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Daniel watched her brows pull together over confused green eyes. He wasn’t feeling much steadier himself.
He braced a hand against the bulkhead and planted both boots for balance. Where had his words come from?
There were probably a hundred different services he could call to help at a moment’s notice. He knew at least a dozen women who would enjoy nothing more than mothering the boys as a way to entice him into being “emotionally available.”
And none of them were Mary Elise.
He tried to tell himself his motives for keeping her close were rooted in protectiveness. That long-ago connection had kicked into overdrive in the past few minutes. Right about the time he’d mentioned calling Savannah.
He didn’t consider himself an intuitive guy, a fact reinforced by his double-digit tally of breakups. But even he could sense something was wrong here. Her edginess should be easing with every mile they put between themselves and Rubistan.
Should be.
But wasn’t.
Eleven years of distance between them didn’t matter. He owed this woman, and until her frown smoothed, he wouldn’t back off.
He was doing this for her. And for the boys. Not because he wanted to find out if the freckles dotting her smooth creamy skin had faded with age. “I need your help with stuff like asthma meds and nut allergies. At this rate, the boys won’t make it through the week with me.”
Mary Elise straightened in her seat. Daniel looked deeper into those lush green eyes that had once been so expressive and wondered when she’d learned to close herself off.
“I’ll make a list.” Her cool efficiency almost covered her underlying edginess. Almost. “Starting with Austin’s EpiPen.”
“Eppie what?”
“Epinephrine injection pen. Medicine in case he accidentally eats something with nuts or peanut oil or—”
“Stop.” He made a giantTwith his hands. “Time out. You can compile lists all day long and it won’t change the fact that I have no experience with kids. I need help settling the boys.”
She pleated her pants between fidgety fingers. “You haven’t made any accommodations for them?”
“I was a little busy planning how to smuggle them out of Rubistan without getting our asses shot off.”
“Oh.”
“Apology accepted.”
Her hands flattened on her trim thighs, a smile playing with her lips. “Uh, sorry?”
He winked. “No problem.”
A smile and a wink linked them more than all his earlier speeches. The deafening din of engines and the closed curtain offered a bubble of privacy and protection from being overheard. Not that he had thoughts of unrolling the past with her. He hadn’t been much for emotional share-fests then, either.
Besides, he didn’t want to trek back to the past. Too many memories waited there of a time he’d been less of a man. Too much his father’s son— seducing an innocent, betraying a friendship. His father’s wedding had marked a time of rotten decisions for everyone.
Halfway into a bottle of champagne, Daniel had found himself watching nineteen-year-old Mary Elise with new eyes. Another shared bottle and some consolation later, Daniel had found himself looking at all of Mary Elise with new eyes.
He’d been so angry at his old man for going the whole trophy wife route. He didn’t deal well with emotions on a good day. And today marked another one of his worst days on record, but he wouldn’t screw up this time. No matter how enticing the image of draping that red hair over his chest. Mary Elise over him. Mary Elise sighing.
“Danny?” She flung her hair over her shoulder in a crimson waterfall. “If you haven’t made arrangements for the boys, what do you propose we do once we land?”
“I don’t have a clue.” Then or now. “And it doesn’t look as if Trey knows what to do about me any more than I know what to do about him.”
Her brows pulled tighter, deepening her perpetual frown. “You aren’t going to give them up. Are you?”
“No. Absolutely not. I’ll figure it out. Soon.”
“Once you’re through worrying about our butts getting shot off.”
