He watched her carefully, then tried to smother a chuckle. “What?” she demanded. “What on earth are you laughing about now?” It was as if he could read her mind and it was unnerving.
“You,” he said. “And the look on your face when I asked you if you were hungry.” His eyes gleamed. “Let me guess, the prospect of a chocolate, peanut butter and banana sandwich is not exactly at the top of your dinner choices, am I right?” he asked with a lift of his brow.
“You’re right,” she admitted with a laugh and rueful shake of her head.
“Well, don’t worry about it. I told Shorty we were having guests for dinner and he almost blistered my ears when I told him what I wanted to serve.” He held out his hand to her. “So he’s prepared Sofie her favorite sandwiches and something a bit more adult for us. Shall we?”
She looked at his outstretched hand as if it were a snake about to strike. She honestly couldn’t remember the last time she was so skittish around a man. But then again, she couldn’t remember the last time she was this close to a man. Her experience with Sofie’s father had left a bitter taste in her mouth and scared her off all men. As far as she was concerned, she couldn’t trust her own judgment, not when it came to men, so she simply kept her distance.
Besides, she was far too busy trying to support herself and her daughter to worry about impressing some man or squeezing time out of her hectic life to accommodate him. There had always seemed so many more important things to do.
But now, with Beau, Cassie simply couldn’t fall back on her usual routine of indifference and disdain. Like it or not, she needed his help and so did her daughter. So she was going to curb her own feelings and put Sofie’s needs ahead of her own. Again. It was something that had become second nature to her from the moment of her beloved daughter’s birth.
I’m doing this for Sofie, she mentally reminded herself and immediately felt a bit better. But she’d feel a lot better if Beau Bradford looked less like a movie star and more like a toad.
“Shall we?” he repeated, still holding out his hand to her, as if daring her to take it.
Cassie pressed her free hand to her shaky tummy as she let him escort her out of the foyer, reminding herself once again she wasn’t the least bit interested in him—personally.
Her obligation was to Sofie and Sofie’s welfare. Sofie’s health, heart and happiness came first in Cassie’s life, and she wasn’t about to jeopardize any of them because of one gorgeous man. No matter how charming he was.
Chapter Three
“Oh my word!” Cassie said, coming to a dead halt in the room Beau had referred to as the atrium. She spun in a circle, trying to take in everything. “This is…magnificent,” she breathed, stunned by the sheer size and beauty of the room.
Floor-to-ceiling windows, left uncovered to allow full access to Mother Nature’s beauty, served as three of the room’s walls, allowing a breathtaking view of the landscape as far as the eye could see.
Lights and stars twinkled against the inky blackness, and the flakes of fast-falling snow sparkled like glittering diamonds floating toward earth. It was a scene out of a beautiful, romantic movie.
A roaring fire in the huge fireplace at one end of the room provided both light and a warm, homey coziness that instantly wrapped around you in welcome.
The floors were a beautiful aged wood and the colorful, if faded, Persian carpets that dotted the floor served merely to highlight the gorgeous grain and surrounding patina. On either side of the enormous, roaring fireplace were custom-made oak bookshelves filled with more books than Cassie had ever seen outside of a public library.
Nestled in one corner, right in front of the beautiful view, was a small, elegant table set for two. An eggshell tablecloth of what looked like beautiful aged silk adorned the small, round dinner table. Fresh flowers sparkled in a shimmering crystal vase. White taper candles were perched elegantly in a small rosette of expensive-looking crystal, just waiting to be lit.
Cassie selfconsciously glanced down at herself and felt just a tad out of place in her stained salon uniform and work shoes. She wasn’t accustomed to dining at tables adorned with silk linens and candles nestled in crystal.
Feeling more than a little off balance now, Cassie tried to ignore how romantic the scene looked to her, and kept her gaze moving.
This wasn’t personal, she told herself. The table was probably always set in that corner like that. It wasn’t any big deal just because she was there.
But whether or not it was, she caught herself sneaking appreciative glances back at the table simply because it looked so breathtaking against the dark glittering backdrop Mother Nature had provided.
“This is the most incredible room I’ve ever seen.” Fascinated, Cassie merely roamed for a moment, soaking in the beauty of everything, nearly overwhelmed by the aged opulence reflected in every single antique knickknack and furnishing in the room.
She had no idea what it would have been like to grow up surrounded by this kind of luxury or beauty. It was a bit faded now, yes, but the wealth it took to put together a house like this still shone through. She couldn’t help but feel just a wee bit intimidated. It was the same way she’d felt the one and only time she’d been in Sofie’s father’s opulent childhood home.
Trying to banish that memory, Cassie allowed herself the pleasure of just taking everything in. She walked to the front of the fireplace, stunned by the amount of heat generated from such an enormous hearth. It was so large an adult could easily have stood up in it.
Over the intricately carved oak mantel was a large oil painting of a rather gruff-looking man who had the same mischievous twinkle in his eyes as Beau and his uncle. His white hair tufted out around his temples and ears much the same way as Uncle Jasper’s did.
“Family trait,” Beau said from behind her, startling her again so that she jumped. He laid a hand on her shoulder. “Cassie, you’re going to have to stop doing that.”
“Doing what?” she asked, rubbing her hands up and down her arms, vividly aware of how close he was to her and how her traitorous body responded every time he touched her.
“Jumping every time I come near you,” he said quietly, taking her by the shoulders and gently turning her to face him. “Cassie.” His gaze scanned her face and she sensed that he could see the fear and vulnerability in her eyes. Tenderly, he squeezed her shoulders. “I don’t know what on earth you’ve heard about me, but clearly it must be something pretty awful to make you nearly jump out of your shoes every time I come near you.”
“No, it’s…not that,” she lied, and he smiled.
“Cassie. I know how people talk. They’ve gossiped about me my whole life. And I know what they say,” he added softly, making her heart ache for the pain that knowledge had to bring. “Remember, I grew up here, just like you, and I know how the gossip vines work. But I would think you’d be the last person in the world to believe gossip.”
He had her there. And had managed to make her feel small and ridiculous simply because he was absolutely right. She had grown up amid gossip and she knew better. And yet, she’d allowed herself to judge him simply from things she’d heard about him, not from her own experiences.
And
