Colton's Deep Cover. Эль Кеннеди

lady.”

      The boy snorted. “Right. The perfect giant lady, maybe. Piper is freakishly tall.”

      “Hello? I’m sitting right here, twerp,” Piper said, waving her hand in the air. “At least have the decency to insult me behind my back.”

      “But it’s more fun to do it to your face.”

      Chloe and Tate exchanged an amused look as the duo continued to bicker. Despite the insults being traded back and forth, it was clear that Piper and Sawyer adored each other.

      The Coltons were an unusual bunch, Chloe thought as she listened to the group chatter amongst themselves. Different ages, sizes, races, hair color, eye color. Charlotte and Donovan Colton had run a nonprofit organization for inner-city children, and Derek had laughingly told her that they liked to bring their work home with them—case in point, the six children they’d adopted.

      As she sipped the iced tea Emma brought her, the photographs displayed on the fireplace mantel caught her attention. Setting the drinking glass on the pine coffee table, Chloe stood and headed for the hearth, smiling as she focused on a photo featuring a happy, distinguished-looking couple.

      “That’s my mom and dad,” Sawyer said, coming up beside her. “I didn’t know them all that well. I was just a baby when they died.” His somber expression brightened as he pointed to the framed photo next to the first one. “And that’s me and Piper.”

      Chloe grinned. “Yeah, I can see that.”

      Sawyer then proceeded to point out each and every person in each and every picture, even the ones featuring only himself. Eventually, Chloe quit paying attention, until her gaze snagged on a photo of Derek with a pretty, raven-haired woman. The woman’s features hinted at both American and Asian descent, and she was utterly petite, the top of her head barely coming up to Derek’s shoulders. Both were beaming at the camera, but Chloe noticed that the smile didn’t quite reach the woman’s eyes. There was something so very sad about the woman in the picture.

      “That’s Aunt Tess,” Sawyer said in a low voice, leaning closer to Chloe as if he didn’t want anyone to overhear.

      “Aunt Tess?” she whispered.

      “Derek’s wife. She died.”

      Shock blasted through her, but Chloe did her best to hide her reaction. Derek didn’t wear a wedding ring—she’d definitely looked—but in the month she’d been working for him, he hadn’t once mentioned a deceased wife. Judging by Sawyer’s hushed tone, she got the feeling “Aunt Tess” wasn’t a common topic of conversation in the Colton household.

      “Finally,” Tate said dryly.

      Chloe turned around in time to see Derek stride into the room. Her heart did an involuntary somersault and she berated herself for the silly response.

      Still, it was so hard not to drool over the man. Without the white coat and scrub bottoms he wore at the clinic, he looked far more approachable. Much more … well, sexy. His khakis were loose but couldn’t hide the long, muscular legs beneath them, and his black sweater molded to his broad, rippled chest. Lord, the man definitely worked out—no way had he acquired that rock-hard physique by handling a stethoscope and taking someone’s blood pressure.

      She tore her eyes off his chest, moved them to his face and offered a timid smile. “Hey, Doct—Derek,” she quickly amended.

      His easy smile warmed her insides. “Hey, Amelia. Glad you could make it.”

      “I appreciate the invitation.”

      Their eyes locked from across the room, and Chloe could have sworn she heard the air crackle. Or maybe it was the sound of her heart hammering against her breasts. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so drawn to a man. Even her husband hadn’t intrigued her the way Derek Colton did.

      She gulped.

      You don’t have a husband. You’re Amelia Phillips.

      “Come on, little dudes, go to Julia.”

      Piper’s voice jolted Chloe from her thoughts. A dark-haired woman—Julia, Chloe assumed—scooped up the toddlers, propped one on each of her hips and headed for the door.

      “That’s our nanny,” Sawyer explained, tugging on Chloe’s hand.

      “She’s going to watch the little terrors while we eat,” Derek added. “Violet’s nanny also has a much-deserved night off.” He shook his head in amazement. “I don’t know how Violet does it. Those two never seem to run out of energy.”

      “I don’t know how Gunnar will do it,” Tate corrected with a laugh.

      “Dinner’s ready, guys!” Emma called, poking her head into the living room.

      As the group trudged toward the kitchen, Chloe felt a hand on her arm. She jumped in surprise, then relaxed when she realized it was Derek.

      “Always so jumpy,” he murmured.

      “You startled me.”

      “You’re easily startled, aren’t you, Amelia?”

      The contemplative note in his deep voice heightened her unease. She met his gaze and saw that his brown eyes were studying her, searching, probing, as if he were trying to bore right into her head.

      She managed a faint smile. “I need to stop being so skittish, huh? I think it’s the move—new town, new job, new friends. It always takes me a while to adjust to new situations.”

      After a beat, he nodded and gently squeezed her arm. “It’ll take some time, but I have a feeling you’ll fit right in. Come on, let’s have some dinner.”

      Family dinners topped Derek’s list of favorite events, probably because they’d been so important to the couple who’d adopted him when he was three years old.

      Charlotte and Donovan Colton had been the strongest, most loving people he’d ever met. They’d taken not just one child into their home, but six, and Derek and his siblings had grown up surrounded by so much love that his heart now boasted a big hole thanks to the loss of his parents.

      Derek had insisted on keeping the tradition of weekly family dinners that had meant so much to his parents. Surrounded by his brothers and sisters, he felt a sense of peace that had been lacking in his life the past couple of years. Ever since Tess’s accident, he’d been having a tough time finding his footing again.

      Professionally, he was as confident and composed as ever, but when he walked into his empty house at night, that cool and collected air he’d mastered dissolved, leaving him with a deep ache in his gut and a rush of loneliness. Despite everything they’d gone through, everything she’d put him through, he missed Tess. Or maybe he missed the woman she’d once been, the sweet girl he’d fallen in love with during college. Either way, he couldn’t deny the emptiness he felt, the sorrow that consumed him whenever he found himself alone with his thoughts.

      “So your family lives in Missouri, then?” Emma asked. Derek raised his head, realizing his mind had wandered.

      Emma’s question had been directed at Amelia, whose expression creased with pain.

      “My mother passed away about fifteen years ago,” Amelia admitted. “But yes, my father’s in Missouri.”

      Derek sensed there was more to the story, but the flicker of sorrow in Amelia’s big hazel eyes told him not to go there. His little brother, however, had yet to perfect the art of tact.

      “Your dad lives alone?” Sawyer asked between mouthfuls of his meat loaf. “He didn’t get married again after your mom died?”

      “Sawyer,” Tate chided. “Enough with the Twenty Questions.”

      “It’s okay,” Amelia said softly. “I don’t mind.” Her fork toyed with the mashed potatoes on her plate, but she seemed to have lost her appetite. “My