swallowed and she rose, too. “Yeah. You guys go on outside. Mommy has some things to think about.”
Wyatt’s gut jumped again. He could solve all her problems with one call to his bank. He glanced at the papers on the table. Was it really an accident that she’d picked today, this morning, after he’d nearly kissed her the night before, to run some numbers?
He sucked in a breath. He had become a suspicious, suspicious man.
But after Betsy, was that so bad? Especially if it caused him to slow down and analyze things, so neither he nor Missy got hurt?
“Come on, O. Let’s go haul some dirt.”
He and Owen left the kitchen and Missy squeezed her eyes shut. Since that dance, she’d had trouble getting and keeping her breath when he was around. And she knew why. He was good-looking, but she was needy. Four years with no romance in her life, four years of not feeling like a woman, melted away when he looked at her. His dark, dark eyes seemed to see right through her, to her soul. And since that dance, every time he looked at her she knew he was as attracted to her as she was to him.
They could be talking about the price of potato chips and she would know he was thinking about their attraction.
And everything inside her would swing in that direction, too.
Luckily, she had a brain that wouldn’t let her do anything stupid.
They hardly knew each other. What they felt had to be purely sexual. She had kids who needed protecting. And the only way she could truly protect her kids was to make her business so successful she’d never have to depend on a man. Keeping her eye on the ball, creating the best wedding cake company in Maryland, that’s what would keep her safe, independent. Eventually, she might want a relationship. she might even marry again, if she didn’t have to be dependent on a man. But it would be pretty damned hard not to become dependent on Wyatt when she was broke and he had millions.
He had to be off-limits.
No matter how good-looking he was. And no matter how much she kept noticing.
Playing with Owen cleared Wyatt’s mind enough that he made a startling realization as he was eating another dry sandwich for lunch, this one peanut butter from a jar he’d found in a cabinet.
His relationship with Betsy ultimately had become all about money. But so did a lot of his relationships. He hired friends who became employees, and the friendships became working relationships. He invested in the companies of friends and those friendships became business relationships.
Because money changed things. If he really wanted his feelings for Missy to cool, all he had to do was give her money for her business. Then his internal businessman would recategorize her.
Sadness washed through him. He didn’t want to recategorize her. He wanted to like her. But he ignored those thoughts. He was recently divorced. With his limited time, all He and Missy would have would be a fling. She deserved better.
Walking to the back door of his grandmother’s house, he sniffed a laugh. It looked as if he’d gotten what he wanted. His inner nice guy was back. He was putting Missy’s needs ahead of his.
He strode through her empty backyard, knowing the kids were probably napping. He and Missy wouldn’t just have time to talk privately; they could go over real numbers to determine exactly how much money she’d need.
His heart pinched again. He kept walking. This was the right thing to do.
On her porch, he knocked on the wood frame of the screen door.
She turned and saw him.
Time stopped. Her eyes widened with pleasure. When he opened the door and stepped inside, he watched them warm with desire. Her gaze did a quick ripple from his face to his toes, and his gut coiled.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
“I didn’t expect you back until the kids woke up.”
He scrubbed his hand across the back of his neck. Offering her money suddenly seemed so wrong. She was pretty and she liked him and he’d always liked her. The house was quiet. He could slide his hand under that thick ponytail, nudge her to him and kiss her senseless within seconds.
The very presumptuousness of that thought got him back on track. She’d already rebuffed him twice. She knew what she wanted and was going after it. She wouldn’t sleep with him on a whim. No matter how attracted they were.
He needed to behave himself, think rationally and get them both beyond this attraction.
“I’ve been considering what you said this morning about hiring someone.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Can we sit?”
“Sure.”
She sat on the chair she’d been in earlier that morning. He sat across from her again.
“You need to buy a new vehicle. Maybe a van.”
She laughed. “No kidding.”
“So the way I figure this, you need salary for an assistant, day care for the kids in the morning and a new van.”
She nodded. “Okay. I get it. You just talked me out of spending my winter money on an assistant. It won’t work to hire an assistant if the SUV breaks down.”
“Actually, that’s why I’m here.” He took one last look at her face—turned up nose, full lips, sensual blue-gray eyes. His hormones protested at the easy way he gave up on a relationship, but he trudged on. “Rather than you using your winter money, which isn’t enough anyway, I’d like to give you a hundred thousand dollars.”
He expected a yelp of happiness. Maybe a scream. He got a confused stare.
“You want to give me a hundred thousand dollars?”
“There are hidden costs in having an employee. I’m guessing a good baker doesn’t come for minimum wage. Add benefits and employer taxes and you’re probably close to fifty thousand. A van will run you about thirty thousand and I’m not sure about day care.”
She rose. “You’re kidding me.”
“No. Employer taxes and benefits will about double your expense for an assistant’s salary.”
“I’m not talking about the taxes. I’m talking about the money.” She spun away, then pivoted to face him again. “For Pete’s sake! I don’t want your money! I want to be independent.”
“Your business can’t stand on its own.”
“Maybe not now, but it will.”
“Not if you don’t get an influx of cash.”
She gasped. “I thought you had some faith in me!”
“I do!”
“You don’t!” She leaned toward him and the hot liquid
