The Billionaire of Bluebonnet(2)

Well, this wouldn’t take long, then. He strode to the house and up the white wooden steps of the porch, noticing that his grandmother’s favorite rag doormat still lay in front of the door. He put his hand on the doorknob, and then frowned when he realized the door was locked.

Grandma Pearl had never locked the door in all the years that he’d known her. And the damn house was his now. He had to wait to be asked in? Irritated, he shoved a finger at the doorbell. It chimed. No response. Now annoyed, he held his finger down on the button, imagining the constant, grating chime inside.

Footsteps raced down the hall. “I’m coming!”

A moment later, the door opened. A tall woman stood there in a bikini, a towel wrapped around her waist.

Travis forgot everything he’d thought about this not taking long. The woman opening the door was gorgeous. Was this Grandma Pearl’s companion? He didn’t remember her. He’d have remembered if she’d had such a curvy, delicious creature assisting her. The woman standing before him was stunning—full breasts heaved and glistened with trickles of water, and the belly above the towel was soft and slightly rounded. Her dark hair was pulled up into a thick bun atop her head, wild tendrils escaping and framing a lightly freckled face. Bright blue eyes stared back at him with surprise.

Her mouth fell into a lush O of surprise. “Mr. Jesson! Please come in.” Her cheeks were bright red, and he didn’t know if it was due to his presence or the fact that he’d just gotten her out of the pool. “I’m so sorry I didn’t hear the door. I was in the backyard giving Gregory a bath. He likes to swim.”

Travis didn’t really give a shit about the dog. He was far more interested in her, and vaguely disappointed when she hiked the towel up over her breasts, hiding them from sight. He studied her for a moment, then put his hand out. “Travis. You must be . . .”

“I know you,” she said breathlessly, and then her face blushed brighter. “I mean, you’ve been here before.”

“I don’t remember you,” he said bluntly.

“Oh, of course not.” She seemed embarrassed. “I always try to stay out of the way when family visits. I’m Risa. Risa Moore. You hired me to be your grandmother’s assistant a few years ago. You were there when she interviewed me, remember?”

He stared at her blankly.

“The schoolteacher?” She prompted, then pulled her hair out of the bun and shoved it in front of her face, then made circles with her fingers and held them up to her eyes. “With the glasses?”

A glimmer of a memory hit him. He did remember helping his grandmother hire an assistant. But he thought she’d been middle-aged and sour. This creature . . . wasn’t. She was warm and laughing and he wanted to tug that towel off of her and get another look at her lush body in that black bikini. But all he said was, “Miss Moore. I remember.”

“Of course you do,” she said softly and smiled at him. “I got LASIK a year ago. No one remembers me without the glasses. I’m getting used to it, though.”

It was incredible to think he’d forgotten her. Ridiculous. “I’m Travis.”

“I know,” she said, that soft smile remaining on her lips, though her sparkle seemed to dim a little. Her lower lip wobbled a little. “You’re here to pick up the keys and Gregory.”

Ah, hell. Was she sad about the damn dog or losing her home? Or both? “I’m not here to kick you out,” he began.

She waved a hand in the air. “It’s time for me to move on anyhow. Your grandmother had been pushing me for the last year to go and get another teaching job, but I didn’t want to leave her side. She was a wonderful lady.”

“She was a great lady,” he said in a husky voice, his gaze staying on Risa as she moved across the room. Her hips swayed under the towel, her movements incredibly feminine.

She moved to the foyer table, picked a pair of keys out of the bowl, and handed them over to him. “I’m almost done packing. I should be able to be out of here in the morning.”

“There’s really no hurry,” he found himself saying, wishing she would smile. He wanted to see what she looked like when she gave him something other than the polite smile. What she’d look like if her eyes lit up with pleasure. “Stay as long as you like.”#p#分页标题#e#

Her expression grew wry. “I’m afraid I’d just be in your way. The lawyer told me you were only coming by to get the keys and Gregory, so I won’t be a bother.”

Travis mentally cursed. She seemed determined to get out of there as soon as possible. For some reason, that bothered him. It was more than the feeling that he was kicking her out of her home—and he was—it was that there was something soft and vulnerable underneath her friendly, polite smile. Like she was going through the motions and hiding how she really felt.