Page 23 of Tru Blue
“So, why princesses? It seems like you would want to go in the opposite direction.”
“Because Princess for a Day isn’t about just being a frilly little princess who’s given anything she wants. It’s about being whoever the children dream of being. We have rocker princesses, academic princesses, construction worker princesses. You name it, we offer it. Goth, frills, leather, lace, tomboy, twisted…I wanted to call it You for a Day, but the marketing specialists I spoke to said no one would know what it was or who it was for.” She shrugged. “So I went with princess. What was your childhood like?”
He turned his attention back to the car, grinding his teeth together. “How many times can you ask the same questions?”
“How many times can you avoid them?”
“Pretty damn many.” He lifted his gaze and she was smiling again. “What?”
“You’re cute when you’re trying to be all macho and evasive.”
He laughed. “Cute? Lincoln’s cute. Kennedy’s cute. I make you nervous, remember?”
“Yeah.” She pushed from the doorframe. “I’ve rethought that particular adjective. I think ‘feverish’ is a better term.” She turned away and joined Kennedy in the yard.
How was he supposed to concentrate with that knowledge bouncing around in his head? He tried to focus on repairing the dent, but his mind kept looping back to Gemma. He’d thought about her a lot last night as he was pacing the apartment in an effort to coax and soothe Lincoln back to sleep. When he’d heard the knock on the door this morning, he was sure the other shoe was dropping and feared the worst, like the police coming to tell him they’d found his brother lying dead somewhere, or the authorities coming to take the kids away. When he’d seen Gemma through the glass, not only had he been relieved, but he’d been excited. He liked being around her, despite her incessant questions. In fact, her curiosity was part of her appeal.
The gentle cadence of Gemma’s voice carried him through the meticulous and time-consuming work. A little while later, she carried Lincoln into the garage and another wave of happiness swept through him. He rose to take Lincoln, feeling slightly off-kilter by the rush of emotions.
“It’s okay. I can feed him,” she said.
“I must be holding you up from something. You’ve been here for hours.”
She flashed a sweet, careful smile. “Sick of me already?”
“Not even close,” he said, stepping closer. “But you’re not a babysitter, and you’ve been here since dawn.”
“I don’t feel like a babysitter. I like getting to know you and the kids.”
He brushed his fingers over Lincoln’s forehead, glad it felt cooler. Holding her gaze, he let his hand drop to her arm. Electricity spiked along his skin, but it was the way her lips parted and the dreamy sigh that slipped out that had his heart beating faster.
“Wouldn’t you rather be someplace else?”
Without a word, she shook her head. The urge to take her beautiful face between his hands and claim the kiss he’d been dying for was so strong his hands began to twitch. One kiss, one taste, he told himself. It had been forever since he’d kissed a woman out of passion rather than as a means to an end.
“But I was thinking,” she said, breaking his train of thought, “I’d really like to take Kennedy to my shop and let her play there.”
Kennedy slipped her hand in his. He wasn’t ready to let her out of his sight yet. “How about if we all go after I finish up here?”
“Like a date?” Her eyes shimmered with mischief.
He slid his hand from her arm to her waist, and man did that small touch feel incredible. She was soft and feminine, and the breeze carried the faint scent of vanilla from her hair. He wanted to smell that scent on her skin, to taste it in her sweat when she was in the throes of passion. They looked at each other for a long moment, a sensuous thread weaving between them. This was dangerous territory. She deserved a man without a torrid past, but he wanted her.
He wore the skin of a killer and bore the heart of a lover. That was the tangled web of lies he’d created to protect those he loved, and it would forever more be the cloak that shrouded him. Once he revealed his past, she’d never look at him like this again.
