The thought of testing that chemistry intrigued her, until she realized that would make her no better than Jordan. She had accused him of wanting a practice wife. Surely she shouldn’t be considering testing their relationship to see if the chemistry was right between them.
Besides, for her part, she knew it was. She’d been going weak in the knees around Jordan too many years not to know it. As for him, he was too much a sexual being to want to marry her if he didn’t intend to sleep with her. That must mean that he found her attractive. In fact, she thought she’d even detected a smoldering look of desire in his eyes on more than one occasion lately, especially when he’d watched her face as he’d displayed all that sexy lingerie he’d bought her.
A timely splash of cool water hit her square in the face.
“Mommy, you’re not paying attention to me,” Dani accused. “I could drown.”
“Who are you kidding? You can swim like a fish.”
“Not in the tub,” Dani declared. “Am I clean yet? I want to go hear Black Beauty.”
“I suppose you’re clean enough,” Kelly agreed, holding open a towel and folding her daughter into it and rubbing her briskly. She picked up a blue-and-white cotton Dallas Cowboys T-shirt that was Dani’s favorite sleepwear. “Put this on and then hop into bed. I’ll get Jordan.”
She opened the bathroom door and practically tripped over his booted feet. “Jordan!”
“Thought I’d save you the trip down to get me.”
“How thoughtful!”
He grinned unrepentantly as he followed her to Dani’s room. “By the way, I like the decor.”
Kelly glanced around at the Winnie the Pooh wallpaper and stuffed animal collection that filled half a dozen shelves. “Somehow this doesn’t strike me as you.”
“I was referring to your room.”
Her gaze shot up. Her pulse skittered crazily. “You were in my room?”
“The door was open. I peeked.” He rocked back on his heels. “Expecting company?”
Hands on her hips, Kelly glared at him. “What is that supposed to mean? Any company I have stays in the guest room. And,” she added pointedly, “that includes you.”
“But that king-size bed is really something. Doesn’t it get lonely?”
She continued to scowl and said pointedly, “It hasn’t yet.”
“Liar,” he whispered in her ear just as Dani came bounding in and plucked her book from the shelves. She thrust it into Jordan’s hands.
“Read,” she ordered imperiously.
“My pleasure,” he told her, but his gaze was still fixed firmly on Kelly’s blushing face. Apparently satisfied that he’d completely disconcerted her, he settled down onto a chair beside the bed and dutifully began to read.
Kelly stared at him and at her daughter. Dani was obviously enraptured by the dramatic telling of her favorite story. She sighed. She wished a bedtime story were all she wanted from Jordan. She wanted more than that, though, much more. And very little of what she hungered for was nearly so innocent as a bedtime story.
And every time he snuck beneath or over or around her defenses, she wanted it all with a desperation that stunned her. Not sure she could bear it another minute, she slipped from Dani’s bedroom and retreated downstairs.
Away from him, away from the two of them, she struggled to get her bearings. Unfortunately, she suspected that there weren’t enough hours in the day or weeks in the year for her to ever build up adequate resistance to the man upstairs.
Jordan found Kelly in the kitchen an hour later, stirring her cup of tea distractedly, even though he knew perfectly well she had put neither sugar nor cream nor lemon in it. Nervous habit, he guessed, and hid a smile.
He noticed she’d swept her hair up off her neck in-to a loose ponytail. Escaping tendrils curled softly against her skin. Suddenly he wanted very badly to press a kiss to that tender spot on the back of her neck. He weighed his desire against the temperature of that steaming cup of tea she was likely to heave at him and decided against it. He still had to go slowly here or lose what little ground he had gained with her.
He poured himself a cup of tea from the pot on the table and took a seat next to her. Beneath the table, their thighs brushed. Alarm sparked in her eyes, but he knew she had too much pride to let him know he was getting to her. Aside from the sudden rigidity of her posture, she gave no other hint of how desperately she wanted to flee. Those delectable, stiff little shoulders told him he was on the right track, though. From now on he intended to crowd her a bit, literally and figuratively.
“Is Dani asleep?” she asked.
He noticed the thready huskiness in her voice. It confirmed that the tactic was working. She was not nearly as immune to him as she wanted to pretend. Of course, being this close to her without sweeping her into his arms was also killing him, but it was a torture he was willing to endure if it accomplished his goal.
“She’s out like a light,” he confirmed. “I was so caught up in the story, I read all the way to the end of the chapter before I noticed.”
“I could loan you the book,” Kelly offered, amusement dancing in her eyes.
“I think I’ll just stick around for a while and finish it here.”
“Jordan...” She sighed and fell silent, the protest left incomplete.
“Go on, say it,” he urged. “We can’t settle this, if we aren’t open and honest.”
He saw the familiar quick temper flare in her eyes again.
“This is not a damned business negotiation,” she reminded
