Single Father Seeks.... Amy Fetzer J.

around her tray and stuffing as much as she could in her mouth, and Ciara was at the stove. For a second he just stared.

      No one on this planet had a right to look that sexy in an apron.

      And she’d changed into a tank top and cutoffs that had seen way better days, and were short as hell. They showed off every curve and for a moment, he let his gaze roam over her from head to bare toes. She moved efficiently, sautéing vegetables, checking something in the oven, then punching the timer on the microwave. Plus, glancing over at his daughter while she worked. It was as if she didn’t know he was in the room now. And here he was, like a stag scenting a doe. The fact made him see how long it had been since he’d had a woman. A little over a year. He’d been married in name only, since he and Diana had wed when she was two months pregnant and they’d stopped sleeping together when her pregnancy became difficult, and that happened at the end of her first trimester.

      Good grief, it had been a long time.

      But then, he hadn’t been interested in a woman until now.

      And Ciara was the wrong one.

      Shaking his head over his wildly racing thoughts, he went to his daughter, squatting to her level. “Did you have a nice nap, princess?”

      Ciara glanced back over her shoulder smiling, trying to see only the father and not the man.

      Carolina spit bubbles and offered him a Cheerio. He nibbled.

      “How brave of you,” Ciara said, focusing on chopping vegetables and tossing them in a pan. “Accepting food from that grubby little hand.”

      He kissed his daughter and straightened. “I’d do anything for her.”

      “I know. You’re putting up with me for a nanny, aren’t you?”

      “I wouldn’t have said it like that.”

      “But you were thinking it.”

      “Actually I was thinking that…”

      She looked at him then, her brows drawn tight. “Go on, say it. We might as well be honest with each other from the start.”

      He wasn’t going to mention that she was hiding damn near everything about herself from him already, and that was hardly honest. Instead he said, “I was thinking that you should put on more clothes.”

      Her features tightened. “Don’t go there. Carolina and I were outside for a while and it’s hot.”

      “Regardless, those,” he gestured to the short shorts, “leave little to the imagination.”

      “Then force yourself to have less imagination, huh?” she said, pouring him a glass of tea, then placing it on the table before him.

      “Kind of hard when I look at you and see you up against the wall, panting and wearing nothing but a strand of pearls.”

      Ciara’s entire body clenched, her blood suddenly running very hot and fast.

      She glanced his way briefly, flushing a little, and Bryce liked seeing it.

      “That was a long time ago.” She returned her attention to the meal she was cooking.

      “You said yourself you were the same woman.”

      “I guess I lied.”

      “What else are you lying about?”

      Her gaze snapped to his. “What the hell does that mean?” Don’t get defensive, she warned herself. It will only add fuel to his suspicions.

      “You’re not being honest about your past.”

      She faced him and his gaze shifted to the knife in her hand. She put it down. “Want to open that door, Bryce? How about yours? Why did you leave the Secret Service?”

      Old resentment reared. “I was tired of it.”

      “Oh yeah, the travel, great hotels, short work hours. A real pleasure killer.”

      “After I met my wife, yes.” The half lie stuck in his throat like glue. He’d still be in the service right now if he hadn’t met Diana.

      Ciara felt unreasonably stung by that.

      “And taking a bullet for someone who for the most part didn’t know I was alive, didn’t seem worth it after that.” Not worth leaving his unborn baby without a father, he thought. “What about your family?”

      Good lord, he wasn’t getting the hint, was he? “I don’t have one, anymore.” In her line of work she’d had to cut all ties, yet for a second, the image of her brothers and her sister swept through her mind.

      Bryce noticed the flash of pain in her eyes, the tightening of her features.