hers. He ran his hand from her neck, down her back to her waist, and she was too aware that she wore only a bath towel.

“We have to stop now,” she whispered.

“Maybe,” he answered, stroking her cheek. He picked up tendrils of her hair and wound them in his fingers, and her scalp tingled from the faint touch. “It’s just kisses, Marissa,” he said. “It’s exciting to get to know each other.”

“It’s safer to avoid getting to know each other very well.”

“Safer?” His brows arched. “Don’t take life so seriously. You liked being kissed and I liked it. Deny that one.”

“I can’t. But I don’t want to get all involved,” she said, too aware she was standing arguing with him when she was almost naked.

“How about I promise that we won’t. Just kisses, some good companionship. Where’s the harm in that?”

“The harm is wanting more. Your kisses might be addictive.” She was becoming annoyed with him now. “You think there’s no danger of either of us getting hurt or falling in love or anything that complicates life?”

“Absolutely not. Remember, you want a saint. I’m no saint,” he answered lightly.

“Somehow that doesn’t reassure me.” She stepped back, sliding her hand down to his forearm. His hands dropped to her waist as they stood gazing at each other. “You’re so sure you won’t get hurt when I leave?”

“Past history tells me I’m sure,” he said, his expression becoming solemn. “The last years of my life, I’ve avoided commitment because of the dangers I’ve faced. I’ve done that until it’s a habit. I don’t want commitment. You don’t want commitment. So let’s relax and enjoy each other’s company and have a little pleasure in our lives.”

“David Sorrenson,” Marissa began, her temper spiking, “someday, whether you want to or not, you’re going to fall in love. You can’t always go through life starting relationships and then waltzing out of them. Sometime, somewhere, you’re going to get your heartstrings snagged and then you’ll see why I’m wary, why it hurts so much.”

He traced his fingers along the top edge of the towel, across the soft rise of her breasts, and she inhaled, gasping for air as if the walls were closing in on her. “You’re way too solemn. Lighten up,” he said quietly while his caresses were stirring her again and making her want to step right back into his arms.

She ran her fingers lightly over the jagged scar on his left shoulder. “How’d you get this?”

When his expression changed, she knew he had just shut part of himself off from her. “In the military. I was shot,” he said brusquely.

She inhaled sharply, realizing how tough he could be and what risks he had probably taken. His terse answer led her to believe he didn’t want to talk about what had caused his wound. It had broken through the spell he had wrapped around her in the past few minutes.

“I have to get dressed,” she declared. “You need to go.”

“Ah, give me one more minute,” he said softly, and she knew he was going blithely on with his intentions just as he had the morning when he had hired her on the spot and gotten everything he wanted.

Slipping his arm around her waist again, he lifted her curtain of long hair and moved it to one side. When he trailed kisses across her nape, she closed her eyes. Her breasts tingled, an ache deep inside her increased, and she had a fiery need to turn into his arms.

With deliberation she stepped back and pointed at the door.

“Now, leave my room.”

His gaze drifted slowly over her, taking in every inch and setting every nerve in her body quivering. “If you insist,” he said. When he kissed her, he had dropped the T-shirt he had been carrying. He scooped it up and gave her another lingering, hot look. “I’m going to shower. Looks and smells like you just did. We could have done it together,” he added with a twinkle in his eyes.

“You’re wicked, David.”

With a cocky grin, he turned to saunter out of her room.

She rushed to close the door behind him as if demons were after her and felt as though her own little demon of desire was threatening to catch her.

Marissa moved around the room, getting dressed in fresh jeans and a blue shirt, thinking about the past few minutes, remembering the most fabulous kisses she had ever experienced, wondering what David was thinking.

Breathtaking kisses or not, she had no intention of falling in love with him. He would be another heartbreak. He had made it painfully clear that he wasn’t into commitment. She wanted a relationship and she knew she wasn’t going to change. But what kisses! Her heart pounded as she remembered them. He was sexy and charming and he cared about Autumn, a baby he barely knew.

Could she do what he had suggested—lighten up on life? Go dancing, kiss, walk away in a week or whenever the time came and not care? She knew she couldn’t. She sighed. He probably saw her as stiff-necked, fearful, holding out for a commitment. She didn’t know how he saw her, but she couldn’t stop being the way she was.

If they parted tomorrow, how long would it take for him to forget her—a day, two days, a week? On the other hand, now that they had kissed, how long would it take her to forget him? A lifetime, she suspected.

Marissa shook her head. Life wasn’t fair. But it would be a lot more fair to her if she took care to guard her heart the way David did his. His was locked in the deep freeze and no one woman was going to get close to it.

In the past few minutes he had fixed it so she was in knots, and tonight would probably be dreadful. This past year she had been sleeping soundly night after night because she had gotten over the trauma of her divorce. And now she would have to do something to shut out memories of David’s kisses. But not quite yet. For a little while she could enjoy the moment and remember. They weren’t in love, and she wasn’t in any danger yet.

“David,” she whispered, pulling on her clothes and turning to comb her hair.

In the shower David washed his hair, letting his thoughts run free. He was going to talk Marissa into going out with him this Saturday night. He couldn’t wait to get her all to himself.

“Slow it down, buddy,” he told himself beneath the splashing water. He knew Marissa’s whole intent would be marriage and he didn’t want that. Why couldn’t the woman just go out for a few dates? That’s all.

The thought conjured up memories of her kisses, and the nether regions below his waist grew hot again, desire tormenting him as he remembered her soft body in his arms. The bath towel was too slight a covering, he had felt her warmth through it. When he had let his hand drift down to her waist, he had wanted to slide his hand beneath the towel, down over her bottom and back up. Just thinking about her, he was getting all hot and bothered again. David tried to shift his thoughts elsewhere to chores he needed to do on the ranch. Thoughts of cattle lasted about ten seconds until memories of Marissa nudged them away again.

She was so scared of getting hurt that she had shut herself away from the world. Her divorce was two years ago—that was plenty of time for her to get on with life. David sighed and shook his head. Why was he having such a reaction to her? He had dated dozens of beautiful women and he hadn’t been all tied in knots by them.

Marissa was different from all those women. There was a down-to-earth manner about her, a deep sense of nurturing where Autumn was concerned, a practical, no-nonsense approach to life. And there were her kisses that had all but melted him into a puddle. He couldn’t recall having as intense a reaction to any woman’s kiss as he’d had to Marissa’s.

With a groan he finished showering and toweled off, dressing in clean jeans and a fresh T-shirt, moving automatically, lost in thoughts about his nanny.

He wanted Marissa in his arms, in his bed. The thought revved up his temperature another notch and erotic images tormented him even though common sense told him that he would never get her into his bed without some promise of marriage. And that wasn’t going to happen.

He thought about Ellen Drake, whom he had dated some since being home again. She was amusing, lighthearted, sophisticated, and she didn’t take things seriously. Ellen wanted to have a good time and to be seen in the proper places with the proper people. He suspected Marissa didn’t give a fig about such things. He ought to forget Marissa before he found himself caught in a sticky mess with a weepy female.

Memories still too hot to handle rushed into his mind and he knew he couldn’t just forget Marissa or ignore her. He wanted to persuade her to go out with him, which he suspected would not be an easy task.

A saint was what she said she wanted. Well, he wasn’t one. But since he had no intentions of getting deeply involved, why should it matter?

Marissa was ruining his sleep as effectively as Autumn had her first night with him. He’d thought he would have long, peaceful nights. Now every night, sleep eluded him, and he wasn’t thinking clearly during the day. Females! Get a grip, he told himself. She was just a pretty face. If she went out with him, fine. If she didn’t, fine. Two weeks ago he hadn’t even known Marissa Wilder existed. Forget her.

“Right,” he grumbled aloud, trying to ignore his eagerness to spend the coming evening with her.

All evening Marissa kept him at arm’s length and David had another miserable, sleepless night. Tuesday he was up before dawn, putting on coffee,

When he heard Autumn crying, he fixed a bottle and headed toward Marissa’s room. He knocked lightly on the closed door and heard her cheerful voice call for him to come in.

“Good morning,” he said, swinging open the door. His gaze swiftly took in her jeans and red T-shirt that clung to her delectable figure. She looked as refreshed as if she had slept around the clock, but she had reacted intensely to their kisses, so he knew there had to be some effect. When he looked into her lively brown eyes, his body temperature rose.

“’Morning, David,” she said happily. “Thanks for getting Autumn’s bottle ready. I’ll feed her in the kitchen.”

He handed Marissa the bottle, aware of their hands brushing, wanting to wrap his arms around her and take up where they left off yesterday. Instead, he trailed into the kitchen after her and asked what she wanted for breakfast.

While Marissa was busy feeding Autumn, he left, heading for her bedroom, where he crossed to the closet to quickly peek at the size in one of her dresses and to look at a pair of her shoes. Before leaving the room, he paused a moment, glancing around the bedroom that had been a guest room all his life and a room he barely recognized now. Gertie kept the house tidy and spotless and that was the way David had always known it. Not so any longer.

The bedroom was filled with Marissa’s possessions: everything from two pots of blooming begonias to books, from makeup to a clock. Pictures of her family adorned the dresser. He picked up a picture of a smiling couple and decided they must be her parents even though they looked younger than he would have guessed. Hats were hung on the bedposts and he could picture her in the Bo-Peep dress again. This room fit more with that image. He smiled and left, wondering if Gertie would be in a huff. He might have to pay her a little extra for dealing with Marissa.

When he returned to the kitchen, Marissa was sitting in the rocker with Autumn. While she fed the baby, he called his foreman, Rusty Bratton, to tell him that he wouldn’t see him today. They talked about ranch matters for a while and then David replaced the receiver.

“You’re not staying here to help me with Autumn, are you?” Marissa asked. “If you are, you don’t need to.”

“Nope.” He poured a cup of coffee and crossed the room to sit near them. He tried to keep from staring at Marissa, but he liked looking at her. Her hair was tied behind her head with a red ribbon, and he wanted to go untie the ribbon, and run his fingers through her silky hair.

She had put him off last week about a Saturday night date. He wasn’t going to let that happen again.

“I’m going to town, so give me a list of anything you need or anything I should get for Autumn,” he said.

“I’ll do that before you go. I’d like you to pick up a Chutes and Ladders board game if it’s convenient. My nephew Mitch will have his fourth birthday soon.”

“Sure, that’s an easy one,” he replied, still thinking more about running his hands through her hair than the day ahead of him. “Get your list. I’m going to make some phone calls before I go,” he said, and left the room before he did reach for her.

Less than an hour later, dressed in jeans, boots, a shearling jacket and a broad-brimmed Western hat, David left, glancing back over his shoulder to see Marissa standing at the window, holding Autumn close to her shoulder. She waved and he returned the wave.

In town after he had run his errands, David stopped by the hospital to talk to whomever was guarding Jane Doe. On Jane Doe’s floor, nurses passed David with soft steps while farther down the hall, a door wheezed shut. He saw a familiar jeans-clad figure at the end of the hall. Clint nodded in greeting and came toward David.

David shook hands with Clint. “I had to come into town and I thought I’d stop to see if there’s any change.”

“Nothing,” Clint replied, glancing at his watch. “Ryan will relieve me soon. And I talked to Alex and he still hasn’t come up with any significant leads on her identity or the money. The police don’t have anything on the missing persons list, either, that fits her description. No change. No progress.”

“Damn, that’s bad.”

“How’s the baby?” Clint asked.

“She’s fine. She likes her nanny and vice versa, so no problem there. So there’s nothing?”

“There was one little incident that might not have anything to do with Jane Doe,” Clint said, rocking back on his heels with his hands jammed into his pockets.

“What was that?” David asked.

“Ryan was on watch in the early hours of the morning today. He went to the pop machine and was out of sight of her door for maybe less than a minute because it’s right down there a few yards,” Clint said, pointing behind David. “When he stepped back into the hall, a man was almost to her door. When Ryan appeared, the guy turned and left in a hurry.” Clint shrugged. “It may mean something and it may have been sheer coincidence. Had it happened in the middle of the day, Ryan wouldn’t have thought anything of it.”

“If someone who’s searching for her has found where she is,” David said, “that’s not good news, either.”

“I agree with you, but we may be jumping to the wrong conclusion.”

“Under the circumstances, you guys take care,” David urged, glancing down the hall and seeing nurses and aides bustling in and out of hospital rooms. Two visitors strolled along the hall, looking at room numbers and disappearing into a room.

“We’ll be careful and we’ll keep watch over her,” Clint promised.

“Can I do anything?”

“Nothing besides taking care of the woman’s baby,” Clint replied. “That’s enough.”

“I’m heading back to the ranch now. I hope something changes here or someone learns something. Our Jane Doe didn’t just come out of a void. Someone must be searching for her. Someone must know her.”

“Yeah, there may be a lot of someones.”

David nodded and left, striding through the hospital and to his car with an uneasy feeling. The minute he stepped outside, he looked at his surroundings. His skin crawled as if he were being watched, yet he knew that was probably a foolish feeling. Still, his basic instincts about danger had protected him often in the past.

He sat behind the wheel of the car and waited, his gaze searching the hospital grounds and parking lot as he watched for anything unusual. People came and went in the most ordinary way. Finally he switched on the ignition and left.

It was late afternoon when David returned home. Marissa was in the family room on the floor changing Autumn, who was lying on a blanket. As David passed the open door, he called a greeting. His arms were ladened with boxes, and for a few minutes she could hear him making more trips to his car and returning with sacks. Then Marissa heard him talking to Gertie in the kitchen.

Finally he came into the room, his green gaze meeting hers with the force of a blow. She was breathless, staring at him, reacting to nothing more than his gaze, but that was enough. The navy sweater and jeans complemented his black hair, and made him look very sexy.

Knowing she shouldn’t stare, Marissa turned to pick up Autumn. When she did, David crossed the room to take the infant from her. “Let me hold her for a little while. I missed both of you,” he said quietly.

“Did you get all your errands run?” she asked him, trying to ignore his remark about missing her. She smoothed her pale blue T-shirt into her jeans and then caught him watching her.

“Yes, and I got that game you wanted for your nephew,” he said, mentioning the game she had on her list.

“I can’t believe that you never played it,” she said, recalling their discussion earlier. “You don’t know some of the basic kid stuff. You didn’t know Bo-Peep. What kind of childhood did you have?”

“Maybe not your run-of-the-mill nursery-rhyme-filled one,” he said lightly, “but I had a childhood.”

“I’m beginning to doubt it. I need to get Autumn a bottle,” Marissa said, and David walked with her to the kitchen, which was filled with enticing smells from Gertie’s afternoon cooking. Marissa’s appetite had taken a nosedive, brought on by a running current of excitement over being near David, a condition she wished she could control.

“I’m through now,” Gertie said, shedding her apron and getting her coat. “The table is set, everything is dished up and covered and ready. I’ll go, unless you have anything else you’d like done before I leave.”

To David’s amusement, Gertie said all this to Marissa without once glancing in his direction. How had Marissa become the boss in his kitchen when he had been in charge here for years now?

“No, thanks so much,” Marissa said. “Anything else that you want, David?”

“Oh, no. Thanks, Gertie. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

In seconds, she was gone, cold air wafting in from the door being opened. David stepped to the door to watch her walk to her house. He studied his surroundings until he was satisfied everything was safe.

Autumn stirred and Marissa took the baby from him.

“It’s time for her to eat. If you’re hungry and don’t want to wait, go ahead without me.”

“I wouldn’t think of going ahead without you,” David drawled. “I’ve been looking forward to dinner with you all afternoon.”

“Oh, my!” she sighed, giving him a wide-eyed look that made David’s pulse jump. She reacted, all right. In spite of her protests and logic and caution, she responded to him. He drew a deep breath, glancing at Autumn and knowing they had to take care of the baby right now and flirting with Marissa had to wait.

“I’ll get her bottle ready,” he said, and left the room.

Marissa watched him, her heart racing over his words and the look in his eyes. Since yesterday, she had lectured herself to keep her guard up. Did she want another heartache like her divorce? She knew the answer to that one. I nstinct told her that David would never be into anything lasting and she knew she would never be into anything casual.

When David handed her a bottle for Autumn, Marissa sat in the rocker, settling the baby and watching her take her bottle. David moved around, turning on music, building a fire, finally sitting down near Marissa.

“While you were in town, did you find out anything about Autumn’s mother?” Marissa asked.

“I went by the hospital. Her condition hasn’t changed.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry! Poor baby and poor Mommy,” Marissa said, tightening her arm slightly around Autumn, who was taking her bottle and watching Marissa with an intent stare.

“I don’t suppose they know any more about your Jane Doe’s identity,” Marissa said. “If they did, I’m sure you’d tell me.”

“That’s right. Every search is a dead end, and no one has popped up on missing persons lists who fits her description. It’s still a puzzle. She has to have family somewhere.”

“Maybe not. Not everyone does.”

He shrugged. “There are times and places I’ve been completely out of touch with my family, so if something had happened to me, no one who knows me would have learned about it for quite some time.”

“I don’t know how you did that kind of work. Or why.”

“Maybe to avoid the regular job that is waiting for me in Houston,” he replied, raking his fingers through his thick black hair. “When you’re young, right out of college, life looks different. At the time, I didn’t want to sit in an office day after day.”

“And you do now?”

“I’m resigned to it more than I was then.”

“Resigned?” she asked, surprised. “Why are you doing it if you don’t want to?”

“I’ve been aimed that direction all my life with a detour to the air force. Dad expects it of me, and there’s no big reason to disappoint him. That’s not my habit. I figure I’ll get used to it.”

“That’s a dutiful son,” she remarked, seeing another side to him. “It’ll be different from what you’ve been doing.” All the time he answered her, Marissa was aware of his rugged handsomeness. She probably should have avoided this job and David Sorrenson at all costs. But then she glanced down at Autumn in her arms, and warmth for the baby filled her. The job was fabulous pay and the baby was adorable. She should just guard her heart no matter how sexy he was.

“I pray your Jane Doe recovers soon so she can get her baby back. Autumn’s a wonderful little girl, David.”

“I’ll bet you say that about every baby you’ve taken care of,” he said, smiling at her.

She smiled in return. “I might have.”

Crossing the room to the wine rack, he held up a bottle. “Want to celebrate? Want a glass of wine?”

“Fine. After Autumn is fed and asleep. What on earth will we celebrate?”

“That you’ve become Autumn’s nanny.”

“Good enough,” Marissa responded, laughing, a tiny inner voice telling her that she should have refused the wine, should stop chitchatting with him, should keep this all business. Even as she argued mentally, her inner voice was losing the battle.

In the living area of the kitchen, David stoked the fire. Then he finished getting dinner on the table and took Autumn for a time until finally the baby was asleep and he put her to bed.

The moment he walked back through the kitchen door, his gaze met Marissa’s, making her breath catch. Watching her, he brought a glass of wine to her and held out his in a toast, his riveting gaze still on her. “Here’s to little Autumn coming into our lives.”

“That’s reason for us to celebrate, but I hope her mother recovers soon.”

“I do, too. But I’m glad we met,” he said, his voice lowering, giving her a thrill she knew she should be wary of.

David touched her glass lightly and watched her over the rim of his while he took a sip. She drank the red wine, thinking nothing could be as heady as the desire she saw in his green eyes.

“Ready to eat?” he asked in a coaxing voice, as if he were asking her something entirely different.

When she nodded, he took her glass, setting it on the table, and then held her chair for her, his hand grazing her shoulder lightly, yet a contact that she felt to her toes.

David sat facing her, and as she looked at him across the table, she remembered dreams of girlhood. Now here she was, living in his house, having dinner with him, and had exchanged passionate kisses with him. It’s just a temporary job, she reminded herself.

He passed her a platter with thick slices of roast beef. “Roast beef, potatoes and gravy are Gertie’s specialty. You’ve won her over. I’m not sure she remembers I live here.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. She’s just very friendly.”

“She was as thankful to get you as I was. I was too distraught the first day to remember my name.”

“I’m still surprised at that. A baby is simple.”

“Not to me. Where babies are concerned, I’m green as grass, as you well know by now.”

Marissa bit into tender roast and chewed. “This is delicious.” She tilted her head to study him, wondering about his life. “How come you don’t know Bo-Peep or the game I asked you to buy today? Did they keep you locked in the attic?”

“No. My mother died when I was a baby. I was raised by a very fine man who knew little about children and didn’t care to get to know much about them. He hired nannies and tutors and sent me to school and took care of my needs and I did what was expected of me, but there are big gaps in my childhood background. I didn’t do a lot of playing like some kids did.”

“You weren’t exactly lacking,” she said, glancing at his surroundings.

“We always had material things,” he said, shrugging, then continued. “Dad inherited money and made still more money, but I just kept quiet, did as I was told, and enjoyed myself in my own quiet way. I loved to read and play soccer and swim. I played tennis, too. Later, I played football. I kept busy, but whoever my nannies were in the early years, I guess they weren’t into cute games and nursery rhymes. There were so many of them, I can’t even remember them until I was about six. Gertie was always around, but she’s not into kids any more than my dad was. Still, she was good to me and slipped me treats whenever I wanted them.”

“What about other relatives?” she asked him, thankful she’d had the childhood she’d had, thinking about her sisters and her other relatives.

He shrugged. “I have my grandparents, who are not into kids, either. Even less than my dad. I suppose it’s passed from generation to generation.”

“Surely not!” Marissa exclaimed, her brows arching. “You’ve done quite well with Autumn.” She sipped her wine and took another bite of roast beef. “Don’t you want to marry and have a family?”

“With my career in Special Ops, I scratched marriage off the list when I went into danger. That’s no life for a married man.”

“I thought you were through with that now,” she pointed out, buttering a fluffy roll and taking a bite.

“I’m through with the military, but I’m older, set in my ways, and don’t know anything about a happy marriage or family life as you know it. I’ll probably stay single,” he replied, and Marissa wondered how many broken hearts he had left in his wake. “Maybe someday…” David said. He paused to eat and then said, “I’m getting the hang of baby care with Autumn. She’s a lovable little thing. Maybe I’m seeing her through your eyes.”

“No, you’re not! You haven’t known me that long.”

“You make your personality felt. When you were growing up, I’ll bet you played all sorts of games and had all sorts of kids around,” David said, watching her and imagining her life, which was a contrast to his.

“You’re right,” she said, giving him a dimpled smile. He touched her cheek.

“Your smile makes me want to smile.”

Marissa warmed to his words, but didn’t want to. As far as resisting him, on a scale of one to ten, she knew she was definitely one.

As they continued eating a long, leisurely dinner, they talked about their lives. She learned a little more about his background, listened to him talk glowingly about the ranch, and she realized he was a cowboy at heart and loved ranching.

She was unaware of time passing, but finally he pushed away from the table. “We’re finished, let’s move to the sofa.”

“We should clean this up.”

“That’s what I pay Gertie to do. Just leave everything and come here.” He held her chair and then took her arm, leading her to the sofa.

Too aware of his fingers lightly touching her arm, Marissa felt her heart race, and she had a silent argument with herself whether to sit down beside him or move away to a chair and keep some distance between them. While she debated, he stopped and faced her. “Now, close your eyes. I brought you a surprise today.”