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Beth had to admit to herself that she felt all at odds watching Travis with the child. For such a big masculine man he was extraordinarily gentle with the little boy and perfectly relaxed in his role of 'Uncle Travis'. She didn't know why but she hadn't expected him to be so instinctive with children but he was a natural. He'd be one great father.
They left at five o'clock so Mavis and Dave could get ready for opening again at six-thirty, and by then Beth had so many different impressions whirling in her mind that she'd given herself a headache. Every time she was with Travis he seemed to show a different side to himself, or perhaps she should say he showed more of himself, she cor¬rected silently. Whatever, it was disconcerting. She had been hoping the more she got to know him the less she would be attracted to him but the opposite was happening. Which wasn't good. Or was it?
On the ride back to the cottage he said little but Beth was lost in her own thoughts anyway. And they were all about him. Sex with a virtual stranger, just for the hell of it, had never held any appeal for her but the trouble was that Travis was not a stranger any more. Far from it. In fact, she could hardly believe how well she felt she knew him considering they'd only known each other such a short time. And then again, she didn't feel she knew anything about him. Which didn't make sense. Like all of this. The only consistent thing in the whole scenario was her inconsistency, she thought ruefully. Why on earth Travis was even bothering with her in the first place she didn't know. She must seem like a madwoman to him.
They were back at the cottage. Beth realised with a little jolt that she hadn't even noticed him draw on to the side of the lane and stop the car. Travis exited the Aston Martin and walked round the bonnet, opening her door and assisting her out of the low-slung car with a hand at her elbow. He walked with her to the front door of the cottage, but as she reached for the key in her handbag his hand closed over hers.
'I'd prefer to say goodnight before Harvey makes an ap¬pearance,' he said with good-natured wryness, taking her into his arms before she could say anything.
His mouth closed over hers with a certainty that said any objection wasn't an option, not that Beth wanted to object. In fact she'd been waiting for this moment for the last few hours, she realised helplessly. She gave herself up to the exquisite sensation washing over her, trembling as the kiss deepened and intensified.
Travis had placed a hand in the small of her back to steady her as he moulded her into him, his legs slightly apart as he pleasured himself with the feel of her body and her warm mouth. As she began to kiss him back he made a harsh guttural sound in the base of his throat, his other hand cupping her breast and rubbing the engorged peak with a slow languorous rhythm that sent sharp needles of pleasure into the core of her.
Beth's hands moved to his shoulders, feeling the muscled strength beneath her fingers with a kind of wondering triumph. It was exhilarating to know she could inspire such desire in a man like Travis, and there was no doubt he wanted her. His heart was slamming against the solid wall of his chest and he was breath¬ing hard, his arousal fierce against the soft swell of her belly.
So it came as all the more of a drenching shock when he lifted his mouth from hers a moment later, putting her from him gently but firmly as he said thickly, 'I have to go. I'll see you next week, Beth.'
She stared at him, unable to take in for a second that he was leaving. She didn't want him to go. 'Travis—'
'Goodnight, Beth. Dream of me, OK?'
The control was back, even though he was still breathing hard, his chest rising and falling beneath the thin material of his shirt. But his eyes were focused and steady, his mouth faintly stern as he stepped backwards.
She couldn't say anything more; speech was beyond her as she watched him turn and walk to the Aston Martin crouched in the lane. Everything in her wanted to run after him and beg him to continue what he had begun, but the fact that he had been able to leave her was the thing that stopped her.
She didn't understand him. She didn't understand how he could walk away at a time like this, she thought feverishly as the powerful car disappeared in a cloud of dust. He must have known that she wanted him. He was an experienced man of the world, after all, used to reading sexual signals and unspoken desires. And she hadn't exactly been disguising how she'd felt.
It was Harvey's aggrieved barking that brought her back to reality. As she quickly opened the door the big dog stared at her reproachfully before exiting the house, only to turn and look at her again with a distinctly ill-used expression.
'Yes, OK, he's gone,' Beth said irritably. 'And I'm not too pleased about it either, all right? But it appears he can take or leave us so you'd better get used to it.'
