Free Melting Into You (Due South Book 2) by Tracey Alvarez

capable of a bit of short-term fun…?” She let the question hang.
    Shaye nodded. “Guess you’re right.”
    Yes. She was right. The only thing dependable about falling in love with Ben Harland would be the shattered heart at the end of the fall.

    Chapter 6
    Ten days, ten nights. Two hundred and forty hours until freedom.
    Ben hung up the phone and dropped his head into his hands. Everyone was either at work or busy. He’d arranged with Shaye’s friend, Holly, to watch Jade this morning, but now Holly was sick—and he didn’t need the kid catching something contagious. Ford might watch her—if Ben could bribe his mate to stop tinkering with his cars for a few hours. Nah. Ford with his dreadlocks and tatts would freak out the kid, though the man was as dangerous as a kitten.
    “Why can’t I come with you?” Jade scraped the last spoonful of cocoa-puffs from her bowl. A fine ring of brown-stained milk lined her lips.
    Ben pinched the bridge of his nose. “I already told you, I can’t take kids out on my boat when I’ve got clients.”
    “I want to see a shark. Aunty Piper says they’re cool.” She wiped her mouth on her sleeve and kicked her heels against the chair.
    “Some other time.”
    Like in another six years when she could stay home alone so he could have some sort of life. Not that he was a social butterfly, but he’d already skipped a poker game with the guys and a Friday night beer at Due South wasn’t gonna happen.
    And tripping over tiny boots left on his floor sucked. Having to know Jade’s location every moment of every day sucked. Juggling his schedule and groveling for babysitters sucked even more.
    Ten days, ten nights. They couldn’t go fast enough.
    Jade tapped her spoon against the bowl, and he winced. Two nights of interrupted sleep thinking about a certain hot female down the road had whittled his to lerance for loud noises down to zero. Especially since the hot female in question kept pretending nothing had happened.
    “Why can’t I go to Zoe’s then?” she said.
    “You played there yesterday afternoon. You don’t want to wear out your welcome.”
    “They like me coming over, Kezia said so. She’s nice, and I like her.”
    Whereas he remained a surly sonofabitch. Playing a few board games hadn’t put him in the running for the Father-of-the-Year award. But what choice did he have when he needed a sitter?
    Stuck and outta luck.
    “All right. I’ll see if they’re free.” He keyed in Kezia’s number. The tiny speaker beeped in his ear. Busy. “Zoe must be on the internet.”
    “At home, we can use the internet and the phone at the same time.”
    “That’s because you have broadband in Auckland. Not everyone wants broadband on Stewart Island.”
    Jade’s eyebrows tweaked together. “That’s dumb.”
    “Things are different here, and you’ll have your fast internet in a few days when you go home.”
    “I can’t wait. I hate it here—except for Zoe and K ezia.”
    Ouch . Pity he had an elephant hide, impervious to little-girl venom. She hated it here? His four-foot-high, uninvited houseguest was no picnic for him either.
    “What about your aunties? And your Gran?” Jeez, it still sounded weird. “Thought you liked them.”
    She snatched the soft toy dog off the chair beside her and cuddled it. Wasn’t she too old for stuffed animals? But then, hey, what did he know?
    “They’re okay, I s’pose.”
    “You won’t have to miss your mum for much lon ger.”
    Ten long days, ten longer nights.
    “I don’t miss her.”
    Jade angled her chin and Ben’s gut tightened. He’d seen his sisters make the exact same motion when they felt backed into a corner. And, okay—ouch for Marci too.
    “I miss my home and my stuff and my friends”—her lower lip pooched out and she scrunched up her face—“but I won’t miss you.”
    What a news-flash . Ben stood, his chair scraping across the floor. Jade flinched, and he froze, fingers clenched around the coffee mug