Page 13 of Rainwater
Jennifer took a deep breath and looked at him. “As long as it’s after dinner.”
“What’s your favorite subject?” he asked Ellie, her eyes so intent on him it was almost unnerving.
“Lunch. What’s yours?” she quipped.
“I’m not in school anymore.”
“What? Does it actually end?” Her voice rose in mock surprise.
He looked at Jennifer with upraised eyebrows. “Precocious was putting it mildly.”
Ellie leaned forward and cocked her head. “You do look a little bit dangerous. I think it’s the five o’clock shadow.”
The spoon Jennifer had been stirring the chicken and dumplings with dropped from her hand. The loud clattering broke the sudden pregnant silence. She whirled, her hands flyingto her hips. “Ellie!” An embarrassed flush swept over Jennifer’s face, and she blushed to the roots of her hair.
Ellie had the intelligence to look abashed and kept her mouth closed.
Smart girl, Corey thought.
Though he would like to thank Ellie for riling her mother up. Jennifer looked beautiful angry. Her eyes flashed and her blush was sweet, unassuming. He liked that. He was beginning to like her and her daughter a lot. He could see the apology on her lips, but he beat her to the punch. “Dangerous good or dangerous bad?”
The husky way he said it had Jennifer’s face flaming. “Ellie, please take Two Tone outside and feed him and then finish setting the table.”
“Yes, Mother,” she said with a world-weary sigh, and rolled her eyes.
“Does ‘grounded for the rest of your life’ mean anything to you, miss?” Jennifer asked in her best mother’s voice.
Ellie escaped like a scampering fox being chased by a hound. But before she disappeared into the dining room she winked at Corey, and he couldn’t suppress a chuckle. He might as well admit it to himself. He was thoroughly charmed.
Jennifer let her hands fall in exasperation. She walked over to the table and sat down in the chair that Ellie had just vacated. “You see what I’m up against?”
“Don’t try to weasel out of an answer by changing the subject, Jennifer.”
“Caught that, huh?”He was enjoying himself, she thought suddenly and looked away. “You look like an outlaw.”
“So is that good or bad?” he persisted, his dark eyebrows rising.
“Like Ellie said, I think it’s the five o’clock shadow.” He rubbed his fingers over the stubble on his face. “You don’t like it?”
“No, it’s very sexy,” she said as reassurance, then clamped her hand over her mouth. Corey smiled, then leaned back in the chair.
“I guess that means dangerous good. It’s okay, darlin’. I think you’re sexy, too.” He leaned forward.
Jennifer had to stop this conversation right now. With a flash of acknowledgment in her eyes for his teasing, she said abruptly, “It’s time to eat.”
“Coward.”
That was okay. She’d be a coward, because he not only looked dangerously desperate but he was dangerous, and she hadn’t realized just how desperate she’d become in a few short hours. Desperation for a man who couldn’t stay.
He exuded a raw sexuality that she would notice even in a crowded, smoky, noisy bar. His flirting would be so easy to reciprocate. “No,” she finally replied. “Just smart.” She couldn’t encourage him. “You’re the one leaving, after all.” She smiled to lessen the sting of her words.
The barb struck home and Corey sobered. “Yeah, right.Smartis the watchword.”
She could feel his eyes on her as she dished out the chicken and dumplings, and she quickly changed the subject. “I hope you’re hungry. I think I made enough for an army.” Turning with the serving dish, she met those hot, thick-lashed eyes and her breath got trapped in her lungs.
He got up quickly and took the bowl out of her hands. Their fingers brushed and Jennifer quickly pulled her hands away. “I’ll get the vegetables,” she said.
He disappeared into the dining room. His voice drifted out to her as he conversed with Ellie. A fluttering weakness washedthrough her, draining her will away. She could probably entice him to stay, if only for a short time. Tears pricked the back of her eyes. Why him? Why couldn’t it have been someone stable, someone safe?
