by Nan Dixon
“Kemper will be here tomorrow morning. We can bring down tables.” Jed checked the time on his phone. “I need to get over to the Chatham project.”
Cheryl shifted on her feet. Was she nervous because he’d touched her? Disgust ate a hole in his stomach.
She turned to Abby. “Have you thought about how food will get up to the second floor? Especially during parties?”
He relaxed a little.
They moved to the central staircase.
“The stairs are a showpiece, but I sure couldn’t climb the spiral with a heavy tray.” Jed shook his head.
“What about the dummy system we use at Fitzgerald House?” Cheryl chewed her lip.
“I’ve been so focused on the kitchen design, I didn’t think about second-floor service.” Abby looked over at Nathan. “Can we get a dumbwaiter in here?”
“How wide do you want it?” he asked.
She and Cheryl looked at each other.
“Can you show Nathan the system we use in Fitzgerald House? I have to meet Dolley at the attorney’s office.”
Cheryl crossed her arms so tightly, he worried she would cut off her air supply. “Of course.”
He and Cheryl traipsed across the courtyard in silence. Her hands twisted as they headed to the dumbwaiter built into the side of the kitchen.
“This is it.” Cheryl pulled open the door. He took out his tape measure and notebook. Not that he used them much when he couldn’t trust his brain to interpret what he saw. Handing the notebook to Cheryl, he asked, “Can you write down the measurements?”
“Sure.” She gave him that look again. The one that said she didn’t believe he could read.
He snapped the tape out, angry with...everything. Then he barked out the numbers as he measured.
He took the notebook back, intentionally letting their fingers brush. She snatched her hand away and tucked it behind her back.
“Really?” he asked.
“What?” Her gaze caught his. Her eyes were as big as spools of cable.
“You hate it when I touch you.” He shook his head. Why did he punish himself like this? He frightened her. “Forget it.”
He pushed past her. Time to leave.
“That’s not it.” She grabbed his shoulder. “I...”
He waited. Her apple scent flooded the air around them.
“Sorry I bumped you earlier. It wasn’t intentional.” He willed his feet to move but her hand still held him.
“It’s not that I don’t like your touch,” she whispered.
He should leave. He didn’t need to be humiliated. “Right.”
“I was thinking about our kiss.”
His head snapped up. Her face was bright pink.
He turned toward her. Their bodies were in each other’s space. And she wasn’t pushing him away. “So was I.”
“I just...” She took a deep breath. “I can’t stop thinking about it.”
As if she were a piece of glass, Nathan slowly cupped her chin. He paused, waiting for her to bolt.
She didn’t. She leaned into his hand, closing her eyes. “I miss being touched.”
He slid his thumb along her cheekbone. Her sigh warmed the space between them.
Stepping close, his other hand stroked her bare arm. Her taut muscles relaxed under his touch.
He cradled the back of her neck and tilted her head. He dropped his lips so they almost touched hers. “May I?”
“Please.”
He kissed her with a sigh. A soft brush, so she didn’t run.
A flick of his tongue on the seam of her lips and her tongue darted out to meet his. Sparks built between them and flared to life. He tugged her close and her arms wrapped around his neck like kudzu.
“Don’t let go,” he whispered.
His hands dropped to her butt, pulling her tight. A hip roll brought her into perfect alignment but didn’t ease his growing ache. He spread kisses across her cheek, up to her eyes. When his teeth scraped her earlobe, she squirmed.
Pain and pleasure stole his breath. He buried his head in her neck, his breath blowing in and out like a bellows. His hands found their way to the delicate skin under her shirt. He smoothed and stroked, wishing he could pull the thing off.
She dropped kisses on his neck and up to his ear. Her touches were tentative, but grew bolder as she used her teeth and tongue.
A buzzer blared.
Cheryl broke away, gasping. “Shoot. I have to get that.”
She tugged down her shirt and straightened her ponytail. “Do I look okay?”
She looked rumpled and sexy. Fabulous. Her lips were swollen and pink. Probably not what she wanted to hear.
“You’re beautiful.”
She looked panicked.
“Don’t worry.” He touched her cheek.
Her face lost most of its color. “My job is on the line.”
The buzzer sounded again.
She rushed away. “Shoot. Shoot. Shoot.”
He took deep breaths, trying to get his body under control.
He’d decided to stay away from Cheryl, but kissing her was a much better plan.
* * *
CHERYL CHECKED THE TIME. Again.
Nathan should be bringing the kids home any minute.
She touched her lips. Were they still puffy from this afternoon’s kisses? Every breath she took carried his woodsy scent. Her skin still tingled from the touch of his hands.
She shouldn’t have kissed him. He had too many problems already, but, Lordy, she wanted to kiss him again. It had been so long since she’d felt like a woman.
She pulled out extra plates, silverware and glasses. Would Nathan accept a dinner invitation? It was just chicken, salad and fresh green beans.
Would it look too obvious if she set the dishes on the table? She left them on the counter, ready to grab if he and Isabella accepted her invitation.
Footsteps pounded on the outside steps. Josh. Cheryl grinned, wishing she had a small portion of his energy. She opened the door as he hit the landing.
He grabbed her around the knees. “Mom. Mom.”
“Josh. Josh.”
He shoved his backpack into her hands. “I got to feed a bunny. Can we have a bunny? Please, Mom, please?”
Nathan came up, carrying Issy. He smiled at her, a little tentatively.
She smiled back and held the door open.
“What’s this about a bunny?” Mama had always said no to pets.
“He was big and fluffy. I know we can’t have a dog. But a rabbit stays in its cage most of the time. We let it out and it hopped around the room and right to me. And it ate lettuce from my hand. He was so soft. And I want one.” Josh spoke so quickly her head spun.
“It was a really cool rabbit.” Nathan jiggled Issy is his arms. “Right, short stuff?”
She nodded.
“What did you like best about the bunny, sweetie?” he asked.
Issy stroked Nathan’s hair. And Nathan’s smile dimmed. “Can you use your words?”
She buried her face in his neck. He sighed but headed toward the kitchen.
“You got to see this marvelous creature?” she asked, not wanting them to leave.
“Mom.” Josh tugged on her shirt. “Can we have one?”
“I’ll think about it.” She handed his backpack back to him.
“That means no.” He scowled. “I never get anything.”
Nathan stopped walking and started to open his mouth.
She shook her head. This was her battle to fight. “I said I would think about it. I don’t know how much a rabbit costs and what they eat.”
Josh stomped off to his room.
“That was fun.” She rubbed her arms.
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“He’s a kid.”
Nathan set his daughter down. She leaned against his legs. The way she clung to Nathan reminded Cheryl of how Josh had acted after they’d run from Levi. Something to discuss with Nathan when Isabella wasn’t around.
“The bunny was cute,” Nathan said. “Long fur. Not sure what breed it was.”
“I wish Abby had a no-bunny rule in the lease.”
He stepped a little closer, brushing a finger down her cheek. “Are you okay?”
She swallowed. “Yes. You?”
“Worried.”
“Why?” He didn’t seem like the kind of man who worried about anything.
“I’m afraid you’ll rethink what happened today.”
She shook her head. “It was...lovely.”
His eyes sparkled. “More than lovely.”
“I was wondering if you and Isabella wanted to eat dinner with us.”
“Oh, yeah.” He stepped a little closer but didn’t touch her. “I’d like that a lot.”
Her body trembled at being near Nathan without touching him. This didn’t make any sense.
“Issy and I will just drop her stuff off.” When he stepped back, Cheryl missed his heat. Clearly, she was losing it.
“Maybe playing with Issy before dinner will help Josh’s mood.” While they were gone, she set the table and added the flowers she’d splurged on at the grocery store. “There.”
“How come there’s flowers on the table?” Josh tromped back into the kitchen. “And why are there extra plates?”
“Because flowers are nice and we’re having guests for dinner.”
He crossed his arms. “We don’t have guests.”
“Mr. Nathan and Isabella.”
“Don’t leave me with him again. Please.” His tone was equal parts panic and sadness.
“Mr. Nathan helps us. A lot. I want to help them.”
“I want it to be just you and me.” He was full-on whining now. “Like it always is.”
She knelt, holding out her arms.
He hugged her tight, his cowlick tickling her nose. Her son tried to be strong, but he was still her little boy. “I love you.”
“Then we can eat dinner.” He tugged on her arm. “Just you and me.”
“I’ve already invited Isabella and Mr. Nathan.” She stood, still holding him. His legs dangled down to her knees. She twirled in a circle. He giggled. She pretended to stumble, weaving around the kitchen. He giggled harder. Finally she slid to the floor.
“Mom. Mom.” Josh patted her face, part of their game. “Are you okay?”
She eased him to the floor and tickled him. “I’m wonderful.”
The kitchen echoed with his laugh and her demented cries.
“No more. No more.” He scuttled on his butt away from her. “I give.”
Jumping up, she raised her hands in the air. “I’m the champion. I’m the champion!”
“Of what?” Nathan’s deep voice called from the open kitchen door.
Cheryl turned, grinning. “I’m the champion of the family. Now Master Josh has to do everything I ask without complaining the entire night.”
Nathan’s eyebrows arched so high, they were hidden in his blond hair. “Can I get a piece of this action?”
“Nope.” The thought of Nathan holding her pinned to the floor seared her body.
Issy stood behind Nathan, her arm wrapped around one solid thigh. Her blanket was clutched to her face and fear filled in her eyes.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” she asked.
The little girl looked at Josh. Then looked at her.
Nathan scooped her into his arms and tipped her upside down. An anemic squeak erupted that could have been a giggle. But it was nothing like Josh’s belly laugh.
Cheryl may have made mistakes in her life, but running away from Levi and ending up in Savannah was the smartest thing she’d ever done. Here, Josh felt safe enough to be normal.
She needed to be strong, for him.
“Josh, you and Issy can play for a few minutes,” she said. “I’ll call when dinner’s ready.”
“She’s a girl.” Josh rolled his eyes.
“And you’re a boy. And I’m the queen of the family right now.”
He sighed but held out his hand.
When Issy took Josh’s hand, Nathan’s gaze followed them out of the room.
Cheryl moved to the stove to stir the chicken.
“Something smells good.” Nathan’s breath made the hairs on the back of her neck flutter. His hand snuck around her waist and pulled her back into his chest. “And dinner smells good, too.”
“If you distract me, I’ll overcook the chicken.” She gave him a nudge. It was strange having a man in the kitchen. Even when Brad was alive, he’d spent his time training or overseas. The moments they’d had together had been precious but few.
She pushed away her sadness. “Would you get the salad out of the fridge?”
While Nathan moved behind her, she tested a piece of chicken and a potato.
“What kind of dressing?” His head was in the fridge.
“The balsamic.”
Bottles and jars scraped and rattled as he searched. “Can’t find it.”
She put the lid back on the pot and joined him. Their hips bumped as she pushed around the bottles he’d moved. “It’s homemade. Sorry. I should have warned you.”
“I don’t mind.” He wrapped an arm around her waist. “It got you over here, didn’t it?”
She saw the kiss coming. His lips brushed and teased. She couldn’t wait for him to press his mouth more firmly to hers.
Instead he pulled away. “I need to pace myself. You’re potent.”
“No one has ever called me that before.” She liked it.
As they waited for the potatoes to cook, she asked, “Have you figured out why Issy is so jumpy?”
“Jumpy?”
“Loud voices. Angry words make her—pull into herself.”
“I wish I knew.” He sat at the table. “She won’t say a word. I’ve tried to find Heather. Called the few friends I remember her having, but they haven’t seen her in years. Didn’t even know she had a kid.”
“She moved?”
“Yeah. I even tried the county on Issy’s birth certificate. Nothing.”
“Have you looked her up on the internet to see where she got her DUI?”
“Tried.” He shook his head. “I’m always running short of time.”
“I could help.”
Relief warmed his eyes as he stood. “Let me get my laptop.”
When Nathan brought the computer in, he started to open the cover, but she held up a hand. “Dinner’s ready.”
He nodded. “I’ll get the kids.”
“We can search after dinner.” And maybe she could check her grade on the quiz she’d taken last week.
It was nice having the craziness of feeding two kids and a man at her table. This is what life would have been like if Brad hadn’t died. She touched her stomach. Maybe they would have had another child.
She watched Nathan cut Isabella’s chicken. There wasn’t a second child in her future, but she could help Nathan with his daughter. Eventually, Nathan and Issy would move on, both physically and emotionally. But she could help for now.
“I cut the potatoes,” Josh told Isabella.
Issy forked a potato and smiled at him. A pixie with dandelion fluff for hair and her father’s heart-breaking brown eyes.
Cheryl brushed the hair out of Isabella’s eyes. “Is it good?”
The little girl nodded.
“I love it.” Nathan grinned.
Josh shot him a glare. And the bubble broke. They weren’t a family. She was just
helping out a semiclueless father with a damaged daughter.
As dinner wound down, Isabella set her milk too close to the table’s edge and the plastic glass dropped to the floor.
“Issy.” Nathan’s voice was sharper than normal, but he didn’t yell.
The little girl cringed anyway. Her shoulders curled up to hid her face. A whimper erupted as she bent in two.
“It’s okay. It’s just spilled milk.” Cheryl hurried to the other side of the table. “Josh, can you please grab paper towels? We’ll have this cleaned up in no time.”
Isabella was frozen. Cheryl stroked her back and she jerked. “Nathan, I think she’s done.”
Nathan took the hint and picked up his daughter. She wrapped her limbs around him like a vine.
“It’s okay.” Josh handed a wad of towels to Cheryl. “Sometimes I spill, too. Mom never slaps me.”
“Slaps?” Nathan said. “Issy?”
The girl tucked her head deeper into Nathan’s shoulder, shaking her head.
Josh covered his mouth.
“Josh?” Cheryl wiped the floor, trying to keep everything nonchalant. “Has Isabella talked to you?”
“I can’t tell.” Josh looked at Issy. “I promised.”
Nathan’s face darkened. His hand reached out. Cheryl knew he wouldn’t physically hurt her son, but her reaction was automatic. She pushed off the floor and moved between Nathan and Josh, tossing wet paper towels into the garbage. She brushed by Nathan and whispered, “Don’t.”
He hefted Isabella higher on his hip. “But...”
“Wait.” She kept her voice soft. Louder she said, “Let’s get the dishes cleared. Issy, would you throw the napkins in the garbage?”
Nathan set her down.
Cheryl assigned small tasks to Issy, praising her as she completed each one.
“Thank you, everyone,” Cheryl said when the kitchen was clean.
“Can I play?” Josh asked.
“I think you’re forgetting something.”
Josh looked at Nathan and Issy. “Not in front of them.”
She tickled him. “Oh, yes, in front of them.”
“Mom.”
She crossed her arms, grinning.
Josh exhaled a breath as strong as a hurricane. “May I go play, Queen Mother of Mine?”
She ruffled his hair. “Yes, you may, my slave.”