Tina Leonard - Last's Temptation

“I doubt the veracity of that,” Poppy said, “but I’ll have to take your word for it. If you’ll excuse us, we must decline your offer of luncheon. We have studies before tonight’s show.”

With the thought that he might not see Poppy again, he was suddenly in the mood to take in a show. What could it hurt? “Where will you be performing?”

“Goodbye,” she told him, walking away.

“Damn,” he said. “I’m not as smooth as I used to be.”

From the way she’d said it, he knew better than to follow her. But for some reason he followed her anyway.

POPPY WALKED AWAY FROM the handsome stranger wishing her charges were just a bit less in shopping-for-a-father mode. It wasn’t going to work. She had no desire for a permanent man, due to her lifestyle, and the children had no idea that marriage wasn’t always filled with glittery magic.

It was hard work, and right now her efforts needed to be focused on the children. Amelia was ten, Curtis eight, and there would be many changes in their lives in the teen years. She had to think only of them, and a man would make things in her once-free life even more complicated. Five months ago, she’d been a happily traveling gypsy with no greater care than daily performances. She liked the bohemian lifestyle. But she’d had to settle down a bit since she’d inherited the children. That kind of focus was hard enough without the further distraction of a man.

The children didn’t understand this. Amelia and Curtis only wanted a family, and were she in their circumstance, Poppy probably would have reacted the same way. But even if she was looking for marriage, the right man did not simply drop from the sky. Hunting for The One took effort and kissing lots of frogs.

She had an aversion to smooching frogs.

“You two must stop,” she said now to Amelia and Curtis. “Please try to be satisfied that, for now, we are a family. And a good one. We’re making it, aren’t we?” she asked, bending down to look in their faces.

They nodded slowly, not convinced.

“The judge said it would be better if we were placed in a two-parent home,” Amelia reminded her. “He said he’d examine our progress in a month.”

“He doesn’t like the fact that we travel with you in a circus,” Curtis said, his blue eyes round. “He said it wasn’t stable.”

“True,” Poppy agreed. “It’s something to consider.”

The judge certainly had been put off by her stage name and gypsy lifestyle. His suggested alternative was that the children live with Poppy’s parents. Though they were far past the age of wanting to be responsible for children, the judge knew her parents personally and felt more comfortable with the stability he thought they would give the children.

It would be better for everyone if she could find a way to settle down, Poppy knew. And she was trying. “I will try harder,” she said slowly. “I guess I could give marriage some consideration. But not to that man,” she said quickly, dimming their suddenly hopeful faces. “He’s just not for me.”

They nodded, accepting her reason.

“We like living with you, Aunt Poppy,” Amelia said. “We just want to stay with you.”

“Maybe I should give up the land of make-believe and take a job as a teacher. It might impress the judge.”

Surely it would. A sense of permanence was what he’d seen lacking in her résumé. The only reason she’d been temporarily awarded custody of the children was that she was the only family member who’d come forward at the time of her sister’s death to claim them. Frankly she felt her family’s matters were none of the court’s business, but in order to adopt the children, she’d had to file for custody.

The judge had taken exception to her, preferring, he’d said, the security of her parents’ home. Or for Curtis and Amelia’s father to reappear.

Old goat, Poppy thought angrily. “What does he know about me anyway?” she said. “I’ve been in the same job for ten years. I have a master’s degree in English and a minor in business. A degree and job stability should speak favorably for me.”

“It was the magic,” Curtis said. “I think it bothered him.”

Certainly it had bothered Mr. Jefferson. She had seen him visibly step back from her. If she was a teacher maybe none of this would be a problem. She’d have the children as hers. They would be a family.

“Excuse me,” Last said, making his presence known and looking better than any man should in those long swim trunks and nothing else. “Before I head off to my next adventure, I couldn’t help but overhear… I think I could help you out.”

“No, we don’t want help from you,” Poppy said, thinking of the children’s marriage schemes. “You’re too much like me. Unstable.”

“I’m not unstable,” Last said cheerfully, “but I will admit to being churlish, immature at times and living like the old cliché of the bachelor male.”

“Which cliché would that be?” Poppy asked.

“Bitter and distrusting of women. Due to the fact that I was romanced and then sued by one. It’s all fine now, but I’m holding on to the bitter and distrusting part as a cautionary reminder of what a female can do to a man. Sort of a souvenir.”

Poppy couldn’t help but laugh. “Goodbye, Mr. Bitter and Distrusting. We appreciate your offer of help, but you’re a stranger and we have to think about our future.”

“They seem to have a wedding in mind,” he said, nodding toward the children, “but I’m really not the marrying kind.”

“I didn’t ask you,” she said, annoyed.

“And except for my oldest brother Mason, I’m out of single brothers, so I can’t even play match-maker for you.”

“Not necessary,” Poppy snapped.

“But it’s clear you’re in a bind,” Last continued, “and I’ve always been partial to coming to the rescue.”

Poppy gasped. “I do not need rescuing!”

He winked. “Clearly you are on the railroad tracks of instability, ma’am, in the path of an oncoming judge-driven train. Here I am to save the day!”

“How do you propose to do that?” Poppy asked.

“You could go live on my ranch in Texas,” Last said. “The mother of my child has vacated the house she was using. She’s now living in town with my brother, Crockett. The house is empty, waiting for a happy family. Think about it,” he said, “a Texas ranch, a job in town—it’s the very image of stability.”

Curtis’s and Amelia’s eyes glowed.

“It’s not matrimony, but it would be a form of security. Mason is about to get roped into running for sheriff, I believe, by his dearest friend and enemy, Mimi.” Last shook his head. “I don’t know that Mason can worm out of Mimi’s grasp on this one. Other than my brother Bandera, who lives in the house next door with his crew, and my brother Calhoun, who lives below the windmill with his, there’s just horses, cows and sheep to liven up the days.”

Poppy had to admit the picture was a tempting one. “Cowboys,” she murmured.

“Nobody would mind you living there. Olivia—Calhoun’s wife—used to travel in a gig with her horse, Gypsy, and her father-in-law, who was a rodeo clown. Right up your alley, huh?”

Poppy hesitated. She wasn’t sure anymore what was “up her alley.” The children had changed her life. That was all she did know.

“What made you become a magician anyway?” he asked.

“My master’s thesis was about beliefs. Ninety percent of people want to believe in something magical. Good fortune of some kind,” she murmured. “I decided to test the theory.”

“So you’re in the circus because of your thesis?”

She looked at him thinking that he alone was enough to make a woman believe in good fortune. Strong-muscled and tall, the dip in the ocean had left his skin gleaming. She shivered. “I may pursue a doctorate one day. It’s good to collect more data. Can I make people believe?” An unwilling smile touched her lips. “You’re certainly a doubter.”