LITMIR.BIZ

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other hand on her belly and smiled at her. “Only six more months to go.”

      Jake saw the look they shared, and then it dawned on him what Dusty had said. “You’re expecting?” he asked Kate.

      She nodded. “December for this one.”

      “This one?”

      “We have twin boys who’ll be three next month,” Dusty said. “And we did tell Aunt Aggie that we wouldn’t be late, so we need to get going before she starts calling and begging us to come pick them up.”

      Kate gave him an elbow to the midsection. “Aunt Aggie has never complained about the boys, or Krista, so don’t you have Jake thinking she has.”

      “I remember your aunt well, Kate,” Jake told her. “But who’s Krista?”

      “Krista is ours,” Morgan said, helping his own wife with her chair.

      “And we’re not adding another one soon,” Trish said, a gleam of determination in her eyes. “I have a feeling when we do, Morgan will be getting his boy, and considering how energetic Kate and Dusty’s twins are, I want to rest up a little longer.”

      “Another girl is fine with me,” Morgan said, helping her with her jacket. “Krista liked that Miami Dolphins jersey I bought her, so it’s all good.”

      “She was a newborn,” Trish said, laughing. “She didn’t know the difference.”

      The two couples continued their bantering as they gathered their things, and Jake was sorry to see them leave. Nearly everyone had gone, except for Erin and the man he’d seen earlier, who was probably taking her home. He decided to stay where he was. He’d noticed that she’d left her hat nearby and knew she wouldn’t leave without it.

      It wasn’t long before she walked over to where he sat at the table, her hat on the chair next to him. “Calling it a night?” he asked.

      She didn’t look at him directly as she held out her hand. “Morning comes early on a ranch. You should know that.”

      He shoved to his feet, then picked up her hat, but didn’t immediately hand it to her. “What brought you home?”

      “I decided to spend some time with my brothers.”

      “So you’re staying around?”

      Her gaze moved slowly over him, until she looked directly into his eyes. “Are you?”

      Feeling uncomfortable in places he shouldn’t, he shifted his attention from her eyes to her mouth. Another mistake. He remembered the feel of it on his far too well. Hoping she couldn’t read his thoughts, he managed to answer. “I plan to.”

      “I should have known.”

      She took her hat from his hand and started to move away, but he wasn’t finished. “Don’t go away mad.”

      With a smile, she looked back over her shoulder. “Not mad. It’s just nicer around here when you’re gone.”

      Before she could take another step, he had a comeback. “Is that why you’ve been gone from here almost as long as I have?”

      Facing him, she settled her hat on her head. “I’ve done just fine.”

      “So have your brothers, but they stayed.” He knew he’d hit the mark by the way she glared at him. “They’ve done some great things with the ranch.”

      “So now you and my brothers are good buddies?”

      “We’ve always been friends.”

      She put one hand on her hip and smiled at him again. “I’m not my brothers.”

      As she’d done to him, Jake let his eyes move slowly over her. “No, ma’am, you’re definitely not.” He held her gaze another moment, then looked down to pick up his glass of beer.

      When he looked up again, she was walking out the door. Walking out on him the way he’d walked out on her. He knew she hadn’t forgotten, no matter how much she might want to. He’d hated that he’d had to hurt her—still did—but he hadn’t been given a choice. He’d paid for it then, and now he was paying for it again.

      * * *

      AFTER A DISTURBING and restless night, Erin decided to join her brothers for breakfast. In her case, that would be coffee. She hoped it would clear her mind and sweep out the remnants of the confusing and erotic dreams that had starred none other than Jake Canfield.

      “Did you have a good time at Lou’s Place last night?” Luke asked, as Erin lifted the carafe to fill her cup.

      When she finished, she leaned her hip against the counter behind her and nodded. “It was nice getting together with old friends, but it would have been better if Hayley and Glory had been there and the two of you hadn’t ducked out. What was that all about?”

      “We didn’t tell you we weren’t staying?”

      She glared at Luke, knowing for certain what they’d been up to. “Of course you didn’t tell me, because you knew I wouldn’t go if you did. And then you left me with that...man.”

      “You mean Dean Franklin?”

      She opened her mouth to tell him that Dean Franklin had been kind enough to take her home, in spite of the fact that she’d only spent a few minutes with him, and that the man she’d been referring to was none other than their former—and now current—neighbor. Luckily, the words didn’t spill forth. Her brothers would immediately demand to know what Jake had ever done to her, other than be a good friend, and she wouldn’t be able to tell them. Not in this lifetime, anyway.

      Instead, she said, “Maybe you’ll learn not to try to hand me off to someone I share absolutely nothing in common with.”

      “Broaden your world, Erin. Learn new things,” Dylan told her.

      “The man wouldn’t know a quarter horse from a thoroughbred,” she said with a sniff, “and you expect me to make some long-term commitment to him?”

      Dylan put his coffee cup on the table and grunted. “Nobody said you had to marry him. Just go on a date.”

      “People still date?” she asked as innocently as possible.

      “Well—”

      “Did you take Glory on a date?” she asked, pinning him with a look she hoped would wither him on the spot.

      His brow wrinkled in thought. “We—” He made a face she took as a concession. “Not a real date. But that doesn’t mean that—”

      “How about you and Hayley, Luke? Did you go on a date?”

      He smiled with superiority. “As a matter of fact, I did take her out to dinner. A real nice restaurant in the city, as I recall.”

      “How did it go?”

      His smile vanished, and he muttered.

      “What’s that?” she asked.

      “She got sick.”

      Erin couldn’t stop her smile. “Food poisoning?”

      He shook his head. “Too much to drink.”

      “Well, there you go.”

      They both sat and stared at her, until Dylan pushed away from the table. “What’s on your agenda today?”

      When Luke didn’t answer, Erin looked at Dylan. “Me? Are you asking me?”

      “I already know what our plans are.”

      He’d said it as if she was twelve again and he was trying to prove that bigger meant smarter. It didn’t. Being only eleven months older than him gave her an advantage.

      “Nothing special,” she answered. Her lack of having something to do was beginning to get on her nerves.

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