Honorable Intentions (The Landis Brothers #5)(16)
Author: Catherine Mann

He padded across the bedroom       floor to the mammoth wardrobe and pulled out a gift bag from a French       Quarter parfumeur. Her eyebrows pinched together curiously as she       tucked the Egyptian cotton sheet under her arms. He dropped the bag into the       middle of the bed where it landed with a hefty thump.

Tugging out red-and-gold tissue       paper and tossing it onto the bed, she peered inside the gold foil bag. A       slow smile spread across her face… .

“Bubble bath!” she squealed,       pulling out one bottle, then the next, digging her way through the bag       filled with different scents and bathing accessories with obvious       joy.

“You’d mentioned hurried showers       before now. There are definite perks to having me and a nanny around. You       can stay in the tub as long as you like.”

She uncorked a small bottle of       scented oil and sniffed, moaning in ecstasy. “Heaven.”

Chuckling, he passed her a long       skinny box. He had definite ideas for that oil later. “I know this isn’t as       nice as diamonds, but I figured you would pitch jewels back in my lap       anyway.”

“You figured right. Besides,       bath pearls are more precious than the real kind because this really was       thoughtful.”

“So why don’t you go try it out       now?”

“Right now?”

“Sure. The bathroom’s right       through there.”

She rocked forward on her knees       and kissed him fast before gathering up her French milled soaps and gels and       whatever else chicks called the rest of the stuff. Nearly tripping over the       sheet in her excitement, she raced straight for the master bath.

Hank sat in the middle of the       bed, leaning back against the headboard and listening to her hum as she       filled the tub. As much as he wanted to have her again, he wasn’t going to       interrupt her first long bath since her son had been born.

How insane was it that he felt       every bit as good about sitting here listening to her sing as he had when       making love to her? The sound of her voice stroked him just as completely as       her hands.

Damn. Gabrielle might be the one       in the tub, but he was the one in serious hot water.

Now that he’d had her, there was       no way in hell he could let her go.

* * *

Gabrielle toed the hot water on       again, reheating the tub for the third time.

There had to be a special place       in heaven for whoever invented the tankless water heater. This hour-long       bath soaked stress from parts of her body she hadn’t even realized were       kinked. Tension slipped from her every time she opened the drain.

Although she couldn’t give all       the credit to the spa bath. Lavender perfume hung in the humid air, Hank’s       thoughtful gifts soothing her soul and tugging her heart all at once. The       man could have bought her jewels, which she wouldn’t have accepted. Or       chocolates, which she couldn’t eat because of nursing Max.

Instead, Hank had paid attention       to her needs, to the scent she wore.

She sank deeper into the tub big       enough for two and soaked in the mellow tan and butter cream-colored decor       around her. Maybe she would finish off with a shower, another pure spa       delight with jets lining the corners to spray from all angles.

There was even a flat-screen       television mounted high in a corner if she wanted to lean back, hide out and       watch a movie.

This place was mama nirvana.       She’d never considered herself a materialistic person, but she wouldn’t mind       having this all to herself at the end of each day.

With Hank waiting for her in the       bedroom?

She couldn’t ignore that they’d       taken a huge step tonight. As much as she wanted to tell herself it was only       a fling, she wasn’t an affair kind of person. She was still the same person       she’d been from the start—the girl who’d lived to be a mother, to have her       own happily ever after with the best dressed, most well fed, happiest babies       on the block.

Which brought her right back to       those fears that had iced her after making love to Hank.

Her last romantic relationship       hadn’t gone all that great, even before Kevin died. That last fight with him       kept whispering through her mind, how he’d wanted her to move near him and       she’d resisted.

Was she crazy to be thinking of       the future now? If anything, Hank was more tied to the military lifestyle       than Kevin had been. As if their shared past with Kevin didn’t already make       things complicated enough.

She toed the hot water off.       There wasn’t a heater big enough to chase away the chill settling into her       bones.

* * *

Listening to Gabrielle take a       bath had been pure torture. But as much as he wanted to slide into the water       with her and make love to every inch of her body, he was determined to let       her have her quiet time alone, soaking.

Pivoting away from temptation,       he pulled on sweat pants, left his room and headed for hers. He could check       on Max, give Leonie a break if she was awake. Seemed as if the entire       household had an upside down sleeping schedule, their lives wrapped up in       making sure Max was okay.

As it should be.

He stepped into her room,       scanning for where she’d left the nursery monitor. Leonie’s voice crooned       from the next room as she sang some old nursery rhyme. A memory flashed of       his mom singing off-key while she decorated the tree, his dad hooking an arm       around her waist and vowing his ears were bleeding from the      sound.

Both of them laughing       together.

Everyone told him she’d been a       great mom and from the videos he’d seen, they were right. His dad hadn’t       talked about her much over the years, just saying she’d been a real wonder       woman, parenting alone most of the time since the military lifestyle kept       him away.

Hank trailed a finger along the       edge of Gabrielle’s makeshift workstation. She’d set up her laptop on the       sofa table behind the love seat and pulled a chair from the hall to set up a       mini-office. For her website work? Or school? Or both while she took care of       her son? She carried the load of three women. He dropped into the seat and       wished somehow he could absorb some of the burden for her.

His eyes landed on two       scrapbooks resting on a stack of her textbooks. He pulled the album off the       top and thumbed it open.

Kevin’s face stared back at him       like a sucker punch from the grave.

Hank studied the photo of Kevin       with Gabrielle at the squadron Christmas ball, a red rosebud pressed to the       corner of the image like a splash of blood. The staged portrait didn’t tell       him much other than that it commemorated an event. He flipped the page and       found a photo of the three of them at a Shreveport Captains baseball game.       Gabrielle wore a jersey and cap, her blond ponytail lifted by the wind.       Kevin had his arm hooked around her shoulders. They appeared happy. Really       happy.

He looked at himself…and       crap.

No wonder Kevin knew how he felt       about Gabrielle. One look at this picture would have told an idiot that Hank       had a thing for her. His eyes were glued to her like a starving guy on food       after a hunger strike.

Yet Gabrielle hadn’t picked up       on it. She’d seemed stunned when he’d kissed her a year ago. Or she’d kissed       him, as she kept insisting. Once they started, it had been      mutual.

Would he ever get over feeling       guilty? Even now, the weight of it bored into him like eyes watching him       from the grave.

He glanced up fast. Gabrielle       stood in the open doorway wearing a simple satin robe. The fabric clung to       her damp body in places, her face still flushed from the steamy heat. Her       hair was piled up on her head, wisps trailing down and sticking to her neck.       Just the sight of her had him wanting her again. His hand fisted on top of       the photo.

She walked deeper into the room       and sat on the love seat, resting her chin on her arms and staring at him       over the sofa back. “I thought you might come join me in the      tub.”

“I thought the bath was about       you having time to yourself. If I joined you, doesn’t that negate the whole       alone-time point?”