of his presence as she turned on the lamp, and rearranged Bella’s toys around her pillow, then helped the little girl into bed and retucked the sheets.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, she gave Bella’s soft cheek a kiss. ‘Night, night.’ Gave her another hug. ‘Don’t let the bed bugs bite.’
She stood and shuffled in the narrow space between the twin beds to make room for Seth, who suddenly seemed enormously tall and broad shouldered. And excessively male.
Bella’s eyes shone as he perched on the bed beside her and she grinned with delight as he kissed her.
‘Goodnight, possum.’ Gently, he tucked a strand of hair from her face. ‘Now close your eyes.’
Bella obeyed.
‘Sleep tight.’
As Seth stood up in the confined space his shoulder bumped Amy’s arm and heat flashed through her like a skyrocket taking off.
She struggled to sound calm as she spoke to Bella. ‘I’m going to leave the lamp on for ten minutes, and you must go to sleep.’
Before the little girl could think up another reason to delay her, she turned and left the room, and Seth followed.
Outside, beyond the bedroom’s closed door, she sent him a nervous smile. ‘I do hope she actually nods off this time.’
‘She’s not used to this house yet,’ he said smoothly.
Amy knew this was true, but his indulgent attitude surprised her.
‘She’s used to sleeping in strange beds,’ she said, and then, to her annoyance, she blushed again.
Seth’s eyes sparkled with poorly concealed amusement.
‘What’s so funny?’ she snapped.
‘I was thinking—’ He paused, looking at her, and the light in his eyes made her chest squeeze tight. ‘I was thinking that it wouldn’t be fair if Bella gets all the kisses.’
Amy stopped breathing, and Seth took a step closer.
SETH told himself it was a simple thing.
He was merely being playful, giving Amy a friendly and innocent kiss on the cheek just like the one he’d given Bella.
So it made no sense that, from the moment he touched her—merely brushed a wisp of her hair from her cheek—he felt fine, electric tremors all over his body.
Amy was standing still. Very still…Too still…standing with her eyes closed…
Seth could see the delicate blue veins on her eyelids, and he could smell faint traces of the jasmine soap she’d used in the shower. He focused on her smooth, soft cheek and tried to ignore the softer-than-soft bow of her lips, but, for some reason that made no sense at all, he didn’t find his way to her cheek…
He dipped lower…
Until his mouth brushed against hers…and they shared a beat of trembling hesitation…and then a gentle, lingering touch…the most tender of hellos.
And Amy didn’t pull away.
Seth felt a subtle increase in the pressure of her mouth against his, and then her lips parted, yielding and warm. She tasted of the summer night and his blood began to roar.
His heart pounded, his skin burned…the homestead veranda faded and the entire universe became Amy.
Sweetly erotic Amy.
Her mouth was so soft and warm, just how he knew it would be. Oh, God. He’d been fighting this attraction from the moment he saw her in the Tamundra pub, and now she was offering heaven…
He wanted nothing but this…Amy, breathless and needy, her skin silky and hot under his hand.
Her kiss…was such a perfect thing…
But she went suddenly still and pulled away.
Seth realised that Ming was there.
‘I—I’ve left your desserts ready in the kitchen,’ Ming said, eyes wide with poorly suppressed delight, then he scuttled sideways like a crab down the hallway, as if he couldn’t hurry away from them fast enough.
As Seth struggled to breathe he heard Amy’s voice calling, ‘Thanks for dinner, Ming. The seafood curry was sensational.’
She sounded astonishingly calm, not at all like a woman who’d been drowning in a whirlpool of passion.
With her back very straight, her chin high, she turned and sailed ahead of Seth onto the veranda, leaving him reeling in her wake.
He took a swift, steadying breath. If there was one thing he’d learned to do well, it was to hide his feelings. No way did he want Amy to guess how seriously he’d been rocked by that kiss.
Once they were out of Ming’s earshot he asked, almost calmly, ‘Do you think Bella will settle now?’
Amy stared at him blankly, as if she hadn’t a clue what he was talking about. Hastily, she looked the other way. ‘Sorry, what did you say? I—I w-was distracted.’
This was better. Perhaps they were on the same wavelength after all.
She lifted her hands in a nervous gesture of helplessness. ‘I—I was hoping Ming hasn’t got the wrong idea.’
‘He’s discreet, like all my staff.’
‘Well, yes, I’m sure he is,’ she said unhappily.
Seth opened his mouth to apologise, but swiftly changed his mind. He wasn’t about to apologise for kissing a lovely girl in the moonlight.
And he wasn’t prepared to admit that the kiss might have been a mistake, even though it was almost certainly a huge error of judgement. He’d let his desire for Amy complicate a situation that was already thorny enough. He would have to tell her the truth sooner rather than later, but he couldn’t face it now. The painful story was still raw inside him. I’ll do it soon, he thought. When I’ve had more time to prepare.
For now, he decided, it was better to simply change the subject.
‘Are you ready for dessert?’ Before Amy could object, Seth added, quickly, ‘You have to try Ming’s watermelon balls in green ginger wine.’
The ghost of a smile flickered. ‘That does sound tempting.’
‘Take a seat. I’ll be back in a sec—as soon as I collect the desserts from the kitchen.’
As Seth headed off Amy let out her breath on a shuddering sigh. She felt as if she’d been holding her breath ever since he’d kissed her, and now she was grateful for this moment alone,
