back. "
"Jason ' s up from his nap, " Dana explained. ,
"Let ' s shoot a couple of pictures while Vanessa ' s with Jason. " Rob stood and centered Dana in his viewfinder. She treated him to one of her irresistible smiles. Okay, it was a camera-ready, phony-as-hell smile. But he was getting to like this. A lot.
The detector flash ed red as he took the picture.
Was he surprised? Hell, no. Anyone who puts bugs in guest suites was bound to eavesdrop on his sons.
Dana was frowning now, having detected the signal. "Let ' s get a picture of Jason in his room. He has a great rocking horse that I had made in Kauai. "
As he followed her out of the living room, Rob noticed that the flash monitor was winking again.
Two bugs in one room? Why? There was another in the hall. It was probably hidden behind the picture frame. Still another device seemed to be in the potted palm in the alcove that separated the bedrooms. Interesting.
"I'm going to the head," he said to Dana, tilting his head toward the hallway, knowing she ' d get the idea that he wanted to check out the other rooms.
" Meet you in Jason ' s room. "
Rob quickly swung into the first bedroom, which was set up as an office. Sure enough, it was bugged.
The master bedroom, like a scene straight out of Casablanca, had a ceiling fan and a bed swathed in a tropical print with huge green palm leaves and woven bamboo covering the walls. And four bugs.
Jesus! What was going on here?
There was yet another bug in the master bath. It seemed to be atta ched to the wall-mounted televi sion.
He wandered back down the hall to Jason ' s room and paused at the door. Inside, Dana sat on the bed with Jason on her lap. She was struggling to pull on his second cowboy boot. It would hit the kid ' s knees when she succeeded, but it wasn ' t the comically tall boots that made him clutch his camera tighter. It was the expression on Dana ' s face.
Tender. Full of love. Love. The word registered, bringing a jolt of emotion he hadn ' t experienced in years. The air in his chest compressed, lodging at the base of his throat. A child had stripped away her emotional armor and revealed the sensitive, loving side of Dana Hamilton that he ' d always suspected was there. Could a man get her to open her heart so easily?
Beneath the professional demeanor, beneath the unexpected flaring of her temper, beneath t he psy chological fortress Dana kept around herself was a wellspring of sad ness. She was too intent on pro tecting herself to open up to a man. He wasn ' t certain how he knew all this. Okay, sometimes his sixth sense just kicked in. It rarely failed him. Even on the night when his career had been ruined, he ' d sensed he was in trouble, but he couldn ' t do a damn thing about it.
Suddenly Dana glanced up, saw him, and her expression instantly changed. "Rob, this is my nephew, Jason. "
From under blonde bangs that brushed his brows the boy surveyed Rob with blue eyes that were ex actly like Vanessa ' s. In another ten years all the fathers in a fifty-mile radius would be fitting their daughters with chastity belts.
Vanessa emerged from a closet that looked like a preemptive strike in a kids ' clothing store. Clothes were tossed everywhere; a tiny space suit hung haphazardly from a hook along with an Indian chief's headdress; socks and shoes littered the floor, halfhidden by T-shirts.
"Stick ' em up. " Jason pulled a toy six-shooter from the holster on his hip, and Rob dutifully raised his hands as he walked into the room.
"Isn ' t he cute? " Vanessa asked.
"Real cute, " he answered, his eyes on Dana ' s provocative fanny as she rolled onto her side, tugging madly to get Jason ' s second boot on.
" There, " Dana said to Jason, the second boot finally in place. " You ' re all set. "
Jason jumped to his feet and grabbed his Stetson off the bedpost. He jammed the hat down so far that his little ears flared out like bat ' s wings.
Vanessa touched Rob ' s arm. " Take a picture for me. "
He
"Jason ' s up from his nap, " Dana explained. ,
"Let ' s shoot a couple of pictures while Vanessa ' s with Jason. " Rob stood and centered Dana in his viewfinder. She treated him to one of her irresistible smiles. Okay, it was a camera-ready, phony-as-hell smile. But he was getting to like this. A lot.
The detector flash ed red as he took the picture.
Was he surprised? Hell, no. Anyone who puts bugs in guest suites was bound to eavesdrop on his sons.
Dana was frowning now, having detected the signal. "Let ' s get a picture of Jason in his room. He has a great rocking horse that I had made in Kauai. "
As he followed her out of the living room, Rob noticed that the flash monitor was winking again.
Two bugs in one room? Why? There was another in the hall. It was probably hidden behind the picture frame. Still another device seemed to be in the potted palm in the alcove that separated the bedrooms. Interesting.
"I'm going to the head," he said to Dana, tilting his head toward the hallway, knowing she ' d get the idea that he wanted to check out the other rooms.
" Meet you in Jason ' s room. "
Rob quickly swung into the first bedroom, which was set up as an office. Sure enough, it was bugged.
The master bedroom, like a scene straight out of Casablanca, had a ceiling fan and a bed swathed in a tropical print with huge green palm leaves and woven bamboo covering the walls. And four bugs.
Jesus! What was going on here?
There was yet another bug in the master bath. It seemed to be atta ched to the wall-mounted televi sion.
He wandered back down the hall to Jason ' s room and paused at the door. Inside, Dana sat on the bed with Jason on her lap. She was struggling to pull on his second cowboy boot. It would hit the kid ' s knees when she succeeded, but it wasn ' t the comically tall boots that made him clutch his camera tighter. It was the expression on Dana ' s face.
Tender. Full of love. Love. The word registered, bringing a jolt of emotion he hadn ' t experienced in years. The air in his chest compressed, lodging at the base of his throat. A child had stripped away her emotional armor and revealed the sensitive, loving side of Dana Hamilton that he ' d always suspected was there. Could a man get her to open her heart so easily?
Beneath the professional demeanor, beneath the unexpected flaring of her temper, beneath t he psy chological fortress Dana kept around herself was a wellspring of sad ness. She was too intent on pro tecting herself to open up to a man. He wasn ' t certain how he knew all this. Okay, sometimes his sixth sense just kicked in. It rarely failed him. Even on the night when his career had been ruined, he ' d sensed he was in trouble, but he couldn ' t do a damn thing about it.
Suddenly Dana glanced up, saw him, and her expression instantly changed. "Rob, this is my nephew, Jason. "
From under blonde bangs that brushed his brows the boy surveyed Rob with blue eyes that were ex actly like Vanessa ' s. In another ten years all the fathers in a fifty-mile radius would be fitting their daughters with chastity belts.
Vanessa emerged from a closet that looked like a preemptive strike in a kids ' clothing store. Clothes were tossed everywhere; a tiny space suit hung haphazardly from a hook along with an Indian chief's headdress; socks and shoes littered the floor, halfhidden by T-shirts.
"Stick ' em up. " Jason pulled a toy six-shooter from the holster on his hip, and Rob dutifully raised his hands as he walked into the room.
"Isn ' t he cute? " Vanessa asked.
"Real cute, " he answered, his eyes on Dana ' s provocative fanny as she rolled onto her side, tugging madly to get Jason ' s second boot on.
" There, " Dana said to Jason, the second boot finally in place. " You ' re all set. "
Jason jumped to his feet and grabbed his Stetson off the bedpost. He jammed the hat down so far that his little ears flared out like bat ' s wings.
Vanessa touched Rob ' s arm. " Take a picture for me. "
He
Similar Books
