Free A Convenient Husband by Kim Lawrence Page B

beside her, who was, Tess noted worriedly, much older than he appeared on the small screen, but she obviously hadn’t reached the point in her life where she could laugh at her teenage crush on Rafe.
    A laugh—surely hysteria, for there was nothing remotely funny about this situation—was ruthlessly bitten back. Tess closed her eyes for a brief moment and forced her stiff lips into a welcoming smile.
    â€˜Chloe, how lovely to see you.’ The patent insincerity jarred on her ears. ‘And you must be Ian.’
    It was at this point it struck home that during their altercation Rafe had taken hold of her wrist, which he now twisted neatly behind her back before plastering himself in a very misleading manner to her side.
    Normally Tess wouldn’t have thought twice about the casually affectionate body contact. Only normally Rafe hadn’t just…What the hell had he just done—made a pass…? She didn’t know and, she told herself firmly, she didn’t much care. It was perfectly understandable for her to feel ultra-conscious and uncomfortable about the hardness of the muscular thigh that was tightly pressed against her. Struggling would make this all look worse than it already did.
    The smile she received from the older man in return for her cautious one was warm and open. She’d expected to automatically feel antagonistic, only she didn’t. She’d expected to get slick and instead she got sincere—it was pretty disorientating. Rafe had to take his share of the blame for her disorientation; the faint scent that rose from his body made her sensitive nostrils flare. It was so…so male.
    â€˜Ben, look who’s here, it’s Mummy.’ Tess didn’t see the startled expression on Rafe’s face when she made the introductions.
    The rigid smile was still fixed on her lips as she shot him a seething glare. It was hard to see the expression in his eyes from under the decadent sweep of his dark lashes. Her glance slid downwards to his mouth…don’t think kissing…don’t think kissing…Just what was he playing at now?
    Ben didn’t appear overly impressed by all the ‘darlings’, ‘dear little Benjys’ and ‘isn’t he sweet?’ and even less impressed by the burning kisses pressed to his small grubby face. Tess dreaded what he might do any moment—when it came to tactlessness eighteen-month-olds were in class of their own. Ben might be limited verbally, but he had effective ways of making his likes and dislikes known!
    Chloe smiled expectantly at Ben, who was not looking happy. Tess started to gush, she knew it, she could hear herself, but for the life of her she couldn’t stop.
    â€˜He was so excited when I told him about your visit, he couldn’t go to sleep last night. To make matters worse he was awake very early this morning. He’s exhausted, but will he admit it? You know how it is with kids.’ That’s the problem, idiot, she reminded herself: Chloe doesn’t begin to know how it is with kids, and certainly not this particular kid.
    Would she know you had to look inside his wardrobe to check for aliens before he could go to sleep? Would she know he came out in a rash if he ate cheese, or that he threw up if he got too excited? The resentful pain inside was almost impossible to contain.
    â€˜It always makes him a little bit cranky if his routine is disrupted.’
    â€˜Are you calling me a disruption?’ Rafe drawled.
    Now that he mentioned it. Actually, Tess didn’t mind the interruption, without which she might still be burbling on this time next week!
    â€˜She’s called me worse,’ he confided to his attentive audience.
    â€˜We wondered who belonged to the car outside.’
    If Chloe’s sharp blue gaze had missed a single detail of the tall, spectacular man’s appearance the first time she’d subjected him to a slow head-to-toe scrutiny, she