Tea and Destiny by Sherryl Woods

Author:Sherryl Woods
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: MIRA
Published: 2013-03-17T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Love? Hank Riley, the inveterate skirt chaser, was in love with her? No way. Uh-uh. Forget it. She doubted he even knew the definition of the word. Hell, she dealt with all sorts of permutations of love every single day and even she wasn’t sure she’d recognize it when it hit her, so how could he be so sure?

Despite her denials, though, Hank’s unexpected proclamation reverberated through Ann’s head all day long. By the end of the afternoon, her patients—even the littlest ones—were beginning to ask her if she was okay.

The honest answer, of course, was a resounding no. It wasn’t the one she gave them. She tried to concentrate on their problems, tried to work up some enthusiasm for the small successes she was seeing in their treatment, but all she could think about was Hank’s crazy, impulsive, misguided declaration of love.

It was absolutely the last thing she’d expected him to say when he’d come chasing after her that morning. She’d thought, despite his innumerable flaws, that he was too honest, too straightforward to use powerful words like that as part of an obvious seduction technique. Besides, the man had to know he could get her into his bed anytime he wanted her there. That was part of the problem. She was willing. He wasn’t. He seemed to have this crazy idea that he was protecting her by maintaining his physical distance, while he closed the emotional gap. At the rate he was going he would soon have her snared so tightly she’d never escape. Then when he realized his mistake, there’d be hell to pay—for both of them.

Well, it wasn’t going to happen that way, she resolved. She wasn’t interested in a commitment. She liked her life just the way it was. Taking care of six unruly, troubled children was more than enough to keep her life filled to overflowing. And, for all of his crazy protestations, she knew Hank was no more seriously interested in her than he was in having tea parties with Melissa and her dolls. Right now, living in their chaotic household was a novelty, but the fascination of family life would wear off soon enough. She was going to prove it to him.

That decided, she began to feel infinitely better. In fact, by the time she had dinner on the table, she was feeling downright cheerful and on top of things again. She felt in control.

Then Hank came in, smiled and her resolve melted. Just the sight of the man curled her toes. When he dropped a casual, husbandly kiss on her forehead, her knees went weak. When he lifted the lid on the pot of soup simmering on the stove and murmured some appreciative comment, she went all mushy inside. This was far more serious than she’d realized. What was happening to them? Hank was the one supposedly in love. She was simply coming unglued.

With five speculative faces looking on—plus Jason’s sullen one—dinner was an uncomfortable affair. Hank did try his best to make everything seem perfectly normal.

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