The Lockwood women. Tess was married to a man she had loved for years. Kate was engaged to be married soon. Char, the middle girl...didn’t they always say the middle kid could be trouble?
He stood in the doorway, quiet at first, taking it all in. Tess sat across the room in a beanbag chair, leaning her head against the wall, asleep, with a young boy in her lap, sound asleep, too. A young girl curled up next to Char, who looked barely awake and seemed to be guarding them all. As angry as he was, he was so glad to see her in one piece.
She stood carefully, to not disturb the child. They went out into the hall and, not touching, sat on the stairs leading up to the second floor. He could see blood had seeped through the bandage on the palm of her left hand.
“I’m sorry, but it had to be done,” she said. “I didn’t want to mislead you. I left you a note at the Mannings’ in case anything went wrong.”
“Oh, great. Very helpful after the fact in case you ended up hurt, missing or dead. Mislead me? Is that a nice way of saying you didn’t want to lie to me? Because you did.”
“I thought it would be easier to get them out of there than it was. I had a plan that didn’t work out and had to go with theirs—Grace’s—to make the kids cooperate, to con them into going along.”
“Yeah, well, I know how they feel. Everyone I trusted lately is suspect—even Royce—for a con job, but I thought I could trust you.”
She sniffed. Tears shimmered in her eyes but she didn’t cry. A strong woman. He’d said before he wanted a strong woman, didn’t he? One who didn’t wring her hands when a car was ready to crash off a cliff?
“How’s your hand?”
“Throbbing now—like my heart.”
“Char, it’s just I—I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you.”
“I feel the same about you,” she clipped out. He saw a single tear slide down her cheek. “I understand why you’re upset,” she said with a sniff. “I agonized over misleading—lying to you, but I had to go alone. Why should you be involved with my family mess—with me?”
“Because, damn it,” he blurted before he even knew what he would say, “you have come to mean so much to me in such a short time. I need you, need to trust you, want you—”
He didn’t finish because they came together hard.
“Watch your hand,” he muttered as he lifted her into his lap.
“Watch your heart, Matthew Rowan, because I’ve lost mine to y—”
She held the injured hand up as he silenced her with a searing kiss. He had never wanted a woman so badly. It still galled him that she’d lied to him, yet he understood why. But all that meant nothing compared to the pounding in his head and heart for her.
He held her in his arms, telling himself to be gentle, but feeling beyond that. She gave as good as she got, moving her hips in his lap, opening her mouth to him, kissing him back. They were breathing so hard they didn’t hear anything at first. Someone knocking, a distant voice?
Matt lifted his head. Glassy-eyed, he blinked to clear his sight. Gabe was close. Just down the hall.
“The doc’s here and ready to stitch Char up,” he said, and beat a quick retreat.
“Mmm,” she said, her voice shaky, her face flushed. “As far a