He opened the door. He had to. And the lush flow of it rolled over him.
A kid’s song. He recognized it now from the mermaid movie the boys were still crazy about. He told himself no sane man would get tied up in knots when a woman sang a kid’s song.
But he wasn’t feeling very sane. Hadn’t been since he made the enormous mistake of kissing her.
And he knew that if she’d been alone he would have marched right over to the piano and kissed her again.
But she wasn’t alone. Kim was standing behind her, and his children flanked her. Now and again she glanced down at them as she sang, and smiled. Zack was leaning toward her, his head tilting in the way it did just before he climbed into your lap.
Something shifted inside him as he watched. Something painful and frightening. And very, very sweet.
Shaken, Mac stuffed his hands into his pockets, curled those hands into fists. It had to stop. Whatever was happening to him had to stop.
He took a long breath when the music ended. He thought—foolishly, he was sure—that there was something magical humming in the instant of silence that followed.
“We’re running late,” he called out, determined to break the spell.
Four heads turned his way. The twins began to bounce on the bench.
“Dad! Hey, Dad! We can sing ‘Jingle Bells’ really good! Want to hear us?”
“I can’t.” He tried to smile, softening the blow, when Zack’s lip poked out. “I’m really running late, kids.”
“Sorry, Uncle Mac.” Kim scooped up her coat. “We kind of lost track.”
While Mac shifted uncomfortably, Nell leaned over and murmured something to his sons. Something, Mac noted, that put a smile back on Zack’s face and took the mutinous look off Zeke’s. Then both of them threw arms around her and kissed her before they raced offstage for their coats.
“Bye, Miss Davis! Bye!”
“Thanks, Miss Davis,” Kim added. “See you later.”
Nell made a humming sound and rose to straighten her music.
Mac felt the punch of her cold shoulder all the way in the back of the auditorium. “Ah, thanks for entertaining them,” he called out.
Nell lifted her head. He could see her clearly in the stage lights. Clearly enough that he caught the lift of her brow, the coolness of her unsmiling mouth, before she lowered her head again.
Fine, he told himself as he caught both boys on the fly. He didn’t want to talk to her anyway.
Chapter 5
She didn’t have to ignore him so completely. Mac sipped the cup of hard cider his brother-in-law had pressed on him and resentfully studied Nell’s back.
She’d had it turned in his direction for an hour.
A hell of a back, too, he thought, half listening as the mayor rattled on in his ear. Smooth and straight, topped off by the fluid curve of her shoulders. It looked very seductive in the thin plum-colored jacket she wore over a short matching dress.
She had terrific legs. He didn’t think he’d ever actually seen them before. He would have remembered. Every other time he’d run into her she’d had them covered up.
She’d probably worn a dress tonight to torment him.
Mac cut the mayor off in midstream and strode over to her. “Look, this is stupid.”
Nell glanced up. She’d been having a pleasant conversation with a group of Mira’s friends—and thoroughly enjoying the simple act of ignoring Mira’s brother.
“Excuse me?”
“It’s just stupid,” he repeated.
