But first, she needed something to protect herself with. She scanned her surroundings before resting on the bottle opener sitting on the kitchen counter. If only she could reach it before he—
“Wait. Just hear me out,” the guy said in a smooth, even voice, softened probably to offer her comfort—at least before he tried to stab her to death. He raised his empty hands in front of him as if to show her he was unarmed. “I’m Jack. Jack Harrison. I’m a friend of the Vaughns.”
Jack Harrison. It really was the lieutenant governor? The man who’d spoken at last month’s seminar at the women’s business center about starting up a small business? A seminar where she’d spent a good five minutes—okay, maybe ten—fantasizing about what it would be like to run her fingers across that strong jaw or through those waves of sandy brown hair.
What was he doing here?
“You know the Vaughns?” she asked more cautiously.
“I spoke to Emily Vaughn a couple of days ago, and she assured me the place would be unoccupied this week. I promise, I’m not here to hurt you. In fact, my own daughter is upstairs right now.”
She sighed in relief as the adrenaline and fear that had poured through her a moment before seeped away. He wasn’t here to kill her. Of that she was almost certain.
He glanced down to the loan forms she’d left sitting out on the counter that outlined her miniscule savings, nonexistent assets, and lack of references or contacts that would make the loan ever happen. “Are you Daisy? Daisy Sorensen?”
“Yes. But, if you don’t mind”—she snatched up the documents—“these are personal.”
“Daisy Sorensen,” he said as if testing the words. “I know Payton married a Sorensen last year—I’m guessing you’re related?” He returned those bright blue eyes to her again, and his sensuous lips slipped into an easy smile.
A smile that sent a ripple of sexual awareness through her. Something she thought she was incapable of feeling, at least for a very long time.
Wait.
She glanced down. Oh, holy Mary, Mother of…
What am I wearing?
Was she really standing in front of the lieutenant governor in her old threadbare bathrobe? And socks. Fuzzy socks. Where was that lightning when she needed it to strike her down?
An uncomfortable heat flooded her cheeks.
“Um. Yes. Payton married my older brother, Cruz—” Instinctively, she started to back up when he held his hand out again.
“Wait. Hold on, let me get that broken glass cleaned up.”
Crap. She’d almost forgotten. Great time to decide to walk around barefoot.
A minute later, Jack Harrison was back, a small dustpan and broom in hand as he knelt down.
Was this really happening? Was she really standing above the freaking lieutenant governor staring at the breadth of his shoulders as he cleaned up her broken wineglass? Watching the way his shirt dipped forward, providing a glimpse of tanned, silky skin?
Realizing how easily she could drop her fingers and tousle the thickness of that hair without him even noticing?
He glanced up and grinned. “Think I got it all.” She managed to bob her head up and down as he dumped the glass in the trash. “You were saying? Payton married your brother?”
Payton and her brother…where had she been going with that?
“Right.” She cleared her throat. “Payton married Cruz. Actually, it was Payton who offered us the place for our vacation.”
“Us?”
“My aunt and three kids are upstairs.”
“Oh. I see.”
Did he look disappointed? Well, it wouldn’t be the first time a gorgeous man heard that she had three kids and suddenly found her less appealing. She tipped her chin a little higher since she had nothing but pride in those kids and anyone who didn’t think so could jump off a—
“Mom?” The voice sounded high and strained. A moment later, Jenna’s worried face appeared, followed by her other kids, their faces sleepy but curious. “I heard something, and I couldn’t find you and I got scared…”