“Sierra told me they set up the Cupid computer to pick life-time mates—obviously not your intent.” Jami stared directly into his eyes, and he tried not to flinch as she struck a cord of truth.
“I admit I’m comfortable in my bachelor life. I’m not a family man type guy. My business comes first and that leaves no time to waste on nonessentials.”
“A wife and family are nonessentials?”
“Hey, Mom,” Toby hollered, scrambling over a decaying log. “See this neat thing I found.”
She automatically recoiled when her son thrust a wiggling green creature at her. “Toby, put that down—it could be poisonous.”
“It’s just a harmless lizard,” Grant stated, taking it out of Toby’s hands and sitting it on a rock in the sun. “It won’t hurt you.”
The creature turned its head in a stop-and-jerk motion like a dinosaur in a fifties B movie. Black reptile eyes rotated independently, and Jami suppressed a shudder. “I really don’t want my son to make a practice of touching wild things.”
Grant grinned. “Wild things can be exciting.”
Jami read the challenge in his eyes as the sexy nuance of his voice vibrated through her.
Their gazes locked for an electric moment, then Toby broke the spell by scooping the lizard back up. “Mom, can’t I keep it for a pet? Please?”
“Definitely not.”
“Aw, please.” Toby’s freckled face scrunched and he held the wiggling lizard out for her inspection. “It’s lonely. I can tell.”
Lonely. There was that word again. It seemed that Toby used it far too often for a six-year-old. Was he lonely? She bit her lip at the thought. “Sorry, tiger, but you can’t keep the lizard. Put it down and come have lunch.”
Her son deposited the lizard back onto the rock, whispering something to the creature so softly Jami couldn’t hear his words.
Grant unfolded the tablecloth and placed it on the ground beneath a blue spruce tree. Toby dropped to his knees and reached for food.
“Hey—clean hands.” She squeezed several drops of hand-sanitizer into his palm.
“On a picnic?” the reluctant child grumbled, obediently rubbing the gel over his hands–-seconds before he snared a chicken leg.
“Yes,” Jami replied firmly, doling the food onto paper plates and avoiding Grant’s amused stare.
Grant chuckled, tousling Toby’s hair. “Your mom’s a real drill sergeant, today. Guess we’d better be on our best behavior.”
“Lemonade?” Jami asked none too hospitably as she tried not to notice the sunlight dancing burnished gold through his wavy head of hair and glistening off the fine hairs of his powerful arms.
“I’ll pour.” Grant took the insulated jug from her hands, their fingers brushing in the process. Jami swallowed the gasp of surprise as the electricity discharged from his fingertips to hers.
“Ah, thank you,” she stammered as he filled three cups. She took hers, carefully avoiding touching his hand in the process.
Toby accepted a plate and cup from his mother and gave her a crooked grin. “Is it okay if I sit on the log by my lizard?”
For some reason Jami’s gaze drifted to Grant’s.
“Sounds fine to me,” Grant said, and Jami certainly hoped he didn’t think she sought his permission.
“Okay, tiger,” she murmured, focusing her attention on her son, instead of the unsettling man beside her. “Just don’t touch the lizard while you’re eating.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Toby bounded over to the log, and to her surprise, the reptile stayed perched inches from her child.
“Relax. Toby’s not going to get in trouble three yards away from us.” Grant was fascinated by her finely tuned mother instincts. He hadn’t been around many young single mothers and found the mother/child bond touching. If his sister-in-law was correct, Jami Rhodes was also a businesswoman. That image did not seem to fit her at all. “Sierra tells me you own a scuba and diving shop. It must be difficult to run your own business and be a single parent.”
“I manage.” Jami choked down a bite of potato salad, acting nervous about the sudden change of conversation, which intrigued him even more.
“Are you concerned about the business while you’re on vacation?”
“Should I be?” She cocked her head to stare back at him.
A rush of curiosity surged through him. What was she so tense about? Was her business in trouble? Or was it a personal tension radiating between them as male and female? He kept fishing. “Some businesses screech to a stop when the boss is away.”
“I’m sure yours keeps on running,” Jami replied as she stared down at her plate, her hair falling into a spun copper curtain to obscure her expression.