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Aunt Flora raked him with a speculative gaze, lingering on particular parts. Like a connoisseur of men, she weighed and measured him… then gave him a smile that might have worried a lesser man. But Lucas was accustomed to such smiles.
He stuck out a hand. “A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Demarco. I’m Lucas Finlay, Ben’s brother.”
“Miss Demarco, please. Or rather Flora.” The woman wiggled a finger at Charlotte who peeked out from her resting spot on Addy’s small breasts. Lucky child.
“I just told Mr. Finlay-”
“Lucas.”
“Yes, Lucas, that we would be glad to help him. Courtney and Ben are undergoing some hardship, and Lucas has his hands more than full with the kids and the running of a household.”
“Of course,” Flora said, nodding and reaching toward Charlotte. “I’ll start with taking this moppet into the kitchen for some milk and, perhaps, a cookie? I remember chocolate chip is your fav, right?”
Charlotte raised her head and nodded, lifting chubby arms out to Flora. Addy shifted the child, trying in vain to cover her thighs, and set the girl on the floor. The child took the older woman’s hand and allowed herself to be led from the room. She didn’t look back.
Addy cleared her throat and looked at the brass fireplace tools sitting at the hearth. Taking the child away gave an unsettling intimacy to the situation.
“Thank you,” he said sincerely, trying to pull his mind away from the way her damp hair winged away from her delicate neck and the fact she probably wore not a stitch of clothing beneath the terry cloth.
A fierce hunger bloomed within him when he thought of her taut stomach and up-tilted breasts. He could just make out the outline of her nipples and imagined their pliant puffiness growing hard beneath his fingers.
He needed to stop that line of thinking. Now.
“You’re welcome,” she said.
God, he should be ashamed since the woman volunteered to help him with the kids, but Lucas Finlay rarely felt shame for wanting a woman.
And this one he wanted.
But he’d have to resist.
Something in Addy’s demeanor told him she wasn’t a woman to trifle with a man. Something he quite couldn’t put his finger on warned a tumble with the florist wouldn’t be wise.
“So you’ll help me with the kids?” he asked stupidly because he needed to stop thinking about the fact that she was still naked, still four steps away from him. He was here for a reason.
She gave him an amused expression. “I just said I would. If Aunt Flora isn’t tied up tomorrow evening, she can whip up dinner with the kids’ help while you and I look over their schedules. We can’t do anything about Charlotte’s fear of you or Michael’s resentment, but wecanmake the space in which they operate more efficient which should alleviate some stress. Sound good?”
His mind flitted to sitting beside Addy as they worked on a schedule. He would love breathing in her clean, soft scent, feeling the accidental brush of her hand, and the anticipation of what could happen between them… if he would allow it. No, if she would allow it. “Sounds perfect. I think Michael has something at his church tomorrow night, so it will only be Charlotte and Chris for the evening.”
“See, one occupied. Two to go.” She smiled as she smoothed the fabric over her thighs. He made her uneasy, but not in a fearful way. At least he didn’t think so.
Something crackled between them, and she lifted her eyes and held his gaze for a moment, licking those pretty lips nervously.
Heat poured into his pelvis, and he felt a not so polite stirring below his belt.
Hell.
Addy seemed to sense the shift. “Uh, sorry about being in such a state of undress. I was in the middle-”
“Don’t apologize for being… um, what I meant is that we interrupted you and so…” He trailed off, sounding so not himself.
Her face heated and Lucas thought it adorable. He wanted to move closer to her, breathe her in. He was in trouble.
“I don’t know what to say to that.” She gave a nervous laugh.
Silence fell between them, prodding him to grab the kid and haul his cookies back to the house next door. Well, not his cookies, but if he brought a few of Aunt Flora’s chocolate chip cookies, he’d have some bribery at the ready.
“I should go. It’s almost Charlotte’s bedtime, and I still have to fight with her to brush her teeth. Plus, Michael has to be at school early for tutoring, and wrestling Chris into bed is somewhere in the middle of all that.”
