Except once.
His fatigued mind tripped over the boundaries he’d put in place and stumbled into the memory of lying with Miranda—a virtual stranger—sleeping soundly with her in his arms.
How bizarre was that? What weird psychology was at work in his brain that the only sleep he’d managed to catch in the past few months was when he’d been curled up with a total stranger?
Maybe it was delirium setting in but for a split, almost wildly reckless moment, he pictured asking Miranda if she wouldn’t mind becoming his sleeping partner.
No sex—just sleep.
He let that notion sink into his brain for a moment and then he barked a laugh at how utterly ridiculous the idea was.
Sleeping partner. He couldn’t imagine a more inappropriate partner for such an arrangement. He had a feeling Miranda would rather engage in physical intimacy than something so personal as snuggling up to someone.
A sigh escaped him and he scratched an itch at the back of his neck as he tried to shake the nonsense from his mind. Miranda was his employee. Nothing more. Leave it at that.
Besides, what did he truly know about her? Not much. She was notoriously private and a bit standoffish with personal details. He knew more about Mary—thanks to Otter’s attempts to talk up his sister to her boss—than he knew about Miranda aside from the sexual details, which seemed seared in his brain.
Such as the sweet beauty mark on her left ass cheek. One tiny, bluish dark spot on her perfectly taut and rounded behind that made him want to kiss it right before he drove himself deep inside her, straining against the delicious, enveloping liquid heat that threatened to dissolve his bones from the inside out.
Sweat beaded his forehead and his heart rate quickened. His hands flexed, as if itching to feel Miranda’s silky skin beneath his palms, and his jeans tightened as his penis stirred with the memory. Was he a terrible person for wanting to touch her again? For wanting to pull her straight into his arms and plant his tongue into her mouth? He groaned and realized there was no help for it. Something had to be done about this raging, inappropriate desire or else he’d end up doing something stupid and reckless.
With a grim smile, he detoured purposefully to his bedroom and dropped onto the bed as he unzipped his jeans. His hand seemed a poor substitute for the real thing, but as he closed his eyes and pictured Miranda, he knew it was as close as he’d allow himself, so he might as well make the best of it.
Maybe if he wasn’t so pent-up with frustration, he could get over this dangerous attraction.
But as he pictured Miranda, flush with desire, moving her body in time with his, he knew with a certainty—Miranda was in his blood.
And he didn’t know what to do about it.
* * *
“THANKS FOR THE HEADS-UP for the quality renter,” Otter said, surprising Miranda at the school when she went to pick up Talen and take him to day care.
Miranda glanced around in confusion until she saw Otter and smiled. “No problem. Otter, what are you doing here at the school? You don’t have kids.”
“Mary asked me to pick up Hannah,” he said, explaining. “Something about delivering flyers to the post office before cutoff, and I’m always happy to spend time with my niece. I love kids,” he added. “Can’t wait to have a few of my own.”
She smiled. “You’ll make a great dad, Otter.”
Miranda’s benign compliment made Otter beam and she could almost see the wheels turning in his head. She withheld a sigh. She wished she could see Otter in any other light aside from a friend because he’d be a great father—and Lord knew, Talen probably needed a male influence at some point—but she just couldn’t see herself knocking mukluks with the guy.
“I appreciate you helping out Jeremiah. I’m sure he’s glad to be out of the motel.”
“Seems like a decent guy. Happy to help out a friend.” Miranda let the conversation dwindle but Otter seemed desperate to continue to chat. She waved at Talen and hoped her son booked it over to her so she’d have an excuse to split. “So, Miranda...I was wondering...”
“Oh! I’m sorry, Otter, but I really have to get going. Tight schedule today.” Otter nodded, shuttering his disappointment behind an accommodating smile, and Miranda felt guilty but not guilty enough to continue on with a conversation that she knew would end up with an invitation for drinks or dinner. She hated to hurt Otter—he was a good guy but not the right guy for her.
The truth of the matter was...there was no guy who would ever be right for her. She was damaged goods in that department and she didn’t have the patience to try to sort out the broken parts just to see if she was capable of holding a decent relationship together. Ugh. Just the thought made her feel all twitchy inside.