Tender Loving Care

commitment was possible for her, not in any relationship where children were involved. Truthfully, he was so certain he’d have a fight on his hands when he saw her today that her soft smile took him aback. Maybe that enigmatic curve of her lips disturbed him even more than a fight would have.

“A weapon, Zoe. Do you go down there protected, in case something goes wrong?”

She shook her head. “Of course not.”

“You usually go down with another diver, at least?”

“Often, yes, but not always. There’s a monitor in the lab, and no one’s ever down for long without someone checking, so occasionally we dive alone. Some whales, particularly the orcas, develop confidence in only one person.” She cocked her head, as if trying to fathom the reason for his questions. “Rafe, even a toothed whale wouldn’t hurt a human unless it was threatened or hungry. Believe me, I know what I’m doing.”

“Exactly how much does George weigh?”

“I don’t know, somewhere around three tons, I imag-”

“Get dressed, would you? You and I are going to have a little talk.”

He delivered his little talk on the beach after dinner, to Zoe’s amusement. He phrased his questions very carefully, so he wouldn’t come across as a Neanderthal-macho-chauvinist. “Look, you could rent out boats if you like the water so much. Or teach oceanography. Or run an aquarium…”

The boys had raced ahead and were playing catch with the tide. The wind had calmed down like a dream, and the water had the sheen of a green pearl blanket. Waves lapped softly, with a rhythm like music and a salt-sting freshness that she inhaled greedily and that was heady as champagne. She tucked her arm in Rafe’s to comfort him because he was so distraught. “Have I said one word about your work with earthquakes? You’re going to tell me that doesn’t have an element of danger in it?”

“That’s completely different.”

“Certainly it is. Because you’re a male, you ox.”

He gave a frustrated sigh. “This has nothing to do with my being a man. It has to do with you being damn fool enough to play with three-ton breaching ‘babies.’”

“Earthquakes are harmless, hmm?”

“I study them. I don’t make a point of being there when one hits.”

“I study whales. And I’m really outstanding at avoiding those that aren’t too fond of humans.”

“You’re only a hundred and ten pounds!” Rafe roared.

“So that’s it.” She nodded sagely. “I can’t tell you how easily that problem’s solved. All we have to do is buy doughnuts on the way home. Believe me, I could gain another two pounds really fast.”

He knew better than to push Zoe, but damn the woman! It wasn’t his fault; she gave him no immediate choice. He swung her around and laced his arms around her neck and clamped down on her lips fast and hard. He wanted her safe. Preferably naked, warm, beneath him safe, and then if she was still in a sassy mood, he’d welcome that, too.

His hands wandered through her hair. The silky strands were all wind-rumpled; her cheeks had the slightest coat of salt, and her lips tasted sweet, far too sweet. Her tongue flicked between them, and he thought with despair, More sass. Now how am I supposed to stay mad at you, Zoe…

Her arms curled around his neck, and he knew the exact moment she went up on tiptoe; her slim thighs pressed against his for balance at the exact same time the blood surged through his veins like whitewater rapids. The slight but deliberate rotation of her pelvis against him was unmistakable. Her hand climbed back down from his neck, and her fingertips drew lines down his spine, little teasing lines that ended brazenly on his rear end. The little witch was pressing. There wasn’t a chance in hell he could be seen in public for the next twenty minutes.

He broke off the kiss only because there was a damn good chance she was going to be naked in three seconds flat in front of all Puget Sound if he didn’t. He glanced up swiftly, but the kids were now a good distance from the water, climbing and sliding down a miniature sand dune. Still, kids and water were always a potentially dangerous combination, and he forced his pulse to climb down from the sky. His eyes flickered back to Zoe. “You realize what’s going to happen to you when they’re asleep, don’t you?”

“I have a fairly good idea.”

“You don’t have any idea,” he corrected gruffly.

She nodded agreeably, but her eyes were dancing. “I guess I don’t have any idea.”

“Your jeans-I’m going to have a particularly good time peeling off those jeans of yours.”

“Yes.”

“And I’m going to kiss you. Starting with your toes. Working up to the backs of your knees. I’m going to kiss your thighs. And you know what I’m going to do to you then?” He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek possessively. He suddenly understood her fascination with the sea. Her eyes were like the sea, fathomless, silver- green, lonely sometimes, dancing with exhilaration sometimes, secretive sometimes. Her eyes were secretive now, filled with a woman’s secrets, elusive, compelling, disturbing. “Why aren’t you fighting me?” he whispered.

“Would it do any good?”

“None at all.”

The wisp of a smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I came to that same conclusion. Would you like to hear me say that I want you, Rafe? Because I do. And that I love you? Because I think I fell just a little bit in love with you as far back as a wedding six years ago.”

Her words might have satisfied him yesterday. “I want you to see that there’s nothing we can’t work out. But that solutions that start with two are best. With you and me. With being honest about what we have.”

She said nothing, just offered him a smile.

“Zoe?”

The children bounded up, and there wasn’t a prayer on earth he could get his answer after that.

She gave him back rubs most evenings. He needed them. One night he made brownies-he claimed it was his one baking specialty and it was, but she’d never seen a kitchen so completely destroyed at the end of the little project.

“I’ll clean it up,” he promised. “You weren’t supposed to come in here until I was finished.”

“What did you do, mix them on the floor?” She grabbed the dishcloth and started filling the sink with sudsy water.

He got out a sponge mop and attacked the chocolate-spattered floor. “No criticism of the cook allowed until his product’s been tasted.”

“I can’t taste them,” she said swiftly. “I’m sure they’re terrific, Rafe, but I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I have this thing about brownies.”

“I know that. You crazy woman, why on earth do you think I made them?”

She shook her head firmly. “If I could stop at one-but the thing is, I’ve never had the strength of will to stop at one. And they go straight here, Rafe.” She clapped her hands ruefully on her hips.

His frown looked dead serious as he rinsed out the mop and put it away. “Where do they go?”

“To my-”

“Show me exactly.”

“Behave,” she said in the ominous tone of a schoolmarm.

“You’ve got room for one brownie here. And another one here. And if we unbutton your jeans-”

“We?”

He popped a chunk of brownie between her lips. “Besides, I know an excellent way to work off calories. Chew fast, sweet. You’re going to like this exercise program.”

Zoe toyed with a pencil and stared unseeing at the stack of papers on her lap. Feet propped on the desk, she had a report to do that was going to be finished by lunch if it killed her. A staff meeting was scheduled for one; she had to concentrate.

Only she couldn’t think. They were nearing the end of the second week in Washington. At the end of three weeks, Rafe’s leave would be over and he would have to return to Montana. They had to decide what to do about the children.

They had to decide what to do about the two of them as well.