LITMIR.BIZ

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she heard Blake swearing as he snatched it from the handset. She sat up and tidied herself, listening to his conversation, knowing someone in his family was inquiring about her. He soon ended the call.

      “Sorry about that,” he told her. “It was Guy checking to see how you were. He’d heard about the accident from Avery.”

      “Oh, that’s nice of him.”

      The phone rang again and Blake reached for it. “Yes, she’s fine, Gavin, but I’ll be keeping an eye on her anyway.” She saw Blake listen, then dart a look at her, before turning away. “You’re a funny guy, Gav.” Then he hung up.

      Curious, she asked, “What did he say?”

      “Nothing much.”

      Had Gavin made a brotherly comment about keeping an eye on her? Not that she minded. It might work in her favor. “That’s good of your family to be checking on me.”

      “You’re supposed to be resting. I don’t want them interrupting that.”

      His comment warmed her as she glanced at the wall clock, surprised to see the time. “I must have been asleep a while.”

      “An hour.”

      So he’d been keeping an eye on her. “That long? I didn’t realize.”

      “I did.”

      The phone rang again and he muttered something low. This time it was Trevor. No sooner had he hung up than they heard car doors slam shut and Blake strode over to look out the window.

      “Who is it?” she asked.

      “Melissa and Shane.”

      She watched him start toward the front door and quickly called his name. He stopped to look at her. “You will let them in, won’t you?”

      His mouth tightened. “For a short while.”

      “Be nice,” she chided gently, and he shot her a look saying that was a given. “You know what I mean, Blake. I think it’s wonderful of your family to be concerned for me.”

      His mouth softened a little. “Yeah, they’re pretty good when they want to be.”

      Soon Blake’s sister Melissa and her new fiancé, Shane McDermott, came into the lodge, bringing a breath of crisp, fresh air.

      Melissa’s long, wavy, blond hair flew behind her as she made a beeline for the couch. “Samantha! We heard you’d had an accident. Are you okay?”

      Samantha was touched that they’d thought to drop by. “I’m fine, Melissa. Thank you for thinking of me.”

      “She’s fine for the moment,” Blake said, standing closest to the door, as if ready to open it in a moment’s notice. “But she needs to rest as much as possible.”

      Shane stood beside him but he at least smiled at her, unlike Blake. “Good to see you, Samantha,” he said, inclining his head in the cowboy way.

      Samantha smiled back at the handsome man. Shane was the architect who’d designed the resort’s riding stables. He might look urban and sophisticated, but he’d been raised on a nearby ranch and his cowboy status couldn’t be disputed. “You, too, Shane.”

      Melissa sank down on one of the lounge chairs and frowned at Samantha. “You do look pale. So tell me. What happened?” Without giving her time to reply, she glanced at the men. “Blake, I’d love a hot chocolate so be a dear and make me one, won’t you?” She darted a look at Samantha. “What about you, honey?”

      Samantha wrinkled her nose. “Blake won’t let me.”

      Melissa seemed to consider that, then darted a look at her brother before nodding at Samantha. “Yes, that’s probably best.” She looked at her fiancé. “Shane, darling, would you mind helping Blake in the kitchen? I’m not sure he knows his way around it,” she teased.

      Blake eased into his first smile since they’d arrived. “You’d be surprised, Melissa.”

      Melissa patted the small hump of her stomach on her slightly curvy figure. “You’d better hurry. This baby is getting hungry.” She winked at Samantha.

      Samantha smiled but as the men left them alone and she looked at Blake’s sister, she felt a tug deep inside her chest. Melissa had a radiant glow about her. She’d only recently announced her pregnancy to Shane and they were soon to be married. They’d had a few ups and downs but now all was well.

      Samantha was very happy for Melissa, and yet she felt sad for herself, with this inexplicable ache in the region of her heart. One day she wanted a baby and a family of her own, but she couldn’t imagine any man she wanted to father them—except for maybe Blake. That would mean he would have to marry her, but he didn’t believe in happily-ever-after, and she wasn’t ready for that either.

      Still, she couldn’t shake off the thought of cuddling Blake’s baby in her arms. It was natural for a woman to think about having children with the man she was attracted to, right? Strangely, she didn’t ever remember thinking about having Carl’s children. Her notion of being married to him had merely been about them traveling the world together. It hadn’t progressed further than that. Thank the Lord!

      “Are you okay, Samantha?”

      She managed a smile. “Apart from a small headache, I’m fine.”

      Melissa’s piercing blue eyes suddenly seemed so like Blake’s. “I hear you’re leaving us soon?”

      This was why the other woman had got the men out of the way. Melissa wanted to question her.

      Samantha tried to look at peace with her decision. “Yes, it’s time to move on to new pastures.”

      “Blake will miss you.”

      “So everyone keeps telling me,” Samantha said wryly, but was grateful that Shane came back in right then to ask Melissa a question about how hot she wanted her drink. Once he left again Samantha changed the conversation to the ranch where Shane had grown up. Melissa was more than happy to talk about her fiancé.

      The other couple stayed for a while, until Blake shooed them out, reminding them that a certain person needed to rest up.

      “Right,” Blake said, once they’d gone. “I’ll get some more work out of the way, then how does an omelet sound for dinner? I don’t think you should eat anything too heavy, just in case. It’s not a good thing to have a full stomach.”

      She looked at him in mild amusement. “Is this Doctor Jarrod speaking?”

      He didn’t seem to find that funny. “Yes, so take note.”

      “I would, only you won’t let me work,” she quipped.

      “Funny,” he muttered, then went back to his paperwork. She sighed. He was taking it all so seriously, and while that was sweet of him, it wasn’t necessary.

      After that, Samantha was itching to get up and move around but knew it was best she take things easy. For something to do while she was waiting for Blake to finish working, she popped a movie in the DVD and began watching it with earphones so that she didn’t disturb him. It was a romantic comedy she hadn’t seen before and it made her giggle. She didn’t realize she’d been laughing loudly until suddenly she became aware of Blake standing near the couch.

      She paused the movie and looked up at him as she pulled out her earbuds. “I’m sorry. Is this interrupting your work?”

      “No.” He went still. “It’s good to hear you laugh. You don’t do it often enough.”

      Her pulse was skipping beats. “The job isn’t exactly a laugh a minute,” she joked. Then realized how that might sound. “That came out wrong. I didn’t mean—”

      “I know what you meant,” he said easily enough as he leaned over and pulled the earplug cord out of the television. Picking up the remote, he

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