To Tempt A Tiger(19)

“Lots to think about,” she said. Then she sighed and sat across the table from them. “Do you want anything more to eat?” She nodded at the bits of a meal Zoe was leaving for him.

“Don’t go to any trouble. I’m fine.”

“Where are you staying?” She hadn’t intended to bring that up yet, but once it had popped out, she realized she’d been worrying about it since seeing him on the front stoop. She didn’t trust herself around him. All her anger and resentment weren’t keeping her more lusty thoughts in check, nor were they preventing all those long ago feelings from rising up to taunt her. What they could have had, could have been, if only he’d believed in her…

She couldn’t trust her heart, she certainly couldn’t trust her body, and she didn’t trust him. They couldn’t afford to be in the same house together, not now, when so much hung in the balance.

“Don’t worry about me,” he said.

“You managed to get a room in one of the motels last minute?”

“I said don’t worry.”

She frowned. “You’re not thinking of sleeping in your car or something like that, are you? It’s freezing out there. I can’t allow that.”

“I wasn’t going to sleep in the car. But I don’t want to rent a room and give my credit card out, in case my brothers trace it. And paying in cash draws too much curiosity.”

“Your brothers could…find you that way?”

“Yes. I don’t think they can trace your cell, despite what I said to your parents—they don’t have nearly the same connections as my dad did—but you might be careful about using your phone too much.”

Great. One more thing to worry about. She shook it off to ask, “If you’re not sleeping in your car or at a motel, where will you sleep? Not outside? This is not great camping weather.”

“Won’t be a big deal. I have a…fur coat to keep me warm.”

She blinked as his comment sank in and she realized what he was saying. He intended to shift and sleep in the open as a tiger? “Is that…safe? What if someone sees you? Can you take the cold?”

“No one will see me. Yes, I can take the cold. Yes, it’s safe. Maybe safer than staying anywhere else.”

He met her gaze and she knew he was thinking of them staying under the same roof. Her pulse thumped as she got caught in his dark gaze. Yes, staying in the same house was definitely not safe. Tempting. Shockingly tempting. But not safe.

“If you’re sure.” There was a spare room, but she resisted saying that out loud until she could think through the repercussions.

She watched his gaze move over her face, dipping briefly to her breasts. That quick, discreet look warmed her cheeks. She was definitely safer without him in the house. How the hell could she still be this vulnerable to him? She tried to call up the anger she’d harbored for the last four years, but it was all mixed up with confusion now. Not nearly strong enough.

He’d helped pull Zoe out of an episode. Despite everything else, that single fact muted all her resentment, tangling it up with gratitude for easing her daughter’s pain.

She didn’t know how to feel about his explanation for leaving. She supposed she had to accept that he couldn’t have known the truth about Zoe being his. But part of her still thought he should have known, he should have trusted her. How could she ever get over the fact that in that most important moment, he hadn’t believed in her?

Though she still wanted to, she couldn’t quite hate him anymore. Beyond that, she didn’t know exactly how she felt. With Zoe, everything was so much more complicated. What if Zoe came to accept Vlad, and he left them again? Rose couldn’t risk that. Yet, could she really deny Zoe a chance to have a relationship with her dad if Vlad did stay?

She pulled her still-warm tea mug close and hid her confusion in a deep drink.

“We need to discuss Zoe’s…lessons,” Vlad said, breaking into her thoughts.

She blinked and looked up at him. “I haven’t decided…”

“It’s not a decision, Rose. She needs to learn how to do everything she can. It will help her.”

“Help me what?” Zoe asked as she moved some of the crumbs of chips in front of Vlad back to her paper plate.

Vlad faced her. “I want to help you get rid of your pain.”

Her eyes widened. “You do that?” Then her eyes narrowed. “Thought you said you not a doctor?”

“I’m not.”

“What are you?”

He chuckled. “Among other things, I’m an inventor.”

“What you invent?”