The Family Plan (The McClouds of Mississippi 1)

Nathan was Isabelle’s anchor, now that fate had cast her adrift again. And Caitlin was slowly coming to believe that his courageous and self-sacrificing decision to bring her into his home had been the only real choice he’d had. Caitlin had only spent a few hours with the child and already she knew that deliberately walking away from Isabelle would be difficult.

Caitlin could hardly expect Lenore to welcome Isabelle with open arms, but Lenore should know her son well enough to understand that he’d done what he felt he had to do. Was it so easy for Lenore to turn her

back on her own son when Nathan had been unable to do so with his half sister?

“Maybe she will come around in time,” she repeated lamely. “In the meantime…”

“In the meantime, I have my own life. A life that includes Isabelle now.”

Caitlin nodded and started to remove her hand from his. Before she could pull away, he covered her hand with his free one. “You’ve been really great today. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

Something in his voice raised her mental warning flags. And maybe the way he was looking at her, with a new warmth in his eyes that ignited an answering spark in her. A spark she fully intended to douse before it blazed out of control.

It wasn’t that hard to figure out what was going on here. Nathan was feeling overwhelmed and cut off from the support of his family. She was the one person who was on his side in this conflict. They had to be very careful about mistaking gratitude and desperation for something more…personal.

“There’s no need to thank me again,” she said lightly, trying to pull her hand away. “I enjoyed the day, actually. It was nice to get away from work for a few hours.”

His fingers tightened on hers. His hand was as warm as his gaze, and she felt the spark inside her flare dangerously.

She had worked out the reasoning behind his behavior, but how was she supposed to explain her own? If there was one thing she did not need, it was a messy involvement with her business partner. Especially now, when his own emotions were so precarious, his life so complicated.

She had always known that work and personal lives should be kept separate. And she had a policy of not dating men with children—not that she had dated much in the past few years, she had to admit. She’d been too busy, too focused on her education and career, too wary of having anyone else intrude on her plans. But when she had dated, she had carefully avoided single fathers.

Nathan was now the equivalent of a single father, as well as her business partner, so…

She gave a firm tug at her hand, pulling it into her lap. “I should probably go now.”

The way he looked at her let her know that her expression had revealed at least some of what she was thinking—and a touch of panic, perhaps. He kept his next comment business related, probably in an attempt to calm her. “You were going to catch me up on what happened at the office while I was gone.”

She had already stood to carry her mug to the sink. “We can talk about work later.”

“You said there were several things you needed to discuss with me.”

Keeping her eyes on the mug she was rinsing, she replied, “Nothing that won’t keep. I’ll probably spend the rest of the weekend doing research, so you probably won’t hear from me. If you need me, call, okay? You have my numbers.”

“Caitlin.”

He had moved so quietly she hadn’t realized he’d risen from the table. His voice came from directly behind her.

She nearly jumped out of her shoes.

Laughing softly, he placed his hands on her shoulders. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

She stared blindly out the window over the sink. She didn’t really see the tiny backyard with its big shady trees; her attention was entirely focused on the man who stood so close behind her that she could feel his warmth against her back.

“Caitlin,” he murmured again, the laughter gone from his voice now.

She turned her head very slowly, looking at him over her shoulder. Their eyes locked, and the heat between them flared so high she felt her cheeks flame in response. It was an instinctive, primal reaction—one that overpowered the logical, cautionary lectures she had just given herself. At this moment she was having trouble remembering why she shouldn’t give in to the urge to kiss him, when it was something she’d been wanting to do for some time now. And when it was so very obvious that he wanted to kiss her, too—no matter what his reasons.

Would one kiss be so bad, she wondered even as his mouth moved toward hers—if only to satisfy their curiosity? She could already feel her lips tingling in anticipation of that first moment of contact…..

“Nate? I got thirsty.”

The sound of Isabelle’s voice from the doorway caused Nathan to jump back as if he’d been caught attempting something illegal. His sudden release of Caitlin’s shoulders made her sway and clutch at the sink for support.

Nathan’s voice seemed about half an octave higher than usual when he said, “You want a drink, poppet? Sure, no problem. What would you like?”

Though she looked a bit puzzled by his behavior, Isabelle merely opened the refrigerator door and pointed to the apple juice.