Fatherhood Fever!. Emma Darcy

riveted gaze did manage to register the pretty, rather gamine appeal of a delicately pointed chin and widely spaced cornflower blue eyes, separated by a finely flared nose and a lush mouth, but the hair totally transfixed him. Like a beacon it was, in blazing technicolour.

      He’d never seen such vivid hair in his life. The gleaming copper cap was interrupted by two swathes of iridescent orange and gold, falling in precise bands around her head from a side parting. They glowed like two halos framing her face, set off by the copper bangs following the curve of her cheeks and the copper crown behind them.

      The effect stimulated all sorts of wild ideas. This woman was not just sexy. She was dynamite—flaunting her daring, dabbling with danger, defying conventional standards, dumping any care of how others saw her, determined on dancing to her own tune, wherever it led her. She threw out a challenge that stirred more than Matt’s hormones. It fired his blood and sizzled every sensible thought out of his brain.

      He wanted...

      “Okay to leave the bike here while I book in at reception?”

      Her voice cut into the gathering maelstrom of desire, jolting him back to the real world. The bright blue eyes were regarding him derisively and Matt had the uncomfortable impression she knew precisely the nature of her impact on him and was darkly amused by it. Unaccustomed to being caught staring at anyone, he blathered his reply.

      “Sure. It’s safely out of the way of other incoming vehicles.”

      His voice sounded as though it was scraped out of a gravel pit. Very uncool.

      Her mouth curled into a mocking smile. “Cheating, I see.”

      “What?” His mind had lost a gear somewhere.

      “No smoking at this health farm,” she tossed at him before turning to unstrap a bag from the bike.

      He looked down at the offending cigarette, still alight between his fingers. He barely stopped the impulse to throw it away. Littering the ground with a burning butt would really be reprehensible. “I’m not hurting anyone, smoking outside,” he excused.

      “Guys always justify their cheating.”

      “And women don’t?” he retorted, niggled by her cynical comment.

      “I can’t see any women out here polluting the pure crystalline air we’re paying to breathe.” She hefted the released bag onto her back and swung to eye him up and down consideringly. “But maybe you’re staff, not paying at all. Aerobics instructor? Masseur?”

      “Guest,” he answered shortly, finding himself standing straighter under the boldly open appraisal of his length and breadth and the amount of muscle outlined by his tracksuit.

      “For a macho man like you,” she drawled, “this health farm must be a happy hunting ground. A bunch of women on the loose, needing to be fixed up.”

      Matt could not find his tongue. She stood like a provocative witch, her head tilted to one side, hair flaming around it, one hand holding the strap of her bag over her shoulder, the other planted on a seductively jutting hip, legs apart in a challenging stance, her black-leathered body taunting him with its sexy self-confidence.

      “I bet you’re just awesome when you strip,” she went on, her eyes sparking with cold blue lights. “What any woman would call a gorgeous hunk. Do you work out with weights in the gym?”

      It was a payback for the way he’d stared at her, pure and simple. When her gaze dropped pointedly to his crotch, Matt found his tongue very promptly. “I’m here with my mother.”

      It was a dumb thing to say, but at least it broke the focus of her attention on a highly volatile physical area. She looked up in startled bemusement. “A Mummy’s boy?” Laughter bubbled out of her throat.

      It fizzed through Matt’s brain, exploding whatever common sense he had. “As maddening as my mother might be, I happen to care about her,” he bit out, his jaw clenching over how foolish she made him feel.

      “Well, good for you.”

      The sudden burst of warmth from her confused him further.

      Sheer impishness shone from her broad grin and she had the temerity to wink confidentially at him. “I hope you’ve got the stamina to keep on caring.”

      Then she was off, striding past him up the path to reception. Like an irresistible magnet she pulled his gaze after her. The brilliant copper cap bounced. Her jaunty walk kept changing the gleam on her leatherclad bottom, highlighting its cute cheekiness. Her legs seemed to spring with exciting vitality.

      He yelped and dropped the cigarette. Damned thing had burnt his fingers. He bent to scoop up the smouldering butt and when he straightened, the glass doors to reception had swallowed up the tantalising torment that had invaded his space, turning him every which way.

      He wondered what she’d be like in bed. He figured the sheets would be smoking with the heat she’d generate. He sure as hell wouldn’t be thinking of having a cigarette. Or needing one.

      With a self-derisive little laugh, he strolled on into the garden and buried the evidence of his cheating, vowing once again to stop the habit. He dragged in several deep breaths of the pure, crystalline air of the southern tablelands. The health farm was only two hours from Sydney, but it could have been a world away. He should be appreciating the total lack of pollution here.

      A macho man like you... Was she impressed? Attracted to him? He hadn’t been looking for a fling with any of the women guests, hadn’t felt drawn to any of them, either, but this recent arrival certainly had him ticking over. He wondered how long she’d be staying and if he could keep his mother’s eagle eye from noticing a change in his chemistry.

      He glanced at the flamboyant, red Ducati. That was her baby. No way was the hell’s angel who rode it ready for motherhood. He should give her a miss. She was bound to be trouble. If he got involved with her, his mother would look dolefully at him and complain, “You’re just not trying, Matt.”

      If he wanted fatherhood, and he did—he really did—picking up with the wrong woman was stupidly self-defeating. On the other hand, a spin around the block on a Ducati wouldn’t be wasting a lot of time. It might be time well spent. Excitingly spent.

      A man only lived once.

      There was no age limit on fatherhood.

      It wasn’t good for his mother to think a grandchild would answer everything.

      Besides, he was not—definitely not—a Mummy’s boy!

      CHAPTER TWO

      LENTILBURGERS!

      Not to mention more rabbit food!

      Matt’s stomach growled a protest as he surveyed the lunch menu. What he’d give for a big juicy steak and a plate of French fries! His mouth salivated at the thought.

      “Hungry, dear?” his mother said brightly. The Reiki massage had somehow perked up her energy level.

      He forced a smile. “Starving.” He piled four slices of freshly baked wholemeal bread onto his plate. At least that was filling.

      “They do make such tasty salads here,” his mother rattled on, helping herself to an avocado mix and lots of other greens as she moved along the buffet table.

      It was good for her, Matt told himself. She’d piled on weight from comfort eating and needed to get herself back on a decent diet. If she left here with more of an interest in healthy food, at least he had achieved something. But it was no consolation to his stomach. He forked some tomato and onion onto his plate, added as many slices of boiled egg as he thought he could get away with, found some beetroot, and followed his mother to the table they’d been occupying, her at the foot of it, him next to her.

      “Oh! Just look at that girl!”

      The words were hissed at him as he sat down.

      He