“If you don’t mind, I’d like to get myself a cup of coffee while Bobby eats his breakfast. We’ll leave as soon as he’s finished.”
Shane rose from his chair. “I’ll get it for you.”
She maintained a standoffish attitude, as much for her own sake, in trying to keep her emotional equilibrium, as to send a message to him. “I don’t want to inconvenience you.” She stepped back into the den and started toward the kitchen, with Shane close behind her.
“Uh, about your leaving...”
His words cut through her outer show of control straight to her buried anxiety, triggering an angry reaction. She whirled to face him, speaking slowly as she carefully measured each word. “Don’t worry. We’ll be out of your house this morning just as I said we would. I’ve already packed our things.” She glanced at the floor. “Except for these toys. I hadn’t anticipated having breakfast here. I’d planned for us to be out of your house as soon as I got Bobby up.”
“I’ve, uh, been giving it some thought,” Shane said.
She busied herself collecting Bobby’s toys. “Whatever it is, I don’t want to hear it. I’m not interested.”
He ignored her comments. “I don’t know why Kate wanted you to stay here, but I’ve found that it’s far easier to go along with what she wants than to try to fight her on anything.”
Cynthia turned a cool gaze on Shane, one that belied the nervous churning in her stomach. “Well, you shouldn’t have a problem with this one. You can tell Kate that I chose to leave.”
He awkwardly shifted his weight from one foot to the other and glanced at the floor. “I guess I’m not making myself very clear.”
His nervousness and uncertainty caught her by surprise. They seemed completely out of character for the analytical, dynamic and confident Shane Fortune she used to know. This strange turn of events left her slightly perplexed. She thought everything had been settled last night. She wanted to move out of his house before things became more awkward than they already were. But mostly she wanted to get Bobby away from Shane. Protecting her son and his true identity was her number-one priority.
Shane cleared his throat as he took the toy police car from her hand, set the toy on the coffee table and then captured her wary gaze with his own. He fought the desire to reach out and touch her. He forged ahead, uncertain about where he was going. “What I’m trying to say is that you can stay here—you and Bobby—until you settle your father’s estate and find a place of your own. This is a large house. There’s plenty of room for everyone. We don’t have to feel crowded.”
He wasn’t pleased with the expression on her face or her body language, which both said his logic hadn’t convinced her. He offered a smile as he gestured toward the patio. “And there’s the swimming pool and hot tub.”
He saw her objections forming, but he adopted his most compelling bedside manner and continued before she had an opportunity to speak. “I can imagine things have been very hectic for you the past couple of weeks. It’s difficult enough to handle a long-distance move, and even more difficult to do it with a child.”
He glanced out the door of the den and could see Bobby still eating his breakfast. “To add the emotional turmoil of your father’s death to the circumstances is asking too much. The least I can do is allow you a safe and quiet haven in the middle of the chaos for a couple of weeks or so. You certainly can’t take care of your business while living in a motel and trying to take care of your son, too. I’m at the hospital a good deal of the time, so you’d practically have the place to yourself.”
He held up his hand to prevent her from voicing her objections. “Don’t say anything now. Give it some thought while you have breakfast.” He extended an engaging smile that he hoped would mask the uncertainty weaving its way through the fabric of his confidence. “Okay?”
He saw her relent before the words came out of her mouth. “I’ll...I’ll think about it.” She turned her attention to picking up the rest of Bobby’s toys.
Cynthia set the toy box on the coffee table next to the police car, then gazed out the door at Bobby. The little boy had taken his fire truck and was playing with it on the patio. She knew she could not conduct her business with her father’s estate while keeping her son cooped up in a motel room all day. Even if she let him play outside, she certainly couldn’t allow him to play in a parking lot or at the motel swimming pool without constant supervision.
She slowly turned to face Shane. She had reluctantly come to an uneasy decision. She made a valiant attempt to ignore the apprehension layered on top of her anxiety, caused as much by her unwanted attraction to Shane as by her all-important need to protect her secret.
He eyed her curiously. “Well?”
“I...” She stole another quick look at Bobby. Did she dare to stay in Shane’s house and tempt fate? Trepidation shivered through her body. She shoved the words out quickly, before she could change her mind. “Yes. If it won’t be too much of an imposition, we’ll stay until I can get my father’s estate straightened out.”
“Well, that’s settled then.” An odd sensation washed over him. Whether or not he’d planned it, the fact remained that Cynthia McCree was back in his life. What he was not sure about was whether he had made the right decision and where that decision would lead. Intimate memories of their time together flooded through his mind, vividly bringing back desires and yearnings for what had once been.
“Yes, I guess it is. I suppose I should go upstairs and unpack our things.” She stepped to the patio door and called to her son. “Come on, Bobby. Let’s take your toys to your bedroom so they aren’t cluttering up Shane’s den, then you need to get dressed.”
“In a minute, Mommy.” He pushed the fire truck while making engine noises. “My firemen aren’t done putting out the fire yet.”
“I’ll keep an eye on him if you want to go ahead and unpack.”
She paused for a moment, not sure how to respond to Shane’s offer. Even though she had started Bobby on swimming lessons at their neighborhood YMCA in Chicago, she didn’t feel comfortable about leaving him alone by the swimming pool. But of even greater concern was leaving him alone with Shane. The last thing she needed was for Shane to question Bobby about where his father was. An uncomfortable lump knotted in the pit of her stomach and refused to go away. This was more than she had bargained for when she’d made the decision to move back to Pueblo. She had never figured close contact with Shane Fortune into the equation.
She watched her son playing with his truck. Her love for him flowed through her body, sending warmth to every corner of her existence. His innocence was balanced in a precarious position between the business she had to handle and her fear that Shane would discover his true identity. It was up to her to make sure that nothing—or no one—robbed him of his right to a happy childhood. She closed her eyes for a second and tried to still her rattled nerves. She had to be strong. She could not allow this temporary association with Shane to distract her.
Nor could she allow Shane to work his way into her heart again—a task she feared would not be all that diffi-cult for him to achieve.
Cynthia stiffened her resolve. She had to make sure Shane didn’t suspect that anything was amiss. “I’ll only be gone for a few minutes. I’m sure Bobby won’t need any attention other than someone just being here to make sure he doesn’t try to go into the pool without supervision.” She
