Enough was enough.
Planting her hands on her hips, the woman cocked her head to study him more closely. Something about that gesture looked vaguely familiar to him, but before he could pin it down, she spoke again. “Do you mind if I come in for a few minutes? I didn’t expect it to be so chilly here, and to be honest, I’m sort of cold.”
Her three-quarter-sleeve shirt and jeans would probably have been plenty warm enough back in Dallas in early October, but on a rainy day at this altitude, a light jacket would have been appropriate. Still… “You don’t need to come in. Go back to Texas where it’s warm, and give Shane and Molly my regrets. It’s that simple.”
Lightning lit the purple sky behind her, flashing behind the distant mountains and making her damp hair seem to come alive for just a moment. And then the sky dimmed, leaving her in shadows again. “All I want is five minutes of your time. Surely you can spare that much, Mr. Reeves.”
If he were really as hard-hearted as he was trying to be, he wouldn’t be in the least affected by the slight tremor in her voice. He didn’t know whether it was caused by cold or nerves, but it got to him. He wavered a few moments more, then mentally cursed himself for being a fool and stepped out of the doorway.
“You’ve got five minutes. Say your piece, but you might as well know I won’t be changing my mind. At the end of your spiel, I’ll expect you to leave and make sure that no one else bothers me about this.”
“Thank you.”
He noticed her taking in every detail of his living room, which was neat, if a bit dusty, and equipped with only the most basic of furniture, other than his treasured big-screen TV. A big fireplace dominated one wall,
but he hadn’t started any fires yet this season, so it was dark and empty behind the functional black screen.
The place probably looked stark and primitive to this hothouse flower. Good. Maybe she wouldn’t be tempted to stay beyond her allotted time.
Though he didn’t invite her to sit, she settled onto the battered, secondhand, brown leather couch, anyway. Much too conscious of her gaze on him, he made an effort to control his limp as he moved to the nearest of two brown-and-tan plaid recliners and sank into it.
“Let me save you a little time. You want to extend an invitation for me to attend a surprise anniversary party for Jared and Cassie Walker next week. All their former foster boys are invited. Shane and Molly are putting the whole thing together and little Molly will be very disappointed if I don’t make an appearance. Has that pretty well summed up what you were planning to say?”
She laid one arm across the back of the couch, looking as comfortable as if she were a regular visitor to his home. “You’ve stated it pretty well.”
“I’ve heard the pitch a couple of times before.”
“I know.”
“Molly and Shane are persistent, I’ll give them that. I’ve never been so aggressively ’invited’ to a party before.” “You were special to the family, and they’ve missed you. It would mean a great deal to them for you to be there.”
“The Walkers have had a whole string of foster boys at the ranch. They won’t miss one at their reunion.”
“Everyone will have a good time even if you don’t come,” she conceded. “But it will be even better if you’re there.”
“I’m sorry, that isn’t possible.”
She studied his face a moment, then sighed lightly. “Then you’re right. We should leave you alone.” Finally. He nodded curtly. “I appreciate it.”
“Is there a message you would like to send to the family—other than to leave you alone?”
He found himself looking at her mouth. If she was particularly chagrined that she hadn’t coaxed a commitment out of him, she wasn’t letting it show. Her luscious lips curved into a slight smile as she gazed at him through those thick, dark lashes. A jolt of awareness shot through him, reminding him of the first moment when he had seen her and had been body-slammed by unexpected attraction.
He mentally shook his head and tried to concentrate on something other than how much time had passed since he’d been with a woman. “A message? I guess you can tell them happy anniversary for me. And you can tell Molly I’m sorry she went to so much trouble on my behalf.”
One slender eyebrow arched in question. Her smile widened. “Why don’t you tell her yourself?”
“I don’t—” He eyed her expression. “Oh hell. Surely you’re not—”
“You never asked my name,” she reminded him. “Have I really changed so much?”
He felt himself sink more deeply into his chair. An uncharacteristic warmth flowed up his neck and onto his face. Kyle wasn’t often embarrassed—and he was even more rarely taken completely by surprise—but she had just accomplished both. “You’re Molly?”
She ran her fingers through her curtain of hair, never taking her gaze off him. “I believe you called me ’little Molly’ earlier. Did you think time had stopped since you left the ranch almost a dozen years ago, Kyle?”
“How old are you?”
She seemed more amused than offended by the ques tion. “I’ll be twenty-four in a few weeks.”