Reid's Runaway Bride. Tracy Madison

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СКАЧАТЬ up in the morning and find you here and me gone. Without any warning or explanation.” Reid snapped his fingers. “Just gone.”

      She stifled a gasp as Reid’s full inference hit home. He wasn’t only speaking of Erin and Megan’s feelings, but a reflection of his own from when he read her goodbye letter. Traversing that pothole-ridden road now wouldn’t solve anything, though. Not when their emotions, their shock at seeing one another again, remained so high.

      Better, easier, to focus on the issue of who would stay to watch the girls and who would leave. And, at the end of the day, only one person had the authority to send Daisy packing. That person, no matter how much he might wish it to be so, was not Reid.

      Lifting her chin, she said, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying for the duration, however long that might last. Unless Parker says different.”

      “Is that so?”

      “That’s so.” She raised her chin another notch. “You’ll have to find a way to deal with my being here, because that is not changing. I’m taking over the girls’ care from here on out.”

      “Oh, I can deal. But, sweetheart—” Jinx’s antics finally proved too much. Bending at the waist, Reid disengaged the dog from his jeans, swept her into his arms and muttered, “Behave.” To Daisy, he said, “You are not taking over and I am most certainly not leaving.”

      “We both can’t stay. That would mean…”

      “That’s right. As of now, we’re living together.” Reid’s long legs ate up the space between them in mere seconds. Passing Jinx from his arms into hers, he said, “This will be cozy, don’t you think? Why, we’ll almost be like one big, happy family.”

      Oh, hell, no. “You’re crazy. That won’t work.”

      “Trust me, I’m not overly fond of the idea, but there isn’t another viable option.”

      “You leave. I stay. There, problem solved.”

      “Sure. If you can answer three questions about Erin and Megan, I’ll pack up and leave tonight. We’ll even start with a simple one,” he said. “What are their favorite colors?”

      Ten…twenty…thirty seconds ticked by. Pink? Probably for one of them, if not both. Purple, maybe. But she didn’t want to guess. She wanted to know.

      Swallowing, she gave a short nod of concession. “Point made. But I don’t see how this… We can’t just…” Daisy searched for another solution. Just one. And came up lacking. “Supposing I agree, how long will this living-together thing last?”

      “No clue. Later, once the three of you are better acquainted, we can reassess. For now, as much as I hate to admit it—” he looked upward, as if praying for divine intervention “—we’re in this together. Lock, stock and barrel.”

      Damn it. Damn him. He was right.

      Here she was, almost eight years later, being pulled along by the force of Reid Foster. She had no defense against his bulletproof logic. Nothing she could do or say to get out of this ridiculous situation. Other than turn around and get back in her car and return home.

      And she couldn’t—wouldn’t—do that. “Fine,” she said stiffly. “We can discuss the details tomorrow. I’m exhausted. Is there a guest room I can use?”

      Her agreement eased the lines of tension creasing Reid’s forehead. Stroking his jaw as if in thought, he said, “Good question. There are only two bedrooms. The girls share one, and the other is Parker’s. I’ve been bunking there. And I’d be happy to sleep on the sofa, but…”

      “But…?”

      “The girls sometimes drift in at night if they’ve had a bad dream, or if they wake in the morning before I do. If you’re there instead of me, they won’t know what to think.”

      His words were reasonable, as was typical. But something about the way he spoke sent a trickle of awareness down the nape of Daisy’s neck. It might have been the deepening of his tone or the slowing of his cadence or even the close proximity of his body to hers, but all at once, the air around them became charged. Not with shock or anger or unsaid questions. With…heat.

      “I’m happy to take the sofa,” she said quickly, before he could start the game she was sure he was set on embarking. “That isn’t a problem.”

      “Yup, that’s a possibility.” With another wink, this one far more devilish than sardonic, he stepped closer. “Or…we could bunk together. Just to sleep, you understand.”

      Oh, she understood. She wondered, briefly, what his reaction would be if she called him on his…offer. Hmm. Maybe she should. If he wanted to play with fire, why not hand him the match? “You know, that’s a great option. As long as you’re certain it won’t be too awkward.”

      “What’s awkward about sleeping?” he asked in apparent innocence. “That is, if we’re still talking about only sleeping?”

      “We are.” Narrowing the space between them by another inch, so they were only separated by the dog she held, and were close enough to—potentially, of course—kiss, she said, “The thing is, I’ve recently developed this small…idiosyncrasy, I’d guess you’d call it, and I’d hate for you to get the wrong impression.”

      Interest, amusement and, unless she missed her guess, desire flickered over him in varying degrees of intensity. “Keep talking,” he said. “I can’t wait to hear this.”

      “It’s just that I find clothing so…restrictive.” Fluttering her lashes, Daisy dropped her voice to a near whisper and looked him straight in those sexy-as-hell eyes of his. “I can’t seem to sleep if I have anything at all covering me. So as long as you’re okay with—”

      Reid blinked once. Twice. “You sleep in the…?”

      “Every single night.” He seemed unable to talk, so being the kind and sensitive soul she was, she helped him out. “I think the sofa will be perfect. Don’t you?”

      “Right. The sofa.”

      “Though I could use a pillow and a few blankets.”

      “Right,” Reid repeated. “I…ah…can get those for you.”

      “Thank you,” she said in her best sweet-as-pie voice. “I would appreciate that.”

      He stayed put and continued to appraise her, his eyes slowly narrowing in contemplation. “Nice one, Daisy,” he said after an abbreviated pause. “You almost had me.”

      Without uttering another syllable, Reid strode from the room. Daisy waited a full minute before collapsing on the sofa, before allowing the trembles to ripple along her skin and overtake her body. Her throat tightened and her stomach swam. How would she survive this?

      She’d won this round due purely to surprise. That wouldn’t happen again. If there were a next time, Reid would be fully prepared to call her on her bluff.

      “I’m in trouble, Jinx,” she whispered. Her dog’s ears perked at the sound of her name and she butted her nose against Daisy’s hand, begging for attention. Complying, Daisy СКАЧАТЬ