long-term relationship. And he would never marry. He didn’t know how to deal with a family—except the way he was raised—and he would never do that to a wife or child. Some years he had rarely seen his father. That, and his dangerous lifestyle was still too close, too real. He was definitely not marriage material and Marissa definitely was.
Sperm bank—that was ridiculous. More images of Marissa in a nightie in bed in the adjoining room taunted him, and he turned on his side and closed his eyes and willed sleep to come.
After thirty minutes of tossing and turning he heard Autumn crying again and remembered what a time he’d had with the little baby the first night. He was tempted to go see if he could help, but he didn’t want to set a precedent that he would regret later.
Why couldn’t he sleep this past week when that first night all he had dreamed of was sleeping? And why had he put the baby bed in Marissa’s room? Now if he went to see about Autumn in the night, he’d be in Marissa’s bedroom. The thought made him hot.
Then the baby got quiet. Relieved, David stared at the ceiling while visions of Marissa in a nightie, rocking Autumn, plagued him. He tossed and turned for the next hour, finally falling into a fitful sleep. He stirred long before dawn, showered, dressed and left the house to pour himself into work.
Before going, he wrote a note for Marissa that he would return about six for supper.
“Get her out of your mind,” he said, striding across his yard through the early morning darkness.
During the morning and early afternoon, he managed to get her out of his thoughts for a few minutes at a time and finally decided he was going home at three.
He made all sorts of excuses to himself, but deep down, he knew he wanted to see Marissa.
When he entered the kitchen, Gertie had supper in the oven, the table set and she had gone home.
“I’m home!” he yelled, hanging up his hat and coat and feeling his eagerness grow to see Marissa and Autumn. There was no answer, so he went to the family room. Finding it empty, he walked through other rooms.
He climbed the stairs and at the top of the staircase called to her again, “Marissa.”
Wondering where Marissa and Autumn could be, he strolled down the hall. He was dusty from work and as he headed for a shower, he yanked off his T-shirt while he glanced into empty bedrooms.
Marissa’s door stood wide-open and David knocked lightly.
“Marissa?” he called. When no one answered, he stepped inside. Autumn lay on her back in the crib, sleeping, her tiny hands doubled into fists. Marissa was nowhere in sight. He crossed to the crib to look down at the sleeping baby.
“Hey, sweetie,” he said softly, and heard a gasp behind him.
He turned and froze as he faced Marissa.
Four
He had been hot before thinking about Marissa. Now he was on fire. With her hair in a towel, Marissa stood wrapped in a large, navy bath towel, and his imagination ran rampant. The only thing beneath that towel was Marissa’s warm, luscious body.
“You said you wouldn’t be home until six,” she said, the words little more than a whisper. She gazed back wide eyed at him. Under his steady, green-eyed scrutiny, Marissa was uncomfortably conscious of her state of undress.
“I didn’t know you were in the house,” she added, realizing she should move, get some clothes, do something except what she was doing—staring at him.
“I called and knocked on your door,” he said, but she was barely aware of his words.
He was shirtless and she couldn’t keep from staring at his muscled chest, which was sprinkled with curly black hair that tapered in a line to disappear into his jeans that still had the top button unfastened. The man was all solid muscles and tanned skin and sexy, male perfection. Her mouth went dry and her heart pounded. He was sinfully appealing.
As he crossed the room to her, she looked up to meet his gaze, which had unmistakable flames dancing in it. He stopped only inches from her.
She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t swallow, couldn’t talk. Why had she taken this job? She hadn’t been here long and already she was turning to mush. Worse, he hadn’t touched her and she was melting. But the way he was looking at her would make any woman melt.
“Autumn’s asleep now,” he said in a soft, husky tone.
“Yes, she is,” Marissa whispered as his gaze dropped to her mouth. “I have to get dressed—”
“Marissa,” he interrupted, his voice dropping a notch deeper. Stepping closer, he slipped his hand behind her head, pulling away the towel that was around her hair. Thick locks of her dark blond hair spilled over her shoulders while his fingers wound in them and every touch stirred tingles.
With David’s hands on her, she couldn’t move away from him. All she could do was look into his eyes and see desire, a need for her that overwhelmed her.
“Move back, David,” she whispered finally, certain he could hear her heart drumming.
“Why? A kiss is inevitable.”
“No, it’s not,” she argued while her pulse raced. “Not while I’m standing here in a towel.”
“We could remedy that,” he said, and she clutched the towel she had knotted around her.
He hadn’t moved and stood looking at her with that hot, hungry gaze that immobilized her. He leaned down, and his lips brushed hers so lightly, a feathery touch, yet it was a flame. “David, we shouldn’t…” she whispered, trying again to find some resistance to him.
“Why the hell not?” he asked. “Don’t tell me no when you want to. I can see desire in your brown eyes. Ah, Marissa,” he drawled softly, “we’ve been headed this way since I opened my door to you.”
I’ve been headed this way since I was eleven years old, she thought, unable to put up any more argument.
He leaned close again, his mouth settling on hers, and Marissa knew she was lost. And for a few minutes she didn’t care. Stop him in a while, she thought. But for now, she was going to satisfy a lifetime of curiosity about the man. How many times she had dreamed of this moment! How many times she had imagined his kiss, fantasized that he noticed her, wanted her. This was something she had wanted too long, too badly to say no to instantly. Enjoy the moment, she told herself, and then the thought dissolved, replaced by feeling.
David slipped his arm around Marissa’s waist, moving closer, his tongue touching her lips and then sliding into her mouth, stroking her tongue. She tasted sweet, hot, a golden torment, and a satisfaction that settled in his heart in a way he could never have imagined would be possible. She was a softness in his life that had been hard and harsh and on an edge. Yet here was sunlight, warmth, a woman to savor.
He tightened his arms, his kiss trying to devour his discovery, a blinding moment that transformed and shook him to the foundation of his being. Her softness was a promise of warmth that he had searched for as far back as memory stretched.
Marissa slid her hands across his sculpted chest, which was hard with muscles, coarse
