her to dive in. Entering the brisk water both refreshed her and served to bring her back to the moment. Right. Adult. Kids on the way back.
Well, that was fun she thought as stepped on land, fully in control of her faculties once again.
After Theodore had taken his dip they both dressed and got themselves as together as they were gonna get before the tour group returned.
Now safely ready to assume her adult duties again, she reflected, how had she become such putty in his arms in mere seconds?
She knew how; she was deeply attracted to Theodore Cooper and there was no use denying it to herself again. She’d joined the league of women who fell onto their backs and spread their legs the moment he crooked a finger, she thought unhappily.
No, she wasn’t like other women, she hastily assured herself. She was different. She wasn’t attracted to him. That had just been a flash of want and need. And who could blame her? It had been years since a man had so much as touched her arm, never mind her breasts or pussy.
And Theodore…Oh Theodore. The man could do more with his finger than most men could with their dicks!
Soon, they could hear Derek and the kids laughing and giggling as they grew closer. It was apparent that if the kids weren’t fast friends already, now they would be practically joined at the hip. Derek had indeed been an excellent guide, just as Theodore had assured her he would be.
As the dying sun slowly faded, Jessica couldn’t stop smiling to herself. Her kids truly liked Carla and her dad. And right now, sitting around eating and trading stories and jokes, they almost felt like one happy family.
Careful, Jessica, her subconscious whispered. Don’t fall for him.
Chapter 10
“Admit it, Daddy, you had fun today,” Carla crowed in triumph, as Theodore guided his car toward Jessica’s lodgings.
Theodore’s voice deepened with secret meaning as he looked over at Jessica, “I’ve never had a better time, Carla.”
His words were meant just for her, she knew, and that knowledge warmed her from head to toe.
As his car pulled up in front of her house, a sleepy Kal and Arizona climbed out of the backseat, rubbing their eyes with the back of their hands as they called good night to Theodore and Carla.
Carla barely managed to grumble “G’night,” before slumping onto the backseat in a deep sleep. Apparently, she was exhausted too, Jessica thought with a fond smile at the girl’s prone form.
Theodore also came out of the car, his eyes smiling into hers as he said in a low murmur meant only for her ears, “I had fun, Jess. I didn’t want to stop touching you for even a minute.”
She smiled and started to respond when a tall burly man with a fierce scowl detached himself from the shadows around her house and lumbered toward them. Everything about him reeked of danger. He was handsome in a hard sort of way and was about 6’4, with wide shoulders and arms as thick as small tree trunks. His black hair was slicked back neatly away from his face and his even blacker eyes were deep fathomless depths. His nose was crooked as though it had been broken more than a few times and he had a long slashing scar, that could only have been left by a very sharp sword, running down the side of his right arm from shoulder to wrist. He looked like a bouncer; as though he could grab her in one hand and crush her without even breaking a sweat.
His eyes blasted into hers and her heart leapt into her throat at the sheer antagonism shimmering in his eyes as he looked her over from head to toe.
Instinctively, she moved closer to Theodore and clutched his arm.
The other man’s lip curled in a sneer of contempt as he took in her fright, but she didn’t care. She clung all the harder to Theodore’s reassuring warmth.
Through the inexplicable haze of fear, she realized that Theodore was only mildly surprised and not alarmed.
“Connor? What are you doing here?” Theodore demanded.
Connor shrugged, “Looking for you, what else?”
Theodore frowned in doubt, “My cellphone never rang.”
Connor looked from him to Jessica and his lip curled all the more. Jessica felt genuinely afraid. He seemed almost as though he wanted to breathe pure fire on her and burn her to ashes right where she stood. She had felt hatred from some people since coming into Angel Springs and