Page 12 of Rules of Engagement
"Here's your key card. Don't forget to lock the door behind me."
"I won't," she mumbled, forcing her tired lashes up to meet his gaze. "I'm sorry."
"For what, sweetheart?"
"Just… forget everything I've said, okay? I'm…reallyhungry."
She felt his hand brush her hair back from her face, and the moment he touched her skin, she forgot how to breathe.
"You're asleep on your feet, aren't you?"
"She was anawfulbride. And James keeps hiring my staff out from under me and… she wasawful."
Carter's thumb drifted over her cheek, her lower lip. The pad felt a bit rough, sandpapery, but once again he left a trail of fire behind. And the look on his face, his eyes…
"Sweet dreams, Eliza."
"Wait. Wh-what are you going to dream about?"
Carter chuckled, and oh, that sound. It was low and sexy and it rolled over her skin and enveloped her like a warm blanket and a back rub combined. The kind that always led to more.
"You. Definitely you, sweetheart. Now lock the door behind me. I'll be in touch."
"No, no, wait," she said, forcing herself to focus with a brain-rattling shake of her head. She didn't want this to be his impression of her. This tired, tipsy, let-him-touch-her-and-say… Or tothink… "I want my business card."
He backed into the hallway and gave her that toe-curling grin again as the door began to swing closed. "Nope," he said, emphasizing thePjust before it shut.
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Chapter 4
The following day, Carter squinted across the expanse of the beach and wished he had a pair of binoculars to see whether or not the woman who'd caught his attention fifteen or twenty minutes ago was Eliza Bellefonte.
It looked like her, but from this distance, he just couldn't be sure.
"Daddy!"
Piper drew his attention, and he followed her pointing finger toward the dolphins breaking the surface of the Atlantic. "Cool. How many do you see?"
"Three!"
He chuckled at her excitement. "Are you sure you don't want a dolphin birthday party instead of mermaid?"
His adorable imp turned her back to the surf and placed both hands on her slim hips, lifting her chin high.
"I'm Ariel, Daddy. See?"
The last was said with a lift of her hands, palms to the sky, to indicate her blazing red hair, and there was so much attitude and sass in the statement that he couldn't help but chuckle. "So I see. Promise me something, kiddo."
"What, Daddy?"
"Promise me that when you're a teenager, you'll turn down the boys and still go on Daddy-daughter dates with me."
She grinned at him, flashing her dimples, and nodded. "Of course!"
Piper went back to building a mermaid army on the sand with a plastic mold, and Carter found himself glancing toward the hotel farther down the beach once more. "Hey, you about ready to go get some food?"
"Ice cream?"
