Sara Orwig – Lone Star Legacy: Relentless Pursuit (страница 12)

“I think I do. I’m not much like my brothers, either.”

They talked easily about their families, and when she glanced at the clock, she was surprised an hour had gone by. “Will, we should end this conversation. Do you realize how late it is? I need to get up early in the morning.”

“I’m enjoying the company. It’s worth losing some sleep.”

“Stop it. I’m saying good-night now. Good night, Will.”

“Good night, Ava. I’d rather kiss you than say farewell,” he said in a husky voice.

Her heart beat faster. All summer with him; he could derail her dreams even more if she wasn’t careful. She inhaled deeply. She had no intention of letting him do that no matter how appealing the man was. Or what he offered her, because he had already promised enough that she could afford to turn him down in the future. Half a million was a fortune beyond her dreams. The wealth would give her independence to do as she pleased about some facets in her life, including Will Delaney.

“Thank you, Will,” she said, remembering his dark gaze on her, trying to avoid thinking about his kisses or his sexy voice as he told her goodbye on the phone.

Will Delaney had just opened a whole new world for her.

Smiling, Will shut off his phone. Before he set it down a tune began to play. He answered the call to hear his brother Zach’s voice.

“Had a moment and thought I’d check with you. I’m in the L.A. airport, but I won’t be coming home. I’m on my way from Australia to Winnipeg. Any luck with tutors for Caroline?”

“Actually, I’ve hired the teacher who gave me recommendations. I wanted to get to know her better, and then when she was here, Caroline responded to her in a small way.”

“If Caroline responded in the least, it’s worth a try. Don’t blame you.”

“Caroline asked Ava if she hurt. Ava is a widow.”

“I’ll be damned,” Zach said. “Caroline hasn’t said a word to me since she lost her dad. That’s something.”

“It’s a small thing, but I’m willing to take it. I just have a feeling about this, and with Caroline asking Ava a question—I couldn’t let that go.”

“Hell, no, you couldn’t. That’s amazing. A widow. That’s nice for Caroline. Our mother isn’t grandma material and our stepmother has never been interested in Caroline.”

“Zach, Ava isn’t exactly grandma material, either. She’s twenty-eight. Widowed in college. They married before they graduated. She doesn’t date though.”

“Okay. I assume she’s good-looking.”

“Good-looking wouldn’t have mattered if I hadn’t thought she’d help.”

“I know. Well, that’s good news. I’ll pray for Adam’s dear Caroline and this tutor. What’s her name?”

“Ava Barton.”

“I’ll meet her next time I’m home. Whenever that may be. Let me know how things go. When does she start work?”

“Next Monday.”

“Good deal. And good job, Will. Hey, they’re calling my flight.”

“So long, Zach. Take care.” Will broke the connection, staring into space, but lost in thought about Ava.

After a busy week, Ava wound everything up by Saturday. She’d taken Trinity for a goodbye dinner, then woke up early and excited on Sunday. She dressed with care, in blue linen slacks and a matching shirt, and wound her hair into a bun, fastening it with a clip. She made some last-minute phone calls, did some research and waited for Will.

Promptly at 3:00 p.m. her doorbell rang.

When she opened the door, her breath caught. Tall and handsome, Will smiled at her and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. His brown eyes swept over her, stirring tingles. The impact of seeing him was greater than ever, and she locked her fingers behind her back.

“Hi. You look gorgeous,” he said in a husky voice.

“Thank you. Is it possible for you to keep this a purely business arrangement?” she asked, hating the breathless sound of her voice.

“No,” he said, smiling at her, an irresistible smile showing snow-white teeth and creases bracketing his mouth. “I don’t think it is for you, either, only you won’t admit it. I’ll bet your pulse is racing right now because, all business aside, we react to each other.” He reached out to place his fingers lightly on her throat to feel her pulse. She twisted away from him.

“You’ve proven your point,” she remarked dryly. “I’m ready.” She turned to pick up her things, but he stepped past her to shoulder the carry-on and gather her other bags.

She locked up, and when they stepped out, the chauffeur standing by the limousine came forward quickly to take her luggage.

“I’m glad to get you back to Dallas.”

She smiled at him. “So I might as well save my breath on telling you to keep all this impersonal?”

“Now you’re catching on. If you didn’t react to my flirting and remarks and kisses, I would back off, but you do respond.” He leaned down by her ear. “You set me on fire with your responses.”

“Stubborn, stubborn,” she said before stepping into the limo.

Looking relaxed, Will sat facing her.

“Rosalyn is with Caroline until we get home. Then she is taking tonight off. Tomorrow I’ll be home since it’s your first day. Did you get everything taken care of to your satisfaction?”

“Yes. With money in the bank, it gets easier.”

Will nodded. “Good. I don’t want you to have any regrets. Far from it. We’ll be home in no time.”

In what seemed a short flight to Ava, they landed at Love Field in Dallas. As soon as they were in his mansion, Will turned to her. “I’ll have your things put away.”

“Thanks, Will. Where is Caroline? I’d like to say hello to her.”

“She’s probably upstairs with Rosalyn.” They headed upstairs, and he knocked lightly on Caroline’s door. She sat on the floor playing with dolls and her small brown bear. Rosalyn sat nearby with a book in her hands. Caroline stood up, her gaze on Will although she gave Ava one brief glance.

“How’s my girl?” Will asked, picking her up to hug her and kiss her on the cheek. He turned to Ava. “Looks who’s here. She’ll be staying with us now for the summer.”

When Caroline’s eyes widened, Ava took it for a hopeful sign. She had uncustomary butterflies in her stomach over trying to help Caroline, yet she was hopeful she could do so even in a tiny degree.

Five

“Hi, Caroline,” Ava said, and without waiting for an answer she turned to Rosalyn. “It’s nice to see you, Rosalyn. Will, I’ll go to my room to freshen up and then I’ll go downstairs.”

She turned and left, trying to keep things low-key with Caroline. She knew the child would have to come to her, not the other way around.

She unpacked, giving Will time with his niece. After an hour, she went downstairs to look for him. She finally spotted them outside in the sparkling pool.

Declining to join them, she sat near the pool and watched Will with Caroline. Finally he swam a lap and then climbed out.

Ava drew a deep breath as her gaze ran over his muscled body and the thick mat of dark chest hair that tapered in a narrow line to disappear below his black swim trunks. Her mouth went dry and she could not keep from looking at his broad chest, lean body, long legs. He was tanned, fit and handsome. He raked his wavy black hair back from his face, wrapped the towel around his middle and strolled over to pull a chair close to her. “You should have joined us.”

“I will some other time. Caroline seems to enjoy herself.”

“She loves to swim. It’s easy to tell that she likes the water. She always has, and learned to swim early. My brother Adam swam with her all the time.”

“You said you were closest to your older brother.”

“Yes. I’m getting closer to Zach. There’s a big age gap between Ryan and me. We’re not as close and we have different interests.”

“I’m closer to Trinity, but that’s because of age. Now that she’s in college, I’m getting closer to Summer. Summer is the one who will be the teacher so we’ll probably become even closer later.”

All the time Will talked, he kept his attention on Caroline, as did Ava just out of habit from watching kids at school and on playgrounds. One time Caroline went under; when she didn’t bob right up, Will was almost in the pool before she popped up, splashing and obviously enjoying herself. While he paused at the edge of the pool to talk to her, she splashed around. She played with a ball, and after a few minutes, Will returned to his chair.

“She does that sometimes. It always scares me. So far, I’ve never had to pull her out, but she still scares me.”

“Better to be safe,” Ava said. “How long will she stay in?”

“Probably until I get her out. She loves the water. I told Rosalyn to keep a close eye on her because I always worry about her wandering off and going in without anyone watching. She’s getting big enough now it’s not the worry it was. When we’re not in the pool, we keep the gate locked on the surrounding fence. The gate helps, but I travel, and when I’m away, I don’t want to worry about something happening to her.”

“I don’t blame you,” she said. “I can see why your brother appointed you guardian.”

“I had the gate put up before I became her guardian, way back before she was toddling around. I couldn’t bear to have anything happen to her.”

“That’s good, Will,” she said, thinking it was one more facet of Will Delaney that she had to admire. Her gaze ran over his broad, bare shoulders that had dried. His black hair was still wet.