by Various
“I thought you had things to do.”
“They’ll keep.”
She shook her head. “That’s okay. Cleaning it up is my penance for letting this happen in the first place.”
“How did you?”
She wasn’t about to admit that she’d gotten sidetracked thinking about him.
She shrugged. “I guess I’m a little tired. I let Shelly take Jared to the bathroom and I didn’t keep very close track of the time that had passed. The next thing I knew, they had locked me out and were pouring milk on my newly mopped floor.”
Win’s eyes filled with concern. “You aren’t getting enough sleep.”
“It was just sitting out in the sunshine being lazy. It made me tired. I’m fine now.” A yawn surprised her before she could stifle it, giving lie to her words.
He reached out and brushed her cheek. “You’ve got shadows under your eyes. I should have noticed. You’re working too hard.”
“I’m fine, really.” She didn’t think her heart could handle his concern. She’d rather he went back to ignoring her.
He shook his head. “You need a nap as much as the kids do. Go lie down and I’ll take care of cleaning up this mess.”
A nap sounded so tempting, but cleaning was her job after all. “Don’t be silly. You didn’t hire me so you’d have to clean up when I’m feeling a little sleepy.”
“Forget the mess,” he growled. “You’re taking a nap.”
She would have argued, but another yawn slipped out and she knew Win would never believe that she didn’t need the rest. She nodded. “Fine, but don’t complain to me about getting behind on your own work.”
He nudged her toward the door. “You’re welcome.”
She didn’t need to be such a fishwife. Turning around, she gave him a conciliatory smile. “I’m sorry, Win. Thank you. Though I’m sure Lonny and Shorty won’t be thanking me for keeping you from the stables.”
She turned to go, but his words stopped her. “Lonny isn’t with Shorty.”
Her tired brain had a difficult time making sense of his statement, but she sensed there was something important there that she needed to understand.
She turned around to face him again. “Where is he, then?”
Win’s shoulder’s lifted in a negligent gesture that said he didn’t know. “I fired him.”
“You fired him? Why?” She couldn’t believe it.
Win looked at her as if her brain wasn’t functioning very well, which it wasn’t. However, her question was a reasonable one.
“He made a pass at you,” Win said.
“But, I took care of it. You didn’t have to fire him.”
A frown creased Win’s features. “He signed his own pink slip the moment he touched you.”
She couldn’t take it in. “That’s ridiculous, Win. This is your busiest time of year. You can’t have fired one of your hands just because he made a play for your housekeeper.”
Suddenly he was right in front of her, his hands holding her in place. “You aren’t just my housekeeper, damn it.”
“Yes, I am. You’re interested in sleeping with me like Lonny was, but I’m no more than your employee.”
His expression turned fierce. “I’m not like Lonny and you know it.”
Weary of fighting over the same ground, she conceded. “You’re right. You are old enough to go out with me for one thing, but you want the same thing he did.”
Win released her and let his arms drop to his side. “Lonny’s a horny kid on the prowl for a good lay. I want you, honey. There’s a difference and one of these days you’re going to figure it out.
Then you’ll put us both out of our misery.”
She opened her mouth to deny what he had said, but he pressed one of his fingers against her lips. “Shh. Go take your nap. We’ll talk about this later.”
She swallowed her denial and, pulling away from him, she turned to go.
Win finished cleaning the kitchen, careful to get every last bit of milk mopped up. Carlene wouldn’t appreciate the smell of sour milk in her kitchen. He liked the possessiveness with which she referred to the kitchen. Other housekeeper-cooks had said similar things, but hearing it had never affected Win the same way. It made him feel a sense of permanence with Carlene; like maybe she wouldn’t quit and move on the way she’d told him she planned to do eventually.
He rinsed the mop with bleach water and put it away in the broom closet. Then, although he knew he needed to get to the stable, he found himself climbing the stairs to the second level and walking down the corridor toward Carlene’s room. He took a minute to check on Jared and Shelly. Both kids were sleeping soundly, which didn’t surprise Win at all. They expended enough energy to fuel a small town. He didn’t know how Carlene handled it. Even with Shorty’s help in the afternoons, she must be running herself ragged, but she hadn’t contacted a service to send someone out to help her.
When he had asked her why, she shrugged and said she didn’t think the kids needed another stranger in their life right now.
She was an amazing woman.
He pushed open her bedroom door and his gaze settled on the woman sleeping in the bed. She’d undressed and her bare shoulder peaked above the light blanket she slept under. His fingers itched to touch the silky smooth skin. How long was she going to keep him waiting? When would she accept that they could be good together?
Good, nothing. They would be spectacular.
She sighed in her sleep and turned her head on the pillow, giving him an unencumbered view of her gentle features. Bruises from lack of sleep marked the skin under her eyes. He felt guilt settle on him. Hell. He should have noticed how tired she was getting, but he’d been so busy trying to avoid her. He’d spent the last three days trying to give her space.
He realized now that the strategy hadn’t worked worth a hill of beans.
She was still focused on his desire to remain single. She couldn’t seem to grasp the fact that he wanted more than some tawdry affair or a one-night stand. He almost laughed. One night with Carlene would only leave him hungry for more. As he’d told her, there was a whole range of possibilities between marriage and a quick roll in the hay.
Wasn’t there?
Of course there was, he admonished himself.
She didn’t think so.
Hell. She’d even compared him to that idiot, Lonny. It was not a flattering comparison. Lonny would bed any willing woman. Win should have realized the potential for trouble when he hired Carlene. He hadn’t. The knowledge rankled.
She should never have found herself in the position of having to defend her virtue from a lecher like Lonny.
Well, Win would be much more careful when he hired a replacement hand. He wouldn’t hire another jerk looking for an easy lay, even if it meant working the busy spring season short one stable hand. He would protect Carlene, even if she didn’t think she needed it.
Chapter 7
“ANYBODY up for some ice cream?” Win asked after dinner.
His question was immediately greeted with delighted shouts by his niece and nephew.
“I wants some. I do,” shouted Jared.
“Me too. I want bubble gum flavor. Can I have bubble gum, Uncle Win?” Shelly asked, hopping excitedly from one foot to the other in the middle of the kitchen.
Win turned to Carlene and she felt the force of his gaze as it locked with hers over the children’s heads. “How about you, Carlene? Would you like something sweet and cool?”
She wanted something, but ice cream didn’t come into it. Ever since she’d woken from her nap, she’d been feeling a curious tension. It felt as if something had shifted in her relationship with Win that afternoon, but she didn’t yet understand what.
Perhaps it had something to do with his remark about putting them both out of their misery.
About wanting her, not just any woman. She had the distinct impression that a showdown over their relationship was coming, one in which she might not be victorious. She wasn’
t even sure she wanted to be any longer. Ice cream, however, was safe.
So she nodded. “Sure, just let me do something to my hair and I’ll be ready to go.”
Gazing at her reflection in the vanity mirror in the bathroom attached to her room a few minutes later, she critically surveyed the dark curls framing her makeup-free face. She hadn’t had time to apply any sort of cosmetics since the first morning after she started watching Win’s niece and nephew. Children were time-consuming. No wonder so many mothers went for the natural look.
Grimacing at the unkempt woman in the mirror, she made a decision. Twenty minutes later, she had changed her clothes, swept her hair up in a riot of curls on top of her head and applied subtle makeup. She moved into the bedroom and took inventory of her improved appearance.
She looked much more feminine in the form-fitting, coral knit top, emerald-green designer jeans and gold sandals than she had in her oversized white T-shirt, blue jeans and tennis shoes she’d been wearing earlier.
Win called impatiently from the courtyard. She could hear the children playing in the fountain through the opening she had left cracked in her door.
“Carlene, by the time you’re ready it’s going to be winter already and ice cream isn’t going to sound so good.”
She smiled at the jibe, anticipating Win’s reaction to the change from frumpy housekeeper to attractive female. Taking the time to apply coral lip-gloss over the too-subtle lipstick she had originally picked out, Carlene finished getting ready. She seized her purse off the dresser and headed to the courtyard to meet Win and the children.
The minute she stepped onto the stone pathway, she knew her time primping had been well spent.
Win’s eyes locked on her with the precision of a homing missile. A slow, wicked grin split his face. “Honey, it’s a good thing for you that we’ve got these two around or you’d never make it to town for ice cream.”
His hand swept out, indicating the children, who were sailing two small plastic vessels in the pool below the fountain.
She returned his smile with one of her own and winked. “Maybe I wouldn’t want to.”
The intensity in his look shot up another ten degrees. He took a deep breath. “You’re playing with fire, honey. Watch it or you’re going to end up singed.”
“Uncle Win, Mama says never to play with fire. It’s dangerous.” Shelly’s sweet face was set in serious lines.
Win laughed and the sound of masculine amusement shivered along Carlene’s nerve endings with as much force as a touch.
He swept Shelly up in his arms and tickled her. “You’re right, sweetpea. Fire is dangerous.”
Turning his head, he met Carlene’s gaze and she knew the words were meant for her as much as for his niece.
Feeling too good to be cautious, Carlene just smiled and turned to collect Jared.
That nap had done wonders.
Several other families shared Win’s brilliant plans for after-dinner ice cream. The place was packed.
Families. The word didn’t really describe himself, Carlene and the children. Technically, he, Shelly and Jared could be considered family, but it wasn’t the same. He didn’t plan on getting married again and that meant he wasn’t going to be a father. It also meant he didn’t have to worry about disappointing his children as his parents had disappointed him. It meant he wouldn’t bring another child into the world that would have to face the devastation of divorce and his family getting ripped apart.
It also meant that Win would never have a wife or children to share the simple pleasures in life, like going out for ice cream on a warm summer evening.
Thoughts that used to underline his hard-won independence were now just a little depressing.
He gave himself a mental shake and focused on the pleasure of the moment. He was with his two favorite kids and a warm, sexy woman. What more could a man ask for?
Answers that he didn’t want to deal with whispered at the back of his mind, but he ignored them in favor of glaring at a couple of teenage boys that were ogling Carlene. One of the boys caught his gaze and quickly turned away, nudging his friend as he did so. The friend wasn’t so quick to look away, but when Win indicated the outside with a tilt to his head and a raised eyebrow, the boy swallowed and found a renewed interest in the menu board.
He’d never felt this possessive about anyone, not even his ex-wife. Rachel had been pretty. Men had looked and all Win had experienced had been male satisfaction in having a pretty wife.
Carlene would probably call him sexist. Hell, maybe he was…a little. Anyway, things were different with Carlene and they weren’t even involved yet.
“What are you going to have?” Her question pulled Win from his reverie.
He shrugged. “Double scoop of Rocky Road. It’s what I always have.”
She stared at him as if he’d just said that he ate his ice cream while riding buck naked through town.
“What?” he demanded. “You don’t like Rocky Road?”
“I love Rocky Road, but I can’t imagine getting the same flavor of ice cream every single time.
They’ve got thirty-two flavors, Win. How can you not want to try something new? I can’t even get two scoops of the same thing,” she admitted.
“I’m not much on change I guess.”
“Life without change is boring. It’s too…it’s too…predictable.”
Yeah. Like waking up next to the same husband for the rest of your life. His mom hadn’t liked that sort of predictability either. “That’s me, boring.”
Making a grab for Jared’s shirt before he could get out the door someone had just opened, Carlene laughed. She led Jared over to the case that displayed ice-cream cones decorated like clowns and animals. “Here, sugarbear. Why don’t you pick one of these to have for your treat?”
Shelly decided she wanted a decorated cone as well and joined Jared at the case as they discussed the merits of the ones displayed there.
Carlene turned back to Win, lingering laughter in her eyes. “One thing you could never be, Win, is boring. Irritating. Arrogant and sometimes even predictable, but never boring.”
“Tell me that six months from now.” That was about how long his mom’s euphoria over a new marriage would last. Then the fighting would start. The tantrums came next and then, finally, divorce.
Carlene’s smile slipped. “I get the feeling we’re talking about more than preferences in ice cream here.”
He shrugged. A crowded restaurant was not the place to get into such a discussion. In fact, he didn’t think he wanted to have this particular discussion at all. “What two different flavors are you going to have this time?”
She eyed him speculatively, as if she was testing his determination to change the subject, and then she too shrugged. “I was thinking about the flavor of the month and mocha almond fudge.
I’ll have it as a sundae with hot fudge, whip cream, nuts and a cherry, of course.”
It was his turn to eye her askance. “What is the point of ordering two different flavors if you’re going to drown them with toppings?”
The sparkle came back to her eyes. Laying her hand against his chest, she said, “You’ve definitely got to learn to live a little, Win. Your ice-cream-eating education has been severely limited. I suggest you let me order for you tonight.”
He couldn’t resist the teasing glint in her eyes. She’d been like this ever since she came into the courtyard looking like a million bucks. He liked it when she teased him, he realized. Taking the plunge, he said, “Okay.”
Her smile went up about one hundred watts. “Great.”
For a minute he thought she was going to seal her approval with a kiss. She had slipped her hand up from his chest to the back of his neck and her gaze had gone soft, her lips parting. He started to lean down to make it easy for her and she blinked. Then she looked around, seeming to remember their surroundings.
Lightning quick, she removed her hand from his neck and moved back a step. “Uh, I’ll find o
ut which cones Shelly and Jared have decided on.”
Stifling his disappointment, he nodded. “You do that.”
His voice came out harsher than he intended. He knew she wanted to be discreet, but he didn’t have to like it.
She didn’t waste any time moving further away from him toward the kids.
“I want the puppy,” Shelly said in response to Carlene’s question.
Jared wanted a lime-green clown.
Win took the kids to a table to sit down while Carlene made the order. He wondered what kind of ice cream he was going to end up having. He doubted it would matter. Ten to one, she was going to have it all doctored up like hers.
A few minutes later when she appeared at their table with two fully loaded sundaes and the kids’ cones, his guess was confirmed. Carlene laid a huge stack of napkins in the middle of the table along with a cup of water. She handed each of the kids their cones before placing what looked like a mound of whip cream in front of Win. He speculated on what the innocent-looking white fluff hid before scooping into it with his spoon.
His trepidation must have shown on his face because she giggled. “Don’t worry, it isn’t going to bite back.”
“That’s what they said before the giant banana split destroyed that small Midwestern town.”
Shelly’s eyes rounded. “What giant ’nana split? Did you see it?”
He reached out and ruffled his niece’s hair. “No, sweetpea. I was just kidding.”
“Oh. Does that mean the giant ’nana split isn’t true, Uncle Win?”
He nodded. “Yes, sweetpea, that’s what it means.”
“Mama says you aren’t supposed to lie, Uncle Win.”
He groaned and looked to Carlene for help. Her gaze was fixed on someone behind him and he got the feeling she’d missed most of the frustrating exchange he was having with Shelly.
He wanted to turn and see who she was looking at with that expression of chagrin, but he had to answer Shelly’s question first. He didn’t want her telling Leah that he lied.
“A joke isn’t a lie, sweetpea, because nobody is supposed to believe it. They’re supposed to think it’s funny.”
“When somethin’s funny I laugh,” Shelly informed him.