Reid's Runaway Bride

“The girls sometimes drift in at night if they’ve had a bad dream, or if they wake in the morning before I do. If you’re there instead of me, they won’t know what to think.”

His words were reasonable, as was typical. But something about the way he spoke sent a trickle of awareness down the nape of Daisy’s neck. It might have been the deepening of his tone or the slowing of his cadence or even the close proximity of his body to hers, but all at once, the air around them became charged. Not with shock or anger or unsaid questions. With...heat.

“I’m happy to take the sofa,” she said quickly, before he could start the game she was sure he was set on embarking. “That isn’t a problem.”

“Yup, that’s a possibility.” With another wink, this one far more devilish than sardonic, he stepped closer. “Or...we could bunk together. Just to sleep, you understand.”

Oh, she understood. She wondered, briefly, what his reaction would be if she called him on his...offer. Hmm. Maybe she should. If he wanted to play with fire, why not hand him the match? “You know, that’s a great option. As long as you’re certain it won’t be too awkward.”

“What’s awkward about sleeping?” he asked in apparent innocence. “That is, if we’re still talking about only sleeping?”

“We are.” Narrowing the space between them by another inch, so they were only separated by the dog she held, and were close enough to—potentially, of course—kiss, she said, “The thing is, I’ve recently developed this small...idiosyncrasy, I’d guess you’d call it, and I’d hate for you to get the wrong impression.”

Interest, amusement and, unless she missed her guess, desire flickered over him in varying degrees of intensity. “Keep talking,” he said. “I can’t wait to hear this.”

“It’s just that I find clothing so...restrictive.” Fluttering her lashes, Daisy dropped her voice to a near whisper and looked him straight in those sexy-as-hell eyes of his. “I can’t seem to sleep if I have anything at all covering me. So as long as you’re okay with—”

Reid blinked once. Twice. “You sleep in the...?”

“Every single night.” He seemed unable to talk, so being the kind and sensitive soul she was, she helped him out. “I think the sofa will be perfect. Don’t you?”

“Right. The sofa.”

“Though I could use a pillow and a few blankets.”

“Right,” Reid repeated. “I...ah...can get those for you.”

“Thank you,” she said in her best sweet-as-pie voice. “I would appreciate that.”

He stayed put and continued to appraise her, his eyes slowly narrowing in contemplation. “Nice one, Daisy,” he said after an abbreviated pause. “You almost had me.”

Without uttering another syllable, Reid strode from the room. Daisy waited a full minute before collapsing on the sofa, before allowing the trembles to ripple along her skin and overtake her body. Her throat tightened and her stomach swam. How would she survive this?

She’d won this round due purely to surprise. That wouldn’t happen again. If there were a next time, Reid would be fully prepared to call her on her bluff.

“I’m in trouble, Jinx,” she whispered. Her dog’s ears perked at the sound of her name and she butted her nose against Daisy’s hand, begging for attention. Complying, Daisy stroked Jinx’s head. “And not just your average type of trouble, either.”

Nope. What she had was the cataclysmic, in-over-her-head, lucky-to-walk-away-in-one-piece type of trouble. And every speck of that trouble began and ended with Reid Foster.

The man she’d spent years trying to forget. The man who, despite her belief to the contrary, still claimed some part of her heart, her soul. She couldn’t let him in again. Couldn’t yield so much as an ounce of what she’d worked so hard to achieve, to become.

So, yeah. Trouble. In every which way that Daisy could see.

Chapter Three

Far too early the next morning, Reid rolled over and stared at the clock, trying to decide if there were any point in attempting to get a little more shut-eye. He should. The day ahead promised to be challenging on myriad fronts, but he doubted he’d have any more luck in turning off his brain now than he had throughout the long, long night.

A certain flame-haired woman had occupied his thoughts, along with vivid—and unwanted—images of her asleep on the living room sofa in nothing but her birthday suit. He knew better, of course. Her parting shot, while an excellent and creative maneuver in putting an end to the juvenile game he’d stupidly started, was entirely false. This knowledge, however, hadn’t stopped the images of a naked, prone Daisy from interfering with his ability to sleep.

He remembered her body with full and absolute clarity.

Reid groaned and punched his pillow. Why the hell had he stated they would live together? There were other options. Namely, he could have continued to be a presence in the girls’ daily lives without the added difficulty of sleeping here. Easy enough to stop in after work, spend some time with Erin and Megan and return to his house when the girls were tucked into bed for the night. That would’ve been the sane option.

But no. The words as of now, we’re living together had flown from his mouth, and once they had, he’d obstinately stuck to his guns. And even now, after a full night of considering the insanity of coexisting with Daisy, he wouldn’t back out. The lines had been drawn.

He’d have to be careful, though. Within minutes of her arrival, he’d realized that whatever immunity he’d developed in regard to Daisy had weakened. She still held power over him. This concerned him. Unfortunately, it also fascinated him.

If she managed to squirrel in past his remaining defenses—if he made the almighty mistake of loving her again—he wasn’t confident he’d recover when she left. The first go-round had nearly destroyed him. It had taken far too many months to locate the smallest, most fragile foothold in which to begin building the rest of his life on.

The idea of having to rebuild that foothold from scratch petrified him to the bone.

Frustrated with his seeming inability to push Daisy out of his mind for more than a few minutes, Reid chose to focus on the practicalities of what needed to occur. Due to the weather, he had—at minimum—an unexpected morning off.

Since the prior night’s storm hadn’t abated, and the high-velocity winds combined with the unrelenting snowfall had resulted in blizzard conditions, the mountain passes were closed. Later, once the weather calmed some, he and his fellow ski patrollers would sweep the mountain to determine the level of damage and where avalanche-control measures were required.

For now, though, he was relieved to have some additional personal time in which to help the girls grow more comfortable with their aunt. Also, he needed to apprise Daisy of Erin and Megan’s schedule and a few of their individual quirks.

Every now and again, Megan would decide she’d only wear clothes and eat foods of a certain color. Reid hadn’t yet determined a reason for this behavior, but a few days ago she’d chosen blue. Most of her menu had revolved around blueberries.

Perhaps not the most balanced diet, but for one day, it had worked well enough.

And Erin, ever since her mother’s death, often required something to hug whenever she was emotional or sitting for an extended length of time. A pillow or a stuffed animal or, once or twice, her backpack or her coat. Typically, this was handled without too much of a problem.

But if such an item wasn’t close at hand at the wrong moment, she’d become fretful. To combat this, Reid unobtrusively ascertained that a stuffed animal was always nearby.

Major obstacles? No. But Daisy needed to be made aware of them, nonetheless.

Reid pushed out a long breath and tried to relax his muscles. If he fell asleep right this instant, he’d get an hour before the girls woke and the day began. Using a centering technique, he envisioned being on top of the mountain in perfect ski weather. The sun shone, the sky held the color of a robin’s egg and the powder was...glorious.

In his head, he inhaled a lungful of cold, fresh air, felt the bite of the wind against his cheek and prepped his body for takeoff. He was a few short seconds from the push and the exhilarating ride down when the scene blinked out and Daisy appeared.

A naked and prone Daisy, on the sofa downstairs. The deep red hue of her hair in stark contrast with the pale warmth of her skin. Her blue-green eyes—filled with desire and love, need and longing—were directed at him. And a soft, seductive smile played upon her lips.

God. That look—that smile—had always done a number on him.

Forcing his eyes open, he gave up on the idea of sleep. His agenda now consisted of a cold shower and a pot of hot, strong coffee. Then he’d get started on breakfast and hope that today was one of Megan’s “rainbow” days, which basically meant zero color preferences.

After that...well, he’d figure out the rest as needed.

Reid made the bed and grabbed a selection of clean clothes, including a pair of heavy work jeans and a thick forest-green cable-knit sweater, and headed for the upstairs bathroom. He’d no more than entered the hallway when a blur of color sped toward him with a...well, he didn’t quite know what to call this particular canine noise.

Not a growl or a howl. Not really a bark, either. Yip was too small of a word, and didn’t come close to the note of exuberant challenge erupting from the animal’s throat.

“Really?” he said when Jinx collided with his ankles. Bare ankles, at that, since he wore a pair of boxer shorts. “This is the way it’s going to be, huh? Every time you see me?”

The dog growled in reply and latched on to his left ankle in a surprisingly gentle grasp, as if searching for the pant leg she knew should be there. She didn’t hurt him, didn’t come close to actually biting, just grumbled and huffed with a few light gnaws tossed in for good measure.

More amused than annoyed, he let this go on for a good thirty seconds or so before deciding enough was enough. Walking carefully, to avoid squashing the crazy dog, he made his way down the hallway until he reached the bathroom.