AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He seems like a good kid.” He frowned. His experience with children was reasonably limited. Andrew and his wife Cecilia were expecting a baby in a few months, and Bryan had had a daughter who was almost ten.
She nodded. “He’s the best. I’m lucky.”
“I’m sure luck has very little to do with it.”
Katie ignored the compliment. She had learned the hard way that men who were too quick to flatter were also usually pretty quick to move on. Hardening her resolve, she moved down the last step, into the lounge area.
Now that Maxie was in bed for the night, she was truly alone with David Trent and the knowledge caused adrenalin to flash through her body. Though meters of floor spanned between them, she felt awareness in every nerve ending of her body. There was something indefinably beautiful about this man. Beyo
nd his obvious physical appeal, there was an air of mystery, almost a vulnerable quality, that didn’t seem to fit with the macho image he unconsciously projected. Studying human behavior was a bit of a hobby for Katie, and she had her pick of subjects though the summer when her bed and breakfast was filled to bursting with guests. She had become quite skillful at understanding what made people tick, and a sixth sense made her know, for certain, that this man had some pain he was grappling with.
Despite a natural curiosity, she blinked, to clear the thought. What he was, and what he might be going through, was none of her business. She smiled formally, in an effort to reinstate a professional footing, and moved towards the kitchen. “I’m just going to finish up in here then I’ll leave you be.” She turned to face him. “Oh.” Remembering her duties as host, she cleared her throat, and stood with one hand fiddling the pearl earring in her left ear. “Unless you want any information?”
He raised his eyebrows meaningfully. His mind was swirling with questions that he probably shouldn’t want to ask, but did.
“Any information on the local area, I mean.”
His laugh was like warm butter on banana bread. Sinfully, decadently delicious. “Why do I get the feeling I make you nervous, Katie?”
He hadn’t moved, but she felt suddenly trapped. When she spoke, her voice was breathy; her denial weak. “You don’t. Of course you don’t.”
“Come and join me for a while. I do, in fact, have some questions.”
The temptation to acquiesce was so strong that for a moment she thought she had. Instead, she just tilted her head to one side and stared at him, her mind suddenly jammed by the sheer attraction she was feeling. “I…” She swallowed. “I meant pamphlets. Maps. That kind of thing. I have a heap in that folder over there.” She thought of the dirty dinner dishes and decided spontaneously that they could wait a moment.
“Here.” She walked past him, careful not to skirt too close, and pulled a large laminated folder from the bookshelf. In it, she had an up-to-date list of activities and contacts in the local area.
He opened it to the first page and flicked his eyes over the brochures with feigned interest. All of his razor sharp attention was on the woman in front of him. Her breathing was shallow. She probably didn’t realize it, but it told him that she was as aware of him as he was of her. Her apron now removed, he could see her nipples, taut and firm beneath the soft, clinging material of her dress, and her cheeks were infused with that sweet pink color that he found so beguiling. She felt this strange, strong desire just like he did.
She was slender. Naturally so, he thought, having seen the way she tucked into the carbohydrate laden dinner without a moment’s hesitation. But despite that, her breasts were… he swallowed. Perfectly rounded. He had to hold the booklet firmly to make sure his fingers didn’t reach out of their own accord and pull her into contact with his rock hard body.
“Sit,” he said in a tone he knew most people wouldn’t dream of disobeying.
She jerked her head from side to side. “I have too much to do, I-.”
“The dishes are done.”
“What?” She squeaked, so surprised that she forgot to be nervous. “You really shouldn’t have.”
He shrugged. “It was no trouble.”
“But… you’re a paying guest.”
“So?” He shrugged his strong, broad shoulders, and her eyes were drawn to his chest, the muscles of which were obvious, even through the wool of his sweater.
“No offence, but you don’t really seem like that kind of guy.”
He laughed again. “A human guy?”
“No!” She shook her head in consternation. “That’s not what I meant.” She wrung her hands in front of her stomach. “I just can’t picture you doing dishes, or vacuuming the floor…”
“What can you picture me doing?” He asked, trying his best to keep the sexual innuendo out of his voice. Because he knew damned sure how he could picture her, and it involved very few clothes.
She scrunched her nose. “Well, you’re not like any high school teacher I ever had.”
His smile felt stiff, at the reminder of the lie he was perpetuating by not correcting her wrongful assumption. He shifted a little. He was aware, standing just in front of her, of the difference in height between them. “I’m a little wounded that you don’t think I’m capable of such a basic consideration as doing dishes, after you’ve cooked such a nice meal for me.” And as if his hand had a mind of its own, he reached out on the pretence of tucking a skein of hair behind her ear. It was as soft as silk, just like he’d thought it would be, and her skin was perfectly smooth.
“It isn’t that,” her voice wasn’t quite even. Her brain was finding it hard to form words into a sentence. “But I don’t usually have guests in the kitchen at all, let alone doing my job for me.”
