she had slept.
Yes, she’d taken her meds.
No, she didn’t need anything.
He sent Colt over to her house with some soup the cook made and a big glass of raspberry iced tea.
To Colt, she was apparently all sweetness, at least according to Colt. He’d stayed long enough to watch her eat and to pick up afterward.
By the time Hogan finished things that night it was nearly one in the morning. He packed up Violet’s accounting records and headed out.
She was still on the couch when he let himself in. A comb hadn’t touched her hair, and she was still in the same clothes.
The second he stepped in, she stirred awake, then forced herself to sit up. “Everything went okay?”
“Of course.” Keeping the files at his side, he strode into the kitchen and set them on top of the refrigerator. He’d rather give her his suggestions and his improvements when he finished. “How do you feel?”
“I managed to brush my teeth and wash my face. That’s as far as I got.”
He couldn’t help but smile. “Would you like a bath? I’ll get it ready for you.”
She pulled the comforter to her chin. “Yeah, I just bet you would.”
“I’m not into molesting near-comatose women, I promise.”
“Huh, so you do have some standards?”
Hogan drew a breath. She was sick, making her usual wit more sarcastic and mean-spirited. “Yes,” he said evenly, “I have standards.”
Their gazes held for a moment, and then she slumped farther on the couch. “I’m sorry. I’m being a bitch and I know it. I don’t like being sick and I detest relying on—”
“Me?”
“Anyone.” She rubbed her temples. “So far Colt is the only person I’ve managed not to offend. He’s just too damned sweet to be mean to.” She glanced over at him. “You’re sure he’s yours?”
Hogan laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure. Colt looks enough like Jason, who looks like our dad, to ensure the parentage.”
Hogan knew the moment she harked back on his earlier comment about cheating women.
Despite the fever, her face paled. “Oh God, I wasn’t suggesting—”
Gently, he said, “I know.” Coming to sit by her, he brushed back her hair. “You meant it as an insult to me. Comparisons, right?” He winked to let her know he hadn’t taken offense or thought she was serious.
“Yes, a joking insult, I swear.”
Luckily, Violet knew nothing about Colt’s mother. Otherwise she might have had some real questions.
But even if Colt hadn’t been his—after all, his wife had proved herself more than deceitful—it wouldn’t have mattered. Not to his heart. Colt was his, now and forever.
“About that bath?” He tugged at the sleeve of her very rumpled T-shirt. “I can run the bath, set out towels, then even help tie up your hair, if you want. You’ll probably feel better afterward.”
“You’re right about that. I wanted a bath, but it seemed like so much work...”
“It won’t be, not for me. Give me just a few minutes to set it up. And afterward, I’ll tell you about the new lady in town who almost made Nathan trip over his own feet.”
VIOLET RESTED BACK in the steamy tub, her body so lax she knew she could nod off. But she wouldn’t. No, she wanted to talk to Hogan.
He’d insisted she get the bath taken care of first.
Smart thinking, given her present limited supply of energy.
She’d already scrubbed head to toe, getting that out of the way before she tired. Now she just enjoyed breathing in the dampness in the air and feeling the warmth of the water sink into her bones.
“You okay in there?”
“Go away.” She smiled, then glanced over to the closed toilet lid. Hogan had put a fresh T-shirt and another pair of panties there.
The man was making himself at home all right.
But the bath felt so good she didn’t care.
He’d also put a thick towel on the side of the tub and her fluffy housecoat on the door hook.
Why did getting clean make her feel more human?
“If you stay in there much longer,” came his deep, seductive voice, “am I going to have to carry you out?”
“You wish,” she muttered low enough that he couldn’t hear.
But he replied, his tone laced with amusement, “As a matter of fact, it’s a current fantasy. You all warm, naked and—” he paused for effect “—wet.”
Violet caught her breath, promptly coughed and grouchily wheezed, “I’ll be out in five more minutes.”
“Okay, calm down.” She could almost picture his negligent pose against the door. “Hungry?”
Violet bit her lip. She was hungry. It was hours earlier that she’d eaten the soup Colt had brought her. But Hogan had already done so much—
“I’ll take that heavy pause as a yes.”
“Hogan, no, wait.”
No answer. She heard him walking away.
Blasted perfectly flawed man. She closed her eyes, felt herself fading and decided she had to get out. His fantasy, nice as it would be, could not become her reality.
She liked him. She loved his barbecued ribs. And she enjoyed him as an employee and a friend.
Intimacy would only screw up the dynamics.
She dragged out of the bathroom, mostly dry and bundled in her clothes and housecoat, to the scent of pancakes.
How does he know all my weaknesses?
She followed her nose into the kitchen just as he dropped a pat of butter onto a stack of three fluffy pancakes.
He glanced at her, looked back to his skillet, then returned for a longer look. “It would help,” he said low, “if you looked worse.”
She almost laughed. “Ratty hair, bloodshot eyes and chapped lips appeal to you?”
“On you, yeah.” He gave his attention back to the prep of the food. “I started to ask you what you’d like, but
