wore another dress that was ugly enough to be offensive. The dull gray fabric sucked the life from her face and the bulky style hid any hint of curve. Yet when she smiled, he found his mood lifting. He wanted to smile back. He wanted to pull her close and discover the body hidden beneath.
Heat stirred, reminding him how long he had lived only for his work.
He ignored the need and the wanting, the heat that forced blood south, and set down his briefcase. He even ignored that, given her past, Kayleen had probably never been with a man, and instead focused on the fact that she and the girls were in his room.
He had made himself extremely clear. She was to keep the children away from him. They had their own suite and everything they could possibly want or need. He had only taken the sisters to keep them from a less desirable fate. Yet when he started to remind Kayleen of that, he could not seem to bring himself to say the words.
Perhaps because she looked so hopeful as she smiled at him. He did not want to squash the light in her eyes.
“I’ll get some wine,” he said, moving to the small wine rack tucked in a cabinet. Something stronger might make the evening go more quickly, but he only had wine in his rooms. He did not, as a rule, drink here. Of course he did not, as a rule, have a woman and three children to contend with.
Nadine danced over to him. “Hi, As’ad,” she said, her eyes bright with happiness, her mouth smiling. “Did you have a good day? I got every word on my spelling test except one and it was really hard. My new teacher says I’m a good speller. I’m good in all my subjects, except math, and Kayleen is gonna help me with that.”
Pepper ran over and pushed in front of Nadine. “Hi! I’m in school, too, and I’m good at math.” She stuck out her tongue at her sister, then smiled back at him. “I made a picture and I brought it for you, but you don’t have a ’frigerator, so where are we gonna put it?”
Dana stood and joined them. “He doesn’t want your picture,” she said, then sighed, as only an older sibling can. “She’s not a very good artist.”
Pepper stomped her foot. “I’m an excellent artist. You’re just a butthead.”
Dana gasped, Nadine looked worried and Pepper slapped her hand over her mouth. Terror darkened her blue eyes and she glanced between him and Kayleen. Apparently saying “butthead” was not allowed.
As’ad rubbed his temple.
Kayleen walked over and looked at Pepper. “You know that’s wrong.”
Pepper nodded frantically, her hand still over her mouth.
“You need to apologize to Dana.”
Pepper, a tiny girl with long, curly blond hair, turned to her big sister. “I’m sorry I called you that.”
Dana put her hands on her hips. “That’s not good enough. You always call people—”
Kayleen cleared her throat. Dana hunched her shoulders.
“Thank you for apologizing,” she grumbled.
Kayleen touched Pepper’s shoulder. “Now you help me think of a suitable punishment. What is appropriate for what you did?”
Pepper’s eyes filled with tears. “No story tonight?” she asked in a whisper.
Kayleen considered. “That’s a little harsh. What if you have to give up your choice on movie night? Dana gets two choices instead.”
Pepper shivered slightly, then nodded. “Okay.”
“Good.” Kayleen smiled at As’ad. “We’re healed. You ready to eat?”
He opened the bottle of wine and joined them at the table. When he was seated, before he could pour, Kayleen reached for Pepper’s hand and his. He stared at her.
Pepper leaned toward him. “We have to say grace.”
“Of course.”
He took Kayleen’s hand and Nadine’s, then lowered his head while Kayleen offered brief thanks for their meal. While she served, he poured two glasses of wine and passed her one.
Kayleen handed him a plate. “I’ve never been much of a drinker.”
“Neither have I.” Although under the circumstances, he just might be starting.
This was too much, he thought. More than he’d expected or wanted. There were children at his table. And a woman he did not know and was not going to sleep with, and having sex with her would be the only acceptable reason to have her here. Yet he saw no easy way to escape.
“We go around the table and talk about our day,” Kayleen said as she passed Dana her plate. “Everyone has to say one good thing that happened. I hope that’s okay.”
And if it was not?
He glanced down at the plate in front of him. Lasagna, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and a salad.
“Perhaps some kind of menu would be helpful,” he told Kayleen.
“I know. I’ll get one made up. But the girls really wanted to order you their favorites.”
Dana talked about how she’d finished her homework early and had found a collection of medical texts in the palace’s main library. Nadine mentioned her dance class and how well she’d done.
“I hit a boy,” Pepper announced cheerfully. “He was teasing these three girls. He’s kinda big, but I wasn’t scared. So I hit him. The teacher didn’t like it but because I’m new, she said she was going to let it go this one time. I heard this other teacher saying that boy needed a good beating and maybe I’m the one to give it to him.” She beamed. “That was fun.”
Kayleen quickly covered her mouth with her napkin. As’ad saw the humor in her eyes and knew she was hiding a smile. He took a sip of wine to keep from laughing. He liked Pepper—she had the heart of a lion.
“Perhaps hitting boys is not the best plan,” he said as he set the glass down. “One day one of them might hit you back.”
“I’m tough,” she said.
“Still. Violence is a poor strategy.”
“What’s a better one?”
He hesitated, not sure what to say.
Kayleen grinned. “We’re all waiting to be dazzled by your strategy.”
“Perhaps you would like to offer a suggestion?” he asked.
“Not really. Go ahead.”
Privately he agreed with Pepper’s approach, but he doubted it would be successful as she grew.
“We’ll talk later,” Kayleen said, rescuing him. “I know hitting a bully seems like a good idea, but it’s going to get you into a lot of trouble. Not only with the teachers and with me, but as As’ad mentioned, you could get hurt.”
“All
