He’d changed into jeans and a T-shirt. He looked huge, filling the space. He also looked great. The soft gray-blue of the shirt gave his eyes warmth, and his muscles stretched out the shirt in a way that said he worked hard on staying fit. The jeans clung to long, lean legs. Bethany forced her stare back to his face—she was not going to sit there lusting after the man.
Slade offered a small, crooked smile. “You ready for lunch? Jason tells me there’s a pizza parlor in town, but they don’t deliver.” That husky tone in his voice had her stomach doing somersaults.
She told herself it was just hunger. Standing, she stretched. Her shirt rode up and she saw Slade’s gaze slip to the strip of skin she’d just flashed. Stopping the stretch, she tugged down her shirt and nodded. “Give me ten minutes to change.”
He left and she headed to her closet.
She’d set up her laptop in the bedroom—Tayra had had a dresser that worked as a desk for her, but she really needed to set up a better workspace. She was making due with too many things around here. Now that Tayra was…
Skipping past that thought, she glanced around. She’d packed up Tayra’s clothes and had donated them. She’d boxed up Tayra’s photos and personal items—Jason might want them someday. But there was room in the garage to set up a better office space. Maybe she’d get Slade to help her with that.
She changed from sweats to jeans and a white, sleeveless blouse, and slipped on some white vans. She quickly dragged a brush through her hair and put on lipstick that doubled as protection from the summer sun.
Heading into the living room, she found Slade and Jason on the floor, now both playing the computer game. He looked ten years younger, and an image flashed into her head of what he must have been like as a kid—tall, still, but thinner, maybe less serious. She wondered suddenly what might have happened if she’d gone to Tayra’s wedding and had met him then—would they have sparked, clicked, hooked up?
She touched the tip of her tongue to her lower lip. She’d never know about what might have been. But she was hungry right now, and Jason probably was, too. She put her hands on her hips. “Hey, what about pizza?”
Slade didn’t look away from the game. “We need to finish this inning.”
She smiled. “You didn’t think I’d be ready in ten minutes.”
Slade gave a groan, and Jason pumped a fist into the air. “Strike out!”
Tossing the controller down, Slade stood. “I’m getting the stuffing kicked out of my team. Come on, buddy.” He reached a hand down for Jason.
Bethany moved automatically to help, but Slade hit her with a glare and she froze. Face warm, she turned to grab her purse. Slade tossed the car keys to Jason. “Go open up the SUV.”
Grinning, Jason headed outside. Slade held open the front door for Bethany. She locked up, and he said, “You’re too protective of him. He said he doesn’t go to school and you’re acting like he’s half-way crippled.”
Bethany shook her head. “He’s not. But I’ve been homeschooling him. Tayra—she’d help out with that when she could, but I wanted to make sure he got a real education. He’s great on the computer, ahead of where he’d be otherwise in school. He’s also got a half dozen friends who share homeschooling with him. All of us take turns on taking the kids on outings, too.”
He put a hand on the small of her back.
Bethany’s face heated even more. The pressure of his hand warmed her skin, sending small tingles through her. Okay, it was a bad idea to keep him around, she thought. Or maybe she could use this attraction between them? Maybe she could convince Slade that Jason really was best off with her adopting him.
She started into the details of everything that went into homeschooling—the hands-on education, the computer skills she was teaching Jason, the weekly outings they took to museums and also to tech companies in Portland. If that didn’t impress Slade, nothing would.
***
Slade listened to Bethany’s sales pitch. He knew better than to tell her he already knew most of it.
Travis had sent him a file this morning that contained everything there was to know about Bethany Simmons. Her medical history, which was almost non-existent. Her banking information, which showed she had enough to own a place in Portland and good savings. She didn’t have a passport, hadn’t traveled much, and had never gotten as much as a speeding ticket. She’d had a few relationships, was still friends with those guys, and pretty much lived for her work and for Jason.
For the boy, there were fewer answers—a birth certificate with no father listed, type-O blood, which fit the background for most people, and a medical record of issues with his legs. Slade was going to let Bethany bring that up, too, but she hadn’t lied when she said Jason needed surgery. He did. No way was Slade going to let that boy go to a second rate doctor for that. Somehow, he knew that was going to ignite more conflict. For now, he’d settle for pizza.
Chapter 8
Bethany was starting to regret the trip into town. Everyone stopped her to offer condolences from the town folk, and from behind the pizza counter, eighteen-year-old Amada told her, “Bethany, you have got to get over this need to do everything yourself.”
Bethany gave her a nod, grabbed their cups, and guided Jason over to the soda fountain, leaving Slade behind to deal with ordering the pizza. She got to watch Amada flirt with Slade—so much better than having to deal with sympathy—and Slade didn’t even seem to realize he was getting Amada’s best eye-batting.
Slade did seem to realize he was getting the typical cross-exam that most strangers got. Bethany eavesdropped and heard Slade duck every question thrown at him. He headed toward the table she’d snagged, the order slip in his hand.
Sitting down, he said, “That kid’s in the wrong job. She should be the town reporter.”
“We’re too small to have a paper,” Bethany said. She sat up and Mr. and Mrs. Martino came over to shake her hand and give her their condolences. Bethany fixed a smile in place and listened to the usual platitudes. When they left the table, Bethany glanced at Slade and smiled at his scowl. “I take it you haven’t spent much time in a small town?”
“Let’s try none. If this is what you get, I’ll avoid them in the future as well.”