Page 7 of Temptation at His Door

Placing his hand on Keely’s shoulder, he squeezed gently. It was time to end this conversation. “Thank you for your concern, Keels, but I’ll take it from here.”

Keely looked mutinous but Ronan raised his eyebrows, silently insisting that she not push, and she sighed.

“Life would be so much easier if people just did what I suggested,” Keely muttered. “I know what I’m doing.”

Ronan’s mouth twitched with amusement. “Very inconvenient for you that us lesser mortals possess something called free will.”

“Very inconvenient,” Keely agreed. She adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder and nodded to the ladies’ room at the end of the hall. “Give me a moment, Joa, and then we’ll go home.”

“Thank God,” Joa muttered when Keely hustled off. “I thought she’d never stop arguing.”

Ronan looked down into her exquisite face and itched to rub his knuckles over her high cheekbone, to slide the pad of his thumb across her sensuous bottom lip.

Wow. What was wrong with him?

Ronan straightened and folded his arms across his chest, pulling his eyes off her lovely face. He searched for something to say—he normally had a million sound bites so why didn’t his tongue want to work properly?—and when nothing came to him, Joa tried to break the awkward silence.

“I hope you find a nanny. I’m sure your boys are very sweet.”

“You’ll meet them this afternoon since Keely offered to look after them.”

Joa shook her head. “I’ve been traveling for days and I’m going to catch up on some sleep, so I’ll probably miss their visit. But Keely has mentioned them in her emails. She says they are adorable.”

At three and five theywereadorable. They could also be demanding and challenging. And, occasionally, more than a handful. “Thanks.”

Truth was, he did need someone experienced with children. Ronan thought about interviewing another set of nannies and shuddered.

He couldn’t think of anything he’d less like to do.

Maybe Joa could be persuaded to change her mind and maybe, if he tried hard, he could ignore the chemistry, could contain his rogue thoughts around stripping her down and taking her to bed.

“Are you sure you’re not the in the market for a job?”

“Pretty sure.” Joa tucked her long, straight black hair behind her ears.

Right. Fine.

Actually, her refusal was a relief. While he desperately needed help, the last person he needed in his house was someone who made him wonder whether her skin was as smooth as it looked, whether her mouth was sweet or spicy or both.

Ronan rolled his shoulders, uncomfortable with his errant thoughts. His brothers occasionally raised the subject of his dormant sex life, insisting that it was okay to have needs and act on them. Up until today, he’d shrugged off the odd bout of feeling horny. He’d thought that one day, way in the future, when he put enough distance between him and Thandi’s death, he’d consider sex again. He’d expected his libido to slowly wake up, giving him time to come to terms with a new reality.

Meeting Joa Jones was like life had placed a defibrillator on his sex drive.

Ronan muttered an F-bomb under his breath.

There was a reason why he avoided sex. He’d never been good at one-night stands or casual flings and the “separating the deed from the emotion” concept. For him, sex was the gateway drug to relationships and he wasn’t interested.

Thandi was irreplaceable and his love for her didn’t allow room for another woman, another relationship. He didn’t care how difficult it was to raise his sons alone, he refused to slide another woman into his wife’s place. That wasn’t ever going to happen...

He was still married. He might not wear her ring anymore but those ties, those promises of loyalty and fidelity, hadn’t been broken by death.

They wouldn’t ever be.

Time to get back to work, to walk away from the incredibly lovely, very distracting Joa Jones. He handed her a brief smile. “It was nice meeting you, Joa.”

Joa tipped her head to the side and nodded. “You, too, Ronan. I hope you find the au pair you are looking for.”

They both knew it wouldn’t be her.

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