Debra Webb - In His Touch Box Set (Here To Stay, Up Close, Tempting Trace, Basic Instincts) (24 page)

He held her gaze a beat longer before glancing over his shoulder at the wrestling children. “I swear if you kids don’t go to sleep I’m going to lock you in the closet until your mother comes to get you.” His threat only served to initiate another round of rowdy laughter from the little tyrants.

Abby repositioned herself on the bed. Her legs were going to sleep after sitting cross-legged for so long. She and Matthew had been sitting in the large bed playing games for the last three hours—praying the children would go to sleep soon.

“Where do they get all that energy?” Abby yawned as Matthew took his turn at the dice.

“Who knows?” Matthew mouthed the numbers as he counted off six places on the board.

She smiled. There’d been no time to carry on an adult conversation since the twin’s arrival. So her assignment had again taken a backseat. Again. She’d watched Matthew deal with the children with unending patience. Abby would have been tempted to make them go to bed hours ago—especially after the pantry incident. But Matthew rolled with the punches.

Despite the rowdy children and the postponement of the interview, she and Matthew had actually been having a pretty good time playing Monopoly and talking about nothing at all. Abby sighed. Tomorrow she had to get down to business. Her lips dipped into a thoughtful frown. She didn’t usually have this much trouble staying focused. She shot a look at the twins. Of course, she’d had plenty of help.

“Hey! It’s your turn.” Matthew snapped his fingers in front of her face to get her attention.

“Okay, okay.” She rolled the dice once more, stifling another yawn behind her hand. How had she stumbled into this Twilight Zone?

~*~

By two a.m. the twins had finally fallen asleep. Abby could hardly hold her head up or her eyes open but she hung in there. “Your move,” Matthew prompted.

“Forget it. Take all my money... take all my property. I’m too tired to keep playing.” Exhausted, she dropped onto one of the fluffy pillows behind her, hugging it tightly.

Matthew put the game away and checked on the sleeping children. He shook his head at the precious sight the little devils made. With a resigned sigh, he turned back to the bed. He didn’t have the heart to wake Abby, so he lay on the other side of the bed next to her. He watched the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest. What drew him so to this woman? This stranger?

He gently brushed an errant lock of hair from her pretty face. He almost flinched at the feel of her silky skin beneath his fingertips. He couldn’t possibly let himself fall for her. They were polar opposites. And just as soon as she got her interview, Abby Wade would disappear from his life forever.

All this time he hadn’t felt even a glimmer of attraction to another woman. At first he hadn’t wanted to even think about it. The last couple of years, with Jenny pushing him, he’d at least tried. But nothing. He stayed busy so it didn’t bother him. It was everyone else it seemed to bother.

He studied the woman who’d lost consciousness in his bed. Why this woman? Why now?

Maybe turning thirty had kicked off some crazy mid-life crisis. Why couldn’t he be like most guys and go out and buy some flashy car?

Matthew closed his eyes. Tomorrow he would give the lady the in-depth story she wanted. The sooner she got what she wanted the better off he would be. Maybe Abby would be gone before he lost more than he’d bargained for.

~*~

Somewhere in that languorous zone between asleep and awake, Abby realized that something wasn’t quite right. But sleep was so enticing she couldn’t make herself wake up. She tried, but failed. Sleep... she had to sleep.

Still something continued to niggle at her.

Her eyes slowly opened to see the bright morning light filling the room. She squeezed her pillow tightly. Where was she? She hugged her pillow closer, burrowing deeply.

She stilled as her sensory perceptions came into sharper focus. Her pillow felt a little firmer than it had last night, she noted through the diminishing haze of sleep.

Oh, God! It wasn’t a pillow—it was him.

Abby froze. She’d fallen asleep in his bed. He’d obviously done the same. And somehow during the night she’d managed to entwine herself with him. Her legs were tangled with his longer ones, and she was using his muscular chest for a pillow. One of his hands cradled her head. Her arms were wrapped around his neck. Her hair fanned out over his arm and hung off the edge of the bed. She didn’t dare move—or even breathe.

“Abby.” His voice rumbled up from his chest, low and husky.

Oh, no. He was awake!

“Good morning.” Her own voice sounded husky with sleep.

“We have to get up. The kids already have and they could be doing anything.”

His sensual voice prompted memories of the kiss they had shared. She shivered, ordered herself to stop, and tried to survey the room as best she could without moving. The kids were gone all right, but Abby was sure they weren’t gone far enough to suit her. The moon came to mind.

“Okay.” She dragged her arms from around his shoulders, trying not to notice the sensual friction between her skin and his. She pushed herself up, all too aware of the hard thigh that had been resting comfortably between hers.

“Whoa! Damn... wait a minute!”

Abby stopped instantly. She stared in bewilderment at Matthew. What had she done to hurt him?

“There’s something wrong here.” Matthew began to fumble with her hair. He tugged. She winced.

“What is it?” Giggles erupted from the end of the bed, drawing Abby’s attention in that direction. The twins stood there grinning. She glowered at them.
Just wait
.

“Don’t move!” Matthew commanded before she could see what the children were up to behind her.

“What is it?” she repeated crossly.

“They’ve done something to your hair. It’s... it’s tied together in little knots and my hand is trapped...”

He pulled her hair again. “Ouch! What have they done?” she cried.

“Just let me get my hand free and I’ll fix this.”

“Well, don’t be all day about it. This position is very uncomfortable.” She could feel his taut chest muscles flexing beneath her as he worked to undo the handiwork of the little monsters. Her eyes widened when she became aware of the large bulge pressed against her thigh. Thank God they were both fully clothed.

How had she gotten into this mess?

She tried to lift herself away from that part of him, but couldn’t.

Matthew’s fingers hesitated in their work. His gaze found hers and Abby knew that he’d just realized what she was attempting to do. She felt the heat rise up her neck and spread across her cheeks.

“Sorry,” he murmured, then refocused on the problem of unknotting her hair. The feel of his breath on her face only made matters worse.

“You two are dead meat!” Abby hissed over her shoulder at the unimpressed twins, who continued to giggle.

Just when she thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse, the doorbell rang. Simultaneously, she and Matthew looked at the bedside clock. The digital numbers read eight a.m. There was something she was supposed to remember about that time...

“Jenny’s here,” Matthew muttered, still attempting to disentangle himself from her hair.

Abby’s eyes widened in realization. “We have to get up. She... we can’t let her find us like this.” She knew she sounded half hysterical. But this definitely would not look good. What would Matthew’s sister think? Dear God, Abby suddenly recalled that the woman owned the local newspaper. Surely Jenny wouldn’t publish news of her own brother in a compromising position.

“Okay.” His hand came free of her hair. “When the kids are gone, I’ll fix... this.”

Annoyed, she climbed out of the bed. “That can’t happen too soon for me,” she muttered. She straightened her clothes and stalked out of the room. The twins whizzed past her. “Demons,” she muttered.

When she reached the door, the twins were waiting. They looked like little soldiers holding their neatly packed sleeping bags and toys, smiling with sweet innocence. Abby glared at them, which only made their smiles widen.

Matthew cruised past her. “Sorry.”

Not nearly as sorry as her, she didn’t point out. This interview was turning into a nightmare.

He grabbed the knob and opened the door.

“I was beginning to think you guys had overslept,” Jenny trilled happily. She stepped across the threshold and threw her arms around her children. “Hello, sweeties!” Her bright smile dimmed considerably when her gaze swept over Abby.

Abby knew she looked like hell. Whatever impression this woman had formed, it had likely just changed significantly. Despite that probable fact, Abby manufactured a smile.

“Were... uh... were they good?” Jenny stuttered, forcing her own smile back into place with obvious effort.

“Absolute—” Matthew started.

“Angels!” Abby finished.

“Good.” Jenny’s gaze darted back to the children. She quickly ushered them toward the door. “Hurry now and we’ll stop at the candy store for treats.” She paused at the door to give Abby and Matthew one last look of bewildered uncertainty. “I’m sorry I can’t visit, but I have a million things to do. Thanks again, Matt, and thank you, Abby. I’ll make it up to you.” Jenny frowned, then scurried away.

Matthew called a goodbye, closed the door.

“Your sister is...” Abby forced her smile to remain in place. “Too nice to have given birth to those two. Are you sure they weren’t adopted?”

Matthew grabbed her arm, turned her around and started lugging her forward.

“Where are we going?”

“To the bathroom.”

She stopped short. “Why?”

He made a pained face. “Trust me.”

Fear trickled into her veins. This was not good. She allowed him to usher her into the downstairs bathroom. When he flipped the light on, she gasped at her reflection. “Oh, my God!” Her hair was a mass of upright tangles. She looked as if she’d stuck her finger into a light socket. “I will kill those children.” Fury whiplashed her.

Matthew snaked his arm around her waist and eased her onto the marble vanity top. Her breath vaporized in her lungs when, using one lean hip, he edged her knees apart and then moved between her spread thighs.

“I will fix this,” he promised. “Just give me some time.”

“You better,” she warned.

He worked tirelessly, apologizing each time he pulled her hair. She forgot all about being mad as hell. His nearness had chased away all other thought. With only an inch or two between them, and at eye level, Abby could study the lines and angles of his too handsome face—up close. For the first time since they’d met, she became aware of his scent, musky and male. Her heart rate accelerated as she inhaled a little deeper.

Would his hair feel as soft as it looked? Before good sense could stop her, she reached up and touched his thick spiky hair. It felt softer than she’d expected. Boyish and sexy at the same time.

Matthew’s fingers threaded into her hair and cradled the back of her neck. Her blood pounding in her ears, Abby looked up into the blue eyes focused so intently on her. His lips were so close to hers that she could feel their pull, the primal yearning to meld. He was going to kiss her again. She could feel his desire building as fiercely as her own. His lips parted and Abby closed her eyes in anticipation.

But the kiss never came.

Instead, he gently combed her hair with his long fingers. “Done.”

Abby’s eyes snapped open. Disappointment twisted inside her when he took a step back.

“Maybe we should get started on that interview now,” he suggested, his tone still rough with the desire she knew with every fiber of her being he had felt.

“Right.” Abby hopped off the counter and smoothed her hair. In the mirror she watched him disappear through the open door. She closed her eyes and mentally kicked herself.

The story.
That’s what she’d come here for. Somehow she had to get that point across to the rest of her traitorous body. Matthew Stone was off limits—an assignment.

Nothing more.

Chapter Four

Abby drew in a deep breath of the rose-scented steam billowing around her. Sinking further beneath the sweetly scented water, she closed her eyes and absorbed the liquid heat that felt like heaven on earth to her tired body. She didn’t usually bathe in the middle of the day, but after the previous night’s adventures, she deserved the luxury.

The morning had passed too quickly. After a traditional southern breakfast consisting of grits, bacon, eggs and toast—Matthew didn’t do biscuits, he’d informed her—he had finally given Abby his undivided attention. He’d been married once, right out of college. After two years of marriage his wife had died in a tragic automobile accident. She’d been a stay-at-home wife and the two had hoped to have children right away, though that hadn’t happened. Abby could tell that Matthew missed sharing his life with a partner. Clearly, he’d had a good marriage and hoped to remarry someday and start a family.

Splashing warm water over her shoulders, she considered the strange attraction between the two of them. It was the most bizarre thing. Matthew Stone represented all that Abby didn’t want in a man, even if she were looking for one—which she was not. At the moment anyway. Though he did send her libido over the moon. She promptly dismissed that line of thinking.

Fully relaxed now, she mentally reviewed what she had learned and observed the last few days. A volunteer fireman since high school, Matthew was now the deputy fire chief of Salem’s small fire department. Despite holding a degree in engineering, the man was actually happy doing miscellaneous repair work in his hometown. From all accounts, money didn’t seem to be a concern. He lived in the house his grandfather had built, and he drove a moderately priced pickup truck. Matthew Stone was definitely a no-frills kind of guy. He seemed happy just to...
be
.

Not Abby’s type at all. If—and what was a monumental if—she ever married again, the man would share her goals. Climbing the ladder of success represented the first goal. Traveling extensively for pleasure would be the next. But simply enjoying and supporting one another’s ambitions would be the most important quality for the next man she chose.