Second-Time Lucky

“Can she take them now?”

Caileen shook her head. “It’s only given once a year and only to fourth graders in elementary school.”

He gave an exasperated snort. “Bureaucracy.”

“You can have her tested, but you’ll have to pay the costs. I can give you the names of the approved testing services so you can consult with them.”

“Good. What do you think of the gifted program in the local school system?”

“Zia loved the field trips and advanced experiments they did, but some teachers just gave extra work to those in the program. The kids didn’t think that was fair.”

He grimaced. “Busywork. I’d hate that, too.” He paused, then added on a thoughtful note, “Your daughter is quite beautiful.” His gaze ran over her as if wondering where the beauty came from.

Caileen nodded. “She looks exactly like her father. Blond, curly hair. Blue eyes. Same shape face. The same tall, slender body. The energy. I always felt as if I were in a mysterious force field when I was with him. When things were good between us.” She winced internally at the last phrase. She hadn’t meant to say that at all.

“Things do change,” he said casually.

“Yes. Sometimes I wish she could have stayed Krista’s age.”

“But kids grow up.”

“And have minds of their own.” She managed a smile.

Then, to her amazement, her eyes misted over as worry over her child assailed her. She blinked rapidly and got the errant tears under control as Jeff prepared to leave.

“Well, I suppose I’d better get home. Friday is Tony’s night to cook dinner. It’s always grilled hamburgers. Krista got after him about the fat content of the potato chips we used to have with them so we’re having lime gelatin with pineapple chunks and grated carrots and grapes instead.” He grinned somewhat wryly as he described the meal.

“That’s nice,” she said. Her voice wobbled.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded and burst into tears.

Chapter Three

Jeff reacted without thinking. He went to Caileen, sat beside her on the sofa and put an arm around her shoulders while she sobbed.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m just…overwhelmed right now.”

“That’s okay.” He tried to think of a word that might apply to her problems, whatever they were. “Life seems unfair at times, but things have a way of working out.” There, that sounded vaguely wise. And, he hoped, comforting.

“For better or for worse?” she questioned with more than an edge of bitterness.

The phrase from the traditional marriage vows gave him a clue. “Have you recently broken off with someone?”

“No!”

She was so adamant he believed her at once. He couldn’t think of anything else to say, so he shut up. When she rested partly against him and partly against the sofa back, he found he liked the weight of her body on his.

When she turned toward him, he could feel the pressure of her breast against his side, and the warmth of her leg against his. She laid her right arm across his lap while she slid the other between his back and the sofa.

His libido sprang to hot, hard and instant attention.

He tried to suck in his stomach so she wouldn’t feel the pulsating ridge if she moved her arm just a fraction of an inch. Unfortunately he could only withdraw so far.

She sighed and leaned more into him. He knew the moment she became aware of his predicament.

Neither moved for a stunned moment, then she tilted her head against his shoulder, her eyes searching his as if bent on finding some great truth he was determined to hide.

He observed her, too. Her lips looked soft, full and inviting. They trembled with each breath. Her nose was pink on the tip, her eyes were red-rimmed and shimmering with unshed tears, and the moisture-laden lashes attractively outlined her eyes.

The color of her irises reminded him of the aqua green depths of the sea around the Caribbean islands he’d once explored while taking a special course in strategic sea tactics as a Ranger.

Her skin was smooth as he traced the tracks of the tears and dried them gently with his fingers. He ran one finger along her lips, which were soft to the touch and also vulnerable with the sorrow she evidently felt.

“What’s bothering you?” he asked, his voice going deep and husky as the internal hunger increased.

“Zia.”

“Kids and parents often have differences.”

She nodded against his shoulder and sighed again. Her breath softly penetrated his shirt, bringing a flush to his skin and yearning throughout his body. He wanted to search that full, mobile mouth with his own, to find the sweetness he instinctively knew was there, waiting for him to taste.

Everything about her shouted woman to his starved senses. He shook his head slightly. Damn, but he must be on the verge of stark raving lunacy.

“Uh, Mrs. Peters…Caileen,” he began, then stopped, not knowing where to go from there.

She tilted her head back again to gaze at him.

The movement cut right through the tether he’d managed to rope around his personal needs over the past months. He grabbed at the fraying ends of his control, but it was no use. Without thinking further, he bent his head and kissed her…and kissed her…and kissed her…

The touch of their lips, the pressure of their bodies against each other and the sheer pleasure in the embrace hit him on several levels at once. Excitement buzzed through his head, making his mind hazy, yet an odd sense of contentment settled like a blanket around his shoulders, shutting out the wintry chill of loneliness he hadn’t known he had.

As he’d suspected—she was a tempting woman.

Caileen wasn’t sure why she wasn’t pulling back in shock and indignation at their mutual passion.

The feelings flooding through her combined bliss with anticipation, warmth with contentment and an excitement she hadn’t experienced in a long time, nothing even close to shock and indignation.

“Ages,” she murmured when his lips moved from her mouth to her ear, then down her jaw and to her throat. “It’s been ages since I’ve felt this.”

“Me, too,” he admitted in a low growly tone that sent ripples along every nerve.

He stroked her back with gentle, soothing caresses, his touch at once tender and passionate and masterful. His eyes were dark and sexy and inviting. She wanted to dive right into those exciting depths and never come up.

“This is so odd,” she told him. “It isn’t like me at all.” She sounded very uncertain. It occurred to her that maybe this moment was more closely linked to her true self than any other occurrence during the past few years.

Cupping her face in his hands, he peered into her eyes. “What are you like?” he asked.