Free Her Charming Heartbreaker by Sonia Parin

deficiency.”
    He groaned and this
time she thought she heard him say
think, damnit,
think
.
    “If you had a kid and
someone offered you an all expenses paid overseas trip, what would
you do?”
    He wanted to take
Claire on an overseas trip? Probably somewhere glamorous and exotic
like a tropical island... “You want me to say I’d ditch the kid,
and I almost wish I could be that type of person and embrace the
spirit of adventure, but children are a lifetime’s responsibility.
You don’t walk away from that without good reason.”
    He turned and hitched
his hands on his hips. “What if someone offered to look after your
son?”
    “It would have to be
someone I trust. Also, there would have to be a fallback plan,” she
said ticking off each pointer on her fingers. “What if the person
looking after my son got sick? In fact, I’d want to have a failsafe
contingency plan.”
    “Wouldn’t it be easier
to take him with you?”
    “I was getting to
that,” she said wiggling her little finger. “Point number
four.”
    “Bottom line, you
wouldn’t turn down the offer.”
    “Not a chance. I’d find
a way to say yes.”
    “Even if it meant
getting someone to babysit?”
    She gave him a small
nod.
    “How about someone like
me?”
    That didn’t make sense.
He’d offered Claire an overseas trip but he wanted to stay?
“Hypothetically? Maybe-possibly-yeah-sure.”
    “I’m talking about an
all expenses paid trip, Eddie.”
    “All right. Stop
pressuring me. Give me a minute to think... hypothetically.” She
saw the hint of a smile appear. “I wouldn’t want to go through life
regretting the missed opportunity. So I’d find a way to say yes,
thank you.”
    He looked down at the
ground and brushed his hand across his chin.
    “Theo, you can’t really
do the whole Carpe Diem thing when there’s a child involved.
Also…”
    “What?”
    “If you met online,
then there’s the whole ‘do I really know him’ question.”
    He laughed. “Online?
What are you talking about?”
    Eddie lifted her
shoulders. “Okay, shoot me. I’m fishing for more information. How
did you two meet?”
    Shaking his head, his
lips stretched into a grin. And then he took a step toward her.
Eddie managed to blink, but then her mind went blank.
    He took her hand, and
drew her to him. “You’re a genius,” he said and kissed her.
    Or rather, his lips met
hers, and then he drew back.
    She expected him to
offer an instant apology or explain or something… Please say
something, she silently begged, or make a noise, any noise,
anything to fill the deafening silence. Then as if in answer to her
prayer, she heard her heart thumping against her chest. And then
she became aware of another pulsing beat lower down…
    “Speaking of regrets,”
he said in a thick voice, his eyes sweeping around her face.
    “We were?”
    His hand slid to her
waist and drawing her against him, he tilted her chin. Eddie felt a
gurgle of laughter rising up to her throat. She couldn’t hold it
back. And when she tried harder, her chest shook.
    “I wondered about
that.”
    “About what?”
    “I wondered if you’d
laugh.”
    “I know I’m laughing
but I’m not sure why. And I have no idea what you’re talking
about.”
    “This.” He leaned in,
and brushed his lips against hers, this time he turned it into a
caress. Gentle. Teasing. And deliciously enticing.
    Eddie heard more soft
laughter and realized it came from her but then the sound changed
to humming. It took her a few moments to catch up with what was
happening. Theo Kendrick had pressed her against him, molding her
body to his and he was kissing her.
    Instinct kicked in with
an order to step away, but her legs had turned to noodles. And
instead of engaging her brain and reasoning her way out of what
could turn into an awkward moment, she responded by kissing him
right back, moving against him, letting his warmth wrap around her.
But a part of her could still reason. Any minute now, she expected
him