Know Your Heart: A New Zealand - Tracey Alvarez Page 0,60

not a freaking kid who’s gonna be distracted by looking at a truck.”

Glen said nothing, just folded his arms.

Tom turned to Savannah, his sulky expression immediately melting into an angelic smile. “You should move in and take me for a test drive.”

Her eyebrows winged up and Tom laughed.

“Practicing for your role as big sister to a teenager, I mean. I can read lines with you too, and not just a couple of times a week, like if you stayed at the hotel”—Tom shoved his hands into his jean pockets—“And we could practice more of that confidence-building stuff.”

Savannah’s mouth parted, but she didn’t seem to know what to say.

Tom shrugged and backed away a few steps. “Anyway, it’d be fun. And I really don’t mind sleeping on the couch.”

With a glance that Glen read as don’t screw this up now that I’ve nearly convinced her, Tom followed after Lauren and Drew, leaving the three of them alone.

“Sav,” Nate said the moment Tom was out of earshot.

She held up a hand. “I appreciate you always having had my back over the years, but you can relax. It’s Glen, your mate, we’re talking about. There’s no need for you to go all Alpha male over a simple offer of charity.” Hazel eyes switched back to Glen.

He and Sav both knew his offer had nothing to do with simple anything, least of all, charity.

Nate’s gaze skipped between them, and the terseness of his jaw eased. He wrapped an arm around Savannah and pulled her into a quick shoulder hug.

“Knee-jerk reaction, sorry. You’re right, I’m wrong. I’ll take the hint and butt out.”

With a theatrical bow, he walked past Glen, but the hard gleam in Nate’s eyes nulled the easy-going tone of his voice. I’m watching you, that gleam said. Mate or not, hurt her and there’ll be hell to pay.

Nate disappeared around the corner of the house, following Drew’s excited shouts.

“Should’ve made the offer when there wasn’t an audience around,” Glen said. “Nate thinks I’ve cooked up some nefarious plan to lure you into my bed.”

“Turned out you didn’t need a nefarious plan or to lure me.” She tipped up her chin to him, her mouth curved in a secretive smile.

“I’m guessing you won’t tell Nate that.”

“We’re close but not that close. Do you think he buys the charity line?”

“I let my sister and her three kids move into my house; is it so hard to believe I’m being kind to another stray?” He eased down to rest his butt on the railing that ran along the deck.

She lifted a shoulder. “I’m sure Lauren and Nate do believe it. Partially.”

Savannah moved to stand between his spread feet. No part of their bodies touched, but he could feel her, every single line and sweet curve of her, as if she were pressed breast to thigh against him. The air seemed to close over them like a bubble, sealing them together in a sphere of electrical activity.

She rested a hand on his chest, the lightest of touches, fingers spanning the small area above his pounding heart. “Two weeks ago, you wouldn’t let me in your front door. Now you’re offering me a place to stay.”

“In the office.”

Smooth, Glen. Real smooth. As if she couldn’t guess where he really wanted her sleeping. The fact his heart was about to rupture was a good indication he hadn’t made the offer for altruistic reasons. “And there’s a catch.”

“There always is.”

Her index finger traced a circle on his collarbone, setting off a chain reaction that arrowed straight to his groin. If workmen weren’t milling around only thirty feet from where they stood, he’d have grabbed her wrist and tugged her closer.

He cleared his throat, wiping away the picture in his head of Savannah laid out naked on his bed, the fingers now teasing his skin gripping the sheets as he explored every inch of her beautiful body.

“Not that sort of catch.” His voice sounded ragged in his ears, control torn to ribbons by the desire coursing through him. “Tom. Tom’s the catch. He needs your help, as he said, and someone to keep an eye on him.”

“And I already said I’d help him, and he’ll help me by giving me inside access to a teenager underfoot. It’s a win-win idea.” Savannah’s finger stilled. “He’s a little old for a babysitter though.”

“Yeah, but he needs the company—company I can’t always give when I’m writing. He gets enough of his father ignoring him at home; I don’t want him feeling the same