“Crow—” Meg touched his arm “—let me take you upstairs and show you where you’ll be sleeping.”
“Where are you putting him?” Sara said.
“Wherever I think works best,” Crow said pointedly.
Meg ignored them both.
“I think the nursery would be ideal.” Meg’s eyes twinkled. “The sofa in there pulls out into a bed.”
“Nursery?” Crow slanted a questioning gaze at Sara. “You got a kid?”
“Of course not!”
“Oh, Crow.” Meg laughed. “I told you Sara’s not married.”
“I know lots of women who have kids and they’ve never been married.”
“I bet you do,” James said. “But Sara’s not like the women you know.”
Crow clenched his jaw. The guy was really starting to get on his nerves.
“When this house was built, the owners had a nursery adjoin the master suite,” Meg said, obviously deciding the best way to deal with the tension was to ignore it.
“I’m not sure I like the idea of him sleeping there.” Sara’s gaze was troubled.
“It’s either that or your bed, sweetheart.” Crow could almost hear his mother’s sharp reproach. She’d been a stickler about her boys treating women with respect. He shoved the memory aside. She’d taught Sal those lessons. This was Crow’s assignment. “Either is fine with me.”
“I don’t like the idea.” James frowned. “People will start talking. We don’t need any kind of adverse—”
“I think you’re making way too much of this, James,” Meg interrupted. “Annie’s doing all the cooking and cleaning this summer and she’s as loyal as they come. As far as everyone else is concerned, Crow is a bodyguard and an old friend of Sara’s.”
“Sara doesn’t have any friends with snake tats.” James cast a derisive look at Crow.
Crow’s lips turned up in a smile. “She does now.”
Dinner had gone better than Sara had hoped, even though Crow had insisted on coming along and James had maintained a stony silence through the first half of the meal.
After dessert, Crow excused himself to make a phone call and Sara waited until he’d left the room before she turned to James. “What do you think?”
“He has excellent table manners.” James dabbed the corners of his lips with the napkin. “That surprised me.”
“I’m not talking about knowing which fork to use.” Sara leaned across the table and lowered her voice. “What do you think about this bodyguard thing? Doesn’t it seem a bit of an overkill?”
James paused thoughtfully. “The incident in Nashville last month has everyone on edge. I guess I wouldn’t be surprised to see more performers hiring them.”
“You’re saying you approve?” If he’d told her he and Crow had suddenly become best friends, she couldn’t have been more surprised. At the very least, Sara had thought James would agree Crow had to go.
“‘Approve’ might be a bit strong.” James took a sip of his decaffeinated coffee. “Understand might be a more appropriate word choice.”
“I can’t believe you’re in favor of me living with the guy.”
“Keep your voice down,” James admonished, casting a quick glance around the half-empty restaurant to see if anyone might have overheard. His features suddenly softened. “I hate the idea of him living in your house. Frankly, I worry about his influence on you.”
“His influence?” Her voice was deadly still. Surely James wasn’t intimating what she thought.
“Could you please pass me the cream?”
She resisted the urge to give him the cream right in his face, opting instead to hand it to him and wait while he measured precisely one teaspoon of cream and stirred it into his coffee.
“James.” Sara kept her tone even. “What did you mean you worry about his influence on me?”
James took a long sip of coffee and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Forget I said anything.”
“Tell me.” Her gaze pinned his.
“Sara…”
She waited.
“Okay, but you’re not going to like it.” James heaved a resigned sigh. He sat forward and folded his hands in front of him on the table as if praying for heavenly intervention. Sara suspected the way this conversation was headed he was going to need it. “The guy’s got that—for want of a better word—animal magnetism, that a certain type of woman could find hard to resist.”
Sara’s blood ran cold. “A certain type of woman.”
“I’m not saying this very well.” James took a hurried sip of coffee. “Take your mother for example.”
A knot formed in the pit of her stomach and she regretted for the hundredth time telling James about her mother. Granted, she hadn’t told him everything about those awful years, but she’d told him enough. Enough that he obviously felt free to make snap judgments.
Like mother, like daughter.
“What about my mother?”
“You told me how much she liked long-haired biker guys.”
“Yes, and I believe I also said how much I despised that type of man.” Sara fumbled with her napkin.
James covered her hand with his. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Lover’s quarrel?” Crow pulled out a chair and took his seat opposite Sara. His lips curved up in a grin. “Anything I can do to help?”
James tried to pull his hand back, but deliberately Sara laced her fingers with his and held on.
“We were just getting to the kiss-and-make-up stage,” Sara said. “Want to watch?”
“Sara!” A red flush shot up James’s neck.
Crow laughed out loud. “Sure, why not?”
Sara grinned and glanced at James. “On second thought, it’ll have to be later. James’s not much for PDA.”
Crow raised a brow. “PDA?”
“Public display of affection.” James jerked his hand free of Sara’s. “And she’s right. I’m not in favor of it. Not at all.”
James was mad.
Good.
That comment about her mother had stung. She was nothing like her mother and James knew it. And as far as Crow was concerned, although James was right that Crow did have that certain something, he was wrong about her being susceptible to his charms.
The ride home seemed to take hours. As soon as the car stopped, James mouthed an excuse about stacks of correspondence on his desk and declined Sara’s offer to come inside. To her surprise, he brushed his lips against hers before saying goodbye and driving away.
“I’m glad I didn’t stay up just for that.” An amused smile hovered on Crow’s lips. “I would have had to ask for my money back.”
“What money?” Sara unlocked the front door and automatically motioned him inside.
Crow ignored the question and followed her into the hall. “I bet he kisses like a fish.”
She whirled, and the gleam in his eyes made Sara wish she’d said good-night the minute she’d walked through the door. Despite knowing she should cut her losses and not encourage him further, Sara couldn’t resist having the last word. “I’ll have you know James is more than adequate in the kissing department.”