LITMIR.BIZ

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inside. The house smelled of baked chocolate and lemon polish. It smelled the way a home should.

      She stepped from the kitchen and into the living room and for a moment Knox’s breath caught in his throat. She looked exquisitely feminine, clad in a casual, soft pink maxi dress that hugged her slender curves on its way down to her ankles. The scoop neck exposed a delicate collarbone, and the color emphasized her warm, peachy complexion. Her hair was loose and fell to her shoulders in soft waves.

      She looked even more beautiful when her face lit up and she leaned down to give Cody a hug. “I can tell by the look on your face that you had fun today,” she said and then looked up at Knox.

      He’d always told her that her eyes were the window to her emotions, that he could always tell what she was thinking, what she was feeling by gazing into them. But those hazel depths told him nothing now. They were shuttered against him and revealed nothing whatsoever.

      “Mom, we went to Mac’s house and he has pictures of Knox and his brother and sisters on the wall, and then we went fishing in the pond and I caught two big crappies and Mac fried them for dinner and...” Cody paused for breath.

      She laughed. “Why don’t we go into the kitchen and have some cookies and you can tell me all about it.” Once again she looked at Knox. “I made a fresh pot of coffee just a few minutes ago.”

      “Cookies and fresh coffee? I’m in,” he replied. He followed her and their son into the kitchen where he and Cody sat at the table. Allison got a platter of cookies, a glass of milk and two cups of coffee before she joined them.

      “Now tell me all about the fish.”

      Knox leaned back in the chair and watched mother and son interact. She was so patient, and gave him her sole attention as he relayed the activities of the afternoon between bites of cookie.

      “Sounds like you had a full day of fun,” she said when Cody was finished telling her everything he’d experienced from the time Knox had picked him up until they’d walked through the door. “And now it’s bath and bedtime.” Cody had eaten two cookies, drank his milk and finished his stories.

      “Before that, can Knox come up and see my room?” he asked.

      “Okay, but only if it doesn’t take too long. A growing boy needs his sleep,” Allison replied.

      Cody looked at Knox with a grin. “She always tells me that.” He scrambled off his chair. “Come on, you’ll like my room. I’ve got bunk beds and a horse collection.”

      “Then I’d definitely better take a look,” Knox replied. He gazed at Allison. “Are you coming up, too?”

      She shook her head with a small smile. “I’ll just sit here and eat a cookie. Besides, I’ve seen his room before.”

      Knox followed Cody up the stairs and at the top the air smelled of apples and spices; the scent instantly tightened his gut with an unwelcome heat.

      They passed one doorway and Knox glanced in. It had to be Allison’s bedroom. A double bed was covered with a lavender-colored floral spread and white gauzy curtains danced in the evening breeze.

      It was far too easy to imagine himself in that bed with her, her naked body in his arms and her eyes simmering a deep gold with sparkling green shards as he took possession of her. What was wrong with him? How was it possible to desire a woman he didn’t even want to like?

      Cody’s room was definitely that of a horse lover. Navy curtains hung at the window with rearing stallions riding the lower borders. The bunk beds were covered with matching navy spreads and a bookcase held miniature figurines of horses in all kinds of poses. One shelf also held a row of books about horses. Glow-in-the-dark star stickers glistened on the ceiling above the top bunk.

      “Isn’t my room cool?” Cody asked as he sat on the edge of the bottom bunk.

      “Totally,” Knox replied. “Do you sleep on the bottom bunk or on the top?”

      “On the top. Last year I slept on the bottom, but Mom finally let me move to the top and then we got the stars to put on the ceiling.”

      Knox smiled. “That’s where I would sleep if I had bunk beds, and I like the stars, too.”

      The grin that Cody gave him shot straight through to Knox’s heart. He wanted to claim this child. He wanted everyone in the town, everyone in the entire world to know that this bright, beautiful boy was his.

      He wanted to grab Cody to his chest and hug him...protect him from any hurt that might ever come his way. Raw emotion ripped through him and he realized that the alien, rich feeling was a father’s love for his child.

      He cleared his throat. “You’d better get yourself into the bathtub before your mother comes up here and yells at us.”

      “Mom doesn’t yell at me even when she’s mad,” Cody replied, but he got up off the bed. “Are we gonna hang out again?” His bright eyes gazed at Knox eagerly.

      “Absolutely. I’m going to go downstairs right now and make some arrangements with your mother. And don’t forget to wash behind your ears. I thought I saw a potato growing behind one of them this afternoon.”

      Knox went back down the stairs with Cody’s giggles ringing in his ears. He hoped Allison wasn’t going to give him a hard time about spending more time with Cody. He wanted more, he needed more.

      “He’s got a great room,” he said as he reentered the kitchen where she still remained at the table. “And he’s a great kid, Allison. You’ve done a terrific job with him.”

      “Thanks. He’s a good boy, but like all kids he occasionally does have his moments. Would you like another cup of coffee?” She looked slightly fragile with her shoulders curved as she leaned forward and wrapped her fingers around her cup.

      “I’ll get it.” He picked up his mug from the table and carried it to the coffeemaker on the countertop. He poured the coffee and then returned to the chair across from her. “So, when can I get him again?”

      “Next Sunday?” Her full bottom lip held the hint of a tremble.

      Crap, she was making him feel like a big, bad monster attempting to tear her little baby boy from her loving arms. He shook his head. “No way, I’m not waiting an entire week to see him again.”

      “Are you married?” Her cheeks flushed and she quickly picked up her cup and took a sip.

      “Why do you want to know?” He crooked up an eyebrow. “Are you interested in resuming where we left off while I’m back in town?”

      Her back stiffened and her eyes flashed. “Don’t be ridiculous. That’s the last thing I want. I just need to know a few things about your personal life if we’re going to work out a reasonable custody agreement.”

      At least he’d shaken her out of the soft vulnerability that had made him want to embrace her rather than fight for his rights.

      “I’m not married and I don’t have a significant other,” he replied. “My life for the past ten years has been all about my work.”

      She gazed at him curiously. “Why are you really here in town? Are you on vacation, or are you actually working in case your mother shows up here?”

      He leaned back in the chair and tamped down the resentment that threatened to rise up in his chest, a resentment that had nothing to do with Allison.

      “Yeah, I’m here because of my mother, but not for the reason you think. None of the authorities really believes she’ll show up here in Shadow Creek, but I was told to take a sabbatical because of my relationship to her. I’d become an embarrassment because of her prison escape.”

      Allison studied him for several long moments. “I’m sorry, Knox,” she finally said. She was one of the few people outside of his siblings who knew the extent of Livia Colton’s destructiveness. “Do I need to worry about her? I never wanted her to know about

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