He chuckled as he said, “Elle, it has.”
“Well!” she snapped. “That’s a silly place to put a chair. It’s dangerous, especially with the children around.” She caught his eye and advised stoutly, “You should move it.”
He put his hands to her h*ps and started to push her to the hall murmuring, “I’ll consider it.”
She suddenly stood stock-still and cried, “You’re barefoot!” She whirled to face him and announced, “Not another step, Prentice Cameron, you might cut yourself. I’m going to clean up the lamp.”
“I’ll clean it up after we get you to bed.”
“I broke it, I’ll clean it up. And anyway, you’re barefoot,” she returned.
“I’ll put on shoes. You’re in no state to clean up the lamp.”
She tilted her head, her face a wild range of expressions as she considered this.
Prentice watched her face, explicitly reading every thought that passed through her mind and enjoying the show.
Then she nodded. “Okay, you can clean it up but you have to promise to get every… single… piece so Sally doesn’t accidentally hurt herself.”
Her concern for his daughter also settled in his gut, it also was a warm, satisfying feeling and Prentice gently turned her around and pushed her again toward the hall while saying gruffly, “I promise.”
“All right then,” she gave in.
With difficulty he guided her through the hall. She couldn’t walk a straight line if paid a bigger fortune than she already had to do it.
“I thought you were staying at Fergus’s,” he remarked.
“I thought so too but Annie said no. No, no, no, no, no. No friend of hers was sleeping on a couch. We were all in the taxi and she made them all come right here. First! Even though Fergus’s is closer to the village,” she finished this story and slipped on the stairs, nearly going down, her hand thrown out to catch her fall but Prentice was close and hooked an arm around her waist again.
His arm tightened and he lifted her, carrying her the last two steps to the landing. He put her down and moved her around the corner, keeping his hands on her waist as he guided her up the last flight of steps.
When they hit her rooms, he let her go, flipped on the switch and she meandered in a random zigzag pattern to the bedroom.
All the while she meandered, she chattered.
“I love your children. They’re the best. But I especially love Sally.” She stopped, swayed, righted herself, twisted to look at him and said, “No, Jason. I especially love Jason.” Then her eyes went unfocused and she bit her lip before saying, “No, Sally.” Then her face filled with confusion before it cleared and she finished, “Oh hell, they’re both great.”
Then she swayed back around and zigzagged into the bedroom toward the lamp.
He quickly followed her as she got close to the lamp, deciding it best at that juncture that he operate the household electronics. He gently moved her and turned on the lamp.
She plunked down on the side of the bed and bent double, her hands going to her shoes. Prentice prepared to leave her to it.
But he didn’t when she spoke. “We had so much fun.” Her head tilted back sharply, her ponytail flying and she smiled radiantly at him. “People were even nice to me.”
The different, unpleasant weight settled in his gut.
She turned her attention back to her shoe. “I know it was for Annie’s sake but still, I could pretend.”
Looking at the back of her head, Prentice had the odd but very strong desire to wrap that sleek, shining ponytail around his fist, pull her head back and kiss her.
Before he could process this disturbing thought, she lifted her torso up jerkily and twisted her leg at an impossible angle so her knee was wrenched, her calf was on the mattress at her side and her hand went back to her ankle.
“What is with these straps?” she muttered in frustration, yanking at the strap of her sexy, high-heeled sandal.
Prentice crouched in front of her and moved her hands away. “I’ll do it.”
She pushed at his hands, declaring, “I’ll do it.”