Page 33 of Megan's Mate
They stood there for a moment, in the last glow of the day, the boy between them, his head resting securely on Nathaniel’s shoulder, dark hair to dark hair, honed muscle to young limbs.
Something locked deep inside her swelled, tried to burst free. She sighed it away, stroked a hand over her son’s back and felt the steady rhythm of his breathing.
“He’s had a long day.”
“So have you, Meg. There are shadows under your eyes. Since that means you didn’t sleep any better than I did last night, I can’t say I mind seeing them there.”
It was hard, she thought, so very hard, to keep pulling away from the current that drew her to him. “I’m not ready for this, Nathaniel.”
“Sometimes a wind comes up, blows you off course. You’re not ready for it, but if you’re lucky, you end up in a more interesting place than you’d planned.”
“I don’t like to depend on luck.”
“That’s okay. I do.” He shifted the boy to a more comfortable position and carried him to the house.
Chapter 6
“Don’t see what all the damn to-do’s about,” Dutch grumbled as he whipped a delicate egg froth for his angel food cake surprise.
“Trenton St. James II is a member of the family.” Running on nerves, Coco checked the temperature on her prime rib. She had a dozen things to deal with since the cucumber facial she’d indulged in had thrown off her timetable. “And the president of the St. James hotels.” Satisfied that the beef was coming along nicely, she basted her roast duck. “As this is his first visit to The Retreat, it’s important that everything run smoothly.”
“Some rich bastard coming around to freeload.”
“Mr. Van Horne!” Coco’s heart lurched. After six months, she knew she shouldn’t be shocked by the man. But,really. “I’ve known Mr. St. James for... well, a great number of years. I can assure you he is a successful businessman, an entrepreneur.Nota freeloader.”
Dutch sniffed, gave Coco the once-over. She’d done herself up good and proper, he noted. The fancy-shmancy dress glittered and flowed down, stopping plenty short to show off her legs. Her cheeks were all pink, too. And he didn’t think it was from kitchen heat. His lips curled back in a sneer.
“So what’s he, your boyfriend?”
The pink deepened to rose. “Certainly not. A woman of my... experience doesn’t have boyfriends.” Surreptitiously she checked her face in the stainless-steel exhaust hood on the stove. “Beaux, perhaps.”
Beaux. Ha! “I hear he’s been married four times and pays enough alimony to balance the national debt. You looking to be number five?”
Speechless, Coco pressed a hand to her heart. “You are—” She stumbled, stuttered, over the words. “Impossibly rude. Impossibly crude.”
“Hey, ain’t none of my never-mind if you want to land yourself a rich fish.”
She squeaked. Though the rolling temper that caused red dots to swim in front of her eyes appalled her—she was, after all, a civilized woman—she surged forward to ram a coral-tipped nail into his massive chest. “I will not tolerate any more of your insults.”
“Yeah?” He poked her right back. “Whatcha gonna do about it?”
She leaned forward until they were nose to nose. “I will fire you.”
“Now that’ll break my heart. Go ahead, fancy face, give me the boot. See how you get by with tonight’s dinner rush.”
“I assure you, I will ‘get by’ delightfully.” Her heart was beating too fast. Coco wondered it didn’t soar right out of her breast.
“Like hell.” He hated her perfume. Hated that it made his nostrils twitch and his mouth water. “When I came on board, you were barely treading water.”
She couldn’t get her breath, simply couldn’t. “This kitchen doesn’t need you, Mr. Van Horne. And neither do I.”
“You need me plenty.” How had his hands gotten onto her shoulders? Why were hers pressed to his chest? The hell with how or why, he thought. He’d show her what was what.
Her eyes popped hard when his hard, sneering mouth crushed down on hers in a very thorough kiss. But she didn’t see a thing. Her world, so beautifully secure, tilted under her feet. That was why—naturally that was why—she clung to him.
She would slap his face. She certainly would.
In just a few minutes.
