Part 4 (1/2)
The kid slipped past his mother and vanished inside. The delicious aroma of just-out-of-the-oven baking finally registered from nose to brain, but he refused to be distracted.
”Listen, are you-?” He hesitated. Delicacy and tact were not among his strong suits.
Lauren's chin jumped up, but she remained silent. Her hazel gaze sparred with his, daring him to continue. It wasn't his business, as she was bound to point out, but screw it-the kid screaming from a nightmare about his daddy last night? He'd ask, just the same.
”Are you in any danger from Drew's father?”
The question deleted every coherent thought in Lauren's head and she blinked at him. Repeatedly.
Like an imbecile.
During Nate's deliberate pause, she'd leaped to the conclusion he was asking about her marital status. Apparently, her current availability wasn't on his mind. Though after Drew's outburst, a man of Nate's profession would naturally be curious. She should tell him to b.u.t.t out of her business. But avoidance would only challenge him to dig deeper.
”Drew's father and I are divorced, and he's since remarried.” Her lowered gaze settled on her empty ring finger where an ostentatious cl.u.s.ter of diamonds once nestled. ”He lives in the States.”
”You didn't answer my question.”
”We're in no danger from his father.”
Not anymore.
The familiar weight of shame swamped her. She'd been so weak, and hiding them both from the world in order to feel safe was her penance.
He retreated a step and shoved his hands into his jean pockets. ”I'd planned to give your car a tow, but since there's no one here to drive...”
The awareness of how near he'd been standing p.r.i.c.kled her scalp, and she sucked in a breath, catching the hint of pine-scented soap from his skin.
”Your car's automatic; I can handle it.”
With Todd not due until this afternoon-or knowing him, the next day-the idea of having her car back in her garage was tempting enough to overcome her desire to keep her distance.
”You want to drive my Range Rover?”
”I've got a current driver's license.” She failed to prevent an eye roll. ”I could probably outdrive you on this or any road.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. ”Says the woman who ended up stuck in a ditch.”
”A freakish accident.”
”Uh huh.”
Java padded across the deck and flopped down in a puddle of sunlight, frightening a chattering fantail out of the lush grapevine below.
”I know my way around cars. I do it for a living.”
”You drive cars for a living?”
”No, Todd and I restore them. Cla.s.sic cars, that is.”
”Really?”
The disbelief in his tone made her shoulder blades twitch, and she jerked them back. ”You're archaic enough to think women can't be mechanics?”
His grin, startlingly white against his tanned skin, affected her in ways she didn't want to examine too closely.
”I've never met a female mechanic who could be a model.”
The acerbic comment she'd been about to hurl disintegrated on her tongue. Was he playing her? Had he guessed a ”wash n' wear”, medium-brown dye covered her natural shade of ash blonde? That cheap denim shorts and a cotton blouse disguised a body New York designers once coveted?
Lauren stared at him. Like an imbecile. Again.
”Want one?”
Drew's voice snapped her attention down to her side. He held out a plump m.u.f.fin.
”I thought you'd never ask.” Nate accepted the treat and with his other hand pulled a keychain from his pocket. ”You think you can help tow your car out of the ditch?”
Her son hooked an arm around her thigh. ”Maybe.”
”Perhaps you can lift it out with one hand, like Superman?”
Drew's cheek s.h.i.+fted into a smile. ”I'm not as strong as Superman.”
Nate winked. ”Not yet. In a few years, you'll give him a run for his money.”
”Go grab your jacket and gumboots.” Lauren peeled Drew's arms off her leg and ruffled his hair.
She glanced at Nate's left hand as he bit into the m.u.f.fin. Bare. No fine strip of pale skin on the third finger either.
Oh for G.o.d's sake, Lauren.
But she couldn't stop herself from saying, ”You're good with kids. Have you got any?”
His eyebrow quirked up as he swallowed, the corded muscles surrounding his Adam's apple flexing. ”My biography has been covered by every women's magazine in the country since I got suckered in to that stupid New Zealand's Bachelor of the Year thing.”
”I don't read those kinds of magazines.”
His other eyebrow rose to mirror the first, screaming ”cynical.”
She wanted him to believe her. ”It's true. Give me an article on brake pads over b.o.o.b jobs any day. I only recognized your name and face from flicking through my sister-in-law's coffee-table book. Your photos are...interesting.”
If her hands weren't gripping the crutch handles, she would've smacked herself upside the head. Interesting? Nate's photos blasted interesting into oblivion.
Provoking. Fascinating. Heart-wrenching. Enthralling.
Couldn't she have uttered a more original adjective than interesting?
”Thanks. I think.” He chuckled and licked a crumb off his finger. ”For the record, I don't have kids. I'm not married or in a relations.h.i.+p, and I'm not gay either.”