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He nodded. “Both grandmothers too.”
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?” Blake asked him. “Oh, wait, I’ve heard Ciara talk about her Aunt Aileen?”
“I have an older brother that I lost touch with years ago,” he said. “And a younger sister. Yes, that’s Aileen. She lives in Brooklyn, so Ciara will have a chance to get to know her and her kids better now that we’re here in New York. She and I were always close and got even closer when we were the two left after both parents were gone.”
“Your mother died too? That must have been hard if you were still young. How old were you?”
“Fifteen. It was three years after my father. We already lived with my grandmother, moved into her house after my dad died, so the mean old bat was given custody when my mother passed.”
“Sounds like your memories of her are not too fond,” Blake said, lifting a fork of seafood salad.
“Nope. At least I was close to finishing high school so I could join the Army and get away. My sister was stuck in her web for another three years.” He sipped his beer, a local craft.
“Harper said you were an Army Ranger?”
“I was. That’s where I started serious martial arts training. The stuff from my teens was just street fighting.” One side of his mouth pulled up. “Not that it doesn’t have its place.”
Blake went back to her dinner. She’d ordered a glass of white wine with it. Just as she was thinking this was the first time she and Morgan had talked more about themselves than Ciara, he said, “Have you gotten any offers for the teaching positions you’ve applied for?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Nothing yet,” she said, but the truth was, she’d gotten so wrapped up in her life here with Ciara and Morgan that she’d literally forgotten she was supposed to be searching for a job. It had been over a month since she’d even looked at the listings, much less applied for anything.
“Well, you are a great teacher when it comes to Ciara,” he said. “I really appreciate all you’ve given her already.”
“Thanks. I really love being with her.” And there they were again looking at each other, the tingling heat between them so palpable Morgan had to be aware of it too.
And this time when she glanced away to take a sip of wine, she saw her brother watching the two of them.
Yeah, Harper noticed, but he did not say a word about it, even when he hugged her goodbye as they were all leaving.
* * *
The next dayMorgan and Blake took Ciara and her two buddies to a local North Fork farm. They started out with some berry picking, but the girls soon got bored. They next wandered to an area where they could play with baby goats, and then ran though pumpkin patches.
The corn maze was the main attraction—a labyrinth of paths bordered by tall corn stalks decorated with hanging ghosts and big stuffed scarecrows and sticky cobwebs with scary spiders. Ciara, Shala, and Roni ran ahead giggling and shrieking and filling the air with the adorable chatter of little girls.
As Blake ambled along next to Morgan between stalks taller even than him, her hand wanted to reach for his. It was a schoolgirlish thing, but lately she felt like she had a teenage crush on this man that she could only admire secretly. Like right now as she glanced at his handsome profile, his large strong frame and smooth, athletic stride. A man who was both protector and nurturer, a rare find.
They talked quietly about household things—what to have for dinner tonight, a raccoon that she and Ciara were feeding out in the backyard, the new dishwasher he’d ordered. He always asked if she needed anything for her room and she always said she was fine and he always seemed frustrated by that.
And she enjoyed frustrating him.
It was a way for her to sneak through the cracks in the controlled guard he kept up. Aside from their personal discussion yesterday, aside from the custody issue and things that had to do with Ciara, Morgan kept himself zipped up fairly tight.
But Blake saw his cracks when he did not know she caught his silent gazes that told her he wanted her as badly as she wanted him.
It had only been a week ago that he had slipped and almost kissed her. Then yesterday at the carousel. Would it ever happen again? And how would it affect their setup with Ciara? No doubt he had as much concern around that as she did.
And then, as her mind went racing around on these thoughts—it happened.
The children’s voices drifted into the distance of the maze and, typical Blake, she was not watching where she stepped.
“Ow!” She’d tripped over some kind of root and went stumbling forward—until a wall of solid muscle stopped her fall. Her hands landed on Morgan’s rock-hard chest, her face only inches from his.
All of a sudden his mouth was on hers, igniting a passion they had both been holding back for too long. One of his hands went behind her neck, his fingers gripping a clump of her hair; the other went around her waist, tugging her against his powerful body and thankfully holding her up or her knees might have buckled beneath her.
Blake reached her hands around his torso, grateful he had only worn a flannel shirt today so she could feel him in her arms. His kiss was not gentle, his lips devouring hers, his tongue demanding entry. She opened to him readily, a small moan escaping.
This was not a man who did things by halves. And she liked that. She wanted all he had to give.
