Carolina Heart by Virginia Kantra

Author:Virginia Kantra
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2016-06-29T10:22:36+00:00

* * *

AFTER dinner, Cynthie watched Max tease a half smile from Madison across the kitchen table and felt her heart expand to bursting point. This evening had turned into everything she’d once longed for.

And everything she feared. A guy who could appreciate her mama’s chicken salad and praise her daughter’s science report. Who would be there when her car broke down or Madison was acting up. Who made her feel special and smart.

If Cynthie wasn’t careful, she could let herself want this. Want him. And that would never do.

Max was being nice to them now because he was a really nice guy. But nice guys didn’t stay with women like her, a single mom with two kids and no money and a twelve-year-old minivan. And when he figured that out and left, Cynthie wasn’t the only one who would be hurt and disappointed.

She took a deep breath and stood to clear the table.

Max got up with his plate.

She smiled and took it from him. “I’ve got this. I’m sure you want to get on the road.”

“I want to help.”

Hannah piped up. “The rule is, whoever cooks doesn’t have to clean up.”

Max kept his gaze on Cynthie. “Will you be okay now?”

The question tugged at her heart. She made herself answer lightly, which was a lot better than throwing herself on his chest and begging him to stay. “I think I can handle loading the dishwasher on my own.”

He frowned a little. “I meant in the morning with the car.”

“I’ll work something out,” she said. That’s what she did. Worked things out. She wasn’t going to burden him anymore. “Thanks for the rescue.”

“I owed you one.”

“It was just a sandwich.”

“What are you . . . Oh, the chicken salad. I was talking about you saving my ass back in high school.”

Cynthie glanced around automatically for the girls, but they were already gone, taking advantage of her distraction to turn on the TV. Anyway, they probably heard worse in school every day.

Max cleared his throat. “Cynthie.”

His low tone made her shiver. She was achingly aware of him, standing close, those steady eyes, that earnest voice. His heat. His scent. She trembled, as if she were seventeen again, teetering on the brink of her first love.

Except even at seventeen, he wouldn’t have been her first. She wouldn’t have been his type.

“Hey, I was watching that.” Hannah’s voice rose the way it did when she got tired.

“It was a commercial,” Madison said.

“It was almost over. Change it back.”

Cynthie pulled herself together. “Well.” She smiled at Max, taking a step back. “It’s been fun. Thanks for helping me out.”

“My pleasure. Thanks for dinner,” Max said, which was polite of him, considering that the casserole was mostly noodles and canned soup and he’d made the salad.

Men liked meat. Doug had always complained when their budget didn’t stretch to hamburger every day. It was another depressing reminder, if Cynthie had needed one, of how little she had to offer a man like Max.

He left soon after, leaving her to referee the girls’ squabble over the remote.

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