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When the three of them entered his room, Jason climbed into bed. Wentworth arranged the covers for his son and kissed his forehead. “Good night, buddy.”
“Good night, Daddy.”
Kelly waited for Wentworth to turn out the light, but father and son both turned to her.
“Mommy?” Jason said.
Kelly stepped forward “What, Jason?”
“Aren’t you going to kiss me?”
Kelly shot Wentworth a look, and he nodded. She shrugged. Nothing wrong with giving the kid a quick peck.
She leaned over, planted a kiss on his check and breathed in a sweet elusive fragrance from her childhood, a lotion her mother had once smoothed onto her skin after a bath when she was very young.
She straightened, startled by the unexpected rush of memories.
Jason smiled angelically. How could anyone think of harming this adorable little dude?
“Now Mommy and Daddy have to kiss,” Jason announced.
What? Kelly shot Wentworth another look.
He shrugged, leaned over and quickly kissed her cheek.
She raised her hand to the spot. Had Wentworth really just kissed her?
“Daddy,” Jason said with infinite patience. “You know that wasn’t a real kiss.”
* * *
TREY WANTED TO laugh at the wide-eyed expression on Kelly’s face. If only there was something humorous about his son’s situation.
Hand to her cheek, she glared at him warily. Good-night kisses had always been part of his family’s bedtime ritual. Even when their marriage was beyond repair, he and Darlene had always managed a perfunctory meeting of the lips when they put Jason down for the night together.
Kelly would get over it.
Before she could mount a protest, he gathered her close and pressed his lips to her soft, very kissable mouth. The kiss was quick, but a sudden, unexpected flash of desire shot through him, and he fought it.
He wanted her. He hadn’t felt such yearning for any woman in a long time.
She stepped away from him, fingers to her lips, and the moment passed.
“Time for sleep now, buddy,” Trey said.
He turned off the overhead light. Kelly followed him to the door. Neither of them spoke, but the memory of how she’d felt in his arms burned in his thoughts.
He’d enjoyed touching her, but this pretend-mother game suddenly felt wrong. And dangerous.
Dangerous for all three of them.
When they got to the bottom of the stairs, he said, “You wanted to speak with me?”
“Yes.” She released a breath. “Is there any more of that wine from dinner? It’s been a long day.”
A glass of wine sounded like exactly what they needed. “Good idea,” he said. “Let’s move into the bar. Red or white?”
“Red,” she said.
Trey selected a pleasant Napa Valley merlot and busied himself with a corkscrew while Kelly perched on a barstool, her long legs dangling.
“So I assume you and your wife had some—I don’t know—ceremony every night with the good-night kisses?” she asked.
“Yes.” The cork exited the bottle with a soft pop. “We each had to kiss Jason and then each other before he’d go down for the night.”
“A heads-up would have been nice,” she said.
“Sorry.” He dribbled wine into two glasses, and slid one across the bar toward her. “Frankly, I’d forgotten about it myself. It’s been a while.”
“Thanks.” She took a sip of wine. “Does your kid always get what he wants?”
“Obviously not,” Trey said. “He didn’t want to be kidnapped.”
“I understand that. It’s just—I don’t know.” She looked away. “Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but don’t you think he might be a little, you know, spoiled?”
“Come on. Didn’t your mother and father tuck you in at night?”
“Actually,” she said, setting her wineglass back on the bar, “I never even met my father. So no.”
“Well, then your mother at least.”
Kelly started to say something, but pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Never mind that. I need to talk to you about the fact that you’ve hired a babysitter for me.”
“A bodyguard. What’s the problem?”
“Surely you understand I can’t have this Scott person following me around.”
