Page 30 of Honor ’N’ Duty

Rosa’s room was small but had an ocean view and a twin bed with a pretty yellow flowered quilt. Against one wall was an antique oak bureau. The other wall was taken up by a matching bookcase that, to Laia’s astonishment, held several children’s books. On the bottom shelf was a stack of board games, including Trouble, Operation, and Monopoly.

“You like it, Cream Puff?” With Rosa still clinging to his neck, Kade went to the bookcase, then set her on the floor.

“Mm-hmm.” She nodded, reaching for a worn copy of Sleeping Beauty on the lowest shelf.

“You can have the master bedroom,” Kade said to Laia.

She followed him down the hall and into another bedroom, this one huge, with cream-colored carpeting and a king-size scroll-top bed with a matching chest and bureau.

He flipped on the bathroom lights. “This one has a soaker tub even bigger than mine.”

Laia peered around the doorjamb. “You aren’t kidding. It’s big enough for a school of dolphins.”

“Two of them, anyway.”

The heated look Kade gave her made her breath catch. And when he continued staring, a sudden flush of warmth spread steadily from her neck downward.

Were they still talking about dolphins?

He shook his head, as if to clear it. “I’ll get our bags and the groceries. Make yourself at home.” Kade and Smoke left, leaving her alone in the master suite.

With rubbery legs, Laia sat on the edge of the bed. No matter how much she tried, it was impossible to banish the image of the two of them in that tub, naked and—

“Mommy, can I watch TV?” Rosa asked, skipping into the room.

“Come here, sweetie. Mommy needs a hug.” And a change of subject.

Laia held out her arms, then picked Rosa up, hugging her tightly. She nuzzled her daughter’s head, inhaling her sweet little-girl smell. Josh used to do that as he’d read to Rosa. Eventually, he started working late, not getting home until after Rosa had gone to sleep. Then came the frequent business trips. Long before Josh was gone, Laia had effectively become a single parent.

Rosa wriggled her way from Laia’s lap. “Mommy, now can I watch TV?”

“I think that’s a good idea.” That would give her and Kade time to unpack and get dinner ready. Easing off the bed, she followed Rosa downstairs. In the four years they’d been married, she and Josh had never done such simple things together, like preparing a meal or taking Rosa to the beach.

Melancholia dampened her already dismal mood. Things should have been different. Josh should have been helping her raise their daughter, not disappearing on weekends. How had things gone so horribly wrong?

The slow disintegration of their relationship had been subtle, at first. After Rosa was born, it had spiraled quickly into nonexistent.

But if she were honest with herself, it had started the day she’d said I do.

Chapter Nine

Outside, the sun was low on the horizon, and the temperature had cooled off some. Inside the house, Kade had the AC cranked up, yet the kitchen was hot. Equator-hot.

After unpacking the groceries, Laia got Rosa and Smoke settled in front of Jamie’s mega monster-size TV, watching The Nanny, which Rosa got a kick out of. Something about Fran Drescher’s New Yawk accent had Rosa rolling with laughter.

Through the opening to the living room, Rosa held up her hand to Smoke, turning her head away from the dog. “Tawk to the paw.”

He chuckled when Smoke raised his paw to Rosa’s hand.

“You have to turn your head around, too,” she said to Smoke, repeating, “Tawk to the paw.”

Smoke had the paw thing down but hadn’t quite grasped the concept of twisting his neck around the way Fran Drescher did with her talk-to-the-hand thing.

The kitchen wasn’t small, but it might as well have been a four-by-four-foot square box. The woman of his dreams—some clean, some X-rated—was standing on the other side of the kitchen chopping ingredients for the salad. If he stuck a thermometer in his mouth, he was more than certain his temperature had soared well into the triple digits. If he’d been in a doctor’s office right then, they probably would have called an ambulance to truck him off to a hospital and throw him in a tub of ice.

Kade grabbed yet another sheet of paper towel from the roll and wiped his brow. Then he made the mistake of looking again at the subject of his thoughts. Laia had showered and changed into a lavender sundress with thin little spaghetti straps. Her hair was still wet, leaving a damp spot on the back of the dress, and every time a bead of water rolled down her smooth shoulders, he had to clamp down the urge to lick it off.

Didn’t help any that she was barefoot, revealing sparkly purple polish on her pretty toes. And damned if she wasn’t wearing a silver toe ring with a tiny jewel that flickered every time she moved. He’d never thought much about toes or toe rings before. Now it was all he thought about. Laia’s anyway, and sucking her toes into his mouth right before letting his lips do the walking directly north to the satiny curves of her calves and thighs.