Keely breathed a sigh of relief and tiptoed out of the room. Thank goodness for that! She cleared the debris from the bathroom and quietly pushed open Zach's bed room door. Was he OK? Had he managed to get to sleep?
He was sprawled on his back on the bed, one arm across his forehead, his breathing even. Keely's heart twisted. The man hadn't even had the energy to get under the sheets. His dressing gown had fallen open, exposing a broad muscular chest covered in curling dark hairs.
He was going to catch cold.
Keely's mouth dried as she reached out a hand to pull his dressing gown over him. Her fingers lightly brushed his warm skin and she pulled away as if she'd been scorched. The urge to touch him was so powerful it shocked her, and she curled her fingers into fists, curbing the temptation. She wasn't going to fall for Zach again, she reminded herself firmly. She was here to help him, not to make a fool of herself all over again. That sort of behaviour was in the past.
Gingerly she lifted the edge of the duvet and tried to fold it over him, but it was trapped under his powerful body and wouldn't budge.
Maybe she could find a blanket in one of the other
rooms.
Averting her eyes from his hard jaw, dark with stubble, she backed out of the room, searched the bedrooms and eventually found a spare duvet which she placed over him.
Then she checked Phoebe again, cleared the kitchen and went to bed herself. Ridiculously early, of course, but she was sure that the little girl would need her in the night so she wanted to sleep while she could.
She was in his child's room.
Zach stood in the doorway, his eyes resting on the slim figure of the woman asleep on the sofa.
When he'd woken up he'd gone straight to Phoebe's room to check on her and then searched the house for Keely. He hadn't even noticed her asleep on the sofa in his daughter's room. He just hadn't expected her to be there. Why would she do a thing like that?
Why hadn't she just made herself comfortable in the guest room and left him to listen out for his daughter? And why had she bothered to cover him with a duvet when he was asleep?
Because that was the sort of person she was. Warm and giving. A real nurturer.
Zach gave a sigh and allowed himself the luxury of looking at Keely. She was gorgeous. That blonde hair, cut in a jagged, modern style that suited her so well, and those long, slim legs curled up on the sofa cushions. And she was even smiling in her sleep. She looked very young and very vulnerable and she was right when she accused him of treating her as a child. He was treating her like a child. He had to. Because if he didn't treat her as a child, he'd treat her as a woman—and if he treated her as a woman...
Damn.
He shouldn't be thinking that way about Keely.
As he stood in the doorway she stirred and then gave a gasp of fright as she saw him.
'Oh, Zach, you made me jump!' Her soft whisper made him smile and he walked over and crouched down by the sofa.
'Keely, you don't have to sleep in here. That sofa will give you backache. Go and sleep in the guest room.'
She rubbed her eyes like a sleepy child and stifled a yawn. 'What time is it?'
'One o'clock, and thanks to you I've had eight hours' uninterrupted sleep so it's your turn to get some rest.'
She shook her head. 'I'm fine. Honestly. And so's Phoebe. She had paracetamol before she went to sleep, she drank some milk and seemed fine. She hasn't woken up once. I took her duvet off and gave her blankets instead because I didn't want her to overheat.'
She'd thought of everything.
Zach felt an unfamiliar sensation tug at his insides. He lifted a hand and stroked the tempting strands of honey blonde hair that fell in a tousled mass around her pretty face, telling himself firmly that what he felt towards her was just gratitude.
She froze under his touch and stared at him like a rabbit in a trap. 'Zach?'
Her hair felt incredible. Soft and sensual, a silky curtain of temptation that he wanted to tough for ever.
Still groggy from lack of sleep, she looked totally adorable, her huge blue eyes bemused and unfocused as she looked up at him.
Driven by an impulse outside his control and beyond his understanding, he bent his head, his mouth hovering only a breath away from hers while he made a final valiant attempt to resist temptation and listen to common sense.
He saw her eyes widen, saw the question in them and then he was kissing her. Really kissing her, the way a man was meant to kiss a woman.