Conscious that she didn’t want them to find her in Alex’s bed, she slid away from him, trying not to wake him, quickly retrieved her discarded T-shirt from the floor and hurried back to her own room.

She was only just in time.

Within minutes she heard Athena cry out and tiptoed into the nursery to see if she could settle her down again.

But the little girl was wide awake and ready to play, and her cries had woken Daisy who was suddenly equally alert.

Resigning herself to an early start, Jenny lifted Daisy out of her cot and took the two youngest children down to the living room to play.

She didn’t want them to wake Alex.

Remembering just how little sleep he’d had the night before, her face heated and she gave a wistful sigh.

She’d thought that one night with Alex was better than none but now she wasn’t so sure. He’d taught her more about her body in one night than she’d learned by herself in twenty-three years. He’d released a part of herself that she hadn’t known existed and now it was loose she didn’t know how to handle it.

She felt like a different person—her whole being focused on the feminine part of herself that he’d awakened with his clever touch.

For the first time in her life she felt like a real woman. An attractive, flesh-and-blood woman.

Restless and tense after everything that had happened, she took the children into the kitchen, strapped Daisy into the high chair and let Athena help her make bread.

She nipped upstairs once to check on Zoe and found her curled up in bed with Alex, both of them fast asleep.

Jenny looked at the two of them and felt her heart turn over.

If Alex truly thought he’d be a bad father then he was fooling himself.

He’d be a fantastic father.

She walked quietly back downstairs, leaving the two of them sleeping and they eventually emerged at eight o’clock, yawning and tousled. Zoe was still in her pyjamas and Alex had pulled on a pair of jeans.

Unshaven and with his chest bare, he looked breathtakingly attractive and Jenny blushed as she caught his eye.

She had absolutely no experience of morning-after conversation. Fortunately the presence of the children made everything easier.

‘Athena and I have made rolls,’ she said cheerfully, and Alex glanced round his kitchen with a wry smile.

‘So I see. Did any of the dough make it into the oven?’

‘Just a bit.’ Jenny smiled. ‘She woke very early and I wanted to keep her busy so that she didn’t…well…’

Alex nodded to indicate that he’d understood that she hadn’t wanted the little girl to miss her mother’s presence.

He stooped to put Zoe in one of the kitchen chairs and then stretched, and Jenny’s eyes were drawn to the ripple of muscle in his shoulders. He had a fantastic body and just remembering what he’d made her feel in bed made her shiver with longing.