Kissing Kendall
Page 18
Brad spun her around. With a wicked gleam in his eyes, he linked his fingers around her back. “Must run in the family, because now I need some quality time with my wife before I can go to sleep.” He leaned in and began pressing light kisses along her jaw.
She and Brad hadn’t waited to get married. They’d made a pact not to waste any time that they could be together, and with Grammy’s approval, they had a small ceremony at city hall. Brad had still gone to Quantico for classes soon after. It had been hard to be separated from him during that time, but with Grammy helping out in the bakery, Kendall managed to visit him a lot and make it work for them.
“That sounds good,” she said with a sigh. “Be careful you don’t wake the baby.”
“I won’t make a peep,” he said, nuzzling her neck.
She chuckled and swatted his arm. “Let me wrap up this pudding first.”
Brad’s head popped up. “Pudding?”
Her lips twitched. “My, how easily distracted you are.”
“I can’t help it,” he said with a sigh. “I think it’s all the time I’m spending with a toddler. Must be rubbing off.”
“Well, now you can understand why Georgie and Walt needed this couple’s time alone together. It’ll be good for them.” She hesitated, placing both her hands on her flat abdomen, and smiled slowly. “Besides, I’m sure after our baby is born, they’ll be happy to reciprocate.”
Brad stuck his finger in the bowl and scraped up some pudding. “Yeah, but—” He froze, and pudding plopped to the floor as his finger hung in midair. “Wait. What?” He grabbed a napkin and wiped his hand, never allowing his gaze to leave her. “Kendall, did you say after our baby is born?”
She nodded, excitement wiping away her ability to speak. A baby. She and Brad were going to have a baby. For so long she’d wanted to have a family of her own, and now they were finally going to be blessed with one.
“That’s fantastic!” Before she registered what was happening, Brad swept her up in his arms and spun her around. He set her back on her feet and pressed his mouth to hers. “Is it a boy or girl?” he murmured against her lips.
“Well, I hope so.” She laughed. “That’s all I know at this point.”
“That’s okay. That’s enough for now.” He grinned and added, “Every time I think I can’t love you more, you go and surprise me. I’m forever thankful you didn’t play it safe when it came to giving us a chance.”
She grinned up at him. “Well, a wise man once told me that if a person plays it safe all the time, that person could miss out on something truly wonderful.”
“Ah, yes. And was I—er, that wise man right?”
She shifted so she could cup his face between her palms. “You tell me.” Then she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a heartfelt kiss.
Kendall’s Doughnut Muffins Recipe
MUFFIN:
1 ¾ cup flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup oil
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
¾ cup milk
TOPPING:
½ cup melted butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk dry ingredients together in a bowl. In a separate larger bowl, combine oil, vanilla, sugar, egg, and milk.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix just until all combined.
Spoon the batter into prepared muffins—either a lightly greased muffin tin or line with paper or silicone muffin cups.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. While muffins are baking, prepare your topping. Melt butter in one bowl and mix cinnamon and sugar in another.
Remove muffins from pan while still hot.
Dip muffins in melted butter. Then roll muffins in sugar mixture.
Serve warm or cool on rack.
Store for a day or so at room temperature. (If they last that long!)
Makes about 8 to 12 muffins
Acknowledgments
I want to thank my hubby, Jeff, who is a complete saint about me spending more time with my hero than I spend with him while I’m on deadline.
To the gals over at Passionate Critters, especially Robin, Bethanne, Joyce, Debora, Cyn, and Sutton: thanks for reading, critiquing, and actually liking my story. And thank you to Melissa McClone for all your help and expert opinions.
Thanks to my brother, Frank, and my neighbor Chad for answering all those pesky police questions, and to my friend Jane who answered all my bakery questions (and for all the free doughnuts you’ve given me over the years too!).
Special thanks to my editor Stacy Abrams and her assistant editor Alycia Tornetta. Both of you helped to make my book a thousand times better than it would have been otherwise.
And lastly, to everyone over at Entangled Publishing: I love the camaraderie and support. It’s been a pleasure to be a part of the team!
About the Author
Jennifer Shirk has a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy—which has in no way at all helped her with her writing career. But she likes to point it out, since it shows that romantic-at-hearts come in all shapes, sizes, and mind-numbing educations.
She writes sweet (and sometimes even funny) romances for Samhain Publishing, Avalon Books/Montlake Romance, and now Entangled Publishing. She won third place in the 2006 RWA/NYC’s Kathryn Hayes Love and Laughter Contest with her first book, The Role of a Lifetime.
Lately she’s been on a serious exercise kick. But don’t hold that against her. http://www.jennifershirk.com/
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue
Kendall’s Doughnut Muffins Recipe
Acknowledgments
About the Author