Free Seduced by Moonlight by Janice Sims Page B

mother.
    Harry thought she was probably mortified by her daughter’s candid remark. He was not in the least. He saw an opportunity to glean some information about her mother, since it was obvious the daughter was much less willing to be restrained by social etiquette.
    He smiled. “At forty-two,” he said, “I’m lucky to get any sort of compliment. Thank you, Danielle.” He regarded Cherisse. “How was your drive up?”
    Cherisse relaxed. “Very nice, the conditions were perfect for driving.”
    â€œGood,” said Harry. His eyes raked over her face. She had a mole on the left corner of her full, sensual mouth. Harry thought it made her mouth all the more kissable.
    He cleared his throat and sat up straighter in his chair. He couldn’t let himself get turned on by Cherisse Washington while her daughter was sitting two feet away.
    So he turned to Danielle. “I’m impressed by your skills on the slopes, young lady. John Santiago gave me a tape of your last race. You’re amazing. How did you get interested in skiing?”
    â€œMr. Santiago came to our school to introduce us to his program. I was on the basketball team then. He invited anyone who was interested to go on a field trip to the Sonnenalp Resort here in Vail.”
    â€œA great resort,” Harry said.
    Danielle smiled her agreement. “Yeah, and I’ve been hooked ever since.”
    â€œWhere did you get your drive, your ambition?” Harry asked. With him, he had always been a big kid and the high school coach saw his potential and asked him to try out for the team. Harry’s incentive had been to become a success by any means necessary, and his talents had always been physical. Today, he was an avid reader and enjoyed learning new things. But in school he had had little interest in books and had squeaked by with a C average. Luckily, back then that was all you needed to be on the football team. In college, he had learned to apply himself more.
    But he was truly fascinated by Danielle’s drive at such a young age. At seventeen, he’d been happy to be on the football team and have a girlfriend. Danielle already had her sights on the Olympics.
    â€œMom always told me I could do anything I wanted to,” Danielle told him, her eyes downcast as if she were too shy or modest to meet his gaze. She looked up at her mother and Harry could see the love she had for Cherisse reflected in her eyes.
    â€œMom was a fierce basketball player when she was my age,” she said with a smile. “When I was growing up I always saw her doing something physical practically every day. She jogged, played tennis, even ran a few marathons. She inspired me. And my dad used to play for the Philadelphia Eagles. Charlie Washington.”
    Harry did grin this time. “Your father was a great defensive back. What is he doing nowadays?”
    â€œHe was just hired by the University of Colorado at Denver as a recruiter,” Danielle said proudly.
    Cherisse could do nothing but smile. Danielle loved her father. Even when she was little she never blamed him for not seeing her more often. She never heaped recriminations on him for not helping to support her financially over the years, either. Whenever she saw him, she was simply happy to be in his presence.
    â€œSo he’s moving to Denver?” Harry asked. Here, he had to school his expression because he definitely didn’t like the sound of that. Was Cherisse’s ex-husband returning to reconnect with his daughter perhaps, or with Cherisse?
    It wasn’t an unreasonable concern, especially since he felt more drawn to Cherisse than ever. Over the years he’d known several divorced couples who reconciled after many years apart.
    Harry was happy when Cherisse spoke up. “Yes, now that he’s retired, Charlie wants to spend more time with his daughter.”
    â€œThat’s great,” Harry said. “If I had a daughter I