The Millionaire Affair(22)

And the time of your adult life.

That, too. She wondered if Landon had taken her seriously. If he'd  really made a list. She had started one. There were three things on it.  And they weren't all that adventurous.

A flash of movement to her right caught her eye and she turned her head.  Landon turned his palm up and watched her, head propped on his other  arm, one eyebrow raised over the rim of his glasses.

She shifted and laid her arm over the couch before resting her palm in  his. Holding her hand, he turned his attention to the screen and they  sat that way the rest of the movie. Occasionally, he would rearrange  their fingers or rub her thumb with his, but he never let go. Once, he  looked over and she met his heated gaze, saw in it the promises of  things to come. The heat transferred from his body to hers, causing her  palm to grow damp.

The movie credits rolled and he lifted a snoozing Lyon off the couch and  murmured he was going to tuck him in. "Meet you in your room," he'd  whispered before vanishing into his nephew's bedroom, Lyon in his arms.

That left her to walk to her room alone, contemplating her "fun-night  stand" along the way. Heated kisses, the slide of sheets against their  nude bodies. She shuddered and closed her door. Then stared at it,  chewing her lip. She hadn't taken this gig to get laid. Hadn't, in her  wildest imaginings thought for one deluded second Landon would agree to  sleep with her. If she'd known then what she knew now, would she still  have said yes?

More than once, she thought wryly.

But sex with Landon was about more than sacking a hot guy. Being with  him would be a dream come true, a fantasy sixteen years in the making, a  night of-         

     



 

Gloria's scolding face popped into Kimber's psyche, and her brain registered a warning.

Oh. Right.

The point was not to make this into more than what it was. The point was  to prove to herself once and for all she could have a fling. She didn't  have to turn every relationship into potential matrimony. She could  love 'em and leave 'em with the best of them.

Kimber chewed on a fingernail. This was ridiculous. She was as skilled  at not getting attached as she was at knife-throwing. In other words:  not at all.

Time to turn that around then.

She'd never find a husband if she kept smothering the life out of her  dates. If she kept caging them into her world and not letting them  breathe. A small part of her started to argue that she wasn't quite the  Black Widow she'd just accused herself of being, but she shut down her  defenses. She had to get out of this rut. And it was a deep rut. One  mired with mud, and desperation, and the bones of her past  relationships.

Tired of staring at the door like a desperate dog waiting on its owner  to return, she went to the bathroom and fussed with her hair. She  brushed her teeth again, checked her toenail polish, swept powder over  her nose. She sat on the bed. Then laid on it. Then got up and remade it  so that there were no wrinkles on the duvet.

She frowned at the door, then at herself, for waiting around like a good  little maiden. Either Lyon was awake and being a bear, or Landon was  taking his sweet time coming to her. Either way, she needed to find out  what was going on outside of her room.

At the end of the hallway, both Landon's and Lyon's bedroom doors stood  open, Lyon's nightlight glowing in the darkness. She was headed that way  when voices echoed down the bisecting corridor, coming from the  direction of the kitchen. She recognized Landon's low murmur  immediately, and a secondary voice. A man's voice. Evan.

She hesitated, her face heating as she remembered the compromised  conversation Evan had caught her in the middle of not so long ago. But  since she was being brave and bold-ha!-she took a deep breath and  entered the kitchen anyway.

Evan sat next to his son holding a crayon. Lyon swung his feet back and  forth under the kitchen chair, filling in the spaces on a fresh coloring  book.

Lyon looked up when she walked in. "Look, Kimber!" he shouted, no  evidence he'd been out cold minutes ago, "Man of Steel coloring book!"  He lifted the picture he was working on and showed her.

"Wow, does your dad know you, or what?" She cast an approving glance at Evan.

Evan winked at her. But not in a flirty way. In an I Know What You Did  Last Summer way. She licked her lips nervously and flicked her attention  to the island where Landon was leaning on his forearms.

"Did we wake you?" he asked. Oh, that dirty devil. He didn't smile,  didn't waggle his eyebrows, but she could see the heat in his eyes, the  slight twitch of his lips.

"I wasn't asleep," she answered as evenly as she was able.

He gave in and smiled, sending her pulse into a hectic rhythm. She bit  down on her lip, studying the dip in his chin, the way his capable hands  were folded neatly on the counter where he leaned. He may be trying to  look casual, but she could see the rigidity in his spine. No, he was  coiled. Ready to pounce. Ready to get the hell out of this kitchen.

A shiver climbed her spine but heated as it licked its way down. She  pressed her thighs together to keep flames from gathering between her  legs and setting her alight. The man could level her with a look. While  she stood next to his unassuming brother and nephew.

Good Lord, Kimber, pull it together.

She was about to make an excuse about needing a bottle of water when Evan spoke.

"I'll just crash in Lyon's room." He addressed Landon, obviously picking  up the conversation they'd been having before she interrupted.

"Are you staying tomorrow, too?" Landon kept leaning, his eyes trained  on his brother. Somehow, though, she felt him watching her from his  peripheral; knew he had a plan he was working out this very moment.

Evan colored part of Superman's boot orange and Lyon argued he was doing  it wrong. He relinquished the orange crayon and accepted the red one.  "I want to take Lyon to Navy Pier, but yeah, we'll be out of your place  by morning. We'll get breakfast out, too." He nudged his son. "Chocolate  chip pancakes okay?"

The boy's wide smile showcased his toothless gap. "Yeah!"

Her attack of lust faded as her insides turned to mush. She was going to  miss this exuberant kid. Much more than she'd anticipated.

"I showed my new paintings to Gloria," Evan told her. She recalled her  friend's earlier claim about how Evan was "hot with two Ts" and wondered  if Glo had flirted with him. Probably. Glo was never one to hold back,  and he was obviously a complete flirt.         

     



 

"How did they turn out?"

"She loved them." His eyes held a guarded sparkle. Because Gloria  appreciated his hard work? Or …  something more? The way he'd said her  name made Kimber think he and Glo might have discussed more than  business …  without clothing.

She felt a displaced stab of jealousy. She'd lost the opportunity to  make love to Landon tonight. They might be able to sneak past Lyon, but  Evan was another problem entirely.

"Glo has good taste," she said noncommittally.

Evan narrowed his eyes, his thick, dark lashes almost obscuring the  blue. "So." He smirked. "What are you doing tonight?" The tone of his  voice suggested he knew full well her intentions.

"I'm turning in," she said, folding her arms over her chest. "Just …  came  in to say good night." Yep. Just wandered down here to say good night  to the Downey clan before returning to my lonely room. Alone. And by  myself.

Landon stood from his casual lean against the countertop. "Lyon, how  would you like to sleep in the bedroom with the giant bathtub?"

"Can I take a bath in it?"

Evan and Landon exchanged glances. "Up to your dad," Landon said, eyeing his brother intently.

"You mean the bedroom on the opposite side of the house." Evan pointed  to the room beyond the kitchen. The only bedroom on that side of the  house. "Instead of over there." He pointed in the other direction.  "Where yours and Kimber's bedrooms are."

Her face grew warm with embarrassment.

Landon didn't balk. "Right."

Evan looked over at her and she swore she flushed twelve shades of red.  They were arranging the sleeping situation around the fact that Landon  and she were going to …  going to …

Lord. She had to get out of this room. "Good night," she blurted.

" 'Night," Lyon said, not looking up from his coloring.

She knelt next to him before she went. "Don't forget to say good-bye to  me in the morning, okay?" Lyon nodded and she kissed his cheek. He  hugged her neck, and the feel of those small but strong arms made her  chest tighten. She was going to miss this kid. Before her haphazard  emotions got the better of her, she said a hurried good night to Evan,  but didn't speak to Landon at all. He watched her silently, his face  still and unreadable. Bravery gone, she ran for her bedroom and shut the  door behind her.

The knock came fifteen minutes later.