At the sudden bang at the back door, she jumped, once again grabbed Kevin and dragged him into her arms.
“Hey, get the door for me, will you?” Melanie heard Gabe yell.
With Kevin following closely behind in his flannel Batman pajamas, Melanie glanced at her wristwatch as she hurried to the back door. Nine o’clock! She’d been asleep over an hour, she realized, and groaned aloud at the loss of precious time.
She flipped the latch up, then opened the door. Gabe stood on the other side of the screen door, one brown paper grocery bag in each arm and two plastic bags hanging from each hand.
“Thanks.” He smiled at her, then glanced down at Kevin. “Mornin’, Batman.”
Kevin’s dimples flashed, and he grabbed hold of the hem of her sweater, hugging close.
“Do you mind?” Gabe gestured toward the screen door and Melanie pushed it open wide, then moved out of the way.
He stepped around them and strode into the kitchen, bringing the clean smell of country air with him. With a thud, he dumped the groceries onto the kitchen table that sat in the middle of the large, airy room. One bag turned over, and three cans of peas rolled across the bleached pine tabletop. Before they could crash to the hardwood floor, Gabe snatched them up, sang da dada da, da dada da, while juggling them like a circus act, then tossed them back into the bag one at a time. Grinning, he spread his hands wide.
Well, his mood certainly had changed.
His mouth open, Kevin stared, then laughed. Even Melanie couldn’t help the smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.
“And for my next trick—” Gabe pulled a carton of eggs out of a bag “—you and I are going to make these eggs disappear.”
“We are?” Kevin’s blue eyes were wide with wonder.
Gabe nodded. “Right after your mommy cooks them up into great big ham and cheese omelettes.”
Kevin giggled, and Gabe swept his gaze to Melanie. “Please tell me you know how to cook.”
There was a lightness to his tone, but the intense, sharp look in his forest-green eyes made her breath catch. He was offering his help, but at the same time, making it clear he wasn’t going to push. She already understood this man well enough to know that was not an easy thing for him. Gabriel Sinclair was a man who wanted to be in charge, who needed to be in charge.
Which was exactly the last thing she wanted, and the last thing she needed.
She sighed. But she and Kevin needed to eat, and she could rationalize that cooking a meal for Gabe was paying her way for food for her son and herself. Besides, she certainly wasn’t going anywhere until the battery was replaced on her car. A meal would fortify her, get her brain working again so she could deal with her most current crisis.
She met his gaze, lifted one corner of her mouth. “You sure you want ham in that omelette?” she asked sweetly. “It seems to me you’ve got plenty of that already.”
He lifted one brow, and she saw the glint of amusement in his eyes. “Lots of ham, darlin’, and extra cheese. A growing boy needs protein. Isn’t that right, Kevin?”
One long cowlick, dead center in the middle of Kevin’s sandy blond head, wiggled as he nodded enthusiastically, though Melanie knew her son didn’t have a clue what protein was.
When Gabe started to unload the food, Melanie reached out and took the package of cheese from his hand, accidentally brushing her fingertips with his.
There it was again, she thought with a catch of her breath. That same jolt of heat she’d felt when they’d shook hands last night. She thought that maybe she’d been overwrought and had simply overreacted to his touch, or that she’d even imagined it.
But she hadn’t imagined it. It, whatever it was, was definitely there. It zapped her fingertips, then shot straight down to her toes like electricity through a wire.
She tugged the package of already shredded cheese from his hand. “I know you have work to do here. I’ll put these things away, then see if I can find my way around this kitchen.”
He stared at her for what seemed like a lifetime, though it probably wasn’t more than three or four seconds. The playfulness she’d seen in his eyes only moments ago was gone now. In its place was something dark and intense.
Despite the heavy thud of her heart in her chest, she forced a smile. “It shouldn’t be too long. I’ll call you when it’s ready.”
At last, with a nod, he turned and headed for the door leading to the living room. She released the breath she’d been holding.
“Gabe.”
He stopped at her quiet call, glanced over his shoulder.
“You asked me earlier and I didn’t answer you then. I don’t have a husband.”
She waited, frozen in place under his penetrating gaze.
“Good,” he said simply, then turned and was gone.
Melanie stared at the empty doorway, waiting for the floor under her feet to gain substance again. She could still feel the tingle from his touch shimmering over her skin.
“Mommy, did you see what that man did? Did you see?” Kevin tugged on her sweater. “That was so neat!”
“Yes, sweetie, I saw.” She glanced down at her son, ran a hand over his rumpled hair. “Very neat.”
“I’m a growing boy,” Kevin said firmly. “Can I have lots of ham and cheese in my omelette, too? Just like him?”
Melanie wasn’t sure she liked the “just like him” part of her son’s request, but it had been a long time since she’d seen him excited about anything, including food. The first time since Phillip had died and Louise had moved into their lives that she’d seen her son’s big blue eyes sparkle.
“Sure you can.” Smiling, Melanie took Kevin’s chin in her hand and tipped his face up as she bent down to kiss his nose. “One double cheese and ham omelette coming right up.”
The sound of a door opening and closing upstairs caught Melanie’s attention. Two omelettes coming up, she corrected herself, then forced herself to concentrate on the task at hand, not the lingering feel of Gabe Sinclair’s fingers against her own.
Gabe lay on his back under the upstairs bathroom sink, a wrench in one hand and a rag in the other. He’d been trying to loosen the rusted pipe for the past fifteen minutes, with no success. Gritting his teeth, he pulled tightly on the wrench, but the stubborn pipe refused to budge. Dammit.
Must be female, he thought irritably, grunting as he bore down, but the wrench twisted off and struck him square on the jaw.
Son of a bitch! His vision exploded with stars, and his jaw throbbed from the blow. Dragging himself out from under the sink, he sat, head down between his knees and swore hotly.
Definitely female, Gabe decided.
With a heavy sigh, he raked a hand through his hair. The most amazing smells were wafting up from downstairs. He sucked the delicious aromas into his lungs and held them there. His stomach began to rumble like a freight train.
Thank God she hadn’t turned tail and run when he’d asked her to cook. He’d certainly expected her to, had been surprised when she’d agreed. But he’d been even more surprised when she’d actually teased him about the ham. There was a playful side to Melanie Hart, he realized, though she was doing her best to keep it hidden.
Along with the rest of her secrets.
He hadn’t told her that he’d already