place where I promise no one will bother you.’
She shook her head. She’d been thrilled when she opened her present and read the certificate. As much as she’d believed it best to be on her own today, she’d been dreading it to the point of feeling sick to her stomach. The gift of not being alone — of not spending the hours dwelling on why she was by herself — had given Jenn’s depressed mood a boost until she could barely contain her excitement.
Morgan rocked side to side while he tightened his hold. ‘I’ll take you home now. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just couldn’t bear the thought of you all alone with no one to turn to if you wanted — or needed — to.’
At some point her arms had snaked around his waist and her head nestled into the side of his neck. She could smell soap and pine and Morgan. He always smelled sweet. Jenn was sure it was all those sinful desserts he made. Taking a deep breath she saturated her senses with his tantalising aroma. With her body curled against his, it was hard to remember why doing this with him was a bad idea.
‘Jenn?’ he murmured into her hair and she could have sworn he pressed his lips to her head. ‘Do you want to go home?’
‘No.’
‘Are you mad at me?’
‘No.’
‘Okay.’ His arms loosened and Jenn gripped his waist tighter. ‘Okay, not letting go yet.’
Just a few more seconds. A few more heartbeats to pretend it was all right to be in his arms — to feel his body pressed against the length of hers. She squeezed her eyes shut and etched every single sensation into her memory. She’d take it out on those rare occasions when she allowed herself to think about Morgan as something other than her boss. A sigh raised and lowered her breasts against him.
Her boss.
It didn’t matter how good this felt — how right — being in his arms was wrong. With great reluctance, and a strength she didn’t know she possessed, Jenn let go and stepped back. She tried for a smile, but her lips wobbled and her eyes still held the sheen of tears. Not sad ones. And that was another reason to cry. It had been so long since anything had moved her other than grief.
‘T-thank you.’ She blinked rapidly to disperse the moisture gathering on her lashes. ‘I don’t really want to be alone today.’ It was hard to admit, but Morgan deserved to know where her head was at.
‘I still shouldn’t have pushed the issue.’
‘No. But I’m glad you did.’ Jenn smiled and nodded towards the house. ‘So are we going in?’
Morgan glanced over his shoulder towards the mansion. ‘There’s going to be a lot of people in there. They’ll definitely get overwhelming at some point. Jeez, they overwhelm me and I grew up in the middle of the madness.’
‘I’m sure they won’t be that bad.’ But Jenn was a little worried. As an only child she didn’t have much experience with large families.
He brushed the back of his fingers down her cheek. ‘If at any stage you want out, tell me. I’ll take you down to my place and we can hang out there for a while or you can stay there by yourself.’
She couldn’t help herself. She moved into his touch. The shout from across the yard snapped them both out of the moment. They jumped apart and Jenn had to take several deep breaths to calm her racing heart. Her palms were damp and the soft, gooey warmth swirling in her lower belly left her with an ail-too familiar, Morgan-related tension.
’Someone is calling you.’ Jenn couldn’t get a good look at the person waving at them, but she knew it was a woman. If the flowing dress hadn’t given it away, the slight frame and flamboyant, red, curly hair draped over bare shoulders would have.
Morgan closed his eyes on a sigh. He’d hoped to save Trud for last when he introduced Jenn to his family. He should have known his grandmother — who preferred everyone refer to her by her shortened first name — would expect to be first in line. At seventy-five, she behaved more