Melting Into You (Due South Book 2) (5 page)

Then more staring at the screen, which would let him off the hook until she fell asleep—yes!

“But my show’s still on.”

Ben opened his mouth to argue, to point out who was the adult—then thought of the possibility of tears and caved like wet cardboard. “After the show is finished then. I’ll get stuff organized.”

Ten minutes after Jade entered the bathroom, the happy-splashy noises stopped. Ben hovered near the door because hell, didn’t kids drown in bathtubs? Or maybe that was babies. Crap, what did he know? After listening to a few hiccupping sobs, Ben tapped on the door.

“Are you, ah, all right in there?”

“I can’t.”
Hic
. “Wash my hair.”
Hic
. “By myself.”

“Don’t wash it then.”

“But it’s already wet and I put some shampoo in!”

“Oh, I see. Uh,
sh—shark bait.” No giggles this time.

Crap
—well, he couldn’t go into the bathroom to help. “I’ll ring one of my sisters. They’ll come over and help you finish up.”

“No!”
Hic
. “I want Kezia.”

Really? Kezia? The woman who probably thought him a borderline sociopath? “Um. She’ll be busy with Zoe. How ‘bout I try Gran?” And didn’t that name still sound weird on his tongue?

“No, no, no! I want Kezia.” The crying ramped up.

Jesus
. Somebody shoot him now.

“Okay, okay. I’ll call her.” Ben fled into his room and snatched up the phone.

A short time later, he opened the door and Kezia stepped into his hallway, all lush curves and wild curls, wrapped up in her signature scent with a hint of herbs and spicy tomatoes.

His mouth watered—either from the smell of home-cooking or from
visualizing the spots she’d sprayed with perfume—but he cleared his throat and gestured along the hall. “Thanks, Kezia.”

“Happy to help.” Frost coated her voice as she peeled off her leather jacket and shoved it into his arms. She didn’t look back as she stalked to his bathroom door.

Twenty minutes after Kezia had vanished into the bathroom, she returned to the kitchen. Seated on a barstool, where he’d been eating Jade’s leftover noodles, Ben looked up as she entered. He swiped his wrist across his mouth.

“Where’s Jade?”

Kezia strolled into his kitchen but kept her distance, watching him with her beautiful dark eyes. “In her room, tucked into bed waiting for you to come say goodnight.”

“In bed, already?”

“It’s nearly nine and she’s exhausted. What time did she go to bed last night?”

Ben shoved the ceramic bowl aside. “She fell asleep watching TV at about eleven.”

“
Eleven
?” Kezia picked up the bowl and ran the hot water tap.

Automatic mum mode switching on and taking over.

He didn’t need or want a woman picking up after him. Ben slid off the barstool and walked into the kitchen, angling behind Kezia at the sink and tugging the bowl from her fingers. Her arm, bare to the elbow since she’d rolled up her long-sleeved top, brushed his. She stepped sideways out of his way and he sucked in a breath, praying he wouldn’t swallow his lustful drool the wrong way and end up coughing up a lung.

“She was happy watching TV.”

“Happy, and you didn’t have to interact with her, correct?” Kezia edged into the family room and perched on a couch arm.

“Hey, I interacted with her today. I took her to meet West’s parents—who also think she’s the Second Co
ming—and I bought her an ice-cream at the store.”

“Did you play any games with her?”

“Games?” He finished rinsing his bowl and left it to drain.

“You know, like Scrabble or backgammon—that sort of thing?”

Did he look like the type of guy to have a host of board games tucked away in a cupboard?
Don’t piss her off Ben, play nice.

“Ah, no. I’m a bit low-stocked on board games.”

“Hmmph. You should take her over to the city and buy a few, they’re good ice-breakers. Playing a board game means you can spend time with Jade without much talking—if talking’s hard for you.”

Of course talking was hard. He had nothing in co
mmon with an eight-year-old girl. “Sounds like a plan.”

He wiped down the counter. Surely five minutes was long
enough for Jade to fall asleep?

“Can I get you something? Tea? Coffee?”

“Instant noodles?” Kezia’s dark eyes twinkled.

“Food of the Gods,” he said.

She snorted and snagged her jacket off the sofa. “Thanks, but I’d better go. Zoe wasn’t amused at being left at home with Shaye and missing our girl-time.”

“I appreciate you dropping everything to come by, Kezia. Name your price.”

She paused, one arm in the jacket, the pull of the leather across her shoulders emphasizing the thrust of her breasts beneath the soft knit of her jersey. “My price is you stop being such a
stronzo
.”

“Do I want to know the translation?”

She pulled her jacket on the rest of the way. “I’ll give you a clue. It starts with ass and ends with hole.”

He bit back a grin. “I’ll try not to be such a
stronzo
.”

Kezia’s lips lifted into a small smile. “Try harder.”

“Listen, could you and Zoe come across with us to Invercargill tomorrow? Jade needs some new clothes, and you could help us choose some board games.” And fill those long, loud silences between him and Jade.

“Like a buffer between you?” She tugged out some long strands of hair caught in her jacket collar, slanting him a wry glance.

Suddenly, having a buffer wasn’t as important as spending time with a woman he wanted to know better. Inviting her along to shop seemed like a good excuse. “I’ll buy lunch.”

“This offer from a man who eats instant noodles?”

Ben strolled out of the kitchen and stood close to her. Perfume tickled his nose, but beneath the spicy undertones the mouth-watering scent of a warm, beautiful woman caused his heart to beat a little faster.

“If I promise we won’t stoop to hamburgers, will you come?” Ben lifted a stray curl dangling in front of her cheek and let it spring into place. What would her wild mane of hair look like spread out on a man’s pi
llow?

Desire must’ve shown on his face as Kezia took a giant step backward. With eyes fixed on her boots, she zipped up her jacket.

“We’ll come. And I’m sure Zoe and Jade will be happy to eat hamburgers.”

“It’s a date.”

Two pretty dots of rose appeared on her cheeks. “No, it’s not. It’s a friend helping out a friend.”

Interesting denial. Perhaps he affected Ms. Murphy the same way she affected him. His fingertips still ti
ngled from the feel of her silky hair.

“It’s just an expression,” he said slowly.

“Oh, of course. Must be an English-as-a-second-language thing.”

“You can’t use that excuse. You were born and raised in Wellington.”

“Your sisters tell you too much.”

“My sisters adore you and the pair of them couldn’t keep their mouths shut longer than five minutes if they tried.”

Better not tease her anymore. What if she changed her mind and refused to come tomorrow? He gestured toward the hallway. “Thanks again.”

She walked ahead of him. “I’m happy to be there for Jade.”

He opened the front door, and she stepped outside. Soft wisps of ocean fog curled around her ankles and the half-moon, far above, winked pewter light on her head.

“Kezia?”

She turned, her expression wary.

“A woman would know when I took her on a date.”

Her dark eyes glittered, and a small smile played over her mouth. “Yes, I imagine she would. Sweet dreams.”

And with that, she walked away into the fog.

Yeah, he’d have dreams, all right. Dreams that would be anything but innocently sweet.

Chapter
4

Checkers, Monopoly, something pink with cupcakes on the packaging, and Twister.

Ben dropped the boxes into the shopping cart with the items of winter clothing Jade needed. Marci had only packed the kid dresses and shorts. Not practical when winter temperatures came early this far south.

Kezia and the two girls wandered ahead of him, e
xamining endless aisles of crap-filled shelves. Somebody pop his eyeballs with a nail gun.

He’d offered the woman his credit card at the huge store entrance. Told her to go nuts with it while he waited outside.

She’d dragged him through the automatic sliding doors saying, “I’m flattered you trust me, but don’t think you’re weaseling out of this. It’ll be fun.”

Fun? He cut a glance to a couple of other rumpled, red-faced men, trailing after their wives or girlfriends while glancing at the store’s exit. That would be a hell, no.

Kezia stretched up to grab something from a high shelf, revealing a strip of skin between her top and the waistband of her jeans. Smooth, lightly tanned skin, which drew his gaze like a heat-seeking missile. Now staring at her was fun. Listening to her slightly raspy voice describe the merits of reading the Harry Potter series versus watching the DVDs was fun. Fun had nothing to do with shopping malls and board games.

He’d expected otherwise, but so far their whole trip to Invercargill had been fun. Better than fun—
frickin’ great.

He’d skippered The
Mollymawk over this morning, Jade at his side in the wheelhouse with eyes bugging open since she’d never been on a boat other than the Stewart Island ferry. Once they docked in the small coastal town of Bluff on the mainland, he collected the run-around car he kept at a mate’s place and herded them all inside. For lunch they picnicked in Queen’s park, autumn leaves a colorful carpet on the manicured lawns. They ate sandwiches and cookies; the girls tossing their leftovers to the ducks.

But now, surrounded by pink merchandise and rel
egated to guarding Kezia’s handbag—he’d been transformed into a six-foot-two, walking vagina.

Not fun. Not fun at all.

Kezia shoved her mane of curls off her face and glared upwards. Ben parked the cart and strolled over.

“Need a hand, munchkin?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Ha ha. Everyone’s a comedian. Now pass me the
Cluedo
. Please.”

She really was tiny. And hot.

Ben slid the game off the high shelf without fully extending his arm. “Here you go.”

Zoe and Jade appeared beside him, their arms linked together.

“Ooh, can we get that one, Mamma? I’m old enough to play now”—Zoe thrust a finger at the age rating printed on the box—“
and
I want to be a police officer like Piper and catch murderers.” She tugged on Ben’s wrist. “Did you know around forty-five people are murdered in America every day? I Googled it.”

He blinked. Didn’t eight-year-old girls talk about unicorns and rainbows and boy bands
? “Oh. Nope, didn’t know that.”

Kezia tucked her bottom lip under her teeth and stared at him. As if he was about to pass or fail an i
mportant test. Unfortunately, he had no clue what the test was on.

“Only about sixty-five percent of murders are solved, which is why I’m going to be a detective.” Zoe paused and cocked her head. “Or maybe a doctor or a movie star. I haven’t completely decided.”

Ben grinned. Kezia’s girl was a firecracker. Give him a kid more interested in murder statistics than boy bands any day.

“You’ve got plenty of time to figure it out.”

Zoe beamed and nudged Jade forward.

His daughter, who studied her pink sneakers. His daughter, who didn’t talk about unicorns or boy bands or murder statistics in the U.S.A, because
his daughter
didn’t talk much at all. At least to him. The difference between the two girls made him grind his teeth. Why wasn’t Jade confident, bubbly, and a chatterbox?

“Tell Ben what you want to be when you grow up,” Zoe said.

Jade shook her head. “No. It’s stupid.”

Something in Ben’s chest clenched.

“It’s not stupid.” Zoe’s voice rose half an octave. “You love animals, so being a vet would be awesome.”

“You promised not to tell anyone!” Jade said.

Zoe clamped a hand over her mouth. “Ohmigod. I’m sooo sorry.”

“It’s okay, I guess. Can we go now?” Jade looked to
Kezia for her answer, not him.

Whatever banded around his chest in a steel grip clamped harder.

Ben crouched in front of his daughter. “Why is it stupid to want to be a vet?”

“Because
I’m
stupid.”

Jade’s voice didn’t hold a glimmer of self-pity, and her eyes reflected steady resignation. The power of her statement sucker-punched his heart and slung him into his childhood. Back to misbehaving letters and words that didn’t make sense. Back to the constant echo of “lazy, easily distracted, doesn’t-try-hard-enough,” rin
ging in his ears. Which, to a kid, meant big Ben Harland was a dumbass.