Yours Seductively

Chapter 6.3 (Part 1)

   It was a long evening in Tyler's household, but the children were finally in bed, and Tyler had time alone to reflect on the afternoon's events. Standing at the window of his darkened living room, a drink in his hand, he looked out at the quiet neighborhood in which he had chosen to settle his family. It was 10:00 p.m., and many of the other houses were already dark. His hardworking neighbors tended to be the early-to-bed, early-to-rise types.

   He would bet that Jane, like him, was still awake.

   Jane. He had only to close his eyes to picture her clearly, standing outside his house the way she had earlier. Her dark red hair had gleamed like polished copper in the afternoon sun. Her gold-flecked green eyes had glittered with rapidly changing emotions. Her long, slender legs had stretched endlessly beneath the hem of her short cover-up, and the tantalizing glimpse of bikini through the mesh had almost cleared his mind of coherent thought a time or two.

   He'd had to make an enormous effort to keep his reactions to her hidden. Maybe he'd done so a bit too effectively. He'd had the distinct impression that she had been miffed with him when she'd stalked away.

   Truth was, it had bothered him that Tom's unprecedented act of rebellion had involved Jane—even though she'd done nothing to instigate the incident. He had wanted to keep whatever development himself and Jane completely separate from his home life, and that wasn't made any easier by Tom's lingering obsession with her. He didn't know how to deal with his own fascination with Jane—much less his five-year-old son's!

   Turning away from the window, he finished his drink and set the glass aside. His gaze fell in the telephone sitting in the table beside the couch, illuminated by the dimmed light of the lamp turned on in the shadowy den. Maybe he should call her. After all, she had brought Tom home safe to him. And he had been a bit short with her. He owed her another thank-you—and an apology.

   He knew by her chilly tone that she'd already guessed who was calling. He didn't bother to identify himself before he said, "I suspect I wasn't as gracious to you this afternoon as I should have been."

   "Why would you say that?" She asked too formally. "You thanked me for bringing Tom home and then you offered me a ride. You did everything that was expected of you."

   He winced. "Jane..."

   "If you're calling to thank me again, please don't."

   "I called because I want to talk to you. And because I know I behaved boorishly. All I can say is that I was badly shaken by Tom's disappearing act, and it made me forget my manners. It wasn't an excuse, but it's my only explanation."

   "I understand that you were upset. I hope you've been able to reassure yourself it won't happen again."

   "I had a long talk with Tom—and in case you're worried, I didn't yell at him. I merely pointed out that he scared the stuffing out of me, and I don't want him to even think about doing anything like this again."

   "I'm sure he got your message."

   "I certainly hope so."