Karen Smith - The Texan's Happily-Ever-After

“Because I like you,” he said simply. “And because when I’m with you, all I can think about is kissing you.”

Her stomach did a flip. Her heart fluttered. The sun seemed even brighter and the sky even bluer.

“Say something,” he muttered. “If you want me to get back on my horse and forget this conversation ever happened.”

“Do you kiss with your hat on or off?”

With his hands still holding hers, he smiled. “No one’s ever asked me that before.”

“It’s nice to be first at something,” she joked.

“Raina, you are the most intriguing woman I have come across in years. And to kiss you, I’m definitely taking my hat off.” When he leaned in closer to her, she closed her eyes.

But his mouth didn’t cover hers. Instead, she felt his lips touch whisper-soft, slightly above her ear.

“A kiss shouldn’t be too quick.”

Dear Reader,

I’ll always remember the first time my husband and I really talked. In sharing, we connected on a deep level, inspiring trust that has lasted through the years. To form that bond, we had to become vulnerable to each other.

My hero, Shep McGraw, is a strong, silent Texan. A marriage of convenience teaches him he must lower his guard to trust his new wife. By risking vulnerability, he discovers the love and understanding that can lead to happily ever after.

I hope you enjoy Shep’s transformation from guarded single dad to my heroine Raina’s white knight. Shep and Raina’s romance is Book 5 in my THE BABY EXPERTS series. I hope readers will look forward to Book 6 in the series, coming in December 2010.

Readers can learn more about THE BABY EXPERTS at www.karenrosesmith.com.

All my best,

Karen Rose Smith

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Award-winning and bestselling author Karen Rose Smith has seen more than sixty-five novels published since 1992. She grew up in Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna Valley and still lives a stone’s throw away with her husband—who was her college sweetheart—and their two cats. She especially enjoys researching and visiting the West and Southwest where her latest series of books is set. Readers can receive updates on Karen’s releases and write to her through her Web site at www.karenrosesmith.com or at P.O. Box 1545, Hanover, PA 17331.

To Sis and Bern, our son’s godparents.

Thanks for the difference you made in his life.

Happy birthday, Sis. Bern, we miss you.

Adoption procedures may vary according to state, individual circumstances and agencies.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Epilogue

Shep McGraw hurried to the emergency-room door. In his arms, two-year-old Manuel let out a cry that echoed in the hospital’s parking lot.

Tension and worry tightened Shep’s chest. He’d been through this before with Manuel’s earaches. Thank goodness Dr. Raina Gibson, the boy’s ear, nose and throat specialist, had been on call for her practice tonight. He thought about his two other sons, who were with their nanny. They hadn’t liked him leaving this late at night.

As Shep rushed through the automatic glass doors, he remembered another fateful E.R. visit many, many years ago. He shoved that out of his mind and hugged Manuel closer.

The woman in charge at the registration desk looked him over—from his tan Stetson to his fine leather boots—and he had to rein in his frustration with red tape. “My name’s Shep McGraw. I’m meeting Dr. Gibson here to treat my…son.”

“Mr. McGraw, if you’ll have a seat—”

Manuel’s crying had tapered off slightly, but now he screwed up his cute little round face and howled loud enough to scare his black wavy hair into disarray.

Shep shifted Manuel to his shoulder. “My boy needs someone to look at him now.” He was about to add that the Lubbock hospital had all of his information on file, when Dr. Gibson came through a side door and crossed to the desk.

Although Manuel’s crying still rent the waiting area, the beautiful doctor’s appearance impacted Shep as it always did. Her Native American heritage was attractively obvious in the angles of her cheekbones and chin. Tonight she’d pulled her long black hair back into a low ponytail and clasped it with a beaded barrette. The white coat she wore molded to her long legs as she hurried toward him.

She greeted the woman at the desk as she reached for Manuel. “I’ll take him back, Flo.”

After patting Manuel’s back and making soothing noises that quieted him, she said to Shep, “Give Flo your insurance card so she can put through the paperwork.” Then she headed for the door leading to the examination cubicles, motioning him to follow.

Shep took out his insurance card, slapped it onto the desk and followed Raina. He couldn’t help but admire her graceful stride, the straightness of her shoulders, even as she held Manuel and headed for the exam room. He had to smile at the sneakers she wore that made her look more like a runner than a doctor.

All was quiet for the moment in this part of the E.R. wing. Manuel’s cries had faded to tiny hiccups. Shep felt so sad sometimes for this little boy, who’d been neglected, taken away from his mother and put in a foster home. Shep knew all about foster homes firsthand, though there was no indication the couple who’d cared for Manuel was anything like the foster parents Shep had lived with.

At the door to the exam room, Dr. Gibson paused and waited for Shep to precede her inside. Although Shep considered himself more cowboy than gentleman, he motioned her to go ahead of him. With a small smile and a quick nod, she did. But when she passed him, he caught the scent of lemon and his stomach twisted into a knot, as it did whenever he got too close to her. He didn’t get too close to her if he could help it—for lots of very good reasons.

Raina glanced at Shep as she settled Manuel on the gurney. “On the phone you told me this started about an hour ago?”

“Yes. Before I put him in his crib. At first I thought he was just overtired or didn’t want to go to bed. But then he started pulling on his ear, so I took his temperature and saw he had a fever.”

“I’ll take it again,” she assured him with quiet efficiency. Her gaze met his. The earth seemed to shake a little and they both quickly looked away.

With coiled energy wound tight inside him, Shep moved to the gurney to hold Manuel. He hadn’t intended it, but somehow his hands got tangled up with hers before she pulled them away from the little boy. Their gazes connected again…and this time held. Shep’s blood rushed fast, and in that instant, he thought he saw returned interest in the pretty doctor’s very dark brown eyes.

A moment later, he guessed he was mistaken. In a small town like Sagebrush, Texas, where they both lived—about fifteen minutes from Lubbock, where this hospital was located—certain people had a higher gossip profile than others. Dr. Gibson was one of them.

He’d asked his nanny, Eva, if she knew any particulars about the doctor, and he still remembered what Eva had said. “Her husband was a firefighter in New York City. He died saving others on September eleventh. Somehow, she picked up her life and finished her schooling, then returned here to be with her family. I can only imagine what she’s gone through, and it’s not something I ever want to even think about going through.”