Pigtails flicked from side to side.
Time to pull out the big guns. “There’s Coke in the fridge. You could have that instead.”
“Mum says Coke rots your teeth.” Her voice was half a pitch above a whisper.
But still, longest sentence since she’d arrived. Progress.
“Yeah, she’s probably right about that.” He wracked his brains. Bingo. “It’s Easter next weekend, so the Easter Bunny will bring you chocolate eggs.”
Wait, did eight-year-old girls believe in Santa and the Easter Bunny still? Jade raised her chin and stared at him incredulously. Guess that was a no.
“I’m not allowed too much chocolate, or I’ll get fat.”
Ben recoiled. Fat? Where did a kid get an idea like that?
“Listen, kiddo—” The knock on his front door saved him from attempting to tackle that mine-loaded topic with his daughter.
Jesus Christ on a souped-up moped. He still couldn’t get his head around the idea.
Ben leaped out of his chair and bolted for the door.
Please let it be Marci. PleaseletitbeMarci!
He wrenched open the door to Kezia with her knuckles poised to knock again. For a moment he forgot all about unexpected hook-ups from his past and the unexpected progeny of said hook-up.
Not a pencil skirt in sight but the brunette bombshell in front of him still blew brain-cell after brain-cell. Leggings clung to her lower curves, and the orange cardigan thingy she wore acted as a beacon, directing his attention to her amazing rack. His gaze jerked up to the mass of curls spiraling over her shoulder and her lush, wide mouth. A mouth made for the kind of sin he’d dreamed of this morning before his rude awakening.
“Ben?” Dark chocolate eyes snapped with amusement and something else he may’ve been able to identify. If he could herd his remaining brain cells together.
Who was he kidding? When it came to this woman he couldn’t identify crap. Every time he ran into her she rendered him half mute with baffled lust. He hadn’t a frickin’ clue what went on behind her smile.
But right now, Kezia Murphy was his savior—because Kezia knew kids. Beside her stood Zoe, a second, shorter version of his redeemer. While his usual modus operandi involved avoiding any person under the age of ten, he’d never been so glad to see this mini-chatterbox in his entire life.
Ben didn’t question what they were doing on his doorstep, he just jabbered, “Come in, come in.”
Zoe stepped out of her polka-dot gumboots and walked inside. She shoved a basket into his arms. “We brought muffins. Where’s Jade?”
He started and flicked a gaze to Kezia, who shrugged.
“In the family room.”
“I’m gonna go say hi.” Zoe streaked toward the doorway, her socks skidding on the wooden floor.
Zoe had been in his place a couple of times while Shaye babysat. They’d stopped by with some leftovers for Shaye’s poor, domestically challenged bachelor brother. Handy having a sister who was a sous chef—her leftovers beat micro-nuked baked beans any day.
Kezia, however, had never been in his home.
“Muffins.” Ben looked down at the basket and took a whiff. Sugar and spice, but not as delicious as Kezia’s perfume. Her exotic scent wafted around him as she moved closer. “Thanks.”
From his family room drifted Zoe’s excited greeting and the softer murmur of his daughter. Kezia laid a hand on his forearm and he froze.
“A bit of a shocking morning for you, hmm?”
“Yeah.”
She squeezed his arm and dropped her hand away. “Have you eaten? Had your three cups of breakfast coffee?”
He mustered a faint grin. “Heard about that, did you?”
“Shaye’s mentioned your caffeine addiction.”
His stomach growled and she laughed, a smoky chuckle that rolled over his frazzled nerves like silk.
“Point me to your kitchen, and I’ll make you some coffee to go with the muffins.”
She partially turned away from him, and before he could stop himself he grabbed her wrist.
“Kezia,” he blurted. Her gaze locked with his. “I can’t do this.”
Chapter 2
Kezia stared up at him, fighting to keep her jaw from sagging. The top of her head only reached his chest—his really big chest, framed by broad shoulders and cut biceps. Delizioso!
Ben’s face, ruggedly arresting but by no means pretty-boy handsome, creased into harsh lines as he glanced toward the family room and Zoe’s chirpy voice.
“I don’t know anything about being that kid’s dad.” He scraped a hand over bed-rumpled, sandy brown hair.
“You’ll learn, Ben. And you’ve friends and family who’ll help.”
He made a low rumble in his throat and shrugged, so crestfallen that she stepped forward and hugged him. That’s what she did when one of her four older brothers got upset. She ignored all their machismo bullpucky and hugged the hell out of them.
Kezia’s breasts brushed the hard wall of Ben’s body and warmth spread in concentric circles outward, prickling pleasurably across her skin. Oh my. Part of her wanted to cuddle closer like a kitten, but then his abdominal muscles contracted on a sharp inhale, his body pulling away a fraction. She froze, nose to a tee shirt scented with lemon laundry detergent and freshly woken man.
A man who was not one of her brothers.
She jerked away, her hands sliding from around the taut, unyielding flesh at his waist. Shoving her fists in her cardigan pockets, she dropped her gaze. Ben still clutched the basket of muffins in one white-knuckled fist.
Awwk-warrd, as Zoe would’ve sing-songed.
Stretching a tight smile on her lips, she backed up another step. “So. Coffee?”
“Kezia?” A little rough, a little edgy, the questioning note in his voice went unanswered as Zoe popped through the family room doorway, dragging Jade behind her.
Saved from imminent humiliation. Thank you, bella.
“Mamma, can we have a muffin? Jade’s starving.”
“If it’s okay with Jade’s . . .” What would Ben call himself? Kezia glanced sidelong to where he leaned against the wall—tall, stoic, and smooth as black ice. “With Ben.”
He shrugged. “Sure. Jade, this is Ms. Murphy. She’s Zoe’s mum and a teacher at the school.”
Jade’s eyes remained downcast, her hand limp in Zoe’s grasp. “Hello, Ms. Murphy.”
Sympathy for the girl overshadowed her previous embarrassment. “You can call me Kezia.”
“Okay.” The girl twisted one pigtail around and around her finger.
“How about some hot chocolates?” Ben asked.
“Yes, please!” Zoe squeezed Jade’s hand and whispered something in her ear.
Jade nodded and tucked closer to Zoe’s side.
“Come on through.” Ben gestured to the door behind the girls.
Kezia followed them into a large sunny room, dominated by a dark-red leather couch and a flat-screen TV. Sliding glass doors opened onto a wide deck, with unobstructed views of Oban and the choppy waters of Halfmoon Bay harbor. The connected family room and kitchen were decorated in the style she’d expected, comfortable and masculine, but not boring. Not with the two enormous canvases mounted on the wall.
Ben turned and caught her staring. “Harley Komeke’s early work.”
“Wow. They’re incredible.” She tilted her head at the graphic black, white, and red traditional Maori symbols blended with skill into a jaw-dropping oil painting. “You have good taste in art.”
“They’re on loan. I’m only storing them for Harley, otherwise I would’ve flogged them off for some cash last year.”
“Not an art lover then?”
“Only if psychedelic seventies rock posters count.”
She laughed and walked through his family room into the kitchen. The stylish and clean lines of cabinetry suited him. No fuss, no pretentious trimmings, and the drying dishes and crumpled dish towel on the charcoal-colored counter reassured her that
someone actually lived there. A warm, welcoming kitchen made a house a home.
Except, perhaps, the kitchen in the house she’d shared with her late husband, Callum. That had remained a house.
Ben placed the basket on the countertop and flicked on the kettle. When the two hot chocolates were ready, she helped carry the mugs to an outdoor barbecue area in the garden. After settling the girls at the picnic table with their muffins and drinks, Ben and Kezia returned to the kitchen.
Pointing to a bar stool at the short end of the L-shaped counter, Kezia said, “Sit and eat a muffin while I make coffee. You look like you can’t wait much longer for a caffeine fix.”
A cool breeze blew in the open door behind Ben, ruffling his hair as he slumped down on a stool. “God.”
Kezia made a sympathetic sound. She found the jar marked coffee on the countertop and a French press beside it.
“You can tell she’s mine, right?”
“Jade looks like a Harland.” With the beaker half-filled with hot water, she swirled it around to warm the glass.
He grunted and snagged a muffin from the basket, examined it, then took a giant bite.
“You didn’t know about her?”
Ben chewed slowly and swallowed. “Her mother and I hooked up nine years ago when she was here on holiday. I used a rubber—not that it’s a hundred percent idiot-proof, especially for a horny twenty-year-old.” The tips of his ears warmed to a soft pink and he cleared his throat, his gaze locked on the muffin as he picked out a plump blueberry. “Anyway. After that weekend she left the island, and I never heard from her again until today.”
“Marci never contacted you to tell you about the pregnancy? Or after the baby was born to ask for child support?”
He shook his head, paused and frowned at her. “You know her name?”
“She asked me for directions this morning. Then I spoke to her again later after she’d left your place. Marci told me she’d left Jade with you.”
“Ah. That explains your mercy mission.”
She offered him a small smile and finished preparing the coffee.
Ben ate the rest of the muffin and grabbed another. He rotated it in his large hands, his gaze assessing as she moved to a glass-fronted cabinet for coffee mugs. There was more to Marci’s story than he’d let on, but past experience proved asking too many questions shut an Alpha male down fast. So she waited. Stirred the coffee, depressed the plunger, and poured two cups. More silence. She crossed the kitchen floor to grab the milk.
“Marci never asked for child support because she passed Jade off as her husband’s kid.”
Kezia’s fingers clenched on the fridge handle hard enough to snap it off at the weld. She snatched out the milk carton and slammed the door. “What? She was married when you two got together?”
Ben grimaced. “Engaged—not that I knew. We didn’t do much talking.”
She skimmed her gaze across his long-sleeved black tee shirt, admiring how the soft knit fabric molded over an impressive set of pecs. No. Talking wouldn’t be high on a woman’s agenda while spending the night in Ben Harland’s bed. With shaky hands, she slopped some milk into her mug. “Uh huh.”
“She didn’t want to become un-engaged to this guy, so she told him he was the father.”
“He believed it?” She handed him his coffee and leaned a hip against the counter, taking a small sip from hers.
“Up until a couple of years ago. Then Jade grew out of her generic baby face and he became suspicious enough to do a DNA test.”
“And found out Jade wasn’t his.”
“Yep. Took their then four-year-old son and walked out the same day he got the results.”
Kezia’s mouth dropped open. “He and Marci have a child?”
“Yeah. Jade has a half-brother, Blake.”
“Didn’t Marci fight for her son?”
“I dunno. She told me her ex-husband has full custody of the boy.”
“So Jade lost her father and brother at the same time. Poor wee girl.” She shook her head.
“And now Marci needs some ‘me time’ while I get a crash course in ‘daddyhood.’ Her words, not mine.” He shoved the basket of muffins across the counter and dropped his head into his hands. “I don’t want to be a father, and I have no fucking idea what to do with this kid for two weeks.”
Her heart valves pinched shut at the vehemence of his words, but she flicked the sensation aside. His outburst didn’t entirely shock her. What bachelor could cope with unexpected parenthood without blowing off steam?
Kezia set down her mug and leaned across the counter, peeling Ben’s hands from his face to reveal stark brown eyes.
“Whether or not you want to be a father is irrelevant. Jade needs you to be there for her.”
“She needs her mother, not me.”
“Right now she hasn’t got a mother, so man up.”
He leaned back and a small smile briefly played across his lips. “You’re a tough woman, Kezia Murphy. Don’t go easy on me or anything—”
“Mamma?”
Kezia glanced up at Zoe’s voice. Her daughter stood in the open doorway with a downturned mouth and a crinkled brow.
“What’s the matter? Did you spill your drink?”
Zoe shook her head, curls bouncing wildly. “No. Jade came to see if we could have another muffin, but then she rushed down the stairs real upset. She’s hiding in the bushes and won’t come out.”
“Hell.” Ben pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut.
Kezia’s blood froze to an icy sludge. Sweet Mother of God! Could the day get any worse for the little girl?
***
Big body, big mouth—what a numbnuts. As a result of letting emotion squeak through his defenses, he now had his kid hiding in the garden.
Ben scrubbed a palm over his bristled chin, waiting for the roiling in his stomach to settle. “I’ll go, ah, talk to her.”
He stood, refusing to meet Kezia’s gaze, afraid of seeing disappointment and disgust in her eyes. Not that he’d blame her.
Ben jogged down the outside steps to his yard and headed toward the bushy rhododendron planted along the boundary fence. Tucked almost out of sight between the branches and the fence, a flash of light green fabric caught his eye.
He crouched on his haunches and moved some of the foliage out the way. “Uh, Jade?”
Silence.
“Kiddo, are you okay?” Seriously? That was the best he could come up with?
More silence. Then a moist sniff. He’d made her cry. What a frickin’ prince.
“Did you hear me and Kezia talking?”
A hiccup. He’d take it as a yes.
Ben duck-walked closer to the rhododendron and pushed another branch aside, revealing black boots with scuffed toes tucked close to the girl’s body.
“Listen, kiddo,”—the branch slipped from his fingers and thwacked him in the nose—“ouch! Shit.” Remembering responsible adults didn’t swear in front of minors, he quickly added, “I mean—shark bait!”
A korimako perched on the fence trilled, the bell-like notes of its song almost a warbled chuckle. Yeah, he was a funny guy. Yuk it up, birdie.
Then a soft, snuffly giggle from behind the bush. A-ha! Maybe he’d keep hitting himself with stuff to make her laugh. That could work.
He sat cross-legged on the grass. “Will you come out and let me explain, Jade?”
“No. You’re mean.”
“Yeah, sometimes I am mean. And kinda grumpy too.” He sucked at this, he really did. “Jade, what I said wasn’t very nice. I’m sorry.”
Shuffling noises, then a face peeped out of the leaves, her red-rimmed eyes fixed on his. “You said you didn’t want to be my father.”
“No. I said I didn’t want to be a father. Big difference. I’ve got nothing against you personally, kiddo. You’re as cute as a button.”
“Oh.” She edged out farther and sat, wrapping her arms around her knees.
“I have no ide
a what to do here, do you?”
Jade’s eyes popped wide. “You don’t know what to do? But you’re a grown-up.”
“Grown-ups don’t always know what they’re doing.” Him being a walking, talking, screw-up of an example. Ben glanced back to the house. Kezia and Zoe sat on his deck, watching while he made a complete dick of himself. “Ah, shall I go find your mum? You know, if you want someone to talk to?”
Her face crumpled in on itself and fat tears rolled down her cheeks. “Mum doesn’t want me either.”
Aw, crap. The waterworks again. Ben patted her knee, then snatched his hand away. “I’m sure that’s not true.”
“Is so. And my other daddy who’s not my real daddy, he doesn’t want me. Nobody wants me.” Jade cried harder.
A woman’s tears usually catapulted him out the nearest exit, but a kid’s? His kid? The spitting image of his youngest sister looking up at him, back when he’d broken the head off her favorite Barbie doll? All shiny-eyed devastation and betrayal. Jesus. Undigested blueberry muffins threatened to reappear.
Tell her you want her, moron!
His vocal chords slammed shut, his mouth so dry his lips sealed together.
Kezia hurried across the lawn. “Is everything okay?”
Nope, nowhere near okay. He’d screwed up yet again.
Ben stood, his heart jarring against his ribs until he was sure bones would snap. “I dunno what—hell, I tried—” He waved a hand at Jade then shoved it into the front pocket of his jeans. “I’ll clear some space in my spare room.”
Kezia looked from him to the sobbing girl at his feet and her melted-chocolate eyes turned brittle. “You do that. I’ll take care of her.”
Ice floes in Antarctica were warmer than her voice.
Ben fled the scene as if Kezia had fired a starting gun up his ass, knowing he’d been judged—and found wanting.
***
Kezia hauled the weeping girl onto her lap, enfolding the child tightly in her arms and murmuring endearments. Zoe clattered down the stairs and sandwiched Jade in a group hug, pulling away after a few moments to rub her new friend’s back. Sobs tapered to sniffles and Jade rested her head on Kez’s shoulder, snuffling.
Melting Into You (Due South Book 2) Page 2