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“Shhh. I was only kidding.”
Sarah was becoming bored with the conversation. Her small head was bumping against her mother’s shoulder and the tiny fists were beginning to wave in a warning signal that her patience was just about to give out.
“I think we’d better feed the one we’ve got,” Chad said. “I’m hungry, too, Sarah. Come on.”
He relieved Leigh of the infant and carried her to the kitchen. But he soon had to give Sarah back. Leigh was more accustomed to holding the baby in one hand while preparing her food with the other. Chad set the table with stoneware, but used the paper napkins that had come with the chicken.
“Who keeps this house clean for you?”
“I have a lady who comes in once a week. She does laundry and cleaning.”
Leigh cast him a shrewd, suspicious look. “What kind of ‘lady’?”
“Jealous already?”
“What kind of lady?” she repeated.
“Twenty-two or so, glossy black hair to her waist, long slender legs, terrific figure, but her teeth are slightly bucked. You know the type.” He shrugged indifferently.
“I hope you’re teasing again.”
“If she’s going to bother you that much, I’ll fire her.”
“Chad Dillon”
He caught her to him and kissed her soundly. “Sit down, woman. Mrs. De Leon has six children, all grown now with several children of their own. I know because if I’m here I have to listen to more than I want to know about each grandchild. She’s about sixty years old, not quite five feet tall, and has greatly appreciated food all her life. Now, may I eat my lunch?”
Leigh poked a mouthful of strained beef into Sarah’s waiting mouth. She pursed her lips primly, trying to suppress a smile, but felt it tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“I love kissing the backs of your knees,” Chad said, biting into a crunchy piece of chicken.
That did it. She started laughing. “You’re terrible. First you get me going about your housekeeper, then you say something totally inappropriate for the lunch table.”
“Can I help it if you have great-tasting skin? All over.”
Remembering the intimacies they had shared the night before, Leigh felt her body grow hot with renewed desire, but she was determined to eat her lunch. “Did you get some gravy for these mashed potatoes?”
He chuckled. “Changing the subject? You can try, but I promise you I have a one-track mind these days.” One look into the cerulean eyes that gazed at her and Leigh knew just what he was thinking about. She hoped he didn’t realize that her own thoughts kept returning to the same groove.
When Sarah was done with her bottle and had gnawed all the flavor off of a stripped drumstick bone, Chad suggested they lay her on the loveseat in the master bedroom for her nap. “We can turn it around to face the wall and it’ll be like a crib.”
At Leigh’s insistence, they lined the damask with plastic garbage bags before tucking a sheet around the cushions. “I’d die if she wet—or something worse—on this loveseat,” Leigh said.
“She’d never do anything that unladylike,” Chad said in Sarah’s defense. He received a baleful look from her mother.
“Let’s take a nap, too,” Chad whispered when they stepped away from the sleeping Sarah. Not waiting for her consent or disagreement, he took her hand and led her across the carpet to the wide, king-sized bed.
The whole room was decorated in shades of beige, dark green, and russet. The effect was masculine, but beautiful. Chad went to a closet and dragged two quilts off the top shelf. “My maternal grandmother made these,” he said, spreading one over the suede bedspread. Going to the closet again, he took out two feather pillows with freshly laundered initialed cases. He plopped them onto the bed, then sat down on its edge and began pulling off his boots. Next the wide western belt with its brass buckle was dragged through the loops of his jeans. He lay down on the bed and reached out for Leigh’s hand. She knew a vague disappointment that he was in truth talking about a “nap.”
She kicked off her shoes and lay down beside him. He pulled the other quilt over them. “Comfy?” he asked drowsily in her ear. He snuggled against her, throwing one arm across her stomach, and buried his nose in her neck.
“Mm-hmm,” she sighed, not realizing until then how sleepy she herself was.
“Sleep tight and don’t let the bedbugs bite.” He pinched her bottom lightly, then cuddled tightly against her once more.
She was smiling as she drifted into a dreamless sleep.
* * *
