Page 16 of Witch Moon

He nodded slowly. "So it's safe to say she wasn't resting when you got there."

"No. Not really. Dad...I was there when you called."

"Oh?" He tugged his tie loose and undid the top button of his shirt.

"I know you like her."

He licked his lips, shook his head at the phone. "I only just met her, Rowan."

"I know. She's like that. I mean, I liked her the first time I met her too, and I usually hate teachers on sight, even if I don't know them yet. There's something...special about Bella, though."

He lowered his head, gnawed his lip. His daughter was too perceptive for his own peace of mind.

"And I hate to think of her all alone in that big house making her own dinner tonight. I mean, after what she did this morning-"

"You want to invite her to dinner?" He battled a smile.

"Can we?"

"I guess. I don't know if she'll come, but-"

"Why don't you stop and ask her? It's on your way home anyway."

Yes, it was on his way home. He'd already been looking forward to driving by and trying to catch a glimpse of her as he passed. What was it about the woman...?

"Dad?"

"What? Oh, yeah. It's on the way. I'll stop and deliver the invitation. Good idea, Rowan."

"I know it was," she said. "So I'll see you later, then?"

"Sure will. Love you, kiddo."

"You too, Dad."

"Rowan?"

"Hmm?"

He swallowed hard. "Thanks for being up front with me. You always can, you know. No matter what."

"It works both ways, Dad," she said.

He paused, sighed. "You're right. There is something...special about Bella."

"I know."

The phone clicked, and he folded his in half and tucked it back into his pocket. Then he turned onto Sycamore, two blocks up, and into Mirabella Saint Angeline's gravel driveway. His feet crunched over the stones, tapped up the steps and across the porch, and then he rang the doorbell. He waited a few beats. No one answered. He tried listening for footsteps from within, but the place was far too noisy for that. She had at least a dozen sets of wind chimes out there, and beyond the tinkling of them, there were the birds. She had more birds flitting around than any other house on the block. Frowning, he rang the bell again, then peered through the glass. Odd.

He was just about to start imagining she'd had complications from that bump on the head and was lying unconscious somewhere inside, when he heard a sound from beyond the house-one loud enough to be heard above the din. The back yard? He trotted down off the porch and around back. And there she was, standing on a wobbly ladder, pouring birdseed into a feeder. Which, he supposed accounted for all the birds.

"Now that's what I call taking it easy," he remarked.

She jerked her head around, apparently startled. The ladder tipped. The bag of seed hit the ground with a thump, and Jonathon shot forward to prevent the lady from doing the same. The next thing he knew she was in his arms. She'd fallen, and he'd caught her, awkwardly. His arms were tight around her thighs, and his face was pressed to her abdomen...mostly. Her hands braced on his shoulders. A rush of desire rose up inside him like a sleeping dragon that had been poked with a sharp stick. It had been a long time since he'd been this close to a woman or held a feminine body this tightly to his. And in spite of his usually chivalrous nature, he took advantage. He lowered her slowly. His face slid over her belly, pushing her shirt up a little on the way. His five o'clock shadow rasped over her skin. He heard her catch her breath. To his credit he pulled back a little to let her breasts slide by his face withoutquitetouching, but he held tightly enough so the rest of her was pressed to the rest of him all the way down, until her feet touched the ground.

His arms locked around her waist, her body flush against his and warm and soft, her face, only a breath away, there was just no stopping it. He kissed her. He didn't think about it first, and he didn't ask permission. He just bent his head and covered her mouth with his. Her lips parted on a soft sigh, and her arms curled around his neck. She kissed him back. Her tongue met his, stroked it, teased and tangled with it, and he trembled all over with heat and hunger and need.

God, it had been so long....

---