you were right. The house is too big to search without lights. You could have been hurt.”
“Think so?” Amusement warred with annoyance. Bram watched Hayley shrug as she lifted the paper cup to take another careful sip of wine. She glanced around the clearing nervously. With no moon visible tonight, the setting was perfectly designed to give any smart young woman a case of nerves. The only light came from his camp stove and the citronella candles he’d staked around them to ward off the hungry insect population.
Bram suspected those weren’t the predators that worried Hayley. She was alone with a man she didn’t know, surrounded by trees and the prying eyes of whatever four-legged creatures resided here. If she yelled for help, no one would hear. Only a fool would feel comfortable with the current situation, but he had to hand it to Hayley, she contained her fear well.
Bram felt a stirring of desire and tamped it down quickly. His reaction surprised him. She was undeniably attractive. Her fitted slacks and casual blouse revealed a trim, lithe, enticing figure. But Bram had worked at being immune to any woman’s figure for some time now.
Maybe that was the problem, he thought wryly. Except that it wasn’t her figure so much as something in those wide, doelike eyes that held him enthralled. For all her bold talk, Hayley had a disturbingly innocent sensuality.
She tossed back her head, and he followed the shimmery motion of each golden-brown strand as her hair settled around her shoulders and slid down her slim back. Oh, yeah, she was definitely sparking a reaction in him, yet there was no hint of the practiced tease. Just the opposite, in fact. She was tense and wary and trying not to let it show. He admired her guts, if not her intelligence. The problem was, he didn’t want to be admiring anything at all.
“Feel better?” The question came out more gruffly than he’d intended. Hayley didn’t flinch at his abrupt tone. Her head tipped to one side.
“Actually, I do. Sorry I was such a glutton. I didn’t realize I was so hungry until I started eating. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” His social skills might be rusty, but at least he still remembered his manners. “You weren’t a glutton. I’m glad to see you aren’t one of those picky eaters.”
Hayley had polished off her share of the food and now she was working her way through a second cup of wine with slow, careful sips. She didn’t seem to have noticed that his cup stood untouched.
“I know I should feel like a complete pig, but I don’t care. Even if I have to work out an extra hour tomorrow morning, that meal was worth every bite.”
An image of her bending and stretching in some body-hugging outfit was not something he wanted to picture at the moment. As Bram searched for a safer topic he felt the slow crawl of her eyes over his chest. They lingered just long enough to stir the unwanted heat simmering in his loins.
“You know, a look like that can get a woman in a lot of trouble,” he told her softly. Her gaze flew to his face. He was pretty sure she blushed, but she wasn’t the type to be easily intimidated.
“Sorry. I was looking for the cape and the suit with the big S.”
“What?”
“You know. Blue tights, red cape, big red S on the chest?”
He nearly grinned as he caught her meaning. “Sorry, no superhero costumes in my wardrobe.”
“Pity.”
“But I’ll be happy to go back up to the house with you and have a look around just the same.”
She shook her head. He found himself captivated by the shimmer of her hair once more.
“I don’t think so,” she told him. “While that dragon on your arm looks suitably fierce, I doubt it shoots real flames in times of crisis. I’d hate to be the reason you discovered that tough hide of yours isn’t bulletproof.”
For the third time that night Bram found himself wanting to grin. She had a way of catching him off guard with her droll sense of humor.
“What I should have done,” she continued, unperturbed, “was to follow my instincts as soon as I saw your gate out front, and called the police.”
“I didn’t think my work was that bad, but, hey, don’t let me stop you.”
She gazed up at him from beneath her thick eyelashes. “I didn’t mean it that way. Your art is beautiful and you know it. Besides, I left calling them a bit late, don’t you think? I can just see his reaction now if Marcus came home and found the police searching the house again.”
“Again?” Obviously, she and her father were not close.
She ignored the question. “Whoever was inside is probably gone by now.”
“Then it should be perfectly safe for me to have a look around—even without the bulletproof hide.”
“No, that’s okay.”
Bram couldn’t have said why her abrupt dismissal annoyed him so much, but he had an irrational urge to reach over and touch her. He stood abruptly and reached for a bag to dispose of the trash.
Startled by his sudden movement, Hayley jumped. To cover her reaction, she unfolded herself from the low chair with a gracefulness few women could have managed. Her unease wasn’t due exclusively to him, he realized as her gaze wandered past the circle of light to study the darkness that surrounded them.
“It’s getting late,” she told him. “I should go.”
She handed him her paper plate and their fingers collided. Bram felt her touch all the way down to that part of him her presence had already roused to life.
Hayley went still. Her eyes widened as if she felt the charge as well. He took a small measure of satisfaction from the fact that she nearly dropped everything in her hurry to pull back from that casual contact. Her large blue eyes clearly registered consternation.
“Sorry. I’m not usually so clumsy.”
Clearly nervous now, she pushed back a strand of hair that skimmed across her cheek. The action unintentionally invited him to take a closer look. Her skin was smooth and every bit as tempting as her fascinating hair. His fingers tightened on the plate to keep from reaching out to see how both would feel.
What the devil was he thinking? She was a kid. And a scared kid at that. Besides, the last thing he wanted was an entanglement of any kind. Hayley was the sort of woman with entanglement stamped all over her. If his libido wanted sex that badly, he could always find a casual partner. She didn’t qualify.
“Have a seat and finish your wine,” he ordered sharply. “I can handle the cleanup.”
He glimpsed a flash of hurt in her eyes as she stepped back.
“I’ve had enough wine for the evening. I should go back to the house. I’m sure Marcus and his wife are home by now.”
Bram took a firm grip on his self-control. He would not let her get to him on any level. “Not fond of the stepmother, huh?”
Her chin came up quickly. “Not that it’s any of your business,
