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She put down the dryer and picked up a brush. The small bathroom was still steamy from her shower so her damp hair curled up toward her shoulders. She smoothed it with the brush, then slipped on a rose-and-green fabric-covered headband.
Despite his rather wicked reputation, she had to admit he wasn’t at all what she’d thought he would be. Sam had left her alone so much, she’d practically raised Mandy on her own. She was used to making all the decisions and handling the responsibilities. She hated to admit it, but it felt kind of nice to have someone else making some of the choices. She even liked living with Travis. He was fun and easygoing. He made her laugh. Better than that, he helped her forget her past.
Her rose sundress had a sweetheart neckline and elastic ribbing in the back to hold it up. The skinny straps were more show than to secure the bodice. She pulled the dress down over her strapless bra and closed the side zipper. After slipping on a pair of high-heeled sandals, she stepped out into the hall.
She could hear a cartoon video playing in the family room. Mandy was excited at the thought of company at dinner, but even more thrilled that she was being allowed to watch her favorite show twice tonight. Elizabeth smiled. Life was certainly simple for a six-year-old.
She turned toward the kitchen to check on the dinner that Louise had made and left warming. A sound on the stairs caught her attention. She looked up and saw Travis.
He’d showered, as well. His hair was still damp, his face freshly shaved. She liked the clean look of his cheeks and jaw, but missed the darkening shadow of his afternoon stubble. He wore a long-sleeved white shirt rolled up to the elbows, and gray trousers. It wasn’t all that different from jeans or his sheriff’s uniform, but that didn’t stop her heart from beating a little faster or her breath from catching in her throat.
She waited until he reached the first floor, then she looked him up and down. “Very nice,” she said, struggling to keep her voice sounding normal. “Are you sure Mandy and I won’t be in the way?”
“I told you, Rebecca is just a good friend.”
“But it’s Friday night. Shouldn’t you be out on a date? You don’t have to stay in to keep us company.”
His dark eyes drifted over her face before dipping down to the bodice of her dress. She hadn’t thought it was all that low-cut before, but she had the sudden urge to check to see exactly how much cleavage showed. His gaze left her feeling shivery and her knees threatening to buckle. Maybe the dress was a mistake.
“I didn’t cancel a date to stay in with you, Elizabeth, so quit worrying about it. I want to spend time with you and Mandy, and I haven’t had Rebecca over for a while.”
He headed toward the front parlor. She followed, feeling that he was just being polite.
“But I don’t want you to think that—”
He turned so quickly, she almost ran into him. As it was she stopped a scant inch from his tall, broad body and had to crane her neck back to see his face.
“I don’t think anything,” he said. His eyes darkened to the color of black velvet before brightening with a fire she didn’t dare identify. “Except that you look very beautiful.”
She blushed. Elizabeth wanted to put her hand on her cheek to make sure, but she knew the sensation of heat on her face could only mean one thing. “I— You—” She swallowed. “Thanks, but you don’t have to say that. I mean, I’m just a paying guest here.”
“Hardly that.” He moved away to a stereo set on the floor in the corner. Wires disappeared into the walls. Louise had mentioned that he’d put speakers in the whole house. While he flipped through his CD’s, she walked around the large empty room.
“This is going to be a beautiful place when it’s finished,” she said.
“I hope so. It’s taking longer than I’d thought.” He slipped a couple of CD’s into the machine, then rotated the table to insert three more. “So what about you, Elizabeth? Why don’t you have some guy from L.A. pounding down my door?”
“Me?” She laughed. “I haven’t had a date in years.” Seven years to be exact, she remembered. Her last date had been with Sam. That’s when she’d told him she was pregnant with Mandy and had foolishly assumed they would do the right thing and get married. It was hard to believe her life had ever been that simple.
She touched the bare walls of the cavernous room, then looked up at the high ceiling. The basic structure of the house was lovely. Nothing like the cramped place she and Sam had rented. She’d wanted to buy a house, but he hadn’t. She remembered the fights they’d had about that, and about having another child—she’d wanted four. That had changed, as well. She’d realized that with Sam gone so much, more children would be difficult. She’d practically lived as a single mother. She’d had such high hopes for the relationship, but the truth was it had been in trouble for the past two years. She’d been on the verge of leaving Sam when the police had arrived to take him away. What irony, she thought, stopping by the window and staring out into the night. She’d been wrestling with her commitment to Mandy’s father, wondering if leaving was the right thing, or just the easiest solution to her unhappiness. She hadn’t known that in a matter of days the question would be decided for her.
The soft sounds of classical music filled the room. Elizabeth turned and looked but she couldn’t see the speakers. Travis stood up and brushed off his hands.
“Pretty impressive, huh?”
She nodded. “A regular seduction factory.”
He grimaced. “Hardly. You might want to keep in mind that Louise does have a tendency to exaggerate things.”
“Oh? You haven’t seduced every female in a fifty-mile radius?”
He moved closer. “Nah. Now if she’d said a thirty-mile radius, that would be different.”
“Oh, Travis, we are a pair, aren’t we? You can’t decide how many women you want, and I never want to get involved again.”
“Is that why you haven’t had a date in years?”
He asked the question so casually, she almost answered it. Almost. She nearly blurted out, “No, it’s because I was married.” But she caught herself in time.
“I was involved with Mandy’s father. Call me a prude, but I’ve always believed in one relationship at a time.”
“Me, too.”
She stared at him in disbelief.
He put his hands on his hips. “Okay, what has she been telling you?”
“Nothing.”
He raised his dark eyebrows. “She had to have said something for you to assume that I’ve never been committed to one woman at a time.”
“Are you?”
“Yes. I believe in monogamy.”
“For everybody, or do you exclude yourself?”
“Elizabeth!”
She shrugged. “I’m just asking. You have to admit you have this reputation in town. I heard it from the nurse, Louise—even Mandy mentioned something about it. You’ve dated her teacher, my boss. What am I supposed to think? That you’re in training to be a monk?”
He grinned. The curve of his mouth and the flash of white teeth had her smiling in response. Realistically, she should be angry at him in the name of femalehood or something. But the truth was she liked Travis. Despite his obvious flaws, he was a good and kind man. At least he kept his socks picked up.
“I am involved with one woman at a time, Elizabeth Abbott.” His voice got lower and more seductive. She felt herself falling under his spell and she couldn’t summon the energy to care. “That woman gets my complete attention, the total sum of my energy and focus for as long as the relationship lasts.”
His gaze never left hers. His hands stayed on his hips. So why did she feel as if he were physically touching her all over? Her skin grew heated, her fingers curled into her palms. How could he do that with just a look and his voice?
“Oh.”
With that he left the parlor and stepped into the hall. Before she realized she’d been abandoned, he was back with a bouquet of flowers.
“These are for you, darlin’,” he said.
That woman gets my complete attention. She stared from the flowers to him and back. No. He couldn’t mean anything by them, could he?
“Why?” she asked, almost afraid to hear his answer. What if he wanted her? What if he didn’t?
“It’s been a week since your surgery. I thought you might be feeling a little lost.” He thrust the flowers at her and she was forced to take them. “You can lose that panicked expression. I’m not out to seduce you.”
“You’re not?” She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed.
He shook his head. “Not while you’re under my protection.”
Which might mean she would have to watch herself when she wasn’t under his protection, or it might be a polite way of saying he wasn’t interested in her at all. Stop thinking about it, she ordered herself. She was the one not interested, remember? She was the one sworn to never get involved.
She lowered her head and sniffed the bouquet of flowers. The colorful blooms smelled rich and sinful, not like those long-stemmed roses Sam had often brought her after he’d been gone for several weeks. She’d never had the heart to tell him she didn’t like those roses. They were so straight and scentless, almost mutated versions of natural flowers.
She touched the cheerful pink petal of a carnation. “Thank you.” She turned toward him and smiled. “They’re beautiful.” He was close enough to touch. She reached out and placed her hand on his forearm. “This is probably going to make you cringe, but I think you’re very nice.”
The second to the last thing she expected was him to say, “I’m glad.” The last thing she expected him to do was step closer and wrap his arms around her waist. She almost dropped the flowers before gripping them in her right hand. Emotionally she was too stunned to pull back; physically, she was too intrigued. Sam had been tall—maybe an inch or so taller than Travis—but Travis was powerful and strong. She could feel the muscles in his arms where they pressed against her side. She could see the strength in his shoulders.
And his eyes. She would like to stare into his brown eyes forever, warmed by the fire flickering there. Her gaze dropped to his mouth. He wasn’t smiling. She was glad. She would have hated him to find this moment funny. She didn’t think it was at all amusing. If anything, she was fighting the burning at the back of her eyes. She didn’t know why she wanted to cry. Maybe it was because in his arms she felt safe and secure. She hadn’t felt that way since she was a young girl, not much older than Mandy.
He pulled her close, until her thigh brushed against his and her breasts flattened against his chest. She reached up and placed her free hand on his shoulder. He was going to kiss her. For the first time since he touched her, she remembered she was supposed to be fighting this. Travis wasn’t for her. But she needed him to kiss her. She needed to forget, even for just a moment. She sensed that once his lips touched hers, she wouldn’t be able to think about anything else.
He didn’t disappoint her. He breathed her name, then lowered his mouth to hers. Soft and hard and prickly and hot. She absorbed the sensations of his lips brushing back and forth on hers, the fire that flared between them. Her eyes drifted shut. Questions of right and wrong, her place in his house, Sam, her future and Mandy all faded, silenced by the powerful force of pleasure. He didn’t assault her or press for more. He simply held her close and moved his mouth slowly, so slowly until she knew every millimeter of his lips.
She wrapped both her arms around his neck, carefully holding on to the flowers. But that was her only conscious thought. Everything else she simply felt. The hard chest flattening her breasts, the stroking of his hands up and down on her back, the shivers as his fingers grazed the bare skin by her shoulder. Her position pulled her incision, but not enough to matter.
He moved his head slightly so he could brush his lips against her jaw, then her ear. She arched her head back, liking the gentle caresses, the absence of pressure. Her blood flowed faster, hotter, fueled by the slow assault. His warm breath tickled, sending goose bumps rippling down to her toes.
He nibbled on her earlobe. She caught her breath, then whispered his name. With her free hand, she touched his still-damp hair, liking the way the smooth strands felt against her fingers.
He read her perfectly. When she grew impatient with his gentle teasing on her jaw and throat, he returned to her mouth. He didn’t ask or hint, he simply opened his mouth on hers. As if she had no will, her lips parted to admit him.
Like his previous caresses, he moved slowly, tenderly, tracing her lips, touching the damp, sensitive inside, touching the edge of her teeth before stroking her tongue with his.
One small flicker was like the first faint flash of lightning. He moved against her again, touching, retreating, touching, circling, touching, tasting. The storm moved closer and closer. She felt the vibration of the thunder, the echoing of his heartbeat, matching the rapid cadence of her own. She saw the flash of light behind her closed eyelids.
Her body sought his, pressing harder to absorb his strength. Against her belly, she felt the hardness of his desire. Between her thighs an answering need flowered, leaving her warm and waiting. Her breasts tightened in anticipation. His hands moved lower, down her back, over the curve of her hip to cup her derriere in his large hands. He didn’t pull her up against him; instead he squeezed gently, lovingly.
She reveled in the feel of being next to him. Every move was slow, not calculated as she might have thought, but savored. As if he had nothing more important in his life than this moment. As if he’d spent the whole day thinking about kissing her.
He wasn’t as tall as Sam, but he was broader and she liked the way his size made her feel protected. Foolish needs, she thought, knowing that she was on her own. But for these few minutes it was enough to hold and be held, tempt and be tempted.
He sucked on her lower lip, the delicious sensations forcing all thoughts from her mind. He kissed her harder now, hungrily, the passion building between them. It was all she could do to stay upright and not sag completely against him. Her fingers had trouble holding on to the bouquet of flowers. His scent and warmth filled her body until she wanted him to be a part of her. He seemed to sense her need, moving even closer, tightening his arms around her as if he were as hungry for love as she.
Love. The word echoed in her brain, the cold reality of its meaning doused her passion and she pulled back. She wasn’t hungry for love. She couldn’t afford to be. Passion, maybe. Sex—well, it had been a while, so probably. But not love. Never love.
She stared at the open V of his white shirt and watched his chest rise and fall in a rapid cadence that matched her own. Not love. Never love. Love makes you blind. You can’t trust it. Ever. She’d learned that lesson the hard way. She’d loved Sam with all her heart, and he had betrayed everything she’d held sacred and special. There had been a hundred clues, but she’d missed them all.
Travis was just like Sam. He was a womanizer, a smooth-talking charmer who made a hobby of breaking hearts. So what if he claimed to practice monogamy? That was part of the trappings of his disguise. She knew what he really was.
She realized they’d been standing there, breathing heavily for several seconds. She half expected him to say something, apologize. But he didn’t.
The worst part of it was that her body still tingled from the power of their kisses. Her breasts ached, her thighs felt trembly and weak, and her blood hummed with a powerful need that even the most rational of arguments couldn’t quench.
She swallowed thickly, then forced herself to look up at him. The fire in his eyes burned hotter than she’d ever seen it. His mouth was still damp from her passionate kisses. She wanted to look down but didn’t dare. She couldn’t bear to see the proof of his need. She would think about how he would feel next to her, inside of her. It had been over a year since she’d made love, but some chilling little voice at the back of her head whispered this wasn’t all about simply doing without. It was more about the man in front of her than the need within her body, and that thought scared her to death.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice shaking. “We shouldn’t have done that. It’s better if it doesn’t get out of hand.”
He smiled then, a slow, lazy, satisfied and very male smile. The skin on the back of her neck tingled and her breasts swelled painfully.
“What do you mean—‘it’?” he asked.
“You know. Our relationship.”
The smile turned into a grin. “I didn’t know we had a relationship.”
His amusement fueled her temper. “You’re right,” she snapped. “We don’t have a relationship, and I would prefer to keep it that way.” She turned and started to walk away.
He caught up with her instantly and touched her arm. She wanted to pull back, really she did, but she couldn’t. It felt too good to have him touch her. A bright danger sign flashed before her eyes, but she had a bad feeling it was already too late.
“Don’t be upset,” he said, his thumb stroking her forearm.
“I’m not.”
He arched his eyebrows. Yeah, well she’d never been a very good liar. So what else was new?
“It was just a kiss, Elizabeth.”
She pulled free of his hand and continued walking down the hall. When she had turned the corner and was out of sight of the parlor, she raised the bouquet to her face and smelled the sweet flowers. Then she touched her free hand to her still-trembling lips. It had felt like a whole lot more than just a kiss to her.
Chapter Seven (#ulink_01c2b1cb-1670-50be-b99d-8e9b2ac8ae1a)
“And then there was the time the blood bank brought one of those mobile trucks. You know the kind. They stay for a few days and take donations.” Rebecca paused long enough to finish setting the silverware, then looked up and laughed. “He dated both nurses.”
“You’re kidding?” Elizabeth asked. “Both. So much for monogamy, Travis,” she called, glancing back at him over her shoulder.
“I was monogamous. The first one didn’t work out, and her friend wanted to comfort me,” he said from his seat on the floor at the edge of the big dining room. It was one of the few rooms he’d actually bothered to furnish. The rosewood table and hutch had once belonged to his mother. She’d left it behind, along with everything else when she’d left him and his brothers. Their father hadn’t wanted the set. Both Jordan and Kyle lived in apartments. Craig had told him to take it because his three boys would destroy the beautiful pieces in a matter of days.
“Travis, it’s your turn to move,” Mandy said impatiently. “Hurry, ’cuz I’m winning.”
“I’m hurrying,” he told the little girl. He rolled the dice and counted out the squares with his marker. Mandy crowed when he landed on a chute that carried him almost to the bottom of the board. “Guess you’re going to win, huh?”
She nodded vigorously, her blond braids bouncing on her shoulders. She grinned. “Mommy, I’m winning. Come see.”
Elizabeth turned in her chair and looked down at the game. “Very good, sweetie.” She gave him a quick glance. A tiny spot of color stained each cheek, but she didn’t turn away.
Travis was glad. He’d barely had time to recover from his obvious and somewhat painful reaction to their kiss when Rebecca had arrived for dinner. So far he hadn’t had the chance to make sure Elizabeth was all right. He told himself he hadn’t meant to kiss her, but he knew he was lying. He’d been thinking about it ever since her first night here, when he’d briefly touched her lips with his. He’d wanted to know if the heat between them was real or imagined. The still-burning scars reminded him the heat was plenty real. Their kiss had only made him want more.
Which was, he acknowledged, an obvious problem. He didn’t want to get involved with Elizabeth for several reasons. Not only was she a guest in his house, but he knew better than to risk it all with someone like her. She was the kind of woman who believed in commitment and forever. He didn’t know how to do that. If he was honest with himself, he didn’t have what other men had to make something special last. Four generations of failed relationships couldn’t be argued with.
But the kiss had been tempting. He only wished he’d had a chance to ask Elizabeth if everything was okay. But Rebecca and Mandy were in the room. If that wasn’t bad enough, his friend was taking perverse delight in telling Elizabeth a string of stories about his supposed conquests with women.
“What about that trick roper you dated?” Rebecca asked.
Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “A trick roper. I don’t think I want to hear about that one.”
