Desperate Hearts by Alexis Harrington

Author:Alexis Harrington
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: bounty hunter, oregon novel, vigilanteism, western fiction, western historical romance, western novel, western romance, western romance book
Publisher: Alexis Harrington

CHAPTER NINE

Travis McGuire stood at the head of his table, cutting pieces of the apple pie in front of him. “We came to Baker City last spring. Misfortune was like a ghost town, and then after Doc Sherwood died there was no one left to deliver the baby.” He grinned and winked at his very pregnant wife opposite him. “Chloe wasn’t very enthusiastic about the idea of me doing it.”

“Better you than Mildred DeGroot,” Jace replied, stirring sugar into his coffee. “She’d be in your kitchen putting the water on to boil whether you wanted her help or not.”

Chloe laughed and accepted a big wedge of pie from Travis. “I can’t say that I miss any of the people we left back there.” Her smile dimmed a little. “The ones I loved are gone now anyway.” Looking at the portion he’d given her, she handed it back. “Oh, Travis, for heaven’s sake—about half that much please, or I won’t be able to wear any of my old clothes after the baby is born.”

“I keep telling her that she’s eating for two now, but she won’t go along with it,” he said, cutting a narrow sliver off the piece.

Chloe pantomimed a cutting motion with her hand, and he took off a little more. “I miss being able to wear nice clothes, and that’s something I’m looking forward to in a couple of months. Your dress is so pretty, Kyla.”

Kyla caught Jace’s ice blue gaze drifting over her, intimate and forthright, and she felt a flush creep up her neck. In fact, she’d sensed him watching her all evening. She dragged her eyes back to Chloe. “Oh, well, thank you. I—it’s new.”

Even shaved and combed and sitting here in this quiet dining room, Jace retained an aura of danger and strength that Kyla knew could inspire fear. But she wasn’t afraid, exactly. In fact, with him she lost her worry about dressing up—Jace made her feel safe to be a woman. No, some other sensation rippled through her body—one that drew her and pushed her away at the same time.

Obviously catching the look that had passed between them, Chloe smiled like a cat with bowl of cream and quirked a brow as she passed pie to each of them.

Conversation flowed as dessert and coffee were consumed, and Kyla felt it was the nicest evening she had spent in recent years. No one asked awkward questions about the reason she had hired a bounty hunter, and spirits here seemed especially bright, even to Kyla, an outsider. She had expected to feel a bit awkward and out of place, but the McGuires’s happiness filled this pleasant house and overflowed to their guests. Even Jace smiled and laughed more than she would have guessed he was capable of.

They were a very handsome couple—Travis with his dark hair and gray eyes, and Chloe with red-gold curls—and it was plain to her that they were very much in love. Beneath the laughter and casual banter a strong current ran between them, one of passion and respect.

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