Free Heart of a Hero by Sara Craven

did have eyes in the back of his head.”
    Phoebe snorted. “He did not. Melanie ran and told on you.”
    “That twerp.” His tone was fond. “I should have known. She ran and left you there alone. You were picking up the rocks and throwing them back. I never knew a girl could throw that hard, especially one your size.”
    She smiled smugly. “That’s what the other softball players used to say when I was in high school.”
    Memories of Phoebe as a child, of himself during those same carefree years before the world had demanded its pound of flesh, came flooding back and he returned her grin. “We’re lucky, aren’t we, to have such good memories? I’d love to go back and be that age again.”
    To his surprise, her smile vanished. “I don’t. You could not offer me anything to live my childhood over again.” There was a grim, flat note that he’d never heard before in her voice that told him he’d struck some nerve.
    His interest sharpened immediately. “That surprises me,” he said.
    “Growing up without a father in the picture wasn’t always easy.”
    Now that he thought about it, he could recall occasional unkind comments about the twins’ illegitimate birth. But…”You and Mel seemed pretty happy to me.”
    Her face softened, the line of her mouth relaxingas her lips curved up the tiniest bit. “We were,” she said softly.
    He chuckled, determined to get her to relax her guard again. “Happiest when you were tormenting the poor boys in the neighborhood who were all fighting over you.”
    “You’re confusing me with my sister now. I never tormented anybody. All the boys I knew had the hots for Melanie.”
    “Not all.” He said it quietly, but the instant he spoke, the atmosphere changed. Electric awareness sparked and crackled as her gaze flew to his.
    But she looked away again immediately. “You, too,” she said, and in her face he saw her determination to keep things light between them. “When she and I were seniors, she chased you until you caught her, remember?”
    He smiled wryly. “I remember. Are you going to hold it against me forever? I was a teenage boy. And God knows boys that age are helpless against an attractive female who’s as determined as Melanie was.”
    To his surprise, she chuckled. “She
was
determined, too. All she talked about that summer was you. What to wear so that you noticed her, where to stand so that she just happened to be where you were headed. You told her once that she lookedgood in pink so we shopped for pink for the next three months. Have you ever tried to find a good shade of pink for a redhead to wear?” She shook her head, still smiling. “You didn’t stand a chance.”
    He didn’t stand a chance now, either. Did she know how desirable she looked? Her eyes were soft and faraway, her body relaxed where she’d angled herself toward him. Her lips looked so soft and inviting as they curved with happy memories….
    They
were
soft and inviting. His entire body revved for action as the memory of the afternoon’s kiss leaped into the forefront of his mind again. All he’d wanted to do was sink into her sweetness, live the dream he’d kept in his head during terrifying moments of hiding when he’d been sure he would be discovered any minute. Make love to her for real, not just in his imagination while he lay in an American military hospital in Germany. He’d wanted her so badly he’d nearly forgotten the child playing on the floor mere feet away.
    And when he’d remembered, it had taken every ounce of self-control he possessed to look away and focus his attention on his daughter.
    “Is it really that bad an idea?”
    Her unusually timid tone dragged him out of his introspection. “What?”
    She was regarding him with thinly veiled curiosity.“A penny for
those
thoughts. I said you’re welcome to invite your father to visit for a few weeks if you like. He might enjoy the chance to get to know Bridget.”
    “What?” he asked again.
    “I