LITMIR.BIZ

       Eight

      Of course there were termites.

      And not just a few, either. No, this was a regular condo association of termites. They had community leaders, Miss California Termite pageants and apparently, never-ending appetites for the wood holding up her roof.

      Penny sighed and grabbed Riley before the baby could crawl off the quilt spread on the lawn in the backyard. Reid was busily tearing apart one of his books, but Riley wasn’t as easily contained. Absently, Penny handed her daughter a busy box and then looked up at the men on her roof. Rafe was a sweetie and yes, it was...nice of Colt to arrange all of this.

      But at the heart of everything, Penny just kept sinking deeper and deeper into the “I owe Colton King” hole. But the worst part was, she wasn’t even angry about owing him. She was just too relieved to have some of the bigger worries in her life smoothed over. So what did that make her? A hypocrite?

      She accused Colt of using his money to make his own path easier. She was outraged when he interfered and paid off her credit cards just before dropping a fortune into her bank account. And she’d been furious about him arranging for a new roof. Or at least, that’s how she’d acted. But the truth was, she was grateful and she hated to admit that.

      She was both relieved and resentful—not exactly rational. But then she’d never been completely rational when it came to Colton King. Besides, putting her own confusing feelings aside, she knew Colt well enough to know exactly why he was doing all of this. He was taking care of everything he thought needed doing so that he could disappear with a clear conscience.

      Penny took a deep breath and tried to steady herself as a wave of disappointment and dread washed through her. Two nights ago, she and Colt had come together and the passion had been staggering. What was between them was so strong, so overpowering, that even remembering what they’d shared shook her right to the bone.

      But neither of them had so much as talked about it. She could almost believe it hadn’t happened at all. Except for the fact that her body was in a constant state of low burn from a fire that had been reignited. Being with Colt again had not only reawakened her body, but her dreams. Nearly two years ago, when they’d first met, Penny had fallen in love so quickly, so completely, she had looked at their shared future and seen only the magic and the joy. Soon enough, reality had crashed down on her, leaving her brokenhearted and alone. It hadn’t been easy to recover, to move on. And now, she knew instinctively that this time, recovery was going to be so much harder.

      She’d known, of course, that she still loved Colt. Love just wasn’t something that ended. At least, not for Penny. And being here with him, seeing him with the twins, had only etched him deeper into her heart than he had been before. Which was, she knew, a recipe for disaster.

      She could already feel him pulling away from her. From the twins. It was as if the closer to being healed Penny became, the faster Colt was drawing back. She only wished it was that easy to turn down her feelings for him. The sad truth was, she still loved him. She’d never stopped loving him. But at least until this week, she’d taught herself to live without him in her life.

      Now he was back and it was harder than ever to imagine going on without him. Her heart ached with the might-have-beens that rotated through her brain at all hours of the day and night. She looked at her babies and felt desolate that their father would be only a visitor in their lives. They would miss out on so much—and so would Colt. He didn’t even realize it, but in leaving, he was cheating himself. She knew he didn’t see it that way, though. There was something driving Colt. He was a warm, funny, intelligent man who was determined to live his life alone. Why? What was it in his past that kept him from seeing a chance at a future?

      Reid turned his face up to hers at just that moment. A sweet smile curved his little mouth; his blue eyes were shining with love and trust and sheer joy. His soft black hair blew across his forehead and his chubby hands lifted his book to his mouth. Penny’s aching heart melted a little and she wished suddenly that Colt could see just what he was running from. That he would discover the truth in time. But she wasn’t holding her breath.

      Her gaze shifted to the roofline, where one of Rafe’s crews was working diligently. Colt had been up there, too, until about an hour ago. It was in his nature to take risks, even if it was only walking along a roofline as if he were on a tightrope. He was so busy keeping busy that he couldn’t see what was right in front of him. The biggest adrenaline rush in the world. Love.

      “Oh, this isn’t good, is it?”

      Penny jerked out of her daydreams and shifted her gaze to Maria as she picked her way across the yard. She wore a black skirt and a red blazer over a white silk blouse, and her three-inch heels kept sinking into the grass as she walked.

      “Hi. What did you say?”

      “I said, this doesn’t look good.” She squinted up at the crew on the roof, getting ready to spread a striped tent over the house. “Termites?”

      “Only a few bazillion.”

      Maria shook her head and said, “If they’re tenting, why’re you still here? Shouldn’t you be at Colt’s place?”

      “We will be, this afternoon,” Penny said on a sigh. She wasn’t looking forward to it, but she didn’t have much choice, either. At the moment, Colt had a team of people inside the cottage, preparing for the termite extermination. But once the tent was up and the gas pumped in, she and the kids wouldn’t be able to get back inside for at least forty-eight hours. Which meant either she try to keep the twins happy locked up in a motel room...or, she did what Colt was insisting on. Move in at his place for the duration.

      It was hard enough having him here at her house. What was it going to be like staying with him? Heck, she’d never even seen the place Colt called home. Was it a palace? A condo? A plush penthouse apartment? He hadn’t eased her curiosity, either, he’d just said, “You’ll see when we get there.”

      “You sound thrilled at the prospect,” Maria said, stepping out of her heels to take a seat on the blanket. Automatically, she swept Reid up onto her lap where the baby boy chortled happily and busied himself with the gold chain Maria wore around her neck.

      “Well, it’s weird,” Penny tried to explain. “Moving into his house is completely different than having him here.”

      Maria nodded sagely. “The home turf advantage you mean.”

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