The Path to Sunshine Cove (Cape Sanctuary #2) - RaeAnne Thayne Page 0,42

to stop this. It couldn’t go anywhere.

She was trying to find the strength of will when Cinder suddenly barked nearby.

Nate lifted his head and she saw a dazed sort of arousal there, which she found immensely gratifying, even though she knew she shouldn’t.

“What is it?”

“Squirrel, I think.”

She let out a shaky laugh. “Just as well.”

He sighed, raking a hand through his still-damp hair. “Yeah. You’re probably right. I don’t quite know what happened there.”

“One minute we were talking about omelets, the next you were kissing me.”

“Breakfast doesn’t usually turn me into a rampaging beast but I guess there’s a first time for everything. I’m sorry.”

She had wanted the kiss as much as he did. Maybe more. “It’s no big deal, Nate. Really. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I don’t like to make assumptions. I’m a big believer in asking a woman before I kiss her.”

“I wanted you to kiss me,” she admitted. “I probably would have kissed you if you hadn’t started it first. Now we have it out of our systems and can forget it ever happened.”

“Can we?” He raised an eyebrow, hair tousled and morning stubble on his jawline, and it was all she could do not to go for another round. “I’m not sure it will be that easy.”

“Well, we can try, anyway.”

He smiled suddenly, his eyes warm and still aroused.

“I’m not looking for an affair, Nate,” she said, though she wasn’t sure if she was trying to warn him or remind herself. “It complicates everything, especially when I’m leaving as soon as the job is done.”

“Fair enough. I don’t disagree. I’m not looking for one either. Especially not with my impressionable teenage daughter sleeping a few hundred feet away.”

“Good. Then we’re on the same page.”

“I suppose we are.” He let out a breath that sounded like a sigh and his gaze flickered to her mouth one more time then away.

“I’ll still have a tough time thinking about anything else all day. See you later, Jess Clayton.”

He shook his head, picked up his surfboard and headed toward his house, his black Lab trotting along behind him.

After he left, Jess climbed into her trailer, closed the door carefully and sank onto the sofa.

Good Lord.

Her hands were actually trembling, from just a kiss.

Okay, not just a kiss.

One amazing kiss.

She supposed it had been inevitable. From the second she had walked down to the cove and watched him surfing, his body graceful and athletic, she had been fiercely aware of him.

If she were honest with herself, she had been aware of him since the day they met. Spending time with him this morning had been dangerously tempting.

What did it matter how attracted she might be to him? She wasn’t the kind of woman who lost her head when a man paid her any attention. She had been careful her entire adult life to keep her relationships with men casual and fun.

Rachel had been right the other night when she said Jess didn’t want a happy-ever-after.

Her mother had loved Doug Clayton with an all-consuming, obsessive love. She couldn’t see anyone else but him. Even her children faded into insignificance when he was around.

The kind of hold Jess’s father had on Veronica hadn’t been healthy. Nor had it been easy to see. Roni could barely function without him.

Jess had vowed she would never let a man tangle her up like that. She would always be the one to set the parameters, would never lose her head in a relationship.

Her wild reaction to Nate Whitaker’s kiss told her she wasn’t as in control as she tried to tell herself. At least where this particular man was concerned.

She pressed a hand to her mouth, where she could still feel the heat of him, then caught herself.

Good thing she was only here a few weeks. Nate was the kind of man who would tempt a woman into throwing all caution into the ocean.

She would have to be careful not to lose control. The results would be disastrous and she couldn’t afford it, professionally or personally.

Moving forward, she would simply have to keep their relationship friendly and casual so she could regain a little perspective.

No more early-morning kisses. That would be an excellent place to start.

Too bad.

13

Rachel

Where, in the name of all that was holy, was her husband?

Rachel checked her watch for about the hundredth time in the past hour. Cody had promised he would be home by 2 p.m. so they could avoid the worst of the traffic and get to their hotel near UC Davis