He held her closer, laughing. "I promise I won't give you cavities," he told her, "or make you gain weight."
"Liar," she murmured, raising her lips to his, but at the same moment, a movement in another part of the room caught their attention. Looking down to the foot of the bed, they found a pair of blue eyes staring at them over the brass railing. The ever-silent Mandi.
The blue eyes disappeared. Ross and Charity stared at the blank spot where they'd been.
"I think we're being watched," Charity whispered.
"No," Ross drawled softly, pulling her into his arms. "It's a figment of your imagination." His warm lips be gan to deliver small kisses to the side of her neck.
"I wish it were," she sighed, closing her eyes and aban doning herself to his touch. "I wish we were all alone."
"Good thing you're not!" Faith's voice came from the foot of the bed, freezing them again. Then she appeared in the flesh, glaring at them. "Lord knows what trouble the two of you would get into if we weren't here to keep an eye on you," she lectured sternly. "Real husbands are bad enough, Charity," she went on as she made her way to the bathroom, her gown trailing behind her. "But pretend husbands are even worse. If you don't watch out, you'll end up with some very unpretend complications."
Charity and Ross looked at each other as she closed the door with a snap.
"What does she mean?" Ross asked innocently.
Charity's mouth turned down at the corners. "I think she's warning against... falling in love," she said, steal ing a glance at him and then looking quickly away. "But we already established that we're not falling-in-love types, didn't we?"
Ross was quiet for a little too long, and when she looked up at him again, her eyes were wide with a question. But he grinned quickly.
"That's right," he said smoothly, threading his fingers through her hair. "Not to worry. We're complication proof."
Charity tried to smile back, but somehow the fun had gone out of the conversation. "Well," she said, disentan gling herself from his embrace. "I guess it's time to get up and get this day going."
He let her go, though his gaze was slightly puzzled. "What's on the agenda?" he asked.
"Oh, I don't know," she answered, bustling about the room, carefully stepping over Mandi. "A quiet morning, I think. A picnic lunch maybe. An afternoon sail and then dinner at my restaurant." She nodded deci sively. "Yes, I want Aunt Doris to see what I've done with it." She glanced at him. "And maybe all the rest of you, too."