Carae's Touch (Long Line of Love, #4) Read Online Free Page A

said, reaching in his pocket to give Bancroft his key fob. He glanced towards the double doors. "I'll see if she's ready." 
    In the hallway, he walked to one of the three powder rooms on the main floor of the house. Five minutes later, Carae emerged looking so lovely he wanted to sweep her into his arms and kiss her breathless.
    "Missed me?" She asked, smiling at him.
    He nodded.
    She caressed his cheek. "My, aren't we feeling magnanimous."
    What he felt was plain, unadulterated lust along with a pressing interest in knowing everything about her. "Can I buy you a drink?"
    "Yes you can, but only if you promise not to tell me that you don't date Lelia's friends."
    "All right."
    "Don't you want to qualify that with a but?"
    "No." He glanced down the hall towards the staircase. "I need a few minutes to say good night to my niece and nephew."
    "I'll go say goodbye to Lelia and thank your brother and sister-in-law."
    He nodded.
    She pressed her warm, sweet lips briefly against the corner of his mouth before turning and walking down the hall.
    He stared after her, his gaze locked on her rear. Damn it looked big, round, and eminently spankable. Inhaling slowly in an effort to wrestle his passion under control, he walked down the hall and ran up the stairs. Halfway down the second floor hallway, he opened a door.
    A small, pretty girl with dark skin and a long braid over one shoulder, sat up in bed with her arms extended. "Uncle Daddy!"
    The way his life was going, having Layton's kids call him Uncle Daddy was as close as he'd ever get to having anyone call him Daddy. Shaking off memories of the child who had died with Rissa, he walked into the room, sat on the bed, and engulfed her in his arms. "There's my sweet girl."
    After going into the adjoining room to speak to Malita's twin brother, Brandon, he walked back downstairs to find Carae standing by the entrance door with Bancroft, Lelia, and Layton's wife, Tempest, who was pregnant with their second set of twins.
    Although he knew they must all have questions, he was in no mood to linger or give them an opportunity to give him the third degree. He kissed Lelia and Tempest's cheek, nodded at Bancroft, and escorted Carae out to the oval in front of Layton's mansion.
    "Where's your car?" he asked.
    She walked over to an older model sedan and handed him the keys.
    Once they were inside he turned to look at her. "Where would you like to go for that drink?"
    "What I'd like is to dance in the moonlight with you until I can barely stand up and then I'd love you to pick me up and..."
    "And?"
    "Fill in the blank, sweetie."
    "If I did that, God only knows where we'd end up."
    "I know where I'd like to end up."
    So did he. "And where is that?"
    "Spending the night talking to you until you feel comfortable enough to tell me about her—them."
    He shook his head. "I told you I don't want to talk about them."
    She touched his arm. "Okay. I can wait until you can and do. In the meantime, I'm ready to go home."
    "What about that drink?"
    "Maybe another time."
    Damn. "Where do you live?" he asked.
    She gave him her address.
    He took out his phone and texted Bancroft to follow them after all before he started the car and drove off.
    There were so many things he wanted to say to her, but given his intention to avoid a relationship with her, none of them felt appropriate. Noting that her car could handle it, he reached in his jacket pocket for the flash drive he carried with him.
    "What's that?" she asked.
    "Some of my favorite songs."
    "Don't you store them in the cloud?"
    "I do, but I keep this for the times when I don't have internet access. Do you mind?"
    "Of course not."
    "Do you mind if I sing along?"
    "Sing to me, sweetie," she invited.
    Although that's just what he wanted to do, he remained silent through some of his favorite songs, You Light Up My Life, Here's Some Love, and Crazy Little Thing Called Love. However, with the opening bar of Ray Charles belting out If You Were Mine , he found