16 Marsden Place Read online

  “We’re going to live here.”

  “Do you still like it?”

  “Uh-huh. It’s pretty.”

  “It is, isn’t it?” Relief swept through Jack’s chest. “We’re going to be happy here, baby. I promise.”

  “I want to go in.”

  “We’ll wait for Holly to wake up first.”

  “Daddy? Daddy! Let me out, let me out.”

  He shifted Katy’s weight onto his hip and went around to the other side of the car. “Well, well, well, guess who’s awake? It’s Miss Bossy Boots herself.”

  Katy giggled, and Jack opened the door, greeted by Holly’s impenetrable glare, her arms steadfastly crossed. “Not funny, Daddy.”

  He grinned and extracted her from her car seat, lifting her easily onto his other hip. “Sorry, Munchkin. You’re still kind of cute, though.”

  She pouted. “I am not cute. Babies are cute. I’m four.”

  “Okay, then you’re beautiful. How’s that?”

  Her features softened. A little. “Nice.”

  Jack bit back a laugh. “Right, Chalk and Cheese, shall we go and check out our new home?”

  “Yay!” The girls punched the air with their tiny fists.

  With a lion-esque roar, Jack ran toward the house with the twins bouncing up and down, screaming happily. At the front door, he lowered them to the ground, pulled the key from the back pocket of his jeans, and held it aloft.

  “Ready?”

  “Yay!”

  “Are you sure? There won’t be any fighting over bedrooms?”

  “No, Daddy,” promised Katy.

  “No, Daddy,” said Holly. “Katy will let me have whichever room I want.”

  He frowned. “Holly…”

  “I will, Daddy,” interrupted Katy.

  “I know, but that’s not the point, is it?” Both girls looked at him, confusion etched across their faces. It didn’t matter how much Jack tried to teach them to share and share alike; the twins’ way of doing things worked perfectly for them. So who was he to interfere? He shrugged. “Forget it. Let’s go.”

  Slipping the key into the lock, Jack swung the door back on its hinges, and like two bullets from a gun, Holly and Katy shot ahead of him and along the hardwood floor of the hallway. Jack stepped over the threshold himself and took a long, slow look around him; he ran his hand over the polished newel post of the staircase and smooth, creamy white walls. The place was spotless. So clean there was still a trace of lemon furniture polish mixed with new paint. A million miles from anything the twins had known before.

  Their screams of delight and discovery echoed around him, filling him with satisfaction. Tomorrow they’d move their stuff from the old house and start making a new life.

  “Daddy, come see.”

  Following Holly’s call, Jack walked into the sun-filled living room, where she and Katy stood side-by-side holding hands as they peered through the glass patio doors.

  “What are you looking at?”

  “There’s a lady out there,” they said in unison.

  “Where? In the garden?” He stepped closer and looked over their heads. “Well, look at that.”

  Jack smiled as his gaze appreciated the toned thighs of the woman crawling across his newly acquired lawn.

  Chapter Two

  SIENNA CRAWLED TOWARD THE FLOWER BORDERS in number seventeen’s back yard, all the while muttering about landlords, sharp sticks, and the battering of male genitalia. After Mr. Evans from across the street had commandeered her on her way in from work and gleefully informed Sienna her new neighbor would be moving in tomorrow, she realized she’d forgotten to “borrow” a few of the daffodil bulbs from his or her new garden.

  Even though there was zero chance of her ever receiving the gardener of the year award, Sienna didn’t want her new neighbor overlooking her completely colorless yard next spring while theirs bloomed like a bloody rainbow. So, she would help herself to a few bulbs lurking in the beds waiting to erupt in the New Year. It wasn’t as though the new owner would miss what they didn’t know they’d had, right?

  Having never stolen so much as a piece of candy in her life, she pushed away the guilt hovering around her like a pesky gossamer curtain. After the day she’d had, she was due some sunny pleasure, and nothing was sunnier than daffodils. Brandishing her trowel, she plunged the tip into the soil to catapult the first one out.

  BANG, BANG, BANG!

  The sound of a fist against glass hurled her back onto her ass. “Holy crap!”

  The trowel flew from her hand up into the air, narrowly missing her left ear on its descent. Her blood pumped wildly as her heart beat an out-of-control tattoo. She looked to the patio doors. Two of the most angelic—yet mischievous—faces Sienna had ever seen stared back at her.

  Surely those two hadn’t the strength to bang on the doors that hard? She frantically scanned the back of the house. Bedroom windows: empty. Kitchen window: empty. Then the back door opened. Scrambling to her feet, Sienna brushed the mud from her knees.

  “Oh, Lord. Here goes.” She plastered on a smile as embarrassment burned her cheeks.

  When the man, presumably the kids’ father, emerged into the sunlight, her smile disintegrated and her mouth dropped wide open. Come to Mama.

  He strode out onto the decking above her. His shoulders were broad, his face handsome in a rugged, careless kind of way. His hair was thick and dark, with bits flopping onto his forehead.

  She clamped her mouth shut to lock in a tongue that wanted to loll onto the grass.

  “Can I help you?” He walked down the steps toward her.

  His voice was deep, husky, and very, very male. Sienna shivered and drew in a shaky breath.

  Talk, woman, talk. “Um, hi.” She smiled. “Funny story. I was just…”

  “Pinching some of my flowers?”

  She laughed, the sound far too high-pitched. “I wasn’t pinching your flowers. Noooo. I was checking the soil. I’ve been…um…you know, watering them while the place has been empty.”

  “Ah, I see.”

  She bent over to retrieve the trowel. Anything to escape the unrelenting intensity of his gorgeous blue eyes. Lingering for a moment, she cranked her brain into overdrive thinking of something remotely feasible and effective to get her out of there in the minimum amount of time. But her brain remained so unresponsive, she considered the fact she might be dead.

  Sienna straightened, but his line of sight remained fixed where her ass had been. Unexpected pleasure swept through her; she couldn’t remember a guy of this caliber ever looking at her like that. Unsure what to do or say—but pocketing the silent compliment for another day—Sienna cleared her throat.

  His eyes shot to hers, and a flush of color burst from the collar of his shirt to his cheeks. Something hitched inside her chest, and further humiliation flooded her senses at being caught helping herself to his daffodils. God, she had to get out of there. Get out before things got any more mortifying.

  She raised her hands. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…I’m embarrassed you caught me…”

  He threw a glance toward the house. A stone dropped into her belly and thawed her heated attraction. The girls. The girls at the window. They were no longer there.

  When she faced him again, his mouth drifted into a soft smile; the blush had faded from his face, leaving behind a rich tan. He held out his hand. “Jack Beaton. Nice to meet you.”

  Feeling more self-assured by his kindness, Sienna took his hand in hers. Smooth, firm, big. “Sienna Lloyd. Nice to meet you too.”

  After a long moment, he slowly pulled his hand from her grip. “So, I’m guessing if you’ve been watering my plants, you must be my new neighbor?”

  She slid her hands into the front pockets of her shorts, where they couldn’t get into mischief. “Yep, number sixteen. There’s a gap in our adjoining fence down there. Can you see it? I can get it boarded up in no time.” She grimaced as a way of apology. “Seeing as how you found me skulking round
in your garden, I will completely understand if you want that done sooner rather than later.”

  “Daddy?”

  At the sound of his daughter’s voice, Jack leapt away as though Sienna had lifted her top and flashed her size-D breasts in his face. The two girls who’d been at the window now stood on the decking, side by side like sentries, identical expressions of concern on their faces.

  Daddy. Sienna swallowed. She was flirting with their father while Mummy was no doubt inside unpacking boxes. What was the matter with her? Clearly her landlord’s letter had sent her over the moral edge. She opened her mouth to make her excuses and get the hell out of there, but Daddy got there first.

  “Hey, you two. Come and meet our new neighbor.”

  Anxiety spread like spilt water through Sienna’s veins, turning her blood ice-cold. She didn’t know how to talk to kids. She didn’t do kids. Was scared of them…and what they meant. Love. Nurture. Eternal dependability. None of those things lasted. Not really. Even these two adorable and incredibly identical twins, struggling down the decking steps as quickly as their four- or five-year-old legs could carry them, wouldn’t break her resolve to not get involved.

  “I…um…I must get back—”

  “Sure, we won’t keep you. Let me just introduce you to my kids. You’ll love them.” Pride rang in his voice like bells at Christmastime.

  “You don’t understand.” She glanced at the twins as they approached at an alarming rate. “I…kids don’t tend to like me.”

  “What?” He raised a brow.

  Sienna lifted her shoulders. “I know. Crazy, but there we are. So…”

  “Mine will like you.” He grinned. “Promise.”

  Somehow she managed a wobbly smile. What the hell was she supposed to say to that?

  The girls reached their Daddy Destination, and each clamped a possessive arm around a thick, muscular thigh.

  “Girls, this is Sienna, our new neighbor. Say hi.”

  Silence.

  Sienna widened her frozen smile to a grin and lifted her hand in a halfhearted wave. “Hello, girls.”

  One of them pointed to her shorts. “You have teeny-tiny shorts like Barbie.”

  Heat flared in Sienna’s face for a second time in the last few minutes, but she laughed. “Barbie? These aren’t Barbie shorts, honey. They’re just shorts.”

  The girl’s eyes narrowed. “Short shorts.”

  Feeling more and more like a hooker chatting to a little girl on the sidewalk, Sienna looked to Jack for help. His grin was so wide, it looked glued on. His eyes shone with glee.

  “It was lovely to meet your daughters,” Sienna said, glaring, “but now I have to get back.”

  Jack’s smile faltered. “Is there a problem?”

  “No, I’ve already explained—”

  “Kids don’t like you. Right.” The tone of his voice had dropped lower.

  Sienna cleared her throat. “Right. Well, it was lovely to meet you all. I’m sure I’ll see you soon.”

  She moved to walk away when Jack’s voice stopped her. “Their names are Holly and Katy, if you’re interested.” Sienna pivoted around. “If you want to borrow anything else,” he continued, “just ask. We’re friendly enough.”

  “Thanks. I will.”

  His hands smoothed protectively over his daughters’ chocolate brown hair, and Sienna’s stomach tightened at the memory of how her dad would do the exact same thing to her.

  “I’ll…um, see you round,” she said. “Say hi to your wife for me.”

  Jack’s face darkened. “My wife?”

  “I’m assuming you’ve got a wife inside to go along with your kids.”

  Seconds passed before the hardness in Jack’s eyes softened. The skin at his neck shifted, and he blinked rapidly a couple times. “I’m divorced.”

  Sienna watched him warily. Jack Beaton might have looked like he should be served between two slices of puff pastry and covered in squirty cream, but he apparently also came with a side of baggage.

  “Okay. Well, I’m sorry to hear that.”

  With no response, he just looked her over as though searching for God knew what. Shifting from one foot to the other, Sienna glanced at the twins. Had he forgotten they were there? One looked up at him while gnawing her bottom lip; the other stared straight at Sienna with pure venom.

  “It was nice to meet you, girls.” She smiled widely, in the hope it lifted whatever the hell had frozen their dad to the spot. “I apologize if I get your names mixed up; you look like two peas in a pod.” Facing Jack again, she held out her hand. “Welcome to Marsden Place. I hope you’ll be happy here.”

  Finally meeting her eyes, he took her hand in his. He looked so damn vulnerable…yet hugely muscular and demanding. A potentially lethal combination.

  Sienna shook her head and laughed to lighten the mood. “And I hope you’ll forgive my crawling in your grass uninvited. No hard feelings?”

  To her relief, he smiled. “Not at all. We hope to see you again soon, Sienna.”

  “Indeed, you will. Bye, girls.” She looked back at Jack and raised her hand to her head in a salute. “Bye, Daddy.”

  He laughed and saluted right back. “See you.”

  Turning, head held high and swinging the trowel nonchalantly back and forth, Sienna hesitated as she neared the fence. Then, after a second’s contemplation, she swallowed her pride, dropped to her knees, and crawled as gracefully as possible through the hole to her yard.

  She reached her patio doors to a chorus of male laughter mixed with dual-tone giggling. She smiled. For the first time in a long while, the sound of children playing with their father didn’t grate on her nerves or stab at her heart. Instead, it was incredibly satisfying. Her impression was that their dad needed to laugh. And seeing as Mrs. Jack wasn’t around…

  Sienna shook her head. “Nope, the man has issues. Real, bona fide ones. I do not need that right now. At all.”

  Walking through the kitchen and up the stairs, the problem of her non-existent business premises loomed large, pushing Jack Beaton to the back of her mind. The first thing she needed to do was get some legal advice. Yes. Legal advice was the way forward. This time, no mistakes, no loopholes.

  She wandered into the bedroom at the back of her house and peered into the yard next door. Jack and his daughters were running around the grass, playing a rough-and-tumble game of tag. Every time their dad caught them in his arms and lifted them onto his shoulders in a fireman’s lift, Holly or Katy screeched with delight.

  Sienna crossed her arms over the ache in her chest before snapping the drapes tightly closed. With the world shut out and no one to see her, she slipped to the floor. Once again, her life had taken a downward tumble, and she had to find a new way to start over.

  Two days later, Sienna sat across the desk from her lawyer. Tall and slim with a mass of thick black hair nearly reaching her waist, Kelsey Morgan looked more sexy-supermodel than lawyer. She was also Sienna’s best friend and a dynamo with the legal ins and outs of the corporate world. Right then, she was worth her weight in designer clothes.

  Legalities bored Sienna to tears, but receiving the cursed rent increase hadn’t left her any choice but to face them. That made Kelsey her guardian angel…albeit a guardian angel with a penchant for guys in tight leather trousers.

  “So?” Sienna asked. “What do you think? Could I legally run the business from Marsden Place?”

  “Yes, but why on earth would you want to? It’s your home. You don’t want sex-crazed pensioners and horny twenty-somethings traipsing in and out at all hours.”

  Sienna arched an eyebrow. “Pensioners and twenty-somethings? What about thirty-year-old lawyers bringing back what they think is a faulty vibrator at ten o’clock at night, only to discover she’s worn out the batteries?”

  Kelsey slid on her glasses and glared. “Hey, that was one time.”

  Sienna laughed. “One I will never let you forget.”

  “Really? Well, maybe I won’t give
you the benefit of my advice free of charge, if that’s the case. It was me who warned you about the contract for the shop in the first place, if you remember.”

  Sienna raised her hands. “I’m joking. It’s forgotten. I promise never to mention it again.”

  “Hmm, until next time.”

  Kelsey’s cell phone rang, and she snatched it up. Glancing at the display, her smile dissolved. “Oh, hell. What does he want?”

  “Who?”

  “Mike Bloody Scott.” She jabbed the talk button. “What?”

  Sienna shook her head and grinned. No matter how much her friend denied it, Mike got under her skin, and if Sienna suspected correctly, a whole lot of other places too.

  Kelsey leaned back in her chair. “I didn’t promise you anything. I said I’d help if I can…No…Fine, you owe me one. Big time.” Her cheeks flushed pink, and she averted Sienna’s eyes. “No, not dinner. You owe me a business favor if the occasion should ever arise that I need a vain, conceited family lawyer in my corner.”

  Sienna bit back her laugh. Was Kelsey aware that she was smiling and doodling hearts on her blotter?

  Seconds later, Kelsey snapped the phone shut and cleared her throat. “Asshole.”

  “God, you are so stubborn.”

  Kelsey glared. “What?”

  “You and Mike,” Sienna answered with a grin. “It’s burning like a bloody inferno between you. Sooner or later, you’ll have to jump into the fire, my friend. Mark my words.”

  Kelsey gave an inelegant snort. “Yeah, when I’m past desperate and feel as though my vagina’s sealed up.” She raised her eyebrows. “Which, when you look as good as me, ain’t never gonna happen.”

  “You’re so damn modest. I really wish I could be more like you.”

  They exchanged a smile before Kelsey leaned her elbows on her desk and slipped into lawyer mode. “Right, back to business. You can do this with your shop if you’re serious.”

  Sienna scooted forward on her seat, all thoughts of Mike vanishing. “I am. I’ll make sure the peace of Marsden Place isn’t disrupted. It helps that my house is at the very end of the cul-de-sac. And I live on the corner of what’s already a busier street that people take to cross through town. There’s also that bakery just along from me, so my neighbors are used to a little bit of commerce. It makes complete sense for me to do this, Kelse. Think of the money I’ll save in overhead.”