Home for Her Family (9781460341186)
Page 20
Katie smiled, nodded and told her sister she’d be just fine and she’d make notes about the ceremony. And Gwen needed to make sure she got the dress fitted. It would be long for her and probably too big around the waist.
Gwen hugged her sister. “I know you always wanted to wear it, Katie. But it will be perfect for this ceremony and I’ll make sure they take it up but don’t cut it. We can always let it out for you when you get married.”
Katie smiled. “Of course we can.”
Cord offered Katie his arm, knowing he’d regret it, knowing there were plenty of people watching who would talk later, make up stories and have him married off to the redhead from Missoula. He shook off regret and waited, looking down at her as she made the decision to take his arm. He gave her an encouraging smile. She nodded and her hand settled on his sleeve.
“Thank you, Mr. Shaw.”
“Cord.”
She nodded and looked away. “Then you should call me Katie.”
He led her out of the festival hall into the dark night and a sky twinkling with millions of stars. The air was cold now that the sun had gone down. “You don’t have a coat in there, do you?”
“No, it seemed warm earlier and I left my coat and suitcase at your parents’ house.”
He held up a remote start. “My truck should be warm.”
Next to him she nodded but he saw her shiver. He slipped out of his jacket and placed it over her shoulders. She smiled up at him and he thought she had about the prettiest smile he’d ever seen. But he drew back from that thought like a man twice bitten by a poisonous snake.
Twice bitten, twice engaged and jilted, all the same thing to Cord Shaw and he wasn’t going there again. But he could be a gentleman, a cowboy, and give Katie a ride home. He’d even walk her to the front door, make sure she got inside safely, and then he’d head on back to his little cabin on the banks of Shaw Lake.
He opened the truck door and she climbed in, handing him back his jacket. “Don’t worry, Mr. Shaw, I’m not on the hunt. I’m here for my sister, not to follow in her footsteps but to be here to support her.”
“I hadn’t thought—”
She smiled, cutting off his explanations. “No, you hadn’t. But everyone else will think it. A relationship and marriage are the last thing I want.”
Interesting. He would have questioned her more, but he thought asking questions might push them a little too far into each other’s lives. She’d given him enough of an explanation and he was willing to let her leave it at that.
True to his best intentions, he drove her to the Shaw ranch, walked her to the front door of the house he’d been raised in, saw her safely inside and told her he was sure they’d see each other the next day.
It was that easy.
Or at least he had thought it would be easy. But driving away from the ranch after dropping her off, he realized her scent lingered in his truck. He lifted his jacket to his nose and sniffed. Yeah, that was her. The scent was oriental, not sweet and flowery.
He grinned and draped the jacket over the seat as he headed down the bumpy trail toward his place. All the while her scent teased him and he thought that it might be nice to spend time with a woman who spoke her mind. It would be easy. And in a month she’d be gone. That made her just about perfect.
Copyright © 2014 by Harlequin Books S.A.
ISBN-13: 9781460341186
A Home for Her Family
Copyright © 2014 by Virginia Muñoz
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