sure women are ready to toss themselves at you when you return.” She managed to keep her spine straight and her tone even.
“What about you, Maggie?” His breath tickled the hair at the nape of her neck. Why had she put it up this morning?
“What about me?” Surely he didn’t think she would fall at his feet. Because even if she believed he cared about Amber enough to stick around or even if he didn’t care, at least felt a sense of obligation to Amber, Maggie wasn’t about to fall into bed with him just because. She respected herself too much to sleep with someone without love. Didn’t she? Okay, in New York, she’d gotten a little carried away, but lust was still lust. And it was intoxicating and tempting and arousing.
“Anyone in these parts float your boat?” His countrified accent caught her off guard.
“Float my boat?” Forgetting for the moment that he’d moved close, she turned to him. A breath separated them. A single inhalation would bring her flush against him. His eyes danced with a teasing, seductive light.
“Isn’t that what the kids are calling it these days?” He gave her a half smile. Apparently, she hadn’t been as off-putting as she’d tried to be.
It would be so easy to kiss him, but she wasn’t about to let him win this match. “You must be the talk of the town with your pretty words.”
“I get by.” His head tipped oh so slightly to the left. An invitation if she’d ever seen one. His eyes said, “kiss me, I dare you.” A challenge that she wouldn’t accept if she had half a brain.
“I choose to keep it in my pants, as they say.” She gave him a tight smirk but didn’t pull away like she should. It was like waving your hand over a flame. The closer you got to the wick the more danger there was of burning yourself, the higher the rush.
He glanced down. “That’s a shame.”
When he didn’t look up right away, she followed his gaze. Her top gaped slightly from her turned position on the blanket, giving Brady a nice view of her cleavage and hints of the red bra she’d put on this morning.
He returned to look at Maggie. All the teasing was gone and his eyes were like the tropical ocean, warm and inviting. “Maggie, I—”
“Daddy, look how high I can swing.”
For a breath he stayed where he was. She swore she saw something in his eyes that she’d never seen before. Something she wasn’t sure she was ready to understand. The next breath he stood and walked over to Amber, shouting encouragement. She stared at him trying to decipher everything that had been said, and that look.
He had been nothing but sweet and charming this morning until she’d tried to pick a fight. He’d even turned that around on her. Every time they got close, it seemed as if the fire between them had only been smoldering and waiting for him to come closer so she could burst into flames. She had hoped that familiarity would dampen their lust. The day-to-day grind usually had that effect on relationships. Instead, the tension wound tighter and tighter. He didn’t seem any less interested than he had in New York. In fact, he seemed more interested.
He glanced at her and caught her gaze. What had he been about to tell her? His lips curved into a smile. Her breathing hiccupped. Maggie swallowed. This day needed to end, because she was getting closer and closer to throwing herself at him.
“Time for lunch,” she yelled.
Brady helped Amber slow the swing. Their laughter combined to make a perfect melody of sound. He wasn’t here for Maggie. He was here for Amber. To get to know her, not Maggie. The tension eased out of her body. This was what she wanted for Amber. A father who loved her.
Maggie stood in the kitchen, staring out the window. Amber had insisted that Brady be the one to tuck her in tonight. Which probably meant conning him into reading her multiple books before bed.
Their picnic had gone off without a hitch. In the afternoon they’d spent a little time at Penny’s with Flicker and then went grocery shopping, of all things. Maggie had been amazed by what Brady remembered from his days of working on the farm. He’d kept them both entertained with little stories about him and his brothers.
Amber had definitely fallen in love with her father, and Maggie couldn’t blame her. Brady had proven today that he was still that boy she’d had a crush on in school. But he’d also shown her that the grown-up Brady was even better with more substance and a way of viewing the world that had to do with life and experience that neither of them had had eight years ago. Crushing on teenage Brady had been easy, but grown-up Brady made her feel unsettled.
“Deep thoughts?”
She spun around. Even knowing he couldn’t read her mind, she felt vulnerable. As if She were latching onto an idea of what it would be like to do something insane like fall in love. With Brady.
“Did Amber go to sleep okay?” She had to find something to busy herself with. The dishes were done and put away. Everything was clean. Unless she wanted to pull out the oven cleaner and a scrubbing pad, there wasn’t anything left.
“After five books.” His smile was tender, as if he would read Amber a hundred books if she asked him to. “She was practically asleep when she asked for the fifth one. I made sure to read very slowly.”
“Great.” Oh crap, now what?
He looked as if he had absolutely nowhere to be. It was only eight-thirty. Maybe she should pretend to be tired and ask him to leave. She could watch some TV or work a little or…
“Do you want a drink?” Maggie blurted out. She had to say something, and everything else sounded rude after the day they’d spent together and especially last night with Amber. Besides, he just stood there watching her with a look that made her stomach flutter.
“Sure.” His gaze never strayed from her as she went to the fridge.
She opened it and pushed things aside to see what she had. “I have some milk and juice boxes and water and a couple of cans of Diet Coke hidden near the back. Sorry, I don’t normally have adult company besides Penny. So no real reason to drink.”
But damn, could she use a drink about now.
“Water’s fine.” His baritone voice made her knees tremble.
She straightened and closed the fridge. With a forced smile, she walked over to the sink and flipped on the faucet to cool the water. “Water it is, then.”
Her hands shook when she reached for the glasses. His hand curved around hers as his warmth engulfed her back. It would be so easy to go wherever this led them.
“Let me help you with that,” Brady whispered next to her ear.
Shivers coursed along her spine, pooling into an empty pulsing between her legs. It was only lust. His other arm crossed her waist and pulled her tight against him. His hardness settled against her backside, leaving no doubt where his thoughts were.
Their hands closed over
