Double Duty for the Cowboy by Brenda Harlen

Author:Brenda Harlen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-02-06T18:42:25+00:00

* * *

Regan was just sliding Estela Lopez’s chicken pot pie into the oven when her husband got home from work. She’d moved the babies’ bassinet into the kitchen so that she could keep an eye on them while she peeled potatoes—which meant that Baxter was close by, too.

Connor offered her a smile when he entered the kitchen, then set a cylindrical tube on the table as he bent to give Baxter a scratch.

He’d made the first overture, and she knew that the next step needed to be hers.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

He rose to his full height again and turned to face her, tucking his hands into his front pockets. “Isn’t this how our conversation started this morning?” he asked warily.

She poked at the potatoes with a fork, checking them for doneness. “That’s why I’m apologizing.”

“Should I tell you again that it’s not necessary?”

“But it is,” she insisted, setting the fork down again and moving away from the heat of the stove. “Once I had some time to calm down and think about what you were saying, I realized that you were trying to be considerate of my feelings—physically and emotionally.”

He nodded slowly.

“So I apologize for overreacting and storming out of the room,” she said. And though she knew she should leave it at that, she couldn’t resist adding, “But I’m still annoyed that you didn’t give me credit for knowing my own feelings.”

“Then I will apologize for that,” he told her. “And, since we’re clearing the air...”

She looked up, waiting for him to continue.

But instead of saying anything else, he pulled her close and kissed her.

It happened so fast—or maybe the move was just so completely unexpected—that she wasn’t sure how to respond.

The touch of his mouth, warm and firm, wiped all thought from her mind. Desire tightened in her belly, then slowly unfurled like a ribbon, spreading from her center to the tips of her fingers and toes and every part in between. Just as she started to melt against him, he lifted his mouth from hers and took a deliberate step back.

She caught her bottom lip, still tingling from his kiss, in her teeth and lifted her gaze to his.

“What—” She cleared her throat. “What was that about?”

“I didn’t want there to be any doubt about my attraction to you.”

“Point taken,” she told him.

He nodded. “Good. Also—” he picked up the tube again “—I have a peace offering.”

“It doesn’t look like flowers or jewelry,” she noted, trying to match his casual tone though her insides were all tangled up from his kiss.

“I think it’s something you’ll like much better.”

“Now my curiosity is definitely piqued.”

He lifted the cap off the tube and pulled out—

“The blueprints for the kitchen?” she guessed.

He nodded.

He’d shown her the plans a few months earlier, when she’d lamented the sorry state of the kitchen cabinets after one of the doors almost came off its hinges in her hand. Apparently he did aspire to a cooking and eating space that was more than functional, but the price tag of a major renovation had forced him to delay implementing his plans.

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