had changed from her chinos and silky shirt to a soft green T-shirt, faded jeans and tennis shoes. The transformation didn’t do a thing to make her less of a spit-shine city girl. But it did make her seem more approachable.
Too bad he didn’t plan to get within a hundred yards of her.
When she started across the space toward him, his shoulders instinctively drew back. Before she could reach him, her movement must have caught Becky’s eye. The child looked up, saw her aunt and headed that way, running welcome interference. Kayla stopped to wrap her arms around the girl.
After one quick gesture, Kayla started toward him again. Unfortunately, Becky ran back to her makeshift toys, removing any barrier he might have relied on.
“Thanks for the use of the computer.”
Her voice sounded stiff. Good. The last thing he needed was her getting comfortable around here. Especially since she was making him more uncomfortable than he wanted to admit.
He dug around in his mind for something to say. “You get everything taken care of?”
She nodded as if she had a crick in her neck.
“I made a few phone calls, changed a couple of appointments. And this morning,” she added, “I arranged to have a box of clothes sent overnight to me…since I’ll be here for a while.”
As if he needed the reminder.
If she was anything like his ex, that box would come loaded down with clothes. And cosmetics, of course. Living with Ronnie had given him an up-close view of what a woman could make of herself if she wanted to.
He didn’t care about Kayla’s looks.
Well, he couldn’t honestly say that. But he’d bet anything her honey-brown hair and pink lips had some help from modern science, too. Still, he couldn’t help noticing yet again she was one heck of a looker.
“Are you planning to stay out here much longer?” She ran her gaze over him, and he could just see her mind setting to work, ticking items off a list that judged him from head to toe. Took a lot of nerve.
Deliberately he moved forward. Let her get a real look at him. That ought to scare her off. She probably went out with men who hadn’t done a day’s labor in their lives and wore three-piece suits to ball games. “What’s the matter?” he asked. “Never seen good, honest sweat before?”
“Not so much of it.” She eyed him coolly. “At least, not outside a gym.”
That unruffled, self-possessed expression had him reaching for the shirt he’d left hanging from a fence post earlier. He’d intended to get fully buttoned up again, but some contrary reaction deep inside instead made him grab the shirt and sling it across one shoulder. “Welcome to my world.”
“Oh?” She wrinkled her nose. “In your world, do people shower before meals?”
“That depends how much they need one.”
Eyebrows up, she ran her gaze over him again.
“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “I get it.” When she turned back toward the house, he fell into step beside her. “That means you’re doing supper?”
“If I can find something to pull together for a meal. There were only the basics in the fridge when I made breakfast this morning, and I used up quite a bit of those.”
“Freezer’s fully stocked.”
She nodded. “We probably should have stopped at the store while we were in town. I can go tomorrow, if needed. Meanwhile, I’ll check out the freezer and see what I can do.”
“Then I’ll get showered up.” He took the three steps of the back porch in one long stride. “And I’ll be back to check you out, lady,” he muttered under his breath as he entered the kitchen. “You can be sure of that.”
So much for his earlier thought about her not getting comfortable. She seemed to be slipping right into his household in a way he didn’t care for. Even less did he like the wicked ideas she’d triggered in him. This whole situation had thrown his reactions out of whack. His good judgment, too.
With every minute that passed, he felt a growing, gut-wrenching certainty that agreeing to let her stay here had been one huge mistake.
THE SOUND OF SAM’S BOOTS on the wooden stairs in the living room sent Kayla into overdrive.
She had begun to set places at the round pine table in the middle of the kitchen, but her movements had slowed almost to a crawl even as her thoughts raced.
Her mind kept drifting back to a short time before, when she’d stood out in the yard talking to