One Kiss in... Miami: Nothing Short of Perfect / Reunited...With Child / Her Innocence, His Conquest. Katherine Garbera

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       Seven

      Daisy supposed she shouldn’t be surprised that she couldn’t sleep. It had been a long day, full of emotion. She’d seen Justice again after what felt like an endless separation. And Justice had finally met his daughter. That first tentative moment the two shared still brought tears to her eyes whenever she thought about it. It was far too early to determine whether she and Justice could live together on a permanent basis, though considering his third condition she hoped they stood a chance. But, she didn’t have a single doubt he’d do everything within his power to be a father to Noelle. The bond she’d witnessed forming had been as immediate as it had been enduring.

      She squirmed beneath the covers in an attempt to get more comfortable, but the glint of eyes from the corner of the nearly barren room snagged her attention. Kit was on the prowl. The cat slunk over to the bed and rumbled out a purr before leaping onto the mattress and giving Daisy a gentle head butt.

      She scratched the cat behind the ears and was rewarded with another thunderous purr. “So, what do you think of the new digs?” she whispered.

      Not that she’d disturb anyone, even speaking in a normal voice. Justice had built a sturdy, solid house, and she couldn’t help wonder if the impressive size stemmed from a subconscious imperative to fill it with a large family. Regardless, the walls and oak doors were heavy and thick enough that she could belt out Lady Gaga and they’d never hear her. Plus, Jett and Noelle had elected to “camp out” together in one of the massive bedrooms on the opposite side of the house, a room that overlooked a large pond, currently iced over and glittering with fresh fallen snow.

      Instead of settling down at the end of the bed in her customary position, Kit’s ears pricked up and her head swiveled toward the door. Tension swept through her sleek body and she went into predator mode. Slipping off the mattress, she made a beeline from the room.

      Curious, Daisy gathered up the ankle-length cotton nightgown she wore, the warmest of her options, and followed the cat. The chill of oak flooring beneath her feet caused her to shiver. She reached the main level in time to catch a glimpse of Kit darting into forbidden territory.

      Uh-oh. Did Justice’s first condition—to keep everyone out of the basement—include the cat?

      She hesitated at the top of the stairs leading to Justice’s bat cave, debating whether or not to sneak down after Kit. She doubted the cat would come to any harm. Still … Who knew what Justice kept down there? There could be automated vacuums that might suck up a poor, defenseless cat. Electrified fences. Even killer robots.

      Admit it, she silently scolded herself. Just admit that she couldn’t sleep and wanted to talk to Justice to see if they had any chance at creating a lasting relationship. That she half hoped he would insist on giving her an intimate and thorough demonstration of Condition Three. Or she could confess she was dying of curiosity to take a peek at the forbidden. Concede the fact that she just couldn’t resist stepping over whatever lines he drew in the figurative sand and never had been able to.

      She surrendered to the inevitable, knowing full well she wouldn’t sleep until she’d put a toe over that darned line of his.

      Daisy reached the bottom step, that no-man’s land between her territory and his, and stood there. Though she suspected the lower level occupied the same space as the floor above it, the setup was vastly different. Much more high-tech. The overhead lights were off, while low wattage lighting along the floor reflected off blindingly white walls and a crisp, almost sterile corridor. Leaning forward from the safety of the bottom step, she peered down a dimly lit hall to her right. Doorways sealed tightly shut led to mysterious rooms that she itched to explore.

      “Now how did I know you’d break Condition One before the day was even over?”

      Daisy jumped and her head jerked to the left. She wobbled on the step, catching her balance at the last possible second. “I haven’t broken your condition.” She offered an abashed grin. “Not yet.”

      He’d approached so silently she hadn’t heard him. The subdued lighting of his underworld lair cast interesting shadows across his face, giving him a forbidding appearance. Okay, a more forbidding appearance. And yet for all that she found him appealing in the extreme. But then, she always had. She’d never understood it, never been able to adequately explain it. She just knew from the moment she first set eyes on the man he’d been the only one who did it for her on every possible level.

      When Justice had left to go to college—or not to college, as she now knew—it had taken her years to get over what she’d assumed was an infatuation, that indelible mark left by her first love and lover. There had been other men in her life since, a select few. But СКАЧАТЬ