by Natalie Fox
‘Oh, yes, sweetheart Quite a lot. You have my son’s heart and—’
‘Yes, so you’ve already said!’ she snapped heatedly. ‘And I don’t want to hear it again and—’
‘Let me finish,’ he insisted, his tone huskily low so it wouldn’t carry along the beach to Josh. His eyes were grazing over her lips as if considering the risk of leaning down to claim them—well, at least Karis thought he was weighing up the dangers. And a damned danger it would be if he dared.
‘Go on, finish, then,’ she goaded, wriggling under him just to show she was still fighting him. ‘I have your son’s heart and…’
‘And I’m beginning to feel my own heart responding,’ he whispered, lowering his head to blow softly on the warm hollow at her throat.
Karis wriggled even more, her own breath tight in her throat, nearly choking her. ‘Are you quite mad?’ she spluttered indignantly. ‘You haven’t got a heart and if you feel some sort of response inside you it must be indigestion. Now let me go!’
He laughed. ‘Not before I prove to you I have indeed got a heart and at this moment it’s racing as wildly as yours.’
His mouth closed over hers, softening the tightness of it, softening her whole insides till she nearly melted. Soft and warm, hearts thudding together. Oh, God, it was awful, deliciously awful. She never wanted it to stop. Her whole body was on fire, little flames of delight and danger lapping at her senses. The kiss deepened and Karis inwardly fought the heady sensation of sinking down into a warm pit of sensuality. This shouldn’t be happening, she thought Daniel Kennedy, Josh’s father, Simone’s lover…doing this to her, kissing her so wantonly, wanting her so wantonly!
With a dramatic moan she tore her lips from his and with one enormous effort managed to wriggle out from under him. Of course he didn’t want her. Whatever gave her that idea? In his world what had love got to do with anything? And that went for kisses too! After scrambling to her feet, hot, flustered, her ears ringing and her heart crashing, her next concerned thought was whether Josh had witnessed what had just happened. The boy had his back to them and was kneeling in the sand, scraping at a piece of driftwood with the sharp edge of a shell.
Satisfied and relieved, Karis swung round to face his father. He was propped on one elbow now, gazing at her with a small smile curving the corners of the lips that had just aroused hers so heatedly. The knowing look in his eye was what inflamed Karis now.
‘I could kick sand in your face for that,’ she breathed quickly, keeping her voice down. ‘Have you no thought for anyone’s feelings but your own?’
‘You asked for it, Karis. I’m very quick on subliminal messages.’
‘Huh! You have some fat ego. I gave you no such message, subliminal or otherwise. I didn’t ask for it and you are very much mistaken in thinking that I might even have enjoyed it!’
‘You did, though,’ he teased softly. ‘So did I, but then I already knew we would.’
‘You know nothing, Daniel Kennedy. I did not enjoy it. I wouldn’t allow myself to.’
‘Because of Simone?’ he quizzed quietly.
Karis felt the colour rushing to her face. Guilt. She should never have let it happen but he had caught her unawares and…There was no excuse but if she admitted Simone affected her so deeply it would be tantamount to admitting she did find him attractive and if Simone wasn’t on the scene she would allow her feelings to show. And none of it was true anyway. No, it wasn’t!
‘No, it has nothing to do with Simone,’ she bleated in defence.
‘Oh, dear, that sounds dangerous, Karis. Have you no conscience?’ he taunted.
Oh, she couldn’t get it right with him. He’d twist everything to make her squirm and exonerate his own behaviour.
Karis placed her hands firmly on her hips and leaned down towards him, her body language way of saying she was on top.
‘Has it occurred to that simpering arrogance of yours that I might not find you attractive enough to enjoy your kisses? No, I suppose it hasn’t. As for conscience, you talk of mine? Where is yours where your fiancee is concerned?’
‘Ah, we have a very loose arrangement,’ he mocked lightly. ‘Loose enough not to let consciences trouble us.’
Karis glowered down at him. She would never know if this was another of his teases. Well, she wasn’t taking any chances anyway. ‘It sounds as loose as your morals. Well, let me tell you something. I do have morals and I have a heart and I have feelings and they are not for your sport and pleasure. I’m a mother and a widow and your son’s carer and I don’t mess around with men that don’t belong to me.’
‘I’ve heard you don’t mess around with any men.’
Karis’s heart floundered and her pulse raced agitatedly. Fiesta? Oh, boy had she filled him in on her CV of life.
‘No, I don’t,’ she whispered tremulously. ‘I’ve had men come on to me since being here, inevitable with the rich egotists that come down here for their vacations. I don’t go near the plantation house if I can help it but sometimes they stray, sometimes they ask me to walk on the moonlit shore with them, sometimes they come right out with it, no holds barred. But I take my job seriously and would never, no, never, expose my daughter and your son to what I see going on at Fiesta’s gatherings.
‘And another thing,’ she muttered under her breath, trying desperately to disguise the hurt and anger that was welling up inside her. ‘I take my heart seriously too. I can’t afford any more emotional hassle in my life where relationships are concerned. I married a man I loved only to find his feelings didn’t go so deep. I’ve suffered hurt and disillusionment and guilt over a man and I won’t go looking for trouble so easily again.’
‘Is that a vow of celibacy for life?’
He was still smiling that infuriatingly teasing smile. He was getting pleasure out of making her wriggle with embarrassment. And she was embarrassed, partly because the question had stumped her. She said nothing, just glared down at him as if the question was beneath her to answer.
Slowly he got up, brushing sand from his hands before firmly grasping her by the shoulders, quite serious now.
‘There’s nothing wrong with celibacy if you are lacking in hormones, but you, Karis, have hormones that need nourishing. I feel them thundering around your body whenever I come near you. You aren’t being fair to yourself by denying them.’
Karis shook her head in disbelief and afforded him a very small, thin smile this time.
‘Don’t give me all that garbage. You insult yourself by saying a thing like that. I have feelings, Daniel Kennedy, and I want to protect them. I’m choosy too. You trying to emotionally push me into a corner certainly isn’t going to influence my decision about you. You are off limits to my heart, because of Josh and because you are already spoken for.’
‘And if I wasn’t already spoken for?’ he challenged le-thally.
The question hit her where it hurt, right at the very core of her heart. It took her breath away. Her green eyes were wide and glazed as she stared up at him, her heart reacting to that pain, contracting sharply, almost a warning. She felt as if she had walked into a trap and iron bars had her in a grip she couldn’t escape from.
‘I…I…’ She didn’t know what to say. She bit her lip, forcing herself to come up with an answer. If he was free? Would things be different if he wasn’t involved with Simone?
Her voice came at last, thin and unsure. ‘It…it’s a hypothetical question and—’
‘Oh, no, Karis.’ He laughed softly. ‘Not good enough, I’m afraid. Your uncertainty is very revealing, though. I shall keep it in mind when next you try on the pious act with me.’ His head swooped down to drop a small, teasing kiss on the tip of her nose and then he let go of her shoulders and strolled across the beach to his son.
Transfixed, Karis watched the back of him, broad shoulders, narrow hips, every muscle perfectly honed, an almost perfect specimen of manhood, except for one thing—that damned mind of his. It was tricky. He could expose her vulnerabili
ty with a composition of words that could floor her. She should have been more sharp-witted herself and not come up with such a feeble response to such a deadly serious question. Would he be off limits to her heart if he wasn’t committed to Simone?
She watched him squat down beside his son, taking the piece of driftwood from Josh’s hand and turning it over to examine it more closely. She heard Josh laugh and the sound cut right through to her heart She knew in that moment that if Daniel Kennedy was free she might just think about allowing him into her heart and it was the most appalling thought that had ever crossed her mind. She barely knew him, and…and she was certainly no authority on relationships. But nevertheless…
‘But he isn’t free,’ she murmured to herself. ‘And a jolly good job too. One hurtful relationship was more than enough.’
And blindly she turned her back on him and his son and set about packing up the picnic things because enough was enough for one day.
CHAPTER FIVE
‘WHERE’S Daniel?’
Karis spun round from Tara’s cot where she was trying to settle her down for an afternoon nap. The child was teething and had been fractious all morning. Tara let out a wail at Simone’s interruption. Karis gritted her own teeth and lifted Tara into her arms to soothe her.
‘Outside somewhere,’ Karis told her, rocking the child in her arms. Tara sobbed fretfully and clung to her.
Simone winced and muttered under her breath but loud enough for Karis to hear, ‘How does he stand it? Outside where?’ she added louder.
‘Round the back, I think. Probably teaching Josh to drive by now,’ Karis said with a laugh to try and ease the awkward atmosphere between them.
Simone swept away in a flurry of pale grey silk and Karis let out a sigh of relief. To give her her due, Simone was trying, if half-heartedly. She’d come over to the cottage every day this week. She’d given Daniel a few days on his own with them all and then she had started these daily visits, once with an expensive toy for Josh, a mechanical robot thing that made a lot of noise but did nothing to hold Josh’s interest for more than the ten seconds it took to work itself to a standstill. She never stayed long. Karis always thought of her visits as duty calls, trying to show willing for Daniel’s sake rather than Josh’s.
At last Tara slid into an exhausted sleep and Karis laid her gently down in her cot. Karis stood watching her for a few minutes and reflected on the time spent with Daniel living in at the cottage. It had flown by but not without incident. Josh had thrown four serious tantrums and numerous little ones that had passed unnoticed by his father but not by Karis because she knew him better. Daniel hadn’t thrown any tantrums but she had seen the strain build up on his face on more than one occasion and knew that he really had been on the edge of losing his temper at times. Twice with Josh when he really had been pushing his luck and once with Saffron when she had passed an opinion on Josh’s eating habits.
‘There’s children starving in the world and that boy shouldn’t be allowed to leave good food,’ she had remonstrated at breakfast one morning.
Daniel had said nothing in front of his son but his disapproval of Saffron’s interference had shown in the darkening of his eyes and the tightening of his jaw muscles. Later he and Karis had discussed children’s eating habits. Karis was of the opinion that Josh’s health wouldn’t suffer if once in a while he didn’t eat everything that was put in front of him; after all, adults could pick what they wanted to eat so why couldn’t a child? Nourishment? Daniel had argued. Since when had a child voluntarily suffered starvation? Karis had argued back.
The discussion had ended on a note of hilarity when Josh had rushed into the kitchen demanding something to eat and Daniel had said if he had eaten all his breakfast he wouldn’t be so hungry mid-morning and had reminded him that there were children in the world starving. Josh had then demanded to know what was so funny when Karis had burst out laughing.
So the time with Daniel living with them had had its ups and downs and Karis had been grateful for one thing: Daniel hadn’t pressured her any more about hormones, giving her a chance to get those hormones sorted out once and for all. Daniel had exposed her vulnerability and her loneliness and though that exposure hurt at times she couldn’t allow herself to dwell on it. He had stirred her emotions that day; it was no use denying it to herself because even now, hectic domestic days later, she could still feel the rush of excitement his lips had aroused. So she was starved of a man’s affection but there were pleasures elsewhere to compensate…Oh, who was she kidding? That damned kiss kept her awake at nights and there was no compensation for that!
Sure that Tara was in a deep sleep, Karis left her and went outside. She stiffened when she heard Daniel and Simone arguing as they came round the side of the cottage.
‘You’re not being fair, Daniel. I want to go on this trip and you should be with me on it.’
‘Fishing holds no interest for me, Simone.’
‘Who cares about fishing?’ Simone retorted. ‘The Haslems will be on board and you know how influential they are. The Trainers too; you know his father is chairman of—’
‘I know exactly who they are,’ Daniel said in sufferance. ‘And I’m not here to socialise or to pick up contacts. If you want to go you’ll have to go alone.’
‘To hell with you!’ Simone exploded, and flounced off, gathering her flowing skirt around her legs as she pushed through the shrubbery in the direction of the plantation house where obviously all her aspirations lay.
What she had just overheard ground into Karis’s memory banks. Simone and Aiden would have made the perfect couple, she thought ruefully, and then shivered and dredged up her sense of humour from somewhere.
‘True love never runs smoothly,’ Karis teased, sitting on the top step of the verandah as an angry Daniel strode past her. He stopped and glared down at her upturned face.
‘And that is quite enough of that!’ he rapped.
Karis shrugged. ‘It wasn’t said with malice. Just thought you might need cheering up.’
‘And why should you think I need cheering up?’ he grated.
‘Forget it,’ Karis breathed, and got to her bare feet to face him. ‘Where’s Josh?’
Daniel’s shoulders slumped. ‘He’s gone over to Saffron’s cottage. The boy bores easily. Just when I thought we’d hit a common interest.’
Karis smiled cheekily. ‘Yes, well, I suppose a lesson in internal combustion is a little adventurous for a five-year-old.’
His mouth broke into a grin at last. ‘You’re right, of course, as you usually are.’ He plunged his hands deep into the pockets of his shabby khaki Bermuda shorts, a garment of clothing Karis would have put money on that he hadn’t possessed when he had arrived. He was always surprising her lately.
‘How are the sore gums?’ he added.
Surprised yet again, Karis raised her brows quizzically.
‘Not yours,’ he grinned. ‘Tara’s.’
He’d noticed Tara was teething—amazing for a man who hadn’t a very strong hold on all things paternal.
‘It’s awful what babies and children have to put up with.’ Karis smiled. ‘I’m sure if adults were teething they’d kick up a worse din.’
‘I doubt I could compete with Tara. She takes all the prizes for raising the roof at the dead of night.’
It had been a fretful night for her and the whole household, apparently. ‘Did she keep you awake?’ Karis asked worriedly.
Daniel simply shrugged and smiled as if it was all par for the course. It made Karis think about Simone’s under-breath comment, ‘How does he stand it?’ He appeared to be standing it very well.
‘Did…did you mind?’
‘Losing sleep? No, of course not. I was more concerned for her suffering.’
Karis felt a sort of warm glow inside her. She was getting used to these warm glows lately, dangerous though they were. Daniel was turning out to be quite a caring man and sometimes Karis felt it would be a lot safer for her emotions if h
e wasn’t. But for Josh’s sake of course it was a very good thing. The little boy’s emotions mattered and hers didn’t.
‘She’s sleeping now,’ she told him. ‘Are you going over to get Josh or shall I?’
‘Saffron’s bringing him back later. I thought we’d take advantage of some time to ourselves and take a swim.’
‘We’re beginning to sound like…’ She stopped, leaving the half-finished sentence flapping in the warm tropical breeze.
‘Go on.’
She didn’t—couldn’t. She felt her face flush with embarrassment.
‘You were going to say we’re beginning to sound like a married couple, weren’t you?’ Daniel suggested with a half-smile, as if it was funny.
His dark eyes held hers, lightened slightly with amusement. Karis took it that he considered the very idea a huge joke. Which it was, of course, if you didn’t give it too much thought. Trouble was, Karis was giving it some thought because she was making comparisons with her own shortlived married life. She was comparing Daniel with Aiden, trying to slot the image of Aiden into this new existence and wondering if he would have been capable of making as much effort as Daniel to make things easier for them all. Not much chance, she conceded.
‘I wasn’t actually.’ She smiled. ‘I was going to say “parents” and stopped because it was a silly thing to say because of course we are parents. You the father of Josh, me the mother of Tara.’
He looked doubtful at her explanation, frowning slightly. Karis turned away.
‘Hey, what about that swim?’ he suggested.
Karis smiled sweetly at him from the verandah. ‘If you want to go you’ll have to go alone.’ She sarcastically echoed his words to Simone and then could have bitten her tongue because he would think she’d been eavesdropping again. She added quickly, ‘I’m a parent, remember. Tara is sleeping and I can’t leave the cottage. Maternal duties come before…’ She stopped. She had been about to say ‘pleasure’, as if it would be a pleasure to swim with him. Oh, she did talk her way into some tight corners with him at times.
