Fairy-Tale Family. Pat Montana

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СКАЧАТЬ kiss her!

      She wasn’t a kept woman! She and her kids could take care of King. They didn’t need help from Mitchell Kole—or anyone.

      But the darned TV weighed more than a carton of bricks!

      “Heave, guys.” She shifted her weight, took a wider step and came down on something that rooollllled...

      “Ooohh, nooo... The crayoonnns!”

      “Out of the way, kids. I’ll take that”

      Mitch descended on them from the landing, just barely capturing the TV as it plummeted toward the floor.

      Ellie kept right on plummeting.

      “Unnhhh.” Whatever she landed on imprinted itself, probably permanently, on her backside.

      Seri dashed across the room, with the dog hot on her heels, and threw her arms around Ellie’s neck. “Mommy!”

      “I’m okay, sweetheart.” Ellie nudged the licking dog away and hugged her daughter, all the while avoiding Mitch’s glare. Her ego hurt a whole lot more than the bruise that would no doubt tattoo her bottom.

      “Good—!” two very large, very warm hands lifted her to her feet making her feel like a rag doll with a silly, wobbly heartbeat “—because I’d hate to have to wait till you recover to read you the riot act.”

      Ellie tried to pull away, but Mitch glowered down at her, holding her tight, making her forget she’d ever wanted to escape. His warmth ribboned through her like some kind of magical potion. She watched his eyes change to a cloudy uncertainty, his gaze slide to her lips. Her knees went weak—the same way they had that morning. What was this man doing to her?

      Then he stepped back.

      But the distance wasn’t enough, not nearly enough to stop what was happening to her. The explosions of light. The wanting. She was overheated and out of control because of his closeness. His touch.

      Men like Mitch should never happen to her.

      “Would you please tell me what you were doing?” he demanded. “You could have hurt yourself. Or a kid. You damn near dropped the TV.”

      Ellie smoothed her sweater over her throbbing bottom and prayed her face wasn’t flaming. She tried to ignore her confusion.

      “We’re moving the TV into the dormitory. I thought since King will be on crutches, I’d bring the land mines out here. Fix a safe place for him in there.”

      “Land mines?” Mitch scanned the room, clearly uncomfortable.

      “Toys.” Thank goodness for her children. She waved an arm to introduce him to the hazards of child rearing. And to hide her trembling.

      Gabe had flopped back on the threadbare plaid sofa with a book and the dog, though he kept a wary eye on Mitch. More books cluttered the floor and the coffee table where Mitch had rested the TV. Michael crouched in front of his cardboard fortress, talking nonstop to a half-dozen army figures. Rafe stretched on his stomach in front of a coloring book and at least a hundred crayons—along with the portable phone. And Seri fussed with her dollhouse boxes, arranging them like an estate near Michael’s fortress.

      “All this stuff makes walking...difficult. As I’ve just so cleverly demonstrated.” Ellie managed an embarrassed smile. “I don’t want King doing what I just did.”

      She stood a little taller, the movement reflected in the mirror above the sofa. Mitch’s reflection caught her attention, too, and she couldn’t stop herself from meeting his gaze. He was watching her again with that same meltdown intensity. For a moment her heartbeat threatened to run away.

      “Neither do I,” he murmured.

      Neither did he what? Dam! Now he had her forgetting what they were talking about. Ellie gave herself a swift mental kick. This was the man who’d assumed she was his father’s mistress, for heaven’s sake. The woman staring back from the mirror hardly qualified for that kind of job. Clothes hanging too loose, eyes sporting dark circles—and her children, her wonderful children, added up to four.

      No man took a mistress with four children—Mitch should know that. Her husband hadn’t even wanted a wife with four children.

      She made a point not to look at Mitch again as she headed toward the door. “Okay, guys, let’s bring the rest of your stuff out here.”

      “Since he thinks we’re too weak, why don’t you have him help?” Gabe’s defiant voice rose from behind his book.

      “Gabriel Sander, that’s no way to—”

      “I...uh...have a few things to tell you first.”

      Mitch’s announcement stirred Ellie’s concerns. “Is King okay? They’re keeping him in the hospital longer, aren’t they? I didn’t think he should come home after only four days.” Please let that be all Mitch had to tell them. She didn’t know how she would deal with anything more.

      “He’s doing as well as can be expected—for a man who’s used to his freedom.” A shade of bitterness darkened Mitch’s tone.

      How could he talk about his father like that? “For a son who hasn’t been around in years, you seem to know an awful lot about your father.”

      For once, Mitch avoided looking at her. “The doctor said he can come home tomorrow. But there’ll have to be more changes around here.”

      “Like what?” she demanded.

      “To start with, he’ll need a hospital bed, one that raises and lowers. And a mattress that’ll hold more than a fifty-pound kid. Also, a trapeze bar.” Mitch ticked the items off slowly. He looked downright uncomfortable.

      Michael jumped up from the floor. “King’s gonna have a trapeze? I want to swing on King’s trapeze, can I, Mom? Please, can—”

      “I bet King will let you.” Mitch ruffled Michael’s hair.

      Ellie eased her son out of Mitch’s reach, squeezing his shoulders possessively before she nudged him back to his toys.

      “It’s not a circus trapeze, Michael. It’s for...”

      “Exercise,” Mitch offered.

      “Right.” Ellie braced herself, not trusting where Mitch was headed with this information. “I’m sure we can find something in the store to rig one up.” Even if she couldn’t imagine a man wearing a cast and exercising on a trapeze. “We can double up the mattresses and put Michael and Rafe in King’s room.”

      “The kids won’t have to sleep together.” Mitch hesitated. “I rented a bed.”

      “You rented—?”

      “It’ll be delivered this afternoon. We just have to make room for it.”

      A bed. To help her and the kids care for King by themselves. Mitch was arranging things so he could go back to Colorado. Suddenly all the wind went out of her defensiveness.

      “A СКАЧАТЬ