Although the aroma from the food was making his mouth water, he couldn’t take his eyes from Kaitlyn’s. Whenever she was around, his head practically spun. Or maybe that was just a lack of sleep.
With a mental shake, he settled Erica in the padded seat and cooed a bit to her as he wound up the mechanism so the swing would swing. For some reason his niece seemed to like cooing and gooing. Babies were as tough to read as women.
“I hope you brought your magic touch with you,” he suddenly said, “or that food’s going to get cold. I’m paying you, by the way.”
She looked startled, as if she hadn’t expected the offer. “You can pay me if you get the chance to eat any of it. We can split the cost.”
That made him straighten from his crouch and study her carefully. “You’re one complicated woman.”
Her eyes widened a bit. “And you’re an open book? One thing I’m not, Mr. Preston, is gullible.”
“Mr. Preston,” he scoffed. “After what we almost did, first name basis should be a given. So don’t try to put even more distance than the past year between us.”
Kaitlyn looked away, obviously not wanting to have that discussion now. But he did. If not now, then soon. He had to know what had made her bolt like a scared rabbit.
Erica seemed to be quieting with each pass of the swing.
“If we only have fifteen minutes, we should take advantage of it,” he decided. “I’ll find dishes. Some of each?”
She raised her hand in a “sure, why not” gesture. As she followed him into the kitchen, she asked, “Did you get the crib put together?”
“Who do you think I am? Superman?”
The way she studied him made him wonder if she was imagining him in that superhero getup.
* * *
A short while later, they were sitting on the sofa quietly eating their supper, the swing rocking back and forth, easing Erica into sleep, when Kaitlyn asked Adam what was foremost on her mind. “Did you try to call Tina again?”
He put down his fork. “Three times. I don’t even know if she’s getting my messages. I try not to sound panicked. I try to sound reasonable. But I’m worried about her.”
“I know you are.”
It was obvious to see, though she wondered how much of it was worry that he’d be stuck with Erica. She was afraid that’s the way he looked at it. She couldn’t tell yet if Adam was bonding with the baby, or just caring for her. There was a difference.
As they ate in silence for another few minutes, Kaitlyn took a deep breath. Having dinner with Adam wasn’t as easy as she’d thought it would be. That sizzle in the air...the way he looked at her sometimes...
“I’m going to drive to Tina’s apartment tomorrow,” he said, breaking the silence. “Maybe I’ll find a clue as to where she’s gone.”
“You’re taking Erica?”
“What choice do I have? Besides, I have to learn to handle her in and out of the condo. I can’t be stuck here twenty-four hours a day. No wonder new moms get cabin fever.”
“There’s no reason why Erica can’t go where you go. You just have to remember to take along everything you need.”
“Bottles, diapers and the kitchen sink.”
At least he was keeping his sense of humor. That could be tough in this situation. She’d liked his sense of humor that night—
“Kaitlyn, why did you run out on me that night at the winery?”
Back to that. “Because we didn’t know each other. Because we’d just met.”
“Did I read the signals wrong? You were flirting back. When I kissed you, you responded.”
She’d more than responded. Somehow, he’d lit the wick of passion that had been extinguished for two years. Her divorce had become final the week before.
Yes, she’d realized that Tom would never forgive her for losing their baby. She’d had no doubt the marriage was over. The night she’d gone to the wine tasting, she’d been trying to resurrect her own self-confidence. Whatever her goal that night, she hadn’t expected to meet Adam. She hadn’t expected that kind of chemistry. She hadn’t expected to go up in flames when he touched her.
But now she could see why he wanted to have this conversation. A dented male ego, maybe, but something deeper, too. He was afraid he’d taken advantage of her.
“You didn’t read the signals wrong, Adam. I thought I could flirt and have a good time. I didn’t expect everything that happened when you kissed me. After we ended up undressing and I realized what we were doing, I knew I wasn’t ready.”
Of course, that’s the word he latched on to. “Ready?”
“That’s all I really want to say about it. You didn’t take advantage of me. I never should have let you kiss me the second time.”
He cocked his head and studied her hard. “You don’t go to many parties, do you?”
“No.”
“You don’t usually flirt with men.”
“No.”
“So why that night? Why me?”
Wasn’t that a very good question? She knew why she’d done it that night, but why she’d done it with Adam was still a puzzle.
“Maybe it was because Jase introduced us. I’m not sure.”
“Something happened,” he guessed.
“Adam, that’s enough. I don’t want to talk about it. If I could have gotten another doctor to come this morning, I would have.”
“To avoid an awkward situation.” He was trying out that statement to see if it sounded true.
“Yes.”
“Or...to avoid the idea you might still be attracted to me if you saw me again.”
“No.”
“You answered that one much too quickly. Maybe you need to think about it a little more.”
She pushed her food around on her plate. “I don’t need to think about it at all. I’m not looking for a relationship. And if I were, it wouldn’t be with someone like you,” she said honestly.
“Someone like me, meaning what?”
“Someone who’s never around. You said yourself you don’t believe in commitment, that family life isn’t something you even know. We’d be incompatible, from start to finish.”
“It depends on what we’d be starting, and what we’d be finishing.”
His words on their own weren’t seductive, but they made her blush, because the underlying message was clear. He was thinking about sex.
“Tell me your fondest dream for five years from now,” he suggested.
She never thought that far ahead anymore, not in her personal life. “I don’t have that dream worked out.”
“I think you do. Close your eyes.”
“Adam.”
“Do as I say. Close your eyes.”
So she did.
“Five years from now, where are you living?”
That stopped her for a few seconds, and then she realized this was a dream. “Somewhere outside of town where I’d have some open space. I want a fireplace for cold nights that I can sit in front of with someone