“I have work.”
He left the kitchen without saying anything else. Maggie stared after him.
“Is Uncle Jeff mad?”
“No, honey, he’s just busy.”
And conflicted. Ashley sensed the battle within him. She knew that they were the reason, but she didn’t know why. Part of her wanted to go after him and talk, but a part of her wanted to run in the opposite direction. Jeff might be logistically dependable, but he was still risky in other ways. She was determined to only get involved with a man who could love her unconditionally. Jeff wasn’t in a place to love anyone. Not until he’d dealt with his past. Attraction was acceptable—which was good because she couldn’t control hers. But anything else was foolhardy. And she’d already been a fool for a man more than once in her life. She wasn’t about to do it again.
* * *
“Kirkman is worried about a kidnapping attempt,” Zane said the following week when he and Jeff met to discuss their upcoming job in the Mediterranean.
Jeff studied the diagrams spread out on the large conference table. “Kidnapping’s the least of it,” he replied. “At least then there’s the chance he’ll be held for ransom. They’d want to keep him alive. If I were him, I’d be more concerned about an outright hit.”
Zane grinned. “You want to tell him that?”
“Not especially.” Jeff leaned back in his chair and glanced at his partner. “But I will when I meet with him next week.”
“Rather you than me. I suspect he’s something of a screamer.”
“Screamer” was the indelicate term used to identify clients who couldn’t handle the reality of their situation. They didn’t want to hear about the actual or potential danger, and they frequently resisted making changes in their lifestyle to keep themselves and their family safe. Yet they were the first to start screaming the second something went wrong, most often when it was their own fault.
“I don’t doubt it.” But screamer or not, Kirkman had to be dealt with.
Zane tossed his pen onto the table and looked at his partner. “So, tell me about the woman in your life.”
“There is no woman.”
“That’s not what the rumors say. And I happen to know that you have a female living in your house with you.”
“She works for me. She’s my new housekeeper.”
Zane raised his dark eyebrows. “And?”
“And nothing. Her name is Ashley. She used to work here in the office and now she works at my house. It’s a business arrangement, nothing more.”
Even if he wanted it to be more, he wasn’t going to act on the wanting. Because it would be dangerous for them both. He couldn’t be what Ashley needed him to be, while she...
He returned his attention to the diagrams in front of him, even though he wasn’t seeing anything remotely resembling the floor plan of the main villa. Instead he saw hazel eyes bright with laughter and inhaled a sweet scent he would remember for the rest of his life.
Ashley could be very important to him, he acknowledged. But he wasn’t going to let that happen.
“What about her daughter?” Zane asked. “Kids can be tough to ignore.”
Jeff smiled. “What would you know about children?”
“I know enough to avoid them,” his partner joked. “And so have you, until recently. So what’s going on, Jeff? If you keep this up, people are going to start thinking you’re actually human.”
It was an old joke—one that Jeff didn’t find especially humorous. He also wasn’t willing to answer any questions about Maggie. Not when the little girl was rapidly becoming important to him. Something had happened during the field trip to the zoo. Being with the children, taking care of Tommy when he’d skinned his hand, had cracked some part of his protection. Now Maggie slipped inside until he found himself thinking about her throughout the day, worrying about her. Would the teachers at the preschool remember to make sure she wore her jacket outside when she played? Did she finish her lunch? Had anyone treated her unfairly?
He still remembered when he’d actually taken her onto his lap to comfort her. His reaction had been pure instinct—and filled with more feelings than he cared to admit.
Both the Churchill females were making a mess of his life.
He pointed to the papers on the table. “We need the security plans finalized by the end of the week.”
“No problem.”
