LITMIR.BIZ

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froth in the pit of his stomach.

      She hadn’t called him because she hadn’t given him a thought. She’d needed help and she’d gone to her grandmother instead of him. Because he wasn’t a part of her or the kids’ lives. He was still on the periphery, and he was the only one who could change that.

      “That’s got to stop,” he said flatly, silently congratulating himself on his rigid control.

      “Look, I’m sorry you were worried,” she said. “But I’m too tired to do this right now.”

      He nodded solemnly. “Fine. We’ll talk about it in the morning.”

      “Okay, good.” She waved a hand at the hall and the front door behind him. “Now I’m going to bed and you should go home.”

      “Oh,” Connor said, leaning against the doorjamb with a casual ease he wasn’t feeling, “I’m not going anywhere.”

      “What?”

      Her chocolate eyes went wide and outraged and Connor smiled. He liked the way she went from cool to hot in a split second and he really wanted to see how hot she’d burn in his bed. For a second or two, that image scalded his brain and made speech impossible. When he came back to the moment, she was in the middle of a whispered rant, trying to keep her anger from waking the babies in the other room.

      “You think you can just stay uninvited in my house? What gives you the right? Nothing, that’s what.” She answered her own question before he could say a word. She glanced at the baby monitor she held in her hands as the sounds of restless squirming cut into the room. In another moment or two, they might be awake and crying and this conversation—such as it was—would come to an end.

      So he ended it first.

      Connor didn’t think about it, he simply went on instinct, following the urges that had been clawing at him since the first time he’d seen her. Pushing away from the wall, he grabbed her, pulled her close and kissed her.

      The instant his mouth met hers, heat exploded between them. Sensations unlike anything he’d ever known before enveloped him and Connor could only hold onto her, tightening his arms around her until he held her captive, pinned to his body. She went from startled to swept away in a heartbeat. As if she, too, were being consumed by the flames licking at his insides, she hooked her arms around his neck and held on. Mouths taking, giving, tongues twining together in a frantic dance of need. Their breath came in short, hard gasps. The bright living room lights shining around them did nothing to dispel the closeness wrapping itself around them.

      His brain racing, heart thundering in his chest and his groin so heavy and hard he ached with it, Connor relished the feel of her mouth under his. The longer he kissed her, the more he felt, those flames burning brighter, hotter, scorching his soul. She sighed and leaned into him, and that soft sound was enough to penetrate his brain, bring him back to himself and the realization that he was only a blink away from pulling Dina down to the damn floor.

      No. When this happened, he told himself, they would have a bed. And privacy. And all the time they needed to explore whatever it was burning between them. When that thought registered, he broke the kiss, stepped back and with satisfaction, watched her stagger before finding her balance. Breath ragged in his lungs, his heart hammering against his ribs, Con ground out, “I’m staying here tonight.”

      She shook her head instantly. “We’re not going to—”

      “I’ll sleep on the couch.”

      Her gaze met his and she must have seen that he wasn’t going to be sent on his way. With tension blistering the air in the room, she only nodded, accepting the inevitable.

      “This isn’t over,” he said.

      “It is for tonight,” she answered and walked past him, down the short hall to her room. She disappeared inside and closed the door behind her.

      Alone, Connor shoved one hand through his hair and barely resisted giving it a hard tug to relieve some of the frustration still holding him in its clutches. Instead, he walked to the too-short couch and eyed it grimly.

      It was going to be a miserable night.

      * * *

      During the long, incredibly sleepless night, Connor had had time to do some thinking. And some snooping. Sure, maybe he had crossed a line, when he’d poked around in Dina’s laptop, which really should be password protected. But he’d told himself that the triplets gave him all the reason he needed to invade her privacy a little.

      Just as his lawyers had informed him, her business was in trouble. She was already in a downward spiral of debt and picking up speed every day. He’d flipped through enough of her records to know that she was using her small savings account to supplement her income and that wasn’t going to last for much longer.

      Bottom line? Dina Cortez was in no shape to provide for three growing kids. And he could use that information.

      He already had the babies changed and dressed when she walked into the nursery bright and early the next morning. One look was all it took to tell him that she’d gotten as little sleep during the night as he had.

      “You’re awake?”

      He shrugged and finished pulling Sam’s shirt into place. “Never really went to sleep.” He shot her a sly glance. “Too much on my mind.”

      She inhaled sharply and Connor guessed that she’d been thinking about that kiss and what should have come next. Hell, thoughts like that had been tormenting him all night. Knowing that she was just down the hall from him. Knowing that she would welcome his touch. It had taken everything he had to keep from going to her.

      But the bottom line was that he wasn’t here because of this attraction and desire he felt for Dina. He was here for his children, and they had to come first. If he made a play for Dina, it would complicate everything. Better to settle the situation here before moving on what he wanted from her.

      He took a long breath himself before quipping, “Plus, that couch qualifies as torture equipment.”

      “Well it isn’t built to sleep on,” she admitted, “especially for someone as tall as you.”

      “That’s for sure.” He lifted Sam off the table, gave the baby boy a kiss, then set him on the floor with his brother and sister. “So. Kids are changed, dressed and ready for the day. How about we feed them and then we have that talk?”

      “I need coffee.”

      “I’ll take that as a yes,” he said, scooping up two of the babies and leaving Sam for Dina to get. Then he walked past her, heading for the kitchen.

      The room was bright with sunshine and ringing with the happy chatter of three babies. Despite being tired, Connor and Dina worked together to prepare milk, oatmeal and bananas. While they fed the triplets, Connor glanced at her and said, “Last night brought home to me that things have got to change.”

      “What things?”

      He would have heard the wariness in her tone even if he hadn’t spotted it on her features. “Everything about this whole situation. You. Me. The triplets. As it stands now, none of it is working for me.”

      She sighed and shook her head. “It’s been, like, four days. You could be more patient.”

      “Not in my nature.”

      “I’m getting that,” she murmured.

      “Anyway, it’s been long enough to make some decisions,” he countered and scooped more oatmeal onto a spoon before offering it to Sadie, who opened her mouth eagerly, like a baby bird. “For instance. Your catering business—why catering?”

      “What? Oh. Uh. I used to have a food truck and it did really well.” She smiled, remembering. “So well, in fact, that I sold the truck to my cousin Raul. I went into catering thinking I could use that as a stepping-stone to my real goal—opening my own restaurant.”

      “A

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