parted her lips and he growled his approval until she could taste the rich bouquet of his merlot. His hands stayed on the table, her fingers around his wrist. He only touched her with his mouth, his tongue. The spicy soap scent of him stirred around her in the breeze, reminding her of the moment when she’d first met him and his voice stroked her senses as, temptingly, his mouth moved on hers.

      She should pull away, prove she was strong and resolute the way she’d planned this afternoon. Phoebe lifted her hands to push against his shoulders.

      But he pulled away first.

      Her head swam and she couldn’t even blame it on the drink, because he had honored her request to stick with one glass. Her only consolation came from watching his chest rise and fall as rapidly as her own. She needed to get her head together. She refused to let him win her over easily as he must have done with women in the past, like Bianca and Lucy.

      Phoebe drained half her water goblet while he reclaimed his seat. She had to think. Focus on what was important.

      She had to keep her head clear and her wits about her at all times. She hoped this dinner would be over soon so she could start figuring out how to deal with her desire. “Um, when do you report back to your base?”

      “I’ve already finished up all the paperwork.” He watched her, his chest still pumping. “It’ll be official next week.”

      “So you’re on vacation.” And when would that vacation end? She wasn’t even sure where his base was. She was married to a stranger, a totally hot stranger who turned her inside out with his kisses. The mere thought rattled her, leaving her feeling disloyal to her ex. “Rest is a good idea after such a long deployment.”

      “I’m not on vacation.” He straightened in his chair, his eyes narrowing. “I’ve turned in my papers now that I’ve fulfilled my commitment to the air force. We were going to announce it after the party. But then you showed up with Nina, and we’ve been distracted since then.”

      A roar started in her ears, her pulse louder than the waves rushing in with inevitability. “What exactly does this mean?”

      “As of today, I’m no longer in the military. I’m taking over a branch of the Landis Foundation.” He spread his hands wide. “As of now, I’m totally at your disposal.”

      An hour later, Phoebe stood in Nina’s new nursery, toying with the decorative silk slippers tacked to the wall. Control slipped away as fast as the tears down her cheeks.

      What had she gotten herself into?

      Swiping the back of her wrist under her eyes, she looked into Nina’s crib at the sweet baby she loved so much. Phoebe adjusted the light blanket, smoothed back a dark curl…saw Kyle’s one-sided smile as the infant grinned in her sleep.

      Life was marching relentlessly on without her first husband. Her emotions had spiraled so far out of control she didn’t know how she would ever retrieve them. Now Kyle and all the myriad temptations he presented would be with her twenty-four/seven as she settled into a family life she’d never had and that Kyle clearly didn’t want.

      She touched along her kissed-tender lips and searched back over their few conversations prior. What had she misunderstood to make her believe he was still in the air force, due to zip off into the wild blue yonder sometime soon? Maybe she’d just heard and believed what she’d wanted to where Kyle was concerned, desperate for a way to secure Nina’s future. She hadn’t looked beyond that to understand all the ways she could be hurting both their hearts to put them through this sham of a marriage.

      Now it was too late to go back. She could only steel herself, forge ahead.

      And try not to think about how much she wanted him to kiss her again.

      Six

      A week later, Kyle stood outside the nursery door, double-checking the monitor to make sure the thing was actually working. He pulled it away from his ear, looked at the buttons, clicked a couple back and forth. Yeah, he could hear the white-noise music playing low in the background.

      Good God, the baby gear was more complicated than some of the intelligence equipment he’d worked with in the air force. In another week he would start with Landis International. For now, he was already unofficially working from home, but soon the traveling would start.

      He hadn’t lied about being at Phoebe’s disposal. He just hadn’t mentioned there was a deadline to that since his new job would take him on the road even more than his old one. That didn’t leave him much time to win Phoebe over, into his bed.

      Kyle started down the hall, eager to move forward with his next plan for persuading her they should enjoy all the benefits a wedding license brought. For the past week, he’d wined and dined Phoebe at the most romantic places he could think of, a challenge to do when considering the kid-friendly aspect. The opera had been a no go, but then he didn’t really like opera. He’d even persuaded Phoebe to fly upstate on the family jet for an outdoor history fair at Halloween. He’d thought Phoebe would enjoy the historical aspect, and Nina sure looked damn cute in her little princess costume. He had to admit the kid was easier to take along than he’d expected.

      Of course, he didn’t really know what to expect from a child her age. He should probably get one of those parenting books or surf the Internet for kid-care articles because, his choice or not, he was a father now, which meant doing his best. He was also a husband, something he intended to focus his full attention on for the rest of the evening on their first adults-only date.