An Irresistible Bachelor(70)

But then he looked up at her and his eyes flashed with heat.

"Good morning." His smile was slow and sexy as he put down the Boston Globe. "How did you sleep?"

Callie felt a flush run like a forest fire up into her face. "Well. Very well."

"Come here," he said, softly.

She looked behind her to make sure no one was around and then went to him. As soon as she was in range,, his hands came out and pulled her close. Instinctively, she started to reach for his hair, but she stopped, not wanting to ruffle him.

"No, touch me," he said. "Anywhere."

As she drew her fingers through the thickness, he stared up at her. "I'm sorry we didn't spend more time together this morning, but I thought you might appreciate the discretion."

"Thank you." She dropped her lips to his and kissed him lightly, but he wouldn't let her go. As he deepened the contact with his tongue, she reluctantly pulled back.

His frustration was evident as he let her go. "You make me want to go back upstairs and start the day right. Or better yet, not get out of bed at all."

She was smiling when Thomas came down the back stairs. While he and Jack talked, she fixed herself a little breakfast and thought about the day ahead of her. When she remembered the letter she'd found, she wanted to show it to Jack.

"Do you have a minute before you go?" she asked when he stood up to leave. "I have something I'd like to show you up in the garage."

He grabbed his briefcase and quickly headed for the door. "What a fantastic idea."

She laughed as he hustled her outside and Arthur loped ahead. The morning was cold and her breath came out in a series of puffs as they walked across the driveway.

"By the way, Jack, I think we may have a problem."

"With the painting?"

"No, your mother found me in your room this morning." She glanced over, watching his eyebrows rise. "I was returning your shirt."

"Ah."

"I thought you'd want to know. She didn't look happy,"

"No, I imagine she didn't."

"You don't seem too concerned," she said, opening the door to the garage.

He smiled grimly. "Just remember, my mother is not your problem. And don't worry about it. She's got a bad bark, but she's essentially harmless."

Callie thought back to the, calculation behind the woman's eyes and wasn't so sure.

As they went up the cramped stairs, she was acutely aware of him behind her and found she had little interest in talking about what she'd pulled out of the box of documents.

See, this is why they tell you not to mix business with pleasure, she thought. She was so preoccupied with making love to the man, she'd be lucky to string two coherent sentences together.

And she was disappointed as hell when he walked directly to the painting.

As Jack looked down at the canvas, she turned on the halogen steam light so he could see better. The work she'd been doing in the lower left corner had spread, moving up the side of the canvas.

"You've done quite a bit."

"It's going well. I think I've hit the solvent right on the head. The only thing coming off is the old varnish and I'm happy to say the underlying paint is solid. I'm really looking forward to doing the face."

He straightened. "Now what did you want to show me?"

His eyes were trained on her clothes, and going by the expectation in his face, he was picturing her without them. She smiled and went over to the side table by the couch.

Picking up the letter fragment she said, "I don't want to jump to conclusions but it's tempting to believe Nathaniel wrote these words."

Jack read it, holding the paper carefully by the edges. "I was hoping you'd find something like this."

She frowned, wondering what he meant.

"Come with me."



Chapter 16



Callie followed him back to the house and into his study. She was about to sit down across from the desk when she saw glass shards on the floor.

"What happened here?" She bent down and started picking up some of the bigger pieces. He joined her, getting down on his haunches.

"Evidently, I don't handle introspection well." He gave her a wry smile when she hesitated and met his eyes. "But don't worry, if I go into therapy full time, I'm locking up the china."