frazzled Rory with his daughter. It would give her a chance for some one-on-one time with Finley, a chance to prove to herself that she was strong enough to be around kids. Strong enough to adopt one of her own, if she wanted to.
Unfortunately, the second they were out of Rory’s earshot, Finley the Diva returned. “You can go. I’ll fill the tub myself.”
Having watched her friends in Charleston handle their children, if nothing else, Shannon knew the grown-up in charge had to stay in charge. “I’m sure you could, but I want to do it.”
Finley crossed her arms on her chest and huffed out a sigh.
For Rory’s sake, Shannon didn’t laugh. “I like this scent,” she said, picking up her favorite bubble bath. “But you can choose whichever one you want.”
Finley chose another scent. Shannon shrugged. It didn’t matter to her which scent Finley used. She turned on the tap, poured in the liquid and faced Finley with a smile. “I’m going to leave the room while this fills up so you can undress. Call me when you’re ready to step in the tub.”
“I don’t need help.”
And with that comment, Shannon decided she had experimented enough for one night. She didn’t have the right to discipline this little girl and she definitely needed a firm hand. So she left this battle for Rory. “Okay. That’s great.”
She walked out of the bathroom and directly into the kitchen. “Tub is almost full and Finley’s stripping. You might want to go in and supervise.”
Rory rose. “She can bathe herself but I like to be in the next room just in case.” He glanced at the dishes and winced. “Sorry about that.”
She waved a hand in dismissal. “I can load a few dishes into the dishwasher. You go on ahead.”
Alone in the kitchen for forty minutes, she wasn’t sure if Finley had decided to have an Olympic swim in her tub or if Rory was reading her a story…or if they’d found the TV and decided to stay on their own in the bedroom.
Whatever had happened, Shannon was fine with it. She knew they were both tired, weary. And once the dishes were stacked in the dishwasher and the kitchen cleaned, she had decorating to do. But just as she dragged the box of garland over to the sofa, Rory walked into the living room.
“Well, she’s down for the night.”
“I suspected she was tired.”
“Exhausted.”
“She’ll be happy in the morning.”
With a weary sigh, Rory fell to the couch. “How’d you get so smart about kids?”
His praise surprised her. Though she’d spent years watching her friends’ kids, longing for her own, she’d also all but ignored them this past difficult year. “I had some friends in South Carolina who had children. I used to babysit.”
He laughed. “You volunteered to hang around kids?”
“It’s always easier to handle children who aren’t yours.” She brushed her hands together to rid them of attic dust and stepped away from the box of decorations. Eager to change the subject, she said, “You sound like you could use a glass of wine.”
“Or a beer, if you have one.”
“I do.” She left the living room, got two beers from the refrigerator and gave one to Rory.
He relaxed on the couch, closed his eyes. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” She glanced at the decorations, thinking she really should get started, but also knowing Rory was embarrassed about imposing and at his wits’ end. Deciding to be a Good Samaritan and give him someone to talk to, she gingerly sat on the sofa beside him. “Must have been some drive.”
“There was a point when I considered turning around because I could see things were getting worse, but the weather reports kept saying the storm would blow out soon.” He peered over at her. “It never did.”
“This will teach you to listen to weathermen.”
He laughed. Relaxed a little more. “So you ended up taking over your family’s business?”
“By default. I was perfectly happy to work with the buyers and in advertising for Raleigh’s. But my dad wanted to retire and I’m an only child.” She paused then smiled at him. “I see you also ended up in your dad’s job.”
Rory tilted his head, studying her. Her smile was pretty, genuine. Not flirtatious and certainly not enough to get his hormones going, but an odd tingle took up residence in his stomach. “Yeah. I did. Who would have thought ten years ago that we’d be running the two businesses we always talked about while I waited for Natalie for our dates?”
“Well, you were a shoo-in for your job. You’re the oldest son of a family that owns a business. I thought I was going to be a lawyer. Turns out law school is really, really dull.”
He laughed again, then realized he couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed twice, back-to-back, in the same night. Warmth curled through him. Not like arousal from flirting. Not like happiness, but something else. Something richer. Not only was Shannon Raleigh a knockout and good with kids, but she was also easy to talk to—
Good grief. This strange feeling he was having was attraction. Real attraction. The next step beyond the hormone-driven reaction he had when he saw her in the little red dress.
Damn it. He was here to look at her family’s store to see if it was an appropriate investment for his family. He couldn’t be attracted to her. Not just that, but he was already a loser at love. He’d given in to the fun of flirting once. He’d let himself become vulnerable. Hell, he’d let himself tumble head over heels for someone, and he knew how that had turned out—with her leaving him on Christmas day two years ago, and all but deserting their daughter.
When he’d finally found her and asked about visitation, she’d told him she didn’t want to see Finley. Ever. Hoping that she’d change her mind in the two years that had passed, he’d run out of excuses to give Finley for missed birthdays and holidays. Pretty soon he was going to have to tell a six-year-old girl that her mother didn’t want her.
That broke his heart. Shattered it into a million painful pieces. Made him want to shake his ex-wife silly.
Which was why he’d never marry again. At this point in his life he wasn’t even sure he’d date again.
He rose from the sofa. “You know what? I’m tired, too. I’m going to have to figure out how to get my car from the interstate in the morning and I’m guessing for that I’m going to need a good night’s sleep.” He gave her a warm smile. “Thanks again for letting us stay.”
With that he turned and all but raced toward the door, but he didn’t get three steps before Shannon stopped him. “Rory?”
He turned.
She pointed at the sleeping bag rolled up at by the door. “You might want to take that.”
He sucked in a breath. The whole point of coming into the room had been to get his sleeping bag.
