Just One Kiss by Carla Cassidy Read Free Book Online Page A

the truck.
    Nathaniel beamed his approval, then pointed to his mother. “Mommy.”
    â€œYeah, right. That’s your mommy,” Jack agreed. It had been five years since Jack had been around a child Nathaniel’s age.
    For the past five years Jack had consciously made decisions that would keep him isolated from children. He didn’t eat in family restaurants, he didn’t go to the zoo or to amusement parks. But there was no way to avoid this child who seemed insistent to make a connection with him.
    â€œLight.” Nathaniel pointed to the light overhead.
    Jack nodded, wondering if they were going to gothrough Nathaniel’s entire repertoire of speaking words and pointing to the appropriate objects.
    Nathaniel got to his feet next to Jack, leaning into the sofa cushion at the back and against Jack’s side. “Daddy,” he said. Without warning, he grabbed the end of Jack’s nose. His tiny fingernails felt like crab pincers and Jack yelped in protest.
    â€œLet go,” he exclaimed.
    â€œDaddy!” Nathaniel’s fingers didn’t release their hold.
    Marissa swung around to see what was going on and gasped. She jumped up and hurried to the sofa. “Nathaniel, let go!” she demanded.
    Nathaniel offered her an angelic smile. “Daddy,” he repeated.
    â€œNo, he’s not your daddy,” Marissa replied. She leaned across Jack to grab her son’s wrist.
    Tingles of electricity soared through Jack as her breasts made intimate contact with his chest. He could almost make himself believe that being nose-less was worth this single moment of pleasure.
    All too quickly, she managed to disengage Nathaniel from his nose and with a stern expression set the boy on the floor. “Not nice,” she said to him, then turned back to Jack.
    â€œAre you all right?” Once again she leaned over him to inspect the damage. She was so close to him he could see the gold flecks that accentuated the green tint of her eyes. Her mouth was slightly partedas if awaiting a lover’s kiss, and he could feel the warmth of her breath on his face.
    Her fingers were soft as they touched either side of his nose, and suddenly she was too damned close, too damned attractive.
    â€œI’m fine,” he said, waving her away irritably. Her cheeks flushed pink as she stepped away. “Unless you think I need a rabies shot,” he added.
    â€œI don’t think that will be necessary,” she said, unable to hide the amusement that sparkled in her eyes and lifted the corners of her mouth.
    â€œYou’d better find that Mr. Right of yours pretty quickly. That boy has a daddy fixation.”
    â€œDaddy,” Nathaniel said, and pointed to Jack.
    â€œHe must have picked this up at day care,” she said, a tiny wrinkle of concern appearing in her forehead. “I didn’t even know he knew what a daddy was.”
    Before he could say anything further on the subject, there was a knock on the door. “That should be the pizza,” he said. He grabbed his wallet from the coffee table and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill. “Do you mind?” He held out the money and gestured toward the door.
    â€œOf course not.” She took the bill and went to the door. She returned with the pizza and paused in the doorway between the living room and kitchen. “Where do you want to eat? In here or in the kitchen?”
    â€œWhy don’t we eat on my deck,” he suggested.He could still feel the heat from her breasts against his chest, smell her fragrance in the air. The interior of the house suddenly felt too warm, too close, too small. He needed to be outside, in the fresh air.
    â€œA deck?” She looked worriedly toward Nathaniel. “You wouldn’t be luring us out onto a deck for any particular reason, would you?”
    He laughed. “I promise you, I won’t toss the kid overboard. Besides, the deck is completely closed in, so he