Seductively Yours (The Wild McBrides 1)

“But I was, thank goodness. And I made him promise never to do anything like that again.”

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t.”

“Yes. But—”

He studied her face from beneath half-lowered lashes. “But what?”

“Just remember he’s only five,” she couldn’t resist saying.

“I know how to raise my son.”

His tone was cool. Distant. It was hard to believe this was the same man who had kissed her senseless on her couch. “I’m sure you do. I’m just very fond of Sam.”

Her hand was still resting on his arm. Though he’d shown no sign of noticing it, he stepped away, breaking the contact between them. “Thank you for rescuing my son for a second time, Jamie. It seems my family is in your debt once again.”

For some reason, he sounded more annoyed than grateful. “Don’t be ridiculous. All I did was walk him home.”

“And I appreciate it. Would you like me to give you a lift? You can’t be comfortable walking around dressed like that.”

Her cover-up was almost as concealing as the short T-shirt dresses she often wore in the summer. Only a hint of her bikini was visible through the fine black mesh. She was perfectly comfortable walking around this way. “You have things to take care of here. I’ll be fine.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.” She was beginning to get irritated, herself. She knew Trevor had been through a stressful ordeal, but she saw no reason for him to suddenly treat her like a passing acquaintance. It wasn’t as if she’d done anything to cause his problem with his son—even if Sam had used her for an excuse for going AWOL.

“I’ll call you,” Trevor said as she started away.

She wasn’t appeased. “For another thank-you dinner? Don’t bother.”

“Jamie…”

“Goodbye, Trevor.”

He didn’t try to detain her when she turned and walked briskly away. He hadn’t just annoyed her, she realized as she walked through her front door some fifteen minutes later. He had actually hurt her feelings. She hadn’t fully realized until now that he still had the power to do that to her. And she didn’t like it at all.

IT WAS A LONG EVENING in Trevor’s household, but the children were finally in bed, and Trevor had time alone to reflect on the afternoon’s events. Standing at the window of his darkened living room, a drink in his hand, he looked out at the quiet neighborhood in which he had chosen to settle his family. It was 10:00 p.m., and many of the other houses were already dark. His hardworking neighbors tended to be the early-to-bed, early-to-rise types.

He would bet that Jamie, like him, was still awake.

Jamie. He had only to close his eyes to picture her clearly, standing outside his house the way she had earlier. Her dark red hair had gleamed like polished copper in the afternoon sun. Her gold-flecked green eyes had glittered with rapidly changing emotions. Her long, slender legs had stretched endlessly beneath the hem of her short cover-up, and the tantalizing glimpses of bikini through the mesh had almost cleared his mind of coherent thought a time or two.

He’d had to make an enormous effort to keep his reactions to her hidden. Maybe he’d done so a bit too effectively. He’d had the distinct impression that she had been miffed with him when she’d stalked away.

Truth was, it had bothered him that Sam’s unprecedented act of rebellion had involved Jamie—even though she’d done nothing to instigate the incident. He had wanted to keep whatever developed between himself and Jamie completely separate from his home life, and that wasn’t made any easier by Sam’s lingering obsession with her. He didn’t know how to deal with his own fascination with Jamie—much less his five-year-old son’s!

Turning away from the window, he finished his drink and set the glass aside. His gaze fell on the telephone sitting on a table beside the couch, illuminated by the dimmed light of the only lamp turned on in the shadowy den. Maybe he should call her. After all, she had brought Sam home safe to him. And he had been a bit short with her. He owed her another thank-you—and an apology.

He knew by her chilly tone that she’d already guessed who was calling. He didn’t bother to identify himself before he said, “I suspect I wasn’t as gracious to you this afternoon as I should have been.”

“Why would you say that?” she asked too formally. “You thanked me for bringing Sam home and then you offered me a ride. You did everything that was expected of you.”

He winced. “Jamie…”

“If you’re calling to thank me again, please don’t.”

“I called because I want to talk to you. And because I know I behaved boorishly. All I can say is that I was badly shaken by Sam’s disappearing act, and it made me forget my manners. It wasn’t an excuse, but it’s my only explanation.”

“I understand that you were upset. I hope you’ve been able to reassure yourself it won’t happen again.”