Hot Chocolate Honeymoon by Cathy Gillen Thacker

Author:Cathy Gillen Thacker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2011-06-07T00:00:00+00:00

GRACE’S WORDS haunted Ryan long after she had retired for the night. And much as he didn’t want to admit it, Ryan knew Grace was right. If he kept working undercover, he would never have the wife and kids he’d always wanted. More troubling still was the notion he’d never have the kind of one-on-one closeness with a woman he’d always dreamed about.

But even if he quit the Bureau and went back to electrical engineering, getting those things was not going to be easy. The chief stumbling block was his problem with intimacy. While working undercover, he’d spent so much time trying to keep those around him at arm’s length he wasn’t sure he knew how to be close to anyone anymore—if he ever had. As he recalled, he hadn’t been too good at sharing his feelings when he was a kid, either.

Grace, on the other hand, seemed to have no problem verbally expressing what was on her mind. And what she wanted was a man who would be there for her, through thick and thin—sharing, caring and taking care of her. A man whose work took second place to her in his life. Was that him? Or was this just a fantasy, engendered by the blizzard-induced confinement? As long as they were living here together, it was easy enough to imagine them a couple, with children of their own. But what would happen when the snowstorm ended and they all went back to their normal lives? Given the demands of their jobs, would he and Grace ever even see each other again? And if she weighed the odds for and against a successful relationship with someone like him and then chose not to spend any more time with him, period, how would he feel?

Ryan’s doubts haunted him as he went to sleep. And they still tormented him the next morning, when he awakened to the sound of soft, scampering footsteps tiptoeing down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Ryan groaned. The good news was he didn’t have to get dressed, since he’d slept in his clothes. The bad news was, he didn’t want to get up. But, given the feminine voices giggling in the kitchen and the absence of Grace’s low, melodious voice, it appeared he had no choice. Yawning, he stood, stretched and ambled into the kitchen to see what was going on. All seven girls were standing around in their bathrobes, pajamas and slippers. They grinned at him and giggled some more as he raked a hand through the tousled layers of his hair. “What’s up?”

“We’re hungry,” Darlene announced.

Hannah rubbed her eyes. “And Miss Tennessen is still asleep.”

“Do you think we should wake her?” Polly asked Ryan.

That decision was easy, Ryan thought. He shook his head. “No. Let her sleep. We can handle this.” I think. He hooked his thumbs through the belt loops of his jeans. “Does anyone here know how to cook?”

The girls giggled and rolled their eyes. “We-e-e-l...”

“They don’t really l-l-let us in the kitchen at b-b-boarding school,” Letticia said.

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