“It’s okay, Mother. You need all the rest you can get.”

“No, what I need is to spend time with my daughter and grandson before I go back to work.”

Molly was quiet for a moment, her mind scrabbling for a way to tell her mother the truth without breaking her heart. “Mom—”

“You’re going to tell me I can’t go back to work any time soon, aren’t you?” Maxine’s eyes were keen on Molly.

“That’s right,” Molly declared with relief.

“No, that’s wrong.”

Molly’s relief was short-lived. “I—”

“I’m going to be just fine. I know I pulled some muscles in my back—”

“That you did,” Molly interrupted flatly. “And according to the doctor, your recovery won’t be quick or easy.”

Maxine’s chin began to wobble. “I refuse to believe that.”

“It’s the truth, Mother, and you have to face it. More than that, you have to accept it. Now if you didn’t already have osteoporosis, then maybe things would be different.”

“But what about my job?” Maxine wailed. “Worth has been so good to me, but he’ll hire someone permanently to take my place. He’ll have to, only I can’t bear that thought.”

“Mom, let’s not beat that dead horse again. Worth is not going to replace you.”

“Has he told you that?” Maxine’s tone held a bit of belligerence.

Molly hesitated. “No, he hasn’t.”

“So you don’t know what he has in mind.” Maxine’s voice broke.

“Oh, Mom, please, don’t worry. It’s going to be all right.” Molly caressed one of Maxine’s cheeks.

“He doesn’t know—” Again Maxine broke off.

“The whole story about your back,” Molly cut in. “Is that what you were about to say?”

Maxine merely nodded.

“Ah, so you told him what you wanted him to know, what you thought he wanted to hear.”

Maxine reached for a tissue out of the nearby box. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Look, Mom, it’s not as grim as you think.”

“That’s because it’s not you.” Maxine paused, then added quickly, “For which I’m grateful. I couldn’t stand it if it were you in this shape.”

“Yes, you could. You’d just come and take care of me like I’m going to do for you.”

“You can’t,” Maxine wailed again. “You have a child and a job. And your life. You can’t—”

“Shh,” Molly said softly. “Enough. I’m not going to give up my life, for pity’s sake. Just rest easy, I have a plan.”

“What?” Maxine’s tone was suspicious.

“I’ll tell you later.” Molly leaned over and kissed her mother on the cheek. “Right now, I’m going to send Trent back in here unless you want to go back to sleep.”

“Not on your life. I want to spend every moment I can with my grandson.”

“By the way, I spoke to Dr. Coleman.”

Maxine’s chin wobbled again.

“Hey, stop it. I’ll tell you about that later also. Meanwhile, keep your chin up, you hear? Everything’s going to work out.”

Maxine did her best to smile. “Send my boy back to me. I have plans that don’t include you.”

Molly smiled big, then sobered. “Don’t let him wear you out. He can, you know.”

“You let me worry about that.”

When Molly reached her room, she realized tears were running down her face. Brushing them aside, she forced a smile and opened the door. “Hey, kiddo, Granna’s waiting on you.”

Would there ever come a time when she wouldn’t react to him?

Yes, Molly told herself. As long as she didn’t see Worth, life would resume its normal course. Or would it? Almost five years had gone by and never a day passed she didn’t think of him. Residing in his house made a bad thing worse.

Right now she didn’t have a choice.

As if he realized he wasn’t alone, Worth swung around. When he saw who it was, his eyes widened, then a door seemed to slide over those eyes, blanking out his expression.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it was rude to sneak up on a person?”

Go to hell.

She didn’t say that, but oh, how she wanted to. To speak her mind in that manner, however, would only incite a verbal riot, and she didn’t want that. Too much was at stake. She merely wanted to talk to him in a civil manner.

“Sorry,” Molly finally said in a moderate tone.

“No, you’re not.”

She hadn’t meant to sneak up on him without warning. She just happened to walk by the door leading onto the porch and saw him there, a booted foot propped on one of the iron chairs. He seemed to have been staring into the waning sun, far in the distance, as though deep in thought.

Molly guessed she should have coughed, or done something to reveal her presence, only she hadn’t thought about it. She had just walked onto the porch and waited, seeing this as an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.

“Look, Worth, I don’t want to fight with you,” she said at last. She’d meant what she’d said, too, especially when she watched him set the empty beer bottle down on the table, making more noise than he should have, which spoke volumes about his mood.

She couldn’t let Worth see the effect he had on her. Not now. Not ever. And entering into another verbal skirmish with him would put the power in his hands, power that could end up destroying her and what she held dear. At all costs, she had to maintain her cool.

“Is that what we’re doing?”

“I don’t want to play word games with you, either.”

He jammed his hands into his pockets which pulled the fabric tighter across his privates. For a moment, her gaze lingered on the mound behind the zipper. Then realizing what she was doing, she jerked her head back up to his face, praying that he hadn’t noticed anything amiss.

If he had, he didn’t acknowledge it. Instead, he continued to stare at her through those blank eyes.

“What do you want, then?”

“To take my mother’s place.”

His head bolted back at the same time he went slack-jawed. “As my housekeeper?”

“Yes,” Molly said with punch in her tone.

He pitched back his head and laughed. “Get real.”

“I’m serious, Worth,” she countered with an edge in her tone.

“So am I, and that’s not going to happen.”

“Why not?”

He smirked. “Come on, Molly, you know why not. You’re a nurse, and that’s what you need to be doing.”

“I can do both. I can take care of the house and my mother.”

“What about Trent?”

“I’ll put him in day care, and he’ll be just fine.”

“No.”

She ignored that terse rejection and went on, “My mother’s mind is her own worst enemy right now. She thinks you’re going to replace her.”

“That’s hogwash. She has a job here as long as she wants one. And I’ll tell her that.”

“I appreciate that, but I still want to take her place. I can take care of Mom, encourage her and she will see that my job as housekeeper is temporary. This way she won’t worry about someone permanently replacing her. She’ll know I’m only filling in. Not only that, but I’m good. I grew up helping her clean houses.”

Worth looked astounded. “Are you nuts? Besides, you don’t have to do that anymore.”

“I know I don’t have to. I want to.”

“Dammit, woman, you haven’t changed a bit.”

Molly raised her eyebrows. “Oh?”

“Yeah, you’re still as stubborn as a mule.”

She wanted to smile but didn’t. Instead she held her ground. “So are you.”

Worth cursed at the same time their eyes collided then held tighter than magnets.

Suddenly the oxygen in the air seemed to disappear, forcing Molly to struggle for her next breath. She could tell Worth was also affected as his face lost what little color it had left. And something else happened, too, though she couldn’t identify it.

What it hadn’t been was hostility. So had it been blatant desire? No. She’d been mistaken. He despised her and that wasn’t about to change. She didn’t want it to, either, she assured herself quickly, though the undertow of his sexy charisma was pulling on her.

Forcing her panic aside, Molly sucked in a deep breath and stared at him with an imploring expression.