Kate Hoffmann - Paris or Bust!

“No,” Kit insisted. “I’m sure my father is on his way. Follow me. The pool house is through the kitchen.”

He grabbed the bag she’d brought along, then turned and started through the foyer, trying to ignore the reaction he felt when he first looked into her pretty hazel eyes. The sound of little footsteps followed him and he smiled to himself, glad that she hadn’t left. The opportunity to spend a little time with her was an unexpected treat.

A tiny sliver of guilt shot through him and he made a silent vow to be civil. There was something about her that seemed to bring out the worst in him. All his charm virtually disappeared when he got within five feet of Roxanne.

Usually, he was a pretty smooth guy around the ladies. Though work didn’t allow for much time to date, he’d had his share of relationships over the years. But he’d always limited his scope of interest to single, unencumbered women, women who could meet him for dinner at a moment’s notice, women who didn’t have children sleeping in the next room.

He wanted to believe he was protecting his father. But now that she was here and he could smell her perfume and look into her eyes, Kit was forced to admit that maybe he was the one who was at risk. He ignored the tiny sliver of guilt he felt. After all, she’d insisted she wasn’t interested in a romantic relationship with Carl. Who was he to argue?

“Four kids,” he muttered as the little monsters ran ahead of him toward the pool.

“Wait!” Roxanne shouted. “Don’t you go near that water without me.”

In a few short steps, Kit caught up with the smallest child and scooped her up into his arms. She screamed in delight, giggling with glee. “Listen to your mother,” he whispered.

“Hi,” she cooed, sending him the sweetest smile.

Kit couldn’t help but chuckle. The little girl would be a heartbreaker when she grew up. “Taking after your mother, I see.” He held her out to Roxanne, who took her with a grateful smile. “What’s her name?”

“Jenna,” she said. “She’s two. Danny is six, Rachel is four and a half, and Michael is three.”

“Four children,” he said. “Under the age of six. That’s…brave?”

She shrugged. “We wanted four and they just came along one after the other. It didn’t seem like such a large family at the time. But then I always thought I’d be raising them with a partner.” Her expression shifted and for a moment, Kit could see the vulnerability in her eyes.

He opened the French doors into the pool room. The warm, damp air smelled of chlorine, and he was tempted to walk inside with her and the children. “Go ahead,” he said. “Enjoy yourself. I’ll give my father a call and find out when he plans to arrive.”

“Wait, I can’t do this myself,” Roxanne said. “Four children around a swimming pool wouldn’t be a problem if I were an octopus. I really could use your help. Danny is a good swimmer and Rachel will be fine if she stays in the shallow end.” She hesitated. “Would you mind?”

He was about to blurt out a sarcastic answer, but to his surprise he found himself smiling. “No. I just got out of the pool. I wouldn’t mind going back in.”

“This is incredible,” Roxanne said, glancing around the spacious glass house. “So nice on a cold night.”

“My parents bought the house when I was a kid. The pool house was all old and moldy, but I was a competitive swimmer. So this seemed like the perfect place.”

“Your father told me about your swimming. He said you have a room full of trophies.”

“What else did he tell you?”

“He doesn’t talk much about his personal life to me. He talks about you, though. He’s very proud of you.” She paused and drew a deep breath. “You have the wrong idea about me-about us. Your father has been very kind, but there’s nothing going on.”

“Are you sure?”

She frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“You know how you feel. Do you know how he feels?”

She opened her mouth as if to reply, then snapped it shut. Then she glanced over at the kids who were standing near the edge of the pool. “Come on, kids. Let’s get your jackets and clothes off before you fall in.”

He watched as her children gathered around her. Moments later, jackets were flying everywhere, shoes tumbled off and clothes fell in heaps on the tile floor. The children already wore their suits, so as soon as they shed their clothes, they were ready to go. But Roxanne spoke to them softly about their behavior and warned them that they were not to go into the water until she was there with them. She grabbed two tiny life vests from the bag she’d brought and put them on Michael and Jenna.

Then she slowly began to remove her own clothes. Kit tried not to stare, but she was completely oblivious to the effect that her little striptease was having on him. With each item she shed, Kit felt the anticipation growing. And when she was finished and stood in a sleek, black tank suit, he realized that he hadn’t drawn a breath since she started.

“This is going to be so fun,” Danny said, bouncing up and down with excitement.

Kit forced a smile as his gaze drifted over her slender body. “Yeah,” he murmured. “This is going to be so fun.”

ROXANNE SNUGGLED beneath a thick terry cloth towel, Jenna curled up in her lap, sound asleep. Michael sat beside her on the tile floor, playing with a toy boat she’d brought along in her bag. Her gaze drifted over to the pool, to Danny and Rachel, who were tossing a ball around in the shallow end with Kit.

Her gaze fixed on his naked back, on the play of muscle as he held the ball over his head. When he’d first opened the door earlier that evening, she’d had to keep herself from staring at his body, at the smooth chest and wide shoulders, at the flat belly and narrow hips. Though her ex-husband had been in shape, he hadn’t had the raw material to work with that Kit did. The tall, slender body, the long limbs and the athletic grace that made him impossible to ignore.

When she realized it was his house, she’d nearly turned around and gotten back in the car. Kit Lawrence had made his feelings for her quite clear. He didn’t approve of his father’s job offer or her presence at the station. But for some strange reason, he’d invited her inside. Then he’d tried to make the evening as comfortable as possible, ordering pizza for the kids and playing with them in the pool.

Carl had phoned just before the pizza arrived to apologize. He’d been detained at the station with some technical problem. She’d almost been happy to hear that he wouldn’t be joining them.

She glanced at the clock on the wall and noticed the late hour. “Come on, you little waterbugs,” Roxanne called. “Time to get out of the pool or you’ll start to look like prunes.”

Kit grabbed Rachel by the waist and swung her up on the edge of the pool, then did the same with Danny. They both ran over to the table and grabbed a piece of cold pizza, then sat down to munch on the leftovers. Kit strolled over to Roxanne and flopped down onto the chair next to her.

He snatched up a towel and dried his face, then glanced over at her. “I’m exhausted.”

“They take a lot of energy, don’t they?”

“I don’t know a lot about kids,” Kit admitted as he pulled a T-shirt over his head. “But they’re not so bad. In fact, they’re pretty much fun.”

“Right. Until they all have the flu at one time. Or until you’re stuck in the middle of traffic without a snack. Or until they all decide to flush their shoes down the toilet. Then call me and tell me how much fun they are,” Roxanne teased.

“You’re a good mother,” Kit said. “I can see that.”

“It feels a little strange to be competing in a contest against other mothers.” She grabbed a towel and began to dry Michael’s hair. “But the trip to Paris would be nice. And I could use the shopping spree to buy clothes for the kids.”