His eyes moved from his daughter to her. Their gazes connected in the dimness. An incredible awareness, as hot and vital as flame, replaced the worry she'd detected moments before. Boldly, his smoky gaze traveled the length of her, undressing her with his eyes. Seeing the sensual heat in his gaze, the sudden carnal desire, she knew he was imagining her lying in his bed, naked, waiting for him. She shamelessly wished she were.
Desire danced through her, a wanting so explicit and urgent it should have shocked her but no longer did. This smoldering hunger was a remnant of the heat he'd generated during their picnic but hadn't had the courtesy to extinguish. Desire and need mingled as one, a yearning so powerful that a delicious warmth cascaded through her veins.
She searched for something appropriate to say to break the spell and managed a whispery, "Hi."
"Hi." Wrapped in the shadows of the room, his voice was rough, gravelly, and sexy, sliding over all those warm, secret places that responded so effortlessly to him.
Pushing off the doorjamb, he slowly crossed to the bed and ran his knuckles down Laura's cheek, then smoothed his large hand gently over her head. A shuddering sigh escaped Laura, and she snuggled deeper into her pillow, murmuring incoherent words. Straightening, he glanced at Caitlan, and she saw the true weariness in his eyes.
J.T. jammed his hands on his hips, his expression taking on a protective edge. "How is she?"
"Emotionally exhausted, but I think she'll be fine." Caitlan came up on her elbow, a little self-conscious about being with Laura, as if J.T. might think she was trying to horn in where she really didn't belong. "She didn't want to be alone. I hope you don't mind."
"Mind what?" A wry, private smile touched his lips. "You being a surrogate mom?"
"If that's what you want to call it." She shrugged lightly and glanced at Laura's pretty face, knowing once her mission ended that this child would still be special to her. "She needed someone to be with her. I'm just glad I was around to help."
J.T. rubbed the muscles at the back of his neck. "I should have been with her," he said in a low voice filled with self-recrimination. "But I needed to get to the bottom of this incident with the kittens."
"I understand," she reassured him softly. "And I think Laura understands too."
Their eyes met and held for endless seconds.
Then J.T. expelled a deep, resigned breath. "Thank you, Caitlan. For everything."
"You're welcome." She couldn't help the smile lifting her lips, inordinately pleased that he actually appreciated her and had swallowed his pride enough to admit it. Then her thoughts detoured to more important matters. "Did you find out who's responsible for killing the kittens?"
Laura stirred, shifting onto her back, mumbling something about Tommy pulling on her hair.
J.T. lifted a brow at his daughter's comment, then whispered to Caitlan, "Why don't we finish this discussion down in the kitchen?"
Nodding, Caitlan slid off the bed. She adjusted the covers over Laura and placed a light kiss on the girl's soft cheek. "Sweet dreams, honey." Glancing at J.T., she found him watching her with a caring and warm glimmer in his eyes.
Shaking off the bout of awareness shimmering over her, she passed him as she moved through the doorway. "Let's go," she said, too aware of how quiet the house was, now that Paula had left a half hour ago.
He caught up to her on the stairs. "Who in the hell is Tommy?" he growled like an overly provoked papa bear.
Caitlan grinned at J.T.'s prickly attitude in relation to boys and his little girl. "Probably a boyfriend at school who pulls her hair to get her attention." She shot him a pointed look. "Don't embarrass Laura by asking her about it."
"A boyfriend?" he said incredulously, dogging her steps through the living room. "She's only twelve years old, for crying out loud!"
Caitlan laughed softly, amused. "A very prettytwelve-year-old," she stated emphatically, then gave him a sidelong look. "How old was Amanda the first time you kissed her?" She flicked on the kitchen light and turned to face him.
"Uh, twelve. Damn!" He scowled. "If this Tommy kid so much as touches Laura, I'll break his legs."
For a moment Caitlan wished she could be around when Laura started dating, just to be a buffer between an overprotective father and his daughter. "I sure pity Laura when she starts dating. Are you going to be the kind of father who greets Laura's dates with shotgun in hand?"
His brows lifted a fraction, considering her suggestion. "Not a bad idea."
Caitlan shook her head and dropped the subject, not wanting to be held accountable for planting these wild ideas in J.T.'s head. Laura would never forgive her. Opening the refrigerator, she retrieved the Sloppy Joe mix Paula had prepared for supper, but no one had eaten because of all the earlier chaos. Under the circumstances Frank and Kirk had gone home for supper.
Turning on a burner, she scooped enough meat for J.T.'s meal into a saucepan. "What did you find out about the kittens?"
"Not much as far as who actually threw them into King's stall." He sat down on the bench, legs spread, elbows braced on his knees. Plowing all ten fingers through his hair in a frustrated gesture, he stared at the floor between his booted feet. "Everyone seems to be accounted for when it happened."
While the meat simmered, Caitlan pulled three hamburger buns from the bread box and put them on a plate. Placing a slice of cheese on each, she glanced back at J.T. "Where was Randal?" She strove to keep her tone neutral.
J.T.'s head shot up, his eyes narrowed. "Randal? You think he had something to do with this?"
Caitlan didn't think, she knew for certain Randal had thrown the kittens into King's stall as an act of revenge-toward her and possibly toward Missy for attacking him. Yet she had no concrete evidence beside her gut instinct, and Randal's awful smirk, that he'd actually done the deed.
Heaping the meat onto the buns and cheese, she gave a casual shrug. "I'm just curious where he was when this happened."
"He was with Hank and Sam down at the cook-house when Laura started screaming."
Great alibi, Caitlan thought, but how long had the kittens been dead before Laura found them?
Caitlan set J.T.'s dinner on the table, along with a tall glass of iced tea.
J.T. turned around toward the table, glancing from his plate of Sloppy Joe's to Caitlan, who'd taken a seat across from him. "Thanks. You didn't have to make my dinner." A smile tipped the corners of his mouth. "I'm not such a lousy cook that I couldn't have warmed the meat myself."
She smiled. "I'm sure you could have, but you look exhausted and I really don't mind."
He picked up a sandwich, then looked back at her. "Aren't you going to eat?"
"I'm not hungry. Go ahead."
He devoured the first Sloppy Joe with gusto and gulped down half his iced tea. After swiping his mouth with a napkin he said, "I'm still trying to figure out if this incident with the kittens has anything to do with what happened to me at the creek. I'll be damned if I can think of any reason why someone would want me killed, or what killing those kittens would accomplish. It all seems like someone's demented idea of fun." He picked up another sandwich, a ruthless look entering his eyes. "I especially don't like the thought that my daughter's life could be in danger."
His concern was a very realistic one, Caitlan thought, considering the fact that Randal showed no remorse for the acts of violence he'd already committed. "Are you sure there's no one around here holding a grudge of some sort against you?" she prompted.
J.T. washed a bite of sandwich down with a long drink of iced tea. "The only person who's held a grudge against me has been Randal, but it's a personal grudge that has been ongoing since our childhood." He waved a hand in the air, dismissing Randal as a possible suspect.