That Mccloud Woman. Peggy Moreland

      Eve couldn’t have waved that apple under Adam’s nose with a greater effect.

      Jack felt the desire mounting and rolled to his back and away from the tempting sight, his eyes wide, his breath coming fast and hard. He fisted his hands in the tangle of bed linens, forced his gaze to remain on the ceiling and made himself draw in three deep breaths.

      Kids, he reminded himself. The woman had kids. And Jack Cordell wanted no part of them. The woman or her brood.

      

      Alayna stuck her head out the kitchen door and offered Jack a sunny smile. “Good morning! You’re up early.”

      Seeing that she still wore the same blue robe he’d seen her in earlier, Jack frowned and glanced away, setting his toolbox on the flagstone patio. “Didn’t see any sense in wasting time getting started.”

      “Have you had breakfast?” She laughed before he could answer, flapping a dismissing hand at him. “Of course you haven’t,” she said, shaking her head at the foolishness of her question. “You wouldn’t have had a chance to stock the cabin with food, yet.” She waved her hand again, this time gesturing for him to come inside. “I was just whipping up a batch of pancakes. There’s plenty for two.”

      Without waiting for an answer, she slipped back into the kitchen, letting the door close softly behind her.

      Jack stared through the mesh screen at the shadowed form moving beyond it, his empty stomach warring with good sense, his mind worrying with the fear of facing those kids again. In the end, his stomach won out.

      His feet heavy with dread, he opened the door and stepped inside. The smell of coffee greeted him first, followed quickly by the scent of bacon frying. Then his gaze rested on Alayna, standing before the stove, looking much the same as she had earlier that morning when he’d seen her on the patio—her feet still bare, her hair still tousled from sleep.

      He glanced around uneasily. “Where are the kids?”

      “Oh, they’ve already left for school.” She glanced over her shoulder, but missed the relaxing of his shoulders, though she must have seen the question in his eyes. “My cousin’s son drove them,” she explained, then turned back to the griddle with a sigh. “Yesterday wasn’t the first time we’ve had a problem on the bus...and I’m sure it won’t be the last. Molly says that Mr. Evert, the bus driver, picks on Billy.”

      Jack grunted his doubt and won a slight frown from Alayna.

      “I know that what Billy did was wrong,” she said as she turned back to the stove. “But he’s just a little boy and he’s having a difficult time adjusting to all the changes in his life. Mr. Evert’s an adult. Surely he could be a little more understanding, a little more compassionate.”

      “The boy needs to learn to control his mouth and show respect for his elders.”

      Alayna sighed again, and poured batter on the griddle. “Yes. You’re right, of course. Still...” She gave her head a shake, then turned slightly, offering Jack a grateful smile. “I appreciated your help yesterday. Having a male influence around will be a help to Billy, I’m sure.”

      Jack intended to set her straight real quick about his willingness to get involved in the kids’ lives, but her movement caused her robe to gape a bit, revealing the swell of a breast, the shadowed cleavage that lay between. The sight burned away all rational thought. He ripped off his cap and gripped it by its bill, needing to fill his hands with something other than tempting flesh. “Is there something I can do to help?” he asked, forcing his gaze away from her and to the clock on the wall.

      “You can set the table, if you like. The plates are in the cupboard—” she gave her head a nod in that direction “—and the silver is in the first drawer to the left.”

      Jack tossed his cap to the counter, crossed to the sink and began to wash his hands.

      “You know,” she said thoughtfully as she turned thick strips of bacon in an iron skillet, “it’s really foolish for you to even consider stocking up on a lot of groceries. Cooking for one is difficult, I know, and awfully lonely.” She tossed a sympathetic smile in Jack’s direction. “Why don’t you just plan to eat your meals here with us?”

      Jack’s fingers slipped on the bar of soap and it shot out of his hands, smacking against the side of the chipped porcelain sink with a loud thunk. He swallowed hard, trying to think up an excuse to decline. “I wouldn’t want to put you to the trouble,” he mumbled and stuck his hands beneath the water, wishing he could stick his head beneath the cool spray, as well.

      “Oh, no bother.” She graced him with yet another smile.

      Without answering, Jack tore off a strip of paper towels and dried his hands, already regretting accepting her invitation for breakfast and wondering how he was going to wiggle his way out of sharing meals with her and her brood. He reached for the plates, then opened the drawer she’d indicated and stacked the necessary utensils on top. Crossing to the table, he arranged place settings on opposite sides of the table.

      “There’s coffee already made, or, if you’d prefer, there’s orange juice in the refrigerator.”

      Hoping the caffeine would clear his head a little and settle his nerves, Jack mumbled, “Coffee’s fine,” and headed for the coffeemaker on the counter. By the time he’d poured himself a cup, Alayna was setting a platter of bacon and stacks of golden pancakes in the center of the table. She took a seat, gesturing for him to join her.

      “Have you decided where you’d like to start work today?” she asked as she served first his plate, then hers.

      Jack pulled a napkin across his lap, but kept his gaze fixed on his plate. He wasn’t sure he trusted that robe of hers to stay in place, not with the way she was flapping those arms of hers around, and he didn’t think he could handle another glimpse of those creamy breasts. He had to get out of this place, he told himself, and the sooner the better. “You never said what all you wanted done.”

      Alayna poured syrup over her pancakes. “Frank took care of the major repairs before he left, but there are still quite a few things that need attention. There are two baths upstairs. The shower leaks like a sieve in one of them, though both could stand some remodeling. And there are a few changes I’d like made in the bedrooms.” She waved her fork vaguely. “Enlarging closets. Adding shelving. Painting. That kind of thing.” She parted her lips and slipped a forkful of pancakes between them. She smiled at Jack as she chewed. “But I think what I’d like to do first is tackle the wall in the breakfast nook. You really aroused my curiosity with your comments about the wood hidden beneath the wallpaper.”

      The emphasis she placed on the word “aroused” had Jack snapping his gaze to hers. He immediately regretted the action. Her face was flushed with excitement, her blue eyes bright with expectancy. The craziest notion bubbled up out of nowhere...he wanted to lean across the table and cover her mouth with his, and show her what it meant to be really aroused.

      Slowly he dragged his napkin from his lap and wiped it across his mouth, then across the perspiration beading his forehead before wadding it in a ball against his thigh. “Then that’s where I’ll start,” he said, picking up his fork.

      “What will we need to do?”

      Jack jerked his head up again. “We?” he repeated, his face going slack. “You’re planning on helping me?”

      She laid down her fork, her shoulders drooping right along with her expression. “Well, yes,” she said uncertainly. “But I won’t get in your way,” she added quickly, “if that’s what you’re worried about. I just thought the work would go that much faster if I helped.”

      Jack set aside his own fork, his appetite suddenly gone. The idea of working alongside Alayna and the forced intimacy involved had created another, more dangerous hunger.

      

      Paper hung in tattered strips, already revealing sections of tongue-and-groove