Bare feet appeared between his shoes a few seconds later. She curled her toes under and into the hardwood floor, but not before he got a peek at those bright red toenails. He’d never cared about nail polish before. Now he did.

“Connor?”

Don’t look up. Don’t look up.

Despite the commonsense advice from his brain, his head shot up at the sound of her voice. “Did you need something?”

She wore pajamas. Navy blue pants with bright pink lip prints all over them and a slim-fitting navy-blue tee that highlighted exactly what she hid under those oversized jackets.

He lost the ability to spell.

“Just this.” She dropped to her knees between his open thighs.

Sweet Jesus. “Uh, Maddie?”

He was pretty sure his brain stopped working. Just clicked right off.

“Stop me if you don’t want this.” She ran her palms up and down his thighs.

Then her mouth closed over his and he didn’t care if he ever had a rational thought again. Her mouth, all warm and inviting, traveled over his. Not a quick peck good-night. No, she dove in. Her tongue licked the seam between his lips, pressing them open and deepening her touch.

The kiss raged through him and burned past every defense. He wanted to touch her, taste her, run his hands all over her.

Just as he settled his hands on her waist and toyed with the idea of dragging her down onto the mattress with him, she pulled back. Her mouth hovered over his, teasing. Skimming just close enough for him to smell her.

He tried to draw her closer but she shook her head.

Only inches separated their lips when she smiled at him. She slowly rose to her feet, letting her hands drag along his legs and not breaking contact until the last minute.

“You were right.” Her hands dropped to her sides as she stood in front of him. “The charge is gone.”

He felt the shot straight to his gut. More than likely, he deserved it.

She headed for the ladder. “Get some sleep. You have an early handyman date tomorrow.”

He fell back against the mattress. “Lesson learned.”

“Let’s hope so,” she said in one last parting shot as she climbed the ladder.

Chapter 12

Maddie marched into Ben’s office the next morning. It’s not as if she had a choice. Connor dropped her off early so she could man the answering service, then he headed off to Paul’s house. They’d colluded and decided that she needed full-time babysitters. Never mind that she’d been handling the notes and living her life—mostly—without their help and direction for months. The men seemed to believe they were in charge now.

Little did they know it was happening because she was letting it happen. Only a fool would turn down protection when danger lurked so close.