Victoria Pade - Cowboy's Baby

Then she went to the swinging door that connected the dining room and said, “Would somebody get Kate outta my kitchen so’s I can do some dishin’ out of this food without her underfoot?”

“Thanks,” Kate said under her breath.

Junebug grinned. “Two by two—that’s how we’re meant to walk this earth.”

Kate just rolled her eyes at the woman as demands for her to go into the dining room were voiced in answer to Junebug’s request.

So, with no other choice, that was what Kate had to do.

Rather than serving appetizers buffet-style Junebug had had everyone take their seats at the dining table. But the only place setting that wasn’t already occupied when Kate joined her family was the one directly across from Brady.

She would have preferred being situated farther away from him and without much of a view of the houseguest, but as it was she had to take the sole remaining spot.

The McDermot family was once more laughing at something Brady had said as they passed hors d’oeuvres of bruschetta, cherry peppers stuffed with proscuitto and cream cheese, and blue-cheese torta served on crackers. Kate didn’t attempt to join in the fun but merely slipped into her seat, wondering as she did if she’d been manipulated once more by Matt, or if all her brothers, sisters-in-law and Matt’s fiancée were conspiring against her.

“Brady’s been in Alaska since we saw him in Vegas,” Matt updated Kate then.

“Ah,” she said, unsure what else she was suppose to contribute to that.

But Shane saved her the trouble by asking if Brady had done any hunting or fishing while he was there.

As Brady talked about his adventures, Kate couldn’t help checking him out.

He’d obviously taken that shower he’d been headed for. He looked refreshed, and she could smell the spicy scent of cologne or soap or whatever it was he’d used. She only wished she didn’t like it so much.

He had changed into a less-worn pair of jeans and a crisp white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled to midforearms and the top button unfastened. It wasn’t unusual attire by any means, but what those slight exposures let her see made her all too aware of more details about him than she wanted to be aware of. His thick, straight neck, for instance, and the wholly masculine hollow of his throat. Powerful-looking forearms and wrists that were unaccountably sexy. Not to mention big, blunt-fingered, capable hands.

He’d washed his hair, too, and recombed it, along with shaving away the shadow of a day’s growth of beard so that his raffishly handsome face was free of anything that could hide its glory. And even the way his razor-sharp jaw flexed when he chewed somehow tweaked a sensual nerve inside her.

Why hadn’t Junebug let her stay in the kitchen? Kate lamented to herself as she fought not to look at Brady, not to be so impressed by him.

But there she was, with nowhere to run and a mysterious disability that left her unable not to study his every movement, unable not to hang on his every word as he told stories about Alaskan winter days when light only dawned for a few brief minutes.

Alaskan winter days that left Kate thinking about endless hours of darkness that someone else might have shared with him….

She was grateful when Junebug finally served dinner and allowed her a distraction from that thought. And the odd bit of something that felt like jealousy that came with it.

The older woman had made Caesar salad, a crown rib roast, braised potatoes and carrots and home-baked rolls. Ordinarily Junebug either prepared dinner in advance and left it to be reheated when the McDermots were ready to eat, or left the cooking for someone else to do so she could go home to her own family. But on special occasions she catered and served the whole meal.

Tonight was one of those nights. So not until all the food was on the table did she inform them that dessert was ready and waiting in the kitchen whenever they wanted it and that she was leaving them to their own devices.

As everyone bade her a nice evening and dug into her delicious fare, Matt said, “I have it set up for you to take a look at those three spreads tomorrow, Brady. Ted Barton’s ranch next door is probably the best of the lot but he hasn’t made a firm decision to sell yet. The other two have been on the market for a couple of months. The houses on them aren’t in as good shape as the Barton place. ’Course I know you care more about the land and the barn than where you’ll be livin’, but still.”

Kate stopped cold and paid closer attention to what was being said as her other brothers chimed in with information on land that was for sale around Elk Creek.

Was she understanding this correctly? Was Brady buying property? Here? Was he moving here?

It was news to Kate. And not good news. She’d thought that after getting through this visit he would go back to Oklahoma. It had never occurred to her that he might be in Elk Creek permanently.

Suddenly she could feel the blood drain from her face and a cold clamminess settle over her.

“You want to buy a ranch here?” she heard herself blurt out with no small amount of alarm.

For the first time since she’d sat at the table, Brady leveled blue-gray eyes on her. “Thinkin’ about it,” he answered simply enough.

Her brothers continued filling him in on the pros and cons of each property and what might or might not be factors in the sale prices as they all ate. But Kate couldn’t seem to swallow so much as a morsel of food from that moment on. She just kept thinking, He could be here to stay. He could be here to stay….

Most of the rest of the evening was pretty much a blur to her after that. She pushed the food around her plate and pretended to be interested in what was being said at the table. She even managed a remark or two when she’d been silent for longer than she should have been.

But the truth was, she heard almost nothing as the idea of Brady ending up as her next-door neighbor tormented her.

And when she could finally excuse herself without raising eyebrows, she stood to do just that.

Only, before she actually got to say her goodnights, Matt said, “By the way, Kate, we’re all tied up tomorrow, so I thought maybe you could show Brady those properties he needs to see.”

“Me?” Kate said, the alarm again in her tone.

“You know your way around well enough now. None of the places are hard to find. It’ll give you somethin’ to do.”

“Who says I need something to do?” Kate said lamely and much too quickly, sounding like a put-upon younger sister who didn’t appreciate her big brother taking liberties with her time.

“What do you have to do?” Matt challenged.

For the life of her, Kate couldn’t think of anything except that she wanted to strangle her brother.

Then Brady piped up. “It’s all right. Just draw me a map. I’m sure I can find the places myself.”

It was clear that Brady had noticed she didn’t want to play tour guide, and Kate not only knew she was being rude again, but she could feel the tension in the room because of it.

Yet Matt still wouldn’t let her off the hook. “Kate doesn’t have anything planned she can’t rearrange. Do you?”

All eyes were on her, and she knew her next words would set the tone for the rest of Brady’s visit. If she refused, everyone would be aware of just how much she didn’t want to be around him. They would all want to know why—especially since she and Brady had seemed to hit it off so well in Las Vegas. And her entire family would be embarrassed by her behavior and feel awkward whenever everyone was together.

But if she didn’t refuse she was going to end up spending the whole next day with Brady. Alone with Brady. And all the unsettling things merely being around him did to her.