As a red herring, it worked to perfection. The anxious look disappeared from Maxine’s face.
“It’s wonderful news!” she said, smiling brightly. “Carlson and I are so excited about being grandparents. I would think this might get you thinking about marriage. A man in your position needs a wife.”
“At least you didn’t say ‘a man my age’,” Reece replied. “According to Addison, I’m wasting the best years of my life.”
Maxine dismissed this with a wave of her hand. “Thirty-five is nothing to a man. You don’t have to worry about ticking biological clocks and the never-ending battle to stay young. I was referring to the companionship angle. Aren’t you tired of living in that big house in Sawgrass all alone? Don’t you long for someone to come home to?”
The sound of voices in the hall saved Reece having to admit he was and he did.
“They’re here,” Maxine hissed, reaching over to push her husband’s feet off the coffee table. “Put away that magazine.”
His father did so with ill-concealed reluctance. “All this fuss over nothing,” he muttered in a voice only Reece could hear.
Two figures appeared in the doorway. Reece’s gaze locked on the stunningly beautiful woman standing shoulder to shoulder with Wade. Wavy hair the color of liquid sunshine reached halfway down her back. Her creamy skin had the translucent quality of fine porcelain. The only touches of color in her face were her luminous brown eyes and rosy-pink mouth.
As if she sensed his steady gaze, she turned her head in his direction. Her lips parted in what he took to be a nervous smile. Reece instinctively smiled back. It would have been impossible to do anything else. His actions were purely mechanical at this point, relying entirely on motor memory. Inside he was reeling, his well-ordered mind disoriented to a degree previously thought to be impossible. He felt as if someone had shoved him out of a plane minus a parachute. It amazed him that no one else could hear the thundering of his heart as he plunged toward the ground with no means of saving himself. From a long way off, he heard Wade’s voice.
“Here we are!”
Maxine was on her feet and across the hardwood floor. “Hello, hello!”
Wade bent down to kiss his mother’s cheek. Then he drew Robin forward. “Mom, I’d like you to meet Robin Parker. Robin, this is my mother, Maxine Diamond.”
“It’s so nice to meet you, Mrs. Diamond,” Robin said in an attractively husky voice with a hint of Southern twang.
Maxine took the hand Robin held out. “Call me Maxine, dear. I’m thrilled to meet you as well. Your name is simply lovely. It makes me think of spring.” She indicated Reece’s father. “This is my husband, Carlson.”
Reece’s dad nodded in Robin’s direction. “Welcome to Savannah, Robin.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“And last, but not least,” Maxine continued, “this is my stepson Reece.”
Robin’s dazzling eyes turned in his direction once more. It was like stepping out of an icy wind into the blazing warmth of the sun. Not a part of him remained untouched. He had the curious sensation of having arrived at a point he’d been waiting for his entire life.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Robin,” he managed to get out over the boulder stuck in his throat.
“Same here, Reece.”
“Come sit down,” Maxine said, drawing Wade and Robin over to the couch. “Would anyone like something to eat or drink?”
“I’m fine right now,” Robin assured her.
“I wouldn’t mind some coffee,” Wade said, dropping down next to Robin and immediately reaching for her hand.
Because Reece couldn’t pry his eyes off them, he witnessed the sweet look Robin gave Wade in return. Everything around him faded into the background as his head and his heart slowly came into sync. Addison had been right. Reece was terrible at falling in love. The first woman to make his heart sit up and take notice was his stepbrother’s girlfriend. Was there anything more pathetic? Or futile?
The sound of Maxine’s high-pitched laughter brought him back to the here and now.
“I knew I should have told Jeanette to start the coffee,” she said.
Propelled by an unseen force, Reece shot to his feet, glad of any opportunity to escape the room so he could clear his head. “Stay where you are, Maxine. I’ll give your message to Jeanette.”
She threw him a grateful smile. “Would you, dear? I appreciate that.”
In the hallway, Reece took a moment to draw more air into his lungs. Then he attempted to downplay what happened in the sitting room. Love at first sight was a myth. It only existed on-screen or within the pages of a romance novel. What he was feeling was physical attraction. Given enough time and the right frame of mind, he could make this go away. He didn’t allow himself to consider what his course of action would be if that didn’t prove to be the case.
* * * * *
The room seemed to shrink with Reece’s departure. Robin remembered Kait’s remark about him being more gorgeous in person. It would have been hard to mount a decent argument against it. His navy polo and khaki pants couldn’t hide the fact that he was in the peak of physical condition. He wore his dark-blonde hair military short. The gaze from his sky-blue eyes was direct and unwavering, as if he missed nothing and had nothing to hide. His long, slightly crooked nose redeemed him from perfection, but did nothing to lessen his overall appeal. In contrast to the prevailing fashion, he was clean shaven. This drew attention to his strong jawline, dimpled chin and disturbingly boyish smile.
The fact that she was seeing him in a family setting had to be the reason he appeared so harmless and (dare she say it) likeable. Was that the secret to his success? If so, then he was more dangerous than the Hollis’s of the world. He didn’t advertise his intentions which meant a woman wouldn’t be on her guard around him. She’d be caught in his trap long before she realized she’d been marked as prey.
As if to contradict these thoughts, Maxine said, “Reece is a real sweetheart; just like his father. Wade is, too, but he’s a little lax in the communication department. He hasn’t told me much about you.”
Wade squeezed her fingers. “What she means, darling, is I didn’t give her your whole life history.”
Robin’s life history was a subject that never failed to make everyone uncomfortable. In the ten years since turning eighteen, she’d done her best to put her unconventional childhood in the rearview mirror.
“I’m not surprised,” she replied, forcing a smile to her lips. “Men dislike sharing the details women find so interesting.”
Maxine nodded in agreement. “That’s true. Getting information out of Wade, Carlson, or Reece is like pulling teeth. With my stepdaughter Addison, it’s different. She’s a regular chatterbox. She and her husband are planning a trip to Jacksonville next weekend. They’ll be staying with Reece.” She glanced at Wade. “You should take Robin to meet them.”
“That won’t be possible, Mom. I leave for the Keys Friday morning.”
“That’s right,” Maxine said, nodding her head. “You’re always going somewhere. Frequent separations can be hard on a relationship. Do you mind that Wade travels so often, Robin?”