Snowbound - Harlequin.com

54 SNOWBOUND
She laughed. “Hopper may live to regret not falling
in line.”
“Or be very, very grateful he ticked her off early
on.”
This smile was wry. “Amy is a bit of a handful. She’s
an only child, which doesn’t always mean spoiled…”
“But in Amy’s case does,” he said bluntly.
“I shouldn’t have said that.” She seemed perturbed
at the idea of criticizing one of her charges. “I’m an only
child myself.”
Interesting. He wouldn’t have guessed. Nodding in
acknowledgment, he changed the subject, “If you’ll
excuse me, I have work to do.”
“Can I help?”
He shouldn’t succumb to temptation. Spending time
alone with her wasn’t smart. But she was not only the
first woman to interest him since he’d landed stateside,
she was also the first person of either gender he’d had
any inclination to talk to.
So he said, “If you want to clean bathrooms.”
He was ashamed of himself for sounding ungracious.
She’d been more than generous in getting the whole
group to help out. Once upon a time, he’d known how to
make pleasant conversation. Not so long ago. Before…
John willed his mind to go blank.
Fiona helped hold him in the here and now. “Our
bathrooms?” She sounded horrified. “We can clean
them ourselves.”
“We’ll just do a quick swipe. Before your charges
come in and need hot baths again.”
“Oh, dear. They will, won’t they?” She nodded.