Yours, Mine and Ours (Second Chances)

by Daley, Margaret

  "My grandmother. Did Lance help you finish filleting the fish?"

  "Yes. But you weren't raised here. I would have known that." His look seared her, leaving a burning path as it roamed over her features. "Definitely I would have known. Is your grandmother from here?"

  "No. How big is your collection of Star War figures? Wesley had a friend where we used to live who had his dad's collection. They played for hours. He's seen some of the movies three or four times."

  "Big enough to fill a chest. I was really into it for a few years before I became too old." His forefinger grazed a heated trail down her upper arm. "So where did you grow up?"

  "No. I used to have a Barbie doll collection that I hope one day Katie will appreciate." Her insides melted and her nerves jiggled. Her reaction to his touch made a mockery out of her declaration she'd had enough with men after Brad.

  His finger stopped at the pulse beat at her wrist. "Why are you avoiding my questions?"

  Tess shivered. "I answered them."

  His hand skimmed back up her arm. "I suppose technically you did."

  She looked down at his fingers on her skin, and everything inside her began to unravel. "I was born in Tulsa."

  "Is that where you moved from?"

  "No, St. Louis. After I married Brad, we moved there because of his job."

  "How did your grandmother end up here?"

  "Her best friend lives here because of her family. Granny Kime didn't like how big Tulsa was getting so she moved. There wasn't anything keeping her there once I left."

  "See now that wasn't so bad." His hand found its way to her shoulder and began to massage.

  Suddenly Tess realized there was no space between them, that he had inched closer until she could inhale his distinctive male scent, could see the lightning glitter in his eyes, could feel his presence in every fiber of her body. He overwhelmed her.

  "Will you bring Wesley over tomorrow?"

  Her thoughts were dissolving as quickly as sugar in hot water. She tried to concentrate on his question, but the feel of his fingers kneading her shoulder obliterated all reasoning. She leaned closer, as though seeking the warmth of his body.

  "Will you come tomorrow, Tess?"

  His whispered question penetrated her dazed mind, and she nodded.

  "Good." He lifted his thumb to outline the curve of her mouth. The rough texture of his skin against hers sent a quiver down her length. "How was your first half-week of work?"

  Work? Was he talking about something rational? Tess's bemused mind asked while his hand glided down to the curve of her neck and explored. She inhaled deeply, held it.

  "Is everything going okay at Carson's?"

  Even though the shadows of night were enclosing about them, Tess could see the intensity in his eyes. She blinked, looking away. "It will be a demanding job, but I think I'm going to love it." Her words came out in a breathless rush as she tried to bring a semblance of order to the chaos his touch was producing in her.

  "That's great," he murmured, bending toward her, his mouth an inch away from hers. "It makes it so much easier when you like your job."

  His mint-scented breath bathed her lips. Tess slid her eyes closed and anticipated the kiss to come with a whole-heartedness she was known for. With the first brush of his mouth across hers, she felt lost. With the second then the third, she melted against him. With the total possession of his lips, she wound her arms about him, drowning in one shattering sensation after another.

  He slanted her back on the swing, fitting his hard body to her soft contours, cushioning her against the wood with his arm. His tongue invaded her mouth, sweeping inside to delve, to thrust. His fingers plunged into her hair, holding her locked against him. His heart pounded against hers almost as though they beat as one, the tempo fast.

  She felt surrounded and bewitched at the same time. She sank further and further into a black void where she didn't exist, all her senses centered on Zachariah. Tess Morgan was disappearing. That realization brought forth her alarm, and she wrenched away.

  His raspy breathing filled the silence as she straightened, trying to bring her own breathing under control. "It's getting late," she said, her voice quavering like her body.

  He stood, staring down at her. "What time will you be by tomorrow?"

  She definitely felt at a disadvantage with him towering over her. She could see nothing of his expression now that it was totally dark, but she could feel his puzzlement, hear him settle his labored breathing. "What time is best for you?"

  "Any time after eleven."

  Such politeness after such passion. Control of her emotions slowly returned to Tess. "Then we'll be there at one." She rose, even though her legs felt weak, to walk him to the stairs. She had to prove to herself that she wasn't going to be engulfed by a man to the point she ceased to be.

  He halted at the bottom step and looked back up at her. "I know what it's like to be scared. I face that every day I go out on my job, but it doesn't stop me," he said, then pivoted and left her.

  Tess touched the lips he had totally possessed such a short time before. She could still remember the feel of them against hers. Maybe Granny Kime could take Wesley to Zachariah's house tomorrow because she just wasn't as brave as he was.

  Chapter Four

  Tess sat holding Emily while Wesley, Lance and Zachariah were at the kitchen table going through his Star Wars collection. Watching her son's expression blossom into joy made Tess glad she had given in to Wesley's demand and come to Zachariah's house instead of Granny Kime. Tess knew it wasn't because her son didn't love his great grandmother, but Tess recognized the insecurity on his face the second he turned it up toward hers and realized she couldn't deny him his simple request to accompany him, even though her common sense told her otherwise. Zachariah was dangerous to her peace of mind.

  She felt a tug on her earring and looked down at Emily. Thankfully she hadn't worn her dangling ones, Tess thought and smiled at the little girl. Her gray eyes, so much like her father's, were filled with such concentration on the glittering gold of the stud.

  "Pret-tee," Emily said while her chubby little fingers tried to pull on the earring.

  Before the child ripped a hole in her earlobe, Tess grabbed at the nearest diversion she could find, a Star War figure of some grotesque alien, and handed it to Emily. "Look at this."

  The eighteen-month-old immediately followed her direction—probably one of the last times she would be so cooperative since the terrible twos loomed ahead—and began to examine the figure, first with her eyes then her mouth. A minute later she lost interested and was back to trying to pry off the earring.

  Tess shifted the child in her lap so she could take off her gold studs and put them in her jeans pocket. Out of sight, out of mind was an adage Tess believed in, at least for small children. When it came to herself, it didn't work. All the night before she had tossed and turned, dreaming and thinking about the man across from her. It scared her how quickly he had ingrained himself into her life. This morning over breakfast all Shaun and Katie had talked about was their fishing expedition and when could they go again with Zachariah.

  "Mom, look at this one. He's got Chewbacca."

  "Han Solo's friend?" Emily squirmed in Tess's arm. She switched the little girl to her other side, hoping the small change of scenery would satisfy the child.

  "Yeah, isn't he neat? Mr. Smith even has his weapon."

  Tess's gaze fastened onto Zachariah's. "Why do boys love weapons? I wouldn't allow toy guns in the house. Guess what both Shaun and Wesley did."

  "Made their own," Zachariah said, his eyes warming to a molten silver.

  "Or used their fingers." Tess knew she should look away from the male approval in his gaze. In fact, she should run now, but for the life of her she couldn't move a muscle. Everything was eclipsed by him, the world about them fading from perception. All she could focus on was the sensuous lift of his mouth, the sexy gleam in his look, the confidant set of his features. Her thoug
hts scattered in a hundred different directions as though they were seeds carried by the wind.

  "It's the power thing," Zachariah said, a playfully wicked sparkle in his eyes now.

  "Is that the reason when they grow up they still love weapons?"

  "Who said anything about growing up." Laughter laced Zachariah's voice as the lines at the corners of his eyes deepened.

  "Mom, I don't use my fingers anymore." Wesley looked from his mother to Zachariah then back to her.

  "Oh, yeah." Tess tore her gaze away from Zachariah's. For a few seconds she had forgotten that there were three children in the room, which was quite a feat since Emily was tugging on her T-shirt and Tess, hadn't even noticed. Could women have a bad case of hormonal overload? "I forgot you like to use your Legos now."

  "Legos!" Lance exclaimed, jumping to his feet "You should see my sets. C'mon, Wesley, I'll show them to you."

  Wesley glanced uncertainly at Lance then at Tess. Her son chewed on his bottom lip, poised on the edge of his seat as though hovering between two attractive choices. "Go on, Wesley. I'll be in here with Mr. Smith and Emily."

  Wesley leaped up and raced after Lance. Tess shook her head as her gaze followed the boys' progress from the room. "There is no halfway with kids. It's either standstill or run." She yanked on her shirt, trying to dislodge Emily's tight hold on it before Tess was exposed to Zachariah. She couldn't believe the cotton material could be stretched that far.

  He watched the tug-of-war between Emily and Tess, his eyes taking on a dreamy quality. "Standstill? You have that at your house?"

  She had to look down to free herself from the little girl's clutches. When she lifted her head, she found Zachariah still staring at her, a sexual appeal in his gaze, and the blush that came so easily to her flamed her cheeks. "When they're sleeping," she murmured, not even sure where her reply had come from.

  "Ah, the best time of the day. And speaking of sleeping. It's time for Emily's nap."

  Breaking their visual link, he took his daughter from Tess, cradling his child in the crook of his arm with such tenderness that emotions swelled inside Tess. Emily smiled up at her father, then laid her head on his shoulder, her eyes already drooping closed. Zachariah brushed a wisp of his daughter's hair back from her forehead and bent his head to kiss her where the strand had lain.

  How many times had she wished that Brad would have cared enough to hold his children like that? The thickness in her throat grew. Now she realized they had never really been a family, doing things together and sharing the way families did. They had never gone on a fishing expedition like the day before.

  "All you have to do is mention the word nap and she's nodding off. I'm impressed," Tess said, again uncomfortably aware of the pull this man had on her, of the fact that with him her children had more a sense of what family was than when their father had been around.

  "Don't be. It's an hour passed her nap time, and I could see she was working herself up with her restlessness."

  "I'm impressed. You know your daughter well."

  "It's called survival. You either learn real fast to read the subtle and not so subtle signs or you deal with the tantrum that follows. It didn't take many tantrums for me to figure out what to do most of the time."

  "Yeah, but just about the time you think you have it down pat they start another stage in their life and you have to start all over."

  "And this next stage isn't one I'm looking forward to. I'll be right back," Zachariah said over his shoulder as he started out of the kitchen.

  "Don't hurry on my account." Tess suddenly felt the potential intimacy of her situation. Even though a kitchen wasn't a particularly romantic room, she didn't think it much mattered where they were alone together or for that matter where they weren't alone together. He dominated and occupied a space with his commanding presence that she was having a hard time fighting by herself or with children surrounding her.

  Tess drew in a deep, stabilizing breath. The heat in the room must have soared ten degrees in the past hour. She shot to her feet and began to prowl, restless as though she needed to shed a layer of skin. He was just a man, she told herself as she walked from one end of the kitchen to the other. Then she remembered that man holding his baby daughter in his arms and her heart thudded. She remembered his laughter, which came so easily to him, and she remembered his eyes that could almost physically possess her. But most of all she remembered his kiss the evening before that had produced a sleepless night of fantasizing what it would be like to have his body pressed to her, to have his mouth making love to her.

  Tess fanned herself. Was his air conditioner working properly? A bead of perspiration broke out on her forehead. Maybe she should say something to him about having his air conditioner fixed.

  "She's down for the count, I think," Zachariah said as he came back into the room.

  "I wish Katie still took naps." Tess latched onto the safe subject and kept her distance.

  "That's one thing I'm thankful for. Emily still takes two naps a day and they're usually pretty long ones." He stood across the room from Tess, folding his arms over his chest, leaning casually back against the doorjamb. "I also checked on the boys. Lance is showing Wesley all his different Lego sets. Wesley isn't saying much, but he's acting interested."

  Tess ran her hand back and forth along the countertop. "I hope your son can work miracles with Wesley like you did with my car."

  "I gather then that it's still running."

  "Yes and I even got my safety sticker thanks to you fixing my muffler."

  "Among other things." He shoved himself away from the doorjamb and strode further into the room.

  Tess gripped the countertop as Zachariah stopped only a foot away from her. "Boy, I'm glad you checked the lights. I didn't even know that the left taillight wasn't working. Who goes around the back of his car and checks his brake lights? Now the muffler I couldn't miss. It loudly proclaimed something was wrong, but the—"

  He lifted his hand and placed a finger over her mouth to still her nervous prattle. "When I do a job, I'm always thorough."

  Her heartbeat raced. Her mouth went dry. She wet her lips with her tongue and knew instantly the mistake she had made. Zachariah's gaze flared with a searing heat as it locked onto her moistened mouth. His hands slid into her short curls and held her still while he lowered his head toward hers.

  "When I go after something, I don't stop until I get it," he whispered against her mouth, his breath blending with hers. "I thought we would never be alone."

  Then he claimed her lips in a kiss. The world of darkness swirled behind her closed eyelids as Tess clutched his shoulders to steady herself. His tongue invaded the hot moistness of her mouth much as the man was invading her life—boldly, sweepingly.

  Their bodies melded as completely as their breaths, their mouths, their tongues. The compelling danger in his embrace slowly seeped into her dazed mind. This Tess she didn't recognize didn't want to listen to reason. She wanted to cling to the hard planes of his body. She wanted to feel the warmth so long denied. She wanted to experience the feminine pleasure of being desired by a virile man. She wanted to live the fantasy of her dream the night before.

  But a painful year of hardships stamped those wants down, and Tess brought her hands up between their meshed bodies and shoved away from him. She needed no other reason than what just happened between them to reinforce her determination to go it alone. Zachariah Smith swamped her, robbing her of her own thoughts and will. Above all else she never wanted again to depend on another so much that his rejection rocked her to her core, shaking the very foundation of herself.

  "I think it's time for us to go home," she said, backing away from him until she felt the wall behind her.

  "Running won't solve anything."

  "Running? We're walking home."

  His gaze sharpened on her. "I think we both know you're afraid to explore what's happening between us."

  "There's nothing to explore. It's purely lust."
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  One of his dark brows quirked. "Is that all?"

  "Of course. I don't know you well enough for it to be anything else."

  "That can be remedied. You still owe me a dinner."

  No! Tess silently shouted while her eyes widened at the thought of spending any more time alone with him. In just under five minutes she had lost all rationality. What would happen if they spent a whole evening together? She didn't even want to think about that.

  "Are you reneging on our deal?"

  She felt trapped. Her gaze darted around the kitchen as if that would offer her a way out of her situation. "No, of course, not. Why don't you and your children come to dinner next Saturday night?"