Jesse's jaw tensed. "You're grounded."
"Grounded?" Kate gasped.
"Who, me?" Travis asked.
"Yes, you," Jesse snapped.
"For reading golf magazines?" Travis wanted to know.
Kate and Travis exchanged a look.
"For . . . having a girl in your room," Jesse stated, then he turned
and walked out the door.
"Well," Travis mused, "I guess grounding is a father-son kind of thing.
I just thought we'd do something more fun than that."
Kate shook her head and realized she wasn't the only person around here
who was having a hard time adjusting to a new set of circumstances. She
had worn ankle weights on TV and Jesse had just grounded his son for no
real good reason. Jeez, they were a pair.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: Katherine Bloom @
ktextv.com>
     Julia Boudreaux
From: Chloe Sinclair
@
ktextv.com>
Subject: Date
How was lunch with Parker? Chloe
Chloe Sinclair
Station Manager
Award-winning KTEX TV
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
To: Julia Boudreaux
    Chloe Sinclair
From: Katherine Bloom
Subject: Great
Amazingly
great! It was wonderful!
He really is dreamy. Also, I had an
idea for a new segment
that
will show viewers that I'm not a complete idiot and
that shouldn't turn me into a blushing
fool. I
was thinking about something with pets?
Best, Kate
Katherine C. Bloom
News Anchor, KTEX TV West Texas
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
To: Katherine Bloom
     Chloe Sinclair
From: Julia Boudreaux
Subject: Animals
Hmmm. I
actually like the idea.
And I'm thrilled that you had a good
time with Parker. I can't believe after all this time both you and
Chloe had dates.
xo, j
p.s. Let me think more about the pet thing.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
To: Julia Boudreaux
     Chloe Sinclair
From: Katherine Bloom
Subject: Dates
Chloe had a
date and no one told
me? Who, when, where?!!!!
K
Â
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
To: Katherine Bloom
     Chloe Sinclair
From: Julia Boudreaux
Subject: Setups
I arranged
the date for Chloe, but
you know how she gets. All nervous
around men. Awkward.
But I've sworn to cure her since she is too sweet
and wonderful and amazing never to have
been in love. I'm going to find
her a man if it kills me.
xo, j
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
To: Katherine Bloom
     Julia Boudreaux
From: Chloe Sinclair
@
ktextv.com>
Subject: Gander
Jules, I
know you mean well, but
he's not my type. I mean, really, he
named his car. Goose.
Have you ever heard of anyone out of high school
who names his car?
Chloe
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
To: Chloe Sinclair
     Katherine Bloom
From: Julia Boudreaux
Subject: What's in a name
So he calls
his car Goose. He
probably named it after that fellow in
Top Gun. The guy who
moved on to ER. If I were you I wouldn't be so
picky.
xo, j
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
To: Julia Boudreaux
     Katherine Bloom
From: Chloe Sinclair
Subject: Naming names
I don't
care if it refers to the
goose that laid the golden egg. If he
names his car, what else has
he christened? I shudder to think.
C
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
To: Chloe Sinclair
     Katherine Bloom
From: Julia Boudreaux
Subject: Ooooo...
Do you
really think he has named
his penile appendage? Hmmm... Igor?
King of the Jungle?
I guess it might be hard to do anything really wild
or wicked like going down on a dick with
a name. Oh! He's named it Dick!
xo, j
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
To: Chloe Sinclair
     Julia Boudreaux
From: Katherine Bloom
@
ktextv.com>
Subject: Tom Cruise
Penile
appendage? Good God, Julia.
And Chloe, my guess is if your date
named his car Goose,
he probably named his penis Maverick. Kind of a
Top Gun theme.
K
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
To: Julia Boudreaux
     Katherine Bloom
From: Chloe Sinclair
Subject: Unglued
Have the
two of you lost your
minds? Movie character body parts, and I
am not going down on anyone's anything, regardless of what it is
called. And I don't want to hear any of that prude business. It is only
good sense. Now both of you leave me alone so I can work in peace.
C
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
SEVEN
It was nearly midnight when Kate turned off the computer. Earlier,
Parker had called and they had talked on the phone like teenagers.
Instead of pulling further and further away from Parker since Jesse's
arrival, she had felt more comfortable being around him. It had been
fun and she had hung up feeling a little bit giddy by this unexpected
turn in her world.
Retrieving a printout, she left the house and walked across the yard to
slip the single page under the guest cottage door. She wanted Jesse to
have the information first thing tomorrow morning.
Crouched on the flagstones, the paper halfway under the door, she was
startled when it opened. From
her vantage point, all she saw were
incredible hard-muscled legs with a dusting of dark hair disappearing
up into a pair of khaki shorts. Then a shirt, just pulled off, bunched
in his hand as if she had interrupted him undressing.
She scrambled to stand. "I have information for you,"
she said as smoothly as she could over the flutter in her chest.
His lips tilted at one corner. "Hello to you, too."
"I found this on the Internet. It's the perfect solution. If you'd
like, I can go over it with you."
"I assume that means you want to come in."
Her mouth fell open when he didn't wait for an answer, slung the tee
over his shoulder, and walked
back toward the tiny kitchen.
Kate had to focus her thoughts, though she hadn't managed to do it
before he stopped, looked back
at her, and said, "Are you going to
stand there, or are you coming in?"
"Oh. Well, fine," she replied with a firm nod of her head as she
stepped inside.
But the minute she entered, she knew it was a mistake. She didn't
remember her guesthouse feeling so small. Jesse seemed to fill the
place, all heat and hard muscle, leaving no room for anything but his
presence. Three different types of putters were propped against an
overstuffed chair, while several white balls were scattered on the rug
around an empty, washed soup can that was tilted over on its side. More
than that, however, she couldn't help notice that her teapot and cups
were still sitting on the counter like an embarrassing rebuke.
Fortunately she caught sight of her hair in a decorative mirror,
distracting her. She grimaced at the sight. Her curls looked like a
full head of Medusa snakes.
His gaze, however, drifted lower, touching her everywhere, then he
whistled appreciatively. "Nice legs."
The ankle weights were working!
Though just as quickly she reminded herself that she didn't care. After
only a second more, she remembered why she was
there. "Travis."
That wiped the smile off his too-handsome face.
He turned away from her and went to the tiny refrigerator, pulled out a
beer, and popped the tab.
Just before he took a sip, he hesitated. "Do
you want one?" he asked.
"No, thank you."
"Are you sure? You could use a little loosening up."
"I am plenty loose," she stated stiffly.
Fresh amusement surfaced in his eyes, though fortunately he didn't
comment.
"I'm here about Travis. I think it's a great idea to enroll him in a
summer golf program."
The beer can stopped halfway to his mouth. She could see emotion
trailing across his face. Then it
was gone and he shrugged. "If you
want him to play golfâ"
"He wants to play. It's a great solution to keep him busy while I'm at
work and you're doing ... whatever it is you do. That is, unless you
have a problem with golf."
That darkness flared, then he visibly tamped it down. "No problem. Like
I started to say, if he wants to play golf, it's fine with me."
"Earlier I made a call and found out that the country club is in
between sessions. But I've also learned
that there is an afternoon
program in Canutillo on the public course. A van picks kids up right
here at
the corner."
"Just tell me who to write a check out to, and I'll take care of it in
the morning."
"Oh." She had expected an argument. Clearly this man was more than
generous with his money. It was just his emotions he kept to himself.
After a startled second, she handed him the printout.
He glanced over it, and when he finished, she was still there. "Did you
want something else?" he asked.
"No. No. There's nothing else." She started to leave, should have left,
but stopped at the last minute. "Though there is the whole thing about
the grounding."
That broad smile of his reappeared, this time a little sheepish. "I
know. I didn't handle that so well."
"True. Maybe in the morning when you mention the golf, you could say
something about that, too."
He didn't respond.
"Travis needs more from you than money, Jesse. Paying for lessons is a
great gesture, but don't withhold everything else. I'm pretty sure he
wants to play golf to have something in common with you."
He studied her, then finished the beer in one last swallow, crumpled
the can in his fist, and tossed it into the trash. He turned to face
her and she didn't like his expression at all. His midnight eyes
narrowed and he took a step toward her.
"Wow," she said weakly, "two points."
When he didn't stop, she took a step back. "What are you doing, Jesse?"
"I wish to hell I knew."
He pulled his belt from his shorts with a single jerk, the leather
snapping in the hot summer night.
"Ah, I'd say you're ... undressing?"
"Good eye."
"Meaning?"
"You all but said that I withhold everything but money, and I don't
appreciate it."
"Now, Jesse, when I said that, I wasn't trying to be hurtful. Not at
all."
He tossed the belt aside, his eyes brooding like a storm. Sexual
awareness rippled through her. She hated how her breath rumbled low in
her chest, just as she hated the way she felt the same unsettling
tightness she had felt five years ago when she had walked in on him
while he was getting dressed for Suzanne and Derek's wedding.
Her mind drifted back to that day years earlier. Jesse had just gotten
out of the shower at his house. Her own home was filled to overflowing
with bridesmaids and wedding people putting on the ceremony in the
backyard.
Not realizing Jesse had returned, she walked into his bedroom to get
away, only to find him just out of
the shower. She must have made a
sound because he turned. He stood before her, naked and amazing, his
sex thick and large, hanging in a soft fullness between his thighs that
made her mouth go dry.
"Oh," she had whispered.
She had been twenty-two, just out of college, and settling into who she
wanted to be. There was that young Kate who had been adventuresome,
battling with the newer Kate who had spent too many years taking care
of her wildly passionate mother. Jesse made her forget them both.
"You're beautiful," she had added.
He watched her. And when she boldly looked at his soft fullness, he
grew hard. He muttered a curse,
and started to turn away. But good
sense fled. She took the steps that separated them in the tiny bedroom,
then she touched his back. She saw the way his body tensed, saw the
flexing muscles that
ran along his spine, disappearing into his slim
hips, so white against his tan.
"Kiss me," she had whispered.
She had never wanted anything so badly. Just when she thought he'd tell
her to get the hell out of there
so he could get dressed, he turned.
"Katie," he said with a mix of jaw-ticking restraint and incredible
kindness. "You're innocentâ"
"I don't want to be." Conviction rushed through her in equal measures
to desire.
He almost reached out like he had so many times before, as a friend, as
the boy who kept her safe. But then his expression changed, his
nostrils flaring, and he dropped his hand. "You might not want to be,
but I want that for you. Some guy is going to come along and sweep you
off your feet. You deserve that."
"I want you, Jesse. You know that."
"You deserve better."
That was what she had never understoodâwhy he thought she deserved
better than him. And why he never believed her when she told him how
great he was.
That night, when she stepped even closer and whispered, "I deserve you"
he groaned one last time before something inside him let loose and he
pulled her to him.
Their bodies came together, her palms flattening against his skin. His
lips came down on hers, teasing and tasting with an expertise that
should have given her pause. He showed her passion with his body, as if
he had been waiting for this moment.
The sensation was heaven. She ran her hands up his torso, then down
along his spine as he kissed her, feeling his groan shudder through his
body.
He clutched her to him like he sought something more from her than just
the kiss as he buried his face in her hair. "God, Katie," he choked.
She could feel his tight control slip a notch, felt the way he nearly
trembled when he kissed her again,
this time running his
tongue along her mouth. When she opened to him, he tasted her deeply,
suddenly savagely, as if his control had broken completely. He lined
her face with his strong hands, tilting her to him so that he could
kiss her temple and eyes, across her neck to the shell of her ear.
When she felt his palm slide underneath her shirt, drifting higher
until he grazed her breast, every nerve ending came alive. She wrapped
her arms around his neck, holding on as he coaxed her, she meeting his
demands as he brought her body to life, making her want more.
"Katie," he breathed. Then he swore an oath and tugged her T-shirt over
her head.
She felt air hit her skin at the same moment he dipped his head and
opened his mouth over her breast. Her head swam as his hands slid low,
cupping her hips, pressing her against his need.
"God, you're beautiful," he whispered reverently. "Beautiful and pure."
Then all of a sudden he froze. After a second, he tore himself away.
One minute she felt the hardness of him against her, his hands and
mouth exploring her intimately, then the next he set her aside with a
feral groan.
His breathing was deep and labored, and his eyes narrowed as he grabbed
her shirt and pulled it over her head, then tugged her arms through the
holes as if she were a child. "You've got to leave," he said. Nothing
more.
"Butâ"
"Damn it, Katie, get the hell out of here."
That day she had been upset and mortified when she raced out of Jesse's
room and had run straight into Derek.
"Kate? Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," she answered, tears spilling over, before she hurried out
of the house.
Two hours later she'd been crushed when Jesse showed up at the wedding
with not one date, but two. Both of the women glowed with the same kind
of passion and fire her mother cast out. Kate had felt betrayed when he
hadn't even said helloâthen devastated when after angry words with
Derek, Jesse
had taken his dates and left.
Kate swallowed now, all these years later, when Jesse took a step
toward her in the guesthouse. She
took a step back, bumping into a
small table. The memory of him always did battle with the man he
had
become. Sinful, but still incredible. Wild, but she couldn't deny that
he had stepped up to his responsibilities to his son. As always, he was
a mix that was hard to understand.
He kicked off his boat shoes one by one. Her heart surged and her pulse
rushed through her veins.
She cleared her throat. "I realize that you're to be commended for
taking care of Travis. But I hope
you'll give him more than simply a
place to stay. He is dying for a scrap of your attention. He deserves
that from you."
"I'm going to send him to golf school."
"I'm talking about giving him some of your time."
He inhaled sharply, raking his hands through his hair. "You might look
sexy as hell in those workout clothesâ"
This time she inhaled sharply.
"âbut you're still a pain in the ass," he added with a mix of
irritation and bemusement.
"I'm only trying to point out what's right," she managed to say. "Is it
so bad to have high expectations?"
She could tell he took pity on her when he smiled. "No, little Katie,
it isn't. But I didn't come back here
to be parented by you, or to be a
parent. I'm going to take care of Travis while his mother gets settled.
But that's it. So don't
try to make this trip something that it isn't."
"Then what is this trip about?"
He didn't answer. His gaze drifted to her lips as he took the last step
that separated them, bringing them close enough that if he wanted to,
he could touch her. His shirt was gone, only his shorts separating him
from the way he looked that day when she had walked into his bedroom.
Despite every warning, heat raced through her, centering at her core,
hot enough that she felt the need to press her legs together against
the thought of what she wanted him to do to her. Touch her. Kiss her.
Finish what they had started five years ago.
She would have closed her eyes as she sucked in a breath of
anticipation if his burning gaze hadn't been locked with hers.
But she didn't think she could take it if he touched her again, then
left. It had taken her five long years to hammer her life into an order
that didn't revolve around the hope that one day they would end up
together.
"Listen," she blurted. "Whatever the reason is that you came back, it's
time we spelled out in plain
English what the deal is while you're
staying here."
"The deal?"
With effort, she planted her hands on her hips and did her best to look
authoritative and commanding. "No sex. There isn't going to be any sex
between us."
"Interesting. Why's that?" One dark brow rose in challenge, his lips
tilting in an aggravating tease.
"You don't agree?"
"Actually, I do, but I'm still curious why you have to make a rule
about it."
"Well, for starters"âshe raised her chinâ"you're leaving."
He conceded with a nod. "True."
She could have done with a little less straightforward bluntness. "For
another, I'm not your type."
"I don't have a type."
She couldn't help snorting in disbelief. "Though more important, you
have a son to think about."
This really made him grin. "I can't have sex and have a son?" he teased.
She rolled her eyes. "Someone should have had that birds and bees talk
with you."
He laughed out loud, then reached for her, awareness and desire leaping
through her like a flame.