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‘I saw a picture of the two of you on your desk,’ she said, her forthright expression daring him to make a big deal out of it.
‘What were you doing in my office?’ he demanded.
‘Trying to find a phone charger so I can save my career,’ she shot back, but then her gaze softened. ‘I’m so sorry for your loss,’ she added, and he could see she meant it. ‘I didn’t see any photos of your father, but I hope—despite his bad reputation—he was still...’
‘I never met him,’ he lied smoothly. ‘After she died I was on my own. But that was the way I wanted it.’
‘Then why are you so worried about people finding out about him?’ she asked, her expression open and uncomplicated. ‘Surely his reputation can’t hurt you? Not after everything you’ve achieved?’
He swallowed, but the lump of anger in his throat, that was always there when he thought of his father had faded. ‘I’m not worried about it any more,’ he said, astonished to realise it was true. ‘Now, stop snooping and start stirring,’ he added, suddenly desperate to change the subject before the compassion in her gaze got to him.
She stiffened at the curtness in his tone, but did as she was told. The recollection of how she’d followed instructions last night, too, sent a shaft of heat through his overworked system. But this time he welcomed it as he set about defrosting the crawfish in the microwave.
He didn’t want to care about her loss—didn’t want to feel any connection to her grief or recall how much he had needed his own mom growing up, and how much he’d missed her when she was gone.
His mother had been the only person to stand by him through all those years of being despised, being kicked around and treated like dirt because of his old man. He definitely didn’t want to think about how much it had hurt when he’d lost her too soon.
But as he peeled the crawfish it reminded him of how he’d watched his mother doing the same task in their trailer. And the words she’d spoken to chastise and console him.
‘Don’t go getting yourself into more fights—you hear me? It won’t change a thing. All it’ll do is give them an excuse to judge you more.’
She’d been right, of course, and eventually he’d listened. But what would it have been like to have none of that guidance, none of that care and compassion when you needed it most, no one to tend you when you were hurting, to teach you what you needed to be taught?
The tightness in his chest increased.
Not the point. She still used you. Just because she lost her mama young, it doesn’t make her someone you can trust.
He breathed deep, to calm the pummelling of his heart and the low-grade pulsing in his pants. Leaning closer, he poured the broth into the pan. It spat on the hot metal and made her flushed face glow.
Heat slammed into him again. ‘You can stop stirring,’ he said.
She dropped the spatula and edged away from him, obviously finely tuned to how volatile his feelings had become—which just made the feeling of connection more acute. Damn her.
‘It’ll take a while to cook now,’ he said, placing the lid on the pan so the food could steam. He glanced her way, taking in the gentle sway of her breasts, which he could detect even under the housekeeper’s sweater, and making him far too aware of how much he wanted to cup the plump flesh...
‘I’m afraid we’re gonna be stuck here together for a couple of days at least,’ he murmured.
Her eyebrows rose up her forehead, and the flush on her cheeks intensified, but the argument he’d been expecting didn’t come.
‘I assume it’s unavoidable?’ she said.
‘Yeah, it is,’ he said. Even though it wasn’t...entirely.
Truth be told, he could get her back to the mainland sooner rather than later if he was prepared to spend the next couple of days fixing the speedboat’s hull. Or, when the cell service came back—which it would—pay to have a mechanic flown out to fix Jezebel...
But he was forcing himself to stick to the plan of action he’d decided on earlier. Why should he ruin his vacation or spend a small fortune just for her convenience?
Plus, keeping her here until the product launch was good insurance.
He knew she was right in what she’d said—his father’s sins had never been his. Why should he keep them hidden any longer? Didn’t that just give the bastard a power over him that he had never deserved?
His gaze flicked over her breasts and back to her face as the heat continued to pulse in his groin. But just because he still desired her, and she’d made a good point about his old man, it didn’t mean he was going to let this attraction get the better of him.
She was watching him with those guarded eyes, and he had the weirdest vision of a young doe bracing itself for the hunter to shoot when she said, ‘I’m sorry this happened. I really didn’t intend to spy on you...’
She swallowed, and he realised he wanted to take her words at face value.
‘I’ll be sure to stay out of your way until I can leave,’ she added.
