like a slut.”
“Yeah, well, I had a fairly strict upbringing.” He shot her a wry smile. “I sort of hoped you’d turn out to be one, though.”
The belly laugh exploding out of her felt good, and she was still laughing when Grace and Gabe came out of the house. Wiping tears of mirth from her eyes, she turned to the teacher. “Are you leaving?”
The other woman tended toward quiet and had a refined, good-girl air about her. But she possessed a sweet smile and a good sense of humor and had been ingenuously open about getting a kick out of hanging with her and Janna.
“Yes.” Grace came over and took Macy’s hands in her own. “Thank you so much for including me in your party this afternoon. I had a blast.”
“It was fun, wasn’t it? I really enjoyed getting to know you a little. We’ll have to do it again sometime.”
Gabe jingled his keys in his pocket and she gave the teacher a nudge. “It looks like your date is getting impatient. He must have a hot necking session planned down at Buzzard Canyon.” Mentioning the spot, however, dimmed her humor considerably.
It resurrected when Grace turned pink and stuttered, “Oh, no, I don’t think—” while Gabe shot her a look.
“You’ll have to cut Ms. O’James some slack, Grace,” he said coolly. “She has sex on the brain. Must be the L.A. influence.”
“Only with you, sugar,” she said, and Grace and Adam laughed, obviously believing it was just another example of her flirty ways. But she admitted to herself that there was more than a grain of truth to the matter. It had been a fairly long dry spell since she’d thought of having sex with anyone. But every time she clapped eyes on the big fire chief it seemed to be the first thing that popped to mind.
Well, she’d just have to do something about that. One, because she didn’t poach on other women’s turf, and two, the guy was far from a lighthearted player, which was her usual type.
And face it. Being back in Sugarville is challenge enough.
Wasn’t that the damn truth. A challenge, squared. The last thing she needed was some sparks in the dark sexual chemistry with a man she suspected just might burn her alive.
When it came to Gabriel Donovan she intended to keep her distance…and then some.
CHAPTER SIX
G ABE HEARD WAR WHOOPS and the sound of boys laughing as he let himself out the kitchen door and headed for his car. Tracking the noise, he spotted Tyler and Charlie taking turns stalking each other through the fruit orchard beyond the small parking area. They dodged in and out of the trees and behind the shed at the end of Bud’s enclosed garden, popping out from behind cover long enough to shoot streams of water at each other from long-barreled, pump-action soaker guns. It was over ninety today, so he thought their activity had a helluva lot more appeal than climbing into a car that had been cooking in the sun since he’d stopped home at noon. Opening the vehicle, he watched the boys over its roof as he gave the heat trapped inside a minute to escape.
But in the abrupt that’s-so-last-minute-this-is- now way of kids, Tyler suddenly lowered his gun and, dragging it behind him as if it equaled his body weight, trudged in Gabe’s direction.
It soon became clear, however, that the boy hadn’t noticed him. “Mom,” he said in an aggravated voice before he and Charlie even reached the parking area.“We’ve been waiting for ever! When are we gonna go to the pool?”
Gabe hadn’t noticed the women until then, but now he homed right in on Janna sitting in a lawn chair under the oak tree with Macy on the ground at her feet. The dappled shade cast by the broad leaves was fairly deep, so they weren’t exactly in high-def. But they were noticeable enough that he was surprised he’d missed them in the first place.
Macy turned her head to look at Tyler. “We’ll leave as soon as your mom’s toenails dry.”
“I don’t know why you hadda go paint ’em in the first place,”
“Yeah, well, I had a fairly strict upbringing.” He shot her a wry smile. “I sort of hoped you’d turn out to be one, though.”
The belly laugh exploding out of her felt good, and she was still laughing when Grace and Gabe came out of the house. Wiping tears of mirth from her eyes, she turned to the teacher. “Are you leaving?”
The other woman tended toward quiet and had a refined, good-girl air about her. But she possessed a sweet smile and a good sense of humor and had been ingenuously open about getting a kick out of hanging with her and Janna.
“Yes.” Grace came over and took Macy’s hands in her own. “Thank you so much for including me in your party this afternoon. I had a blast.”
“It was fun, wasn’t it? I really enjoyed getting to know you a little. We’ll have to do it again sometime.”
Gabe jingled his keys in his pocket and she gave the teacher a nudge. “It looks like your date is getting impatient. He must have a hot necking session planned down at Buzzard Canyon.” Mentioning the spot, however, dimmed her humor considerably.
It resurrected when Grace turned pink and stuttered, “Oh, no, I don’t think—” while Gabe shot her a look.
“You’ll have to cut Ms. O’James some slack, Grace,” he said coolly. “She has sex on the brain. Must be the L.A. influence.”
“Only with you, sugar,” she said, and Grace and Adam laughed, obviously believing it was just another example of her flirty ways. But she admitted to herself that there was more than a grain of truth to the matter. It had been a fairly long dry spell since she’d thought of having sex with anyone. But every time she clapped eyes on the big fire chief it seemed to be the first thing that popped to mind.
Well, she’d just have to do something about that. One, because she didn’t poach on other women’s turf, and two, the guy was far from a lighthearted player, which was her usual type.
And face it. Being back in Sugarville is challenge enough.
Wasn’t that the damn truth. A challenge, squared. The last thing she needed was some sparks in the dark sexual chemistry with a man she suspected just might burn her alive.
When it came to Gabriel Donovan she intended to keep her distance…and then some.
CHAPTER SIX
G ABE HEARD WAR WHOOPS and the sound of boys laughing as he let himself out the kitchen door and headed for his car. Tracking the noise, he spotted Tyler and Charlie taking turns stalking each other through the fruit orchard beyond the small parking area. They dodged in and out of the trees and behind the shed at the end of Bud’s enclosed garden, popping out from behind cover long enough to shoot streams of water at each other from long-barreled, pump-action soaker guns. It was over ninety today, so he thought their activity had a helluva lot more appeal than climbing into a car that had been cooking in the sun since he’d stopped home at noon. Opening the vehicle, he watched the boys over its roof as he gave the heat trapped inside a minute to escape.
But in the abrupt that’s-so-last-minute-this-is- now way of kids, Tyler suddenly lowered his gun and, dragging it behind him as if it equaled his body weight, trudged in Gabe’s direction.
It soon became clear, however, that the boy hadn’t noticed him. “Mom,” he said in an aggravated voice before he and Charlie even reached the parking area.“We’ve been waiting for ever! When are we gonna go to the pool?”
Gabe hadn’t noticed the women until then, but now he homed right in on Janna sitting in a lawn chair under the oak tree with Macy on the ground at her feet. The dappled shade cast by the broad leaves was fairly deep, so they weren’t exactly in high-def. But they were noticeable enough that he was surprised he’d missed them in the first place.
Macy turned her head to look at Tyler. “We’ll leave as soon as your mom’s toenails dry.”
“I don’t know why you hadda go paint ’em in the first place,”
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