When Hearts Collide - By James, Kendra Page 0,56
swept through her body. She remembered the sensation of his lips on hers, and the heat increased ten-fold, as if her own lips had been left to sear on an open flame. The internal heat made her dizzy and Molly was relieved to flop into her own chair.
Gracie pointed toward some children building a sandcastle ten feet away. “Can I play with them?”
“Yes, as long as you don’t go anywhere else,” Pearce said.
Bobbing her head in agreement, Gracie raced off.
The silence in her absence was comfortable. Neither had spoken about the incident of the previous night. While Molly laid out the picnic supplies, she felt Pearce’s eyes on her. He stared intently, searching, but for what? She felt heat rise up from her toes, inching up until it reached her hairline. She kept her eyes averted. Did this man have any idea of the effect he had on her?
Gracie ran back. “Molly Mommy, can we go swimming?”
A good cold dousing was just what she needed. Maybe that would put a damper on her out-of-control emotions. “I’ll race you to the water.”
Molly discarded the terrycloth cover-up on the lawn chair. Usually she wore casual clothes, loose fitting, prim, only hinting at the sensual shape beneath. Today she wore a bikini that was the same shade of emerald as her eyes. No longer hidden, her body gleamed with the golden tan she developed. She felt Pearce’s eyes examining her. She grabbed Gracie’s hand and ran with her to the cover of the water.
Coming back to the blanket, Molly was conscious of the swell of her breasts showing above the triangular scraps of emerald Lycra. She felt Pearce’s glance running slowly from her face, down her torso, pausing at her hips, then traveling down the length of her tanned legs. The ember of a long subdued flame began to flicker and spark as Pearce stared at the expanse of her bare skin.
Molly grabbed the cover up and swathed it around her but saw the gleam in Pearce’s eyes and it didn’t take much imagination to know what he was thinking. Thankfully, Gracie provided a needed distraction.
“Molly Mommy, can we eat now? I’m starving.”
They devoured the mountain of sandwiches in no time, and then Gracie was off to build another sandcastle. Molly leaned back on the beach chair and listened to the rhythmic slapping of the waves on the white sand.
She tried to relax, but her thoughts were as turbulent as the lake was calm. One part of her wanted to stay with Pearce and Gracie forever; the other part wanted to get away before her heart was lost with no chance of rescue. As if mocking her, seagulls circled and swooped above, their shrieks shattering the silence.
Gracie ran back, and throwing her arms around Molly’s neck, she planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek, then skipped around the blanket. “We’re just like a real family, Daddy, Molly Mommy, and me.”
“You and I are a real family,” Pearce told Gracie.
“And now we have Molly Mommy,” the child said.
“Yes, but Molly is not your real mother.”
“She’s our Molly Mommy.”
“When I’m better, she’ll go back to her own life.”
“No!” Gracie ran to Molly and clenched her chubby arms around her neck. “My Molly Mommy.”
The child clung to Molly for several minutes before calming down and wanting to play with her new friends again. When she was gone, Pearce spoke, “Gracie is getting too attached to you.”
Molly’s body went rigid at his words and harsh tone. What could she say? The child had become dependent on her.
“I can’t let her get hurt.”
Molly turned to him. “Get hurt?”
“It will be hard on her when you leave.”
Molly was stunned. She’d gotten so used to being part of their family that the reality of having to leave hit her as hard as if she’d been punched in the gut. Suddenly she felt frozen, as if she was walking barefoot in a snowstorm. She drew the terrycloth robe closed and turned her head away. Could he know how much he’d hurt her?
“I thought Rachel would be the loving, caring wife and mother I’d never had. I can’t make that mistake again,” Pearce said, his tone razor-edged with bitterness.
Despite how he sounded, Pearce found it hard to keep pretending he had no feelings for her. Every time she came close, he wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms. Every time she smiled at him and he saw the way her lips turned up like an impish elf, he