Ultimate Romance Collection. Rebecca Winters

      When she was honest with herself, she could admit that he did things to her, as well. But she would never admit it to him. He was just like all the other men she’d known, which is why she’d sworn off relationships. All men wanted of a woman was a roll between the sheets. She wanted more from life; she had a career to build. Men and sex only got in the way of her goals.

      She glanced over at him. “You were an only child, right?”

      “Yes, as far as I know.”

      When she looked at him in surprise he added, “My mother deserted us when I was eight and never came back. For all I know, she could have married and had more kids by now.”

      Layla nodded. “She and your dad got a divorce?”

      “No, but she might have changed her name and started over. Who knows?”

      Layla didn’t say anything for a moment. “You’ve never tried to find her?”

      “No.”

      “Not even when your father was killed in the war?”

      His jaw tightened. “Especially not then. If she didn’t return to see him while he was living, I sure as hell didn’t plan to give her the opportunity to see him dead,” he said in a biting tone. “Dad always believed she would come back to us. Even said he understood her need to get away. After all, he’d talked her into coming to Cornerstone.”

      “Where was she from?”

      “New York. Manhattan. They met while he was on military business at the United Nations. They’d only known each other a week when they married. They met one night at a restaurant, a month after her only family, an aunt, died.”

      “So when they met, she had no living family?”

      “No.”

      He didn’t say anything else for a long moment, and then he added, “According to Dad she lasted out here longer than he expected her to. She tried being a good wife, and I remember her being a good mom. Dad placed a lot of blame on himself since he had to carry out a lot of missions, leaving her here with Gramma Mel and Grampa Gavin. And when I came along a year later, he thought she’d adjusted.”

      “But she hadn’t?”

      “Evidently not. One day she up and left. She told my grandparents she needed to get away for a while and asked them to watch me. She said she’d be back before Dad returned from his overseas tour. Then she got in her car— the one Dad bought for her—and drove off.”

      “And she never came back?”

      He shook his head. “No, she never came back. Months later, when Dad returned home and found her gone, he was heartbroken. She left him a note saying she would come back. But she never did.”

      “And after all this time, you’ve never tried finding her?”

      “No. She decided she didn’t want me or Dad in her life.”

      * * *

      Gavin inwardly admitted that more than once he had thought about locating his mother, if for no other reason than to ask her why she never came back. One of his former SEAL teammates, Nick Stover, worked for Homeland Security. All Gavin had to do was give Nick her name and there was no doubt in his mind that Nick would tell Gavin her whereabouts. A part of him knew the main reason he hadn’t done so was his fear of what he would find out. What if his mother had never wanted him or loved his dad? At times it was easier to do what his father had done and believe the best...even if it was a fairy tale.

      He drew in a deep breath. Why had he shared any of that with Layla when he’d never shared it with a woman before? For some reason, when she’d asked if he was an only child, the floodgates had opened. Emotions he usually kept locked inside had come pouring out.

      “Any other family besides Ms. Melody? What about aunts, uncles or cousins?”

      He figured she was asking for conversational purposes only, so he obliged her. “My grandmother has a younger sister living in Saint Louis. Her only grandson, Benjamin, and I are close. We’re more like brothers than cousins. He spent a lot of his summers here. Ben’s a year older and in the Marines. Right now he’s stationed in Afghanistan, and we’re hoping he’ll be home for the holidays.”

      He glanced over at her. “What about you? Any cousins?”

      She shook her head. “No. My grandparents didn’t have any siblings and they had one child. I never knew my mother’s parents. They died in a boating accident when she was in her teens.”

      He said nothing as he drove. They were ten minutes from his home and although there had been sexual chemistry between them as usual, they’d managed to keep it under control. That was a surprise since his plans for this evening had originally been to end up in some woman’s bed. A part of him couldn’t believe he’d given up the chance for sex just to spend time in Layla’s company. And he had to grudgingly admit that although she’d tried to ignore him for most of the evening, he had enjoyed being with her.

      Moments later, he pulled into the yard in front of the ranch house. His grandmother would be leaving tomorrow and he would have the house all to himself. Bringing the car to a stop, he cut the ignition and turned to Layla. “I’ll see you inside.”

      “That’s not necessary,” she said, already opening her door to get out. “Thanks for driving me into town and joining me at the movies.”

      Although she’d said he didn’t have to see her in, he walked beside her anyway. “You’re welcome, although I know you really didn’t prefer my company.”

      When she didn’t deny what he’d said, he chuckled. “No wonder you don’t have a boyfriend.”

      She glanced over at him. “What makes you think I don’t have a boyfriend?”

      “I asked Gramma Mel if any man had visited you here and she said no.”

      Layla frowned. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

      He chuckled again. “Yes, it does. If you had a boyfriend he would have come here, if for nothing else but to check on you. To see how you were doing. To feel out the competition. To stake his claim.”

      Even in the moonlight, he saw her roll her eyes. “Not all men are territorial, Gavin.”

      “Any man connected to you would be.”

      They had made it to the porch. When he offered her hand to assist her up the steps, she said, “No need.” And then she walked up to the door without his help. He knew why. All it would have taken was one touch and they would have lit up like the Fourth of July and they both knew it.

      “Thanks for seeing me home. At least my temporary home.”

      “No problem. What time does the equipment arrive tomorrow?”

      “Sometime before noon. Thanks again for allowing me to store the equipment in that old barn.”

      He nodded. “When will your team get here?”

      “Some will start arriving the day after tomorrow and will be staying at a hotel in town. We’re hoping to finish the dig in a couple of weeks and then we’ll be on our way.”

      A couple of weeks. He had every intention of making love to her before she left. In the meantime, he planned to stick to his resolve about not kissing her until she was ready to give in to their desire—even if it killed him.

      “Good night, Layla.”

      When she just stared at him, he smiled. Evidently she’d expected him to kiss her good-night. “I’ll stand here until you go inside.”

      She nodded. “Good night.” And then she quickly opened the door and went in.

      He didn’t move until he heard the lock click in place. Then he tilted his Stetson back from his face as he moved down the steps. Not kissing her had