“Hope,” she whispered. She hopped down from the counter and Eli followed on her heels as she dashed down the hallway. She opened the door to the baby’s room. Eli slipped inside behind her, blinking quickly so his eyes would adjust to the dim interior of the room.

Hope stood on tiptoe, peering over the railing of her crib. “Mess, Mama! Make a mess!” She pointed across the room. Her purple teething ring was lying in front of the dresser along with several picture frames.

Relief swept through him when he saw that she was unharmed. Despite the bad timing, Eli couldn’t help but be amused. “She’s got a good arm.”

Kay picked up the teething ring with an indulgent smile. She left the room and came back a few minutes later, wiping it down with a paper towel.

“I had to wash it off just in case there was any glass on it.” She gave it back to Hope, who promptly stuck the end back in her mouth. The broken pieces of the picture frames were deposited in the waste bin.

“That’ll do it for now. I’ll vacuum tomorrow.”

Eli left the room so she could soothe the baby back to sleep. He walked back to the kitchen and planted his hands on the counter. The salt and pepper shakers were overturned, and there was a dish towel on the floor. He picked it up and cleaned up the counter. Now that his blood pressure had normalized, he was glad they’d been interrupted. His behavior that evening had been borne of jealousy, but it hadn’t been in Kay’s best interest.

She wanted to find Mr. Right and settle down. Kay deserved that life. She was an amazing mother and she deserved someone who could give her the life she was meant for. Eventually she would find that guy. A nice, normal guy with a sense of humor and a nine-to-five. Not an antisocial workaholic with a shady past. He wanted that for her, even if the thought of it was like swallowing knives.

If he wanted to do what was best for Kay, he’d leave her alone.

KAY PULLED THE door to her daughter’s room shut behind her. She clasped her arms around her body. Her nerves were still humming like they were remembering Eli’s touch, the hair on her arms standing on end.

The lights in the living room were low, and she looked around in confusion as she observed the perfectly tidy kitchen. She walked a little farther and then stopped abruptly. Eli lay on the couch, wrapped in the comforter.

Snoring.

She stood there, stunned, for a few moments before the hurt moved in. He’d just had his tongue all over her skin a few minutes ago and now he was asleep? She eyed the lump on the couch suspiciously. Then her hands clenched into fists.

“Don’t you dare pretend to be asleep!”

When he didn’t move, she stalked over to the couch and yanked the top layer of the comforter back. Their eyes met and Kay’s heart sank. Just as she’d suspected, Eli was fully dressed and wide-awake.

Disappointment lanced through her. It was always one step forward and then giant leaps back with Eli. Any time she thought she’d made progress with him, he ran the opposite direction. Then, just when she was finally making an effort to get on with her life, he kissed her like he couldn’t help himself. Like he wanted nothing more than her.

He was leading her on in so many directions she had emotional whiplash. She was sick of it.

“Is this what you do? Kiss a girl and get her all riled up, then roll over and go to sleep?”

Eli’s eyes narrowed at her scathing tone. “I was trying to do you a favor. There’s only one place that little make-out session was going, and you aren’t ready for that. Not by a long shot.”

Kay bristled. “I know exactly where it was going. I was hoping it was going to my bed.”

Eli sat up then, pushing the comforter back. Kay backed up at the dark desire in his eyes. She thought he was annoyed, but as he got closer, his shoulders and thick arms seeming even bigger as his chest heaved with his breaths, she realized she’d misread him.

Badly.

He wasn’t annoyed. He was aroused. The thick length pushing at the front of his jeans proved it. She shivered, remembering how that thick flesh had felt when she’d been wrapped around him. It had been like being caged in by a wall of muscle. She’d never felt so safe and yet so in danger at the same time.

Even when she’d been too boneless and limp to move, she’d never worried about falling. All it took was one of Eli’s hands on her back and she’d felt cradled in safety. He would never let her fall. He would never let her down.

Or so she’d thought. Because his running act made it seem that he was willing to let her down in one way.

“I don’t understand. You know I want this.”

Eli skimmed the back of his hand over the tip of her right breast. His eyes narrowed, watching with obsessive interest as the tip tightened under his touch. Kay bit her lip as a whimper escaped her throat.

“If you keep pushing, we’ll end up sleeping together. Some men would be fine with that except I know that you want more. You want someone you can have a future with. That’s not me. No matter how much I want you.”

It was hard to equate the harsh words coming out of his mouth with the intensely erotic look on his face. But then that was part of her problem, wasn’t it? Any other guy would have told her this after they’d woken up in bed together the next morning. Eli was just nice enough to tell her up front. She wasn’t able to separate sex and love and he could tell. He knew her and knew this wasn’t something she did lightly. Whereas he was no doubt used to casual flings. With a body like his, she wasn’t fooling herself that he’d been saving himself for her. If she even knew how many women he’d been with, she’d probably be shocked.